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| U.S. Voters Brace for the Final Stretch of an Ugly Election | U.S. Voters Brace for the Final Stretch of an Ugly Election |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The Times’s Cairo bureau chief, Declan Walsh, has come to the United States to cover the 2016 presidential election from the perspective of a foreign correspondent. | The Times’s Cairo bureau chief, Declan Walsh, has come to the United States to cover the 2016 presidential election from the perspective of a foreign correspondent. |
| Bigot. Racist. Psychopath. | Bigot. Racist. Psychopath. |
| Labor Day is barely over, and already the air is thick with insults in America’s rambunctious presidential election. Usually, this holiday weekend marking the unofficial end of summer is a moment of pause for Americans in their grueling, two-year process of electing a new leader, one of the most elaborate of any Western democracy. | Labor Day is barely over, and already the air is thick with insults in America’s rambunctious presidential election. Usually, this holiday weekend marking the unofficial end of summer is a moment of pause for Americans in their grueling, two-year process of electing a new leader, one of the most elaborate of any Western democracy. |
| People take to the beaches or gather around barbecues, catching their breath before the country tilts into the final nine weeks before the vote. | People take to the beaches or gather around barbecues, catching their breath before the country tilts into the final nine weeks before the vote. |
| This year, Labor Day is merely a speed bump in a frenzied campaign. Lurid controversies, mostly centered on Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, have dominated the summer, including topless photos of his wife and accounts of his questionable business dealings. Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, has faced her own litany of questions about her email habits and, implicitly, her trustworthiness. | This year, Labor Day is merely a speed bump in a frenzied campaign. Lurid controversies, mostly centered on Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, have dominated the summer, including topless photos of his wife and accounts of his questionable business dealings. Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, has faced her own litany of questions about her email habits and, implicitly, her trustworthiness. |
| Degrading language has become the lingua franca of the election, and it has uncovered a stark reality: Despite (or perhaps because of) the vast amounts of money and energy that Americans have poured into this campaign, it has given them two candidates who, in the eyes of most voters, have more deficiencies than strengths. | Degrading language has become the lingua franca of the election, and it has uncovered a stark reality: Despite (or perhaps because of) the vast amounts of money and energy that Americans have poured into this campaign, it has given them two candidates who, in the eyes of most voters, have more deficiencies than strengths. |
| Mr. Trump has polarized the electorate with doom-laden harangues that veer between xenophobic attacks on Muslims and Mexicans and sophomoric rebukes to his critics. That style has earned him the adulation of many uneducated white voters but hostility from blacks, Hispanics and others he might need to win the White House. | Mr. Trump has polarized the electorate with doom-laden harangues that veer between xenophobic attacks on Muslims and Mexicans and sophomoric rebukes to his critics. That style has earned him the adulation of many uneducated white voters but hostility from blacks, Hispanics and others he might need to win the White House. |
| Mrs. Clinton enjoys a strong lead in the polls but suffers from high unpopularity ratings. Some 59 percent of registered voters view her unfavorably, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll last week — virtually the same as Mr. Trump’s 60 percent. Together, they are the least favored presidential candidates in America’s modern history. And in January, one of them will be leading the country. | Mrs. Clinton enjoys a strong lead in the polls but suffers from high unpopularity ratings. Some 59 percent of registered voters view her unfavorably, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll last week — virtually the same as Mr. Trump’s 60 percent. Together, they are the least favored presidential candidates in America’s modern history. And in January, one of them will be leading the country. |
