By conventional wisdom, Donald Trump entered Sunday night’s debate with a nearly impossible task: trying to rehabilitate his bid for the White House after the worst two weeks a modern presidential candidate has had. The tape that surfaced Friday of Trump talking in 2005 in disgusting, coarse fashion about women — what he considers a seduction technique sounds like sexual assault — broke the Republican dam and triggered a flood of GOP lawmakers abandoning his candidacy.

Trump not only seemed to slow the bleeding, he might have stopped it. His demeanor and delivery were far better than in the first debate. He weathered the inevitable questions about the 2005 tape without further self-damage, and then he launched effective attacks on Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state even as she played defense well. He reminded people of their unhappiness with trade deals, the sluggish economy and the Affordable Care Act and their apprehension about the refugee-related unrest in the Middle East and Europe. He fed catnip to Bernie Sanders’ supporters by citing leaked emails that he says showed the Democratic Party “rigged” the primary elections against Sanders. He had fewer meandering and strange moments. He also benefited from tough questions posed to Clinton by ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, especially over the cynicism Clinton showed with the differences between public campaign speeches and closed-door remarks to Wall Street types. Asked what he respects about his opponent, Trump’s final comment — in which he expressed admiration for Clinton for being a “fighter” who doesn’t quit — was perhaps the only moment of grace in his entire campaign.

Will this stem GOP defections? Maybe. Will this win over voters concerned about his temperament and suitability as commander-in-chief? Maybe not.

After saying he would have his attorney general appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton, Trump said Clinton would be “in jail” if he was president because of her email debacle, a remark with menacing, undemocratic overtones that his surrogates sought to spin as a joke after the debate.


Trump also blithely dismissed the views of his running mate, Mike Pence, who said last week that Russia’s cooperation with the murderous Assad regime in Syria may require elevated U.S. attacks on the Syrian government. The Pence comment and Clinton’s follow-up remarks to Trump’s oft-quoted line about how easy it would be to knock out Islamic State’s leaders — “Donald says he knows more about ISIS than the generals. No, he doesn’t” — show two of Trump’s profound shortcomings: his indefensible fondness for thuggish Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his inexplicable habit of pretending vexing questions have simple answers, answers that he can see even if experts can’t.

This won’t matter to his true believers. They not only weren’t shaken by the awful audio, they share Trump’s view that those who focus on his “locker room” talk instead of Bill Clinton’s actual sexual misconduct are hypocrites. They probably ate up his pre-debate event with Clinton accusers.

But will Trump be able to add the millions of votes he probably needs to be elected president? We are skeptical. There are still 30 days to go. Each one will be a day of reckoning for Trump and America.

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