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"The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated," state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Dist. 25) quipped in response to a question about his poll numbers in the Virginia governor's race. "We're going to win this race. We have to."

Deeds is struggling to make up significant ground in the final days of the campaign, with the most recent polling showing his Republican opponent, former Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, ahead by anywhere from 7 to 12 points.

McDonnell also has almost twice as much money to spend through Election Day, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday night, and will likely continue his barrage of television advertising. Deeds has $937,772 on hand and McDonnell has $1.8 million.

Despite his advantage in the race, McDonnell said he isn't relaxing this week.

"There's only one poll that matters, and I'm telling my people to act like we're 12 points down," he said.

Deeds was also lagging in polls and fund-raising when he won the Democratic primary in June, and came within 300 votes of McDonnell in the attorney general's race in 2005, when he was outspent 2-1. However, most political observers say it would take a major misstep by McDonnell for Deeds to pull a similar upset in the general election.

"It's a long shot to make up a near double-digit deficit in the polls with so little time," said Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University.

The Democrat's biggest problem is that he has failed to excite the Democratic base, particularly key voter categories like blacks and young people who helped President Barack Obama win Virginia last year, according to Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling.

"Deeds' problems are almost exclusively due to his inability to engage the Democratic base," Jensen said. In order to win, Deeds needs to turn out 200,000 to 300,000 more voters than are currently planning to vote, Jensen said.

Kicking off his final get-out-the-vote efforts, Deeds campaigned with former President Bill Clinton in McLean last week and held his second rally with Obama in Newport News yesterday.

Republicans, on the other hand, are hungry for a win in Virginia after losing the presidency, both Senate seats, two consecutive gubernatorial races and numerous other state and local races in recent years.

Many Republican candidates in Fairfax County say they sense a renewed energy in their party. The recent election of Republican John Cook to the Braddock District seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which had been held by a Democrat for two decades, is seen as a potential bellwether.

"Being a Republican in the Bush era was tough. People want peace and prosperity," said Jim Hyland, a candidate for the 35th District House of Delegates seat and former chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee. "But I think in people's minds they don't want one-party domination of everything."

Rozell said there is similar phenomenon beginning for Democrats now, with dissatisfaction over Obama's attempts to reform health care on the national level, as well as questions among Virginians about how Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has handled the state budget during the recession.

"It's just the reality, rather fair or not, that the incumbents generally get the blame," Rozell said.

Deeds made some missteps as well, Rozell said, the biggest of which was contradicting his statements during the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce debate in a conference with reporters immediately afterwards. This moment was captured on video and has been heavily used in Republican attack ads.

Those ads put a halt to the momentum Deeds had been gaining after widespread reports and campaign ads about a socially conservative master's thesis McDonnell wrote when he was in his 30s, Rozell said.

"Without a doubt it was a poorly run campaign," he said. "The candidate did not inspire confidence that he had clear answers on key issues."

The biggest issue in the campaign, at least in Northern Virginia, has been the candidates' differing approaches to solving the state's transportation crisis.

McDonnell proposed a long list of specific ways he believes the state can generate additional funds for transportation without raising taxes, such as selling the state-run liquor stores, allocating potential royalties from off-shore oil and gas drilling and setting aside a portion of revenue growth as the state's economy picks up again.

Deeds' approach would be to form a commission and charge the group with developing a transportation plan that offers a long-term funding solution, supports transit as well as roads and is "creative in nature." He would not oppose an increase in the state's gas tax or other revenue sources if it was part of a bipartisan proposal.

During their three statewide debates, the candidates also tried to draw distinctions between one another on their positions on social issues and opinions about federal policies.

What to expect on Election Day

Election Day is Tuesday. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Qualified voters can also vote absentee in person through

Saturday. Visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/eb/upcoming.htm for information on absentee voting requirements and locations.

What's on the ballot?

-Three statewide offices — governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general

-All state delegates (vote for your district representative only)

-Referendum on school bond issue

-Providence District only: special election for school board

-Voting machines: As they did last year, voters will have a choice between filling out an optical scan paper ballot or using one of the county's older touch-screen voting machines. The county is phasing out the touch-screen machines because a state law prohibits the county from replacing them.

What not to wear?

-Come as you are. State rules prohibiting political garb inside the polling place were lifted.

What should I bring?

Voters need to show identification. Voters must show one of the following forms of identification, or must sign an affirmation of identity:

-Virginia Voter Information Card

-Virginia driver's license or special identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles

-Valid United States passport

-Military ID card

-Any Federal, state or local government-issued ID card

-Employer-issued photo ID card

-Social Security card