If Barack Obama wins the American presidential election in nine days’ time, it
will be because he has beaten the Republicans at their own game, according
to Karl Rove, the noted “architect” of President George W Bush’s two
victories.
The Democrats have copied Rove’s formidable tactics and ground operation,
pumping out a disciplined message, assembling a broad-based coalition which
includes young first-time voters and African-Americans, and drowning their
Republican opponents with money.
“I’ve got to tell you, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” Rove said
in an interview. “I can say, I’m deeply flattered.”
Rove recalled how Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, outlined their
electoral strategy at the Democratic convention in August: “He explicitly
said we have deliberately copied the army of persuasion of the Republicans.”
The results can be seen in the long queues for early voting in western and
southern states and a series of national polls pointing to the emphatic
election of America’s first black president. They could herald the dawn of
“Obamaland” – Democratic control of the White House, the Senate and House of
Representatives – offering the Illinois senator the chance to shape the
nation for a generation.
Democrats are daring to dream of a “liberal super-majority” not seen since the
eras of Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal in the 1930s, and Lyndon B
Johnson in the 1960s, who set out to transform education, welfare and civil
rights under the rubric of the Great Society.
If the Democrats can win an extra nine Senate seats – still a long shot, Rove
believes – they will have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority and will be
able to pass any legislation they like. “I feel like we got a righteous wind
at our backs,” Obama said in Virginia last week.
Several well-known Republican senators, such as Elizabeth Dole in North
Carolina, are under threat. The greater the bloodbath, the more leftwingers
such as Al Franken, a comedian and radio host who is running for the Senate
in Minnesota, may be elected.
“If the US really is entering a period of unchecked leftwing ascendancy,
Americans at least ought to understand what they will be getting,” The Wall
Street Journal commented. It listed universal healthcare, greater regulation
of business and industry, the restoration of union power and substantially
higher taxes as likely consequences.
While the Democrats cannot quite believe their luck, the “precriminations”
among Republicans are already underway, with accusations flying inside John
McCain’s campaign about the wisdom of choosing the charismatic but flawed
Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate as well as the crippling
lack of a coherent message, organisation and funds. Obama spent $82m on
advertising in the first two weeks of October, crushing McCain in some areas
by seven to one.
“The first step if the party loses is to say the candidate has let us down.
The second step is to say the people have let us down, and only slowly do
you wake up to the idea that maybe ‘we’ let them down,” said David Frum, a
former White House official under George W Bush, who believes the party is
suffering from an ideas deficit. “Emotions are running high and we need an
attitude of amnesty and oblivion to anything people are saying in the last
weeks of the election.”
Battle lines are being drawn ahead of a possible Republican rout. Rush
Limbaugh, the conservative talk-show host, said furiously last week: “There
are a bunch of people off our reservation in the conservative media.”
Casting Frum and other respected conservative pundits into the political
wilderness for finding fault with Palin, he added: “I don’t know to what
extent they were ever really on our side, to tell you the truth.”
The revelation that the Republican National Committee spent about $150,000
(£94,000) on Palin’s designer wardrobe, $36,000 on her make-up artist and
$19,000 on her hairdresser has detracted from the Alaska governor’s folksy,
moose-hunting image. Her standing among independent women voters, a key
target group, has declined by 24 points since the Republican convention in
early September, according to a poll in The Washington Post.
On the road, however, she continues to hold McCain’s ramshackle campaign
together, drawing enthusiastic crowds to rallies and galvanising voters who
would like to see her run for president in 2012 if the Arizon a senator is
defeated.
Rove believes Palin, 44, remains “an enormous plus” for the party. “She has
been a much bigger help than a hindrance,” he said. However, he believes she
will need to raise her game if she wants to be a future leader of the party.
“There will be a different standard for her,” he said. “When you’re fresh and
new, people make allowances for you. If you’re a first-time candidate, you
are not expected to know the name of South Ossetia or Abkhazia. When you
come back on the stage, you’re expected to have a higher degree of
sophistication, knowledge and ability.”
A number of Obamacons – Republicans for Obama – have been lining up behind the
Democrat alongside Colin Powell, the former secretary of state and chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, since he criticised McCain’s judgement and
selection of Palin last weekend.
As if to confirm Obama’s charge of recklessness, McCain and his running mate
both called to offer sympathy last week to Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old
student campaign volunteer, after she claimed to have been mugged by a
crazed Obama supporter, who carved B into her cheek. She turned out to be a
fantasist who had cut herself.
