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On the roster: Sanders off the trail with heart problems - Huge cash haul for trump - Trump’s team embraces ‘coup’ claim - Pete Sessions goes district shopping - Dana Perino wanted for questioning

SANDERS OFF THE TRAIL WITH HEART PROBLEMS

AP: “Bernie Sanders’ campaign says the Democratic presidential candidate has had a heart procedure for a blocked artery. The Vermont senator is canceling events and appearances ‘until further notice.’ The campaign says the 78-year-old Sanders experienced chest discomfort during an event Tuesday and sought medical evaluation. The campaign says two stents were ‘successfully inserted’ and that Sanders ‘is conversing and in good spirits.’ His campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, was on a telephone call with supporters Tuesday night but didn’t mention any health concerns about the candidate. Shakir said the ‘state of the campaign is strong’ and he played up Sanders’ strong fundraising total for the third quarter. Sanders recently canceled some appearances in South Carolina because he lost his voice. The campaign said at the time he felt fine.”



Biden still strong in South Carolina - Greenville [S.C.] News: “The latest Winthrop Poll results are out and South Carolina democratic voters strongly support former Vice President Joe Biden for the presidency, according to the results. Biden drew 37% of the votes among those surveyed. Among African American democrats and democratic-leaning African Americans, Biden earned 46% of the votes, according to the poll. This is the first Winthrop Poll looking at the 2020 primary candidates. Sen. Elizabeth Warren earned 17%, Sen. Bernie Sanders 8%, Sen. Kamala Harris 7% and the remaining 15 candidates each earned less than 5% support in the poll. … The Winthrop Poll is among the list of qualifying polls [for debate qualifications]. Of the remaining 15 candidates, only South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Cory Booker earned at least 3% approval.”



Warren, Biden neck in neck in New Hampshire - WMUR: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren is now in a virtual dead heat with former Vice President Joe Biden in the first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential primary campaign, according to a new poll. The latest Saint Anselm College Center Survey Center poll shows that Warren’s overall upward trajectory is evident in New Hampshire, as it has been recently in national polls. … Sen. Bernie Sanders, the landslide winner of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, is in third place with 11 percent, essentially tied with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was backed by 10 percent of those polled. … Sen. Kamala Harris was the top choice of 5 percent, while U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Amy Klobuchar received 3 percent each. Philanthropist/activist Tom Steyer and entrepreneur Andrew Yang each received support from 2 percent of those polled, while Sen. Cory Booker was backed by 1 percent.”



Yang brings in big bucks with free money plan - Axios: “2020 candidate Andrew Yang's campaign says it raised $10 million in 2019's third quarter, according to Politico. Why it matters: Yang's Q3 report is more than triple the $2.8 million he raised in the second quarter — a push powered by some strong debate performances that elevated his national profile. The state of play: Yang outpaced Sen. Cory Booker’s $6 million and came close to Sen. Kamala Harris’ $11.6 million. … Yang's campaign said nearly 300,000 people have donated — almost double the threshold required to qualify for the November debate. … Yang's campaign told Politico that it received $1 million in the 72 hours after the September debate in which he announced that he was giving away $120,000 to 10 families over a year to promote signature campaign proposal: universal basic income, branded by Yang as the ‘freedom dividend.’”



HUGE CASH HAUL FOR TRUMP

AP: “President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee raised $125 million in the third quarter of the year, a presidential fundraising record. The pro-Trump effort said Tuesday that it has raised more than $308 million in 2019 and has more than $156 million in the bank. Republicans aim to use the fundraising haul to fight off Democrats’ impeachment effort. Former President Barack Obama and the DNC raised just over $70 million in the third quarter of 2011. ‘President Trump has built a juggernaut of a campaign, raising record amounts of money at a record pace,’ said Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel credited Democratic attacks on Trump for motivating supporters to donate in record numbers.”



GOP moves to stifle dissent in Charlotte - NYT: “President Trump’s political advisers have concluded a monthslong effort to tighten the rules for choosing delegates to the Republican National Convention, all but ensuring there are no dissenting speeches at the gathering of party officials in Charlotte next year. On Tuesday, state Republican parties submitted to the national committee their delegate allocation plans, the methods by which they will choose and bind delegates who attend the convention as their representatives. In 37 states and territories, there have been changes to the rules that will all but stamp out the possibility of any raucous divide on the convention floor. … The new delegate guidelines are the culmination of a 10-month effort by Trump advisers to strengthen the president’s grip on the Republican Party ahead of the general election. It means that even if the three candidates challenging Mr. Trump in the Republican primary gain vote shares, they almost certainly won’t translate into speeches or jeers from supporters of these candidates when the convention is taking place.”



