memeorandum: In every state, pessimism about Trump, Clinton and the impact of the election (Dan Balz/Washington Post)

7:15 AM ET, September 7, 2016

Top Items:

Trump Held Fundraiser For Pam Bondi At Mar-a-Lago After She Dropped Investigation — The Republican Party of Florida paid much less for the venue than Trump's own campaign has paid. — National Political Reporter, The Huffington Post — WASHINGTON In March 2014, Donald Trump opened …

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Kos, RedState, The New Civil Rights Movement and Washington Post

New York Times:

Donald Trump's Donation Is His Latest Brush With Campaign Fund Rules — Donald J. Trump, who has repeatedly denounced pay-to-play politics during his insurgent campaign, is now defending himself against claims that he donated $25,000 to a group supporting the Florida attorney general …

Discussion: Washington Post and Media Matters for America

The Huffington Post:

Trump Living Large On Donors' Dime — The GOP nominee's campaign is spending lavishly on Trump businesses instead of cheaper alternatives. — S.V. Date — WASHINGTON - On the night of this spring's Florida primary, the pastor giving the invocation at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago victory party prayed …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Week and The Atlantic

Marc Caputo / Politico:
Trump campaign: No contradiction with Bondi over Trump University

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Washington Post, Liberal Values, Guardian, alan.com, The Hill, Media Matters for America, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Atlantic and RedState

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
Trump Camp Walks Back His Claim That He ‘Never’ Spoke With FL AG Pam Bondi

Discussion: Washington Post, Towleroad and Mother Jones

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Trump tries to explain away Florida AG controversy

Discussion: The American Spectator, Media Matters for America, Balloon Juice and Washington Post

Dallas Morning News:

We recommend Hillary Clinton for U.S. president — There is only one serious candidate on the presidential ballot in November. We recommend Hillary Clinton. — We don't come to this decision easily. This newspaper has not recommended a Democrat for the nation's highest office since …

Discussion: Politico, The Week, NPR, The Hill, AOL, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

HERE IT IS=> Hillary Clinton Cough Rap (Video) — From the comments on an earlier post.... The Hillary Clinton Cough Rap — I like the goat. — The post HERE IT IS=> Hillary Clinton Cough Rap (Video) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Jason Easley / Politicus USA:

The Truth Comes Out As CNN Admits They Are Going Easy On Donald Trump — CNN's Dana Bash said what many voters have long suspected. The media has lowered the bar for Donald Trump and goes easier on him with their coverage because they expect less out of the GOP nominee.

Discussion: Politico, New Century Times and CANNONFIRE

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:
Swing State Polls: All Tied Up in Battlegrounds, Including...Texas?

Discussion: WBUR, Daily Wire and Israpundit

Nick Gass / Politico:
Flake fires back at Trump, warns GOP

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, ABC News and RedState

J.J. Gallagher / ABC News:
Clinton Unleashes Allies on Trump as Election 2016 Hits Home Stretch

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Associated Press

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

In every state, pessimism about Trump, Clinton and the impact of the election — The presidential campaign has intensified long-standing political divisions, but there is one area of broad agreement among voters in both red states and blue states — a pervasive pessimism that no matter the outcome …

Washington Post:
Poll: Redrawing the electoral map

Discussion: Off the Kuff, KXAN-TV, The Fiscal Times, The Moderate Voice, National Review, Guardian, The New Civil Rights Movement, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Week, Obsidian Wings, AOL, Hot Air, Florida Politics and Hit & Run

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Whoops: Independent candidate appears to have accidentally picked a running mate — Evan McMullin is running as an independent conservative alternative to Donald Trump. Who McMullin is running with, however, is a bit of a mystery. — In all nine states where he has officially qualified …

Rich Noyes / NewsBusters:
MRC Study: Challengers to Clinton and Trump Get Just 0.03% of TV News Airtime

Discussion: Washington Times and Red Alert Politics

Rachael Bade / Politico:

GOP: Trump won't cost us Congress — Even after the tumultuous Summer of Trump, Republicans still insist that he won't doom their hopes of retaining control of Capitol Hill. — Returning to Washington after their long August recess, Republican lawmakers are cautiously optimistic …

Discussion: Political Wire

Paul McLeod / BuzzFeed:
House Majority Leader Says Democrats Will Be Punished For Gun Control Protest

Discussion: Political Insider blog, AOL, Talking Points Memo and The New Civil Rights Movement

