U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show it's open to negotiate with Russia  —  The encouragement is aimed not at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but ensuring it maintains a moral high ground in the eyes of its international backers  —  The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine's leaders …

Post-ABC poll: House vote nearly split, GOP has edge on economy and turnout  —  Republicans need to win a net of five seats to take control of the House.  Democrats face overwhelming odds to prevent that from happening.  —  Republicans hold significant advantages on the bread-and-butter issues …

Iowa Poll: Chuck Grassley widens lead over Mike Franken in US Senate race  —  Brianne Pfannenstiel Stephen Gruber-MillerDes Moines Register  —  Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has gained a double-digit lead over Democrat Mike Franken in the closing days of Iowa's U.S. Senate race, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.

NBC retracts erroneous Paul Pelosi story that fueled conspiracy theories  —  People at the network said the ‘Today’ show report was based on ‘unreliable’ information from a source who was unnamed in the story.  —  NBC News reporter Miguel Almaguer had what seemed like a scoop on Friday …

Aaron Carter Dead at 34  —  EXCLUSIVE  — 205.5K … UPDATE  —  4:53 PM PT — Aaron's fiancé, Melanie Martin, tells TMZ ... “My fiancé Aaron Carter has passed away.  I love Aaron with all my heart and it's going to be a journey to raise a son without a father.

How Republicans Fed a Misinformation Loop About the Pelosi Attack  —  Suggested Mr. Pelosi knew his attacker. Suggested the attack involved male prostitution. Repeated a false report that the attacker was in his underwear. Suggested Mr. Pelosi knew his attacker. Suggested the attack involved male prostitution. Repeated a false report

Pre-election polling trends  —  Here is my look at the pre-election polling, as of Nov. 5, 2022.  —  The raw polling data is from FiveThirtyEight.com, who generously allow download of their polling database.  The trends are my estimates and not those of FiveThirtyEight or anyone else.

What Can US Democracy Learn From Brazil?  —  Both nations had presidents who attacked their elections.  But their responses — and the aftermaths — were much different.  —  BRASÍLIA — The run-ups to the most recent presidential elections in the Western Hemisphere's two largest democracies were remarkably similar.

Ron DeSantis, who denounced Disney, actually got married there  —  The Florida governor passed a law in April to revoke Disney's special taxing status  —  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has been on the offense against the Walt Disney Co. for months, criticizing the entertainment giant …

Rep. Maloney recalls ‘eating Chef Boyardee’ as kid during inflation talk, says it's ‘what families have to do’  —  Maloney was discussing inflation during an interview when he made the comments  —  Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y. …

Obama says 'we'd have a very different Supreme Court' if Dems had kept the Senate in 2014  —  Former President Obama on Saturday said that the makeup of the Supreme Court would be very different if Democrats had held onto the Senate in the 2014 midterms, laying out the importance of this midterm cycle …

YouTube May Have Misinformation Blind Spots, Researchers Say  —  The video platform said it had limited the spread of misinformation ahead of Election Day, but new research showed that false narratives continued to slip through.  —  No, China has not worked with Democrats to steal the midterm elections …

In Arizona, Kari Lake Worked in Local TV News.  Now, She Calls Reporters ‘Monsters.’  —  Former friends and colleagues of Ms. Lake, the Republican nominee for governor, say they remember her far differently from the candidate they see today.  —  One longtime former co-worker …

Strategic Scarcity: Allocating Arms and Attention in Washington … “Strategy,” wrote business guru Richard Rumelt, “involves focus and, therefore, choice.  And choice means setting aside some goals in favor of others.”  While the Indo-Pacific is rhetorically the United States' primary theater …

Manchin-Biden coal clash highlights Democratic divisions at a perilous moment  —  Joe Manchin clashed Saturday with President Joe Biden over the politics of coal — a poorly timed breach between a pair of Democratic heavyweights just three days before voters head to the polls.