“The promised caravans have crossed the southern border just in time! Join them at the polls tomorrow!” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
Today’s news is filled with coverage of tomorrow’s elections. Early voting turnout is amazing here in Lousyanna. Black voters are voting in record numbers. Democrats and Independent voters in general are turning out like crazy here. But we’re not alone. Even a rainy day in Floriduh did not stop voters. It’s happening far and wide. This makes for some striking headlines.
I can’t help but gloat a bit reading this Bill Kristol headline in The Bulwark. “It Won’t Be a Blue Tsunami. It’ll Be an Orange Crush. Is this the decisive repudiation of Trump we’ve been waiting for?” We find out tomorrow evening.
We are on the cusp of a thoroughgoing defeat for Donald Trump, his administration, and his party. That is not something we could have taken for granted. On key occasions over the last decade, we’ve fallen short. In 2018, Democrats picked up forty-one seats and flipped the House—but Republicans gained two senate seats and strengthened their hold on that body. In 2020, Trump was defeated, but not in a landslide, and Republicans gained thirteen House seats. Then, following the insurrection and Trump’s impeachment, the Senate failed to convict him. And while Democrats did relatively well in the 2022 midterms, Republicans still managed to regain the House.
And about 2024, the less said the better.
In other words: Since Trump entered national politics in 2015, there’s never been a decisive electoral repudiation of him. This year looks likely to be that.
Now I’ll hasten to stipulate that 2026 is only a midterm election, and that presidential elections matter most. Still, 2026 is an unusually significant midterm. Think of what it would mean for our future if Trump had remained popular over the last two years, if his policies were viewed with relative approval, and if he were about to suffer only a minor midterm setback. Trumpism would still be an ascendant political movement.
That is not where we are. Instead, 2026 looks as if it will be a clear repudiation of Trump and Trumpism. Democrats are very likely to flip both the House and the Senate and, indeed, are likely to end up with comfortable majorities in both chambers.
For example, the final New York Times/Siena polls released last night of seven battleground Senate states—Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas—show Democrats ahead in six of those races, and effectively tied in the seventh. As the Times notes with some astonishment, Democrats hold sizable leads in Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, and Kansas, which has not elected one since 1932.
As Nate Cohn put it: “In today’s polarized era, there’s no precedent for a party to fare this well in so many states that are generally safe wins for the other side.” He cautions judiciously that the polls may be overstating Democratic strength. But as he also explains at some length, they may well be understating it.
A question we all might be asking is this one answered by ProPublica. Exactly how safe and secure will this election be for voters? ““Chaos” in the Air: Five Ways Voting Could Be Disrupted on Election Day. The Trump administration has initiated a string of unprecedented actions to assert more federal control over elections. While courts have thwarted most of the plans, voting experts remain concerned about potential problems at the polls.” This a really long article but it’s worth the time to read. Jen Fifield and Peter Elkind share the lede.
As Americans head to the polls on Tuesday, voting experts are watching to see how the Trump administration’s unprecedented efforts to assert more federal control over elections will play out.
The president has justified these steps by claiming, without evidence, that American elections are beset by fraud and that illegal voting is tipping the scales in favor of Democrats.
Courts have thwarted most of the administration’s plans to date, but Trump and his top deputies have kept up the pressure. Most recently, they’ve threatened to prosecute election officials who don’t reject ballots from people that the federal government has identified as likely noncitizens.
The administration hasn’t explicitly ruled out sending federal agents to the polls or seizing ballots or voting machines.
Election experts say the cumulative effect has been to ramp up anxiety about the midterms and to erode voters’ trust in the system.
“The administration has been creating a lot of noise, a lot of confusion, a lot of doubt,” said Ben Hovland, whom Trump fired as a commissioner for the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission earlier this year. He said he worries that this will make voters “sit it out” and “throw their hands up.”
In an emailed response to questions, a DHS spokesperson said Immigration and Customs Enforcement “is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” adding that the agency would only arrest people at the polls to address a safety threat as part of “intelligence-driven targeted enforcement.”
The DHS and the Justice Department “are laser focused on identifying, prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens,” the spokesperson added. “Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: we will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences — including criminal charges and deportation.”
Before and on Election Day, it’s typical for the major political parties to mount poll-watching operations, but both Democrats and Republicans say they’ve expanded these activities in this pressurized midterm.
Republicans will focus on issues such as voter eligibility and voter-roll accuracy, according to Ally Triolo, the Republican National Committee’s election integrity communications director. Democrats will concentrate on voter intimidation and other hurdles to voting, Angelo Fernández Hernández, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson, said.
The authors elucidate 5 issues that are worrying voting rights experts. Again, go to the link to read the details There are quite a few articles up specifically on possible election problems at Propublica. This research focuses on Trump’s obsession with noncitizen voting. “Inside Trump’s Futile Hunt for Noncitizen Voters. Claiming that hundreds of thousands of noncitizens were voting illegally, Trump tasked agents who usually investigate cross-border crime with uncovering proof. We followed along to find out: How many of these voters could there actually be?”
