After winning New Hampshire, Trump is cruising to the nomination

Most things become banal after a near-decade of cultural dominance. But not Donald Trump. Republican voters are still enthralled by him, undaunted by all the turmoil and scandal of his time in the White House and his post-presidential life. His rallies retain their feeling of secular religious revival. His fresh-faced challengers, by contrast, have looked unoriginal and uninspiring. By the time Republicans had voted in just one state, Iowa, only one serious challenger remained. All the rest had dropped out; most had endorsed the impending nominee. The last woman standing, Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who served as America’s ambassador to the United Nations while Mr Trump was in office, mounted her resistance in New Hampshire, the second state to cast ballots. Like all the rest, she was overrun.

The Associated Press called the race for Mr Trump just two minutes after the last polls in the state closed. As this article was published ballots were still being tallied, but Mr Trump seemed to have scored a decisive victory. An unbowed Ms Haley vowed to fight on. “You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class, they’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over,” she said at a speech in Concord, New Hampshire, conceding victory to Mr Trump. “This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.” Mr Trump was not particularly pleased. “Who the hell was the impostor that went up on the stage before and, like, claimed a victory?” he sniped at his victory speech.