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Schieffer On Election Eve: It's As If The Nation Is 'Enduring Some Kind Of Curse'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- On the eve of the 2016 presidential election, CBS News contributor Bob Schieffer said he had never seen a campaign like the one this year – and he didn't mean it in a positive way.

"I have seen a few, but I've run out of ways to say I've never seen one like this. It's as if the nation is enduring some kind of curse," Schieffer said on the CBS Evening News Monday. "What should we expect next – that it will rain frogs? I wouldn't bet against it."

Schieffer said this election stands out in numerous negative ways.

COMPLETE CAMPAIGN 2016 COVERAGE

"We tend to call every election the most important of our lifetime, but this one might well be. Those of you who are voting for the first time, take it from me – this election is not business as usual," Schieffer said. "This one is different – and not in a good way. Most elections believe we're headed in the wrong direction; the world is a more dangerous place. And yet, the government is in such gridlock that it took Congress longer to approve money to find a vaccine for the Zika virus than it took the founders to write our Constitution."

Schieffer noted that many Americans neither like nor trust Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, and that 82 percent of Americans find the campaign "disgusting."

"The country seems at a turning point, but the divide over where to turn seems wider than ever," Schieffer said. "Perhaps we can at least agree on one thing – the first task of whoever is elected must be to repair the damage that's been done by this campaign to the good name of our country.

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