Skipper

With 9 days to go to the election and Obama in the lead 50.4%-42.6%, Democrat supporters, like myself and so many people I know, should be quietly confident of victory. And yet, we are worried. When Obama was born in 1962 strict segregation was in force in the Southern states of the USA, some of which would have rendered his parents' marriage illegal. A huge distance has been covered since then, not least by the Republicans under Bush who appointed two African Americans to high office, to some extent paving the way for Obama's rise.

Maybe wobbles like this are inevitable as the day of decision approaches; I recall not believing the landslide poll predictions for Labour back in 1997. Obama has shown by his dignity and resilience that he is an extraordinary candidate, maybe of a 'once in a lifetime' quality. To have come so far and be denied at the last gasp would be the cruellest political outcome I can ever ernvisage happening. Yet prizes are plucked from the grasp of the deserving every day.

Maybe the Republicans are holding back a killer scandal to launch just before the poll? We know they would have not the slightest compunction against such action. Or maybe, in the wild and crazy fringes of the US, there is someone or a group of crazies planning the ultimate plan of denying Obama what destiny seems about to award. That Obama has stoically lived with this danger for over a year is yet further testimony to his truly remarkable character. I fully realise that, if elected, Obama's charisma will eventually pall and that he will make mistakes. But, please God, let's get him elected first.