Experts Say US Election to Be Referendum on Obama | Voice of America - English
As Democrats send presidential candidate Barack Obama off on his quest for the White House, the Republicans and their candidate, John McCain, are preparing for their national nominating convention, which begins Monday in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.  The Democrats made Barack Obama the focus of their convention this past week in Denver, and not surprisingly, the Republicans plan to do the same at their convention next week.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Denver.
Afterall the convention speeches and political attacks, balloon drops andcelebrity guests, the presidential election will still boil down to asimple choice - Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain. Politicalexpert Stuart Rothenberg has been watching the Democrats hold theirconvention in Denver this week and has been looking ahead to thegeneral election campaign, which begins in earnest after the RepublicanConvention. "I do think the election continues to be aboutBarack Obama," he said. "The desire for change in the country isstrong, and if Senator Obama can convince most Americans, the majorityof Americans, that he will be a seasoned, sensible, trustworthy leader,I think they are going to take a chance with him. So far, he hasn'tclosed the deal." Even in Denver, Republicans did all they couldto cast doubt about Obama's political experience, his ability to leadthe country and his readiness to be commander-in-chief. FormerNew York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani lost out to John McCain in theRepublican primaries this year, but Giuliani is now going after Obamaas one of McCain's main surrogate campaigners. "And I thinkSenator McCain would keep us on offense against terrorism, andtherefore protect us, and I think Senator Obama would put us back ondefense and that that would be certainly not as safe a situation forthis country," said Giuliani. "Senator Obama's lack of knowledge aboutforeign policy is a serious concern. Democrats are well aware ofthe concerns that Obama is simply too inexperienced, especially in theareas of foreign policy and national security. Former PresidentBill Clinton reminded Democrats this week that this year's Republicanattacks on Obama have a familiar ring to them. "We prevailed ina hard campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and tooinexperienced to be commander in chief," he said. "Sound familiar? Itdid not work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history, andit will not work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side ofhistory!" University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato says theDemocrats will also try to capitalize on Obama's early opposition tothe war in Iraq. "What the Democrats have been saying is thatexperience did not keep us out of an unpopular war and that judgment isbetter than experience," he said. "So they are stressing differentparts of Obama's biography." But McCain supporters are just asadamant that Obama's plan to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraqwithin 16 months is reckless and jeopardizes the hard-won improvementsin security inside Iraq. Expert Stuart Rothenberg looks for a full week of attacks on Obama at the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. "Butthe McCain folks have been very aggressive in changing that, in puttingthe onus on Obama, and I think they will have to continue to beaggressive," he said. "Because the bottom line is that, although thisrace is close, and John McCain could win, Barack Obama has a slightadvantage. And so, McCain has to continue to keep the heat on Obama." Mostexperts agree the economy will be the major issue in the election thisyear, and, at the moment, they give Obama and the Democrats an edge inthat area. Recent polls show Obama and McCain in a virtual deadheat in the race for the White House, with less than 10 weeks to gountil Election Day on November 4.