14 days. That's all that's left until the midterms. Early voting is going on now. If you're doing mail-in, you need to start getting those envelopes in the mail, and November 3rd is the day voting in person takes place. 14 days away. Mariana Alfaro, Anna Liss-Roy and Eric Lau (WASHINGTON POST) report:
As the Nov. 3 midterms draw closer, the political environment appears increasingly favorable for Democrats and grim for Republicans. The battlefield of competitive races is expanding and reaching red districts once considered locks for the GOP, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
[. . .]
President Donald Trump’s low favorability with voters -- his approval rating is stuck in the 30s -- plus high prices and the unpopular war with Iran are adding to the advantage Democrats already hold as the party out of power.
THE POST's article gives a lengthy breakdown on where various House races are leaning. Nolan D. McCaskill and Andy Sullivan (REUTERS) report:
Democrats need to pick up at least four seats in November's midterm elections to win control of the 100-seat US Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. That was seen as unlikely at the beginning of the year, but President Donald Trump's unpopularity and voter frustrations over the Iran war and rising prices have made many races competitive even in states that he won handily in 2024.
The reporters note Maine, Ohio, Alaska, Texas, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, North Carolina and Kansas are "the races that will determine control of the Senate." Sherdell Baker (EBONY) runs down all 50 states. On Iowa, NEWSWEEK's Anna Skinner notes:
Undecided voters are making up their minds in Iowa’s tight U.S. Senate race between Democrat Josh Turek and Republican Ashley Hinson, but the race remains neck-and-neck even as more Iowans decide which candidate they’ll choose.
Iowa is among this year’s most competitive Senate races, as Turek and Hinson vie for the open seat left by retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst. Polls continue to show a tight race between the two after their first debate on October 7 where tariffs, immigration and voting records played a major role. A second debate was held last week, where the candidates sparred again over the Iran war, tariffs and immigration.
Earlier in the race, the percentage of undecided voters was high, at times in double digits. Independent voters who are not registered with a specific political party make up an impactful part of the state’s electorate, and they are among the most likely voters to choose a split-ticket at the ballot box come Election Day. Even as the number of undecided voters drops, the narrow gap between Turek and Hinson remains steady, with both candidates seen in the lead, depending on the poll.
14 days away and Chump keeps bleeding support. AP notes, "Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander adults have become more disillusioned with President Donald Trump and Republicans as the Nov. 3 midterm elections approach, according to a new AP-NORC/AAPI Data poll, giving Democrats a substantial edge on major issues like the economy and health care." Other groups Chumps struggling with? How about farmers. Joey Cappelletti and John Hanna (AP) explain, "Don Hineman, a western Kansas rancher and former Republican state House majority leader, said he’s seeing growing frustration among GOP voters beyond just farmers, including some who have supported Trump in multiple elections. He said farmers understand that Trump’s tariffs have hurt their businesses and are upset over the ongoing war with Iran. Immigration has also become a source of concern, particularly after recent immigration raids in western Kansas that resulted in the detention of more than 100 people." In Indiana? WRTV reports, "Hoosier voters are unhappy with President Donald Trump and don’t think the state is heading in the right direction, according to a Free Press Indiana Poll conducted by Bellwether Research. Out of more than 800 likely voters who were surveyed, 54% said they disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 44% said they approve. Of those numbers, 48% said they strongly disapprove of Trump, and 28% said they strongly approve. Trump’s high disapproval rating marks a sharp turn for voters in deep-red Indiana, where the president won the state by nearly 20 percentage points in the 2024 election against Democrat Kamala Harris."
The issues? Hannah Parry (NEWSWEEK) reveals:
Democrats have erased the Republican Party’s advantage on immigration, while opening double-digit leads on healthcare, inflation and the cost of living less than three weeks before the midterm elections, a new poll shows.
The ABC News-Washington Post-Ipsos survey, conducted October 9-13, found that Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle 11 of 12 major issues tested, while the GOP retained a five-point advantage on crime.
Democrats are two points ahead on immigration, an issue that has traditionally been a strength for Republicans, while their largest advantage was on healthcare, where they led Republicans by 23 percentage points. The Democrats also held 14-point leads on education and schools, the cost of living, and inflation.
The party’s advantage extended to foreign policy. Democrats led by 11 points on handling the situation with Iran and by seven points on the conflict between Israel and Gaza. They also held nine-point leads on the economy, transgender issues and reducing government corruption, and a seven-point lead on taxes.
The results come as Americans express growing concern about gasoline prices and the economy. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to just 33 percent, according to poll, with many Americans voicing dissatisfaction over his handling of the conflict in Iran.
