THE STRETCH DRIVE (8)

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/11/the-stretch-drive-8.php

BY STEVEN HAYWARD IN 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

• The ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll today has Hillary moving back into a narrow lead again, but as all of the results right now are within the statistical margin of error, it means the race is essentially tied, and likely to stay that way through next Tuesday. However, most of the new state-by-state polls, which often lag national polls by a few days, show movement in Trump’s direction. Suddenly New Hampshire, Colorado, and Virginia, where Hillary had been comfortably ahead, now show the race close or with Trump in a slight lead (New Hampshire).

At the very least, the many people who said Donald Trump would suffer a McGovern- or Goldwater-level landslide loss have badly misjudged the mood of voters. As of this morning, Nate Silver has upgraded Trump’s chances of winning to 34 percent. (Remember that he said back in January that Trump’s chances of winning the nomination was only 15 percent, and four days ago he said the Cubs were unlikely to come back. So . . .)

• Before continuing with election analysis, let’s pause for a moment to take in the feel-good story of the day:

New York Times reports 95.7 percent fall in quarterly profit

The New York Times Co reported a 95.7 fall in quarterly profit, hit by restructuring charges related to headcount reductions.

Net profit attributable to the newspaper publisher fell to $406,000, or break-even per share, in the third quarter, from $9.4 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $363.6 million from $367.4 million.

The company, struggling to transition to digital, said online ad revenues grew 21.5 percent and now account for more than 35 percent of its advertising receipts.

Slim pickings indeed (heh). Coming soon: New York Times headline on the lousy economy.

• Scott and Paul have reported on the blockbuster Fox News and Wall Street Journal news stories about the ongoing FBI investigations of the Clintons. What this means is simple: if Hillary wins, she’ll take office under a huge cloud of scandal, a potential indictment, and congressional investigations that may well start up during the lame duck session. If Hillary wins, I expect a new bumper sticker to appear by the following afternoon: “Impeach Clinton: This Time We’ll Do the Job Right!”

• This Trump ad is pretty good: