With 48 hrs to go, Gore cuts Bush lead to 2 points

The pollsters and poll numbers point to a Bush victory, but the pundits are backing an upset Gore win. Evidently, the liberal media dominates punditry.

Going strictly by the opinion polls though, it is George Bush’s election to lose. The American electorate appears to have taken not just the 1974drunken driving charge against him in its stride, but also factored in his lack of intellectual depth and international experience.

Gore, on the other hand, may be punished for his preachy, over-bearing demeanour that failed to highlight his strengths — a terrific grasp of eventsand profound intellectual breadth and depth.

It’s best left to Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, a distant third with about 3 to 5 per cent of the votes, to describe the strange campaign. “If Gore cannot beat the bumbling Texas governor with that horrific record, what good is he? Good heavens! I mean, this should be a slam-dunk,” Nader said in an ABC television programme over the weekend.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll showed Bush beating Gore 47-43 with five per cent going with Nader. Desperate Gore supporters are now hoping that manyleft-leaning Naderites will switch their votes to the Democratic Party at the last moment when they see Bush winning.

Both candidates stormed across the country on Saturday, targeting specific states and constituencies in the closest election seen since the 1976 Ford vsCarter contest.

Bush hit Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, three key swing states with 56 electoral votes between them that can tilt the decision his way. In Dearborn, Michigan, home to a large automobile workers population (and also Arab-Americans), Bush surprisingly received an endorsements form the localunion leadership, although nationally labour usually back Democrats.

“America’s ready for a fresh start after a season of cynicism,” he said to cheers from the crowd, many disaffected Democrats in it.

Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans too seem inclined to switch their votes to Bush in this election given Al Gore’s selection of a Jew for a running mate and Hillary Clinton’s snub in returning contributions fromthem.

But other large immigrant groups continue to remain in the Democratic fold. In fact, the Clinton administration has added nearly 3 million naturalisedcitizens since the last election with precisely the elections in mind, according to Republican factotums.

A majority of them are Latinos with an overwhelming preference for the Democratic Party. In the last election, Latino voters preferred Clinton to Dole by a 70-30 margin, with first time Latino voters pushing itto 90-10.

Such statistics suggest voter turnout could be crucial.

Which explains Al Gore’s latest sound-byte aimed at another trusted Democratic constituency, the African Americans. Returning to his home state of Tennessee, which had been slipping away from him (so is Bill Clinton’s home state Arkansas), Gore stepped up to a black church pulpit to thunder, “It’s time to get your souls to the polls!”

A platform of Blacks, immigrants, labour, and senior citizens form the core Democratic constituency. Bush derives his strength from the heart of the country, Middle America, which is less touched by immigrants than the coasts.