The cool and collected Rove is not ready to read McCain’s last rites yet,
pointing to a poll last week by AP showing Obama, 47, just one point ahead.
“I’m one of these people who really dreads in advance of the election
proclaiming with clarity and conviction that we know how it is going to turn
out,” he said.
He believes McCain, 72, can confound his critics and emerge the victor if he
hammers Obama on the threat of higher taxes and national security, two areas
of traditional weakness for Democrats. “Wanting to raise taxes – anyone’s
taxes – in a slowdown is a warning sign of a misguided economic philosophy,”
Rove commented recently.
McCain took up the theme in Denver, Colorado on Friday, warning that “the
answer to a slowing economy is not higher taxes, but that is exactly what is
going to happen if the Democrats have total control of Washington”. He has
one last week of campaigning to press the point home.
The electoral map on Rove’s own influential website shows pivotal states such
as Ohio, Virginia and Colorado, which voted for Bush in 2004, tumbling to
Obama. According to his projection, if the election were held tomorrow, the
Illinois senator would win 306 electoral college votes to McCain’s 171, with
61 too close to call. A RealClear Politics polling average showed Obama
leading McCain by 50% to 42% this weekend.
Could Rove’s dream of a permanent Republican majority give way to a sweeping
Democratic victory? With more than 30 states voting early, Obama’s
get-out-the-vote operation is already flexing its muscles. Nearly a million
people have cast their votes in Georgia and more than 600,000 in Florida. It
could be a sign ofa coming “electoral tsunami” for Obama, according to Rove
– or merely proof that reliable voters have cast their ballots early.
In North Carolina, formerly a solidly Republican state, 210,000
African-Americans registered as Democrats have already voted, compared witha
total of 174,000 registered Republicans of all races. Blacks have made up
31% of early voters so far, even though they form 21% of the population.
A Republican campaign official told ABC News: “It’s a whole different game . .
. it’s a new paradigm . . . it’s scary.”
Some Democrats have gleefully proclaimed “the death of Rovian politics” after
the attacks on Obama’s radical associations, such as his relationship with
William Ayers, the former leader of the terrorist group the Weather
Underground, failed to take hold. But they have mistaken the enduring nature
of Rove’s influence.
The “architect” believes, on the contrary, that “this campaign is a
confirmation on both sides of the best elements of Rovian politics”.
It is a game the Democrats have so far been playing more artfully than the
Republicans. McCain wrapped up his party’s nomination in March, but waited
until the summer to turn the fire on his opponent with a “celebrity” ad
comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
Rove believes the McCain campaign should have defined the Democrat’s
weaknesses sooner. “We know people have a tendency to discard things they
are hearing at the end of a campaign,” he said. “If you want to establish an
argument, it is important to make it in plenty of time so that people can
judge whether it is correct.” America still tilts to the right, he added,
citing as evidence Obama’s carefully calibrated conservative message.
“This year we’ve got a Democratic candidate whose principal campaign ad is,
‘I’m going to provide a tax cut for 95% of Americans.’
“There is a particularly vicious ad that is now running everywhere saying that
McCain wants to raise taxes on your health benefit – it’s not exactly the
most liberal of themes,” he observed.
Contrary to legend, the winning coalition for Bush in 2004 relied on far more
than simply turning out the Republican party base.
“We got 48% of women, 44% of Latinos, 25% of Jews, a majority of Catholics and
38% of union households,” Rove recalled.
When it was put to him that his campaign was broader than McCain’s, he
replied: “That’s correct.”
Despite McCain’s long-established reputation among independents and “security
moms” and his liberal record on immigration, he has turned off Bush’s wider
constituency over the course of the campaign.
The shift in the Hispanic vote towards the Democrats could be particularly
significant if it leads to an Obama victory in Colorado, New Mexico and
Nevada.
The threat of losing the desert and mountain states has left McCain so short
of routes to victory that his hopes now largely rest on winning
Pennsylvania, where white, blue-collar voters proved resistant to Obama’s
charms in the primary against Hillary Clinton.
Most polls give Obama a sizeable double-digit lead in the state, but Ed
Rendell, the Pennsylvania governor, declared last week he was “nervous”
after seeing internal polls showing McCain just two points behind.
