Presidential poll a test for US democracy

The United States will go to the polls to elect a new president on Tuesday. But whether Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump wins the election, one thing is certain - that the presidential election campaign has widened the rift in American society.

Public discontent has become more obvious, and some commentators believe the election is not about the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party, but about the grassroots versus the elite. Trump and Bernie Sanders (who lost the Democratic race to Clinton) were in the headlines because Sanders belongs to the left and Trump to the right. Neither represents the mainstream American society, though.

Saunders advocated reforming the Wall Street-controlled financial system, raising the minimum wage, raising taxes for the rich, making college education free, promoting universal healthcare and opposing the consortium's use of money power to intervene in elections. And he was supported by young American voters.