American Election Down To The Wire Even In The Last Hours
Emerging from the fog of more than $6 billion in election expenditures that produced a shrill of endless campaign advertising, American vot...
http://www.africaeagle.com/2012/11/american-election-down-to-wire-even-in.html
Emerging from the fog of more than $6 billion in election expenditures that produced a shrill of endless campaign advertising, American voters seized control of their national election Tuesday as they went to the polls in record numbers to choose the direction their country will take over the next four years.
Allegations of voter manipulation and suppression flowed from both sides soon after voting opened. In Ohio, a judge threw out a Democrat lawsuit charging that new software used in electronic voting machines could secretly alter ballots. In Pennsylvania, Republicans were reported to be harassing voters for photo identification, which is not required.
Long lineups greeted voters in most battleground states, particularly in Florida where the latest polls show U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have wrestled each other to a tie.
Most states reported a huge turnout, but said overall the voting was orderly.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney continued to campaign up to the last minute with unscheduled stops in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio where polls show Obama holds a slim lead.
It is unusual for a candidate to hold campaign rallies on election day for fear of disrupting workers’ efforts to get people to the polls. Democrats said Romney’s last-ditch efforts to lure voters were acts of desperation on the part of a candidate who is behind in the polls in seven of the nine swing states.
U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, in an apparent effort to counter the Romney Ohio rally, made an unscheduled stop in Cleveland where Obama has to score big to win the state.
Obama himself spent the day giving radio interviews and will remain in Chicago Tuesday evening. Romney will be in Boston.
All eyes are on Virginia, where voting closes at 7 p.m. Virginia likely will be the first swing state to report results. Polls indicate a virtual tie. An Obama victory in Virginia could almost end of Romney’s chances of reaching the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House.
The first results in the election came from the tiny mountain hamlet of Dixville Notch, N. H., close to the Quebec Border. For the first time in history, the village’s 10 voters split down the middle with five votes for Obama and five for Romney.
Expectations that that Dixville could be a bellwether, however, were quickly put to rest by the results at Hart’s Location, N. H., where the town cast 23 votes for Obama and nine for Romney.
The almost universal belief is that this high-stakes election will result in a knife-edge finish that may not be decided for several weeks, given the challenges that inevitably will follow a close vote.
Certainly the deep divide evident in the policies of the two candidates mirrors a nation whose conservative and liberal factions are constantly at war dividing the nation down the middle.
This election appears to have brought this historic battle to a head, particularly as the country’s first black president seeks a second term in office. But it may also mark the end of this great divide.
The rise of the black and Latino communities as solid Democratic voting blocs together with the majority of women who lean Democrat does not bode well for the future of the Republicans, who continue to move deeper towards the far right with each new election. Commentators claim that if the Republicans continue to lose the immigrant vote, Texas with its growing Latino population, will turn into a swing state.
Romney’s promise to lower taxes for the rich even when they are at almost record lows has not found solid support among these voters who see a widening gap between rich and everybody else. His opposition to environment regulations and his promise to “get rid of” public healthcare, parental care and privatize social security as a way to reduce the deficit appears to find support primarily among white males.
Democrats on the other hand have an uphill battle fighting the socialist label and the charge that they are leading America to within an inch of the apocalypse with their promise to increase taxes on the rich, cement the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), strengthen economic stimulus programs and the government’s involvement in education and retraining of American workers.
The abortion issue also played a prominent role in this election. Romney’s policy of ending freedom of choice in all abortion cases including rape further defined the huge ideological gap dividing the two sides.
“This is an election about big issues,” Republican Haley Barbour, a former Mississippi governor and national Party leader, told local correspondent.
For this reason, this election has been billed as a watershed in American history, a crossroads that poses a choice that could affect the fundamental character of this country for generations to come.
“This is an attempt to deny the right to vote to minorities and students,” Democrat political consultant Bob Shrum said. “I don’t know when we are going to deal with this issue, maybe until we have a real crisis.”
The election marks the last campaign of Obama’s political career and Monday night he held his last rally in Iowa, the battleground state where he first announced his candidacy for president in 2006 and promised Americans a kinder, more liberal country – a new America.
