NY Times:
With Ads, Imagery and Words, Republicans Inject Race Into Campaigns
Running ads portraying Black candidates as soft on crime — or as “different” or “dangerous” — Republicans have shed quiet defenses of such tactics for unabashed defiance.
In states as disparate as Wisconsin and New Mexico, ads have labeled a Black candidate as “different” and “dangerous” and darkened a white man’s hands as they portrayed him as a criminal.
Nowhere have these tactics risen to overtake the debate in a major campaign, but a survey of competitive contests, particularly those involving Black candidates, shows they are so widespread as to have become an important weapon in the 2022 Republican arsenal.
By the way, here’s the original problematic headline, same story.
NY Times:
Why the Price of Gas Has Such Power Over Us
“When prices go up, we have this feeling of oppression that we can’t do everything we want.”
It’s of course not the case that fuel prices alone dictate the optimism (or surliness) of the nation. But these patterns suggest that gas, distinct from other things we buy, wields real power over how Americans think about their personal circumstances, the wider economy and even the state of the nation. Yes, this year has been marked by economic uncertainty, Supreme Court shock waves, Jan. 6 revelations and enduring pandemic divides. But lurking in the background of it all has been the whipsawing price of gas.
And it is, by the way, now trending down again with two weeks to go to the election.
NY Times:
Why Natural Gas Prices in Europe Are Suddenly Plunging
A combination of full storage, lower demand and mild weather, among other factors, has eased concerns of a spike in heating and power prices — for now.
The benchmark European price of natural gas this week fell to a level that is more than 70 percent below its record high in August. One of the main reasons for the plunge in prices is that Europe, at least for now, has all the natural gas it needs.
That is because over the summer, Europe went on a global buying spree as Russia, its longtime main supplier, reduced its flow of natural gas.
Across the continent, governments and businesses have aggressively replenished how much gas they are holding in storage. At the urging of European Union officials and at a high cost, energy companies and governments have filled underground caverns and other facilities to more than 90 percent of capacity, compared with less than 80 percent year ago.
Geoffrey Skelley/FiveThirtyeight:
You're Not Imagining It: There Are Fewer Polls This Cycle
And a larger share come from partisan sources.
Simply put, there have been way fewer polls in 2022 than in past cycles. In 2010, pollsters conducted almost 1,700 polls of individual races for Senate, House and governor between early May and late October. By comparison, we have slightly more than half that number this time around — about 900. But this dropoff isn’t sudden; it’s been a more gradual decline over the past decade and a half, as the chart below shows:
Detroit Free Press:
Defense delivers closing remarks in Whitmer kidnap trial, jury to deliberate
The fate of three men accused of plotting to help kidnap the governor now rests in the hands of jurors, who are set to begin deliberations Tuesday.
After weeks of crafting a defense for Pete Musico, Paul Bellar, and Joseph Morrison, attorneys delivered their final words before the jury in court Monday. In closing, the defense stuck to its initial sentiments that these men were talking the talk, with no means or intention to walk the walk.
The three men are charged with providing material support for terrorism, a felony punishable by up to 20 years. Their participation, prosecutors said, was part of a larger scheme crafted by a militia group, the Wolverine Watchmen, to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home. The plot was broken up by the FBI in 2020.
Ryan Anderson/Twitter:
986,597 people have voted so far in Georgia's 2022 elections. Today's thread is an explainer of how folks can use those numbers to make whatever point they want.
You'll see a lot of people trying to tell you what these vote totals mean, usually in a way that lines up with what they want to be true.
Here are a few examples of how you can play with that.
Nick Riccardi/AP:
Conspiracy pushers target races for local election posts
As Auditor Paddy McGuire, a Democrat, navigated the room, he was bombarded with questions from voters, some of whom have spent the past two years marinating in paranoia about the 2020 presidential election. Were there illegal immigrants on the county’s voting rolls? What sort of surveillance was used to make sure the drop boxes where voters can deposit mail ballots are secure? Did he illegally delete election data?
One table ahead was Steve Duenkel, a retired Boeing worker and Republican who is challenging McGuire for the office that oversees elections in Mason County, population 66,000. He told voters that mail-voting, which Washington state has used for decades, was inherently risky and that they couldn’t be certain of who actually wins the election next month until there was further verification, like an audit.
A veteran election official who put off retirement this year because of what he sees as the risk Duenkel’s challenge presents, McGuire is incredulous at the campaign against him.
“It’s just hard, as somebody who grew up, as I said, believing in democratic values, that I’m being challenged by somebody who doesn’t believe that our elections here, locally or nationally, are free and fair,” McGuire said. “Particularly here in Mason County, where his party wins a lot more elections than my party does.”
A few of the worst debate moments:
