Democrats are drowning in denial  —  Democrats appear to be heading toward painful losses on Tuesday, in one if not both houses of Congress.  What went wrong will be debated for months, perhaps years.  —  Much of the problem can be summed up in one word: denial.

DeSantis official says Justice Dept. can't send monitors to 3 Florida counties  —  The DeSantis administration is attempting to block Department of Justice election monitors from gaining access to polling places in South Florida, saying in a letter that the federal government's involvement would be …

Trump is losing steam.  That's reason for Biden to bow out in 2024.  —  Donald Trump is losing steam.  Even his nicknames have gotten weaker.  —  Over the weekend, right-wing commentators were irate at the former president for taking a jab at Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he referred to as “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

Final Election Update: The Forecast Is More Or Less Back Where It Started  —  Republicans are favored in the House.  The Senate is more competitive.  —  By Nate Silver  —  Nov. 8, 2022, at 2:20 AM  —  When we launched our midterms forecast on June 30, Republicans had a 53 percent chance …

Musk discusses putting all of Twitter behind a paywall  —  Will he go through with it?  PLUS: Botched layoffs, how the new Blue could lose money, and more  —  If Friday brought massive layoffs to Twitter, Monday brought fresh evidence that the company will never be the same.

Why Does It Take So Long to Count Mail Ballots in Key States?  Blame Legislatures … The slow count of mail ballots has been used to cast doubt on election results, but these delays are a deliberate choice by lawmakers in battleground states.  —  Lawrence Norden Photo  —  Derek Tisler Photo

Are the Polls Still Missing ‘Hidden’ Republicans?  Here's What We're Doing to Find Out.  —  There was no breakthrough in our experiment, but the differences were intriguing.  —  It won't be long until we learn the results of the 2022 midterm elections — and how the polls fared.

Ernie Lazar, Who Trawled for Secret Government Documents, Dies at 77  —  By pursuing his “unusual hobby” of filing as many as 10,000 Freedom of Information requests about extremist groups, he proved invaluable to historians and journalists.  —  Ernie Lazar, an unheralded hero of researchers …

Cornell Halts Fraternity Parties After Alleged Sex Assault and Druggings  —  The campus police issued alerts over the weekend that one student was sexually assaulted and at least four others were drugged at off-campus residences affiliated with fraternities.

Ukraine's Zelensky Sets Conditions for ‘Genuine’ Peace Talks With Russia  —  President says he is open to negotiations that guarantee Ukraine's territorial integrity  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was open to negotiations with Russia if they are focused …

Putin Insiders Pray for ‘Frightening’ GOP Election Sweep  —  Kremlin cheerleaders are hoping for Republicans to win big in the midterms to unleash “poisonous American spiders, tearing each other up” on Capitol Hill.  —  Russian state media is following the midterm elections in the United States …

Russia-Ukraine War  —  As Battle in Skies Escalates, Ukraine Warns Russia Is Seeking Iranian Missiles … Both Russia and Ukraine push for weapons to fight an escalating aerial war.  —  KYIV, Ukraine — Even as Ukrainian officials celebrate the arrival of more advanced Western air-defense systems …

The Empress of Trollistan: Kari Lake Is Having the Time of Her Life  —  The party that's having fun usually wins.  —  Hey fam: JVL here.  Tim has taken over the Triad this morning with a report from on the ground in Arizona.  Instead of guessing about what's going to happen today …