Eight years ago, I was in Washington D.C. reporting from Capitol Hill.

America was on the brink of history. Would they vote to put the first African-American president in the White House?

Barack Obama was the democratic candidate with his running mate Joe Biden. On the other side, for the republicans, John McCain and Sarah Palin.

It was a heady time to be in the States. Everywhere I looked I saw flags, badges, signs and billboards emblazoned with the slogan, "yes, we can". And as we know, yes, they did.

An African-American family moved into the White House. Now, eight years on, and just a few days out from the election, it's impossible to pick who will be the next family to move into the White House.

Will it be the Trumps? Or the Clintons? 

Which way will america vote, but perhaps more importantly, what exactly are Americans voting for?

The issues and the problems facing america right now, have been lost. The politics have taken a backseat. It's 100% about personality.

Are voters informed? Or are they voting for the personality they loathe the least?

What a shambles given America's place in the world, given the importance of this country in terms of the global economy, world security, international diplomacy, and so it goes on.

In Chicago, the All Blacks are about to play Ireland and there are a lot of kiwi fans over there.

I want to tell you what one man, Stephen Diver of SDR Limited, wrote to us about what he's experienced in the states. This is what he says:

"The mood here is electric. The vitriol between the parties is unprecedented. We thought the conflict between Al Gore and George Bush was primitive, or that between Obama and Romney was undignified, but the viciousness of the Clinton/Trump debate is so visceral, so toxic, so impassioned that it corrodes the centuries-long democracy the US purports to model to the rest of the world.

"As China or Russia look on at this debacle, they could be forgiven for thinking that there has to be a better way to choose a nation’s leader.

"America, as the shining light, the beacon of democratic leadership to the world is no longer. One gets the sense that the nation is simply tearing itself apart. And whoever wins, the losers will not accept the result.

"A Clinton presidency would be marred by congressional investigations and possible impeachment initiatives within months.

"A Trump victory would immediately give rise to more detailed examination of the legality of his business dealings with Russia, as well as the backlog of women who claim he has sexually assaulted them.

"And the Supreme Court is not able to dissolve any constitutional crisis because the republicans have blocked filling the vacant seat until after the election, or perhaps until after an election that votes in a republican.

"There is no compromise. There is no respect for the alternative perspective. There is no common platform.

"And the unspoken fear is the assassination threat. We all know lethal weapons are available from the corner store in this country. Tempers and passions are bound to overflow, whoever loses."

He finishes his email by saying "Brexit was a breeze in comparison to what is coming".

This is a very different election to that which I reported on eight years ago. Instead of looking for a political hero, America, it seems, is voting on who it considers the lesser villain of the two.

A historic election too, I suspect. But historic for all the wrong reasons.