A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll of 18-to-29-year-olds nationwide finds Kamala Harris with a commanding lead over Donald Trump, 64% to 32%.
Other findings:
A new Morning Consult poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally among likely voters, 50% to 45%.
A new Elon University poll in North Carolina finds Kamala Harris just ahead of Donald Trump among registered voters, 46% to 45%.
In the race for governor, Josh Stein (D) leads Mark Robinson (R), 49% to 35%.
A new USA Today/Suffolk poll in Michigan finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by three points among likely voters in a multi-candidate race, 48% to 45%.
Said pollster David Paleologos: “If the Kamala Harris margin shrinks to a 1-point lead, the entire state hinges on the fringes of the Michigan ballot. The behavior of third-party voters ‒ people who are mocked for wasting their votes ‒ could make the difference if they rotate to either Harris or Trump.”
In the U.S. Senate race, Elissa Slotkin (D) leads Mike Rogers (R), 45% to 43%.
A Noble Predictive Insights poll in Nevada shows Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump among likely voters, 48% to 47%.
“Donald Trump’s ever-growing litany of tax proposals includes something for almost every American family: tipped workers, hourly employees, senior citizens — and now even the higher-income residents of Democratic-led states whose tax breaks he took away while president,” Bloomberg reports.
“And he’s not done yet: Trump will make a speech on Tuesday in Georgia to outline his vision to use tax breaks and other incentives to bolster US manufacturing.”
“The former president has thrown out such a wide range of tax proposals that even his own advisers are unsure about which ones he intends to enact if elected. Some of the pronouncements have come as surprises and caused angst among allies.”
Washington Post: “In just over 90 minutes here Monday night, the Republican presidential nominee swerved repeatedly in remarks he used to try to shore up his political weaknesses, lash out his detractors and delve into digressions.”
“Trump’s rally here in a key battleground state offered a glimpse of the often unfocused pitch he is making to voters with about six weeks left until Election Day — one that his most loyal fans revel in but is a less proven winner with swing voters.”
The Guardian: “Big-name signatories included Chuck Hagel, a former senator and defense secretary; Gen Michael Hayden, a former CIA and NSA chief; and John Negroponte, once ambassador to the UN. Robert Zoellick, a longtime aide to both presidents Bush and a deputy to James Baker, secretary of state to the elder Bush, was on the list too.”
“Missing from the list, however, were Baker, the younger Bush and his own secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. As perhaps the three most senior Republicans who have not come out against Trump in this election cycle, Bush, Rice and Baker’s lack of comment excites growing comment itself.”
“Vice President Harris’ campaign is declining to say whether she still supports decriminalizing sex work — a position she took while running for president in 2019,” Axios reports.
McKay Coppins: “Romney had made this prediction before, telling anyone who would listen in the run-up to the 2020 election that he thought Trump was going to get a second term. He’d even bet one of his sons his prized 1985 BMW that Biden would lose. But back then, he’d told me, it was a kind of psychological game he played with himself—predicting the outcome he most dreaded as a form of inoculation.”
“This time felt different. Trump had repeatedly pledged to use the Justice Department and the FBI to go after his political enemies if reelected. ‘I am your retribution,’ he enjoyed telling his crowds. Romney knew that he was likely to appear on any enemies list kept by the former president, and he’d privately mused to friends that it might be time for him and his wife, Ann, to consider moving abroad…”
“But when I asked Romney, in the spring, what a Trump reelection would mean for him and his family, he was careful at first.”
Said Romney: “I don’t know the answer to that… the good news is I haven’t had an affair with anybody; I don’t have any classified documents; I can’t imagine something I’ve done that would justify an investigation, let alone an indictment.”
Deseret News: If Trump wins, Mitt Romney fears retribution.
“Starting in June, the New York Post began publishing stories on the presidential, Senate and congressional races in Wisconsin as part of an initiative on battleground states,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“But the Post — a right-leaning newspaper owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch — picked a reporter for the project with strong ties to Republicans and conservatives in Wisconsin.”
“In fact, Amy Sikma was paid twice last year by the state Republican Party for consulting work.”
“The Trump campaign is relying on a so far untested get-out-the-vote strategy ahead of November’s election that some Republicans view as a high-risk, high-reward gambit,” The Hill reports.
“The Trump campaign has worked alongside outside groups, including one backed by Elon Musk, to bolster its ground game and register and turn out low-propensity voters who may not be part of the former president’s fervent base. It marks a shift from past cycles, when get-out-the-vote efforts would be led by the Republican National Committee.”
“More than 400 economists and former high-ranking US policymakers are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and her vision for the American economy,” CNN reports.
“The mass endorsement lands as Harris tries to erode former President Donald Trump’s lead on the economy, a critical issue that many Americans say could decide their vote this election.”
Email communications from individuals associated with the Trump campaign have been hacked by malign actors within the last ten days, Popular Information reports.
Semafor: Trump hack continued into last week.
A majority of Hispanic Americans say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, an AP-NORC poll found.
Washington Post: “With the election just six weeks away and control of the House a toss-up, a speaker’s fight is in no Republican’s interest.”
“The real test comes with the election, whose outcome will be a main driver of Johnson’s fate. If Republicans lose the House, they won’t vote to elect a speaker — and Republicans would most likely not support Johnson as minority leader.”
“If Republicans win control of the House with a comfortable margin, Johnson has a good chance of being elected speaker again. But he’ll also have to navigate another funding battle with a Dec. 20 deadline — just two weeks before the vote for speaker on Jan. 3 — and how he handles it will play a major role in whether he prevails.”
Semafor: “Vance, alongside a small group of his longtime advisors, his wife, and Trump advisor Jason Miller, has been holding various in-person and Zoom meetings for over a month in an effort to prepare for the Oct. 1 debate against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.”
“Some of these meetings have been ‘murder board’ sessions, designed to shore up anticipated weak spots and prepare for counterattacks. The goal is to “acquaint” Vance with Walz’s debate style, provide him with relevant research on policy positions, and work at some of the tougher potential questions.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.