Have you noticed that former President Donald Trump is, how should we put this, ramping up the rhetoric and increasing his assault on the integrity of U.S. elections?

Makes you wonder why. The race to the White House is in the final stretch. And no one can argue that the contest between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is close.

Could he be laying the groundwork just in case he loses? Just asking.

All you must do is track the lies the former president keeps repeating. And, yes, they have been fact-checked. False claims like, “Harris can only win through cheating.” And “It was ‘unconstitutional’ for the Democrats to replace Biden with Harris.”

Tension in the Middle East rises with each passing hour awaiting Israel’s promised reprisal against Iran for the Oct. 1 missile attack. Washington is attempting to temper that reaction.

The goals are simple: to avoid a broader regional war in the Middle East and to avoid drawing the U.S. into the conflict at all costs.

On Path to the Polls this week, I’ll talk with Nancy Soderberg, a former UN Ambassador and expert on American foreign relations.

We know, it is no secret Jerusalem pledged its reprisal would be significant. What remains to be seen is if the Biden administration has any influence over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

If I say Chevron, what comes to mind? It’s probably the name of a gas station where you pull in and fill your tank.

But the recent overturning of the “Chevron decision” by the U.S. Supreme Court should have as much relevance for Americans as the gasoline moniker.

Why?

Here’s the bottom line: The court struck down a tool for governing. Overturning the “Chevron decision” essentially gives federal agencies the authority to issue rules that aren’t clear.

Schools have become a political battleground. There are pushes to ban books and efforts to shape the lessons our children are taught. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has played a big role in local school board races backing Republican candidates. He continues to trumpet efforts to ban what he calls “woke” ideas in classrooms.

Now, after more than 20 years, there is a push to place party labels on school board candidates. For more than two decades, Florida school board races have been non-partisan.

But if Amendment 1 passes on the November Ballot, it would again provide for the partisan election of district school board members.

With the tickets set, both Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz and former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance have major challenges to confront.

For Harris, it is realizing honeymoons don’t last.

For Trump, it’s time for a campaign reboot. And most analysts will tell you — along with many within his own campaign — they don’t know how to get there.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shot into the spotlight after coining the label “weird” for former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance.

Now Walz is on Vice President Kamala Harris' ticket as her running mate. The question is: Is Walz the ticket the Democrats need to win the White House? Can he deliver the swing vote Harris needs?

Was the move to manipulate President Joe Biden’s unprecedented departure from the presidential race an “attempted intra-party coup”? In the words of syndicated columnist Rich Lowry, that’s a “pejorative, but accurate description of the campaign to get Biden to quit the race.”

How’s that for getting your attention for this week’s “Path to the Polls”?

Lowry wrote: “For donors, pundits and elected Democrats to attempt to undo this choice is frankly undemocratic. It looks even less democratic when it is factored in that a small handful of people — Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, James Clyburn and a couple of others — are the ones who have the true power perhaps to force Biden from the race.”

Was the move to manipulate President Joe Biden’s unprecedented departure from the presidential race an “attempted intra-party coup”? In the words of syndicated columnist Rich Lowry, that’s a “pejorative, but accurate description of the campaign to get Biden to quit the race.”

How’s that for getting your attention for this week’s “Path to the Polls”?

Lowry wrote: “For donors, pundits and elected Democrats to attempt to undo this choice is frankly undemocratic. It looks even less democratic when it is factored in that a small handful of people — Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, James Clyburn and a couple of others — are the ones who have the true power perhaps to force Biden from the race.”

This is an election year permeated by an increasing number of threats and violence. And this weekend’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump may only serve to intensify the situation.

It is the first assassination attempt in the United States against a current or former president in 43 years.

The reaction from leaders in both political parties, initially, was consistent. President Joe Biden was resolute after the incident in Butler County, Pennsylvania, that shook a nation to its core, saying, “There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”

And Trump said he is rewriting his convention speech to take advantage of the moment to draw the country together.

The Supreme Court’s immunity decision may have surprising consequences and reverberate to things other than the powers of the presidency -- like former President Donald Trump’s criminal cases.

The court ruled presidents are immune from prosecution for their official acts. It has already prompted the postponement of sentencing for his business fraud case in New York. That was supposed to happen this Thursday but was rescheduled for September at the earliest.

The ruling also has an immediate impact on the federal election case in Washington. It threw a proverbial monkey wrench in the bid to put Trump on trial for what the special counsel calls a criminal conspiracy to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.