Bush's election guru says Obama has copied his tactics

London, Oct 26 : Karl Rove, the noted architect of President George W Bush's two victories, has said if Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wins the White House race, it will be because he has beaten the Republicans at their own game.

The Democrats have copied Rove's formidable tactics and ground operation, pumping out a disciplined message, assembling a broad-based coalition which includes young first-time voters and African-Americans, and drowning their Republican opponents with money.

"I've got to tell you, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I can say, I'm deeply flattered," The Times quoted Rove, as saying.

Rove recalled how Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, outlined their electoral strategy at the Democratic convention in August: "He explicitly said we have deliberately copied the army of persuasion of the Republicans."

The results can be seen in the long queues for early voting in western and southern states and a series of national polls pointing to the emphatic election of America's first black president.

They could herald the dawn of "Obamaland" - Democratic control of the White House, the Senate and House of Representatives - offering the Illinois senator the chance to shape the nation for a generation.

Democrats are daring to dream of a "liberal super-majority" not seen since the eras of Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal in the 1930s, and Lyndon B Johnson in the 1960s, who set out to transform education, welfare and civil rights under the rubric of the Great Society.

If the Democrats can win an extra nine Senate seats - still a long shot, Rove believes - they will have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority and will be able to pass any legislation they like. "I feel like we got a righteous wind at our backs," Obama said in Virginia last week.

Several well-known Republican senators, such as Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina, are under threat. The greater the bloodbath, the more leftwingers such as Al Franken, a comedian and radio host who is running for the Senate in Minnesota, may be elected.

ANI