Those of us still trying to get to grips with the political turmoil of the past few weeks can only watched in appalled wonder at events across the Atlantic as Donald Trump engages in the most bizarre presidential campaign in living memory.
In the modern political era, we have become used to sophisticated election machines, with slick and well-drilled candidates on-message all of the time.
Donald Trump believes he offers something different, a man so rich he cannot be bought, an authentic voice in the midst of the professional politicians, someone who speaks for the disaffected and disenchanted.
Well, he is certainly different and it is always good to hear the real person instead of soundbites and carefully crafted speeches.
The trouble for Mr Trump is that what we hear in his unguarded moments is deeply alarming.
He has confounded expectations by winning the Republican party nomination but since the conventions he has barely put a foot right.
It is not just the clumsy way he dealt with a crying baby at a rally - a seasoned politician would have turned that to their advantage - or the questionable claims that cannot be substantiated.
But criticising the parents of an American Muslim soldier who died in Iraq, to the despair of senior Republicans, was such a stunningly ill-judged intervention that it is already being talked about as a turning point in this election.
Attempts to get his campaign back on track this week have again been derailed by a disastrous off-the-cuff remark, this time aimed at his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
He has been accused of advocating violence against Mrs Clinton after declaring gun rights supporters might find a way of stopping her appointing anti-gun judges to the Supreme Court if she was elected.
Mr Trump has insisted he was talking about the power of voters while his supporters railed against what they claimed was unfair treatment by the media.
His campaign is clearly struggling to keep control of events, with a candidate who has a major credibility problem even within his own party.
That so many leading Republicans have said they will not vote for him in November is quite extraordinary. Even more incredible is the fact that some have declared they will support the Democratic presidential candidate.
A letter signed by a raft of leading Republican national security officials saying he would be ``the most reckless president in American history'', is just one of the many setbacks suffered by Donald Trump.
Yet it would be wrong to dismiss his chances of winning.
Hillary Clinton is eminently more qualified to be president but the primary campaign showed Trump has a clear appeal.
A lot can happen between now and election day and no one can predict with any certainty what the outcome will be.
