This morning on the BBC4 News, amid the usual murder and mayhem stories, a thoughtful vignette by Humphrey Hawksley about Ohio, one of the "key battle states" in the US presidential election. ("A battle state" means neither of the two parties in the race have successfully managed to gerrymander or homogenify the state according to their colour).
It portrayed the smalltown midwest election campaign as genteel, polite and mellow, and ultimately about personality, rather than policy, that conforms best with the local ethos.
It really scared me that smalltown midwest America, which is not always portrayed as the most sane or sophisticated places on earth, is going to determine the election outcome that will affect all of us around the world.
It must be a case study in chaos theory of a hanging chad and a mildly ruffled feather causing firestorms elsewhere.
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