The Americans know how to make the mundane a spectacle.

An American looks at a turgid game like like rugby and says: “I know, we’ll let them throw it forward, dress them up in armour so they can hit each other really hard, and have pop concerts at half-time”. Netball? Try it with giants, buddy, let them dribble and make every game 100-each. And cinema? Truly we are richer for not having left it to the French. They just don’t appreciate a good explosion.

It’s similar in politics. Sure, the grand British tradition of the Prime Minister standing beside someone dressed in silly costume is good but it just doesn’t have the pizazz they give it Stateside. Millions in the UK stay stay up to watch the election results come in every four years – and some have even gone further than that.

A company called Political Tours is offering, for £4,000 (not including flights), a six-day tour to experience this week’s mid-terms, with their website promising it “takes the political temperature and looks at the huge battles ongoing within both parties”.

The Herald: You too can experience the US mid-term elections - for £4000You too can experience the US mid-term elections - for £4000 (Image: Newsquest)

Much to the bafflement of the locals – who initially assumed them to be Trump supporters questioning the integrity of the process - tourists from Britain and Australia have begun showing up at polling stations to ask granular questions about US election procedure.

In many ways it’s the logical conclusion of the news-as-entertainment industry, calling to mind Jez from Peep Show’s lamentation that current events weren’t exciting enough: “Now, 9/11, that was good news… well, not good news.”

The thing is though, despite the guy from the Apprentice becoming President, it’s not actually a reality TV show. There are real issues being voted on, real lives being affected.

With the abolition of Roe vs Wade, 13 states banned or severely restricted abortion rights. Five states had motions on a woman’s right to choose directly on the ballot on Tuesday, while the Democrats promised to sign it into law if they secure enough seats to get it through Congress.

Read More: The dark lessons that America's midterm elections can teach divided Scotland

Another Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v Holder, eliminated the need for certain states – read those in the south - to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices. Since then there have been mass closures of polling stations and new rules on voter ID which primarily impact black or Hispanic voters – a 2020 Guardian report found that the 50 counties which gained most voters from those backgrounds closed 542 polling sites compared to just 34 in the 50 with the fewest.

Poor people from all backgrounds may face travel they simply cannot afford if they want to cast their vote – which should probably make anyone paying £4,000 to gawp at a polling station feel a little uncomfortable.

The characters may be larger than life, the teeth may be whiter than white, but it’s not a TV show and we’d do well to remember the real lives being affected as we watch the results roll in.