Trump could surprise us

NO ONE can quite figure out Donald Trump. When he began his campaign, he convinced people he was racist towards Mexicans and virulently anti-Muslim, and that he favoured torture. He has insulted women who have questioned him on television. Yet he is very likely to win the nomination of a reluctant Republican party following a decisive victory in Florida.

When people dislike a politician intensely, they reach for the one cliché they think is effective - the person is compared to Adolf Hitler. This insults the millions Hitler killed. Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister, is routinely compared to Hitler. Now it is Donald Trump's turn.

Both Mr Trump and Mr Modi defy expectations of people who thought they should be unelectable. Mr Trump's party establishment, like Mr Modi's once did, wants him to fail. Many insiders from the Hindu nationalist Indian People's Party predicted, indeed wished, that Mr Modi would not get more than 180 seats in India's 2014 general election. He disappointed them, winning an absolute majority with 283 seats.