on tenterhooks — in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety: the movie keeps one on tenterhooks until the very last moment.

all signs point to an obama win but given america’s racist history, black america dares not believe it till it happens, for real.

“Like a Hollywood blockbuster whose conclusion feels assured but still sets the heart racing, the endgame of this election has gripped black America with a powerful mixture of emotions.

Obama’s potential victory represents a previously unimaginable triumph over centuries of racism. But beneath the hope and pride lies fear: of polling inaccuracy, voting chicanery, or the type of injustice and violence that have historically stymied African-American progress . . . .

‘I can’t tell you how much fear, but at the same time joy and expectation I have,’ said James Lowry, a management consultant from Chicago. ‘It revolves around every five minutes. I have hope, I read the polls, I get excited, then I say, Anything can happen.’

Michael Cornwell, a surgeon from Atlanta, checks poll numbers daily online and fully expects Obama to win. Still, ‘you can’t shake the tension,’ he said.”

But in the midst of all the joy and optimism among African-Americans as the election campaign winds down, there is also palpable dread about what could be in store if the polls are wrong and Obama doesn’t make it to the White House on Tuesday.

Mensah confesses to frazzled nerves. ‘I am anxious and afraid about what would happen, but the polls can’t be wrong.’

Travissays she’s also on edge.  ‘I feel personally that I am waiting to exhale, and for all African-Americans, there would be great disillusionment at the very minimum, disbelief, devastation and fears that the election had been stolen if Obama loses.”

but if obama wins

Obama is a prototype, in some ways, of the “no excuse” American and that scares a lot of people – Black and White. I think if the interracial son of a single White mother can be elected to the highest office of the land, we will all have to file away the excuses and step the game up a little. Right? Just the fact that Obama has come this far means no more “White man holding me down” talk from some of us. Those days are over. No matter what happens after November, Obama’s proved that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. More than the race piece, Obama’s presidency would also be a thumb in the eye of some White folks who will suddenly see their skin privileges devalued. In Obama’s America, being Black or being White will not be enough. Being an American will be about substance, finally.”

“The empire is in decline, the culture is in decay, the democracy is in trouble, financial markets near collapse,” said Princeton professor Cornel West. “It’s almost Biblical. And you can imagine what the black brothers and sisters in the barbershops and salons say: ‘Right when the thing is about to go under, they hand it to the black man.‘”

will it be a smooth election?  not according to huffingtonpost’s huffpollstrologer philip sedgwick:

Barring fraud, the signatures indicate that Barack Obama wins the popular and electoral vote. Given the similarities in patterns it is hard to say what margin of victory Obama enjoys. Conservative estimates prophesize a close election and that Obama wins by 3 to 5 percent. Liberal estimates suggest this is a landslide ass-kicking the likes of which have not been seen since Johnson creamed Goldwater. I’d reckon it’s in between but decisive.

Jupiter, the celestial arbitrator, and Eris, goddess of discord, now merge into a critical alignment, which comes to precise focus in the third week of November. Jupiter and Eris, according to the mythology, conspired to right an election wrong. The possibility of smoothly putting this election behind us is slim. Given a McCain loss and the aspect to his Ceres, the odds of protest run high. Accusations of voter fraud, defective machines and the like ironically stand poised to launch. Per the myth, Ceres was a sore loser. With Pluto approaching McCain’s destiny-driven node, he feels this is his and he should win. It should be fun in the days following the results.

sana hindi.  sana obama wins by an ass-kicking landslide, and the fun is not due to mccain protests but to blacks dancing in the streets.