The media generally steers that middle 20% pretty hard, and the hope was that Trump could overcome this, but not only has he been having to fight the media, he's also been having to fight the backstabbers in the party. This is something that the Democrats seldom have to deal with. As a matter of fact, the term "yellow dog Democrat" comes from the sentiment that they will vote Democrat even if their candidate is a "dirty yellow dog."
This is one reason among many why they win more often than we. They simply do not allow scandals to derail their candidates.
I agree with all of that. I recall very specifically how Geraldo Rivera was so eagerly defending Bill Clinton when the first of the bimbo eruptions happened, and he was arguing vociferously that it shouldn't matter, it was his private sex life, etc.. Then someone on whatever show asked him what would be happening if Clinton were a Republican. He looked startled for a second as he considered it, then said "he'd have been forced out of the race already and long gone." The media/cultural bias is incredibly strong. I think it's even worse now with social media and it's impact on the young, who are the first to hop on new trends, etc..
And I'm with you on Trump -- By March, what Trump said in 2005 will be completely irrelevant to what is happening in the country. Give me a choice between a Supreme Court Justice and Trump admitting to what 80% of these other pols likely say anyway, and it should be a no brainer.
But what has happened is that those who already opposed Trump have latched onto this as yet another reason to pile on. Personally, I'd say that anyone who made up their mind based on this stupid story should be ashamed of themselves. If the Supreme Court, immigration, etc., were important enough reasons before to back this flawed candidate, that shouldn't have changed.