I'd like to be confident that the American people will come to their senses, however.

I'd like to dismiss the notion that people get the leaders they deserve. Because Americans are worth more. Nobody deserves George W. Bush.

I'm heartened by the fact that columnists like Jimmy Breslin can see through the obfuscation of the American media machine and be one of the few still able to call a spade a spade.

I want to take the huge numbers turning out to vote (and waiting in queues for up to two hours in order to have their say) as evidence that Breslin is right and the enormous demographic missed by pollsters (some one hundred seventy million young cell phone users) will get out there and swing the election for Kerry.

Not to mention the millions of black voters Bush has consistently ignored, insulted and denigrated with his tax cuts for the rich and his abysmal economic record.

And what about the youths of these same communities? Will they be called up for the draft if Bush remains in power?

Visiting the blogcritics presidential election page - where all and sundry have, are and will be posting their views on the election as it unfolds - I am amazed and awed at the range of opinions.

They span from the far left, to the far right, and everywhere in between. What is truly startling, however, is the depth of feeling. There is a fervor bordering on - dare I say it - the religious, by supporters of Kerry as often as those for Bush. Emotion frequently replaces reason, and the word 'evil' is bandied about repeatedly and indiscriminately by both sides.

This is precisely because this election is such a visceral one. There is so clearly so very much at stake.

If you're an American, you get to make a difference.

For the rest of us, we get to bite our nails and watch as the good people of the United States go to the polls and vote in one of the most crucial elections ever held on American soil.

Their vote will signal to the rest of the world what we can expect from America in the next four years. Respect, responsibility, integrity. Or lies, the gross abuse of power and disdain.

Is it too much to say to the American people that all our fates rest in your hands?

So lets hope you thought long. And hard.

It was the least you could do.

And now we wait.

You can read more from Kirsten at Notes From An Exile (http://g_pi_exile.blogspot.com/)