Obama on verge of scripting history

Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, Nov 5 (PTI) Barack Obama appears headed for a
big win in the U.S. Presidential poll with the charismatic
Democrat projected to claim 194 electoral college votes
against 69 of his Republican rival John McCain in the states
where the voting ended today.

In a major setback to 72-year-old McCain, the critical
states of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have been projected
by the media here to go for Illinois Senator Obama, who
aspires to be the first black-American President of the United
States.

Now Obama is just 76 electoral college votes away from
the magic figure of 270 having also captured another
battleground state of Ohio (20). The voting is yet to close in
some of the states.

No Republican has ever won the race for the White House
without capturing Ohio.

McCain, the Arizona Senator, also wanted to get hold of
New Hampshire, although its has only four electoral votes, as
it was a symbolic boost early on in the campaign.

The McCain campaign had for a long time thought that the
State of Pennsylvania having 21 electoral college votes was
very much in play and the one that had to be won if the
Republican Senator was to stay relevant in the race.

The win for Obama in Pennsylvania could be a first
indication that it could be a big night for the 47-year-old
Illinois Democrat not just in terms of getting past the 270
electoral college votes needed to win the Presidency but in
making some very heavy breakthroughs in Republican
strongholds.

Other states where Obama emerged victorious included
Massachusetts (12), Illinois (21), New Jersey (15), Maine (4),
Delaware (3), Maryland (10) and District of Columbia (3).

On the other hand, McCain, the Vietnam War veteran,
captured states like West Virginia (5), Oklahoma (7), Kentucky
(8) and Tennessee (11), according to the U.S. media.

Obama had a total of 194 electoral college votes against
69 of McCain, the CNN projected.

The first minutes of the election night also revealed
that incumbent Republicans in the U.S. Senate were fighting
for their political survival which would indicate to some that
Democrats were poised to make some heavy inroads in that
chamber.

Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole has been defeated in
North Carolina in one of the first blows to the Grand Old
Party at the hands of Democratic candidate Kay Hagan.

Other Republicans in the Senate fighting to keep their
seats are Minority leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
and John Sununu of New Hampshire. PTI SK
AM