DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate, President Barack Obama,
and his Republican counterpart, Mitt Romney, at the weekend, plunged into the
final hours of tomorrow's multi-billion-dollar presidential race with
aggressive campaigns that could tip the balance of a tight White House contest.
With the latest opinion poll giving a slight victory to Obama, Nigerians in the United States (U.S.), at the weekend, also mobilised for the Democratic candidate who is seeking to repeat the 1792 re-election feat of the first American president, George Washington.
Romney is seeking to make history as the 45th American President to occupy the White House.
Deji Oyewale, an indigene of Ogbomoso, Oyo State, who has been living in the U.S. since 1984, is leading the push by Nigerians for Obama's re-election.
Oyewale, an engineer, has witnessed seven presidential contests – Ronald Reagan 1984, George Bush (snr) 1988, Bill Clinton 1992, Bill Clinton 1996, George Bush (jnr) 2000, George Bush (jnr) 2004 and Obama 2008.
Oyewale said on Saturday: “Nigerians in the United States are supporting Obama not because he is a Black or he is a Kenyan from Africa. We are supporting him because he has performed. It is bullshit that is coming from the Republican side that the economy has not improved since he was elected in 2008.
“I am an employer of labour and I know the economic indices. The October economic report showed that 171,000 jobs were added in just a month, pushing down unemployment rate to 7.9 per cent. So, what else do the people want?
“More people all over the world have also come to like the U.S. because of Obama's policy which is different from that of an average hawkish Republican president. For example, look at the way Osama bin Laden was taken out in May, last year in a foreign soil? It was a clinical operation which ensured that there were no casualties aside the target.
If a Republican President had ordered that invasion, those soldiers would have destroyed the entire house and streets in Pakistan, leading to more hatred for the U.S. Obama's policies are more humane and that is why we are seeking his re-election.”
He said some of the coordinators of the Obama-must-be-reelected campaign group would meet today in Virginia for last-minute strategies.
Oyewale revealed that the targetted voters are being courted on the airwaves, telephone, social media and at their homes.
Meanwhile, Obama and Romney were still scrambling for last-minute votes yesterday.
A poll released by 'WhoWins' in the tight presidential race shows that Obama will win with 0.2 per cent in the popular vote -- 47.4% to 47.2%, leaving 5.4% undecided.
About 27 million Americans have already cast ballots in early voting in 35 states.
In crucial early voting, Obama holds an apparent lead over Romney in several key states.
But Obama's advantage isn't as big as the one he had over the 2008 Republican candidate, Senator John McCain, four years ago, giving Romney hope that he could make up that gap in tomorrow's election.
And given the importance of the Electoral College, which will eventually decide the race (the winner must get, at least, 270 votes) 11 states have been listed as crucial to the victory of either Obama or Romney, totaling 146 electoral votes.
The total number of Electoral College votes is 538.
In the solid states, Obama leads Romney by only 201 electoral votes to 191, leaving the President with 69 more votes to return to the White House in Washington D.C.
'WhoWins' believes that Obama may win the race tomorrow with 290 to Romney's 248 Electoral College votes.
The opinion poll group believes the leadership qualities displayed by Obama during last week's Hurricane Sandy's invasion of the East Coast will work in his favour tomorrow.
But Romney's strategists believe that with their firm grip of states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, the Republican candidate may become America's 45th President tomorrow.
Under the U.S. system, the winner is not determined by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests, making battleground states that are neither consistently Republican nor Democratic extremely important in such a tight race.
The electoral votes are apportioned to states based on a mix of population and representation in Congress.
So far, Romney has not been able to achieve the breakthroughs needed in such key swing states as Ohio, where polls show the Republican candidate trailing by several percentage points. No Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio.
Obama or Romney must win more of the nine most-contested states that are not reliably Republican or Democratic: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.
With Obama maintaining a slight lead in Ohio, the Romney campaign sought to make a last-minute play for Pennsylvania, a state that has traditionally voted Democratic.
Democratic candidates won Pennsylvania in the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 presidential contests.
Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 10 percentage points in 2008 and the latest polls in the state give him a 4 to 5-point margin.
Romney campaigned in the Philadelphia suburbs yesterday in what Republicans maintained was a sign of strength but Democrats described the move as an act of desperation.
