Obama and McCain face judgment of voters

Dixville Notch has the first say in 2008 general election

By John Whitesides

Pamplin Media Group, Nov 4, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jaime Valdez / Pamplin Media Group

Washington County election worker Adam Gretzinger takes a ballot Tuesday morning from bicyclist Lisa Ruthkowski of Beaverton at the Washington County alternative drop-off site at the K-Mart parking lot across Southwest Murray Boulevard from the county’s election office. Ruthkowski, who is from New York, was riding to class at Anthem College. This is her first time voting in Oregon.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain faced the verdict of U.S. voters on Tuesday after a long and bitter struggle for the White House, with Obama holding a decisive edge in national opinion polls.

At least 130 million Americans were expected to vote on a successor to unpopular Republican President George W. Bush and set the country's course for the next four years to tackle the economic crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an overhaul of health care and other issues.

Long lines of voters waited their turns at many locations. Polls close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 p.m. EST and over the following six hours in the other 48 states and the District of Columbia.

Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, would be the first black U.S. president. Opinion polls indicate he is running ahead of McCain in enough states to give him more than the 270 electoral votes he needs to win.

A victory for McCain, 72, would make him the oldest president to begin a first term in the White House and make his running mate Sarah Palin the first female U.S. vice president.

World stocks rose to a two-week high as investors focused on the election, and U.S. stocks opened higher on Wall Street with major indices up more than 2 percent.

Analysts have said market prices probably already reflected expectations of an Obama victory. But if Democrats tighten their control of Congress, it may be easier for the new administration to deal with the financial crisis.

Nearly 31 million voters were estimated to have cast ballots before Election Day, taking advantage of early-voting options that have spread to 34 of the 50 U.S. states. But long lines of people waited to vote at some polls in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.

Ian Edwards, 60, said he voted for Obama.

"Very simple," the chief executive of a small technology company said in explaining his vote at a Cincinnati polling place. "Bad war. Bad economy. Bad reputation overseas."

McCain voter Tyler White, in Scottsdale, Arizona, cited the Republican's Iraq war policy and said he distrusted Obama on taxes. "My parents are in the upper tier of the tax bracket and feel that Barack Obama is not the right fit," he said.

Long journey ends

Obama and his wife, Michelle, avoided the line at his Chicago polling station as they were let in a side entrance with their two daughters to vote. Poll workers and voters snapped pictures and cheered.

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