“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is scrutinizing how a collection of activists and pundits intersected with WikiLeaks, the website that U.S. officials say was the primary conduit for publishing materials stolen by Russia,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Mueller’s team has recently questioned witnesses about the activities of longtime Trump confidante Roger Stone, including his contacts with WikiLeaks, and has obtained telephone records.”
David Leonhardt: “If Republicans do manage to keep both chambers of Congress, it would cause a political shock. So far, much of the speculation has focused on what a Democratic House takeover might mean — attempts to rein in Trump’s executive actions, subpoenas, investigations, maybe even impeachment. But it’s important to understand that a Republican victory would also change Washington.”
“It would be validation for Trump, who could then brag that he had defied the experts once again. It would mean he had outperformed Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, all of whom suffered drubbings in the first midterm election of their presidency. It would embolden Trump to push even harder toward the America he wants — where corporate oversight is scant, climate change is ignored, voting rights are abridged, health care is a privilege, judicial independence is a fiction and the truth is whatever he says it is.”
President Trump said the Saudi arrests in Khashoggi killing are ‘great first step,’ doesn’t want any sanctions to include arms deals, the Washington Post reports.
Trump said that he’ll work with Congress on what the U.S. response should be, but that he’d prefer not to hurt American companies and jobs by cutting billions of dollars in arms sales to the kingdom.
Former coal company CEO Don Blankenship endorsed his former GOP Senate rival Patrick Morrisey while calling him a “lying” out-of-state drug lobbyist, The Hill reports.
Said Blankenship: “I told the audience I would be voting for Patrick Morrisey because West Virginia and America must have Donald Trump and if its Morrisey that Trump wants I will vote for him. However, when I watch the video it causes me to wonder how our country got to the point that West Virginians have to choose between a lying New Jersey opiate drug lobbyist and a lying supporter of Barrack Obama.”
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) announced he is dropping his bid for re-election, and is endorsing Mark Begich (D) against Mike Dunleavy (R), the Anchorage Daily News reports.
Walker made the announcement three days after former Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott (I) stepped down from both his office and the re-election campaign over unspecified “inappropriate comments” he made to a woman.
Said Walker: “In the time remaining, it has become clear we cannot win a three-way race. The decisions was made that at this point, Begich has the better odds. Alaskans deserve a competitive race and Alaskans deserve a choice other than Mike Dunleavey.”
“Saudi Arabia has announced that Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi journalist who disappeared in Istanbul more than two weeks ago, is dead,” the New York Times reports.
“Eighteen Saudis have been arrested and are being investigated in connection with the case.”
“In the statement, the kingdom’s public prosecutor said that an investigation had found that an argument broke out between Mr. Khashoggi and men who met him inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, leading to ‘a fistfight that led to his death.'”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is considering running for president in 2020, Politico reports.
“Rania Batrice, an advisor to the progressive congresswoman who served as deputy campaign manager on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, has been putting out feelers for digital and speech-writing staff for Gabbard. One person approached about the positions say that 2020 wasn’t mentioned explicitly, but it was heavily implied.”
“Democrats have yet to win a House majority and Nancy Pelosi’s return as speaker is by no means certain, but already she has one eye on the exits,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Said Pelosi: “I see myself as a transitional figure. I have things to do. Books to write; places to go; grandchildren, first and foremost, to love.”
“By implicitly limiting her time as speaker, Pelosi could ease the pressure to stand aside by signaling her willingness for a new and younger generation of leaders to take over sooner rather than later.”
“After President Trump’s popularity on social media helped propel him to an upset victory in 2016, Democrats vowed to catch up. Two years later, their efforts appear to be paying off. A New York Times analysis of data from the Facebook and Instagram accounts of hundreds of candidates in next month’s midterm elections reveals that Democrats — and especially Democrats running for House seats — enjoy a sizable national lead in engagement on the two influential platforms.”
Nate Cohn: “Democrats have largely erased the turnout deficit that hobbled them during the Obama presidency, according to results from more than 50 New York Times Upshot/Siena College polls of the most competitive House battleground districts. Democrats may even be poised to post higher turnout than Republicans, a rarity, in many relatively white suburban districts on Nov. 6.”
Nate Silver: “Polls and forecasts are pretty good instruments, but they’re not all that precise. Nor do they necessarily go wrong in the places you expect them to go wrong. Therefore, campaigns should generally be active in a reasonably broad set of plausibly competitive states and districts. They shouldn’t get too cute by either triaging a race too soon or taking one for granted.”
“So as you see reports about Republicans or Democrats giving up on campaigning in certain races for the House, you should ask yourself whether they’re about to replicate Clinton’s mistake. The chance the decisive race in the House will come somewhere you’re not expecting is higher than you might think.”
The Houston Chronicle endorsed Beto O’Rourke (D) for U.S. Senate in Texas:
There’s one more reason O’Rourke should represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: He would help to serve as a check on a president who is a danger to the republic. Cruz is unwilling to take on that responsibility. Indeed, the man who delighted in calling the Texas senator “Lyin’ Ted” all through the 2016 presidential campaign, who insulted Cruz’s wife and his father, is bringing his traveling campaign medicine show to Houston next week to buoy the Cruz campaign. The hyperbole, the hypocrisy and the rancorous hot air just might blow the roof off the Toyota Center.
While the bloviations emanate from the arena next week, imagine how refreshing it would be to have a U.S. senator who not only knows the issues but respects the opposition, who takes firm positions but reaches out to those who disagree, who expects to make government work for Texas and the nation. Beto O’Rourke, we believe, is that senator.
“Grab your family, grab your friends, grab your neighbors, and get to the polls, because if not, you are going to have another two or another six years of this craziness.”
— Former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen, in an interview with CNN.
“The Justice Department on Friday charged a Russian woman for her role in a conspiracy to interfere with the 2018 U.S. election, marking the first criminal case prosecutors have brought against a foreign national for meddling in the upcoming Midterms,” the Washington Post reports.
“The charges against Elena Khusyaynova came just as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that it was concerned about ‘ongoing campaigns’ by Russia, China and Iran to interfere with the upcoming Midterm elections and even the 2020 race — an ominous warning that comes just weeks before voters head to the polls.”
“Senate Republicans are feeling increasingly bullish about expanding their majority next month,” Politico reports.
“Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, who chairs the GOP’s campaign arm, told national donors on a conference call this week that believes his party will win the vast majority of competitive Senate races according to a person who was on the call. Gardner’s sunny outlook envisions a Republican majority as brawny as 55 seats, a number that could put the GOP in the majority for years to come. Republicans currently control 51 seats.”
The FiveThirtyEight Senate forecast suggests the most likely outcome is that Republicans keep their 51 to 49 majority.
Richard Clarke, national security analyst and host of the Future State podcast, joins Chris Riback for a discussion on the future of our country.
Sign up for Chris’s free newsletter and subscribe via iTunes or Google Play to get new episodes automatically downloaded to your phone.
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And don’t miss our live show at Harvard’s Kennedy School on October 26.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Wonk Wire, Political Job Hunt and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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