South Carolina Republicans sue over nixed primary - The [Charleston, S.C.] Post and Courier: “Two Republicans, one of them former congressman Bob Inglis, have sued the S.C. Republican Party over its decision to cancel its GOP presidential primary next year. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in state court in Richland County, alleges the party scrapped its 2020 election contest illegally and violated party rules and state election law. The suit further contends the near-unanimous decision made by the party’s Executive Committee deprives Inglis, of Greenville, and fellow plaintiff Frank Heindel of Mount Pleasant, of their right to vote for the candidate of their choosing in a primary. … The suit comes after the Executive Committee met Sept. 7 in Columbia and voted to forgo a presidential primary. The move effectively cleared the way for Republican incumbent President Donald Trump to receive all of the state’s nominating delegates without contest.”



THE RULEBOOK: POPULISM 101

“By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 10



TIME OUT: WHAT A BUNCH OF CRETANS

NatGeo: “Deep inside the Labyrinth on the island of Crete lived a Minotaur, a monster half man, half bull. … The story of the Minotaur has thrilled people for thousands of years and inspired myriad works of art: pottery, poetry, plays, the art of Picasso, operas, movies, and video games. Although the myth can be enjoyed as a satisfying tale, archaeologists now know that its fabulous qualities have roots deep in real events in the Bronze Age. The bull-headed man in Minos’s maze embodies several traits found in the culture of Crete and ancient Minoan civilization. Bulls and maze motifs are found throughout Minoan culture, which dominated the Mediterranean from about 3000 B.C. to about 1100 B.C. In confronting and overcoming the bull—a symbol of Crete—Theseus, the legendary founder of Athens, reflects the flowering of Aegean civilizations beginning in the middle of the second millennium B.C., as mainland Greece replaced Crete as the dominant power.”



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SCOREBOARD

DEMOCRATIC 2020 POWER RANKING

Biden: 26.8 points (↓ 0.8 points from last wk.)

Warren: 22.8 points (↑ 2 points from last wk.)

Sanders: 16 points (no change from last wk.)

Harris: 5.6 points (↓ 1 point from last wk.)

Buttigieg: 6 points (↑ 0.6 points from last wk.)

[Averages include: Monmouth University, Quinnipiac University, Fox News, NBC News/WSJ and CNN.]



TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE

Average approval: 42.2 percent

Average disapproval: 53.2 percent

Net Score: -11 percent

Change from one week ago: no change

[Average includes: CNBC: 37% approve - 53% disapprove; Monmouth University: 43% approve - 53% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 40% approve - 55% disapprove; Fox News: 45% approve - 54% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 45% approve - 53% disapprove.]



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TRUMP’S TEAM EMBRACES ‘COUP’ CLAIM

Mediaite: “President Donald Trump decried the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry as a ‘coup,’ and it looks like his campaign is embracing that rhetoric to blast Democrats. Trump echoed similar comments made on Fox News in the past few days, including from trade advisor Peter Navarro this week. And now Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted this afternoon Democrats should be working on policies ‘that help America instead of trying to overthrow our government with a coup’ And the Trump campaign has a new ad out today — called ‘Coup’ — accusing Democrats of orchestrating ‘nothing short of a coup’ against the president.”



Senate GOP could take up impeachment only to drop it - NYT: “Senator Mitch McConnell’s comment this week that the Senate would be forced to ‘take up’ articles of impeachment from the House had the capital in a swirl, bracing for a full-blown Senate trial of President Trump. But as things now stand, any trial would likely be swift, ending in dismissal of the accusations. While the focus was on the statement by Mr. McConnell, the majority leader, that the Senate would have ‘no choice’ but to begin an impeachment proceeding, it was his next line that might have been more telling: ‘How long you are on it is a whole different matter.’ The fusty rules of the Senate make clear that Republicans could not unilaterally stonewall articles of impeachment of Mr. Trump as they did the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick B. Garland. But Mr. McConnell’s declaration suggests the Republican-controlled Senate could move expeditiously to toss them out if Republicans conclude the House impeachment is meritless, or a strictly partisan affair.”



Steyer PAC spends big to target Republican senators on impeachment - WaPo: “A group pushing for the impeachment of President Trump is launching a $3.1 million ad campaign targeting Republican senators over the coming weeks as pro-impeachment activists turn their fire away from Democratic holdouts and toward members of the president’s own party. The group, Need to Impeach, is funded mainly by billionaire Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer. Top executives said Tuesday that more than half of the ad campaign money will go toward television spots, with the rest underwriting digital ads. The campaign will focus on Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Martha McSally (Ariz.), all of whom are seeking reelection next year and could cast votes in the coming months on whether Trump should be removed from office.”



Cheney sends House Republicans home with talking points - WashEx: “Republican leaders in the House of Representatives sent the rank-and-file home with one overriding message to deliver to voters in their districts: There is no evidence that warrants an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. The bulleted talking points, prepared by Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, also attack House Democrats as disorganized and the impeachment process as illegitimate, primarily because Nancy Pelosi declined to hold a floor vote on whether to open the inquiry. Cheney argues in her messaging guidance that Democrats have been intent on impeaching Trump for more than two years. An investigation into Trump's harmless telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, she asserts, is just the Democrats' latest excuse to justify their attempt to undo the 2016 election.”



