ON POLITICS

For the Record: Fight Night in Vegas

Brett McGinness

USA TODAY

Following the second debate, Donald Trump tweeted that "the shackles have been taken off me," suggesting an end to the cautious, restrained persona that has been the hallmark of his campaign since last June. In other words, cancel your evening plans; tonight's third and final debate (9 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. PDT, every channel) will be pretty epic.

Prediction: Neither one will say anything nice about the other this time

We've come to the last chance for both candidates to make their case before tens of millions of American voters. Will Hillary be able to run out the clock and maintain her lead? Will Trump reveal he's been debating left-handed this whole time and dominate the stage at last?

What they'll talk about:

Moderator and Fox News anchor Chris Wallace sketched out the six-point structure of the debate, which includes 15 minutes each on:

Debt and entitlements
Immigration
Economy
Supreme Court
Foreign hot spots
Fitness to be president

Which means we'll finally talk about The Wall, which hasn't come up at all yet.

What's different this time:

It wasn't until after the second debate that WikiLeaks began releasing the Podesta emails, including the Goldman Sachs speech transcripts that Bernie Sanders wanted to see in the primaries (which, to be honest, seems like Indiana Jones finding the Holy Grail halfway through "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.")
Following Trump's assertion in the most recent debate that he hadn't sexually harassed anyone, women began to step forward with accusations.
Trump began to talk about how the entire election is rigged.

Tune in tonight! It's basically going to be on any channel not showing the Cubs-Dodgers game.

Clinton adviser: Private server issue will 'run out of steam.' GOP: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

2015: "This will probably blow over."
2035: The phrase "private email server" appears in every high school history book.

John Podesta, Olympic gold medalist in not protecting passwords, is showing the world that he's equally bad at political prognostication, according to the latest batch of emails released by WikiLeaks. But in his defense, no one on Team Clinton seemed to think that Hillary's use of a private email server would be a big issue in the 2016 campaign.

“Seemed to go well today," adviser Neera Tanden said in an email last March after Clinton gave a speech saying the use of the private server was a mistake. "I don't know how the story advances."

"They will go after the server but that takes us back to Benghazi which is good for us," Podesta responded.

Once the email issue got legs, advisers tried to change the subject. “We could even have her come out against Keystone on Monday as well (not sure where that stands), which will solicit criticism but that might help distract from emails," wrote campaign manager Robby Mook in August. (For what it's worth, Clinton didn't oppose the Keystone XL pipeline until September of last year.)

Also WikiLeaked yesterday: a list of possible running mates compiled by Podesta and five other advisers. Kaine shows up 17th on the list of 39 possibilities, which put him below Julian Castro but above Corey Booker and Bill Gates. He probably couldn't have been higher on the list anyway, since it appears to be grouped into six categories: Hispanics, women, white males, African-Americans, businesspeople ... and Bernie Sanders.

New stuff to talk about, non-scandal edition

Trump's poll numbers plummet among registered voters specifically within the confines of this building.

"Hey Media, how come you never talk about the candidates' policies?" readers ask, as if we had anything new to say about the candidates' policies after 576 days of campaigning. But wait -- for the first time in months, we actually DO have something new to talk about! Donald Trump released details on his plan for lobbying regulations Monday night, then on Tuesday proposed a constitutional amendment that would institute term limits on members of Congress.

“It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.,” Trump told the crowd at a Wisconsin rally Monday night. Trump's plan, broadly outlined: Members of Congress and employees of the executive branch would have to wait five years after they leave their positions before they're able to work as lobbyists. It would also expand the definition of "lobbyist" to include others engaged in helping clients navigate Washington politics even if they're not registered lobbyists, and would completely ban former senior officials from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments.

As for the proposed term limits: Trump's proposal calls for a six-year limit on House members, and a 12-year limit on senators. “We have to give new voices a chance … so we can have a government that works again and can function properly.” Trump said. So if Trump's support hasn't evaporated entirely among members of Congress, it shouldn't be much longer now.

Rigging the election, 'Ocean's Eleven'-style

"To steal an election, you're looking at a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy (and) two Jethros" says Rochester Democrat & Chronicle's David Andreatta. "That's a team of at least 15,715 people — five for each of the 3,143 local boards — excluding the Leon Spinks and Ella Fitzgerald."

Fifteen thousand seven hundred fourteen ought to do it, don't you think? You think we need one more? You think we need one more. All right, we'll get one more.

For the Record: Fight Night in Vegas

Prediction: Neither one will say anything nice about the other this time

Clinton adviser: Private server issue will 'run out of steam.' GOP: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

New stuff to talk about, non-scandal edition

More from the campaign trail

Rigging the election, 'Ocean's Eleven'-style