Final Countdown

The undecided voters have been taking a lot of flak in American political commentary. Being in big numbers in the key swing states, assumed to have tipping power in the November 6 presidential election, they are told things like, "You're not Solomon, carefully weighing the choices. You're a ditherer. You probably panic at 'paper or plastic' in the supermarket, backing up the checkout line." But surely the three presidential debates have drummed up sympathy for the poor undecideds. One black, one white, both gladiators are dazzlingly handsome; an image flipping Romney's coif over Obama's close crop and vice versa that has gone viral underlines this similarity. Another is their ability to switch from professorial/detached mode to aggressive/bloodthirsty mode. Mitt Romney excelled in the latter avatar in the first debate and Barack Obama in the third. Holding their punches or throwing them, Romney and Obama never really gave up the dibs on knowledge. Whether on healthcare or on Libya, they were the ones deciding whether or not to take the fact-checkers for a ride. After the first debate, Romney supporters savoured, "Obama is rolling down a mountain like Homer Simpson, hitting every rock along the way". After the third, Obama supporters licked their chops over attacking lines like, "You seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s."

Fourteen more gruelling days of these championship boxers sparring at high pitch lie ahead. Polls will likely remain tied through this period. For the world, one comfort is that whichever way the US finally swings, a really smart and pragmatic man will be at its helm.

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