ROGER MORONEY "Today will be just huge," was how Amy Walewski summed up election day fever in her former homeland, the United States. She and husband Cornel moved to Napier about eight years ago, for lifestyle and the pursuit of their love of Art Deco. But ties with California have remained strong. A coupleof weeks ago they were in the US for a holiday and found the topics of everyday conversation were firmly two things - will Barack Obama become the first African-American president and will the stockmarkets recover? "At election times in the past you wouldn't have realised it was on - but not this time," Mrs Walewski said. "California is notoriously democrat and there is lots of talk going on. Usually it's just 'the election, oh, okay' - but not for this one. It is huge over there. Today will be remarkable." Mrs Walewski said she was not one to get heavily into conversation about politics, but there was no escaping it when she was there a fortnight ago. "It was always the topic of conversation." She said with the stockmarket upheavals, high taxes and the election, people were in voting mode like never before. She said it was clear from what she saw that a lot more people than usual would be voting this time and the consensus appeared to be that it was time for a change. Her own feeling about the result? "I reckon Obama will win."
