Comment on US retail sales jumped 0.6 percent in July

Dan Pfeiffer: “Riding the pollercoaster is an exercise in insanity. A few things to keep in mind (I like to reiterate these reminders every month or so): first, polling is an inexact science. There is a margin for error. A poll that shows Harris up two and one that shows her down two are essentially the same.” “Second — and I can’t emphasize this enough — polling is not supposed to predict the future.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by seven points in the presidential race, 47% to 40%.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said Tuesday that he has “no plans to call a special session” to change the way the state allocates electoral votes to a winner-take-all system, ending an effort led by Donald Trump, CNN reports. For members: A Really Big Deal in Nebraska

“Hezbollah urged Iran in recent days to launch an attack against Israel as fighting between the Lebanese militant group and the Israeli military dramatically escalated, but Iran has so far refrained,” Axios reports.

“President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations for the final time Tuesday, defending his record and urging an expansion of alliances and democracy to steady a world buffeted by war — even as conflicts in the Middle East and Europe appeared poised to escalate in the concluding months of his term,” Politico reports. Said Biden: “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart.”

“Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is promising that the House will not approve a single, massive bill to fund the entire government in December — a scenario feared by conservatives — despite a stopgap that’s expected to clear the House this week expiring on Dec. 20,” The Hill reports. Said Johnson: “There won’t be a Christmas omnibus.” Punchbowl News: “If Republicans keep the majority, he’s going to want to avoid an end-of-year omnibus at all costs.