Millions of Americans yearn for 7 November 2028, the scheduled date of the next presidential election. That’s the day the Trump era effectively ends. Probably. That’s the day the Democrats will atone for Kamala Harris’s calamitous 2024 failure. Possibly. That’s the day US democracy is reborn. Hopefully. Succession talk is tantalising Washington. Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, has given the clearest sign yet that he’ll run and glossing over past blunders, Harris reckons she deserves a second chance.

Yet most attention is focused on the Republicans, after Trump, 79, again threatened to defy the constitution and seek a third term. “I would love to do it,” he said this week. He rowed back later, albeit unconvincingly. “We’ll see what happens,” he teased. This undignified narcissist’s electoral fan dance will drag on interminably. Of greater practical interest are the two names Trump picked out as his most likely successors: JD Vance and Marco Rubio, vice-president and secretary of state respectively.

Trump predicted a two-horse race for the 2028 Republican nomination – although his favourites frequently fall, as Mike Pence, Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton and many others can testify. Nor are Trump’s opinions much shared beyond his base. Vance and Rubio have already shown themselves to be unsuited to high office. Yet as matters stand, the possibility one of these mediocre chancers will assume Maga’s mantle and seize the crown must be taken seriously.

It’s a choice between a pit bull and........

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