So what do you Brits make of Trump ?

[peejaye]

Well, fellow Americans, you have got yourself in the shit. You won't be voting for the best candidate but for the one you distrust/hate the least. How the hell did you get into this state?

My feelings exactly Martin, thankyou.

[Stavros]

Stavros;
I'll keep this very blunt, I wouldn't vote for either of them and would advise all US citizens to do the same!
I won't sleep easy in my bed no matter which of these two "nuttas" gain power!

By not voting because of a cynical disregard for both of the Presidential candidates, citizens opt out of politics and take one step towards the end of democracy, which thrives on the participation of the citizen in debating and voting.

It is as if the same citizens agree with Trump that the election is rigged in advance, so just as he will not commit to accepting the result, why should citizens bother to vote?

I can offer substantial criticism of both candidates too, but am not an American so it would remain the rhetorical argument my comments on this election have been so far. For the record, I have never voted Conservative in the UK and though was once a member of, indeed an elected official of the Labour Party abandoned that party because of 'New Labour' reforms to the party constitution and because of regime change in Iraq. But I continue to vote, albeit for a fringe party that in practical terms is a wasted vote, because I consider myself to be an active citizen, and because I think it is morally superior to comment on politics if one is on the field of play rather than walk off in a huff but then shout from the sidelines.

What happens in the USA matters to all of us because the USA is a major player in the global economy, it is a major guarantor of the security of Japan and Korea and through NATO of Europe and has, for all but its terrible civil war maintained a democratic political system for 240 years -think about that, 240 years!- , and as such the US stands tall as a country of freedom and liberty which, before you or anyone else is tempted to mock that, is cruelly absent in too many other countries many of them within a few hours flying time from Washington DC. Even in the case of the UK, in the first week after the referendum vote the fall in the value of the pound had an adverse effect on the value of the Yen, just as the Republic of Ireland is facing as difficult and uncertain and economic future as the UK -we are connected, like it or not, in a global capitalist system.

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump believe in capitalism, Clinton believing the state has a moral duty to intervene where capitalism doesn't work or make a profit, Trump claiming to think markets can do everything better. On this aspect of politics alone, it is a nonsense, and indeed an insult to compare the two and to damn both of them as 'evil' or 'dangerous' or 'crazy' when Clinton actually has a record in office you can judge without getting hysterical about her successes or her failures, which are inevitable in real politics; or deriding her as a 'nasty woman'.

By contrast, Trump's record both in business and from what we know of his other activities is not qualified to be President not least because he has shown he has no idea how the Presidency works, he has no natural diplomacy that tempers his language to offer the opponents of the USA a route to the negotiating table, and appears to lack the even temperament that is needed when a President can be provoked by others just to see what happens. So while it may be true that in the USA anyone can become President, you might want to add, but that doesn't mean anyone should be.

And if you don't think it is vital to vote Democrat to stop Trump, isn't that as good as endorsing Trump? There is a choice to be made in the election, and I for one hope the citizens who vote make a choice that will not trash the value of the dollar and the values of the country.

[broncofan]

This is not even a difficult choice for someone with progressive or liberal politics, though perhaps the distance of being in Britain may make it seem that way. I personally don't understand the view that paints Hillary as a nutter or almost indistinguishable from Trump. Because she doesn't like Putin? Putin is indiscriminately killing civilians in Syria, murders journalists within and outside of his country, and does not allow free and fair elections to proceed within his country.

I actually think this might have something to do with the left-wing politics in Britain that on the left people would be more suspicious of Hillary than Trump. Maybe she's a corporate puppet or something sinister like that. Definitely some kind of puppet.

Much better we should vote for the guy who wants to dissolve NATO, who wants to expand the list of countries with nukes, who argued we should be able to use nukes, who wants to repeal the only comprehensive healthcare plan we've ever had, whose tax policy will increase our YUGE national debt and provide disproportionate relief for the wealthy, who wants to build a wall on our entire southern border, who wants a roving police force to arrest and transport 11 million people out of our country, who thinks Assad is the only one fighting ISIS (and is only fighting ISIS), and wants to ban Muslims from entering our country, especially refugees. I can hardly see why someone on the left would object to these things.

