Physical stamina enables the aspirant to run the race across all the 51 States without falling behind. Mentally, a candidate needs the proverbial thick skin to withstand the verbal slings that accompany one to the finishing line. The race is a test of endurance to prove one’s mettle. The test is worth the trouble because uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
This year’s US primaries are breathtaking. One of the candidates on the Republican leg of the race, is a maverick, a veritable embarrassment to his own party and prickly to his opponents. Donald Trump has dollars to spare and an ascetic tongue to torment his opponents. He has even managed to provoke the ire of the UN. He seems to have antagonised anybody who pretends to know what the party of Abe Lincoln wishes to do for the Americans. Not that Abe’s party is the same party that fought a civil war to abolish slavery in the 18th century. None of its members seem to remember the stuff their illustrious president was made of, and what he did for the descendants of the poor creatures who were captured in the African forests and brought to America in leg-irons and handcuffs to lay the foundation for US current enormous wealth.
