Here are the latest state polls from the presidential race:
South Carolina: Trump 41%, Clinton 37% (Gravis)
North Carolina: Trump 39%, Clinton 38% (Gravis)
Alaska: Trump 39%, Clinton 30% (Ivan Moore Research)
Ohio: Clinton 43%, Trump 39% (Monmouth)
Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!
‘All It Takes Is One Wrong Move’
Hillary Clinton is out with a new ad hitting Donald Trump on his readiness to be commander-in-chief.
The Trump Spin Cycle
From Ben Pershing of National Journal:
- Trump blurts something out on TV
- Media analyzes strategic “shift”
- There is no “shift” (and therefore no strategy).
Is Georgia Really In Play?
CBS News: “Hearing the words ‘Georgia’ and ‘battleground state’ in the same sentence seems almost inconceivable to modern political observers, for whom the Southern state has long been seen as a Republican stronghold on the national level. But the combination of Donald Trump’s candidacy and the long-shifting demographics of the state have some Democrats thinking it could finally be within reach—enough so that Hillary Clinton’s campaign is opting to invest additional resources into the state.”
“It would still certainly be an uphill climb for Clinton and her campaign, according to veteran Georgia operatives on both sides of the aisle. But it’s within the realm of possibility, a testament to just how much Trump as the Republican nominee has the potential to alter the map of true battlegrounds this fall.”
The HuffPost Pollster average shows Trump leading Clinton in Georgia 44% to 42%.
What If Trump Won’t Accept Defeat?
Politico: “By hiring Breitbart’s Steve Bannon, a media provocateur in his own image, and accepting the resignation of the man who was supposed to professionalize him, Trump is signaling the final 78 days of his presidential campaign will be guided by a staff that indulges his deeply held conspiracy theories and validates his hermetically sealed worldview.”
“That includes his insistence that the only way he loses is in a “rigged” election. According to two long-time Trump associates, the notion of a fixed election isn’t just viewed as smart politics inside Trump Tower; it’s something the GOP nominee believes.”
Wonk Wire: Just 11% of Trump supporters are very confident in accurate vote count.
GOP Holds New Voter Registration Edge In Key States
Politico: “Trump’s poll numbers remain dire, but he can point to at least one ray of hope for a turnaround: Republicans have continued gaining ground in recent months in voter registration in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Iowa, while the late surge in Democratic registrations relative to Republican registrations that occurred in battleground states the final months of the 2012 election had not materialized in numbers released in early August.”
Should Democrats Go Big?
“Democrats are starting to fight about what they want Hillary Clinton’s win to look like: Play it safe and focus on beating Donald Trump in the states that will decide the election, or try to run up the score and clobber him?,” Politico reports.
“For strategists preparing for the final phase of the campaign, this is a question of how to allocate money, staff, attention and operations. But it’s really a question of confidence and appetite for risk. Democrats looking at good polls now are torn between being nervous they’ll regret going big and nervous that they’ll regret not going big.”
Quote of the Day
“This is the demise of the Republican Party. This is an opportunity, I think, for the Libertarian Party to become a major party.”
— Gary Johnson, in an interview on CNBC, on Donald Trump’s candidacy.
3 Attack Lines on Clinton That Trump Is Missing
Join now to continue reading.
Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.
Giuliani Stokes Theory That Clinton Is Sick
Rudy Giuliani said the media “fails to point out several signs” of Hillary Clinton’s “illness” adding that “all you gotta do is go online,” Politico reports.
Said Giuliani: “Go online and put down ‘Hillary Clinton illness,’ take a look at the videos yourself.”
Is Trump TV the End Game?
Former Breitbart News spokesman and political strategist Kurt Bardella on CNN:
There is no doubt that there is a broader plan at play to extend the Trump brand and a conversation that they’re initiating right now beyond the November election. When you have a person who up until a week ago was running a major audience-driven media entity [Breitbart chief Steve Bannon], when you know he’s obviously having regularly conversations with Roger Ailes who helped build FOX News, there’s not doubt that you don’t bring people like that into your orbit versus traditional campaign personnel who know how to run national campaigns.
