It started with a bang. Democrats in the US were tripping over themselves at the start of this year to audition as their party’s chief Trump-slayer. Even the local dogcatcher could defeat Donald Trump, people joked. The field was the largest and most diverse in history — record numbers of women, non-whites, the first openly gay candidate, young aspirants and old. Among those still standing, few show signs of winning the hearts of a party that likes to fall in love, as the saying goes. It was Democrats, after all, who produced John F Kennedy and Barack Obama.

Who will be their saviour in 2020? The radar is troublingly faint. None of the leading candidates shows much promise of uniting a disparate base. The Democratic party spans every minority, a key chunk of the blue-collar union classes, a majority of the wealthiest and most educated Americans and more besides. Even when Mr Trump is your opponent, it takes a sprinkling of magic to unite a coalition that diverse. Rich and poor, black and white, gay and straight may all loathe the president. What else will bind them?

The challenge is accentuated by the party’s split on the meaning of Mr Trump. Some, led by Joe Biden, believe he is an aberration. Others, led by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, see him as a symptom of a pre-existing American condition. The former treats 2020 as an emergency. Mr Trump must be removed at all costs. Other goals can wait. The latter sees next year as an opportunity. Now is the best chance to restructure America’s faltering capitalist system. It takes a rare kind of politician to blend these priorities.