| It is not meant to be like this. America’s elections are famously exhaustive and expensive: a two-year marathon of primary contests, televised debates and cross-country campaigns, fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars and intensive scrutiny. But by this point, they are supposed to have produced a choice of fire-tested candidates who, by popular reckoning, have the necessary qualities to run their country. | It is not meant to be like this. America’s elections are famously exhaustive and expensive: a two-year marathon of primary contests, televised debates and cross-country campaigns, fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars and intensive scrutiny. But by this point, they are supposed to have produced a choice of fire-tested candidates who, by popular reckoning, have the necessary qualities to run their country. |
| This year is different, conventional wisdom dictates, because voters are angry at their complacent political elites, at globalization and at immigrants. But since arriving in the United States from my normal reporting post in Cairo, I have often encountered other emotional notes from people I’ve met — trepidation, embarrassment, even shame — at the way the race is playing out. That is also true in places that are otherwise labeled the “forgotten America.” | This year is different, conventional wisdom dictates, because voters are angry at their complacent political elites, at globalization and at immigrants. But since arriving in the United States from my normal reporting post in Cairo, I have often encountered other emotional notes from people I’ve met — trepidation, embarrassment, even shame — at the way the race is playing out. That is also true in places that are otherwise labeled the “forgotten America.” |
| On a trip to coal country in West Virginia, I found myself in Dingess, a remote valley that, even in local terms, was known as a clannish backwater. The route into the valley followed an unlit, mile-long tunnel where, it is said, local racists once fired potshots at migrant black coal workers arriving by train. | On a trip to coal country in West Virginia, I found myself in Dingess, a remote valley that, even in local terms, was known as a clannish backwater. The route into the valley followed an unlit, mile-long tunnel where, it is said, local racists once fired potshots at migrant black coal workers arriving by train. |
| But in Dingess, not everyone hewed to the stereotypes. At my first stop, a pair of men were leaning on a gatepost, wearing khaki clothes, about to go fishing — archetypal Trump voters, I thought. It turned out they despised him. | But in Dingess, not everyone hewed to the stereotypes. At my first stop, a pair of men were leaning on a gatepost, wearing khaki clothes, about to go fishing — archetypal Trump voters, I thought. It turned out they despised him. |
| One of the men, Jessie Elkins, 70, had served in Vietnam — “13 months in living hell” — and said he was convinced that Mr. Trump’s rash nature would lead America into an unnecessary war. The other man, his cousin James York, 40, cited Mr. Trump’s apparent fondness for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a potential danger. “He’s talking too much trash,” he said. | One of the men, Jessie Elkins, 70, had served in Vietnam — “13 months in living hell” — and said he was convinced that Mr. Trump’s rash nature would lead America into an unnecessary war. The other man, his cousin James York, 40, cited Mr. Trump’s apparent fondness for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a potential danger. “He’s talking too much trash,” he said. |
| Neither man was impressed by Mrs. Clinton — “Born with a silver spoon in her mouth,” Mr. Elkins said — but they couldn’t bring themselves to back Mr. Trump. “I know one thing for sure, and two things for certain,” Mr. Elkins said. “I won’t be voting for Trump.” | Neither man was impressed by Mrs. Clinton — “Born with a silver spoon in her mouth,” Mr. Elkins said — but they couldn’t bring themselves to back Mr. Trump. “I know one thing for sure, and two things for certain,” Mr. Elkins said. “I won’t be voting for Trump.” |
| Bare-knuckle campaigns are not particularly new in the United States. | Bare-knuckle campaigns are not particularly new in the United States. |
| In the 1828 presidential race, accusations of murder, adultery and even cannibalism could not keep Andrew Jackson from winning, and eventually becoming the face on $20 bills. | In the 1828 presidential race, accusations of murder, adultery and even cannibalism could not keep Andrew Jackson from winning, and eventually becoming the face on $20 bills. |
| The 1968 contest that Richard Nixon won was famously tough, as were the “Swift boat” attacks on Senator John Kerry’s military reputation that thwarted his candidacy in 2004. | The 1968 contest that Richard Nixon won was famously tough, as were the “Swift boat” attacks on Senator John Kerry’s military reputation that thwarted his candidacy in 2004. |
| This year, though, the blows are landing at a dizzying pace, a product of both Mr. Trump’s intemperate outbursts and the frenetic pace of social media. | This year, though, the blows are landing at a dizzying pace, a product of both Mr. Trump’s intemperate outbursts and the frenetic pace of social media. |
