High prize for this reality TV contest

kentonline news editor

Less than a week to go and we’ll no longer need to feel sorry for Americans at having to make a choice between two such awful presidential candidates. Actually, we will still feel sorry for Americans, it’s just that those feelings will be overshadowed by the pity we feel for the rest of the world – ie ourselves – at the prospect of either Trump or Clinton becoming the US president in the new year.

It seems like an unusually high-stakes prize for a contest that long ago descended into reality TV show territory.

Some voters have yet to make up their minds in this most polarising of elections and, quite frankly, who can blame them?

Commentators seem to get very excited whenever Donald Trump commits yet another sexist blunder, in a campaign largely characterised by sexist blunders.

It’s as if the floating voters are suddenly going to come out and say: “That’s it, I’m voting for Clinton now! I can take so many sexist blunders but this is a sexist blunder too far.”

All the tuttutting and finger-wagging directed at Trump must undoubtedly work in his favour, as self-righteousness is a pretty unappealing trait in an aspiring politician.

There must be a very good reason Hillary Clinton has yet to open up a commanding lead in the polls and this relentlessly censorious air is surely the hot favourite, especially as Trump is making an art of self destruction and you could pretty much leave him to it just by keeping quiet.

That the scandal surrounding Clinton’s own alleged misuse of emails is so difficult to understand must also help to keep her campaign afloat.

After all, the man or woman in the street can easily understand some sexual bragging recorded without the knowledge of the participant, less so the ethical minefield of sending work emails from a private server.