USA Special

Pascale Harter introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents and writers around the world. In this edition: tales of American political battles both past and present.

"They're gonna have to try harder"

The US presidential election is just over a month away and it's looking likely to be a close-run thing. Some 5 per cent of voters say they still haven't decided whether to go for Republican Mitt Romney or give Democrat Barack Obama a second term.

Justin Webb's been on the trail of America's floating voters - and having talked to a few, he now wonders whether too much time and effort is being wasted on persuading the “don’t knows”.

All the fun of Army life - without the dying

In recent weeks, the state of Maryland marked the 150th anniversary of the battle of Antietam - the bloodiest day of America's Civil War. That conflict has often been remembered as a fight over slavery - although some still argue it was at root about other issues, like individual liberties and the relationship between states and central government in the US.

In Maryland, Daniel Nasaw has been in a field watching people take up arms. He could see that re-enacting Civil War battles offers all the togetherness of military life - without the real hardship. But what did these pretend soldiers make of the war that divided North and South?