For the Record: Slowest-moving scandal ever

Happy Pluto Demoted Day! Ten years ago today, Pluto was downgraded from "planet" to "dwarf planet." If you're tired of arguing politics on Facebook all day, here's a good chance to switch things up and argue planetary nomenclature instead. In today's FTR, the number of damn emails increased by 50%, we discuss the relative number of stars in each candidate's galaxy, and both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein hope to see their campaigns upgraded. Let's go!

Also in the new batch: several dozen unopened Evites

The latest Clinton email releases are the inkblot test of the campaign — some people see a definite pay-to-play system, some see politics as usual, and others see a giraffe eating an ice-cream cone.

Yes, the email scandal is still happening; you can catch up on the whole thing here. The latest 15,000-email revelation (which may include duplicates of the earlier 30,000 emails) includes a handful that critics say shows then-Secretary of State Clinton arranging favors for Clinton Foundation donors. “These new emails confirm that Hillary Clinton abused her office by selling favors to Clinton Foundation donors,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “No matter how this group tries to mischaracterize these documents, the fact remains that Hillary Clinton never took action as Secretary of State because of donations to the Clinton Foundation,” said Clinton spokesman Josh Schwerin.

USA TODAY asked nonpartisan experts what they saw, and most said it looks like "access" was granted — in other words, the ability to meet with Clinton — but more investigation would be needed to determine if donations translated to any tangible benefits for the donors.  “It’s not clear from these emails what actually happened after most of this stuff,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan government oversight group. “That’s the missing piece of this puzzle.” Argh, really? We're at the end of a 45,000-piece puzzle and there's a piece missing?

Biggest celebrity to endorse Donald Trump: Donald Trump

Odds are much better that you have a Katy Perry or Justin Timberlake song in your iTunes library rather than the "Charles in Charge" theme song. But does the "celebrity gap" between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump matter? Should we create a system where supporters are distributed more equitably — say, requiring Hillary to send over RuPaul and one of the Clooneys? Experts say the presence or absence of A-listers backing a candidate likely won't sway the vote in November. Celebrity endorsements may result in financial donations (for example, fans of Leonardo DiCaprio or Ted Nugent may be more likely to donate to a candidate) ... but are less likely to result in actual votes.

That's not to say it hasn't affected races before. In 2008, Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama may have helped sway her fan base of white women away from Clinton and toward the ideologically similar Obama. And support from Sarah Silverman and Clint Eastwood this year might help convince voters to back Clinton or Trump rather than third-party candidates. But in a sharply divided general election race, it's pretty unlikely that fans of Lena Dunham and Phil Robertson haven't made up their minds on the election yet.

Third parties usually a third wheel by now

RealClearPolitics' analysis of four-way race polls shows numbers we haven't seen in quite a while: double digit support for a third-party candidate. Below are a handful of third-party performance in polls from around the same time frame as today.

Aug. 15-21, 2016: Gary Johnson 11, Jill Stein 5 (NBC News/SurveyMonkey)
Sept. 7-9, 2012: Gary Johnson 3, Jill Stein 1 (CNN/ORC)
Aug. 19-22, 2008: Bob Barr 3, Ralph Nader 3 (ABC News/Washington Post)
Aug. 21-24, 2004: Ralph Nader 3 (NPR - POS/GQR)
Aug. 17-18, 2000: Ralph Nader 3, Pat Buchanan 2 (CNN-USA TODAY-Gallup)

We have to go back two decades to find a third-party candidate in double digits with less than 80 days to go, and that's Ross Perot in 1996. See, third parties CAN work at the national level in American politics! All it took was nominating the two most detested presidential candidates ever.

More from the campaign trail

• Trump is leading in Missouri, he's leading with white women, he's leading out of his wherever (USA TODAY OnPolitics)
• Biden to NATO allies: Don't worry, everything's going to be fine, probably (USA TODAY)
• Clinton up by 14 in battleground state of Florida, stretching the definition of 'battleground state' (USA TODAY OnPolitics)
• Trump scouting Arizona locations for immigration speech, wall (Arizona Republic)

Vote for Hickory Nick

As if the celebrity gap wasn't bad enough, we completely forgot about Brit-Brat, Spiderbomb and Virgin Karen in Hillary's corner.