I appreciate it when we get glimpses of what the outside world sees. Everyone should love their country. But at the same time remember the wise old words... When the devil comes back he'll be wrapped in the flag holding a Bible!
To answer your question directly having just 2 major political Parties America in naturally split fairly evenly between Liberals of varying degrees and Conservatives of varying degrees (some even overlap 
). We have a large (huge) amount of people that just don't participate at all as if the country is run on auto pilot. So it really all boils down to who can swing the "voting but not really affiliated" Independents over to their side.
And yes the pendulum is swinging toward the Democrats. They increased their numbers in the last election and were able to regain a majority in both Houses of Congress. And with Of Executive Branch, President Bush, with the worst job approval ratings of any President ever since polls were created that seems a good sign people are seriously ready for a complete change.
Add to that the historical fact that it is very difficult even with a popular President for a Party to hold that office for 3 terms in a row and the odds are definitely good that we'll be moving away from a Republican/Bush/McCain type of leadership.
I think Senator Obama is exactly what America needs right now. He's indisputably intelligent. He's calm, deliberate and thoughtful. Sometimes you just have to change track, try a different management style, set some new goals for improvements to be made. In business corporations do this all the time.
It was no accident Senator Obama got 200,000 to show up to hear him speak in Germany. Just think about it. I mean if the Chancellor of Germany came here to speak let alone just a candidate for Chancellor I wouldn't really care. But people want to hear what Senator Obama has to say because it's positive and it's a change from what we've had for 8 years under Bush.
