Why the media will lift Trump up and tear Clinton down  —  It now seems all but certain that the presidential election will see Donald Trump face off against Hillary Clinton.  —  We find ourselves at the tail end of a brief period of clarity.  For the past few months …

AN OPEN LETTER TO MAJORITY AMERICA  —  TO: Those who think both leading presidential candidates are dishonest and have little chance of leading America forward:  —  (...or, stated more simply)  —  TO: The majority of America:  —  Note: If you are one of those rare souls …

New Trump Finance Chair Has Given Twice As Much To Democrats As To The GOP  —  Donald Trump has hired a Wall Street tycoon who has donated more than twice as much to Democrats as to Republicans to be his campaign's finance chairman, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings.

Tow truck owner said he refused service to woman because she supports Bernie Sanders  —  A local tow truck driver said he refused to tow a woman's car after he saw Bernie Sanders stickers on the vehicle.  —  Kenneth Shupe said he was called to pick up a woman stranded on I-26 in Asheville on Monday.

Feds announce final e-cigarette rule that nearly bans them  —  Electronic cigarettes and premium cigars will now be regulated the same way as tobacco cigarettes and regular cigars, according to a new federal rule issued on Thursday.  —  Under the rule, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration …

This brutal new ad shows the shredding machine that awaits Trump  —  THE MORNING PLUM:  —  Predictably enough, the hand-wringing has already begun among some Democrats over the prospect of Donald Trump waging “unpredictable” attacks on Hillary Clinton and the possibility that the Clinton camp will be …

New Electoral Scorecard Ratings in 13 States  —  This has been an exceedingly unpredictable year.  Although we remain convinced that Hillary Clinton is very vulnerable and would probably lose to most other Republicans, Donald Trump's historic unpopularity with wide swaths of the electorate …

Ron Paul ex-aides guilty in payment scandal  —  Federal jurors have returned guilty verdicts in a host of public corruption charges brought against three former Ron Paul presidential campaign aides accused of a secret plot to pay an Iowa state senator $73,000 for his endorsement.

The Best of New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat's Incorrect Predictions That Trump Would Lose the GOP Nomination  —  The demises of Ted Cruz and John Kasich's primary campaigns almost certainly assure, in the absence of some intervening event or act of God, that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for President.

McCain on tape: Trump damages my reelection hopes  —  Publicly, John McCain insists Donald Trump will have a negligible effect on his campaign for reelection.  But behind closed doors at a fundraiser in Arizona last month, the Republican senator and two-time presidential hopeful offered a far more dire assessment to his supporters.

Woman Who Built Trump Tower Says She's Backing Clinton Over Trump  —  “What won't go away is that the people that don't like Trump really don't like him.”  —  RNN  —  w.soundcloud.com  —  The woman who headed up the construction of Trump Tower in New York says she's supporting Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

NC won't meet Obama administration's Monday deadline on House Bill 2, House speaker says  —  Department of Justice says HB2 violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act and Title IX  —  Tim Moore: ‘We will take no action by Monday’  —  House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday that legislators won't meet …

KFC, With New Nail Polish, Redefines Chicken Fingers  —  HONG KONG — Assume, for the sake of argument, that KFC's fried chicken is, as advertised, “finger lickin' good.”  —  Would you really want it to remain on your fingers?  Indefinitely?  —  These are just two of the salient questions raised …

San Andreas fault ‘locked, loaded and ready to roll’ with big earthquake, expert says  —  This simulation by the Southern California Earthquake Center shows the shaking that could be felt by Los Angeles during a possible magnitude 8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault.