Dan Pfeiffer: “Unskewing polls is loser shit. If you see a poll result you don’t like and immediately start arguing that the sample has too many Republicans or too few young people, you are focused on the wrong things.”
“Republicans did this in 2012, when all the polls showed Obama winning. Many Democrats did it in 2024, when polls showed Trump beating Biden before the debate.”
“We’ve been spending all week trying to make the football coaches happy. I can assure you that moms and dads out there across America, when they lie down to sleep at night… they’re not worried about football.”
— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), quoted by Politico, referencing the bill to overhaul college sports that senators voted to advance today.
“With just weeks to go before midterm elections, Senate Republicans defeated a resolution to curb President Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran, even as a growing number of GOP incumbents and candidates in tough races insist they want the war to end soon,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The measure was defeated in a 50-49 vote, largely along party lines.”
Fox News: 4 GOP senators rebel against Trump on Iran war, vote with Dems to rein in authority.
“President Trump showed off some of the construction that he’s had done at the White House to President Xi Jinping of China during their summit on Thursday, and Mr. Trump had reasons to want the Chinese leader’s nod of approval,” the New York Times reports.
“Throughout the uproar over Mr. Trump’s demolition of the East Wing and construction of a grandiose ballroom on the site, the American president has repeatedly cited the Great Hall of the People in China as inspiration and competition with his own design.”
“On the first full day of Mr. Xi’s visit, Mr. Trump gave him a brief tour of the ballroom construction site, as well as the helipad project that was officially opened this week. Mr. Trump called the Chinese leader ‘an expert on stone’ who ‘loves good granite’ as Mr. Xi stood by without changing his expression.”
“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a lengthy interview this week that he has prepared for the possibility, however unlikely, of a U.S. incursion onto Canadian soil,” the Washington Sun reports.
“The stunning remarks come as President Donald Trump has increased his provocations of America’s northern neighbor and embarked on a bitter trade war that has prompted a strong response from Carney.”
A new Stetson University’s Center for Public Opinion Research poll in Florida finds Ashley Moody (R) leading Angie Nixon (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 51% to 40%.
“Gas and diesel prices are spiking due to the Iran war, making life hell for American farmers. President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada is making consumer goods more expensive for everyone. Mortgage rates topped 7%. Tech leaders are sounding the alarm about artificial intelligence and its risk to humanity,” the Washington Sun reports.
“The Republican-controlled Congress is focused on college sports.”
“More than 70 senators have backed the Protect College Sports Act, which would establish a unified federal framework for intercollegiate athletics, including standards for player compensation, transfers and eligibility.”
“Typically, a rare bipartisan piece of legislation is something people celebrate. But the Senate is using up weeks of floor time ahead of the midterms, resulting in complaints from even some of the bill’s supporters who aren’t happy about the chamber’s priorities right now.”
A new Quantus Insights poll in Ohio finds Sherrod Brown (D) leading Jon Husted (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 45%, with Greg Levy (I) at 2% and Bill Redpath (L) at 1%.
“David Flippo, a Republican congressional candidate in Nevada, inflated his military record multiple times in recent years by claiming he received a Bronze Star ‘for valor’ during his two-decade Air Force career,” the Washington Post reports.
“Flippo received a Bronze Star in 2004 for his service, but not the Bronze Star with valor, a much rarer distinction that recognizes heroism in direct combat with an enemy. Experts on military awards say such exaggerations are tantamount to lying.”
“The Trump administration scrambled on Thursday to halt a number of imminent deportations after an appeals court blocked authorities from expelling people to third countries without a chance to contest their cases,” the New York Times reports.
“Interest rates on U.S. 30-year mortgages topped 7 percent for the first time in almost two years, as surging yields across the bond market escalate concerns over housing affordability just weeks before nationwide elections,” the Financial Times reports.
“Reporters for CNN and MS NOW were allowed to re-enter the White House grounds around noon on Thursday, the latest development in an ongoing standoff between President Trump and the press corps that covers him,” the New York Times reports.
“It was not initially clear if the administration had changed its stance on the judge’s order, or if the journalists were blocked because of confusion among security personnel.”
“The National Security Agency told lawmakers that it is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer funds this year evaluating and testing advanced artificial intelligence models,” the Washington Sun reports.
“The price tag — which is significantly greater than previously known — has led lawmakers to believe that a more comprehensive AI regulatory system could cost the government tens of billions of dollars per year.”
“Three federal appeals courts have rejected President Trump’s go-to move in trying to install allies as United States attorneys, the officials who lead the prosecutors’ offices in the nation’s 94 judicial districts. In each case, the courts said Trump had violated a law that limits who can run the offices when there are vacancies,” the New York Times reports.
“Those decisions have complicated Trump’s efforts to investigate and prosecute his political foes.”
“The administration this month asked the Supreme Court to review two of the decisions, warning that they ‘risk chaos’ and threaten ‘to inject mass confusion’ into thousands of ordinary cases.”
Nate Silver: “So if you take the polls at face value, we’re seeing a blue wave that’s… overwhelmingly concentrated in red states. As I wrote, there’s a coherent story behind it. And the evidence for it has been consistent enough that it probably has to count as the ‘base case.'”
“But there’s also some risk here for Democrats. Precisely those groups with whom they’re making the largest gains are those where polls have most overestimated Democrats in recent years.”
“There are also potentially huge, lopsided rewards. If the map is reverting more to something pre-Trump-like, that was a map where Barack Obama won Iowa and Ohio twice. Meanwhile, in the House, Republican gerrymanders in states like Florida and Texas were implicitly premised on the GOP having made permanent gains among Hispanics.”
“CNN, MS NOW and Politico requested an emergency hearing after they were again blocked from accessing the White House on Thursday despite a federal judge’s early-morning ruling ordering the government to restore their credentials,” the Washington Post reports.
Axios: White House defies court order, doesn’t reinstate access for banned reporters.
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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