memeorandum: Saudi forum set to draw U.S. business leaders despite tensions (Reuters)

11:50 AM ET, October 23, 2022

Top Items:

Mark Murray / NBC News:

‘Anger on their minds’: NBC News poll finds sky-high interest and polarization ahead of midterms — Less than three weeks before Election Day, voter interest has now reached an all-time high for a midterm election, with a majority of registered voters saying that this election is “more important” to them than past midterms.

Discussion: Financial Times

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:

Democrats fear the midterm map is slipping away — Polls in both the House and Senate show improvements for Republicans amid economic and crime concerns — The liberal Navigator public tracking poll flashed a major warning sign for Democrats in mid-October, reporting a 20 percentage point …

Brittany Shepherd / Reuters:

GOP opens edge on economy, crime ahead of midterms: POLL — These leads for Republicans have numerically solidified since August. — President Joe Biden speaks about gas prices during remarks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, D.C., June 22, 2022.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, ABC News and ABC News Public Relations

Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:

Sanders says he's worried about voter turnout among young people — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday raised concerns about Democrats' ability to turn out young people as well as the working class to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. — During an appearance on CNN's …

Discussion: Politico and CNN

CNN:

Democrats predict an ‘extremely busy’ lame duck. Here's what's on the agenda — A packed legislative to-do list awaits Congress when it returns to session after the midterms - and Democrats, who currently control both chambers, will face a ticking clock to enact key priorities if Republicans win …

Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:
Oz-Shapiro. Warnock-Kemp. Split-ticket voters loom large in midterms.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Rolling Stone:

Trump Plans to Challenge the 2022 Elections — Starting in Philly — The former president is fixated on challenging the results of Pennsylvania's Senate race, which he views — as one source puts it — as a “dress rehearsal for Trump 2024” — IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, Donald Trump welcomed …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Bloomberg:

The Seven Men Who Will Lead China Into Xi's Third Term — For the third time in little over a decade, Chinese President Xi Jinping led a procession of Communist Party officials onto the red carpet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, revealing who will lead the world's most populous country for the next five years.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Fortune, Kyiv Post, ARY NEWS, NPR, Al Jazeera, Reuters, WHYY, New York Post, Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Associated Press

Christian Shepherd / Washington Post:
As China's Xi extends his rule, his predecessor makes an unusual exit

Discussion: Associated Press, The Guardian, The Daily Wire, CNN, Reuters, BBC and New York Times

James Palmer / Foreign Policy:
What the Hell Just Happened to Hu Jintao?

Natasha Singer / New York Times:

Why Am I Seeing That Political Ad? Check Your ‘Trump Resistance’ Score. — To help campaigns target ads, voter-profiling firms score millions of Americans on issues like guns, vaccines and QAnon. — In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, a voter analytics firm called PredictWise came …

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Court clears way for Jan. 6 probe to get Ward's phone records — A federal appeals court has turned down former Arizona GOP senate candidate Kelli Ward's attempt to block a House committee subpoena for her phone records in connection with an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, JONATHAN TURLEY, Reason, Raw Story, Insider, New York Post and HuffPost

Scott Wong / NBC News:

Young Democrats ready their plans for a post-Pelosi shake-up — House Democrats have unified as they fight to retain their fragile majority in next month's midterms. But if they lose, as many election prognosticators predict they will, that unity will likely be short-lived.

Discussion: The Hill

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Blunder in Affirmative Action Case May Cost Harvard $15 Million — A missed insurance notice opened a window onto the cost of litigating challenges to race-conscious admissions programs to be heard this month by the Supreme Court. — WASHINGTON — As Harvard prepares to defend …

Discussion: Reason

Laura Reiley / Washington Post:

It's not a trick: Your Halloween treats are getting smaller — Chocolate and candy packs are getting smaller due to ‘shrinkflation’ and candy companies reducing calorie counts — Standing in the center aisle of the drugstore, with its seasonal display of spooky bat decorations …

Reuters:

Saudi forum set to draw U.S. business leaders despite tensions — A public spat between the United States and Saudi Arabia will not deter top Wall Street executives and U.S. business leaders from a flagship investment event starting on Tuesday where the kingdom will seek deals to reduce its economy's reliance on oil.

Discussion: Bloomberg

New York Times:

For Trump's Backers in Congress, ‘Devil Terms’ Help Rally Voters — In vilifying tweets and speeches, G.O.P. lawmakers who contested the election have far outpaced other Republicans and Democrats in fueling polarization. — As Representative Mary Miller embarked on her first congressional campaign …

Discussion: Raw Story

Carlisa N. Johnson / The Guardian:

Early voters in Georgia face obstacles under state's new election law — Unlimited challenges to eligibility and poorly trained poll workers cause frustration in key gubernatorial and US Senate contests — Jennifer Jones, a Morehouse School of Medicine PhD student, showed up to her precinct …

Discussion: Common Dreams