Joe Biden maintains a steady lead as the campaign enters the homestretch, Trump spends five days defending himself against disgraceful comments about U.S. service members, and the August jobs report shows slowing job growth and more permanent job loss. Then Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo talks to Jon Favreau about winning Georgia and fighting voter suppression.

Show notes

State of the Race: 56 Days to Go

• WaPo: The November election season has officially started, as North Carolina begins sending out mail ballots
• NPR: Voting Season Begins: North Carolina Mails Out First Ballots
• CNBC: North Carolina starts sending absentee ballots Friday — here’s when voting begins in other states
• FiveThirtyEight: Latest Polls 
• NYT: In Final Stretch, Biden Defends Lead Against Trump’s Onslaught 
• CBS: Battleground Tracker
• NYT: The Latest Polls, the Great Non-Tightening: This Week in the 2020 Race 
• FiveThirtyEight: Election Update: Biden Gets Good Polls In Arizona And Wisconsin — And A Bad One In Pennsylvania 
• CNN: Biden’s lead over Trump is the steadiest on record 
• New Yorker: New Polls Suggest the Presidential Race Is Still Joe Biden’s to Lose 
• WaPo: The latest polling suggests Trump’s ugliest campaign strategy may be imploding
• WaPo: After weeks of Trump rhetoric on crime, voters have a clear preference on the issue: Joe Biden 
• FiveThirtyEight: Trump’s Law And Order Message Isn’t Resonating With Most Americans
• Politico: Trump’s still losing big — and four other takeaways from post-convention polls 
• Priorities USA: Battleground Poll: Putting Persuadable Voters Under the Microscope 
• WaPo: High turnout among his base is unlikely to save Trump 
• WSJ: Do Swing Voters Still Exist? 

Trump mocks dead troops

• The Atlantic: Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ 
• CNN: Trump referred to Marines buried at cemetery in France in crude and derogatory terms, a former senior official says
• Media Matters: A Fox News reporter confirmed The Atlantic’s story about Trump insulting fallen troops. Fox hosts are still calling it a hoax.
• NYT: Trump Faces Uproar Over Reported Remarks Disparaging Fallen Soldiers 
• WaPo: Trump said U.S. soldiers injured and killed in war were ‘losers,’ magazine reports
• AP: Report: Trump disparaged US war dead as ‘losers,’ ‘suckers’ 
• WaPo: Trump, under fire for alleged comments about veterans, has a long history of disparaging military service
• Business Insider: Every time Trump has attacked American veterans or military families (10/2019)
• Vox: The fight over defunding Stars and Stripes, explained 
• CNN: Trump likely can’t win without veteran support
• NYT: After Report That Trump Disparaged War Dead, Democrats See Chance to Win Over Military Voters 
• Military Times: Trump’s popularity slips in latest Military Times poll — and more troops say they’ll vote for Biden
• NYT: Trump’s Actions Rattle the Military World: ‘I Can’t Support the Man’ (6/12)
• The Message Box: Making Sure Trump’s Troop Comments Matter
• Politico: ‘Absolutely damnable’: Biden rips Trump over reports he called fallen troops ‘losers’
• NYT: A Furious Biden Calls Trump’s Reported Insults of Fallen Soldiers ‘Disgusting’ 
• CNN: Biden: Trump has ‘no sense of service, no loyalty to any cause other than himself’
• Florida Politics: Joe Biden campaign pushes his commitment to troops in ad set in The Villages
• The Hill: Retired general blasts Trump on reported military comments: ‘You’re no patriot’ 
• The Hill: Parents of slain soldiers blast Trump’s reported ‘loser’ comments in new ad 
• CNN:  In tell-all book, Michael Cohen says Trump hired a ‘Faux-Bama’ before White House run 
• NYT: Michael Cohen’s Book Says Trump Held ‘Low Opinions of All Black Folks’ 
• WaPo: In new book, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen describes alleged episodes of racism and says president likes how Putin runs Russia
• WaPo: FBI pondered whether Trump was ‘a Manchurian candidate elected,’ former agent alleges in new book
• NYT: Ex-F.B.I. Agent in Russia Inquiry Says Trump Is a National Security Threat

The Economy 

• NYT: Job Growth Slackens, Signaling Vulnerability of Recovery
• CNN Business: US adds 1.4 million jobs in August, but is still down 11.5 million jobs since Covid hit
• WSJ: U.S. Unemployment Rate Fell to 8.4% in August as Hiring Continued 
• CNBC: Here’s where the jobs are — in one chart 
• NBC News: August jobs report may appear rosy, but most job cuts have yet to hit, economists warn 
• CNN Business: Trump’s job losses are the worst of any American president on record
• NPR: Transcript: NPR’s Full Interview With Fed Chairman Jerome Powell
• WaPo Op-Ed: Five reasons to worry about trends in the August jobs report
• WaPo: One economy, two descriptions: Biden says it’s terrible, Trump touts positive job numbers
• The Hill: Biden leads Trump on law and order, coronavirus: poll 
• Quinnipiac: September 2, 2020 – Biden Tops Trump By 10 Points Among Likely Voters, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly 6 In 10 Say The Country Is Worse Off Than It Was In 2016 
• Real Clear Politics: President Trump Job Approval- Economy
• NYT: Why Trump’s Approval Ratings on the Economy Remain Durable 
• WSJ: Trump, Biden Enter a Contentious Stage in the Presidential Race
• WaPo: The Trump vs. Obama economy — in 16 charts