* If this election were an airplane ride, the pilot would be coming on right now saying, “Buckle up everyone, we’re in for a bumpy landing.” The polls are flying off the printers and they’re all over the place. Here’s your seat belt:
FiveThirtyEight has Clinton’s electoral college count at 298.
The Upshot gives Clinton an 87% chance of winning.
Sam Wang gives Clinton a 97% chance of winning.
TPM’s Electoral Scoreboard gives Clinton 273 electoral votes.
Daily Kos Elections 2016 gives Clinton 326 electoral votes.
RCP’s No Toss Up States map gives Clinton 273 electoral votes.
There are a couple of things you can take from that: (1) Even the poll aggregators are all over the map, and (2) they all have one thing in common…Clinton is still winning.
* President Obama did an interview with Versha Sharma at NowThis News. They have released two short segments that cover topics in the news.
EXCLUSIVE: President Obama on Dakota Access Pipeline protests: “There’s an obligation for authorities to show restraint” pic.twitter.com/UMOklVpldw
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 2, 2016
‘We don’t operate on innuendo’ — President Obama discusses Hillary, emails, and the FBI in an exclusive interview with NowThis pic.twitter.com/0J6tJyEYSh
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 2, 2016
I’d like to draw a connection between these two snippets. Folks have been calling on the President to intervene in the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline. Here he points out that the Army Corp of Engineers is busy studying different routes that would protect Native American lands and water.
In the second clip about the FBI, Obama reminds us that he’s been deliberate about not meddling in independent judicial processes, but affirmed that the norm that we don’t operate on innuendo. I suspect that – just as he has been doing on the Dakota Access Pipeline – this President is working behind the scenes on the problems we’re seeing in the FBI.
* Speaking of the FBI, I was a bit surprised to learn the other day that they were investigating the Clinton Foundation. A report from the NYT about what spurred that investigation is even more alarming.
The investigation, based in New York, had not developed much evidence and was based mostly on information that had surfaced in news stories and the book “Clinton Cash,” according to several law enforcement officials briefed on the case.
The author of that book “Clinton Cash,” Peter Schweitzer, has a long and storied career of writing that is infused with lies, untruths and innuendos – as has been documented by Eric Hananoki. Apparently the FBI was unaware of this author’s reputation.
* Today I finally read Eli Saslow’s article about Derek Black. If you haven’t taken the time to do so, I highly recommend it. Black is the son of the founder of the white nationalist website Stomfront and the godson of David Duke. Even as a high school student Derek was on his way to becoming a leader in the alt right movement. When he left home for college, some students decided to befriend him rather become confrontational. The result was astounding. Here are a couple of sentences that might be the key:
So many others in white nationalism had come to their conclusions out of anger and fear, but Derek tended to like most people he met, regardless of race. Instead, he sought out logic and science to confirm his worldview…
* Finally, tacos have played a big role in this election. First we had Trump’s taco bowl. Then there was the Trump supporter who warned of taco trucks on every corner if his candidate didn’t win. Yesterday, President Obama said, “Vote, then go get your taco.”
