'Another Trump presidency would be a disaster for post-Brexit Britain - and for the rest of the world," says Stephen Pound

The welcome that I received on the American doorstep was not exactly what you would call warm.

For some reason the gentleman in a “Make America Great Again” cap and a stars and stripes bandana was not delighted to see a lefty Briton looking for support for the Democrat candidate in the November 5th US election.

I was asked - in no uncertain terms - what right a "Limey" had to be “poking his goddam snout” into American politics.

I thought hard for an appropriate response but could only say that if Nigel Farage was being welcomed with red carpet treatment by Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee then surely a few Labour people could not be objected to.

It may not have been the cocking of a shotgun that I heard but I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retreated in good order – at great pace.

I really doubt that I could make much difference to the outcome of the American election, but it was a salutary and sobering experience to see American democracy at ground level.

I immediately clocked that while the cities were solid for Kamala Harris the minute that you strayed beyond the suburbs then the Trump/Vance signs sprouted like weeds on every patch of ground.

This was truly a nation divided in a way that we cannot – thankfully – begin to approach here in the UK.

I make no bones about my view that another Trump presidency would be a disaster.

A disaster for us in the post Brexit UK who would be unable to agree trade deals with Trump who has stated his determination to impose tariffs on all imports. A disaster for Ukraine as the bromance between Putin and Trump would see the abandonment of any level of support for that suffering nation and while there might be short term peace the prospects of an emboldened Putin heading to the Baltic states and eastern Poland becomes a reality.

A disaster for NATO as one of its founders retreats into the old American policy of splendid isolation.

A disaster for America as chaos would reign and the worst sort of gutter politics would be seen to have triumphed.

I was in the States when Donald Trump made his twelve minutes” joke” about the size of the late Arnold Palmer’s manhood. No British politician – however low – could stoop to this level of schoolboy filth and leaving aside the immense distress it caused to the late golf great’s daughter it revealed an immature sniggering embarrassment who should not be allowed to stand in the footsteps of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy.

Apart from that it was quite an experience to be in America just as the voters guides were dropping onto the doormats.

Every household in the state I was visiting received two booklets – one of 150 pages and one of 133 – giving details and statements of all the candidates for national and local government. Printed in eleven languages these documents give a fascinating insight into their democracy.

Basically; anyone can stand for anything with not only the minimum of experience but often making a virtue of that.

One candidate stated that he was “the most boring nerd in Portland but government works best when it is boring “, another gave her previous political experience as being a Girl Scout leader while my favourite was Viva, standing for Mayor of Portland, who gave her experience as a holistic teacher and stripper.

If Hollywood is usually called Hollyweird, then that weirdness extends far beyond the sunny west coast.

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Somehow this massive exercise of the franchise has produced two candidates for the highest office who both have serious flaws and do not really compare favourably with presidents of the past.

I saw a baseball game which was the most tedious experience I can recall and showed that the game really is rounders for slow learners.

I saw an NFL game which seemed to be a series of committee meetings interrupted by periods of grievous bodily harm.

I was offered a culinary horror called a “corn dog” which was a hot dog deep fried in breadcrumbs and presenting such a greasy nightmare that would have even caused a hungry Glaswegian to turn away.

For all this my abiding memory is of a kind, polite and overwhelmingly decent people who seem to have entered a period of utter madness.

For all our sakes I hope they return to sanity without further delay

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