Extra, Extra
Close Minded: If you’ve been worrying about the election all weekend (as I have), you probably think I buried the lede. But the simple truth is that this remains a remarkably close race and a point here or there in the latest poll doesn’t change that. I don’t understand why it’s close. But it is. Here’s an interview with Harris (formerly Obama) campaign advisor David Plouffe in NY Mag. “Inside the campaign we’ve had the race very close now for many weeks. So we’ve not seen much volatility. You know, the real change was between when she became the nominee through, let’s say, the second week of September. Obviously Trump had a big lead and that lead was erased. But we’ve seen a steady race since then. So my advice to people who are paying attention to this race is: Any poll out there that shows a lot of volatility is inconsistent with where this race stands.” And here’s Dan Pfeiffer in MessageBox: It’s Time to Stop Panicking About the Polls. “The whiplash between the Democratic elation of a few weeks ago and the full-on panic of the last few days is detached from reality. This has been a remarkably stable race. The vibes changed, but the race hasn’t.” (OK, now that you’ve stopping panicking, you can go back to freaking out.)
+ Kamala Mode: “David Axelrod, who was the chief strategist for both of Obama’s Presidential campaigns, told me, ‘There was an argument that she would be strengthened by a competition, but she showed a mastery of the internal politics, which is one test of a potential candidate. People respond to competence, and that was a very competent operation.’ He compared it to a rapid military strike. ‘She didn’t get handed this nomination,’ he said. ‘She took it.'” Evan Osnos in The New Yorker on what has been, win or lose, one of the more remarkable rises in American politics. Kamala Harris’s Hundred-Day Campaign.
+ The Good, The Thaad, The Ugly: As Israel gets closer to responding to Iran’s missile attacks, America gets closer to direct involvement in the fight. “The United States announced it is sending an advanced anti-missile system and a number of troops to Israel, deepening America’s involvement in the spiraling conflict as the region readies for Israeli retaliatory strikes against Iran.” And from CNN: What is THAAD? The powerful US anti-missile defense system is being sent to Israel – along with up to 100 supporting troops.
+ Dire Strait: “Four days after Taiwan celebrated the founding of its government on its National Day, when Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said in a speech that China has no right to represent Taiwan and declared his commitment to ‘resist annexation or encroachment,'” China made its counter argument. It was a loud one. China deploys record 125 warplanes in large scale military drill in warning to Taiwan.
+ Carjack in the Box: “Stealing cars is as old as making them; as soon as Henry Ford’s factories began churning out Model T’s in the early 1900s, people began swiping them. But over time, car alarms and anti-theft systems made them harder to steal. You could no longer take most vehicles just by pushing a screwdriver into the ignition or manipulating wires. Which is partly why, in the 1980s and ’90s, another type of car theft exploded: stealing occupied cars at gunpoint. In 1991, Scott Bowles, a police reporter for The Detroit News, wrote a story about Ruth Wahl, a 22-year-old drugstore cashier who’d been shot and killed after refusing to give up her Suzuki Sidekick. Bowles described this crime as a ‘carjacking.'” More than three decades later, carjacking is more popular than ever in some places (like our nation’s capital), and police are often fighting their own rules of engagement when trying to chase down the problem. The Atlantic (Gift Article): Inside the Carjacking Crisis.
+ Catch Me If You Can: SpaceX catches returning rocket in mid-air, turning a fanciful idea into reality.
+ Running Counter to What Seemed Possible: “Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich shattered the women’s marathon world record with plenty of time to spare. She finished the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56 on Sunday, slashing almost 2 minutes off the previous world record. The 30-year-old is the first woman to run the 26.2 mile-distance in under 2 hours and 10 minutes. Chepngetich placed 10th overall, with only nine men running faster.” (Two minutes under the previous world record is truly nuts.)
