memeorandum: Highs and Lows From Melania Trump's Baffling Book (Margaret Hartmann/New York Magazine)

10:10 AM ET, October 10, 2024

Top Items:

Exclusive: Harris overtakes Trump among suburban voters, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has erased Republican rival Donald Trump's advantage in the vast middle of American society: suburban residents and middle-income households, an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Breitbart, BizPac Review, Daily Mail and Reuters

Axios:

Behind the Curtain: Dems' Blue Wall blues … Tell us who wins Pennsylvania, and we can tell you who's very likely to be president-elect. Harris, former President Trump and their allies plan to spend $350 million on TV ads in Pennsylvania — $142 million more than the next closest state, Michigan, the N.Y. Times reports.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Breitbart, The Hill, The Independent and New York Times

Anna Edgerton / Bloomberg:

A Crazier Path to 270: Can Harris Wrest Alaska Away From Trump? — A poll showed Harris within striking distance of Trump in the reliably Republican state, but she is a different kind of Democrat than the one Alaska recently sent to Capitol Hill. — Under a cold drizzle that hints …

Emerson Polling:
October 2024 State Polls: Mixed Movement Across Swing States Shows Dead Heat

Discussion: New Jersey Online

Quinnipiac University Poll:
Swing State Poll 2024: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin: Blue Wall Shows Cracks As Race Tightens, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; U.S. Senate Races …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Breitbart, HotAir, New Jersey Online, Silver Bulletin, The Hill, The Post Millennial, Politico, National Review, The Independent, Townhall, New York Daily News and The Bulwark

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:
Republicans Appear Poised to Take Control of Senate, New Poll Shows

Discussion: Fox News, New Jersey Online, Scripps News, USA Today, PBS NewsHour, Washington Post, ABC News and Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Martin / Politico: Here's What Harris Must Do to Seal the Deal

Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Voters See a Choice Between Character, Leadership Skill

Discussion: The Hill

Kierra Frazier / Politico:

Trump ends speculation on another debate: ‘There will be no rematch’ — The former president is turning down both invitations from Fox News and CNN. — Donald Trump is making it clear: He doesn't want a second debate, regardless of which network is hosting.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Beast, New York Post and HuffPost

Josh Fiallo / The Daily Beast:
Harris Calls Into The Weather Channel After Trump Declined Their Call

Discussion: CBS News, Associated Press, Townhall and Florida Politics

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
'I don't want to be nice': Trump ramps up personal attacks on Harris at Pennsylvania rally

Discussion: Townhall, The Independent, AZ Luminaria, Washington Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Progress Pond and Washington Examiner

Kanishka Singh / Reuters:
Trump rejects Fox News invite to debate Harris in late October

Discussion: HuffPost, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, The Independent, Raw Story, New York Post, Deadline, IJR, Washington Examiner, New York Times, American Thinker and Daily Kos

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
Harris makes impromptu call into CNN, says Trump's hurricane comments ‘dangerous’

Discussion: Newsbusters, Poynter, HuffPost, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Twitchy and Breitbart

emptywheel:

Putin Has Convinced Trump He's Keeping Trump's Weakness Secret — “He gets played by them, because he thinks that they're his friends and they are manipulating him full time ... with flattery.” Kamala Harris — Here's how WSJ described the Bob Woodward scoop that Donald Trump sent COVID testing equipment …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Associated Press, BBC, The Guardian, Alternet.org, Raw Story, NBC News and NPR

Praveena Somasundaram / Washington Post:

A hurricane hunter's final, fitting resting place: Milton's eye — On Thursday, a team of hurricane hunters released the ashes of Peter Dodge, a longtime meteorologist who died in March 2023. — To those who knew Peter Dodge, it was only fitting that his ashes should be scattered in the eye of a hurricane.

Discussion: New York Times and Joe.My.God.

Lorena O'Neil / Rolling Stone:

Meteorologists Get Death Threats as Hurricane Milton Conspiracy Theories Thrive — It's their job to warn residents about destructive storms — but political polarization has made them targets online — As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, meteorologists are staying awake for days …

Discussion: NOTUS and Politico

Rob Wile / NBC News:

Inflation cools to lowest level since February 2021 — As consumer price growth has normalized, America is still adjusting to prices that have climbed more than 21% on average since early 2020. — Inflation has come full circle for the Biden administration.

