Trump Trump The BBC has an outline of how Trump can still be beaten, mainly by the other remaining candidates suddenly performing better. My favourite? ”Some Democrats appear to be openly cheering for Trump to burn the Republican Party to the ground, figuring he will be easily defeated in the general election. Besides, the Bernie Sanders v Hillary Clinton battle is still going strong, and they might be more concerned with actually picking their party's nominee.” One option they don’t reckon on is that Trump, having secured the required delegates, at the convention announces he’s a Democrat, Bwa-ha-ha, and announces he’s open to being nominated by both parties. Everyone wakes up to the incredible stupidity chosing him as their candidate has been and the crowds quietly leave the convention hall, head to the airport and expect to vote Democratic come November. Why it doesn’t happen? Even Trump isn’t that much of an ego maniac. Although it’s a close call.

1-2-3 Big Bad Trump has his hat handed to him by Cruz, but the bigger story is that tyro Rubio managed to pull into third place, with a credible percentage well beyond what the rest of the remaining contenders could manage. Cruz, an “establishment candidate”, insofar as he has a seat in the Senate, where everybody hates him like the poison he is, is only a couple of points ahead of Trump, leaving the man wearing a fake-tan marmoset on his head as still viable in New Hampshire, managed to get enough Republicans to hold their noses long enough to make him the front runner, for now. He had been leading in Iowa polls a bit ahead of the caucuses, but Trump looked to be the lead contender in the more recent polls, so it’s a bit of an upset. I’m sure it is from Trump’s perspective, as “nobody remembers who came in second”. It’s more upsetting to those of us who think that Cruz the Destroyer would be a bad choice for the US in general, since anything that makes such an ass a leader in the race is just embarrassing. Better than Cruz? Not Rubio, who hasn’t even managed to do his job as a Senator for more than a few days at a time before deciding to become the next one-term Senator to attain the Presidency, the GOP answer to Obama, with maybe a bit more State House experience, but no clue and no capacity for actual leadership. Trump makes Rubio look like a schoolboy, even taking into account the fascist bullying and childish Twitter taunts that characterize The Donald’s campaign (and adult life in general). Trust the media pundits to continue their dismissals and denigrations of Trump, pushing Cruz or Rubio, but don’t “misunderestimate” the American people’s capacity to nominate a demagogue or a buffoon. Reagan and G W Bush both served two terms. Clinton and Sanders remain neck-and-neck, and that’s all to the good for the Democrats, as it keeps Clinton honest, and a bit more left than we might have otherwise been able to hope for. New Hampshire ain’t nothin’, but it will be the March primaries that turn the tide.