02b U.S. Politics – Progressive

American Undergrads Becoming Violent Progressives

pgnewser October 9, 2026 0

Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9/11– thefederalist.com
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EXCERPT:

Just weeks after the United States commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, a new poll reveals more than one in five undergraduate students believe America deserved the attacks, while nearly half of all undergraduate students think physical violence is justified to stop so-called hate speech.

The Buckley Institute’s 2026 National Undergraduate Student Survey polled 803 American undergraduate students between September 5 and 14.

A shocking 22 percent agreed that America deserved 9/11, including 28 percent of liberal students. Notably, leftist streamer Hasan Piker — who campaigned with Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and cozies up to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — has said America deserved 9/11. Meanwhile, Aber Kawas, a Democratic Socialist of America member and nominee for the New York state Senate, has said that America brought on 9/11 because of capitalism, alleged white supremacy and racism, and alleged Islamophobia.

The poll also found that 45 percent of American college students believe physical violence can be justified to stop hate speech — among which 54 percent of liberals agree compared to 30 percent of conservatives.

“Interestingly, 72% of those who agree that physical violence can be justified to stop hate speech also agree that hate speech is protected by the First Amendment,” The Buckley Institute found.

Mike Johnson voices uncertainty about his future if GOP loses control– www.politico.com

pgnewser October 9, 2026 0

Mike Johnson voices uncertainty about his future if GOP loses control– www.politico.com
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EXCERPT:

Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that he could leave Congress if Democrats regain control — the furthest he has gone in acknowledging what he would do in a GOP House minority.

“Heaven forbid, if we lose this majority or whatever, I don’t know what my next chapter of life is,” Johnson said in an interview with Fox News posted this week. “If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that with equal fervor.”

In the past, the Louisiana Republican has steered clear of the hypothetical.

Johnson also did not rule out a run at minority leader, instead telling Fox News that House Republicans will hold onto the majority and he will stay speaker.

“I’m going to be the speaker in the next Congress,” Johnson said, when asked if he would run. “I’m not going to talk about the scenario where we don’t win the House, because I am laser-focused on winning the House.”

With the midterms less than a month away, Republicans are doing everything they can to salvage their chances of maintaining their majority in an unfavorable political environment.

As some Republicans privately worry about their chances of holding onto the House, many believe jockeying for a GOP minority leader race is already underway.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan are potential names floating around to take over. House Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) had also been named as an option, though he could also run to stay as whip.

Centrist Democrats are afraid of expanding the Supreme Court– www.dailykos.com

pgnewser October 9, 2026 0

Centrist Democrats are afraid of expanding the Supreme Court– www.dailykos.com
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EXCERPT:

Oh boy, here we go with this shit.

“Third Way, the center-left think tank, is urging moderate Democrats to back common-sense reforms to prevent the left from pushing court expansion, an unpopular position that could motivate the G.O.P. base and alienate independents,” reported Puck News. “Instead, Third Way executive Lanae Erickson is suggesting that Dems pass legislation that would place 18-year term limits on justices—a cadence that would eventually lead to the appointment of two new justices every presidential term.”

Let’s call this a “yes … and?” situation. Term limits are a fine idea for judges, especially when coupled with strict ethics reforms, which Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is ready to unleash if Democrats win the Senate this November.

But term limits aren’t enough, and I’m not sure where the notion that court expansion is “an unpopular opinion” is coming from. A recent Marquette Law School poll paints a different picture:

Yes, term limits and ethics are overwhelmingly popular and should be the first step. But expanding the court is still supported by a majority of Americans. Is it contentious and controversial? Of course. Republicans won’t surrender their ill-gotten Supreme Court gains lightly. But it’s a divided country, and attitudes toward the court are aptly aligned with our nation’s partisan split.

There is no reason that Democrats shouldn’t expand the court if given the opportunity.

The stakes are simple: Democrats can pass all the popular legislation they want, but it means little if a right-wing Supreme Court can simply strike it down—and continue rolling back rights that Americans have relied on for generations. And no, there’s no shrugging their shoulders about it. Democrats can’t simultaneously claim they’re powerless because of the court and also refuse to use the constitutional power they have to reshape it.

Despite this, Third Way has been surprisingly progressive of late, embracing an economic populism that includes dramatically expanding affordable housing, taking on entrenched corporate interests, and even declaring healthcare a “basic human right” while pushing automatic coverage for everyone.

Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again– abcnews.com

pgnewser October 9, 2026 0

Deported to Central African Republic, a transgender woman who lived openly in Miami is hiding again– abcnews.com
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EXCERPT:

DAKAR, Senegal — In Miami, Daniela Fuentes styled hair for clients and performed in drag at a nightclub called Azúcar. She wore her blond wig in public and dressed as the woman she had known herself to be since adolescence in Cuba.

Now, more than 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers) away in the Central African Republic, she wears men’s clothes, lowers her voice and tries not to draw attention to the breasts she developed after beginning hormone treatment as a teenager. As part of U.S. efforts to deport people to countries other than their own, authorities sent her Aug. 29 to a place where she has no ties and where advocacy groups have reported arbitrary detention, torture, and other rights violations of sexual and gender minorities.

“Everything is difficult here because I have to hide who I am,” said Fuentes, a 32-year-old transgender woman living on a compound she rarely leaves, sharing a room with four Cuban men also deported from the U.S. “I don’t know this place, the people or the language, and I have no idea what will happen to me.”

The Central African Republic — one of the world’s poorest countries, a place with a history of conflict that the U.S. State Department advises American travelers to avoid — is one of at least 12 African nations that signed agreements to accept “third-country” deportations, a policy the U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed to continue, at least temporarily.

In the Central African Republic — where transgender people have little to no legal protections and are marginalized in much of society — Fuentes dons her wig only in the privacy of her bathroom. She described disguising herself as protection, first in U.S. detention and now in a country she first heard of when she was already headed there on a deportation flight.

“My whole life, my whole identity, was taken away from me,” Fuentes said.

Justice Democrats announce new executive director– www.politico.com

pgnewser October 9, 2026 0

Justice Democrats announce new executive director– www.politico.com
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EXCERPT:

The progressive political action committee Justice Democrats has appointed Rev. Hodari Williams as its new executive director. The change sets the organization up to hone a civil rights message ahead of the 2028 election cycle, Williams told POLITICO.

His appointment, shared first with POLITICO, comes at a time when self-proclaimed progressives (and socialists) are flooding the scene. The PAC has had its most successful election cycle ever, helping seven candidates — including Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Melat Kiros in Colorado and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York — defeat incumbents in the primaries. While those candidates are heavily favored to win on Election Day, the fates of three other Justice Democrats candidates, including Tennessee’s state Rep. Justin Pearson, remain less certain going into November.

At one point, the group tried to get Williams to run for office. Though he declined, Williams said now is the right time to force change.

“America and its present-day politicians, from my experience, have a high blood pressure of promises and anemia of political courage,” Williams said in an interview, using a common Kenyan political expression. “Right now, JD is producing candidates who have the political courage to deal with the crises that are existing in marginalized and disenfranchised communities, and I want to be a part of that.”

Williams, 46, was born and raised in Lakewood, New Jersey. His parents were activists and community organizers who raised him on the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. After graduating from Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina, with his bachelor’s degree, he joined the NAACP as a field organizer for voter rights and empowerment while pursuing his Master’s of Divinity at the Interdenominational Theological Center. In his time with the NAACP, Williams traveled across the Black Belt, where he said he witnessed poverty and inequity up close.

“Civil rights traditionally has been something that people have tried to separate from progressivism … but these movements are inseparable,” said Williams. “What I witnessed in the South as a worker in voter rights and voter empowerment and education, and as a regional representative for the NAACP, was that the conditions that created inequity still existed and needed to be confronted and challenged.”

