“Forced to play defense in states he led comfortably months ago, President Trump set his sights on Ohio on Thursday in an attempt to reframe the centerpiece of his reelection pitch,” the AP reports.

“During his visit, Trump planned to promote the economic prosperity that much of the nation enjoyed before the coronavirus pandemic and try to make the case that he is best suited to rebuild a crippled economy. But his handling of the outbreak has weakened his bid for a second term, causing Trump to spend time and resources in a state he won easily in 2016 but now could be in danger of slipping away.”

“A few years ago, Stephen Schwarzman was just the latest deep pocket on Wall Street to open up to Donald Trump. Right now, he’s the biggest one left,” Bloomberg reports.

“Donations to Trump’s 2020 campaign from the most elite corners of American finance would be down drastically compared with 2016 — were it not for the notable exception of Schwarzman, who has become one of the president’s most ardent Wall Street backers.”

“Indeed, the private equity mogul single-handedly accounts for the vast bulk of the reported contributions toward Trump’s re-election effort over the past 18 months from people associated with the 31 banks and investment firms that dominate the U.S. financial industry.”

Joe Biden made clear in an interview that Sen. Kamala Harris is still “very much in contention” to become his running mate.

Said Biden: “I don’t hold grudges, and I’ve made it really clear that I don’t hold grudges. I think it was a debate. It’s as simple as that. And she’s very much in contention.”

“A top Colorado GOP strategist is helping Kanye West to get on the ballot in her state, the latest in a series of Republicans who have stepped up to help the hip-hop star in his odd presidential bid,” Vice News reports.

Wrote GOP strategist Rachel George in an email to at least one other local GOP strategist: “I have the most random favor to ask of you ever… would you help me get Kanye West on the ballot in Colorado? No, I am not joking, and I realize this is hilarious.”

Harry Enten: “There’s little doubt that former Vice President Joe Biden has the upperhand against President Trump at this point. Biden has led in poll after poll nationally and in almost every poll in the core six battleground states (Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).”

“Yet, while Biden has maintained advantage, Trump has one thing going for him: His position is no longer deteriorating. A look at the polls shows that even as coronavirus cases and deaths rise, Trump remains within striking distancing of Biden.”

New Data for Progress polls in four important Senate battlegrounds:

• North Carolina: Cunningham 49%, Tillis 41%
• Maine: Gideon 48%, Collins 45%
• Iowa: Greenfield 45%, Earnst 43%
• Arizona: Kelly 50%, McSally 40%

Rudy Giuliani told Fox & Friends the Commission on Presidential Debates should be abolished if they refuse the Trump campaign’s request to add a fourth debate to the schedule or move the first one to early September.

Molly Ball: “For four years, Trump has been the dominant force and inescapable fact not only of national politics but also of American life. Now he finds himself displaced as the central character in his own campaign by a plague that answers to no calendar, ideology or political objective. Just as the virus has changed the way adults report to offices and children go to school, upending whole industries in the process, it has spurred a massive shift in the fundamental act of American democracy: how we select the President who will be charged with ending the pandemic’s reign of destruction, dealing with its aftermath and shaping the nation that rises from its ashes. And as with so many other changes wrought by the coronavirus, the practice of American politics may never be quite the same again.”

“This was always going to be an unusual contest–the high-stakes re-election campaign of a historically divisive President at a pivotal moment for the nation, a referendum on his norm-shattering style and disruptive vision, a test for his scattered opposition to prove which side of a polarized political spectrum represents the mainstream. As the campaign enters its final three-month stretch, Trump trails badly in national and battleground-state polls as Americans give his dismal handling of the pandemic a failing grade. But the end of Trump’s turbulent term will be written by the virus. It startled us with its rise and spread in January and February, suspended normal life in March and April, and lulled many into complacency before whipsawing us again with its resurgence in June and July. Who knows what kind of October surprise it may have in store?”

“President Trump raised more money than Joe Biden in July, after falling behind his Democratic rival for two straight months,” Politico reports.

“Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee reported that they raised $165 million last month — an amount they said eclipsed any single month in all of 2016.”

“You’ll never know who the winner is, but the winner’s going to be me.”

— President Trump, quoted by CNN, while criticizing voting by mail.

“Republicans’ chief Senate super PAC is launching a new $21 million TV and radio ad buy in August across five races as the party continues to fight to protect its majority against massive Democratic spending,” Politico reports.

The Trump campaign is asking the Commission on Presidential Debates to move up the last presidential debate to the first week in September to get ahead of an expected surge in early voting, Axios reports.

The letter also asks the commission to add a fourth debate.

With 90 days until the election, The Economist forecast currently gives Joe Biden a 97% chance to win the popular vote and an 88% chance to win the electoral vote.