Rick Tyler: The Race Is Over, Hillary Will Likely Win

The presidential race is "over," and unless Hillary Clinton makes any serious mistakes, she'll likely win the race in November, former Ted Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said Tuesday.

"I think it's been over for a long time," Tyler, now a contributor for MSNBC, told the "Morning Joe" program, said during a panel discussion. "I don't know it's going to turn around . . . Hillary just needs to sort of coast here and not make any mistakes, and in all likelihood she will win."

On Monday, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll gave Clinton a 14-point national lead over GOP nominee Donald Trump, and Tyler said Tuesday that the former secretary of state has been "consistently ahead, and a head in swing states."

Those states tightened up for a while, Tyler continued, "but now they've widened out," and he thinks a highly damaging tape revealing Trump saying explicit things about women is only the first such attack to come.

"I don't know what will be next, but I have a feeling it could be worse," Tyler said, and he is concerned about the effects on the Republican-controlled House and Senate.

"For a long time, I've been saying that the presidential campaign has been on an island in the middle of the ocean," said Tyler. "I keep calling it 'Lunatic Island.' The coverage has been so intense and no one is paying attention to the Senate races and certainly not the House races.

"The Republicans have been running pretty good campaigns in those races, but you're seeing with this tape, there's a little bit of a bleed over."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who announced on Monday he would neither campaign with or defend Trump, is looking to preserve the House majority, said Tyler. He worries, though if the GOP base turns out for Trump and decides to punish Republicans who have backed away from them, the party could be in trouble when it comes to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Washington Post political writer Robert Costa said there are people in Trump's "wider orbit," such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has advised Trump not to wage direct attacks on the Clintons.

But there are others "around Trump, now, 24/7" including campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, campaign CEO Steve Bannon, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who "are encouraging of Trump's approach, the hardline approach, mentioning the accusations of sexual assault, and sexual misconduct, and they're all simpatico on this front."