Monica Potts interviewed Kentucky Governor Andy Beshaar and shares insights gained in “How Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Thinks Democrats Can Win Rural America” at The New Republic. A taste: “M.P.: One of the things that I thought that President Joe Biden was underappreciated about was that he did make a big effort to bring new plants, especially to red states, and to reform American industrial policy through the Inflation Reduction Act. He did talk a lot about the day-to-day economic concerns that people had. He walked with unions, and he tried to reach out to workers. Why do you feel like that message wasn’t convincing, even when Vice President Kamala Harris took it up in her race in 2024?A.B.: Well, I think two things. First, as Democrats, we got to get dirt on our boots, and we’ve got to show up in the areas where our policies are creating new jobs, new opportunities, more accessible health care, safer infrastructure, better schools. The signing in the Rose Garden isn’t real anymore. A signing of a bill in Frankfort [Kentucky’s capital] doesn’t directly impact people on that day. So we’ve got to be there at the announcement, at the groundbreaking. And you know, people make fun of it, [but] the most important one is the ribbon cutting. Why? Because the jobs are there, because the future is better for families. We’ve got to make sure that people in rural America see Democrats and see the results of the policies that we’re pushing for…The second piece, though, is we’ve got to do things faster. The Biden administration passed a lot of good legislation that has spurred a lot of economic development in my state, but the Democrats need to admit that there are times when we are over-regulated, and we’ve created so many rules that some programs that we believe are essential for the American people simply take too long. American people don’t see and feel now the Internet for All program. It’s been three years, and we don’t have a single inch of fiber in the ground. So if you’re a Democrat or a Republican and you believe that the internet is essential, then we should be able to develop a program that gets it out much, much faster.” More here.
Alex Samuels explains “What Tennessee’s special election tells us about 2026” at Daily Kos: “Historically, special elections can act as bellwethers. In the 2017-18 cycle, Democrats beat benchmarks in special elections by about 11 points before winning the House popular vote by almost 9 points in the 2018 midterm elections. Tennessee’s 7th mirrors that pattern: a sizable swing leftward in a previously safe district, signaling early momentum for Democrats as they look to 2026…The results cut both ways: a warning light for Republicans and a welcome bit of reassurance for Democrats. Districts that once seemed comfortably red are showing some slippage, and even places that backed Trump by big numbers may be more competitive than they look on paper…As the 2026 midterms approach, Tennessee’s 7th offers a blueprint of the political terrain ahead—high stakes, energized voters, and an electorate increasingly willing to defy expectations.” Also, Samuels notes, “It’s not just Latino voters drifting from Trump. Even parts of his MAGA base are wincing after he accused several Democratic lawmakers of sedition and suggested they should be put to death. A new poll from The Economist/YouGov found only 60% of Trump’s 2024 voters support his comments, while 29% disapprove—unusually large dissent for a group that rarely opposes him. It’s an early sign that even his most loyal supporters have limits. And the trigger was hardly radical: A brief video from six Democratic lawmakers noting that “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
From “Trump Is Coming for Veterans’ Disability Benefits” by Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early at The American Prospect: “On October 29, a disabled Navy veteran and blogger named Theresa Aldrich, who keeps other former service members informed about developments at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), tuned in to what seemed to be a routine session of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC). The hearinghad an innocuous title, “Putting Veterans First,” and SVAC members invited a panel of witnesses to discuss the question “Is the Current VA Disability System Keeping Its Promise?”…Instead, Aldrich discovered, it was a Republican response to a four-part series in The Washington Post, which accused veterans of bilking the taxpayer out of billions of dollars. Little of the ensuing discussion focused on any needed improvements in the VA disability system, as opposed to just echoing the sensational claims of the Post—that there is an epidemic of veterans defrauding the disability system. All of this, she warned her readers, would “set the stage to cut benefits for 6.9 million veterans.”…As the Prospect has reported in detail, over the past decade, Republicans in Congress have been fighting—and too often winning—on their first front, namely the campaign to privatize the VA-run Veterans Health Administration (VHA)…Until now, however, the veterans disability system—operated by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)—has been a sacred cow for politicians of all stripes on Capitol Hill. If anything has united Republicans and Democrats, it has been that combat veterans and other former service members who sustained injuries or illnesses while serving in uniform deserve compensation. Alas, no longer.” More here.
In “Health care fight heads to fever pitch,” Jared Gans writes at The Hill: “The battle over the extension of critical health care subsidies may come to a head this week as time is running out before prices are set to spike for millions of Americans…Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) plans to force a vote this week on his own proposal for a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the month. He has said he expects every Democrat to support it…But the legislation will fail without support from at least 13 Senate Republicans to reach the required 60-vote threshold to advance…Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is also expected to introduce House GOP leadership’s own health care proposal, with the goal of receiving a vote before the end of the year. The details of the plan aren’t clear, but Republican leaders have signaled it will focus on alternative health care affordability provisions to the subsidies…GOP leadership has for months been stuck between moderates looking to extend the subsidies in some form and staunch conservatives who want them to end, arguing that the ACA has failed to lower health care costs. That battle is reaching a key moment this week, The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Emily Brooks report…Republican and Democratic moderates have been working together to try to put forward a plan that would extend the subsidies with some reforms, like establishing an income cap and eliminating plans without premiums.” Read more here.
