New York Times: “With its staggering death toll, surging unemployment and economic devastation, the Covid-19 crisis confronting the nation today is far more cataclysmic than the 2008 meltdown. But Obama and McCain faced a series of choices — on leadership, empathy and tone, on executing political strategy and navigating fast-moving events on Wall Street, Main Street and Washington — that are relevant and even illuminating as President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. try to navigate another campaign playing out against the backdrop of a national emergency.”

“After the Lehman bankruptcy on Sept. 15, over the crush of the next 14 days, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama were forced to respond to a crisis in real time. It involved a complex unraveling on Wall Street, the anxieties of millions of Americans seeing huge losses in their retirement accounts, and the polarized politics of the White House and Capitol Hill. There was little time for polling or focus groups, aides to both campaigns said, and decisions were made on instinct.”

“These were the 14 days that decided the 2008 race and assured Mr. Obama’s election as the next president, in the view of both the McCain and Obama camps.”

Josh Kraushaar: “Republicans are growing increasingly worried that President Trump’s shaky political position will not just cost them the presidency, but also sweep in a Democratic Senate majority and further diminish their House minority. The latest round of polling shows the president losing to Joe Biden, as well as Democrats gaining ground in red-state Senate seats that once looked like long shots, from Georgia to Montana to Kansas. There’s a growing chance that Democrats may capture control of the Senate with a seat or two to spare.”

“The current political environment is reminiscent of 2008, two years after Democrats swept control of the House and Senate under President George W. Bush. It’s mostly remembered for Barack Obama’s historic election, but the Democrats’ downballot dominance was just as remarkable. Riding deep dissatisfaction with GOP leadership, Democrats expanded their Senate majority to a near filibuster-proof margin and won House seats in some of the most reliably conservative territory in the country.”

David Axelrod writes for CNN that Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign didn’t find any claims of sexual misconduct when vetting former Vice President Joe Biden.

Said Axelrod: “Had any credible issue been raised, you can be sure Biden would not have been the nominee. Obama would not have tolerated it, even if he and Biden were close then, which they were not.”

Charleston Post & Courier: “As the 2020 Democratic race prepares to enter the crucial fall campaign season, it’s now former Vice President Joe Biden who is far in front of the pack for South Carolina’s pivotal First in the South primary — and determined not to let history repeat itself.”

“Some supporters of other candidates, like former state Rep. Bakari Sellers, who endorsed U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, cite potential parallels with 2008 as a reason why they believe the race remains wide open despite Biden’s commanding lead.”

Said Sellers: “I think the vice president’s support, a lot like the first lady’s support at the time, is very wide, but it’s not deep. I think once Sen. Harris is able to prove her electability, which I don’t have much concern that she will, I expect the tide to change with African American voters like it did with Hillary Clinton.”

The New York Times projects a national popular vote margin of roughly 8.5% for the Democrats. The FiveThirtyEight average for the generic congressional ballot gave Democrats a 8.7% lead.

Sam Wang notes the popular vote margin in the last four midterm elections which were considered wave elections:

• 1994: R+7.1%
• 2006: D+8.0%
• 2010: R+7.2%
• 2014: R+5.7%

By historical staandards, that would be a wave election for the Democrats.

Chris Liddell-Westefeld: “How did one of the whitest states in the union propel the first African-American president to the nomination? What about him captured Iowans’ imaginations? What compelled hundreds of young people to uproot their lives and join a movement considered so unlikely in its nascent stages? What was unique about his organization that future candidates, aides, volunteers, and activists can learn from?”

“I spent a year looking for answers to these questions… The Obama campaign billed itself as an organic effort whose success would be built upon bringing new voters into a caucus process that discouraged broad participation. I wanted to tell that story from the perspective of the bit players history usually forgets.”