Barack Obama stood on the threshold of history Monday as polls gave the Democrat a sharp edge over John McCain on the last day of campaigning for the most dramatic presidential vote in a generation.

But McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, was adamant he would confound the pollsters to stage a shock comeback and wrench victory from the African-American Obama's grasp on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old Democrat stressed the historic nature of his quest to be America's first black president, striking an optimistic tone as fresh polls gave him a wide lead and heaped further pressure on McCain .

"This is a defining moment in our history," Obama wrote in an article published Monday in The Wall Street Journal.

"Tomorrow, I ask you to write our nation's next great chapter... If you give me your vote, we won't just win this election -- together, we will change this country and change the world."

McCain was defiant. "My opponent is measuring the drapes at the White House," he said, as he wrapped up a frenzied day of campaigning with a midnight rally in Miami.

"They may not know it, but the Mac is back! And we're going to win this election," he added, to deafening cheers.

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