Opinion | Outcome of Obama-Romney race looks less certain

With just a few days to go before the US presidential election, it is neck-on-the-block time.

All manner of hard-bitten loyalists and political hucksters are emerging to state their predictions for Tuesday's vote.

Karl Rove - mastermind of the rise of the two-term president George W.Bush - is predicting a solid victory for Republican Mitt Romney in both the popular vote and the all-important electoral college. Rove - a staunch Republican activist who is deeply feared and quietly respected by Democrats - bases his assessment on studies of micropolls and judging crowd sizes and reactions.

Similarly, former Democrat campaigner Bob Shrum is predicting a smooth win for Obama. Both, of course, could well be playing to the gallery - it is election time afterall.

More extreme tipsters, led by former Bill Clinton guru-turned sometime Republican consultant Dick Morris and a few right-leaning newspaper columnists, have Romney in a landslide.

The latest averages of respected national polls are decidedly more sober, suggesting a popular vote that is too close to call. They give a slight edge - and therefore victory - to Obama in the electoral college, via the swing states.