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Trump's new election ad condemned as 'racist, false fearmongering' – midterms live Trump's new election ad condemned as 'racist, false fearmongering' – midterms live
(35 minutes later)
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s lead over challenger Beto O’Rourke has narrowed once again, according to a new poll.
The Emerson Poll shows Cruz with a three point lead. Cruz gets 50% of the vote, compared to 47% for O’Rourke.
A poll Wednesday had Cruz up by 3.6 percentage points.
Democrats are scrambling to save the seat of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the New York Times reports.
The incumbent is by any measure a pretty bad candidate - he’s been charged with federal corruption offenses, which he escaped in a mistrial, and admonished by the Senate ethics committee for taking expensive gifts, including private jets and luxury resort stays, from a wealthy doctor for whom he then did favors.
A $30 million ad campaign from Bob Hugin, the Republican challenger, has reminded voters of his picadillos at every turn, according to the Times.
Polls show a close race, despite a large Democratic advantage in the state, and a Democratic Senate super PAC has started spending there.
An official event this week to announce hurricane recovery programs doubled as a chance for the state’s more popular Democrats, Sen. Cory Booker and Gov. Phil Murphy, to heap praise on their ethically challenged colleague.
Menendez garnered one of the year’s more memorable endorsements from the Star-Ledger, which urged voters to “Choke it down, and vote for Menendez.”
“This year’s U.S. Senate race presents the most depressing choice for New Jersey voters in a generation, with two awful candidates whose most convincing argument is that the other guy is unfit to serve,” the editorial said.
“It’s a miracle that Menendez escaped criminal conviction, and an act of profound narcissism that he stayed in the race despite this baggage, putting a Democratic seat at risk while Donald Trump sits in the White House,” the paper continued, but it called Hugin “no better,” citing his work for a shady pharmaceutical company.
In the end, the editorial board encouraged a reluctant vote for Menendez in order to rein in Donald Trump.
Donald Trump, who has once again been accused of racism for a new campaign ad featuring a Mexican immigrant who killed police officers, says he’s only being called racist because he’s winning.
“You know the word ‘racist’ is used about every Republican that’s winning,” Trump said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. “Anytime a Republican is leading, they take out the ‘R’ word, the ‘racist’ word. And I’m not anti-immigrant at all.”
In the same interview, Trump expressed confidence Republicans would keep control of the House, saying, “I think the blue wave is dead, frankly.”
Much attention has been paid to the wave of insurgent progressive challengers taking on more established Democrats.Much attention has been paid to the wave of insurgent progressive challengers taking on more established Democrats.
Politico takes a look at another side of this trend: the new candidates are drawing their support mostly from young, well-educated gentrifier types. It’s setting up a clash with the party’s more traditional base, which includes working class voters and people of color.Politico takes a look at another side of this trend: the new candidates are drawing their support mostly from young, well-educated gentrifier types. It’s setting up a clash with the party’s more traditional base, which includes working class voters and people of color.
As the party’s attention turns to the presidential nominating season, one of its biggest challenges will be navigating this culture war in its own ranks. The energy at the moment is with the liberal wing, centered around cities and college towns and on the coasts, its members mostly white and college-educated and far to the left on social and cultural issues compared with the rest of the party. But its voting majority is still more blue-collar and diverse, many of whom favor an incremental approach on social issues and who are more interested in preserving the clout of longtime powers like Crowley and Capuano than in notching symbolic victories for the “resistance.”As the party’s attention turns to the presidential nominating season, one of its biggest challenges will be navigating this culture war in its own ranks. The energy at the moment is with the liberal wing, centered around cities and college towns and on the coasts, its members mostly white and college-educated and far to the left on social and cultural issues compared with the rest of the party. But its voting majority is still more blue-collar and diverse, many of whom favor an incremental approach on social issues and who are more interested in preserving the clout of longtime powers like Crowley and Capuano than in notching symbolic victories for the “resistance.”
There’s overlap between the two groups of course. Many of the candidates in the progressive wing are themselves black and Latino, seeking to unseat white incumbents in heavily minority districts. And many young, well-educated voters are also people of color.There’s overlap between the two groups of course. Many of the candidates in the progressive wing are themselves black and Latino, seeking to unseat white incumbents in heavily minority districts. And many young, well-educated voters are also people of color.
But Politico writes of the emerging bloc:But Politico writes of the emerging bloc:
In evaluating candidates, these Democrats consider diversity, and hailing from outside the political establishment, hugely important.In evaluating candidates, these Democrats consider diversity, and hailing from outside the political establishment, hugely important.
Except that hailing from outside the establishment isn’t much of a selling point to people who actually need things from government, who rely on social services or federally enforced fairness-in-lending laws, or decent government jobs in their districts. For these voters, what matters is relationships, and an ability to deliver. And when they see a Crowley or a Capuano unseated by a fresh new challenger, they see decades of seniority vanishing for largely symbolic reasons.Except that hailing from outside the establishment isn’t much of a selling point to people who actually need things from government, who rely on social services or federally enforced fairness-in-lending laws, or decent government jobs in their districts. For these voters, what matters is relationships, and an ability to deliver. And when they see a Crowley or a Capuano unseated by a fresh new challenger, they see decades of seniority vanishing for largely symbolic reasons.
There’s even more false or misleading news circulating on social media now than there was during the 2016 presidential campaign, a new report found.There’s even more false or misleading news circulating on social media now than there was during the 2016 presidential campaign, a new report found.
Two years after Russia orchestrated an online disinformation campaign, the problem has only gotten worse, the Washington Post reports.Two years after Russia orchestrated an online disinformation campaign, the problem has only gotten worse, the Washington Post reports.
The University of Oxford study also found social media users were more likely to share “junk news” than “professional content,” defined as news articles from established media organizations or information from government agencies or political candidates.The University of Oxford study also found social media users were more likely to share “junk news” than “professional content,” defined as news articles from established media organizations or information from government agencies or political candidates.
The study looked at posts on Facebook and Twitter in September and October and found that “junk news” on Twitter made up about 25% of all links, an increase of 5 percentage points since 2016.The study looked at posts on Facebook and Twitter in September and October and found that “junk news” on Twitter made up about 25% of all links, an increase of 5 percentage points since 2016.
Twitter rejected the study’s approach, telling the Post that it classified as “junk” many sources that legitimately reflect Americans’ views.Twitter rejected the study’s approach, telling the Post that it classified as “junk” many sources that legitimately reflect Americans’ views.
Early vote totals in at least 17 states now surpass the total number of early and absentee votes cast in 2014, the Washington Post reports.Early vote totals in at least 17 states now surpass the total number of early and absentee votes cast in 2014, the Washington Post reports.
We looked at the early vote surge on Tuesday - at which point there were 11 states that had passed that mark.We looked at the early vote surge on Tuesday - at which point there were 11 states that had passed that mark.
In some states, early and absentee vote totals are on track to double compared to four years ago.In some states, early and absentee vote totals are on track to double compared to four years ago.
Hip hop artist Travis Scott is throwing his support behind Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the Texas Senate race, the Houston Chronicle reports.Hip hop artist Travis Scott is throwing his support behind Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the Texas Senate race, the Houston Chronicle reports.
Scott endorsed and campaigned with O’Rourke at a community center in west Houston over the weekend.Scott endorsed and campaigned with O’Rourke at a community center in west Houston over the weekend.
“All the kids, we just need to go out, hit these polls, attack these polls,” the rapper said, according to the Chronicle. “We need to just tell our peers, man, to step out and vote.”“All the kids, we just need to go out, hit these polls, attack these polls,” the rapper said, according to the Chronicle. “We need to just tell our peers, man, to step out and vote.”
O’Rourke has received a number of celebrity endorsements in his race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.O’Rourke has received a number of celebrity endorsements in his race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Donald Trump’s latest campaign ad has drawn comparisons to the notorious Willie Horton ad, which in 1988 blamed Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis for the release of Horton, a black man who was convicted of murder and then committed a rape during a furlough program in Massachusetts.Donald Trump’s latest campaign ad has drawn comparisons to the notorious Willie Horton ad, which in 1988 blamed Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis for the release of Horton, a black man who was convicted of murder and then committed a rape during a furlough program in Massachusetts.
Princeton historian Kevin Kruse argues in a series of tweets that it’s actually “a whole lot worse.” Political strategist Lee Atwater, he notes, at least had the shame to disguise the origin of the ad through outside groups, and denied having anything to do with it. This ad was posted directly by the President of the United States on his personal Twitter account.Princeton historian Kevin Kruse argues in a series of tweets that it’s actually “a whole lot worse.” Political strategist Lee Atwater, he notes, at least had the shame to disguise the origin of the ad through outside groups, and denied having anything to do with it. This ad was posted directly by the President of the United States on his personal Twitter account.
“It isn’t just that the president of the United States is personally pushing white nationalist politics in its ugliest and crudest form, it’s that he’s doing it proudly and with purpose,” Kruse said. “That is so, so much worse than ‘Willie Horton’ ever was.”“It isn’t just that the president of the United States is personally pushing white nationalist politics in its ugliest and crudest form, it’s that he’s doing it proudly and with purpose,” Kruse said. “That is so, so much worse than ‘Willie Horton’ ever was.”
A lot of people are comparing this new fear-mongering Trump ad to the infamous Willie Horton ad from 1988. In fact, it's a whole lot worse.https://t.co/VL2PlM4qSIA lot of people are comparing this new fear-mongering Trump ad to the infamous Willie Horton ad from 1988. In fact, it's a whole lot worse.https://t.co/VL2PlM4qSI
Democrats are in a strong position to take control of the House of Representatives, though some potential stumbling blocks remain, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll of battleground districts.Democrats are in a strong position to take control of the House of Representatives, though some potential stumbling blocks remain, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll of battleground districts.
In 69 congressional districts identified as competitive, the poll finds 50% of likely voters support the Democratic candidate, while 46% support the Republican.In 69 congressional districts identified as competitive, the poll finds 50% of likely voters support the Democratic candidate, while 46% support the Republican.
The advantage is small - the poll has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error - but significant when compared to 2016, when voters in the districts backed Republicans by a 15 point margin.The advantage is small - the poll has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error - but significant when compared to 2016, when voters in the districts backed Republicans by a 15 point margin.
Democrats are potentially vulnerable on the turnout front, since much of their support comes from groups that have historically turned out at lower rates. The party has a 21-point advantage among voters under 40, a 21-point advantage among independents who lean toward neither party, and a 40-point advantage among nonwhite voters, the poll found.Democrats are potentially vulnerable on the turnout front, since much of their support comes from groups that have historically turned out at lower rates. The party has a 21-point advantage among voters under 40, a 21-point advantage among independents who lean toward neither party, and a 40-point advantage among nonwhite voters, the poll found.
Additionally, the poll found that Donald Trump’s anti-immigration tactic may have some resonance with voters in battleground districts: 54% said the US should do more to stop illegal immigration.Additionally, the poll found that Donald Trump’s anti-immigration tactic may have some resonance with voters in battleground districts: 54% said the US should do more to stop illegal immigration.
Deep polarization was evident. At least two thirds of both Democrats and Republicans said that the other party winning would be “very bad” for the country.Deep polarization was evident. At least two thirds of both Democrats and Republicans said that the other party winning would be “very bad” for the country.
The House Republicans’ PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, launched a $200,000 last minute ad campaign to protect New York Rep. John Katko from a Democratic challenger, the Syracuse Post Standard reported.The House Republicans’ PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, launched a $200,000 last minute ad campaign to protect New York Rep. John Katko from a Democratic challenger, the Syracuse Post Standard reported.
Katko is one of several Republicans in New York who Democrats have hopes to knock off. They also include indicted Rep. Chris Collins, Hudson Valley Rep. John Faso, and Staten Island Rep. Dan Donovan.Katko is one of several Republicans in New York who Democrats have hopes to knock off. They also include indicted Rep. Chris Collins, Hudson Valley Rep. John Faso, and Staten Island Rep. Dan Donovan.
The GOP group’s ad attacks Democrat Dana Balter for her support for a single-payer healthcare system, also known as Medicare for All.The GOP group’s ad attacks Democrat Dana Balter for her support for a single-payer healthcare system, also known as Medicare for All.
The PAC is the latest political group to begin spending heavily in the Syracuse race, a possible sign the election may be more competitive than public polls have shown, the Post Standard reports.The PAC is the latest political group to begin spending heavily in the Syracuse race, a possible sign the election may be more competitive than public polls have shown, the Post Standard reports.
Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, condemned Donald Trump’s incendiary new campaign ad which falsely accused Democrats of allowing a Mexican man who murdered two police officers in California into the country.:Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, condemned Donald Trump’s incendiary new campaign ad which falsely accused Democrats of allowing a Mexican man who murdered two police officers in California into the country.:
“President Trump’s new racist, false and fearmongering ad represents his full-throated embrace of white nationalism as a closing strategy for the midterm elections. His demonizing of immigrants and his shameless devotion to the same ideology and worldview that motivated the shooter in Pittsburgh, the Trump supporter who allegedly mailed bombs to targets of Trump’s political rhetoric, and countless other acts of violence are nothing short of despicable.”“President Trump’s new racist, false and fearmongering ad represents his full-throated embrace of white nationalism as a closing strategy for the midterm elections. His demonizing of immigrants and his shameless devotion to the same ideology and worldview that motivated the shooter in Pittsburgh, the Trump supporter who allegedly mailed bombs to targets of Trump’s political rhetoric, and countless other acts of violence are nothing short of despicable.”
In southern Utah, a large population of Native Americans have for decades been blocked from political power by district gerrymandering. They’re hoping things will change this year, Jeremy Miller reports from Oljato, Utah.
The history of disenfranchisement has cast a long shadow over the Navajo Nation, one they hope they can throw off in the election.
Today, Native Americans, who lean heavily Democratic, make up a slight majority in San Juan county, which encompasses this part of Utah. But for decades they were “packed” by Republican officials into a single district in the county’s southernmost reaches, echoing other partisan gerrymandering efforts across the US.
In 2016, a federal judge ruled that San Juan county had violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by illegally drawing contorted voting districts to disenfranchise Native American voters. In a follow-up ruling last December, the judge handed down newly drawn district maps that give Navajos a majority by population in two of the county’s three commission districts. If Navajo candidates win next week, it could reshape the region.
The inequitable drawing of voting districts has meant that Navajos have never held a majority on the school board or county commission. This year, the midterm ballot in San Juan county includes two Navajo candidates for county commissioner. And James Courage Singer, the first Navajo to run for Congress in Utah, is in the running to represent Utah’s third House district.
The court’s redistricting order was followed by a legal settlement requiring mail-in ballots to be distributed in the Navajo language as well as in English. The settlement also requires San Juan county to open three satellite polling places, each staffed with a Navajo translator.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has a five point lead over his Republican challenger, a new poll found.
The poll by the MetroNews and Dominion Post shows 45% of voters backing Manchin and 40% for his opponent Patrick Morrisey.
Manchin is a conservative Democrat who could be vulnerable in a Trump-supporting state, but he has maintained a lead in polls and may have helped himself with more conservative voters by being the only Democrat to vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The world has only a dozen years to stave off catastrophic climate change, a dire report recently warned - but Democrats aren’t making the issue a priority this campaign season.
Democrats have no significant plans to tackle climate change if they gain control of Congress, the Guardian’s Emily Holden reports.
They may have their hands full just maintaining the status quo, as Donald Trump pursues one environmental rollback after another. Democrats plan oversight hearings on those rollbacks if they win.
The party’s efforts as currently planned won’t be enough to spur the rapid transformation in how society operates that leading scientists say is needed to spare humanity from the worst of rising temperatures, extreme weather and massive societal and economic disruptions.
But few in the party – or the big environmental groups that traditionally support it – are prepared to admit this outright.
“Obviously, a transformative government response to climate is clearly needed based on what we’re seeing from science. We have about 10 years left to really be doing something, but it’s hard [for us] to do because the Republican party is largely in denial on this,” said congressman John Delaney, a Maryland Democrat.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is skipping out on a debate Thursday night with his opponents, drawing the ire of the League of Women Voters.
After extensive sniping, Cuomo, who is heavily favored for re-election, agreed to one debate against Republican Marc Molinaro which took place in New York City.
But he won’t attend a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters in Albany, which features Molinaro as well as three smaller party candidates, the Albany Times Union reported.
“We are extremely frustrated that the governor does not feel a fair, nonpartisan, debate is an appropriate venue to speak directly to voters,” the group said in a statement. “This debate is for voters and open to the public. Five candidates will appear on the ballot next Tuesday. Voters have a right to hear from all five candidates before selecting the next governor of New York State on Election Day.
“If the governor truly wants to speak to voters, he should have made it his priority to attend the only upstate debate of all candidates.”
Despite the widespread anger over Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric, Democrats’ trouble getting Latino voters to the polls appears to persist, the Guardian’s Amanda Holpuch and Tom Dart report.
“The biggest misconception is that Latinos are monolithic and that they are single-issue voters and that if a big deal is made about immigration on either side, that’s what’s going to matter to Latinos,” said Stella Rouse, an associate professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland.
Since 1996, less than half of eligible Latino voters have cast ballots in presidential elections.
Seven weeks before the midterm elections, six out of 10 Latinos surveyed nationally said they had not been contacted by a candidate or political party to register to vote, according to the polling firm Latino Decisions. “They are not just going to come out because they are angry,” said Rouse.
The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington spent a week traveling the country to cover Donald Trump’s political rallies. He writes:
There is no understanding Donald Trump without understanding his rallies.
They are the crucible of the Trump revolution, the laboratory where he turns his alternative reality into a potion to be sold to his followers. It is at his rallies that his radical reimagining of the US constitution takes shape: not “We the people”, but “We my people”.
As America reels from a gunman killing 11 Jewish worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue; pipe bombs being sent to 14 of the US presidents’ leading opponents, and Trump declaring himself a nationalist and sending thousands of troops to the US border to assail unarmed asylum-seekers; the most powerful person on earth continues to rely on his rallies as seething cauldrons of passion.
And that’s not all. Trump is using them as a test run for his 2020 bid for re-election.
Which is why I have criss-crossed the country, from Montana and Wisconsin in the north to Texas in the south, Arizona in the west to North Carolina in the east, to observe the president delivering his message to his people.
Unions and other progressive groups took out a centerfold ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, urging Pennsylvanians to “vote against antisemitism,” Politico reports.
See the ad here. It comes days after an antisemitic gunman murdered 11 people at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.
The ad calls the massacre “the direct result of rhetoric that demonizes Jews and celebrates political violence,” citing a number of comments by Republicans the authors see as evoking antisemitic tropes.
“Antisemitism today is not always as overt as the Tree of Life Congregation shooter’s social media posts, but it is rampant, and it has been embraced by President Donald Trump and others with influential positions in our country,” the ad says.
Donald Trump has tweeted a racially inflammatory video falsely accusing Democrats of allowing a man who murdered two police officers in California into the country.
The video, posted on social media on Wednesday, is a marker of the increasingly divisive, racially prejudiced rhetoric emanating from the White House in the run-up to the elections, and has been branded by some as one of the most racially charged national political adverts in decades.
It depicts Luis Bracamontes who in April this year was sentenced to death for the murder of two sheriff’s deputies in Sacramento, California. Bracamontes was in the country illegally at the time of the 2014 murder and had been deported twice in the past.
The video falsely claims: “Illegal immigrant, Luis Bracamontes, killed our people! ... Democrats let him into our country ... Democrats let him stay.”
It has drawn comparisons to the notorious “Willie Horton” campaign adverts released in support of George HW Bush’s 1988 election campaign. Horton, an African American, was convicted of murder and then committed a rape during a furlough program in Massachusetts while Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis was governor.
The advert has long been regarded as one of the most divisive in modern presidential history for deliberately stoking fears over race and security.
But the Horton adverts were not directly endorsed by the Bush campaign, unlike the video published by Trump yesterday.
On Wednesday evening Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez told CNN the video was “divisive Donald at his worst”.
What’s the most important issue in midterms races? For many Democrats, it’s healthcare, the Guardian’s Chris McGreal reports from Kansas City, Missouri. Republicans, meanwhile, are stressing illegal immigration:
Where Republicans once thought attacks on Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms were good fodder for their political campaigns, now they find themselves on the defensive over the issue in key seats. Candidates for Congress, state governor and local offices are hurting their GOP opponents with attacks on their voting records in opposing Obamacare, saying they threaten the protection the law offers such as those for people with pre-existing conditions.
Republican attempts to shift the debate to fears about illegal immigration, which polls show is the most common concern among the party’s voters, have been bolstered in the last week of the midterm campaign by Donald Trump’s dispatch of thousands of troops to the Mexican border, ostensibly to protect it from a caravan of migrant Central Americans who are several weeks away, and his threat to unilaterally overturn the right to citizenship for everyone born in the US, a move that is probably unconstitutional.
A Pew Research Center poll this month put illegal immigration as the highest ranked issue among national problems for Republican electors, although that does not mean it is the single most important factor in deciding who to vote for. At the same time, drug addiction was in second place and more than half of Republicans put affordability of healthcare on their list of the country’s biggest problems.
Another poll, by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found immigration was the single most important issue among only 25% of Republicans in shaping how they vote. Among all voters, healthcare came out on top.
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live midterms coverage.
We’re now five days away from election day, when Americans will decide whether Republicans or Democrats control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and governorships around the country. They’ll deal a blow to Donald Trump, or empower him for the next two years.
We’ll be bringing you updates from our reporters on the trail, news from other sources, and the latest polls and forecasts. Stay tuned.