[broncofan]

I forgot to mention: He wants to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will take away a woman's right to have an abortion, who will roll back the right of gay couples to get married, and who will block any type of firearm regulation. Also, his running mate has supported something called gay conversion therapy, which is basically the systematic torture of gay men and women, who through a process of compulsory self-hatred become suicidal. Progressive stuff....much better than what Hillary has to offer (none of those things).

[trish]

I forgot to mention: He wants to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will take away a woman's right to have an abortion, who will roll back the right of gay couples to get married, and who will block any type of firearm regulation. Also, his running mate has supported something called gay conversion therapy, which is basically the systematic torture of gay men and women, who through a process of compulsory self-hatred become suicidal. Progressive stuff....much better than what Hillary has to offer (none of those things).

Not to mention Trump's running mate (Pence) once signed legislation that gave funerary rights to fetuses. It would require all fetal tissue issued from an abortion or an even a natural miscarriage to be taken to a funeral home to be cremated or buried, presumably at the expense of the woman and her family. Fortunately a Federal Court stopped the law from being enacted.

Trump essentially claims he doesn’t pay Federal Income Tax because Hillary made him do it! Apparently by not closing the loophole he’s been using for over a decade.

These two guys are crazy squared.

Hillary, after earning a degree in law from Yale, married Bill Clinton, moved to Arkansas and as a legal advocate helped enact State policies to ensure that handicapped children (who were being kept out of public schools) had the opportunity to go to school and learn.

As First Lady led the first attempt to delineate and enact a federal health program. When the proposed legislation failed, she didn’t give up. She created the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This legislation passed with bipartisan support. The program provides matching funds to states for health insurance for modest income families with children.

The hard right objected and vilified her for interfering in a domain where she didn’t belong. She wasn’t an elected official and she was a woman. They were so intimidated and outraged they invented one scandal after another. No federal prosecutor (all appointed by a biased GOP) could ever lay a single infraction or wrong-doing at her door. At that point the tin-foil brigade took over. To date she’s been accused of nearly one-hundred murders! Really? If were that good and that vicious, one has to ask, “How is it that there are any Republicans left?” Hillary intimidates the hell out of the hard right, and they’ve smeared her ever since she was First Lady. Before Lewinsky, she took more shit than Bill. If you’re attacked by scurrilous skunks everyday of your life for thirty years, the smell doesn’t easily wear off - but that doesn’t make you the skunk.

As a Senator she voted against the Bush tax cuts. She co-led the investigation into the health issues incurred by first responders to 9/11. I don’t always agree with her. She voted to invade Afghanistan (I was and still am ambiguous about that military involvement). She voted to support Bush II’s war against Iraq (which I was totally against). As Secretary of State she supported military action in Libya (about which was apprehensive).

So no I don’t always agree with her decisions. But I do trust her. I trust that her actions, past and present, are not about personal profit nor personal aggrandizement. I trust she is sincere and believes in the issues she promotes. I trust she will negotiate and work in a bipartisan manner (if at all possible) but probably with a stronger manner than Obama. Generally I trust that most nominees for president have these virtues to a greater or lesser degree - with at least one obvious exception. Trust is rarely an issue, policy is. Trust is not really an issue in this election either. You can trust Hillary. On the other hand, every single time you see him, Trump is lying about having lied about lying.

[martin48]

Ah, but there is the private email server! I fail to see the great horror of this but please explain if I am missing something. When I used to do work for UK Government, then I would get messages (out of hours) from civil servants and others from their hotmail accounts - usually along the lines "The Minister is saying this in the House tomorrow, is it factually correct?" It's how business gets done.

Anyway I'm off to check my other 16 email accounts now!

[peejaye]

Thanks for that little lot Stavros, you sound a very interesting guy with whom to enjoy a quality pint of beer with.

[Stavros]

Thanks for that little lot Stavros, you sound a very interesting guy with whom to enjoy a quality pint of beer with.

If you are paying! I can't handle a pint these days, a bottle is as far as I can get.

[holzz]

no, America is pretty stupid to have this election. thanks for making the world laugh at you!

[trish]

The Constitution mandates we have a presidential election every four years. You saying we should've made an exception and skipped this one? If Hillary wins I'll be laughing while you guys clutch your never endangered sovereignty and ride the Brexit roller coaster.