Global News Post: Elections

2014-Parliamentary Elections direct contest between secular, communal forces: Omar

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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">An
old couple showing mark of indelible ink after casting their votes,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">at
a polling booth, during the General Elections-2014, in Kiphire District<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Eastern
part of Nagaland on April 09, 2014. Photo© PIB </span></i><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ramsoo
(Ramban) (Scoop News)- Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, who is
also the Working President of National Conference, Wednesday said that current
Parliamentary elections have placed India on a crucial crossroad where the
people of the country have to decide between the two ideologies of communal
divide, represented by BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi,
and the inclusiveness and harmony, symbolized by Rahul Gandhi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Addressing
a mammoth election rally at Ramsoo and various welcome rallies at Tikri,
Udhampur, Chenani, Batote and Chanderkote en-route, the Chief Minister said
that every vote in favour of NC-Congress candidates in the State will
strengthen the roots of communal amity, brotherhood and ensure equal opportunities
of growth and development for all sections of the society, irrespective of any
consideration of religion, region, caste or colour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah said that BJP is polarizing the society to nurture its ideology of
dividing the society for vote bank politics. He said Jammu and Kashmir is
‘Miniature India’ where people of different sections of the society and various
shades of faith co-exist in an environment of love and brotherhood since
centuries. “BJP, like always, is bent upon wedging apart the people and divide
them to grab power”, he said and maintained that people of Jammu and Kashmir
are wise enough to read between the lines and vote in large numbers in favour
of NC-Congress candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“This
is all the more necessary for Jammu and Kashmir to preserve its rich
pluralistic ethos, communal harmony and ensure equitable and holistic
development in an atmosphere of inclusiveness and justice”, Omar Abdullah said
asking for wholehearted support in favour of NC-Congress candidate from
Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary Constituency, Ghulam Nabi Azad, describing him a
real friend of the people and torchbearer of secular democratic credentials of
the State and the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah said that a person like Mr. Modi who has not shown a courtesy to
apologise or even regret for the killings of innocents in Gujarat and is a
culprit in the eyes of public so far as Gujarat riots are concerned cannot suit
to be the Prime Minister of a great country like India, which is abode of
pluralistic ethos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“As
against this, Rahul Gandhi symbolizes the unity and brotherhood of India and is
champion of inclusiveness and communal harmony. He possesses unblemished
characteristic and is true friend of the Country and its people. In Rahul
Gandhi Jammu and Kashmir has also found its sincere and trusty friend who has
always came forward to help the State to come out of difficulties and he is
determined to continue this trait”, Omar Abdullah said and added that Rahul
Gandhi will be the right choice for Prime Ministership of the Country. He asked
the people to vote in favour of Mr. Azad as it will pave the way to make Rahul
Gandhi Prime Minister of the Country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Working President National Conference said that PDP like parties are fighting
the Election just to provide tactical support to Narendra Modi and BJP by
attempting to divide the voters. He said despite knowing its fate in the
Elections, PDP has fielded its candidates for helping Narendra Modi to exhibit
its friendship and loyalty with the BJP. He asked the people to understand this
nexus and foil the conspiracy hatched by the PDP and BJP to divide the society
for political gains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah said that tactful fielding of candidates in Jammu-Poonch and
Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary Constituencies by the PDP to attempt at dividing votes
and help communal forces unveils the clandestine liaison and friendship between
BJP and PDP about which Narendra Modi has openly said that he has found new
friends (PDP leadership) in Jammu and Kashmir to help him in his mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Working President National Conference said that Pen-Inkpot Party can stoop low
to any extent and trade every interest of the State and its people for being in
limelight not to talk of power. He said this was the party which opposed tooth
and nail the historic decision of Ghulam Nabi Azad regarding creation of eight
new districts in the State. “PDP leadership tried their best to browbeat Mr.
Azad on this count and threatened to topple the government”, he said and
elaborated that Mr. Azad did not succumbed to their pressure and exhibited his
people-friendly and historic gesture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah said that PDP also could not digest yet another decision taken by
NC-Congress coalition government in the State to create more than 650
administrative units and tried its best to mislead people about this
extra-ordinary measure. He said fooling people and flaring up emotions on
different issues and polarizing situation to get political benefits is the
trait of both the BJP and the PDP. He said the fact of the matter is that PDP
in the State acts as a State Unit of BJP as is evident by its acts to help Mr.
Modi and attempt at dividing voters in the State.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah said that Ghulam Nabi Azad as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
and as the Union Minister has shown his capacity and keenness to bring about
revolutionary changes in the development scenario and remained always at the
beck and call of people in the hour of need. He said Mr. Azad’s victory in the
election will be the victory of common masses and that of the State as a whole.
“Azad is the right person to highlight the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and help
the people particularly living in backward pockets for development and
socio-economic welfare”, he said and listed the measures Azad has taken in
various capacities to benefit Jammu and Kashmir and its people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah referred to the all round development that has taken place in the
State during last five years and mentioned the unprecedented help provided by
Mr. Azad in upgrading the health sector in particular and strengthening other
social sectors in general in the State. He said no one can compete with the
competence, sincerity, honesty and keenness of Mr. Azad to deliver for the good
of the Country and the State.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar
Abdullah cautioned the people against the elements bent upon to disturb the
State’s communal harmony and create divide between various sections of people.
He asked them to be united to defeat such attempts by politicians with vested
interests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
elections rally was also addressed by NC-Congress joint candidate for
Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary Constituency Ghulam Nabi Azad and Provincial
President National Conference Jammu, Devender Singh Rana while various leaders
of the NC and Congress were present on the occasion.----Ground Report<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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2014-Parliamentary Elections direct contest between secular, communal forces: Omar