President Donald Trump has claimed that hundreds of thousands of people who are not U.S. citizens have been illegally voting in our federal elections, tipping the scales for Democrats. If there was massive fraud, reporters at ProPublica wanted to uncover it. So they followed along as federal investigators set out to find and prosecute these voters. How many were there, really?
ProPublica has researched many issues with this years elections including one JJ sent me. “Ballot Rejections Soared in Rural Counties After USPS Reduced Mail Service.” These articles are long, but you will face tomorrow more informed as you head to your polling place.
But a ProPublica data analysis shows that delays resulting from the U.S. Postal Service’s cost-cutting measures have endangered the validity of ballots cast in rural areas, not only in Washington, but across the country.
Over the past three years, as mail volume continued to plummet and annual deficits ballooned, the Postal Service started consolidating the processing of first-class mail at larger regional plants instead of at smaller hubs closer to local post offices. Then, in a little-noted switch that mostly took effect after the 2024 election, the agency cut the frequency of mail pickups in half at many post offices 50 miles or more from these processing plants, from twice daily to once.
The changes often added a day or more to delivery time and, most importantly for ballots, pushed back postmarking, which doesn’t happen until mail reaches the regional centers.
In this year’s primary, the effects of the cuts were clearest in five states that make detailed data on mail-in ballots available: Washington, California, Ohio, North Carolina and Oregon. All have or recently had grace periods allowing ballots to count if they come in after Election Day as long as they’re postmarked by the deadline.
Despite all of this, the numbers geeks are still saying the Democratic candidates have the advantage and the momentum. I’m still largely fixated on the senate race but watching NW Lousyana kick out Mike Johnson and thus, end his speakership, would make me happy too. This is from the New York Times. “Democrats Show Strength in Final Days of Race for the Senate, New Polls Find, Democrats are up in Michigan, Texas, Kansas, Maine and Ohio, have an edge in Alaska and are effectively tied with Republicans in Iowa, new New York Times/Siena polls found.” Shane Goldmacher and Ruth Igielnik share the lede.
The surveys found that Democrats hold sizable leads in Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, and Kansas, which has not elected one since 1932.
To win a Senate majority, Democrats need to defend all the seats they currently hold and flip at least four seats that are currently held by Republicans. It has been seen as an uphill battle because many of the seats they need to win are in Republican strongholds.
But the new polls found Democratic candidates ahead in five states that now have Republican senators and effectively tied in a sixth. They hold leads in Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas and a narrow edge in Alaska. They are effectively tied in Iowa.
In Michigan, the lone top Senate battleground already held by Democrats, the poll found the Democratic candidate leading by double digits. (It was conducted before a Democratic feud erupted in Michigan this weekend.) The surveys did not include North Carolina, where polls have long found the Democrat leading and Republicans have pared back their campaign spending.
Dissatisfaction with President Trump and frustration over his management of the economy are dragging down Republicans, according to the polls. Just 38 percent of likely voters approved of the president’s job performance in the seven states in the poll, a strikingly low figure given that Mr. Trump had won five of the states by double digits just two years ago.
The newfound Democratic strength was powered by growing trust in the party to handle the economy — the key motivating issue for voters this year. Democrats hold a nine-point advantage on the cost of living across the battlegrounds, and they led on this crucial measure in every single state.
If the polls are accurate and these trends hold, Democrats would win control of the Senate.
Like I said, I’m wondering if that huge surge of black voters up in the NW corner of Louisiana will manage to dethrone Mike Johnson. This is from the Federal News Network. Terry Gerton interviews Mitchell Miller the story. “Election results decide who holds power. What comes next determines how they’ll use it. “Clearly a lot of potential political drama here on the GOP side after the results come in,” said Mitchell Miller, a Capitol Hill correspondent from WTOP for his take.
Terry Gerton All right, tomorrow is election day. Everybody’s been watching early voting and polling, trying to anticipate who will win, but I actually want to talk about another set of horse races and those are for congressional leadership positions. After the election is over and we have a sense of the results, walk us through what actually happens inside the parties before the next Congress will convene.
