- Jon WardIf the election is close, it’s nerd time
Armies of data nerds saved Obama’s reelection in 2012, but Donald Trump has shown you can also run on just your celebrity and a Twitter account.
- Liz GoodwinAl Gore tells Floridians: ‘Take it from me, every vote counts’
Former Vice President Al Gore relived his painful past Tuesday, invoking his campaign’s incredibly close loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election as a way to motivate Florida voters to head to the polls on Nov. 8. “Your vote really, really counts,” Gore said as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton sat next to him on stage at a rally at Miami-Dade College.
- Liz Goodwin and Michael IsikoffIn leaked email, Clinton claims Saudi and Qatari governments fund ISIS
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally at Ohio State University in Monday. The Clinton campaign today tried to tamp down a mounting controversy over a newly disclosed, and potentially explosive, email in which the former secretary of state appeared to accuse the Saudi and Qatari governments of secretly funding the Islamic State. On Aug. 17, 2014 — eight months before she declared her candidacy for president — Clinton sent a detailed strategy for combating the Islamic State, which she referred to as ISIL, in an email to John Podesta, then a White House counselor and now her campaign chairman.
- Caitlin DicksonBen Carson defends Trump: ‘That kind of banter goes around all the time’
Ben Carson shocked a CNN anchor Tuesday when he brushed off Donald Trump’s lewd comments from 2005 about groping women, saying he was surprised that people aren’t used hearing such remarks and insisting “that kind of banter goes around all the time.”
- Michael WalshMaine governor wants ‘authoritarian power’ from Trump
Maine Gov. Paul LePage suggested that the United States might benefit if a victorious Donald Trump exercised “authoritarian power” to balance out the past eight years of President Barack Obama’s tenure. The embattled Republican governor’s apparent endorsement of “some” authoritarianism — a political system based on unlimited governmental power and limited personal liberties — came during an interview on a conservative radio show in Maine. “Sometimes I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law,” LePage told George Hale and Ric Tyler of WVOM Tuesday morning, “because we’ve had eight years of a president that just — he’s an autocrat, he just does it on his own, he ignores Congress, and every single day, we’re slipping into anarchy.
Andrew Romano and Jon WardDown Ticket #19: Can Republican House and Senate candidates really save themselves from Donald Trump?Down Ticket is Yahoo News’ complete guide to the most fascinating House, Senate and governors’ races of 2016. Down-ballot Republicans are finally dumping Donald Trump. The question now is whether divorcing the Donald will help them win in November — or doom them at the ballot box.
Dylan StablefordNew Trump ad attacks Clinton's healthDonald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that “the shackles have been taken off” his campaign — a thinly veiled threat suggesting that the final 28 days of the presidential race will be filled with personal attacks. Hillary Clinton failed every single time as secretary of state. The 30-second spot, titled “Dangerous,” then cuts to clips of Clinton coughing on the stump and being helped up the stairs and into her van.
Caitlin DicksonHoward Dean: ‘Donald Trump is an ignoramus’Howard Dean suggested that most Trump supporters probably don’t expect him to follow through on his campaign promises. For Trump’s base which, Dean noted, largely represents the segment of the population who’ve been “left behind by globalization,” this election is about “giving the middle finger to Washington.”
- Michael Walsh‘Dirty Dancing’ duet: Trump, Clinton feel the love in spoof video
The second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Sunday at Washington University in St. Louis was characterized, in part, by acrimony. Unlike the first presidential debate, Trump and Clinton did not even shake hands before going head-to-head.
- Dylan StablefordTrump surrogates compare his lewd comments to Beyoncé lyrics, hip-hop and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
Beyoncé performs during the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif., Feb. 7, 2016. Betsy McCaughey, former New York lieutenant governor and Trump supporter, tried to connect Hillary Clinton’s open admiration for Beyoncé with some of the explicit lyrics contained in her hit single. “[Clinton] likes language like this: ‘I came to slay, bitch,’” McCaughey said on CNN Monday night.
Michael WalshTrump on ’90s playboy image: ‘It’s fortunate I don’t have to run for political office’A recently resurfaced interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from 1993 reveals he understood that his image as a wealthy womanizer might come back to haunt him if he were to seek elective office. “A lot of people have this image of you as a high-rolling tycoon associated with glamorous women. Is that the sort of image you enjoy of yourself?” Trump was asked by a reporter for New Zealand’s TV3.
- Dylan StablefordTrump: ‘The shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to’
Donald Trump is lashing out at Republican leaders in the wake of the news that House Speaker Paul Ryan told his fellow House Republicans he could no longer defend the party’s nominee. Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support! With the exception of cheating Bernie out of the nom the Dems have always proven to be far more loyal to each other than the Republicans!
- Dylan StablefordChristie, Cruz refuse to abandon Trump despite tape
Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Gov. Chris Christie at a Republican presidential debate in Boulder, Colo., last October. Republicans are abandoning Donald Trump in droves in the wake of his shockingly lewd comments about women, but Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Ted Cruz won’t be joining them. Cruz agrees.
