memeorandum: Campaign Notebook: I spent 3 days in the ‘blue wall’ states. Here's what voters told me (Noah Bierman/Los Angeles Times)

9:40 AM ET, October 21, 2024

Top Items:

Susan Page / USA Today:

Harris leads Trump 2-1 among the earliest voters, many driven by abortion access: new poll — Democrat Kamala Harris has a sweeping lead over Republican Donald Trump − among voters who have already cast their ballots, that is. — A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll shows …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune and Washington Times

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:

“I started to learn what patriarchy was”: How Donald Trump pushed Republican women out of the GOP — Former Republican women explain why they finally broke with Trump: “I was ashamed” — PHILADELPHIA — Melanie Barton-Gauss, a retired teacher from Florida, traveled to the City of Brotherly Love …

John Della Volpe / New York Times:

Trump's Bro-Whispering Could Cost Democrats Too Many Young Men — Generation Z is poised to flex its growing political muscle in the 2024 presidential election, and in my surveys and focus groups with these voters, I'm seeing the strong potential for a turning point in American political alignment.

Discussion: Raw Story and American Prospect

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:

Republicans set stage for PA vote counting shenanigans — If you can't beat 'em, destroy the system. … 🍟 — There's no question that for the 2024 election, Pennsylvania is currently ground zero, so it's unsurprising that both campaigns are campaigning hard in the state.

Discussion: Cardinal News, Spotlight PA and Bloomberg

Politico:
The voter gender gap is growing, and Harris' abortion rights campaign could make it even wider

Discussion: Twitchy, The Guardian and New York Times

Washington Post:

Harris and Trump locked in dead heat in seven-state poll, with some voters still deciding — Former president Donald Trump shows strength in Arizona while Vice President Kamala Harris runs strongest in Georgia, according to a Post-Schar School survey.

Discussion: ABC News, Daily Mail and FOX 32 Chicago

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Where are the polls? — Just by looking at the polls, you wouldn't know Election Day is 16 days away. That's because there really aren't any new polls — or at least, many reliable ones. And it's making it hard to discern just how close is the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

State of the Race: A Slight Shift Toward Trump but Still No Clear Favorite — The polls are not precise enough for a 0.2-point edge to convey meaningful information. — With two weeks to go, the polls of the presidential election are starting to run out of room to get any closer.

Discussion: The Hill, New Jersey Online and Daily Kos

USA Today:

Exclusive poll: Harris and Trump tied amid battle for Latino and Black voters — Susan Page Sudiksha Kochi Maya Marchel HoffUSA TODAY — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are essentially tied as they head into the final stretch of the presidential campaign, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds …

Washington Post:

Trump serves McDonald's fries to supporters in stage-managed campaign stop — Trump didn't answer a question on the minimum wage, instead promoting his unsubstantiated claim that Kamala Harris never worked at the burger chain. — Trump works fry station at McDonald's in Pennsylvania

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Post, Associated Press, NBC News, CNN, Time, RedState, Washington Times, UPI, New York Times, The Wrap, HuffPost, Fox News, Twitchy, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, USA Today, Business Insider, Daily Mail, Al Jazeera, New York Times and Washington Examiner

John Bowden / The Independent:

Trump serves disturbing message through McDonald's drive-thru window about whether he'll accept election result — Ex-president once again raises notion that election could be tainted by fraud his campaign failed to prove existed in 2020 — Your support helps us to tell the story

Discussion: Daily Mail and New York Times

Peter Wade / Rolling Stone:
Trump Makes Fries at McDonald's in Bizarre Attempt to Troll Harris

Fox News:
Trump makes fries at Pennsylvania McDonald's: 'I've now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala'

Discussion: ComingSoon.net, New York Times, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars, The Federalist, Daily Mail, Newsbusters, freebeacon.com, Townhall, Raw Story, RedState and Associated Press

Avery Lotz / Axios:
Lindsey Graham to Republicans backing Harris: “What the hell are you doing?”

Discussion: HuffPost, Salon, The Hill, NBC News, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Washington Post, Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

CBS News:

A statement from 60 Minutes — Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false. — 60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes.

Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
‘60 Minutes’ responds to Trump's ‘false’ claims about Harris interview

Discussion: WHDH-TV, Fox News, al.com, New York Times and JONATHAN TURLEY

Wall Street Journal:

The ‘Fascist’ Meme Returns — Why the public isn't buying this Democratic claim about Trump. — No doubt it was inevitable. As Election Day nears, and the progressive panic over Donald Trump escalates, Democrats are closing their campaign with a favorite theme: Mr. Trump is a threat to the Constitution …

Discussion: The Bulwark, Raw Story, Mediaite and The Hill

Popular Information:

TD Bank executives oversee $670 billion drug money laundering scheme, avoid jail — On March 7, 2024, Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking at the American Bar Association's 39th Annual White Collar Institute, gave an impassioned soliloquy on the importance of criminally prosecuting …

Chandelis Duster / NPR:

Biden administration proposes a rule to make over-the-counter birth control free — The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would expand access to contraceptive products, including making over-the-counter birth control and condoms free for the first time for women of reproductive age who have private health insurance.

Discussion: Scripps News, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Agence France-Presse, Roll Call, WHDH-TV and The White House

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Biden to Propose That Insurers Cover Over-the-Counter Birth Control

Discussion: Bloomberg and The White House

Sarah Rainsford / BBC:

Moldova says ‘Yes’ to pro-EU constitutional changes by tiny margin — BBC Eastern Europe correspondent, Chisinau — People in Moldova have backed the Eastern European country's proposed changes to its constitution and commitment to joining the EU by the thinnest of margins in a referendum.

Discussion: Politico, Reuters, RTÉ, UPI, Al Jazeera, Balkan Insight, Bloomberg, The Kyiv Independent and Semafor

Axios:

McConnell backed Jack Smith, wanted Trump to “pay” for Jan. 6 … - “If he hasn't committed indictable offenses, I don't know what one is,” the longest-serving Republican leader told journalist Michael Tackett in an interview for “The Price of Power,” weeks after Smith brought the charges against Trump in August 2023.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile … and Raw Story

Avery Lotz / Axios:
Trump doubles down on Jan. 6 defense and “enemy from within” comments

Discussion: New York Times, HuffPost, Blue Virginia, Rolling Stone and Washington Examiner

Juliegrace Brufke / Axios:

Scoop: Mike Johnson's tense text messages with Liz Cheney … - Johnson said the two “agreed to disagree” over whether Trump is a threat to democracy. — Cheney disputed Johnson's characterization of the exchange, telling Axios that she and the speaker “used to be friends, but we did not ‘agree to disagree.’”

Discussion: New York Post, Reuters and The Hill

Madison Fernandez / Politico:

The GOP has been using a campaign finance loophole to save on TV ads. Now Dems are getting in on it. — Democrats are starting to use a campaign finance loophole to save big bucks on TV advertising — after failing to stop Republicans from doing the same.

Discussion: The Message Box

Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:

Can the Media Survive? … On and off the record with: — Imran Amed, founder and editor-in-chief, The Business of Fashion. Willa Bennett, editor-in-chief, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen. Jeremy Boreing, co-founder and co-CEO, The Daily Wire. Graydon Carter, founder and co-editor, Air Mail.

more at Mediagazer »

Russell Contreras / Axios:

1 in 5 Republicans want Trump to call election invalid if he loses … - The survey from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution is the latest sign of how Trump's grievances and conspiracy theories have reshaped his party — and whipped up its most disaffected, far-right elements.

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon … - Israeli officials said the paper came out of discussions Dermer had with the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces about the principles Israel demands be part of any diplomatic solution to end the war with Hezbollah.

Discussion: Reuters, CBS News and The Times of Israel

Mary L. Trump / The Good in Us:

The WTF of It All — LIVE AT 6:00 PM ET: Joint me for Ask Mary Anything within Reason! — I've been trying to wrap my head around this mystifying fact: the national presidential polls show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump within a point or two of each other. Most of the swing-state polls are essentially tied.

Discussion: Raw Story and HuffPost

Associated Press:

Harris Rallies Georgia's Black Churchgoers With Help Of Stevie Wonder — Harris celebrated her 60th birthday while visiting two Atlanta-area churches during campaign stops on Sunday. — LOADING — Kamala Harris on Sunday summoned Black churchgoers to turn out at the polls and got …

Discussion: Associated Press and Reuters