Senator Barack Hussein Obama, who stands on the threshold of history, is taking no chances in the critical state of Ohio
WASHINGTON: Senator Barack Hussein Obama, who stands on the threshold of history, is taking no chances in the critical state of Ohio, where some polls have shown him taking a narrow lead over his rival, Republican John McCain, as the 2008 presidential election campaign reaches its climax.
Some political analysts are making the point that while the Illinois Democrat may be sitting pretty with the endorsement of more than 50 per cent of likely voters, the campaign cannot but be concerned at the tightening of the polls at the last minute.
According to Chuck Todd, an analyst with NBC News, Obama has a narrow 47 per cent to 44 per cent lead in Virginia; in Florida the lead has been consistent but small — 47 to 45; Obama has posted a five-point lead in Colorado; but in Ohio the tracking polls are showing McCain with a slight advantage, 47-45.
Ohio is critical for McCain as no Republican has won the presidency without winning Ohio. Obama took to the stage in Cleveland, Ohio, last evening and addressed his supporters.
Todd, on NBC’s Meet The Press Programme on Sunday, did not fail to mention Obama’s lead in Nevada; a dead-heat in Missouri; and a small edge for McCain in North Carolina.
“All of these polls, of course, could change depending on what is the percentage of turnout among young voters, among African-Americans, among older voters, et cetera,” Todd said.
But pollsters and pundits are not swaying Obama as he lashed out at the McCain track record, especially on the Arizona senator’s links with the Bush White House. “President Bush is sitting out the last few days before the election. But yesterday, Dick Cheney came out of his undisclosed location and hit the campaign trail. He said that he is, and I quote, ‘delighted to support John McCain’,” Obama said in an obvious dig.
“I’d like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn’t come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 per cent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington’s biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years,” the Illinois Democrat said.
“Ohio, we know better. After all, it was just a week ago that Senator McCain said that he and President Bush share a ‘common philosophy’. And we know that when it comes to foreign policy, John McCain and Dick Cheney share a common philosophy that thinks that empty bluster from Washington will fix all of our problems, and a war without end in Iraq is the way to defeat Osama bin Laden and the Qaeda terrorists who are in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Obama said.
“...We’ve tried it John McCain’s way. We’ve tried it George Bush and Dick Cheney’s way. Deep down, McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that ‘if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.’ That’s why I’m talking about the economy. That’s why he has spent these last weeks calling me every name in the book.
Because that’s how you play the game in Washington. When you can’t win on the strength of your ideas, you make a big election about small things,” Obama said in Colombus.
“... In two days, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope. In two days, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need,” he said.
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