The US election now moves to the critical phase. It is no longer two contests to determine who are to be the candidates. It is one fight to decide on who gets to be President.
On the one hand we have the first woman so nominated in American history who is also said to be the most qualified and experienced ever to stand; a Deep South lawyer who has been First Lady, a New York Senator, Secretary of State and in her spare time a Mum. She will be a safe pair of hands, compassionate and committed. She should walk it to Washington. Yet there is in the way her mirror opposite.
A man without any experience of politics, a rank outsider who fuels anger then rides on the energy it creates, a billionaire loudmouth who says what the crowd want to hear, who says terrible things about minorities and Muslims, who does unspeakable stuff like talk to Russians, yet who bulldozes obstacles arrayed before him, turns disaster into triumph and mobilizes millions of voters nobody else seems to inspire.
So the voters of America have a clear and distinct choice. Which they will chose even they cannot yet tell. The fight will be furious, dirty and distracting. But for those watching from across the pond, it will never be dull.