Top Items:
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Democrats Have a Wide Lead in Our New Poll as Trump Slides — The map favors Republicans, but cracks in their base are leaving them vulnerable in defending House and Senate control. — The final New York Times/Siena University national poll of the 2026 midterm campaign finds Democrats leading nationally …
Discussion:
RedState, Siena Research Institute and Forbes
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G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Poll: Democrats post their biggest generic-ballot lead yet, two weeks out — Democrats lead by 10 among registered voters and 12 among likely voters, both highs for our poll, as Trump sets new lows on immigration and border security … Just under two weeks before Election Day …
New York Times:
Trump Approval Hits New Low Two Weeks Before Midterms, Poll Finds — Likely voters favored Democratic candidates over Republicans by 11 percentage points in their congressional district, a New York Times/Siena poll found. — President Trump's approval rating hit a new low just a few weeks …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Exclusive: Ramaswamy doubles down on explosive ad featuring rival's mother, despite backlash — Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor is pouring $4 million into a bombshell ad in which his opponent's estranged mother attacks her daughter — doubling down on the message despite fierce bipartisan backlash, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
The Washington Sun, The Bulwark, Tangle, Media Matters for America, Zeteo, Washington Post, CNN, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, The Message Box, WOSU Public Media, New York Post, The Rooster, Forbes, ActiVote, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Newsweek, Eschaton, KEYT-TV, Dr. Amy Acton for Governor, Cleveland 19 News, Los Angeles Times, MS NOW, Ace of Spades HQ, KIFI-TV, NBC News, Slate, New Republic, Daily Kos, The Daily Wire, Grabien, Blaze Media, NewsMax.com, Crooks and Liars and New York Times
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Politico:
Republicans' mom burn messaging — With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner — Good Wednesday morning. Days after Bradley Whitford blew off steam in “The Diplomat's” White House swimming pool, a new round of renovation murmurs are brewing around the briefing room. Coincidence?
Discussion:
The Washington Sun, The Hill and New York Post
The Downballot:
Morning Digest: Ramaswamy stands by attack ad featuring opponent's estranged mother
Morning Digest: Ramaswamy stands by attack ad featuring opponent's estranged mother
Discussion:
Scripps News, CBS News, National Review, Adam Kinzinger, The Independent, Mediaite, The Hill, Ohio Capital Journal, ABC News, MS NOW, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Grabien, The Guardian, MeidasTouch and Forbes
New York Times:
Russia Releases American Who Was Jailed for 4 Years, State Media Reports — The move buys good will with President Trump while costing the Russian leader, Vladimir V. Putin, little. — Russia on Wednesday released an American man who was held for four years on what the State Department …
Discussion:
Reuters and The Daily Caller
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Paul Dallison / Politico:
Witkoff to Putin: ‘You are a humanitarian ... I salute that’
Discussion:
New York Post, CNBC, Associated Press, Reuters, KIFI-TV and Politico
Reuters:
US envoy Witkoff arrives in St Petersburg for talks with Putin
US envoy Witkoff arrives in St Petersburg for talks with Putin
Discussion:
The Moscow Times, CBS News, HuffPost, Associated Press, KIFI-TV, NPR, Reuters, France 24, The Kyiv Independent, HotAir, News Talk 105.9 WMAL-FM, The Japan Times, Bloomberg and Politico
Reuters:
Trump envoy asks Putin to resume three-way Ukraine peace talks, secures release of US citizen
Trump envoy asks Putin to resume three-way Ukraine peace talks, secures release of US citizen
Discussion:
The Daily Wire, Mediaite, Newsweek, Metro.co.uk, Foreign Policy, Bloomberg and The Kyiv Independent
Nick Wadhams / Bloomberg:
Russia Releases US Teacher After Trump Freezes Sanctions
Russia Releases US Teacher After Trump Freezes Sanctions
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, Reuters, Straight Arrow, Politico, TMZ.com, Breitbart, The Guardian, KIFI-TV, CNN, The Independent, The Kyiv Independent, CBS News, Washington Post and Trump's Truth
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard released by Russia after 4 years in jail, and Trump says “no ‘swap’”
U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard released by Russia after 4 years in jail, and Trump says “no ‘swap’”
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, WTTG-TV, Reuters, NewsMax.com, Scripps News and Fox News
Tyler Pager / New York Times:
A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal. — A Billionaire Wanted a Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal. — A prominent Venezuelan was seeking clemency. He got it not long after his daughter gave Ms. Habba, a lawyer close to President Trump, a lucrative job.
