For many years, a simple choice between two alternatives dominated the US political agenda. But the 2016 presidential campaign marked a turning point, especially in the loyalties of pro-lifers. Their new support and new thinking means no party can take them for granted any more

Americans have been steadily sinking into depression in recent decades, but the 2016 presidential election campaign seems to have put this trend into overdrive. I have found it difficult to watch the evening news in recent months without a segment featuring an earnest counsellor offering me tips on how I might “preserve my mental health”. And given the candidates between whom most of us believed we had to choose, this was understandable.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had the highest disapproval ratings of any candidates in history. Each has been plausibly accused of corruption; each cynically chose to speak or act in whatever way would put them in the best position to get elected. Clinton’s team, as classic Washington/New York City insiders, had to manipulate the system in order to defeat a wildly popular Bernie Sanders. Trump’s team, as classic celebrity outsiders, got the equivalent of billions of dollars in free media to drive a racist, anti-immigrant message that appealed to a relatively small percentage of the electorate in order to defeat an overcrowded field and win the Republican nomination.