"Hollow Victory"?
"Republicans expect gains, but many races close" reports Reuters: "Republicans are expected to pick up seats in the U.S. Senate, but polls show eight to 10 races are still toss-ups and it is unclear whether they can gain the six seats they need to control the 100-member chamber for the first time since the 2006 election."
Conservative pundit Erick Erickson predicts "hollow victory for the GOP" in Politico Magazine: "In numerous ... states the Republican Party has had a hard time rallying voters to its side on its issues. The Republicans who win on Tuesday will do so as anti-Barack Obama candidates, not as Republicans with an agenda worth supporting."
GA GOP Senate candidate David Perdue ends campaign dodging outsourcing questions. The Hill: "In a debate on Sunday, Perdue answered simply 'No,' when asked if he had outsourced jobs in his career. But last week Perdue, a former Dollar General CEO, told NBC News, 'A lot of people are critical about this outsourcing idea, but the issue is - at Dollar General, for example, we created almost 20,000 jobs in a very short period of time and we outsourced all of the products and services we sold in the stores.'"
Outside groups outspent campaigns. W. Post: "By 2008, only four races -- including Senate contests in New Hampshire, Mississippi and Oregon -- had outside groups spending more than the people vying to head to Washington. The groups were mostly unions, gun groups and business interests, as you might expect ... In 2014, 36 federal contests saw outside groups put, on average, $7.7 million more into races than the candidates. (That figure includes 35 Senate and House races plus early spending on presidential races.)"
Enviros have forced some GOP candidates to adapt. TNR's Rebecca Leber: "Half of green groups' $85 million has gone to Senate races (in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Alaska, North Carolina, and Michigan) where Democrats might lose ... But the calculus is not that simple ... [CO's Cory] Gardner seemed to change course, saying that 'pollution contributes' to climate change ... Scott Brown, who’s running for Senate in New Hampshire, also changed his mind on global warming ..."
Voters Set To Raise Wages
Four minimum wage referendums expected to win. NYT: "In Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota, binding referendums would raise the state minimum wage above the $7.25 an hour mandated by the federal government. These measures are so overwhelmingly popular in some states, notably Alaska and Arkansas, that the opposition has hardly put up a fight ... The ballot initiatives in Arkansas and South Dakota call for a minimum of $8.50 an hour, while Nebraska’s would go to $9 and Alaska’s to $9.75."
W. Post's Katrina vanden Heuvel celebrates the minimum wage mandate: "...the success of these initiatives in red states in an election cycle that favors Republicans — who blocked minimum wage bills in the House and the Senate — is important. It shows, once again, that the American people want to see genuinely progressive reforms, not the center-right policies that too frequently dominate the debate."
Breakfast Sides
"JPMorgan Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Into Currency Trading" reports Bloomberg: "The firm is cooperating with the criminal investigation by theDepartment of Justice as well as inquiries by regulators in the U.K. and elsewhere, it said yesterday in a quarterly report. The largest U.S. bank said it might need as much as $5.9 billion to cover losses beyond reserves for legal matters..."
Fastest shrinking deficit in 46 years. Bloomberg: "The shortfall of $483.4 billion in the 12 months ended Sept. 30 was 2.8 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product of $17.2 trillion over the same period ... The figure peaked at 10.1 percent of GDP in December 2009 ... may be short lived as austerity-weary lawmakers eventually boost spending on defense and other programs."
No trade deal to announce at Asia summit later this month. The Hill: "[WH Press Secretary Josh] Earnest cautioned that the White House did not 'anticipate that there will be a significant breakthrough in trade talks while the president's traveling in Asia.' Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said a finalized Trans-Pacific Partnership would not be unveiled at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing."
