Wall Street Journal: “With Election Day approaching, Republican worries about voter enthusiasm are spilling beyond swing states into red bastions such as Kansas, Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska. Trump’s approval rating sits near record lows, and frustrations are growing over the state of the economy, tariffs and the war in Iran. At stake is control of Congress: Democrats need to pick up just three seats to retake the House and four to win back the Senate.”

CNN: “Across the midterm map, Republicans are finding ways to stand apart from a unpopular president as they scramble to keep their majorities in Congress.”

“The dynamic reflects how treacherous the political terrain has become for Republicans as the Democratic offensive stretches into deeply red states like Kansas, Texas and Florida. But it also represents a reversal from recent years, as Trump – who is famously vindictive against critics in his own party – and his political operation haven’t targeted defectors.”

“President Donald Trump handed Republicans what he said was a surefire formula for winning the midterm elections this fall: Act as if Trump is on the ballot and promise $5,000 payouts to every citizen,” the Washington Post reports.

“A week after the Republican midterm convention where Trump delivered his advice, most GOP congressional candidates are ignoring it.”

“Republican candidates are sticking to their own messages, not Trump’s, as they navigate an increasingly difficult political landscape marked by high consumer prices, a protracted war in Iran and a president whose own approval rating has stayed stubbornly low, the analysis shows.”

Midterm candidates distancing themselves from an unpopular president is standard playbook.

“Republicans used their midterm convention this week to ask voters to preserve their congressional majorities and let them ‘finish the job,’” Politico reports.

”But with few consensus legislative goals, it’s far from clear what job they want to finish.”

“On the night Republicans gathered to mourn the killing of Charlie Kirk and warn against the dangers of violent rhetoric, a crowd at the party’s irregular midterm convention in Dallas repeatedly called for a sitting Senate candidate to be shot, while the Republican senator at the podium never denounced or even noted the outbursts,” The Guardian reports.

“The outbursts came repeatedly during Ted Cruz’s Thursday night address at the American Airlines center, when he named a Democrat he accused of holding radical views.”

“After the senator mentioned the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, video footage depicts at least one audience member shouting: ‘He should be shot!’ The same cry followed when Cruz named Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and again after he named Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. Cruz did not pause or respond to the shouting, and it remains unclear whether he heard it from the stage.”

Alexandra Petri: “If only the GOP midterm convention succeeds in its aim of electing Donald Trump president, things will get a lot better in this country. Isn’t he already president? Hush! At the Unprecedented (But Very President-ed) Republican Midterm Convention, we reject such trivial objections! ‘I know many of you are still struggling thanks to Joe Biden and the Democrats,’ said Richard Hudson, the National Republican Committee chair.”

“You have your orders: Imagine that Donald Trump is on the ballot, because if he were, the economy would get a lot better than it is under whoever is president right now—I have to assume Biden? But possibly, based on sheer volume of mentions, Abdul El-Sayed? Whoever it is, the guy is doing just terribly.”

“Donald Trump has already fixed everything, but also, we need him to fix everything. He is the greatest president in our lifetime, if we can ever manage to elect him.”

New York Times: “Although this year’s Democratic primary season brought a surge of left-wing momentum, and a handful of victories by democratic socialists running for Congress in Colorado, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida, no credible midterm candidate identifies as a communist. And there is little momentum behind any communist movement in U.S. politics at the federal level.”

“Still, for months now, Mr. Trump and Republicans, staring down a daunting political environment and the potential loss of one or both houses of Congress, have been trying to cast Democrats as communists, deploying a charge that has little overlap with Democrats’ actual platforms.”