Since my last update at the back of 4, the outlook for Kamala Harris has become a lot bleaker. Trump is ahead in all of the battleground states and it looks like he is on course to win the popular vote.

It’s not over yet, but it’s not where anyone of a liberal disposition would want us to be at this stage of the count.

What’s worse is that it looks like the Republicans will have control of the Senate and the House is a bit of a toss up.

If you need reminding, Donald Trump is a convicted felon who refused to accept his defeat in 2021, leading to an insurrection which he encouraged. He tried to get his then Vice President to refuse to certify the results of the election.  He has been ordered to pay $83 million to E Jean Carroll after he called her a liar for accusing him of sexually assaulting her. He still has outstanding court cases relating to the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection.

When he was last in office, he appointed 3 conservative Supreme Court Justices who overturned the historic Roe vs Wade ruling which guaranteed a federal right to abortion. This has led to abortion bans in many states which are so stringent that women who have miscarriages are being denied life-saving procedures.

During this campaign he has issued all sorts of not very veiled threats against his political opponents.

If he does ultimately win this election, and the Republicans win the House and Senate, he is likely to be able to do what he likes with very few checks and balances on his power.

That is a very worrying prospect for us all.

He is unlikely to hold Israel back in the way that Biden has tried to do. He is likely to curtail support for Ukraine against Putin. He would undermine the NATO alliance. Earlier this year he talked about encouraging Putin to invade countries which didn’t pay 2% of their GDP on defence.

This election is not over yet. But at the moment, it looks like the US is heading in a very dangerous direction.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social