What now?

THE primaries that took place on March 15th were meant to bring clarity to the race for the White House. Although they did not disappoint, neither did they reassure (see ). For the Republican Party, this is the moment when a driver realises that a crash is coming and it is too late to brake. Their opponents have, barring disaster, picked Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee and she is now free to concentrate on the general election. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is likely to scrap and bluster his way to the nomination before the convention, or to go into it with a commanding lead.For the party of Lincoln this is a disaster. Mr Trump is disliked so intensely by so many Americans that the damage to the party wrought by his nomination could go far beyond failing to win the White House, to hurting Republicans’ chances in House and Senate races. That is why the Republican establishment (or what is left of it) is frenziedly searching for ways, from a brokered convention to supporting a third-party conservative, to stop the man who has mesmerised their party. Unfortunately, there are no good options.