Perhaps a closer analogy would be the fiasco of the 2000 election. The news media were broadcasting that some polls were closed, that Gore had won, so why bother going? Personally, I think they should have been prosecuted. They were not reporting, they were attempting to fix an election.
“People of the world,” declared Senator Obama sonorously at his self-worship service in Germany, “look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.”
I'll go with Reagan and Thatcher. There is a distinct difference between being a cheerleader or a real leader.
Hopefully the masses will remember that and go vote anyway. McCain and Palin should remind people of that in their request for votes.