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Hillary Clinton will hold her election night rally in a space with a literal glass ceiling, so presumably Donald Trump will hold his in a space constructed entirely of divorce lawyers. Democrats are already ironing out messaging against 2020 aspirants, which is probably a kneejerk psychological response to not wanting to consider a second Trump candidacy. And Trump is clearly using the final stretch of his (likely) doomed campaign to promote his properties, which makes us wonder if he’s going to give a concession speech or just broadcast a few words on those hotel TV channels that are about the hotel. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, October 26th, 2016:
IN CASE YOU THOUGHT CLINTON 2.0 IS GOING TO BE LESS ACRIMONIOUS - Tommy Hilfiger is back in style and so is another regrettable thing from the 1990s. David Weigel: “Jason Chaffetz, the Utah congressman wrapping up his first term atop the powerful House Oversight Committee, unendorsed Donald Trump weeks ago. That freed him up to prepare for something else: spending years, come January, probing the record of a President Hillary Clinton. ‘It’s a target-rich environment,’ the Republican said in an interview in Salt Lake City’s suburbs. ‘Even before we get to Day One, we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up. She has four years of history at the State Department, and it ain’t good.’ If Republicans retain control of the House, something that GOP-friendly maps make possible even in the event of a Trump loss, Clinton will become the first president since George H.W. Bush to immediately face a House Oversight Committee controlled by the opposition party. (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama lost Congress later in their presidencies.)” [WaPo]
DEMOCRATS ARE ALREADY FOCUSING ON 2020 AND WE WANT TO DIE - Rainbows are overrated as there is not eternal darkness and sleep at the end of them. Who wants a pot of gold? Gabriel Debenedetti: “Democratic operatives primarily focused on taking down Donald Trump are simultaneously mapping out — and in some cases kicking off — attacks on Republicans likely to challenge Hillary Clinton four years from now. The closing days of 2016, these Democrats say, offer obvious opportunities to hurt Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and, perhaps most specifically, Indiana Governor-turned-Trump-running-mate Mike Pence.… The preliminary efforts are a sensitive task not associated with Clinton’s campaign or party leadership. Yet they’re far enough along that three lanes are taking shape as Democratic groups track footage of the trio, prep ads and push lines of messaging: Their short-term goals are to make ‘Mike Pence’ synonymous with avoiding reality, to hang Trump around Rubio’s neck like an anchor, and to drive sharp wedges between Ryan and other GOP factions.” [Politico]
Today in metaphors: “Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton could shatter the glass ceiling if elected president on Nov. 8. Her campaign is giving a subtle nod to what could be a historic moment by holding an election night event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, which has a literal glass ceiling.” [HuffPost’s Paige Lavender]
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THE CLASSIEST, MOST LUXURIOUS FINAL STRETCH - So goes Washington, D.C., so goes absolutely nowhere. Igor Bobic: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took a break from the campaign trail on Wednesday to cut the ribbon on his new luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., just 1 mile from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hundreds of reporters and Washington insiders gathered to observe the grand opening for the lavish Trump International Hotel less than two weeks before voters decide whether Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton will be the next president. Trump has made many unusual decisions this year, including campaigning in traditionally blue states like Connecticut, but this press conference was perhaps his most bizarre move. Over 200 journalists descended on the property at the Old Post Office, where they were handed promotional pamphlets about the hotel’s luxurious amenities before the GOP nominee and company executives launched into speeches about its perks.” [HuffPost]
This does not fill up hotel rooms: “A journalist in Florida says her Monday interview with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump fell through after she refused to provide his campaign with questions in advance. Jenna Bourne, a reporter at CBS47/Fox30 in Jacksonville, told The Huffington Post the Trump campaign contacted her station last week to set up an interview for the candidate when he came to town for a rally. She said David Chiokadze, who serves as Florida deputy communications director for Trump, spoke to her about logistics for the interview and later asked for a list of questions, a request that goes against standard journalistic protocol.” [HuffPost’s Michael Calderone]
TRUMP NOT GOOD FOR THE RNC, PT. 235,190,654 - Just wait until they get the bill for his election night party. Paul Blumenthal: “Presidential campaigns are supposed to provide a flush of cash for the party. But Trump’s effort has raised significantly less than previous Republican candidates even though he has been able to collect much larger checks. That has left the RNC in the worst financial shape it has been in at this point in a presidential election since the turn of the millennium. Overall, Trump’s fundraising committees had transferred $58.8 million to the RNC by the end of September. That is less than half of the $125 million Mitt Romney’s fundraising committee raised for the RNC at the same point in 2012.… The RNC has raised just $271 million through September, including the money brought in by Trump. This is the lowest amount the party has had at this point since the passage of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law instituted higher contribution limits and banned party soft money.” [HuffPost]
