“Next month’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump won’t have an audience, live microphones when candidates aren’t speaking, or written notes, according to rules that ABC News, the host network, shared this week with both campaigns,” the AP reports.
“The Harris campaign on Thursday insisted it was still discussing the muting of mics with ABC.”
Pope Francis on Wednesday strongly decried the treatment of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to enter Europe, saying it was a “grave sin” not to offer aid to migrant vessels, Reuters reports.
Said Francis: “There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants. And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin.”
An aide to Donald Trump “abruptly pushed aside” an Arlington National Cemetery employee on Monday when the former president visited the site with family members of U.S. service members killed in the 2021 Kabul airport attack during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, NBC News reports.
The Trump aide pushed the cemetery employee out of the way to get past to take photos and video at Section 60, where service members killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried.
Politico: Army defends employee involved in Trump campaign incident at Arlington.
“Three years after the Justice Department’s internal watchdog slammed the FBI for its failures in the case of convicted sex predator and former U.S. gymnastic team doctor Larry Nassar, a new audit released Thursday finds that the bureau is still failing to protect children who have been sexually abused,” NBC News reports.
Just published: How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It) by Lindsey Cormack.
How to discuss political issues and the inner workings of the U.S. government with children.
Rick Hasen: “There is a decent chance we will not know whether Trump or Harris has won by Nov. 6, the day after the election. There may also be bumps in the road during the weeks before Congress counts the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6. Trump’s campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita signaled in July that a postelection legal and political battle lies ahead: ‘It’s not over until he puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath…. It’s not over on Election Day. It’s over on Inauguration Day, ‘cause I wouldn’t put anything past anybody.'”
“No doubt we’re on track for another tense postelection season. The race is now looking very close, which leaves more room for uncertainty on Election Day and beyond. States such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have failed to pass laws that would let them process mail-in ballots more quickly before Election Day, which means that Trump could again appear to be ahead on election night only to see his lead disappear as more votes are counted. He may again declare victory prematurely.”
“But there is also some good news: The country is now in far better shape to avoid the kind of protracted mess we saw in 2020. The fact that we are no longer facing the emergency demands of a pandemic is a big help, but no less important are the electoral guardrails that have been put in place since then.”
Donald Trump is expected to reject assistance from the General Services Administration for a presidential transition if he wins, Politico reports.
“For one, accepting GSA help means adhering to $5,000-per-donor contribution limits in funding overall costs that can exceed $10 million, and Trump allies would prefer to ease the fundraising burden by having fewer people cutting bigger checks.”
“For another, Trump’s team simply does not trust the GSA after its 2016 experience, with some blaming federal workers for leaks of potential administration hires and widespread dismay with the agency’s decision to hand over transition records to special counsel Robert Mueller.”
A new Saint Louis University/YouGov poll in Missouri found that 52% of voters supported the proposed constitutional amendment to overturn the state’s abortion ban while 34% disagreed. The remaining 14% said they were not sure.
However, the results also showed every Republican candidate, from Sen. Josh Hawley to Attorney General Andrew Bailey, with double-digit leads over their Democratic opponents ahead of the November election.
“The U.S. economy grew last quarter at a healthy 3% annual pace, fueled by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said Thursday in an upgrade of its initial assessment,” the AP reports.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) told Newsmax that Vice President Kamala Harris doing a joint interview with Gov. Tim Walz — and being “propped up” by a man — is insulting to hard working women.
But then she suggested Walz was only there in case Harris “started giggling” and “looking crazy.”
“Donald Trump’s campaign insists that they’re pursuing multiple strategies against Kamala Harris, but the true picture that is emerging is that the Trump senior advisers’ grand plan, for now, is to pray that the former US president has a good night at the presidential debate next month,” The Guardian reports.
“The game plan, in other words, has become one of hoping that Trump wins the debate so they can regain momentum – a stunning approach that shows the serious predicament for Trump and his campaign as he struggles to find ways to land effective attacks against the vice-president just months before the election.”
“What has happened internally in the Trump campaign in recent weeks is the realization that nothing they do in the period up to the debate is likely to cut through in a significant way that blunts Harris’s gains that have her level in key swing state polls, according to people close to the matter.”
Philip Bump: “Both Harris and Trump supporters have about the same, pessimistic assessment of America’s ability to solve its intractable problems. Both on the left and right, most supporters of the major-party candidates think that America’s problems are unfixable.”
A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally among likely voters, 48% to 43%.
“The findings reflect an eight-point turnaround in the presidential race from late June, when Trump had led President Joe Biden in the survey by nearly four points.”
“The vice president’s small lead was fueled by big shifts among some key demographic groups traditionally crucial for Democrats, including Hispanic and Black voters and young people. Among those with annual incomes of less than $20,000, in the biggest change, a three-point Trump edge over Biden in June has become a 23-point Harris advantage over Trump in August.”
“In an election where nothing can be taken for granted, Democrats are hoping their vice presidential candidate can help lock up an electoral vote that’s up for grabs in Nebraska come November,” NOTUS reports.
“They’re betting that Tim Walz, who was raised there, can help counteract some of the “stereotypes” that might be associated with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is from California and might be perceived as ‘overly liberal’ or ‘out of touch’ by Nebraska voters.”
A new Fabrizio Ward (R) survey finds a very tight race in the three “Blue Wall” states with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris tied at 47% to 47%.
Here are the individual state breakdowns:
It’s worth noting that Tony Fabrizio is the Trump campaign’s lead pollster.
Gallup: “Americans’ enthusiasm about voting in this year’s election has surged in recent months, with 69% of U.S. adults now saying they are ‘more enthusiastic than usual’ about voting. This is up from 54% in March.”
“Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are largely driving the surge in enthusiasm nationally. In March, 55% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said they were more enthusiastic than usual about voting; now, 78% are. Republicans and Republican leaners, who held a slight edge in enthusiasm in March, now trail Democrats by a significant margin, with their current 64% enthusiasm score up slightly from 59% in the spring.”
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.