An old couple showing mark of indelible ink after casting their votes, at a polling booth, during the General Elections-2014, in Kiphi...

Rival Afghan Candidates Already Claiming Victory

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By Sharon Behn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Afghanistan’s April 5 presidential ballot has been
widely hailed as a triumph for the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>With votes still being counted, hopes for a smooth end to the election
are beginning to fade as candidates appear to maneuver for a political fight to
the finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Technocrat Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank
official, told media he is certain he received a majority of the votes, given
the turnout in areas where he gathered a lot of support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">His chief competitor, former foreign minister
Abdullah Abdullah, has said he is sure that 60 percent of the voters had cast
their ballots for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To win the election, a candidate needs 50 percent
plus one vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>If no one reaches that
threshold, there will be a run-off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Omar Samad, an Afghan expert at the New America
Foundation in Washington, D.C., says it is likely that the front-runners will
fight to the finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“They have indicated they will go all the way
because both of them are in favor of a stronger mandate by going to the end of
the second round,”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Samad adds that the other six candidates could
soon start negotiating throwing their support behind one of the two assumed
leading candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Results <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Partial results could be announced as early as the
end of this week. The final tally is not expected until mid-May.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, the head of the
Independent Election Commission, called on the candidates to wait for the
official announcement of the vote results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says his request to all the candidates and
people of Afghanistan is to avoid predictions, or publishing numbers, so as to
not confuse people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Let the Independent Election
Commission announce the results as scheduled, he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">According to the National Democratic Institute, a
full accounting of all ballots will be particularly important in this
hotly-contested election, where the margin of victory is expected to be slim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jandad Spinghar, executive director of the Free
and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), says so far the effective
security efforts and higher-than-expected voter turnout has lent huge
credibility to the election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says all the ballots must be counted and
complaints of fraud or vote-rigging must be resolved before a final count can
be released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Then we can say that we will have complete
legitimate election and the result will be acceptable," said Spinghar.
"If there will be second round, so we can expect that before second round
there will be a kind of negotiation between two candidates.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fraud <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">According to FEFA, its election monitors observed
2,600 cases of fraud and misconduct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Afghanistan’s senior electoral officer, Ziaulhaq Amarkhail,
has said every documented election complaint would be investigated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says Afghans are holding elections under
conditions of war and insecurity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But if
there is any credible evidence showing that someone interfered with the
documents in favor of or against any candidate, he says the Independent
Election Commission wants to assure the nation that it takes all such
complaints seriously and is ready to deal with such situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Analyst Samad says the election’s overall
credibility will depend heavily on how the election and complaints commissions
perform their jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Asian Networks for Free Elections Foundation
warned in a statement Wednesday that candidates' “premature and unfounded
declarations of victory can create an unrealistic expectation among
supporters.”---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Rival Afghan Candidates Already Claiming Victory

By Sharon Behn Afghanistan’s April 5 presidential ballot has been widely hailed as a triumph for the people. With votes still bei...

Obama Defeats Romney

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By Kent Klein<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClAp-4uelFtWj6aiLazyrlXqabPOwa7lXkrEeriziDSIPIwRnVMbHqnafyWaLfpRMgWlL-iIjQFsUgiXsDThiwY02O-ldmu5d_JdpnToTso2-l0fGJpkdhScc4DJ_nZ4DYWthgTKZ5tk/s1600/A7EiDWcCYAAZT1D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClAp-4uelFtWj6aiLazyrlXqabPOwa7lXkrEeriziDSIPIwRnVMbHqnafyWaLfpRMgWlL-iIjQFsUgiXsDThiwY02O-ldmu5d_JdpnToTso2-l0fGJpkdhScc4DJ_nZ4DYWthgTKZ5tk/s1600/A7EiDWcCYAAZT1D.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Photo © Four more years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom" target="_blank" title="Open this link in a new window"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Barack
Obama has won a second four-year term as president of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>.  The Democratic incumbent defeated Republican
Mitt Romney in Tuesday's <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
presidential election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">'s first African-American president won more
than the 270 electoral votes he needed to secure four more years in the White
House.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">After
clinching the victory, Obama told a crowd of thousands of supporters in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:city> he is more determined
and more inspired than ever to tackle the country's challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"You
voted for action, not politics as usual," he said. "You elected us to
focus on your jobs, not ours.  And, in
the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working
with the leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve
together."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="429" scrolling="no" src="http://www.voanews.com/flashembed.aspx?t=vid&id=1540956&w=640&h=429&skin=embeded" width="640"></iframe>

