2016 Election

From the editorial board of the Arizona Republic: Since The Arizona Republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president. Never. This reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles. This year is different. The 2016 Republican candidate is not conservative and he is not qualified. That’s why, for the …

The AV Club recaps: Under a number of banners, including Schmoyoho, Songify This, and Auto-Tune The News, The Gregory Brothers have made a specialty of transforming current events into sweet, ear-soothing pop music. Their version of Monday night’s first presidential debate between former Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton and real estate mogul Donald Trump is already here, and it’s as …

The Daily Dot has the details on what you already suspected: You may be getting trolled right now without even knowing it. Donald Trump supporters artificially manipulated the results of online polls to create a false narrative that the Republican nominee won the first presidential debate on Monday night. The efforts originated from users of the pro-Trump Reddit community r/The_Donald …

More revenge for #SickHillary. The Hill reports: Howard Dean doubled down Tuesday on his insinuation that Donald Trump’s debate-night sniffles were related to cocaine use. “That is actually a signature of people who use cocaine,” Dean said on MSNBC. “I’m not suggesting that Trump does, but I’m suggesting we think about it, because here’s the interesting constellation — he sniffs …

Raw Story recaps the latest: A new 30-second campaign ad from pro-Clinton PAC Priorities USA zings Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on his laughable insistence during Monday night’s debate that his “temperament” is his greatest asset. “I think my strongest asset — maybe by far,” said Trump at Hofstra University, “is my temperament.” The ad goes on to show clip …

But the many millions who watched online are uncounted. Via CNN Money: More than 80 million people tuned in to see Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump face off, setting a new record in the sixty year history of televised presidential debates. The final numbers are still being tallied by Nielsen. But the debate averaged a total of 80.9 million viewers …

All of Teabagistan is pissed that Benghazi never came up last night, so of course Sheldon Adelson rushes out this ad. The Hill reports: A new ad from a Republican super PAC uses Hillary Clinton’s remarks in the first presidential debate to hit her record as secretary of State. “Hillary Clinton brags about her experience,” the spot’s narrator says, referencing …

USA Today reports: After all this time, Madonna is still a Peach. A Rockford Peach, that is. The singer took to Twitter to stick up for her friend, Rosie O’Donnell, after Donald Trump brought her up during the live presidential debate. “Rosie O’Donnell, I said very tough things to her,” Trump said, “and I think everybody would agree that she …

Entertainment Weekly reports: The first meme of Monday night’s presidential debate was Donald Trump’s constant sniffling, and it didn’t take long for Stephen Colbert to mock the GOP nominee for his runny nose. During his monologue on Monday’s live edition of The Late Show, Colbert called out Trump’s sniffles, joking that Trump “sounded like he was fighting off a cold …

Nearly one million views overnight. CNN reports:  The cast of “Will & Grace” has reunited to get voters to the polls in a way only they could. Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally all appear in the video posted Monday, which is presented as a “new scene” from their hit NBC show. It takes place in present …

The Huffington Post nails it: Donald Trump, within striking distance of the presidency, stepped on stage here Monday and did what Hillary Clinton hoped he would. He behaved like Donald Trump. The Clinton campaign’s greatest fear throughout the general election has been that some other Trump would emerge ― a more measured, reasonable and mature man, one who might look …

Matt Wilstein writes at the Daily Beast: Seth Meyers wasn’t the first late-night host to weigh in on the first presidential debate Monday night, but he was the most emphatic. As the host said at the beginning of his “closer look,” all that “spin” about Donald Trump not preparing for the debate turned out to be true. In the end, …

NBC News reports: One of Donald Trump’s closest advisers has said he would pull out of the next debate if he were running for president. “If I were Donald Trump I wouldn’t participate in another debate unless I was promised that a journalist would act like a journalist and not an incorrect, ignorant fact checker,” Rudy Giuliani said after Monday’s …

Nobody, of course, heard any microphone problem. The Hill reports: Donald Trump raised the possibility he was purposely given a defective microphone during Monday night’s presidential debate. When asked about moderator Lester Holt’s performance, Trump said he did “fine.” But then the candidate said debate organizers “gave me a defective mic.” “Did you notice that?” he asked a reporter. “My …

Since Disqus sometimes seems to have issues when the comments count gets into the thousands, here’s a second thread with live-streams for the debate embedded below. Join us if you’re not already hammered. But also join us if you totally are. As everybody predicted, so far Donald Trump has melted down multiple times when faced with his many, many lies. …

The first presidential debate begins at 9PM at Hofstra University on Long Island, where, as you can see, they’ve managed to misspell Hillary’s name on the tickets. Embedded below are several live-streams of the coverage, which has been underway all day. Fix yourself a jumbo cocktail and join us. Our special coverage of the presidential #debates will be streamed LIVE …

Politico reports: Donald Trump is a racist, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, and the media has been negligent by refusing to label him as such. “Virtually every time Donald Trump says or does something discriminatory — and that’s often — the media relies upon a catalog of buzzwords to describe his actions,” Reid …

The Hill reports: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign has deployed a filter on Snapchat blasting Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead of their Monday night debate. The filter, which surrounds the user’s image with fireworks graphics, adds text reading “Debate Day” and “Donald J. Trump vs. Crooked Hillary,” along with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” tagline. The Independent Journal Review, a …

Politico reports: Bloomberg TV will conduct on-screen fact checks of statements made by both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during Monday night’s debate, POLITICO has confirmed. The channel’s decision to conduct an on-screen fact-check sets Bloomberg apart from the other major TV networks, none of whom have committed to doing on-screen fact checks during the debate. Most will leave the …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: On Friday, Ted Cruz officially endorsed Donald Trump and the news did not sit well with Glenn Beck, who had campaigned for Cruz during the Republican primaries on the grounds that he had been anointed by God to save America, and who has vowed never to support Trump. Cruz appeared on Beck’s radio …