American Presidential campaigns always take too long but this one has felt particularly epic and particularly unpleasant too. Now that it’s nearly over I don’t just feel tired of the whole thing but in need of a shower too.

It’s been exhausting living through the year-long, grotesque carnival of lies, ignorance, misogyny, hate, and honest-to-God fascism coming from the belligerent man-child that is Donald Trump, and — when you think there’s a chance he might actually win — deeply demoralizing. He is a toxic stain on all that is good and inspiring about America and I’m not sure it can be cleaned off anytime soon even if Hillary Clinton crushes him at the polls today. The thought of what could happen after the election if he loses is just as troubling and depressing as what has happened during it.

I’ve disliked and even hated some politicians in my time — Reagan, Thatcher, Bush II — but Trump literally scares me. Before the campaign started I thought he was just a big-headed blowhard, but now I know that’s the least of his problems. The man is a sociopath who needs to be kept as far away from the White House as possible. The fact that he’s got so close is an alarm bell for democracy and how the media cover campaigns.

I’ve been so happy that the only President my kids have ever known is a black man, and it would mean just as much if the next one was a woman. Another sad thing about this campaign is that Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman President of the United States hasn’t been talked about enough. The country has a choice today: Going forwards, or back to some repressive dark ages.

Just needed to get that off my chest. Here’s a wonderful 1980 single from one of post-punk’s finest bands.

Download: Politics! – Girls At Our Best (mp3)