If Trump goes down in defeat to Hillary Clinton, as current polling indicates is likely, several questions will arise concerning the Ryan feud. Will cracks emerge in Trump’s loyal following? Will a majority of Republicans, faced with a third consecutive presidential defeat, reassess the wisdom of his candidacy, or will they lay blame at Ryan’s feet? Perhaps most importantly, can the party be healed?

One number may help answer those questions: the percentage of Republicans who vote for Trump on Election Day. Mitt Romney won 93 percent of Republican voters in 2012. John McCain received 90 percent in 2008. Trump is in the ballpark, consolidating the support of 89 percent of Republican voters since the debate Sunday, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

A top Trump adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the “key is to hold that number” so that Trump’s vision continues to hold sway over the party after the election. His debate strategy to hammer Clinton in intensely personal ways seems to have helped shore up GOP support that sank to just 74 percent in the prior NBC/Journal survey.

The raging civil war between the pro-Trump nativist faction and anti-Trump pluralist wing has left some Republicans wondering if they will ever be able to reconcile, or if the party is on the cusp of a cataclysmic fracture.