ABSTRACT
‘There are some things that you just can’t imagine happening in your life. This is one of them.’ So spoke Mitt Romney on 2 February 2012, at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. We can reasonably infer that his statement of disbelief contained some recognition of the situation’s inherent absurdity. The leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination had flown to Las Vegas to receive the blessing of a famous hotel and casino mogul, tabloid king, marketer of eponymous steaks, vodka, a university, and a reality-TV programme in which he intoned ‘you’re fired’, from a leather armchair, for 14 seasons.