“They hit us bad.” Newly obtained footage, witness accounts detail Iran attack — and U.S. retreat — at major post in Kuwait– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser October 9, 2026 0

“They hit us bad.” Newly obtained footage, witness accounts detail Iran attack — and U.S. retreat — at major post in Kuwait– www.cbsnews.com
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EXCERPT:

Washington — New videos obtained exclusively by CBS News show Iranian attacks on a major U.S. military base in Kuwait as the war with Iran kicked off seven months ago. American forces faced ballistic missiles, drones and what witnesses described as Iranian F-5 fighter jets.

The footage obtained by CBS News was recorded by a person stationed on the ground at Camp Buehring, and captures the moments of impact and their explosive aftermath. Damage to buildings and military equipment can also be seen in the videos.

The attacks on Camp Buehring offer a window into the strain Iranian attacks placed on American forces during the opening days of the war. CBS News has learned that soldiers defending the base ran critically low on .50-caliber ammunition as some soldiers were repositioned into the Udari Desert in Kuwait. Two soldiers were injured by lightning there in late April, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.

Contacted by CBS News, U.S. Central Command, the primary unit which oversees American military operations across the Middle East, declined to comment.

“The Single Most Toxic Issue in the Midterms”: How America Turned on Data Centers. – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com

pgnewser October 8, 2026 0

“The Single Most Toxic Issue in the Midterms”: How America Turned on Data Centers. – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com
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EXCERPT:

Tim Murphy joins Garrison Hayes to break down the bipartisan revolt against data centers.

America is hopelessly divided along party lines. That’s a stubborn fact, we’re told, and the polling bears it out: Democrats dislike Republicans and Republicans dislike Democrats, in almost precisely the same proportions.

But every election produces surprising coalitions that defy entrenched partisanship. In these midterms, left and right have found something so commonly loathed that politicians across the country are flip-flopping in real time.

Mother Jones has been tracking the backlash to data centers on the ground long before the water-guzzling behemoths became the country’s bête noire. The AI boom, with its insatiable need for computing, has unleashed a power grab by tech billionaires. “Data centers have replaced megayachts as the preferred theater of oligarchic status signaling,” national correspondent Tim Murphy wrote in his big Mother Jones investigation into hyperscale data centers and the communities they land on. “Oligarchy is now more than an idea; it is a place.”

More Ken Paxton audio leaked after he was heard saying Trump was a problem– www.independent.co.uk

pgnewser October 8, 2026 0

More Ken Paxton audio leaked after he was heard saying Trump was a problem– www.independent.co.uk
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EXCERPT:

More controversial audio of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at a Washington fundraiser has leaked, revealing the Senate candidate’s thoughts on what to cut in the federal budget.

The latest audio leak comes after Paxton, whom Trump endorsed, was caught blaming the president’s war in Iran for “dragging” on his campaign at the same private event last month.

When asked about reducing the federal deficit, Paxton told lobbyists and donors, “Making some reasonable cuts to mandatory spending — you’re gonna have to do it. Or there is no solution. That’s just the reality. We have to suck it up,” according to the new audio recording obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Mandatory spending — which is comprised of programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — makes up the bulk of the federal budget. In the 2025 fiscal year, the government spent $4.2 trillion on such programs, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Paxton blamed both Republican and Democratic presidents for the “crazy” spending, which he warned will “bankrupt” the U.S., according to the recording.

Alito says he won’t retire during lame-duck session– www.politico.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

Alito says he won’t retire during lame-duck session– www.politico.com
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EXCERPT:

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said he plans to stay on the court through next year, brushing aside speculation that he could retire early and let President Donald Trump fill his seat after the election but before a new Congress is sworn in next year.

“I intend to stick around through this term,” Alito, 76, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “I made that decision many months ago.”

The Supreme Court began its new term on Monday, which will last through next June.

