At the moment nobody. There seems to have been a rather desperate TV debate among the candidates, all of whom are now waking up to the fact that they are approaching a win or bust moment. So they all piled in, hoping to score a point. Locals report that Bush had a better night than previously,Trump was booed for being nasty to him, Christie demolished Rubio and so on. In a year’s time nobody will be able to remember who all these people are. Bar one. But which one?
One of the problems with the Republican primary campaign thus far is that it has been all about Trump. If he does not start to pull ahead very soon, he will begin the lengthy process of losing. Somebody will then have to emerge as the favourite. And that somebody must be a credible presidential candidate who can appeal across America’s many divides. That will be easier said than done. Appealing to the Tea Party while turning everyone else away is the road to some other place than the White House.