With Obama still leading in the polls, the Republicans have been getting itchy and the crowds drawn to Palin or McCain rallies have become quite aggressive, whenever the Democrat's name is mentionned you can hear booing and people shouting "terrorist" or even worse. Obama has even attracted white supremacist would-be killers.
The other big word that has been bandied around recently is "socialist". Obama used the expression "spread the wealth around" and as soon as I heard McCain pick it up during the last debate I knew that it would be a major talking point for the Republicans. This notion truly repells many Americans who believe that you get what you deserve and that it shouldn't be for the State to ensure equality.
This week, my favourite radio show deals with the election in one of the crucial battleground state : Pennsylvania. The electorate is mostly white and blue collar and this is a group of voters that Obama has been struggling to convince ever since the primaries. What's going on on the ground, how is racial prejudice going to affect the election on Tuesday? To discover "Battle Ground" the latest episode of This American Life, download it on your MP3 player or listen to it on your computer, go on i-tunes and search for This American Life or visit their website.
A summary of what to expect at the polls ( at the polling station in this context) : long lines, some new voting machines and hopefully enough paper ballots if the machines aren't working properly but this year most Americans will be voting on paper ballots read by electronic scanning machines. This year, supposedly all votes will be counted and no major electoral fraud is expected.
There have, however, been rumours to discourage people from voting : phony fliers announcing a change of preccinct, or even saying that Republicans must vote on the 4th of November and that Democrats and Independents must vote the next day !
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