Gourmet Chef News | Mandurah Mail

Although the US election is just under 10 months away it's hard to imagine what Donald Trump would have to do to not be sworn in for a second term next January. He has survived scandals, high level staff resignations, the opposition of media conglomerates, judicial and quasi judicial investigations and, most recently, an impeachment trial to remain the clear frontrunner. The Democrats, on the other hand, are clearly in a great deal of trouble. They have no obvious candidate in a disappointingly weak field of potential nominees with the capacity to give the President a run for his money between now and polling day. It has also been widely reported that the crucial Iowa caucus, the venue where Obama exploded onto the electoral landscape all those years ago, was an absolute debacle. It took more than 24 hours to declare a "partial" result because of technology issues. This led to Trump declaring, repeatedly, that "if you can't run a small election in Iowa then what hope do you have of running the country?" He, by way of comparison, has had one of his best weeks since entering politics. Not only did Trump deliver a surprisingly effective, if predictably partisan, State of the Union address on Wednesday, he also predictably won the impeachment trial vote in the Senate a few hours later. Then, as if the Gods weren't already smiling on him enough, Democrat speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gifted him with some priceless campaign imagery by slowly and methodically tearing up his speech notes at the conclusion of the address. Expect to see that footage aired ad nauseum between now and polling day. It might have provided a thrill to fired-up Democrats, but such moments of petty posturing often backfire. To be fair though, Trump's refusal to shake Pelosi's hand when he entered the chamber was also ungracious in the extreme. But Trump has succeeded in so greatly lowering the standards expected of him, it would almost have been a surprise had he not snubbed her. While the President devoted much of his speech to taking credit for everything from the US economic boom to the sun rising in the east, the truth is that he has a lot to thank his enemies for. Much of the groundwork for the economic recovery was done by the Obama administration which took office just as the full impacts of the global financial crisis were beginning to be felt. And, even more importantly, the Democrats' almost pathological obsession with overturning the results of the 2016 election has seriously damaged their chances of winning this one. Trump is in a much stronger position today than if the Democrats had left well enough alone and concentrated on developing an alternative policy framework while grooming a credible nominee to take the battle to the Republicans this year. Given it was always a certainty the impeachment push would founder in the Republican-controlled Senate, it's hard to fathom why Pelosi and her colleagues devoted so much blood and treasure to a lost cause. With 94 per cent of all Republican voters now rallied firmly behind their embattled leader, only Mitt Romney had the guts to put principle before politics when it came time to be counted. At least another 20 Republican Senators would have had to make the same high minded decision for the impeachment to succeed. That was just never going to happen in a party and a city where power and incumbency is everything. it would appear that the only thing that could bring Trump down at this point is if it turns out that an excess of arrogance and hubris can be fatal.

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