memeorandum: Gaffes and Men's Bodies: Analysis of Trump's Speeches at Age 80 (New York Times)

1:10 PM ET, November 1, 2026

Top Items:

Haley Stevens attends church with GOP's Mike Rogers as Michigan Democrats feud — The appearance by Stevens, who narrowly lost Michigan's Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, follows a public clash between the two over an outside group's ad about Israel.

Discussion: The Guardian, Bloomberg, Breitbart, The Independent, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Daily Mail, The Hill, RedState, Townhall, NewsNation, Mother Jones, New York Times and The Daily Caller

Violet Jira / Washington Post:

Democrat Haley Stevens appears with Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers — The appearance of Stevens, who recently clashed with Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed over an ad, marked a stunning turn. She previously said she wanted a Democratic victory in the Senate race. — Loading...

Discussion: NBC News, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., Jewish Insider and Eschaton

Associated Press:

Michigan Democrats' unity push falters as Stevens is asked to skip event with El-Sayed — Michigan Democrats are heading to church in Detroit on Sunday in an attempt to present a united front behind Abdul El-Sayed in a race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Washington Sun, Al Jazeera and NRSC

Christa Dutton / The Washington Sun:

Haley Stevens Breaks With Her Party to Back Republican Mike Rogers — DETROIT, Michigan — Rep. Haley Stevens on Sunday endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, accelerating the string of headaches she's caused for Democrats in the eleventh hour of a critical race …

Discussion: New York Post, HotAir, The Hill, CBS News, Politico, RedState, TMZ.com, Talking Points Memo, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Political.org, New York Times and Newsweek

Politico:

Haley Stevens appears with Republican Mike Rogers after fallout with Abdul El-Sayed — Candidates across the country are scrambling to get their final messages out before Election Day. — Haley Stevens appears with Republican Mike Rogers after fallout with Abdul El-Sayed

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, The Guardian and Townhall

Erin Cox / Washington Post:
Republicans mount ‘most aggressive play’ for Black voters in Michigan Senate race

Discussion: The Post Millennial and NewsMax.com

Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
Why El-Sayed's final campaign swing includes a Black church in Detroit

Discussion: Fox News, twitchy.com and Jewish Insider

Axios:

Why Florida Republicans are “white-knuckled” about Tuesday — Florida Republicans aren't panicking about sluggish turnout for the midterms, but in the words of one GOP elder: “We're white-knuckled.” … - “I don't necessarily want to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think the turnout …

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

The ‘Blacklash’ Is Here … The first hint appeared in the 2025 elections, when Democrats won larger-than-expected margins in Virginia and New Jersey. Then, beginning early this year, the turnout numbers in primaries were unmistakable. And now, the story is blaring in neon as early and absentee votes soar.

Discussion: MS NOW

Anna Griffin / New York Times:

Did the Peltola Campaign Seal the Fate of Alaska's Ranked Choice Vote? — Beyond hotly contested Senate and governor's races, Alaskans will decide Tuesday whether to scrap the state's unique ballot. The campaign of Mary Peltola may have bolstered critics of the system.

Discussion: emptywheel, NewsMax.com, Fixing Bugs In Democracy, Al Jazeera and The Hill

Natasha Korecki / NBC News:
‘Sea change’: Early voting numbers show Hispanic turnout exploding in Texas

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Hopium Chronicles and CBS News

NBC News:

Poll: Voters demand change and a check on Trump, fueling a steep Democratic midterm advantage — Trump's disapproval rating hits a record high of 60% in a new national NBC News poll, and Democrats have a 7-point lead in the battle for Congress ahead of Tuesday's elections.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Politico and Washington Post

Bloomberg:
Trump Says He May Be ‘Mr. Veto’ If Democrats Win Midterms

Discussion: New York Post

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:
If a blue wave is coming, here are the races where it will start

Discussion: Politico and Axios

New York Times:

Gaffes and Men's Bodies: Analysis of Trump's Speeches at Age 80 — A Times review of the president's public speeches finds that he is more profane, more absolutist, longer-winded and less coherent than he was in 2016. — NEWS ANALYSIS — A Times review of the president's public speeches finds …

Discussion: Althouse

NBC News:

Sen. Tim Scott dodges on whether he would accept the results of the Alaska Senate race — Scott, a South Carolina Republican, did not directly answer multiple questions about whether he would accept the results of the Alaska election if Democrat Mary Peltola wins.