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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The
president says he will work in his second term to reduce the </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> government's budget deficit, reform the tax
code, reform the nation's immigration system and reduce </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">'s
dependence on foreign oil.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Obama
congratulated his opponent on a hard-fought campaign and applauded Romney and
his family for their tradition of public service.  He says he will reach out to Republicans to
seek solutions to the country's problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"In
the weeks ahead I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to
talk about where we can work together to move this country forward," said
Obama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Former
Massachusetts Governor Romney, speaking to supporters in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>, conceded the election a short time
earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"I
have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory.  His supporters and his campaign also deserve
congratulations," said Romney. "I wish all of them well, but
particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Romney
says he and his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan, gave their all in the
campaign and he thanked their supporters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"I
so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a
different direction.  But the nation
chose another leader and so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him
and for this great nation," Romney said. "Thank you and God bless <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.  You guys are the best.  Thank you so much."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Obama
won almost all of the so-called "swing states" that he and Romney
both needed for victory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> presidential elections are not decided by
the popular vote, but by the Electoral College, in which each state's influence
on the outcome approximates its population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Both
candidates made a final push for votes Tuesday, almost until the polls
closed.  Turnout was reported high in
many parts of the country, with some voters standing in line for hours, despite
a record amount of early voting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Although
the economy was the main issue of the campaign, Obama was the first president
in many decades to be re-elected while the nation was suffering from high
unemployment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Meanwhile,
Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday's
voting, but Democrats blocked the Republicans' effort to take control of the
Senate, where roughly one-third of the 100 seats were up for election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Democrats
will replace Republican senators in <st1:state w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:state>
and <st1:state w:st="on">Indiana</st1:state>, an independent will succeed a
Republican in <st1:state w:st="on">Maine</st1:state>, and in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Connecticut</st1:state></st1:place>, a Democrat will take the place
of retiring independent Senator Joe Lieberman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Japanese-born
Democrat Mazie Hirono, who was elected in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hawaii</st1:place></st1:state>, will be the first Buddhist U.S.
Senator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">And,
the Senate will have its first openly gay member, with the election of Democrat
Tammy Baldwin in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Wisconsin</st1:state></st1:place>.
---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama Defeats Romney

By Kent Klein Photo © Four more years pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom Barack Obama has won a second four-year term as president o...

Continuity the Key for World Leaders as Obama Returns

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<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">MOSCOW</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (RIA Novosti) --- World leaders
congratulated US President Barack Obama on Wednesday on his return to the White
House for a second presidential term after an election victory that was far
from certain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Chinese
President Hu Jintao hailed the “hard work of the Chinese and American sides”
over Obama’s first term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Maintaining
the healthy and stable development of China-US relations not only benefits the
people of the two countries and is in the common interests of the people of the
two countries, but also helps to maintain peace, stability and development in
the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole,” the Chinese leader said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Japanese
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, whose country is <st1:state w:st="on">Washington</st1:state>’s
biggest ally in Asia told reporters that <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:city></st1:place>
“looks forward to continued cooperation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Western
leaders also welcomed Obama’s reelection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Warm
congratulations to my friend Barack Obama,” tweeted British Prime Minister
David Cameron. “Look forward to continuing to work together.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Australian
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said: “<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> leadership remains vital to
meeting global challenges; international financial stability and global
economic growth, peace and security, and the impacts of our changing climate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the organization looked forward
to “continuing the close cooperation established with President Obama over
these last four years, to further strengthening our bilateral ties and to
jointly addressing global challenges, including in the fields of security and
economy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In
the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said “the strategic alliance
between <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> is
stronger than ever.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“I
will continue to work with President Obama in order to assure the interests
that are vital to the security of the citizens of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the military alliance expects
“continued cooperation with Barack Obama so NATO remains effective against new
threats.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
congratulations from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Moscow</st1:city></st1:place>
were muted, with President Vladimir Putin preferring to wait and send a
telegram rather than call Obama in the hours after his election victory over
Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Putin’s spokesman said, however, that the
Kremlin was, “in general, extremely positive” about Obama’s election victory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Continuity the Key for World Leaders as Obama Returns

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) --- World leaders congratulated US President Barack Obama on Wednesday on his return to the White House for a secon...

