Good morning. On behalf of The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board, welcome to The Take, your opinion-politics newsletter. Please sign up for it here.
Take on Anthony Weiner
I couldn’t help but gawk in amazement, but there at the Democratic National Convention on the floor of Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia was Anthony Weiner. Not that I wanted to look, but Weiner wore orange jeans. Hard to miss.
And he was giving an interview to a Fox television reporter, as if he were a Hillary Clinton surrogate. And Clinton supposedly was running a disciplined campaign.
Weiner talked about Donald Trump’s “dumpster fire” of a campaign, and how Trump had given him $4,300 in campaign donations, when he was in Congress, before the whole Carlos Danger perversion.
Weiner declared he would “beat” Trump’s son like a “rented mule” if Donald Trump Jr. were to run for New York mayor. That prompted Junior to smack Weiner in a tweet that Weiner should talking about beating anything. They’re such love-lifes.
Clinton backers attack James Comey for announcing that the FBI is once again looking at Clinton’s emails, which evidently were stored on a computer that Clinton’s friend and aide Huma Abedin shared with Weiner, her husband from whom she’s now separated.
Comey’s decision to issue the letter was a violation of FBI protocol. But Clinton must share some blame for having even a passing association with Weiner, the nexus of sleaze.
Take a number: 3,900
Teen traffic deaths have dropped dramatically, down to 3,900 in 2014 from 7,500 in 2005. But car crashes remain the leading cause of death among young people, worse than guns. Extending graduated licensing to older teens could save more lives, Foon Rhee concludes in the latest Numbers Crunch.
Our take
Editorial: The real winners and losers so far in the 2016 campaign. Hackers, crotch grabbing, FBI investigations, slurs against immigrants, women and Muslims – never has an election reflected more poorly on Americans.
Editorial: Anthony Weiner is a nexus of sleaze – the six degrees of Weiner. That he turned up in an investigation related to Clinton is disconcerting; it certainly does nothing for the trust that she’s struggled to build with voters.
Editorial: Darrell Issa can try to run away from his history of attacking Obama and supporting Trump as much as he wants. We trust voters in Issa’s district won’t be fooled.
Matt Weiser: The State Water Resources Control Board plans to order hundreds of users to leave more water in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. The result will be improved water quality, colder water and more water – for fish and would-be raft builders.
Molly Selvin: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s defeat, if it happens, should send a message to governors in other red states about voters’ limited appetite for social legislation, especially when that agenda comes with some economic risk.
Markos Kounalakis: Putinocracy relies on spreading the lie that all systems are corrupt. Unfortunately, the Republican presidential nominee reinforces this narrative.
Gerald Haslam: Building America has been a grand mutual effort, even in the face of criminals such as Bull Connor and the Ku Klux Klan, crimes such as slavery or anti-Semitism.
Christina Arrostuto: We thought it was just hard work that got us ahead, but it turns out that recipe included a teaspoon of pigment that made all the difference.
Kainoa Lowman: When my journalism class was informed we’d no longer be funded, an identity crisis ensued. McClatchy High without a newspaper class? Blasphemous.
Their take
The San Francisco Chronicle: Ro Khanna for Congress over Mike Honda. The Mercury News recommended Khanna over Honda in March.
Salt Lake City Tribune: End the silence and teach Utah students about homosexuality. Any teacher who even responds to a question about homosexuality is technically violating Utah law because homosexuality technically still violates Utah law.
Like California, Arizona and Nevada have marijuana legalization initiatives on the ballot.
The Arizona Republic says Proposition 205 is a money grab by the medical marijuana industry that is helping to fund the initiative.
The Las Vegas Sun urges a yes vote: “The bigger problem for Nevada would come if California and other states legalized recreational marijuana and we didn’t, which could prompt potential tourists to go elsewhere.”
Swing state takes
Texas-38 electoral votes
We find it hard to believe Texas, a reliably Republican state, is in play in the presidential election. But RealClear Politics lists it as a swing state.
The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express have endorsed Clinton.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram urges voters to reject Donald Trump, and offered space to three editorial board members to give their takes. Each recommended Clinton. A sampling from Sara Pintilie, addressed to younger voters: Having Donald Trump as president is terrifying. You think your future is bleak now? Wait until Trump becomes president.
Florida-29 electoral votes
Tampa Bay Times: The damage Donald Trump is wreaking on America’s elections system and public confidence in the government is coming into fuller view.
Pennsylvania-20 electoral votes
Philadelphia Daily News: This election pits an intelligent, experienced, formidable woman arguing her worth against a spoiled, narcissistic, unqualified man. In the gender wars, this election is Gettysburg. Donald Trump is the primal scream of a beleaguered army.
North Carolina-15 electoral votes
Charlotte Observer: Because James Comey was so vague, voters can’t know what to think. The new emails could be anything from meaningless to evidence of criminal activity by Clinton to most anything in between.
Colorado-9 electoral votes
Denver Post: The challenge of WikiLeaks.
Syndicates’ take
Dana Milbank: James Comey’s dangerous October surprise.
Debra J. Saunders: Cities plot to tax streaming content.
Nicholas Kristof: Three TVs and no food: growing up poor in America.
Frank Bruni: The chaos of college rankings.
Trudy Rubin: Turks, Kurds at odds in Syria.
Kathleen Parker: GOP Chairman Reince Priebus led the party to ruin.
Ross Douthat: The dangers of Donald Trump.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: The GOP crazy must be rebuked; defeat is not enough.
Paul Krugman: Obamacare hits a pothole.
David Brooks: The conservative intellectual crisis.
And finally,
Jack Ohman: We want politicians to give us straight lines so we can write the joke. We don’t want them to actually write the joke. Otherwise, we’re out of work.