Open Thread for Saturday, October 8, 2016

Filed in National by on October 8, 2016

PRESIDENT
NATIONAL–Fox News–CLINTON 48, Trump 44
NATIONAL–Quinnipiac–CLINTON 50, Trump 44
NATIONAL–The Times-Picayune/Lucid–CLINTON 45, Trump 35
VIRGINIA–Hampton University–CLINTON 46, Trump 34
FLORIDA–Brietbart/Gravis–CLINTON 47, Trump 45
WISCONSIN–Brietbart/Gravis–CLINTON 48, Trump 40
ILLINOIS–Global Strategy Group–CLINTON 50, Trump 33

“Donald Trump bragged in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a 2005 conversation caught on a hot microphone — saying that ‘when you’re a star, they let you do it,’” — according to a video obtained by the Washington Post. The conversation was with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” in which Trump describes an attempt to seduce a married woman.

TRUMP: “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”
BUSH: “Whatever you want?”
TRUMP: “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Trump responded in a statement: “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course – not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

If. First off, that kind of non apology apology is insincere. When you offer an apology to those offended, it means you don’t think what you did or said was wrong. And you are not offended yourself. In some ways this bombshell is nothing shocking at all. We all already knew he was a sexist, a misogynist. We all already knew that he does not view women as people but rather things to possess and ogle. This tape only confirms that, and also gives credibility to all the sexual assault and rape rumors about him.

“A woman at the center of sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump has spoken for the first time in detail about her personal experience with the billionaire tycoon who this week became the Republican nominee for president,” The Guardian reports.

“Jill Harth, a makeup artist, has stayed quiet for almost 20 years about the way Trump pursued her, and – according to a lawsuit she instigated – cornered her and groped her in his daughter’s bedroom.”

“Democrats entered the fall campaign with an army of paid staffers close to five times the size of Republicans’,” according to an NBC News analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.

“At the end of August, the most recent date for which data is available, Democrats employed at least 4,200 people working to elect Hillary Clinton, with about 800 at the Clinton campaign, 400 at the Democratic National Committee, and nearly 3,000 on the payrolls of state parties in 13 battleground states, which typically employ a majority of field organizers.”

“Republicans, meanwhile, employed about 880 people during the same period, with about 130 at the Donald Trump campaign, another 270 at the Republican National Committee, and roughly 480 at the 13 state parties.”

Charlie Cook: “Let’s start with the caveats: A lot can hap­pen in the 34 days be­fore the elec­tion. The polls are not as re­li­able as they used to be. People act in un­pre­dict­able ways in the polling booth. All that said, this race has fallen in­to a fairly pre­dict­able pat­tern. When Don­ald Trump veers off mes­sage and Hil­lary Clin­ton per­forms well, her lead swells to 6, 7, or 8 points. When Trump sticks to his script and Clin­ton goes through a bumpy patch as she did with her bout of pneu­mo­nia, her edge drops down to 1 or 2 points, and some­times she winds up dead even. Most of the time, Clin­ton is up by 3 to 5 points.”

“When pres­id­en­tial can­did­ates are ahead by 3 points, they tend to lead by at least a little in a lot of states, and the Elect­or­al Col­lege in­flates their mar­gin of vic­tory. When the pop­u­lar-vote gap gets to 4 or 5 points, more states fall in line and the race turns in­to an elect­or­al rout. It’s only when a race is ef­fect­ively even or with­in a point or so does the Elect­or­al Col­lege be­come truly com­pet­it­ive.”

“The Obama administration officially accused Russia of carrying out a wide-ranging campaign to interfere with the 2016 elections, including by hacking the computers of the Democratic National Committee and other political officials,” the Washington Post reports.

“Citing a border patrol union leader, Donald Trump said that agents have been told to allow immigrants into the United States illegally ‘so they can vote in the election,’” the AP reports. Said Trump: “That’s a massive story. They are letting people pour into the country so they can go ahead and vote.”

“But he offered no evidence to support his most recent claim that presidential voting may be tainted by fraud.”

“Al Gore will start campaigning for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to individuals briefed on the plan, in an effort to mobilize young voters who see climate change as a key issue,” the Washington Post reports.

“The decision by Gore to plunge into the campaign during the final weeks shows the extent to which Democrats remain concerned that Clinton has yet to connect with many millennials, some of whom are backing third-party candidates this year. The former vice president, a climate activist, will speak about not just Clinton’s plan to address global warming, but also the idea that voting for an independent presidential candidate could deliver the White House to Republicans in the same way that Ralph Nader’s candidacy helped undermine his presidential bid in 2000.”

Ezra Klein: “Trump isn’t even using Pence as a prime surrogate: He’s sending out sycophants like Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich — the guys who have his back and will deliver even his strangest self-justifications with a smile.”

“Pence’s purpose on the ticket is as Trump’s ambassador to the Republican Party. It’s Pence who keeps GOP heavyweights like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell hopeful that a Trump win might lead to a conservative presidency. But Pence’s role in the Trump campaign is that of a salesman, not a strategist or close adviser — no one believes Trump is relying on the genial, generic Midwestern conservative for guidance.”

Donald Trump’s former accountant challenged the Republican presidential nominee’s assertion that he “brilliantly” used tax laws to avoid paying federal taxes, Politico reports. Said Jack Mitnick: “I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature.”

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