I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself. ― Oscar Wilde

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” In case you are a first-time visitor, this is the weekly column where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary sometimes sprinkled with sarcasm and humor.

This week’s topics include Biden fundraising, early voting, unemployment, USA deaths from coronavirus, Treasure State political poll, MT Senate spending, 2020 Census, hot September, Trump’s disapproval rating, campaign literature, social media accounts to follow, and much more!

383,000,000

Democrat Joe Biden and his party raised a record-shattering $383 million in September for his presidential bid, likely bolstering his financial advantage over President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The campaign had $432 million in cash at month’s end for the final five weeks of the race, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said on Twitter.
The haul outstripped the $365 million that Democrats raised in August, which was itself a monthly record for any U.S. presidential campaign. (Reuters)

15,000,000

With less than three weeks to go before Nov. 3, roughly 15 million Americans have already voted in the fall election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation despite barriers erected by the coronavirus pandemic — and setting a trajectory that could result in the majority of voters casting ballots before Election Day for the first time in U.S. history. (WaPo)

898,000

In the week ending October 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 898,000, an increase of 53,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 840,000 to
845,000. The 4-week moving average was 866,250, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 857,000 to 858,250. (DOL)

216,904

That is how many people have died in the United States from coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There are at least 216,904 deaths and 7,917,223 cases across the country so far. The first death in the US was reported on February 29. (John Hopkins)

Last Thursday, there were 211,844 deaths.

1,787

That is how many people responded to the Montana State University Treasure State political poll. (MSU Press)

See the results by clicking HERE.

184

The Associated Press is reporting that by the time the Montana U.S. Senate race is over, the two campaigns and outside groups that span the political spectrum — from the NRA Victory Fund to Planned Parenthood — are expected to spend a combined $184 on advertising for each of the state’s 729,000 registered voters. (AP)

I wish they would have spared me and just sent the check for $184…

99.9

That is Montana’s overall response rate for the 2020 Census. The self-response was 60.3%. The non-response follow-up enumerated 39.6% for a total of 99.9% enumerated. (Census)

Looks like that is it for the 2020 Census – Now we wait for the official results!

60.75

Boosted by human-caused climate change, global temperatures averaged 60.75 degrees (15.97 Celsius) last month, edging out 2015 and 2016 for the hottest September in 141 years of recordkeeping, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. (AP)

There’s a good chance we will see the hottest year on record…

53.6

That is President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating according to the FiveThirtyEight blog. His approval rating is just 43.4%. (FiveThirtyEight)

Last week Trump’s disapproval rating was 53.3%.

11

One day this week I received 11 pieces of campaign literature in the mail. I think that’s a record for one day.

I’m glad to see the U.S. Postal Service getting some business…

2

It’s crunch time in the political world! To keep up on all the real (not fake) political news, there are only two social media sites that you need to follow:

My Twitter Page: @TheWesternWord
Facebook Page: facebook.com/TheWesternWord/

Information on these pages is updated 24/7.

## VOTE ##