Geraldo Rivera said that he has uncovered more “embarrassing” statements that Trump made during interviews with the radio show host, Politico reports.
Pence Is Sticking with Trump — For Now
Gov. Mike Pence “is sticking with Donald Trump in public, but in private he is holding his options open, according to sources close to him,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
Pence is weighing the “long-term best interest of the Republican Party,” the source said. “Everything is on the table, but the assumption is that they will plan to stay in the saddle with Trump if he performs halfway well tonight.”
Clinton Expands National Lead
A new Economist/YouGov poll — conducted mostly after the release of a 2005 video recording of Trump making vulgar statements about women — finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by six points nationally, 44% to 38%, with Gary Johnson at 5%.
Clinton led by three points in the previous poll, 43% to 40%.
Key finding: “What may be more damaging to Trump than the latest shift in preference is that more than half of voters this week are saying is that they would never vote for him.”
Trump Has Tarnished a Generation of GOP Stars
Washington Post: “Trump’s turbulent campaign, on display here at Sunday night’s second presidential debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, has damaged far more than his own White House prospects. It threatens to diminish an entire generation of Republican leaders who stood by him and excused his behavior after attacks against women, the disabled, Latino immigrants, Muslim Americans, Syrian refugees, prisoners of war, Gold Star parents and others.”
Said GOP strategist Steve Schmidt: “There is nobody who holds any position of responsibility who in private conversations views Donald Trump as equipped mentally, morally and intellectually to be the president of the United States. But scores of Republican leaders have failed a fundamental test of moral courage and political leadership in not speaking truth to the American people about what is so obvious.”
Clinton Ally Offers to Pay for More Trump Video
David Brock, the founder of a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, told BuzzFeed that he would cover the legal fees of any staffers who leaked outtakes from “The Apprentice.”
Said Brock: “If a $5 million ‘leak fee’ is what stands between truth and total Trump implosion, sign me up.”
The Republican Party Is Now In Civil War
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‘Donald Trump Must Not Be President’
The Birmingham News endorses Hillary Clinton for president:
The 2016 election is not a choice between two candidates equally fit to serve, or a choice between the ideology of two parties. Trump is a unique threat and in an election where supporting third party candidates splits a national vote, we see but one option. Clinton may be the second least popular major party candidate in 50 years but she is also one of the most qualified candidates in history. And ultimately, if it isn’t her, it’s him. And that would be a disaster for America and the world.
Trump Enters Debate In Terrible Position
Politico: “Never in the modern era has any candidate entered a consequential debate in such a degraded position: Trump isn’t merely facing an uphill climb (as John McCain did in 2008) or the widespread perception he’s not up to the job (Gerald Ford in 1976) or even that he was too unlikeable to get elected (Richard Nixon in 1960). No, he’s having to grapple with all of these problems at once while cloaked in disgrace and coping with an unprecedented defection of more than two dozen former Republican supporters who feel that endorsing him has become a moral transgression.”
A Nightmare Situation for Republicans
First Read: “You have a good chunk of the party criticizing Trump and demanding him to drop out of the race, and you have the other part (especially Trump’s supporters) fighting back. Thirty days before a national election, that hurts voter and volunteer morale, it dampens turnout, and it all makes it harder to win races up and down the ballot. When it becomes every politician for himself or herself — we saw this play out with Republicans in 2006, and with Democrats in 2014 — it usually doesn’t turn out well for that party.”
For members: The House Is Now In Play
A Day Off with Kellyanne Conway
Kate McKinnon is really great.
Understanding Trump’s Appeal
This anecdote from the Des Moines Register is interesting:
Moore, a welder and mechanic who was changing the oil in a car when contacted by The Des Moines Register, recalled a speech from earlier this year in which Trump “came out and dropped the F bomb three times.”
“I thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw,” he said. “It just sounded so awesome to hear somebody of his status say those words and just speak what he felt was the truth.”
First Questions Tonight Will Be About Trump Tape
“The first set of questions at Sunday night’s presidential debate will be about Donald Trump’s vulgar comments on a newly published 2005 videotape, and the fallout from it,” CNN reports.
“And Hillary Clinton will get the first question.”
Pence Tells Donors He’s Sticking with Trump
Gov. Mike Pence told Republican donors that he is “fully committed” to Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Speculation that Mr. Pence might leave the ticket, following in the footsteps of other Republicans who abandoned Mr. Trump on Saturday after the release of a videotape of the nominee making lewd comments of women, is ‘categorically false,’ one aide said… None of the donors at the Saturday fundraiser in Providence, R.I., canceled after the release of the video, or asked questions about it.”
Most Trump Voters Unfazed by Tape Revelations
YouGov surveys in Pennsylvania and Ohio find that the vast majority of those who said they would vote for Donald Trump earlier in the week are unmoved about by lewd tapes of Trump made public on Friday afternoon.
“In both states, only 8% of Trump’s supporters who have heard about the tape say the revelations have made them think worse of the candidate, while 2% say they now think better of Trump. The remaining Trump voters (91% in Ohio and 90% in Pennsylvania) say the tapes have had no impact on their view of Trump.”
Trump Has Finally Come Undone
Ezra Klein: “What happened Saturday in American politics was profound, and for Donald Trump, it marks the likely death of his presidential campaign. The permission structure that was slowly, reluctantly built around Trump by the media, by the Republican Party, by the conservative movement, and by Trump himself, is crumbling, and there is no time to rebuild it before the election.”
“Two weeks ago, supporting Trump was what you did if you were a Republican. Today, abandoning Trump is what you do if you’re a decent person. Two weeks ago, Trump’s floor was probably the mid-40s. Now it is plausibly much lower — I would no longer be surprised to see Trump’s vote share in the 30s.”
Columbus Dispatch Endorses Clinton
The Columbus Dispatch last endorsed a Democrat for president in 1916:
He has proved himself a liar of epic proportion. He is a bigot, a braggart and an admirer of foreign thugs such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He is reckless and thin-skinned. He has demeaned Mexicans, demonized Muslims, insulted women and mocked the disabled.
His economic policies, to the extent that they can be analyzed, would at least double the national debt. His call for punishing tariffs on foreign goods would trigger retaliation and ignite a trade war with disastrous results for employment and the standard of living in the United States.
The stakes are too high to sit out this election and risk letting Trump misuse the awesome power of the presidency. The Dispatch urges voters to elect Hillary Clinton.
Clinton Loves Opposition Research
BuzzFeed: “As described by current and former staffers, Clinton is a candidate who insists on being ‘humongously prepared,’ who consumes research with ‘obsessive’ rigor — and who, perhaps more than most elected officials, delights in the art form known by political professionals as ‘oppo.'”
“The result is the ‘book,’ a catalog of every possible hit, both savory and not, on a political foe. It can number thousands of pages, and on most campaigns, the candidate doesn’t bother with more than the toplines. Clinton, meanwhile, has digested something closer to the book itself on nearly every one of her opponents, from O’Malley to Bernie Sanders to Trump.”
Said one oppo research who worked opposite Clinton: “Most consultants don’t read past the executive summary. It’s clear she reads the footnotes.”
State Poll Roundup: Sunday
Here are the latest state polls from the presidential race:
Florida: Clinton 45%, Trump 42%, Johnson 5% (NBC/Marist)
Pennsylvania: Clinton 49%, Trump 37%, Johnson 6% (NBC/Marist)
Ohio: Clinton 43%, Trump 40%, Johnson 8% (TargetSmart)
Iowa: Trump 43%, Clinton 39%, Johnson 6% (Des Moines Register)
Ohio: Clinton 46%, Trump 42% (CBS/YouGov)
Pennsylvania: Clinton 48%, Trump 40% (CBS/YouGov)
Wisconsin: Clinton 43%, Trump 39% (CBS/YouGov)
Alaska: Trump 36%, Clinton 31%, Johnson 18% (Alaska Survey Research)
