Trump, Dems Clash in Closing Messages  11/03 06:40

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- As midterm campaigns careened toward their conclusion, 
Democrats pushed through intraparty divisions Monday to stay focused on voters' 
economic frustrations, while Republicans cast their opponents as dangerous 
radicals. President Donald Trump, the GOP's most powerful voice, seemed more 
interested in his plans for beautifying Washington, D.C.

   The dueling closing messages came as the nation's two major parties battled 
for control of Congress and key governors' offices. The outcome could 
fundamentally reshape Trump's final two years in the White House -- and the 
level of power that comes with it.

   Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's request to 
sideline thousands of disputed California mail ballots, and the president 
separately raised the prospect of voter fraud in Alaska.

   Interest in the election was high: There were more than 57 million ballots 
already cast in 47 states and D.C. as of Monday, compared to a little under 
44.5 million cast early in 49 states and D.C. in 2022.

   Overall, Democrats expressed overwhelming optimism about their party's 
chances Tuesday, thanks largely to Trump's struggle to control rising prices 
and the war in Iran, which has already spanned eight months. The U.S. military 
conducted new defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of 
Hormuz, even though Trump previously said he wouldn't launch strikes on Iran 
before Tuesday's midterms.

   Trump himself acknowledged that the midterm election may not go well for him 
or his party.

   "For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms, but we 
gave this a very strong shot," Trump said in remarks at the Lincoln Memorial 
Reflecting Pool, where he talked extensively about new grass, rusty pipes and 
algae. "We have a lot of great things planned for Washington, and I could get 
into (more about) the nation, but for that you don't have enough time."

   The speech at the National Mall marked Trump's final scheduled public speech 
before Tuesday. The Republican president was also scheduled to participate in 
nine telerallies for Republican midterm candidates and he appeared on Fox News.

   Emboldened Democrats, meanwhile, spent election eve pressing their economic 
message in places like Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas -- red states that have 
emerged as a central front in the 2026 midterms given Trump's unpopularity. In 
the Midwest, however, Democrats worked to contain the fallout from a messy 
intraparty fight a day after Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens stunned her party by 
endorsing Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed 's Republican opponent, 
Mike Rogers.

   El-Sayed largely ignored the controversy at multiple events Monday, 
emphasizing instead that his campaign was about voters. Asked what he would 
tell nervous supporters, El-Sayed had a simple message: "Go vote."

   Trump focuses on Washington renovations as voters worry about the economy 

   Trump, in his final speech before polls open, delivered rambling remarks 
Monday afternoon at the Reflecting Pool, where he repeated false statements 
that the project was sabotaged by vandals. The Justice Department has 
acknowledged in court that the new blue liner he had installed on the pool 
surface peeled and detached because of a rushed repair job.

   He said little about the national economy, which voters say is their chief 
concern, aside from insisting it was "great."

   "Our country is doing great. I think it's the greatest we've ever done," 
Trump declared. "We had a great first term in terms of the economy. We had the 
best term ever. We had the most successful economy."

   Only 17% of U.S. adults approve of the Republican president's handling of 
the cost of living, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC 
Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 26% approved of Trump's handling of 
the economy overall in the poll, marking a new low.

   The president spent the majority of his remarks focused on the Reflecting 
Pool renovation, reflecting on the challenge of removing algae and installing 
new grass, among other things. He also promoted new Washington-area 
construction projects, including a golf course and a "promenade" that would let 
people walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River.

   "It's a great architectural concept, simple and beautiful and white stone," 
Trump said.

   Tuesday's elections were largely an afterthought in the president's remarks. 
He did, however, briefly portray his political rivals as extremists, claiming 
that Democrats had "nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of 
candidates in American history."

   The president's message in the midterms' closing days was similarly detached 
from voters' concerns about the high cost of living. He's called affordability 
a "hoax" along with repeatedly praising the physiques of the GOP's nominees.

   Vice President JD Vance stuck closer to the party message while campaigning 
Monday in Rome, New York. He touted Trump's moves to end taxes on tips and 
overtime and secure the border while branding Democrats as "lunatics" who have 
contempt for American voters.

   Democrats compete in Republican strongholds 

   Democratic candidates were working to capitalize on widespread disaffection 
over high prices, the fallout from Trump's war with Iran and historical trends 
that typically favor the party out of power in midterm elections.

   Indeed, facing major political headwinds, Republicans are playing defense in 
multiple states Trump carried by double digits just two years ago.

   In places like Texas, where voters have not elected a Democratic senator 
since 1988, Democrat James Talarico received a rock star's welcome at a packed 
outdoor amphitheater as he railed against the influence of pro-Trump 
billionaires like Elon Musk, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to 
shape the midterms.

   Talarico quoted scripture during his remarks after blaming "corrupt tariffs" 
for rising grocery prices and "a new corrupt war in the Middle East" for higher 
gas and diesel prices.

   At roughly the same time elsewhere in the state, Republican Ken Paxton 
sidestepped voters' economic concerns and instead attacked his Democratic 
opponent in cultural terms.

   "James Talarico is a vegan who hates meat," Paxton charged, before falsely 
calling Talarico a democratic socialist "just like New York Mayor Mamdani."

   Paxton acknowledged the difficult political environment Republicans are 
facing: "Texas has never been this close to slipping away."

   Democrats were also on offense in Iowa, a state Trump carried by almost 14 
percentage points just two years ago. Democrat Rob Sand called on volunteers 
knocking on doors to help him become the first Democratic governor elected in 
two decades.

   "This is it," said Sand, who faces Republican Zach Lahn. "We have 
30-whatever hours to change the direction of the state of Iowa."

   Later in the day, Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and her family 
braved heavy rain to rally voters. She warned that Iowa values "are on the 
ballot tomorrow."

   "Grab an umbrella," Hinson said for those voting Tuesday. "At least it's not 
a blizzard."

   In Michigan, Democrats deal with fallout from a dramatic split 

   Democrats in Michigan -- a key state in their efforts to try to retake the 
Senate -- were trying to keep their coalition together after a shock Sunday 
when Stevens announced she would back the GOP candidate instead of her party's 
nominee.

   Stevens did not attend Rogers' rally Monday night in Michigan, but she got a 
long ovation from the crowd as the Republican Senate hopeful spoke about her 
endorsement. Attendees chanted, "Haley! Haley! Haley!"

   "You know courage when you see it," Rogers said of Stevens.

   Stevens is a staunch supporter of Israel, while El-Sayed is a fierce critic 
of the U.S. ally. He has also been criticized for past remarks regarding a 
Michigan synagogue attack and for appearances with controversial streamer Hasan 
Piker.

   El-Sayed sought to ignore the controversy, focusing instead on Trump's 
policies and the state of the economy. He also mocked Trump, who referred to 
El-Sayed as "a jihadist" earlier in the day.

   "My name and my faith are not the reason you can't afford your gas. They're 
not the reason you can't afford your groceries, not the reason you can't see a 
doctor," El-Sayed told a crowd in Detroit. "It is their policies that are doing 
that. It is their war in Iran, the illegal, unjustifiable, unethical, immoral 
war that we have no business fighting."

   "I don't really quite care that he knows how to say my name," he continued, 
"because after tomorrow, he can just go on and call me senator."