Battle for the soul of America's democrats

Washington

IT'S the worst of times, it's the best of times for the Democratic Party in the United States.

In a humiliating defeat, the party's candidate, one of the most famous women in the world, a brilliant policy wonk, a former US senator and secretary of state, with more than US$1 billion to spend in the campaign, lost the 2016 presidential election to - if you can believe it - a former television reality-show host, a political novice who has never held public office, has little understanding of domestic or foreign policy, and who insulted almost every demographic group during the hustings. And Donald Trump beat her by spending less than US$100 million in his campaign too.