Mitchell Miller Well, this is going to be a very interesting time and one that’s going to make a lot of people nervous, obviously, because everything is going to unfold over the next 24 plus hours. Of course, the election results will probably continue to spill out throughout the rest of the week, particularly on the Senate side. But let’s start with the House. The House Republican leadership has said that a week from election day, they will hold their internal elections. And decide who is going to remain in what positions. Now, this is really fascinating because House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has repeatedly said that they are going to defy history. Republicans are going to maintain a very small majority, but they are gonna maintain the majority. Now, if that were to happen, of course, then things are pretty straightforward, mike Johnson would likely retain the House speakership, especially because this would be so rare that he would actually have the Republicans hold the lower chamber. However, if, as many people expect, that the Republicans lose power to the Democrats, then everything starts to shift. And there’s a lot of talk about whether Mike Johnson would still try to become the minority leader, which I have to say just basically doesn’t happen after a large loss, if that’s what happens in the House. Virtually every House speaker, once there was a defeat, left that position and did seek the house minority position and in fact usually the party doesn’t want them in that leadership role after that, despite all the campaigning that Johnson has done. So who does that leave? Then you have current House Majority Leader, Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was, of course, considered for House Speaker when all that wild gyrating happened after Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) Was forced out. And you also have the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who has indicated he might be interested in a leadership position. So we’ll have to see what happens when things shake out. Now, if you move down the roster of leadership, the House majority whip is Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and he has indicated he wants to stay in that position no matter what happens. And it doesn’t seem like anybody else wants to push him on that position, so he will likely stay there. So clearly a lot of potential political drama here on the GOP side after the results come in.
So, that’s all I can take reading and writing on today! We’ll see you tomorrow and hopefully with enough steam to keep a live thread going between us all! I’ll leave with a little bit of economics truth. Its a bit higher today, btw. $40,596,030,180,635 and ticking upwards every minute. Every word this man speaks is basically a lie.
What’s on Your Reading, Action, and Blogging list today? If you didn’t early vote, I hope Voting will be on your Action list tomorrow. It certainly will be on mine!
Did you like this post? Please share it with your friends:
Only 3 days to go until the midterm elections next Tuesday. Trump is ramping up efforts to interfere with voting. At the same time, record numbers of voters are turning in their ballots early. This data is from 2 days ago:
With less than a week to go until the US midterm elections – which will determine which party controls Congress for the next two years – more than 43 million Americans have already voted.
Data from the University of Florida Election Lab indicates that four to five million early votes have been cast each day, a much higher rate than in most previous elections.
Texas has seen the highest above-average turnout rate so far, says Professor Mike McDonald, who runs the database. Hispanic communities are also seeing a much higher turnout than usual.
Overall turnout appears on track to outpace 2020, and even possibly 2018, which beat the 1914 record for overall turnout in a midterm election.
Texas has already surpassed its 2022 numbers by around 1.75 million voters, says McDonald. More than 5.8 million ballots have been cast in the Lone Star state, which has emerged as a key battleground that could decide which party controls the Senate for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Data from states where voters are required to register a political affiliation during the primary elections, when voters choose their party nominees ahead of the general election, indicates an increase in votes cast by Democrats.
The number of early ballots cast by Republican-affiliated voters remain generally similar to 2022.
Early voting is also up among voters who chose to not register with a specific party, McDonald says, however the data does not show which candidates they chose.
Early voting is significantly outpacing the last midterm election, with millions more Americans casting ballots in advance and particularly sharp increases in states hosting competitive Senate races, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data five days before Election Day.
The surge is especially pronounced in Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor’s races. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.
Advance voting has also increased more than 30% from the same point four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, states with competitive Senate races. In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, early voting is up 83%.
The data, compiled by the AP, offers a glimpse of early voter participation five days before an election that will determine control of Congress and other key contests.
Across the country, more than 43 million Americans had voted early in person or returned mail ballots, nearly 10 million more than in 2022. The figures cover 47 states and Washington, D.C., compared with 48 states and the nation’s capital four years ago.
In states that provide information on voters’ party affiliation, about 6.8 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans have cast ballots early. Those figures do not account for all early voters nationwide or indicate which candidates received their votes.
Trump is trying to rally his supporters and get them to the polls. He is also continuing his efforts to interfere with state elections.
President Donald Trump has now rescheduled two weekend rallies a day after canceling them, adding back in-person events in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday.
Trump’s political team had canceled the events on Thursday, explaining that doing so would allow the president to hold roughly 20 tele-rallies for candidates around the country.
All Cats Constitute The Same Family — From Ghosts and Goblins by Wilhelmina Harper.
Trump is scheduled to travel to Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday before spending Saturday at Mar-a-Lago. Three people with knowledge of the schedule said Trump will travel to Iowa and Kansas on Sunday for back-to-back rallies.
The rallies will be held in the locations originally planned: first, in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday afternoon, followed by Salina, Kansas, in the evening.
Trump himself drove the scheduling change, according to people familiar with the decision, who like others cited in this article were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. One adviser said the president was tired after weeks of rallies and wanted to take a day off. Another person said Trump is fascinated by tele-rally technology — in effect, a massive conference call — and strongly believes the calls, which the person said can feature tens of thousands of participants, reach more supporters than in-person events.
The shifting plans have added a sense of whiplash to an already frenetic final stretch of campaigning as Republicans fight to hold their congressional majorities.
