The Note: 25 Days Until Election Day

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October 14, 2016

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Top Political Stories of the Day

Trump Goes After His Accusers.

Donald Trump took aim at the women who have accused him of sexual assault in recent days, calling them "horrible," "sick," and "liars" at a campaign event today, and said that he "wasn't impressed" when Hillary Clinton walked by him. Trump has vehemently denied the allegations "Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you," Trump said of Jessica Leeds, one of two women told their stories to the New York Times. Leeds says Trump sexually assaulted her in the '90s while they were on a first class flight to New York. ABC's CANDACE SMITH, ADAM KELSEY and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI report on Trump's rally in Greensboro, North Carolina. http://abcn.ws/2e4bIsq

Analysis from ABC's Rick Klein: Why Donald Trump Isn't Attacking Michelle Obama

Amid the din and rancor of an angry election, first lady Michelle Obama managed to break through this week with a crisp message that will be particularly hard for political opponents to answer. "A candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women," Mrs. Obama said Thursday. "Let's be very clear: Strong men, strong men -- men who are truly role models -- don't need to put down women to make themselves to feel powerful." The first lady never mentioned Donald Trump's name. Even so, suggesting that Trump's conduct means he can't be counted among "strong men" tests the limits of her vow to "go high" when the other side goes low. http://abcn.ws/2eelnJy

Obama Blasts Donald Trump as Tough Talker Who Fails to Act on It.

President Obama spent the brunt of his time during a rally in Cleveland today poking fun at Donald Trump for his temperament and complaints of a "rigged system" after a week of bad headlines. "He seems to be in the middle of the game making excuses all the time for why he might be losing and it's always interesting to me to see folks that talk tough but don't act tough," Obama said. ABC's ALEX MALLIN has more. http://abcn.ws/2e3HHsI

ABC's MARY BRUCE and BENJAMIN SIEGEL:

House Speaker Paul Ryan is walking a fine line as he tries to unify the Republican Party by distancing himself from Donald Trump, while still endorsing his candidacy. So what do Ryan's constituents in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, think? Most we spoke with believe the congressman's decision to stop defending or campaigning for Donald Trump is motivated by self-preservation, but is likely a necessary move. "I was very surprised to see him do that," Gwen Wehe told us outside a local ice cream store. "But it's going to come down to protecting himself and what he believes his party stands for." http://abcn.ws/2e7autI

Analysis - ABC's Rick Klein

Who needs a top of the ticket anyway? Thursday night's North Carolina Senate debate, moderate by ABC's Jonathan Karl, showed in stark terms how little major-party candidates want to link themselves with the presidential contenders in key races. This race, pitting incumbent Sen. Richard Burr against former state Rep. Deborah Ross, actually is between candidates who have endorsed the presidential nominees, in a key battleground state that both tickets visit regularly. Both the Republican and the Democrat broke with their favored presidential candidates, and both found ways to criticize them. Those breaks are real, yet Burr and Ross are likely to come in for harsh criticism for the supportive things they said. Ross declared that Clinton "is prepared to be commander-in-chief on Day One." Burr said the choice between Trump and Clinton is "not close to me," and said he would "take him at his word" when Trump said he did not commit the kind of sexual assaults he was caught on tape bragging about. Less than a month out, it's still not clear if the best down-ballot messaging is around partnerships or potential checks on the White House.

ABC's LIZ KREUTZ:

Clinton's communications director Jennifer Palmieri spoke to reporters on Clinton's press plane. Palmieri said that we should expect Clinton to address the issue of sexual assault directly at some point, though she didn't say when. Palmieri also shared that the campaign has taken "additional precautions" in terms of how they communicate within the campaign since the first DNC hack in early summer. She would not expand on how, saying, "I think it would probably undermine our efforts to protect ourselves from people like the Russians if I talked too much about it."

ABC's INES DE LA CUETARA:

While campaigning in Florida, Mike Pence made no specific mention of the latest allegations against Trump, but blamed the media for willfully ignoring the Clinton's troubles. "Despite the willful ignorance in the media about all things Clinton, right, and despite the constant, the constant attacks leveled at my running mate.

ABC's JOSH HASKELL:

The North Carolina Democratic Party in conjunction with the Clinton campaign has sued the state's election board to extend the voter registration deadline five days. The current deadline is today and Democrats have asked it to be extended until October 19 following Hurricane Matthew's disruption. Florida residents were granted six extra days to register.