As a Brit I am of course deeply interested in the U.S. elections because (as I think I've said before) they are really more important for my future than any UK elections. Shame I don't get to vote, though, when it will affect me as much as it will.

Having said that, from where I sit it's hard to choose between Hillary and Obama. Both have big plus points and big minus points. I don't set much store beside charges of dishonesty during an election campaign -- these things are always overheated and anyone can be taken out of context and probably usually are. However the larger issue is important: as I've certainly said before, if people are dishonest in some ways they'll likely be dishonest with voters and parties and who knows what else. But . . . politics is about reality, not ideals . . . and I worry about the state of democracy worldwide (e.g. in the election for London Mayor the electorate was faced with a tricky, certainly dishonest radical left-winger who'd been in power for 8 years and done all sorts of crazy things, and a solidly right-wing super-rich playboy, very smart and totally untrustworthy. Does that sort of choice add up to 'democracy'?