Thursday 29 September 2016

The Daily 202: Michelle Obama is the perfect Clinton surrogate in the home stretch

   
Michelle Obama is the perfect Clinton surrogate in the home stretch
Barack and Michelle Obama arrive back at the White House last night after a day on the hustings.&nbsp;(Olivier Douliery/EPA)</p>

Barack and Michelle Obama arrive back at the White House last night after a day on the hustings. (Olivier Douliery/EPA)

With Breanne Deppisch

THE BIG IDEA: The crowd cried "no" when Michelle Obama, campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Pittsburgh yesterday, said that "it's almost time for my family to end our time at the White House."

The first lady—working hard to get millennial, minority and female voters to rally behind a Democratic nominee whom she battled so fiercely eight years ago—tried to assuage them.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," she said. "Look, two terms is a good thing for the country! Right? Two terms is good. And we're not going anywhere! We're going to keep working and doing our good stuff. So we will be near."

"We love you, Michelle," a member of the audience yelled out, and the crowd cheered. Then someone else yelled to ask what will happen to Sunny and Bo, the first pets.

-- Mrs. Obama received a rock star's reception at both colleges she visited Wednesday in the Keystone State's two urban centers. In fact, the crowd's energy level felt higher at the 52-year-old First Lady's events than during a joint rally in New Hampshire with Hillary Clinton, 68, and Bernie Sanders, 75.

There were also more people. Michelle drew 3,600 to La Salle University in Philadelphia and 3,000 more to the University of Pittsburgh a few hours later. Clinton and Sanders got 1,200 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, where they spoke about college affordability.

At the DNC, Michelle Obama provided one of 2016&#39;s most memorable sound bites: &ldquo;When they go low, we go high.&rdquo; Clinton quoted the line during Monday&rsquo;s debate.&nbsp;That mantra was the backdrop as FLOTUS spoke in Philly.&nbsp;(Mel Evans/AP)</p>

At the DNC, Michelle Obama provided one of 2016's most memorable sound bites: "When they go low, we go high." Clinton quoted the line during Monday's debate. That mantra was the backdrop as FLOTUS spoke in Philly. (Mel Evans/AP)

-- Watching the crowd's reaction to Michelle begged the question: why again didn't she run for Senate in Illinois the way HRC did in New York in 2000? She would have cleared the Democratic primary field and totally annihilated Republican incumbent Mark Kirk (almost certainly by a bigger margin than the overrated Tammy Duckworth will).

The answer is that the Princeton- and Harvard Law-educated mother of two does not want to be an elected official. And frankly, that's the core of her appeal. Because she has less of a political patina than her husband and because you know she does not need to be there for Hillary the way he does, she comes across as more authentic.

This dynamic helps explain why so many people were so moved by her hug with George W. Bush last weekend:

Michelle&nbsp;hugs W. at the dedication ceremony of the Smithsonian African American history museum.&nbsp;(Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)</p>

Michelle hugs W. at the dedication ceremony of the Smithsonian African American history museum. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

"As someone who doesn't do a lot of politics, the first lady has a particularly powerful voice for undecided voters and she has a particular appeal with young people," Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said during a gaggle on Hillary's plane between events. "But it's not limited to young people. And we saw in the convention, she takes the argument for why Hillary's the right person for our kids to a high moral ground that is very compelling."

Obama holds a town hall meeting with members of the military community at Fort Lee.&nbsp;(Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)</p>

Obama holds a town hall meeting with members of the military community at Fort Lee. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

-- Moreover, the first lady is not dragged down by the dramas and controversies that inherently bog down any president. Yesterday, for example, was a rough day for Barack Obama:

For the first and probably only time of his eight year presidency, Congress voted overwhelmingly to override POTUS' veto of a bill that will let the families of 9/11 victims sue Saudi Arabia.

He then faced a series of tough, pointed questions from military personnel and veterans during a town hall that aired last night on CNN. At an Army base near Richmond, they pressed him on his refusal to use the phrase "Islamic terrorism," his decision to open combat jobs up to women and the performance of the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Greg Jaffe has the blow-by-blow.)

Finally, the outgoing commander-in-chief had to make the politically difficult announcement that he is sending 600 more troops into Iraq. In 2011, he believed a big part of his legacy would be ending the war there. Now there are 5,000 U.S. troops preparing to assist an offensive to retake Mosul in the coming weeks.

Barack holds an umbrella in one hand&nbsp;and Michelle&nbsp;in another as they board Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base.&nbsp;The president arrived on Air Force One and the first lady arrived on a different plane. Then they headed back to the White House together.&nbsp;(Carolyn Kaster/AP)</p>

Barack holds an umbrella in one hand and Michelle in another as they board Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base. The president arrived on Air Force One and the first lady arrived on a different plane. Then they headed back to the White House together. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

-- Michelle, meanwhile, got to take a victory lap. She was at her best when eviscerating Donald Trump for leading the birther movement and now refusing to apologize. She holds back less than the president when addressing the conspiracy theories that he was not born in the United States. "There are those who questioned and continue to question for the past eight years whether my husband was even born in this country. And let me say: hurtful, deceitful questions deliberately designed to undermine his presidency -- questions that cannot be blamed on others or swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a press conference."

-- Just like at the convention, she never mentioned Donald by name but no one could mistake exactly whose "erratic and threatening" behavior she was talking about. "We need an adult in the White House," she said. "Experience matters. Preparation matters. Temperament matters. … The presidency is not an apprenticeship."

Then Michelle referenced the issues du jour from Monday's debate: "If a candidate thinks that not paying taxes makes you smart, or thinks that it's good business when people lose their homes; if a candidate regularly and flippantly makes cruel and insulting comments about women, about how we look, about how we act, well, sadly, that's who that candidate really is."

The crowd at Michelle&#39;s event at Lasalle University in Philadelphia included lots of women and African Americans. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)</p>

The crowd at Michelle's event at Lasalle University in Philadelphia included lots of women and African Americans. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)

-- The first lady also passionately made the case that a vote for a third-party candidate is tantamount to a vote for Trump. There is no "perfect candidate," she said. "When I hear folks say they don't feel inspired, I have to disagree. Either Hillary Clinton or her opponent will be elected president this year. And if you vote for someone other than Hillary or if you don't vote at all, you are helping to elect Hillary's opponent."

-- The Trump campaign argued in a statement that FLOTUS's swing shows Clinton is in "panic mode" about Pennsylvania. The first lady, trying to shake a sense of urgency into a mostly college-aged audience, agreed that the election is "going to be close." She noted that Barack won Pennsylvania by about 300,000 votes, but that breaks down to 17 votes per precinct.

Watch the full, 25-minute Pittsburgh speech here:

Michelle Obama's full speech in Pittsburgh

-- In some ways, Michelle is reprising the role she played in 2008 as her husband's main emissary on college campuses. Her speeches yesterday were similar – with a few newsy sections added in – to what she said two weeks ago at George Mason University in Virginia during her solo debut on the trail.

But for someone who has been so reluctant to enter the political fray, she really is going all in. Michelle's two appearances came the same day that the Clinton campaign went up with a commercial featuring her making a direct-to-camera appeal. "Our children watch everything we do," she says. "Hillary will be a president our kids can look up to."

FLOTUS has become almost ubiquitous in the home stretch of this campaign. She is on the October covers of both InStyle and Essence magazines, for instance, and she appeared on Stephen Colbert's show last week.

-- Polls show she is popular generally but especially so with constituencies critical to Clinton's victory. Two in three American adults viewed her favorably in an August Gallup poll. In a Fox News poll last month, 54 percent of women said they felt strongly favorable toward her, with an additional 13 percent saying they felt somewhat favorable. "Between Trump's string of negative comments about women — comments the Clinton campaign has documented in a series of TV ads — and his current fight with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, Michelle Obama's harsh words for the Republican nominee could take an already difficult situation for him and make it that much worse," my colleague Chris Cillizza writes.

President Obama arrives yesterday in Fort Lee, Va. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)</p>

President Obama arrives yesterday in Fort Lee, Va. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

-- What a difference two years make.

Yesterday morning, Barack Obama called into Steve Harvey's radio show to say this his "legacy is on the ballot" in November. "The notion somehow that, 'Well, you know, I'm not as inspired because Barack and Michelle, they're not on the ballot this time and, you know, maybe we kinda take it easy' — my legacy is on the ballot," POTUS said, repeating the phrase twice for maximum impact.

The Fix's Aaron Blake notes that Obama made a very similar point almost two years before to the day. "Make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot," he said during a speech. "Every single one of them." During the midterms, with his approval rating underwater and the battle for the Senate mostly playing out in red states, Republicans used the sound bite in dozens of commercials. Congressional Democrats grumbled. The media covered it as a gaffe.

Now that the main challenge is activating the base, some of the Democrats who were peeved two years ago want the president to say it more often and more loudly.

Guy Cecil was the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2014 cycle, when vulnerable incumbents ran so far away from the president that they ultimately hurt themselves with the base. It wasn't just red states like Arkansas but purple ones like North Carolina, where many African Americans stayed home.  

Cecil now runs Priorities USA, the Clinton super PAC. The group yesterday went on the air in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida with a 30-second ad built entirely around Obama's speech to the Congressional Black Caucus earlier this month, in which the president said he will "consider it a personal insult … if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election." Watch:

Votes Matter

Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost's morning newsletter.
With contributions from Elise Viebeck (@eliseviebeck).

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Chuck Schumer and John Cornyn speak to reporters in the Capitol yesterday&nbsp;(Shawn Thew/EPA)</p>

Chuck Schumer and John Cornyn speak to reporters in the Capitol yesterday (Shawn Thew/EPA)

-- Shutdown averted after a Flint compromise: Congress staved off an Oct. 1 government shutdown by passing a stopgap spending measure after House Republicans agreed to address the drinking-water crisis in Michigan. From Mike DeBonis:

  • The bill extends current government funding levels until early December, giving appropriators time to negotiate 2017 spending measures.
  • It provides year-long funding for veterans programs, $1.1 billion to address the Zika virus and $500 million in emergency flood relief for Louisiana and other states.
  • The House approved the bill in a 342-85 late-night vote, hours after senators voted 77-21 to pass the measure.
  • Lawmakers have now recessed until after the Nov. 8 election.
  • "All told, the short-term spending bill was a triumph for Democrats, who were able to exact numerous concessions from Republican leaders who were determined to avoid a distracting government shutdown in the middle of campaign season. That has prompted grumbling from House conservatives, in particular, and increased GOP pressure on Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to draw a harder line when the stopgap expires in December."
John Kerry meets with&nbsp;Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last year. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)</p>

John Kerry meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last year. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

-- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to attend the funeral for Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. Abbas made a formal request for permission to attend the funeral by sending a request to the military chief of the occupied West Bank. While Abbas has appeared at world forum alongside Israeli leaders such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an appearance by Abbas at a national event, such as a state funeral in Jerusalem, is rare.

Lilly Chapman, 8, cries after being reunited with her father&nbsp;at Oakdale Baptist Church in Townville, S.C. Students were evacuated to the church following a shooting at their elementary school. (Rainier Ehrhardt/AP)</p>

Lilly Chapman, 8, cries after being reunited with her father at Oakdale Baptist Church in Townville, S.C. Students were evacuated to the church following a shooting at their elementary school. (Rainier Ehrhardt/AP)

