Onsdag ved vi, hvem amerikanerne tirsdag har valgt som præsident i USA. Indtil da vil læsere, lyttere og seere verden over blive tilbudt den ene exit-meningsmåling og den anden korte voxpop efter hinanden.

Hvis du har brug for at supplere det kortfattede med det tungere, så har vi her samlet en række journalistiske fremstillinger, der på hver sin måde tilfører dækningen noget dybde.

»This guy doesn't want me to reveal who he is because he.. is a... Democrat. Yes. And it's a secret in this overwhelmingly Republican town. A very Christian, Fox News watching, Rush Limbaugh listening, evolution disbelieving kind of town,« begynder radiomontagen Red State Blue State.
Tag med Ira Glass og radioprogrammet This American Life ind i afdækningen af, hvordan Det Hvide Hus påvirker det enkelte amerikaners hverdag.

»What this election has made clear is that our elite has seceded so far from the rest of the United States (...) that they are now concerned almost exclusively with their own most narrow self-interest.« Læs hele artiklen »The Withdrawal of the American Establishment« på Harper's Magazine.

»You are a historic figure, Mr. President. You are not only the first African-American president; you are the first who has made use of your power to target and kill individuals identified as a threat to the United States throughout your entire term.«
»This is not to say that the American people don't know about the Lethal Presidency, and that they don't support its aims. They do. They know about the killing because you have celebrated — with appropriate sobriety — the most notable kills, specifically those of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.«
»He was sixteen. One morning last September, he didn't show up for breakfast. His mother went to find him and instead she found a note. He had climbed out the window of the apartment building where he lived. He had gone in search of his father. You might not have known him then — you might not have had cause to know his name. But his name was Abdulrahman al-Awlaki«.
Læs featurejournalist Tom Junods alternative tekst »The Lethal Presidency« til den ellers så sympatisk fremstillede præsident Barack Obama hos Esquire.

»Det blev en ydmygelse for Barack Obama. Det var 22. maj i år, han var den siddende demokratiske præsident, og i stat efter stat havde hans partifæller med klapsalver og uden modstand valgt ham som partiets  præsidentkandidat, og hvorfor skulle det blive anderledes den aften i Kentucky og Arkansas? Men festen fik en slem mislyd.«
Læs her hele Poul Høis »Stammernes Kamp« om den splittelse, der er den eneste konstant i amerikansk politik.

Lettere snacks

»The portraitist did a nice job of capturing Romney’s discomfort in his own skin,« skriver Vanity Fair i en morsom analyse af et malet portræt af præsidentkandidaten.

»Obama er klart større end Jesus, hvis man skal lege med på den absurde juleleg,« skrev Tøger Seidenfaden i en leder i Politiken i 2009. Læs her, hvorfor han mente sådan.

Hvad er det med Ohio, Florida, Virginia og de andre svingstater? Fordyb dig i New York Times' infografik What Will Swing The Swing States.