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Trump says ‘bombs’ sap Republican momentum …

On Friday morning, Donald Trump tweeted, ‘Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this “Bomb” stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!’

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this “Bomb” stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!

It’s not clear what the president meant by putting the word “bomb” in quotation marks. At least 13 explosive devices were sent this week to critics of the president including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Some conservative commentators had suggested the attacks were a leftist plot having to do with the midterms.

Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) Trump backers who have suggested the bombs are a liberal hoax:



Ann Coulter

Rush Limbaugh

Michael Savage

James Woods

Mike Flynn Jr.

Frank Gaffney

Kurt Schlichter

Candace Owens

David Horowitz

John Cardillo

Laura Loomer

Jacob Wohl

Chadwick Moore

John Lott

What does this mean? Within an hour of Trump’s tweet, the first reports emerged that a suspect – an enthusiastic Trump supporter according to his social media – had been arrested in Florida. In an appearance at the White House shortly afterward, the president praised law enforcement, saying, “These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country.” Trump did not muse further on the implications for the political horserace of the incident.

Gillum targeted by racist robocall

Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, who is African American, has been targeted by a racist robocall, the second time it’s happened in his contest against Congressman Ron DeSantis. ABC News reported that “the voice on the newest robocall voice impersonates Gillum in an exaggerated accent and refers to the Democratic candidate as a ‘negro’ and a ‘monkey’.”

Say what? “Well, hello there. I is the negro Andrew Gillum and I’ll be askin’ you to make me governor of this here state of Florida,” the voice says.

Why this matters In a moment widely interpreted as racist dog-whistling in August, DeSantis warned voters not to “monkey this up”. Gillum jumped on that line in a recent debate between the candidates, saying “the racists believe he’s a racist”. FiveThirtyEight’s forecast has the race as “likely Democrat”.

Poll of the day

An Epic-MRA statewide poll commissioned by the Detroit Free Press in Michigan found broad support for three ballot initiatives that would ease restrictions on marijuana, counter gerrymandering and make voter registration automatic when applying for a driver’s license of state-issued ID. The marijuana legalization initiative had 57%-41% support, according to the poll; the anti-gerrymandering proposal had 59%-29% support and automatic voter registration had 68%-26% support.

Why this matters If voters indeed vote yes on proposal 2, which would set up an independent commission to draw redistricting maps in Michigan, the state’s gerrymander could unravel, with possible implications for the balance of power in Congress.

A fairer playing field In the last three election cycles, Michigan has sent nine Republicans and five Democrats to the House of Representatives, despite a roughly equivalent number of votes being cast for each party statewide.

Ad of the day

It’s a booster ad for the Missouri senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, paid for by a political action committee called Patients for Affordable Drugs Action. The group is running ads in nine states this election cycle around one issue: the need for lower drug prices. But as Democratic representative Anna Eshoo in California has discovered, the group is not merely on the side of Democrats. Eshoo and others perceived of coziness with big pharma have been the targets of attack ads by the group.

Will this help? Every little bit counts in the Missouri race, among the top three tightest Senate races in 2018, according to Harry Enten’s Forecast over at CNN.