A is for alt-right, B is for Billy Bush: The ABCs of this soul-sucking election

On Wednesday night, the United States (and the world) will be subjected to one final presidential debate, the 26th debate overall of a long, exhausting, trying election cycle. 

SEE ALSO: 11 things to watch instead of the final presidential debate

And, no, that's not a typo. There have been 26 debates in this election cycle and it was almost even longer thanks to a few primary debate cancelations. 

All told, there were 12 GOP primary debates, 10 Democratic primary debates, three presidential debates and 1 vice-presidential debate spread across 440 days. And there are still 20 days to go until Election Day. 

Here at Mashable, we've covered the election in a variety of ways but as the grueling process comes to an end, it's a good time for reflection. And with there being as many debates as there are letters in the alphabet, using words (the best words!) to describe this election cycle is the surest way to get our feelings across.

A is Alt-Right

The long toiling members of the alt-right have found in Trump a man they can embrace for his anti-immigration stance and his willingness to indulge in conspiracy theories (like the ones about Hillary Clinton's health). Will they continue to have a voice going forward? Sure, the internet indulges racist conspiracy theorists but a movement that embraces a cartoon frog probably doesn't have much of a chance for long term success.

B is for Billy Bush

Who in a million years would have thought that Billy Bush would be the member of the Bush family that would derail Trump's presidential campaign? With Trump already reeling from a poor performance in the first debate with Hillary Clinton, the tape of the vulgar 2005 conversation between Bush and Trump was another blow to an already teetering campaign.  

C is for Cinco de Mayo

Never forget the most famous taco bowl ever consumed on top of a photo of an ex-wife. 

D is for Deplorables 

Even though Trump's behavior means Hillary Clinton should probably be way ahead in the polls, she's occasionally gotten in her own way, like when she insulted Trump supporters by calling them "deplorable." The insult has been embraced by Trump's Twitter troll force and thrown right back at her — millions and millions of times. 

E is for Emails

The ongoing controversy with Hillary Clinton and her email services has been a major storyline, particularly for Trump. While Bernie Sanders didn't give a damn, Trump has made it one of the pillars of his attacks on Clinton, even saying that if he were president, Clinton would be in jail because of it. 

F is for Ferns

As in Between Two Ferns, the popular Zach Galifinakis web series. It's hard to top President Barack Obama's previous appearance on the show but Hillary Clinton's Sept. 2016 appearance, in the midst of her campaign, was pretty darn good.

Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis: Hillary Clinton from Funny Or Die

G is for Giuliani

One of Trump's most notable surrogates has been former New Yorker mayor Rudy Giuliani. Whether it's forgetting 9/11, forgetting Hillary Clinton was in New York after 9/11, getting owned in TV interviews, or giving an animated convention speech, he's been a noteworthy sideshow to the Trump circus. 

H is for hands

There's nothing wrong with those tiny hands. Trump wants you to know his hands are plenty big and he definitely does not have any problems with anything small. Everything is yuge.

I is for ISIS

Battling ISIS has been at the core of Trump's platform, though his history on the terrorist organization is, at times, lacking. Not only did he insist Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton co-founded ISIS but he also tried to ding Hillary Clinton for fighting ISIS "[her] whole adult life." ISIS was founded in the early 2000s after the invasion of Iraq. 

J is for Jeb!

If Donald Trump is your drunk uncle and Bernie Sanders is your college professor, then Jeb Bush is your awkward dad who pretends to be mad at you about breaking curfew but, deep down, just doesn't have the energy to give a damn, really.

K is for Ken Bone

Ken Bone, the red-sweatered undecided voter who captured America's attention during the second presidential debate, learned real quick it's a short fall from "America's sweetheart" to "unsavory fellow."

L is for 'Locker Room Talk'

In the fallout from the release of that 2005 tape between Trump and Billy Bush, the Trump campaign has attempted to downplay the incident, insisting it was just "locker room talk" but many people who spend their careers in locker rooms beg to differ. Try again, Donald. 

M is for Melania

While Melania Trump, wife to Donald, has raised eyebrows lately with her fashion choices and stance on online bullying, it will be hard to top the insanity that ensued following the revelation that her GOP convention speech featured passages that seemed cribbed from a speech by First Lady Michelle Obama.

N is for the New York Times

When the New York Times published the story of two women who accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, Trump fired back, threatening to sue the legendary newspaper. But the newspaper wasn't just going to take Trump's shots. Oh, no. They, instead, turned to the newspaper's attorneys for a legendary clap-back at a man who has made a thing out of frivolous lawsuits. 

O is for Obama

After years of being the vocal leader of the so-called "birther" movement, who insist President Obama wasn't born in the United States, Donald Trump finally reversed course, but not without getting a few things wrong along the way. 

P is for Pussy

Trump is no stranger to the inappropriate use of this word. While most voters will forever remember the aforementioned 2005 tape and Trump's vulgar statement about women, there was also the incident in February 2016 when Trump, still fighting off challenges from other GOP candidates, repeated the word used by a rally-goer to insult opponent Ted Cruz. Truly a new course in crass rhetoric. 

Q is for (Avenue) Q

The cast of Avenue Q probably got pretty close to how most of us feel about Election 2016 with the little ditty called "Donald Trump makes me wanna smoke crack." 

R is for Robot Rubio

Oh Rubio. Poor, poor Rubio. You tried so hard but then you short-circuited under those hot debate lights. 2020 is your year. Really. 

S is for Skittles

One of the sideshows of this election cycle has been the children of Donald Trump (shout out to Tiffany!). Most notably, Donald Trump Jr. made waves when he shared a meme that compared refugees to Skittles. It wasn't only statistically incorrect, but it was made up of plagiarized claims and photos. Additionally, Skittles was not amused, marking one of the rare cases in which a candy has denounced the words of a presidential campaign. 

T is for Trump

In case you forgot the man who was the GOP nominee, Trump's appearances at the convention that coronated him left little doubt. 

U is for (Trump) University 

There was a university named after Trump and it turned into a mess and then a legal mess that's still lingering and Trump doesn't think much of the judge who's been presiding over the whole mess. 

V is for Vladimir

Trump has no connection to Russia or its president Vladimir Putin, whom Trump is quite a fan of, at all. Nope. None. Zero. Zilch. 

W is for Wall

The alpha and omega of the Trump 2016 campaign: the wall that he wants to build between the United States and Mexico. Nobody wants to pay for it, surprisingly, not even Mexico who, Trump insisted, would pay for it. That said, Trump's plan for the "impenetrable... beautiful" wall sounds just a dragon-filled moat short of a ten-year-old's dream. 

X is for Xenophobia

What's a better way to really get a campaign going then by singling out entire races and religions? As if calling Mexican immigrants rapists weren't enough, Trump announced a plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. He's walked the proposed ban back since its debut but it came up again in the second presidential debate. The internet then battled back against the xenophobia spreading throughout the campaign with humor. 

Y is for YUUUUUGE

When will the Oxford English Dictionary add it? 

Z is for the Zodiac Killer

How much more absurd can you get than the meme accusing Ted Cruz of being the Zodiac Killer that got so big that wife Heidi Cruz had to actually deny it in public?