CHICAGO (AP) Nov. 04, 08:  —

Obama arrived at his precinct in Chicago shortly after 7:30 CST Tuesday. His wife, Michelle, and their young daughters accompanied him as he received a ballot and went to a polling station. The Obamas stood side by side and their daughters looked on as they read their ballots.

Obama planned a quick campaign stop in Indiana on Election Day before a massive outdoor rally in front of the skyline in his adopted hometown of Chicago. The day's forecast was for an unseasonably warm 70 degrees.

McCain planned events in Colorado and New Mexico, then a party at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix.

Meanwhile, long lines have formed as polls open in Eastern states as John McCain is counting on a narrow path to an upset victory today while Barack Obama pinned his hopes for becoming the nation's first black president on a ground organization designed to swell precincts with voters across the country.

"I think these battleground states have now closed up, almost all of them, and I believe there's a good scenario where we can win," McCain told CBS' "The Early Show" in an interview broadcast as the day's first voters stood in early-morning lines.

"Look, I know I'm still the underdog, I understand that," the Arizona senator said. "You can't imagine, you can't imagine the excitement of an individual to be this close to the most important position in the world, and I'll enjoy it, enjoy it. I'll never forget it as long as I live."

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said he was confident that new voters and young voters would fuel an enormous turnout to benefit the Illinois senator.

"We just want to make sure people turn out," Plouffe told "Today" on NBC. "We think we have enough votes around the country."

Standing in line in one of the battleground states, Ahmed Bowling of Alexandria, Va., said the election "will mark a significant change in the lives of all Americans, and so we do have to come out as early as possible to cast our votes."

In Brooklyn, N.Y., 49-year-old Venus Kevin said the line at her precinct was "already down the block and around the corner" when she arrived shortly before 6 a.m. EST.

"Obama is the man," said Kevin, who is black. "His message and his vision has reached a lot of people, not just African-Americans."

The contest pitted the 47-year-old Obama, a first-term Illinois senator who rocketed to stardom on the power of his oratory and a call for change, against the 72-year-old McCain, a 26-year lawmaker whose mettle was tested during 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"I'm feeling kind of fired up. I'm feeling like I'm ready to go," Obama told nearly 100,000 people gathered for his final rally Monday night in Virginia.

"At this defining moment in history, Virginia, you can give this country the change it needs," Obama said to voters in a state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential nominee in 44 years.

The Illinois senator's final day of campaigning was bittersweet: He was mourning the loss of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise him. She died of cancer Sunday night, never to see the results of the historic election.

McCain completed a cross-country trek through seven battleground states before arriving at home in Phoenix early Tuesday morning.

"This momentum, this enthusiasm convinces me we're going to win tomorrow," McCain told a raucous evening rally in Henderson, Nev. It was the fifth campaign stop in an 18-hour odyssey that took him across three time zones.

Obama planned a quick campaign stop in Indiana on Election Day before a massive outdoor rally in front of the skyline in his adopted hometown of Chicago. The day's forecast was for an unseasonably warm 70 degrees.

McCain planned events in Colorado and New Mexico, then a party at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix.

Obama urged his supporters to resist overconfidence. "Even if it rains tomorrow, you can't let that stop you. You've got to wait in line. You've got to vote," he said.

Source: AP

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Kenyans Anxiously Await US Presidential Election Results
By Peter Clottey Washington, D.C. 04 November 2008

Clottey Interview With Professor Kabiru Kinyanjui - Download (MP3)
Clottey Interview With Professor Kabiru Kinyanjui - Listen (MP3)

Kenyans are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the United States presidential election as Americans head to the polls to choose a successor to outgoing President George W. Bush. The election pits Senator Barack Obama, whose father hails from Kenya, and Senator John McCain. The latest round of polls show an edge for Obama over McCain as nationwide voting begins Tuesday. Kenyans unanimously are waiting eagerly as they see Obama as a son of the country whose rise in US politics would serve as an encouragement to up and coming youth.

Professor Kabiru Kinyanjui is a Kenyan political analyst. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Nairobi that Kenyans are cautiously optimistic about Obama's victory today.

"Kenyans are waiting with a bated breath to see the result, of which they are expecting that Senator Obama would be the elected president of the United States of America. So the mood here is that of expectancy and really waiting for the results to be declared so that they can break into celebration and thanksgiving," Kinyanjui said.

He said Obama's presidential aspiration is a significant unifying factor to all Kenyans no matter the ethnicity, especially after Kenya's recent general election led to violence and a loss of lives and property.

"This is one event which is uniting Kenya. And Kenyans have been looking for an event where they would feel good and they can be united. The election as the candidacy of Barak Obama is one event, which has really brought Kenyans together. They see him as a Kenyan, son of a Kenyan father, who is really doing good and is really making them proud to be able to identify with him," he said.

Kinyanjui said Kenyans see hope in senator Obama.

"They also see this as a great opportunity for an African American to rise to the highest position in United States something which breaks barriers of history and the back of racism, and ushers in a new era not, only for America, but for the whole world," Kinyanjui pointed out.

He said a possible Obama victory would not only be historic, but also inspirational.

"This is going to be inspirational to young people to stand for justice, to stand for economic progress, and also to appreciate that quality of leadership and to aspire to a different kind of leadership than we have experienced in the past. So this has got inspirational value to the young Kenyans who want to see quality leadership emerging in the country," he said.

Kinyanjui said Africans should draw inspiration from the US election to entrench democracy in the continent.

"One element is for Africa to strengthen democracy by focusing on issues focusing on leadership qualities, focusing on policies which can be able to move the continent ahead. This is a major lesson to see the way the American elections have moved focusing on economic welfare, focusing on the security of America, and focusing on the quality on the person who can lead and provide the leadership, which is required by the majority of the people," Kinyanjui noted.