"An ABC News poll is good news for Donald Trump, showing him just four points behind Hillary Clinton. The NBC News poll is not so good news, he's down by 11. And CBS News has Trump down by nine. Talking Points believes the Fox News poll, which has Trump down by seven, is likely the most accurate. With three weeks remaining, the question is whether that gap can be closed. There are a few things that Donald Trump must do. First, put aside the feuding. It gets him nowhere to take on people like Paul Ryan. Second, while he must defend himself against charges he believes are scurrilous, he should quickly dispatch those charges and hone in on three themes - a stagnant economy, illegal immigration and chaos overseas. Also, with the WikiLeaks stuff, Mr. Trump has plenty of ammo for Wednesday's debate. As for Hillary Clinton, she is off the trail this week, resting up for the debate. That's smart. She's ahead, but she can't sit on her lead if the debate is won by Donald Trump. If the secretary dominates, she's in. But if Trump hammers her, Mrs. Clinton will have to compete. Her best strategy in Vegas is to mostly ignore Trump and talk directly to the voters, trying to convince them that she is not corrupt. This all pretty much comes down to four states: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Trump needs to take three of those and win the West - Nevada, Colorado and the rest of the red states out there. There is no question that Hillary Clinton is better positioned right now, but things change fast in this terrible campaign. I say terrible because it's just one personal attack after another on both sides. Polls show many Americans, perhaps most, are voting against rather than for one of the candidates. It is the first time in my life that has happened."

Charles Krauthammer joined The Factor with his take on the election. "What's remarkable about the two candidates," he said, "is how well known they both are. So I don't think there is very much new except for the WikiLeaks stuff, which is new information coming out almost every day. It isn't enough to say she's a crook or a liar, you have to pick three or four items and make those the point of your attack on Hillary Clinton. One of the most damaging things is that she said you have to have a 'public position' and a 'private position.' That says she doesn't believe in anything and is driven by ambition. But the problem with Trump is that he just can't get away from the personal offenses he feels he has to respond to. That's why he's behind."

For more on the electoral horserace, The Factor turned to Karl Rove. "Donald Trump has a very steep uphill climb," Rove said. "If he doesn't win Pennsylvania, he has to pick up 17 electoral votes in the West. That would be Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada, but I don't know anybody who thinks he has a chance in New Mexico. And the last time he led in a poll in Colorado was just before the first debate. He has to run a real campaign, he's been wasting time on Miss Universe, defending himself against charges, and picking a fight with the Republican Party." The Factor added, "Things started to go south for Donald Trump after the Access Hollywood tape, that's when you started to see these individual states go."

While most polls show Hillary Clinton with a reasonably comfortable lead, there are a few outliers. One of them, the Rasmussen poll, has the race as a statistical dead heat. Amy Holmes, a political analyst for Rasmussen Reports, elaborated. "Every poll has different methodology," she explained. "We look at three days in succession with 500 new people each night. It's a national poll and it's a four-way race. But if you look at the trend lines, all the polls tend to go in the same direction. The Access Hollywood story was like a grenade and we had Hillary Clinton up by seven points after that. But then there was the debate and Trump started to creep up. One thing we are finding in this election cycle is how sensitive people are to headlines."

Donald Trump's wife Melania is defending her husband against allegations that he groped women in the past. The Factor asked Monica Crowley and Mary Ann Marsh whether Trump can still make inroads with female voters. "Donald Trump is doing fine with Republican and conservative women," Crowley said, "but when it comes to the general electorate there is an historic gender gap. He needs to talk about all national issues as women's issues, meaning economic growth, job creation, dealing with illegal immigration, and ObamaCare. He has a fighting chance to win some women back and it's smart to send Melania out." Marsh, though, scoffed at Trump's chances with women. "It's too late to win women back, what he needs is a low turnout. A really negative campaign would turn women off from voting, but if they show up and vote, he loses! He has lost white college-educated women."

Historian and author Jon Meacham entered the No Spin Zone and discussed whether it is fair to compare past presidents with present candidates. "I don't see how we avoid comparisons," he said. "President Reagan himself modeled the conduct of his presidency after Franklin Roosevelt, and the first President Bush was a devotee of President Eisenhower and thought a lot about how he had led. Presidents need predecessors to guide how they do it, and voters need an historical GPS to figure out who we are getting." Meacham also criticized today's vastly transformed political landscape. "The scrutiny is greater than ever, the tabloid culture has totally infected the political culture. Reporters have become overly cynical and want to kick folks in the shins as much as possible." The Factor contended that the emphasis on celebrity has badly damaged our political discourse: "There used to be boundaries, journalists knew which presidents were womanizers but they didn't report it. Now they not only report it, they seek it out! Iran and ISIS don't stand a chance against Access Hollywood."

Jesse Watters mounted his chopper and headed south to Daytona Beach, Florida, where he spoke with some motorcycle riders at an event called Biketoberfest. Here's what some of them had to say about the election: "I don't like either one" ... "If Trump don't win, I'm moving to Iran" ... "Mr. Trump has got to win" ... "We've got to secure the borders" ... "We should blow ISIS to hell" ... "The next president should legalize marijuana and get the country out of debt." Watters reported that if only bikers voted, Donald Trump would be doing wheelies in the Oval Office.

Marcus Reichhart, Vienna, Austria: "Mr. O'Reilly, as a European interested in American politics, I agree with your Talking Points that this is a sad time for the voter. But you should also be self-critical about contributing to the polarized environment."

Victoria Baldwin Parker, Chino, CA: "Our family just watched Killing Reagan and found it totally riveting. We believe it merits Emmy consideration."

Nancy Bond, Desdemona, TX: "I worked for the Reagans in the '60s and want to applaud the film for a truly excellent depiction."

If you are looking for a fascinating and inspirational read, consider the late Arnold Palmer's 'A Life Well Played.'