“If somebody calls you up and says, ‘I’d like a few moments of your time to ask you a few questions’ — fuck you! Anybody with a life, anybody that has like a family and stuff to do, hobbies they enjoy, friends they want to hang out with, they don’t sit around answering some fuckin’ poll. So you’re literally getting the opinion of people so fuckin’ stupid they answer polls.”
— Podcaster Joe Rogan, quoted by Mediaite.
“In the closing days of a campaign for Congress where polls show his side losing, President Donald Trump and his Justice Department are filing lawsuits and opening investigations that could extend disputes well beyond Election Day,” the Washington Post reports.
”The administration’s extraordinary attempt to cast doubt on the midterm elections, discount some ballots and prevent the finalization of results is entering a frenetic new phase.”
”The litigation strategy has failed so far, but appears designed to give the Justice Department more time to contest results after the election.”
“President Trump on Saturday strongly criticized his former lawyer, Alina Habba Mildon, saying it was ‘totally obnoxious and outrageous’ for her to enter into a $50 million deal for work with a billionaire Venezuelan family seeking a pardon from the president,” the New York Times reports.
“President Donald Trump’s loyal base will stick by him regardless of the results on Tuesday,” Politico reports.
“New results from The Politico Poll show that the majority of voters who backed Trump in 2024 and self-identify as MAGA think the party should move closer to the president if Republicans wipe out.”
“They’re more likely to blame GOP candidates for running weak campaigns than the president for not doing enough to help the party across the finish line.”
“Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton was supposed to make the last stand of his campaign at the Texas landmark around which his ‘Come and Take It’ bus tour centered: The Alamo,” Texas Tribune reports.
“But on Saturday, two days before his final rally would’ve taken place on the eve of Election Day, Paxton appeared to scrap those plans.”
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“A U.S. judge dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal with prejudice on Saturday, according to a court filing, bringing an end to his legal challenge over the newspaper’s reporting on his alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein,” The Guardian reports.
“Millions of Americans who buy cheap drugs from Canada could soon lose access when a customs rule goes into effect later this month, a change that has sparked opposition from Democrats and some Republicans with the cost of living a top issue for voters ahead of midterm elections,” the Associated Press reports.
“The rule applies to a swath of goods beyond drugs and is intended to collect tariffs and prevent illegal drugs from coming into the U.S. It comes as President Donald Trump has made lowering drug prices a top target in addressing soaring healthcare costs, and critics say the rule will hurt patients seeking affordable medicine.”
“Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei told the country’s top three military commanders that a renewed attack by the U.S. and Israel ״must be met with an immediate and effective response, without geographical limitations״ in order to achieve ‘maximum deterrence,’ according to a statement from his office,” Axios reports.
“If the president means what he says about ending the conflict, he should look to the wisdom of the American people, not naive businessmen who seem to think diplomacy entails fawning over adversaries.”
— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on the Ukraine war.
“There’s a reason that political analysts focus on a president’s popularity just before midterm elections: It’s often a good barometer of the national mood,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
”Only two presidents in recent decades have defied the trend of a president’s party losing seats in midterms: Bill Clinton in 1998, and George W. Bush in 2002. They had the highest pre-midterm ratings in Wall Street Journal polling, dating to 1990, with more than 60% of voters approving of their job performance and about 30% disapproving.”
CNBC: “Federal law requires super PACs and political committees to report large independent expenditures within 24 or 48 hours depending on how close to Election Day the spending occurs, showing how much they spent and which candidates they supported or opposed. Their donors, however, are disclosed less frequently through periodic campaign finance reports.”
“And in 2026, the practice of creating new, last-minute PACs has exploded. Both parties are using the tactic, with Republican-linked PACs spending about twice what those connected with Democrats have disbursed.”
Washington Sun: “In the past two weeks, a collection of super PACs have together spent more than $15 million boosting outsider congressional candidates with little chance of winning — but who could peel enough votes away from the Republican or Democratic candidate to sway the election.”
“Voters won’t learn who’s bankrolling many of the outside spending groups until after the election. That’s because the last financial disclosure reports due to the FEC before Election Day cover super PAC financials only up to Oct. 14, and some of these super PACs reported no income prior to that date.”
Wall Street Journal: “After exploding in popularity this year, prediction markets are heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections in the U.S. looking to stake their claim as the antidote to years of failures by pollsters to capture accurate estimates on electorates around the globe.”
“But results this year are showing big surprises. In Brazil, Serbia and Wisconsin, elections which all polled as high as 90% for one candidate, were upset by their supposed long shots. At both Kalshi and its rival Polymarket, traders appear to have gotten it wrong on the next Israeli prime minister—and three days after the polls closed, they still can’t agree.”
“The D.C. government and the commonwealth of Virginia sued Saturday to block construction of President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch, calling it a ‘flagrantly unlawful’ project that will forever change the landscape of the nation’s capital,” the Washington Post reports.
“The lawsuit is the latest attempt to stop the 250-foot-tall arch, which Trump hopes to build near Arlington National Cemetery and says will commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday. The administration would like to begin construction as soon as next week.”
A new Stetson University’s Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR) poll in Florida finds Byron Donalds (R) leading David Jolly (D) in the governor’s race, 51% to 45%.
The same poll in Florida finds Ashley Moody (R) leading Angie Nixon (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 45%.
Politico: “The country’s longest-serving governor is trying to notch another victory for the GOP — and himself.”
“With a looming Jan. 1 deadline for states to implement Medicaid work requirements, some state officials are warning that they won’t be ready,” Politico reports.
“Some, like Louisiana, still don’t know how to verify which low-income residents deserve to keep their health insurance because they’re enrolled in school.”
“Others, like Missouri, have no way to automatically verify who has a medical condition that prevents them from working, meaning they will have to demand doctors’ notes or other proof from thousands of enrollees.”
“And still others, like Colorado, say they’ve only been able to automatically check the health and work status of a little over half of adults who get their insurance through Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. That means they will have to request paperwork from the remaining 175,000 people.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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