His main battle has been not so much with Romney but with the more than eight per cent unemployment rate and that fact that many of his supporters believe he has failed to deliver on his promise to make American a more egalitarian state.
Studies show that as America has risen slowly from the 2008 economic collapse, most of the wealth has again trickled up to the one-percent, abandoning middle class Americans in their struggle to stay afloat.
Obama himself has probably been kept afloat by Romney and his far-right policies. It’s a case of better the devil you know.
A loss in this election probably means that Romney is also staring at the end of his political career. A multi-millionaire, he has spent the last five years, 10 months and three days campaigning for the second time for the U.S. presidency.
His struggle has been with his credibility both within his own split-personality party and with Americans as a whole. Despite his deep commitment to the Mormon religion, he is often characterized as a man without any core beliefs, someone whose pitches micro-target the particular group he is addressing like the hedge fund salesman he used to be.
This election campaign ended where it began – tied. Last spring the polls indicated that Romney was running neck-and-neck with Obama. After the party conventions in August Obama pulled ahead and at one point looked like this election was going to a cake walk.
But then he made the cardinal error of underestimating his rival. He was unprepared for the first debate. He called rehearsals “a drag” and was bored. Romney, who had just survived a year of 25 primary debates, took him to the cleaners. A stunned Obama was struck speechless as Romney repositioned himself as the champion of the middle class and redefined “what real change is” – getting rid of Barack Obama and his “failed” economic policies.
Suddenly, Romney’s amazing flip-flopping abilities coupled with his gushing platitudes became his greatest strength. His once trackless campaign gained ground and his fortunes rose in the polls. Almost forgotten was his dismissal of 47 per cent of Americans as parasites. The game was on.
This election gave new importance to the presidential debates, each of which was watched by more than 60 million Americans. It was their only chance to see the two candidates face off on the major issues and became the most crucial trend points of the campaign.
Obama gradually corrected his ship. There was a new seriousness to his words. Four years was not enough to undo the hand that he was dealt, he said. He had stopped the war in Iraq, set the stage to pull out of Afghanistan, killed America’s arch enemy bin Laden, and enacted a public healthcare system and equal pay for women. Give me four more years to finish the job, he begged.
With the help of running mate Joe Biden and surrogate Bill Clinton, plus good performances at the subsequent debates, Obama evened the match.
Long lineups greeted voters in most battleground states, particularly in Florida where the latest polls show U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have wrestled each other to a tie.
Most states reported a huge turnout, but said overall the voting was orderly.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney continued to campaign up to the last minute with unscheduled stops in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio where polls show Obama holds a slim lead.
It is unusual for a candidate to hold campaign rallies on election day for fear of disrupting workers’ efforts to get people to the polls. Democrats said Romney’s last-ditch efforts to lure voters were acts of desperation on the part of a candidate who is behind in the polls in seven of the nine swing states.
U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, in an apparent effort to counter the Romney Ohio rally, made an unscheduled stop in Cleveland where Obama has to score big to win the state.
Obama himself spent the day giving radio interviews and will remain in Chicago Tuesday evening. Romney will be in Boston.
All eyes are on Virginia, where voting closes at 7 p.m. Virginia likely will be the first swing state to report results. Polls indicate a virtual tie. An Obama victory in Virginia could almost end of Romney’s chances of reaching the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House.
The first results in the election came from the tiny mountain hamlet of Dixville Notch, N. H., close to the Quebec Border. For the first time in history, the village’s 10 voters split down the middle with five votes for Obama and five for Romney.
Expectations that that Dixville could be a bellwether, however, were quickly put to rest by the results at Hart’s Location, N. H., where the town cast 23 votes for Obama and nine for Romney.
The almost universal belief is that this high-stakes election will result in a knife-edge finish that may not be decided for several weeks, given the challenges that inevitably will follow a close vote.
Certainly the deep divide evident in the policies of the two candidates mirrors a nation whose conservative and liberal factions are constantly at war dividing the nation down the middle.