Obama will be heading to Pittsburgh tomorrow, and Rendell has asked him to
come back with Bill and Hillary Clinton before the election is over. The
Democrats have 80 campaign offices in the state, compared with just over 50
for the Republicans.
Palin travelled last week to western Pennsylvania – an area described with
unusual frankness as “redneck” and “racist” by a Democratic congressman – to
rally the antiObama forces. In Beaver, a former Republican stronghold
surrounded by declining steel towns, she said to cheers: “We’re gonna win
this state, I guarantee it.”
Bill Eggert, 54, a car dealer whose sales have slumped this month, was
sceptical. But he said fear of Obamaland could put off voters. “I believe
socialism is at our back door. They’re going to bring higher taxes,
socialised medicine and a socialised energy policy. These are things that
could tip us into a Great Depression,” Eggert said.
“It’s tough enough that we’ve already got the burbling idiots in Congress
spending our money. If they control the White House as well, where’s the
balance going to be?”
The next morning, Palin gave her first policy speech of the campaign on extra
help for special-needs children. Gina Mannion, 34, the mother of a
two-year-old child with Down’s syndrome, echoed his fears. “I would hate to
see socialist healthcare,” she said. “My daughter had to have surgery the
day after she was born and heart surgery four months later. I don’t think
she would be here today because she wouldn’t be high on the list of
priorities.”
Rove is not convinced an Obama administration would be socialist. “If there is
an Obama White House, there will be tension with the old bulls in the Senate
who will see it as an opportunity to fulfil their long-held personal
ambitions.” There could also be tensions with “Blue Dog” Democrats who were
elected on a more socially conservative platform.
He recalled that Bill Clinton “ended up in a different place than he wanted
after a disastrous first year”, and said Obama was likely to find himself
hampered by similar “stresses and strains” within his own party.
“Will an Obama presidency move the country to the left? Yes. How much? We
don’t know,” he said. If the polling trends are accurate, it could be the
Republicans’ only comfort on election night.
Socialized banking, socialized auto industry. Why is socialized medicine so scary?
Stuart, Toronto, Canada
The US public of 1776 had:
Free police force
Free judiciary
Free immigration control
Free armed forces
Free roads (mostly)
Free street lighting
Free libraries (not govt sponsored)
Free parks
We copied free schools from Europe and they are a mess.
Yes, free medical care is socialism.
Michael, Boston, United States
I'm an Obama supporter and longtime volunteer but I have to agree with this article that Obama copied Rove's ground game with the improvement of many, many more volunteers.
McCain only copied the character assassination parts and his lack of a ground game is really quite astounding.
Todd Smyth, Fairfax, Virginia
In your dreams Rove. Obama has not learned a thing from your filthy tactics. Obama is a man of honour, something Rove has no experience with at all.
Barbara, Cincinnati, USA
The US public has:
Free police force
Free schools
Free judiciary
Free immigration control
Free armed forces
Free roads
Free street lighting
Free traffic lights
Free libraries
Free parks
oh dear, all this smacks of Socialism.
Free medical care would be the limit.
Robert Barker, Inns of Court, England
Well it has to be a better direction then the US have been taking us for the past 10 years or more! Lets hope President Obama extends the American Dream to include all of us in this globalised society especially those in the world in the most need!!
Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England
Rove likes to fantasize that his tactics will forever (even if his Thousand Year Republican Reich has toppled after only 8.)
Sorry Karl. Obama has not used character assassination, Swiftboat attacks, or the other slimey tactics your prescribe.
Sorry Rove. Dirty pool has been shelved this time.
George, St. Pete Beach, USA
Wall Street Journal, to wit:
' universal health care, greater regulation of business and industry, the restoration of union power, and substantially higer taxes [for the fat cats and Wall Street ] are likely consequences' and don't forget the likely demise of the WSJ, rove, rush. Sign me up.
Clifford, Benton City, USA
The American people and the world deserve better that the anti-intellectuals that have dominated our politics for the majority of the last ~30 years. We have a great opportunity (and obligation) to wield our financial, cultural, and military might to make our country and this world a better place.
Brant McMahon, Houston, USA
I do love Greg-Scotsdale comments, how then has every Rep Govt run up the deficit to untold heights and yet your still wanting to vote for these people. Unless of course your a state federalist and then I can possibly understand. But to attack BO on these grounds is incongrious at best and at worst.