Lee Moran (HUFFINGTON POST) notes, "Inflation will be the central issue of the 2026 midterm elections in just over two weeks’ time, according to CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten." And inflation is many issues. It's the Iran War -- the war Chump decided to start without making his case to the American people, the war he announced in an early morning taped message, the war that has destroyed the economy. On that war, Cathy Bussewitz, Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Rio Yamat, Dee-Ann Durbin, Anne D’innocenzio and Mae Anderson (LOS ANGELES TIMES) report:
More than seven months into the U.S. war with Iran, sharply higher fuel prices are making it more expensive to drive and fly and adding to the cost of some goods, prolonging the strain on American households as the midterm elections approach.
Motorists and airline passengers have borne the clearest consequences as the fighting disrupts Middle East oil shipments. Some companies have raised delivery charges or prices on selected products. Yet the higher cost of making and moving goods has not translated into across-the-board price increases at stores.
Shoppers may not be spared indefinitely, though. Many companies have absorbed at least part of their higher production and transportation costs. A September jump in wholesale prices suggests some businesses may eventually charge more if fuel prices stay elevated.
The chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, estimated this week that the war has cost the average U.S. household the equivalent of almost $2,000, including $1,100 in higher energy prices, $540 in higher interest rates and $360 in military costs. The energy portion is growing by $50 a week at current fuel prices, Zandi said.
Higher inflation has put pressure on the Fed and bond markets. In September, the central bank raised rates for the first time in three years to try to combat rising prices, with one more hike potentially coming by year's end. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards, has surged since the war began, from below 4% at the end of February to a high of 5.31% this month. The 30-year mortgage has risen nearly in lockstep, going from just under 6% to 7.5% during the eight-month conflict.
For everyday Americans, all of these international strains amount to what is, essentially, a pay cut. Wage growth remains slow and steady, but, over the past few months, rising prices have outpaced pay increases. Inflation-adjusted wages have slumped since the start of the war, and have given up nearly all their gains since the start of Trump's second term.
14 days.
And Chump's destroyed the eonomy and Americans are suffering.
He's in no hurry to end the Iran War. He's wasted weeks going around campaigning when he should have been trying to wrap up the Iran War. Americans are depleting their savings as they try to keep up with inflation. He doesn't care.
Meanwhile Americans distrust in Chump continues to grow.
He's tanking in the polls as he should be. He's done such a lousy job and he's wrecked the American economy. Shrai Popat (GUARDIAN) reports:
A new Washington Post-ABC poll put Trump’s approval rating at 33% as he continues to crisscross the country as part of his campaign blitz for embattled Republicans.
Most Americans (66%) believe Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself, according to the survey – including 34% of Republicans. This is a 12-point jump from last September.
While Trump returned to power in January 2025 and promised a “new golden age” for the US economy, 48% of respondents said they were financially worse off than when Trump returned to office in 2025. According to the Post, this represents the highest percentage saying this about any president in this series of polls since 1986.
Sarah K. Burris notes one way Chump is gaming the system:
One of the many ways that President Donald Trump has been able to dodge paying his taxes is by using an "environmental easement" for his Trump National Golf Course in Florida. It's saved him $825 million, Forbes reported Monday, "give or take a couple hundred million."
The bombshell expose recalls past reports that Trump was using what's called a "conservation easement," which is an agreement that stops any future development unless it complies with certain strict environmental standards. Typically, the restrictions can be so tight that hardly anything can be built. Keeping the land is a tax write-off. It gives a deduction that reduces taxable income, though it isn't a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your tax bill. For Trump, that means a golf course can remain a functioning, revenue-generating business while becoming a major tax write-off.
Trump is using his presidential power to shield his finances from scrutiny through these kinds of arrangements, the report said.
Appraisers estimate what the property might be worth as housing or another development, then calculate the value of relinquishing that possibility. Forbes questioned both possibilities: whether certain courses genuinely qualify as conservation projects and whether their hypothetical development values are inflated.
Turning to the Secretary of Defense, Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) notes:
A federal judge took a sharp swipe at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to remove her from an unrelated case.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes made the remark in a footnote to a 13-page opinion filed Sunday denying a motion to disqualify her from a lawsuit over the administration’s tree-clearing at Washington’s East Potomac Golf Course, and she blew off complaints about her earlier jab at Hegseth's busy schedule as simply “facts, not insults.”
In its recusal motion, the government tried to show that Reyes was biased against the executive branch by pointing to other cases on her docket. One complaint was that she had “ma[de] fun of” Hegseth and threatened to compel his deposition testimony in Talbott v. Trump, a challenge to the administration’s ban on transgender troops.
Reyes said neither was true.
She wrote that she had actually denied the plaintiffs’ request for a seven-hour deposition of Hegseth. She left open only the possibility of hearing arguments for a limited, one-hour session if they asked again.
At an Oct. 14 hearing, she had acknowledged that she was “very aware that he is the Secretary of Defense and has a lot of constraints on his time.” But she also noted that “he has time to tweet, and he has time to put out videos, and he has time to speak to the generals.”
