With the US election less than two months away, the amount of drama on display is multiplying exponentially. We thought this would be a good time to check in with the latest and greatest.
‘Poll: Unconscious Clinton More Fit to be President Than Conscious Trump‘ (The New Yorker)
The polling data that really matter.
In a hypothetical matchup between a Clinton who has been rendered completely unconscious and a fully sentient Trump, voters chose an inert Clinton over an ambulatory Trump by a margin of nine percentage points.
‘Trump makes no apologies for his birther past‘ (Politico)
Donald Trump’s ‘press conference’ on Friday was a joke, but will it be a turning point?
True to form, Trump did not apologize. Instead, there was only the broad claiming of credit for having forced that president to produce his long-form birth certificate, a painful episode that reminded the country that the historic election of 2008 had also awakened an ugly element of its history.
‘NPR’s Interview With Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Kaine‘ (NPR)
Want to know more about who Tim Kaine is, and what he’s about? He spoke to NPR at length about both of these questions, and about his relationship with Secretary Clinton.
She was telling that group you need to know something about Donald Trump’s voters. There are some who are motivated by dark emotions, that are not in accord with American values. I mean when you have David Duke doing robo-calls telling people to vote for Donald Trump, which he did just a couple of weeks ago, that is highly troubling. And she was basically saying some of Donald Trump’s voters are motivated by these dark emotions that really are out of step with American values.
‘Trying to Understand Latinos for Trump‘ (Pacific Standard)
You’ve seen the signs. Meet the people behind them.
Latinos who support Trump may feel less strongly identified with their ethnic culture and have a stronger desire to identify with American culture. They probably also believe that other Latinos should assimilate fully into American culture and minimize ties or connections to their heritage culture. These beliefs comport with Trump’s message that immigrants need to “successfully assimilate” in order to join our country.
‘The Hillary I know has the stamina and intelligence for the toughest job‘ (The Telegraph)
The brouhaha over Secretary Clinton’s bout of pneumonia is generating endless speculation about whether she’s ‘fit’ for the presidency. Those who know her put paid to these rumours.
I know from my own experience how miserable it can be to be undeniably ill when on public view – in my case a debilitating bout of sinusitis led to diagrams of my nose being published in most newspapers, rumours of my resignation sweeping parliament, and then a revealing mixture of relief and regret among my colleagues when I bounced back to vigorous health.
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Photo: Kevin Lim/Creative Commons