The Republican National Committee had said Thursday night that the Iowa and Kansas events were being dropped because Republicans “were in a strong position” in each state. A day later, they were back on.
The president on Thursday told reporters he was not traveling to Kansas because Sen. Roger Marshall was doing “really well” in his race, which polls have shown is competitive.
And then there are the Trump administration’s efforts to interfere with state elections.
Very early on Wednesday morning, Dover, N.J., Councilwoman Sandra Wittner started getting messages about immigration agents. A dozen or more were gathering outside a Walgreens, according to the messages she was getting. Throughout the day, neighbors in north New Jersey saw a spike in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
And New Jersey is not alone. In the weeks ahead of the midterms, various cities and states across the country are reporting a notable rise in ICE activity, according to reports gathered by NPR and its member stations.
“The tactics that the administration has been deploying in communities really appear to be designed to try to intimidate voters,” says Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. Despite that, early turnout is surging.
“There was definitely a lot of apprehension and fear,” Wittner recalls. “We just really weren’t sure if something huge was about to happen. People were not feeling very comfortable or safe.” [….]
An official within New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed that they have noted a surge in ICE activity in the city.
“We’re certainly witnessing an uptick in activity, and have been since the summer,” says a member of a volunteer group of neighbors in New York. She asked that NPR not use her name, as she is worried about retaliation. Her group goes to the scene where an ICE operation is happening, documents it, reminds those being detained of their rights, and alerts neighbors.
The article also reports increased ICE activity in Oregon.
Trump’s DOJ is continuing it’s efforts to find voting by undocumented people.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening state and local election officials with criminal prosecution over their handling of disputes about voter qualifications.
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson also ordered the Trump administration to cease demanding that election workers remove voters from statewide rolls, refuse to issue ballots to specific voters or segregate ballots cast in the midterms based on the administration’s claims that some voters are ineligible.
“Because the public has a paramount interest in ensuring that election officials and workers are able to carry out their work in accordance with federal law and election procedure, and the official day of the Elections is only a couple of days away, the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in Plaintiffs’ favor,” Thompson wrote.
Thompson, a San Francisco-based Biden appointee, issued the temporary restraining order in connection with a lawsuit brought by the Service Employees International Union and other groups. Her directive also requires the DOJ to reach out to any state or local officials who received warnings about possible prosecution and inform them that “demands and threats of prosecution to election officials and workers … have been enjoined.”
The Justice Department on Thursday sent letters to election workers in all 50 states alluding to possible prosecution if they didn’t preserve election records. DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s broad ruling.
A federal judge imposed a sweeping emergency order halting various aggressive tactics employed by the Trump administration in recent days to pressure election officials across the country.
“Although Defendants claim that their actions are designed to halt unlawful voting by noncitizens, their actions are likely to have the effect of interfering with election administration and disenfranchising lawful voters,” US District Judge Trina Thompson said in her opinion granting a temporary restraining order Friday evening.
She said, while her order is in place, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security cannot demand that election officials in any state segregate ballots, purge voters from voter rolls, or halt ballot processing. Thompson, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, is also blocking threats of criminal prosecutions against election officials from those agencies and said that the administration cannot take other actions that “threaten, intimidate or coerce” election officials to demand changes in ballot processing procedures on claims the voters are ineligible.
Thompson’s opinion rebuked claims the administration has made for months that it can and will prosecute election officials for not doing enough to prevent illegal voting.
By Marina Karoleva
“When state and local government employees perform the work of distributing, processing, or counting ballots or otherwise administering the 2026 midterm election” in accordance with the law, “they do not violate federal criminal law even if a particular ballot belongs to a registered voter alleged by Defendants to be ineligible to vote,” she wrote.
She is also requiring the administration inform her of any “search warrant applications, grand jury subpoenas, or other demands to access election materials or ballots” that have been issued related to lists the administration has created to allege individuals are ineligible to vote.
There’s much more at the CNN link.
The situation in Alaska is concerning. The New York Times published an article claiming that the Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola was involved in a conspiracy to confuse voters by adding a candidate to the ballot with the same name as the Republican candidate. Peltola denies any involvement in this effort. This tactic has frequently been used by Republicans and is not a crime, but the DOJ has announced a criminal investigation of Peltola’s campaign. Some Democrats are accusing the NYT of a similar tactic to their late attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016. Meanwhile, the Time completely ignore a new accusation of rape against Trump.
America is four days out from the end of an election in which America’s deeply unpopular fascist ruling party is trying to retain control of Congress. The week began with yet another new rape allegation against the president of the united states, a man who has already been found liable for sexual assault in another case. The president and his allies are frantically whipping up hatred and anger at racial minorities in a continuation of a decade-long effort to inspire and incite violence against those who oppose them. They continue to disappear people off of American streets without trial, wage a figurative war against free expression and a literal war that has driven up prices for American families, all while plundering the treasury for their own financial gain.
