US election: Giant meteor or Trump vs Clinton?

USA Votes 2016
This puts American voters' feelings in perspective
More than one in 10 American voters would prefer a giant meteor to hit the earth than for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton to win November's presidential election.

This may seem extreme (do ya think?!) but it's a reflection of the extreme dislike of both candidates who look like facing off in this year's presidential race.

If nothing else, it also makes a great bumper sticker.

However, (fingers crossed) a giant meteor will not hit earth causing the end of all mankind between now and November 8 and that means that either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will then become the President-elect of the United States. (The inauguration is in late January.)

In a global environment that's increasingly reflecting a gaping divide between status quo politics and average people, that poses a series of questions: Will voters retreat to the relative safety of Hillary Clinton, a known quantity, establishment figure who many don't trust? Or will they go for the renegade anti-politician Donald Trump for the sake of blowing it all up and starting again?

There are some synergies between Brexit, the Australian election and the Trump phenomenon which are driven, in part, by disenchantment with party politics and imbalances in power and wealth. To therefore assume that all of those who support Donald Trump are ignorant would be, IMHO, a big mistake.

The supporters we're speaking to are in his corner because they see him as smart, savvy, hardworking, straight talking and ready to "fix" things without a political imperative.

As Tennessee Republican Bob Corker said this week, "it's his race to lose".

We're now a week out from the start of the GOP convention. After that, it's game on.

HE SAID

It wasn't anti-Semitic.

But it was a tweet from Donald Trump that included a photo of Hillary Clinton and the words "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever" within a six-pointed star on top of a pile of money.

A six-pointed star is often seen as the Star of David, which is deeply rooted within Judaism.

Some suggested that the juxtaposition of the star, sitting on top of a pile of cash, perpetuated a stereotype that Jews are obsessed with wealth.

Trump doubled down on the tweet (which he deleted after posting) on Wednesday, saying he wished he hadn't deleted it, and then later compared the same star to one used in the Disney film Frozen.

SHE SAID

Not a lot.

Even after FBI director James Comey recommended no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her handling of classified information while she was Secretary-of-State in what has otherwise come to be known as "The Email Scandal".

However, the director did say Mrs Clinton was "extremely careless" in her email use.

The Republican Party quickly pounced and continues to hammer Mrs Clinton. I think we can assume that's unlikely to let up before the general election in November.

Just hours after the FBI director made the announcement, Mrs Clinton boarded a plane with President Obama to North Carolina where they stumped together for the first time. Any tensions over the matter were nowhere to be seen with President Obama giving his former Secretary of State a glowing endorsement.

Attorney-general Loretta Lynch subsequently confirmed that no criminal charges would be laid.

But wait, there's more. By the end of the week, the State department had reopened its own investigation into the email saga.

Given the scathing criticism over the department's processes during the tenure of a series of secretaries of state I expect that's to do with departmental processes more than Hillary Clinton specifically.

However it may well affect the careers of senior state department staff who might have hoped for a job if she does become commander in chief!

VEEPSTAKES

Now that we can almost say (for certain) who the Presidential candidates will be, all attention has turned to the running mates.

Some Trump supporters have started expressing their own ideal tickets by way of T-shirts.

But Trump's list continues to fluctuate. For now, it seems like we're down to a final three of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Indiana Governor Mike Pence and former presidential hopeful (from 2012) Newt Gingrich.

Who are these people? NPR has it covered.

TRUMP HEALTH ADVICE

We've learnt a lot about what Donald Trump does (and doesn't) know about foreign policy, but what about health and hygiene?

Vox has taken the time to read all of his books on politics, policy and business and we've learnt some important lessons, like, don't shake hands unless you want to get sick.

OH AND JUST ON THAT...

Mr Trump spoke at a rally in Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Apparently, he doesn't like mosquitoes. Take a look.



BY THE NUMBERS

900 - The number of delegates "in play" at the upcoming Republican Convention, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Ousting Trump as the nominee is still fairytale stuff according to most but anti-Trump forces are still banking on their ability to flip those 900 delegates and cause chaos at the Convention.

THE POLITICAL FILTER

The definition of a political filter has changed from what presidential hopefuls say (See: Trump, Donald) to what filters their campaigns use on Snapchat.

Seriously.

On Wednesday night, both campaigns sponsored filters for Trump's Cincinnati event. Spot the difference:



WHERE'S BERNIE?

Welcome to a new segment of the weekly wrap: Where's Bernie?

The 74-year-old socialist STILL hasn't officially dropped out of the race but he's certainly dropped into the background as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton duel it out in the spotlight.

Bernie is still kicking around though, holding press conferences and returning to his obligations as a Senator in Congress:



TWO SIDES OF OBAMA

President Obama took office at a time when social media was ascending.

For the most part, he's embraced the spotlight of being POTUS with memorable spots like this recent one on Buzzfeed where he talks about Game of Thrones and encourages everybody to sign up to vote.

However, there is another side of Obama, as revealed in this insightful New York Times piece: Obama the night owl.

EXPLAIN THE ELECTION TO YOUR KIDS

There's no doubt this election is one for the ages but how do you explain that to your kids? Michael Ian Black and Marc Rosenthal released this funny little book on Trump this week.

I'll leave you with a few lines:

"The beasty is called an American Trump.

Its skin is bright orange; its figure is plump;

Its fur so complex, you might get enveloped.

Its hands are sadly, underdeveloped."


And with that, my friends, your email wrap ends.

Until next week, when it's our determined intention,

To preview with insight - the GOP convention!

Talk to you next week from Cleveland.

Zoe.

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