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3:50 PM ET, October 5, 2016

Top Items:

Michael Levenson / BostonGlobe.com:

Bill Weld says he will focus his fire on Donald Trump — The Libertarian vice presidential candidate, William F. Weld, said Tuesday that he plans to focus exclusively on blasting Donald Trump over the next five weeks, a strategic pivot aimed at denying Trump the White House and giving himself a key role in helping to rebuild the GOP.

Discussion: Salon, Hot Air, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:

Libertarian VP Candidate Bill Weld Gives Up, Will Focus on Preventing Trump Presidency — As some presumably small portion of Americans sat through a dull debate between the Republican and Democratic vice presidential nominees on Tuesday night, a far more interesting drama was unfolding within the Libertarian ticket.

Discussion: New Urban Legends, Towleroad and The Week

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The Mike Pence vs. Tim Kaine vice-presidential debate transcript, annotated — Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence met face-to-face for the first time Tuesday night, as the running mates took part in the only vice-presidential debate of the 2016 election.

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Mike Pence Pretends That Trump Never Happened — They call it the debate that meant nothing. That's true if your mind is focused on November 8, as most minds are. But if you care to gaze a little further into the future than that, Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate revealed something big …

David Weigel / Washington Post:

Aftermath of Kaine-Pence debate pits reality against alternate reality — FARMVILLE, Va. — The first and last vice presidential debate of 2016 was not just a clash of candidates, but a clash of realities — and of two theories about how media and politics work.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Mother Jones, neo-neocon and WRIC-TV

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Insiders: Pence outclassed Trump — Mike Pence didn't just defeat Tim Kaine in their only debate — he also outshined Donald Trump. — A majority of the battleground-state insiders who comprise The POLITICO Caucus gave Pence the edge over Kaine in their vice presidential debate …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, The Hill, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Week, Vox, ThinkProgress, ABC News, Hot Air, 24Ahead and MichelleMalkin.com

Henry C. Jackson / Politico:

6 things Trump definitely said that Pence claimed he didn't — Tim Kaine came into the vice presidential debate with a clear goal: make Mike Pence own all of Trump's most controversial moments. — But Kaine was unable, with Pence successfully parrying his attacks as the debate dissolved …

Discussion: The Atlantic, CNN, Slate, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Los Angeles Times, The Week, Media Matters for America, Mother Jones, Vox, Guardian, AOL and Washington Monthly

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Reports suggest Donald Trump is unhappy with Mike Pence for winning the VP debate

Discussion: alan.com, Salon, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, AOL, RedState and Politicus USA

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
RNC: Kaine interrupted over 70 times

Discussion: BuzzFeed, ABC News, Scared Monkeys, Business Insider, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Politico, FiveThirtyEight and AOL

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Mike Pence's Galling Amnesia

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump's campaign manager denies he's irked at being upstaged by Pence

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air and Vox

CNN:
Pence edges Kaine in VP debate instant poll

Discussion: Washington Post, The Root, The Times of Israel, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Independent Journal Review, Infowars, National Review and Media Matters for America

Washington Post:
Mike Pence struggles to defend the indefensible

Discussion: Hillary Clinton 2016, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, CNNMoney, CNN, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, Vox and Mashable

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Can Mike Pence's Denial of Reality Work for Him?

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and The Week

Alex Weprin / Politico:
VP debate ratings lowest since 2000

Discussion: Independent Journal Review and Vox

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Republicans pine for Pence at top of ticket

Discussion: RT, New York Magazine and National Review

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
The internet loses it after Pence accuses Kaine of ‘whipping out that Mexican thing again’

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, CNN, TheBlaze.com, Business Insider and Balloon Juice

Ali Breland / The Hill:
CNN poll: Pence won debate

Discussion: Politico, Scared Monkeys, ABC News and Washington Post

Monmouth University:

Monmouth University Polling Institute — Ohio — Tight Race for Prez; Portman Widens Senate Lead — Kasich's anti-Trump stand still popular — West Long Branch, NJ - Hillary Clinton holds a slim 2 point lead over Donald Trump in the perennial battleground state of Ohio, compared to a 4 point lead in mid-August.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, The Week, Politicus USA and Politico

Fairleigh Dickinson University:

