Why We Don’t Know Who Will Vote

If you only read one thing: You’ve read and heard commentary for months about how this election features the two most historically disliked nominees in history—and that’s really changing the way people vote. (Some polls have it as #1 and #3 now as Hillary Clinton’s numbers have inched up somewhat, but the following stands.) While a majority of Americans like their preferred candidates, a historically high share of the electorate dislikes both. Republican pollster Ed Goeas put it this way, “In a normal year 25 percent of the American people like both candidates, and about 2-3% are what I call cynics, and dislike both. This year those numbers are reversed, give or take a few percentage points.” What that means is that there is a lot of uncertainty over how that historically large vote share will cast their ballots (though recent polls show a clear trend toward Clinton) and even whether they will bother showing up. At an even more fundamental level, it’s why this election will be won by voters against the loser, rather than “for” the winner.

The newly announced AT&T-Time Warner merger is drawing scrutiny from both presidential nominees in a year of populist awakenings. Donald Trump on Saturday said he would oppose the merger, and also pledged to try to break up other media conglomerates like Comcast/NBCUniversal—in part as retribution for their news divisions’ reporting that has put him on the defensive. Clinton, meanwhile, said she wanted the deal subjected to significant regulatory scrutiny.

Trump’s Saturday speech was supposed to lay out his 100-day plan, but for the first 15 minutes, not only did he wage war on the press, but he promised to sue the now-11 women who have come forward with accusations against him of sexual assault or harassment. Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, seemed to indicate in interviews Sunday she was unaware that he had planned to make that threat.

Obama steps up his efforts to help Democrats down-ballot. A Facebook c0-founder spends big against Trump. And what a Trump rally clash reveals about a divided nation.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

Kaine Says Clinton Will Try to Work With GOP
Democrats look beyond Election Day [Associated Press]

A Constellation of Influencers: Behind the Curtain at Teneo
Clinton allies in conflicted role [New York Times]

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Skeptical Of AT&T, Time Warner Merger
Lawmakers are increasingly concerned about mega mergers, TIME’s Haley Sweetland Edwards reports

Donald Trump Says He Will Sue Sexual Misconduct Accusers
Law Experts Have Doubts [TIME]

How Mega-Donors Helped Raise $1 Billion for Hillary Clinton
Clinton lifted Obama-era restrictions on donors [Washington Post]

Obama to Endorse 30 More House Candidates
Steps up down-ballot efforts [Politico]

Sound Off

“This guy has spent all his time simply trying to obstruct, to feed the same sentiments that resulted in Donald Trump becoming their nominee. I think somebody called Darrell Issa … Trump before Trump, and now is sending out brochures touting his cooperation with me. That is shameless.” — President Obama stumping for House Democratic candidates Sunday

“Frankly, a lot of people lack my sense of humor.” — Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to CNN on her tweets that seemed to share criticism of her candidate

Bits and Bites

Eleventh Woman Accuses Trump of Sexual Misconduct [TIME]

Clinton Ally Aided Campaign of FBI Official’s Wife [Wall Street Journal]

Joe Biden Wishes He Could Take Donald Trump ‘Behind the Gym’ [TIME]

Donald Trump’s Lawyers Want to Bar His Campaign Comments From Trump University Trial [Associated Press]

Donald Trump Targets Michelle Obama as Hillary Clinton Ramps Up Attacks [TIME]

Weird Al Yankovic Moderates Fiery Auto-Tuned Version of the Final Presidential Debate [TIME]

Al Smith V Says Donald Trump ‘Took It a Little Too Far’ at Catholic Charity Roast [TIME]

‘Not a Regular Day’: What a Trump Rally Clash Reveals About a Divided Nation [New York Times]

Khizr Khan, Father of Fallen Muslim-American Soldier, Attacks Donald Trump in New Hillary Clinton Campaign Ad [TIME]

Black Jeopardy with Tom Hanks [Saturday Night Live]

Facebook co-founder drops unprecedented cash to stop Trump [Politico]