Andy noted Hillary’s comment below. There’s no doubt that Trump has deplorable supporters who have crawled out from under various rocks, but to suggest that this small fringe is half of Trump supporters means you either spend to much time on Twitter or you have a grossly distorted image of America. Hillary is in the latter category. She has now issued a semi-apology, wisely.

A gaffe is most damaging when it reinforces the existing narrative of a campaign. This is what gave Romney’s 47 percent such sting. Is this Hillary’s equivalent? It certainly is going to have a long half-life and speaks to the high-handedness and self-righteousness of her and her supporters. Whether it is more like “you didn’t build that,” a gaffe that became a talking point for the opposition but eventually petered out, or cuts as deeply as 47 percent, I don’t know.

I do think part of what motivated Clinton’s comment, as well the liberal freak-out over the the Matt Lauer national-security forum, is the stunned disbelief of liberals that Trump is actually in this thing. It may make them feel better, but condescension isn’t a strategy.