The presidential campaign ends Thursday night
Voters can still vote, but here are three reasons why the campaign will be over
You can debate precisely when the 2020 presidential campaign began. Was it on Jan. 20, 2017, when President Trump’s campaign filed for reelection mere hours after he was sworn in as president? Does the clock start later, in November 2017, when Andrew Yang, who ended up being the earliest major-ish Democratic candidate to announce, entered the race? Or should we stick with the start of 2019, when most major candidates formed exploratory committees, held announcement speeches, and started visiting Iowa and New Hampshire with regularity?
Whatever one thinks about when the campaign began exactly, it is very clear when it ends: around 10:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on Thursday.
The above is a Republican.
Politico:
'Warning flare': New swing-state data shows massive Democratic early-vote lead
In a worrisome sign for Republicans, Democrats are also turning out more low-frequency and newly registered voters than the GOP.
Democrats have opened up a yawning gap in early voting over Republicans in six of the most crucial battleground states — but that only begins to tell the story of their advantage heading into Election Day.
In a more worrisome sign for Republicans, Democrats are also turning out more low-frequency and newly registered voters than the GOP, according to internal data shared with POLITICO by Hawkfish, a new Democratic research firm, which was reviewed by Republicans and independent experts.
It’s not over, the Rs will vote in person.
Franklin Foer/The Atlantic:
Trump Thinks He’s Found Biden’s Greatest Vulnerability
In targeting Hunter Biden, the president is waging psychological warfare against the Democratic nominee.
Without a coherent message or an affirmative vision for a second term, Trump has clearly been betting his reelection on what military planners would call a “psyop,” or a psychological operation. That is, he hopes to use gamesmanship to destabilize the mind of his adversary, forcing him into a moment of anger or incoherence that illustrates his lack of fitness for the office. (“Too old and out of it” is how Trump puts it.) His attacks on Hunter Biden should be understood as the pillar of this strategy.
NY Times:
Russia Poses Greater Election Threat Than Iran, Many U.S. Officials Say
Russia’s hackers appeared to be preparing to sow chaos amid any uncertainty around election results, officials said
Some U.S. intelligence officials view Russia’s intentions as more significant than the announcement Wednesday night by the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, that Iran has been involved in the spreading of faked, threatening emails, which were made to appear as if they came from the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group.
Be patient, be ready for it. But the NYT is being polite about DNI Director Ratcliffe being a partisan hack, along with anyone still left in this disastrous administration.
Michael Kruse/Politico:
The Fear Behind Donald Trump’s Obsession with Immunity
He’s not just talking about whether he has Covid.
Trump’s brought this up—how long this defense will last—on Fox and on Newsmax and during rallies and in a radio interview and on a podcast. And it is this particular fixation that reveals his deeper anxiety, according to former associates, biographers, attorneys, professors of law and other experts. It’s an unease that goes far beyond his prospect of re-infection. Because what he’s really talking about, they say, is immunity of an even more expansive and pressing variety—the kind he will need if he loses on November 3, if he is expelled from the protective bubble the presidency provides, if he is forced to return to civilian life, where he likely will face legal jeopardy from active civil suits and criminal investigations.
Bloomberg:
Court-Packing Alternatives Start Gaining Traction With Democrats
While Democrats have pushed Joe Biden to support expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court, the presidential nominee has approached the idea warily, saying last week he is “not a fan” of so-called court packing.
Yet Biden signaled that he could support making other changes to the high court as President Donald Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett heads toward certain confirmation by the Senate just days before the Nov. 3 election.
If Democrats take both the White House and Senate, they would have a wide array of options to consider. The idea with the most momentum is expanding the number of seats on the court. The Constitution has never specified the number, and it has changed over time. A handful of high-profile Democrats have voiced support for the proposal, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and former Attorney General Eric Holder.
NY Times, ongoing issue:
OSHA Criticized for Lax Regulation of Meatpacking in Pandemic
Critics say the agency has applied scant oversight and negligible penalties despite virus outbreaks at many plants in the spring.
When the pandemic hit in March, a JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colo., began providing paid leave to workers at high risk of serious illness.
But last month, shortly after the plant was cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a serious virus-related safety violation and given two initial penalties totaling about $15,500, it brought the high-risk employees back to work.
“Now the company knows where the ceiling is,” said Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union local that represents the workers, about half a dozen of whom have died of Covid-19. “If other workers die, it’s not going to cost them that much.”
This is an issue that the Biden administration needs to set straight.
Quinnipiac with your polling fix:
Biden Holds Stable Double-Digit Lead Over Trump, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly 6 In 10 Say Coronavirus Is Out Of Control
With less than two weeks until Election Day, likely voters support former Vice President Joe Biden over President Donald Trump 51 - 41 percent in a Quinnipiac University national poll. This is the third national survey among likely voters since September that shows Biden with a 10-point lead, as Biden led Trump 52 - 42 percent on both September 2nd and September 23rd.
Among likely voters who say they will vote in person on Election Day, about two-thirds (65 percent) say they back Trump, while 28 percent support Biden. Among likely voters who have voted or plan on voting by mail or absentee ballot, roughly 7 in 10 (69 percent) say they are supporting Biden, while 21 percent support Trump. For likely voters who have or plan to cast their ballot at an early voting location, a majority (57 percent) support Biden and just over one-third (35 percent) support Trump.
"Three straight polls in the double-digit zone... For Biden-Harris, flush with cash and propelled by consistent support, it remains steady as she goes through the turbulent waters of a bitter, personal, and unsettling campaign," said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
Tom Nichols/USA Today:
Real men embrace their sons and fathers, just like Joe and Hunter Biden in that photo
A father holding and kissing his adult son after standing by him during many struggles is somehow inappropriate? That's a child's view of masculinity
But it is a picture with special meaning to men. Despite all the bro hugs and high-fives, we generally do not embrace or treat each other with such tenderness. Kissing is for Europeans, or sissies, or maybe Mafia dons who have been betrayed. We usually don’t kiss or hug each other unless it is done with irony and even a bit of aggression.
Men know, however, that the embrace of our fathers is different.
And the thing that is driving the election: