Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193
The Magnificent Seven
“Marine Le Pen, France’s leading right-wing presidential candidate, opened her campaign for next year’s elections by casting herself as a unifying figure to revive France after weeks of unrest fueled by economic hardship and anger at the government,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
New Yorker: How Macron destabilized France.
Washington Post: “Often, presidents suffer from events they didn’t cause — the coronavirus pandemic in Trump’s first term, for example. This year, by contrast, Trump has seen some of the lowest presidential approval numbers ever recorded, and his decisions have driven the plunge.”
“The tariffs of up to 50 percent on Canadian goods that Trump announced in July provide a prime example.”
“At a time when voters are acutely focused on the cost of living, tariffs are a visible step that drives prices higher. And the trade war with Canada has hurt residents of border states especially hard.”
“President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came from behind to win Brazil’s runoff election, halting a right-wing wave sweeping Latin America and defying predictions that the 80-year-old political veteran had finally reached the end of his extraordinary career,” Bloomberg reports.
“The electoral court declared Lula the winner with 51.76% of the vote to Flávio Bolsonaro’s 48.24% on Sunday, after a messy election day marked by allegations of voter suppression and a last-minute extension of voting hours.”
“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ripped state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee in the Lone Star State’s gubernatorial race, for an endorsement she received from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group designated in Texas as a foreign terrorist organization,” The Hill reports.
Said Abbott: “Gina supports that endorsement that she got from them because she supports Sharia law, she supports Sharia communities. What I’m focused on doing is making sure that we ban Sharia law, Sharia cities, Sharia compounds.”
“President Donald Trump used a campaign rally to intensify his attacks on Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, his Muslim faith and his Egyptian heritage, repeatedly portraying the Michigan-born Democrat as sympathetic to Islamic extremism without offering any evidence for his allegations,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “Michigan needs to stand up and fight. Stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol.”
Washington Sun: Trump says El-Sayed is a “jihadist” who must go through a metal detector if elected.
“President Donald Trump is still upset he didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize, and he’s blaming Norway for it,” Mediaite reports.
Said Trump: “I’m not in love with Norway. Frankly, Norway sucks.”
He added: “Norway has become a shithouse country, actually.”
“Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department’s lawsuit — filed at President Donald Trump’s request — seeking to block Alaska from certifying its election results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses,” MS NOW reports.
Said Blanche: “There could be a crime. But the real wrong here is that Alaskans are going to be confused and will not have their vote heard.”
CNBC: Blanche defends Trump-ordered lawsuit over Alaska Senate election certification.
“For months, President Trump has mounted a sustained effort to attack the integrity of U.S. elections while using the federal government to try to assert more control over the voting process overseen by states,” the New York Times reports.
“Last week, Mr. Trump opened a new front.”
“Rather than simply push false claims at his rallies or target voters his administration claims should not be on the rolls, Mr. Trump moved to pre-emptively challenge the certification of Alaska’s Senate election if the Republican candidate narrowly loses.”
“In doing so, Mr. Trump harnessed the power of the federal government to try to interfere in the voting process before Election Day — essentially trying to nullify an opponent’s potential win before the game has been called.”
“Alaska Senate Democratic hopeful Mary Peltola suffered minor injuries in a car crash Saturday, temporarily sidelining her campaign,” the New York Post reports.
“Peltola, 53, was en route to the Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Banquet when her vehicle was hit by another car, forcing her to reschedule her campaign events slated for Sunday and Monday.”
“Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a last-minute extension of voting hours across the nation Sunday, while its electoral authorities began — and then suddenly paused — counting ballots in one of the most tightly contested elections in its history,” Bloomberg reports.
“The order from Judge Cristiano Zanin came minutes after polls were due to close at 5 p.m. local time, and allowed voting to continue until 7 p.m. It followed requests from both candidates, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and challenger Flávio Bolsonaro.”
Stpehen Collinson: “Two decades ago, Barack Obama stormed battleground states rebuking a Republican president over a deeply unpopular war and an economy that was crushing working Americans.”
“He’s at it again. But his updated critique is more searing, contemptuous and urgent than during the George W. Bush era as he tries to push Democratic midterms candidates over the line to finally thwart the political momentum of his nemesis Donald Trump.”
“The ex-president’s swing Saturday through Ohio and Michigan — states both men won twice en route to the White House — coincided with Trump’s latest midterm stop in Georgia, where Obama is expected next week.”
“For one Pennsylvania Republican, winning reelection to the U.S. House in a suburban Philadelphia seat likely hinges on his long-standing effort to keep President Donald Trump at arm’s length,” Bloomberg reports.
“Brian Fitzpatrick’s bid for a sixth term, built on a foundation of centrism and reinforced by his votes against some of Trump’s signature issues, marks a test of whether a bipartisan record is enough to hold off the expected wave of support for Democrats next month.”
“Fitzpatrick does not go after Trump by name, but he’s called the president’s rhetoric ‘unbecoming’ and has railed against parts of his agenda, including the administration’s reversal of Russian sanctions earlier this month.”
“When I woke up the next morning after hearing that, I told my wife, I’m like, ‘Hey, I think I got to get down to the gym and keep up my reputation! So, I gotta keep working out.’”
— Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), quoted by the New York Post, reflecting on President Trump saying he’s got a great ass.
“The Republican campaign for a gerrymandered congressional map in Missouri has gone quiet — less than two weeks before the election,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“After fighting a yearlong legal battle to keep the map off the ballot, the GOP’s political action committee formed to support the 2025 redraw of Missouri’s congressional districts had just $90,000 on hand as of last week.”
G. Elliot Morris: “According to our combined polling data, 45% of undecided voters name prices and inflation as the most important problem facing the country, and another 18% pick jobs and the economy. That’s 63% naming prices or the economy, compared with 48% of voters who say they’ve already decided for whom and whether to vote.”
“On the relative prioritization of almost every issue, undecided voters look more like voters who have already decided to vote for Democrats than those who say they’ll vote Republican.”
“They also really don’t like how Trump is handling prices. If undecided voters are just tuning in, and if they rank prices as a top priority, then how they feel about the incumbent’s performance on prices is likely to be decisive. Overall, 69% of undecided voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing in general, and just 14% approve. “
“From gerrymandered voting maps to the latest surge in political spending, the Supreme Court’s fingerprints are all over the 2026 midterms,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A string of decisions from the court’s conservative majority has rewritten the rules that govern American elections, and this fall’s fight for Congress is the first to feel the full effects.”
“Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) said Sunday that he believes several statewide races in the historically red U.S. South are ‘in play’ for Democrats this cycle,” ABC News reports.
Said Moore: “They are in play, and we have made mistakes in not investing earlier. And I don’t even think just earlier in this cycle — I think earlier in this generation.”
“President Donald Trump says his administration has ‘many other announcements’ to make following his announcement of Volkswagen AG’s plan to build an Audi factory in Georgia,” Bloomberg reports.
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 →