Indian PM Congratulates Obama

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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">NEW DELHI  (NNN-UNI) -- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
today congratulated Barack Obama on his re-election as the President of the
United States and said he looked forward to contnuing their ''rewarding
association'' to further build on the enduring partnership and advance peace
and stability, expand mutual shared values and accomplishments of the past four
years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">In his congratulatory message to
Mr Obama, the Prime Minister said he had no doubt that there was much more they
could do together to further strengthen the India-US economic opportunities,
harness the potential of science and technology, innovation and higher
education and empower the people to address global challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br />
He said he personally valued his friendship with the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> President.<br />
<br />
''I have personally valued our friendship and I look forward to continuing our
rewarding association in order to build further on the enduring foundations of
our shared values and the accomplishments of the past four years.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<br />
''I have no doubt that there is much more we can do together to further
strengthen the India-US partnership and thereby advance peace and stability,
expand mutual economic opportunities, harness the potential of science and
technology, innovation and higher education and empower our people to address
global challenges,'' the Prime Minister said in his message. -- NNN-UNI<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Indian PM Congratulates Obama

NEW DELHI (NNN-UNI) -- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today congratulated Barack Obama on his re-election as the President of the Unite...

Obama, Romney Tied Up in Chances to Win Election - Poll

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">WASHINGTON
(RIA Novosti) - With the US presidential election just around the corner, a CNN
survey shows that President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney
have almost equal chances to win the race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According
to the poll, 49 percent of potential voters are ready to cast their votes for
either Obama or Romney. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
poll was conducted on November 2-4, just two days before the election and after
hurricane <st1:city w:st="on">Sandy</st1:city> devastated the eastern part of
the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>
leaving at least 50 killed and causing damages worth some $20 billion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According
to the poll, 68 percent of the surveyed approved how Obama handled the
situation during the storm, while 15 percent disapproved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According
to another poll, conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal, Obama has the
support of 48 percent of likely voters and Romney enjoys the support of 47
percent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama, Romney Tied Up in Chances to Win Election - Poll

WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) - With the US presidential election just around the corner, a CNN survey shows that President Barack Obama and...

Show of Shows: Pageant of American Democracy Hits Feverish Climax

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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By
Christopher Boian  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">WASHINGTON
(RIA Novosti) – Magnanimous and archaic, visionary and impure, enthralling in
its promise but noisy, bewildering and illusory in its delivery: The chaotic
pageant that is American democracy hits its fevered climax Tuesday with
selection of a leader who can plausibly claim to have obtained the consent of
the governed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
current occupant of the White House, President Barack Obama of the Democratic
Party, hopes he will be given another four-year term to “finish what we
started” in 2008. His main rival, Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney, says
Obama has made a colossal mess at home and around the world that only a new
leader – such as him – knows how to clean up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There
are four other candidates on the ballot in most states too – Jill Stein of the
Green Party, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, Virgil Goode of the
Constitution Party and Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
apart from Stein, who has been arrested twice in recent weeks – once in a
protest at her exclusion from a presidential debate in New York and again at a
protest in Texas over controversial plans to build a new oil pipeline – these
challengers have received next to zero national media attention and are
generally considered to have no chance of winning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On
Tuesday, tens of millions of voters in the 50 <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>
states and the country’s capital, the <st1:state w:st="on">District of Columbia</st1:state>,
will make their way to thousands of polling places across the country to push
computer buttons or mark paper ballots and express their will of who they would
like to see designated the official leader of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">At
the same time, a little more than half of the approximately 207 million
eligible <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>
voters will make choices on numerous other ballot questions ranging from
electing legislators and judges to deciding if marijuana and same-sex marriage
should be legal and if rich corporations should be permitted to spend unlimited
amounts of their money to support particular candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
undertaking appears enormous and the stakes are, in theory at least, high, not
just for Americans. At issue are questions of public policy, governance and
personality, but also of national character, morality, societal values and even
basic dilemmas of the human condition today that will color future discussion
within the United States but also far beyond US shores.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
real question is not whether the selection of a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> leader today and the host of
other issues Americans will confront on Tuesday are important, but rather: Is
the bewildering, wooly American electoral process truly what it purports to be
-- government of the people, by the people and for the people?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Champions
of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
political system that will reach another apogee on Tuesday argue that, at the
very least, it offers wide and fertile ground for the unrestricted public
airing of all manner of ideas. Critics however assert that it does nothing of
the kind and, in fact, even actively discourages truly free thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Essentially,
the election is a method of marginalizing the population,” Noam Chomsky, the
political activist, writer and linguistics professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology noted for his outspoken liberal views, wrote of the US
political system ahead of the 2004 US presidential election that pitted
Republican incumbent George W. Bush against his Democratic adversary, John
Kerry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“A
huge propaganda campaign is mounted to get people to focus on these
personalized quadrennial extravaganzas and to think, ‘that’s politics’. But it
isn’t. It’s only a small part of politics,” Chomsky wrote in an article
published in the Dubai-based Khaleej Times daily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Other
critics point to features of the US presidential election system such as the
preponderant role of private finance, supervision of the voting process by
partisan officials, inadequate public campaign funding and the electoral
college voting system as just a few of the elements that conspire to keep the
people at as far a distance as possible from genuine political participation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“The
political class fears a truly engaged citizenry,” political commentator Steven
Rosenfeld wrote last month in an article published on the salon.com and
alternet.org websites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Anyone
who has looked at how elections are run outside the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> knows how backward key pillars
of our election system are. … Too much of the process doesn’t measure up to
21st-century standards.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Even
the live, nationally-televised, one-on-one debates between those determined to
be the “main” candidates – Obama and Romney had three in the past month – often
held up as proof of transparency in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> political process, are, critics
charge, really little more than a superficial side-show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“It
is not really a debate but a glorified press conference,” commented one blogger
on the Open Salon platform. “Journalists hurl softball questions at the
candidates giving each the opportunity to regurgitate their perfectly rehearsed
sound bites.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
staunchest defenders of American democracy admit that the process does not
always protect the interests of all voters. But they argue that, despite a
litany of flaws ranging from wildly skewed voter registration lists in some
parts of the country to documented, serious problems in actually counting
votes; it remains the closest thing to allowing people to choose their leaders
themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
process that will crescendo on Tuesday is vulnerable to cheating and
oppression, riven with flaws and injustices, complicated, often opaque and
confusing for many. But, its proponents say, it works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Obama
and Romney are presenting clear and contrasting visions of the future. That
debate may get raucous, even shrill and angry. Nonetheless, on Nov. 7, one
candidate will concede and the other will govern,” said Terrence Casey,
political science professor at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Indiana</st1:state></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“This
is the essence of politics — free men and women collectively resolving our
great questions through deliberation and debate. It is how divided societies
like ours rule themselves without undue violence.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Show of Shows: Pageant of American Democracy Hits Feverish Climax

By Christopher Boian WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) – Magnanimous and archaic, visionary and impure, enthralling in its promise but noi...

Palestinian Issue No Longer Dominates Israeli Election

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">News
analysis by Adam Gonn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">JERUSALEM</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (Xinhua) - When Israelis head to the polls
on Jan. 22 to elect a new parliament, the economy is expected to be the main
issue. The shift in focus to domestic issues means that the Israeli-Palestinian
relations, which has been the dominated issue for the last 20 years, has fallen
out of focus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"It's
(the Palestinian issue) not completely out of the agenda but at the moment
there is a sense that nothing can be done about it, a sense of frustration and
a sense that maybe (it's) better not to talk about," Professor Itzhak
Galnoor, of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told Xinhua on Thursday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"But
the topic is there because of what happened on a daily basis in the
south," Galnoor said, referring to the near daily clashes between
Palestinian militants in <st1:city w:st="on">Gaza</st1:city> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
focus on the situation in and around <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gaza</st1:place></st1:city>
marks a significant change in the definition of what the Palestinian question
means to Israelis. While in the past and especially during the 1990s and early
2000, the main issue was the negotiations for a permanent peace deal with the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Fatah based in Ramallah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">However,
with the second intifada or uprising from 2000 to 2005 with suicide bombings in
major Israeli cities and the Israeli disengagement from <st1:city w:st="on">Gaza</st1:city>
in August 2005, <st1:city w:st="on">Gaza</st1:city>, not the <st1:place w:st="on">West
 Bank</st1:place> has come to be the focal point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">When
Hamas in 2007 routed forces loyal to the PNA from Gaza, the situation changed
further as there are two Palestinian authorities, Gaza ruled by Hamas and the
West Bank under Fatah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Galnoor
said that the general question of peace with the Palestinian is dormant but not
completely absent, and as the campaign progress he predicted there will be more
and more attention given to the issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"First
of all because the prime minister is going to talk a lot about <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> and once one talks about <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region> there will
be questions about foreign affairs and when one talks about foreign affairs the
Palestinian issue will come up," he said, referring to Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Galnoor
noted that the shift towards a political agenda that is more focused on
domestic issues about the economy and society isn't completely unheard of in
Israeli politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">However,
with economic and social issues being given more attention, it also means that
the traditional division in Israeli politics where a party was defined as
right-wing or left-wing based on their stand on the peace talks with the
Palestinians has been blurred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Shelly
Yehimovich, the current leader of Rabin's Labor Party, has said that while she
supports a two-state solution, she intends to campaign mainly on internal
issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"But
still I wouldn't dismiss the foreign affairs and security issue altogether, it
will come back in the campaign as we progress, " Galnoor said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Dr.
Amal Jamal, of <st1:placename w:st="on">Tel</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Aviv</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>,
said that the Palestinian issue is not an easy topic to talk about for any of
the leading parties in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>
because they all know that it's not going to serve their electoral ambitions,
but this doesn't mean that it won't come up. --NNN-XINHUA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>

Palestinian Issue No Longer Dominates Israeli Election

News analysis by Adam Gonn JERUSALEM (Xinhua) - When Israelis head to the polls on Jan. 22 to elect a new parliament, the econom...

