POINT OF ORDER
TIM COHEN: Is Trump an aberration or a US phenomenon?
THE release of a 10-year-old audio tape in which US presidential contender Donald Trump boasted about groping married women is probably going to be the final nail in the coffin of a grotesque political campaign that has mesmerised the world. Frankly, it will be a relief when this gory advertisement for electoral stupidity is over in a month’s time. If Trump loses, it will constitute a minor triumph for good sense. But it will not end the debate about whether Trump is a phenomenon or an aberration. The aberration argument runs like this: Trump entered the race on a whim with the intention of boosting his not inconsiderable ego and his business profile. He surprised everyone, probably including himself, when he began to get traction. But the field was large and confused, the Republican Party idiotically backed a no-hoper, and the competitors at the end of the race were frankly weak. Hence, Trump might have won this particular race, but in any conventional battle, he would have been du...
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