WASHINGTON DC

“THESE DAYS, IMAGE is absolutely everything; substance counts for almost nothing. And you know why? Because substantively these candidates have very little separating them.”

The words of long-time US political analyst Owen Ballut, who has been covering American Presidential elections since 1948.

“Abortion, guns and medical care are the divides but only really on emphasis. And they have been thus for decades. On foreign policy, American politicians of all hues have been slowly retreating from the world for those same decades while continuing to sporadically interfere in it. Maybe there are differences of emphasis and timing but the general direction is the same.”

This leads to pettiness and nit picking,” he says. “And a focus on image. If you can smile and be quiet, and have a strong partisan media with you, you’ll do fine.”