Pumpkin Lattes & October Horrors

"An October surprise is like a lightning bolt in the final stretch of a campaign, leaving both the candidates and voters scrambling for answers" - Garry Wills

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With only a month left until the election, I’ve got a million things I want to share amid brief pit stops at home. Expect shorter, more frequent updates as I navigate life at a frantic pace. My focus was derailed, so I’m still working to revive it. Since the Nuzzigate scandal broke media requests for my “side” have been relentless. While I won’t be discussing this situation on TV, I do have an in-depth follow-up coming—if I can carve out the time and space to write it. A lot of people have opinions on how I should frame it. I don’t need direction relaying truth. Nearly two weeks later my anger hasn’t cooled (as expected), so I’ll tackle it head-on and move forward. But the insinuation that I should go easy on Nuzzi is irritating. I don’t see anyone urging male writers to “be nice” in similar situations. I’ll write as I see fair, just like I always do.

The conversation as a whole is relevant to a steady theme we’ve been exploring: who do we trust in media?

The scandal has sharply divided the industry, for good reason. It’s a valid discussion, sure to breed contention. Naturally, there’s a concentrated effort now by legacy allies to paint Nuzzi as a victim of sexism while casting me as a woman-hating journalistic hack. I see a couple of hit pieces already taking shape as retaliation. Good luck with that, ladies. Thankfully, my credibility doesn’t depend on mainstream praise; in fact, it thrives more in critique. I’ve been painfully transparent in my coverage, almost to the point of diary-level confessions in my behind-the-scenes trackings. Like everything here, you can read my perspective and draw your own conclusions about who betrayed what "ethics" and what the ramifications should be.

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October, in an election year it always feels like a substantial checkpoint—congratulations, we’ve survived the madness thus far—only a month left to go! But with the comforting return of pumpkin spiced lattes, the plot thickens under the weight of impending "surprises"—the kind of salacious reveals that have a habit of shaking the ground beneath us. We’ve seen it all before—Black Swans, WikiLeaks, Pizzagate, for God’s sake.

Yet as this cycle unfolds, we must wonder: what could possibly be next? Secret love children? Darker, more twisted scandals? Are we too battered and jaded to be shaken by this point?

Unlike Olivia Nuzzi, I’m still on the campaign trail, amplifying the MAHA message as it stumps its way across America, pointing out the dangers targeting our children, seeking to save the country from global demonic capture. Meanwhile, we are facing Iranian plots to kill Trump, deadly storms tearing through neglected states, with billions still pouring into Ukraine. At this point, we’re not just bracing for impact—we’re swimming in it.

Historically, October is when political chaos strikes hardest. Roger Stone said it best: "In the world of politics, the October surprise is the final play, the last-ditch effort to win the game when all other strategies have failed." David Axelrod echoed that sentiment: "The thing about an October surprise is that it’s not just a surprise. It’s a calculated strike aimed at shaking the ground beneath a candidate's feet."As Richard Ben-Veniste pointed out: "The October surprise is not just about timing, but about unleashing chaos at the most vulnerable moment, making it impossible to recover before voters go to the polls."

So, as we move into this pivotal month, I ask: what do you think will arise in the next few weeks to shake us into chaos? What predictions do you have for the October surprise?

And more importantly, how is everyone holding up?