Kansas City Star (Kansas)

As the clock ticks to Super Tuesday, the candidate heat is rising — more ads, more visits, more pleas for votes.

But hundreds of campaign workers, watching the same clock, will tell you they have been in a sweatbox for weeks.

"I hate it, but I have to keep the door closed in my office," said Caleb Weaver, Obama's Missouri spokesman. "We have so many people in here, stopping, looking to make phone calls, looking for yard signs and bumper stickers. It's unbelievable."

... Obama is depending more on volunteers new to the presidential wars.

"We think we do have a decided advantage over Senator Clinton in terms of the amount of voter contact we're doing," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

Kansas Democrats will caucus on Super Tuesday, and Obama seems much more highly organized in the state. He appeared last week in El Dorado — picking up the endorsement of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius — and he has had staff in the state for months.

"You have to have people on the ground to generate numbers (in caucus states)," said Dan Watkins, a Kansas Obama organizer.

Plouffe said: "Our strategy on Feb. 5 is really about all 22 states."

Star-Ledger (New Jersey)

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama greeted an ecstatic crowd in the Meadowlands today, comparing his come-from-behind challenge of Hillary Clinton to the New York Giants' improbable Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots.

"I think we should take heart ... by the fact that sometimes the underdog pulls it out," Obama told a crowd of hundreds of cheering supporters at the Izod Center on the day before the New Jersey primaries. "You can't always believe the pundits and prognosticators."

… Obama was joined onstage by Sen. Ted Kennedy, and actor Robert DeNiro also helped warm up the crowd before the Illinois senator took the stage. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, state Senate President Richard Codey and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley were on hand to greet Obama when he arrived at the Izod Center.

"I've never made a speech like this at a political event before. I'm here because finally one person has inspired me. ...That person is Barack Obama," DeNiro said.

… Mark Alexander, Obama's campaign director in New Jersey, said he was pleased by a Quinnipiac poll released today that shows Obama gaining against Clinton in the Garden State.

"I know that tomorrow (Feb. 5) is the only poll that counts, but we've made large gains here so I'm very confident going into tomorrow," he said.

Associated Press (New Mexico)

The Democratic presidential campaigns are making their last push for votes in New Mexico with hundreds of volunteers making phone calls and going door-to-door.

… More than 500 Obama volunteers have knocked on 80,000 doors across the state over the past week, campaign spokesman Trevor FitzGibbon said Sunday.

"We feel a sea change of momentum," FitzGibbon said. "We feel that we are gaining momentum minute by minute right now. You notice it in the number of volunteers who are coming in off the street."

… Obama picked up endorsements from the Albuquerque Journal, The Albuquerque Tribune and the Hobbs News-Sun over the weekend. The Santa Fe New Mexican endorsed him last week.

Newsday (New York)

Obama's campaign is trying to trump Clinton's advantage by running "an insurgent campaign," his campaign officials said, using volunteers to leaflet at railroad stations, mail postcards and knock on doors.

Obama's grassroots efforts appear to be helping him … polls show Clinton's onetime wide lead in the tri-state area has narrowed significantly, with several surveys showing the two in a statistical dead heat in New Jersey and Connecticut -- where Clinton enjoyed double-digit leads only weeks ago.

… Nassau legislator Roger Corbin (D-Westbury) said Obama supporters have shaken up the status quo, putting Long Island into play.

New York Daily News (New York)

Two Quinnipac University polls show Barack Obama gaining ground on the New York Senator among Democratic likely presidential primary voters in her own state and New Jersey a day ahead of their Super Tuesday showdown.

… "'Sen. Obama has put together a coalition of blacks and independents to dramatically narrow the gap in just the last few days in New Jersey, but the big question remains: Will there be enough of these new, young, first time voters showing up to pull a surprise on Super Tuesday?' said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute."

Minot Daily News (North Dakota)

Area residents will play a role in deciding the next president when they vote in North Dakota's caucuses Tuesday. North Dakota is one of 22 states holding Democratic caucuses or primaries and one of 21 states with Republican events.

