"His rhetoric resonates (even as it appalls)"-I'm going to say that those for whom his rhetoric resonates matter less than those for whom it appalls. And by all means Mr. Trump do not stop appalling.
"Most Republicans are falling in line"--didn't they do the same with Romney for the most part? How'd that go?
"Gotcha journalism doesn’t faze Trump"-get ready for lots more info about Trump's business dealings and bankruptcies. Trump may be oblivious but voters are not.
"Hillary Clinton follows his lead — badly"--“Humans put greater cognitive weight on the first part of a sentence than the last part"--not much need be said about this bit of "evidence."
"Trump will crush Clinton in the debates"--but to whom does Trump's rhetoric appeal? Hillary isn't good off the cuff but it's probably pretty easy to prepare ahead of time for the kinds of things Trump will do and say. I hope he'll mention again how women “bleed out of their wherever” or if HRC uses the restroom how "disgusting" it is.