Democrats are polling well with just under one month until the midterm elections.
On a generic congressional ballot, 54 percent of likely voters say they'd support the Democrat in their district, while 41 percent would vote for a Republican, a CNN/SSRS poll published Tuesday found.
The same poll found that last month, 52 percent supported Democrats, and 42 percent supported Republicans. Though the shift is small, it could help quell Democratic fears that recent opposition to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will hurt the party's odds.
It's the widest margin of support for Democrats in the midterms since 2006, CNN notes, which is when Democrats last took control of the House. Enthusiasm is also sky high — 62 percent of Democrats say they are extremely or very enthusiastic to vote, compared to 55 percent last month. Republicans, meanwhile, are more tempered: 52 percent feel extremely or very enthusiastic, while 50 percent felt the same way last month.
There are major differences between genders, however. Women are not only more enthusiastic about voting this year, unlike in 2010 when men were, but they are notably more likely to vote for Democrats. Sixty-three percent of women said they would vote blue; just 34 percent said they'd vote for a Republican. Meanwhile, 50 percent of men say they'd vote for a Republican; and 45 percent would support a Democrat.
The poll was conducted Oct. 4-7, reaching 1,009 adults reached by phone. The margin of error is 3.8 percentage points. See more results at CNN. Summer Meza
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders still thinks former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was "ambushed" by the FBI.
Sanders during the White House press briefing on Tuesday was asked if she would like to walk back her comments earlier in the day suggesting the FBI behaved inappropriately when interviewing Flynn. Hours after Sanders claimed Flynn was "ambushed" by an improper FBI interview, Flynn himself declined to withdraw his guilty plea, telling a judge the FBI did not entrap him and that he was aware that lying to the FBI was a crime when he spoke with federal agents. He accepted responsibility for doing so in court, reports CNN.
In spite of all this, Sanders offered no such walk back, saying that "we still firmly believe" that Flynn was ambushed, also saying that the FBI "broke standard protocol" in the way that they interviewed Flynn. In making this argument, she cited former FBI Director James Comey, even though Comey said Monday that he's "very proud of the way the FBI conducted itself," per CNN.
Sanders declined to go into more detail but said of Flynn, "Maybe he did do those things, but it had nothing to do with the president." She additionally said that it's "perfectly acceptable" for Trump to make positive comments about someone who a judge on Tuesday said committed a "very serious" crime. Brendan Morrow
Sponsors are continuing to abandon Fox News' Tucker Carlson.
Just For Men, Ancestry.com, and Jaguar on Tuesday became the latest three companies to announce they will no longer advertise on Tucker Carlson Tonight, per The Hollywood Reporter. They dropped their support after Carlson was widely criticized for saying on his Dec. 13 show that "We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, [Democrats] tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided."
Bowflex, SmileDirectClub, NerdWallet, Minted, Pacific Life, and Indeed had previously abandoned Carlson. In response to the backlash, Carlson did not apologize on his show Monday night, as Laura Ingraham did when advertisers fled her show after she attacked school shooting survivor David Hogg. Instead, he doubled down on everything, saying that he's "not intimidated" by the boycotts, reports The Washington Post.
Carlson argued on his show that what he said the previous week was "true" and claimed those on the left were trying to silence him. "We plan to say what's true until the last day," Carlson said. A spokesperson for Fox News also told the Post, "It is a shame that left-wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed 'media watchdogs,' weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech." Brendan Morrow
The Amazon Washington Post is becoming less of a Trumpian joke and more of a marketing strategy.
The Washington Post, notably owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is offering a free Amazon Echo Dot with the purchase of an annual Post subscription, it said in an email promotion Tuesday. It'll read you Post headlines, play you Post podcasts, and, though unmentioned in the email, do these things for The New York Times too.
To be fair, the Post does include an ownership disclaimer on any Bezos-related content. Executive editor Martin Baron has also made it clear Bezos has nothing to do with everyday operations at the paper. But there's no harm in noting you can get a free Echo Dot — a $50 value! — with an annual subscription today. Kathryn Krawczyk
President Trump appears one step closer to having his much-discussed United States Space Force, CNN reports.
On Tuesday, he ordered the creation of "Space Command," a precursor to the Space Force, which would serve as "the new sixth branch of the armed forces," according to Vice President Mike Pence, during remarks in Cape Canaveral.
An August Pentagon report said that the command's purpose will be to "improve and evolve space warfighting" capabilities and will assist in "preparing for and deterring conflict in space and leading U.S. forces in that fight." The command will provide the future Space Force with support tactics and procedures.
"A new era of American national security in space begins today," Pence said. "We're working as we speak with leaders in both parties in congress to stand up the United States Space Force before the end of 2020." In other words, it seems that bipartisan consensus in Washington may be possible after all — so long as it doesn't apply to Earth. Read more at CNN. Jacob Lambert
