memeorandum: Supreme Court to begin new term short-handed as its ideological balance hinges on fall vote (Robert Barnes/Washington Post)

10:15 PM ET, October 1, 2016

Top Items:

If Trump thinks debate prep is for chumps, his advisers can't save him from himself — Donald Trump has one week to prepare for his next debate with Hillary Clinton. It is a critical event for him. Yet everything he's done before and after the first debate sends a loud, clear message: He seems to think debate prep is for chumps.

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Washington Post:

Trump's bad week is a ‘nightmare’ for the GOP … Republican leaders and strategists are unnerved by Donald Trump's erratic attacks on a Latina beauty queen and other outbursts this week, increasingly fearful that the GOP nominee is damaging his White House hopes and doing lasting harm to the party in the campaign's final stretch.

Discussion: AOL, Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, Politicus USA, Business Insider and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Trip Gabriel / New York Times: After Trump-Clinton, Vice-Presidential Debate Isn't Exactly ‘the Return of Elvis’

New York Times:

Trump Tax Records Obtained by The Times Reveal He Could Have Avoided Paying Taxes for Nearly Two Decades — Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, The New Civil Rights Movement and Balloon Juice

Jillian Jorgensen / The New York Observer:

Group Apologizes for Giuliani's ‘Unscripted’ Remarks at Awards Dinner — Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was invited to a financial services trade group's award dinner last week to speak about leadership—but instead delivered a political speech that strayed so far from that topic the group felt it necessary to apologize to its guests.

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Boing Boing and Politico

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Rudy Stumbles Outside the Race War Bubble — I sense this has gotten little attention given all that's happened in the news today. But it seems both a revealing and embarrassing nugget of news. So I wanted to share it with you. Last week Rudy Giuliani gave a speech at an awards dinner …

Discussion: bradford-delong.com and alan.com

Harper Neidig / The Hill:
Financial group apologizes for Giuliani's ‘unscripted’ event speech: report

Discussion: RedState

Alex Swoyer / Breitbart:

Parental Basement Dwellers: Hillary Clinton Criticizes Bernie Sanders Voters for Having ‘Bought into False Promise’ — An audio recording has surfaced, revealing Hillary Clinton speaking critically about young voters supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), saying they've bought into a “false promise.”

Discussion: ABC News, twitchy.com, Hot Air, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Independent Journal Review, Power Line, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine and Business Insider

T. Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
New audio: Clinton refers to Sanders fans as frustrated, basement-dwellers

Rick Hasen / electionlawblog.org:

Trump's Irresponsible Vote-Rigging Statements Literally Putting Our Democracy at Risk — One of the things we take for granted is that even in tumultuous times when elections are hard fought, the losers concede the election and embrace the process, even if things did not go well.

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Farage Makes Emergency Visit to US for Trump Debate Prep — Because of bonds of culture, language and governmental systems it's been standard for decades for British Tories and American Republicans to collaborate informally on political campaigns, just as Labour and Democrats have done the same.

Discussion: Infowars and alan.com

Jamie Grierson / Guardian:
Ukip denies that Farage is coaching Donald Trump for next debate

Discussion: ThinkProgress, AOL and CNN

Daily Mail:
Send for Nigel! Trump flies in Farage to help sharpen up his debating skills for his next clash with Hillary Clinton

Discussion: The Sun

Sacramento Bee:

Sacramento police tried to run over man before shooting him, recordings reveal — Two Sacramento police officers attempted to run over a mentally ill homeless man with their car less than 35 seconds before they shot and killed him, according to recordings released by police this month.

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Post, YouTube, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, The Root, The Week, KTLA, Jezebel, CBS Sacramento and 6

Ezra Klein / Vox:

The last six days proved Donald Trump is dangerously unfit for the presidency — The lesson of the Machado saga: America's enemies would find Trump predictable and easy to control. — The last six days proved Donald Trump is dangerously unfit for the presidency. — The problem isn't that Trump is cruel, though he is.

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Girl Talk at Trump Tower — WASHINGTON — LET'S stop being so hard on Donald Trump. — He has done us an enormous public service. — After this down-and-dirty battle of the sexes, we will never look at gender in politics the same way. — For centuries, women were seen as unfit to hold public office.

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court to begin new term short-handed as its ideological balance hinges on fall vote — The Supreme Court's new term begins Monday with the focus not on the court's docket but on the court itself and a future that will be defined by the presidential election.

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

Bridge Trial Focuses on Christie's Political Tactics — NEWARK — Fourteen months before Chris Christie was up for re-election as governor of New Jersey, officials in his administration were already discussing his 2016 bid for the White House. — And they saw the Port Authority of New York …

Discussion: Mediaite

Esther Yu Hsi Lee / ThinkProgress:

Republican candidate for governor doesn't think educated women can be abused — His comments immediately drew boos from the audience. — During Oregon's second gubernatorial debate on Friday, Republican candidate Bud Pierce said that educated women are not susceptible to abuse …

Discussion: Portland Tribune and Washington Post

Beth Reinhard / Wall Street Journal:

GOP Faces Challenge to Its State Legislature Dominance — After seizing control of record number of chambers, party is largely playing defense in 2016 election — The Republican Party, after seizing control of more state legislative chambers than at any time in its history, is largely playing defense in the 2016 election.

Chris Tomlinson / Breitbart:

Incoming migrants are bringing long-eradicated diseases to Germany and are putting the medical system under extreme stress. — As well as bringing a rising tide of crime and attitudes towards women that many consider incompatible with modern European values, the over one and a half million migrants …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Bloomberg:

Near ‘Collapse,’ Minnesota to Raise Obamacare Rates by Half — Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginBloomberg Anywhere Login — ‘Serious need for reform’ of markets, state commisioner says — Obamacare rates to rise 50 percent to 67 percent in state — Minnesota will let the health insurers …

Discussion: The Fiscal Times, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Nour Youssef / New York Times:

2 Men Who Found Bomb in Chelsea Are Identified as Airline Security Guards — CAIRO — Two men who found a travel bag containing a bomb on a Manhattan street last month — and then walked off with the bag but left the bomb — were not just employees of EgyptAir but in-flight security officers for the carrier …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gothamist and twitchy.com

WBBH-TV:

Testosterone linked to Clinton voters, says Fort Myers doctor's ad — A Fort Myers doctor says if you are a man thinking about voting for Hillary Clinton, you may need to have your testosterone checked. — It's a controversial commercial hitting Southwest Florida airwaves.

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit