Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* A new Washington Post-Schar School survey found voters in 69 battleground House districts prefer Democrats to Republicans, 50% to 46%. While that may not sound like much of an advantage, this same poll found Republicans with a 15-point lead in these districts two years ago.
* On a related note, the same poll found fresh evidence of the importance of the education gap between the parties: “White women with college degrees back the Democratic candidate in their districts by 62 percent to 35 percent. White women without college degrees tilt toward the Republicans running in their districts by 49 percent to 45 percent.”
* Former White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice indicated yesterday that she wasn’t kidding about possibly taking on Sen. Susan Collins (R) in Maine in two years. Rice, who also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will apparently make a decision about the race after the midterms.
* On a related note, as of this morning, Collins’ critics have raised $3.5 million to be used in the campaign against her, though donors do not yet have any idea who her opponent will be.
* Tom Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College and a former Capitol Hill staffer, wrote a new piece for The Atlantic yesterday, explaining why he’s leaving the Republican Party and the role the fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination played in his decision. * In Kansas, where Republican congressional hopeful Steve Watkins has been caught inflating his resume in almost comical ways, even local GOP officials are struggling to defend him. One county chair told the Kansas City Star, “We’re just talking two years. If we come to find out that stuff’s true and he’s really not what he says he is, we’ll replace him in two years, I guess.” * And in Illinois, which is home to a competitive gubernatorial campaign this year, Politico published a piece asking a worthwhile question: why exactly would anyone want to be governor of Illinois?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
