SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016
Today’s Good News And Bad News
From Our Local Political Junkie We’ll Call “Cincy Dave”

Gennifer Flowers agrees to attend debate
After Trump tweeted that he would put “Jennifer” (actually Gennifer) Flowers in the front row at the debate, she said she would agree to attend. We don’t know yet if this was just an empty statement by Trump to attract attention or if The Donald will actually try to follow up on it. We do understand that the debate organizers do not take kindly to such stunts, but whether they can prevent it is unknown. Of course, Hillary could retaliate by using her seat allocation to fill them with Trump ex-wives and contractors or others that he has cheated over the years but that might be seen as getting down to his level. She could even invite Trump’s buddy, Putin. Our guess is that Gennifer will not be in the front row on Monday, but you never know with Trump. It could happen.

Boehner’s Replacement Smears Vets
John Boehner’s Trump-backing replacement in the House, Warren Davidson, claimed that many veterans are “moochers” and “pretenders”, overwhelming the VA Health system. There has never been any evidence of this but it fits many a right-wing narrative Although many Republicans believe this, it is the first time a congressman has so outspokenly stated it. Efforts are underway by national Republican figures to walk back his comments. This darling of the far right also was one of 4 Republican congressmen to give interviews promoting Trump on a white Nationalist Radio program during the Republican Convention. 

Good News for Hillary
Following the lead of the Fishwrap, the editorial board of the New York Times endorsed Hillary Clinton on Saturday, urging the newspaper’s readers to vote for the former secretary of state as the person best suited to confront “bigoted, tribalist movements and their leaders on the march” across the globe. The board also previewed a forthcoming broadside against the Republican nominee that will be published on Monday: “We will explain in a subsequent editorial why we believe Mr. Trump to be the worst nominee put forward by a major party in modern American history.” 

More Good News for Hillary
Many states with Republican legislatures have tried to suppress the vote in the last 5 or so years, including Ohio. Besides as myriad of voter I.D. laws, cutting down on hours the polls are open, and reducing the number of days for early voting, there is purging voter rolls of people who haven’t voted recently. The idea is supposed to clear the rolls of people who are dead or have moved away, but it also clears them of people who, for one reason or another, just didn’t vote. Ohio’s voter purge law was recently overturned by a federal appeals court. 

Bad News for Hillary
Another flap about the emails. Hillary aides were given immunity to turn over their computers. As expected, Republicans were upset. They thought the FBI should have just raided everyone’s house and office and taken away all their computers. By God, that’s the way it will be done under a Trump administration. Now what was that amendment that covered unreasonable searches and seizures? Yeah, we know – they’re going to abolish all of those pesky amendments, except the second.

Who will win Monday’s debate?
It’s hard to actually “win” a presidential debate because winning is so subjective, but it is possible to lose one by saying something so bone-headed and wrong that anyone can see it. The best example of that is Gerald Ford’s statement in 1976 that the Soviet Union did not dominate Eastern Europe. Then there is the possibility of a good zinger, but those are usually rehearsed well in advance. Here are a few examples of rehearsed zingers: the nearly 74 year-old Reagan’s statement (about Mondale) that he would not try to exploit his opponent’s youth and inexperience; Lloyd Benson’s put down of Danny Quayle after he compared himself to JFK (“Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”), and Sarah Palin’s “say it ain’t so, Joe”, set up in advance by asking Senator Joe Biden if she could call him “Joe”. Both candidate’s campaigns will try to say that their candidate won, no matter how badly he or she did. The spin starts before the actual debate is half over, and will continue until the following debate. The various news media will all try to determine a winner and a loser using their own criteria. We’re not predicting a winner, but we will go way out on a limb and predict that Fox News will claim that Trump won the first debate – and the second, and the third.

Today’s Meaningless Polls
Only one poll today. Even though it is Sunday, God only took a half-day off. We doubt that Pennsylvania is going to be this close and expect a Hillary win in Pa. by greater than 2 points.

— More Good News And Bad News Tomorrow —