So why are we talking about it? Because Trump would rather have a conversation about whether a $1.3 trillion gift is feasible than talk about $4 gas, high diesel prices, inflation, or the state of the economy. Promising $5,000 reframes him as somebody who understands that people need cash. After a brief improvement in economic sentiment, things look dour again, and Trump now says the Iran war will end shortly after the midterms. Even through his rose-colored glasses that sometimes turn BS brown, he’s admitting this won’t be over before November.

Republicans are heading into a massive fight. New polling has Sherrod Brown in Ohio and James Talarico in Texas ahead by four or five points, while Lindsey Graham’s sister leads by only two in South Carolina. I’d still bet on Ken Paxton over Talarico, but Talarico is moving toward the center. He says he opposes trans athletes competing where fairness and safety are at stake and would sign a law banning sex changes for minors. Not long ago, that would’ve been called an attack on trans children. Now a more liberal candidate is saying it because he believes the issue is an exhaust port on his Death Star. I’m ending this week more inclined toward My Blue Heaven than I was on Labor Day.

The White House is also promising $500 rebates to roughly one million Obamacare customers in 30 states who were allegedly overcharged. That’s separate from Trump’s $5,000 promise, and neither announcement means money has reached anybody. This looks like an answer to Democrats’ warnings about the expiration of Obamacare subsidies — one of the issues that drove the earlier government shutdown. Is it really going to happen? I have no idea. But it puts the administration where it wants to be: talking about what it’ll do for voters who are hurting for money.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has interrupted Republicans’ effort to use a new congressional map in Missouri, clearing the way for the older map approved by the state Supreme Court. Republicans wanted one more House seat from the redraw, but election officials need usable instructions before ballots go out. The broader redistricting push was hot and heavy a few months ago, but it was also slapdash. That’s the Trump administration: Somebody has an idea, everybody says it’s great, they start doing it, and they figure out whether it’s possible about halfway through.

John Fetterman also appeared by recorded video at the Republican midterm convention to introduce fellow Pennsylvania senator Dave McCormick. Fetterman called himself a Democrat, praised McCormick, and discussed working with Trump to protect steel jobs. If you think that means he’s switching parties, he poured cold water on it. He remains a proud Democrat and says he votes with the party 80 to 90 percent of the time. But imagine Democrats reach 50 Senate seats and Fetterman becomes vote 51. I’d love to ask Abdul El-Sayed which he’d prefer: a Democratic majority that depends on Fetterman, or Fetterman revealing his “true colors” and becoming a Republican.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:11 - Trump’s $5,000 Promise

00:06:30 - Polling

00:09:42 - Interview with Katherine Dee

00:31:29 - Trump’s $500 Refunds

00:33:09 - Supreme Court

00:34:29 - John Fetterman

00:36:29 - Interview with Katherine Dee, con’t

00:58:42 - Wrap-up

The question is whether unaffiliated voters have a reason to vote Republican — and whether the Sununu name is enough. I’d still consider a Sununu victory a major upset, although some polling has him within the margin of error or leading Pappas. If Republicans win New Hampshire and Mike Rogers wins Michigan, My Blue Heaven is over. Democrats can’t take the Senate while losing those two races.

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A deal with Canada was allegedly close before it fell apart at the eleventh hour. Neither country really wants this. They both want to talk tough, and Donald Trump is definitely throwing his weight around, while Mark Carney is trying to squeeze as much political juice as possible out of standing up to him. But the Quebec by-election has come and gone, and there’s still no agreement. You’ve got to wonder how long this can continue.

Carney is also making a more credible threat of moving Canada closer to China. At the end of the day, there aren’t really middle powers operating in independent silos. You’ve got to stand next to one of the big players, and Carney is smart enough to understand that. He needs to show Canada has another path that the United States doesn’t want, because otherwise Canada is effectively an American vassal state. Put aside what’s right or good — that’s the reality. I still suspect this gets resolved, but that’s just me.

Meanwhile, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is launching a political action committee that plans to invest at least $20 million in Democratic House races, including overlooked Republican-held districts in Ohio and Texas. The obvious question is how much helping other Democrats helps Pritzker, who is very much rumored to be considering a presidential run in 2028. His greatest advantage is money, and he’ll need to start making friends. But Democrats traditionally like their billionaires to keep cutting checks rather than seeking power themselves. Ask Tom Steyer or Michael Bloomberg how that works out.