By Viera Patcheva
Against that backdrop, the national news media is doing everything they can to make the central story of the last days of this election season an alleged political maneuver by Alaska Democrats that was, by all accounts, legal, consistent with past behavior by both major political parties, and unlikely to have any real effect on the outcome of the Alaska Senate race. America’s dominant news companies, led by the New York Times, have literally ignored the new rape allegation against the president of the United States while breathlessly hyping the Alaska maneuver, giving Donald Trump the distraction he desperately seeks and a phony premise for his anti-democratic efforts to effectively cancel a Senate election that could determine control of the entire U.S. Senate. It is, in the most charitable assessment, a gross and feckless abandonment of the news media’s responsibility to provide voters the information they need to make considered decisions about the future of their country.
Here’s the Alaska situation: The New York Times reported allegations that people associated with the campaign of Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola recruited an Alaskan named Dan Sullivan to run for the Senate in order to siphon votes away from incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
This no doubt strikes some people as unsportsmanlike, but it is important to understand a few things:
1) It is legal.
2) There is ample precedent for this precise maneuver, as well as countless others that are merely similar, from both political parties, both this election season and historically.
3) This particular maneuver is exceedingly unlikely to have an effect on the outcome of the Alaska senate race, because Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which means that any Alaskan who wants to vote for the Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan but who is somehow confused about which Dan Sullivan he is on the ballot despite the fact that only one Dan Sullivan on the ballot is identified with the words “Republican” or “incumbent” can simply rank the two Dan Sullivans as first and second choices in either order and that vote will ultimately be counted for the Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan.
On Thursday night, the Republican governor of Alaska refused to commit to certifying the outcome in the Senate race if Democrat Mary Peltola wins. Which means that if she does triumph, refusing to seat Peltola could well become a cause célèbre on the right—one that Donald Trump requires Republicans to commit to under threat of excommunication from MAGA.
Democrats are already preparing for a range of scenarios along these lines. And while this GOP gambit is very unlikely to succeed, it could get awfully nasty.
Governor Mike Dunleavy’s comments came in a discussion about the controversial report this week that Democrats conspired to get a second “Dan Sullivan” on the ballot to siphon votes from GOP Senator Dan Sullivan. The governor has ordered a criminal probe of the move, and a reporter asked him if he’ll certify the election if she’s still under that investigation.
“If we conclude that there were things that should not have happened, that are illegal, we will act on that,” Dunleavy said. “That may in fact impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate.” [….]
How bad was this plot? In my view, it’s scummy and antidemocratic conduct. But it’s routine, as ratfucking goes. Indeed, Democrats quickly cited numerous examples of Republicans engaged in lots of similar chicanery. Let’s get real: We live in a world where Trump ordered multiple GOP state legislatures to execute extreme gerrymanders for the explicitly declared purpose of holding the House, where Trump has called on congressional Republicans to seize control of state-administered elections, and where Trump still won’t commit to accepting a midterm defeat.
In that world, the Alaska saga is pretty damn small electoral potatoes. The ballot will be clearly labeled by party, and it’s unlikely to make any difference. Besides, as I wrote in my 2018 book, if only one side adheres to norms of fair play in politics, that is itself destabilizing. Generally speaking, mutual escalation of hardball tactics may be the only way to compel some kind of détente over time.
All that aside, the second “Dan Sullivan” says his decision to run was his own, and state courts (in a separate lawsuit) have already upheld his right to do so. Yet Trump’s Justice Department is already suing to force Alaska not to certify the results, insisting the second “Dan Sullivan” will invalidate any outcome (other than a GOP victory, of course).
The FBI on Friday began reaching out to donors of Dan J. Sullivan asking about potential deception, as federal authorities ramped up their investigation over the U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska who shares a name with the Republican incumbent.
An Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, a small fishing community accessible only by air or water where the candidate lives. The agent left a business card for Charles Flint, who told The Associated Press he has known Dan J. Sullivan for years as a respected teacher and musician.
The FBI visit came after federal officials confirmed the existence of a criminal probe over the candidate. The U.S. Department of Justice also pushed Friday for a court order to isolate certain Alaska ballots to investigate potential voter confusion.
Flint contributed $500 over the summer to what he considered a long-shot campaign, saying he knew Dan J. Sullivan would have expenses and respected him for “throwing his hat in the ring.” Flint said the FBI agent asked his son, who works at the dealership, whether Flint felt he had been “misled” about which candidate he was supporting.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been misled at all,” Flint, who has been out of town, told the AP in a telephone interview, adding he had no intention of calling the agent but would “let him waste his time trying to track me down.”
“I don’t think there’s any confusion,” he said, adding he intends to rank Democrat Mary Peltola first on his ballot, followed by Dan J. Sullivan. “Everybody knows who the incumbent is.”
In Kansas, Senator Roger Marshall, a vulnerable Republican, baselessly said his Democratic opponent “probably is grooming” children.
