“Despite being worth an estimated $4 billion, Donald Trump launched a GoFundMe page, asking others to donate to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene,” The Independent reports.
Republicans Will Secretly Cheer Walz During Debate
Former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) told the Daily Beast that not only will he be rooting for his former colleague Tim Walz (D) to defeat Sen. J.D. Vance (R) in Tuesday night’s debate, but former colleagues on the other side of the aisle will be, too.
Said Murphy: “There’s a silent majority out there that wants to send a message to Donald Trump that he was fired once for a reason.”
How Fentanyl Traffickers Exploit U.S. Trade Law
Reuters: “In short, a regulatory tweak fueling America’s online shopping habit is also enabling the country’s crippling addiction to synthetic opioids. So is an immutable aspect of international trade: Transporting goods is largely an honor system that’s easy for bad actors to exploit.”
“Senders are supposed to tell the truth about what’s inside the boxes they export. But shipping documents are easy to falsify, and contraband fairly simple to camouflage. Authorities can’t inspect every box without bringing global commerce to a halt.”
Trump Trying to Heavily Redact Special Counsel Report
“Donald Trump’s lawyers are scrambling to get ahead of what could be this election’s October surprise: the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report detailing evidence in the election fraud case against the former president,” NOTUS reports.
“In a court filing on Tuesday, Trump’s legal team accused the Department of Justice of putting together a ‘politically motivated manifesto’ specifically timed to influence voters ‘in the final weeks of the 2024 Presidential election while early voting has already begun throughout the United States.'”
“They asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to highly redact the report or stop it from appearing in the court’s public docket altogether.”
Louisiana Governor Seeks to Overhaul State Tax System
“Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry says that he plans to call the Legislature into a special session in November, marking the third such gathering this year, with the hopes of overhauling the state’s current tax system that the Republican said is failing residents,” the AP reports.
“Landry detailed his proposed tax plan during a news conference on Tuesday, with a focus on reducing the income tax and charging sales tax for more items and services.”
Georgia Judge Signals Need to Clarify Certification Rule
“A Georgia judge signaled Tuesday that he sees a need to bring clarity to the meaning of a ‘vague’ new election certification rule approved by Donald Trump allies that critics say will inject chaos into the battleground state after Election Day,” CNN reports.
Do You Remember the Vice Presidential Debates?
New York Times: “Here’s a test for anyone planning to watch the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday between JD Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, and Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota: Name a few memorable moments from vice-presidential debates over the past 40 years.”
“You are forgiven if only one comes to mind: the withering takedown by Lloyd Bentsen, the Democratic senator from Texas, of Dan Quayle, the Republican senator from Indiana, in 1988.”
“It stands out because there have been so few. Vice-presidential debates just don’t have a lot of action or — if we may be honest — real significance to the outcome of the race. Remember when Al Gore faced off against Jack Kemp in 1996, or when Dick Cheney debated John Edwards in 2004? We don’t either.”
Los Angeles Times: A vice presidential debate that matters? Vance, Walz will try to win over those few undecided voters.
Deadlocked in Pennsylvania
A new Emerson College poll in Pennsylvania finds Kamala Harris and Donald Trump tied at 48% to 48% among likely voters.
In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Bob Casey (D) is just ahead of challenger David McCormick (R), 47% to 45%.
Trump Says ‘No One Is In Charge’
Donald Trump attacked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Truth Social as Israel came under attack from Iran.
Said Trump: “The World is on fire and spiraling out of control. We have no leadership, no one running the Country. We have a non-existent President in Joe Biden, and a completely absent Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is too busy fundraising in San Francisco, a City which she and Gavin Newscum totally destroyed, and staging fake photo ops. No one is in charge and it’s not even clear who is more confused: Biden or Kamala.”
Harris to Tour Hurricane Damage
“Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Augusta, Georgia on Wednesday to tour damage caused by flooding from Hurricane Helene, with a future trip also in the works for North Carolina,” USA Today reports.
“Harris will survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene and receive an on-the-ground briefing about recovery efforts in the state. Harris will also provide updates on federal actions in support of the emergency response in Georgia and other states in the Southeast.”
Associated Press: Key swing state faces ‘daunting’ level of uncertainty after storm ravages multiple counties.
The Unexpected Gender Dynamic Shaping the Election
Ron Brownstein: “Donald Trump’s recent declaration to female voters that ‘I will be your protector’ offered the latest demonstration of the former president’s determination to consolidate the voters most committed to traditional gender roles and family structures – a culturally conservative group that includes not only many men but also a large number of women.”
“In the process, though, political strategists in both parties believe the GOP nominee risks further alienating the broad array of voters who are comfortable with the social changes that have challenged those traditional patterns of family life, especially women. Younger, college-educated and single women are likely to be particularly resistant to the idea that they need protecting by any man – much less one in Trump, who has been found liable for sexual abuse in a New York civil case and who faces specific allegations of sexual misconduct from dozens of other women.”
“For most women voters, the idea that they need protection by a man would be ‘clumsy and dated and just irrelevant…from anybody,’ said Republican pollster Christine Matthews. ‘But from him in particular, it’s cringiest.'”
Walz’s Claims Over Tiananmen Square Undercut
“Newly unearthed reports contradict previous claims made by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about his travel to China, including a claim that the Democratic vice presidential nominee was in Hong Kong for a teaching position in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that ended in hundreds of protesters killed by the Chinese government,” CNN reports.
Trump Ahead in Arizona and North Carolina
New polls from Emerson College:
- Arizona: Trump 50%, Harris 47%
- North Carolina: Trump 49%, Harris 48%
Early Voting May Get Late Start in Western North Carolina
“As of Tuesday, local elections offices in 13 of the 25-county federal-disaster declaration area of western North Carolina remained closed,” WUNC reports.
Democrats Back Fringe Candidate in Wisconsin
Associated Press: “Leager told the AP he was recruited last year to run by operatives who said they were with the Patriots Run Project. That group promoted itself as a pro-Trump grassroots movement that attacked both parties and urged conservatives to run for office as independents.”
“The AP found the group was supported by Democratic firms and donors who worked to install several pro-Trump independent candidates in key House races.”
Trump Leads in Georgia and North Carolina
New polls from Quinnipiac:
- North Carolina: Trump 49%, Harris 48%
- Georgia: Trump 50%, Harris 45%
Raúl Grijalva Won’t Run Again
“After nearly a quarter of a century representing the Tucson area in Congress, long-serving Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) has announced that this year’s election will be his last,” the Arizona Republic reports.
Said Grijalva: “I think 22 years is pretty good. It’s a retirement age.”
What Democrats Don’t Understand About J.D. Vance
Elaine Godfrey: “He can squeeze Trumpism through his own post-liberal-populist tube and produce something that looks like a coherent ideology.”
“Whereas Democrats are fond of mocking Vance for being socially awkward, Trump’s supporters see him as their very own Pete Buttigieg: a man with a theory of the case who is eager to defend it both on television and in real life. He is the sharp TV-sound-bite counterweight to Trump’s rambling rally speech.”
