Tomorrow is Election Day and Barack Obama is still ahead in the polls, but Democrats, fearing his lead could somehow vaporize overnight, are spending more time nail-biting than celebrating. Both candidates continue to aggressively campaign across the country on the eve of the historic election. Today's buzz:
- Barack Obama makes his final argument in the WSJ today. With a focus on economy, Obama delineated his tax policy, how he would create new jobs and touches on other campaign talking points such as national security and health care. Take-away: "If you give me your vote, we won't just win this election -- together, we will change this country and change the world."
- John McCain also makes a final appeal to voters in the WSJ. Taking several stabs at Obama, McCain focused on the financial crisis and how he would freeze government spending to help rid it of corruption and get the economy back on track as he took swipes at Obama's plan. Take-away: "After the difficulties of the last eight years, Americans are hungry for change and they deserve it."
- The WSJ editorialized that an Obama presidency is a "leap of hope" and that he still remains a "man of mystery." Take-away: "Perhaps Mr. Obama will evolve into a Truman, or perhaps he'll prove merely to be another Jimmy Carter. Unlike Mr. McCain, he'll be making it up as he goes."
- Nervous liberals take heart -- Obama will win, but there are a number of reasons why Democrats could be cheerful about a McCain upset, wrote Bill Kristol in the NYT. Take-away: "Liberals should therefore welcome a McCain win as a triumph of hope over fear, of the future over the past."
- Republicans have become the party of intolerance and, with the Democrats poised to win on Tues., a loss could make the party more extreme, wrote Paul Krugman in the NYT. Take-away: "But the GOP's long transformation into the party of the unreasonable right, a haven for racists and reactionaries, seems likely to accelerate as a result of the impending defeat."
- Obama is able to anticipate openings where others do not and has created a new social movement and sense of excitement not felt for three decades as a result, wrote E.J. Dionne in WaPo. Take-away: "Obama understood better than any Democrat that a vast new progressive movement, called into being by antipathy toward Bush and outrage over the Iraq war, was waiting for leadership."
- America turned on Sarah Palin because her brand is culture and today it no longer sells, wrote Peter Beinart in WaPo. Take-away: "Although she seems like a fresh face, Sarah Palin actually represents the end of an era. She maybe e the last culture warrior on a national ticket for a very long time."