The Sen. Barack Obama campaign has aggressively sought supporters, setting up an office in Fargo early on and locating campaign workers in Minot, Bismarck and Grand Forks in the week prior to the caucuses.

"In my opinion, not running a 50-state strategy is not advisable," said Maxson, an Obama supporter. "The Obama campaign is recognizing that there are 50 states, and North Dakota is being treated proportionately like the other 49 states rather than being a fly-over state."

Obama staff worker Alec Strickling, a Chicago native, arrived in Minot several days ago to facilitate the local campaign. That's meant working the phones but also assisting wherever local supporters need his help.

"We are not trying to parachute an operation in here because there already is an organization in North Dakota on the ground here," Strickling said. "The real work is helping them logistically."

Strickling previously worked on the campaign in Nevada and Iowa before coming to Minot.

"We think that there should be a lot of Obama supporters here," he said of North Dakota. "It's the right message for this state. All it takes is a little bit of attention."

Grand Forks Herald (North Dakota)

"Obama can unite America" by North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad:

I believe America has a chance in this next election to turn the page and restore our nation as a beacon of hope for the world. I believe the person best suited to unite our country and lead us to face these challenges is Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

In the Senate, I've had the chance to work with and get to know Obama personally. He shares our Midwestern values. Obama's mother was from Kansas, as were the grandparents who raised him. He has many of the same traits that we do in North Dakota - he is honest, hardworking and straightforward.

… Obama can bring Democrats and Republicans together around an agenda to take on the serious challenges we face here in North Dakota and across the nation.

… We are just days away from the North Dakota caucus. On Tuesday, you can make the difference in choosing our next president by attending the North Dakota caucus. Together, we can help make history.

UConn Daily Campus (Connecticut)

About 300 students, faculty and local residents rallied with local politicians for democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama at the Student Union Friday.

The guest speakers, including TV and movie star Kal Penn, Stamford Mayor and former Senate candidate Ned Lamont and Connecticut Senate Pro Tempore Donald Williams, endorsed Obama and spoke of the need for change in this coming presidential election.

… "Young people can change the course of history," Williams said. "And Obama has the widespread support of the youth vote."

The Obama campaign is active on five Connecticut college campuses, including UConn, Southern Connecticut State University, Wesleyan College, Quinnipiac University and Yale University, according to Max Rothstein, director of Connecticut Students for Obama and a student at Wesleyan. There is also a small amount of Connecticut high school students involved with the campaign.

… At the time of the rally, Obama and Clinton were in a dead heat in Connecticut polls, Rothstein said.

Philadelphia Inquirer (Delaware)

Barack Obama spoke to a raucous overflow crowd in sun-splashed Rodney Square in Wilmington yesterday afternoon … two days before the crucial Super Tuesday voting here and in 21 other states.

… Obama's appearance came just three days after his wife, Michele, appeared in Wilmington and Dover. Obama's camp has shown an intriguing level of interest in the First State, which has a mere 15 delegates up for grabs tomorrow of nearly 1,700 to be awarded nationally.

"We've said from the beginning that we are running races in all 22 states," said Chris Lu, Obama's Delaware communications director. "After bringing Michelle Obama here, and now Sen. Barack Obama, perhaps people are starting to believe us."

Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama)

Hollywood came to Montgomery on Sunday afternoon, when Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker stumped for Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

… He was joined in support of Obama and a host of local boosters by Sharon Pratt, former mayor of Washington. About 120 people showed up for the event at the Obama campaign headquarters on Zelda Road.

Local politicians, state Sen. Quinton Ross Jr., D-Montgomery, and Montgomery County Circuit Judge Johnny Hardwick, who were previously uncommitted, also announced their endorsement of the Illinois senator.

"I am proud to stand here during this time in history, a time that will change America and the world," Whitaker said to raucous cheers from the crowd.

… Obama is surging in the polls in Alabama, just before the Super Tuesday primaries.