Hi, I'm Dan Pramak, and welcome to Axios Recap.

Today's Thursday, October 8th.

Oil prices are up, odds of a presidential debate next week are down, and we're focused on a

surprise prescription from some of America's top doctors.

Lots of media organizations print editorials around election season, favoring one

candidate or another, and for the most part, no one pays too much attention. But there are exceptions,

and one of them hit last night. The New England Journal of Medicine, which has steadfastly

stayed out of politics for its entire 208-year history,

published an editorial titled Dying in a Leadership vacuum. It was signed by 34 of the journal's

editors and prosecutes a case against President Trump without ever explicitly naming him.

It argues that his administration and other political leaders have

bungled COVID-19 from the jump, resulting in American deaths and continued economic disruptions.

The editorial does acknowledge the unique challenges posed by the novel coronavirus,

and that many Americans would have died no matter who was in charge. But it goes on to explain how other

democratic countries have managed their responses much more skillfully, even though we came

into it with a lot more home field advantages. The editorial reads in part, quote, anyone else

who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences.

Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions, but this election gives us the power to render judgment.

Again, this isn't an editorial from the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, from Fox or MSNBC.

It's from a centuries-old, prestigious medical journal

whose mission is to inform health care delivery and improve patient outcomes. That's it.

In this case, it argues the best way to do that is to vote President Trump out of office.

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