And so this is how it will be: The Donald in his lair, surrounded by his sycophants on the inside, bolstered by his raucous mobs of hardcore supporters on the outside, cut loose by the party he took over, starved of the mother's milk of politics — money — by politicians who will need every cent to survive the deluge, and caught in a death spiral of revolting revelations that beget polls that beget an accelerating descent into defeat.

In the wake of the spectacular revelations by the Washington Post on Friday, which triggered an unprecedented revolt for this late in the cycle by the party against its nominee, the only way that Trump was going to be forced from the ticket was if four men — Mike Pence, the vice-presidential nominee; Paul Ryan, the Speaker, and the highest elected Republican in the land; Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican (and currently the majority) leader; and Reince Priebus, head of the Republican Party, who has addicted himself to the Trump Kool-Aid — had come together and insisted he stand down.

While we will never know whether Trump would have heeded their collective demand, it is now clear this did not come close to eventuating, and will never happen. Pence has calculated that his future — the nomination in 2020 — and his good name is best expressed by showing loyalty to the party by doing what he can to avert a complete catastrophe on November 8.

This is a reprise of the issue the party has faced — and dodged — all year over Trump. The man's flaws always overcame the potent attack he could muster against establishment candidates in both parties. As recounted here, from last February the Republicans could never, because of their own selfishness over who should be the nominee, unite to present a clear Republican alternative to Trump, and divided they fell. Sixteen could not stop one with 25-30 per cent of the vote.

Similarly, today, the party could not come together to save itself by repudiating a man so unfit to hold the highest office in the land.

Everyone is entitled to their own assessment of Trump's character and temperament and fitness for office. But to cite a simple one: how can the country elect someone to serve as Commander in Chief when, because of his record of sexual harassment, he could not be confirmed by the Senate today to serve as Secretary of Defence?

This lapse — this failure — of will meant the Republican Party, in the primaries and through the nominating convention, failed to resolve the existential crisis posed by Trump. That historic failure has meant that the country has been put through the ugliest ordeal in modern American political history.

This is something the American people do not deserve, and it has trashed America's image in the world as the leading democracy on Earth. Hillary Clinton had an enormous repair job on America's standing abroad when she became Secretary of State in the wake of the Iraq war, and at the end of the first term she had in large measure restored it; the task at hand now when she assumes office in January is even steeper.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate. ( AP: Julio Cortez )

A lost opportunity

The ugliest presidential debate in modern American history will be remembered for the moment when a stage-stalking Trump threatened Clinton with jail. Well, in a democracy, you do not jail your political opponents. The reality television tapes together with the bullying of a former first lady, Senator, and Secretary of State have all coalesced into a decisive judgment about this man: that he has no place anywhere near the Oval Office.

This exposes the opportunity lost for the Republicans. Trump lands enormous blows on Clinton on ISIS and terrorism, on flaws in her judgment on personal matters and in policy — and he capitalizes cleanly on Clinton being the essence of an establishment class that is not delivering the goods to hard-working Americans. Trump scores on those points.

But it is the contrast with Trump where, despite all these vulnerabilities, Clinton does come through, to most Americans, as being a person who is committed to the best interests of the American people and their welfare, who wants to be president of all the American people, who cares about delivering a better future for those endeavouring to succeed, and who knows how to navigate a terribly challenging world.

The judgment of the American people on the presidential campaign is now clear. How best to assess the overall damage to the Republican prospects in November?

Two obvious metrics: whether the Republicans keep the Senate, and how many House seats are lost. The last time the party pulled its support for a nominee destined to lose — Senator Bob Dole in 1996 — Bill Clinton won a thumping 379-159 majority in the Electoral College, with 49.2 per cent of the vote to Dole's 40.7 per cent (the conservative Independent Ross Perot received 8.4per cent of the vote and helped tip states to Clinton). Clinton even carried Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.

A benchmark if you will for the likely 45th president compared to what the 42nd did 20 years ago.

Bruce Wolpe was on the Democratic staff in Congress in President Obama's first term. He is a supporter of Hillary Clinton's campaign. He is chief of staff to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The views posted here are solely and exclusively his own.