Nigel, London,
Who do you think Putin, Ahmadinejad, Chavez want??? Who do you think is rightfully terrified internationally??? So, what do you think the odds are of something going boom in Iran early 2009? 100%
jdcarmine, Pittsburgh,
The ignorance of the American people about public health care is remarkable. Is this woman, who's child has down's syndrome, actually saying because of the baby's disability she wouldn't receive treatment? Bushwacko's the whole bunch of them.
mj, Canada,
As a young american i do fear this is not america's turn left but its death. We are looking at the two worst canidates in the history of the country. This seems very similar to the fall of the roman empire. My country is facing a crisis but our citizens are too blind and stupid to see that.
Nick, New York, USA
Obama is more a return to the center rather than a sharp turn to the left..
After drifting further right over the last 8 years, its a good thing to return to a more sensible middle ground.
MK, A,
So many continue to come to the US because of the opportunities that capitalism/free enterprise provides. We are witnessing the results of socialist housing policies in the American economy right now. An Obama victory would lead to more economic chaos with more over regulation and higher taxes.
Terence, New York, USA
Having worked in them for 41 years "Socialized" medicine have nothing to brag about. According to the WHO the UK's health care system rated#24; Canada #35& the USA at #72.
All should try to learn from the top half dozen rated countries which have interesting amalgams , none with state monopolies.
Dr Andris lielmanis, Brampton, Canada
There sure a lot of plans laid out for Obama by his admiring acolytes. Energy Independence, Health Care for All, Economy and Markets Restored, World Peace, Climate Change. All of this from a man who has never accomplished any thing in his career except a seemingly perpetual campaign.
R. Woods, Avondale,
Palin was happy her daughter had surgery the day after she was born and heart surgery at 4 months, but her attitude to others less well off to have this leaves a lot to be desired. How can something like this be classed as socialism, rather than essential?
margie , victoria, australia
I feel that Obama would be the best thing for America, after the disaster of GB,There is no way Obama can move too far to the left there is simply no room for that.
Juvenal , Port Elizabeth, South Africa
"run for president in 2012 if the Arizon a senator is defeated"
You mean if the Alaskan governor is defeated, right?
marvin, London, London
I have lived under the American system of healthcare as well as two forms of "socialized" medicine (in the UK and in Canada). Each of these systems has its strengths and weaknesses. The key is finding a balance between the efficiency of market driven healthcare and the need for justice.
J Criswell, Lexington, USA
Coke or Pepsi? The symbol of the Bush years is having to take down the National Debt clock because it doesn't have enough digits. McCain always voted against tax cuts & wants govt spending to rise to pay for more wars. Neither of the 2 main parties offer a sound currency & small govt.
Phil Hodgson, Nottingham,
This is not about socialism. It is about saying Obama is socialist to gain power. Anyone who is watching will know that in the last 8 years, what Bush has done is more of what a socialist despot would do. Raid the coffers for the army and his cronies in pet industries. Obama will do what is right.
Paul Stewart, Toronto, Canada
How can you compare a Harvard graduate (JD) to a Naval Academy almost failed ranked 894 of a class of 899. This McC's 3rd run. Where is all the experience he gained therefrom? He lacked basic understanding of the American electorate and it's current mood. He needs a paradigm change.
Pedro, Sacramento, U States
Russia going right & US gone left - Trouble ahead
Richard, Romania,
Rove is trying to steal credit when no one will give him any! Obama's strategy has been stellar and Rove will have a thing or two to learn on how one can run a campaign by fighting clean. Rove's conceit is remarkable - the man is detestable!
SS, USA,
Egotist Rove says Obama "imitates" Rove's campaign strategies. Get real, Karl. Obama is winning because voters reject the Bush war and deficits that you helped devise. Credit the Dems' victory to Rove - but to Rove's failed public policies, not Rove's "brilliant" campaign playbook.
alicia, stockton, ca, usa
Why does people think universial healthcare means the end of private healthcare? If you got cash, you can go private if you want. Just another proof of the ignorant and uneducated state of the Republican powerbase.
Jim, London,
Rove is a narcissist.
cindy, New York, USA
In Spain we think that to take care of the ill, of the poor, of the ancient, is not socialism, but a better society. Even the right agrees on those concepts. Americans are so busy winning money that they don't realise that a lot of the population is suffering.
Josu, , Spain
Palin takes money from the Oil companies and gives it to householders.....er......spreading the wealth......er....socialism?
tim, yokohama,
Im a Obama Mama. He will give my children a better education, resulting in a better job and life than I have had the opportunity for under GOP rule for the majority of my adult hood. Think America!! Obama is for giving our children a better life than we have had. Isnt that what we wand for our kids?