BURR SKIPPED ARMED SERVICES HEARINGS FOR FUNDRAISERS - Yeah, but there might’ve been really important Benghazi info at those fundraisers. Michael McAuliff: “While Burr often could not fit armed services hearings into his schedule, a review of publicly available party invitations finds that he did make plenty of time for Washington fundraisers. In the two years he was on the committee, Burr attended just 26 out of 84 hearings. During the same span, he went to twice as many D.C.-area fundraisers ― at least 51, according to Sunlight Foundation records. And, if there was any doubt about which sort of events took precedence, at least 10 of Burr’s cash klatches landed on days when he skipped hearings of the committee. The timing of at least four of those fundraisers likely conflicted with the work of the committee. The meetings he missed ranged from fairly mundane confirmation hearings to discussions of a much more serious nature ― topics such as the war in Afghanistan, military suicides and missile technology ― that show how even the most pressing topics can take a backseat to raising campaign contributions.” [HuffPost]
GOP POPULIST WING STARTS TO TAKE SHAPE - Good luck with that corporate tax reform! Jeremy W. Peters and Maggie Haberman: “In interviews, Mr. Trump’s supporters said they were determined to harness the anti-establishment energy that Mr. Trump had catalyzed and to refocus it on the Republican leadership in Congress — a target many of them seem just as eager to take down as they are to bring down Mrs. Clinton. ‘There’s a huge chunk of people who want to see a fight taken to D.C.,’ said Representative Dave Brat, Republican of Virginia and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which has pressed Mr. Ryan on several issues since he became speaker last year. Mr. Brat said many conservatives remained perplexed as to why Mr. Ryan and Republican leaders would choose to criticize Mr. Trump rather than focus their energy on Mrs. Clinton.” [NYT]
@daveweigel: I asked Cruz if there should be votes on Clinton court nominees if GOP holds Senate. He said there’s plenty of precedent for <9 justices.
MARK KIRK REALLY NEEDS SOMEONE TO VOTE FOR - Jennifer Bendery: “Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) won’t say which presidential candidate he’s voting for, a curious move considering he’s now changed his mind about his endorsement four times. Kirk, who is struggling in his Senate race against Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth, said months ago that he planned to write in former CIA Director David Petraeus for president. But in an interview with a Chicago radio station on Wednesday, he refused to confirm whether that was still his plan.... Asked if that means he doesn’t have a candidate he’s planning to vote for, the Republican senator replied, ‘I don’t at this point. Pretty frustrated by the choice that we have now.’ … Asked for comment on Kirk’s changing positions, his campaign spokesman Kevin Artl had only this to say: ‘Give it up.’” [HuffPost]
VOTER SUPPRESSION IS REAL - But with all apologies to Donald Trump, it’s just not rigged against who he says it is. Nico Pitney: “Exhibit A is North Carolina, where in recent months reporters discovered that state Republican leaders had sent emails directing GOP appointees on local elections boards to ‘make party line changes’ to limit early voting. In one message, titled ‘CRITICAL and CONFIDENTIAL,’ a Republican district chairman urged election officials to offer only one early voting site for the minimum hours allowed by law, so as not to give Democrats an advantage.... A similar story emerged on Tuesday, when The Nation’s Ari Berman reported that Green Bay, Wisconsin, had denied a request for a second early voting site because, as the city’s clerk wrote in a private email, additional voting locations would be ‘more of a benefit to the [D]emocrats.’” [HuffPost]
LITERAL STREET JUSTICE - If only Robert Byrd had a Hollywood star so conservatives could accuse liberals of racial hypocrisy. Dominic Patten: “Donald Trump’s star on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed early Wednesday morning by a man dressed as a city construction worker wielding a sledgehammer and pickax. The man, who told Deadline his name was Jamie Otis, said he was trying to extract the star to auction it off and raise funds for the women who have come forward to accuse Trump of sexually assaulting them over the decades.” [Deadline]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here are some miniature cows.
HANNITY TO OBAMAS: GO BACK TO AFRICA - David Graham: “Tuesday on his radio show, Hannity offered a bizarre, birther-tinged monologue in essence telling President Obama to go back to Africa. The peg, such as it was, was a satirical article claiming that Obama was planning to move to Canada if Trump was elected.... ‘I have an offer for the president. I will charter a plane for you and your family. I will make sure it’s as big a plane as Air Force One, what you have grown accustomed to, in other words. Taxpayer-funded plane. I don’t know where I’m going to get it. Maybe I’ll ask Trump if I can charter his plane for Obama. I will charter Donald Trump’s plane if he’ll let me, and I will charter it to the country of your choice. You want to go to Canada? I’ll pay for you to go to Canada. You want to go to Kenya? I’ll pay for you to go to Kenya. Jakarta, where you went to school back in the day, you can go back there. Anywhere you want to go. I’ll put the finest food, caviar, champagne, you name it. I have one stipulation, you can’t come back.’” [Atlantic]
COMFORT FOOD
- A summary of game one of the World Series.
- Bear is living his best life.
- Website that recommends books by generating a random page from them.
TWITTERAMA
@aedwardslevy: Good news! Only 1469 days until Election 2020!
@imillhiser: I guess we were overdue for a day when liberals forget everything Megyn Kelly ever did except for that one recent thing that was good.
JAVITS CENTER TWEET
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OPTIONAL BROOKLYN QUIP GOES HERE
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