Do you remember what the political landscape looked like before L’affaire Kavanaugh? If you don’t, that’s not surprising. A week in politics is long; a month in Trumpworld is an eternity.

Let us rewind, then, to that dim-lit Sunday, September 16, when the Washington Post first ran the Christine Blasey Ford story. Trump was in trouble. His approval rating was 40 per cent. The Dems were surging in the polls; and talk was all about a midterm blue wave crashing over the administration.

The rumbling of a trade war with China was giving fright. The Mueller, Cohen, Manafort scandals were rumbling on, each adding to the common sense that, even if there is no smoking Russian gun, Trump’s circle is significantly dodgier than a President’s orbit should be. Trump also irritated large chunks of the public by bigging up his administration’s emergency responsiveness before Storm Florence had even struck.