Memo Pad Archives - The National Memo

The Reckoning Arrives For Donald Trump, Fox News, And The GOP

October 9, 2016 12:45 am

Spy magazine got it right more than two decades ago: Donald Trump is simply a short-fingered vulgarian.

For any remaining non-believers, this week’s released tape of Trump boasting about his sexual predator behavior eliminated any real doubts. (“Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” and “Grab them by the pussy.”)

In the wake of the ground-shaking campaign bombshell, the Republican Party now faces a political crisis the likes of which it probably has not seen since the days of Watergate. In terms of a political party openly at war with its presidential nominee one month before Election Day, as a GOP chorus grows demanding Trump step aside, there’s simply no precedent for this in modern American politics.…

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Evangelical Leaders Still Support Trump — But Will Lewd Remarks Repel Voters?

October 9, 2016 12:24 am

By Steve Holland and Michelle Conlin

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Leaders of religious conservative groups largely stood behind Donald Trump on Saturday, the day after vulgar sexual comments he made about women surfaced online, but some expressed concern that the U.S. Republican presidential nominee’s remarks could depress evangelical turnout on Election Day.

Most evangelical leaders did not condemn Trump, and instead pointed to an urgent need to prevent Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton from winning the presidency, reshaping the Supreme Court and implementing liberal policies.

The latest blow to Trump’s campaign came after a 2005 video surfaced of the then-reality TV star talking on an open microphone about groping women and trying to seduce a married woman.

In 24 Years of Town Hall Debates, The Winners, The Losers, And The Weird

October 9, 2016 12:04 am

In the 24 years since the debut of the town-hall format in an American presidential debate, there have been winners, losers and some memorably weird moments.

Sunday’s debate at Washington University in St. Louis, to be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, is the second of three presidential debates in this election cycle and the only town hall debate — which features the candidates in a more informal setting fielding questions from undecided voters.

The debate pits two candidates headed in opposite directions. Republican nominee Donald Trump had a rough first debate on Sept. 26 and a series of controversies and gaffes since then has diminished his odds of winning the election: on the FiveThirtyEight.com election website, his estimated chances have fallen from 45.2 percent to 18.6 percent.