At this point, US election is down to one state out of the fifty. Whoever wins Ohio ( that damn state down south) will win the US presidency. In case you plan to follow the election, here is all you need –

New York Times Election Center, Electoral Map,  and Swing State center,

Politico Swing State analysis,

Truthdig elections if you are far left,

Huffington Post Electoral Map,

Fox News Election Center,

Washington Post election center,

Yahoo’s Ticket.

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Interspersed below are links to some of the best long form articles on US presidential elections 2012. 4 more days!, 4 more years?

It’s the end game in American politics. What started 14 months ago with a straw poll in Iowa will end in under 100 hours, when America elects it’s next president, and not many elections have come so close as this one. Over a year long primaries are done, debates are over, national grandstanding is done, and  now its down to the ground game. The ground game will pit Mitt Romney’s well funded, mammoth Republican machine, against one of the best political machines of all time – the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama.

Barack Obama prevented a depression, ended one of the bloodiest wars in the world, set an end date for another, moved the world closer to multi-polar decision making, killed Osama Bin Laden, passed one of the most comprehensive social security legislation in four decades, legislated for equal pay for women and men, came out in support of gay marriage, saved Detroit, reached out to Islamic countries of the middle east, and “renewed the honor of American presidency” after eight years of Dubya.

Almost all the time, American right was disappointed in his record, American left was disappointed once in a while (like the cartoon below) because Obama wasn’t listening enough to Occupy, and then there are the undecided millions who think he is not focusing on real issues.

That said, there were embarrassing times for Obama, when unemployment soared and never came down below 8% till last month, when he won a so-so Nobel Prize, failed to move on immigration reform, and almost froze on Global climate change. Read NewYorker endorsement here.


In electing Bambi, Americans will be electing a man they know very well. They know his good, and his bad, and expectations are not messianic from Obama this time over. That’s why it’s said, Obama will never win a landslide. Because people know him already, and have a well developed opinion on what Obama is capable of and on whether they like him or not. And that is Mitt Romney’s primary problem.

Mitt Romney has been a success story in corporate America, and in politics. Son of a former Michigan governor, Romney has an impressive resume – presiding over one of the world’s biggest consulting firms, salvaging an Olympics, legislating for universal health care, and improving education standards. Despite this Mitt Romney faces a trust issue even as the vote is just a few days away. Nobody knows what Mitt really believes in, what his values are, and what he would eventually do as President. This shaky personality, and reputation as a flip-flop politician who changes his stated opinions every other day, makes even seasoned Republicans with their unfettered hate for Bambi, think twice before they press the button for Romney. Nobody knows Mitt Romney. Not even neo-liberal magazine Economist, which endorsed Barack Obama today.

At this point, US election is down to one state out of the fifty. Whoever wins Ohio ( that damn state down south) will win the US presidency. In case you plan to follow the election, here is all you need –

New York Times Election Center, Electoral Map,  and Swing State center,

Politico Swing State analysis,

Truthdig elections if you are far left,

Huffington Post Electoral Map,

Fox News Election Center,

Washington Post election center,

Yahoo’s Ticket.