MomEmeritus, Mo-Kan, USA
Socialism is an economic system; Communism is a political system the goal of which is to reach an ultimate utopian socialist system via 'scientific socialism'.
Socialism is the most efficient poverty creating system known to man; scientific it is not....ask those who had to endure it.
Dr Andris lielmanis, Brampton, Canada
Bush and his administration let the people down and the Republican machine let them do it. One has to remember that at the end of the Clinton era, America was in profit. Bush will be remembered as the worst thing that ever happened to America. The new Rome has had it's day! It's time for peace.
Marc, Paris, France
Bill Eggert says: "...If they control the White House as well, where’s the balance going to be?”
What balance is he talking about? The balance of having a Republican president and congress from 2000-2006 that gave the U.S. historically high deficits without a single veto?
Mike Broderick, West Mersea Essex, UK
Car dealer Bill Eggert said: "...If they control the White House as well, where’s the balance going to be?”
What balance is he talking about? The kind we had from 2000 to 2006 when a Republican president/Congress gave the U.S. record deficits without a single spending veto by President Bush?
Mike Broderick, West Mersea, UK
american republican parrots are confusing socialism with communism. read a book, seriously. it distresses me to know that the US elections have so much to do with the rest of the world, but they do.
barack is the massive lesser of evils.
smaj, london,
"Socialist/socialized" healthcare is an offensive and ignorant term. Before conservatives throw such terms around, I reccomend that they read Communist Manifesto and get educated on the history of so-called "socialist" nations. Universal healthcare is ENTIRELY dissimilar to socialized medicine.
Owen, Kent, OH, USA
Rove represents the worst element of the US brand of politics, he has built his reputation on deceit. His contention that elections are won and lost by the effectiveness of a campaign team alone betrays his contempt for the will of the people and for true democracy.
Jim Wilson, Toronto, Canada
Americans afraid of socialised medicine have been brainwashed by the Right and by the insurance companies.
America the Great deserves America with free healthcare. It's not impossible, it's a matter of priorities, something the Right have all Wrong.
SJ, Reigate, Surrey, UK
Sure, having someone who refused to use the term 'terrorist' in relation to those that blow up abortion clinics, is quite an asset to your party.
My only hope is that the Republicans are foolish enough to run her in 2012. She'll get 100% of the people at her rallies (less than 20% of the vote).
Franklin, Hartford, CT, USA
Why is there no mention of Mrs Janine Bonaparth in this newspaper, she is the lady who only this week at a Mortgage Bankers convention, where Karl Rove was paid $40,000 to give a talk, attempted on stage to make a citizens arrest of Rove, claiming he was a traitor/warmonger.
That is real news
linda, Haworth, England
I strongly agree with Emcee. The events of recent years have changed popular opinion amongst Americans and has created a tendency towards the ideals of the left. I have no doubt that this could potentially mark a decline or an end to the Reuplicans power unless they change their 'Grand Old' ways.
Michael Guy, London, UK
Most of Europe has higher unemployment, lower job growth, fewer patents, less innovation, lower median salaries and higher taxes than the US - but they do have free healthcare. (Statistics from various sources including the Economist and UN.) Under Carter, the US economy suffered. Same with Obama?
Shefali, Austin, Texas, USA
I'm a US expat in Scandinavia - and elated at the prospect of an Obama presidency. Still, there's eight days left. No celebrating until it's a done deal. Bad voodoo.
Tualatin, Oslo, Norway
I'm proud of everything the Liberal Democrats have done for my country. They truly embody decent values. Since when is paying taxes allowing your government to run and provide basic services unpatriotic? Give me a break! Wake up Conserviative Right. Your 20 year temper tantrum is over!!
ellie, Natick, USA
For decades our beloved USA has been on the extreme Right of the Political spectrum. Pendulum adjustments apply in Economics as well as in Politics. The excesses of Greedy are now adjusting through a crisis. Only Cool Obama can bring us the overdue political adjustment WITHOUT a crisis...
