Notes on the garbage fire that is American politics  —  Every Republican who endorsed and normalized Trump bears part of the blame for this moment.  —  At 7:26 pm, barely 90 minutes before the second presidential debate, Donald Trump tweeted, “Join me on #FacebookLive as I conclude my final #debate preparations.”

How NBC Finished Second on the Trump Video Story  —  Days after a blockbuster video emerged capturing Donald J. Trump, then a reality television host, making vulgar remarks about aggressively kissing and groping women, a question was still reverberating around media and political circles:

Trump, Clinton Don't Shake Hands at Debate  —  Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump refused to shake hands at the start of the second presidential debate in St. Louis.  —  Instead of sticking with formality and shaking Trump's hand, Clinton merely nodded in his direction, saying, “Hello.”

This is Donald Trump's worst nightmare  —  At long last, Donald Trump has been un-normalized.  —  What happened Saturday in American politics was profound, and for Donald Trump, it marks the likely death of his presidential campaign.  The permission structure that was slowly …

House GOP leaders agonize over Trump strategy  —  House Republican leaders are paralyzed over how to respond to Donald Trump's vulgar comments about women, aware that he could turn against them but also cognizant that the GOP nominee has now put control of the chamber in serious danger.

Exclusive: Inside the Trump Campaign's Moment of Crisis  —  NEW YORK — Under siege from a growing brigade of Republican officials demanding Donald Trump step down, the candidate's campaign team and dwindling number of allies struggled to respond on Sunday, just hours before a crucial second debate with Hillary Clinton.

In Which I Take a Second Look at Hillary Clinton's Paid Speeches  —  While we pass the time waiting for tonight's debate, I'm going to talk through something else.  Yesterday I wrote about one of the emails in the Podesta hack, and basically dismissed it.  It was a review of the most …

Fact Check: Trump's wrong on ISIS and Libyan oil  —  The toppling of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi — at the hands of Libyan rebels aided by U.S. and NATO air power — has led to highly unstable governance as the country's tribes have vied for influence and power.

Pence is sticking with Trump — but closely watching debate  —  Mike Pence is sticking with Donald Trump in public, but in private he is holding his options open, according to sources close to him.  —  Pence was taking a wait-and-see approach to tonight's presidential debate …

EXCLUSIVE: New Email Leak Reveals Clinton Campaign's Cozy Press Relationship  —  Internal strategy documents and emails among Clinton staffers shed light on friendly and highly useful relationships between the campaign and various members of the U.S. media, as well as the campaign's strategies for manipulating those relationships.

Clinton Ally Offers To Pay Legal Fees For “Apprentice” Leakers  —  The head of a pro-Clinton SuperPAC suggested Sunday he's willing to pay a “leak fee” for damaging footage of Trump.  —  The head of a pro-Clinton SuperPAC suggested Sunday that he would cover the legal expenses of staffers …