SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

TRUMP LEADS IN NEW POLL – FROM RASMUSSEN:   The presidential race has grown a bit tighter in this week’s White House Watch survey.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Donald Trump with 42% of the vote, while Hillary Clinton earns 40%. Thirteen percent (13%) still like another candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)  This survey was taken Tuesday evening following FBI Director James Comey's announcement that his agency would not seek any indictments of Clinton despite her "extremely careless" handling of classified information while serving as secretary of State. Most voters disagree with Comey’s decision.  Trump pulled ahead of Clinton last week 43% to 39%, his highest level of support in Rasmussen Reports’ matchups with Clinton since last October. Support for Clinton remains below the level of support she received for most of June.  Rasmussen Reports will release new presidential race numbers with Libertarian Gary Johnson in the mix tomorrow morning at 8:30 Eastern.  We'll monitor those new figures tomorrow morning.  The Rasmussen poll is believed to lean somewhat Republican, so we'll wait for other polls to assess Clinton's standing after the FBI report. 

DALLAS – It now appears that there was only one shooter in last night's Dallas anti-police massacre.  He's an Army veteran with an arsenal at home and a hatred for whites.  He may (or may not) have had accomplices.  There have been a number of non-lethal attacks on police officers around the country in the last day, and an assault on a police headquarters in Oakland, California.  There are alerts out for officers to be particularly careful, and there's a special alert out for Louisiana.  FROM JUDICIAL WATCH:   The FBI issued an alert to Louisiana law enforcement agencies warning of violence against officers and planned riots in the aftermath of this week’s high-profile fatal shooting of a black man by Baton Rouge Police. Judicial Watch obtained a copy of the situational information report, which was distributed to police and sheriff departments in Bossier, Caddo Parish and east Baton Rouge as well as Louisiana State Police.   Why aren't there legal charges against some people and groups for advancing anti-police hate crimes?

VOTERS ENGAGED – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   They don't care much for either Donald Trump of Hillary Clinton, but there is the most interest in the 2016 presidential election in 24 years and three out of four voters believe that "it really matters" who wins, according to a new survey.  Pew Research Service said in a report issued Thursday that voter engagement in the campaign is the highest it has seen since it began testing interest.  Some 80 percent said that they have thought about the election, even higher than in 2008, when 72 percent said the same thing about Barack Obama's election as the first-ever black president.   That doesn't surprise me.  Voters are engaged, and they are looking at the worst choices for president that they've ever been given.

July 8, 2016