This election appears to have brought this historic battle to a head, particularly as the country’s first black president seeks a second term in office. But it may also mark the end of this great divide.
The rise of the black and Latino communities as solid Democratic voting blocs together with the majority of women who lean Democrat does not bode well for the future of the Republicans, who continue to move deeper towards the far right with each new election. Commentators claim that if the Republicans continue to lose the immigrant vote, Texas with its growing Latino population, will turn into a swing state.
Romney’s promise to lower taxes for the rich even when they are at almost record lows has not found solid support among these voters who see a widening gap between rich and everybody else. His opposition to environment regulations and his promise to “get rid of” public healthcare, parental care and privatize social security as a way to reduce the deficit appears to find support primarily among white males.
Democrats on the other hand have an uphill battle fighting the socialist label and the charge that they are leading America to within an inch of the apocalypse with their promise to increase taxes on the rich, cement the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), strengthen economic stimulus programs and the government’s involvement in education and retraining of American workers.
The abortion issue also played a prominent role in this election. Romney’s policy of ending freedom of choice in all abortion cases including rape further defined the huge ideological gap dividing the two sides.
“This is an election about big issues,” Republican Haley Barbour, a former Mississippi governor and national Party leader, told local correspondent.
For this reason, this election has been billed as a watershed in American history, a crossroads that poses a choice that could affect the fundamental character of this country for generations to come.
“This is an attempt to deny the right to vote to minorities and students,” Democrat political consultant Bob Shrum said. “I don’t know when we are going to deal with this issue, maybe until we have a real crisis.”
The election marks the last campaign of Obama’s political career and Monday night he held his last rally in Iowa, the battleground state where he first announced his candidacy for president in 2006 and promised Americans a kinder, more liberal country – a new America.
His main battle has been not so much with Romney but with the more than eight per cent unemployment rate and that fact that many of his supporters believe he has failed to deliver on his promise to make American a more egalitarian state.
Studies show that as America has risen slowly from the 2008 economic collapse, most of the wealth has again trickled up to the one-percent, abandoning middle class Americans in their struggle to stay afloat.
Obama himself has probably been kept afloat by Romney and his far-right policies. It’s a case of better the devil you know.
A loss in this election probably means that Romney is also staring at the end of his political career. A multi-millionaire, he has spent the last five years, 10 months and three days campaigning for the second time for the U.S. presidency.
His struggle has been with his credibility both within his own split-personality party and with Americans as a whole. Despite his deep commitment to the Mormon religion, he is often characterized as a man without any core beliefs, someone whose pitches micro-target the particular group he is addressing like the hedge fund salesman he used to be.
This election campaign ended where it began – tied. Last spring the polls indicated that Romney was running neck-and-neck with Obama. After the party conventions in August Obama pulled ahead and at one point looked like this election was going to a cake walk.
But then he made the cardinal error of underestimating his rival. He was unprepared for the first debate. He called rehearsals “a drag” and was bored. Romney, who had just survived a year of 25 primary debates, took him to the cleaners. A stunned Obama was struck speechless as Romney repositioned himself as the champion of the middle class and redefined “what real change is” – getting rid of Barack Obama and his “failed” economic policies.
Suddenly, Romney’s amazing flip-flopping abilities coupled with his gushing platitudes became his greatest strength. His once trackless campaign gained ground and his fortunes rose in the polls. Almost forgotten was his dismissal of 47 per cent of Americans as parasites. The game was on.
This election gave new importance to the presidential debates, each of which was watched by more than 60 million Americans. It was their only chance to see the two candidates face off on the major issues and became the most crucial trend points of the campaign.
Obama gradually corrected his ship. There was a new seriousness to his words. Four years was not enough to undo the hand that he was dealt, he said. He had stopped the war in Iraq, set the stage to pull out of Afghanistan, killed America’s arch enemy bin Laden, and enacted a public healthcare system and equal pay for women. Give me four more years to finish the job, he begged.
With the help of running mate Joe Biden and surrogate Bill Clinton, plus good performances at the subsequent debates, Obama evened the match.