The Obama Campaign Group has countered the move by doubling television advertising spending in the state and sending former President Bill Clinton to campaign there today.
With the latest opinion poll giving a slight victory to Obama, Nigerians in the United States (U.S.), at the weekend, also mobilised for the Democratic candidate who is seeking to repeat the 1792 re-election feat of the first American president, George Washington.
Romney is seeking to make history as the 45th American President to occupy the White House.
Deji Oyewale, an indigene of Ogbomoso, Oyo State, who has been living in the U.S. since 1984, is leading the push by Nigerians for Obama's re-election.
Oyewale, an engineer, has witnessed seven presidential contests – Ronald Reagan 1984, George Bush (snr) 1988, Bill Clinton 1992, Bill Clinton 1996, George Bush (jnr) 2000, George Bush (jnr) 2004 and Obama 2008.
Oyewale said on Saturday: “Nigerians in the United States are supporting Obama not because he is a Black or he is a Kenyan from Africa. We are supporting him because he has performed. It is bullshit that is coming from the Republican side that the economy has not improved since he was elected in 2008.
“I am an employer of labour and I know the economic indices. The October economic report showed that 171,000 jobs were added in just a month, pushing down unemployment rate to 7.9 per cent. So, what else do the people want?
“More people all over the world have also come to like the U.S. because of Obama's policy which is different from that of an average hawkish Republican president. For example, look at the way Osama bin Laden was taken out in May, last year in a foreign soil? It was a clinical operation which ensured that there were no casualties aside the target.
If a Republican President had ordered that invasion, those soldiers would have destroyed the entire house and streets in Pakistan, leading to more hatred for the U.S. Obama's policies are more humane and that is why we are seeking his re-election.”
He said some of the coordinators of the Obama-must-be-reelected campaign group would meet today in Virginia for last-minute strategies.
Oyewale revealed that the targetted voters are being courted on the airwaves, telephone, social media and at their homes.
Meanwhile, Obama and Romney were still scrambling for last-minute votes yesterday.
A poll released by 'WhoWins' in the tight presidential race shows that Obama will win with 0.2 per cent in the popular vote -- 47.4% to 47.2%, leaving 5.4% undecided.
About 27 million Americans have already cast ballots in early voting in 35 states.
In crucial early voting, Obama holds an apparent lead over Romney in several key states.
But Obama's advantage isn't as big as the one he had over the 2008 Republican candidate, Senator John McCain, four years ago, giving Romney hope that he could make up that gap in tomorrow's election.
And given the importance of the Electoral College, which will eventually decide the race (the winner must get, at least, 270 votes) 11 states have been listed as crucial to the victory of either Obama or Romney, totaling 146 electoral votes.
The total number of Electoral College votes is 538.
In the solid states, Obama leads Romney by only 201 electoral votes to 191, leaving the President with 69 more votes to return to the White House in Washington D.C.
'WhoWins' believes that Obama may win the race tomorrow with 290 to Romney's 248 Electoral College votes.
The opinion poll group believes the leadership qualities displayed by Obama during last week's Hurricane Sandy's invasion of the East Coast will work in his favour tomorrow.
But Romney's strategists believe that with their firm grip of states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, the Republican candidate may become America's 45th President tomorrow.
Under the U.S. system, the winner is not determined by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests, making battleground states that are neither consistently Republican nor Democratic extremely important in such a tight race.
The electoral votes are apportioned to states based on a mix of population and representation in Congress.
So far, Romney has not been able to achieve the breakthroughs needed in such key swing states as Ohio, where polls show the Republican candidate trailing by several percentage points. No Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio.
Obama or Romney must win more of the nine most-contested states that are not reliably Republican or Democratic: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.
With Obama maintaining a slight lead in Ohio, the Romney campaign sought to make a last-minute play for Pennsylvania, a state that has traditionally voted Democratic.
Democratic candidates won Pennsylvania in the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 presidential contests.
Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 10 percentage points in 2008 and the latest polls in the state give him a 4 to 5-point margin.
Romney campaigned in the Philadelphia suburbs yesterday in what Republicans maintained was a sign of strength but Democrats described the move as an act of desperation.
The Obama Campaign Group has countered the move by doubling television advertising spending in the state and sending former President Bill Clinton to campaign there today.
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