SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2016
Today’s Good News And Bad News
From Our Local Political Junkie We’ll Call “Cincy Dave”

BAD NEWS FOR HILLARY
In fact, very bad news. The news that the FBI is going to reopen the investigation into her emails hit the Hillary campaign like a bomb. They were completely blindsided by it. And just when she thought she was out of the woods on that one. The FBI isn’t saying much except that they found some additional emails on a laptop that belonged to Anthony Weiner and his wife Huma, who is Hillary’s aide. No one knows how long the investigation will take, if Hillary can run out the clock on it, or if it will turn out to be another false alarm.

Trump and his campaign are dancing a jig, and the Hillary forces are sweating blood. Is this the October Surprise that Trump was hoping for? Is the whole thing a Russian plot? Will the bomb turn out to be a dud? The only thing certain about it is that it will be practically the only thing anyone in politics will talk about in the next week or more.

Old Yogi said “It ain’t over till it’s over” but, of course, that was baseball. Politics is more like football – you can score more than one point at a time and there is a clock. Unfortunately for the Trump team, the game is almost over and there are no time-outs. And the Hillary team is still ahead. It’s going to take more than a letter from the FBI notifying a few members of congress of an investigation into something that the FBI “cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant.” to change the outcome. Most people have already decided how to vote and many have already voted. The FBI is going to have to find a smoking gun with Hillary’s fingerprints on it.

It is amazing how, in Republican eyes, FBI Director James Comey went from being a partisan hack (although he is a Republican) one minute to a great champion of law and order the next. If he again comes to the same conclusion as before, he will no doubt go back to his former status or worse. Of course, in Democrats’ eyes, Comey went from being a fair-minded non-political official to something else entirely. He had to know that his action in sending such a letter to congress in the middle of the presidential election would create a firestorm, so what was his motivation? Is he gambling on being the next Attorney General in a Trump administration, now that Chris Christie is in trouble, or is he just wishing to retire, effective January 20, 2017? We will probably find out someday but likely not until after he does retire.

For her part, Hillary has demanded that the FBI release “full and complete facts” about the latest probe. “I think people a long time ago made up their minds about the emails,” she said. “I think that’s factored into what people think and now they’re choosing a president.” “I’m confident whatever they are will not change the [FBI] conclusion reached in July,” Clinton said, referring to Comey’s recommendation that the Department of Justice not pursue a criminal case against the former secretary of state or her aides. “Therefore it is imperative that the bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay,” Clinton said. “Even Director Comey noted this new information may not be significant,” she said, “so let’s get it out.” More here: 

BAD NEWS FOR TRUMP
Another former beauty queen said Donald Trump sexually assaulted her during the Miss Universe contest in 2006. Ninni Laaksonen alleged in an interview with Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that the Republican presidential nominee groped her before an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. “He really grabbed my butt. I don’t think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought ‘what is happening?’” Laaksonen was quoted as saying. “Somebody told me there that Trump liked me because I looked like Melania when she was younger,” Laaksonen, who was crowned Miss Finland in 2006, said. “It left me disgusted.” Laaksonen is the 12th woman to accuse Trump of sexual assault. He has rejected all the allegations and threatened to sue all those who made claims against him.“The stories are all totally false,” he told Good Morning America on Thursday.

KAINE THREATENS NUCLEAR OPTION
Upon the news that Ted Cruz and associated Senate Republicans plan to block any potential Hillary appointments to the Supreme Court, V.P. nominee Tim Kaine said that the Democrats would use the “nuclear option,” meaning that they would abolish the filibuster. Of course, this depends on two things – a Hillary victory and a Senate takeover by the Democrats. If both of these events occurred, the Republicans would almost certainly back off of their threat to block all nominees because the result would be that they would lose any power they had to reject anyone. If the filibuster were ended, Hillary would send up nothing but 30-some year-old liberal judges, the likes of which haven’t been seen since William O. Douglas. 

TODAY’S STATE POLLS
Hillary leads in all the swing states in this batch. The FBI had better come up with something other than Weiner photos to help The Donald.

— More Good News And Bad News Tomorrow —