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US candidates in final push; Chicago set for 1 million (2nd Roundup)

Nov 3, 2008, 18:37 GMT

A woman works in the Barack Obama headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri USA, 03 November 2008. The day before the Presidential elections on 03 November 2008.  EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

A woman works in the Barack Obama headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri USA, 03 November 2008. The day before the Presidential elections on 03 November 2008. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

Chicago/Washington - US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain planned one final race across the country on Monday as state officials braced for record turnout in Tuesday's general election.

As Chicago prepared for a throng of 1 million people at a public park in anticipation of Democrat Obama's victory Tuesday, Republicans were wishing them bad weather and a surprise electoral victory for the underdog McCain.

'I hope the million or so people who are planning to gather in Chicago have a long, cold night,' quipped Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who lost his Republican bid for the presidential nomination to Senator McCain.

Obama was to hold his election night rally at Grant Park along windy Lake Michigan, and unseasonably warm temperatures were expected for the outdoor event. McCain was to hold his election night event in Phoenix, Arizona, the state he has represented in Congress since 1982.

Although election results are expected to start coming in about 0100 GMT Wednesday, western states could play a big role this year, with results expected to filter in well after 0300 GMT.

With massive voter turnout as high as 90 per cent possible in some precincts, and new equipment in many states, it could be a long night before the winner is declared.

Election officials in Chicago said they expected about 80 per cent of eligible voters to come out Tuesday, which would be higher than any time since 1972.

'People suddenly are engaged in this election, engaged in the candidates. It's almost like a movement, a renewed interest in the electoral process,' said Langdon Neal, chairman of the Chicago election board.

McCain and Obama were storming through a combined 10 states on Monday to shore up narrow margins and get out the vote in swing states. Between them and their key surrogates, they were set to cover a total of 22 states.

'We can't afford to slow down, or sit back, or let up, not one minute, not one hour, not one second,' Obama told a cheering crowd in Jacksonville, Florida.

The two candidates touted tried-and-true themes on the final day: McCain hammered Obama as a traditional tax-and-spend liberal politician and Obama continued to tie McCain to the policies of an unpopular President George W Bush.

Obama, who would be the first African American president in US history, was the strong favourite heading into Tuesday's vote. An aggregate of major national polls compiled by realclearpolitics.com gave Obama 51.2 per cent to McCain's 44.2 per cent on Monday.

McCain remained hopeful and derided pundits who were already predicting victory for Obama. 'They may not know it, but the Mac is back and we're going to win this election,' he told supporters in Blountville, Tennessee.

Nationwide numbers are less important than capturing states with big electoral votes in the US' indirect election method. Battleground states include Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia - which hasn't voted Democratic since 1964 but is leaning toward Obama.

Obama was set to hold his final rally of the 21-month election campaign in Manassas, Virginia on Monday evening. McCain planned a midnight rally in Prescott, Arizona, as the last stop in a seven- state, 5,940-kilometre tour of the country Monday.

McCain also had a rally set in Grand Junction, Colorado on Tuesday, a rarity for election day. Obama planned to shake hands with voters at polling stations in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In Chicago, volunteers from across the city were spending the campaign's final hours rallying the vote for fellow Chicagoan Obama, who represents their state of Illinois in the Senate.

The campaign had attracted help ranging from high school students to grandmothers to those who knew Obama as a young man working as a community organizer in the city's poor neighbourhoods.

Seventeen-year-old volunteer Robert Stuart III said he knows his efforts at a Chicago phone bank are part of a crucial last-minute drive to get out the vote. 'If I wasn't hopeful, I wouldn't be here,' he said.



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Please vote for John McCainNov 3rd, 2008 - 18:54:01


This presidential election comes down, as they often do, to trust. We must trust the person's competence, courage and ability to defend us from our enemies and to fight for the best economic conditions possible.