Discussion: CNBC, Bloomberg, The Hill, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, Breitbart and Fox News

Matthew Choi / Washington Post:
Both parties tried to game Alaska primary field

Discussion: The Guardian and CNN

Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
1 last weekend campaign push

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and Political.org

Tyler Pager / New York Times:

‘I Came as Donald Trump’: The President Hosts a Luxury Halloween at Mar-a-Lago — President Trump attended his jungle-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago dressed as a distinctly recognizable figure. — There were cheetah and zebra stripes on the walls and tables.

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Mail, TMZ.com, The Gateway Pundit and Al Jazeera

Tyler Pager / New York Times:
Trump Calls Former Lawyer's $50 Million Deal ‘Obnoxious and Outrageous’

Discussion: The Hill, Reuters, Daily Mail, NewsMax.com and Mediaite

Politico:

Chris Murphy is hospitalized after stroke — Sen. Chris Murphy is being hospitalized following a stroke, an aide to the Connecticut Democrat said Sunday. — “Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son's hockey game.

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Post, New York Times, The Washington Sun, CBS News and Talking Points Memo

David French / New York Times:

Trump Has Found the Attorney General of His Dreams — October was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for the Department of Justice. — The worst moment happened on Oct. 5, when the department made a third attempt to prosecute James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Discussion: Townhall

Brittany Gibson / Axios:

Trump's election probes find an opening in Georgia … But in Georgia, he has an opening. … Now the state's own election board has invited his administration to investigate its voting system. — Georgia features two high-stakes statewide campaigns: Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) against Rep. Mike Collins …

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:

Ocasio-Cortez Has Evolved. She Wants the Left to Evolve, Too. — The New York congresswoman, once a bane of establishment Democrats, has tried to nudge her movement in a bigger-tent direction as she weighs her 2028 options. — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York joined Sam Forstag …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Lorie Konish / CNBC:

These Senate races may help determine the fate of Social Security … Senators elected this November must answer a crucial question before their six-year term ends: What will they do to fix Social Security? — The program's trustees project that the trust fund Social Security relies …

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Examiner

Josh Dawsey / Wall Street Journal:

Inside the Final Days of Darline Graham's Reluctant Senate Run — Trump pushed the late-Sen. Lindsey Graham's sister to run for his seat, in a race that has become surprisingly close — ROCK HILL, S.C.—Darline Graham had just been sworn in to finish her late brother's Senate term this summer …

Discussion: NewsMax.com and PoliticusUSA

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

The U.S. Is Bullying Europe Like Never Before — The Trump administration tries to micromanage the domestic politics of American allies. — at a dinner in Athens in March, Kimberly Guilfoyle, then the U.S. ambassador to Greece, made a statement that elegantly combined arrogance with menace.

Anna Griffin / New York Times:

Democrats File Suit Over Closed Polling Places in Rural Alaska — Voting sites in 18 far-flung communities failed to open, the suit claims. — As a Justice Department lawsuit challenging the presence of two U.S. Senate candidates named Dan Sullivan on the Alaska ballot plays out …

Tara Suter / The Hill:

Democrats criticize Turek over ad on trans issues — Some Democrats are criticizing Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek over his recent ad on transgender sports and gender affirming care. — “As a kid in a wheelchair, I faced my share of bullying. That's why I believe that no Iowan should face discrimination.

Discussion: Washington Post and Political.org

Axios:

Behind the Curtain: OpenAI's post-election power play — Right after Tuesday's midterms, OpenAI will unleash a policy and PR blitz to try to get in sync with the new Washington, including an effort to rebrand data centers as “AI compute campuses.” … OpenAI also aims to help frame …