Tipsheet: Dems' confidence swells with midterms fast approaching

View in your browser Dems' confidence swells with midterms fast approaching BY MIKE LILLIS   Less than eight weeks ahead of the midterms, House Democrats are riding high and feeling the wind at their backs.   Heading into a weeklong Yom Kippur recess, the party has an enormous lead in the generic poll, President Trump’s approval rating is ticking downward, and Republicans are scrambling to protect dozens of vulnerable seats in order to fend off a blue wave in November. Read the full story here     Primary turnout soars in 2018 with Dems leading charge BY REID WILSON    Primary voter turnout was higher than in 2014 for both Democrats and Republicans in most states across the country — though Democrats have a decided advantage. Read the full story here     GOP: The economy will shield us from blue wave BY JULIEGRACE BRUFKE AND SCOTT WONG Congressional Republicans say ignore all the distractions: The booming economy is the only thing that will matter to voters in November. Read the full story here     Ex-GOP donor urges support for Dems in midterms: 'Democracy is at stake' BY ARIS FOLLEY Former GOP mega-donor Seth Klarman urged voters to support Democrats in the coming midterm elections and said in a recent interview that he believes “democracy is at stake.” Read the full story here     Dems play waiting game with Collins and Murkowski BY ALEXANDER BOLTON  Red-state Senate Democrats, so far holding the line against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, are expected to wait on centrist Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) before announcing their own positions. Read the full story here     New York Times: Trump mulling whether to replace Mattis after midterms BY TAL AXELROD Trump has reportedly weighed replacing Defense Secretary James Mattis after the November midterm elections. Read the full story here     Ken Starr: 'Hell to pay' if Trump tries to fire Mueller BY JOHN BOWDEN Former independent counsel Ken Starr said there would be "hell to pay" politically for Trump if he were to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation, Robert Mueller. Read the full story here     Puerto Rico’s governor to Trump: ‘No reason to underscore the tragedy’ BY  MORGAN GSTALTER  Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló tore into Trump on Friday as he continued to deny a scientific study which found that 3,000 people died on the island following a series of hurricanes last year. Read the full story here     FEMA to test system allowing Trump to send emergency alerts BY  MORGAN GSTALTER The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is testing a new system next week that allows Trump to send messages directly to U.S. cellphones. Read the full story here     Border Patrol agent arrested, accused of killing four women BY CHRIS MILLS RODRIGO Authorities in Texas said Saturday that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent has been arrested on suspicion of killing four women and abducting a fifth. Read the full story here     Lisa Page bombshell: FBI couldn’t prove Trump-Russia collusion before Mueller appointment BY JOHN SOLOMON OPINION | To date, Lisa Page’s infamy has been driven mostly by the anti-Donald Trump text messages she exchanged with fellow FBI agent Peter Strzok as the two engaged in an affair while investigating the president for alleged election collusion with Russia. Read the full story here     Manafort’s plea deal – the clear winners and losers BY JONATHAN TURLEY OPINION | Manafort was not known to be a close confidant of Trump’s and served as campaign chairman only for a couple of months. Trump’s personal exposure could be far more limited with Manafort than it is with someone like his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Nevertheless, there is an array of clear winners and losers from this deal. Read the full story here     China may be copying Facebook to build an intelligence weapon BY MORGAN WRIGHT OPINION | China has apparently taken a page from Mark Zuckerberg’s book on connecting people, places and events. Facebook works by linking users across a variety of factors including date, location, time, demographics, interests, events and relationships. China may now be doing the same thing with their pilfered data..  Read the full story here     The Washington Post: Trump to escalate trade war with tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods BY DAMIAN PALETTA AND DAVID J. LYNCH An announcement is expected within days, said people briefed on the decision. The 10 percent tariffs would apply to more than 1,000 products, including phones, toys, televisions and other consumer items. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: Manafort plea deal raises key question: What does he know? BY ERIC TUCKER, CHAD DAY and MICHAEL BALSAMO   As Trump associates folded one by one over the last year under the pressure of federal investigators, there was always Paul Manafort. Until suddenly there wasn’t. Read the full story here     The New York Times: The economy is humming, but Trump Is tweeting. Republicans Are worried. BY JONATHAN MARTIN AND ALEXANDER BURNS As Democrats enter the fall midterm campaign with palpable confidence about reclaiming the House and perhaps even the Senate, tensions are rising between the White House and congressional Republicans over who is to blame for political difficulties facing the party, with President Trump’s advisers pointing to the high number of G.O.P. retirements and lawmakers placing the blame squarely on the president’s divisive style. Read the full story here     CNN: Joe Biden attacks Trump's use of power during LGBTQ dinner speech BY ARLETTE SAENZ   When Joe Biden addressed the national dinner for the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday night, he found himself at a familiar juncture. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: California race highlights challenge facing GOP in the toughest House districts BY KRISTINA PETERSON The retirement of incumbents in districts Clinton won in 2016 compounds the task Republicans face in keeping control of the House Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for The Hill Tipsheet       Forward this Tipsheet     You might like         Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.