Battleground ’16: Closing Argument

Just under two weeks from Election Day on Nov. 8, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are making their closing arguments, with the same sharp contrast in style that has marked their matchup.

The Republican nominee has continued to wage his increasingly lonely battle against the media and the “mainstream” GOP, insisting the election and polls are rigged by the “elites.” Trump also is peppering foreign policy critiques into his broadsides, from slamming the ongoing offensive against the Islamic State to take back Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, to predicting the Democratic former secretary of state’s strategy for Syria would “lead to World War III.” He’s seized on rising Obamacare premiums to rally his base, but it won’t change his dismal odds: Clinton has a 93 percent chance of winning the White House, according to the New York Times.

Even in Trump’s continued defiance — on Tuesday night, the Washington Post reported he isn’t doing any more high-dollar fundraisers, crippling Republican Party financing — recognition of a looming loss seems to be creeping in. As Clinton’s campaign goes in for the kill, dumping dollars into down-ballot races and dispatching her most powerful surrogates to help Democrats take back the Senate and make other gains, Trump’s campaign has spent more on hats than polling.

On Tuesday, he held yet another event touting his hotel in Washington. That may be as close as he ever gets to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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This Moment, This America

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“Obama wanted to show what a tough guy he is before the election.”

— Trump’s latest theory on the Mosul offensive

The One-Star General, the Latina Prosecutor, and the Race That Could Define U.S. Politics

What happens in battleground Nevada on Nov. 8 could forecast America’s political future.

LAS VEGAS — Even as the presidential campaign has polarized battleground Nevada, the state’s 2016 race for the U.S. Senate may hold far more importance for the nation. Rep. Joe Heck, the highest ranking soldier in Congress, is battling Catherine Cortez Masto, who would become the first Latina senator in U.S. history, for the seat being vacated by retiring Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.

Democrats Will Have Trump to Thank for Getting a Political Pass on the Iran Nuclear Deal

The Iran nuclear accord was supposed to be political kryptonite for Democrats in Congress. But Trump’s toxic candidacy helped sideline the issue.

Last year, Democrats in Congress found themselves squeezed in a political vise over the Iran nuclear deal. President Barack Obama leaned heavily on fellow Democrats to back the agreement in the biggest lobbying effort of his administration. And pro-Israel groups launched a full-court press against the deal, spending tens of millions of dollars on ads warning lawmakers they would have “blood on their hands” if they endorsed the accord.

93%

Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency, according to The New York Times

The Great Myth About U.S. Intervention in Syria

America’s standing in the world has not — and will not — be weakened by staying out of other countries’ humanitarian crises.

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