GET SMART FAST:​​

  1. A teenager with a handgun opened fire at an elementary school in South Carolina, not long before authorities say they found his father shot to death in a home nearby. He shot two male students and a female teacher 40 miles west of Greenville before being quickly taken into custody. One of the students was shot in the leg and the other in the foot, while the teacher was struck in the shoulder. One of the students is in critical condition. The cops said it was not racially motivated. Everyone involved was white. (Mark Berman)
  2. The Obama administration warned Russia to halt airstrikes on Aleppo, threatening to end coordinated counterterrorism talks unless Moscow suspends its operation. (Karen DeYoung)   
  3. A Dutch-led investigative team said Wednesday that the surface-to-air missile that downed a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, came from Russia and was fired from territory held by pro-Moscow separatists. Investigators stopped short of directly accusing Russia of complicity in the attack on the Boeing 777 and declined to name any suspects publicly. But the briefing was seen by Russia and the West as a virtual indictment of Moscow. (Andrew Roth in Kiev)
  4. Russian government hackers targeted journalists who investigated the plane crash, according to a new analysis, defacing personal websites and posting the personal information of reporters who probed Moscow's alleged involvement in the shoot-down. (Ellen Nakashima)
  5. The FBI said hackers have attempted more intrusions into voter registration databases since this summer, urging state officials to ramp up security against possible other attacks. (Matt Zapotosky)
  6. A federal court struck down New Hampshire's ban on taking selfies and Snapchat pictures while in the voting booth, delivering a victory to free speech advocates and millenials across the state. (Robert Barnes)
  7. Health insurance premiums for federal employees and retirees will rise an average of 6.2 percent next year. The increase corresponds roughly with the general trend for employer-sponsored health plans. (Eric Yoder)
  8. The Muslim boy who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school is now at the center of a defamation lawsuit, after his father accused Fox News, Glenn Beck, and the city's mayor, among others, of making libelous statements about the family. The complaint alleges the defendants misled the public and further fanned "the flames of fear and anger toward Muslims and immigrants." (Kristine Guerra)
  9. Protesters in El Cajon, Calif., gathered for a second night after an unarmed black man was fatally shot by police officers. Officers said the slain 38-year-old pulled out a vape smoking device from his pocket and was "acting erratically" in the moments leading up to his death. (LA Times)
  10. The South Korean attacker who slashed U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert last year at a breakfast forum has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted murder. Officials said there was "no doubt" the man – an apparent North Korean sympathizer – intended to kill Lippert, judging by the magnitude of the attack and the size of his 10-inch knife. The man previously received a two-year sentence for lobbing a piece of concrete at the Japanese ambassador. (Anna Fifield)
  11. The 22-year-old boater with Asperger's Syndrome who survived a week adrift at sea after his mother's death has become the focus of a multi-state investigation. Police are looking at the case with new eyes after it emerged that the man was also a suspect in the 2013 shooting death of his grandfather – who left a multi-million dollar estate to his four adult daughters – and made relatives so skittish they hired armed security guards to protect them in their homes. (Boston Globe)
  12. A man suspected of killing two people and kidnapping another during a two-day Texas crime spree had been deported to Mexico three times in the last ten years, the feds acknowledged. Immigration officials said 40-year-old Juan Navarro Rios was forced out of the country "multiple times" for criminal offenses before his capture this week. (Derek Hawkins)
  13. Reps. Tim Murphy and Michael Burgess helped resuscitate an unconscious, unbreathing man found on the floor of a Rayburn elevator. The Republican lawmakers performed CPR and used a defibrillator. (Politico)
  14. Tyson announced a 130,000-pound chicken nugget recall after customers began finding pieces of plastic in their food. Officials said the foreign objects likely came from a piece of broken machinery in their processing plant. But still, ick. (Eater)
  15. Montreal banned pitbulls, seeking to wipe out the "dangerous breed" after a 55-year-old woman was mauled to death in June. (Ben Guarino)
  16. A South African marine park is desperately searching for an endangered African penguin named Buddy, after two men stole him from his enclosure and released him into the Indian Ocean. Park officials says the bird, who was raised in captivity, is likely doomed unless he can be found in the next two weeks. (Cleve R. Wootson Jr.)
Gary Johnson's 'brain freeze' moments

GARY JOHNSON IS STILL NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME:

-- The Detroit News endorses Johnson in today's edition, backing a non-Republican candidate for the first time in its 143-year history. "We recognize the Libertarian candidate is the longest of long shots with an electorate that has been conditioned to believe only Republicans and Democrats can win major offices," the Editorial Board wrote. "But this is an endorsement of conscience, reflecting our confidence that Johnson would be a competent and capable president and an honorable one."

-- About the time their editorial posted, Johnson had what he called another "Aleppo moment" during an MSNBC town hall with Chris Matthews. He was asked to name his favorite foreign leader – and could not come up with a single name. "I guess I'm having an Aleppo moment," the former New Mexico governor apologized sheepishly. "In the whole world!" Matthews replied, listing off countries to jog his memory. "Anybody in the world!" After a painful 50-second exchange, Johnson picked former Mexican president Vicente Fox (though he couldn't remember Fox's name), the center-right leader who has made headlines this year for being one of Trump's most vocal detractors. His running-mate, William Weld, said Angela Merkel. It was cringe-worthy. (David Weigel)

POLLING ROUNDUP:

-- An NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll finds that 52 percent of Americans thought Clinton won the debate, 21 percent thought Trump won and 26 percent thought neither of them prevailed. Clinton's performance strengthened her image among supporters – 50 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters said they now think better of her.

-- Monmouth University reports that 7 percent of voters have ended friendships over this year's divisive campaign and 70 percent agree that the election is "bringing out the worst" in people.

Trump speaks at a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, last night.&nbsp;(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)</p>

Trump speaks at a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, last night. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

THE DAILY DONALD:

-- George F. Will, in a must-read column, explains why Trump's rise reflects "the decay of American conservatism": "Urban without a trace of urbanity, Trump has surrounded himself with star-struck acolytes (Mike Pence marvels at Trump's anatomical — 'broad-shouldered' — foreign policy) and hysterics (Rudy Giuliani: 'There is no next election! This is it!'). When Ferdinand VII regained Spain's throne in 1813, he vowed to end 'the disastrous mania of thinking.' Trump is America's Ferdinand. [And] the ease with which Trump has erased Republican conservatism matches the speed with which Republican leaders have normalized him. The beginning of conservative wisdom is recognition that there is an end to everything: Nothing lasts. If Trump wins, the GOP ends as a vehicle for conservatism. And a political idea without a political party is an orphan in an indifferent world."

-- Trump's "senior policy adviser" Sam Clovis said during a radio interview that voters don't care about policy and that providing them with substance would bore them "to tears." "Our approach has been to provide outlook and constructs for policy because if we go into the specific details, we just get murdered in the press. What we're dealing with [is] we're chasing minutia around," Clovis said on the Alan Colmes Show. He made clear they will never discuss specifics: "I think the American people, the American voter, will be bored to tears if that is in fact the way this thing goes. That's not what they're looking for. They're not, and we outta know better by now." (Buzzfeed)

-- Trump's "senior economic adviser" said separately that voters don't care about his unreleased tax returns and that they would think it was "smart" if he managed to shirk all federal income taxes. "Most people do not care about Mr. Trump's tax returns," Curtis Ellis said on the John Fredericks Show. "The only tax return they care about is the one they are forced and required to file on April 15, and they would rather not think about that." He continued, "If Mr. Trump did not pay any taxes one year — as Hillary Clinton tried to plant that as a fact when it was speculation — he was right. If he didn't, most people would think he's a smart guy. He knows how to get around the system because the government's only going to waste his tax dollars anyway, so I'd rather he spend that money making the casino nicer [than] giving it to these jerks." (Buzzfeed)

Donald reacts when Hillary attacks during Monday&#39;s debate. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)</p>

Donald reacts when Hillary attacks during Monday's debate. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)


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-- Inside Trump's totally dysfunctional debate prep, per the New York Times' Patrick Healy, Ashley Parker and Maggie Haberman: "There were nearly a dozen people preparing Mr. Trump, including the retired Army generals Michael Flynn and Keith Kellogg, neither of whom has experience in presidential debates. There were early efforts to run a more standard form of general election debate-prep camp, led by Roger Ailes, the ousted Fox News chief, at Mr. Trump's golf course in Bedminster, N.J. But Mr. Trump found it hard to focus during those meetings, according to multiple people … That left Mr. Ailes, who at the time was deeply distracted by his removal from Fox and the news media reports surrounding it, discussing his own problems as well as recounting political war stories, according to two people present for the sessions. The team had primed Mr. Trump to look for roughly a dozen key phrases and expressions Mrs. Clinton uses when she is uncertain or uncomfortable, but he did not seem to pay attention during the practice sessions, one aide said, and failed to home in on her vulnerabilities during the debate."

-- Donald is angry at allies who have conceded that he lost. From CNN's Gloria Borger, Dana Bash and Eric Bradner: "In a conference call with surrogates Wednesday afternoon, Trump aides made clear the Republican nominee is upset that his allies publicly acknowledged they pushed him to change his preparation and tactics before his next bout with Hillary Clinton. And he wants them to stop it immediately. The message was 'not subtle,' a source familiar with the call said. When Trump was told Tuesday that he should do some things differently, he responded that his approach is what his base likes. Another challenge: There are a large number of voices -- sometimes disparate -- in Trump's orbit. Two advisers said that played a big role in what they saw as Trump's lack of a laser focus on the debate and his belief beforehand that he didn't need to rely on traditional prep. Trump gravitated toward those who played to his instincts."

-- More excuses: Newt Gingrich pushed a rumor (with no evidence) that Clinton received the debate questions ahead of time, doubling down on claims of moderator bias against Trump. "This was the Holt-Clinton vs Trump debate, and you have to see it as tag-team," Gingrich told Sean Hannity last night. "And there are rumors that Hillary was actually given the questions in advance. I don't know if it's true but it would not shock me because they all operate in the same circle. They go to the same cocktail parties, they all know each other, her operatives and the news media producers on the left are all close friends, and this whole thing is a setup."

Trump: 'Google search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton'

-- Another new grievance: Trump now accuses Google of tweaking its algorithm to conceal "bad news" about his opponent.

Trump jokes about whether to keep non-Christian conservatives inside rally venue

-- Trump also singled out people who were not Christian conservatives at a campaign rally in Iowa, asking the audience, "should we keep them in the room?" The comment, which Trump made in jest, came as Trump was applauding activists for supporting him. "We have our Christian Conservatives for Trump today, and they're in the room. Let's go. That's what we want. That's beautiful," Trump said, holding up a sign a pro-Trump group uses. He then asked rallygoers to raise their hands if they were Christian conservatives — before asking non-Christian conservatives to do so as well, and a few raised their hands. "Raise your hand, Christian conservatives, everybody. Raise your hand if you're not a Christian conservative. I want to see this, right. Oh, there's a couple people, that's all right," Trump said smiling, waving his hand in the air. "I think we'll keep them. Should we keep them in the room? Yes? I think so." (Jose A. DelReal)

-- Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) joked that Trump would put him in Gitmo for refusing to endorse him if he wins. The Mormon also rebuked Trump for getting into a war of words with Machado. "That's Trump being Trump," he told CNN's Manu Raju. "That's what so frustrating to have a Republican candidate whom you hope can challenge the philosophy of the Democratic candidate or their record. Instead, he's going down rabbit holes -- talking about beauty pageants. It's not surprising, he's done that all along." Flake said he's not surprised the Arizona Republic endorsed Clinton, the first time the paper's editorial board has ever backed a Democrat for president. "I don't blame them for not endorsing Donald Trump. For all the reasons I talked about before," he said. "It's tough for anyone who really thinks about what Donald Trump will do long term to the party." He reiterated that he will not vote for Clinton: "I can always write somebody in, but I can't vote for Donald Trump."

-- Trump also attacked Clinton for saying during the debate that "implicit bias is a problem for everyone." "First she calls our supporters — many of them cops, soldiers, firefighters — deplorable and irredeemable," Trump said, using two teleprompters for assistance.  "Then in our debate this week, she accuses the entire country — including all of law enforcement — of implicit bias, essentially suggesting that everyone, including our police, are basically racist and prejudiced. You heard that. And I'm standing there in front of this massive crowd of people ... And I said to myself: 'Did she really say that?' She said it. It's a bad thing she said." As Trump spoke, the crowd repeatedly booed Clinton and some shouted: "Lock her up! Lock her up!" (Jenna Johnson)

-- He's not as rich as he says. A new Forbes investigation into Trump's wealth pegs his fortune at $3.7 billion -- down $800 million from last year. From Jennifer Wang: "A softening of New York City's real estate market, particularly in retail and office, where valuations are trending down, has diminished his estimated net worth. New information was also a factor. Of the 28 assets or asset classes scrutinized … 18 declined in value, including his trademark Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, his downtown jewel 40 Wall Street and Mar-a-Lago, his private beachfront club in Palm Beach." (Read more.)

-- A music store owner who was stiffed by Trump on a $100,000 piano contract recounts his experience in a Post op-ed: "I was thrilled to get a $100,000 contract from Trump," J. Michael Diehl writes. "It was one of the biggest sales I'd ever made. I asked my lawyer if I should ask for payment upfront, and he laughed. 'It's [Trump]!' he told me. 'He's got lots of money.' But when I requested payment, the Trump corporation hemmed and hawed. After a couple of months, I got a letter telling me that the casino was short on funds. They would pay 70 percent of what they owed me. There was no negotiating. I didn't know what to do — I couldn't afford to sue the Trump corporation, and I needed money to pay my piano suppliers. Losing $30,000 was a big hit to me and my family. The profit from Trump was meant to be a big part of my salary for the year. [And] I had fewer pianos in the showroom and a smaller advertising budget. Because of Trump, my store stagnated for a couple of years. It made me feel really bad, like I'd been taken advantage of. I was embarrassed."

-- Who paid for Trump's Mexican helicopter ride? From Time's Zeke J. Miller: "A couple days after the trip to Mexico City, his campaign posted a video on YouTube showing his arrival at Los Pinos, the official residence and office of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. The video shows Trump step from a gleaming white Mexican Air Force helicopter that transported him from the Mexico City airport on Aug. 31. The details of who paid for the helicopter trip, however, remain shrouded in mystery, raising concerns in the capitals of Mexico and the United States. The Trump campaign's August filing with the [FEC] includes no listed reimbursement to the Mexican government for the use of the helicopter, nor any other associated costs of the trip. … The office of Peña Nieto also declined any comment on the cost of the helicopter flight, and whether there was a reimbursement." Campaign finance experts say U.S. election law likely prohibits the Mexican government from picking up the tab of Trump's helicopter flight.