The first two disclosed targets are Max Miller in Ohio’s 7th District and Brandon Herrera in Texas’ 23rd. Both seats are held by Republicans, and both campaigns give Pritzker a chance to demonstrate that he can expand the map. It’ll be interesting to see who else receives help and whether those candidates remember it later. Pritzker isn’t wet behind the ears — he’s already a governor — but spending money on other Democrats and converting that spending into national support are two different things.

Finally, Saudi Arabia says Houthi attacks have wounded 73 civilians and caused fires and temporary shutdowns at energy facilities. Iran is trying to create another edge that could force the United States toward negotiations on more favorable terms. Its inability to stop oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz has weakened its leverage, so we’re seeing more tough talk and more activity from the network of resistance. But the Houthis exist in a parallel world and aren’t completely beholden to Tehran. How loyal are any of Iran’s proxies to an Iran that’s increasingly broke? I don’t know what to make of it yet.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:05:15 - Chris Cillizza on the Midterms and Beyond

00:37:37 - Update

00:39:23 - Trade War

00:43:25 - Pritzker

00:46:08 - Iran

00:48:27 - Chris Cillizza’s Midterm Prediction

01:08:51 - Wrap-up

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Republicans have two exceptionally weak Senate challengers in states where they should perform well: Collins in Georgia and Michael Whatley in North Carolina. I’ll eat the L on Whatley because I thought he’d do better. I expected the environment to be bad for Republicans, but we’ve reached the point where nobody not named Donald Trump feels comfortable telling voters how awesome everything is. Trump’s secret is that you always say it’s awesome. Sometimes people believe you, sometimes they don’t, but you can’t have a parade unless somebody leads it. In Georgia, I think this race is wrapped. Ossoff will remain a senator.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has blocked Trump’s latest attempt to narrow birthright citizenship. The revised order targeted alleged birth tourism, certain foreign-government employees, and people designated as alien enemies, but Judge Deborah Boardman said those categories barely resembled the exceptions previously recognized by the Supreme Court and found the order almost certainly unconstitutional. This is the Trump 2.0 philosophy: Get shots up. Push, push, push. Make judges knock it down, take it to the Supreme Court, and make the justices rule.

I’ve tried to interrogate why I don’t get as angry or worried about every one of these moves as other people do. Part of it is that there are so many of them, and I need to see how they rattle around before developing an emotional opinion. I’m willing to accept the criticism that I’m whistling while Rome burns, or while an arsonist fiddles with a matchbook. But the alternative is becoming a herky-jerky psychopath whose emotions are entirely controlled by the Trump administration. They decide when you’re mad, sad, or happy because everything depends on their latest action. I don’t want that, either.

Finally, Hakeem Jeffries also got another preview of life with a narrow Democratic majority after Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez rescued a Republican procedural vote without warning him. Jeffries and Democratic leaders called it a serious breach of trust and sent the matter to a caucus committee, triggering backlash from progressives and centrists worried about uneven punishment and loyalty rules. If Democrats win a WINO majority — fewer than 15 seats — this will be Jeffries’ life. Be careful what you wish for, Speaker Jeffries.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:45 - Georgia

00:06:27 - Midterms with Bill Scher

00:32:07 - Update

00:34:33 - House of Representatives

00:36:06 - Birthright Citizenship

00:39:18 - Hakeem Jeffries

00:40:46 - Midterms with Bill Scher, con’t

01:03:44 - Wrap-up

Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, got a preview of his possible future as speaker. Republicans were short on a rule vote and headed toward another humiliation until Democrats Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez voted with them. Neither warned Jeffries. The rule included relief for Maine lobstermen, a major Golden priority, but it also cleared a path for a Republican resolution condemning socialism and urging passage of the Save America Act. That forced other vulnerable Democrats toward a difficult election-season vote while sparing Republicans from owning their failure.

