(I decided not to put this in ID, since something as huge and vital as this election being considered an 'intellectual' topic would be too depressing).

I found this today, and thought someone should put a thread up about the election, since it decides our fates etc. It should be discussed. Though hopefully without fights.

From the Economist magazine's website; a global electoral map. It's pretty neat. (One small problem with it - it shows America as having an 80% lean towards Obama, which is plainly untrue. It's just American people who read the Economist website. However, apart from them, I think the rest should be pretty much right. Since we can't choose anyway, it doesn't matter too much. 250,000 turned out in Berlin to see Obama; McCain's visit barely registered. The map just colours it in.)

I've become fascinated with this race, despite being on the other side of the sea. I'd like to see Obama win, because I'd feel a lot safer that way. McCain's reaction to the Georgia thing, ie to growl at the Kremlin rather than condemn Georgia for bombing hospitals in South Ossetia, makes me feel uneasy; and then there's the forgien policy behaviour of 'You can see Russia from Alaska' Palin. This is not, as the map shows, an uncommon opinion among people who live outwith the US.

How do you think the candidates are doing? Are they making good calls at this stage in the race?

Another question is why this is such a close race at such a stage. The economy is dead, and people rightly blame Bush for that; people don't want the war anymore; the GOP has screwed it up. Under normal circumstances this would be virtually unlosable for the Dems. It's surely a testament to McCain that it isn't.

If you're American, how do you feel about them and how they would care for you? If you're not, how do you feel they'd act on the international stage and in relations with your nation state in particular?