“The families of American hostages being held by Hamas have pressed the White House to seriously consider cutting a unilateral deal with the terrorist organization to secure their loved ones’ release, and the option is currently under discussion within the Biden administration,” NBC News reports.
Trump Questions Fairness of Next Week’s Debate
“Hours after the Trump and Harris campaigns agreed to rules for their first presidential debate, former President Donald Trump sought to instill doubt that the debate would be fair, downplayed his need to prepare and suggested he was more worried about the network hosting the debate than his opponent,” the New York Times reports.
Microphones Will Be Muted at Debate
“The great debate microphone muting drama of 2024 has come to a quiet end,” the New York Times reports.
“Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has begrudgingly agreed to have her and former President Donald Trump’s microphones muted when they are not speaking, a position top Harris officials tried to change last week to give themselves an advantage when the candidates meet onstage next Tuesday.”
Bloomberg: “Trump said he plans to allow his opponent, Kamala Harris, to speak without interruption during their presidential debate next week, a shift for the reality-television-star-turned-politician who built a career on combative exchanges.”
Liz Cheney Endorses Kamala Harris
Former Rep. Liz Cheney, the once high-ranking Republican from Wyoming who torpedoed her political career by breaking forcefully with former President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday she would be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, the New York Times reports.
Said Cheney: “I don’t believe we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states. As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”
The Race Is Back to What We Expected
Nate Cohn: “Just take a look at our polling averages, which have been updated since Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s departure from the race (a return to normal in its own right). There’s no sign of the political chaos of the last few months. Instead, the results look typical: Nationwide, Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump by three percentage points, 49 percent to 46 percent. Across the battleground states, the race is a dead heat. In every state and nationwide, the polling average is within 1.5 points of the result of the 2020 presidential election.”
“In short, the polls finally show the close election that analysts expected a year ago, before President Biden’s candidacy went off the rails.”
Election May Come Down to Georgia and Pennsylvania
CNN: “Both Georgia and Pennsylvania remain thoroughly up for grabs, according to the polls, with tight margins overall and double-digit shares of likely voters — 12% in Georgia and 16% in Pennsylvania — saying they haven’t yet decided on a candidate, or that they might change their minds.”
What Trump’s Allies Think of Trump
Conservative lawyer George Conway’s PAC released a blistering new attack ad that reminds voters of the contempt with which even Donald Trump’s closest allies have held the former president.
Infighting Plagues Trump’s Bid
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in chaos as infighting among “grifters,” “hucksters” and “profiteers” on his team threatens his presidential bid, the Daily Mail reports.
Brace Yourself for an Ugly, Ugly Campaign
Stephen Collinson: “Trump’s invective amounts to some of the most hardline political rhetoric in years, even by his own standards, and means the next two months are likely to be brutal.”
“The question is whether this barrage of negative attacks is merely successful in stoking feelings of existential anger Trump uses to drive his base the polls, or whether it begins to tarnish Harris at the margins in battleground states.”
Charlie Sykes: “The history of American politics is, of course full of negative —even vicious — attacks. But, once again, it’s a mistake to see what’s happening as normal.”
“Think of it this way: The 1988 Bush campaign’s ‘Willie Horton’ ad was the subject of controversy for years for exploiting racially-charged imagery.”
“But this year: Trump’s campaign is firing off Willie Horton-style attacks every single day on television, social media, and in hundreds of thousands of mailers. And the media basically shrugs it off as Trump being Trump.”
Trump Spent $32 Million More Than He Raised in August
“Donald Trump dug into his war chest in a bid to stem the momentum of Democratic rival Kamala Harris, drawing from his cash reserves as the presidential race shifts into its most frenzied — and expensive — stage yet,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Republican presidential nominee ended August with $295 million in the bank, about $32 million less than he had at the start of that month. Trump raised $130 million last month — a total that falls short of the $138.7 million he raised in July for his campaign, the Republican National Committee and state parties.”
“While he has been running a lean operation, the drop in cash on hand portends a troubling development for a campaign that has been forced to pivot to a new general election rival after Harris replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket.”
Barron Trump Is Going to NYU
“Barron Trump, Donald Trump’s son, is attending New York University this fall,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The 18-year-old is departing from the Trump family tradition of going to the University of Pennsylvania. The former president and three other Trump children—Ivanka, Tiffany and Donald Trump Jr.—went to the Ivy League school. Eric Trump, the only other outlier, attended Georgetown University.”
Bonus Exchange of the Day
James Carville and Mary Matalin were interviewed by Peter Hamby of Puck:
HAMBY: Like every Democrat watching the Biden debate in Atlanta, you knew it was over in the first few minutes. What was the first thing you did that night? Who did you call?
CARVILLE: Three minutes into the debate, I said, I’m taking two gummies and listening to country music. Fuck it. And my phone was just lighting up with texts. I didn’t even have to look.
MATALIN: Anybody who’s ever done this knew in five minutes that there was no coming back. Nothing. That’s the difference between guts and numbers. Guts told you what you needed to know. And that was a five-minute gut check.
Man Serving 20-Year Prison Sentence Makes Alaska Ballot
“A man serving time on a 20-year prison sentence for threatening officials in New Jersey has made it onto Alaska’s general election ballot for the state’s lone U.S. House seat this November,” the AP reports.
“Eric Hafner was convicted in 2022 of threatening to kill judges, police officers and others and sentenced to serve 20 years in federal prison. He originally came in sixth in Alaska’s ranked choice primary, which allows only the top four vote-getters to advance to the general election.”
“But Matthew Salisbury (R) withdrew from the race just ahead of Monday’s deadline, and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) withdrew last month. That means Hafner will appear on the November general election ballot along with Alaskan Independence Party chairman John Wayne Howe and frontrunners Rep. Mary Peltola (D) and Nick Begich (R).”
Nikki Haley Joins Public Relations Firm
Axios: “It’s a surprising move for a once-rumored vice presidential contender and someone who Trump has said will be on his team ‘in some form’ should he win the election.”
“Even though Haley endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt on him at a rally in July, this move signals Haley is pursuing other options.”
Democrats Fail to Field Candidates for Many Offices
New York Times: “Though defending democracy was a dominant theme of the Democratic National Convention last month, in the 2022 midterms, Democrats failed to field a single candidate for fully half of all partisan offices — well over three times the rate of Republican no-shows.”
Harris Maintains National Lead
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally in a multi-candidate field, 47% to 45%.
Netanyahu Derailed Hostage Deal in July
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July effectively spiked a draft hostage and ceasefire deal by introducing a raft of new, 11th-hour demands, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth citing a document it obtained,” CNN reports.
“The report lends credence to charges often leveled at the prime minister – most notably by hostage families – of purposefully prolonging the war and torpedoing deals for his political benefit. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have pledged to bring down the government should he end the war.”
U.S. Seizes Russian Websites
“The Biden administration on Wednesday condemned Russian efforts to influence the 2024 U.S. election as the Justice Department announced it had seized 32 different web domains the country has used for its covert campaigns,” The Hill reports.