Discussion:
MS NOW, The Washington Sun, emptywheel, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Mary Radcliffe / FiftyPlusOne:
FiftyPlusOne just caught a pollster faking data — and they copped to it — On Tuesday, Oct. 20, FiftyPlusOne reached out to Wedgewood Polls, a self-professed polling firm, with a request for comment on an investigation we had conducted into their alleged survey research.
Discussion:
Samizdata
New York Times:
Trump Pushes to Evict the Press From the White House — President Trump has talked about replacing the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room with an indoor swimming pool. — In late August, during one of Karoline Leavitt's final meetings with President Trump in the Oval Office …
Discussion:
CBS News, The Wrap, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and Associated Press, more at Mediagazer »
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Jeff Green / Bloomberg:
Trump Voters Who Listen to Joe Rogan Take a Page From The Matrix for Midterms — Frustrated by the war in Iran and rising costs, the coalition of young men courted by the GOP is poised to sit out the midterms — “I've checked out.” — That's how Dallas Cruze sums up his political journey …
RELATED:
Jonathan Tamari / Bloomberg:
Plunging Latino Support Threatens to Sink Republican Candidates
Emma Graham-Harrison / The Guardian:
Israeli military detains US politician Brad Lander and rabbis at olive harvest — About 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers held near Nahalin in West Bank and taken to police station — The Israeli military has detained about 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers helping Palestinians …
Discussion:
NBC News, Fox News, Bloomberg, New York Post, New York Times, The Independent and VINnews
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Kyle Cheney / Politico:
The House GOP's imminent decision on the Omar raid — House Republicans have publicly cheered on the Trump administration's investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar. But underneath the posturing, the raid raises thorny nonpartisan questions about how aggressively Congress wants to defend itself from encroaching federal prosecutors.
Discussion:
New York Post
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Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
The Hunting of Ilhan Omar
American Greatness:
Bank on It: Elissa Slotkin Was Speaking for the Entire Democrat Party … In a previous piece for American Greatness, I said accountability would be the dividing issue in the fast-approaching midterm elections. On the one hand are Democrats, seeking to hold Trump himself and those around him …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Washington Examiner, Executive Functions and Deseret News
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Thomas Frank / Politico:
FEMA tells states to handle disasters on their own — The Trump administration's disaster chief told state officials Tuesday they must increase their financial reserves and emergency capabilities to handle most disasters on their own, without federal help. — Federal Emergency Management …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, The Parnas Perspective and LinkedIn
Meg Kinnard / Associated Press:
Trump brings a last-minute rally boost to Darline Graham in South Carolina's US Senate race — President Donald Trump will visit South Carolina on Wednesday to boost Sen. Darline Graham, whose stumbles in her first campaign since replacing her late brother have Democratic voters hopeful …
Discussion:
New York Post, NBC News, The Bulwark and National Politics
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Whitney Curry Wimbish / American Prospect:
ICE Profiteers Trying To Buy the Senate for Republicans — Their targets include multiple GOP candidates in tight races and incumbents whose seats are in danger, including chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Susan Collins (R-ME), Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), and Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL).
Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:
Trump lost control and ordered me to be ‘quiet’ in the Oval Office. Then it got personal — What was supposed to be an announcement on fraud quickly devolved into Trump vs The Independent. Andrew Feinberg details how it all happened in the Oval Office — Leer en Español
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Daily Kos, Wonkette, The Wrap, American Greatness, HuffPost, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit, MPR News, The Hill, Breitbart, CBS News, One America News Network, Mediaite, Forbes, Ace of Spades HQ, Legal Insurrection, VINnews, The Guardian, RedState, Newsweek, New York Post, MS NOW, Fox News, Associated Press and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »
Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press:
Justice Kagan Warns Supreme Court Rulings Are Fueling Polarization — The liberal-leaning justice said both political parties are “in a race to the bottom” with partisan gerrymanders. — Copy — Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday said voting and elections decisions from her conservative …
Gareth Vipers / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Says Data Centers Must Provide Their Own Electricity — In a social-media post, the president asked companies to pay communities a dividend to make the facilities more popular — President Trump called for companies that build large data centers in the U.S. to make their own electricity …
Discussion:
CNBC, The Daily Wire and NewsMax.com
Washington Post:
How ex-cops gained access to a massive surveillance network … When Andrae Wright left his job as an investigator at the Effingham County Sheriff's Office in 2021, he handed in his gun and badge. But he kept something powerful: his log-in credentials for Flock, a police tool he used to search …
Franco Ordoñez / NPR:
Trump leans into unprecedented power ahead of midterm elections — President Trump boasted this weekend of his growing power in his second term - and all the things he's doing now that he wouldn't dare in his first term, such as changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Riley Rogerson / Politico:
This member is so frustrated with Congress he wants voters to sidestep it — At the end of one of the least productive Congresses in modern history, freshman Rep. Johnny Olszewski is so sick of the gridlock on Capitol Hill that he wants voters to bypass it entirely.
Liz Dye / Public Notice:
Trump bulldozes a golf course and the rule of law — Public Notice is proudly celebrating 5 years of independent journalism. Our coverage is possible thanks for paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — ⛳️ Subscribe to PN ⛳️ — Who gives a shit about a golf course?
Discussion:
The Federalist, Bloomberg, MS NOW, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal and NPR
Paul Krugman:
Trump is Destroying Americans' Healthcare — Twelve million have lost coverage — and it's getting worse — On the eve of the midterm election, American families are feeling financially stressed As the chart above shows, the percentage of families who say that their financial situation is good has plunged.
Discussion:
Mercury News
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Hegseth boosts battleground Republican during Wisconsin trip — DAYTON, Ohio, and EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boosted a frontline House Republican on Tuesday during a day trip to Midwest battlegrounds two weeks before the midterm elections, in which Republicans are facing …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
Bridget Bowman / NBC News:
The Senate map expands (again): From the Politics Desk — Plus, the secretary of state races to watch. … Democrats jump into the Mississippi Senate race — Two weeks out from Election Day, Senate Democrats' top super PAC is launching a new ad campaign in the Mississippi Senate race …
Discussion:
Associated Press, National Review, Mississippi Today, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Politico
Elizabeth Spiers / The Nation:
Can James Carville Please Just Be Quietly Wrong Somewhere Else? — The omnipresent consultant-cum-tantrum-thrower has long outlived whatever relevance he once had, but cable producers, podcast hosts, and Democratic campaigns haven't got the memo. — Pocket
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Emily Guskin / ABC News:
Most Americans say AI is bad for society, oppose more data centers: ABC/Post/Ipsos poll — Majorities see risks in AI and fewer see benefits. — An aerial view of the 5C Data Centers CMH01, Oct. 18, 2026, in Springfield, Ohio. — A majority of Americans say artificial intelligence …
CNN:
Pentagon grants DHS permission to test heat ray weapon for potential use at border — Federal agencies US military Pete Hegseth National security — The Pentagon has given the Department of Homeland Security permission to test a military-grade heat ray and develop tactics to potentially use …
Patrick Djordjevic / The Hill:
Republican-aligned PAC spends $1.2M to boost socialist — (NewsNation) — A PAC aligned with the Republican Party is reportedly looking to quell support for a Democratic candidate in the Ohio Senate race by promoting a socialist candidate. — With Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican …

