Barry Soper: The frightening choice facing American voters

If American voters listen to the candidates running for the country's top political job their choice is frightening.

If they listen to Donald Trump, a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for one of the most crooked politicians in the nation's history. But if they listen to Clinton they'll be voting for a tax dodging, sexual bully.

So there's little wonder why citizens in this country are feeling a little punch drunk and in many cases ashamed that politics has come to this.

Tracking polls show how they're thinking. For Clinton more than half her support is personal while more than half of Trump's support is because they can't stand the thought of a Clinton being in the White House again.

So the combatants will again be hitting the battleground states today. Florida has been the focal point, it's again the political boxing ring where the victor will take the champion's belt. And Clinton must be feeling more comfortable than Trump there given that by midway through last week more Latinos had voted there than had turned out for the entire 2012 campaign.

Florida has been at the centre of the political maelstrom before. In 2000 Al Gore won the nationwide popular vote but lost the election to George Bush. Incredibly the Supreme Court stopped a recount of the ballots, giving the state and the election to Bush with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 255.

And it's that electoral system that is more than likely to prevent Trump from achieving his ambition.

It's a system not unlike our old first past the post where a political party could win more of the popular vote, and Labour did in the late 70s, early 80s, but failed to take the Treasury benches.

But change in this country won't happen when the two powerhouse parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, totally dominate and make the laws to suit themselves.
And it's for that reason that there's always been a low voter turnout in this country, people simply aren't all that interested because, unless they live in a swing state, they feel their vote doesn't count.

The last time the vote topped 60 per cent was in 1992.

You'd think the divisive nature of this campaign would see a better turnout but it's unlikely. Essentially those who feel impotent feel there's little point in having to choose the lesser of two evils.

But as one disgruntled Republican told me, with Clinton it's like a gun to the head pulling the trigger, with Trump the gun's at the head but it's Russian roulette - there's at least a chance of survival.

Barry Soper travelled to New York with Air New Zealand