The final debate seemed more normal, but compared to what?

Trump was right when he said that he’s “not a typical politician” in the final presidential debate last night. He has a talent for setting a low bar, so, compared to the last migraine-inducing debate, its easy to applaud his relatively subdued behavior in this one. But it’s worth noting and marveling at how before 2016, his lies, baseless attacks, constant blaming of others and endless braggadocio in any other candidate would have caused an uproar. We’ve now become so numbed to this behavior that we are impressed when he shows the least bit of restraint.

This presents a serious problem for analysts and journalists. We can twist ourselves in a bunch trying to find the words that properly describe just how outrageous, horrifying and baffling he is all at once, but they still don’t come close. Debates used to be a tightrope walk, where candidates mostly repeated prepared talking points and perhaps made a headline or two with either a new policy statement or a gaffe.

To put this into perspective, let’s just remember a few historic debate gaffes. In 1976, Gerald Ford said, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” In 1992, George H.W. Bush looked at his watch while an audience member asked him how the recession had affected him personally. Al Gore famously sighed…