Vice President Joe Biden’s “small team of political advisers has been quietly reaching out to Democrats who could join the campaign in senior roles, including State Department official Marie Harf and former Obama campaign official Paul Tewes,” the AP reports.
Romney Says Trump Will Not Be the Nominee
Mitt Romney said he sees the Republican contest breaking into two brackets: “the more insurgent, outspoken, tea party perhaps bracket” and “the more mainstream conservative bracket,” according to the Washington Post.
In the former, he placed Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. In the latter, Gov. Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina and Gov. John Kasich.
But Romney was definitive in predicting the front-runner’s fate: “Donald Trump will not be the nominee. Ultimately our nominee will come from the mainstream conservative bracket. I don’t know who that will be.”
CNN’s Virtual Reality Debate
Stephen Colbert looks at the latest technology promised for this month’s Democratic presidential debate.
Treasury Will Debt Limit Will on November 5
The Treasury Department said it would reach the debt limit a month earlier than was expected by many on Capitol Hill, Roll Call reports.
“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress in a new letter that thanks in part to lower-than-expected quarterly tax receipts, the extraordinary measures to forestall breaching the debt limit, combined with the new revenues, will run their course just a week after the resignation of Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) takes effect.”
Conway Has Lead for Kentucky Governor
A new Survey USA poll in Kentucky finds Jack Conway (D) leading Matt Bevin (R) in the race for governor, 42% to 37%, with Drew Curtis (I) at 7%.
Clinton Will Appear on ‘Saturday Night Live’
Hillary Clinton “is scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live this weekend, the latest — and highest stakes — appearance of her current push to show her funny, personable side as the campaign heads into the critical first Democratic debate and she faces headwinds in Iowa and New Hampshire and a potential challenge from Vice President Joe Biden,” the New York Times reports.
“In a top-secret appearance that her campaign would not confirm, Mrs. Clinton will meet her comedic counterpart, Kate McKinnon, who has portrayed the former first lady to effusive praise… In order to appear, Mrs. Clinton turned down the chance to give the keynote address to the influential Human Rights Campaign, the country’s most powerful lesbian and gay rights group, which will allow her to make the debut SNL appearance of her 2016 campaign.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“We’ve really got a mess in the financial system with regard to campaigns right now… We’ve gotta rethink campaign finance.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by the Huffington Post.
Clinton Maintains Big Lead in Democratic Race
A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll finds Hillary Clinton continues to lead the Democratic field with 41% — a double-digit drop in two months — followed by Bernie Sanders at 23% and Joe Biden at 20%.
Trump Quote of the Day
“While we were expecting 10,000 people based on demand, and it would have been a happening, everyone’s safety is of far more importance to me.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by TPM, cancelling a Virginia rally due to an impending hurricane.
While Joe Biden Waits
First Read: “The Biden waiting game is no longer doing him or his party any favors. With Clinton and Sanders having already raised a combined $115 million… waiting to start raising money isn’t going to help him compete financially with Clinton, let alone Sanders. The waiting game has paralyzed parts of the non-Hillary wing of the Democratic establishment.”
“And as our NBC/WSJ poll shows, Biden disproportionally takes away support from Clinton when the vice president is included in the polling. As we’ve said before, if Biden wants to run and win (and start preparing to build a $1 billion enterprise for the general election in our Super PAC/501c4 Era), he has to get in ASAP. He doesn’t have until late October or early November. Sure, we get that Biden seems to be waiting to see how October fares for Hillary (see above). But that waiting game comes at a cost.”
Russian Airstrikes Hit U.S.-Backed Rebels in Syria
“Russian officials insisted they were attacking the Islamic State after efforts by the U.S. and its partners had failed to dislodge the extremists, but U.S. officials said the strikes appeared to target opponents of President Bashar al-Assad and hit units that were trained by the CIA,” the Washington Post reports.
First Read: “If Syria was already a black mark for the Obama administration, it’s now turning into a full-fledged debacle, with Russia now appearing to bomb Syrian rebels opposed to Assad.”
Which Presidential Candidate Lies the Most?
Wonk Wire has the rankings.
It’s a Big Month for Hillary Clinton
First Read: “”It’s the beginning of October, and we can’t stress enough how big the month will be for Hillary Clinton — and, by extension, the Democratic Party. Oct. 13 brings us the first Democratic presidential debate. Hillary’s testimony before the House Benghazi committee is on Oct. 22. Two days later, she (as well as the other Democrats in the field) speaks at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner — the same venue where then-candidate Barack Obama turned out his presidential fortunes in 2007. And October is the month where we SHOULD get an answer to whether or not Joe Biden is running.”
“Bottom line: This is going to be a decisive month for Hillary, especially given that she’s been stuck in a negative feedback loop over the past three months (Emails! Falling poll numbers! Biden! Emails! Falling poll numbers! Biden!). If she somehow doesn’t end up as the Democratic nominee, we’ll likely be able to trace it back to the events in October. Conversely, if she does wind up as the nominee — and remains the candidate to beat in the general — we’ll likely be able to trace it back to the events in October.”
Carson Jokes About Taunting the Police
Ben Carson joked that while growing up on Detroit he had fun taunting police officers “back in the day, before they would shoot you,” MSNBC reports.
Carson said he and his friends would throw rocks at cars which he joked “everybody did … because it was so much fun.”
When cops came, “always in unmarked cars, they’d be chasing us across the field and they would think they trapped us” at 10-feet-tall fences. But the cops “had no idea how adept we were at getting over those fences.”
Biden Won’t Decide Before First Debate
Vice President Joe Biden “has extended his window for deciding whether to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign, several Democrats say, allowing the contest to play out even longer before he answers one of the biggest questions hanging over the race for the White House,” CNN reports.
“He is not preparing for the first Democratic debate on October 13 in Las Vegas and is not expected to participate, people close to him say, because he feels no pressure to reach a decision by then. He is likely to reveal his plans in the second half of October.”
Bar Raised for Next GOP Debate
CNBC announced that candidates for the next Republican presidential debate on October 28 must have an average of at least 3% among recognized national polls in order to participate, CNN reports.
“It’s not clear how many candidates would clear the 3% mark, but it is expected to put Paul, Christie and Mike Huckabee at risk of being relegated to the undercard. All three of those candidates are currently hovering around the 3% mark in an average of recent national polls.”
Trump Pledges to Send Syrian Refuges Back
Donald Trump says if he wins the White House, he will send back Syrian refugees coming to the U.S., The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “I’m putting the people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration. If I win, they’re going back. They’re going back. I’m telling you. They’re going back.”
Wonk Wire: Americans divided over response to Europe’s migrant crisis
Hackers Tried to Gain Access to Clinton’s Computer
“Russia-linked hackers tried at least five times to pry into Hillary Clinton’s private email account while she was secretary of state, emails released Wednesday show. It is unclear if she clicked on any attachments and exposed her account,” the AP reports.
“Clinton received the infected emails, disguised as speeding tickets from New York, over four hours early the morning of Aug. 3, 2011. The emails instructed recipients to print the attached tickets. Opening an attachment would have allowed hackers to take over control of a victim’s computer.”
