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· collected 2026-09-06 · by Steven Sloan The Associated Press
The East Wing of the White House was still standing and the Kennedy Center wasn’t threatened with demolition.
asserted
Center → stand → demolition
Democratic socialists were largely confined to the outer edges of political discourse.
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socialists → confine → discourse
Since President Donald Trump entered politics more than a decade ago, he’s had a knack for dominating the national conversation so thoroughly that it can be hard to keep up.
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it → enter → conversation
But as the final midterm of his presidency rapidly approaches, the landscape is proving especially volatile, with Trump often stirring the tumult.
asserted
Trump → approach → tumult
“Some of these things are out of our control,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters last week when pressed on whether the frenzy will hurt his party’s election prospects.
asserted
frenzy → tell → prospects
Even the map itself has been in flux, with Texas, California and Florida among the states that have redrawn congressional districts.
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that → redrawn → districts
Missouri’s Republican attorney general is appealing a court ruling last week that blocked a Trump-backed map there.
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that → appeal → map
The twists could keep coming.
uncertain
twists → come → ?
The economic fallout from Trump’s tariffs on Canada may intensify as the election nears.
uncertain
election → intensify → Canada
His effort to limit mail ballots could add uncertainty to the voting process just as such ballots are being distributed in states like North Carolina, home to a critical U.S. Senate race.
uncertain
ballots → limit → race
The president is sitting on more than $400 million that could shape the election’s trajectory.
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that → sit → trajectory
And Trump’s gilded remake of Washington stands in contrast to the economic anxiety many Americans are expressing.
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Americans → stand → anxiety
The wealth he has amassed in office has no modern presidential precedent, with Trump taking in $1.2 billion from his crypto businesses last year, according to a federal filing released this summer.
uncertain
Trump → amass → filing
That’s threatening a bipartisan effort in the Senate to advance legislation to strengthen cryptocurrency regulation as soon as next week.
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That → threaten → week
Democrats are insisting the measure include a more robust ethics provision.
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measure → insist → provision
“We’ve watched this president enrich himself,” said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, a key Democratic vote on the bill who said she wouldn’t support it without tougher language.
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she → watch → language
Democrats and Republicans agree midterms are about Trump
With so many shifts underway, it is perhaps fitting that one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on is that Trump will again be a central player in the election’s final stretch.
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Trump → agree → stretch
“No. 1, President Trump,” Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary under Republican President George W. Bush, said when asked to rank the top issues this year.
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Fleischer → say → issues
Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said: “People are feeling the pain from Trump.”
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People → say → Trump
She expects voters will elevate candidates who “want to stand up for the American people, the pain that’s been inflicted by this administration and Republicans in Congress.
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that → expect → Congress
Midterm elections are historically challenging for a president’s party as restive voters seek change.
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voters → seek → change
Democrats flipped 40 House seats during Trump’s last midterm in 2018 and 31 seats during the final race of Bush’s term in 2006.
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Democrats → flip → 2006
Republicans, meanwhile, gained 63 seats in 2010 under Democratic President Barack Obama but flipped fewer than 10 seats in 2022 under President Joe Biden.
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Republicans → gain → Biden
Shifting dozens of seats this year could be challenging because partisan redistricting has reduced the number of genuinely competitive races.
uncertain
redistricting → shift → races
Still, just a third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, according to a July poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
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Trump → approve → Research
That’s down slightly from 37% in June and well below the 42% who approved of his work when he took office.
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he → ’ → office
Majorities also disapprove of his handling of the economy and immigration, issues that were central to Trump’s election in 2024.
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that → disapprove → 2024
Democrats focus on winning in Washington and beyond
Democrats are confident they can win the handful of seats they need to regain control of the House.
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they → focus → House
There may be a path to flipping the Senate if they can hold on in states like Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire while winning Republican-held seats in places like Maine, Texas, Iowa or Ohio.
uncertain
they → flip → Maine
But the party is also aiming to regain ground outside of Washington.
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party → aim → Washington
Democrats are devoting resources, in particular, to the governors’ races in Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, and Nevada, all currently held by Republicans.
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Democrats → devote → Republicans
“I’m excited about the map and I am bullish that we are going to pick up several seats,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a potential 2028 presidential contender who has led the effort to win governors’ races this year as chair of the Democratic Governors Association.
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who → ’m → Association
Democrats are especially enthusiastic about Iowa, which hasn’t elected a Democratic governor in 20 years.
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which → elect → years
Their governors association has spent $5 million to back Rob Sand, who has gained national attention for his campaign to connect with rural voters who have abandoned Democrats in recent elections.
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who → spend → elections
But even in a seemingly favorable year, Democrats face challenges.
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Democrats → face → challenges
Beshear acknowledged that Arizona, where incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing Republican challenger Andy Biggs, will be a “tough race.”
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Hobbs → acknowledge → Biggs
The Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota, Lisa Demuth, suggested she would tap into the anti-incumbent mood that has coursed through both parties to target her Democratic rival, Amy Klobuchar, who has spent nearly 20 years in the Senate after working in local politics.
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who → suggest → politics
“She is a 30-year politician,” Demuth said of Klobuchar.
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Demuth → say → Klobuchar
After democratic socialists won a string of primaries this summer, Republicans are eager to tie anyone in the party to the far left flank.
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Republicans → win → flank
Most of the candidates aligned with democratic socialists are in reliably Democratic seats.
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Most → align → seats
…and 13 more, not listed.