VP Picks Favored More than Trump and Clinton in Fairleigh Dickinson University National Poll; — Results Put Clinton Over Trump by Double Digits — In the race for the White House, the most recent national survey of likely voters from Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind finds …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Red Alert Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politicus USA and Political Wire

LeftOfCenter / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

He-Men Of Fox News: Emasculated Because Kaine Said ‘Person’ — So the morning after on Fox, Tucker Carlson goes on a rant against gender-neutral language. At the VP debate, Senator Tim Kaine proclaimed himself as “Hillary Clinton's right-hand person,' and Tucker is sure that's proof …

Discussion: The Nation

Katie Rogers / New York Times:

‘That Mexican Thing’ Takes On Life After the Debate — In the grand digital tradition of American political debates, the audience tends to seize upon singular phrases or gestures that, at least for a few hours, seem to define the evening's discussion. — After Tuesday evening's vice …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Medium, USA Today, Fox News, Political Wire, Daily Kos, Independent Journal Review, Mediaite, Breitbart, Mother Jones, Wired, The Federalist, CBS New York, Althouse and Hullabaloo

New York Times:

N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets — WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. secretly arrested a National Security Agency contractor in recent weeks and is investigating whether he stole and disclosed highly classified computer codes developed to hack into the networks of foreign governments …

U.S. Department of Justice:
Government Contractor Charged with Removal of Classified Materials and Theft of Government Property

Discussion: The Verge, Mother Jones and Techdirt

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

WATCH: Megyn Kelly Reminds Conway Why Trump Polls Poorly With Women — In a post-debate interview on Tuesday night, Fox News' host Megyn Kelly pushed Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to defend the Republican nominee's low poll numbers with women, telling Conway that women …

Discussion: The Week

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:
Donald Trump sniped at Megyn Kelly as the vice presidential debate began

Discussion: Vox, New York Magazine, BizPac Review, Mediaite, WJHL, NPR, USA TODAY College, WRIC-TV, Mashable, Joe.My.God. and mrctv.org/videos

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Al Gore to campaign for Clinton, hoping to galvanize young voters on climate change — Former vice president Al Gore will start campaigning for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to individuals briefed on the plan, in an effort to mobilize young voters who see climate change as a key issue.

Discussion: New Republic, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Al Gore to hit campaign trail for Clinton

Discussion: RedState, New York Magazine, Daily Wire, Vox and Towleroad

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
Bill Clinton goes way off message on ObamaCare

Discussion: Hot Air, Instapundit, Patterico's Pontifications, Politico and ABC News

Michelle Fields / The Huffington Post:

Conservative News Darling Is Falling Apart, Staff Says — Glenn Beck's The Blaze was once the envy of other right-leaning sites. Not anymore. — WASHINGTON Glenn Beck's website The Blaze is coming apart, suffering from a lack of editorial direction, staff attrition and internal discord, according to sources inside the news outlet.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

Shoebat.com Contributor Says God Sent Hurricane Matthew To Stop Orlando Gay Pride Event — Andrew Bieszad, a contributor to Shoebat.com, the website run by anti-gay extremists Walid and Theodore Shoebat, has some thoughts about Hurricane Matthew, which is expected to strike the East Coast …

Discussion: Walid Shoebat, Towleroad, Metro Weekly, CNN and Joe.My.God.

CNN:
Hurricane Matthew: US evacuations begin ahead of storm

Discussion: The Weather Channel, Washington Post, NBC News, The Daily Caller, alan.com, RT, USA TODAY College, New Urban Legends, The Last Refuge, Mashable, KTLA, Refinery29, The Atlantic, WNEP-TV, NPR, New York Magazine, WAVY-TV and twitchy.com

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Momentum shifts in battle for Senate — Democrats are seizing on Sen. Kelly Ayotte — 's (R-N.H.) remarks at a debate that Donald Trump — is “absolutely” a role model for children as a pivotal moment in the race for the Senate majority. — The Democrats see Ayotte's comments …

Discussion: Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, alan.com and Associated Press

Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:

Trump's October Surprise? It Could Be His 2015 Tax Return — Donald Trump has been reeling this week after The New York Times published portions of his 1995 state tax returns showing a $916 million loss that could offset his income from 1996 forward. Releasing the 2015 tax return could give him an opportunity to counter that story.