Alicia Machado appears with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (AP/Lannis Waters)</p>

Alicia Machado appears with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (AP/Lannis Waters)

TRUMP'S PROBLEM WITH WOMEN KEEPS GETTING WORSE:

-- Donald struggled to move beyond the controversy surrounding his treatment of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, whose weight gain he publicly disparaged. He said yesterday that he actually "saved her job." From Jose DelReal: "I saved her job because they wanted to fire her for putting on so much weight," Trump told Bill O'Reilly. "And it is a beauty contest, you know. I mean, say what you want, they know what they're getting into. It's a beauty contest. And I said don't do that." He repeated the claim several times throughout the day, bemoaning that he was now being criticized for his remarks. "They wanted to fire her. I saved her job because I said that's going to be ruinous. And I've done that with a number of the other young ladies, where I've saved their job," he said. "And you know what happened? Look what I get out of it. I get nothing."

-- The Machado story continues to buzz online. While much of the chatter focused on whether or not Trump has paid federal taxes, our analytics partners at Zignal Labs report that one in ten of all Trump stories and tweets yesterday mentioned the former Miss Universe:

But what was being said about Machado depended on the the side of the political fence, or wall, from which it was coming. Right-wing sites went after the beauty queen, while women's sites and magazines rallied to her defense. This word cloud shows the range of conversation:

-- Bigger picture, this donnybrook underscores a larger issue: Trump just can't stop himself from talking about "fat poeple." From Katie Zezima and Jose A. DelReal:  "He has a serious weight problem: He can't seem to stop criticizing the girth of others. For decades, Trump has commented on other people's bodies, particularly women who he believes had gained too much weight or were, in his word, 'fat.' Trump called actress Rosie O'Donnell a 'fat pig' … He said singer Jennifer Lopez has a 'fat a—' and said reality television star Kim Kardashian had 'gotten a little large' during her pregnancy. He kept a 'fat photo' of one employee whose weight fluctuated in a drawer … [But] Trump's obsession with weight carries some irony for a candidate who boasts about his unhealthy eating habits, dining regularly on McDonald's hamburgers and buckets of KFC fried chicken on his private jet. By his own public accounting of his medical health, Trump is just five pounds shy of being considered obese under the body mass index. 'I work out on occasion … as little as possible,' Trump said at a 1997 news conference during which he mocked the weight of reporters."

-- Trump had owned the Miss Universe franchise for just months when he slammed Machado for gaining too much weight. But the episode marked only the first of many such scandals, small and large, to blow up during Trump's 19 years at the helm. From Caitlin Gibson: "Trump's reactions varied dramatically, but he rarely hesitated to put himself at the center of the action, seeming to relish a role as a moral arbiter, issuing emphatic public statements and, sometimes, final judgments. He sent one Miss USA to rehab in the middle of her reign. He fired a Miss Universe for missing too many events. A handful of lower-level contestants drew public scoldings from him; others received his benevolent public defense. None of their perceived crimes or misdemeanors had ever really posed much of a threat to the reputation of these pageants … But their sagas invariably drew ample media attention, bringing a dusty old format into the reality TV age — and offering an unusually tabloid-friendly venue for Trump to cement his tough-talking businessman image even before his reality show 'The Apprentice' debuted."

-- The backstory of Trump's weird feud with Rosie O'Donnell dates back to a monologue she delivered that got under his skin. From the New York Times' Liam Stack: "O'Donnell mocked his haircut, tousling her hair to mimic a comb-over, and put on a cartoonish Queens accent. She criticized his many bankruptcies and his record of not paying contractors … She said he was like a snake-oil salesman. Soon some of the other co-hosts joined in, to the laughter and applause of the studio audience. He threatened to sue. He unleashed a verbal fusillade on 'Entertainment Tonight,' calling Ms. O'Donnell 'disgusting' and 'a slob' with 'a fat, ugly face.' He said he wanted to take her to court so he could 'take some money out of her fat-ass pockets' and wondered aloud why anyone would choose to be in a romantic relationship with her. 'We're all a little chubby, but Rosie is just worse than most of us,' he said. 'But it's not the chubbiness. Rosie is a very unattractive person, both inside and out.'"

"In 2014, Ms. O'Donnell told People magazine that his attacks were probably the worst bullying she had experienced. 'It was national, and it was sanctioned societally. Whether I deserved it is up to your own interpretation,' she said. Mr. Trump did not let that interview pass by unremarked. Soon after, he tweeted at her, '@Rosie—No offense, and good luck on the new show, but remember, you started it!'"

Eric Trump&nbsp;pops his head into a bus of reporters. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)</p>

Eric Trump pops his head into a bus of reporters. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

-- In the spin room after Monday night's debate, Trump patted himself on the back for not bringing up Bill Clinton's infidelity. But his surrogates have no problem doing it for him. From Jenna Johnson: "Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of Trump's closest advisers, said Hillary Clinton is 'too stupid' to be president because she appeared to not know her husband was unfaithful to her. David Bossie, Trump's deputy campaign manager, accused Clinton of being an 'enabler.' And Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R) questioned Hillary Clinton's treatment of women' involved with her husband. Meanwhile, Trump's son Eric Trump said Tuesday that it 'took a lot of courage in so many regards' for his dad to 'restrain himself' and not 'take the bait' when Clinton accused him of 'sexism' in the final minutes of the debate."

If Eric Trump thinks that is "courage," he must not know many men and women in uniform...

-- "Trump has advocated policies that are confused or senseless … yet these don't get him into deep political trouble," NYT's Nicholas Kristof observes. "Instead, his vulnerability seems to be something more elemental: He's a jerk. Something about Trump is paradigmatic of the most atrocious kind of seventh-grade boy: The boasts about not doing homework, the habit of blaming others when things go wrong, the penchant for exaggerating everything into the best ever, the braggadocio to mask insecurity about size of hands or genitals, the biting put-downs of others, the laziness, the self-absorption … Yet if Trump's Achilles' heel proves to be not his oafish policies but rather his churlish manner, so be it. There are important policy reasons to reel at the thought of Trump in the White House, but voters perhaps flinch even more at his personal conduct: We already run into enough jerks in daily life, so why would we want one as our head of state?"

