By AP/KWMU
Columbia, Mo. – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama drew an estimated 40,000 people to a late-night rally at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Obama continued to hammer John McCain over the faltering economy, linking the Republican nominee to unpopular incumbent President George W. Bush.
Obama made no new pronouncements at the campus event. Instead he seized the opportunity to rally excitement over his campaign into a strong turnout Tuesday, especially among college students and other young voters.
Obama's campaign said students from 18 other colleges, including Missouri State University in Springfield and Truman State University in Kirksville, traveled to attend the Columbia rally.
Obama will return to Missouri on Saturday night, joining his wife Michelle at a Springfield rally in a socially conservative corner of the state long dominated by the GOP.