Why did senior Clinton campaign officials order their dirty tricks team to release the Trump tape this past Friday instead of the Friday before Election Day?

The leak of an old hot mic recording of a private conversation between a TV host and Trump probably was originally scheduled for the Friday before Election Day. But the Wikileaks revelations about Hillary could not be allowed to dominate the weekend pre-debate chatter.

An alternative explanation: The Clinton campaign believes that waiting to release the tape until the Friday before Election Day would be too late. The campaign believes that Trump stands a good chance of winning the remaining two debates, would build tremendous momentum, and would be virtually unstoppable. Releasing the tape so late would also smack of desperation and might be counterproductive, encouraging Trump supporters to turn out in even greater numbers.

The Clinton campaign calculated that releasing the tape a month ahead of time would have several advantages:

Early voting is getting under way. Now is the time to hit Trump and persuade early voters to give up on him before he can recover.

MSM toadies will need more than a couple of days to spring into collective action and inflict maximum and possibly lasting damage on Trump.

Republicans who have opposed Trump all along need time to coalesce into a movement that would apply pressure on Trump to quit the race.

The day before the Trump tape was released, Florida governor Rick Scott announced that the state's voting registration deadline will remain this coming Tuesday, October 11. Scott told reporters in Tallahassee:

Everybody has had a lot of time to register. So, on top of that, you know, we've got a lot of opportunities to vote, early voting, absentee voting and Election Day. I don't intend to make any changes.

The Clinton campaign had called for Governor Scott to extend the Oct. 11 voter registration deadline as the storm closed in. Scott's refusal evidently affected the decision to release the Trump tape much earlier than planned.

The usual MSM suspects are having a great time beating the drums against Trump, kicking up as much dust as possible over an essentially silly faux pas. This includes Megyn Kelly, who hates Trump, and others such as Chris Stirewalt and Howie Kurtz. On the Friday Factor, the allegedly independent Bill O'Reilly sat like a bump on a log and let Clinton stand-in Geraldo Rivera gloat over Trump's predicament.

Several prominent Republicans are deserting Trump, citing the tape as their reason. This is merely a flimsy excuse. The Republican establishment has tried its best to prevent the Trump nomination and has been working since the convention to undermine his campaign. The tape has handed Republican NeverTrumps the opportunity to climb a moral high horse and pontificate on the ethical consequences of locker-room banter, which are nonexistent. Having taught theoretical and applied ethics at the college level, I can state categorically that Trump's comments are in the noise on a moral seriousness scale. Bill and Hillary Clinton's actions are way, way up on the scale.

As to the rationale behind my title, I direct the reader to Jay Michaels's excellent blog post. The Clinton campaign has realized that Hillary is quickly running out of gas for a variety of medical reasons, very serious in their totality. The town hall format for Sunday's debate is likely to tire her out, especially if Trump becomes physically active by walking around energetically, thereby proving she lacks the stamina to do likewise. The symptoms of her various illnesses are likely to become evident under physical stress that may well spill over into the final debate on the 19th. A collapse is not out of the question.

Republicans need to remember that history is full of examples of what happens when battlefield commanders overreact at the first sign of trouble and make stupid decisions. Now is the time to rally around Trump and realize that the tape is just a move on the chessboard, made by their common enemy seeking to undermine morale and sow dissent in the ranks. Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz must reconsider his decision to abandon Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan must reschedule his meeting with Trump.

Come on, guys. You're being played.