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80 posts · Friday
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193
The Magnificent Seven
“High gas prices continue to weigh on wallets as voters list affordability as a top concern ahead of early November’s midterm elections,” ABC News reports.
“The national average price of a gallon of gas stands at $4.27, marking an increase of nearly $1.30, or 43%, since the outbreak of the Iran war in February.”
“Fuel prices are unlikely to ease significantly before Election Day on Nov. 3, some analysts told ABC News, predicting gas prices would all but certainly remain above $4 a gallon.”
“James Talarico’s campaign hit back at Elon Musk Thursday, calling the 2026 election cycle’s top spender out for his cash infusion in the Texas Senate race amid an ongoing feud between the Democratic nominee and the world’s richest man,” CNBC reports.
“A video posted by the Talarico campaign’s account on X Thursday of a new ad targets Musk for his record spending in favor of Republican nominee Ken Paxton, telling him ‘Texas is not for sale.'”
“President Trump has been urging Republican voters to pretend that he is on the ballot for the midterm elections. One of his leading allies, the Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, is clearly hoping they will not,” the New York Times reports.
Said Tiffany: “My opponent, all he talks about is Donald Trump, MAGA, all the rest.”
“New information about the criminal history of Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Ohio Democratic nominee for governor, Amy Acton, is coming to light amid the backlash about her appearance in a Vivek Ramaswamy ad — including her conviction for animal neglect after several kittens in her care died in a hot car,” Mediaite reports.
“The White House’s press secretary vacancy won’t necessarily keep the briefing room closed,” Semafor reports.
“President Donald Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, told Semafor that the next briefing would come ‘soon’ — but if it happens before the midterms, a new press secretary likely won’t be behind the podium.”
“Trump is in no rush to name a replacement after Katie Zacharia’s abrupt exit, and one person familiar with the situation said a new pick will ‘definitely not’ be named before the election.”
“Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso will campaign with Ken Paxton next week in Texas as Republicans work overtime to try to hold onto the endangered seat,” Politico reports.
“Jared Kushner is pushing back on a report involving a hacked iPhone, international spies and billion-dollar transfers from foreign governments,” CBS News reports.
“An upcoming book by journalist Matthew Cole claims Kushner, who is President Trump’s son-in-law, had access to more than $2 billion in ‘slush money funds’ from Middle Eastern leaders in an attempt to influence U.S. foreign policy.”
Jonathan Martin: “It’s tempting to say that Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad deploying the estranged mother of his opponent in the Ohio governor’s race is the worst sort of ends-justify-the-means politics.”
“But the ends, in this case, are likely to be an even more pronounced rejection of Ramaswamy at the polls next month. The spot isn’t just bad taste, it’s bad politics.”
“What the ad represents, rather, is an opening salvo in the post-midterms fight for the Republican Party’s future. It’s a battle that will accelerate next year but may not culminate until the 2030s. Put simply, what sort of party does the GOP want to be — and what will the market bear?”
“President Donald Trump has just one way left to bring down gas prices: ending the Iran war,” Semafor reports.
“Already, his administration has expanded access to red-dyed diesel; unlocked Russian diesel; waived the Jones Act; and tapped the U.S. strategic reserve in an effort to lower costs. Yet oil prices hit a five-month high today, even as Trump touted that Middle East exports were surpassing pre-war levels.”
“President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at bringing down housing costs in a bid to show that his administration is addressing voters’ affordability concerns in the final sprint to the midterm elections,” Bloomberg reports.
“The order would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to create a pilot program that would proactively cancel mortgage insurance on certain loans, limited to future mortgages. The move would potentially save some borrowers money in cases where their home values have sufficiently appreciated.”
A new Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR) poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 51% to 47%.
The same poll in Texas finds Greg Abbott (R) leading Gina Hinojosa (D) in the governor’s race, 51% to 48%.
Wall Street Journal: “A tidal wave of retirements, some the easy way (Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Michael McCaul), others the hard way (Sens. John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy), is going to wipe out more than 800 years of combined congressional experience from Capitol Hill next year…”
“The risk with all these lawmakers leaving is: experience. Many of them were here for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, debt-ceiling squabbles and numerous other episodes when Washington had to rally together to deal with a crisis.”
“On the flip side: Government debt has grown and grown. America has become more polarized. Congress’s stature has shrunk. Maybe it’s time for some new people?”
A new VoteHub/Verasight poll in Texas finds Greg Abbott (R) leading Gina Hinojosa (D) in the governor’s race, 48% to 46%.
The same poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 45%.
Mediaite: “President Donald Trump called on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to resign from Congress on Thursday night, claiming she used a ‘fake name’ when getting elected.”
Ed Kilgore: “The term carpetbagger was originally applied to Northerners who moved South after the Civil War to launch political careers under the protection of military Reconstruction; it referred to the hastily procured bags manufactured from carpet scraps the transplants allegedly used. More recently, the term has been applied to politicians who conveniently relocate themselves into the vicinity of political opportunities…”
“So in itself, the decision by conservative ex-lobbyist and businessman Zach Lahn to move from Kansas to Iowa in 2024 and then run for governor — winning the 2026 GOP primary in a big upset — isn’t so remarkable. Indeed, Lahn was born and grew up in Iowa, where his family had lived for generations, and owned property there.”
“What has made his case interesting — and for supporters of his Democratic opponent, Rob Sand, hilarious — is his difficulty making a clean break with it. He seems very involved in Kansas matters.”
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a slur to proudly announce to an auditorium of Marines in September that he was ridding the military of all transgender troops,” the New York Times reports.
“But just steps from the auditorium where Mr. Hegseth spoke, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, boards assigned to carry out those orders were doing the opposite. Instead of firing trans Marines, the boards were voting to keep them.”
“The same was happening in the Navy: Boards given strict rules instructing them to force out sailors were rebelling and voting to let them stay.”
“The races for some of Georgia’s top elected offices are a dead heat, setting up a last-minute scramble that will have big implications for how state government operates come January,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
“A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution survey of likely Georgia voters shows the races for lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state are deadlocked just a week and a half before the Nov. 3 election.”
“President Trump’s election advisers Chris LaCivita and James Blair have donated their six-figure consulting fees from a controversial side-hustle in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Trump’s presidential library,” the New York Post reports.
“Trump was ‘gloating’ and ‘very braggadocious’ in private conversations this week upon learning the development, a source said — indicating that his initial hard feelings toward LaCivita and Blair over their Eastern European gig had eased.”
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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