Obama, Romney, Launch Final Campaign Blitz

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S.
President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, former <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:state></st1:place> governor Mitt Romney, are
doing a campaign blitz through so-called "swing states" during the
final days before Tuesday's election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">After
rallies in <st1:state w:st="on">Wisconsin</st1:state>, <st1:state w:st="on">Nevada</st1:state>,
<st1:state w:st="on">Colorado</st1:state>, and <st1:state w:st="on">Ohio</st1:state>
Thursday, Obama plans to spend all day Friday in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:state> -- a crucial state for victory for
either candidate. Obama plans to visit <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:state>
on each of the final four days of the campaign.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Romney
on Friday visits both <st1:state w:st="on">Wisconsin</st1:state> and <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:state>. In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">West Chester</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Ohio</st1:state></st1:place>,
he is expected to join forces with running mate Paul Ryan. The Romney campaign
says it expects "nearly 100" governors, senators, mayors, and other
officials to attend. In his final days of campaigning, Romney plans stops in <st1:state w:st="on">New Hampshire</st1:state>, <st1:state w:st="on">Iowa</st1:state>, and
<st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colorado</st1:place></st1:state>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
candidates are concentrating on the same set of states because they are the so-called
"battleground" states that could turn the election one way or the
other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Though
disaster relief efforts have won Obama unusual praise from both Republican New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie and independent New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, polls show the two candidates are just about tied for popular
support. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama, Romney, Launch Final Campaign Blitz

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, are doing a campaign blitz thr...

Obama, Romney Largely Agree on Middle East Policy

<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By
Jeffrey Young<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">One
of the discussion areas between the two major party <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country>
presidential candidates has been North Africa and the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle
 East</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">While
President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, and his
Republican Party challenger Mitt Romney may have strong differences on a number
of domestic policy issues, their views on the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>
don’t have many sharp contrasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Arab
Spring<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Both
presidential candidates voice support for the Arab Spring, the popular uprising
in Arab nations that has toppled autocratic governments in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:country>, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Libya</st1:country>,
and <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">President
Obama demonstrated his support in his U.N. address on September 25. “The world
has been captivated by the transformation that’s taken place. And the United - the
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country>
has supported the forces of change,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Former
Governor Romney, in a speech on October 8, pledged his effort to continue <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country> support for
democracy advocates in Arab nations should he be elected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“I
will begin organizing all of our diplomatic and assistance efforts in the
greater <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place> under one official, with
the authority and accountability necessary to train all of our soft power
resources on ensuring that the Arab Spring does not fade into a long winter,”
he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Libya</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On September </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">11, 2012, an attack on the U.S. Consulate in
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Benghazi</st1:city>, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Libya</st1:country></st1:place> killed U.S. Ambassador
Christopher Stevens and three others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mitt
Romney harshly criticized the president in their second debate for what he says
is a lack of candor about the origins of the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Benghazi</st1:place></st1:city> attack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"There
were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous
demonstration, or, actually, whether it was a terrorist attack," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">President
Obama gave a strong response to Romney regarding <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Benghazi</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“The
day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the
American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what
happened, that this was an act of terror," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Syria</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Both candidates say they support those
trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">-Assad,
and agree that the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country>
military should not get directly involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
President Obama says his support for the opposition does not extend to
providing weapons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"We
have to do so making absolutely certain that we know who we are helping, that
we’re not putting arms in the hands of folks who eventually could turn them against
us or our allies in the region,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Former
Governor Romney took a very different stance on weapons in the final debate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“I
want to make sure they get armed, and they have the arms necessary to defend
themselves, but also, to remove Assad. But I do not want to see a military
involvement on the part of our troops,” he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Iran</span></b></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country>, Palestinians<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Both
President Obama and former Governor Romney are emphatic in their support for <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country>, especially
in the face of Iranian threats against the Jewish State, as they both stated
during the final debate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country> is a
true friend. It is our greatest ally in the region. And, if <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Israel</st1:country> is attacked, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">America</st1:country>
will stand with <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country>.
I’ve made that clear throughout my presidency,” said the president.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"If
I’m President of the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">United States</st1:country>
- when I’m President of the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">United States</st1:country>
- we will stand with <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country>.
And, if <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country>
is attacked, we have their back, not just diplomatically, not just culturally, but
militarily," said the Republican challenger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">What
hasn’t been discussed much by either candidate is <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country> efforts for resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Iraq</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">One
Middle East Analyst, Khaled Elgindy at Brookings Institution, says the ethnic
and sectarian conflict seen in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country>
after the 2003 war should caution both presidential candidates that <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> ultimately
cannot control the Arab Spring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country>
- cannot determine outcomes. Of elections, of uprisings, of a political process.
We cannot pick ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ on the ground and expect to come out
victorious," said Elgindy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Elgindy
says that in these countries, their disparate elements need to find ways of
reconciling their political and other differences in order to develop inclusive,
representative governments. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama, Romney Largely Agree on Middle East Policy

By Jeffrey Young One of the discussion areas between the two major party U.S. presidential candidates has been North Africa and t...