Clinton campaigns with Sanders&nbsp;at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)</p>

Clinton campaigns with Sanders at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

THE DAILY HILLARY:

-- Good read on why she stayed with Bill --> "Enabler or family defender? How Hillary Clinton responded to husband's accusers," by Shawn Boburg: "Hillary Rodham moved to Arkansas in 1974, and [longtime Arkansas friend Jim] Blair said rumors of Bill's womanizing were not a dealbreaker for Hillary before she agreed to marry him in 1975. 'She knew he liked attention, and he liked attention from anyone,' Blair said. 'From the barber, the shoeshine boy, the homeless man. It didn't matter.' Bill Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978 and served as attitudes were shifting about the relevance of politicians' sex lives. Not long after, Bill Clinton's then-chief of staff Betsey Wright confronted him and told him to come clean with his wife … In her treatment of the [subsequent] accusers, Trump has called Clinton an enabler. Her friends say it's much more benign. 'I think she felt that she had committed her life to this guy,' Blair said. 'They can debate politics from breakfast until bedtime and never get tired of it. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She loved him. It's as simple as that.'"

-- James Comey rejected the idea the FBI would reopen its probe into Clinton's private email server, shooting down a last-ditch effort by GOP House Judiciary Committee members. "We are honest people and ... whether or not you agree with the result, this was done the way you want it to be done," the director said. (Matt Zapotosky)

-- A spokeswoman for Chelsea Clinton apologized after the former first daughter said marijuana could have possibly deadly interactions with other drugs, prompting outrage from advocates for decriminalizing the drug. "We also have anecdotal evidence now from Colorado, where some of the people who were taking marijuana for those purposes, the coroner believes, after they died, there was drug interactions with other things they were taking," Clinton told audience members at a Youngstown State town hall. A spokeswoman said she "misspoke." (Christopher Ingraham)

-- AOL founder Steve Case became the latest billionaire to endorse Clinton, praising her in a Post op-ed as someone who "represents the best choice for the United States — and our best hope to remain the most innovative and entrepreneurial nation in the world." "I am well aware that millions of people are angry about their prospects and fearful that the forces of globalization and digitization have left them behind," he acknowledged. "I also recognize many are frustrated by politics and feel we need an outsider to shake things up … But I don't think Trump is the answer."

THE BATTLEGROUNDS:

-- Los Angeles Times, "Trump could not be a worse political fit" for Colorado, by Mark Z. Barabak: "Colorado, with its recent history of swinging between parties, was expected to be one of the main battlegrounds this presidential election, its sprawling Denver suburbs the front line of door-to-door political combat. Instead, the intersection of mountain and plains has become something of an afterthought. Few states have undergone as rapid a political transformation than Colorado, which as recently as 2004 was written off by Democrats who saw no point competing for its nine electoral votes." Since then, Obama has won Colorado twice and it is Republicans who must make the case for Trump to fight on. The rising influence of Latino voters accounts for part of the change. More significant has been the state's rapid population growth. "The result has been horrendous traffic, a super-heated Denver housing market and a moderation of the state's traditional Western conservatism as the state absorbs a flood of younger, more left-leaning transplants. In many ways, Colorado could not be a worse political fit for Trump."

-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "With clock ticking, Kasim Reed urges Clinton campaign to pony up in Georgia," by Greg Bluestein: "With polls showing [Trump] widening his lead in Georgia, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has a plea for [Clinton's] campaign: Show us the money. In an interview … he said that the Clinton campaign's six-figure investment in Georgia won't be nearly enough to turn Georgia blue. And he said the state is closer to flipping than North Carolina, where Clinton and her daughter Chelsea are visiting three times this week. Reed has long called for Clinton's campaign to pour millions into Georgia. But with the election in six weeks – and a major campaign decision slated for as early as Wednesday – Hizzoner's plea takes on a special urgency." "I see my role as being an advocate for my state," Reed said. "Georgia is going purple. It's just which cycle? It's why I'm hopeful we can get the resources that we need." On the funding required to put the state in play, he said "Democrats can't win Georgia without spending more than a million dollars."

-- Trump really is getting smoked on newspaper endorsements. Philip Bump and Cal Borchers looked through archives to figure out when the last time several conservative, anti-Trump editorial boards backed a Democrat: "The main trend worth noting is that seven of the nine newspapers listed here endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012; six of them backed John McCain in 2008. None are backing Trump this year. In five cases, the newspapers had endorsed the Republican candidate going back to at least Richard Nixon. ... There are some interesting exceptions. In 1968, the Republic couldn't decide between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon, so it didn't endorse anyone. In 1964, the Dallas Morning News was undecided between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater." 

-- Massachusetts is a prime example of how bad things can get for Republicans, EJ Dionne writes in his column. "The state was at the forefront of a long-term trend: the steady movement of moderate suburbanites, particularly in the Northeast, away from the Republican Party. For many of them, Barry Goldwater's right-wing candidacy in 1964 sealed the deal." Take the town of Lexington: in 1956, Eisenhower won 76 percent of the vote. In 1960, it resisted JFK; Nixon won it with 57 percent. But in 1964, Goldwater received just 31 percent. "He was simply too extreme for sober, old-fashioned Republicans. Politically, Massachusetts has never been the same since. Trump is not yet in Goldwater territory, and he might never get there. But unless the Donald of the first debate gives way to a completely different version, he threatens to create another GOP suburban catastrophe pretty much everywhere outside the Deep South. If Trump doesn't adjust, many of the party's enablers will soon have to realize that their best survival strategy is to run as far away from him as possible."

Ted Cruz heads into a classified briefing on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</p>

Ted Cruz heads into a classified briefing on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

-- "Ted Cruz wants to be a senator again," Paul Kane reports. "The Texas Republican, four months after withdrawing from the Republican presidential primary, has spent the past few weeks with his head down going about his work -- relatively quietly, at least, by the standard he set in his first three years in the Senate. He's trying to round up support for an Internet freedom bill, deferring to colleagues at press conferences and shepherding bipartisan legislation to help his hometown of Houston's space industry. He's even hosting fundraisers next week for Republican colleagues who publicly derided his penchant for picking what they thought were losing fights with [Obama]. Having spent most of 2015 and 2016 on the trail, Cruz is finally tasting the Senate majority and fears what Democrats would do if they reclaim control post-November. 'I think early on Ted was more interested in standing out, exclusively,' said Sen. Lindsey Graham. 'Now … he also likes the fact that he can collaborate and be helpful.'"

