Comment on The United States' next foreign crisis could be south of the border

“It’s been a longstanding knock on the Democratic Party: Its national candidates might win more votes, but its state and local officials fall short in races that matter for everything from abortion access to certifying elections,” Bloomberg reports. “Growing initiatives backed by venture capitalists and others are trying to narrow the gap with Republicans, whose billionaire donors from the Kochs to Ken Griffin have focused for years on swinging thousands of down-ballot races.

New York Times: “Two days after he made a crude remark at a rally about a famous golfer’s penis size and used profanity to insult Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr. Trump spoke on Monday of the importance of religion in his life, recalling going to church as a child and framing his survival of an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., as an act of divine intervention.” “But even as he courted Christian voters by arguing he was one of them, Mr.

“Donald Trump’s ground game in Arizona and Nevada may be undercut by canvassers working for America PAC using GPS spoofing to pretend they have knocked on doors when they haven’t, according to multiple people familiar with the practice and a leaked how-to-fake-location video,” The Guardian reports. “The ramifications for Trump may be far reaching, given America PAC has taken on the bulk of the Trump campaign’s ground game in the battleground states, and the election increasingly appears set to be decided by turnout.” “A bootleg how-to-spoof video, made by an America PAC canvasser in Nevada and obtained by the Guardian, shows the apparent ease with which locations can be changed to fake door-knocks, calling into question how many Trump voters have actually been reached by the field operation.”

Politico: “A $160 million political spending spree by cryptocurrency firms and executives is poised to usher in a new, bipartisan army of industry-friendly lawmakers across the House and Senate.”

Kamala Harris has a 46% to 43% lead over Donald Trump, “with a glum electorate saying the country is on the wrong track,” a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found. “Some 70% of registered voters in the poll said their cost of living was on the wrong track, while 60% said the economy was heading in the wrong direction and 65% said the same of immigration policy.” A new Morning Consult poll has Harris leading by 50% to 46%.

CNN: “While several top Democratic operatives said they worry Harris may be losing the traditional TV ad wars in the face of Republicans’ extensive and intense attacks on transgender issues, the Harris aides disagreed. Most of the up-for-grabs voters aren’t paying attention to those ads if they’re watching TV at all, the aides contended.” “And the campaign believes it has the edge over Trump’s operation, thanks to months of precinct-by-precinct organizing and planning that is constantly being adjusted based on early vote and online data.”