Obama Becomes First US President to Vote Early in Election

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">WASHINGTON
(RIA Novosti) --- US President Barack Obama cast his ballot two weeks before
the formal Election Day, becoming the first president in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">US</st1:country></st1:place> history to vote early in
election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Obama
voted for himself in his hometown of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chicago</st1:city></st1:place>
on Thursday to encourage Americans to submit early ballots in the run-up to the
November 6 election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">First
Lady Michelle Obama voted even earlier, sending her absentee ballot by mail on
October 15.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Early
and absentee voting is a key part of Obama campaign's electoral strategy as it
targets higher voter turnout by promoting “the ease, convenience, and
importance of voting.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A
higher turnout will be especially important in eight "battleground states"
where no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that
state's electoral votes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Just
a handful of extra votes at every polling station in these states could decide
the outcome of the current tight <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">US</st1:country></st1:place> presidential run as Obama has
only a slight lead over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">From
a total of 538 electoral votes, at least 270 are needed to win the White House.
The "battleground states" hold 95 so-called "tossup electoral
votes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama Becomes First US President to Vote Early in Election

WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) --- US President Barack Obama cast his ballot two weeks before the formal Election Day, becoming the first presi...

US Presidential Campaign Divides Small Business Owners in Key Battleground State

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By
Chris Simkins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In
U.S presidential politics, Democrat Barack Obama and his Republican challenger
Mitt Romney have championed small-business growth as a way to fuel an economic
recovery in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">United
  States</st1:country></st1:place>. In the southern state of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">North Carolina</st1:place></st1:state>, where
both men are popular, small business owners are deeply divided over which
candidate can best address their needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Larry
Guinn manufactures de-mountable interior wall partitions at his factory in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Summerfield</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">North
  Carolina</st1:state></st1:place>.  He
worries about the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"I
am not going to hire many people. I just see more and more unemployment in the
country, and that is not good for <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country>," Guinn said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Not
far away in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Greensboro</st1:place></st1:city>,
immigration lawyer Jeremy McKinney prepares to defend another client in court.  He thinks the country is on the right course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"From
out vantage point I do not see any reason to change the captain of the ship,"
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">McKinney</st1:place></st1:city> said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Both
men are small business owners, but on opposite ends of the political divide
when it comes to presidential politics and which candidate has the right plan
to drive economic growth.  Guinn, a
Republican, supports Mitt Romney over President Obama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"If
we do not get someone in there who knows and understands how businesses operate
and what is required of them to be profitable and stay in business, I am not
sure how much longer small businesses are going to be able to hang on," Guinn
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Jeremy
McKinney, a Democrat, credits President Obama's policies for the current
economic recovery.  He says his firm
suffered its worse financial year in 2008, but now times are better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Each
year we have been able to climb back.  And
this year has been our best year ever in the history of this law firm.  We can see the president and this
administration and its policies creating this economic recovery in action,"
McKenney said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Guinn
says Romney's plan to cut corporate taxes will allow small business owners to
hire more workers.  But he worries
President Obama's health-care reform law will cost his company more, because he
currently does not provide health insurance for his workers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"If
I am at the point where I have to furnish insurance for all the employees that
I would put on my solid payroll, I would almost have to use more casual [part-time]
workers because I just could not afford the insurance program and still stay in
business and make a profit," Guinn said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">McKinney</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> says the health-care law is already helping
his business by providing tax credits to offset the costs of health-care
coverage for his employees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"With
less than 50 employees we pay a lot more for our health insurance than large
employers.  That will hopefully change in
2014 as we combine with other small businesses to negotiate health-care
contracts with insurance companies," <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">McKinney</st1:place></st1:city>
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Both
small business owners are hoping for better times, but they paint the upcoming
presidential contest as a stark choice between two competing visions of
economic vitality. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

US Presidential Campaign Divides Small Business Owners in Key Battleground State

By Chris Simkins In U.S presidential politics, Democrat Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney have championed small-...

Obama, Romney Crisscross Nation for Votes

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">VOA
News--- U.S. President Barack Obama begins a two-day campaign tour through a
handful of so-called swing states Wednesday, as he and Republican challenger
Mitt Romney enter the final stretch of the 2012 presidential election.  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Obama
will travel to <st1:state w:st="on">Nevada</st1:state>, <st1:state w:st="on">Iowa</st1:state>,
<st1:state w:st="on">Colorado</st1:state> and <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state>,
plus a trip to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:city>
for an appearance on the popular television show "The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno."  Romney will hold rallies
in <st1:state w:st="on">Nevada</st1:state> and <st1:state w:st="on">Iowa</st1:state>,
before heading to the all-important state of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:state>, where he will campaign on Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">With
voter opinion polls showing both men in a virtual tie heading into the November
6 election, the Democratic incumbent and the former <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> governor are making a final
push to attract any remaining undecided voters. 
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">At
a rally in the southern state of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:state>
Tuesday, Obama criticized his opponent for apparently changing positions on
major issues during their debate Monday on foreign policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"But
you know what, this is actually something important, this is about trust,"
said Obama.  "There is no more
serious issue in a presidential campaign than trust. The person who leads this
country, you've got to have some confidence that he or she means what he or she
says."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Romney
dismissed the president's comments during a campaign appearance near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Nevada</st1:state></st1:place>
with vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The
president - we've gone through four debates now, we've gone through four
debates with the vice presidential debate and my debates - and we haven't heard
an agenda from the president," said Romney.  "And that's why his campaign is taking
on water and our campaign is full speed ahead."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
states Obama and Romney are visiting could prove crucial in determining who
wins the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.  Romney's visit to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:state> underscores the historical fact that no
Republican has won the White House without winning the Midwestern state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama, Romney Crisscross Nation for Votes

