| | | | Debate night: Trump, Clinton set for final bout | | Donald Trump heads Wednesday into his final debate clash with Hillary Clinton needing to launch a dramatic comeback after slumping into his worst position of the general election campaign. CNN's Stephen Collinson raises the curtain on the third presidential debate tonight at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, which starts at 9 p.m. ET.
How tonight will work: Unlike the first two debates, the candidates will be sitting down throughout the debate at UNLV. Clinton will get the first question. Moderating is Fox News' Chris Wallace -- the right-leaning network's "moderate" moderator, as Politico's Hadas Gold puts it.
How Clinton spent her day: She met with top aides at their hotel on the Las Vegas Strip for some last-minute prep -- her fifth day preparing for tonight's bout. With her was a debate team that includes campaign chairman John Podesta, longtime aide Huma Abedin, top foreign policy aide Jake Sullivan, Trump stand-in Philippe Reines and debate prep outside advisers Karen Dunn and Ron Klain.
What Clinton is thinking: Stay out of the mud. That is one of her central goals at the final debate with Donald Trump, campaign advisers tell CNN's Jeff Zeleny, even if it means passing up opportunities to defend herself or to respond to some accusations or charges. It's an attempt to use one of her last opportunities to remove the sour taste in the mouths of many voters who dislike both candidates -- part of an effort to make governing easier from the White House. Part of Clinton's intensive debate preparations was practicing "to not take the bait," an adviser said, "and not get involved in the back-and-forth subjects that he wants to litigate."
How Trump spent his day: The Republican presidential nominee had lunch at his hotel with family, advisers and boosters, where he expressed confidence and said he has prepped as much as he can. Sheldon Adelson and wife, Miriam, attended, along with Foster Friess and Lew Eisenberg. Three of his top advisers -- RNC chairman Reince Priebus, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Rudy Giuliani -- were there. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was not.
In the audience and invited by Trump: 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
No Bill Clinton-Melania Trump handshake tonight: The Clinton camp asked for that to be nixed. An aide says: "We did take note of the stunt they tried to pull in the second debate. And so, if they don't want to take seriously this sort of gesture of civility that has become a tradition, then we don't see the need to afford them a platform."
How long until Election Day? | | Tonight's topic du jour: Trump's rigged election talk | | Donald Trump has made no secret about the issue he's put at the center of his campaign heading into tonight's debate: voter fraud. Without offering any evidence to back it up, Trump has reacted to his collapse in the polls by telling supporters the election is being stolen from them. It's the lead topic in CNN's MJ Lee's preview of what to watch tonight.
But many of Trump's allies aren't helping. "No, I do not believe that" there will be widespread voter fraud, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle today. "So absent overwhelming evidence that there is, it would not be for me to say that there is." (Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "his own campaign manager threw him under the bus.")
A scathing indictment of Trump's thin skin came from Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker. "There's a piece of his personality, which is very sensitive, particularly to anything which attacks his own sense of integrity or his own sense of respectability, and he reacts very intensely, almost uncontrollably, to those kinds of situations," Gingrich acknowledged during a podcast with the Washington Examiner's David Drucker, picked up by Politico's Nolan McCaskill. "I think that's a weakness," he said. "I hope he grows out of it." | | Donald Trump is in his weakest position yet in CNN's updated "Road to 270" map.
What's changed in the latest update: Arizona (11 electoral votes) moves from "lean Republican" to "battleground." Utah (6) moves from "solid Republican" to "battleground." Florida (29) moves from "battleground" to "lean Democrat." Nevada (6) moves from "battleground" to "lean Democrat." | | Why Sanders the 'doofus' isn't mad at Podesta | | When Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta was interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer today, he didn't deny calling Bernie Sanders a "doofus" in leaked emails. He said it was over Sanders' opposition to the Paris climate accord. "You say some things in private that you regret, but I have great affection, great admiration for Sen. Sanders," Podesta said.
Call him Chairman Doofus? CNN's Jeff Zeleny notes why Sanders isn't mad. He's been a good Democratic solider -- his campaign schedule is aggressive and his support for Clinton unwavering, even in the face of the Goldman Sachs speech transcripts. Why? Sanders reminded his supporters in a fundraising email today that he will likely become chairman of the Senate Budget Committee if Democrats win control of the Senate.
Here's how Sanders started that fundraising email: | | Can Clinton really turn Arizona blue? | | A new poll released jointly by the Arizona Republic, Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy and Cronkite News shows Hillary Clinton with a lead in the traditional Republican stronghold of Arizona, yet another sign of Donald Trump's shrinking path to the nomination. The poll has Clinton at 43%, Trump at 38%, Gary Johnson at 7% and Jill Stein at 4%.
I was in Tucson last night for Bernie Sanders' after-dark rally for Clinton, who's dispatching her A-list surrogates there -- Michelle Obama will be in Phoenix tomorrow. The Clinton campaign's belief: Arizona's population growth is heavily Latino, and nonprofit groups working in the state for years have registered many of those Latinos to vote. The state also has a younger population and a relatively large number of colleges -- making it easier to reach large pools of millennial voters. Suburban, college-educated women could go for Clinton around Phoenix just like polls show they are around Philadelphia. And then there's the Trump factor. "There is no doubt that Donald Trump's offensive rhetoric has made Arizona more competitive than ever before," said Meg Ansara, Clinton's battleground states director. Here's my full story.
A tidbit that didn't make it into my story -- about Trump's organization, from a long-time Arizona Republican operative who didn't want to publicly clash with the GOP nominee: "Does he have organizational issues? Absolutely, by virtue of the fact that there really is no organization." The operative cast doubt on the Republican National Committee's ability to aid Trump through its "Victory" field operation. "I have seen Victory. I know the Victory brand that comes out of national and how it's deployed in the states. This ain't it." | | A note for all the secretive donors out there | | | From CNN's Theodore Schleifer: Today is the last day that donations will be reported prior to Election Day. So if you don't want people to know about your millions of dollars in gifts until after it's too late, wait until tomorrow. | | | Donald Trump's campaign is quietly debuting six new TV ads and pledging an advertising blitz. ... Is Marco Rubio ruling out a 2020 run? "If I wanted to run for something else, I wouldn't have run for Senate," he said in a radio interview. ... Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Trump is losing because of his "creepy bullying." | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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