Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (L) speaks during the second presidential debate with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Washington University in St. Louis, the United States, on Oct. 9, 2016. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
Editor's note: The 2016 presidential election is seen by many as the most divisive and scandalous in the U.S. history. A team of Xinhua reporters recently toured two battleground states to get the firsthand accounts of what American voters really think less than two weeks before the Nov. 8 election. Here is the first of four in-depth reports they have produced.
By Xinhua writers Zhu Lei, Qi Zijian, Li Changxiang
COLUMBUS, the United States, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Decades ago, Susan Young, 54, aligned herself with the U.S. Republican Party, following the footsteps of her grandmother, one of the first women to lead the party. Yet, the 2016 presidential election, with all its twists and turns, brought a hard choice for her.
"I am a Republican. I can't vote for Republican; I can't vote for Democratic. They are the worst two candidates we could choose since I voted at 18 years old," she told Xinhua on a chilly late autumn morning in downtown Bethlehem, the state of Pennsylvania.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump "doesn't have the political sense to deal with other countries," while his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton "has been caught lying, cheating and taking money," said the medical practice administrator.
"This is the first year I thought let's do it and get over with it and get through hopefully four years and restart again," she said, with her voice carrying sadness and frustration. "It's been a hard decision, horrible, horrible decision."
The hard choice that bewilders Young is quite common among U.S. voters in the two battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio Xinhua reporters travelled to less than two weeks before the Nov. 8 election. Nationally, about 10-15 percent undecided voters out of 235 million eligible voters could tip the scales in the election.
BUFFOON TRUMP VS CORRUPT HILLARY
Even for those who have made up their minds, the inner struggle to pick a preference is also apparent. Many called their vote a "reluctant vote" or a "protest vote."
"I like Hillary only slightly less than Trump. I am casting a 'No' vote against Hillary more than casting a 'Yes' vote for Donald Trump," said Colin E. McNamee, 33. "Hillary is just so corrupt to be supported as a presidential candidate of the United States."
His dissatisfaction with Trump also runs deep. "Trump acts like a buffoon. He doesn't act in accordance with somebody you would think as a well-educated, successful businessperson; he acts like a child taunting folks on the playground," he said.
McNamee is a criminal defense lawyer who has a law office in downtown Columbus, the state of Ohio, while his wife runs a small business with two employees. McNamee said the issues he cared about most were the economy and taxes.
"If her taxes went up, she would have to fire at least one of the employees. It would be bad for jobs, and it would hurt our business generally," McNamee told Xinhua at the entrance of his office building.
"I am an independent. I tend to vote Republican just because of economic issues, but socially I could never identify myself as Republican," he said.
Whether the reality TV star-turned Republican standard-bearer could bring returns on economic issues is another open question.
On Oct. 22, Trump presented his 100-day plan in what his campaign billed as a "Contract with the American Voter" in the city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address in November 1863 in an attempt to unify Americans amid the bloody Civil War.
In what he meant as a closing argument in his race to the White House, Trump listed his plan to revitalize the economy and protect U.S. citizens, but not before lashing out at rival Hillary, a "rigged" America and the nearly a dozen women who have recently openly accused him of sexual misconduct.
Trump's speech "is terrible," McNamee said. "What Trump did by going to Gettysburg and attacking those women as opposed to laying out his vision for the country, I think, is disrespectful not only to the Republicans in general, but also to the place, Gettysburg, the hallow battlefield."
Just around the street corner, a female voter, who supported Bernie Sanders, Hillary's underdog challenger in the Democratic primaries, said she will vote for Hillary, because "she scares me less."
"I think it's difficult for me because I don't really like either of the candidates necessarily. And I think there is such negativity," said the woman, in her 30s. "I hope there were better candidates."
"THREE-RING CIRCUS"
After eight years of the Obama administration, Trump and Clinton, the nominees the two major parties presented in the 2016 election cycle, are the two most disliked presidential candidates in U.S. history.
Trump is grappling with his temperament, tax returns issue and the lewd tape issue, while Clinton is fighting with her trust issue -- her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, her ties to the Wall Street, and the Clinton Foundation, her family charity.
Even the three presidential debates have given place to boisterous personal attacks of each other's personality and history, instilling no sense of certainty to the undecided voters eager to hear their policy positions.
Americans have registered their negative views for the two candidates in poll after poll. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll issued on Oct. 20 found that half of voters now have negative views of the former secretary of state, up 1 percent from at the very beginning of the two major parties' primaries, while negative perception of Trump has risen to 63 percent, up from 58 percent in January.
"This election is a three-ring circus," Donna Rullo, a freelance writer, told Xinhua outside a church in Newtown, Pennsylvania. "It's not about ideologies. It's not about policy. It's about the media. And it's about earning much money."
Rullo, who was travelling to Newtown to attend her niece's wedding, lives in the state of California, which has become easy pickings for Democrats in recent decades.
Rullo, who owns an Italian imports business in San Diego, California, called herself a "reluctant voter." "Trump is not the person I want to vote for, but I can't vote for Hillary either," she said.
She was worried that the Democratic Party will increase taxes, which meant that she has to fire some employees because she can't afford their insurance, she said.
"America needs a reset button. Press the button, and start all over," she said.
(Editing by Zhou Xiaozheng, Ding Yimin; Xinhua reporters Shang Yang and Zhang Zhihuan also contributed to this report)
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