THE COOK VIEW – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:  Charlie Cook, one of the most influential election pundits, is calling back his announcement that the presidential race is over.  From The Hill: 

Influential election forecaster Charlie Cook is backing off his call that the presidential race is “over.”

Cook, the publisher of the Cook Political Report, made headlines last month when he tweeted: “Take a close look at the new Fox News poll released tonight. This race is OVER.”

Now, with polls tightening both nationally and in several key states, Cook says he still thinks Donald Trump will lose but no longer considers it implausible that the GOP nominee takes the presidency on Tuesday.

“The race is in a different place than 8 or 9 days ago when there was virtually no path for Trump,” Cook told The Hill on Saturday. “So yes, like everyone else, we've revised our assessment.”

Nine days ago, Cook held a definitive view of the race. When The Hill asked whether he could imagine a “moonshot” scenario in which Trump could win, he replied, “No.”

Cook noted still believes Trump’s chances are “fairly small.”

He said the GOP nominee needs a half-dozen or so things to go exactly right for him to win, whereas Hillary Clinton only needs one or two things to fall her way.

COMMENT:  I have a feeling, I've heard it from people, that some voters are going for Trump just to get back at the pollsters and pundits, and to assert the notion that it's the voters who select the president, not the journalists.  It's hard to know how big that "get lost" vote is, but it's there.

November 5, 2016