In Texas, Republicans have cast James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee, as a “freak” and insinuated he is gay, secretly a vegan, and obsessed with transgender children because he made statements supporting them in the past.
And in Michigan, Republicans have targeted the Democratic Senate nominee, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, with Islamophobic attacks. Mr. Trump has described Dr. El-Sayed as a “vicious, violent jihadist.”
Facing a backlash over rising prices and working to overcome the president’s deep unpopularity, Republicans across the country have tarred their opponents with false, inflammatory and deeply personal attacks in the final stretch of the midterm election.
In many cases, they are following the lead of a president who has repeatedly rewritten the rules of acceptable discourse in American politics. Many of the attacks have drawn little pushback from within the party, but some Republicans say they are concerned by the trend.
“It’s awful,” said former Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican and critic of Mr. Trump. Mr. Flake, who is backing candidates in both parties in the midterms, said Republicans had gone down a darker road in their messaging: “We’ve gotten progressively more crass and crude and vulgar. But this seems to be a new level.”
The strategy risks turning off some moderate voters who see the rhetoric as over-the-top or offensive, political observers said. But it could be effective at energizing the Republican base. Democrats, who have widely condemned the Republicans’ attacks, worry the lines will land with some voters….
American political campaigns have long been awash in negative and dubious attacks by both parties — in debate lines, TV commercials and stump speeches — but this bitter, hard-fought cycle may set a new standard. Some political scientists said this election season had devolved into the most negative, dark campaign in modern American history.
“I think it’s the worst,” said Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University. She attributed the tone to candidates’ desire to package their message for social media, and to Republicans’ mirroring of Mr. Trump: “He’s opened a portal to the degradation of our electoral system.”
In Texas, Vice President JD Vance suggested at a rally that Mr. Talarico was gay, drawing gasps from the crowd. “A guy that age who is so obsessed and focused on transgender children, I don’t know about you, but I never want to see that guy’s web browser history,” Mr. Vance added, referring to Mr. Talarico’s past statements in support of transgender youth.
Mr. Talarico has a girlfriend. The attack was part of a broad effort by Republicans to portray Mr. Talarico as extreme. Mr. Trump has taken to referring to Mr. Talarico as “Talafreako.”
That’s where things stand, 3 days before election day. What do you think? What else is on your mind?
Did you like this post? Please share it with your friends:
What could be better than a calendar filled with Halloween, Dumping Daylight Wasting Time, an Election that’s making my favorite Bloodsport, Politics, in line for a lot of celebrations, and then my birthday!!! Well, let’s start with a little spooky costuming. Let’s say there’s some dress-up going on for the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Let’s start with the Bad.
This headline from The New Republic should trigger many Congressional hearings and invasions. How long will we have to wait for them? “Jared Kushner Got Secretary of State Fired After Dictator Paid Him Off. Kushner reportedly got former Secretary Rex Tillerson fired after the UAE paid him millions—prompting another nation to also pay Kushner to ensure favors of their own, according to a new book.” Edith Olmsted has the story about the Wicked Son-in-Law of the West Wing.
Jared Kushner was allegedly paid $50 million by a foreign government to get former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fired.
In the new book Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, author Matthew Cole reported that the United Arab Emirates paid Kushner millions to oust Tillerson, who had allegedly become extremely cozy with the Qataris.
Tillerson, who served as secretary of state from 2017 to 2018, had publicly opposed a blockade on Qatar, and the Saudis and Emiratis urged Donald Trump’s White House to fire him. When Tillerson was finally fired via tweet, Kushner apparently had been secretly pushing for his exit for months.
“In Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Tillerson’s removal proved once again Kushner’s influence with his father-in-law,” Cole wrote.
A source with knowledge of the UAE’s secret arrangement with Kushner told Cole that the president’s son-in-law had even pressed UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, referred to as MBZ, to speed up their agreed-upon payment. A month later, the UAE sent $50 million via Azerbaijan into a bank account in Cyprus for Kushner.
Kushner’s lawyer has denied that he had an account in Cyprus, and denied that he asked for or received any money from MBZ.
Tillerson’s manufactured ousting caused a panic in Qatar—but the problem also presented its own solution: It could simply pay off Kushner too. In late March or early April of 2018, the Qatari government quietly informed Kushner they intended to help him secure his property at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. After that, Trump appeared to soften his hardline stance against the Qataris, but it’s unclear what, if anything, he knew about the foreign government’s deal with Kushner.
Endangered Species Act: July 25, 2018
The entire US Oil Industry gets the title of Ugly. Well, maybe they can share it with J.D. Vance. The one thing you can say about Orange Caligula and his cronies is that they’ve made our economy very ugly. This is from the New York Times. “U.S. Oil Industry Earned Over $130 Billion in Profit During Iran War. That was almost three times as much as what businesses producing and refining oil in the United States made in the same period in 2025.” So, now you know exactly who you’re making rich when you fill that tank! Rebecca F. Elliott and Keith Collins share the lede.