Discussion: The Guardian, CNBC, Associated Press, ABC7 and The Japan Times

Andrew Ackerman / Washington Post:

Inflation eased slightly for September, as election nears — Prices showed more cooling in the latest consumer price index, the last such report before the November presidential election. — Inflation fell further in September, extending a trend of easing prices and an improving economy …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today, The Hill, CBS News, Breitbart, New York Times and Fox Business

New York Times:

Obama Heads to Pennsylvania to Give Harris a Jolt of Democratic Energy — The former president, one of the party's most popular figures, will rally in Pittsburgh for Kamala Harris, as her campaign deploys its most influential surrogates in a push to get out the vote.

Discussion: NBC News, USA Today and Raw Story

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
Harris campaign concerned about money after raising $1 billion

Discussion: New Republic, New York Post, OpenSecrets.org, Al Jazeera, The Independent, Reuters, The Daily Beast, Forbes, Joe.My.God., The Guardian, NBC News, CNN and New York Times

Washington Post:
Is the Trump campaign's male-dominated culture losing women votes?

Discussion: The Federalist

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Democrats start to hit the panic button

Discussion: NBC News, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Breitbart, freebeacon.com, The Independent and acecomments.mu.nu

AJ McDougall / The Daily Beast:

Host Laughs in Trump's Face After He Calls Himself ‘a Truthful Person’ — ROFL — Podcaster Andrew Schulz broke into a fit of giggles so intense he almost slid off his seat after the former president referred to himself as “basically a truthful person.” — A podcast host interviewing …

Discussion: Good Politics/Bad Politics, The Independent, New Republic, ComingSoon.net, HuffPost, Mediaite, The Hill, Alternet.org, Joe.My.God. and TMZ.com

Popular Information:

How insurance companies could stiff the victims of Hurricane Milton — Hurricane Milton is pounding Florida and is expected to cause billions of dollars in damage. But many Florida homeowners — even those with insurance — will receive little or no help rebuilding.

Discussion: DCReport.org, Weiss Ratings, E&E News and The Hill

The Atlantic:

The Case for Kamala Harris — The Atlantic's endorsement — For the third time in eight years, Americans have to decide whether they want Donald Trump to be their president. No voter could be ignorant by now of who he is. Opinions about Trump aren't just hardened—they're dried out and exhausted.

Discussion: Slow Boring and STAT

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Kamala Harris doesn't owe the mainstream press anything — They've failed over and over in the age of Trump. … 🍻 — In 2016, the mainstream media infamously decided that the biggest story of the election was Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state.

Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:

Highs and Lows From Melania Trump's Baffling Book — “What is she thinking?” is the eternal question when it comes to Melania Trump (and photos of smiling beluga whales). After reading the book Melania cover to cover, I am no closer to answering it. — The former First Lady's memoir is full of unresolved contradictions.

Discussion: The Atlantic and The Independent

Nicholas Liu / Salon:

New documentary details Trump's child-separation policy, but NBC won't air it until December — The filmmaker of “Separated,” a likely Oscar contender, urged his followers on X to “make their own inferences” — MSNBC acquired Errol Morris' new documentary, “Separated,” …

Noah Keate / Politico:

Boris Johnson defends Donald Trump over Jan. 6 riots — LONDON — Boris Johnson insisted Donald Trump wasn't trying to “overthrow the constitution” after riots by his supporters against the 2020 U.S. presidential election result on Jan. 6, 2021. — The former British prime minister …

Discussion: Twitchy, NOTUS and The Independent

Erin Doherty / Axios:

Two states blasted by storms tweak voting rules … - Together, the states account for 46 Electoral College votes in what's expected to be a very close election. … - “There is and should be real concern that if we don't get this right, we'll see really big dropoffs in turnout,” …

Discussion: Maryland Matters, EducationNC, RedState and NPR

Courtney Cohn / Democracy Docket:
Voting Rights Groups Sue to Reopen Florida's Voter Registration Amid Hurricanes

Discussion: CBS News, RedState, Deadline, Orlando Sentinel, Louder With Crowder, Associated Press, Georgia Recorder, Sun-Sentinel, Law & Crime, Florida Phoenix and Washington Examiner

Ruth Ben-Ghiat / Lucid:

The Authoritarian's Fortress of Lies — Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. Our next Q&A will be this Friday, Oct. 11, 1-2pmET. Paying subscribers will receive a link to register for the Zoom gathering at 10amET that day. If you'd like to join these stimulating conversations …

The White House:

Readout of President Joe Biden's Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel — President Biden spoke this morning with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Vice President Harris joined the call. The President affirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel's security.