There is a sense of an impending celebration waiting to set off among many communities across the globe after the US presidential election today. Many people are expecting history to be made as Barrack Obama is poised to be America’s first black president.
Reports claim that several communities from south America, Europe, America, Asia and Africa have galas and festivity planned in grand style to mark what appears to be history in the making.
In Athens Greece, a party has been organized at the Hiltons by American democrats abroad and “Obama for President”, Greece as well as in Kenya where an Obama Musical is scheduled to be staged in Nairobi. In the US however, police have been put in place to check wild celebrations that may result in violence.
Republican John McCain and Democrat Barrack Obama have returned to their home states of Arizona and Illinois to vote and hold final rallies. Polls show that Mr. Obama is holding a steady lead in final opinion polls and record numbers of voters are expected to turn out.
First landslide results
In the first voting of the day, Mr. Obama defeated his rival by 15 votes to six in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. The town, which has a 60-year tradition of being first in the nation to vote, opened its polls at midnight, with turnout of 100%.
George W Bush won there in 2004 on his way to re-election. Tuesday’s vote was the first time the town had gone Democrat since 1968. Another small New Hampshire town, Hart’s Location, with a tradition of polls opening at midnight, has also gone for Mr. Obama by 17 votes to 10.
According to reports, both camps were keenly aware of the need to get voters out in the states that polls suggest remain in the balance. Mr McCain dashed through half a dozen states on the marathon campaign’s final day – including Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada – before heading home to Arizona.
Various polls suggest Mr. Obama has a two- to four-point lead over Mr. McCain in electoral vote-rich Florida. On Monday morning, the 72-year-old told a crowd of about 1,100 supporters in Tampa, Florida: ‘Senator Obama is running to spread the wealth, I’m running to create more wealth.’
Mr. Obama, 47, spent Monday targeting states that four years ago voted Republican but where he now has a chance of winning, including Virginia and North Carolina, which have not backed a Democratic hopeful in decades.