In both areas, John McCain stands head and shoulders above his rival. McCain has been tested as few men ever have, and he has never been found wanting. Barack Obama has no experience -- none. He may be the most unprepared major-party candidate ever. His own vice presidential pick says our enemies will test him quickly and severely. There is no good reason to take that chance.

Those who believe Obama's claims that he will reduce 95 percent of Americans' taxes, while he pays for near-universal health care, subsidizes clean energy, expands our military commitment in Afghanistan, adds to mass transit and highway infrastructure, etc., etc., are living in a dream world.

Fortunately, there seem to be fewer and fewer dreamers every day, as the polls tighten and people begin to really look at all the promises Obama has made.

John McCain promises us only his hard work and integrity, his experience and true grit, and a solid faith and optimism in America.

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Please vote for John McCainNov 3rd, 2008 - 19:04:47

Here’s a science fiction story by Ralph Peters... Actually, it’s more like a horror tale: Obama 2012: His Triumphs Abroad.

Looking back on the four years of his first administration, President Obama can be proud: He made the US welcome among the family of nations again; he reduced our reliance on military force; and he gave us peace by reaching sensible accommodations with our enemies.

The lies told about him in the 2008 election were exposed as sheer bigotry. Far from being “soft on radical Islam,” President Obama was the first world leader to welcome Jewish refugees after Iran’s nuclear destruction of Israel’s major cities (his only caveat - a fair one - was the refusal to accept Zionist military officers and their families, in light of Israel’s excessive retaliation).

He also demonstrated his resolve in the face of extremism when he overruled the obstructionist advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and ordered our military to cross the border into Pakistan in force. The subsequent debacle, as Pakistan cut off supply routes to Afghanistan and threatened a nuclear response, was entirely the fault of our generals on the ground, not of the administration.

Fortunately, President Obama’s willingness to talk to our enemies rescued the situation. After laying down their arms, our troops were allowed to evacuate Pakistan and Afghanistan in peace. The Taliban’s return to power in Kabul did not result in an excessive bloodbath, and al Qaeda is not permitted the unrestricted freedom it enjoyed in the country prior to 2001.

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We get most of our energy from coalNov 3rd, 2008 - 19:08:54

Ohio Coal Association on Obama's Plan to Wipe Them Out


A statement from Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association:

The message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America’s coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.

It’s evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state’s voters.

In another clip from the same January 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in which Barack Obama promised to bankrupt anyone foolish enough to build coal-burning power plants, he also made an interesting admission about his entire energy plan. Obama told the editors that his policies would make energy prices “skyrocket” as the energy industry passed along the exorbitant costs of his cap-and-trade policy:

'The problem is not technical, uh, and the problem is not mastery of the legislative intricacies of Washington. The problem is, uh, can you get the American people to say, “This is really important,” and force their representatives to do the right thing? That requires mobilizing a citizenry. That requires them understanding what is at stake. Uh, and climate change is a great example.

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. '


Energy prices skyrocketing will leave the economy in tatters, as we saw earlier this year.


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DanNov 3rd, 2008 - 19:52:20

Here we go - the final Republican push to try and frighten everyone. America is a nation deep in fear and paranaoia and the Republicans have created this state of mind. Now they want to try and use it even more. Beware !

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Hey DanNov 3rd, 2008 - 19:57:29

We are past it. This spammer has had no influence on this board, kind of think he actually influenced some McCain leaners to vote for Obama---his spamming got on everyones nerves.

The election is over, it is in the bag for Obama---the early voting is going to be a landslide for Obama. Wednesday morning when we wake up McCaion/Palin will be a tired old footnote in history, like this spammer.

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PastNov 3rd, 2008 - 20:11:50

McCain's time is past tense. He is too late. He will be trying to think why he lost come Wed. morning - which thing did him in - Palin - yep, his age - yep, his negative attacks - yep, his policies - yep, his close past association with Bush's policies - yep.

