Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) at a press conference, Sept. 20, 2016. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
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Doubling down –> Donald Trump says he will accept the result of the election… if he wins it.
The GOP is largely silent on their candidate’s unprecedented antidemocratic stance — with a few exceptions. John McCain (R-AZ), for instance, is speaking out. “I don’t know who’s going to win the presidential election. I do know that in every previous election, the loser congratulates the winner and calls them, ‘my president,’” he said in a statement. “This election must not be any different… I didn’t like the outcome of the 2008 election. But I had a duty to concede, and I did so without reluctance. A concession isn’t just an exercise in graciousness.”
No détente this year –> The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is an annual tradition at which the candidates, late in the campaign, get together and force joviality, “roasting” each other for the comedic benefit of rich and powerful New Yorkers. Trump didn’t play by the rules last night, however; faced with jeers from the audience, he lost his cool. The New York Times reports: “Breaking with decades of tradition at the gathering once he took the microphone, Mr. Trump set off on a blistering, grievance-filled performance that translated poorly to the staid setting, stunning many of the well-heeled guests who had filed into the Waldorf Astoria hotel.”
Hedge fund mogul comes in first –> With gifts to Hillary Clinton super PACs totaling $21 million, S. Donald Sussman looks likely to finish this election at the very top of Clinton’s donor list. In an interview with The Washington Post’s Matea Gold, he said he saw an irony in his donations. “It’s very odd to be giving millions when your objective is to actually get the money out of politics,” he said. “I am a very strong supporter of publicly financed campaigns, and I think the only way to accomplish that is to get someone like Secretary Clinton, who is committed to cleaning up the unfortunate disaster created by the activist court in Citizens United.”
One in a thousand –> Hurricane Matthew dumped a quantity of rain that is only supposed to fall once in every 1,000 years. It was the sixth thousand-year rainfall event so far this year, however. “Matthew’s toll is still rising: American deaths from Matthew climbed yesterday to 21, with damages totaling at least $4 billion,” writes Elana Gooray for Pacific Standard.
Who replaces Tim Kaine? –> If Hillary Clinton wins, Virginia is going to need a new senator. The Hill reports that Gov. Terry McAuliffe could appoint himself to the seat, but has ruled that out. Instead he is focusing on Rep. Bobby Scott to replace Kaine. Scott is one of only two African-Americans ever to represent Virginia in Congress, and the only one since reconstruction. He would become the third African-American in the Senate.
Battle for Mosul –> The BBC: “Islamic State (IS) militants have mounted a ferocious counter-attack in north Iraq, killing at least 19 people in and around the city of Kirkuk. They attacked government buildings, killing at least six police officers, and a power station under construction, where 13 employees died, officials say. Twelve IS fighters also reportedly died and fighting seems to be continuing.”
Meanwhile: Michael R. Gordon for The New York Times: “The third day of the campaign to drive the Islamic State out of Mosul was an expansion that included pushes on multiple fronts by American-trained Iraqi counterterrorism forces — which reached the town of Bartella less than 10 miles east of the city — and by the [Kurdish] pesh merga. And for the first time, an American soldier numbered among the dead.”
He can create jobs –> A DC jeweler has designed “nasty woman” necklaces and “bad hombre” keychains. Folks on Etsy are selling T-shirts, pins and Donald Trump-style red baseball caps encouraging voters to “Make America Nasty Again.”
Morning Reads was compiled by John Light and edited by Theresa Riley. See a story that you think should be included in Morning Reads? Tell us in the comments!
We produce this news digest every weekday. You can to receive these updates as an email newsletter each morning.
