{"id":44778,"date":"2026-06-09T14:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/?p=44778"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:51:09","slug":"the-2026-senate-campaign-updates-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2026\/06\/09\/the-2026-senate-campaign-updates-19\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Senate Campaign: Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

ADMIN<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Apologies, hand, surgery, etc.<\/p>\n

JUST BELOW THE BLOODIED SURFACE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bulwark’s<\/strong><\/em> Lauren Egan makes the case that Democratic candidates – moderate Democrats<\/em> – are making a comeback<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So much of the narrative this election cycle is that Democratic voters just want to cast out the old guard. And while operatives are busy fixating on the attention economy or debating candidates\u2019 morality, it turns out that plain vanilla Democratic politics may actually be working.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Iowa, North Carolina, Alaska are telling us is that the recipe is actually pretty simple: You find candidates with long, deep relationships in those states who understand those states, and then you let them run campaigns that are focused on those states rather than trying to nationalize everything,\u201d said Caitlin Legacki, a party strategist who is working with Schumer-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in the Michigan Senate primary.<\/p>\n

Always fractious, Democrats have debated how best to campaign while Trump occupies the White House, having argued about it since the earliest days of his first term. But this perennial argument has taken on added significance as the Platner saga rumbles on. Disagreements that were once about campaign strategy have turned into fights over whether key issues or candidate morality even matter at all.<\/p>\n

The contrast is remarkable. As Platner\u2019s defenders have invested themselves in making him an avatar of a new type of populist politics, other Democrats running for Senate have been strikingly conventional. Cooper, the 68-year-old former North Carolina governor well-known in his home state, put out a\u00a0no-thrills bio ad this week<\/a> that was so colorless it borders on parody.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Radicals of all sorts hate to be pushed away from the sweet, corrupting taste of power, so look for the far left’s cancel culture tactics to continue as moderate Democrats begin pushing issue positions incompatible with Democratic general election victories out of the Party. This includes several issues surrounding transgenderism of the young, such as child surgeries, language imperialism<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/sup>, and dubious, at least to the average voter, sexual teachings[see 1 again]<\/sup>; defunding the police; identity politics<\/em><\/a>; abrogation of the basic tenets of liberal democracy<\/a>; and other attention-getters that are ultimately viewed negatively by voters.<\/p>\n

If they don’t, the Democrats run the risk of becoming an irrelevancy, replaced by a more moderate Party.<\/p>\n

Yes, that applies to the Republicans as well. Even moreso.<\/p>\n

THE FUMBLING ABOUT CONTINUES<\/strong><\/p>\n

GOP<\/strong><\/em> Senate candidates are beginning to move away from the President, as they sense he’s toxic to their job prospects:<\/p>\n

While Senate GOP leaders successfully quashed much of that dissent, the days of bitter wrangling exposed cracks in Trump\u2019s base of support on Capitol Hill. There is now a growing chorus of Republicans \u2014 and not just the usual defectors \u2014 willing to defy him as they seek to rein in his pursuit of his agenda, ranging from projects like the White House ballroom and exacting political retribution on his enemies to his handling of the Iran war and other foreign policy issues. The trend is only expected to accelerate as the November elections approach, with contentious fights ahead like Trump\u2019s push to confirm his controversial expected pick to lead the Department of Justice. [CNN<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So much for dominating the businessmen\/jellyfish he arranged to have elected. And …<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe\u00a0negotiations<\/a>\u00a0are at a deadlock and (US President Donald) Trump must break this deadlock,\u201d Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN in an exclusive interview in Tehran. \u201cThe ball is in Trump\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran has reportedly demanded the release of\u00a0$12 billion in frozen funds<\/a>\u00a0as soon as an interim agreement is signed with the US, and another $12 billion at a later stage.<\/p>\n

US officials are concerned<\/a> that any unfreezing of funds at this stage could remove a key leverage point over the regime. Trump has demanded that any agreement appear far stronger than the nuclear deal struck in 2015, and to avoid anything that could be construed as handing over \u201cpallets of cash,\u201d a phrase he has invoked to criticize then-President Barack Obama\u2019s decision to give Tehran financial compensation.\u00a0[CNN<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I expect the Iranians will dig in their heels until Trump rolls over for them, because that’s what he does. GOP<\/strong><\/em> Senate candidates will have to work the tightrope of infuriated independent voters and infuriated MAGA<\/strong> voters if they hope to win, and that’ll be a trick.<\/p>\n

CURVE BALLS GALORE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week was a slider, I think.<\/a><\/p>\n