Wall Street Journal: “Vance might have the heavier lift during their only planned face-off. That is partly because former President Donald Trump was widely viewed as losing his Sept. 10 debate against Vice President Kamala Harris in what for now was their only scheduled meeting.”

“The senator also faces a greater challenge because several polls have shown him with the lowest favorability rating of the four candidates on the two presidential tickets.”

“If Vance can significantly trip up Walz, that would be helpful for the GOP in trying to change a narrative that in recent weeks has shown Harris with a slight polling lead—often within the margin of error—over Trump.”

Washington Post: Vance and Walz face contrasting pressures in much-anticipated debate.

CNN: What Walz’s and Vance’s past debates may reveal about Tuesday’s high-stakes matchup.

“A group aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning to pour tens of millions of dollars into an effort to crack Democrats’ ‘blue wall’ with less than six weeks left to go before Election Day,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In working to flip seats currently held by Democrats, the Senate Leadership Fund plans to spend $67.5 million on TV, radio and digital ad reservations in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.”

“The super PAC, run by close McConnell allies, will add $28 million in outside spending to Republicans’ effort to unseat Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, $17 million in Wisconsin to target Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and $22.5 million in Michigan, where the parties are fighting over an open seat currently held by Democrats.”

Nate Cohn: “While a relatively quiet political environment makes us more confident in the state of the race, there are still no guarantees.”

“If the polls are off as they were two or four years ago, the outcome might be very different than the polls suggest today. Either candidate could win decisively.”

“With this much uncertainty, the polls don’t suggest that either candidate is a clear favorite. At this point, there’s a good chance they never will.”

From the New York Times editorial board:

“This unequivocal, dispiriting truth — Donald Trump is not fit to be president — should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election.”

Kamala Harris on Sunday tried to taunt Donald Trump into participating in another debate as she rallied supporters in Nevada, the New York Times reports.

Said Harris: “I’m trying to debate Donald Trump again, and I think he should debate again. The American people have a right to hear us discuss the issues. And as you say here in Las Vegas, I’m all in. I’m all in. Even if my opponent is ready to fold.”

Kamala Harris raised about $55 million in high-dollar events in California this weekend, a haul that pads her financial advantage over Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports.

“Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI.) warned donors last week that internal polling for her Senate campaign shows Vice President Kamala Harris is ‘underwater’ in Michigan,” Axios reports.

However: “FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls has Harris up by about 2.4 points in Michigan.”

“Through public remarks, Truth Social screeds and more than 100 preemptive lawsuits, Donald Trump is assembling a detailed catalog of excuses for rejecting the results of the 2024 election — if he loses,” Axios reports.

“The Trump-aligned efforts to overturn the 2020 election — both overtly and covertly, peacefully then violently — shocked the American public. No one should be surprised this time around.”

“The former president, who risks jail time and more criminal trials if he loses, has expanded his range of baseless attacks on U.S. voting procedures in recent weeks and months.”

“Donald Trump escalated his personal attacks on his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, on Sunday by repeating an insult that she was ‘mentally impaired’ while also saying she should be ‘impeached and prosecuted,’” the AP reports.

“With just over a month until the election, Trump is intensifying his use of personal and offensive attacks, even as some Republicans say he’d be better sticking to the issues.”

USA Today: Donald Trump falsely calls Kamala Harris, Joe Biden “mentally impaired” again, ramping up attacks.

“I’m here because they cheat… they cheat in this state and I’ll mention a couple of the areas. Philadelphia is out of control. Detroit is out of control. Atlanta is out of control.”

— Donald Trump, at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Nate Silver’s latest forecast gives Kamala Harris a 56% chance to win the presidential election.

“I’ll grant you that a 56/44 forecast is in kind of a weird, uncomfortable zone. To be clear, the forecast is that Harris will win the Electoral College 56 percent of the time — not that she’ll beat Trump by 12 points — in other words that the race is basically a toss-up. There is a strong likelihood that this will be a close election right up through Election Day.”

“Still, 56 percent is meaningfully different from 50 percent. Even a somewhat nitty (i.e. risk-averse) poker player would usually take an all-in spot where they win 56 percent of the time. A baseball team that wins 56 percent of its games goes 91-71, and that’s considered a strong season. So zooming out, you’d probably take this position if you were Kamala Harris.”

“There is no end of put-downs that attach to the job of vice president, a position that’s widely treated as irrelevant when its occupant is not ignored altogether,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“So it’s hardly surprising the modern history of vice presidential debates is notably lacking in both gravity and moments of true political significance. In fact, since the first match-up of presidential understudies nearly 50 years ago, precisely zero have made a shred of difference in the race for the White House.”

Wall Street Journal: “The GOP often embraces wealthy candidates without a long record in state politics because they can pump in their own cash, helping the party close Democrats’ typical fundraising and ad-buying advantages.”

“But such a profile carries risks. In Pennsylvania, Montana and Wisconsin—three of the seven most competitive Senate races—Republicans have had to grapple with the ‘carpetbagger’ label that Democrats are applying, knowing the power of the attack for voters who are rooted firmly in their states.”