But what really seems to worry Trump is the possibility of deep dive investigative pieces on his personal life and business record. In an interview with conspiracist radio host Alex Jones, longtime Trump political confidante Roger Stone suggested that the Washington Post is about to publish a series of negative stories about The Donald, including ones about alleged Trump sex scandals. Stone seemed to be trying to preempt the reports and spin them as unfounded “hit pieces.” Trump, too, has railed against the Washington Post and its owner Jeff Bezos, perhaps out of fear that the paper’s announced effort to devote more than 20 reporters to picking through his record and personal life would turn up something devastating.

To date, most of the print reporting on Trump has basically been rehashed stories of investigative pieces that were published decades ago. It would hardly be surprising that a paper willing to devote the resources would uncover new and truly damning stories about Trump that would test the “5th Avenue Massacre” theory.

The point is Hillary and Trump are not ordinary presidential candidates. It’s not unimaginable their candidacies could incinerate in a fiery inferno of scandal before we get to November, which would immediately make any third party challenger who was courageous enough to enter the race now a stones throw away from the presidency.