Now Obama will have to fight his main rival, the Republican candidate John McCain, until the elections on November 4.
Observers believe that the surprising rise of this biracial senator from Illinois, who was virtually unknown four years ago, has changed the entire political landscape of the United States. He has dramatically enhanced the nation's attention to election battles, and massively galvanized even apathetic voters. Judging by Internet sources, many Afro-Americans are intending to vote for the first time in November. They want to see radical changes in the policies pursued by Republican President George W. Bush over the last eight years.
Many voters associate McCain with Bush because they are from the same party. Still worse, the Republican nominee is a vocal defender of the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. However, his supporters are doing their best to combat that image, saying that he is not like Bush, and will make changes as well. They are convinced that if they can disassociate him from Bush, McCain will win, despite his age - 71.
But if 46 year-old Obama wins in November, he will become the first Black president in America's more than 200 years of history. This is the ultimate test of whether the United States has changed since the time of the Black civil rights champion Martin Luther King (1929-1968).
Although there is talk of a split in the Democratic camp, those who supported Hillary Clinton may well choose to back Obama at the presidential elections. Moreover, the U.S. press is actively discussing the option of her running for the vice presidency. If she does, it would considerably strengthen Obama's position in November.
Political analysts believe that the Democrats' success, particularly Barrack Obama's, is largely linked with the Internet, which helped them raise unprecedented funds for the election campaign. Clinton and Obama have spent more than $100 million dollars each in the battle for the nomination - double the Democratic funds on the eve of previous elections.
But this fact does not determine the situation after the longest nomination campaign in U.S. history, which started in 2006.
Tired of watching Democratic nomination battles, Americans are as impatient for change as they were after the Vietnam War. Now the United States is involved in the unsuccessful Iraqi war, and there is hope that people capable of changing the situation may come to power.
The main thing is to get this right. This is what McCain is saying, and, he insists, he knows how. At the same time, he favors the U.S. military presence in Iraq, although 72% of his compatriots want to bring the troops home.
Obama is persistently building the image of a well-spoken intellectual, who has written two books, and can write his speeches himself. He gathers crowds of supporters both in the winter cold and summer heat, and is attracting the attention of the youth. Newspapers write that he carries his suitcase himself when he leaves the plane for another meeting with voters.
But, as it often happens during elections, positive facts are not always as helpful as negative ones. Current public opinion polls are not that important. Experts say that they will become meaningful only a couple of hours before the elections. The mood of the voters is easily subject to change.
McCain and Obama are completely different in terms of race, age, ideology and biography. This difference has thrown America on the horns of a dilemma. The decision will depend on those voters who are neither radical liberals nor die-hard conservatives.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
