There is no October surprise

It’s 11 days until the election, and the Democrats have tried it all. You can’t mark them down for effort, but you can certainly deduct for originality. As from the Hollywood liberals now running the party, all we’re getting are sequels and reboots.

I suppose they didn’t have many options. Democrats from top to bottom already tried to put former President Donald Trump in prison and settled for two of his deputies. They’ve worked to destroy his businesses and bankrupt him. They’ve accused him of ridiculous crimes and used those as a pretense to comb through the Grand Old Party’s comms and secret files like the Watergate investigation on steroids. They denied his requests for more security and watched as he came within millimeters of losing his life to an assassin’s bullet. They said he worked for Vladimir Putin. They impeached him twice and accused him of treason. They called him a Nazi and a Klansman and an insurrectionist and accused him of killing thousands with COVID.

There’s a little secret about the final two weeks of any national race: While news events can happen and help shape and form narratives, no new secrets about the candidates emerge.

So ... what did that leave them?

As it turns out, nothing but wasted effort. First, Jeffrey Goldberg delivered his latest piece on Donald Trump, claiming Trump secretly despised the troops and envied Adolf Hitler, wishing he had generals like his. Then, the left-wing British Guardian reported that Trump was secretly tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse.

Everything reported across both pieces was single-sourced. Goldberg’s take on Trump’s disrespect for the troops was quickly debunked by the family of the murdered soldier (over Goldberg’s limp-wristed protestation). Then the way he portrayed heated denials was exposed as inaccurate and misleading. Finally, multiple on-the-record sources in the know slammed the Hitler bit as preposterous.

The Epstein story had reportedly been shopped around for weeks or even months, but no one bit because it seemed far-fetched even in an age of pee tapes and Russian collusion. When they finally landed it — eight years after Donald Trump first rose to power and in the final weeks of his third run as the Republican nominee — it was in a foreign paper with an ideological mission. Not exactly a grand slam.

Here’s a little secret about the final two weeks of any national race: While news events can happen and help shape and form narratives, no new secrets about the candidates emerge. At least none that are true. Staffers and consultants and opposition researchers know people are unlikely to take their claims so seriously in the final weeks. They want reporters, pundits, and voters to work over their claims and litigate them in public, not dismiss them as the latest from Tricky Dick or Slick Willie.

Moreover, those stories that do come out have been shopped around to reporters for weeks and sometimes months. They’ve been taken on a test run and returned defective. The packaging is disheveled, and the instructions are missing. More consequential reporters than the one who eventually takes the story have already decided they were unverifiable, inconsequential, or deceptive; sometimes all three.

This time: all three.

No matter. The Democrats are running with it. Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump “Hitler” five times during Wednesday’s CNN interview. And maybe that’s the play. Get those Democratic voters who helped carry 2020 and held the line in '22 to remember that Donald Trump is literally Adolf Hitler and convince them all they need to do to stop it is vote for Kamala.

“Surprise.”

Blaze News: Dems panic as Republicans bank record-breaking early votes in key states

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IN OTHER NEWS

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Less than two weeks from the presidential election, Republicans are breaking turnout records for early voting and mail-in ballots across several key states.

In previous election cycles, Democrats have overwhelmingly outperformed Republicans when it comes to voting early. In 2020, over 22 million Democrats voted early, while just 15 million Republicans and nearly 12 million independents did the same.

Early voting was notably higher in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the trend remains true for previous election cycles. In 2016, just 8 million Republicans voted in advance, as well as nearly 10 million Democrats and 5 million independents.

This time around, Republicans are narrowing the gap. With over 26 million early votes counted, 11 million have been from Democrats, over 10 million have been from Republicans, and nearly 5 million have been from independents.

Historically, the Republican Party has been averse to the idea of early voting. This time around, Trump has made the change to embrace it, and Democrats are beginning to panic.

“A few more days like this, though, and the Democratic bedwetting will reach epic proportions,” Jon Ralston, CEO of the Nevada Independent, told The Hill about early voting in Clark County, home of Las Vegas.

“I think it comes solely down to the fact that last cycle, Donald Trump told Republicans not to vote early, and this time, the party is telling them to vote early,” Jon McHenry, a GOP polling analyst and vice president at North Star Opinion Research, told Blaze News. “Pretty simple.”

Although more Democrats have voted early, Republicans are actually outperforming them in some crucial swing states.

In Georgia, 48% of the early votes have been cast by Republicans, while 46% have been from Democrats. Similarly, in Arizona, Republicans are outperforming Democrats 42% to 36%, as well as 40% to 36% in Nevada.

The two parties are nearly tied in North Carolina, with 35% of early votes coming from Democrats and 34% from Republicans.

“The large mail ballot lead enjoyed by Dems has been erased and more by the GOP lead in in-person early voting,” Ralston told The Hill.

While Republicans are making strides in the Sun Belt, Democrats have held onto their lead in the Rust Belt states.

In Michigan, 52% of early votes were cast by Democrats, while just 38% came from Republicans. In Pennsylvania, the swing state with the highest electoral vote count, 62% of early votes came from Democrats and 29% came from Republicans. In Wisconsin, 37% of early votes were cast by Democrats and 21% of Republicans did the same.

"It doesn't matter a whole lot whether you get them early or you get them late, as long as they get there," McHenry said. "The advantage of getting them early is that you know that they're already banked. You won't have to sweat Election Day quite as much."

Notably, nearly half of early votes in Wisconsin and a third of votes in North Carolina came from independents. Roughly a quarter of early votes in Nevada and Arizona also came from independents. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia have had the lowest independent turnout, bringing in 10%, 9%, and 6%, respectively.

“Just because you’re registered as a Democrat doesn’t mean you voted for Kamala Harris,” McHenry told Blaze News. “You might be registered as a Democrat, but you've gotten sick to death of the Democrats over the last four years and just didn't bother to change your registration. You might just vote for Trump.”