T. LOUIS - The last presidential debate marked the beginning of a final sprint to Election Day for Al Gore and George W. Bush.
''From now on, it's 24/7/21,'' said Chris Lehane, the vice president's spokesman, alluding to the nonstop campaign schedule his boss plans to keep until Nov. 7.
For the Democratic nominee, the focus will be on sustaining the nation's booming economy, with the clear statement that ''prosperity itself is on the ballot,'' Lehane said as the candidates met for the third and final time at Washington University in St. Louis.
For Bush, the emphasis will be on ''reform,'' a word the Republican nominee will talk about in multiple contexts.
On one level, it's about changing the tone in Washington. On another, the Texas governor plans a strong emphasis on his plans. The campaign says that will be particularly effective in light of Gore's attacks on Bush's record in Texas, which the governor views as looking backward, not forward.
''We think this is a time when people want to know what you want to do, the feel of your administration,'' said a Bush adviser, Stuart Stevens.
At one point, highlighting his theme of maintaining prosperity, Gore told the audience: ''If you want somebody who believes we were better off eight years ago than we are now ...here is your man,'' gesturing toward Bush.
Beginning today, the debate moves from forums organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates to battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida. The target audience will not be the people who sat before the cardinal-and-blue debate sets in Boston, Winston-Salem, or St. Louis, but the diminishing column of undecided voters.
This week, Gore visits Iowa, New York, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, before heading west on Sunday, probably to California and the Pacific Northwest. Bush will visit Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and New Hampshire, with perhaps a western swing.
The focus, however, will be the states running from Pennsylvania through Ohio and Michigan to Missouri. Florida, with 25 electoral votes, the fourth most, will also see both candidates.
President Clinton is expected to highlight Gore's agenda, but he is not expected to join him. Instead, the vice president will make more appearances with his running mate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut.
''They're the best duo since Lewis and Clark,'' Lehane said. ''It's like when Bird and McHale were playing,'' he added, referring to the former Celtics tandem of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.
Bush will appear Friday with his Republican primary rival, US Senator John McCain of Arizona, in an effort to tap support from the voters who made McCain the most credible threat to the governor.
Today his campaign also launches a two-day women's tour, featuring Bush's wife, Laura; his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush; Lynne V. Cheney, wife of Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney; and Condoleezza Rice, the governor's foreign policy adviser. Audiences regularly ask Bush about his mother, and the campaign views her as a weapon.
On Sunday, the Massachusetts governor, Paul Cellucci, joins 28 other Republican governors in a swing for Bush that, for some, will last until next Wednesday.
''I think the key moment in the debate tonight was when Governor Bush said, `I can get it done,''' Cellucci said as he visited the post-debate ''Spin Alley'' in the media workroom. ''He will change the tone in Washington, D.C. I think the governors are great ambassadors to go around the country talking about that fact.''
