And here’s one more technicality about scheduling an early debate: If the debate is a complete debacle for one of them, each party technically has time and a process to change nominees. After all, this first debate will take place before either candidate is the official nominee of their party.

But the scenario I’m wondering about most is one that I’m not sure either campaign has fully considered. It’s the possibility that the country will simply hate what it sees, period. If the debate is two old guys cursing at each other — which nearly happened in the debates four years ago — voters could find themselves even more depressed about their choices for the fall. And it’s impossible to say how the butterfly effect afterward would play out.