Mortuary workers in Manila&nbsp;carry the body of a summary execution victim on a stretcher last week.&nbsp;President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed more profanity as he lashed out against the European Union and foreign critics of his bloody war on illegal drugs while removing critics from the Senate who opposed the killings. The death toll from the Philippines&#39; war on drugs initiated by Duterte has climbed to over 3,500, including Maria Aurora Moynihan, the daughter of a British Baron, which has become one of the highest profile victims since Duterte took office in June. (Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)</p>

Mortuary workers in Manila carry the body of a summary execution victim on a stretcher last week. President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed more profanity as he lashed out against the European Union and foreign critics of his bloody war on illegal drugs while removing critics from the Senate who opposed the killings. The death toll from the Philippines' war on drugs initiated by Duterte has climbed to over 3,500, including Maria Aurora Moynihan, the daughter of a British Baron, which has become one of the highest profile victims since Duterte took office in June. (Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)

WAPO HIGHLIGHTS:

-- "Before Duterte was the Philippines' president, he was 'the Death Squad mayor,'" by Emily Rauhala: "Since taking power in Manila, [Rodrigo] Duterte has made international headlines for all the wrong reasons. His call to 'kill all' the country's criminals has unleashed an extraordinary wave of violence, with police fatally shooting more than a thousand suspects, and plainclothes assassins dumping an even greater number of bodies on the streets. When President Obama raised the issue, Duterte lectured him about U.S. colonialism and used a slang term that translates, roughly, as 'son of whore.' When a longtime Duterte critic, Sen. Leila de Lima, opened a Senate investigation on extrajudicial killing, he publicly urged her to hang herself. When she presented a witness who claimed that he killed for Duterte … once feeding a man to a crocodile, she was ousted from her role as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights. [And] as the political class falls in line, the cost of crossing him grows. 'The truth is, I'm not safe,' she said."

-- "Darkness and fear in Aleppo as the bombs rain down," by Liz Sly and Louisa Loveluck: "The bombings at night are the worst. There is no electricity in the rebel-held portion of eastern Aleppo, and the warplanes flying overhead target any light piercing the blackness beneath. Entire families sleep in one room, because they prefer to die together than to create orphans, widows or bereaved parents. Such is the tenor of life in rebel-held Aleppo, which had become accustomed to regular airstrikes in the four years … but nothing like the intensity of the past week.  At least 1,700 bombs struck eastern Aleppo in the first week after the cease-fire's collapse, according to the White Helmets civil defense group … Still, they keep raining down, with new bunker-buster bombs designed to be used against military installations blasting apartment buildings that house families. Shaban, who is 33 … spends the evenings sitting in the dark with his new wife, listening to the bombs. They talk about their fears.  She is afraid of becoming pregnant, he said, and of bringing a child into the world in which they live."

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

The New Yorker's new cover:

The official account for the Republican Party of Florida tweeted out a link to a bogus story on InfoWars, a fringe web site best known for its insistence that 9/11 was an inside job. It's still up as of this morning. Clearly Jeb Bush and Co. are not at the wheel any more... 

The picture with Donald Trump Jr.'s now-infamous "Skittles tweet" has been removed. David Kittos, the British-based photographer who took the photo and who also left Cyprus as a refugee when he was 6 years old, has filed a copyright claim over the tweet. 

(<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/09/27/skittles-photo-gets-taken-down-from-donald-trump-jr-s-tweet/">Screengrab by Hayley Tsukayama</a>)</p>

(Screengrab by Hayley Tsukayama)

"We have the smartest people," Trump said repeatedly yesterday.

A scene from Trump's Iowa rally:


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Meanwhile, Ted Cruz -- in tuxedo -- appeared with Reince Priebus and other GOP heavies at the American Enterprise Institute annual gala:

Newt Gingrich carried water for Trump in his continuing attacks on a former Miss Universe:

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) suggested that Trump be forced to weigh in publicly so he too could be fat-shamed:

Dana Perino doesn't think the discussion is helpful:

There's also this:

Meanwhile, over in Clinton world, Juanita Broaddrick had quite a tweetstorm, calling Bill Clinton "probably" a sexual predator:

A day-in-the-life of a campaign reporter:

Breitbart, which is run by the CEO of Trump's campaign, is lashing out in a deeply personal way against our colleague Anne Applebaum. The site called her a "Polish, Jewish, American elitist":

Here's an odd photo post from Cheri Bustos -- that's got to be Debbie Dingell:

Did you celebrate National #DrinkaBeer Day?

Marilyn Mosby, before the fall&nbsp;(Reuters/Adrees Latif)</p>

Marilyn Mosby, before the fall (Reuters/Adrees Latif)

GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:

-- New York Times, "Baltimore vs. Marilyn Mosby," by Wil S. Hylton:  Over the last year and a half, the halo around Baltimore's state attorney Marilyn Mosby has faded as her office failed to convict any of the police officers charged in Freddie Gray's 2015 death. "She is now being sued for defamation by five of the officers she indicted and has become a go-to grievance for the voluble right, being subject to more or less constant assault on the conservative airwaves, accused of criminal misconduct by [Trump] and featured on the cover of the police magazine Frontline under the headline 'The Wolf That Lurks' … Still, in the case of Freddie Gray, the uncomfortable truth remains that if, like Mosby, you believe that a man was killed by police negligence, you must also accept that the officers accused of killing him went free. The question that lingers around Mosby, then, is really one of shading: whether the failure to convict was a result of her own mistakes or of the larger forces arrayed against her. Whether, that is, the fatal error was personal or systemic, whether it was pride or destiny that stopped her, whether the tragedy is Shakespearean or Greek …"

-- Buzzfeed, "The Plan To Save Capitalism From Donald Trump," by Ben Smith: "At a private gathering of wealthy Republicans this June, a banker named Edward Conard made a radical proposal: To save capitalism from [Trump], American business leaders would need to abandon old allies and make an 'odious' new deal with low-wage workers. His solution was — to the audience — hair-raisingly radical in its simplicity. It was a kind of roadmap for one future of the Republican Party, assuming the party (or at least the Wall Street wing of it) survives Trump. His plan requires replacing the religious right in the Republican coalition with the new populists, and mollifying them with new restrictions on trade and immigration — all in exchange for the holy grail of lower marginal tax rates. Conard argued that capitalism needs new allies, and the new demographic would have to be the working class white voters leading the populist takeover of his party, a condition viewed in Utah with the pain and forbearance with which you talk about a close relative who has cancer. Conard called the disease 'Trumpism.'"

