{"id":45928,"date":"2026-09-30T07:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T12:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/?p=45928"},"modified":"2026-09-30T07:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T12:39:12","slug":"the-2026-senate-campaign-updates-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2026\/09\/30\/the-2026-senate-campaign-updates-41\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Senate Campaign: Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE REPUBLICANS IN RETREAT<\/strong><\/p>\n

In case the interested reader hadn’t heard,<\/p>\n

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is shifting its focus away from the North Carolina and Georgia Senate races as it works to shore up red states like Texas and flip other Democratic-held seats.<\/p>\n

In a closed-door meeting Wednesday [9\/23], Sen. Tim Scott, the chair of the NRSC, told Senate Republicans that the campaign arm will focus its spending going forward on defending GOP seats in Maine, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Texas and trying to flip the Democratic-held seats of Michigan and New Hampshire, according to four people in the room who were granted anonymity to share private details. [Politico<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maine, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Texas were no doubt considered safe six months ago, I’m sure. Thinking of their behavior, increasingly at variance from the world of independent voters, I conclude the inhabitants of the epistemic bubble have a hard time interacting with the real world. Now the Republicans have given up on North Carolina and Georgia, and Ohio should probably be on that list.<\/p>\n

And why the hurried separation? Here’s a sample<\/a>.<\/p>\n

TRUMP SALLIES FORTH?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or is he just dooming the Republicans?<\/p>\n

After a break from the campaign trail to host China\u2019s president in Washington \u2014 and to attend sporting events in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Chicago this weekend \u2014 President Donald Trump is planning to get back to the rally stage next week.<\/p>\n

But instead of visiting some of the nation\u2019s most competitive House districts or Senate races, Trump is set to visit much friendlier territory: Oklahoma and Alabama.<\/p>\n

The red-state itinerary comes as Trump\u2019s approval rating remains at a second-term low and as a growing number of Republicans in competitive races are distancing themselves from him. [WaPo<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does he just want to start in friendly territory, or are Oklahoma and Alabama in play? Neither has had a recent poll that I see anywhere.<\/p>\n

BUT SURELY THERE’S SOMETHING<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, it’s too late for the Republicans to save their Senate bacon. Still, seats on the edge might be salvageable, and I think Senate Majority Leader Senator Thune (R-SD) understands that.<\/p>\n

Barely five weeks before November\u2019s midterm elections, Senate Republicans are rushing to pass more legislation that they can run on as polling shows Democrats within striking distance of retaking the chamber.<\/p>\n

The Senate is expected to vote on legislation this week meant to protect consumers from high electricity costs caused in part by the data center building boom. And some Republicans are pushing to take up other bills to address voters\u2019 frustrations with the cost of living.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) decided against sending senators home early last week to campaign, opting instead to keep the Senate in session to try to bolster Republicans\u2019 legislative record. This week is the last that the Senate is scheduled to be in session before Election Day. [WaPo<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These are the right things to do, especially in the teeth of the tsunami initiated by the President and protected by Republican votes. I suspect too many of the Republican members of Congress, amateurs mostly, didn’t know what to do and felt bound to the Amateur-in-Chief.<\/p>\n

A false allegiance. I hope voters take note and do not put more amateurs in charge.<\/p>\n

BUT THE DEMOCRATS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is their strategy for the final month+?<\/p>\n

How are you approaching the final stretch message-wise?<\/strong>
\nEmphasizing the economy, corruption. I think that there is still work to do with the positive messaging. And I think our candidates have shown a pretty good flair for making the arguments about bread-and-butter issues and how they\u2019re going to come to Washington and try and press Trump to change his priorities. So we\u2019re still going to be grounded in things that have been working here for a while. [JB Poersch, the president of Senate Majority PAC (Democrats-aligned), Politico<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sounds reasonable to me. From<\/a> WaPo<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n

Former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Husted, has spent millions of dollars on ads attacking Husted over his support for data centers, which the ads blame for \u201ccausing electric bills to spike by thousands of dollars.\u201d The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo last month that the ads are effective, describing data centers as an \u201canchor hanging around Husted\u2019s neck.\u201d …<\/p>\n

Husted has defended his record on data centers and criticized Brown for supporting them in the past. He described his bill as a way to \u201cshow the American people that we\u2019re serious about driving down electric prices and making life more affordable for them\u201d \u2014 and he almost dared Democrats to block it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Execution of the plan.<\/p>\n

BUT WHAT ABOUT THEIR AUTOCRATIC TENDENCIES?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That’s a good question. Both Andrew Sullivan and Megan McArdle<\/a> have suggested the left’s woke<\/em> phenomenon may be fading away. But is that the same as Democratic autocratic tendencies being rejected? Or are they still decaying away from democracy?<\/p>\n

FOR THE ABSENT-MINDED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pollster ratings and leanings are from Silver Bulletin’s<\/strong><\/em> pollster rating service<\/a>, courtesy Nate Silver.<\/p>\n

HAVING BUGS IN EVERY HEADQUARTERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

It gives me a real headache. Here’s the previous issue of buggy bugs in insect holes.<\/a><\/p>\n