Political Wire

Daily Archives

October 7, 2026

86 posts · Wednesday

Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 191

Blue Wave Update

A new episode of Trial Balloon just dropped for Political Wire members. Log in or become a member

Trial Balloon · Ep. 191: Blue Wave Update

Election Deniers Have Trump’s Ear On Voting Machines

· Leave a Comment

“Election deniers peddling conspiracies about voting machines have gotten President Donald Trump’s attention less than a month before the midterms,” the Washington Sun reports.

“Trump on Monday reportedly met with conspiracy theorist Tina Peters, who for months has been urging Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to investigate voting machines using power purportedly vested to him under the executive order, which declared a national emergency on certain Chinese software and parts.”

The Guardian: Election deniers stoke Trump-driven ballot security fears before midterms.

Jeffries Maps Out Plans for House Majority

· Leave a Comment

“House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would move swiftly to reverse Trump-era cuts to healthcare spending and bring down households’ costs, expressing confidence that his party would win a majority during President Trump’s final two years in office,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The New York Democrat, speaking with a group of reporters, laid out some of his key priorities Wednesday should his party win back control of the House in November’s midterm elections, while also nodding toward planned investigations of GOP ‘crooks’ but giving few details.”

Trump Blames ‘Paid Protesters’ for Disruptions

· Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump’s rally in San Antonio for Senate candidate Ken Paxton and other Republicans was interrupted multiple times within minutes of him taking the stage Wednesday, as protesters shouted from the floor of the Freeman Coliseum,” the Washington Sun reports.

“One took a video of himself as he walked toward the exit, only to be rushed from behind by an elderly man in a red Make America Great Again hat, who appeared to yank the protester’s shirt and hair before other attendees pulled him away.”

Said Trump: “These are paid protesters. They’re paid by enemies of our nation.”

CBS News: Protesters ejected from raucous Trump rally in Texas.

Trump Moves to Allow Sale of Untested Peptides

· Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is crafting plans that would allow the temporary sale of certain previously restricted peptides as federal health officials hammer out new regulations around the controversial products,” the Washington Post reports.

“Such a move would allow some compounding pharmacies to dispense certain peptides marketed as new medical treatments and wellness products even as the claims for what they treat have not been fully safety tested.”

GOP Lawmakers Break Up

· Leave a Comment

“Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) and Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) are no longer a congressional couple,” TMZ reports.

“Sources with direct knowledge say the Georgia congressman and Texas congresswoman called it quits — although it’s unclear exactly when. However, we’re told there’s no bad blood between the two.”

Who Can Save Ken Paxton?

· Leave a Comment

“It’s never great when the two people most crucial to your political survival struggle to simply say nice things about you,” the New York Times reports.

“It’s worse when one of those people is the president, and the other is your estranged wife.”

“Less than a month from the midterms, that’s the story of Ken Paxton, the scandal-prone Texas state attorney general.”

RFK Jr. Plans Major Vaccine Injury Initiative

· Leave a Comment

“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has long questioned the safety of vaccines, is planning a broad federal effort to address vaccine injuries, including a new research clinic at the National Institutes of Health and a new billing code to reimburse doctors for filing reports of serious vaccine side effects,” the New York Times reports.

Trump Says He Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

· Leave a Comment

“President ⁠Donald Trump, who waged war ⁠with Iran and has ⁠yet to broker peace in Ukraine, said on Wednesday that he should win the Nobel Peace Prize but acknowledged doubt about his chances,” Reuters reports.

Said Trump: “I don’t know what their decision is going to be. They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me.”

Republicans Are Moving Big Money to Red States

· Leave a Comment

“The Republican triage effort is underway,” the Washington Sun reports.

“Senate GOP leaders kick-started the decision to shift resources, all but conceding the North Carolina Senate race as they face the need to shore up other contested races as their majority comes under increasing threat.”

“Instead, party leaders are plowing funds into Kansas and South Carolina — two reliably red states where the battlefield has expanded amid President Donald Trump’s bottom-of-the-barrel approval ratings and rising costs that have put the party on the back foot.”

Lawmakers Seek Promises They’ll Accept Midterm Results

· Leave a Comment

“Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans have grown increasingly anxious that the current GOP-controlled Congress could thwart the seating of Democrats in January. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to take the tactic off the table,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Reps. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, and Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, are seeking written pledges from their colleagues to accept the midterm election results.”

Trump Is Being Forced Into Retreat Around the World

· Leave a Comment

“To hear President Trump and his aides describe it, the rush to withdraw 12 B-1 bombers from an air base in Britain over the weekend was a prudent precaution, in response to a threat they refused to describe,” the New York Times reports.

“It was no big deal, Mr. Trump insisted, and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, tried to wave it away by noting that the Pentagon is ‘constantly reallocating resources where ​they need to be.'”

“But to anyone watching the deployment of American power around the globe in the seven months since Mr. Trump decided to attack Iran, it was another glaring example of how, time after time, Mr. Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have been forced into retreat, pulling back military forces that had been deployed to the Middle East and Britain as a deterrent.”

Trump Is Considering Striking Iran Before the Midterms

· Leave a Comment

“After months of on-again, off-again fighting, the United States hasn’t struck Iran in several weeks,” The Atlantic reports.

“The stretch of relative tranquility is coinciding with the final phase of the midterm-election campaign, and the assumption has been that President Trump will want to keep it going through November 3 so as not to remind voters of an unpopular war that is dragging Republican candidates down nationwide.”

“But that may not be what happens. The White House has asked the Pentagon to develop strike options against Iranian targets that could be exercised ahead of the midterms… The planning underscores just how much the president wants to reduce gas prices and demonstrate progress in the conflict before the vote.”

Abdul El-Sayed Leads in Michigan Senate Race

· Leave a Comment

A new Public First Action/Guidant (R) poll in Michigan finds Abdul El-Sayed (D) leading Mike Rogers (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 43%.

Michigan Senate Race
Abdul El-Sayed (D) 48%
 
Mike Rogers (R) 43%
 
Public First Action/Guidant poll
Michigan Governor’s Race
Jocelyn Benson (D) 50%
 
John James (R) 45%
 
Public First Action/Guidant poll

James Talarico Leads in Texas Senate Race

· Leave a Comment

A new Public First Action/Guidant (R) poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 44%, with Brown at 4%.

Texas Senate Race
James Talarico (D) 47%
 
Ken Paxton (R) 44%
 
Public First Action/Guidant poll · likely voters · ±3.46%
Texas Governor’s Race
Greg Abbott (R) 46%
 
Gina Hinojosa (D) 44%
 
Public First Action/Guidant poll · likely voters · ±3.46%
Taegan Goddard

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.

More about Taegan Goddard →