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The reasoning is simple: If they’re not going to accomplish anything in this divided, fractious Congress, why stay? Republicans have such a thin majority that they can’t agree on much or put Democrats on defense beyond the broadest, most useless bills. Their members would rather go home, campaign, press the flesh, shake hands, and kiss babies because they believe they’re fighting for their political lives.

The mood inside the Republican conference is bleak, bleak, bleak. One member holds a district Trump won by 10 points and the Republican candidate previously carried by 16. Their internal polling now has that Republican ahead by one point. Uno. These are the seats nobody treats as toss-ups until a wave turns them into toss-ups. Republicans are comparing their internal numbers in the hallways, and they don’t like what they see.

In 2022, Republican leaders told members they’d win the House by 20 seats; they won by five. The rule of thumb for some members now is to take whatever leadership says and subtract 20. Leadership says Republicans will hold by five, so members are preparing for Democrats to win a 15-seat majority. If Trump-plus-10 districts are already looking like toss-ups, they want to be home doing everything possible to eke out a victory.

They probably won’t leave immediately. Going home would be a gigantic red flag from leadership, and fundraisers are already scheduled throughout Washington. Members might need time in their districts, but they also need money for television and streaming ads. That means showing up and giving face time to the people attending those fundraisers.

The wild card is Big Chungus. If Trump says Congress should go home, Mike Johnson will face enormous pressure to disperse everybody. If Trump says members should remain in Washington, they’ll stay. From everything I’m hearing, there isn’t much good news on the Republican side. My personal barometer between WINO and My Blue Heaven is swinging left.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:29 - House Republicans

00:12:53 - Update

00:14:25 - Mail-in Ballots

00:19:15 - Bonds

00:21:51 - Ballroom

00:25:46 - Interview with Riley Blanton

01:12:43 - Wrap-up

Then came the controversy and the money disappeared. Somewhere along the way, the famous gay conservative became ex-gay, Catholic, and a flamethrower who knew where bodies were buried. As George Santos put it, “The bitch knows too much.” After a spectacular falling-out with Laura Loomer, who now claims credit, ICE detained Milo at the New Orleans airport and deported him. Soon afterward, he posted an ad for a KFC sandwich called the Dirty Louisiana. His caption: “F off.” You know, still pretty funny.

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Brent crude remains just under $90 a barrel. That’s the low end of high, not the meaningful decline we saw during the memorandum-of-understanding period. Iran is at an impasse. Regime leaders have reportedly been doxxed, people aren’t getting paid because the country can’t move oil, and there are rumors that the supreme leader may be dead. If Iran’s leverage since the revolution was “Don’t interact with us or we’ll derail the world economy and set the region on fire,” that doesn’t appear to have happened. Its proxies haven’t ignited the region, its oil isn’t moving normally, and it may now be operating without a supreme leader.

Politically, though, this has been an absolute disaster for Trump. It fractured his right flank and gave independent voters permission to say, “No, this guy sucks. He lied.” He called himself the president of peace, and now we’ve been at war with Iran for six months. Iran’s goal is to make Trump pay in the midterms, and Trump is doing a lot to help. He doesn’t have tremendous instincts for winning races when he isn’t on the ballot.

The administration may be looking to Venezuela for relief. It’s negotiating with the interim government for American ownership stakes in more than a dozen productive oil fields holding about 90 billion barrels of proven reserves. Venezuela would receive investment and additional revenue while American and other private firms rebuilt production. Is this energy security or an extraordinary American claim on another country’s resources? To quote the Stephen A. Smith meme: We don’t care. At least not when it comes to the one thing that matters in American politics — gas prices.

So go gas prices, so goes the economy, inflation, and probably the midterms. Trump’s original pitch was that tariffs might create instability and make foreign goods more expensive, but Americans could count on cheaper energy. A funny thing happened on the way to Tehran, and that got screwed up. More Venezuelan oil could push prices down and make it easier to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve without buying expensive crude. It would also almost certainly benefit the oil companies that remain furious about Hugo Chávez taking their equipment.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:14 - Trade War with Canada

00:34:44 - Update

00:36:49 - Iran

00:42:19 - Venezuelan Oil

00:45:13 - 9/11 Trial

00:47:25 - Evan Scrimshaw’s Midterm Picks

01:25:03 - NFL

01:48:34 - Wrap-up

Darlene Graham proved me wrong in South Carolina, defeating Ralph Norman 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. I thought Norman had the momentum and that Graham wasn’t built for the low-propensity turnout operation a special election requires. Instead, Donald Trump came to South Carolina, held a tele-rally, and MAGA Inc. poured nearly $1 million into the race when it mattered. Granted, it was only a five-point win in a special election where Trump remains very popular, but I was loud wrong. I thought I was going to be the clever boy calling her loss, and I got smoked like a pancake.

