The White House race is not over yet

There'll be plenty of bleary eyes in the office tomorrow. Tonight billions of anxious people around the world will be glued to their televisions monitoring the results of the American elections.

With Barack Obama firmly leading in the polls, many believe it's a done deal but as we discovered in 2000 and again in 2004 it isn't over until the not so fat ladies and gentlemen of CNN, Fox News and NBC sing out. This ballot is unlike any other. It affects not only Americans but all of us no matter where we are.

The world needs a strong and decisive US president who can haul us out of the current economic crisis, cement corrosive divisions, and regain confidence in America as a global force for good. If the world and its wife had a vote Obama would be the man.

However, cynic that I am, I won't be uncorking the bubbly just yet even though according to an AP-Yahoo News poll Obama leads McCain by eight per cent. The 2000 Florida debacle and the 2004 electronic voting machines scandal are still too fresh in my mind. Plus, at the time of writing, the McCain camp is still digging the dirt to come up with a last minute something, anything, to drag its opponent down.

There's even been a recent failed attempt by McCain supporters to prove the Democratic contender wasn't born in Hawaii in a challenge to his eligibility to be president. This was quashed by state officials, who confirmed that they have seen Obama's birth certificate and have no doubt as to its authenticity. And now the muckrakers have dredged up information about his Auntie Zeituni, Obama's Kenyan father's half-sister, saying she is staying in the US illegally.

"Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws should be followed," was the response from an Obama campaign spokeswoman. This shouldn't even be an issue. Since when are any of us responsible for the crimes and misdemeanours of our relatives, illegal or otherwise?

Lost cause

Governor of California and former bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has resorted to criticising Obama's "skinny legs" and "scrawny arms" in an attempt to bolster the 71-year-old Republican runner. Although he must surely realise McCain's bid is virtually a lost cause in the Golden State.

Like their earlier claims that Obama once studied in an Indonesian "madrassa", hobnobbed with a domestic terrorist, slavishly supported the anti-American diatribes of his former pastor, and secretly admires Karl Marx, these new slurs smack of desperation.

Try as they might, Obama's detractors have been unable to make anything stick and it's unlikely they'll manage to change voters' minds. Personally, I'm far more concerned about the race factor. There are a lot of closet racists out there, who may promise one thing to pollsters and do the opposite when it's time to cast their ballots.

Just the other day I was shocked when a friend who has displayed no signs of racism in all the years I've known him confided that he wasn't comfortable with the idea of a black American president.

This is a man who is well-travelled, has friends of every hue and religion and has spent much of his life living abroad. If he feels this way I wonder how many others out there instinctively feel as he does.

Unfortunately, there is a precedent for such a surprise switch on the part of American voters. It's called the "Bradley effect" after a former African-American Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley, who 1982 polls predicted was a sure cert to become the Governor of California.

They showed him ahead by double digits. However, on the day, incredibly, he lost to a Republican even though exit polls stated he had won by a wide margin. Nobody knows what happened for sure but many analysts believe some voters were anxious not to portray themselves as racists and simply lied.

When former US Secretary of State Colin Powell was mulling over throwing his hat into the presidential ring in 1996, he was warned that the Bradley effect could take its toll.

This may come back to bite me but here's my prediction for what it's worth. Tonight's race will be neck-and-neck with Obama reaching the post by a head. Problem is what will we do for laughs once the pit bull with lipstick is back in the wilderness where she belongs?

Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com

I think if Ms Linda wants to spend time reporting on this then she should also spend time considering the facts at hand. What the Director in Hawaii released, by way of a carefully carved out statement, proved nothing except that there is a certificate proving he was born. The Director does not mention where. In this assumption, not only is she exercising a gross irresponsibility as to journalistic integrity and reporting the facts, but the website that the Obama campaign relied on to help lend credence to their claim and which made the same assumption, had just been debunked as a sham.
Hank Rand
Ohio,US
Posted: November 04, 2008, 02:51

During Tom Bradley's era, the news on television and radio were broadcasting that the well-loved Mayor was ahead of his opponents. Hearing this, the African American community stayed home thinking Bradley would win as he was leading. This time, the black and Latino communities are well awake. They are exercising their right to vote ahead of Election Day.
Aljalila Mohammad
,UAE
Posted: November 04, 2008, 02:33