Your guide to how Washington shapes business and the economy
 | FRI, OCT 09, 2020 | | | Hello, We are just over three weeks away from Election Day, and several states are voting already. As we get deeper and deeper into crunch time, CNBC's politics team is tracking three overriding themes: - The state of President Trump: The commander-in-chief is trying to project strength and assertiveness, even as he continues to contend with the coronavirus. His doctor says he should be able to do public events within days. Trump balked at doing a virtual debate Oct. 15 and is insisting on doing it in person. The debate commission, however, has refused to do anything but a virtual event, so as of now it looks like the second debate between Trump and Joe Biden is off.
- The state of the race: The president is in a hole. Biden has expanded his lead in national polling averages since his acrimonious first debate and the president's diagnosis. He's held consistent leads in swing states, as well. Meanwhile, the vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris appeared to have little impact.
- The state of stimulus: There are mixed signals coming out of the White House. On Tuesday, Trump dramatically ended stimulus talks with Democrats until after the election. Hours later, though, he appeared to shift his stance and express openness toward doing a series of smaller deals. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued to talk. Then, Thursday, an administration spokeswoman said Trump wanted a "skinny" deal. After that, reports said Trump told GOP leadership in the House that he wanted a big deal. Meanwhile, Pelosi said she and Mnuchin were indeed talking about a more comprehensive package. The situation is a mess. Markets, somehow, still are optimistic there will be an agreement.
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