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The problem is that Darlene has run an objectively bad campaign, even though the campaign she needed wasn’t difficult. Make it all about Lindsey. South Carolina Republicans had already chosen him, and nobody knew him like his sister. She could’ve presented herself as a caretaker working with his staff to finish the agenda he spent his life building. Every sentence should’ve begun or ended with “Lindsey told me” or “This is what Lindsey would’ve wanted.” Erase the Darlene.

Instead, she’s tried to establish the Darlene show. She’s drawn distinctions between Lindsey’s foreign-policy focus and her domestic priorities, but if she’s going to be anything other than Lindsey’s caretaker, voters don’t know her. That choice also makes every piece of her own record fair game. Then she delivered one of the biggest gaffes of the midterms when Greta Van Susteren gave her a question about China and she absolutely gagged on it. You’ve got to know “China bad.” It’s a two-word answer. She hasn’t done good; she’s done bad.

This is also a low, low, low, low, low-turnout runoff. Dozens of people are going to vote, and the people who show up in elections like this are usually the most energized. The most energized South Carolina Republicans aren’t necessarily Lindsey Graham voters. Many of them are the people who hated Lindsey Graham and wanted a more purebred MAGA senator. Darlene has the Graham name, but the name was already controversial within the party. Her hedge is Trump. The question is whether Trump can still get those voters out.

Trump’s average approval is 39.5 percent, with 57.2 percent disapproving. Stinky, bad, awful. If you’re in the low 40s, it’s bad. If you’re in the high 30s, it’s terrible. Darlene says she’s focused on domestic policy, the economy, and kitchen-table issues, but Trump’s economic numbers are even worse: 35.9 percent approve and 60.9 percent disapprove. That’s a 25-point spread. Donald Trump has been the wind beneath her wings, but I don’t know what kind of draft that endorsement creates anymore, even in deep-red South Carolina.

MAGA Inc. has $404 million on hand but spent only $2.3 million through July before dumping nearly $1 million into this runoff at the last minute. A huge cash advantage works best when you define people early, not when you wait until the final days. The energy and the issues are with Democrats, while two supposed Republican advantages — money and redistricting — don’t look like advantages right now. If Trump’s endorsement and a last-minute MAGA Inc. spending spree can’t save Lindsey Graham’s sister in South Carolina, that’s a bad sign for Republicans far beyond this runoff.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:17 - College Sports Bill

00:08:01 - Darlene Graham

00:25:20 - Canada

00:30:45 - Iran

00:34:18 - Mail-in Voting

00:37:57 - Interview with Eric Geller

01:09:00 - Wrap-up

Canada is in a weaker economic position, so the Trump administration believes it can be ruthless and demand more. But there’s an argument that you shouldn’t be so ruthless with your best friends, and America and Canada should be very close because we share so much.

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Scenario one is Ah, Nevertheless: Republicans retain both the House and Senate. They can lose two House seats and still hold 218, and a few candidate-specific wins, redrawn districts, or polling errors could get them there. The Senate is already a hard climb for Democrats, and all Trump has done his entire career is surprise people. But pretty much everything argues against this. The president’s party usually loses seats in the midterms, Trump’s approval and cost-of-living numbers stink on ice, and the battlefield is expanding into Republican territory. If the GOP holds both chambers, the story won’t be that Trump beat the odds. It’ll be that he is the odds. You don’t bet against Big Donny T.

Scenario two is WINO — Win in Name Only: Democrats win the House by fewer than 10 seats while Republicans retain the Senate. This is, in my view, the most likely scenario as of August. Democrats get Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, control of the legislative agenda, committee gavels, subpoena power, and the ability to impeach by a simple majority. But with a tiny margin, every ideological bloc becomes a potential veto point. A handful of members could threaten Jeffries’ speakership or stop legislation, and impeachment would be ceremonial without the Senate. Republicans keep the brake pedal while their senators become less Trump-aligned as his duck gets lamer. Democrats win the gavel, Republicans keep the brake pedal, and Jeffries ultimately pays the bill.

