It's officially a nightmare

“Trump’s bad week is a ‘nightmare’ for the GOP.” That was the headline on an article released last night from the Washington Post…and it seems to be true. The week began with an abysmal debate performance (was that really just five days ago?) and proceeded with Trump responding to Clinton’s well timed jabs.

Trump came out of the debate in a defensive stance and further hurt himself by devoting significant air-time and “tweet-space” to disgracing a former beauty queen. He’s stepped into Clinton’s trap, ignoring policy issues and throwing away any gains he may have made Monday night.

Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016

Republicans inside and outside his campaign are struggling to distance themselves from his latest train wreck while seeming to support the (supposed) figurehead of the party.

“Can this thing just end — please?...My God, what a nightmare.” -Matt Borges, Republican Party chairman in Ohio.

“This is not something that I am going to discuss today…Because I choose not to.” -Mitch McConnell

“I was working out and working this morning. I didn’t watch.” -Paul Ryan 

“I didn’t see it, guys. I was on an airplane.” - Marco Rubio 

“I don’t mean to be a critic, but a coaching tip would be, ‘Stay on the message and drive it home...Whatever the other stuff is, it doesn’t matter.” - Robin Hayes, Republican Party chairman in North Carolina.

As we have seen time and time again, Trump cannot seem to focus a message that is anything other than lashing out at the latest attacks.

The erratic, predawn tweets are a prime example of someone who cannot discipline himself enough to stay the course  and look beyond the immediate moment.

In 2008, Clinton released this ad



She should think about doing it again.