Alito, the second-oldest justice on the bench, was in the news last week after telling CBS News that he considered retiring this year and will do so again in 2027.

Donald Trump Calls Candidate Annie Andrews Anti-Trans Slur– www.usmagazine.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

Donald Trump Calls Candidate Annie Andrews Anti-Trans Slur– www.usmagazine.com
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EXCERPT:

President Donald Trump has sparked controversy once again after using an anti-trans slur to attack Democratic South Carolina Senate candidate Annie Andrews.

“Annie ‘Trannie’ Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina,” Trump, 80, wrote via TruthSocial on Monday, October 5. “For years, my dear friend Lindsey [Graham] would say that, ‘Darline is the finest, most reliable and one of the smartest people I have ever known.’ He would then always add, ‘Also, the most loyal!’ Oftentimes I would be upset with Lindsey for saying this, because I thought I had all of those qualities.”

The commander in chief continued, “In any event, Darline is a high quality person, maybe the Highest, and Annie Trannie is not, in particular, as it pertains to representing the Values of the Great People of South Carolina.”

Trump claimed Andrews, 45, is in favor of “transgender for everyone, open borders, defunding the police, high taxes, a weak military and will absolutely fight to take your guns away” — a common attack the president uses against Democratic opponents without any evidence.

President of the American Federation of Teachers Records Herself Throwing A Temper Tantrum, Claims Illegals Should Not Be Deported– www.louderwithcrowder.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

President of the American Federation of Teachers Records Herself Throwing A Temper Tantrum, Claims Illegals Should Not Be Deported– www.louderwithcrowder.com
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EXCERPT:

 

Randi Weingarten is the President of the American Federation of Teachers. She believes enforcing immigration laws is morally “despicable,” so much so that she filmed herself throwing a hissy fit, screeching about why you do not deserve national security. But what else is new?

The American Federation of Teachers is one of the largest labor unions in the country. Do you need any more proof that our education system is captured?

According to Weingarten, “people have not committed any crimes,” referring to the very people who have broken federal immigration laws to be here. This is, again, by definition a crime. So, when she claims people being deported have not committed a crime, that is false, as the very term is “illegal alien.” But this is precisely why she calls them immigrants instead of illegal immigrants or foreign nationals, as the intent is to confuse the American people.

 

– YouTube www.youtube.com

 

Trump Has A Truly Deranged Message About Iran Destroying U.S. Cities– crooksandliars.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

Trump Has A Truly Deranged Message About Iran Destroying U.S. Cities– crooksandliars.com
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EXCERPT:

Donald J. Trump suggested during a campaign rally in Nebraska that allowing Iran to “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego would be an acceptable cost of the ongoing war.

While discussing the conflict, Trump described its economic impact as a “small price to pay” to keep the country safe. He then bizarrely applied that logic concerning the possibility of an attack on a major American city, telling the crowd, “They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”

Even more disturbing was the crowd’s response: they cheered rather than recoiled. We’re used to Trump’s deranged remarks, but there’s something extremely disturbing about the idea of thousands of people enthusiastically applauding the notion that millions of their fellow Americans could be sacrificed as an acceptable “price to pay.”

Trump’s comments immediately drew condemnation from California officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president “deranged and dangerous,” while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said a president’s responsibility is to protect Americans, not threaten them or encourage attacks against them.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria similarly rejected the idea that his city could be treated as collateral damage, saying San Diego residents are “not expendable” and should not be considered a “small price to pay.”

Both cities overwhelmingly rejected him at the ballot box. That’s not a coincidence.

New data shows GOP faces a midterms blowout– www.dailykos.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

New data shows GOP faces a midterms blowout– www.dailykos.com
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EXCERPT:

There are 29 days until the midterms, and Republicans’ chances of holding their congressional majorities have gone from bad to worse.

Democrats’ lead on the generic ballot has continued to grow, now sitting at 8.9% according to analyst Nate Silver—a crushing blow to GOP operatives who expected polling to tighten in the home stretch.

President Donald Trump speaks beside Ohio’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during a rally on Oct. 3 in Ohio.AP

Meanwhile, The New York Times released a spate of surveys over the weekend showing Democrats winning Senate contests in Alaska, Ohio, and Texas, a tie in Kansas, and Republicans up by just 1 point in Iowa. If that holds, Democrats would win control of the Senate, as North Carolina is also slated to flip.

And Gallup released its quarterly party affiliation data Monday, revealing that 50% of the country identifies with or leans Democratic, while just 39% identifies as or leans Republican.

That 11-point spread is even larger than the 10-point lead Democrats held in the same survey in 2006, a midterm election cycle when the party rode a massive wave of discontent with then-President George W. Bush to flip both chambers of Congress.

And it’s just 1 point shy of the lead Democrats held in 2008, when voters furious with Bush’s Iraq War and his crashing economy created a blue tsunami that gave Democrats 257 House seats and a supermajority in the Senate.

Trump Ordered The FBI To Investigate Peaceful Protesters– www.politicususa.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

Trump Ordered The FBI To Investigate Peaceful Protesters– www.politicususa.com
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EXCERPT:

 

A whistleblower has come forward to allege that the FBI investigated peaceful anti-ICE and border patrol protesters after they were ordered to do so by Donald Trump.

PoliticusUSA is 100% independent news and opinion. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.

In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche, Sen. Alex Padilla wrote:

On October 5, 2026, my office received the attached protected whistleblower disclosure (the Disclosure) through the Government Accountability Project that reveals serious allegations of unconstitutional investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) targeting protestors’ First Amendment activity.

According to the attached Disclosure, the White House, former and current DOJ leadership, and FBI leadership directed the Los Angeles FBI Field Office to open two different investigations in 2025 based solely on individuals’ participation in First Amendment activity—in violation of agency policy and constitutional protections.

Obama to campaign with El-Sayed and Benson in Michigan– www.politico.com

pgnewser October 7, 2026 0

Obama to campaign with El-Sayed and Benson in Michigan– www.politico.com
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EXCERPT:

Former President Barack Obama will campaign in Detroit with Michigan Democrats later this month, giving the party a high-profile boost ahead of the start of the state’s early voting period.

Obama is set to join Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson and other candidates on Oct. 24, the state party announced Monday.

“It is my honor and privilege to announce that President @BarackObama is joining us on the trail in Detroit on Saturday, October 24,” El-Sayed wrote on social media. “Get. Ready.”

The event comes 10 days before Election Day, with Democrats defending an open Senate seat and the governor’s office.

El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, faces Republican Rep. John James in the open governor’s race.

Since leaving the White House, Obama has remained one of the party’s most popular figures, both nationally and among the party grassroots. He has campaigned in past cycles, but he’s made few public stops on the trail this year.

He previously campaigned in Texas with Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico and gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, and appeared in a campaign ad with Iowa Senate nominee Josh Turek.

The former president is also set to headline a Washington-area fundraiser Wednesday for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, his first with the party’s Senate campaign arm this election cycle.

 

US ban on $1bn of Canadian goods takes effect in Trump’s latest retaliation | Business and Economy News– www.aljazeera.com

pgnewser October 1, 2026 0

US ban on $1bn of Canadian goods takes effect in Trump’s latest retaliation | Business and Economy News– www.aljazeera.com
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EXCERPT:

The United States is implementing a ban on nearly $1bn in imports from Canada, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles.

The ban took effect early Tuesday and is likely to further strain already-tense relations between the two neighbours.

Ottawa and Washington DC have long been allies and trade partners, with approximately $880bn worth of annual two-way trade. That relationship has been upended during US President Donald Trump’s second term as he unleashed tariffs on most trading partners, including Canada, and referred to the northern neighbour as the 51st state of the US.

Most recently, the US slapped 50 percent levies on Canadian goods worth $20bn, including dairy and motorcycles, on August 22 after trade negotiations failed. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney retaliated, saying Ottawa will match US tariffs “dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses”. Canada levied tariffs of 15 percent, 25 percent and 50 percent on US exports of a similar value.

Tuesday’s ban was Trump’s punishment for Canada’s retaliatory tariffs.

“The impact of such a ban will be minor, it is only $1bn while we trade hundreds of billions with Canada,” Professor Gary Shields at Wayne State University’s School of Business told Al Jazeera. “It is, however, rather astonishing how President Trump treats our allies in Canada and Europe, while rolling out the red carpet for China’s dictator when he visited the US last week”.

Chuck Schumer projects confidence as GOP money washes over Senate Democrats– www.politico.com

pgnewser October 1, 2026 0

Chuck Schumer projects confidence as GOP money washes over Senate Democrats– www.politico.com
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EXCERPT:

A tidal wave of Republican money is threatening to soak Democrats in the final stretch of the midterm campaign, and Chuck Schumer has a message for his party: Keep your sheets dry.

While the Senate minority leader warned in an interview Wednesday that they shouldn’t be “overconfident,” he painted a rosy picture where Democrats have the “wind in our sails” and are well positioned to overcome an “almost obscene” GOP funding advantage.

“Here’s how I’d sum up the election: Can enormous amounts of Republican money beat a Democratic enormous advantage in much better candidates and a much better political climate?” Schumer asked in his Capitol Hill office. “I think we win.”

Those assurances are emblematic of the rising confidence many Senate Democrats are now expressing as they prepare to leave for a seven-week recess. After months where a tough GOP-tilted map and a series of nasty primary battles cast a shadow over their battle to retake the majority, some are more openly acknowledging they could return to Washington as victors.

“It certainly feels like it’s going to be a wave election, and not for good reasons,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “This president’s domestic and foreign policy has gone off the rails. People are paying more than ever before for basic necessities like gasoline, and we have the most corrupt White House in the history of the country. So that’s where we are.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he was “increasingly hopeful,” while Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said Democrats are “in a position to earn the trust of voters across the country, win majorities in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.”

Schumer, like most Senate Democrats, is being careful not to predict outright they will flip the chamber. They need to win four seats on net, including several that President Donald Trump won at least once.

U.S. troops leave Iraq, but Iran-backed militias’ future is uncertain– www.latimes.com

pgnewser October 1, 2026 0

U.S. troops leave Iraq, but Iran-backed militias’ future is uncertain– www.latimes.com
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EXCERPT:

BEIRUT  — America opened its “forever war” in Iraq more than 23 years ago with “Shock and Awe.” It ended it on Wednesday with little of either, even as the legacy of that conflict — which saw Iraq endure sectarian bloodbaths, civil war and an insurgency that made Baghdad the car bomb capital of the world — continues to cast its shadow on the country today.

President Trump, summing up the U.S. role in Iraq as “a very expensive excursion into Hell,” said, “This day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq…. We’re getting the hell out of there.”

It was the second time U.S. forces have pulled out of Iraq. The first withdrawal took place in 2011, capping the occupation that began in 2003 and toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and which resulted in Iraqi deaths that number 110,000 to four times greater and the loss of about 4,500 U.S. service members.

But three years later, Islamic State jihadis scythed through wide swaths of Iraq, scooping up U.S.-supplied materiel — as Iraqi troops literally ran away — and seizing control of nearly a third of the country. The U.S., this time at the Iraqi government’s request, led a coalition in a campaign — named Inherent Resolve — that by 2017 had destroyed Islamic State’s caliphate and driven most of its fighters into Syria. Since then, Iraqi forces have fought Islamic State remnants engaged in a low-level insurgency around the country’s remote areas.