| In the news media, provocateurs have become entrepreneurs. Mr. Trump has hired Stephen K. Bannon of Breitbart News, a conservative website that has run stories with headlines such as “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy” and “Would you rather your child had feminism or cancer?” | In the news media, provocateurs have become entrepreneurs. Mr. Trump has hired Stephen K. Bannon of Breitbart News, a conservative website that has run stories with headlines such as “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy” and “Would you rather your child had feminism or cancer?” |
| Mrs. Clinton and her surrogates are responding, painting Mr. Trump as a sympathizer of white supremacists — “If Trump wins, they could be running the country,” one Clinton advertisement declared — or denouncing him as a “psychopath.” Some journalists have criticized Mr. Trump’s evasions in unusually intemperate language. | Mrs. Clinton and her surrogates are responding, painting Mr. Trump as a sympathizer of white supremacists — “If Trump wins, they could be running the country,” one Clinton advertisement declared — or denouncing him as a “psychopath.” Some journalists have criticized Mr. Trump’s evasions in unusually intemperate language. |
| In countries more accustomed to looking to the United States for guidance on democracy, this race offers an opportunity for gleeful schadenfreude. | In countries more accustomed to looking to the United States for guidance on democracy, this race offers an opportunity for gleeful schadenfreude. |
| “I’ve been rubbernecking this election,” said Pierre de Vos, a professor in public law at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, who likened the campaign to a car crash. “It’s become my guilty pleasure, watching for the latest outrageous or weird thing that Donald Trump will say.” | “I’ve been rubbernecking this election,” said Pierre de Vos, a professor in public law at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, who likened the campaign to a car crash. “It’s become my guilty pleasure, watching for the latest outrageous or weird thing that Donald Trump will say.” |
| For decades, Mr. de Vos noted, the United States has deployed observers to monitor elections in developing countries. Now his friends make jokes about sending election observers to America this November “to ensure a free and fair vote.” | For decades, Mr. de Vos noted, the United States has deployed observers to monitor elections in developing countries. Now his friends make jokes about sending election observers to America this November “to ensure a free and fair vote.” |
| Other foreign observers worry that what starts in the United States might filter into their own politics. | Other foreign observers worry that what starts in the United States might filter into their own politics. |
| “They’re talking about the size of a candidate’s hands, not income inequality,” said Menaka Guruswamy, a barrister from New Delhi. “It’s debasing political discourse, and it’s really unfortunate.” | “They’re talking about the size of a candidate’s hands, not income inequality,” said Menaka Guruswamy, a barrister from New Delhi. “It’s debasing political discourse, and it’s really unfortunate.” |
| Yet it’s hard not to sense that the American turmoil reflects a global current of discontent. And for some, this year’s scrappy campaign even offers something to admire. | Yet it’s hard not to sense that the American turmoil reflects a global current of discontent. And for some, this year’s scrappy campaign even offers something to admire. |
| Mikhail Xifaras, a professor in constitutional law at Sciences Po in Paris, noted that in France, candidates did not rise to high political office without having attended a prestigious school, circulated in the right social class or recorded decades of service in an establishment political party. | Mikhail Xifaras, a professor in constitutional law at Sciences Po in Paris, noted that in France, candidates did not rise to high political office without having attended a prestigious school, circulated in the right social class or recorded decades of service in an establishment political party. |
| And so, he said, while members of his social circle are “horrified” at the prospect of a Trump presidency, they admire a bit of the bootstraps American story: that Mr. Trump, a political ingénue, or Senator Bernie Sanders, the unsuccessful Democratic contender, could surge from nowhere for a shot at the presidency. | And so, he said, while members of his social circle are “horrified” at the prospect of a Trump presidency, they admire a bit of the bootstraps American story: that Mr. Trump, a political ingénue, or Senator Bernie Sanders, the unsuccessful Democratic contender, could surge from nowhere for a shot at the presidency. |
| “We don’t have that in France,” Professor Xifaras said. “It has a certain appeal.” | “We don’t have that in France,” Professor Xifaras said. “It has a certain appeal.” |