With Republicans clinging to power against a flurry of polls that predict a blue wave in tomorrow’s elections, an additional foe could spell trouble for the GOP: libertarians. Some believe a roster of Libertarian Party candidates could ruin Republicans’ best chances during the midterms.

‘Protest ballots’
While many analysts say the GOP’s efforts are futile due to nationwide frustration with the Trump administration, there are numerous battleground states in play. But “unhappiness with President Donald Trump could lead some conservatives to cast protest ballots,” said Thomas Beaumont at The Associated Press. 

Some voters could be swayed to vote Libertarian, a party that runs on a “message of nonintervention and limited centralized authority,” said Beaumont. The party “could draw enough votes to affect the outcome in a number of these races,” said former GOP Ohio state lawmaker Gene Krebs to the AP.

Three key states include Iowa, Kansas and Texas. Libertarians here are “polling in the low single digits, but their appeal to disaffected Republican voters could prove decisive in races with little separating the major-party contenders,” said Sarah Fortinsky at The Hill. Texas may end up the most prominent example, where Libertarian candidate Ted Brown “offers Republicans wary of Paxton an alternative to both their scandal-ridden Senate nominee and Democrat James Talarico.”

‘Risky and controversial’
Even as Republican strategists are worried, others think the Libertarian Party could hurt Democrats in a similar manner. In U.S. politics, “boosting third-party spoilers is a bipartisan sport,” said Isaac Arnsdorf, Mariana Alfaro and Erin Cox at The Washington Post. In the “Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia battleground races, independents and Green candidates have popped up as left-wing alternatives to Democrats,” even as “social media and voter registration history show them as supporters” of Trump.

The “big question is not just how much of the vote Libertarian candidates will win in these contests” but also whether Democratic PACs spent enough money in “support of those Libertarian candidates,” said Lauren Egan at The Bulwark. While it can be a “risky and controversial tactic, promoting third-party spoiler candidates is not without precedent.”

It would be “strange to think of a person less inclined toward the U.N.,” said Balkan Insight. But Hungary’s former authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán is reportedly being touted by the Trump administration to be the international organization’s next secretary-general. “You read that correctly,” said The Wall Street Journal. 

What did the commentators say?
“Failed liberal politicians” often end up in roles at “intergovernmental networks and transnational bureaucracies,” Philip Cunliffe, an international relations professor at University College London, said at UnHerd, and Orbán has a “more impressive electoral track record than most liberals elevated to the transnational stage before him.” But in proposing Orbán to replace António Guterres, the Trump administration has “upended diplomatic protocol.”

There are “plenty of reasons” not to back Orbán, not least because he would “act as an apologist for Vladimir Putin and other dictators,” said the Journal. But the U.S., China and Russia are “believed to be supportive” of the plan, and when three of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council want the same thing, they “usually get it.” Orbán would be the “dream MAGA-conservative candidate,” said a U.S. Department of State official to the outlet.

Some “U.N. watchers” think Orbán is being used as a “‘stalking horse’ to make the case for another more pragmatic contender,” said Josie Esnor at The Times. “Momentum has quickly shifted” toward British-educated Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh, prompting “speculation that she may have been America’s first choice all along.” But Nusseibeh has faced criticism for denying that the UAE is fueling Sudan’s civil war by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

What next?
Guterres’ second five-year term as U.N. secretary-general ends on Dec. 31. Seven candidates are officially running to replace him, including Nusseibeh but not Orbán yet.

With all five Security Council permanent members “so tied to and dependent on the UAE, it will be no surprise if they eventually wave Nusseibeh through,” said Dino Mahtani at Middle East Eye. “But don’t expect her to act in the interest of the victims of wars, mass atrocities and genocides.”

A man spits fire at La Calabiuza festival in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador. The annual celebration blends All Saints’ Day with Indigenous traditions. It’s “not El Salvadoran Halloween,” said the National Hispanic Center, but rather a “time to remember lost loved ones” and “honor El Salvadoran history and culture.” 
Marvin Recinos / AFP / Getty Images

Sitting in the southeastern corner of Arizona, Chiricahua has for centuries been a central part of Apache life and last month was designated the 64th U.S. national park. Here’s how to best experience it.

Extraordinary rock formations
President Calvin Coolidge named Chiricahua, pronounced “cheery-COW-uh,” a national monument in 1924, courtesy of its geological marvels. The area’s rock spires, akin to Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos, were created from a volcano’s “spectacular series of eruptions,” said NASA. 

To get a sense of the park’s breadth, drive to Massai Point, where a “manageable half-mile nature trail offers sweeping views from different vantage points,” said Kris Ann Valdez at Afar. You can also explore on foot across the “park’s showstopper,” the Heart of Rocks loop, with legendary formations like Duck on a Rock, said Timberline Adventures. The best months for a temperate visit are March to May and September to November.

Birding and bedding
“One of the legendary spots in all of American birding,” Cave Creek in Chiricahua is where to spot the Elegant Trogon, a species that “links southeastern Arizona with the tropics,” said Arizona Birding Trail. The park also hosts 200 to 500 resident and migratory species, along with the coatimundi, a sleek cousin of the raccoon.

Willcox, the closest town with “basic services,” is an hour away by car, said National Park Obsessed. You can also sleep in a tent at Bonita Canyon Campground, located at the park’s western limit.