The wonderful thing about elections is they end with a decision. The divisions remain. But for the time being the question of who governs is settled. This year’s US presidential election is on course to be an exception. Even if Hillary Clinton wins the US electoral college by a big margin, hers would be the most grudging landslide in history.
A large chunk of Americans will be receptive to Donald Trump’s claim that the result was rigged. Many of Mrs Clinton’s voters will have backed her only reluctantly on the grounds that anything would be better than Mr Trump. She will enjoy no honeymoon. Speculation about a one-term presidency will begin almost as soon as she takes office.
Anyone who doubts this should remember President Barack Obama’s fate. Now on the home stretch to retirement, Mr Obama he has spent the past six years failing to persuade a hostile Congress to act. From annual budgets to early-learning legislation, almost all of his efforts have come to naught. His biggest legacies — healthcare reform and Wall Street regulation — came within his first two years, when he had a Democratic majority. Even now Republicans vow to repeal both laws at the first opportunity. This year, Mr Obama has been unable even to push through emergency help for areas affected by the Zika virus and a modest tightening of gun safety checks following a series of massacres. That is without facing re-election. What chance would Mrs Clinton have?