So Trump has not yet done anything remotely like what he’ll be asked to do this week: stand there and argue with a seasoned politician about public policy for 90 minutes without any refuge or escape. Nor has he shown anything in the last few months to indicate that he’s cultivated the self-discipline necessary for this task. He remains true to himself – proudly ignorant, blustering and serially mendacious.

That mendacity has inspired some liberal agita about how the debate moderators should handle Trump’s penchant to lie more barefacedly than the average politician. But those anxieties are somewhat beside the point, given that there will already be someone on stage with every incentive to expose Trump as a liar, and ample opportunity to do so.

Hillary Clinton is not a particularly appealing politician. But she is a solid and experienced debater who knows the workings of American government inside and out. a careful, meticulous, unexciting performance, of the kind that she has delivered in many debates before, should suffice to make her look wiser, safer and more serious than the tabloid character across the stage from her.