VOA News--- U.S. President Barack Obama begins a two-day campaign tour through a handful of so-called swing states Wednesday, as he...

Obama, Romney Tangle over China's Trade Practices

<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S.
President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney used a foreign
policy debate Monday in <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state> to get tough
on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">President
Obama described <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>
as an "adversary" but said he looked forward to partnering with the
rising Asian power as long as it follows international trade rules.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>'s an
adversary, and also a potential partner in the international community if it's
following the rules," said Obama. "So my attitude coming into office
was that we are going to insist that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country> plays by the same rules as
everybody else."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Obama
said his administration has brought more trade violation cases against <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country> than the
previous administration did in two terms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Romney,
who has used harsh rhetoric on China throughout the campaign, said Beijing "doesn't
have to be an adversary," but warned that it cannot "roll all over us
and steal our jobs."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"I've
watched year in and year out as companies have shut down and people have lost
their jobs because <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>
has not played by the same rules, in part by holding down artificially the
value of their currency," said romney. "It holds down the prices of
their goods. It means our goods aren't as competitive and we lose jobs. That's
got to end."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Romney
repeated his promise to label <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>
a currency manipulator on his first day in office, a designation that would
allow for steeper tariffs on Chinese goods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">During
the 15-minute segment set aside for discussing "The Rise of China and
Tomorrow's World," neither candidate mentioned <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country></st1:place>'s human rights situation, intensifying
maritime disputes, or upcoming leadership transition. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>

Obama, Romney Tangle over China's Trade Practices

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney used a foreign policy debate Monday in Florida to get tough o...

Kofi Annan Commission Criticizes Financing of US Elections

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By Selah Hennessy<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 8px; line-height: 9px;">Photo © VOA News</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">LONDON (VOA News)--- A commission headed by former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan charges that the soaring cost of U.S. elections is a major hindrance to democracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The charge appears in a report published Friday by the Global Commission on Elections and Democracy, which says its goal, is to promote the integrity of elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan spoke to VOA at the launch of the report in London.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He says each nation must develop an election framework that suits its needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"There are certain fundamental issues or fundamental requirements, which each country should try to respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Beyond that they know their society better, they know their environment better and they may come up with approaches that work for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>You cannot expect everyone to solve the same problems the same way," Annan said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In the report published Friday, the commission laid out what it sees as prerequisites for elections to take place with "integrity."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The 12-member commission includes former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former secretary general of the Council of the European Union, Javier Solana.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Also on the panel is Vidar Helgesen, head of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"The world has seen over the last 20 years a considerable rise of democracy and correspondingly a considerable rise in the number of elections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But we have also seen that while governments and the international community has gotten better at organizing elections, authoritarian leaders have also become better at rigging elections and they do that in more advanced ways," Helgesen said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The report says there are five major challenges that must be overcome for elections to have integrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>They include an effective rule of law; strong, impartial electoral management bodies to oversee the vote; and regulated political financing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Helgesen singles out the United States as a country where, he says, uncontrolled political financing is a problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He says soaring costs are undermining citizens' trust in their system.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"The American people through credible opinion polls have indicated that the problem is on the rise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Two-thirds of the American people say that their trust in the political system has been weakened by the recent developments in political financing - the Super PACS. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Even more people think that politicians can more easily become corrupted and Congress is to a large extent representing special interests rather than the holistic interests of society," Helgesen said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Spending in the U.S. has been boosted by a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that effectively scrapped limits on corporate and union spending in elections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Now Super PACs, or political action committees, and tax-exempt advocacy groups can support candidates without a cap on spending, as long as they do not coordinate with official campaigns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Those in the U.S. who advocate increased spending on elections say it helps promote democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Paul Sherman is an attorney at the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm based in the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He says high campaign spending means a more informed electorate.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"By having reduced regulations on campaign finance it makes it easier for more different types of voices to get in so we don't have a political debate that is dominated entirely by the central parties themselves," Sherman said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security is an international initiative aimed at promoting the integrity of elections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It was launched in South Africa last year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Funding for the report came from the Kofi Annan Foundation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, along with the governments of Australia, the Netherlands, and Norway.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Kofi Annan Commission Criticizes Financing of US Elections

By Selah Hennessy Photo © VOA News LONDON (VOA News)--- A commission headed by former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan charg...