Some people are of the opinion that every citizen of the free world should have a say in electing the president of the United States of America. This is primarily based on the notion that in such a unipolar world any change in the America has a snowball effect in the rest of the world, and its not that preposterous an assumption too (the recent recession in the American economy being a prime example). So it can be safely said that whenever Uncle Sam sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold!

So when America goes to polls on the fourth of November, the only question on everyone's mind is who is going to be the next occupant of the White House. Is it going to be Vietnam War Veteran and former PoW, the 72 years old John McCain or the Harvard Law School and Columbia University graduate, 47 years old senator from Illinois, Barrack Obama ?

Whatever be the result, this presidential election has been historic in more than one ways. I mean after 9/11 who could have ever imagined that a man who goes by the name of Barrack Hussein Obama would be the front runner in the 2008 presidential race! In no other country on the planet is there more scrutiny and such fierce competition to get elected. Not only do the candidates have to fight with candidates from the rival party, as the Obama-Hilary face off showed us that the fight to win one's own party's nomination is no less intense indeed! Thereafter the the candidates are put through a grueling series of presidential debates, door to door canvassing, cross country campaigns etc. to finally emerge victorious. They are grilled on a wide range of issues which affect the American people in specific and the world in general.

If pre-election surveys are any indication then Senator Obama is going to be the next President of the United States (POTUS). Although the race was neck to neck till early September the recent meltdown in the economy has ironically helped Obama surpass McCain in all opinion polls, with leads ranging from one per cent (AP/GFK) to an unassailable eleven per cent (ABC News/Washington Post). Even the national average corroborates the fact by putting him ahead by 5.7 per cent. A deficit that's wide enough for most Americans to start believing that they are on the brink of electing the first African-American (read black) president in their nation's history. The general belief among them is that he'll be their messiah who'll lead them from the hellish reign of the Bush administration to a new Democratic tomorrow.

So is the result a foregone conclusion then, as it seems Sen. Obama has both the numbers and the general support of the people to back his bid? I would say NO. And the reasons for my stance are multiple.

Firstly we must understand some vital nuances of the way in which the President is elected in the United States. The most important thing is that the he/she is not elected directly by the people but by an electoral college, which is basically constituted by a group of electors. On Election Day, voters in each state, by casting their votes for the President, actually choose the quota of electors who will vote for the voter's preferred candidate. Secondly there's always a possibility that a candidate may poll more votes and yet lose (has happened thrice already)! Like in 2000, when George W. Bush won some states with slender margins and lost a few heavily. Thus he had the electors in bag but not the popular vote. Third and the last but the most important of all is, Hypocrisy. Despite all the right noises being made about how they are comfortable with electing a black man with a Muslim middle name to the office of the president and race being a complete non-issue in this election etc etc, its all nothing but hogwash. Deep down inside like the rest of us, Americans are basically hypocrites. They may give all the right soundbites but historically have been known to be extreme xenophobes. Despite questions about his age, the policy on Iraq, the ridiculous choice for vice-president (Sarah Palin) and the gap between him and Obama, what could work in McCain's favour, is his military career, international affairs experience and most importantly his American-ness. After all Americans would definitely feel more comfortable under a more American sounding John Sidney McCain rather than a Barrack Hussein Obama.

Although it will definitely feel amiss to not choose a winner, I'd rather leave that to the American people as a Litmus test to whether they can see beyond their tinted vision and really vote for change. In spite of what actually happens one things certain though, its only in America that you can win and.......still lose!