"Rubio and his handlers seemed to think he could cruise to the nomination on the strength of an appeal that was as chimerical as a unicorn."

\"Rubio and his handlers seemed to think he could cruise to the nomination on the strength of an appeal that was as chimerical as a unicorn.\"

Or maybe, \"as unicornal as a chimera\"?\n\n\"Chimerical\" usually hits me as \"an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation\", because that's the essential property of a mythical chimera: \"a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail\".\n\nBut, of course, mythicalness is also an essential property of the chimera, but it's a property that isn't specific to the chimera.\n\n(Yes, I am channeling Althouse this morning.)