We begin today’s roundup with The Washington Post’s endorsement of Joe Biden:
The Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, is exceptionally well-qualified, by character and experience, to meet the daunting challenges that the nation will face over the coming four years.
Those challenges have been, to varying degrees, created, exacerbated or neglected by the incumbent: the covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more lives in this country than anywhere else in the world; rising inequality and racial disparities; a 21st-century, high-tech authoritarianism ascendant in the world, with democracy in retreat; a planet at risk due to human-caused climate change.
Underlying them all is the question of whether U.S. democracy is any longer capable of meeting even one such challenge, let alone a host of them. Here is where Mr. Trump has done the most damage — and where Mr. Biden is almost uniquely positioned for the moment. He would restore decency, honor and competence to America’s government.
Expect that contrast to be on full display at tonight’s debate — as well as the latest bombshell report from the NYT on Trump’s unethical and possibly illegal tax avoidance. Catherine Rampell explains:
The magnitude of these reported losses suggests he has been a thoroughly incompetent businessman or has been cheating Uncle Sam.
Most likely both. [...]
when asked what really bothers them about the tax system, Americans’ top complaints aren’t that the poor are shirking, or that the tax code is too complicated, or even that their own tax bills are too big. They’re mad that corporations and the wealthy aren’t paying their “fair share,” legally or otherwise. [...]
Whatever the optics surrounding fairness, the reason the public should care most, as I have long argued, involves conflicts of interest. These financial entanglements — whom the president is getting money from, owes money to and on what terms — are likely influencing executive-branch policy, presumably rigging it in favor of cronies and creditors and against the public welfare.
More on this from John Cassidy at The New Yorker:
Whatever happens on November 3rd, the Times story confirms that Trump has been playing the I.R.S. for decades. It also shows that, in the U.S. tax framework, there is one set of rules for the majority and another for the very rich. A confidence trickster from the get-go, Trump exploited this setup to denude the U.S. Treasury, enrich himself, and make a mockery of the entire system. If anything good comes out of the whole thing, it’s that the arguments for meaningful reforms of the tax laws and tougher enforcement are now stronger than ever. Of course, Trump will have to be voted out of office for change to happen.
Mark Hertsgaard at The Nation makes a good point:
The upcoming three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate offer an excellent opportunity to ventilate these questions [on climate change], but don’t hold your breath. Wallace has made clear that climate change is not one of the subjects he plans to discuss with Trump and Biden tonight. And while climate change is intrinsically connected to each of the six subjects Wallace does plans to address—most obviously, “the records” of each candidate—Wallace’s ambition to be “as invisible as possible” during the debate makes it unlikely he’ll ask about those connections. If climate change is to be discussed, it’s Biden who will have to raise it.
On a final note, Jeva Lange at The Week looks at the question of how do you debate a liar:
How, after all, do you have a debate with someone who's made at least 20,055 false or misleading claims since taking office — an average of nearly 16 lies a day? How Biden answers that question could be the most important takeaway of the entire debate, the difference between proving Trump's claims about his sharpness right, and landing a rare and bruising blow on the bully-in-chief. [...]
Who has the upper hand going into Tuesday night is a bit of a mystery to aides on both sides; is it Trump, for throwing out the playbook of civil conduct, or Biden, who's able to brace for it?