“When you fear God, you have nothing else to fear. I don’t answer to the Republican Party. I answer to the people of this district.”

— Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), quoted by Punchbowl News, dismissing polls showing him losing his re-election bid.

Gallup: “Recent ratings of the 2024 presidential candidates’ personal qualities show Vice President Kamala Harris with a strong advantage over former President Donald Trump in U.S. voter perceptions of being likable, while holding smaller leads for having strong moral character and being honest and trustworthy.”

“Trump outpaces Harris in perceptions of being a strong and decisive leader and being able to get things done.”

“The coordinated campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris made history this week when it became the first to raise $1 billion in less than 80 days since she entered the race,“ the Washington Post reports.

“But her campaign leadership is worried that they still might not have enough to win — and that news of the windfall could hurt the campaign by dampening fundraising in the final weeks.”

“People familiar with the campaign strategy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans, said Wednesday that the campaign continues to face significant headwinds that will require more money over the coming weeks. They said each of the seven targeted swing states remains within the margin of error, requiring costly spending plans.”

Politico: “His refusal to debate, even on the friendly territory of Fox News, suggests he is unwilling to risk the unpredictability of a head-to-head contest with the vice president in the final weeks of the campaign.”

“Harris has said she’s open to another matchup.”

Jonathan Martin: “This is an extraordinarily close race and Harris must do more to signal that she’ll govern from the political center…”

“Harris should say she’ll work with Republicans on behalf of all Americans and stand up to the extremes in both parties because, America, she knows the dirty little secret is many GOP lawmakers she served with are as exhausted with extremism and extremists like Donald Trump as she is.”

New Emerson College polls of key swing states:

• Arizona: Trump 49%, Harris 47%
• Georgia: Trump 49%, Harris 48%
• North Carolina: Trump 49%, Harris 48%
• Pennsylvania: Trump 49%, Harris 48%
• Michigan: Harris 49%, Trump 49%
• Wisconsin: Harris 49%, Trump 49%
• Nevada: Harris 48%, Trump 47%

“Kamala Harris called into The Weather Channel on Wednesday to speak about Hurricane Milton ahead of its evening landfall—an appearance the network said was also offered to Donald Trump, but he ignored it,” the Daily Beast reports.

“Vice President Kamala Harris frequently tries to distance herself from her unpopular boss with one clear sentence: ‘I am not Joe Biden,’” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“But when pressed for specifics on how she would be different as president, Harris has refrained from detailing a contrast with Biden, as she navigates the complexity of running as a change candidate—with the slogan ‘A New Way Forward’—while also serving as vice president.”

“Harris prioritized loyalty to Biden over the last 3½ years—at times over her own political capital. As a candidate to succeed him, she is wary of being critical of the president and an administration she is still a part of, Harris allies say.”

New York Times: Harris continues to bib and weave in interviews.

Washington Post: “Such pugnacity has come to define much of the tone and image of Trump’s 2024 campaign, reflecting the personalities of many of the men leading it as well as the candidate. Trump has long valued being viewed as an alpha male who never apologizes or shows weakness.”

“In many ways, that campaign culture mirrors some of its strategies. Trump and his advisers are calculating that, at a time when polls show voters dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and with turmoil abroad revealing the limitations of America’s global influence, they can win the White House by projecting a particular kind of strength — with a distinctly aggressive vibe not seen in presidential campaigns before.”

“That posture also fits with the campaign’s focus on appealing to young men, who advisers view as a key untapped voting bloc that could help tip the electoral college in Trump’s favor in a closely divided electorate.”

Politico: Inside Trump’s push to win over the “bro” vote.

“A group of Republican congressmen from Pennsylvania have filed a federal lawsuit seeking stricter scrutiny of votes cast by U.S. citizens living abroad, reflecting a new GOP strategy to challenge the eligibility of a group of voters that includes overseas military personnel,” the Washington Post reports.

“The lawmakers claim in the suit, which was filed this week, that because local election officials in Pennsylvania are not required to verify the identity or eligibility of voters who register overseas, those ballots are vulnerable to fraud. They have asked a federal judge to require officials to set aside completed ballots and not count them until voter eligibility can be determined.”

“With dreams of going big, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are pouring millions into long-shot targets,” Axios reports.

“Call them ‘squinter races.’ They aren’t sleepers, given the spending. But when one party squints, they can see a path to victory.”

“Former President Barack Obama will headline a rally on Thursday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, as Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign seeks to use one of her party’s most popular politicians to mobilize the Democratic base,” the New York Times reports.

“Unleashing Mr. Obama is a sign that Ms. Harris is moving her campaign into its highest gear with Election Day less than a month away and the presidential race exceedingly close. This week, her operation is turning its focus from fund-raising and defining her message to getting out the vote as quickly as possible.”

“For more than a decade, former President Donald Trump fueled his political rise with dark appeals to white Christian voters, warning of immigrants coming for their jobs and nefarious efforts to undermine what he describes as the country’s true heritage,” the New York Times reports.

“Now, facing a neck-and-neck race against the first Black woman to win her party’s nomination, Mr. Trump is branching out.”

“He has repeatedly accused migrants of poaching ‘Black jobs’ and ‘Hispanic jobs,’ which is inaccurate, according to labor statistics. He told Latino voters in Las Vegas that illegal immigrants were ‘totally destroying our Hispanic population.’ He promised women in Pennsylvania he would ‘be their protector’ and that they would no longer be ‘abandoned, lonely or scared’ — a vow based on the hyperbolic premise that criminals who also happen to be immigrants are lurking around every corner.”

“For all the frequent laments about how left-leaning politicians divide the country through ‘identity politics,’ it appears to be Mr. Trump in this race who is making the most explicit identity-based arguments for voters to support his policies.”

NPR: Polls suggest Republicans are making gains among Black voters — especially Black men.

“With the presidential race in its closing weeks, Donald Trump’s language has grown increasingly strident on the issue of immigration. But as he continues to demonize undocumented migrants as violent criminals, the former president is also reviving another old habit: invoking his long-held fascination with genes and genetics,” the New York Times reports.

“For decades, including long before he became a political figure, Mr. Trump has been publicly obsessed with bloodlines and his stated belief that genetics are the best predictor of a person’s success. He has repeatedly commented on what he described as his, his family’s and his supporters’ good genes, and on others’ bad genes.”

Donald Trump reiterated — in an all caps post on Truth Social — that he won’t do another presidential debate with Kamala Harris.

A new Nobel Predictive Insights poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally, 49% to 46%.