October 06, 2016 10:07 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (October 6)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Wet enough for ya? It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Donald Trump is dropping in the polls, and it’s causing significant panic among Republicans who worry about the downballot effect of Trump’s slide. From the New York Times:

For his party, Mr. Trump’s reversal in fortune comes at the worst possible moment: Having muted their criticism of Mr. Trump in hopes that he could at least run competitively through Election Day, Republicans must decide in the next few days, rather than weeks, whether to seek distance from his wobbly campaign.

Should Mr. Trump falter badly in his second debate with Hillary Clinton on Sunday in St. Louis, Republican congressional candidates may take it as a cue to flee openly from their nominee, said two senior Republicans involved at high levels of the campaign who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private party strategy.

Mr. Trump has already slipped perceptibly in public polls, trailing widely this week in Pennsylvania and by smaller margins in Florida and North Carolina — three states he cannot afford to lose. But private polling by both parties shows an even more precipitous drop, especially among independent voters, moderate Republicans and women, according to a dozen strategists from both parties who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the data was confidential.

► President Barack Obama’s approval rating is back to its highest mark of his Presidency, as CNN reports. 

► Another day, another gut-punch of a fact check for Congressman Mike Coffman’s re-election campaign. From Politifact:

Coffman accuses Carroll, who has worked as a lawyer handling disability, employment, workers’ compensation and personal injury cases, of being sleazy and shady with conflicts of interest. But there’s no evidence she violated state ethics laws.

We rate this claim False.

Coffman is going to be hearing that last sentence in his dreams. This is the fourth fact-check of a Coffman/CD-6 advertisement — in just the last few weeks — to be trashed by a media outlet for being untrue.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado Republican Party Chair Steve House has a working theory that the media conspired with Democrats and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado to “set up” Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Yup.

► Donald Trump supporters do not take kindly to anyone leaving an event featuring their weird-haired hero. Even a mother and her disabled child were not safe from the hateful barbs of Trump backers in Loveland, Colorado on Monday.

► A new poll from Monmouth University released on Monday showed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet with a jaw-dropping 18-point lead over Republican challenger Darryl Glenn. Here’s Glenn speaking to a Young Republicans group just a few days before that poll was released:

Glenn is currently trailing Bennet by 7 points, according to the current Real Clear Politics average. But Glenn doesn’t care too much for polls.

“We don’t really follow the polls, but even the polls that people tend to look at we’re already within 7 [points] and we really haven’t started our aggressive campaign yet, as far as on the airwaves with commercials,” he said. “You have a sitting senator that has very low name ID. He’s spent millions and millions of dollars and he’s only up by 7 points. And he’s under 50 percent when you start looking at his favorability.”

“These are major areas of concern there, they are very scared and they should be,” Glenn said.

We’d wager that Bennet is downright terrified.

Oh, Darryl…it will all be over soon.

► Oh, well, nevermind then…Donald Trump says his history of disparaging remarks against women are really just about “entertainment.” From Politico:

Donald Trump said Wednesday that derogatory statements he has made toward women were all for the sake of “entertainment” and did not reflect his true feelings.

“A lot of that was done for the purpose of entertainment; there’s nobody that has more respect for women than I do,” the real estate mogul told Las Vegas’ KSNV-TV in an interview taped Wednesday ahead of a rally in Henderson, Nevada.

Are you not entertained by disparaging women in public?

► Ohio Senator Rob Portman appears to be cruising toward re-election just months after being considered among the most endangered GOP incumbents in the country. How did he do it? By being as different from Donald Trump as possible.

► The Denver Post endorsed Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) for re-election in CD-3 in one of the more strangely-worded articles of support you’re likely to come across this cycle.

► Fox News talking muppet Sean Hannity is accusing fellow talking head Megan Kelly of being a supporter of Hillary Clinton because she hasn’t fallen head-over-heels in political love with Donald Trump.

► Karen Crummy was one hack heck of a journalist when she was at the Denver Post. Now she’s plying her particular brand of shady trade for the oil and gas industry.

► Donald Trump poked fun at politicians for mispronouncing “Nevada” during a campaign stop on Wednesday. Naturally, Trump then went on to mispronounce the word “Nevada” himself.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Hurricane Matthew is barreling toward the East Coast, and residents in several states are fleeing from its path. Send your thoughts, prayers, and crossed-fingers their way today.

ICYMI

► For the first time in 32 years, there are more “active” Democrats than “active” Republicans in Colorado. This is bad news for the GOP for a whole host of reasons.

Don’t forget to check out The Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!