If Trump is trailing badly in mid-October — not at all a certainty — is the “no blank check” message an option that GOP strategists might consider? Interviews with a number of Republican operatives and strategists produced responses that ranged from “unlikely” to “absolutely not.”

There is widespread agreement that the party, voters, and national politics have changed so dramatically over the past two decades that such a strategy would be unthinkable in an era of polarization and anger.

Insiders argue that between one-third and one-half of Trump voters have little allegiance to the Republican Party. They are loyal to Trump and distrust GOP leaders. Many would surely see a “no blank check” campaign as a surrender by the Republican political establishment…

“Lots of Trump voters like him because they don’t see him as a Republican. Our coalition is more fragile than it was in 1996,” one GOP strategist told me.