A Last Word on Virginia  —  Dear Readers: Join us Thursday, Nov. 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for our annual American Democracy Conference.  The virtual event will begin with a presentation by Project Home Fire's Larry Schack and Mick McWilliams on our ongoing polling and data analytics project.

An unusual alliance appears likely to fracture Texas's abortion ban  —  Most of the justices seem to understand that SB 8 is a direct attack on the Constitution.  —  The abortion providers suing to block SB 8, Texas's aggressive anti-abortion law, came into Monday's Supreme Court argument with four votes on their side.

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll: Trust in Elections, Threat to Democracy, Biden Approval, November 2021  —  Americans See a Serious Threat to Democracy; Trust Elections Largely on Partisan Basis  —  A majority of Americans (62%) say they will trust the results of the 2024 election …

Manchin calls on Democrats to slow down on $1.75 trillion spending package, putting imminent House vote in jeopardy  —  West Virginia Democrat raised concerns about debt and inflation and demanded that House lawmakers approve a separate infrastructure bill.  —  Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) …

‘Parents’ rights' is code for white race politics  —  After white supremacists spilled blood in defense of keeping up Confederate statues in 2017, the GOP candidate for governor of Virginia, Ed Gillespie, said the monuments should stay up as a matter of heritage and history.

Donald Trump Is Now the Odds-On Favorite to Be President in 2025  —  Be very afraid.  —  So Donald Trump is now the odds-on favorite to be president of the United States in 2025.  —  I know that lede sentence was also the headline, but I wanted you to read it one more time just to let it really settle …

Liberals Read, Conservatives Watch TV  —  Explaining why Trump emerged on the right, why only liberals debate filibuster reform, how anti-vax became a partisan issue, how David Shor is half right, “Dems are the real racists” and much else. … How are conservatives and liberals different?

What Will Drive China to War?  —  President Xi Jinping declared in July that those who get in the way of China's ascent will have their “heads bashed bloody against a Great Wall of steel.”  The People's Liberation Army Navy is churning out ships at a rate not seen since World War II …

U. of Florida's Accreditor Will Investigate Denial of Professors' Voting-Rights Testimony  —  The University of Florida's accreditor plans to investigate the flagship campus over the revelation that administrators denied three professors' requests to serve as paid experts in a voting-rights lawsuit.

China Locks 30,000 Visitors Inside Shanghai Disneyland After One Guest Got Covid-19  —  Guests are required to take coronavirus test to exit after a positive case shuts down the park  —  HONG KONG—Shanghai Disneyland was temporarily shut down from Sunday after a visitor was found to be Covid-19-positive …

Emergency vaccine rule for large employers will be issued ‘in the coming days’  —  Fauci: ‘Very, very few’ religions actually oppose vaccines  —  (CNN)The Federal Register will publish within days the Labor Department's rule requiring private businesses with 100 or more employees to vaccinate …

I&I/TIPP Poll: Just 42% Now Think Biden Is ‘Mentally Sharp’  —  Concerns about President Joe Biden's mental abilities have gone mainstream.  —  Although the press has largely overlooked Biden's gaffes, his disastrous performance at a decidedly friendly CNN townhall prompted the Wall Street Journal …

Big Tech finally reckons with climate denialism  —  Tech companies are cracking down on climate misinformation ahead of this year's United Nations COP26 climate summit, in an effort to get ahead of an expected surge in climate misinformation during the global conference.

Treasury Secretary Yellen expresses openness to defusing debt ceiling without GOP votes  —  After some party leaders ruled out approach last month, Yellen says Democrats-only budget process could prove ‘viable’ way to tackle debt limit  —  SOMEWHERE OVER THE ALPS — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen …

Barclays CEO Jes Staley quits after investigation into links with Jeffrey Epstein  —  London (CNN Business)The American chief executive of Barclays (BCS), Jes Staley, is stepping down with immediate effect following an investigation by British regulators into his relationship …

A Party Embraces Vulgarity  —  I have tried for some time to avoid commenting on a topic that I felt should be so far beneath our political discourse that to give it the oxygen of attention would be to play into the strategic hopes of those who are seeking to debase our democracy.