The Debate's Biggest Loser Was the GOP

There is one important sense in which Donald Trump "won" the debate on Sunday night: He did not implode. He wasn't "good," or attractive, or knowledgeable. He was coarse and whiny and unpleasant. He lied constantly. And he became the first presidential candidate in the history of our Republic to promise that if elected he would attempt to have his opponent face criminal prosecution. Actually, he went a bit further than that, telling Clinton that if he is president, "You'd be in jail." Which, by the by, should terrify you and be disqualifying all on its own.

But Trump didn't have a psychotic break onstage. And clearing that bar might be enough to keep Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, and Reince Priebus from publicly disavowing his candidacy this week.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what a win looks like for Trump these days.

We stand at a moment in history where dozens of Republican representatives, senators, and governors have not only publicly vowed not to vote for the Republican nominee but have called on him to vacate the nomination. Where four weeks before Election Day, one-in-four Republican voters want their nominee to drop out of the race. (And that number is almost certain to rise over the next week.)

This is unprecedented. And catastrophic. Before the "grab them by the pus—y" tape, Trump was already down by five points with only four weeks to go. He was behind in Florida. Ditto North Carolina.His deficit in Pennsylvania was nearly double digits.