But here’s the other side of the story: Trump won’t suffer much voter pain, certainly not enough to put victory out of reach. His secret weapon is that his core supporters, including many independents, distrust the media nearly as much as they distrust Clinton.

Consider that, while most media professionals said Clinton won the debate, most online polls of viewers had Trump winning.

The split verdict reflects a theme that goes back to the earliest GOP primary debates. Candidates who blasted media moderators for being prejudiced against Republicans got rousing ovations.

The anger has grown more pronounced since Trump, the ultimate outsider, crashed the party to win the nomination. With media bias blatant on a daily basis, it is far more than a sideshow.

My in-box routinely contains letters from readers such as Gayla Chandler, who wrote, “So my vote for Trump is partially FOR Trump, but it is equally against both Hillary and media manipulation.”