AP Analysis: A Campaign For The Ages, Tilting Toward Democrats

[Hissyspit]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081102/ap_on_el_pr/state_of_the_race

A campaign for the ages, tilting toward Democrats

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer – 40 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Counting down to Election Day, Barack Obama appears within reach of becoming the nation's first black president as the epic campaign draws to a close against a backdrop of economic crisis and lingering war. John McCain, the battle-scarred warrior, holds out hope for a Truman-beats-Dewey-style upset.

Whoever wins, the country's 44th president will immediately confront some of the most difficult economic challenges since the Great Depression.

In that effort, he'll almost surely be working with a stronger Democratic majority in Congress, as well as among governors and state legislatures nationwide. GOP incumbents at every level are endangered just eight years after President Bush's election ignited talk of lasting Republican Party dominance.

It's been an extraordinary campaign of shattered records, ceilings and assumptions. Indeed, a race for the ages.

Democrat Obama has exuded confidence in the campaign's final days, reaching for a triumph of landslide proportions.

"The die is being cast as we speak," says campaign manager David Plouffe.

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"It's a fairly toxic atmosphere out there," said Nevada Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the Senate GOP's campaign effort. Added his House counterpart, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole: "We haven't caught very many breaks."

Democrats are looking ahead to expanded power.

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An Obama loss — or McCain comeback — would be a crushing disappointment for Democrats in a year tailor-made for the party. It would suggest McCain's experience trumped Obama's clarion call for change, and raise troubling questions about white Americans' willingness to vote for a black man.
Blacks, in particular, might be furious and deeply suspicious of an almost sure thing that slipped away.
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THE PRESIDENCY:

Tuesday's election caps a nearly two-year campaign unprecedented in many ways, merely unusual in others.

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THE SENATE:

No matter how the presidential race plays out, Democrats are poised for gains in the 100-seat Senate. They currently have the barest of majorities — 51 seats under their control, including two occupied by independents. Several pickups are likely, even if Democrats fall short of getting the magic 60 needed to stop filibusters.

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THE HOUSE:

Democrats, with a 235-199 majority and one vacancy, are expected to add at least 20 seats. They hope Obama's coattails give them a 35-seat gain or more. It would be the first time in more than 50 years that a party saw large waves of victories that boosted their congressional margins in back-to-back elections. All 435 seats are up for election.

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[Trajan]

1. Read this on my tiny cellphone

Well written synopsis of the current race and recent trends ....

There is much at stake, for everyone ....

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. great article