OBAMA AGENDA: On the campaign trail -- finally
NBC's Chris Jansing reports that Obama will hit the road in the waning weeks before the midterms, including stumping for: Mary Burke in Wisconsin, Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania, Mike Michaud in Maine and Gary Peters in Michigan. The schedule:
Oct. 15: Rally for Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy
Oct. 19: Rally for Maryland Democratic gubernatorial nominee Anthony Brown
Oct. 19: Rally for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn
Week of Oct. 27-31: Rallies for Mary Burke, Tom Wolf, Mike Michaud, and Gary Peters/Mark Schauer.
From one of us(!): Our new NBC/WSJ poll numbers show that a majority of Americans (56 percent) believe that the U.S. is prepared for a possible Ebola outbreak, but only about one in 10 say the nation is "very prepared."
More Americans now say that the fight against ISIS will require both airstrikes and U.S. ground troops, an increase mostly fueled by GOP-leaning groups.
The New York Times writes on how a CIA study led to skepticism about arming the Syrian rebels. "The still-classified review, one of several C.I.A. studies commissioned in 2012 and 2013 in the midst of the Obama administration’s protracted debate about whether to wade into the Syrian civil war, concluded that many past attempts by the agency to arm foreign forces covertly had a minimal impact on the long-term outcome of a conflict. They were even less effective, the report found, when the militias fought without any direct American support on the ground."
Last night's SCOTUS move: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday night blocked a Texas law that had drastically reduced the number of abortion clinics in the nation’s second most populous state. The court’s order, staying a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that the law could go into effect, will allow more than a dozen of the clinics to resume operation, according to the group that challenged the law, the Center for Reproductive Rights."
And also from SCOTUS last night: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily reinstated Texas’ voter ID law, which the U.S. Justice Department had condemned as the state’s latest means of suppressing minority voter turnout.”
Bloomberg writes that Obama’s top choice for the next attorney general is former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. (Of course, you heard from us a couple of weeks ago that Ruemmler was one of the top front-runners for the post.)
OFF TO THE RACES: Angry and disengaged
From one of us(!): Here's our full story of the state of the 2014 midterms -- with an electorate that's angry but also disengaged.
Jeb Bush tells the AP his family's on board with a presidential run: "My wife is supportive, but that doesn't mean that I don't understand the challenges that this brings. This is ultimately my decision with as much consideration as I can to take into account the people that I really love."
New York Times midterm lede: " After countless dire emails and months of fading bravado, national Democrats in recent days have signaled with their money what they have been loath to acknowledge out loud: They will not win back the House and they will most likely lose additional seats in November."
The Washington Post writes that John Boehner plans to announce raising nearly $8 million in the third quarter, bringing his fundraising for the cycle to more than $98 million.
ARKANSAS: "Harvard" and "Obama" were the insults most hurled in Tuesday night's Senate debate, writes POLITICO.
COLORADO: A new CNN/ORC poll shows Cory Garnder with a 50-46 lead over Mark Udall.
CONNECTICUT: The New York Times looks at the Connecticut governor's race, where Obama will weigh in Wednesday.
GEORGIA: Democrats are planning to pump $1 million more into ads in the Georgia Senate race.
IOWA: A new Q-poll shows Ernst barely up over Braley, 47 percent to 45 percent.
KANSAS: Pat Roberts and Greg Orman face off tonight in another televised debate.
KENTUCKY: The DSCC is pulling its funding from the Kentucky Senate race, NBC confirms.
LOUISIANA: Mary Landrieu said she'd rate the president's performance as a "six-to-seven" out of ten during a debate Tuesday night.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The state GOP is launching robocalls against Gov. Maggie Hassan, hitting her on spending requests.
A New England College Poll shows Scott Brown barely leading Jeanne Shaheen, but within the margin of error.
OHIO: The Washington Post's Dan Balz profiles possible 2016 candidate and GOP Gov. John Kasich: "As the governor of a pivotal Midwestern state, Kasich is seen by some strategists within his party as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Whatever his intentions or prospects, he is nonetheless eager to put himself into the competition to reshape a national party that has lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections."
RHODE ISLAND: The Wall Street Journal looks at Buddy Cianci's efforts to win back his old job.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall interviews National Nurses Union Co-President Karen Higgins and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on the second case of Ebola transmitted in the U.S.; Politico’s Roger Simon on the President and the midterm election trail; and in our exclusive series Born in the U$A: Jim D’Addario, CEO of D’Addario & Company, the world’s largest maker of guitar strings.
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Dr. Kenneth Davis, Pres. and CEO Mount Sinai Health System, Fmr. Sen Sam Nunn, Fmr. Sen. Larry Pressler, Bioethicist Katharine Taylor, Author and New America Foundation Program Director Liza Mundy, “Meet the Press” Moderator Chuck Todd and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza.