During the heat of a Presidential election cycle, voters might forget that a lot of other offices are on the ballot, from local to state to federal seats in Congress. And although the office of the President is tied up in the archaic constraints of the Electoral College, all the other races will be decided by popular vote.
Which party prevails in these “down-ballot” measures matters and the control of Congress will play a major role in whether the new President will be able to get anything substantive done.
But when it comes to the titanic battle at the top of the ballot, we’ve reached the point where hand-to-hand combat has started.
In Georgia, Republicans are trying to force hand-counting of ballots already processed by machines. In Nebraska, they are launching an effort to change the way that state’s electoral votes are allocated, which is by Congressional district and not winner-take-all as in most states.
In North Carolina, Democrats are waging a major ad campaign tying Trump to the GOP’s disgraced gubernatorial candidate, which should not be hard to do because Trump hand-picked him.
And in Arizona, Republicans have taken several steps designed to suppress the votes of up to 100,000 voters.
These developments matter because Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina are swing states, and the Nebraska district including Omaha leans blue in an otherwise deep-red state.
While all the national action focuses on the seven battlegrounds plus Omaha, nobody is paying much attention to the rest os us. So just out of curiosity, I checked the polls in the six largest non-swing states yesterday.
No one expects an upset in these six, but it may be noteworthy that Harris is up by double digits in California (+25.3), Illinois (+16) and New York (+12.5); while Trump has single-digit leads in Texas (+5.9), Florida (+4.2) and Ohio (+9.5).
HEADLINES:
Top Hezbollah commanders among 37 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut (NBC)
Israel Bombards Hezbollah as Group’s Leader Vows Retaliation (NYT)
Israel’s clash with Hezbollah strains U.S. effort to prevent wider war (WP)
The lethal hack of Hezbollah's Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices' path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers may have few assurances about what they are getting. (Reuters)
Israeli attack on Gaza school sheltering displaced Palestinians kills 22 (Al Jazeera)
Pro-Trump Georgia election board votes to require hand counts of ballots (WP)
Trump and Vance’s Springfield smear is a microcosm of their entire campaign (Guardian)
I’m the Republican Governor of Ohio. Here Is the Truth About Springfield. (NYT)
Kamala Harris’s post-debate bounce is now visible in the polls (Economist)
Voters split on whether Harris or Trump would do a better job on the economy: AP-NORC poll (AP)
Could Harris Take Florida and North Carolina? The Data Suggests She Can. (The Nation)
Trump talks to Nebraska lawmaker in push to change state’s electoral vote allocation (WP)
Trump, Harris tied in new CJ poll of likely voters in North Carolina (Carolina Journal)
Donald Trump said he would blame Jewish voters if he loses the election. (WP)
‘Americans Will End Up Paying the Tariffs’ (Atlantic)
Who do voters really like? Taylor Swift (Seattle Times)
Microsoft deal would reopen Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power AI (WP)
A 'golden age' of rat research may be here. What the often unwanted companions can teach us about us (NPR)
Parents Seize Creative Control Of 3rd-Grade Art Project (The Onion)
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