Tyler Austin Harper: “The 45th president has been subjected to a sustained fact-checking campaign for the better part of a decade. I do not think it’s an exaggeration to say that no politician in American history has been fact-checked more thoroughly than Donald Trump.”

“And yet, all those years of myth-busting have had next to zero impact on his electoral viability. He managed to attract new voters in the last election. And even as he spouts racist nonsense about immigrants—thoroughly myth-busted by journalists—he is increasing his share of non-college-educated voters of color in this election.”

“My point isn’t that Democrats should give up on fact-checking, but that they need to remember that debunking is not a substitute for politics.”

“Senate Republicans’ campaign arm is making a last-minute shift in its TV advertising strategy in the face of a growing spending disparity with Democrats in key races,” Politico reports.

“The National Republican Senatorial Committee is canceling all its remaining independent expenditure buys and redirecting that money toward ‘hybrid’ ads… Those ads are purchased in conjunction with the candidate’s campaign and at the lower TV ad rate offered to candidates — allowing the NRSC’s money to be spent more efficiently.”

“Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) went into the vice-presidential debate with a plan to surprise Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz by being shockingly… super-duper nice,” Axios reports.

“It worked. The result was a refreshingly substantive, even cheery debate — a flashback to a less polarized America, and a preview of what’s possible if the nation’s current rage subsides. But it was a premeditated political maneuver to rattle Walz.”

“Walz was girded for war against Vance, who has spent the past 10 weeks defending past controversial remarks.”

“Instead, Vance greeted Walz with a big smile, and the two shook hands warmly right off the bat. It set a very different tone than the icy encounter between the top-of-the-ticket nominees, Vice President Harris and former President Trump, when they debated last month.”

Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told MSNBC she was voting for Kamala Harris for president.

“Tim Walz was supposed to cut through the political nonsense to speak plainly to Americans about out-of-touch Republicans. But instead, some Democrats were alarmed by his performance at Tuesday’s debate and said he failed to capitalize on his opponents’ weaknesses,” Politico reports.

“Despite days of debate prep and weeks of delivering savaging critiques of former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, they say Walz at times struggled to concisely argue why Vice President Kamala Harris would be a better president.“

Elaine Godfrey: You’re killing me, Walz.

A new Emerson College national survey finds 50% of voters support Kamala Harris, while 48% support Donald Trump for president in 2024.

“October surprises are coming at a dizzying pace. But the question is whether grave crises at home and abroad can break a dead heat between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in an election that’s already been marked by huge turmoil,” CNN reports.

“The White House is grappling with three challenges that could threaten the vice president’s hopes and offer an opening to the Republican nominee’s narrative of Biden-era negligence. A month before Election Day, the US faces the grave possibility of being dragged into a Middle East conflagration; a port workers’ strike could harm inflation-weary consumers; and political pressure is rising in the fallout of Hurricane Helene.”

“Trump, meanwhile, was hit on Wednesday by the unsealing of a 165-page document in which special counsel Jack Smith gives the fullest picture of his case in the federal 2020 election interference case.”

“Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign alongside Liz Cheney, the most prominent Republican to cross party lines and endorse her, on Thursday in Wisconsin at a symbolic location: the birthplace of the Republican Party,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Harris and Ms. Cheney plan to appear together in a joint appeal to the sort of Republican voters who may retain conservative positions but are repelled by former President Donald Trump and his politics. Their event will take place in Ripon, Wis., the site of a series of meetings that helped lead to the foundation of the G.O.P. in 1854.”

Axios: “Harris, speaking from the schoolhouse that’s considered the birthplace of the GOP, is expected to laud Cheney as a patriot for putting her country over her party, per the campaign official.”

CNN: Liz Cheney to campaign with Harris in battleground state stop.

New York Times: “Now, just over a month from an election that could make Mr. Trump, 78, the oldest person ever to serve as president (82 years, 7 months and 6 days when his term would end in January 2029), he is refusing to release even the most basic information about his health.”

“If he wins, Mr. Trump could enter the Oval Office with an array of potentially worrisome issues, medical experts say: cardiac risk factors, possible aftereffects from the July assassination attempt and the cognitive decline that naturally comes with age, among others.”