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Election Update: Clinton's Lead Keeps Shrinking — Want these election updates emailed to you right when they're published? Sign up here. — I, for one, welcome the unofficial end of summer. I'll miss the Olympics and fancy tomato salads. But it's an election year …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Last Tradition, CNBC, The Week, Politico, Washington Post and BizPac Review

Myra Adams / Washington Examiner:
Confirmed by Trump insider: ‘Trump TV’ is Plan B after election

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, The Right Scoop, RedState, Outside the Beltway and TheStreet.com

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Good news: Greta Van Susteren out at Fox News — Fox News host Greta Van Susteren is leaving the network. In the middle of a campaign season. After 14 years of service. — That's news. — In a statement on the matter, Fox News used the sort of language that comes with distressing departures.

Discussion: UPI, Independent Journal Review, Fox News, TVNewser, BizPac Review, Business Insider and Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »

John McCormick / Bloomberg:

Libertarian Johnson Makes Western Advertising Push Ahead of First Debate — To be included, Johnson needs an average score of 15 percent or higher in national polls leading up to the Sept. 26 event. — McCormickJohn — In a bid to propel his candidacy onto the presidential debate stage later …

Discussion: Political Wire

Daniel Halper / New York Post:

Clinton's campaign manager kept blacklist of potential hires — More On: — Hillary Clinton's current campaign manager kept a list of people who were not to receive State Department jobs being doled out — just as the new secretary of state entered the Obama administration — The Post has exclusively learned.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal: Even Worse Than Hillary Clinton's Emails

ABC News:

TRANSCRIPT: ABC News Anchor David Muir Interviews Donald Trump and Mike Pence — ABC News “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir interviewed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and running mate Mike Pence. The following is a transcript of the interview:

Discussion: Washington Post

Josh Haskell / ABC News:
Hillary Clinton Defends Not Knowing State Department Classification Markings

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Western Journalism

Heather Digby Parton / Salon:

Press, lies and Hillary's campaign: Years of smears have created a fictional version of Clinton. They're also a disservice to voters. — Many Americans think Clinton is a congenital liar — that's because of the right and the media, not her … That tweet from Chris Cilizza …

Discussion: Suburban Guerrilla …, Hullabaloo and Washington Post

The Intercept:
The Unrelenting Pundit-Led Effort to Delegitimize All Negative Reporting About Hillary Clinton

Discussion: The Week, Investor's Business Daily, Media Matters for America, Washington Monthly, The Resurgent, The Atlantic, Infowars, Townhall.com and Power Line

Richard Deitsch / SI.com:

Media Circus: Troy Aikman sounds off on Fox Sports signing Skip Bayless — “I believe success is achieved by acquiring and developing talented, respected and credible individuals,” Aikman said, “none of which applies to Skip Bayless.” — Troy Aikman has worked for Fox Sports for 15 years …

Discussion: Towleroad, AOL, USA Today, Mediaite, ProFootballTalk, Bleacher Report, The Big Lead and CBS Chicago

Camila Domonoske / NPR:

Video Appears To Show Tourists Destroying Popular Oregon Rock Formation — When the iconic sandstone formation known as “the duckbill” collapsed, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department wasn't suspicious. — Erosion happens. Rocks fall. The stretch of cliff where the formation was located …

Discussion: Statesman Journal, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Atlantic and Washington Post

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Trump won't talk about being a birther — or many other controversial comments — Donald Trump was the mainstream face of a fringe movement five years ago that questioned Barack Obama's place of birth and qualifications for office, eventually prompting the president to release a long-form certificate proving his birth in Hawaii.

Discussion: Politico

Naomi Lim / CNN:
Carson: Trump's primary promises on immigration ‘relatively irrelevant’

Discussion: Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Washington Post and Mediaite

Alaska Dispatch News:

Joe Miller to run as Libertarian in hopes of unseating US Sen. Lisa Murkowski — Two-time U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller said Tuesday he will try again to unseat U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski by replacing Cean Stevens as the Libertarian candidate on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Discussion: Western Journalism

Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:

USA Freedom Girls Sue Trump Campaign for Stiffing Them — The pre-teen dance troupe that briefly became a national sensation after they performed for Donald Trump are suing the self-proclaimed billionaire's presidential campaign for stiffing them. — The USA Freedom Kids went viral …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Balloon Juice, AOL and Raw Story

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Moody's economic model finds Clinton pulling away from Trump — Low gas prices and President Obama's rising popularity are bolstering Hillary Clinton — 's chances of winning the White House, according to a closely followed economic election model from Moody's Analytics.