Tom Brokaw: The election process is too long

>> and tom brokaw is an nbc news special correspondent . tom, good morning. a walk down memory lane . when you look back at the campaign that was, do you think we did a good job of debating the issues that mattered?

>> actually i do think that the people have a very clear choice going into tomorrow. it's about the size and the shape of the federal government and its place in our future. i think a number of things were left out. there was almost no discussion about the economic connection this country has to the european union , for example. that did not come up. we didn't really have as much of a discussion as i think we need to have about the doctrine of the two men when it comes to foreign policy . in the middle east especially and more broadly speaking about the new china leadership that is about to take office. i did wake up this morning though with a phrase ringing in my mind. i was there the day that gerald ford assumed the presidency and looked into the camera and said our long national nightmare is over after watergate, and i think a lot of people feel that way. the problem with the election process in america, it goes on too long. it deadens the minds of a lot of people and drives them away from the process more than to t.having said that, i think in the closing week people have gotten reinvolved again, and there is a lot of passion in these romney rallies around the country that could change some things.

>> let's talk about the day after election day . one thing is clear, whoever wins, we have a starkly fractured country, very polarized, very did i sided. what does that say about our ability to get things done in washington with the fiscal cliff looming?

>> well, i'd like to believe that wherever you are in the political spectrum , you do not want this time in your life and in your career to go down in history as the most fractured part of america where you have an 11% approval rating for congress, for example, a lot of unhappiness with the president. i do think that there are also people out there outside of washington who are beginning to put pressure on the various political factions to get something done. i think a year from now the federal government will look much different, whoever wins, and to what degree, i can't say, but i do think it will be a much different federal government in how regulations are put in place, the size of it and how we do business, much more public/private stuff going on.

>> i'll let you handicap the race real quick. mitt romney says he has enthusiasm and intensity on his side. president obama says they have organization and that their campaign is about to execute what it was built to do on the ground.

>> here's what i'm prepared to say. tomorrow morning this will be an election.

>> way to go out on a limb, tom.

>> wow. this is why we bring you here. thank you so much. a long night ahead tuesday night. thank you.