Savouring an Historic First.

I saw in today’s Times newspaper that Donald Trump is now leading the opinion polls, and it occurred to me that this is probably the first time in history that Europeans have been genuinely interested in the US Presidential Election. The majority of us don’t usually give a damn, but this time it’s different.

The appearance of Hillary Clinton in the contest is no surprise, even if she is crooked as many claim. Crooked politicians are ten a penny in both the free world and the not-so-free world. The main difference is that free world politicians tend to be more circumspect about admitting their propensity for cheating and lying because they have a greater need to protect their public image. So a crooked Hillary Clinton (if such she be, and I make no such claim) would be just your average candidate for the job.

But Trump? Not only is he outside the box, nobody even knows which box or bunch of boxes he does inhabit. He sells himself like a used car salesman – cheaply, bawdily, and with all the shifty qualities of a callous chameleon.

That’s why we’re increasingly fascinated by the prospect of the seemingly impossible coming to pass if Americans actually go so far as to elect him to the White House. And if that does happen, we’ll be even more fascinated to find out what happens next. And especially we’ll be watching with keen interest to see how the rest of the free world leaders approach the unpleasant prospect of having to sit in meetings with him, attend banquets with him, and even shake his hand. I should imagine, for example, that Queen Elizabeth is not at all amused.

That’s why the current election is such an historical ground breaker. It’s simply unbelievable.