US election daily dig: Trump campaign splashes the cash

With 18 days remaining before Americans go to the polls, the Trump campaign finally decides to splash the cash, Janet Jackson emerges as winner of the third debate, and Ivanka Trump defends her father.

The latest

New financial reports filed by the Trump campaign on Thursday show it more than doubled its spending last month, jumping from $30 million in August to $70 million in September. Mr Trump has in the past bragged about running his campaign on the cheap, but his strategy looks to be changing as election day gets closer.

He is still being outspent by Hillary Clinton's team though, with her campaign blowing just over $80 million in September.

One interesting aspect of the reports is that they show a clear difference in how each campaign approaches the race. For instance, a detailed look into the figures by the Washington Post found that the Trump campaign had just 168 people on its staff, while Mrs Clinton had 815 staffers.

A notable item on the Trump expenses was a $100,000 payment to its former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, settling the remainder of a severance pay package thought to be $500,000. After leaving the Trump campaign in June, Mr Lewandowski picked up a job at CNN sticking up for his former boss.

On Thursday, the Trump team lost another of its core members, with national political director Jim Murphy "stepping back" from the campaign because of personal reasons. With that announcement coming just a few hours after campaign manager Kellyanne Conway abruptly walked out of a CNN post-debate interview, it looks like it's been a testing few days for Team Trump.

Meanwhile, the focus might have been on the third presidential debate this week but that hasn't stopped Wikileaks from continuing to release more emails allegedly sent between Hillary Clinton's staff. We've got a round-up of some of the bigger revelations here, but one you might have missed on Wednesday was that the Clinton camp went through a list of 85 possible campaign slogans before settling on "Stronger Together".

The New York Times has the full list, but here's a few of the more questionable ones:

• "Renewing our basic bargain"

• "No Quit"

• "Next begins with you"

With classics like that, it's little wonder these two candidates have failed to inspire many Americans. That lack of inspiration was laid bare in a focus group the BBC's James Cook joined in Las Vegas on Wednesday night to gauge their reaction to the debate. Find out who they thought had won the clash here:

The surprise winner of the night, however, appears to have been Janet Jackson.

When Donald Trump called Mrs Clinton a "nasty woman" it sparked outrage (and ridicule) online and seemingly had lots of viewers eager to listen to Jackson's 1986 hit Nasty. Music streaming service Spotify tweeted on Thursday: "Who's jamming to that nasty groove? It's you lot, with streams of Nasty up 250% since last night". Go on, get your groove on.

Random stat

83%

The number of Donald Trump supporters who believe if Hillary Clinton wins the election it is likely to have been the result of voter fraud, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.

Picture of the day

First Lady Michelle Obama goes to hug Carolyn Goldwater-Ross at a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Phoenix, Arizona. Ms Goldwater-Ross, the granddaughter of former Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, told the crowd: "There may be two candidates, but there's one choice. I'm with her"

Quote of the day

Friday's diary

Hillary Clinton heads to Ohio, where state polls have her neck-and-neck with Donald Trump. She has an event at a community college in Cleveland.

Her running-mate Tim Kaine is in neighbouring Pennsylvania for a rally, as is Vice President Joe Biden.

Bill Clinton, meanwhile, travels to Florida for events in Orlando and Jacksonville.

Donald Trump has a rally in Fletcher, North Carolina, then he's off to Newtown, Pennsylvania.

His VP pick Mike Pence is appearing at an event in Exeter, New Hampshire.