Politico.com

The media have spent more than twice as much on travel with the Barack Obama campaign than with the John McCain campaign, according to a Politico analysis of campaign filings. Through September, news organizations spent $9.6 million to hit the hustings with the Democrats, and $4.4 million with the Republicans. The gulf in spending is due in part to Obama's charging the media more to cover higher overhead costs, the campaigns' divergent accounting techniques and also to Obama's long primary battle and his trip to Europe and the Middle East.

WashingtonPost.com

A bunch of political hands at the Post speculate what surprises may still be in store in the campaign's final hours. Ed Rollins says voters may punish Obama's cockiness by voting for McCain. And Bob Shrum says the biggest surprise – and relief – will be the lack of drama. “The surprise is no surprise – no hanging chads, no reversal of the pre-election polls or the exit polls. Why?” he asks. “The presidential race isn't close.”

ChicagoTribune.com

Barack Obama will return home to Chicago on Tuesday for an Election Night rally in the city's Grant Park, where an estimated 1 million people are expected to attend. “This is a celebration,” Mayor Richard Daley, a Democrat, said last week. “No way I'm going to tell people they should not come down and celebrate.” John McCain plans to deliver postelection remarks to a group of about 2,000 reporters and guests on the lawn of Phoenix's Biltmore Hotel. The site, framed by Camelback Mountain, is a “special setting,” said campaign spokesman Brian Rogers. “We will show off Arizona a bit.”

IHT.com

Rupert Murdoch warns that Barack Obama could worsen the world financial crisis if he is elected and implements protectionist policies. The News Corp. chairman was quoted in an interview published Saturday in Australia that next U.S. president must resist the temptation to introduce more protectionist trade policies to try to deal with the global financial crisis. He said imposing new tariffs on Chinese imports could set off a trade battle that would worsen the slowdown in the global economy.