A new National Public Affairs (R) poll finds Ashley Hinson (R) leading Josh Turek (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 44%, with Thomas Laehn (L) at 4%. Senate Race Ashley Hinson (R) 47%   Josh Turek (D) 44%   National Public Affairs poll · likely voters · ±3.8% The same poll finds Rob […]

“For Iran’s leadership, the next few weeks are a critical window. Anticipating that President Donald Trump will be less sensitive to high energy prices after the midterm elections, Tehran is scrambling to inflict maximum pain now by escalating attacks in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Washington Post reports. “Two Iranian officials said their government is […]

“A different kind of political memoir: a candid, deeply personal account of power, politics, and globalization from an unlikely insider—a five-foot-one journalist turned Deputy Prime Minister who now turns her reportorial eye on her own life, her battles with authoritarians and plutocrats, and the fragile future of liberal democracy.”

Time: “As Israeli voters prepare for elections on Oct. 27, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to defend and distance himself from one of his government’s most controversial policies: allowing Qatar to funnel nearly $2 billion into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for more than a decade.” “Previously undisclosed documents obtained by TIME, including letters from […]

“A man who heckled Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed and demanded he disavow the Muslim Brotherhood at a Michigan townhall is a former aide to the Republican senator Josh Hawley,” The Guardian reports.

“Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is in open war with prominent Latino lawmakers, and his potential 2028 rivals for president are taking advantage,” Axios reports. “Beshear, as head of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), has resisted pressure from Latino leaders to invest heavily in Gina Hinojosa’s campaign for Texas governor, opting to focus on races in […]

Washington Post: “As the Trump administration pushes the bounds of executive power, the Justice Department unit known as the Office of Legal Counsel, or OLC, has affirmed some of its most high-profile and controversial actions — even as many experts question their legitimacy and some are later struck down by the courts.” “Tucked away on […]

The Atlantic: “President Trump’s inexplicable decision to waive some sanctions on Russia, announced late Friday, essentially gives a pass to the forces of evil in the Kremlin. The move effectively nullifies legislation that was named after the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, passed by huge bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate, and signed […]

“The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider the constitutionality of a nearly 160-year-old federal ban on distilling liquor at home,” CBS News reports.

“The Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid from accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices to revive plea agreements that they reached with military prosecutors before being revoked by the Biden administration,” CBS News reports.

A new The Trafalgar Group (R) poll in South Carolina finds Darline Graham (R) leading Annie Andrews (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 46%, with Kasie Whitener (L) at 4% and Mark Hackett (C) at 1%. South Carolina Senate Race Darline Graham (R) 49%   Annie Andrews (D) 46%   The Trafalgar Group […]

Forbes: “For decades, the president has claimed charitable deductions on golf courses he never gave away. Now, facing one of the most significant tax bills of his life, he’s pushing the scheme even further—and appears to be using the presidency to get away with it.”

A new University of Houston poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 46%, with Ted Brown (L) at 3%. Texas Senate Race James Talarico (D) 48%   Ken Paxton (R) 46%   University of Houston poll · likely voters · ±2.19% The same poll […]

A new PennLive poll in Pennsylvania finds Josh Shapiro (D) leading Stacy Garrity (R) in the governor’s race, 58% to 28%. Pennsylvania Governor’s Race Josh Shapiro (D) 58%   Stacy Garrity (R) 28%   PennLive poll · registered voters · ±4.5%

“After riots erupted this weekend in cities across France, its centrist government blamed the main far-left party, accusing its politicians of inciting the violence. That party blamed the government, accusing it of stirring public anger through years of bad governance and heavy-handed policing,” the New York Times reports. “What did the main far-right party do? […]

“AI is producing reality-bending midterm ads about defaced Bibles, upscale dinners and a board game with a ‘Death to America’ playing card,” Axios reports. “The warnings about deepfakes are coming true. Election laws haven’t kept pace with a world where campaigns can put words in opponents’ mouths and create realistic-looking scenes that didn’t happen.” “The […]

Michael Scherer: “The sudden Democratic revulsion toward Big Tech and all its offspring—data centers, artificial intelligence, tech oligarchs—has defined this midterm election and will likely continue through the early innings of the 2028 presidential campaign.” “For most of the past few decades, Democrats cast themselves as a futurist party heralding a digital utopia, a posture […]

Time: “The very connections to Trumpism that fueled Ramaswamy’s fast political rise are now giving his party reason to worry, as polls show him trailing Democrat Amy Acton, a former state health chief and a first-time candidate.” Said one Ohio Democratic strategist: “Something is happening here. I just can’t tell you what.” “On the campaign […]

“I would be disappointed if it comes in at 225 House seats. That would almost be – I would rather the Republicans keep the House by five than the Democrats to win by five because if that happens, they’re hostage to the DSA.” — Democratic strategist James Carville, quoted by Mediaite.

“A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it,” ProPublica reports. “The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back […]

“President Trump urged France Monday morning to seal itself off from the rest of Europe following a weekend of rioting that led to at least 2,400 arrests and reduced the country’s major cities to a state of anarchy,” the New York Post reports. Said Trump: “The migrants have taken over France.”

“President Donald Trump early Monday doubled down on his plan to close and renovate a public Washington, DC, golf course, saying construction would begin ‘IMMEDIATELY’ despite a judge’s order to provide three days’ notice ahead of any construction,” CNN reports.

“President Trump, defending his decision to ease tariffs and other sanctions against Russia, said on Sunday that he was making ‘great progress’ in a peace deal with the Kremlin and suggested for the first time that the process included ‘hostage negotiations,'” the New York Times reports. “He did not specify whose release he was seeking.” […]

Tom Nichols: “In the past week, the president of the United States has conclusively turned America into an ally of the Russian Federation.” “Donald Trump has now abandoned pretense and is openly aiding the Kremlin in its war against a friend and partner of the U.S. The American commander in chief has abandoned the Western […]

“Right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are locked in a tie less than a week ahead of Brazil’s runoff election, according to a new poll,” Bloomberg reports. “Bolsonaro would take 50.3% to Lula’s 49.7% of valid votes, excluding blank and null ballots, according to a BTG Pactual/Nexus survey published Monday.”

“A mysterious super PAC propping up retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan in Alaska’s closely watched Senate race is funded by progressive donors, new financial disclosures reveal,” the New York Post reports. “Dan J. Sullivan, aka ‘Decoy Dan,’ shares the same first and last name as incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK) and is listed on […]

“French officials, acknowledging law-enforcement failures, rolled out tougher security measures and pledged aid for businesses after cost-of-living protests this weekend degenerated into violence, vandalism and looting,” Bloomberg reports.

Foreign Policy: “Many of the immediate consequences of the Israeli-American war with Iran are already clear. The further emergence of drones and missiles as dominant weapons of war; the danger to the global economy from the threats to vital chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb; and the inadequacy of U.S. […]

“Republicans are playing whack-a-mole with President Donald Trump in the final two weeks of the midterms,” Politico reports. “GOP candidates are desperate to stick to tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump accounts for children and the president’s work to lower the cost of prescription drugs.” “Instead, in the midterms’ final stretch, Trump […]

Wall Street Journal: “For 18 months, since a disastrous Oval Office meeting with Trump early in his presidency, Zelensky had been trying to court him. Now he signaled to those around him that plain speaking was needed.” “Zelensky, traveling to meet European allies in London and Brussels, decided to publicly criticize Trump’s approach, despite the […]