Jeb Bush vs Hillary Clinton, 2016? God help us all.

Connoisseurs of hinge-moments – those instants at which a country’s future changes – have long-appreciated the 1994 Florida gubernatorial election. Jeb Bush lost. Meanwhile, across the country, his elder brother George was elected governor of Texas. George Junior complained – whined, perhaps – that Barbara and George Senior grieved Jeb’s loss more than they celebrated George’s victory.

Until that moment, however, Jeb had been thought the Bush boy more likely to succeed on the national stage. Over the course of a single night in 1994, however, the wheel turned back to George. We know what happened next.

Twenty years later there are people still determined to give Jeb a chance. According to the Washington Post “influential Republicans” are working to drag and draft Jeb into the race for the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Well, why not? Nothing could better honour the American Dream than a contest pitting Jeb Bush against Hillary Clinton. True, old cynics and salty curmudgeons might chunter about the Republic’s lost virtue or something but, hell, cable news would love it and if that’s not all that counts it still counts for quite a lot.