Brownie, Alexandria, VA
Socialist Healthcare is provided by every wealthy industrialized nation except the United States.
corkery, Victoria, Commie Liberal Canada
Re: the headline. Rove copied both the Clinton War Room and the Atwater attack machine. No one has a proprietary claim to tactics
jpecci, haverhill,
Saying Obama has embraced Rovian politics is like claiming (not to deify Obama) God mimics the Devil because they are both deities and hang w/ angels. Rove did not invent on-message campaigning or party discipline. What Rove pioneered were dirty tricks like the racism used against McCain in 2000.
Paxus Calta, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
...the majority of americans do not want socialism....and obama reid pelosi crowd are close to total unchallenged power thanks to deception that they could not have accomplished without the Media.. all civilizations and societies end..socialism is alright but deception is not
jack, milan,
Parents of children with health issues will be far better served under an Obama government. Wouldn't it be nice to not go bankrupt while treating medical conditions? In Canada, we enjoy a very high standard of living with any luxury one could want--and free healthcare. Fingers crossed for Obama.
Amy, Orillia, Canada
Francisoc Miami FL.
Obama is not who you need to be afraid of, you need to be afraid of your self making wrong decisions. The only people who needs to be afraid is the service men & women who are sent out to fight wars for oil. And the policy that takes away your rights using fear.
Daphne Kenward, Cambridge, UK
Even if Obama and the Dems sweep the board the US will still be more pro-free-market, more pro-liberty, more pro-personal rights and responsibilities than most so called conservatives in Europe. He's not Mrs Thatcher but Obama is still right wing in terms of UK politics - more Cameron than Brown.
Father Ignatius Brown, Norwich, Norfolk
LIBERALS ARE ANYTHING BUT LIBERAL
They are about control, manipulation and deciding how others ought to live.
Voting Democrat is voting for the consequence free lifestyle at the cost of us all; relinquishing personal ownership of your personal choices which lead to the life you now live.
Greg, Scottsdale, U.S.A.
The Entitlement Generation
Thinking that just because something exists you're entitled to it without having to work for it, earn your personal keep.
Go ahead and hand America this "invoice" but the reality is that your life sucks because you're lazy and make poor choices in life.
Greg, Scottsdale, U.S.A.
Good strategic spending is based on where why and how.
Borrowing to spend on an un-necessary war is a waste of money. Borrowing to invest if it offers good long term benefits.
Where America needed to invest is in renewable energy. The Power Black outs few years ago was shouting at the USA.
CHANGE
Daphne Kenward, Cambridge, UK
Andrew Milner - Spot on. Surely the choice of Sarah Palin for VP confirms this argument. A bit similar, I think, to the fielding of Kerry by the Democrats last time.
Adam Brown, Edinburgh, UK
I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, but let's not forget that we have more than a week to go till the election.
We shouldn't count our chickens before they've hatched, and let's not assume we've won until the ballots have been counted.
John F, London,
If your own team isn't winning you can always claim a stake in the opponents victory. Rove has in a rather lame way tried to stop the Obama campaign from flying away from McCain's by comments in WSJ, now he is saying it sorta' was his own campaign... :-)
Erik, Gothenburg, Sweden
Hi, to the woman who is afraid 'socialized medicine' would mean her special needs child would not be operated on, I have to say, I am an expat living in London, and have seen the NHS (National Health Service) go to extraordinary lengths and Succeed in caring for special needs children all for free.
Julia, London , UK
Robert Redford's last lines in 'The Candidate' after winning election -What do we do now?'will be appropriate if Obama wins.
Not much comfort to the US and the world.
Obama is a novelty who will fade quickly and then what?
Prudence Eely Bond McGuire BA, LONDON, ENGLAND- UK
What is so wrong about socialist Europe? quality healthcare for all? Higher minimum wages? Good housing for all? Affordable to free education for all?
Haven't rich socialist Europeans driving such fancy cars as BMWs, Audis, Mercs etc. that Americans so covet bought much of the USA?
Kwame Boadu Kissi, amsterdam, netherland
FDR's brand of socialism got us out of the great depression. We forget that we are all in this economic boat together. Everyone needs to pull their weight. From a Christian perspective it is not about money it is about helping your neighbor as you would help your self.
Edward Vos, Jamestown,
Roves arrogance prevents him from understanding that the American people actually want change. Small wonder, after wallowing around in the mire, the deceit and the lies of negative election campaigning for so long he needs to wipe the filth from his eyes to see the truth.
tim, toronto, canada
It amazes me that people equate a tax cut for the middle class with Socialism. It is absolutely ridiculous! The Republicans are using fear and scare tactics going into the final week, and they are actually going to get many Republicans to vote AGAINST their own interests. Now that's just stupid.
