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On the roster: 2020 Dems switch focus from Biden to Warren - Time Out: Happy Labor Day weekend - DNC to recommend scrapping virtual caucus plans - Rep. Doug Collins eyes Isakson’s Senate seat - Duck Tape would work too



2020 DEMS SWITCH FOCUS FROM BIDEN TO WARREN

Politico: “The Elizabeth Warren honeymoon may be coming to an end. Warren’s weak fundraising and Native American controversy out of the gate gave her the look of a second-rate candidate, and her rivals have treated her as such, even as she’s rebounded from those early troubles. But with the Massachusetts senator now drawing massive crowds and surging in national polls, competing campaigns are starting to refocus on Warren, looking to blunt her momentum. Democrats are already opening up new lines of attack: calling her celebrated policy proposals a ‘fraud,’ challenging her to say how she’d pay for a massive health care plan, highlighting a lack of diversity in her supporters and dropping reminders of Warren’s long span as a Republican. …Warren, who trails only Joe Biden in many polls, has a rougher stretch ahead of her. ‘It’s inevitable: What goes up must come down. It’s the law of political physics,’ Dick Harpootlian, one of Biden’s top South Carolina organizers, said of Warren’s turn in the hot seat.”



Biden and Warren will finally share a debate stage - Politico: “As two of the top-polling candidates, they’ll be standing together at the center of the debate stage in Houston — a situation they dodged in the first two debates, when they were randomly assigned to different nights. The showdown has been a long time coming. For years, Warren has seen Biden as emblematic of a Democratic Party that’s too cozy with big corporations, according to interviews with several longtime allies. During the fight over the bankruptcy bill, Warren wasn’t shy about attacking Biden by name. … Despite their history, Biden’s campaign played down expectations for a potential clash with Warren. ‘As Joe Biden said himself, he has deep respect for Elizabeth Warren,’ Andrew Bates, a Biden campaign spokesman, said in a statement to POLITICO. Warren’s campaign declined to comment.”



And the stage order is… - ABC News: “The 10 candidates … will appear on stage in the following order, from left to right: Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; Former Vice President Joe Biden; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; California Sen. Kamala Harris; Entrepreneur Andrew Yang; Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke; Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. … The podium order … was determined by polling averages, based on the last 10 polls certified for qualification by the DNC with the highest polling candidates near the center.”



Biden defends faulty war story - AP: “Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday defended his faulty description of a tale of military heroism and his interactions with the service members who carried it out. The ‘essence’ of his recollection is correct, the former vice president told a South Carolina newspaper Thursday after a Washington Post story detailed how an emotional anecdote Biden told recently while campaigning in New Hampshire contained inaccuracies. Biden’s telling appeared to conflate multiple events… In his latest telling of a story he’s varied over several years, according to the Post, Biden got most of the details wrong: … Biden and his aides countered that the anecdote’s fundamental point — that as vice president he once formally recognized the valor of a heartbroken solider who didn’t want the recognition because his fellow solider ultimately lost his life — is true.”



He believes strength in S.C. will keep him in front - [Charleston, S.C.] Post and Courier: “Biden’s lead in South Carolina has consistently outpaced his support in other early states and national polls, raising the prospect that the state could serve as something of a firewall for his campaign if he begins to slip up elsewhere. In an interview with The Post and Courier following a town hall Thursday in Rock Hill, Biden acknowledged the impact that a setback in the other early states could have on his odds of winning the Democratic nomination. ‘Iowa can change the dynamic of a race for everybody and anybody,’ Biden said. … But he argued that his substantial campaign operation, dozens of prominent endorsements and decades of relationships in South Carolina could preserve his frontrunner status in the Palmetto State regardless of what happens elsewhere.”



Beto’s in a fury - LAT: “Beto O’Rourke was angry, standing with his back to the wall. He compared President Trump to a dictator and the country to Germany in the days before its dark descent into Nazism. … O’Rourke entered the presidential race with an exuberant burst, but he’s fizzled since: His fundraising has been mediocre, debate performances uninspired, poll numbers cringingly low. After a pause following the mass shooting in his native El Paso, the former Texas congressman is now attempting to relaunch his campaign with a focus on gun violence, immigrant rights and the dangerous toxicity, he says, that oozes from the White House. It may be his last stand.”



Has Castro missed his moment? - Politico: “This should be Julián Castro’s moment. … Even Latinos … have been slow to respond to Castro’s message. … If Castro had any sort of moment in this presidential campaign, of the kind that candidates are constantly trying to create, it was in the first debate in July, when he left Beto O’Rourke sputtering over immigration policy… The reviews of Castro’s were good and should have garnered him a second look from voters and a polling bump. But they didn’t. For whatever reason, the path-breaking Latino candidate with an easy command of the intricacies of immigration policy didn’t see his numbers improve, especially after his call to decriminalize border crossing was copied by much of the rest of the field. The incident echoed, in some respects, his near-miss with the Clinton campaign in 2016.”



THE RULEBOOK: MISTAKES HAPPEN

“It will be found, indeed, on a candid review of our situation, that some of the distresses under which we labor have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments…” – James Madison, Federalist No. 10



TIME OUT: HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND

History: “Labor Day, an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters. In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country… As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as the wellspring of American employment, labor unions, which had first appeared in the late 18th century, grew more prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay. … On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history.”



Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.



SCOREBOARD

Average approval: 41.4 percent

Average disapproval: 54.4 percent

Net Score: -13 percent

Change from one week ago: down 0.2 points

[Average includes: Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 56% disapprove; USA Today/Suffolk University: 44% approve - 54% disapprove; Monmouth University: 41% approve - 53% disapprove; CNN: 41% approve - 54% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 43% approve - 55% disapprove.]



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DNC TO RECOMMEND SCRAPPING VIRTUAL CAUCUS PLANS

AP: “The Democratic National Committee will recommend scrapping state plans to offer virtual, telephone-based caucuses in 2020 due to security concerns, sources tell The Associated Press. The final choice whether to allow virtual caucuses in Iowa and Nevada is up to the party's powerful Rules and Bylaws Committee. But opposition from DNC's executive and staff leadership makes it highly unlikely the committee would keep the virtual caucuses, leaving two key early voting states and the national party a short time to fashion an alternative before the February caucuses. The state parties had planned to allow some voters to cast caucus votes over the telephone in February 2020 instead of showing up at traditional caucus meetings. Iowa and Nevada created the virtual option to meet a DNC mandate that states open caucuses to more people, but two sources with knowledge of party leaders' deliberations say there are concerns that the technology used for virtual caucuses could be subject to hacking.”



REP. DOUG COLLINS EYES ISAKSON’S SENATE SEAT

Politico: “Georgia Rep. Doug Collins said Thursday he would be open to taking Sen. Johnny Isakson’s seat after the 74-year-old Republican announced he will resign at the end of the year amid health problems. ‘You know, to be considered for that, I'm humbled by folks who are considering that,’ Collins, a Republican, told Fox News, adding that filling Isakson’s Senate seat ‘is something that I would look at.’ It was unclear whether Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, was referring to a potential appointment by Gov. Brian Kemp to serve out the remainder of Isakson’s third term or hinting at a future campaign for Senate. Kemp, also a Republican, said Wednesday he will name ‘at the appropriate time’ a replacement for Isakson until a 2020 special election. The winner of that race will then have to run for a full six-year term in 2022.”



Former Rep. Darrell Issa considers run for Rep. Duncan Hunter’s seat - Roll Call: “Former California Rep. Darrell Issa is likely to launch an exploratory committee Thursday in a challenge to embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter, according to a not-yet-unveiled website. ‘I have formally launched an exploratory committee for the 50th Congressional District in California,’ the site reads. ‘I have received such a tremendous outpouring of encouragement from supporters inside the district, and around the state and across the Nation.’ Under ‘issues,’ the website reads ‘placeholder for 1st issues title’ and ‘placeholder for 2nd issues title’ with dummy text underneath. … Issa, a Republican, withdrew in 2018 from the race for his competitive 49th District seat after nine terms in office. Democrat Mike Levin flipped the seat in the general election. Hunter represents the neighboring 50th District, more favorable territory for a Republican. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Lean Republican. Issa would join several other Republicans already in the race.”



PLAY-BY-PLAY

President Trump cancels trip to Poland so he can monitor Hurricane Dorian - Fox News



Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologizes for racist skit in college after 1967 audio emerges - WaPo



Team Trump looks to expand overtime pay - WSJ



Poll finds majority of voters view climate change as an emergency - Quinnipiac University



AUDIBLE: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

“I’ve already been there.” – South Carolina Republican Mark Sanford’s answer when asked by the AP how he’d feel if he were ostracized from the party for challenging Trump. Sanford shrugged and chuckled while responding.



ANY GIVEN SUNDAY

This weekend Mr. Sunday will sit down with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Watch “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.



#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz has the latest take on the week’s media coverage. Watch #mediabuzz Sundays at 11 a.m. ET.



Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.



DUCK TAPE WORKS TOO

UPI: “A duck is walking more comfortably after a Tennessee veterinarian created a pair of custom orthopedic shoes from kitchen mats. Dr. Matt Quillen said Jenny the Duck was brought into the Rocky Top Veterinary Hospital by her owner, John Dixon, when he noticed her legs were turned inward when she walked. Quillen said Jenny was found to have condition known as ‘bumblefoot,’ which is sometimes caused by walking on rough surfaces. … Quillen said he used kitchen mats from a local hardware store to create a pair of custom orthopedic shoes for Jenny. ‘I wear Crocs, those are my shoes of choice and they always aggravate me around here,’ he said. ‘So I said, ‘I'm going to make Jenny like me and we will put her in some ‘Quacks.’”



AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“Don’t touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm-election voter.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the National Review on Nov. 19, 2010.



Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.