(CNN) -- Sen. Joe Biden teamed up with the Clintons on Sunday for a rally in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton explained to voters why they think Barack Obama's Democratic ticket is the best choice for middle-class families.

"You know because Joe Biden is from here that he understands middle-class economics with middle-class values," the former president said.

Clinton told voters that Biden understands their lives, and that out of all of the people in Congress, he is one of the members who knows "the most about the economic, political and security challenges of America." Watch Clinton address the crowd »

After introducing his wife, Bill Clinton headed to Virginia, where he will continue campaigning for the Democratic ticket.

Hillary Clinton, who competed with Obama in the protracted primary season, is campaigning for her former rival in a two-day swing through Pennsylvania. She also has family roots in Scranton. iReport.com: Share your view of the campaign trail

Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary in April, beating Obama 55 to 45 percent.

The New York senator blasted the Republicans as she made her case for Obama and Biden.

"To John McCain and George Bush, the middle class isn't fundamental; it's ornamental. They don't understand that we are at the core of whether this country goes up or down," she said. Watch Sen. Clinton speak at the rally »

"Sending the Republicans to solve this economic crisis is like sending the bull to clean up the china closet. They broke it and we're not buying it anymore," she said. "Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be leaders who will lead us out of this economic crisis."

Biden rallied the crowd as he pounded the podium and called for voters to "get up."

"I have never seen as many Americans knocked down as I have in the last past eight years. It's time to ... get up," he said. "So get up Pennsylvania, get up Scranton, get up deliver and this election for Barack Obama."

On the Republican side, John McCain staged an impromptu pep rally at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and vowed to defeat Barack Obama in the final presidential debate this week.

"After I whip his you-know-what in this debate, we're going to be going out 24/7" in battleground states, McCain said.

His running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, campaigned in St. Clairsville, Ohio, on Sunday.

"All across America, I know that there's a lot of anger right now," Palin said. "There's anger about the insider dealing of lobbyists. And anger at the greed of Wall Street. And anger about the arrogance of the Washington elite."

"We need serious reforms to change Washington. John McCain is going to turn your anger into action," Palin said.

New polls suggest McCain is gaining slightly on Obama in Ohio. Obama leads by 3 percentage points (49 to 46 percent), according to CNN's most recent Ohio poll of polls -- down 1 percentage point from his lead in the previous poll of polls for the state.

Five percent of the state's voters are undecided, according to the polls.

The network's last Ohio poll of polls, released October 9, showed Obama leading McCain by 4 points, 50 to 46 percent. In the September 21 poll of polls, Obama led McCain by a single point, 47 to 46 percent.

McCain and Obama both took time off the campaign trail Sunday to prepare for their final presidential debate on Wednesday.

McCain worked on his preps in the Washington area, acknowledging to supporters in Arlington that his campaign is "a couple points down" in national polls.

In CNN's national poll of polls, Obama was leading McCain by 8 points on Sunday.

"But we're right in this game. The economy has hurt us a little bit in the last week or two, but in the last few days we've seen it come back up because they want experience, and they want knowledge and they want vision. And we'll give that to America," he said. "And I know that we're going to win this race."

Obama on Sunday was at home in Chicago, Illinois. Later in the day, he traveled to Ohio to get ready for the debate, and made some door-to-door visits with prospective voters near Toledo, Ohio.

The final presidential debate takes place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

The debate follows days of heated rhetoric on the campaign trail. Watch more on the angry words on the campaign trail »

Both sides have played the association game, with McCain's campaign emphasizing Obama's political relationship with Bill Ayers, a founding member of the radical Weather Underground, and the Obama campaign highlighting McCain's role in the Keating Five scandal.

Civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis sparked controversy on Saturday when he compared the feeling at recent Republican rallies to those of segregationist George Wallace.

The McCain campaign called his remarks a "brazen and baseless attack," and called on Obama to repudiate the comments.

Lewis later said he did not compare McCain and Palin to Wallace, but was trying to remind "Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior."

Obama said he appreciates McCain's recent efforts to tone down the rhetoric at some of his rallies. Read Time's view from the ground

The Ohio poll of polls consists of four surveys: Ohio Newspaper Poll/University of Cincinnati (October 4-8), ARG (October 4-7), CNN/Time/ORC (October 3-6) and ABC/Washington Post (October 3-5). The poll of polls does not have a sampling error.

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