Erik, Chicago, USA
Rove,limbaugh and frum,it seems like american public waking up from a bad nightmare and realising where they standing after unchecked acceses of bush and neocons at home and abroad.where is their homes and jobs gone.And why it seems that the whole world is against them.
ilyas norat, batley, uk
We have now seen 8 years of the Republicans. What a mess we are all in! How can anyone justify voting for the Republicans? The only sensible excuse for voting Republican is that you are strongly partisan.
Torne, Mahe,
Most American's have no clue about socialism, or that they already have a heavily dosed version of it in place, especially after the last 6 months.
Hopefullly we'll say goodbye to the ignorant and uncurious leaders here for some time, and replace him with a man who knows and understands....
S.Jones, N.Y.,
There's a lot of talk of Obama and the left raising taxes to fund their programmes, but what of the billions or almost trillions that have been spent recently on propping up the doings of the the rich and mighty.
Kris, London,
After eight years of Bush, it really is inconceivable that any Republican candidate would have a hope in Hell of being elected in 2008. The polls should be at least 60/40 for Obama. Fielding a flawed candidate like McCain makes you wonder if this wasn't a set up. They knew 2008 was unwinnable and didn’t want to squander Grade A candidate. But died-in-the-wool Rebublicans would vote for anyone, even a donkey if it were a Republican donkey.
Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Japan
Oh my sides! I'm laughing so hard at this one. Yes, how frightening indeed! Because nothing would be scarier? Not another Bushie in office - or the risk of a gun-toting, evangelical, dull-minded Barbie taking his place because of sudden illness? Yeah, that's a perfectly acceptable scenario. Not.
Marie, California, U.S.
An Obama presidency will be the greatest threat to the American Union since Ft. Sumter was fired on in 1861. Assuming "unfortunate accidents" don't happen to certain supreme court justices, the greatest risk is in the marxists and assorted radicals he appoints to the Defense Dept, CIA, NSA and FBI.
Francisco, Miami, FL
i am a youngamerican voter
i just graduated from college in boston
i wasnt "courted" into voting or obama. i am voting for obama because he is who i truly believe will lead my country with the direction it so desperately needs
many points made here are ignorant of the state of the american people.
alexandra O'Hara, philly/boston, United States
From this side of the world go Obama. Sick of the puppet in charge now who gets manipulated and involves us all in places we don't want to be. Time there was a clean out of the cupboard and a change is as good as a breath of fresh air.
Ruth, Melbourne, Australia
Obama wants to start Gordon Brown style tax increases then the "rebate" schemes that we all know and love. Control, control, control.
No thanks.
Stan(expat), USA, USA
Instead of pouring Billions down the sewer in Egypt..Israel ..and Columbia...These Monies will hopefully be invested in U.S infrastructure and renewable energy,..I believe ..These.. are projects that Obama.. has the Stamina..and character to achieve.
George, Auckland, New Zealand
Rove was quoted as saying Obama had assembled a broad based coalition of young first time voters and African-Americans. Well, I'm a republican who has already early-voted for Obama. Don't count out the former republicans who are sick of the way this country is being run.
Karen, Canton, USA
The election of Senator B. Obama will not be in the interest of the USA- nor the world. Many unqualified appointees will take office and the government will become increasingly incompetent. The fragility of the stock markets is reflecting the instability that is anticipated by the election of Obama.
Payne, Honolulu,
Rove has been a cancer in American politics.A sharp left from an Obama would mean his administration's policies would end up in the middle of the political spectrum. Rove represents right wing extremism and has played an integral part in a disgraced presidency and failed economy.
alfred hathcock, lenoir city tennessee, usa
"Socialized medicine" means medical care for everybody. Like in Cuba. Some Americans talk about "Socialism" with visible ignorance, confunding it with the despotic and totalitarian soviet regime. In fact, Medicine has to be "socialized", acessible to all citizens, once it is a basic right.
Ricardo Costa, Faro, Portugal
The electorate have turned away from the Republicans after the complete mess Bush created. I'm hoping the US voters go for Obama.
Andrew, Melbourne, Oz
The election of Barack Obama wouldn't turn the USA sharply left. The election of Barack Obama would be an indication that a majority of voters in the USA had taken a left turn. How "sharp" the leftward turn has yet to be seen.
Emcee, Denver, USA