For at least a couple of months Trump has been ripping society that the election will be rigged against him….

Looks like Donald Trump did not sleep well Friday night: He spent Saturday morning firing off a series of tweets claiming that the election is rigged, which the AP calls an “unprecedented assertion in a country with a history of peaceful democratic transition.” “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail,” he said in one tweet. “Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election.” In another, he slammed the media for “poisoning the minds” of American voters with what he calls “100% fabricated and made-up charges” of sexual misconduct. A round-up of coverage:

• The Washington Post reports that Trump physically dismantled one teleprompter and knocked another one down after they stopped working during a speech in Charlotte, NC Friday night. He told the audience he preferred it without teleprompters and went on to hopscotch through dozens of topics in front of an enthusiastic crowd. At an earlier rally in Greensboro, he denounced two of the women who have accused him of sexual misbehavior, saying one of them “would not be my first choice.”

• Mashable reports that Trump has threatened to sue the New York Times over its story on two of the accusers, and such a suit could be a bonanza for the NYT. Trump would be the subject of a deposition and the paper’s lawyers would be allowed to probe the histories of family members and other Trump associates, opening what “Columbia School of Journalism professor Stuart Karle calls a “rich vein of yuck about Donald Trump.”
• Clinton’s campaign has also hit out the media, accusing it of failing to treat leaked campaign emails as a national security issue, the Hill reports. On Friday, the campaign also slammed WikiLeaks, the Russian government, and Trump, who they accuse of encouraging the hackers.

• Reuters reports that Trump rallies have become more emotional than ever, with the crowds “more protective of their hero.” At the Greensboro rally, a man in a “Gays for Trump” shirt punched a protester who was holding an American flag upside down.
• The Burlington Free Press speaks to ski maker Cyrus Schenck, who has introduced limited edition skis with Trump on the right and Clinton is on the left. The ornate design contains all the references to the “indiscretions, faults, and weaknesses of the candidates” that the artist could squeeze in.
• The New York Times stopped by Tommy’s Diner in Columbus, Ohio and found that voters in the swing state’s capital are sick of this election and don’t much care for either candidate. Many are considering not voting, which polls say is a statewide trend.

Trump is calling for poll watchers to be sure that all is on the up and up….I do not have a problem with this idea unless these “watchers” start trying to intimidate the voter…then that is unacceptable.

If he truly believes that there will be some sort of cheating then I say bring in a neutral group to watch the polls…those that will not have a pony in the race.

His chest thumping about the “rigged” election has been getting louder and louder with each passing day….to the point that the GOP has become nervous and weighed in on the accusation…..

With Election Day looming, some GOP leaders and officials are speaking out in defense of the election system itself instead of their party’s candidate. Jon Husted, Ohio’s secretary of state, is among those pushing back against Donald Trump’s “irresponsible” claims that the election is rigged, the New York Times reports. “We have made it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” Husted says. “We are going to run a good, clean election in Ohio, like we always do.” A GOP election attorney echoes the concerns of civil rights groups, saying Trump’s rigging accusations and calls for supporters to monitor polling places could destabilize the election, “which is very, very dangerous.” A roundup of coverage:

• Politico reports that “many Democrats and Republicans” fear if Trump loses the election, he will keep on holding rallies and denouncing the election as rigged. “If he never calls to concede, he’ll go down as one of the sorest of sore losers,” says Ari Fleischer, who worked on George W. Bush’s campaign in 2000 and says Al Gore “graciously accepted” defeat. Fleischer says it will be “destructive and corrosive” if Trump ends up fighting the election’s outcome, causing his followers to question the legitimacy of the government.
• “Our democracy relies on confidence in election results, and the speaker is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity,” House Speaker Paul Ryan says, per Reuters, while Mike Pence says, “We will absolutely accept the result of the election.”

• Trump stepped his claims up a notch Sunday, tweeting that the election will be rigged not just by the “dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary,” but at many polling places as well.

• The Hill looks at how the Trump campaign has narrowed its focus to four states as its path to 270 electoral votes becomes trickier. Voters in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania can expect to see a lot more of Trump in the weeks to come.

• Hillary Clinton’s campaign, meanwhile, is trying to decide whether to spend resources in trying to turn states like Arizona and Georgia into battleground states or securing resounding victories in states like Pennsylvania, according to the Washington Post. Trump campaign reps, meanwhile, insist that the race is more competitive than current polls suggest—and that Clinton could pay a price for overconfidence.
• Early voting patterns suggest that Clinton is on course for wins in states like North Carolina—but could struggle in Midwestern states Obama won in 2008 and 2012, including Wisconsin and Iowa. “We are in bizarro world,” Michael McDonald of the United States Elections Project tells Politico. “We’ve got non-uniform movement here in the country. Dare I say a realignment?”
• Jay Caruso at RedState.com calls Trump’s rhetoric a “dangerous game,” saying that to prevent violence, he “has an obligation to recognize an election loss is not the result of some kind of massive plot against him.”
• The AP rates the states and finds that there are enough in the “Solidly Democratic” or “Leaning Democratic” columns to give Clinton the win if she can hang on to her current leads. Utah has shifted from “Leaning Republican” to “Toss-Up.”

Appears this election will be anything but boring…….

And that’s the name of that tune!