Scenario three is My Blue Heaven: Democrats win the House by more than 10 seats and take the Senate, giving them at least 223 House seats and 51 Democratic-aligned senators. Trump’s approval would need to remain in the low-to-mid-30s, affordability would need to dominate, and Democratic enthusiasm would have to survive the transition from the primaries to November. Progressives and the establishment would need to mend their fences and say, “Onward, onward, onward.” The Senate table would have to be almost entirely clean, including pickups in Alaska, Iowa, and Maine, plus a Michigan hold with Abdul El-Sayed.

Ah, Nevertheless would mean Trump wriggled out of it yet again and avoided impeachment. WINO would produce a loud, hectic Democratic House that can investigate and pass bills but can’t get much through the Senate. My Blue Heaven would give Democrats control of both chambers, allowing them to send legislation to Trump, multiply the investigations, and begin asking whether they have the votes to eliminate the filibuster.

Those are the three paths in front of us: Republicans hold, the parties split power narrowly, or Democrats get their deliverance. It’s a multi-versal ride that will only get clearer as we approach November.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:19 - Midterms Scenarios Revealed

00:23:35 - Bernie Endorses Angie Nixon

00:27:43 - National Debt

00:31:01 - Iran

00:35:16 - Kirk Bado on the Midterms

01:06:41 - Wrap-up

Alexander Vindman is an absolute embarrassment. Nixon would be Florida’s first Black senator, but she’s not going to be. This seat is done and dusted. Congratulations to Ashley Moody on six more years in the Senate.

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Florida’s newly redrawn 22nd District has seven Republicans competing for what’ll likely be a safe Republican seat. It’s also where I finally found my line on AI-generated political content. A website attacking Belinda Keiser includes an AI image depicting her having sex with Jeffrey Epstein. I’ve had a lot of tolerance for campaigns turning metaphors and fantasies into images, but I guess my line in the sand is a candidate getting piped by Jeffrey Epstein. Now we know. David Burke appeared to be surging at the end, but there isn’t much reliable polling.

The race I’m watching most closely is Florida’s 7th District, where Corey Mills is seeking a third term against former television sports reporter Ryan Elijah. To say Mills is scandal-plagued is to say Pinocchio is only helping Monstro’s dental health, babe. Mills has faced allegations involving two former girlfriends, while the House Ethics Committee is examining possible sexual misconduct, inaccurate financial disclosures, campaign-finance violations, improper gifts, special favors tied to his office, and misuse of congressional resources. He denies wrongdoing. Sparse public polling suggests he could lose, and Republicans in Washington are desperately hoping he does.

In Florida’s 20th District, redistricting pushed Debbie Wasserman Schultz into a traditionally Black seat. She’s running against former representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Dale Holness, Elijah Manley, and Uncle Luke himself, Luther Campbell. With four Black candidates dividing the vote and no runoff in Florida primaries, Wasserman Schultz only needs a plurality. I think she’ll win. Let the sun shine down and reveal the truth as Florida votes — and start a stopwatch when the polls close, because these races will probably be called within about 90 minutes. Shocking how fast that can go. Just saying.

Congressional Democrats are preparing another war-powers challenge after Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it obstructs efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. They’ve been looking for another non-affordability way to hit Trump over Iran, and this is a good strategy. It’s a historically unpopular war, and they want to tie him to it every way they can. Meanwhile, the administration has paused construction of a border wall inside Big Bend National Park while CBP reviews the project. Not all border is created equal. Big Bend accounts for a small share of crossings, and there are easier, lighter ways to patrol an area where somebody might still have to walk for three days after crossing.

