Yes, you can actually with CSS 2D Transforms. This is supported in almost all modern browsers, including IE9+. Here's an example.
HTML
<p>I feel like <span class="stretch">stretching</span>.</p>
CSS
span.stretch {
display:inline-block;
-webkit-transform:scale(2,1); /* Safari and Chrome */
-moz-transform:scale(2,1); /* Firefox */
-ms-transform:scale(2,1); /* IE 9 */
-o-transform:scale(2,1); /* Opera */
transform:scale(2,1); /* W3C */
}
TIP: You may need to add margin to your stretched text to prevent text collisions.