And will it play in Ohio? That’s the question that faces Barack Obama and John McCain as one of the most vigorously fought battles for the presidency winds down to Election Day.

In the final hours the campaigns have turned into a kaleidoscope of political big guns, high tech and shoe leather.

Thursday Gov. Ted Strickland teamed up with one-time Ohio senator and “Right Stuff” astronaut John Glenn in a day of county-by-county stops.

“The campaign is going well,” Strickland said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “We are taking nothing for granted. I think the election will be very close. We are just going from community to community talking about the importance of this election.”

And that’s the answer, Strickland contends — the grass roots – Knock for Barack— door-to-door campaign — that will turn the state to Obama.

“I think the Obama grass roots campaign is the most extensive and impressive I have seen,” Strickland said. “I think it will make the difference in the ultimate winner. I told (Obama) a month ago when he called. Both you and McCain will have money for television and for telephoning. I believe what will make the difference in Ohio for you is the grass roots support that exists.”

The governor cited 70 field offices and 600 paid staff plus thousands of volunteers. This summer the Obama campaign was the first in the history of a presidential race to open a separate office in Lawrence County, instead of using the party’s local headquarters.

Glenn, who went solo Friday in the eastern part of the state, called this election the single most important national campaign in recent history.

“I have never known a time when we have needed a change in the direction of the country,” Glenn told The Tribune in a phone interview. “The Republican party used to stand for balanced budgets and low debt. This has been a complete anathema to Republicans and Democrats. We can’t continue the way we are.”

Wednesday night Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher made a brief stop at the Ironton Obama campaign headquarters, to make phone calls for the candidate and give a pep talk to the handful of workers there.

Friday morning the McCain camp hit the conference call circuit as the top leaders gave a 40-minute wrap-up of the state of the campaign. It’s money and technology that the GOP nominee has and that is what will bring him the election, they said.

“We are witnessing one of the greatest comebacks,” Rick Davis, campaign manager, said. “We have established some momentum, have increased gains in battleground states, shaken off the effects of the financial collapse. We believe we are in a run right now.”

The combined spending of the Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign has hit the record level of $325 million spent since the convention, Davis reported.

“This is most amount of money spent in a two-month period in the Republican Party,” Davis said. “When you are looking at all the various amounts of money spent, we have been very competitive with the Obama campaign and ahead of any other campaign in party history. … In the last days McCain will outspend Barack Obama. It’s more important to have velocity on television in the last days of the campaign.”

Technology has enabled the McCain campaign to micro-target potential voters, giving them the edge, campaign leaders say, in identifying McCain supporters. In the past week 5.2 million target phone calls and door knocks were made to those who are for McCain but may need a push to the polls or uncommitted voters who could be persuaded to vote for the Arizona senator. That compares to only 1.9 million calls and door knocks made in a week during the 2004 campaign.

“We are building our technology to increase and enhance our grass roots program,” Mike Duhaime, national political director, said.

Former Congressman and cabinet member, Rob Portman of the Cincinnati area, hit four stops on Friday for McCain along with 12 different call centers.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for John, particularly in the past couple of days,” Portman said. “People are coming out to volunteer in bigger numbers than 2004. It is a good sign of the campaign. I think it will bode well for John McCain next Tuesday.”

But it’s not all cold technology that the McCain people are focusing on. They’ve got their own star power in the form of California Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger who joined the campaign trail for a one-day blitz in Central Ohio Friday.

It’s a blitz that McCain and Palin take to seven cities in seven states today.

“We plan to campaign throughout the last 24 hours,” Davis vowed.