“These are facts, not insults,” Reyes wrote.
In other Hegseth news, David McAfee (RAW STORY) reports:
An Air Force service member died after falling from the roof of the Alamodome during a pregame demonstration at a college football game in San Antonio on Saturday. Critics quickly turned their anger on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The airman was taking part in a fast-rope demonstration before the University of Texas at San Antonio’s game against Navy, the New York Post reported. It was reportedly part of the school’s “Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans” game, and four military personnel were descending from the stadium’s 170-foot rafters.
Videos shared online appeared to show the airman losing control on the rope and falling to the field in front of thousands of fans. He was treated on the field for about 10 minutes and taken to a local hospital, where he died, according to the Post.
The Post reported that he was assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2. His name hasn’t been released.
“He died,” Jackie Singh, an aide on Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, wrote on X. “Thanks @PeteHegseth @SecWar for yet another pointless and tragic recruiting spectacle.”
Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson described the incident as “absolutely sickening.”
“This ridiculous military showboating at football games needs to STOP,” Jackson wrote on X. “Now a man could lose his life, all because some Hegseth-like official apparently thought putting on a macho spectacle for people who came to watch FOOTBALL was a brilliant idea. These men are human beings, NOT props for someone’s political theater.”
Patty Nieberg (TASK & PURPOSE) reports on the fallen:
The airman who died in a rappelling demonstration gone wrong on Saturday night was a Tactical Air Control Party instructor with 15 years of service in the Air Force.
The Air Force identified the airman as Tech. Sgt. Ian Patterson, a Tactical Air Control Party instructor assigned to a 6th Combat Training Squadron detachment operating out of Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.
Patterson was part of a four-person demonstration at Saturday’s football game between the University of Texas at San Antonio and the Navy. He was rappelling from the football stadium rafters when his rope appeared to unravel too quickly, videos posted online of the incident show. He slid down his line at a high speed from dozens of feet above the field and hit the ground hard.
In other bad news for Priss Pot Hegseth, Alexander Bolton (THE HILL) reports:
Senate Democrats are quietly floating the ouster of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after the Nov. 3 election as the political price for cooperation on key defense-related issues in the postelection lame-duck session, and they may have some GOP support to shake up the Pentagon’s leadership, according to Senate sources.
The Defense Department has set recruiting records under Hegseth’s leadership, and the Pentagon chief appears to have strong support from President Trump, who likes to brag that Hegseth looks like a military leader from “central casting.”
But some Republican senators haven’t been happy with Hegseth’s leadership, especially his ouster of well-respected military leaders such as Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Army chief of staff Randy George, Navy Secretary John Phelan and four-star Gen. Chris Donahue, the top U.S. military officer in Europe.
Democrats view Hegseth’s leadership as a disaster and are looking for leverage to push him out after the midterm elections, according to Senate sources, just as they attempted to push former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem out of her job during the prolonged stalemate over funding for her department earlier this year.
Priss Pot has been a disaster. He has harmed morale. I would love to know where the HILL reporter got that recruitment is up under Hegseth. First of all, It's under Biden's term that military recruitment increases. Second of all, I've heard recruitment is down since the start of the Iran War. Third of all, I'd need figures -- actual figures -- and not just some sad little claim from DoD to believe that.
Priss Pot Hegseth is already facing a call for impeachment in the House -- introduced by Republican Thomas Massie. Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson sent all members home early to avoid a vote on that. But the House will have to return after the midterms and Hegseth will be facing that call for impeachment. He was not fit for the job to begin with. He proved that early on with the Signal Chat scandal and he's only gotten worse as time's continued to pass.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Ron Wyden's office:
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today urged the executive branch to protect whistleblowers and Americans who visit federal websites by upgrading the security of hundreds of government websites that are currently vulnerable to surveillance.
Although the government protects the contents of nearly all website data, standard web encryption does not protect the names of websites that users visit, such as “reportfraud.ftc.gov.” Wyden urged the government to adopt a security technology called Encrypted Client Hello (ECH), which would shield website names from spying, in a letter sent today to the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the deputy federal chief information officer of the United States.
“As data travels across the internet, hackers and foreign actors monitoring network connections can easily see these exposed website names,” Wyden wrote. “This visibility could lead to malicious eavesdroppers identifying whistleblowers, profiling cleared federal personnel, tracking Americans seeking crisis support, and mapping interactions between agencies.”
Wyden’s office identified numerous federal websites that could be protected by ECH against outside spying. Those websites include dozens of U.S. embassies, the FBI online tipline, the Department of Veterans Affairs online suicide prevention hotline and more. A non-exhaustive list of 350 vulnerable federal websites is attached to Wyden’s letter.
Read the full letter here.
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The following sites updated:
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