I am writing this column Tuesday morning as Americans vote in their presidential election. Wednesday morning we should know who wins, and Americans can be proud of another quite spectacular exercise in electoral democracy. Nowhere else in the world does a national leadership achieve incumbency by going through such intense, sustained – and at times silly - scrutiny by the media, local political and social institutions, and – most importantly of all - daily, direct contact with the voting public. Yet, there is a dark side to American political culture that we experience alongside its wondrous aspects, which the electoral campaign exposed in all its ugliness.
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