PETE SESSIONS GOES DISTRICT SHOPPING

Texas Tribune: “Former Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions appears poised to make a comeback attempt — but not in his old Dallas-based district. Sessions, who lost reelection last year, plans to announce Thursday he's running for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, according to McLennan County GOP Chairman Jon R. Ker. The announcement will be at the county party headquarters in Waco, added Ker, who said he spoke with Sessions on Tuesday. Sessions' anticipated run is a surprise development after he spent months publicly flirting with running for his previous 32nd District seat, which is about 80 miles north of Flores' more Republican 17th District. The initial reaction ‘has not been positive,’ Flores told The Texas Tribune late Tuesday. ‘Pete is a friend of mine, but I wish he'd called me first,’ said Flores, R-Bryan. ‘I could have provided some valuable feedback to him.’”



Tenney signs up for rematch to reclaim seat - Roll Call: “Former Rep. Claudia Tenney, one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters last Congress, announced Tuesday she will run for her old seat in New York’s 22nd District. Tenney lost by less than 2 percentage points in the 2018 midterms to Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi despite running one of the most pro-Trump campaigns of any vulnerable House Republican. The president carried New York’s 22nd District by 15 percentage points in 2016. ‘Upstate New York deserves a representative who will fight for their values in Congress, someone who will work to deliver actual results, not resistance,’ Tenney said in a press release Tuesday.”



Lewandowski shies from Senate run - Politico: “Corey Lewandowski told a local radio host Tuesday ‘it’s fair’ to say he is reconsidering a Senate run in order to defend President Donald Trump from impeachment and help him get reelected. ‘As much as I think I would be a great fighter for the people of New Hampshire, and one U.S. senator can make a difference, it is my priority to make sure the president of United States is reelected,’ Lewandowski said on the radio show, ‘New Hampshire Today with Jack Heath.’ ‘That's a top priority.’ The president's brash and outspoken former campaign manager would have to go up against three other Republicans looking to unseat Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.”



AUDIBLE: POOR GARY

“You don't really want to identify with anybody on that show. The only character with any kind of moral purity to them is Gary, the body guy. But it's not like you really want to be him.” – Mayor Pete Buttigieg when asked which character from HBO’s Veep he relate most to during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.



FROM THE BLEACHERS

“Just curious about the railroad spike on the trophy plaque behind you.” – Martin Jarvis, Wright City, Mo.



[Ed. note: Now that’s what I call observant viewership, Mr. Jarvis! Other viewers of our show on Fox Nation may have seen that simple wooden board with a rusty railroad spike behind me. It is from the Monongha Mine in Marion County, W.Va., the scene of the worst mine disaster in American history. On Dec. 6, 1907 at least 362 men were killed when the poorly-ventilated mine filled with methane gas, which exploded with terrible force, killing almost all instantly. Any effort to evacuate the mine would have been badly complicated by a language barrier. The lion’s share of the miners were Italian immigrants, but there would have been Hungarians, Czechs and other non-English speakers working in crews of their own, making it hard for English-speaking foremen to direct an escape as the inferno spread from section to section. The blast collapsed much of the roof and destroyed the rail lines in and out of the mine. That spike came from one of those shattered rail ties and was given long ago to my father, a coal salesman, by a West Virginia coal operator whose own father had saved it after the explosion. I love the way it looks and it goes along with some other ancient mine memorabilia in my office, including a carbide lamp miner’s helmet. But I also love it as a memento of how much I have to be thankful for. My work here in this comfortable, air-conditioned office is safe, well-compensated and personally rewarding. It’s a far cry from the coal pits where so many men toiled and sometimes died. That little spike reminds me of who I am, where I’m from, my dear old dad and, most of all, to be grateful.]



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DANA PERINO WANTED FOR QUESTIONING

CBS12: “A man in Fort Lauderdale is accused of tampering with dozens of electric scooters. Authorities have been investigating the vandalism of more than 140 scooters since April. One incident is caught on surveillance video, which police released to the public in an effort to identify a suspect. The investigation led to the arrest of 59-year-old Randall Thomas Williams. Police said they found 20 scooters nearby with severed brake lines. Police say Williams is the one who cut the brake lines on the scooters. He faces criminal mischief charges. Investigators have not revealed a motive. Police are asking anyone who finds an electric scooter that appears to have been tampered with to contact the vendor.”



AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“I had a pet turtle. My brother had a parakeet. Both came to unfortunate ends. My turtle fell behind a radiator and was not discovered until too late. And the parakeet, God bless him, flew out a window once, never to be seen again. After such displays of stewardship, we dared not ask for a dog.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in Time magazine on June 10, 2003.



Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.