If the election were to happen today, polls point to 276 for Kamala; 262 for Trump. Also: The vice presidential debate – "Walz, who was plainly unaccustomed to dealing with such adept obfuscation, particularly when couched in Vance’s one-night-only dulcet tones" writes Harold Meyerson in The Prospect; so, what did Walz win? Harold Meyerson comments.

Next: John Nichols has been driving to places in Middle America where Trump has gotten big majorities in the past: Iowa and Nebraska, central and western Illinois, and southwestern Wisconsin, asking Democrats there about politics in their towns right now. He’s on the podcast this week to discuss.

Plus: Your Minnesota Moment – from the archives: Our interview with Al Franken, when Fox News sued him for the title of his book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" (first recorded in 2003).