Obama’s maternal grandmother dies at 86

United States President Barack Obama. PHOTO/ FILE

What you need to know:

  • Senator Barack Obama who described the US presidential election as a defining moment in world history is on Tuesday facing his own moment of truth as Americans go to the polls

Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama's quest for the highest office on land suffered a body blow on Tuesday morning after his 86 year old grand mother, Madely Dunham, lost her battle to cancer.

Senator Obama and his wife Michelle released a press statement at 12. 45 am Kenyan time announcing the demise of his grandmother. Obama has in the past variously embelished his grandmother as the pillar of strength in his life.

The death of Obama's grandmother came hours before Americans went to the polls on Tuesday in a battle that pits Senator Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan, against Senator John McCain of the Republican party.

And as polling stations open for the final round of voting this morning, Mr Obama leads Mr McCain in six of eight battleground states.

The first results are likely to be announced at 3 am.

Other candidates in the race are former Congress members Bob Barr (Liberty Party) and Cynthia McKinney (Green Party), Pastor Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party). Mr Ralph Nader is running as an independent.

Celebrations

In Nairobi, police said they were prepared to deal with the celebrations that are expected to break should Mr Obama win.

And the US ambassador to Kenya, Mr Michael Ranneberger, said he would address a press conference at 5 am on Wednesday to give an official comment on the elections.

After one of the longest campaigns in US history, Mr Obama is likely to be voted to the highest office in American politics — the White House.

If he wins, he will make history as the first African-American president since the US won independence 232 years ago.

And if Mr McCain wins, his running mate, Mrs Sarah Palin, will become the first woman Vice-President in US history. Mrs Palin is governor of Alaska.

The winning candidate will need to garner 270 of the 538 electoral votes.

Mr Obama holds a seven-point edge over Mr McCain among likely US voters in a separate Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby national tracking poll. He is a point up from Sunday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

CNN gave Mr Obama a 13-point advantage.

The five states where Mr Obama is ahead have a combined 76 electoral votes. Along with states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004, they would give Obama 328 electoral votes — far more than the 270 needed to win the White House.

Mr Obama holds a lead in crucial swing states of Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Missouri, Nevada and Pennsylvania while Mr McCain is ahead in Indiana and North Carolina.

Some of the earliest returns in the election could provide big clues about the outcome.

Trends could become clear soon after the first polls begin to close at 6 pm in Indiana.

Obama and McCain are locked in a surprisingly tight duel in Indiana, which has voted Republican in every White House race since 1964.

A breakthrough win for Mr Obama, or even a neck-and-neck struggle, would be an encouraging sign of broad strength for the senator from Illinois.

But if Mr McCain appears to be cruising to a relatively easy win in Indiana it could signal trouble for Mr Obama.

“If Obama wins Indiana, the election is over,” Democratic consultant Doug Schoen said on Monday.

The campaign issues were drawn from the financial crisis that hit Wall Street prompting Washington to doll out Sh54.6 trillion ($700 million) bailout; the controversial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; taxation; and unemployment rates.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez predicted on Sunday that the “black man” will win the presidential race and offered to hold talks with him to improve ties between the superpower and one its biggest oil suppliers.

Tuesday’s presidential election in America will be decided in about a dozen battleground states where most opinion polls show Democrat Barack Obama ahead of Republican rival John McCain.

A series of opinion polls released yesterday showed Mr Obama ahead of Mr McCain in six of eight battleground states, including the big prizes of Florida and Ohio.

Here are some battleground states with their electoral vote totals.

Colorado: Nine electoral votes. The three latest polls put Obama up by between 5 and 7 points.

Florida: 27 electoral votes.

Florida is a classic swing state with many older voters who could favour McCain along with Jewish voters who are normally Democratic but have been wary of Obama. The three most recent polls each gave Obama a narrow lead of just 2 points in the state.

Indiana: 11 electoral votes.

It borders Obama’s home state of Illinois and he has poured resources into his Indiana campaign. The Reuters/Zogby poll yesterday showed McCain in the lead by five points, although earlier polls had showed the race as a dead heat.

Missouri: 11 electoral votes.

The two most recent polls split, one with Obama up by 1 point and the other with McCain ahead by 1 point.

New Hampshire: Four electoral votes.

McCain’s history of big primary wins in New Hampshire in 2000 and this year gives him hope he can take the state on Tuesday. A poll on Sunday showed Obama ahead by 11 points.

New Mexico: Five electoral votes. McCain is familiar to many New Mexico voters, but he will have to battle Obama for the growing bloc of Hispanics.