U.S. presidential race back to basics in final days

Source: Xinhua | 11-03-2008 07:51

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- In its final days, the long 2008 U.S. presidential campaign has gone back to basics, analysts said.

For Republican presidential nominee John McCain, it is reiterated that he is "an experienced leader, tested in crisis, who advocates the low-tax economic approach best able to spur a recovery".

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama counters that his agenda "embodies the change sought by a worried nation" and that his rival offers "only a continuation of the failed policies of President George W. Bush."

After all that has happened during the past year, and after all the petty controversies, endless television commercials and high-stakes debates, the voters will have to make a choice when they cast their ballots on the Election Day of Nov. 4.

With two days left, all of the available signs -- including the public opinion polls, the early voting numbers, and the official statistics confirming that the economy is contracting -- seem to be pointing to an Obama victory, the first in American history by a person of color.

Obama's strategists are so confident of their position that they have started running commercials in such core Republican states as Georgia, North Dakota and McCain's home of Arizona.

"The die is being cast as we speak," Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, told reporters, referring to the early voting, "We have a lot of work to do, but we like where we are."

Meanwhile, his counterpart in the McCain campaign, Rick Davis, predicted a stirring, come-from-behind victory for a candidate who has been counted out before.

"The one thing that's clear," Davis said, "is that we've established some momentum."