Move yourself to a Florida beach and pitch a tent. Now that hurricane season has lost its sting, it's time once again for that spectator event without equal: the collosal bun-fight that the rest of the country calls an election. While the parties trade molitov cocktails in the final two weeks, the rest of the world watches with dread. Oh yes, boys and girls, this one could get ugly.

Last week 48 Nobel laureates backed Democratic nominee John Kerry in Election 2004. Earlier this week, The New York Times said Kerry was the man. Yesterday came the news that every major newspaper in Florida has suppported Kerry too. That is, except for the one that has traditionally always gone with the Republican nominee.... and it declared itself neutral.

It is election season again in the US, and this time around, it really matters.

I have a Malaysian-born friend who says she gets knots in her stomach every time she thinks of Bush getting another four years. Since August, I seldom go online without checking state by state polling. I think most of us who realise the impact of what we're watching feel pretty much the same about November 2. George W Bush makes Doctor Evil appear mild.

The president has messed up the world pretty comprehensively. But sadly it's really only us living in "the world" that seem to realise it. Sitting on his ranch in Texas, I'm sure geopolitical nuances in South-east Asia appear rather a long way away for Mr Bush. That is, unless a little voice eminating from the rocket pack strapped strategically between his shoulder blades tells him he should be thinking about it. After he thinks about doing up his fly.

The fact that "Furious George" has a little assistance with his thoughts and words should not be seen as a bad thing. I say thank God for technology. There's no way America's President will be able to sneak in nine more minutes reading that literary classic The Hungry Goat next time America is attacked. No way. The instructions in his ear would be something like:

"Close the book, George. Stand. Look grave, nod to the audience. Now turn right towards the door. No, no, the other right..."

It's no secret that I'm paying an unhealthy amount of attention to the US Election. It's highly addictive and potentially very hazardous to my entire worldview. Sometimes mid-reading, I just need to switch over to the Moby World Tour blog, just to realise that when you really ignore the world, it can actually look great. We should all be bald vegans.

I'd oust the President in ungracious fashion if I have the chance to cast the deciding vote. International polls reveal that by a margin of 2-1, this is the case for us Johny Foreigners around the world. To those who watch him from afar, Bush represents the Ugly American – and his team of overlords the Scary Americans.

But if you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida, many don't see it this way. Head by head, if you're an undecided voter in one of these swing states that command at least 20 electoral college votes each, then there's an awful lot of money and time being thrown your way to buy your eye. It makes you wonder if these swing voters aren't just shameless attention-seekers.

Bush does seem to have more problems now than a month ago. Polls show his job approval at only 44 percent, according to an NY Times poll. No encumbant president has ever been re-elected with less than 50 percent approval. And if you stack it up state by state, then according to current polling, Kerry will win it.

Problem is, there's a little country called "Margin of Error" which says basically, "if this is within a margin of less than eight percent, then don't believe us." Why exactly we continue to pay so much attention to polls therefore, is beyond me.

Whatever happens, after an unprecidentedly ugly campaign, America will remain about as divided as it has been in half a century. Based on what they have seen, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq must be pretty excited about democracy coming their way soon.

The last word on this fractious election goes to Dave Pell of Electablog.com:

"It's not about who you'd rather have a beer with. It's about who you'd rather throw a beer on."

Well played mate - cool summary!