ABC has also filed a First Amendment lawsuit accusing the FCC of retaliating against the network for its editorial decisions. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke ABC’s license amid his fight with the network, particularly over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s death. It’s not surprising that ABC is bringing a legal challenge, even if only as a predicate to any FCC action. If you’re ABC and the chairman of the FCC threatens your license, it would be malpractice not to take him seriously and prepare in case it actually happens.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:08 - Florida Races

00:20:49 - Oman

00:25:47 - Border Wall

00:28:02 - ABC Sues FCC

00:29:35 - Brian Brushwood on the Nuances of Texas’ Electorate

01:25:20 - Wrap-up

We’re living in an age of polarization, so Blanche’s answers will mean whatever people already want them to mean. If you’re inclined to take him at face value, he’ll do his best to remain independent. If you’re suspicious, he’s Pinocchio dancing for Papa Trump.

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Two names surfaced, and one was Kari Lake. But there’s somebody else who might be downright Trumpian in his ability to identify wedge-issue news stories and put the right spin on them: Spencer Pratt.

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What you’re probably going to hear about is the polling. After the polls wildly overestimated Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, the final State Navigate poll had Hong at 44 percent and Crowley at 22 percent — a 22-point Hong lead. Instead, Crowley won by 0.4 percent. That’s a 22.4-point miss on the margin. Jeez Louise. Hong’s vote share wasn’t wildly off; the poll totally underestimated Crowley. The question is why these polls keep overrepresenting progressive-leaning voters.

One theory is that more polls are using online surveys. The old problem with landline calls was that they overrepresented boomers because nobody under 60 had a landline. Nobody answers an unfamiliar number on a cellphone, so that leaves online responses, which might overrepresent progressives. It’s also worth noting that the DSA endorsed Hong, but Bernie Sanders and AOC didn’t. Pure DSA play isn’t good enough to get you over the hump, even in a Democratic primary. Bernie and AOC provide some wiggle room away from the DSA’s baggage.

Next door, Minnesota Democrats delivered a decisive progressive victory as Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan defeated Representative Angie Craig by 20 points for the open Senate nomination. Flanagan overcame a major spending disadvantage after attacking Craig’s immigration record, particularly her 2025 vote expanding ICE authority. Republicans nominated former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya, but barring huge changes in the race, Flanagan is going to be Minnesota’s next senator. In the governor’s race, Amy Klobuchar easily secured the Democratic nomination, while state House speaker Lisa Demuth defeated Trump-backed My Pillow founder Mike Lindell. Please raise your combs in celebration.

South Carolina’s emergency election to replace Lindsey Graham is headed to an August 25 runoff between interim senator Darlene Graham and Representative Ralph Norman. Graham, Lindsey’s sister and Trump’s endorsed candidate, finished first with 32.7 percent. Norman took the second spot with 24.6 percent, narrowly eliminating Representative Russell Fry. The vote was pretty split, and I don’t know whether Darlene has the juice to keep Norman off. A lot of Republicans were already angry that she decided to seek the seat permanently instead of serving as a placeholder. Ralph Norman has a real shot. The kiss of death for Darlene would be the double endorsement — a double Trump endorsement.

Former Hartford mayor Luke Bronin also defeated 14-term Democratic representative John Larson, 54 percent to 33 percent. Larson, 78, became the seventh House Democrat defeated in a primary this cycle, while Governor Ned Lamont won renomination. In Alabama, Trump-endorsed Republican Rhett Marques advanced to face Democratic representative Shomari Figures in the redrawn Second District, where the Black voting-age population was reduced from 48 percent to 40 percent.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Intro

00:05:42 - Tuesday Primary Results

00:16:18 - Exploring Disney’s America with Andrew Heaton

01:19:36 - Wrap-up

Kamala Harris endorsed El-Sayed, Pete Buttigieg held an event for him, and Democrats are trying to build the unity movement they’ll need around a progressive nominee. Bernie and AOC put their own names and clout behind El-Sayed, and they’re going to be front and center. But progressives also have to square an interesting circle: If they don’t want private money involved in elections, what do they do today? If refusing the money means getting outspent 50 or 60 to one, does accepting it make sense? And legally, a candidate can’t stop a super PAC from spending money to elect them.

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It looks like McConnell’s team desperately wanted to make it to the August recess, when the story could disappear from the headlines for more than a month. Andy Beshear, Kentucky’s Democratic governor and a likely presidential candidate, has kept the story alive because fighting McConnell is the war available to him.

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