Obama: 'You've enriched my life'

MANASSAS, Va. -- Well, this is it.

The last rock-star rally for Barack Obama. The last majestic entrance to Springsteen's "The Rising." The last outpouring of "O-BA-MA" and "Yes we can!" The last time, after hundreds of events over 21 months, Obama will make his pitch for the presidency before a sea of people.

It was a fitting ending: 90,000-plus, gathered in a giant field in Manassas, representing two hallmarks of this campaign: the enthusiasm Obama has generated among American voters and the big push he's made into red states like Virginia.

Obama was wistful.

"I have been deeply humbled by this journey," he said. "You've enriched my life. You have moved me again and again. You have inspired me. Sometimes when I'm down, you've lifted me up. You filled me with new hope for our future."

Obama acknowledged that there were things he and his campaign, in retrospect, might have done differently. But overall, he said, he hoped his campaign would prove that you could run with "dignity" and still win.

"We've got a lot to be proud of," he said.

He ended the speech with a natural kicker: his famous "Fired up, ready to go" story from South Carolina, a story and a state that got the whole thing started. When it was over, Obama lingered on stage longer than he usually does, just to absorb it all one last time. And when he pulled out of town, supporters lined the streets to send his motorcade off.

"It'll be fun to see how the story ends after all this," he told reporters on the plane afterward.