Article snippet: The TAKE with Rick Klein Hurricane Florence is just now impacting lives. But President Donald Trump already did a fresh measure of damage to his own credibility – and to that of a party that will see its fate rest on his sway in a few short weeks. Trump’s suggestion that Democrats are somehow behind an effort to inflate a hurricane death count in Puerto Rico is both utterly unsubstantiated and totally irrelevant to the moment. It puts Republicans in the untenable position of offering "both sides" formulations in calling for less politics and more focus on preparations, or of pretending not to know or care what the president is tweeting about. (Notice that Florida Republicans are among the few publicly saying Trump is flat wrong.) It also puts the spotlight squarely on the federal response to the current storm. The president is already handing out grades for tests that have not yet begun. Trump this week showed again that he creates his own world out of things that are not rooted in facts. It may work for his brand, but his fellow Republicans know that voters are set to impose realities of their own. The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks Starting today, it’s nothing but general election matchups until November. Ballots were set this week as primary season finally closed out. (Whew!) The big stories were on the Democratic side. Keeping with this year’s themes, Democrats nominated several women to top posts, including former state senator Molly Kell... Link to the full article to read more