This is not simply because the economic and political decisions made in the US resonate around the world. No, it’s also because this election will finally settle the question of whether it is possible to lie directly to your voters’ faces, and still win an election.

There are no good ideas in the Republican Party. I’m a liberal, so to me this came as quite a shock.

I’ve been raised to always look at other people’s side of the story, to give my political opponents opportunities to speak their mind and to assume that every point of view has some worth.

But with the modern Republican Party this approach has failed me. I’ve looked at their platform and it is entirely empty of value.

Some may of course disagree and ask how the party can be so characterised. After all, even if we disagree about the importance of their  conservative fiscal ideas  they have some value.

This is a fair question but it is making an error that Republicans have relied on to get into power ever since Ronald Reagan: it is confusing what the Republicans say with what they do.

They are not the party of fiscal conservatism.

Any claims that they were vanished under King Bush II. George Bush fought two major wars (unlike Bill Clinton, who fought only minor ones) while cutting taxes and increasing  spending, although in his defence most of that government spending went to outsourcing government functions to businesses owned by him or his friends and allies.

Unfortunately, this trend of fiscal irresponsibility is set to continue if Mitt Romney gets elected. The Paul Ryan budget is set to slash taxes for the wealthy and try and pay for this by effectively increasing taxes on the poor and middle class.

Non-partisan groups like the Congressional Budget Office have pointed out that the non-wealthy don’t actually have enough money to cover this loss, and that thus the US will get even further into debt than it is now.

So the party of fiscal conservatism is actually going to make their country’s debt even worse, all while telling people the exact opposite with a straight face.

That’s why this election is important.

This American election is going to settle, once and for all, whether it is possible to take an entirely bankrupt ideology and ram it down people’s throats on the back of a marketing machine that is going to end up costing as much as $300 million.

This election will show us whether it’s possible in the 21st century to win elections with advertising but no facts. Was George Orwell right? Can you control the masses simply by controlling the media?

We’ll soon know, and the effects of Romney’s victory or failure will be felt around the world.