Faced with nagging political polarization internally and a shifting balance of power internationally, the United States goes to election on Tuesday in one of the most expensive and fiercely fought polls in American history that might produce razor-thin results.
President Barack Obama got an encouraging news in a PEW poll finding on the eve of election – and after months of dead-heat previews in the $ 3 billion campaigns by both parties – that his favorability percentage with likely voters jumped to 48 versus Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s 45 percent.
But the CNN and other media organizations’ tacking polls found both candidates still tied at 49 percent or at 48-47 equation and political observers still would not commit to a definitive prediction about the outcome of the election in a sharply divided partisan environment.
On Monday, controversies with regard to early voting issues, electoral process, complaints of disenfranchisement, and expected counting delay questions in crucial battleground states like Florida and Ohio, indicated if the poll remains too close to call, it could be marred by a series of such disputes.
In the face of cliffhanger predictions, the two swing states are being billed as critical to the outcome of Tuesday’s election and plans for legal battles drawn.
Obama, whose standing last month was on the downslide despite a series of feisty performances in debates, is benefitting from a God-sent opportunity in last week’s Sandy storm as more than 60 percent of American voters, including more significantly the swing voters, approved of his handling the natural disaster of immense proportions. Analysts see the current campaign as one of the most polarizing both politically and racially in recent history as both Democrats and Republicans engaged in scathing, sometimes, damning rhetoric, in their bid to win over American voters.
Political pundits expect Tuesday’s vote to more closely resemble the tight 2000 and 2004 elections, which came down to a single state, rather than Obama’s expansive 2008 victory. Analyses in the mainstream American discussions, say after years of weak economic growth and stalemate in Washington, opinion surveys show an electorate that is more divided than ever, especially along lines of race, age and party.
“We are deeply divided, and that has made a contribution to the closeness of the race. But the public is also divided about these candidates,” says independent pollster Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center.
“They look at Romney now as a somewhat acceptable candidate, but they still have doubts about him personally with respect to trustworthiness and with respect to how empathetic he’ll be to people like themselves. They also have doubts about Obama and about his ability to turn things around,” says Kohut, capturing the classic dilemma of voters.