Daily Archives
93 posts · Tuesday
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 191
Blue Wave Update
“With the war it’s just artificial, it’s a little bit high, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They could take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over very soon. It’s essentially almost over with.”
— President Trump, quoted by NewsNation.
“President Trump said Monday that reporters from the New York Times and other media outlets should be ‘arrested’ over their coverage of his Saturday rally in Ohio,” NewsNation reports.
Rolling Stone: “The war in Ukraine is becoming increasingly dangerous, with the risk of escalation spilling further into Europe. As Russia and European governments trade explicit warnings that the conflict is spreading, the United States is pursuing diplomacy aimed less at stopping the carnage than restoring ties with Moscow.”
“With the Russian military making little progress on the ground in eastern Ukraine despite nearly five years of war and over a million casualties, the Kremlin is intensifying aerial attacks. Ukraine, which has been the target of Russian missiles and drones since the war began in February 2022, is now experiencing a sharp uptick in attacks on infrastructure and populated areas that threaten to plunge parts of the country into cold and darkness over the winter.”
“Hungary will impose a wealth tax from next year, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said, fulfilling a election pledge to make the rich shoulder a larger share of public obligations,” Bloomberg reports.
“The top super PAC for Senate Democrats raised $151 million in the third quarter, entering October with nearly $112 million in the bank. Both are records for the group, even as Democrats are being outspent in top Senate races,” the New York Times reports.
“The Senate Majority PAC, which is led by close allies of Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, is one of the biggest spenders in the midterm elections. Along with an affiliated nonprofit arm, the group brought in a total of $202 million in the third quarter.”
“Umar Kremlev said President Donald Trump’s son had repaid the money the Russian tycoon had spent on post-wedding celebrations he hosted as a gift,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Kremlev: “He paid it back, but I didn’t understand why because I don’t consider it some kind of special gift.”
KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Of the Democrats’ red state Senate targets, Alaska may be the most promising, and we are moving the race from Toss-up to Leans Democratic.”
“For the first time all cycle, Republicans now need to win more of our Toss-ups to hold the Senate than Democrats need to win in order to flip it.”
“President Donald Trump continued on Monday to sow unfounded doubt about mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections, despite encouraging Republicans to vote any way they can,” ABC News reports.
“Trump’s remarks came amid a meeting at the White House with the 2020 election denier Tina Peters on Monday.”
“Republicans have made more than $700 million worth of new advertising bookings in congressional races since the start of September… By comparison, Democrats booked more than $430 million in new ad reservations across those races last month,” NBC News reports.
“The unprecedented flood of late ad spending in House and Senate races will test whether hundreds of millions of dollars can buy the GOP some reprieve as it combats eroding standing among voters.”
“Two big unknowns stand in the way of determining how serious the plague threat in Russia is and whether travel advisories, restrictions at U.S. ports of entry or other precautions are warranted,” Axios reports.
“We still don’t know which pathogen killed a Russian researcher, or how well contained it is.”
“Though public health experts say there’s no cause for Americans to panic, the episode serves as a wake-up call emphasizing the nature of global biological threats and the need for pandemic preparedness.”
“Pennsylvania has surpassed 1,000 measles cases this year, state health officials said Monday, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades,” MS NOW reports.
“The U.S. is enduring its worst year for measles since 1991, with nearly 3,900 reported cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nation has seen eight reported measles-associated deaths in the past two years — more than the combined total of reported deaths over the previous three decades.”
“German police on Tuesday detained the country’s former head of its foreign-intelligence service on suspicion of espionage and attempted treason in one of the biggest scandals to engulf the spy agency since its creation in the mid-1950s,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“August Hanning, who led the Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, from 1998 to 2005, was arrested under suspicion of illegally obtaining classified information for years and, in at least one case, passing it on to a foreign intelligence agent.”
“Scratch the surface of the year’s biggest stories — the Iran war and AI — and both are bound up in the costs of energy,” Axios reports.
“Prices for gasoline, diesel and power are playing a prominent role in some of the tightest races for control of Congress.”
A new ASU poll in Arizona finds Katie Hobbs (D) leading Andy Biggs (R) in the governor’s race, 47% to 34%, with Teri Hourihan at 2% and Risa Lombardo (G) at 1%.
A new UMBC Poll poll in Maryland finds Wes Moore (D) leading Dan Cox (R) in the governor’s race, 51% to 24%.
“A strand stuck in glue that Thomas Jefferson used to make a Bible is further confirmation for historians and descendants of the third president and the enslaved woman,” the Washington Post reports.
“Jim Bakker, a television evangelist who lost his popular and prosperous ministry in a 1980s sex scandal and then lost his freedom for five years, imprisoned for having violated federal laws with his conflation of God and mammon, died on Monday. He was 86,” the New York Times reports.
MS NOW: Jim Bakker, who built “PTL Club” televangelism empire, has died at 86.
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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