The war with Iran has been very lucrative for American oil companies, which have earned more than $130 billion in profit as people pay much higher prices for gasoline, diesel and other fuel.
That is a conservative estimate based on the performance of more than 50 large U.S. oil and gas companies, most of them producers or refiners, in the six months from April through September. It does not reflect profits earned in March, the first month of the war, or in October.
These companies earned less than $47 billion collectively during the same period in 2025, a challenging stretch when oil was cheaper and companies were navigating the early fallout from President Trump’s trade war.
The blockbuster oil profits this year highlight longstanding concerns about who gains, and who pays the price, when wars interrupt the flow of energy. As of this week, Americans had spent an extra $147 billion on gasoline and diesel since the United States and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, according to an analysis by Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab. That amounts to more than $1,100 per household.
Some companies are benefiting more than others. U.S. refiners have fared especially well because fuel-making plants have been badly damaged by hostilities in the Middle East and Russia. With fewer refineries available to meet global demand, profit margins soared for those that remain online.
And the other forementioned ugly, JD Vance, can’t seem to get his stories right. This is from MSNOW’s Steve Benen writing at Maddow Blog. “Pressed on affordability at town hall, JD Vance says all the wrong things. A young conservative voter asked the vice president a sincere question about one of the most pressing issues facing her generation. It did not go well.”
With time running out in the election cycle, JD Vance participated in a primetime town hall on Fox News, which was largely unremarkable except for one unexpected exchange.
A local college student told the vice president that the right routinely tells young people to get married and have children but that conservatives have failed to acknowledge how financially difficult this is for many. She asked, “So my question is, how does the right, and yourself, expect us to start families young when the average price of a home in America now costs more than $415,000, which just feels out of reach for us?”
It’s worth emphasizing for context that the question came from a young woman who identified herself as the vice president of her university’s Turning Point USA chapter. That is, Vance wasn’t confronting a political opponent; the question came from someone inclined to agree with the Trump White House.
Almost immediately, the Ohio Republican demonstrated the kind of political instincts that have made him famous.
Q: How do you expect us to start families young when the average price of a home feels out of reach?JD VANCE: I want to point out that I've only gotten one question about Jon Husted's ass
“I want to point out that I think that I have been asked four or maybe five questions by my count,” the vice president began. “I have only been asked one question about [Republican Sen.] Jon Husted’s ass — and it was by [Fox News’] Jesse Watters.”
So, during a nationally televised event, a young conservative voter asked a sincere question about one of the most pressing issues facing her generation, and Vance’s first thought was to make a joke about a senator’s backside.
It’s impossible to say just how many young voters watching at home were amused by this clumsy attempt at humor, but it seems likely the number was small.
It only got worse when Vance actually tried to answer the question with some substance.
Let’s get to the Good now. This report on the upcoming election is by Ford McCracken writing for The Hill. “Cook Political Report shifts 12 more House races toward Democrats.” If all this happens, I’m going to party like its 1999 all over again.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, on Friday shifted a dozen more House races toward Democrats in the final stretch of the midterm cycle.
The handicapper has shifted dozens of House races toward Democrats in recent weeks, and with the latest moves, it now forecasts more than 218 seats to “lean Democrat” or better, projecting a Democratic House majority of between 227 and 240 seats.
Notable shifts include Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Jeff Crank (R), which moved from “lean Republican” to a “toss-up.” Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, represented by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R), and the open South Carolina 1st Congressional District made the same change.
Fitzpatrick serves in one of the only districts carried by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
In her analysis, Cook House editor Erin Covey wrote the competitive Senate race in South Carolina between Democrat Annie Andrews and Sen. Darline Graham (R) may pull Democrats over the finish line — even in a district that Trump won by double digits two years ago.
“Currently, GOP outside groups are outspending Democrats by more than $3 million,” Covey said. “But some Republicans are still concerned it won’t be enough, particularly if Democratic Senate nominee Annie Andrews — a Charleston resident — carries this district by at least a couple of points.”
Another Pennsylvania district, the 8th Congressional District, was shifted from “toss-up” to “lean Democrat.” Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R) has trailed his Democratic opponent in recent polling, and Covey wrote that attacks over the lawmaker’s stock trades appear to be having an impact.
Ohio’s 9th District, represented by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), moved in the same direction. Republicans have twice redrawn Kaptur’s district in the GOP’s favor, but she has fended off challengers. The election handicapper forecasts she will once again come out on top next week.
