House,
tell
Well, you pulled a switchero. The topic was the "MSM" and not "a lot of people.'
The MSM will no more abandon 'their guy' than the RNC would abandon theirs.
Up to a point I tend to agree but also think you underestimate the opposition, the ability of people to delude themselves, and the ability of the GOP to field untenable candidates.
It is, for example, not terribly difficult for some people to delude themselves with the argument, well, he needed some OJT but now he's got OJT.
It might be fun hearing the 'vote for change' candidate argue against 'voting for change' although I have no doubt he'll argue that the 'change' isn't finished yet so he's still the 'change' guy while the other is a 'going back to the dark ages' candidate.
Which gets to the last point, I think you may underestimate the effectiveness of the left's incessant fear mongering and demonization tactics.