We’ve got another post due up at 2:30 EDT, and then we’ll take our previously announced break, coming back at 8:00 PM or so to recap the “forum” of seven candidates who didn’t make the Fox News debate cut, and then preview and live-blog the Big Show from Cleveland.

Here are some midday news/views treats:

* Little-noticed Mississippi primary yesterday produced dreadful top-of-the-ticket news for Democrats, as truck driver named Robert Gray who didn’t campaign or even vote for himself easily defeated party favorite Vicki Slater for the gubernatorial nomination.

* Schedule of six Democratic presidential debates announced, beginning on October 13 in Nevada. There’s a 1 percent polling threshold for participation.

* You knew this was coming: New York‘s Gabriel Sherman reports on alleged vicious infighting among Team Trump staffers.

* Greg Sargent notes things Democrats will be looking for tonight in terms of general election dynamics.

* At Ten Miles Square, Martin Longman discusses Ramesh Ponnuru’s I-told-you-so Reformicon explanation of the current GOP malaise.

And in largely non-political news:

* Bill Connelly notes LSU football usually very good in presidential cycles–but maybe not this time.

As we break for lunch and some pre-debate relaxation, here’s Willie Brown with the flip side of “Future Blues:” “M&O Blues.”

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.