Just go indulge in all the great news. It will make you feel a lot better than plastic pumpkin full of Chocolate goodies tomorrow night. But, one more ugly from the bad man in the People’s house. This if from Brian Beutler writing at Office Message. Is this way all US Troops are learning how to do mass gravesites again? Is it why they’re storing up on water and food supplies? Add those other two headlines to your reads, if you want a bit more spookiness in your life this week. Beutler’s headline is this. “Inside Donald Trump’s Secret Plan To Restart The Iran War After The Election. Operatives aligned with the president spent months devising a plan to resume the war—only after ballots had been cast. Republicans have worked studiously to avoid tipping off voters.”
But more than anything, Mr. Trump wanted the war to be over, gas prices to be down, bygones to be bygones—all in time for November, when voters would render an interim verdict on his second term. The war had crushed his approval ratings, his party’s prospects were dimming, and he feared the uncertainty of facing off against Democratic majorities in 2027. The one thing he could not do, though, was admit defeat: leave the Iranian regime intact; withdraw from the Persian Gulf without reinstating a nuclear arms control agreement like the one he’d abrogated six years earlier.
And so he was relieved when his advisers came to him with a backup plan: He could draw hostilities down to a simmer. Gas prices would remain elevated, the U.S. and Iran would continue to trade strikes, but the U.S. military could ensure passage of enough oil through Middle East ports to stabilize them. Trump could reduce the salience of the war enough to contest the election on other issues. Then, with the election behind him, he could make his tormentors pay.
The plan worked. In the closing days of the election, Republicans and Democrats sparred over fabricated allegations of voter fraud, rights for transgender Americans, Cheesecake Factory decor, and the musculature of Senator John Husted’s buttocks. Not a single Republican incumbent or challenger had to take a position on Trump’s opaque plan to bring the war back to full boil after voters cast their ballots.
“Some of us have been briefed on the war plan,” says one concerned senator. “And while I cannot disclose any details, I can say this: the plan is insane. It will not achieve objectives and will set off a new cycle of escalation.”
Past presidents of both parties have allowed domestic political considerations to influence the timing of American military operations. Mr. Trump’s plan harks back to early 2007, when President George W. Bush “surged” U.S. operations in Iraq after badly losing a midterm election. But that war began with broad public support, and Mr. Bush had received authorization from Congress to wage it. Mr. Trump’s decision to subordinate military strategy to electoral considerations, and to escalate an unauthorized and unpopular war—a plan which has not been reported before—lacks clear precedent in our history.
“American voters need to know,” said one military service member who requested anonymity. “There’s been a lot of speculation, but voters should get the full picture when making their decisions.”
Boo!
Reality is scarier than even Dystopian Fiction!
But Star Trek fiction is greater than reality.
One more note from me on the side. I really want to say good bye to Sir Pat and all the good work he has done protecting women and children from violent men. Here’s his obit from the New York Times. The entire Star Trek franchise gave me hope for the future when I was one of those outlier children stuck in a bleak place to live. He also did not hide his various geriatric diseases from the public as he narrowed the time to his exiting the earthly existence.
Patrick Stewart, who overcame a bleak childhood in England’s coal-mining country to find acclaim as a Shakespearean actor before making an unlikely career pivot in middle age that would bring him his greatest fame, playing a noble starship captain on the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.
The death, from Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, was announced on social media.
With a commanding baritone voice — he had shed his Yorkshire dialect as an acting student — Mr. Stewart was by his late 40s an eloquent, statesmanlike presence on the British stage. But to many American television viewers, Mr. Stewart was a new face when he made his debut in 1987 as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in “The Next Generation,” the first live-action spinoff of the original “Star Trek” series of the late 1960s.
I truly loved and admired this man. So many of the roles he chose would be anathema to lesser person. He spoke truths from Shakespeare, Gene Roddenberry, the age of Arthur and the age of Claudius. He was an amazing role model in roles and as himself.
He was a simply good at everything he did.
What’s on your Reading, Action, and Blogging list today?
Did you like this post? Please share it with your friends:
A question we all might be asking is this one answered by 
The authors elucidate 5 issues that are worrying voting rights experts. Again, go to the link to read the details There are quite a few articles up specifically on possible election problems at Propublica. 
Despite all of this, the numbers geeks are still saying the Democratic candidates have the advantage and the momentum. I’m still largely fixated on the senate race but watching NW Lousyana kick out Mike Johnson and thus, end his speakership, would make me happy too. This is from the 
Like I said, I’m wondering if that huge surge of black voters up in the NW corner of Louisiana will manage to dethrone Mike Johnson. This is from the
Jared Kushner was allegedly paid $50 million by a foreign government to get former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fired.
And the other forementioned ugly, JD Vance, can’t seem to get his stories right. This is from MSNOW’s Steve Benen writing at 
Let’s get to the Good now. This report on the upcoming election is by Ford McCracken writing for 
Just go indulge in all the great news. It will make you feel a lot better than plastic pumpkin full of Chocolate goodies tomorrow night. But, one more ugly from the bad man in the People’s house. This if from Brian Beutler writing at 
But Star Trek fiction is greater than reality.