Thursday Open Thread [8.25.16]

NATIONAL–PRESIDENT–Economist/YouGov–Clinton 47, Trump 44
FLORIDA–PRESIDENT–Florida Atlantic University–Trump 43, Clinton 41
FLORIDA–PRESIDENT–St. Leo University–Clinton 52, Trump 38
NORTH CAROLINA–PRESIDENT–CNN/ORC–Clinton 48, Trump 47
SOUTH CAROLINA–PRESIDENT–Feldman Group–Trump 45, Clinton 43
ARIZONA–PRESIDENT–CNN/ORC–Trump 49, Clinton 44
NEW MEXICO–PRESIDENT–PPP–Clinton 40, Trump 31
FLORIDA–SENATOR–Florida Atlantic University–Rubio 44, Murphy 39
NORTH CAROLINA–SENATOR–CNN/ORC–Burr 50, Ross 45
NORTH CAROLINA–SENATOR–Monmouth–Burr 45, Ross 43
NORTH CAROLINA–GOVERNOR–Monmouth–Cooper 52, McCrory 43
MISSOURI–SENATOR–Monmouth–Blunt 48, Kander 43
MISSOURI–GOVERNOR–Monmouth–Koster 51, Greitens 40

The National Review says Trump has no credible path to 270: “Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogs on, but he has effectively blown his chances at getting into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. By failing to pivot through his convention, by failing to build a ground team in important states, and by failing to reassure voters uneasy with his primary rhetoric, Trump has killed his campaign. The result: His numbers with college-educated voters and blacks have dropped dramatically, effectively locking him out of states such as Florida, Ohio, and, yes, Pennsylvania.”

If Trump spoke to white people like he speaks to black people.

I imagine if I talked about white people like this, nobody would call it "outreach." pic.twitter.com/mtzKVxtZxV

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 24, 2016

.@ananavarro's answer to Donald Trump: "What we have to lose by voting for you? Our dignity." https://t.co/rb3lOdtGTV

— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) August 23, 2016

Fred Goldberg, former IRS commissioner, says Trump has no excuse to not release his tax returns:

But nothing prevents us as taxpayers from choosing to release our tax returns — and those who aspire for the highest public office have done so for decades. And they do so precisely because their returns provide a window (for better and worse) into who they are. Those who say Trump should release his tax returns claim we are entitled to view this portrait of the man who aspires to lead our country.

Trump has promised to release his returns when his audit ends, but claims he is under continuous audit by the IRS and that releasing his returns (including returns for years that are now closed) could have an adverse impact on current and future IRS examinations. As a former IRS commissioner and practicing tax lawyer, I understand it may be inconvenient for Trump to release his tax returns but we all know — and the IRS has confirmed — that nothing prevents any of us from releasing our tax returns any time we want. And by the way, for those who listen carefully, Trump’s promise means he will never release his tax returns. Trump’s advisors also have substantial control over when his current examination will conclude.

Everyone who jumped on that flawed AP Clinton story should read this and feel a little ashamed: https://t.co/G9JWe0XaYi

— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) August 24, 2016

Michael Cohen of the Boston Globe states the obvious: Clinton’s e-mail ‘scandals’ are pure fiction

I’m fairly sure that when William Shakespeare penned the phrase “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” he did not have in mind the constant cycle of scandals that envelop Bill and Hillary Clinton. But the phrase easily applies.

When it comes to the Clintons, the most mundane actions can be raised to the specter of national outrage, because of the appearance, but not actual incident, of impropriety.

My latest for @MTVNews, on why @realDonaldTrump's 1989 ad condemning the Central Park Five told us who he really is. https://t.co/eEBrQqok0h

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) August 23, 2016

Jonathan Chait: “The main difficulty Trump faces in dispelling the impression that he is a racist is that Trump is, in fact, a gigantic racist.”

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast says Donald is in trouble: “Donald Trump used his campaign funds to buy thousands of copies of his own book at retail cost, simultaneously diverting donor money back into his pockets while artificially boosting his sales figures. It’s a tactic that may be illegal, campaign finance experts say.”

Hillary Clinton's health is fine, but what about Trump? https://t.co/Sr3QQWtwCU via @CNNPolitics pic.twitter.com/RIU8zTvs3M

— CNN (@CNN) August 23, 2016

Just because there's a story with "Clinton" and "email" in it doesn't mean it's scandalous: https://t.co/bFRhM5XsIu

— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) August 23, 2016

Eric Trump said that it would be “foolish” for his father to release his tax returns and subject them to scrutiny by people who don’t know what they are looking at, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Trump: “You would have a bunch of people who know nothing about taxes trying to look through and trying to come up with assumptions on things they know nothing about. It would be foolish to do. I’m actually the biggest proponent of not doing it.”

WATCH: @brianefallon take down criticism of the Clinton Foundation pic.twitter.com/w1rdvhL51X

— Correct The Record (@CorrectRecord) August 24, 2016

Jonathan Rauch: “Chaos syndrome is a chronic decline in the political system’s capacity for self-organization. It begins with the weakening of the institutions and brokers—political parties, career politicians, and congressional leaders and committees—that have historically held politicians accountable to one another and prevented everyone in the system from pursuing naked self-interest all the time. As these intermediaries’ influence fades, politicians, activists, and voters all become more individualistic and unaccountable. The system atomizes. Chaos becomes the new normal—both in campaigns and in the government itself.”

“Like many disorders, chaos syndrome is self-reinforcing. It causes governmental dysfunction, which fuels public anger, which incites political disruption, which causes yet more governmental dysfunction.”

“Assembling power to govern a sprawling, diverse, and increasingly divided democracy is inevitably hard. Chaos syndrome makes it all the harder. For Democrats, the disorder is merely chronic; for the Republican Party, it is acute… Nearly everyone panned party regulars for not stopping Trump much earlier, but no one explained just how the party regulars were supposed to have done that. Stopping an insurgency requires organizing a coalition against it, but an incapacity to organize is the whole problem. The reality is that the levers and buttons parties and political professionals might once have pulled and pushed had long since been disconnected.”

"The stark fact highlighted in the AP’s tweet and social share card is, for starters, totally false.” https://t.co/aAxVrVhh4L

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 24, 2016

My response to AP’s response to the responses to their Clinton Foundation investigation https://t.co/n3Qwp0jdyu

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 24, 2016

“By virtue of her long political resume, Hillary Clinton will enter her highly anticipated fall debates with Donald Trump facing the same kind of heightened expectations that often saddle an incumbent president. Trump, as the political newcomer, will be more of a wild card with a lower bar to clear,” the AP reports.

“A month before the first faceoff, Clinton allies are working to prevent that dynamic from turning into an advantage for the Republican nominee.”

“Boosting debate expectations for her opponent requires a tricky balancing act for Clinton. At the same time she is encouraging Americans to take seriously Trump’s controversial policy proposals, including a temporary ban on Muslim immigration and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, she’s painting him as unprepared and temperamentally unfit for the presidency.”

Look WHO DID come over for lunch… Wow. #ImWithHer pic.twitter.com/1pX4V4mUxq

— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) August 23, 2016