Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 286th day of the year. There are 80 days left in 2016.
Donald Trump’s support in Utah collapses in a new poll. Wayne Niederhauser calls for Trump to leave the GOP ticket. Trump declares war on the GOP establishment.
The clock:
- The U.S. Senate debate at Brigham Young University is tonight (10/12/2016)
- Five days to the 1st Congressional District debate at Weber State University (10/17/2016)
- Seven days to the 3rd Congressional District debate at Utah Valley University (10/19/2016)
- Seven days to the third presidential debate at UNLV (10/19/2016)
- 20 days to register to vote online in Utah (11/1/2016)
- 27 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 103 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 148 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Wednesday:
- Woah! A new Utah poll shows Donald Trump‘s support is collapsing in Utah as he is tied with Hillary Clinton following the release of a 2005 video tape which shows him bragging about groping and making advances on a married woman. Independent candidate Evan McMullin is statistically tied with the two major party candidates in the poll [Utah Policy].
- Senate President Wayne Niederhauser has joined the chorus of Utah Republicans calling for Donald Trump to step down as the head of the GOP ticket [Utah Policy].
- Trump unchained! Donald Trump has apparently declared war on the rest of the GOP after House Speaker Paul Ryan abandoned his support for the Republican nominee [Politico]. Republicans up and down the ballot are beginning to fear they’ll get caught in the crossfire, which could endanger their Congressional majorities [Bloomberg]. Meanwhile, some big GOP donors are asking Trump for their money back [NBC News].
- President Barack Obama sets an ambitious goal for humanity, sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them to Earth [CNN].
- Hillary Clinton‘s campaign chairman, John Podesta, alleges that Donald Trump‘s campaign may have been “tipped off” about cyber attacks against the Democratic nominee [Washington Post].
- Republicans are telling Donald Trump to knock it off with the talk about a “rigged” election [Politico].
- Hillary Clinton‘s campaign continues to target Utah, releasing a “Mormons for Hillary” video [Deseret News].
- Federal prosecutors have dropped an investigation targeting Donna Weinholtz, the wife of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Weinholtz, for her use of medical marijuana [Tribune].
- Utah Republicans say House Democrats are violating legislative fundraising rules by using their office at the Capitol as the address where donors can send checks [Tribune].
- Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Weinholtz slams Gov. Gary Herbert for not doing enough to support women in Utah [Deseret News, Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1492 – Christopher Columbus made his first landing in the New World.
- 1960 – Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding a shoe on his desk.
- 1973 – President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan for the vice presidency to replace Spiro Agnew.
