Election Update: Is Clinton's Lead A Bounce Or A New Equilibrium FiveThirtyEight

There are some hints that Clinton’s post-convention lead over Trump will eventually settle in at about 7 percentage points, give or take a couple points. The biggest tip-off is that both the national polls and the state polls we’ve seen so far look similar to the ones we were seeing in June, when Clinton maintained a lead over Trump of about 7 points after wrapping up the Democratic nomination. Since Clinton and Trump were roughly tied after the GOP convention, a 7-point lead for Clinton would mean she’d gotten about a 7-point bounce, double the size of Trump’s.

Trump Total Panic Sets In!!

GOP reaches 'new level of panic' over Trump's candidacy The Washington Post

Today's GOP has become the majority party of angry, uneducated white men, and Donald Trump has tapped inside that anger, channeling it to his victory in securing the Republican nomination for president. In a week where Trump believes he's doing everything right, his campaign is demoralized with his erratic, narcissistic, bullying behavior.

An intervention is in the making, say insiders, a move led by former New York mayor Rudi Giuliani, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus. NBC reports that the conversations are in the early stage, although others say the meeting will occur in a few days and may only happen with Trump's three children. With Trump hating the Republican party, only his kids have any influence over him.

Trump Seems More the Result of a Shift Among White Men Than the Cause of It New York Times

As the NYT clarifies, as populism from both Trump and Sanders ignites the passions of uneducated white men, there is a solid movement towards Hillary Clinton among educated voters -- including white men. And they vote.

Mrs. Clinton is winning the white, college-educated female vote by around 30 more points than the Democrat in the last two presidential elections. By any standard, that’s a very large shift in public opinion.

A similar thing is happening among white men, who have typically preferred Republicans in presidential elections. Mr. Trump is shedding a significant number of white college-educated men. Mr. McCain won this group by 20 points and Mr. Romney by 11, according to Pew’s series of June election-year surveys. But Mr. Trump has only a seven-point advantage, according to polls. He has alienated both college-educated men and women, sending both to the Democratic Party in larger shares than in previous presidential election years. In other words, he has expanded the other party.

Trump Suggests General Election Could Be Rigged The Washington Post

"Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested that he fears the general election “is going to be rigged” — an unprecedented assertion by a modern presidential candidate.

Trump’s extraordinary claim — one he did not back up with any immediate evidence — would, if it became more than just an offhand comment, seem to threaten the tradition of peacefully contested elections and challenge the very essence of a fair democratic process.

“I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest,” the Republican nominee told a town hall crowd in Columbus, Ohio on Monday. He added that he has been hearing “more and more” that the election may not be contested fairly, though he did not elaborate further."

Related: A Trump Victory Is a Scary Thought. A Disputed Loss Might Be Scarier by Jamelle Bouie Slate

Clinton Campaign Reports Nearly $90 Million in July Politico

Hillary Clinton raised nearly $90 million between her campaign and joint fundraising agreements with the state and national parties in July, with an average donation clocking in at $44. Equally exciting, 54% of July contributions came from new voters.

Clinton, who opened July with $58 million on hand, kept $63 million of new revenues for itself and gave $26 million for the Democratic National Committee.

The campaign raised more than $8.7 million in the 24 hrs. after Hillary's acceptance speech in Philadelphia.

Poll: Clinton Support Spikes Following Democratic Convention NBC News

Following the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton now leads Donald Trump by 8 points — 50 percent to 42 percent — up from a single-point difference last week, according to the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll.

Clinton's gain also comes after a series of controversial comments made by the Republican nominee this past week regarding the family of a fallen American soldier and Trump's suggestion that Russian hackers should seek out deleted Clinton emails. "

The Chess Game

What the DNC Hack Could Mean for Democracy The Atlantic

Put simply: If, as some reckon, Russian intelligence agencies spied on the Democratic Party and then shared stolen documents with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange in order to intervene in the U.S. election, can that be tolerated? Or is it an act of war?