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 …

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.”

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 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.

The Fundamentals: Where Are We in This Strange Race for President?  —  And can Trump breach Fortress Obama?  —  Every presidential election is different, but nobody's going to tell us that this one isn't notably different from any other in the modern period.

Trump defiant as polls rise, won't say Obama was born in United States  —  CANTON, Ohio — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in an interview here that he remains unwilling to say that President Obama is born in the United States, that he is more bullish than ever on his chances …

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.

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.

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 …

The New Politics of Late Night  —  In a wild election with a ripe orange target, comics are ditching balance and taking sides  —  No late-night-TV comedian attacks the job with more righteous intensity than Samantha Bee.  Once a week on her TBS show Full Frontal, she stands before a wall of video monitors …