What does that mean? Well, if a campaign has one foot in the grave, simply not dying is a big win.

But if Trump thinks the debate will push the lewd tape problem into the past, he’ll soon find that’s not the case. At one point in the sex discussion, Cooper, referring to Trump’s boast that as a star he could grab women without consequence, said “So for the record, you’re saying you never did that? … Have you ever done those things?”

“No, I have not,” Trump said, virtually guaranteeing days of pushback and oppo dumps on the subject.

In addition, Clinton plans to keep hitting Trump on the tape itself. “He did not apologize or take proper responsibility for his comments,” Fallon said. “I think that he is going to have to answer for that comment more than he did tonight. I think it’s something that’s going to remain front and center in the discussion.” Clinton will make sure of that.