He’s making the case every day of when he loses this election, it will be because the media had it out for him and we need an alternative to make sure this never happens again.
For members: Maybe Trump Isn’t Trying to Win
Clinton Reserves $80 Million In New TV Time
“Hillary Clinton has reserved nearly $80 million in additional television advertising across eight key states in coming months… offering both a window into how the Democrat sees the presidential contest shaping up and a reminder of her dominance on the airwaves in the the race against Republican Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.
“The campaign is targeting Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition, Clinton is continuing to advertise in the Omaha market in Nebraska, one of only two states that awards its electoral votes based on performance in congressional districts.”
“The Trump campaign, by contrast, launched its first general-election TV ad last week, saying it planned to spend $4.8 million on a 10-day buy in four states: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”
CNN: “Two states that the Clinton campaign will not air local ads in through September and October: Virginia and Colorado.”
Trump Begins Preparing for Debates
Donald Trump “began preparing on Sunday for his first general election debate against Hillary Clinton, with a meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.,” the New York Times reports.
“Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman who helped prepare George Bush to debate Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race, is advising Mr. Trump as he begins to focus on the debate, scheduled for Sept. 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island.”
Clinton Runs Against the ‘Vast Right Wing Conspiracy’
New York Times: “For the better part of two decades, the invocation of a ‘vast right-wing conspiracy’ against the Clintons — as Mrs. Clinton famously called it when allegations of sexual misconduct engulfed her husband’s administration — has elicited eye rolls even among some of the couple’s allies.”
“It was not worth amplifying such attacks by responding to them, advisers often reasoned. And any discussion of a secret plot to undercut the Clintons risked sounding like paranoia, peevishness or just an attempt to duck responsibility.”
“But with Mr. Trump’s appointment of Stephen K. Bannon, the executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, as his new campaign chief, Mrs. Clinton and her extended orbit have sensed an unfamiliar opportunity: The so-called vast right-wing conspiracy might actually be lending her a hand.”
Sean Hannity Advising Trump Campaign
Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times:
“But Mr. Hannity is not only Mr. Trump’s biggest media booster; he also veers into the role of adviser. Several people I’ve spoken with over the last couple of weeks said Mr. Hannity had for months peppered Mr. Trump, his family members and advisers with suggestions on strategy and messaging.”
“So involved is Mr. Hannity that three separate denizens of the hall of mirrors that is Trump World told me they believed Mr. Hannity was behaving as if he wanted a role in a possible Trump administration — something he denied to me as laughable and contractually prohibitive in an interview on Friday.”
Trump Tests Senate Race In Reliably Republican Georgia
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) “insists he won’t be a ‘volunteer apologist’ for Donald Trump or anyone else who utters something stupid, but that defiant independence is being sorely tested by the GOP presidential nominee’s sinking support and Democrat Hillary Clinton’s push into surprisingly competitive Georgia,” the AP reports.
“Recent polls show Trump and Hillary Clinton locked in a tight race as the Democrat opens a campaign office in the state and invests in a field organization. Isakson holds a single-digit lead over first-time candidate Jim Barksdale, a wealthy investment manager whose opposition to trade deals and calls for a higher minimum wage has attracted backers of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate.”
New York Times: Why Hillary Clinton might win Georgia.
Trump Catches Clinton in New Tracking Poll
“Donald Trump has gained ground against Hillary Clinton, according to the latest findings from the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times national tracking poll of the presidential race.”
“The uptick for Trump follows a broad-based decline in early August and suggests a possible narrowing of the race… As of Sunday, the tracking poll showed Trump at 45% and Clinton at 43%, within the survey’s margin of error. Those results are far closer than most other polls, which use different methodology and almost uniformly show Clinton ahead by several points.”
Nate Silver: National polls show the race tightening, but state polls don’t.
Quote of the Day
“It’s very hard to find someone to mimic the reckless temperament and the hateful instincts and divisive instincts of Donald Trump.”
— Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, quoted by Politico, on not yet finding someone to play Trump for debate preparation.
