The P&J’s Westminster correspondent Lindsay Razaq swaps UK politics for the US Presidential election.
Dubbed “the man who knows everyone in Washington”, John Gizzi has been covering politics since 1979.
He has the Rolodexes to prove it – 53 of them to be precise, alphabetised and organised by state and country.
If further evidence were needed, the walls of his DC office are lined with framed photos of political heavyweights from across the years.
But in spite of all his experience, Mr Gizzi – chief political columnist and White House correspondent for conservative news operation Newsmax – admits the election campaign has been unique.
He says he did not expect Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination, but insists the businessman could secure the presidency if a combination of factors come together.
He says: “There is almost a hidden vote, not unlike that for Brexit, not unlike that for the Alternative for Germany, not unlike that for defeating the Colombian peace accord.
“People don’t want to say it because it’s going to start an argument, but they will vote for him. So he runs under the radar stream.”
Asked if this group of silent Trump supporters is big enough to take him over the line, he replies: “Normally I would say no.”
But he adds: “There’s another factor too. Democrats have nominated in Hillary Clinton perhaps the one candidate who could lose to Trump, who is in her own way as controversial as he is and also someone who has been around for a long time, the person whose turn it was.
“If you play pool, it’s called the bank shot where you hit two other balls to get a third one in the side pocket. That’s what it takes for Trump.
“He could do it, I’m not saying he will.”
Asked what happens to Trumpism if Mr Trump doesn’t win, he suggests that in four or eight years, a more mainstream version of the businessman able to articulate their views in a different way could be elected.
On the other hand, he says populist movements have been known to fizzle out in the past, adding: “Trumpism could fade.”
Mr Gizzi is a registered Republican but makes a point of not discussing how he will vote on account of his job.
James Morrison, acting Washington bureau chief for NewsmaxTV, is more candid.
He is supporting Mr Trump and insists the Republican nominee is “certainly” capable of doing the job.
“He surrounds himself with a lot of good people,” he says.
“Trump himself I don’t believe is a constitutional scholar at all, he’s a businessman, but it’s not so much about Trump, it’s that Trump is leading a movement of people outside the beltway.”
That is the ring road surrounding DC and code for “the real American”, he explains.
Mr Morrison, who is descended from Scots who hailed from the Outer Hebrides, adds: “There are a lot of people out there who have lost jobs because of the government imposing too strict regulations, or they have suffered because of Obamacare, or the political correctness Trump talks about.
“People are tired. It’s not just Trump, he’s symbolic of what’s out there.”
None of the other Republican contenders tapped into that sentiment, he says.
He also points to Mr Trump’s proposal to cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%.
“You do that and you will have corporations coming to America,” he continues.
A prominent figure in the Scottish American community, Mr Morrison was one of the founders of the committee that promotes National Tartan Day.
Additionally he is involved in organising the Alexandria Scottish Christmas Walk and the Virginia Scottish Games.
He rejects the notion that people’s Scottish heritage affects their politics and says there is never any attempt to court the Scottish vote in the same way politicians go after other groups.
