If the Australian election campaign feels long, spare a thought for the 300 million Americans who've endured 12 months of campaigning already and still have six months to go.
Let's be clear, the actual race for the White House hasn't even started.
The "field is [still] being winnowed" as they said in Iowa and New Hampshire and pretty much every state since, and we still don't have our two-horse race. So close, yet so far.
In case you've been entirely preoccupied with Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and a touch of Barnaby Joyce, here's what you need to know from the land of the stars and stripes this week.
- Donald Trump is the last man standing on the Republican side but the Republican Party is still coming to terms with the billionaire as its new figurehead
- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continue to scrap it out for the Democrats
- While The Donald won two primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska unopposed, Bernie beat Hillary (again)
VICTORS
Donald Trump
You can't help winning when you're the only one left running, right?
Well yes, that's true, but some speculated there could be some protest vote against his candidacy, particularly after Ted Cruz made some weird remarks that if he suddenly won Nebraska he may re-enter the race.
Nope. That didn't happen. It's Donald's party all the way to Cleveland (at least).
He needs about 100 delegates over the remaining primaries to reach the official delegate threshold and that should be a formality.
Bernie Sanders
Another win in West Virginia makes it 10 out of the last 16 for the senator from Vermont.
It was little surprise as West Virginia is a state that's 91 per cent white - a demographic Bernie traditionally excels in.
VANQUISHED
Hillary Clinton
Bernie capitalised on Hillary's comments that really wound up the coal communities of West Virginia, where there have been job losses aplenty under the pro-environment Obama administration.
"We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business," she said.
No amount of apologising was going to fix it.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE EIGHT YEARS MAKES ...
When Hillary faced off against Barack Obama back in 2008 she won all 55 counties in West Virginia. This time round? Zero.
Bernie won solidly and although he can't catch Hillary with her pesky platoon of super delegates, he may get close to equalling or even passing the number of pledged delegates she's won via primary votes. That's really quite notable.
The delegate count for the record: Hillary 1716, Bernie 1433 (pledged) or 2240, 1473 respectively with super delegates.
VICTORY SPEECHES
Victory speeches are so, like, yesterday. Right?
Trump has taken to simply tweeting his victorious remarks while Hillary wrapped up for the night on Tuesday well before polls closed. Only Bernie popped up after winning West Virginia.
Can we just fast forward to the conventions already?!
We have to admit, those repetitive stump speeches are getting a little, well, repetitive.
TRUMP AND THE GOP CONTINUE THE SLOW DANCE
Although he's been steam-rolling his way to the Republican nomination for quite some time, the GOP is still struggling to embrace Trump.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who is quite probably the third most powerful man in American politics, last week said he "just wasn't ready" to endorse Trump.
In typical Trump fashion, the presumptive nominee said he wasn't ready to support Ryan's agenda. So there.
And yet, ta da, a meeting between Republican leadership and Trump was then hurriedly organised in Washington to try and unify the party.
Cameras were literally trained live on various locations around DC to catch a glimpse of any man in a dark suit (which is pretty much most people here, but anyway). What else are TV crews to do on a damp Thursday morning?
Republicans deemed the meeting a big success but no endorsement came of it.
Ryan emerged with lots of positive things to say about The Donald but mainly that it'll take more than 45 minutes to make the marriage work, so expect the slow dance to continue.
If that was a little bit inside baseball for you, then here's Ryan flippin' pancakes. You're welcome.
YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING, WHO IS VOTING FOR TRUMP EXACTLY?
This question comes up a lot, and other than the obvious answer of well, a lot of people, this map gives a pretty clear indication of a region in which Trump has a lot of support: Appalachia.
This region stretches from the bottom part of New York State and along the Appalachian Mountains through West Virginia and Kentucky all the way south to Georgia.
Historically a thriving coal mining region, Appalachia has struggled with widespread poverty and Trump's message to bring jobs back to America has certainly resonated there.
By the way, here's a quirky fact for this weekend's dinner party.
Trump has received more primary votes than any other Republican candidate in history.
A few number crunchers dispute the exactness of this but if he doesn't have the record yet, he will definitely have it by the end of the primary season.
I know, right?
DOES TRUMP HAVE A NICKNAME STRATEGY?
Trump has dominated the campaign so far by staying in the media and bringing new voters into the Republican Party but he also has one tactic that he unleashes against his true rivals: nicknames.
It was "Lyin' Ted" and "Little Marco" and recently he's spent a lot of time attacking "Crooked Hillary".
You know you've made it when The Donald drops a new nickname.
This week, Trump dubbed Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren "goofy" and has renamed Bernie "crazy".
You can check out a Stephen Colbert interview with a "Trump operative" about the strategy behind name-calling.
IF YOU'RE A FAN OF AARON SORKIN'S THE NEWSROOM, YOU'VE GOT TO WATCH THIS BIT WITH JEFF DANIELS
Daniels starred in the show as nightly news anchor Will McAvoy and in this interview he shifts into the full McAvoy character.
He waxes lyrical about why Trump would be a problem for America (inspirational music included).
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
This week's honour goes to Minority House Leader Nancy Pelosi who said of Trump: "I keep thinking of him as Ronald McDonald, I don't know why."
Visual of the week goes to the New York Daily News.
From 17 Republican candidates down to one, the publication put out this captivating Tweet depicting multiple Trumps.
I don't really know what to do with it but I just think everyone should see it.
HERE WE ARE AT THE POINTY END. BY THE NUMBERS ...
Seven. That's the number of delegates Bernie caught up after Tuesday's emphatic win in West Virginia.
As we've discussed, some are still talking about Bernie forcing a contested convention in July. But according to fivethirtyeight.com, Hillary is still on track to clinch the nomination by June 7.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
Democrats will be heading to the polls in Kentucky and Oregon next Tuesday.
For Republicans it's just Oregon up for grabs as the long primary process inches towards the finish line.
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