Independent (before the final):
Meet the ‘pro-fish’ Democrat who is leading against Sarah Palin in deep red Alaska
There are a couple of things that immediately stand out about Ms Peltola’s campaign. Firstly, she refuses to attack her opponent in the manner that Americans have grown used to in recent years — in fact, she has made bipartisanship a centrepiece of her strategy. Second, she is perhaps the most outwardly pro-fish candidate currently running for office anywhere in the country (more on that later).
Joe Biden took on the crazies in the GOP last night. Who was the audience? Everyone who isn’t crazy. More to be written, but plenty to discuss.
Mike Madrid/Twitter with interesting observations on Kevin McCarthy’s speech pre-Biden last night:
1. The location matters. Manufacturing facility in Scranton PA is a direct message to blue collar base voters. This is a base election for GOP now. He’s not in the suburbs with soccer moms - he’s with blue collar men.
2. Biden will be making appearances in PA also. That’s a sign of confidence. Not often a first term Prez is out on the road in the mid-terms.
Both parties have laid their marker on FEAR. How scared is your base? Anger, yes…but anger is a function of fear.
…
5. Crime is where they’ll make their stand. Border, democracy and street crime will be the oldies they drag out again.
Interesting because Biden will make a full frontal assault on this issue in a few minutes.
6. Bottom line is this has become a base turnout election for the GOP. Not fighting for college educated voters like in VA & NJ, they’re pleading to blue collar men to stay with them & hold the line.
Not the speech McCarthy wanted to give 65 days out but it’s all he’s got.
In honor of Rep-elect Peltola, how to be pro-fish:
WSJ:
Democratic Midterm Prospects Improve as Races Heat Up, WSJ Poll Finds
Independent voters, a key to victory in competitive general elections, are now tilting toward Democrats
Democrats hold a slight edge over Republicans, 47% to 44%, when voters are asked which party they would support in their congressional district if the election were held today, a lead that is within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. Republicans had a five-point advantage in March.
The Democratic gains come from increased support among independents, women and younger voters. Black and Hispanic voters, who have traditionally favored Democrats heavily, are also more solidly supportive of the party than they were earlier this year.
Among political independents, typically the key to victory in close elections, more voters now favor a Democratic candidate for Congress than a Republican, 38% to 35%. In March, Republicans led among independents by 12 percentage points.
Data for Progress:
The Biden Administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan Is Popular and Will Benefit the Economy
Last week, President Biden and the Department of Education unveiled a three-part plan to address the growing burden that the student loan debt crisis has placed on American families. Prior to the plan’s announcement, Data for Progress polling had demonstrated strong support for various student loan forgiveness proposals.
New Data for Progress polling conducted from August 26-28, after details of Biden’s plan were released, shows that a majority of voters support all of its major provisions. Moreover, our findings provide further evidence that this policy could have long-lasting economic benefits and that claims it will substantially worsen inflation are likely overstated.
Politico:
Defiant Rick Scott explains ‘strategic disagreement’ with McConnell over battle for Senate
“If you trash talk our candidates … you hurt our chances of winning, and you hurt our candidates’ ability to raise money,” the Senate Republican campaign chief told
Mitch McConnell is among the myriad Republicans questioning the Senate GOP’s quality of candidates in the midterms. Rick Scott wants everyone to stop doubting his recruits.
“Sen. McConnell and I clearly have a strategic disagreement here … We have great candidates,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee chair said in an interview Wednesday. “He wants to do the same thing I want to do: I want to get a majority. And I think it’s important that we’re all cheerleaders for our candidates.”
This same Rick Scott knows scams when he sees one.
Pew Research:
Abortion Rises in Importance as a Voting Issue, Driven by Democrats
Biden job approval remains low; a declining share of voters say he will be a factor in their midterm vote
A majority of registered voters (56%) say the issue of abortion will be very important in their midterm vote, up from 43% in March. Virtually all of the increase has come among Democrats: 71% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters rate abortion as very important; fewer than half (46%) said this in March. By contrast, views among Republicans and GOP leaners have shown almost no change since then (41% now, 40% then).
Yevgenia Albats/Moscow Times:
Six Months of War: What Putin Wanted; What Putin Got
Is Russia safer, richer, and more powerful now?
So, the first, second and third goals weren’t met. Maybe "U.S. dominance" in Eastern Europe has been undermined and NATO has been pushed away from Russia's borders?
It certainly doesn’t look like it. A year before the war, in February 2021, there were 4,650 soldiers and officers under NATO command, and now there are almost ten times as many — 40,000. In the near future, the number of NATO troops will increase to 300,000. This, military analysts say, is the largest increase in NATO strength since the end of the Cold War. The border between Russia and NATO countries also doubled after Finland and Sweden joined the alliance — from 1,207 to 2,575 km.
And now — the cost.
ISW:
RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 31
The Ukrainian military and government are repeating requests to avoid any reporting or forecasting of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, a measure that is essential if the counteroffensive includes feints or misdirections.[5] It is of course possible that the counteroffensive will fail, that any particular breakthrough attempt that fails was not a feint, or that the Ukrainian military has made some error in planning, timing, or execution that will undermine the success of its operations. But the situation in which Ukraine finds itself calls for a shrewd and nuanced counteroffensive operation with considerable misdirection and careful and controlled advances. It is far more likely in these very early days, therefore, that a successful counteroffensive would appear to be stalling or unsuccessful for some time before its success became manifest.