Of course, the first round of primary voting is months away and much could change, but the shape of the race is already clear – and Trump is dominant.
There was a similar Republican response in March when Trump was indicted, also in New York, over hush money paid to the former porn star Stormy Daniels.
That saw his approval numbers among Republicans – the self-proclaimed party of family values – go up.
For the believers, the indictment merely vindicated Trump’s claim that he is the martyred victim of a liberal deep state.
But on the current evidence, a slew of guilty verdicts would barely dent his standing with his own party.
As Trump intuited back in 2016, he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and Republicans would still vote for him.
And they have to sound the alarm every day, warning of the danger Trump poses. »