US election daily dig: Is George W Bush voting for Hillary?
- Published
The polls are tightening, the appeals to unenthusiastic voters are becoming more desperate - and speculation is mounting about one previously solid group of Republican voters.
The latest
Just when you thought this election could not get any stranger comes the news that George W Bush could be voting for a Democrat. And not just any Democrat.
The revelation came from Texas land commissioner and Trump supporter George P Bush who suggested at a small Republican gathering that his grandfather George HW and uncle George W could both be casting ballots for Hillary Clinton.
Rumours that Bush Senior was a secret supporter of the wife of the man who beat him in 1992 have been circulating for a few weeks, after he reportedly spilled the beans to a member of the Kennedy clan. The 92-year-old was apparently not impressed by Trump's mockery of his son Jeb in the primaries.
But this is the first time we've heard that George W Bush might back Clinton too - like father, like son, it now appears. When Jeb Bush was asked about his brother's intentions, he simply said: "Secret ballot."
George P Bush - the only Trump voter in his family?
Donald Trump must be itching to make some capital out of what looks like the ultimate dynastic, establishment love-in.
But attacking the Bush family might not be the best strategy as he attempts to convince older Republicans to come home to the party on 8 November and Trump - as he made clear at a rally in Florida on Wednesday night - is trying to be on his very best behaviour as polling day approaches.
Trump firmly believes he can win, writes the BBC's Anthony Zurcher, after a week of bad news for the Clinton campaign. But what if he loses? Mark Mardell looks at the possibilities. And our business team has been examining the criticism levelled at both candidates over their intention to hand their business/charity interests over to their children.
Back on the campaign trail, Clinton is attempting to enthuse her own party's base, amid signs that early black voters in battleground states are not turning out in the kind of numbers they did for Obama in 2012, although her support among Hispanic voters appears to be holding up.
Are these the voters that will decide the election?
The Clinton campaign will also be hoping they will not have lost any votes from another, smaller, demographic - voters who mistakenly thought they could cast a ballot by text message. A fiendish, and very professional-looking anti-Clinton hoax has been doing the rounds on Twitter, urging Democrats to vote for their party's candidate by texting Hillary to 59925.
Twitter has decided this is against its terms and conditions and is attempting to shut it down. Anyone who does text Hillary to that number gets a message saying the ad you saw "was not approved by Hillary for America" and gives another text number to get on the HFA mailing list.
Donald Trump is, meanwhile, appealing to those who have already voted for Clinton to change their mind. This is possible in at least seven states, apparently. But few ever bother to do it.
One group Trump is having no trouble winning over is white supremacists. His campaign hastily issued a statement distancing itself from a Ku Klux Klan newspaper, The Crusader, which endorsed his candidacy.
"This publication is repulsive and their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign," said Team Trump.
Some of Trump's most controversial policies have been on immigration. So what's at stake in this election for the country's tens of millions of immigrants? We dissect where he and Clinton stand.
What's at stake in the US election: Immigration
Random stat
73%
The chance British bookmakers William Hill give Hillary Clinton of winning the election - it was 90% a few weeks ago.
Picture of the day
Amelia Good, six, wears a Trump crown at a rally in Florida
Quote of the day
Thursday's diary
Hillary Clinton is in North Carolina for two rallies, after Barack Obama's star turn in the state on Wednesday (he is in Miami and Florida on Thursday). At the second North Carolina event Clinton will be joined by former primary rival Bernie Sanders and music star Pharrell Williams, of Happy fame. Her running mate Tim Kaine will deliver a speech in Spanish in Phoenix, Arizona, and appear at another rally in Tucson. Sanders is also campaigning at two universities in Ohio. Bill Clinton is set to attend a concert fundraiser by electro house music star Steve Aoki in Las Vegas.
Donald Trump is also hitting North Carolina but starts the day in Jacksonville, Florida. Running mate Mike Pence is in Iowa and Moon township, Pennsylvania. Trump's wife - and would-be First Lady - Melania is set to give her first major speech on the campaign trail, in Pennsylvania.
Predict the president
