When they couldn’t exactly cheer for him, they found ways to excuse him. Five days after the “Access Hollywood” tape, for example, I asked an older woman in a flowery red dress what she thought of her candidate’s theory of sexual license — as a lone protester was playing the tape on a loop outside a rally venue in Lakeland, Fla.

She smiled. “What person hasn’t said it?” she said.

“I haven’t said it,” I said.

“Well, good for you,” she said.

“You’ve said you’re going to grab women by the … ?” I asked.

“No. Don’t be stupid,” she said, and walked away.