Politics / BePolitics.com / 04 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Election Day is finally here and McCain/Palin are still in with a shout, says S T Shepherd at BePolitics...

November 4th. The winds of change will blow across the United States. Americans will make their way to polling booths from East to West, and the potentially crucial swing states in between. The outcome of the pending election for the next American President will alter the world no matter.

There are still numerous questions being asked - if elected will John McCain vary his stance on the economy, the troops and healthcare to convince that he differs from the soon to depart George W Bush? If elected will the Democratic Party provide the fresh direction their 'time for change' campaign promises? Questions yet to be answered. A debate still to be considered.

The Democratic Party is led by Senator Barack Obama. All the reputable polls in sight place him ahead of Republican leader Senator John McCain. Voting in an on-line poll is one thing - voting behind the curtain of a private polling booth is quite another. Only the registered voter placing a mark in the box of their choice will know the real truth. Admitting face to face your individual political preference can hold no relevance to how you actually cast your vote in privacy. This brings a more delicate question to the forefront. One which has come not so much travelling towards the glass ceiling, but hurtling in its direction - is America ready for a black President?

In what seems like the longest lead-up to an American election (the world waited alongside the Democratic Party whilst Clinton and Obama traded jibes and the super-delegates pondered sides), the heat of this race has remained ferocious. It is one of the biggest US Presidential election campaigns in history. 21 months and 1.9 billion pounds later here we are - one day from D-day.

When campaigning began all we really heard were the sounds of Hillary Rodham Clinton chanting towards the White House. It seemed inevitable that the former first lady would become the Democratic nominee for President. The name Barack Obama was just not on the radar of anyone outside Washington or his political state of Illinois. As the Obama train developed steam, suddenly, as if completely unaware, the world remembered Hillary was married to Bill and that perhaps her fresh, new direction would be tainted by politics of the past. The name Clinton was the 90s; had we been there, done that?

Obama was modern and exciting - wet behind the ears according to the Republicans, but new and shiny to everyone else outside the Clinton camp. Could he be the face of the future? Republican critics fear that the Illinois Senator is lacking in the experience that the White House has to have - some going as far to call him a crazed left wing socialist completely out of his depth.

The Obama campaign has garnered a record breaking amount of donations to help his cause, and alongside the cover of Time Magazine and the countless celebrities in the Barack fan club, we are encouraged to believe that Obama is a modern-day hero. The 'saviour' of the free world, finally someone to rescue us from the 'nightmare' that was George Dubya. I must admit that the excitement surrounding Obama's potential election as the first African-American President is contagious (Obama's mother Ann Dunham was from Kansas and his father, Barack Obama Senior, is Kenyan by birth).

It would seem that the attraction to Obama does not just lie within the Democratic Party in the US. According to reliable sources, not within the Obama camp, the Senator has support from several high profile Republicans. Susan Eisenhower is a lifelong Republican and the granddaughter of Dwight D Eisenhower. In February of this year she published a feature article in the Washington Post detailing why she is voting for Barack Obama and encouraging other Republicans to do the same. Susan Eisenhower suggests that Obama will be the man to lead America back to the world leader and respected nation she considers to be a notion of the past.

Obama is the candidate of all people, all parties and all races, encourages the staunch Republican. Many have argued that Susan Eisenhower is far from a staunch and lifelong Republican if she is in this election voting for a Democrat; yet she argues that voters should not be blinded by partisan politics forever linking you to party loyalty. If you see a candidate more equipped for the job than the one selected for your own party, then vote in favour of the best man for the job. Whether members of the electorate follow the path of Susan Eisenhower will remain to be seen.

Digital Channel More4 has devoted hours of its televised programming to the US Election, covering everything from the many scheduled Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominee debates, to individual documentaries on the feel of what is to come across America. The reason I chose to write on this genre was because several Americans interviewed on one particular documentary (and I must stress that these people were from varied states and backgrounds) spoke of their concern of America being led by an African-American. The countless supporters of Obama would no doubt dismiss these suggestions as ignorance and intelligence - or perhaps lack of it - being trapped in the past. However, as I viewed these people speaking they detailed with genuine concern the idea that a large percentage of Americans were not prepared for an African-American to inhabit the oval office.

If America is the leader of the free world that it has always professed to be, then can these voters not voice the legitimate concerns they have? In regards to the non-radical opinions, can they be considered a genuine observation about a nation that houses many Americans with extremely radical views on how they see their country being led?

Many consider Obama to be the beacon of hope when it comes to restoring America in the hearts of the rest of the world. America is far from the glory nation many Americans still consider it to be. As a nation the US is extremely unpopular abroad and the term American is in many ways a dirty word which has caused the bearers of that nationality to feel unsafe.

With the election for the 44th American President now upon us, political commentators are predicting the biggest voting turnout in over one hundred years. Obama is placed six or seven points ahead of McCain in the latest average polls, yet I predict that the White House is still up for grabs. I personally would not rule out the McCain/Palin ticket just yet - and neither would Obama it seems, who just yesterday warned Democratic supporters not to side with complacency. It seems even the favourite to become the next leader of the free world is unsure on which side the voter's pen will fall.

Latest betting:
Barack Obama [1.07]
John McCain [13.5]

Barack Obama is favourite in all key swing states - Missouri, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Click here to see all of Betfair's key markets for election night.

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