GOP sees 5 once-competitive House races as ‘all but lost’– www.dailykos.com

pgnewser October 1, 2026 0

GOP sees 5 once-competitive House races as ‘all but lost’– www.dailykos.com
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EXCERPT:

With 34 days until the midterms, Republican strategists see at least five U.S. House seats are a lost cause for their party as President Donald Trump’s abysmal approval rating threatens to drag the GOP into the political abyss.

Punchbowl News reported that Republicans are broadly resigned to losses in California’s 48th District, Iowa’s 1st District, Nebraska’s 2nd District, New Jersey’s 7th District, and Pennsylvania’s 7th District—all GOP-held seats that in a neutral environment would be highly competitive.

“Nearly every senior Republican and Democrat involved in 2026 believes these five R seats are all but lost,” Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman wrote in a post on X.

Three of those contests (CA-48, NE-02, and NJ-07) are currently rated as “Lean Democratic” races by the Cook Political Report, while Iowa’s 1st and Pennsylvania’s 7th are still in the “toss-up” category. Given that even Republicans say they are the underdogs in these seats, it suggests that the political handicapping organizations are slower to react to the electoral landscape and thus their current ratings may not reflect the true peril the GOP is in.

What’s more, Punchbowl reported that a handful of other districts are also close to being cooked. They include:

Punchbowl said these seats “are growing more difficult for Republicans but still within reach.” It’s why even the typically gun-shy race-rating groups have declared that it’s “almost impossible” for Republicans to keep control of the House.

Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, who occupies a red-tinged House seat, is facing a brutal reelection bid due to domestic violence allegations against him.AP

Socialist or MAGA Republican? America has a preference.– www.dailykos.com

pgnewser September 28, 2026 0

Socialist or MAGA Republican? America has a preference.– www.dailykos.com
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EXCERPT:

Survey Says is a weekly series rounding up the most important polling trends or data points you need to know about, plus a vibe check on a trend that’s driving politics or culture.

Democratic socialist versus MAGA Republican—it’s a war of two extremes equally likely to turn off voters, right?

Not remotely, the data suggests. And that may have big implications this year.

The latest YouGov/Economist poll ran an experiment that asked voters to pick between pairs of hypothetical candidates. When asked to choose between a “Democratic socialist who supports Medicare for All, ending military aid to Israel, and abolishing ICE” and a “MAGA Republican who supports mass deportations and always votes with Trump,” 51% of registered voters went for the socialist, while only 34% picked the MAGA Republican. The remaining 15% were unsure.

Notably, this figure did not change much when the hypothetical socialist candidate was swapped for a “Liberal Democrat who wants to protect Obamacare (ACA), increase support for child care and housing, and opposes tariffs.” Fifty-five percent backed the liberal Democrat, and an identical 34% supported the MAGA Republican.

Democratic attorneys general work to Trump-proof election– www.latimes.com

pgnewser September 28, 2026 0

Democratic attorneys general work to Trump-proof election– www.latimes.com
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EXCERPT:

DENVER — The office of Colorado’s attorney general is a perch 10 stories above downtown Denver. From his aerie, Phil Weiser has a sweeping view of the city skyline, the gold-domed Capitol and, occasionally, a red hawk on the wing.

But looking toward November, Weiser sees something darker.

Federal agents swarming polling places. Voters intimidated or blocked from casting their ballots. A tyrannical president using his powers, real and imagined, to undermine or try to overturn the Nov. 3 election.

“With this administration what we have seen is it’s important that we not limit our imagination to what … type of harm could happen,” Weiser said during a sunny noon hour in the Mile High City.

For that reason, Colorado’s attorney general and his Democratic peers around the country have spent more than a year strategizing — by phone, via Zoom, sometimes in person — on ways to Trump-proof the midterm election.

They’ve researched history and the law, war-gamed what-ifs, divvied up responsibilities and drafted emergency lawsuits and temporary restraining orders so they can be hurried into court at a moment’s notice.