North Carolina police are investigating an apparent firebombing of a local Republican headquarters, an incident that one state GOP official called an act of “political terrorism,” the Charlotte Observer reports.
Police said the words, “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else” were spray painted on the side of an adjacent building.
“I’ll take a drug test if you’ll take an IQ test.”
— Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC), quoted by NPR, in 1986 when Henry McMaster (R) challenged him to a drug test.
“Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about Mexicans and his vow to build a wall along the southern U.S. border have failed to spark a surge in voter registrations among Hispanics living in key swing states,” a USA Today analysis shows.
“The study looked at the 50 counties with the largest Hispanic population in 10 swing states and found that voter registrations in those counties have increased during the 2016 election cycle. But the gains simply mirrored the growth in the Hispanic population and did not represent a “Trump effect” — a rush to register by Hispanics who plan to vote against the Republican presidential nominee — as some Democratic and Hispanic groups had expected.”
“Donald Trump isn’t really running a campaign for president anymore. Instead, he’s involved in an extended revenge plot or is simply following the politics of grievance to its natural, unseemly end,” Chris Cillizza writes.
“It appears as though Trump’s minders have effectively given up, allowing the candidate to pursue his own score-settling and airing of grievances in these final weeks of the campaign. Taking that road may bring some satisfaction to Trump. But it has the potential to do catastrophic damage to the party he ostensibly leads as the GOP tries to hold its Senate and House majorities amid declining enthusiasm within its own ranks for its presidential nominee.”
“To care about that effect would mean that Trump was running a real campaign that grasped the idea that it’s about more than just the whims of a single candidate. He simply isn’t doing that.”
“Just to correct you, it’s a she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said situation.”
— Jake Tapper, on CNN, when Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) called groping allegations against Donald Trump “a she said, he said situation.”
The Omaha World-Herald endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, the first Democrat the newspaper has backed in 84 years.
The risk of a Donald Trump presidency is simply too great.
His alienation of so many groups — women, the disabled, Muslim-Americans, former prisoners of war, the family of a Muslim soldier killed in action, Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans — is too divisive.
Trump shows a lack of statesmanship that is fundamental to serving in the Oval Office.
Newt Gingrich stood by Donald Trump’s claim that the election is being “rigged,” blaming what he calls “the unending one-sided assault of the news media” on the GOP candidate, ABC News reports.
Said Gingrich: “Without the unending one-sided assault of the news media, Trump would be beating Hillary Clinton by 15 points.”
“Donald Trump keeps peddling the notion the vote may be rigged. It’s not clear if he does not understand the potential damage of his words — or he simply does not care,” the AP reports.
“Trump’s claim — made without evidence — undercuts the essence of American democracy, the idea that U.S. elections are both free and fair, with the vanquished peacefully stepping aside for the victor. His repeated assertions are sowing suspicion among his most ardent supporters, raising the possibility that millions of people may not accept the results on Nov. 8 if Trump does not win.”
Politico: “Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to lose on Nov. 8, refuse to concede the election, and teeter the country into an unprecedented crisis of faith in government. Republicans and Democrats, in Washington and beyond, fear that the aftermath of the 2016 election will create a festering infection in the already deep and lasting wound that the campaign is leaving on America.”
“Saturday Night Live” mocked the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the opening of its latest show.
The Hill reports Trump called the skit a “hit job,” adding that the show is “boring and unfunny.”
“Election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened into news!”
— Donald Trump, on Twitter.
A new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll finds Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump, 46% to 40%, across 13 battleground states.
The states surveyed: New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona.
Key finding: Clinton now has a 15-point advantage among women.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds Hillary Clinton is consolidating a substantial lead over Donald Trump less than a month before Election Day, 48% to 37%, with Gary Johnson at 7%.
Key finding: “While Mr. Trump’s core supporters haven’t abandoned him and not defected to the Democratic side, Mrs. Clinton’s gains stem from a widening advantage among women and the support of voters who had been undecided or planning to vote for third-party candidates.”
Here are the latest state polls from the presidential race:
Florida: Clinton 46%, Trump 42%, Johnson 2% (Gravis)
Colorado: Clinton 44%, Trump 39%, Johnson 6% (Gravis)
Nevada: Clinton 43%, Trump 41%, Johnson 4% (JMC)
Virginia: Clinton 44%, Trump 29%, Johnson 11% (Christopher Newport University)
Nevada: Clinton 46%, Trump 40% (CBS News/YouGov)
Utah: Trump 37%, Clinton 20%, McMullin 20% (CBS News/YouGov)
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by four points nationally, 47% to 43%, with Gary Johnson at 5%.
Key findings: “Nearly 7 in 10 respondents believe Trump probably made unwanted sexual advances, and a majority say his apology for boasts about forcing himself on women on a hot-mic videotape was insincere. Nonetheless, the controversy appeared to have had only a minimal impact on his overall support.”
“Donald Trump entered the homestretch of the campaign at a pronounced financial disadvantage to Hillary Clinton, according to figures Mr. Trump’s team released on Saturday, and far below the self-funding goal he set for himself earlier in the race,” the New York Times reports.
“After raising $100 million in partnership with Republican Party organizations in September, Mr. Trump and committees linked to his campaign began October with $75 million in cash on hand. Mrs. Clinton raised $154 million in September and began October with roughly $150 million in the bank, her campaign said, twice as much as Mr. Trump.”
New York Times: “Mrs. Clinton’s campaign declined to release transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street firms during the Democratic primary contests, when her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, intensely criticized her for accepting roughly $225,000 per speech.”
“But on Saturday, transcripts of three appearances at Goldman Sachs events were released by WikiLeaks, part of a trove of thousands of emails obtained by hackers who illegally breached the email account of one of Mrs. Clinton’s top aides.”
“The genial relationship she appeared to have with Mr. Blankfein and other Wall Street executives at the events would not have served Mrs. Clinton well in the Democratic primary contests… But for Mrs. Clinton, who is often criticized as overly scripted, her relaxed, off-the-cuff exchanges at these private events also revealed a side that she has struggled to show voters under the intense glare of a presidential race.”
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.