-- Politico, "Bill Clinton's unfinished business in Israel," by Michael Crowley: "In January 2003, Bill Clinton attended the 80th birthday of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, his friend and partner in pursuit of Middle East peace during the 1990s. Onstage at a gala celebration in Israel, a twinkly-eyed Clinton sang along with a teenage pop star to John Lennon's homage to world peace, 'Imagine.' In the closing months of his presidency, Clinton came closer than any other president to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Associates say he has long been haunted by his inability to finish a process that Peres helped to start in the early 1990s, one that led Clinton to pronounce himself 'a failure.' Moreover, many believe that Clinton hasn't given up his idealistic dream for peace, despite a growing global consensus that the peace broken is broken—perhaps beyond repair. Some even assume that Clinton … has thought about throwing another harpoon at his elusive white whale should his wife become the next president …"

-- Bloomberg, "The Computer Voting Revolution Is Already Crappy, Buggy, and Obsolete," by Michael Riley, Jordan Robertson, and David Kocieniewski: "For the members of Congress, who in 2002 provided almost $4 billion to modernize voting technology … this probably wasn't the result they had in mind. But voting by computer has been a technological answer in search of a problem. Those World War II-era pull-lever voting machines may not have been the most elegant of contraptions, but they were easy to use and didn't crash." Georgia, which in 2002 set out to be an early national model for computerized voting, shows the unintended consequences: it spent $54 million to buy 20,000 touchscreen voting machines – and today, the machines are past their expected life span of 10 years. "After California declared almost all of the electronic voting machines in the state unfit for use … San Diego County put its decertified machines in storage. It has been paying the bill to warehouse them ever since: No one wants to buy them, and county rules prohibit throwing millions of dollars' worth of machines in the trash bin."

"[Now], the muddle is about to collide head-on with one of the most incendiary presidential campaigns in modern U.S. history. The real threat isn't a thrown election. Rather, the risk is a violation of trust: that Election Day mishaps borne of outdated, poorly engineered technology will confirm and amplify the fear pervading this campaign."

HOT ON THE LEFT:

"Denmark's Right Wing Peddles Anti-Immigrant Spray," from The Daily Beast: "There has never been any question about how some Danes really feel when it comes to refugees and migrants. After all, Denmark is a country where the parliament actually voted to seize certain high-value items from them to help offset the costs of their housing and health care. Now some Danes have taken things a step further by handing out a special pepper spray that is meant to keep refugees away. The refugee-repellent product, Asyl Spray (presumably playing on the word asylum), was distributed in the southeast port city of Haderslev last weekend by the right-wing Danskernes Parti political group. The purse-size spray can features the promise to 'repel refugees' in a 'legal' and 'effective' way."

 

HOT ON THE RIGHT

"Is Trump Private Prison Companies' Last Hope?," from the Daily Beast: "[Trump's] regressive law enforcement views may be the last best hope for private prison companies. And given the past five weeks, they could use a lifeline. Their stock prices have been brutalized. A host of law firms have started putting together class action lawsuits against them … And one company even announced layoffs. That's why Trump could be their saving grace. While [Clinton] is making opposition to private prison companies a campaign issue, the Republican nominee has praised prison privatization. And he has been loath to criticize anyone or anything associated with the American criminal justice system, instead making tough-on-crime rhetoric a key part of his brand. So a Trump victory could be a much-needed lifeline for the industry—while a Clinton win could cripple the businesses that contract with the feds to house prisoners."

DAYBOOK:

On the campaign trail: Trump campaigns in Bedford, N.H.; Pence is in York, Pa. Clinton campaigns in Des Moines, Iowa.

At the White House: Obama and Biden attend a visit of the U.S. Olympic and Paralymic teams in the East Room. Later, Biden tapes an interivew with Jimmy Fallon and speaks at a DSCC event. Obama departs Washington for Jerusalem.

On Capitol Hill: The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to consider the Gold Star Families Voices Act.

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

-- Yet another day of storms ahead! The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: "Waves of heavy rain and the rumble of thunder are likely to persist through the day. Areas of flooding are certainly possible although it's difficult to pinpoint where and when. In between bouts of rain, some dry intervals and brightening skies are possible. Day time rain amounts of 1-3 inches are likely with locally higher and lower amounts."

-- The Nationals lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0.

-- Alarming: Metro police are investigating a kidnapping incident after a woman was nabbed while waiting for her bus to arrive in Petworth. The perpetrators forced the woman to take them to her Hyattsville apartment, where they proceeded to steal valuables and cash. (Faiz Siddiqui)

-- "'Poster child for bigotry': Howard County Sheriff is accused of racism in a county renowned for tolerance," by Michael E. Miller: "When Money Magazine named Columbia, Md., the 'best place to live' in America earlier this month, it splashed a glossy photo of a smiling local black family on its cover. 'Why we love it,' the publication gushed: 'A planned community that prizes economic and social diversity.' Before the issue could even hit newsstands, however, another report threatened to paint a very different picture of the place. Black sheriff's deputies 'are not too smart, but they get the job done.' 'There's no watermelon there for you!' 'Are you getting the chicken special?' These are a few of the "negative comments, gestures, and/or derogatory epithets against African-Americans' allegedly made by Howard County Sheriff James F. Fitzgerald, according to a [county investigation] .... The report also detailed sexist and anti-Semitic remarks by Fitzgerald, who allegedly referred to former county executive Ken Ulman (D) as 'little Kenny Jew-boy.' The report has shaken a community renowned for its racial tolerance and inclusivity."

-- "Tampon tax" activists testified before the D.C. Council yesterday, urging members to phase out a sales tax on diapers, tampons and pads across the city. Some speakers argued that taxes on feminine hygiene products were like a "tax for being a woman," saying that jurisdictions should not classify them as "luxury goods." The push comes after three states – Illinois, Connecticut and New York – repealed tampon taxes earlier this year. (Fenit Nirappil)

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

The Daily Show took a fun look at what it is like to be a fact checker this election cycle, featuring our colleague Glenn Kessler -- watch the segment here.

Starting this weekend, Alec Baldwin will play the role of Trump on "Saturday Night Live." Here's a teaser from NBC: 

This will be quite an event to watch -- Clinton and Mary J. Blige:

Trump has a long history of over promising and under delivering. Here's a video with nine of the things that Donald has promised to do on his first day in office:

9 things Trump says he'd do on his first day as president

The Clinton campaign is out with a new video of all the things Trump "did not say" from the debate:

Never said that | The Briefing

Seth Meyers pretended to moderate a presidential debate:

Late Night 2016 Presidential Debate - Late Night with Seth Meyers

On Conan O'Brien, Sharon Osbourne talked about Trump:

Sharon Osbourne: Trump Doesn't Really Want To Be President - CONAN on TBS

Obama explained why he won't say "radical Islamic terrorism":

This archived footage shows Trump with Alicia Machado during her reign as Miss Universe:

Archive video shows Trump with Machado during Miss Universe reign

More brain freeze moments from the not-ready-for-primetime Gary Johnson:

Gary Johnson's 'brain freeze' moments

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) hung out with his fellow GOP freshmen:

Tim Tebow made his baseball debut as a New York Mets prospect – and hit a home run on his very first at bar. Also on display was the Heisman winner-turned-instructional-league player's trademark humility: "I'm just getting a little bit better every day," he said afterwards. (Cindy Boren)

Finally, check out this hilarious moment from a Yankees game:

   

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