By BRIAN A. HOWEY, in Indianapolis



1. Trump meets with ACB



Here are your Tuesday power lunch talking points: President Trump met with 7th Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett at the White House on Monday. She remains the frontrunner to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and has powerful backing in the White House, including fellow Hoosier Vice President Mike Pence, counsel Pat Cipollone and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.



Trump has promised to unveil the nomination on Friday or Saturday. He's in Miami on Friday, home to Judge Barbara Lagoa. Trump is famous for what Bob Woodward describes as a "soft yes" and changing his mind due to the last person he talks to (as Pence World learned in mid-July 2016). So if the nomination is announced on Friday, look for Lagoa to get the nod. She checks off a critical political box since she would appeal to swing state Florida's influential Cuban community. Trump and Joe Biden are in a dogfight for Florida's Electoral College votes.



If the choice is announced Saturday, and Pence either joins Trump in Florida or is at Joint Base Andrews late Friday night to greet Trump upon his return, then ACB will probably get the nomination.



2. GOP has the votes



U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney joins Sens. Chuck Grassley and Cory Gardner in saying he'll vote for a SCOTUS nominee in 2020. "I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee," Romney said this morning. "If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications," he said. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Monday night, “We’ve got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election. We’re going to move forward in the committee; we’re going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election.”



3. 5th CD town hall at 7 tonight



The sleepy 2020 election cycle gets a jolt tonight with the 5th CD town hall featuring Democrat Christina Hale and Republican Victoria Spartz. It begins at 7 p.m. and will end at 8 p.m. You can watch online at www.indianatownhalls.org.



4. Indiana to borrow $400 million



Dan Carden of the NWI Times reports: Indiana is projected to borrow up to $400 million from the federal government to pay state unemployment benefits to eligible out-of-work Hoosiers through the end of the year. In the near term, Indiana businesses generally should not be impacted by the borrowing. But if the debt continues to grow into 2021, and remains on the books on Jan. 1, 2022, companies may be required to pay an additional $21 per employee, per year, on top of their regular unemployment premiums, to help reduce the obligation. The state paid out $380 million to 267,000 claimants in August, according to DWD. The jobless rate has fallen form 17.5% in April to 6.5% in August.



5. Trump's A+



President Trump gives himself an A+ for handling the pandemic. “We’ve done a phenomenal job. Not just a good job, a phenomenal job,” Trump said in an interview onFox & Friends on Monday morning. "On public relations, I give myself a D. On the job itself, we take an A-plus.” This assessment comes as the U.S. hit the 200,000 pandemic death and Axios/Ipsos reported that only 39% of Americans will accept the first generation COVID-19 vaccine (43% of Democrats and 33% of Republicans). Trump at an Ohio MAGA rally Monday night: “It affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems and other problems. If they have other problems, that’s what it really affects, that’s it. Take your hat off to the young, because they have a hell of an immune system. But it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing. By the way, open your schools.”



It's The Atomic.