Smack dab in the ruby-red center of the US, there was a small blue dot in 2020 that indicated Biden had won an electoral college vote in Omaha, Nebraska, because of the unusual way that the state awards its electoral votes.

Republicans chafed at the idea that it could happen again in 2024, so they rushed to try and change the game before November. That didn't work out, so Nebraska's oddball election rules could very well end up making the difference between a tied election and a Democratic win this year.

Democrats keep the hope of winning a Nebraska electoral college vote alive

A pressure campaign from Donald Trump and Republican allies to change Nebraska election law was dealt a significant setback on Monday as a pivotal Omaha state senator said he would not support a last-ditch effort to overturn a 30-year law that awards electoral votes by congressional district rather than statewide winner-take-all.

State Sen. Mike McDonnell, a former Democrat who joined the GOP earlier this year, said in a statement Monday that he would not vote to change the law in Nebraska before the November election.

[CNN]

Trump bites his nails over North Carolina turning blue due to Mark Robinson's 'Black Nazi' scandal

North Carolina has not flipped blue since 2008. But former President Trump's campaign is concerned that the streak of scandals and incendiary rhetoric from the Republican nominee for governor could hurt Trump's prospects in the key swing state.

Team Trump is working to distance the former president from Robinson, whom Trump once described as "Martin Luther King on steroids," after CNN reported the gubernatorial candidate referred to himself as a "black NAZI!" and a "perv" on a porn site's messaging board and expressed support for reinstating slavery.

[Axios]

Once touted as 'the next Trump,' DeSantis's legacy lies in ruins

DeSantis has been effective at wielding power in Florida, thanks to sycophantic lawmakers and courts, and disposing of duly-elected Democratic prosecutors who displease him.

But his tough guy act wasn't built to go national. His presidential campaign was just an endless loop of awkwardness, from his weird, forced laugh, speculation over lifts in his footwear and uncanny resemblance to a robot attempting to express human emotion any time he tried to smile on the stump.

Trump barely broke a sweat savaging the man he nicknamed "Ron DeSanctimonious" — casually accusing him of pedophilia and having "no personality."

[Michigan Advance]

Here are few of the latest national polls (Thanks to 538).

[Image: Gage Skidmore]