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Yes, fool, beware.Nov 3rd, 2008 - 20:19:06

'Here we go - the final Republican push to try and frighten everyone. America is a nation deep in fear and paranaoia and the Republicans have created this state of mind.' '

Your mental condition is your own fault. The fact is that we have issues to decide that are going to threaten our existance as a soverign nation.


''Now they want to try and use it even more. Beware !'

Are you the same Dan that thought that Obama's friends the weather underground didn't kill Americans?

You know nothing about what you want elected yet you hop on the bandwagon all the way to ruin. It is like Germany in the '30s electing their cult of personality. No one bothered to pay attention to what he said he was going to do.

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@Yes, fool, beware.Nov 3rd, 2008 - 20:29:23

'Your mental condition is your own fault. The fact is that we have issues to decide that are going to threaten our existance as a soverign nation.'

This post has got to be from the one and, thank goodness, only Smiley D a-hole, king of SPAM, stalker, headcase, moron who can't get anything right, responder to imaginary posts. He takes his own unstable mental condition and projects on to anybody who is a republican, or himself. Hey worm farm for brains, what are you going to do after the election, try to commit suicide by jumping out your basement window?

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You are going to lie right up to the end...Nov 3rd, 2008 - 20:31:11

'The election is over, it is in the bag for Obama---the early voting is going to be a landslide for Obama. '

Not true, early voting has been even and the military vite has been 3 to 1 for McCain.

As the candidates make their closing arguments before the election, the race has tightened with Barack Obama now leading John McCain by 47 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, according to a FOX News poll released Thursday. Last week Obama led by 49-40 percent among likely voters.

Add in the margin of error and the bradley effect...

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McCain can still do it.Nov 3rd, 2008 - 20:32:32

Here are the results from the Fox News poll:

Colorado

Obama 51

McCain 47

Florida

McCain 50

Obama 49

Missouri

Obama 49

McCain 49

N. Carolina

McCain 50

Obama 49

Ohio

Obama 49

McCain 49

Virginia

Obama 51

McCain 47

The poll has a plus or minus margin of error of 3 percent.

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SlugbugNov 3rd, 2008 - 21:23:16

All the betting services say Obama will win.

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idiotNov 3rd, 2008 - 23:17:10

Yes but FOX says.....

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IT JUST AIN`T FAIRNov 4th, 2008 - 00:28:09

Many posters accuse us God-faring and humanitarian Reps of being 'prejudiced', 'racist' or plain 'nigga bashers'.

We don`t all go around dragging these guys behind our trucks, it uses up too much gas.
It just ain`t fair, we don`t deserve being slammed like this.

There`s a little lady going around these sites posting a huge article entitled 'PLEASE VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN'. Now you can`t be more polite than that can you, when dealing with the masses of uneducated rabble that make up the Dems, can you ? They don`t know what PLEASE means, but the poor girl`s trying VERY hard to treat them like decent Rep-abiding people.

Now for undisputed proof of our total compatibility with all these nigga`s ;-

We have had and still do have a number of these people in our administration, in very high positions of office.

NOW ! Why would we do that if we did`nt like them ? Not ALL nigga`s end up in prisons - most do of course, but not all. Some even swing around the White House balconies and dangle from the chandeliers. Come in handy at times for dusting the ceilings.

THEN, the most racial-loving act of all - every one of us Reps have color televisions in our own homes. How can you be so cruel as to call us
'racist' with such a benevolent attitude towards coloreds ?

God how much more proof do you need ?

My own daughter even broke a lifetime of strict Rep discipline and actually avoided running a nigga over on a road crossing the other day. Took some doing that did.

Some guy in reply to this affectionate poster, even said 'ALL MEN ARE BORN EQUAL'
Now there`s no bigger lump of garbage than that statement.

SOME men are born MORE equal than others - well look at our own Presidential champion John Mac - HE was never born at our level of equality, was he ?

THEN some men are born black - now that just ain`t as good as being born white, is it ?

You see, even this Demo statement is totally wrong, just like Obama.

SO you Dems - YOU`RE WRONG. SAY SORRY.

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fightNov 4th, 2008 - 00:33:43

we shall fight for our nanny state under mcain-hes throwing money at us -we must vote for this generous billionaire

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tanks aheadNov 4th, 2008 - 00:36:35

we need someone like palin to take the fight against these moslems that obama is shit scared of

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Peter BradfordNov 4th, 2008 - 01:01:13

Soon, there will be no America. We'll be history, quickly lost and distorted ... I suppose there will have to be new revolutions, with new generations who will have to discover the values which our forefathers handed down to us. If those truths stop being real, maybe it's better to let them go, to let some new generation discover, as though for the first time. Maybe freedom is just one of those things you can't inherit.

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createdNov 4th, 2008 - 01:39:19

the media created this financial crisis so you would vote to pull out of iraq-they are shit scared of them-and you all took the medias spin-why mcain didnt match obamas handouts beggars belief-little children would ff made better advisors than those at the straihht talking express.

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ParkerNov 4th, 2008 - 03:05:15

Palin - one of the best things to happen for the Democratic Party! She's flying 'up there' to Alaska to vote, then join McCain in Arizona tomorrow. I've got news for her, don't waste your time - stay in Alaska.

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Hey idiotNov 4th, 2008 - 03:27:02

Fox News???????????????

RCP average tonight 7.2%? That is an average of 14 different polls with Fox being one of them who has Obama ahead 7%.

God the fall is going to get you, I love it.

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pNov 4th, 2008 - 08:49:27

Barack Obama as next President of The United States of America


The die is cast and for reasons that only a privileged few know, you Sir, will be the next President of the United States of America. Your next 4 years will be a turning point in US history and planet earth. CHANGE, your advisors and high stake investors offer the nation will undoubtedly be the same rhetoric and empty promises that make up a political campaign, that campaigns for appointment for any public office in America.

The White House will be the Black House to some, the Aryan Brothers of America will not be so happy, but yet will blame you and your staff if you fail, which will reinforce their belief that the Aryan Nation is the true leader for America. The religious zealots will be busy bees making nests to survive the onslaught of lies, corruption and deceit. Business enterprises and other competing nations will capitalize off of your inexperience in the art of corruption and murder. The organized crime organizations from different nations including our own will benefit from the lack of control over national crime.

Military governments including our own will test your tolerance to pain and deception and trick you into needless and profitable domestic and international conflict. You will no doubt attempt to colorize your staff to soften the race conflict once in office.

As President you will be President. Nations will respect you only for your title of office. Americans will soon see after your appointment as President that your intentions were manipulated by those that make the rules. You will fill the spot in history as planned, and nothing more.

You will never while in office be able to pull the troops from conflict in any land we are engaged in. As a matter of fact we as a nation will be engaged in a new conflict of war, which will galvanize Americans to seek a different form of government and a different and honest Congress.

You will attempt to shore up Americas problems with false promise and lies, because you cannot directly affect the CHANGE you promised.

Your frustration will be your downfall while in office, and your co-dependence on those that you trust will also add to your demise.

Our Armed Forces in rank will respect you as good soldiers they are, but those under them will not, and for good reasons, that only a good soldier knows.

America will not be America until its government respects the People, and tells the truth. America is a Republic, not a Democracy or Fascist Government or is it?

Until you can walk thru the streets and neighborhoods of America unaided by Secret Service or any other law enforcement agency you will not be respected by the many, only by the fearful and selfish few. Americans can protect their leaders if they are honest and respectful of the people they were elected to serve. Our Government has forsaken us for many hundreds of years, and now we will wait until your 4 years are finished for us to come to fruition.

CHANGE FOR AMERICA FOR AMERICANS!
The American Republic
A Sovereign Republic

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Wondering...........Nov 4th, 2008 - 16:15:23

if anyone heard the fat lady sing? Nice song.

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