Good morning, and happy Thursday. The last presidential debate is now past and Election Day is just around the corner. A heads-up: Tom Weber will host a debate today between 2nd District Congressional candidates Angie Craig and Jason Lewis. Listen for it on MPR News between 11 and noon. Let’s check the Digest.
1. I thought the third debate was the best one. Chris Wallace did a good job as moderator, and the candidates actually talked about serious issues, at least for the first part of the night. It got more personal and nasty after that, and there were some defining moments. The headline on virtually every major news site this morning is that Donald Trump would not say whether he would accept the results of the election. Hillary Clinton tried to defend her family’s foundation and noted that the FBI said there was no case to bring against her on her emails. Trump said the allegations that several women have made against him have been “largely debunked,” and said no one has more respect for women than he does. At one point Clinton said Trump “choked” on his trip to Mexico, and that seemed to flip a switch that made him angry. Clinton and Trump didn’t shake hands before the debate, and they didn’t shake hands afterwards. (New York Times)
2. The opening of the debate where the candidates talked about the Supreme Court, the Second Amendment, and abortion almost showed what the campaign could have been like in an alternate universe. But then reality kicked in. So did the fact checks. Here’s one. (NPR)
3. The CNN quick poll after the debate showed 52 percent thought Clinton did a better job compared to 39 percent who thought Trump did. We’ll see what other polls say as the days go by. But many analysts agreed the debate is likely to do little to change the course of the race with 19 days to go. Even some Republicans said that with Trump trailing in the polls, he needed to do more last night to appeal to a broader group of voters. (Politico)
4.Trade has been a big issue in the presidential race. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have all blamed trade deals for low wages and the loss of American jobs. So why has the United States agreed to so many trade deals and why are many politicians, including President Obama, still pursuing them? (MPR News)
5. If you think it’s been hard watching these past few weeks of the campaign, imagine how you would teach it to kids. Some Minnesota teachers are doing it by trying to keep their own opinions to themselves and by keeping the content as “G-rated” as possible. (MPR News)
