The presidential election: Office is still worthy of a real contest

Some months before America’s transformative presidential election, David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s election campaigns, used an all-too-smart phrase that is remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Just as President Trump’s candidacy was no longer a matter of bemused conjecture Axelrod could not hide his contempt. “In a parlance, Trump would appreciate: We’re still in the swimsuit competition. It gets harder in the talent rounds,” he said. The phrase resonated with those who could not countenance that Obama could be replaced by a man who is his polar opposite in nearly every way.