Watching Al Gore and George Bush on the trail in the final days of this campaign is an experience in observing delusion. Both are pumped with determination to win, with exhaustion and adrenalin, as television journalist Ted Koppel aptly put it.
For both, victory seems inevitable, defeat unthinkable.
Pennsylvania, once thought to be solid for Vice-President Gore, has turned into a key battleground state.
With 23 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win, it is also the largest swing state. From gritty Pittsburgh on its western end, a large city of rusting steel mills, to Philadelphia on the east, a sophisticated urban conclave, Pennsylvania is finding itself the target for two ardent suitors.
As some 3,000 people waited patiently in a light drizzle, Mr Gore arrived at Carnegie Mellon University in Oakland on Friday to address the mostly college age crowd.
"The sun is coming out in America," he said when the rain ceased as he strode to the podium. Touting the "strongest economy in the 224-year history of the country", Mr Gore promised that if elected, the good times would continue. "When you're my age, there won't be any debt," he said.
Mr Gore received his most enthusiastic response from the crowd when he spoke of education, stressing his promise to make college tuition tax deductible.
By 9.30 that night, Mr Gore was still campaigning on a street decorated with Hallowe'en ghosts and goblins.
By Saturday morning he was in Wilkes-Barr, giving a speech at the university there, where he criticised Mr Bush's plan to reform healthcare in the US as a "boondoggle".
Earlier in the week, Mr Bush had also campaigned in Pennsylvania, giving a speech at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Museum in Pittsburgh.
Returning to a theme that has proven fruitful for him in recent weeks, Mr Bush criticised Mr Gore's character. In a 20-minute speech to 1,000 supporters, he used the word "responsibility" at least 25 times.
"I believe we need to encourage personal responsibility so people are accountable for their actions," Mr Bush said. "A good leader is predictable; he doesn't try to be all things to all people, or change personalities for different debates.
"I believe when all is said and done, America will realise my opponent's campaign is a fitting close to the Clinton-Gore years. They are going out as they came in: their guide, the nightly polls; their goal, the morning headlines; their legacy, the fruitless search for a legacy."
The harsh rhetoric by Mr Bush is having an impact, apparently. A CNN poll released yesterday shows Mr Bush leading Mr Gore by 49 to 42 per cent, with Mr Ralph Nader, the consumer activist, pulling in 3 per cent nationwide.
The last few days have not been good ones for Mr Gore, as those undecided voters seem finally to be deciding. "It has turned away from Gore in the last 10 days," said Penn State University political science professor, Dr Michael Young.
Nothing dramatic has occurred. Neither candidate has made an egregious error. This intangible notion of "momentum" that makes the difference in elections has seemed to take hold, and appears to be pulling victory from Mr Gore.
His stand as an advocate for gun control has hurt him with conservative hunters in several swing states such as Michigan. His support for a woman's right to choose abortion does not seem to be producing the support of otherwise conservative women as expected.
For his part, Mr Bush seem to have a hit a level of comfort on the campaign trail, appearing joking and relaxed, even unbothered as many US newspapers, including the New York Times, endorse Mr Gore.
For all the 18 months of campaigning, it has come down to this for the two men: only a week left; a few more states to visit for the third and fourth time. And the hope that momentum is on your side.