“A Democratic super PAC is beginning to mount a rescue mission for the party’s beleaguered House campaigns chief,” Politico reports.

“Our Hudson PAC, a group that formed in July to aid Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) in his summertime primary, is the first Democratic outside spender to jump into his narrowing race against GOP state legislator Michael Lawler. Maloney’s newly redrawn district in the lower part of Hudson Valley has quickly become a top GOP target, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s aligned super PAC dumping $4 million of broadcast TV ads into the race this week.”

Henry Olson: “Republicans currently hold 14 seats in districts that Biden won. Winning back some of these is crucial to Democratic hopes, as they hold nine districts that Trump won and are fighting uphill battles to keep them. GOP mapmakers also drew five Democrats into heavily GOP seats, depriving them of any realistic chance of reelection. (Democrats, by contrast, are only likely to pick up one GOP seat through similar gerrymandering shenanigans.) Pelosi’s party thus needs to win at least as many Biden-GOP seats back as it loses in Trump-Democrat areas to have a prayer of holding its slim five-seat majority.”

“Yet, Democrats have already effectively conceded nearly half their potential targets to Republicans. The Democrats’ House Majority PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee aren’t even airing TV ads in six of those seats. Some of those should be great chances for Democratic wins, such as California’s 27th District (formerly the 25th District), which Biden won by nearly 13 points. The fact that Democrats have essentially abandoned them speaks volumes.”

The Hill: Democrats ready for midterm blame game.

Katrina vanden Heuvel: “As early voting gets started in some states, Republicans are focusing their closing argument on the economy, American voters’ biggest concern and the subject of the majority of GOP ad buys. The Democrats’ closing argument, meanwhile, features abortion, the stripping away of women’s right to choose.”

“But a recent New York Times-Siena College poll shows economic concerns driving a significant shift of independent voters — including women — toward Republicans. The message to Democrats should be loud and clear: Change course, now.”

Playbook: “Twenty days out from Election Day, voters are overwhelmingly focused on the economy and inflation, Republicans are more trusted to handle those issues, and crime beats out abortion as a second-tier issue. In our poll, as in others, the GOP has also gained on the congressional ballot test.”

“Top Democratic donor Mike Bloomberg, a billionaire former candidate for president, plans to spend more than $60 million on this year’s elections, according to his advisers, opting for a lower public profile than he has taken in recent years,” the Washington Post reports.

“Much of his spending, including about $11 million in donations to House Majority PAC, the primary outside group supporting Democrats in the battle for control of the House, has not yet been publicly disclosed, while more than $15 million has been pushed through Democratic-aligned groups such as Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood and the League of Conservation Voters.”

Donald Trump’s assault against Joe O’Dea (R), the GOP’s Senate nominee in Colorado, is angering Republicans while leaving them wondering if he cares about the party winning back the majority in the upper chamber, The Hill reports.

Said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND): “It certainly is not helpful. I would hate to see O’Dea lose to Sen. Bennet by a few votes just because Donald Trump urged Republicans not to vote and we came up short of the majority by one senator.”

North Carolina congressional candidate Bo Hines (R) bemoaned the state of the economy in a recent interview: “I know in my household, my wife and I can’t afford to give up one month’s salary. We have bills to pay, we have rent to pay.”

But Insider reports the 27-year-old Republican upstart, backed by Donald Trump, reported having no salary at all, according to his certified personal financial disclosure.

A trust fund is the only reported asset in Hines’ financial disclosure.

Jonathan Last: “Now put these two scenarios together. Republican take control of both houses of Congress with Republicans claiming a mandate to rebuke Democrats… Meanwhile, Donald Trump is running for president while on criminal trial. The Republican majorities will be pouring gasoline on the fire daily, not just on Fox and Newsmax, but from Congress, where they will have many legislative and bureaucratic tools with which to attack the Department of Justice and the Biden administration.”

“And meanwhile, the sitting president is a 79-year-old man who is beating the actuarial odds on health events, for now.”

“What do you think would happen?”

“I don’t have a prediction myself because the scenario I just outlined for you is weapons-grade chaos. If it comes to pass, then a lot of unthinkable outcomes start becoming very thinkable. Some of them even become likely.”

Barack and Michelle Obama voted early in Chicago.