Biden could well rise from the dead

ONE of the advantages of being a "veteran Washington observer" - meaning that you have been covering the White House and Congress for at least 20 years - is that, well, you have been around for a long time and have seen a lot of things. You are thus less inclined to treat every shred of news emanating from Washington in apocalyptic terms as some of your younger colleagues typically do.

Hence, as they responded to each political scandal that President Donald Trump landed himself in (including his impeachment by Congress) with "That's it, it's over for Trump", you would have reminded them that not so long ago, everyone was writing political obituaries about another White House occupant, President Bill Clinton - impeached by Congress in the aftermath of a sex scandal - only to see him serve a second term in office as a popular president.

Let us walk down memory lane with yet another former president. In the 2010 US mid-term elections, held midway through Democratic President Barack Obama's first term, Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives.