Diary – 3 November 2016

Polite, well-heeled New Hampshire is the last place you’d expect to see a voodoo doll. But there it was, pointed out by my producer, clutched by a woman called Mavis. This being a Trump rally, it was of course a Clinton likeness, complete with pins. Residents of the granite state pride themselves on being a sophisticated lot, but the doll sent a certain shiver up the spine.  Come to think of it, I was already shivering. It was the end of a long week traipsing through four states following the Trump campaign. The Secret Service kept us waiting outside for three quarters of an hour in the pelting New England rain, and if it hadn’t been for a friendly Fox News umbrella, I’d have been soaked to the skin. But more of New Hampshire later, and the moment that just might prove a turning point in this extraordinary election.

My week began in steamy Florida; Tampa, to be precise. It was the biggest Trump event I’ve been to, with around 20,000 supporters. A steward told us that the rock band Prophets of Rage had just played there; ‘plus ça change’ was my immediate thought. Our spot in the media pen was next to CNN, and their brilliant correspondent Jim Acosta. Foreign broadcasters in the US are disparagingly referred to as ‘no votes TV’. But our unimportance can be a bit of a blessing. My CNN colleagues were subjected to jeering and shouting from Trump supporters just feet away, some of them wearing ‘CNN SUCKS’ T-shirts.

The media, in Donald Trump’s view, is as much of a problem as the ‘Washington swamp’, which he vows to drain; he says we’re helping to ‘rig’ the election. It’s led to speculation that the billionaire might set up Trump TV if his presidential bid fails.