“The Republican Party base has been electrified by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings and a campaign blitz from President Donald Trump. But the burst of enthusiasm has not reversed the trajectory of the midterms for the House GOP, which remains on the verge of losing its majority next week,” Politico reports.

“Some Republicans deep in Trump country have regained ground. But the handful of bright spots have been outweighed by a tidal wave of Democratic spending and voter support in the closing weeks of the midterm election, according to public and private polling, interviews with strategists from both parties and a Politico analysis of TV spending figures. In recent days, House Republicans have rushed to fortify a surprise collection of GOP-held districts in a half-dozen states that were never expected to be competitive.”

“Ahead of his Tuesday visit to Pittsburgh, President Trump and his top aides have struggled to balance their scorched-earth campaign strategy with calls for national unity following last weekend’s slaughter of 11 Jewish worshipers in a synagogue there,” the Washington Post reports.

“The president’s plans to ratchet up his political attacks in the final seven-day sprint to the midterm elections have been complicated by a wave of separate and tragic crises.”

“Republicans are scrambling to save suddenly vulnerable candidates in congressional districts that President Trump won in 2016, as Democrats have charged deeper into conservative strongholds in their bid to win the House,” the Washington Post reports.

”On Tuesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee plans to launch an ad campaign in a South Carolina district that Trump carried by 13 percentage points, while House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) intends to campaign for a Kentucky incumbent in a district that went to Trump by 15 points.”

“The last-minute moves follow decisions by Republican groups to toss political lifelines to House candidates in Georgia, Florida, Virginia and Washington state, all in districts where Trump was victorious.”

President Trump’s campaign announced that it would spend $6 million to air a new television ad in the run-up to next week’s midterm congressional elections, “making the closing sale to vote” Republican.

New York Times: “But Mr. Trump is not the one making this particular sale. Neither he, his likeness nor his voice appears in the spot.”

“That’s because Mr. Trump is unpopular with the group of voters his campaign is apparently trying to target at this critical stage in the race: white, college-educated women, who recent polls have shown disproportionately view him negatively, and are also disinclined to vote for Republicans.”

A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll finds Democrats leading Republicans in the generic congressional ballot by a stunning 17-points, 57% to 40% among likely voters.

“That’s a notable increase in Democratic support from the previous week, when the poll found Democrats with a 13-point advantage. The increase, which stemmed from small shifts among several groups of voters, may partly reflect timing. The final two days of the poll coincided with the arrest on Friday of a Florida man on charges of sending explosive devices to prominent Democrats and critics of President Trump, and the killing on Saturday of 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.”