The race is tightening for a painfully simple reason  —  Hillary Clinton's ongoing campaign to paint Donald Trump as unacceptable in the eyes of most Americans is working.  It's just not good enough.  That's the message of the spate of recent polls showing a dramatically tightened race that Trump may even be narrowly winning.

Aide Shuts Down Local TV Interview With Trump Jr. When Charity Issue Is Raised  —  An interview with Donald Trump Jr. conducted by a local Pennsylvania television station was abruptly cut off by an aide when the topic turned to a Washington Post story about Donald Trump spending his foundation's money …

Donald Trump Wants Peter Thiel On The Supreme Court, Sources Say  —  The eccentric billionaire endorsed Trump in a speech at the Republican National Convention this summer.  —  Washington bureau chief for The Huffington Post  —  Donald Trump has made it clear he will nominate Peter Thiel …

Trump would roll back food safety regulations  —  intends to roll back food safety regulations if he wins the White House in November.  —  In a fact sheet Thursday, the campaign highlighted a number of “specific regulations to be eliminated” under the GOP nominee's economic plan, including what they called the “FDA Food Police.”

Trump Criticizes Flint Pastor — But Misstates Key Facts About Their Encounter  —  Donald Trump is lashing out against an African-American pastor who interrupted him Wednesday to chide him for campaigning in her Flint, Mich., church.  —  “Something was up,” Trump told Fox and Friends on Thurday morning.

How Trump Could Win The White House While Losing The Popular Vote  —  OK, before I say anything, a quick disclaimer: This piece is not a prediction.  In fact, I'm a religious (maybe fanatical) adherent of FiveThirtyEight's 2016 election forecast model, which I find to be both methodologically rigorous and intellectually honest.

Trump releases letter from his doctor, saying he takes cholesterol-lowering drug, is overweight  —  Donald Trump has provided to The Washington Post a letter that summarizes his latest physical exam and discussed the results on a television show scheduled to air Thursday afternoon …

A new force in electoral politics.  —  At 4 p.m., Milo Yiannopoulos puts on a pair of glasses for the first time today.  He examines himself in a mirror to see if he wants to add a gray suit to his purchases, which will push his bill to almost $12,000 at Savile Row's Gieves & Hawkes.

SANDRA BLAND'S FAMILY SAYS CIVIL SUIT SETTLED FOR $1.9M  —  Attorneys for the Sandra Bland family say a settlement has been reached in their civil suit  —  ENTERTAINMENT  —  Famous Marilyn Monroe “Flying Skirt” pic

How Obamacare Clears the Field for a GOP Senate Win  —  Democrats have licked their chops in anticipation of the 2016 election when it comes to control of the US Senate.  Under normal circumstances, a 24-10 advantage in a presidential cycle would all but guarantee Democrats victory in the Senate race.

The Librarian's Bequest  —  Alumnus and longtime library employee left largely unrestricted bequest to U of New Hampshire.  It is spending $100,000 on the library and $1 million on a video scoreboard for the football stadium.  —  By  —  It sounds too good to be true …

Hillary Clinton faces dilemma following ‘deplorables’ remark  —  faces a major dilemma in the wake of her controversial “basket of deplorables” comment: keep hammering Donald Trump  —  on race or pivot to other issues.  —  Democrats are divided on the best course of action following …