Comment, analysis and other election-related offerings from the FT and FT.com:

Jurek Martin: Good evening Mister President

Tuesday could be a long night – or a very short one – but the game plan is simple. John McCain must hold on to every state George W. Bush carried four years ago in his narrow victory over John Kerry and, for safety, poach the odd one from the Democrats.

Mark Penn: America should stick to centrism

The real battle begins after the election. The key question is whether Mr Obama will find the new vital centre and hold it, or whether he learns the lessons of Mr Clinton and Mr Bush. That is the test of the next year and of America’s new centre-left coalition.

Clive Crook: The heavy weight of expectations

[Obama] would be a star in US politics if he were white – but he also happens to be black. It arouses accusations of “reverse racism” to point this out, but let us not be squeamish: the fact that he is black is another huge point in his favour.

Gideon Rachman: Preparing for the first blue president

The fact that Barack Obama would also be the first black president has obscured the significance of his political colouring. If he wins, he will be the first northern, urban liberal to win the presidency since the culture wars broke out in the US in the 1960s.

(Gideon Rachman will also be twittering his views throughout the evening – check him out on @gideonrachman)

Quentin Peel: Obama is almost condemned to disappoint

Much of the world is watching the outcome of the US elections with extraordinary attention, in the overwhelming hope – and expectation – that Barack Obama will win. In China, India and Russia, however, they do not seem to care very much

Interactive feature: States to watch

US presidential candidates must win at least 270 electoral college votes to be elected. Our map shows the latest poll results, with a close-up look at six key states: Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

On the trail: Campaign Diary

Garry Trudeau, creator of the syndicated Doonesbury cartoon strip, has already discounted the possibility of a McCain victory. With opinion polls running in Barack Obama’s favour, Trudeau decided to save his ink and assume a Democratic victory for the purposes of next week’s strip.

This entry was posted by Stacy-Marie Ishmael on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 20:04 and is filed under Capital markets, People. Tagged with Barack Obama, John McCain. Edit this entry.