When Donald Trump stormed out of Trump Tower and roared into the lead in the Republican Primary, the press said he was sure to collapse.

They said the same thing after the first debate.

And after the second debate.

After the third debate, with Trump still leading, they said: Rubio soars. Cruz scores. Trump falls flat.

The days when Presidential campaign caravans were packed full of Teddy Whites are gone; today reporters frantically grab for titillating stories to serve to internet junkies demanding to be fed every quarter hour and seldom trouble to dive deeper.

Rubio Rising, Trump Falling – is a tingling story.

Trump Still Leading – may be the true story but it’s not new. Or simple.

This year’s Republican Presidential Primary is beginning to look like one of those once-in-a-generation earthquakes – where the normal Political Laws of Gravity are suspended. Donald Trump had the perspicacity – or blind dumb luck – to roar out of Trump Tower at the moment a hurricane broke over the Washington Republican Establishment. But the story’s not Trump. It’s the hurricane. But reporters riding in the back of campaign buses, eyes glued on Twitter feeds, keep writing about who Trump offended today or the latest billionaire to desert Jeb Bush and endorse Marco Rubio.

Tucked away in the corners of pressdom there are rare exceptions but, as the CNBC moderators proved at the last debate, this election the reporters are as venal as the politicians.