OFF TO THE RACES: Breaking the boundaries
From NBC’s Benjy Sarlin and Alex Seitz-Wald: "In an election that has already pushed all boundaries of political norms, Donald Trump threatened to break them in Wednesday's debate with his refusal to commit to accepting the outcome of the election, now less than three weeks away. With that audacious declaration, Hillary Clinton took one step closer to winning Thursday.”
Catch all the biggest moments from the final debate, wrapped up by NBCNews.com here.
Jane Timm compiles the top fact checks from the debate.
A CNN/ORC poll calls Clinton the winner of the final debate.
The AP’s blistering lede for the ages: "Threatening to upend a fundamental pillar of American democracy, Donald Trump refused to say in debate that he will accept the results of next month's election if he loses to Hillary Clinton. The Democratic nominee declared Trump's resistance "horrifying.”
And the New York Times: "In a remarkable statement that seemed to cast doubt on American democracy, Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that he might not accept the results of next month’s election if he felt it was rigged against him — a stand that Hillary Clinton blasted as “horrifying” at their final and caustic debate on Wednesday.”
Tim Kaine on the TODAY show called Al Gore’s eventually concession “patriotic” and “respectful,” compared to Trump’s “pre-election whining."
From the Washington Post: "When the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump started, it seemed as if it might be the best of the three and certainly Trump’s best. By the end, it was the story of Trump in Campaign 2016 in microcosm, a series of angry exchanges, interruptions, insults that served to undercut the good he might have accomplished earlier.”
POLITICO checks in with some very depressed Republicans who are more and more worried about down ballot races.
Donald Trump’s own words may have hurt him the most in the debate, writes Irin Carmon.
Clinton’s weakness is explaining her own positions, notes the Washington Post.