Americans choose on Tuesday between Barack Obama and John McCain in an epochal election that could enshrine their first black president, herald a new era of Democratic dominance and transform United States foreign policy.
History’s longest, most costly campaign ends with Democrat Obama leading national and battleground polls, and his Republican foe seeking a shock comeback.
After eight years of President George Bush, Democrats are seeking to expand majorities in Congress and to take a stranglehold on power for the first time since the early 1990s.
In the eye of the worst financial storm since the 1930s and with US troops waging two foreign wars, both Obama and McCain have vowed to restore the frayed self-confidence of the world’s lone superpower.
“We can choose hope over fear, unity over division; the promise of change over the power of the status quo,” said Obama (47), who’s election would transfer the leadership baton to a new generation.
“If you give me your vote on Tuesday, we won’t just win this election — together, we will change this country and change the world,” the Democrat told Americans in a radio address on Saturday.
Senator Obama, who has electrifying rhetorical skills, would become the first African-American president, after a stunning rise to prominence.
In a country still riven by racial divides, his election would bring Martin Luther King’s dream of equality a step closer.
He promises to alleviate the economic pinch for the middle class with “a new politics for a new time”.
He vows to repair ties with US allies, to open talks with US foes like Iran and Cuba, bring troops home from Iraq and refocus on the Afghan war.
McCain, leveraging his Vietnam War heroism and decades of experience in Washington, would be the oldest president, at 72, inaugurated for a first term.
He has lambasted Obama for “socialist” tax policies, and like the Democrat’s vanquished primary foe, Hillary Clinton, argues his rival is unprepared for an age of global turmoil.
“We are called to spread liberty, to assure justice, to be the makers of peace and this is the great work I will carry on as your president and commander-in-chief,” Senator McCain said.
“To do all of this, my fellow Americans, I need your help, I need your confidence and I am asking for your vote.”
McCain, though, has lambasted Bush policies on climate change and savaged the early conduct of the Iraq War.
He parried Obama’s crusade for change by running as a maverick — but the Democrat seems to have saddled him with Bush’s unpopular legacy.
McCain’s pick of untested Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate was also controversial and prompted Obama to label him as erratic.
‘Realignment’
With polls showing 90% of voters believe America is on the wrong track, Obama should be a lock for victory — but whether his race or lack of experience could spark a surprise win for McCain is unclear.
An Obama win and big Democratic gains in Congress would add up to a political earthquake.
“From a traditional political-scientific perspective it sure is shaping up to be a realignment. A dramatic change in the personnel of government, the partisan disposition of voters, the direction of public policy,” said Dan Shea, of Allegheny College, Pennsylvania.
“We get these realignments every 35 years, it sure does seem to be this way.”
Polls make Obama the hot favourite, though McCain aides dispute the numbers and insist he can still win.
A Gallup tracking poll had Obama up 10% among likely voters on Saturday, with Rasmussen giving him a five-point lead.
Obama leads in a string of normally Republican states, including Iowa and Virginia — which has not gone Democratic since 1964 — and he has a huge grassroots machine to drive out the vote.
In an record-breaking election where top candidates have raised over a billion dollars, Obama has outspent McCain three-to-one on television ads and each candidate has carved new internet frontiers.
The Democrat has an easier path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House and may be building an advantage as millions of Americans vote early.
States won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004 plus Iowa and western swing states of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada would get the job done.
Obama hopes to pick off big prizes like Florida or Ohio and long shots in Indiana and North Carolina.
McCain has no margin for error: a loss in Virginia would likely torpedo his hopes and he still needs to turn a big Democratic state, such as Pennsylvania.
A third of the Senate’s 100 seats are up for grabs, though Democrats may fall short of the 60-vote threshold needed to thwart Republican obstruction tactics.
Every seat is up in the House of Representatives and Democrats hope to pad their majority by 25 seats or more. — AFP