WAITER [OBAMA] SAYS TO THE REPUBLICAN ELEPHANT, MCCAIN

AND PALIN: 'ONE WHISKEY SOUR, ONE BITTER LEMON, ONE

HARD CHEESE SANDWICH … COMING UP!'

[The Telegraph, U.K. - click cartoon for larger version]

 

 

Le Figaro, France

While Waiting for Obama …Beware!

 

"Analysts in the United States and policy makers around the world expect to see the Black candidate enter the White House on January 20th. A revolution! But beware! Nothing is done until the Americans have voted."

 

Editorial by Pierre Rousselin

                                                

 

Translated By Sandrine Ageorges

 

November 1, 2008

 

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)

Never has an election campaign in the United States been so long, so expensive, and so blanketed by the media. Everything has been said about the unprecedented confrontation between the two non-standard candidates, the winner of which will lead America through one of the most difficult periods in its history.

 

Three days from the vote, Barack Obama is the favorite. The polls, which have never been so numerous, are all in agreement. Analysts in the United States and policy makers around the world expect to see the Black candidate enter the White House on January 20th. A revolution!

 

But beware! Nothing is done until the Americans have voted. And lest we forget that a presidential election in the United States, because of the Electoral College, comes down to fifty simultaneous consultations in each state of the Union. Which, if the election is tight, increases the uncertainty by tenfold.

 

Most of the country split into Democratic bastions (on the East and West coasts) and Republican bastions (in the middle), this presidential election, like its predecessors, will be decided in a handful of states where the outcome appears uncertain: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia …

 

In most of these swing states, Obama remains ahead in the polls. But sometimes only by a few points; and that's enough to maintain the suspense.

 

It is indeed possible to think that the 10 percent of undecided voters, who haven't yet yielded to nearly two years of media hype surrounding the personality of Obama, might lean predominantly toward the Republican side.

 

The bigger question is whether the opinion polls are telling the truth. This competition has no prior equivalent. How many Americans who would normally vote Democratic, when they enter the voting booth, will choose McCain because of Obama’s skin color? This “hidden racism,” which is hard for pollsters to assess because it remains unconfessed, can cause many surprises. The misadventure of Tom Bradley, the Black former mayor of Los Angeles who was mistakenly “elected” by the opinion polls for the governorship of California in 1982, haunts the Democrats.

 

[The Sunday Business Post, Ireland]

 

In contrast, it's not at all impossible that the trend is leading toward a spectacular tidal wave for Obama. The evolution of the electorate, with the increasing weight of young voters, Hispanics and Blacks, leads us to believe so; as does the outbreak of the financial crisis, which has provided the dominant theme for the end of the campaign and has served to discredit the outgoing administration.

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

Given the long-awaited victory of Democrats in Congress, it would be the beginning of a new era in the United-States, comparable to the triumph of Ronald Reagan against Jimmy Carter in 1980. But that year it was a shock: no one expected such a huge victory for the Republican candidate.

 

The end of the campaign was full of unexpected twists and turns. It may well end with a surprise. But which one?

 

CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH VERSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US November 1, 6:58pm]