Anthony Weiner dents Hillary Clinton's lead, does Donald Trump still have a chance?

Since no one, including most Americans, quite understand how the president is elected and exactly what leads up to 8 November election day seeing as how people have already begun voting, every extraneous element plays a role as well stumble into the straight. The latest contribution is the Weiner factor. The German word for the male organ, also a sausage or someone who is a complete idiot has grabbed the spotlight this week. [caption id=“attachment_3001952” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Hillary Clinton. AFP[/caption] Former Congressman Anthony Weiner seems to live up to his name and then some. Not only has he been caught several times sexting women but his estranged wife, Huma Abedin is the Vice chairwoman of the Hillary Clinton campaign. That Huma called off the marriage after catching her husband engaging in sending messages with explicit content (following a photograph of him in his underwear went to the wrong person) should really be seen as an act of a sensible woman. But the US election is such a cheap shot this time around that anything goes. The Anthony sleaze could further affect Hillary’s final run, especially since media can link it to the reopening of the Clinton email case. It was while investigating Weiner’s emails to an underage girl that the new collection of Hillary emails on a private address she used while Secretary of State were discovered. This tenuous connection creates enough grounds for media to have a feeding frenzy and use the pleasures of innuendo to send out puffs of scandal. Anthony Weiner clearly surpasses to all the nasty interpretations of his name but even he did not expect to get roped into the final week of the presidential race or be its dubious star attraction. The Americans are probably tiring of this soap opera that has episodes colliding into each other with the speed of atoms to the point where one cannot keep pace. The FBI’s reopening of the case with just 10 days to go will probably be seen as gross unfairness and FBI director James Comey’s decision to run with it against the advice of the Justice Department breaks all conventions and rules of the game. Generally, there is a sort of tacit understanding between investigative agencies and Capitol Hill that for sixty days before the election result nothing will be done that could impact adversely on a nominated candidate or give another a distinct advantage by offering him or her ammunition. The FBI has managed to do just that and legal experts in the US could well be opening their law books to see if a case could be made for freezing the election result and declaring the equivalent of a mistrial in case Hillary loses because she can claim it was tainted by the agency’s deliberate timing and impacted on her campaign. It is a card the Clinton camp will be considering as the lead narrows and Donald Trump makes the most of it by punching below the belt and painting Hillary as a Machiavellian character with a ‘second’ life that is anything but savoury. Since there will be no decision of guilt or innocence in the vital week ahead on this development the ‘open house’ on the issue can be abused by pro and anti-factions from both parties. The question is who is a bigger Weiner… Anthony or Donald? Today’s score. Hillary odds on winning 91 percent. Point spread; Down from 7.1 last week to 3.9 today as the Trump brigade goes on the offensive… in more ways that one.