Janet Napolitano

With time quickly running down before next Tuesday's election, which is not just barely over a week away, both gubernatorial candidates are hard at work on the campaign trail.

Republican Dino Rossi and Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire have both announced extensive campaign tours to try to seal the deal in a race that has been neck and neck for much of the past seven months.

Rossi, who lost to Gregoire in 2004 by 133 votes in a hand recount after leading by decreasing margins in the first two machine counts, has been on a statewide "Road to Victory Tour" that commenced immediately after the fourth of five gubernatorial debates on October 10.

Gregoire, for her part, is following an equally grueling schedule. Her 11-day, 26-city tour began on Saturday at a rally with Native Vote, followed by a series of rallies with fellow female Governors Janet Napolitano (D-Ariz.) and Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kans.). 

DENVER - Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, Tuesday oversaw a roundtable discussion at the Democratic National Convention on economic issues that affect women. It was a role she was very familiar with, having done dozens of these events across the country throughout her husband's campaign, including one in Washington earlier this year.

Obama was joined by a group of women from across the country who have faced economic hardships as well as four of the country's five women governors: Arizona's Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Delaware's Ruth Ann Minner and Washington's Chris Gregoire. Many of the governors said they have faced similar hardships in their own lives.

Despite the event being geared toward women, the roundtable had one surprise special guest - Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. It was just his second public appearance since his Barack Obama named him as his running mate in Springfield, Ill. this past Saturday.

DENVER -- As mentioned earlier, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and DNC Chair Howard Dean addressed the Washington delegation this morning along with Washington Democratic Chair Dwight Pelz and state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle), but the star power did not stop there.

Phil Angelides speaks with Rep. Jay InsleeAlso speaking in attendence was Phil Angelides of the Apollo Alliance, a consortium of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders dedicated to creating a clean energy economy in America.  Angelides, the 2006 Democratic nominee for governor of California, spoke highly of Inslee's progress in Congress on behalf of energy projects, and was sure to remind the room that his youngest daughter was currently attending the University of Washington.

DENVER -- The first speaker of this morning's program, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, kept her remarks brief before she headed one room over to address her home state's delegation, and spent much of her time talking about her fellow Grand Canyon Stater and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain.

"I do know a little bit about John McCain, and on every issue Democrats care about he is just plain wrong. Tell [your friends and neighbors] about Barack Obama," she implored the delegation, "but tell them about John McCain as well."

The path to universal health care, an "honorable exit from Iraq", a strong education policy, "you get it with Obama," she said, "you don't get with McCain."