Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on the GOP's vulnerability in the midterms
Taxpayer-funded ads praising a sitting president are one of those details that should feel normal by now and absolutely isn't. In a democracy the money should flow from voters to candidates. Instead it flows from the Treasury to the campaign's image machine. The fact that it's happening out in the open, with political analysts treating it as just another data point, tells you how far the norms have bent.
The South Carolina race is the detail I keep circling back to. If a state that red is genuinely competitive, the GOP's trouble is structural, and it will show up in many races. Amy Walter's Senate math has been the most reliable compass in recent cycles, and when she says the closest races are shifting, I pay attention.
I'd want to know more about which voters are moving and why. Is it the abortion referendum fallout, the price of eggs, or something about Trump's presence on the trail that's actually hurting in the suburbs? The polls say it's close, but they leave the wave's direction unclear.