When our neighbours go to the polls Tuesday, they'll be doing more than voting for the next president of the United States.
Americans will have a chance to reshape Congress, change the leadership in a host of states and vote on a range of issues that U.S. democracy likes to put directly to its citizens, from marijuana laws in Washington state to a proposed, Canadian-funded bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont. Each vote will reach over our border and into our daily lives.
With so much at stake, we wanted to do something remarkable, something never tried before, to help Canadians better understand America's choices and the consequences.
We accepted the challenge from Nissan Canada, the sponsor of this edition, which wanted to be associated with something innovative, credible and essential to Canadians. The special print edition of The Globe and Mail is unlike anything we've done before – tabloid-sized, distributed free on the streets of six major cities, designed to give Canadians an election-eve look at the U.S. campaign.
You'll find a feast of stories, graphics, photo essays and business intelligence. Among the treats are guest pieces from Michael Ignatieff, the former Liberal leader and long-time commentator on U.S. politics, and Paul Wolfowitz, the Republican hawk who was one of the architects of the war in Iraq. You'll also find reporting from our team of 10 Canadian journalists who travelled across the United States during the campaign.
No Canadian media outlet can claim that sort of depth – and it's something you can find year in and year out on our website and in our daily paper.
You can find more content here at globeandmail.com, the country's most popular newspaper website, where there's a special election hub that will give you live coverage through voting day and additional analysis and reader interactive features in the days ahead. Our news apps are easily accessible on your smartphone.
Here on our website, take time to meet our community of Canadian ex-pats – Globe readers living in the United States who volunteered to help us cover the campaign. Their reports and videos are a delight. Please join their conversation, whether you're passionate about U.S. politics or just curious to know what they're seeing.
Foreign editor Craig Offman oversaw this special edition, as he has all our campaign coverage. He didn't do it alone. Production editor Liza Sardi and designer Bryan Gee orchestrated the stunning pages that follow, all under the guidance of our news chief Sinclair Stewart.
If you like what you find, become a subscriber to Globe Unlimited and get exclusive digital content that's not available to our general audience, along with our daily newspaper and special Web deals.
We hope you enjoy this edition. However you feel about America's choices, you will feel better informed.