Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Sen. Bob Menendez delivered closed-door remarks to his Democratic colleagues yesterday, and he vowed not to resign despite his recent indictment. The New Jersey senator reportedly did not address his electoral future, though Menendez’s current term ends next year.
* Would a government shutdown give Democrats a boost in this year’s elections in Virginia? It’s a distinct possibility.
* There was “a steep drop“ in the number of people who watched the second Republican presidential primary debate on television, compared to the first. An NBC News report added, the 9.3 million people who tuned in “represents — by a significant margin — the lowest TV audience for any Republican presidential debate since the start of the 2016 cycle.”
* On a related note, Donald Trump has skipped the first two debates, and his campaign operation confirmed that he’ll also skip the third event, currently scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami.
* The former president also declared via his social media platform, in reference to the Republican National Committee, “What is the RNC doing? … The Debates should be ENDED, BAD for the Republican Party!” * With time running out in Mississippi’s gubernatorial race, Democrat Brandon Presley has a new ad targeting incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves that echoes a highly memorable commercial from Republican Mitch McConnell’s 1984 campaign in Kentucky. * And as Trump continues to dominate in state and national primary polling, The Washington Post reported that there’s a contingent of Republican insiders who still hope to convince Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to jump into the presidential race.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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