At this point the downside is that if that debate is the best he can do then he’s absolutely going to lose.
If he does make it to Election Day without dropping out or dropping dead then yeah we may as well vote for him, but that seems like a terrible position to be in.
I disagree with this, I think the Republican Party is waning and they’re now in the sweet spot where they have a large enough base to enact a fascist takeover but not enough to win by appealing to the electorate. If they aren’t able to change the rules in their favor in the next couple cycles I think they become further marginalized and lose their chance.
That’s not to say we won’t face a similar problem again after we have a party realignment, but I do think the GOP specifically has a limited window in which to seize power.