The Guardian view on an exultant Trump and ailing Biden: a week is a long time in US politics | Editorial

Democrats may feel battered by recent events, but they cannot afford to despair

There are decades in which nothing happens, and weeks in which decades happen." That aphorism, misattributed to Lenin and repeatedly cited by Steve Bannon, might have been coined for the last seven days. A single week in the US has encompassed the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, his acceptance of the Republican presidential nomination at a triumphalist convention, and reports that Joe Biden - struck down by Covid - is contemplating quitting his re-election bid amid mounting pressure from senior Democrats.

Look back only two weeks further and the political picture encompasses the disastrous debate that began the frenzy over Mr Biden's candidacy, the supreme court's momentous ruling on immunity, which transformed the relationship between president and people, and the shocking dismissal of the criminal case against Mr Trump over classified documents.