The Romney campaign has always said it expects the race to be close until the end, and that it would have a chance of overcoming Mr. Obama as long as it stayed within striking distance of him in polls.
We are treated to semi-naked locker room scenes in which Maverick's rival, Iceman (Val Kilmer), leans within kissing distance of him and says: "I like you because you're dangerous," before snapping his teeth as if biting the proverbial pillow.
We were as anxious to get all the flummery out of the way as the King was, but it was still several minutes into the movie before we got the King out into the open and his would-be assassin within striking distance of him.
The bad news (for them) is that no-one expects even one of them to get within hailing distance of him as the seven-year-old and jockey Geraghty try to extend the horse's unbeaten record over fences to eight.
I stood within reaching distance of him for a good five minutes, but nothing happened.
In his 50th consecutive slam appearance, he eased ahead of Jimmy Connors in total wins in majors (with just 35 losses), and there is not an active player within shouting distance of joining him at the top of a list of the game's finest players: Connors, Agassi, Lendl, Emerson, Sampras, Edberg, Rosewall, McEnroe and Becker.
In Broward County, the manual recount ended just minutes before midnight on Saturday, producing a net gain of 567 votes for Mr. Gore, cutting Mr. Bush's previous lead in half and bringing the vice president within striking distance of overtaking him, depending on the Palm Beach count.
Three seasons ago, Blackpool won nine games out of 10 immediately before the final; this time it's eight out of 10 and Ian Evatt – "a fantastic lad" in the words of his manager – stands within touching distance of accompanying him into the Premier League.
He lay so quiet, beside his toppled bicycle on a street in Varanasi in India, that it was only the respectful distance of the crowd around him, and their almost incredible stillness in that vortex of taxis and cows and horns and rickshaws, that made me suppose I was right.My morning journey from Hampstead to St James's takes me past two hospitals.
"With five kilometres to go, I thought I had lost it".. Froome has just 447km (277 miles) of the Tour's total distance of 3,404km 2,1155 miles) between him and the finish line on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday, but he must survive two more days in the high mountains of the Alps before the procession into Paris.
And, even at close range, there is an aura of distance about him, which the deep, oratorical pitch of his voice reinforces.
