Vee

Let's be very clear: There is no new low bar for the debates. There is no 'potential victory' at the debates. There is no comeback narrative. There is only this. Politico: Don't be afraid to call this election what it now is: A death march. That is not me cherry-picking optimism. That is the reality every single one of us is seeing except in the most desperate corners of Fox News. There are even rumors of Pence dropping out. It's over. More from the bunker.

Reince Priebus has dropped out of a planned Sunday appearance on Face the Nation - Giuliani is going instead. Priebus and the RNC have also reportedly begun diverting funds from Trump to the downballot.

Also this: I'm going.

LOL. Not gonna work. Arnold disavows.

I would agree, but still, they are everywhere now and growing by the hour. It is becoming an avalanche. It's not coordinated theater, this is the GOP in revolt. Pence cancelled on Ryan's event. I wonder what is going on.

There is a crazy mob scene of Trump supporters on the street outside Trump Tower while Republican after Republican unendorses and calls for him to drop out (even stalwart pundits like Hugh Hewitt). It's like Pinochet's last stand.

At NY Comic Con: Something is coming at Lynch's ongoing event, likely for Sunday or Monday.

Politico:

If McCain's pride finally broke, that's the beginning. There are others who have rescinded and abandoned in the last 24 hours but McCain is the biggest so far.

Why does he keep saying it like this? Nate Silver discusses the possibility of a Clinton landslide. NYT covers the ongoing meltdown.

Of course GOP insiders are going to tell Politico 'it's not a knockout punch.' That doesn't mean it isn't. That's just what they're saying to the most consistent online press arm for the Beltway. Politico has always been used to float this kind of stuff. We can always find the most sympathetic Republican-narrative articles - many of which come from Politico - to try and support a preconceived notion that this or that will not do much to Trump. But just their floating it wouldn't make it true, not with the Khans, not with Machado and especially not now. And of course he still has his hardcore base. He always will. But they can't keep the election from being a landslide. And they're losing women because of this. The fact that the lunatic fringe will still vote for him does not mean this situation is not apocalyptic for Trump. Meanwhile, in crazytown:

But if we accept this premise, we still have to ask why he is losing by miles. And is about to lose by much more. I remember 2004 well. It was crushing. But then we elected Barack Obama - twice. I didn't know we'd elect a black President in my lifetime. And that's just one example of an equal and opposite reaction. We're capable of great evil and great good, maybe in equal measure. That is just the reality of human life. You can either have a little faith in our shared humanity, or you can assume the worst will always win out. I think the facts demonstrably speak against that.

Carl, I just... You know I like you. And I like almost no one around here. But you are so utterly and completely wrong that I have got to stop you and call this out for what it is. It's just wrong. No one has bought this that was not already voting for Trump. No one in the press is pushing it other than maybe a few people on Fox News. What you're describing is people reporting his pathetic replies. That's reporting, that's not going with the spin. No one has done that. CNN, MSNBC, every outlet is disgusted not only by him but by his 90-second 'apology' video. None of them are protecting him. None. He has been soundly condemned. Paul Ryan has banished the presidential nominee of his own party from a major state event planned for both of them. Multiple seated Republican representatives are now publicly calling for his dismissal. We are in Day 2 of this. Every single outlet out there but Fox is basically calling the election over. Almost no one on reputable media in North America is doing what you describe. This is an apocalypse for him. It is history and the likes of which has never been seen before. I realize you are a pessimist. I realize this is a difficult time in a difficult world. I know all too well just how frustrating our media and our political system can be and I give it very little credit. But there are times when one must step back and consider if they are enabling the opposition, or giving it more credit for cunning than it deserves, just by preempting their victory or salvation with a presumption of such. You have to ask yourself if, after a certain point, by so swiftly dismissing the potential consequences of this that you are almost indirectly, implicitly dismissing the gravity and weight of the actual horrific things done and said. I know that's not ever what you intend to do. But it is what sometimes plays. This isn't something where half of us are saying one thing and the other half is saying another so who knows. This is everyone. I love you to death, but you're wrong and the way you shrug it off upsets me. This is real, it's huge, it's nuclear and you can't shrug it off and say the ills of our media will make it go away. To do that marginalizes it, it normalizes him again - it's what the press did so often in the past when they said his people wouldn't care and it was 'just Trump' - and it gives Team Trump the impossible out they are praying for, whether you intend to or not. It's coming at the same thing from the other direction, and it is not what is happening with everyone else tonight. Don't believe me? Turn on the TV.

Suicidal. Apparently they had to beg him to do even that.

Ana Navarro just went HAM again and I missed it??

Same. The full version of the video with them ogling her makes it so much worse.

I don't. Not without a [!@#$%^&*]-ton of money.