US Politics / Ari Last / 20 October 2008 /

Things just keep getting worse for John McCain in the American Presidential Election contest. Support in the betting keeps flying in for Barack Obama as the odds tumbled even further over the weekend. Ari Last tells all...

The Barack Obama bandwagon warmly greeted another passenger yesterday when former Secretary of State and all round political heavy-weight Colin Powell jumped on board. In truth Obama's bandwagon is beginning to resemble more of a runaway steam train and endorsements from the likes of Powell act simply to add fuel to his fire with one hand, while dousing the dwindling flames of his rival Senator McCain with the other.

With the American Presidential Election now only weeks away, despite all the money being spent on campaigns and corny advertisements, in the most part the two candidates are now preaching to the converted.

However, as is the case with most elections the world over, the key voters to be clinched in the race's final furlong are those floating in between ideologies, those who feel compelled to vote but can't make up their minds, and those who simply don't know enough about politics in order to make a decision.

Powell's comments will act to fortify the resolve of Democratic voters and probably do little to affect the mindset of Republican die-hards, however what they will do is push the critical band of the ambivalent towards a Democratic vote.

The fact that the former Secretary of State, who once served in a Republican Government under George Bush, is backing Obama is undoubtedly a huge blow to Senator McCain, yet it was the words used by Powell which would have irked the Republican faithful most.

Claiming an Obama victory would be "electrifying" is bad enough, but Powell's blunt and wholly disapproving assessment of John McCain's economic abilities in this critical time would have been a particularly difficult pill to swallow.

Americans are currently in the midst of the worse financial crisis of modern times and are embracing themselves for further turmoil, so to hear a man as well respected and as experienced as Colin Powell say that he feared John McCain "didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we have" would have been frightening.

Another intriguing point of yesterday's events was how McCain stated that Powell's comments "didn't come as a surprise". How is this so? If McCain isn't surprised, why should anyone else be? His lack of shock could be viewed by some as almost a subconscious agreement or acknowledgment of the accusations being fired at him. Would it not be fair to say that this meek response could be seen as further evidence that there is a sense of defeatism creeping into the Republican camp?

The response to the interview on the Betfair Markets told its own story.

Over £270,000 was matched on the Democrat after Powell's views were aired causing Obama's price to shorten to 1.14 with his chances of victory rising 3% up to 88%.

Yesterday John McCain diplomatically described Colin Powell as a "long term friend", surely not anymore. The phrase "with friends like these who needs enemies" springs to mind, for at a time which the ailing McCain need his friends the most, one of them has dramatically let him down.

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