Why We Can’t Handle the Truth

If you only read one thing: The truth is out in 2016—out of bounds. This presidential year, candidates and supporters—particularly those of Donald Trump—inhabit their own reality, TIME’s Michael Scherer and Charlotte Alter write in this week’s issue. It’s contributing to an increasingly heated rhetoric, a polarized electorate, and poses a challenge to whomever wins on Nov. 8 to bring the country together to get anything done.

Hillary Clinton has gone AWOL on the trail as she rakes in her last checks before the blitz to Election Day and devotes hours a day to debate prep. After a widely regarded victory in the first debate, the bar is higher for Clinton for a repeat performance, and her campaign is preparing an elaborate multimedia strategy to exploit the excitement around debates to their fullest advantage. But it comes at a cost—she’s held far fewer campaign events than Trump in recent weeks, ceding some local news coverage. But her campaign is confident they are making it up with their near-unopposed dominance in television ads.

Trump, meanwhile, has done little to indicate he is significantly shifting his debate preparation strategy before Sunday’s rematch. The candidate is still surrounded by the same aides who helped him prepare for the first matchup, and he hasn’t lightened his campaign load to spend more time hitting the books. Since Sunday’s debate is a town hall, his campaign did schedule a trial-run Thursday night in New Hampshire, but a one-man town hall is no substitute for rigorous debate prep, which Trump has shown no interest in doing.

Trump’s candidacy is driving a wedge in the GOP’s dominance over some Evangelical voters. All the interruptions from the veep debate. And the latest uninformed utterance from Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

The Truth Is Out There in 2016. Way Out There.
In 2016, political debate has become unhinged from reality. And it won’t stop on Election Day

Running Mates From the Past Prove the Need for a New Politics of the Future
The old arguments, and the old ways of arguing, have run their course, TIME’s Joe Klein writes

Clinton Debate Prep is Focused on What Happens Once the Debate Is Done
It’s more than a debate – it’s a multimedia event [Washington Post]

Donald Trump’s Ventures Began With a Lot of Hype
Here’s How They Turned Out. [New York Times]

Evangelical Exiles
How Trump is driving some believers away from the GOP [Yahoo]

Sound Off

“When I hear my opponent speak, I don’t recognize the country he’s talking about. It is something that I find so foreign. That he is denigrating our country, demeaning and insulting so many groups of people. But I see an America where we can do work together. That’s why I believe we are stronger together.” — Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser Wednesday

“This woman doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing folks.” — Donald Trump on Clinton Wednesday

Bits and Bites

How Many Interruptions Were There in the Vice Presidential Debate? [TIME]

Ford Chairman Met With Donald Trump Over ‘Infuriating’ Mexico Comments [Reuters]

Hamilton wants you to vote [YouTube]

Obama’s approval rating reaches new high [Politico]

Gary Johnson Equates Syria Deaths Caused by Assad and West [New York Times]

Gov. Scott Walker: Mike Pence didn’t ‘take the bait’ at debate [CNN]

Jeb warns Trump, Clinton on hurricane politics [Palm Beach Post]

Donald Trump Takes Credit for Mike Pence’s Debate Performance [TIME]

NRA Drops $6.5 Million on Ads Backing Donald Trump [TIME]