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2016 Election Tag

We'll put Eddie Glaude Jr. down as "undecided" about attending the Kumbaya love-in . . . on today's Morning Joe, Glaude, chair of Princeton's African-American studies department, said "across the board, white America has just elected to my mind an ill-informed racist who by any standard is morally and ethically bankrupt . . . I have to confront my son. " Joe Scarborough has a surprisingly astringent response: "just so you understand, when you talk to your son, that if Hillary Clinton had won, there would have been other people in Iowa who said how do I explain to my son or daughter that someone who should be in prison is now going to the White House?

German Chancellor Merkel’s is drumming together her team and will be chairing an “emergency meeting” this morning following the news of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election, German state-run broadcaster ARD reports. In the run-up to the U.S. election, senior members of Merkel’s government had made no secret of their hostility towards Donald Trump’s candidacy. In August, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Trump a "preacher of hate." Merkel's second-in-command, Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned American voters of impending doom if they elected Donal Trump. "[American's could expect] shrinking GDP, fewer jobs and higher unemployment," Gabriel told German magazine Der Spiegel.

Welcome to Legal Insurrection's live election coverage. This post covers Congressional race (House and Senate). For presidential updates, check our other live post. We'll be updating as information becomes available, so refresh frequently! *BREAKING* 8:38PM: It looks like the GOP will maintain control of the House. https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/796162971290468353

Another Wikileaks dump, another email with links between CNN and Hillary Clinton's campaign. This time, Tom Nides, a Morgan Stanley executive and former deputy secretary of state, told Hillary campaign chair John Podesta of a new CNN poll. How did he know? He's married to CNN Vice President Virginia Moseley. Wikileaks CNN Poll

Welcome to our Dumpster Fire Election Day open thread! This post will be updated throughout the day with all kinds of election news odd and ends. Refresh frequently for the latest. Most recent additions will appear at the top of the post. Starting at 6:30 PM EST, we'll run our election results posts, so you'll want to head to those for the latest when it's time.

Ivanka has attracted attention as the Trump most likely to have a significant political future. But don't sleep on Donald Trump, Jr. Appearing on today's Morning Joe, Trump, Jr. was impressively thoughtful, articulate, substantive and nuanced, without for one second backing down from making his case forcefully and unapologetically. For a taste of Trump, Jr., view the video as he unblinkingly attacks the double standard, asserting that any average American who had done what Hillary did with her email would be in jail. And when Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post scoffs at his assertion that African-Americans and Hispanics speak encouragingly to family members, Trump, Jr. politely rebuffs him.

Voters in California and Nebraska will be deciding more than who goes to the White House. Ballots in both states include a question on whether or not to repeal the death penalty. The Washington Post reports:
Voters in California and Nebraska will decide whether they want to keep the death penalty When voters head to the polls in California and Nebraska on Election Day, they will get to weigh in on whether their states should abolish the death penalty. These two initiatives, along with another ballot measure in Oklahoma, represent a sort of microcosm of where things stand nationwide on the death penalty. Most states still have the practice on the books, even if a dwindling number of states actually seek to carry out executions...

This race is too close to call. A shift in any state could change the outcome. The Real Clear Politics No-Toss Ups map (Featured Image) has Hillary winning by a few electoral points. She could win by a few, lose by a few, or win by a lot. It's that volatile. Overall, she's up about 3% in national polls. You can't ignore that. I'd rather be up 3 than down 3 any day.

Rush Limbaugh refers to CNN as the Clinton News Network. The emails obtained (hacked?) from the DNC and Podesta email accounts demonstrate how true that is. The DNC, which was supposed to be neutral in the Democratic primary, was all in for Hillary, as previously reported. Also, CNN commentator Donna Brazile, who was DNC vice chair at the time (now interim Chair), also fed town hall and debate questions to the Hillary campaign. That latter issue should be an enormous campaign focus -- has there EVER before been a proven case of presidential debate cheating? Yet the mainstream media ignores it - I haven't seen a single question to Hillary or the campaign about it in any news coverage. CNN for its part, acted *shocked, shocked I tell you* to discover that one of its commenters was helping a campaign under the table. The latest revelation, however, cements CNN's tattered reputation. Wikileaks released emails obtained from the DNC, and those show CNN actively soliciting questions from the DNC for interviews of Trump, Cruz and Fiorina.

If Serpent Head is nervous . . . There was an ironic contrast on today's Morning Joe. On the one hand, Steve Schmidt—former McCain campaign manager turned Trump antagonist—sees no real chance for the Donald. Said Schmidt: "I've been in the camp that says it's been over for some time," and that "the bill is coming due for the tone and tenor" of Trump's campaign. Schmidt sees Hillary cruising to a win with 320-340 Electoral College votes. It was actually James Carville who in contrast said that it's "not impossible" for Trump to win, and indeed that he's a "nervous wreck." Of the swing states, Carville said he feels best about Florida for Hillary. But he added: "I think she has a better chance to carry Arizona than Ohio." Since all recent indications are that Trump has Arizona comfortably in hand, it sounds like Carville has written off Ohio for Clinton.

I think this is quite good. Frank Luntz had a focus group on 60 Minutes, focusing on the anger in the electorate. The anger went in every direction -- at the candidate, society and each other. It's one of the best focus groups I've seen. I think Luntz's observation that there's just a thin thread keeping us together, and it could be broken, is right.

With election day only two days away, control of the Senate is still unclear as several states are simply too close to call. A big, unanswered question is the impact the presidential race will have on Senate races. Real Clear Politics co-founder Tom Bevan discusses the impact the top of the ticket winner may have on the Senate races.
"If Hillary Clinton wins and wins substantially on November 8, Democrats will mostly likely win many of these very competitive Senate races, and probably win enough to take back the Senate," Bevan said. "If Donald Trump wins, that will mean Republicans will probably be able to defend."
Watch:

When FBI Director James Comey alerted Congress that new emails required a re-opening of the Hillary investigation, I noted Ed Morrissey's observation that this could be another Lucy-Charlie Brown football situation, with Republicans and other opponents of Hillary having the ball pulled away at the last minute. I also polled readers, who by 2-1 said the FBI would not exonerate Hillary before the election. There were signs of pressure from above, with DOJ promising to throw all resources to resolve the issue. Loretta Lynch, who didn't want Comey to make the disclosure in the first place, was not going to let this linger until election day. The Clinton campaign and mainstream media had declared war on Comey. And, SURPRISE, Comey just issued a letter saying no change in FBI decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary: