What the commentators said

“Hillary and her men,” said Sarah Baxter in The Sunday Times. “Is there no end to the trouble their sex lives have caused her?” As if Bill’s infidelities weren’t bad enough, now her election hopes have been threatened by a “priapic sexter” with a “comedy name” – Weiner – and an “even sillier alias that he uses for sharing his private parts over the phone with young women: Carlos Danger”. How unfair that Trump – a man manifestly unqualified to be president who is also prone to sex scandals – should be the beneficiary of this “October surprise from hell”.

Could the FBI’S late intervention swing it for Trump? The media love to ramp up the tension in the closing stages of an election race, said Stephen Bush in the New Statesman, but the fundamentals of this contest haven’t really changed. Although some polls this week put Trump in front, Clinton still enjoys a solid lead when you average out the national polls. And on a state-by-state basis, which is how US elections are decided, Clinton’s position looks “far stronger”. She may or may not win swing states such as Florida and Ohio, but she’s “ahead in her ‘firewall’ states, which, as long as they remain in her column, guarantee her the White House”. To pull off a Brexit-style surprise, Trump would need a massive turnout by non-college-educated whites who have never voted before. But these people “don’t seem to be showing up in early voting”.

Clinton will probably win on Tuesday, said Edward Luce in the FT. The real question is, will she be able to govern? Even a 1% swing against her “could tip the race for the US Senate”. And without a Democratic majority there she’ll struggle to pass laws, given that the Republicans are expected to retain control of the House of Representatives. It looks like America is in for a “very close finish” in any event, said Greg Sargent in The Washington Post. The bad news is that both sides are reportedly gearing up “for the possibility of a legally contested outcome”.