On the campaign trail, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain entered the final week of their contest with appearances in Pennsylvania. Some 10,000 people turned out to hear Obama at Widener University.

Sen. Barack Obama: “I want to start off with just two words: one week. One week. After decades of broken politics in Washington, after eight years of failed policies by George Bush, after twenty-one months of a campaign that’s taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are one week away from bringing about change in America.”

Obama also addressed McCain’s allegations he would raise taxes as president.

Sen. Obama: “If you make less than a quarter-million dollars a year — and that includes, by the way, 98 percent of small businesses and 99.9 percent of plumbers — you will not see your taxes increased one single dime, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, not your income tax, no tax, because the last thing you need is higher taxes when we’re in a recession like this, and you won’t get one under an Obama administration.”

McCain, meanwhile, was in Hershey, where he dismissed polls showing him trailing Obama.

Sen. John McCain: “The pundits wrote us off, as they have several times before. My opponent is out working out the details with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid on their plans to raise your taxes, raise your taxes, increase spending and concede defeat in Iraq. He’s measuring the drapes, and he’s planned his first address to the nation before the election. I guess I’m old-fashioned about these things. I prefer to let the voters weigh in before presuming the outcome.”