- Amy SullivanEvangelical magazine publishes scathing anti-Trump editorial
As conservative religious voters grapple with how to respond to Donald Trump, Christianity Today released a blistering critique of his candidacy.
Holly BaileyTrump: I’ll talk even more about Bill Clinton’s accusers if more lewd tapes are releasedAmid rumors of potentially more tapes showing him making inappropriate comments in the past, Donald Trump issued a threat to rival Hillary Clinton, saying Monday that if he keeps getting attacked, he’ll keep talking about the women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual assault and harassment. In his first public rally since Sunday night’s debate and last Friday’s disclosure of a 2005 videotape showing him making shockingly lewd comments about women, the Republican presidential nominee defended his “inappropriate words” but insisted that Bill Clinton has treated women far worse. “I was getting beaten up for 72 hours, on all of the networks, for inappropriate words 12 years ago, locker room talk, whatever you want to call it,” Trump said.
Dylan StablefordTrump surrogates not sure groping is sexual assaultSeveral of the Republican nominee's top surrogates say they aren't sure if grabbing a woman by the genitalia without her consent — as the candidate described in a 2005 video that leaked over the weekend — would be considered sexual assault.
- Caitlin Dickson‘A lot of things he should apologize for’: Clinton basks in post-debate glow at Detroit rally
A visibly energized Hillary Clinton roused supporters at a Monday rally in Detroit, her first campaign event since Sunday night’s presidential debate against Donald Trump. “The differences between me and my opponent are pretty clear,” the Democratic presidential nominee said to a roar of anti-Trump boos from the crowd at Wayne State University before proceeding to run through some of her personal highlights from the previous night’s town hall event. “Donald Trump spent his time attacking when he should’ve been apologizing,” Clinton said.
Lisa BelkinNot ‘just words’: Why Donald Trump’s lewd talk matters“Words are loaded pistols,” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre. “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind,” Rudyard Kipling said. On social media, Trump supporters are increasingly emboldened to use words that are historically out of bounds – c***, and k***, n***** and variations thereof — doing so because they are not “just words,” but are weapons.
Yahoo News Photo StaffThe Katie Couric interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — behind the scenesYahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric sat down with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., to discuss Trump, Kaepernick and her lifelong love of the law. Here's an exclusive look from behind the scenes. Photographs by Mary F. Calvert for Yahoo News.
- Hunter WalkerAfter lying low, Mike Pence delivered a sermon in support of Donald Trump
After largely staying silent for the first few days of the firestorm that erupted after a leaked video showed his running mate making lewd comments about women, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence expressed strong support for Donald Trump on Monday. “It’s been an interesting few days,” Pence said as he began.
Colin CampbellClinton releases 4 TV ads featuring GOP voters shredding TrumpHillary Clinton’s campaign, fresh off a nasty debate with Donald Trump, released four testimonial-style TV ads on Monday featuring Republican voters shredding their own party’s nominee.
Dylan StablefordKen Bone continues to charm America after debateKenneth Bone, the mustached man whose red sweater, earnest demeanor and funny name turned him into an instant Internet sensation during Sunday night’s presidential debate, says it’s been a surreal 12 hours since his star turn in St. Louis. “I had a really nice olive suit that I love a great deal and my mother would’ve been very proud to see me wearing on television,” Bone explained, “but apparently I’ve gained about 30 pounds and when I went to get in my car the morning of the debate, I split the seat of my pants all the way open.
- Caitlin DicksonDonald Trump once trashed the Bill Clinton accusers he deployed at the debate
Donald Trump may have described Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton as “very courageous women” at Sunday night’s pre-debate press conference, but the businessman hasn’t always had such kind words for Bill Clinton’s accusers. “It’s like it’s from hell,” Trump told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto in August 1998 of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the accusations that followed in its wake.
- Dylan StablefordPence: I never considered dropping off the Trump ticket
Mike Pence says that while he was “offended” by Donald Trump’s vulgar 2005 comments about women, reported by the press Friday, he never considered withdrawing his name from the Republican presidential ticket. “It’s absolutely false to suggest that at any point in time we considered dropping off this ticket,” Pence said on CNN on Monday. After video of Trump’s lewd commentary surfaced, the Indiana governor canceled an event and mostly stayed quiet until Sunday night’s presidential debate.
- Caitlin Dickson#MuslimsReportStuff: Trump gets trolled on Twitter over Islamophobia debate question
Muslim Americans took to Twitter in droves Sunday night and into Monday morning to mock Donald Trump’s suggestion that Muslims are to blame for Islamophobia in the United States. Despite acknowledging the existence of Islamophobia, which he called “a shame,” the Republican presidential nominee argued that it’s up to Muslims to combat it. “Whether we like it or not, there is a problem,” said Trump, whose anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric, including a proposed ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S., has been accused of fueling a nationwide rise in Islamophobia.
