Noemie Emery of the Washington Examiner wonders how writers for “House of Cards” will be able to top the real-life political drama playing out in the race for the White House in 2016.

Try this: A super-ambitious aspiring feminist sprite marries a rising young politician, seals a pact with him in which they both attain power, and steers him to the top through a minefield of bimbo eruptions. Then, just when the stars seem aligned in her favor, she shoots herself in both feet with a set of Nixonian blunders that would amaze Nixon himself.

But the party that’s running against her–the fabled preserve of boring old white men who fight to seem lifelike—is suddenly mugged by a truculent troll who barely speaks English, belches out insults with merry abandon, transports himself in a flying palace with gold-plated faucets, and has had not one but three trophy wives.

Yes, pity the writers of House of Cards, whose fourth season will likely languish as viewers stay glued to Fox News and CSPAN for the unfolding, mind-blowing double-track drama they find that they can’t do without.

And pity the parties, who just a few months ago could each see a plausible road to success. Democrats saw themselves set with a superbly credentialed former first lady, waving the flag of the glass-ceiling smasher, blessed with a plethora of funds and endorsements, and nary a foe in her way. Now, she’s under investigation, losing in match-ups with many Republicans, considered a liar by most of her countrymen, and undergoing a series of resets that fail to take hold. No one knows where the investigations are going, what strange new surprises are waiting to happen, or where they can go, should the worst happen, to find a Plan B. The tension-free glide planned for Hillary Clinton looks more like a slide off a precipice.

The party of the young and diverse has a bench of white males from their mid to late 70’s, some of them (Al Gore and John Kerry) already losers. Perhaps Gary Hart is eyeing a comeback. (Jerry Brown, now 77, seems to be waiting his turn.)

The Republicans, thanks to landslide elections in the midterms of 2010 and 2014, have been bragging for years that come 2016 they would have best bench in ages, a group of young, diverse, and talented holders of office in years. All true—but in the event all have been swamped by the storm known as Donald, that has deprived them of funds, air, and air time, and left them struggling for notice and breath.