video transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: As pollsters and political pundits scrambled to make their final predictions the day before U.S. presidential elections, a group of Peruvian shamans said the spirit world had already spoken to them and predicted President Barack Obama will defeat Republican challenger Mitt Romney Tuesday. Dressed in customary Amazonian and Altiplano clothing and using traditional rituals to reach out to ancient Incan gods, the shamans climbed Lima's Mount Cristobal on Monday to ask who would win the contest that polling indicates is too close to call. They used an array of medicinal plants and flowers to bring luck to the candidates as well as symbolic swords to fend off any negative forces surrounding them. The spiritual leaders spit potions on images of Obama and Romney, not as a sign of disrespect, but to bring good fortune. After consulting with the spirits, the shamans made their prediction. "We have visualized that the plant Mars favors Barack Obama's election. Romney will lose. This is what we've seen. The forces of the guardians favor him and moreover the Latino vote favors Obama. Obama wins. Obama triumphs," shaman Juan Osco said. After making their prediction, the shamans asked the spirits of the "higher world" to ensure Obama leads over a time of peace and healing of the planet. The shamans often make predictions connected to regional politics or expectations for the New Year as they peer into the future. Obama and Romney on Monday made a frenetic dash to a series of crucial swing states to deliver their final arguments to voters on the last day of an extraordinarily close race for the White House.