By Sarah Redman
Both candidates spent their final day campaigning before polling closes today.
Candidate Mitt Romney cast his vote in Belmont, Massachusetts today. When asked whom he had voted for, Romney replied, “I think you know.” Romney has spent the final day working on last minute appeal to voters, which he hopes will help him defeat Obama.
Romney repeatedly used the line: “one day away from a new beginning, one day from a fresh start”, in order to drum up support in the final hours before voting. Romney started his day in Florida, telling crowds they were just hours from “ejecting” President Obama from office. Romney then flew to Virginia and Ohio, finishing the day in New Hampshire.
Romney spent his Election Day lunch at a Wendy’s in Ohio. His order: A quarter pounder with cheese, chili and a baked potato. When Romney was asked, why Wendy’s, he said they chose the fast food chain as it first opened in Ohio.
Contrastingly, President Barack Obama spent the final day visiting campaign offices in Chicago, having previously voted last month. Obama used the day to conduct a variety of radio and television interviews; in order to keep his closing arguments accessible to those voting today. The president was located in a downtown Chicago hotel for the day, urging supporters to go to the polls, rather than focusing on a final blast of campaign rallies.
Whilst there was no traditional photo opportunity of Obama casting his ballot, one tradition Obama kept was an Election Day basketball game. Following his bad loss in 2008, the day of the New Hampshire primary vote, when he didn’t play, Obama’s advisor, Robert Gibbs said “We made the mistake of not playing basketball once. I can assure you we will not repeat that.”
Obama will later be joined at a Chicago hotel by his family, various close friends and his top aides, in order to watch the election results unfold later today.