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🐘 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans 49, Democrats 48 (Economist/YouGov)

🐘 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans 52, Democrats 48 (Data for Progress)

🐘 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans 48, Democrats 43 (Trafalgar Group)

🐎 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans 43, Democrats 48 (Politico/Morning Consult)

TRENDING

Left: A Democracy Crisis Was Averted. But Gerrymandering Could Still Save the GOP (Mother Jones)

Left: "Knives are out for Kevin": McCarthy's dream of becoming House speaker just became a nightmare (Salon)

Left: Republican Ron Johnson Wins Wisconsin Senate Race, Frustrating Democrats (Huffington Post)

Right: Here's how much campaign cash Beto O'Rourke has burned losing races up and down the ballot (Fox News)

Right: Florida Gets Voting Results Fast. Here’s What They Do (Daily Wire)

Right: AOC calls on party leaders to resign as NY trends further right in midterm elections (Washington Examiner)

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QUICK CLICKS

Walker vs. Warnock Runoff, Florida in the Line of Fire, Biden Teases 2024

US: Warnock and Walker leap into Georgia’s Senate runoff (POLITICO)

US: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Maloney concedes in historic House loss (Fox News)

Business: Binance backs out of FTX rescue (CNBC)

US: Biden teases 2024 announcement early next year (The Hill)

US: Here’s the latest on how Tropical Storm Nicole is impacting Florida (Miami Herald)

US: Kentucky rejects anti-abortion constitutional amendment in surprise victory for reproductive rights (CNBC)

World: Russian troops ordered to retreat from Kherson in face of Ukrainian advance (The Guardian)

Business: Midterm election results? Markets are more worried about the Federal Reserve (Fox Business)

POLITICS

Red Ripple

The “red wave” some predicted ahead of the midterm elections did not come to pass, as it appears Republicans picked up enough seats to flip the House but may have failed to take the Senate, which would result in a split Congress. Democrats notably picked up a Senate seat in Pennsylvania with John Fetterman’s victory, while Republicans dominated in Florida – led by Governor Ron DeSantis.

Reporting from the Right: Conservatives, Political Analysts Weigh In Following Midterm Elections: ‘The DeSantis Era Has Begun’ (Daily Wire)

Reporting from the Left: The Red Whimper And 4 Other Takeaways From Election Night (Huffington Post)

From The Flag: While some races remain too close to call, the new balance of power will likely result in what is often referred to as “political gridlock” – the White House is controlled by Democrats, while Congress is split. That would force President Biden to negotiate in order to get legislation passed. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Red and Blue Lines Hold Firm, with DeSantis the Wild Card

• This election contained no major themes or significant changes: blue states and red states are holding to historical trends, all while the names and faces change.

• The 2024 GOP presidential primary campaign is unofficially underway with several capable rivals positioned to challenge former President Trump for the nomination.

• It remains difficult for a Democrat to win a statewide race in the deep South, all while race and gender play an outsized role in the minds of male voters and power brokers.

“The Midterm Elections Deliver a Stunning Return to the Status Quo” Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker: “But, if no partisan tide seemed in motion on Tuesday night, there were a few interesting signs of a generational one. Biden himself cut a diminished figure during this campaign… If the Democrats could feel as if they had done better than they’d feared, Biden hadn’t obviously had much to do with it. … In building his margin of twenty points, DeSantis swept the state of Florida… ‘where woke goes to die,’ DeSantis crowed… The longer the night went on, the more singular DeSantis’s achievement came to seem. It was DeSantis rather than Trump’s handpicked candidates, Walker or Mehmet Oz, who delivered the signature Republican victory. The dust hasn’t settled yet, but it is beginning to look like the midterm elections both have and haven’t changed politics. The same basic red and blue states, the same partisan deadlock. But maybe some different faces.”

“Potential 2024 Trump challengers did well on election night” Nicole Narea, Vox: “Election night may have unofficially kicked off the 2024 campaign season, with potential GOP challengers to former President Donald Trump having a good showing. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu — all of whom have previously hinted at their 2024 ambitions or been named as top contenders — handily won reelection on Tuesday. … There are questions within the GOP as to whether Trump should run and whether the party should rally around him if he does. … If Trump’s sway over voters were to be measured by his midterms record, things appear to be a mixed bag. Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance and Rep. Ted Budd won their competitive Senate races in Ohio and North Carolina, respectively. But other Senate races where Trump had made endorsements, including in Georgia, were still contested…”

One more opinion piece from the Left: What Stacey Abrams’ loss signifies Sophia A. Nelson, CNN Opinion

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

DeSantis Delivered in Florida, but GOP Suffered a Letdown Overall

• The GOP needs to accept that Trump’s era is over, and Ron DeSantis is the party’s future.

• Despite rising crime and rampant inflation, it seems the American electorate is not ready for widespread political change.

• The GOP appears to have been overly optimistic about the midterms, but just taking the House limits what Biden can get done legislatively.

“The Red Wave That Wasn’t” Rod Dreher, The American Conservative: “What a contrast between DeSantis, a conservative who actually gets things done, and wins (even a majority of Latinos!), and Donald Trump, a has-been whose candidates -- with the exception of Sen.-elect Vance -- fared poorly on Tuesday. The underwhelming election results on Tuesday, in a country suffering from high crime and high inflation, ought to send a big sign to the conservative electorate… the future of American conservatism is not with Donald Trump. … With the exception of DeSantis, no other major elected Republican politician has wanted to touch wokeness. I cannot understand why. The country is falling apart, the libs are becoming totalitarians who are coming after children, and most of the GOP just sits there with its thumb up its backside, running on the thrilling platform of ‘hey, at least we're not the other guys.’ No, forget it. That's over.”

“Maybe America Hasn’t Suffered Enough” Scott McKay, The American Spectator: “... for all the anger we’ve seen evidence of from Republican and independent voters, it seems pretty clear that channeling it into positive action is something beyond the reach of the GOP’s leadership… This should have been a massive wave election. Given the low job approval ratings of the sitting president in his first midterm election, and given the favorable generic congressional ballot numbers… There are so many utterly horrid Democrats who will remain in office after this election that it should be offensive to average Americans. It’s tempting to fall into the trap of believing there must be wholesale corruption in American elections, but the problem with going there is that there must be proof before it’s actionable. Until some is presented, we’ll have to deal with something very unpleasant. Namely, here’s the truth that we on the Right are going to have to accept: the American electorate in 2022 is awful.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Did GOP optimism outrun reality? Byron York, Washington Examiner Opinion

FLAG THIS

How Will Americans Be Impacted?

Polling data gathered last week showed Americans are evenly split when asked how Republican or Democratic control of Congress would impact their lives.

As for Republicans holding a majority, 35% said the effect would be positive, while 35% said it would be negative.

If Democrats remained in control of the House and Senate, 36% say it would impact them negatively, compared to 34% who said the opposite (YouGov).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Marine Corps Born, Decline of Etiquette, Bike Wetting

On November 10, 1775, during the American Revolution, the Continental Congress passed a resolution stating that “two Battalions of Marines be raised” for service as landing forces for the recently formed Continental Navy. The resolution, drafted by future US president John Adams and adopted in Philadelphia, created the Continental Marines and is now observed as the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.

The Atlantic: The Decline of Etiquette and the Rise of 'Boundaries'

Vox: The ugly story of how corporate America convinced us to spend so much on water

History: How People Voted in Ancient Elections

Today I Learned some triathletes urinate while riding their bike to minimize wasted time.