Clinton, Trump set for last debate as ugly race nears finish

Trump has been setting up the argument that the election is rigged against him since the summer, and as he sinks ever lower in the polls he has been doubling down on that claim.

Marco Rubio (R-FL) said at a debate Monday that “I promise you there is not a 67-county conspiracy to rig this election” in Florida-and then wondered aloud why those politicians still say they would vote for Trump.

DELAWARE, Ohio-A defiant Donald Trump doubled down on his refusal to commit to accepting the results of the presidential election if Hillary Clinton wins, telling a rally in Ohio that his controversial debate response was “designed to protect the voters”.

“I would accept a clear election result but I would also reserve the right to file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result”, Mr Trump said. Gore narrowly won the popular vote nationwide that year and trailed by a handful of votes in Florida, the state that determined who would win in the Electoral College and become president. But Democrats are showing no quarter.

“That is risky because when you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people’s minds about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy”, Obama went on.

Clinton’s challenge in the last of three debates will be to both keep up her aggressive efforts to paint Trump as unfit to be president and start moving to ease America’s deep divisions, which have only been exacerbated during the campaign.

“Such a nasty woman”, he said of Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton during their final debate when she tossed off a one-liner about his ability to avoid paying federal income taxes.

New York-based election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder says more than 3,000 counties regulate elections and notes each state has its own election laws, even for president.

The two candidates will spend the remaining 18 days before the election criss-crossing the United States in their bid to persuade undecided voters.

How his supporters react is now foremost in the minds of officials in the White House and beyond. It is unclear what impact Trump’s stance will have on the election itself.

Trump has been alleging for weeks that the media and Democrats are “rigging” the presidential election. With New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan sitting between them (he later called it “the iciest place on the planet,”) Clinton spoke for 18 minutes, and Trump spoke for 15 minutes. “We have to have fairness”.

The former first daughter said no matter what happens in the election, however, she looks forward to continuing her friendship with Ivanka Trump, the Republican presidential nominee’s daughter.

“I will tell you at the time“. The $20 trillion figure is an estimate for what Trump’s tax plan alone would add to the debt, including interest costs, over 20 years.

“This kind of courage and decency and compassion, this is who we are”, Obama said.

Trump’s running mate Mike Pence echoed that reaction saying, “If the vote is fair, I’m confident that we’ll accept it”. It’s also going to be belied by the unofficial results that were announced publicly on election night – and any shift from the unofficial to official results is going to be heavily scrutinized, especially in a close election.

Trump, on the other hand, said he felt the Supreme Court should uphold the Second amendment “because it is under seige”, but should repeal Roe v Wade because he is pro-life.

Still, New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan summed up the two candidates’ chemistry at a fundraiser in a word: “Awkward”.

Now, it’s certainly possible that Trump got a heads-up. On September 26, the day of the first debate, Clinton was 2.3 points ahead of Trump in a two-way race, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.

As for the comparison to her opponent, Clinton could have cited CRFB’s sizable $5.3 trillion estimate for what Trump’s proposals would do to increase the debt over a decade – but she went much further than that, claiming a $20 trillion increase, almost four times what the CRFB’s budget experts estimated.