Welcome to McClatchy’s Voter Survival Guide, an interactive presentation of daily events from one of the strangest presidential campaigns in modern history.
Donald Trump billed a weekend address in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as a policy speech, outlining the first 100 days of his presidency to the American people.
He also used the speech to say he would sue his slew of sexual assault accusers after the election, including one who came forward after the speech on Saturday.
Hillary Clinton continues to deflect and dodge unflattering emails released by WikiLeaks, as the sheer volume of information and Trump’s campaign allows the Democratic nominee to avoid taking a major hit from the embarrassing revelations.
Clinton also campaigned in Pennsylvania over the weekend, but she was able to focus on down-ballot races given her relatively secure position in the state.
Saturday Night Live parodied the final presidential debate, and even though Trump trails in most polls a few continue to show him within striking distance of Clinton.
The polls open nationally in 14 days. Let’s get started.
Trump will sue accusers after the election
Trump aimed to show off his policy chops during a self-described “Gettysburg Address” over the weekend, but he ended up creating another headline about his sexual assault allegations.
“All of these liars will be sued after the election is over,” Trump said of his accusers.
Adult film actress Jessica Drake detailed her experience with Trump during a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. She says Trump grabbed and kissed her without asking.
“Donald Trump went to Gettysburg, one of the most extraordinary places in American history, and basically said if he is president, he will spend his time suing women who have made charges against him based on his behavior,” Clinton said.
Trump also reiterated his desire to build a wall at the Mexican border, implementing a federal hiring freeze and “cancel” Barack Obama’s executive orders.
Trump policy director Stephen Miller said Trump's Gettysburg speech was supposed to “set the tone” for the final days of the campaign, and that the candidate will argue he is the “change agent” the country needs.
Landing in Pennsylvania now. Great new poll this morning, thank you. Lets #DrainTheSwamp and #MakeAmericaGreatAgain!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2016
TRUMP 42%
CLINTON 40% pic.twitter.com/RJlGk6YiX4
Clinton plays chicken with WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks, an organization that is publishing stolen emails by Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, certainly isn’t helping her campaign but there hasn’t been a bombshell revelation in almost three weeks against the Democratic nominee.
Many of the emails are unsavory but they confirm things most voters already knew, Clinton had ties to Wall Street, she tried to discredit women who accused her husband of rape and that her aides tried to sway supporters of Bernie Sanders to jump ship.
Her campaign refuses to confirm the authenticity of the emails and blame Russia for the hack. Beyond that, they’ve been quiet.
“When you start explaining, you’re in trouble,” said G. Terry Madonna, the director of the Franklin & Marshall College poll in Pennsylvania. “They are handling it the best way they can. It’s about as an effective argument you can make.”
When asked during the final presidential debate about WikiLeaks, Clinton quickly pivoted to Trump’s admiration for Vladimir Putin.
“What’s really important about WikiLeaks is that the Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans,” Clinton said. “They have hacked American websites, American accounts of private people, of institutions. Then they have given that information to WikiLeaks for the purpose of putting it on the internet.”
Rep. Adam Schiff of California says there’s simply too much information with the WikiLeaks emails for them to cause major political damage.
“I think the American people have sensory overload getting these thousands of email dumps every day,” said Schiff. “It’s just become now part of the background noise, the static that doesn’t demand that much attention. It’s just too much.”
SNL takes the final debate
Of course Saturday Night Live parodied the final presidential debate, with Tom Hanks as moderator Chris Wallace.
Trump has a few polls on his side—but even they aren’t looking good for him
The majority of national and swing state polls continue to show Clinton with a commanding lead, but a newly released IBD/TPP tracking poll shows the race in a dead heat.
Clinton and Trump are tied with 41 percent support in the poll, which included 815 likely voters with a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
It’s important to note the IBD poll is a national poll, so we don’t have results from crucial swing states like North Carolina and Florida. The vast majority of swing state polls continue to show Clinton with a commanding lead.
The USC/LA Times poll, long one of the few that favored Trump and the subject of scrutiny, now also favors Clinton by one percentage point, 45 to 44 over Trump.
LA Times/USC tracker:
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) October 24, 2016
Clinton 45
Trump 44
You read that right- Clinton now leads even the LA Times tracker. There's nothing left for Trump.
Links of note
America is not the land of opportunity for young people (McClatchy)
Is this Never Trump vice presidential candidate the future of the Republican Party? (McClatchy)
Gay Republicans explain why they support Trump (ABC)
How mega donors helped raise $1 billion for Hillary Clinton (Washington Post)
Have a question about the candidates, the campaign, the process, the election itself? Ask us here.
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Alex Daugherty: 202-383-6049, @alextdaugherty
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