Page A3From§Eachthe early evening edition — 1 October 2026
As it ran on the front
Thursday the president toured the Peterbilt Motors plant in Denton, Texas, talked manufacturing and tariffs, then went 86 miles up the road to a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, a rare presidential visit to a reservation. The Hill logged it as the first of three red-state swings between Thursday and Monday, the opening of a 32-day blitz. Asked why a sitting president spends October in his own strongholds, he told CBS he was doing it just to make sure.
Make sure of what, he answered in Denton: "We need Ken so badly, and that's why I'm here." Dennis Rodman came along, praised for his North Korea knowledge as the president prepares to renew diplomacy with Kim Jong Un. That is the traveling party you assemble for a safe seat.…
…(cont) Sabato's Crystal Ball answered him on September 22, moving the Iowa Senate race from leans Republican to toss-up and the Kansas race left as well, citing a "persistently poor national environment." Cook Political Report answered the next day, shifting Kansas from likely Republican to lean Republican and moving South Carolina toward the Democrats too. Iowa, Kansas, South Carolina: three states in two days, none of which anyone put in the budget.
Then came the Texas number. Texas Public Opinion Research surveyed 1,007 likely voters September 19 through 22 and published Talarico at 49, Paxton at 44, margin of error 3.6 points. By Thursday, with the rally underway, the Washington Examiner was describing the Senate race as a toss-up for either party. Neither description is a layup.
Thursday he was in Florida. Florida.
And in Iowa, a Fox News poll has Josh Turek holding a slim edge over Ashley Hinson, with cost of living dominating voter concerns and independents breaking heavily. Cost of living. The answer flown into Denton was a speech about tariffs, delivered in a truck factory, to a state that was supposed to be free. They have money for 32 days of flights. Watch what they tell you they can't afford after November.
“Thirteen days after a sitting senator called these races fat guy layups, the president is burning a month of October in Texas and Oklahoma "just to make sure" — that is not confidence, that's a guy checking the locks at 3 a.m. And look at what the Iowa poll says is driving it: cost of living, independents walking away, and the response is a tariff speech at a truck plant. They can find the plane, the vice president and Dennis Rodman; what they can't find is anything to say about your grocery bill.”
“Look, a president campaigning in Texas isn't defense, it's — it's enthusiasm, it's base maintenance, everybody does base maintenance. Did I call it a toss-up? That doesn't sound like me; one poll of a thousand people in September, margin of error, and meanwhile the economic agenda is polling — well, the agenda is the agenda. And Kansas is lean Republican, which if you read it correctly still has the word Republican in it.”
The receipts
Democrats are running an average of 11.5 points ahead of their 2024 baseline across 2026 special elections MultiState Elections, 2026 special-election tracking
Fox News Poll: Turek, Hinson in close Iowa Senate raceJosh Turek holds a slim edge over Ashley Hinson in Iowa's U.S. Senate race as cost of living dominates voter concerns and independents break heavily.
Democrats are running an average of 11.5 points ahead of their 2024 baseline across 2026 special elections MultiState Elections, 2026 special-election tracking
Sleeper Senate race emerges as unexpected headache for Republicans ahead of midtermsJD Vance rallied for Roger Marshall as the Kansas Senate race against Adam Hamilton tightens with Election Day political headwinds battering the GOP.
President Donald Trump is stumping for Republicans on Thursday at a midterm election rally in Oklahoma. Trump is touting his administration’s economic and trade agenda in back-to-back trips to Texas and Oklahoma. He was touring a truck factory in Denton, Texas, before heading to Durant, Oklahoma.
President Trump pumped up Ken Paxton’s Senate bid in Texas on Thursday as he kicked off a red state tour to rally his MAGA base for Republican candidates ahead of November’s election.
Democrats are running an average of 11.5 points ahead of their 2024 baseline across 2026 special elections MultiState Elections, 2026 special-election tracking
Trump says he's campaigning in Republican strongholds "just to make sure" as midterms approachPresident Trump hit the campaign trail in Texas on Thursday, trying to rally voters for Republican candidates in the midterms. Major Garrett shares his thoughts on that and Mr. Trump's continued grievances with the media.
President Trump is in Denton, Texas, to tour the Peterbilt Motors factory on Thursday afternoon, set to deliver remarks about manufacturing and his economic agenda. He will then attend a rally in Durant, Okla., to urge voters to cast their ballots for Republicans. It's the first of three red-state campaign swings between now and…
"I'll meet with Putin. I'll meet with Zelensky... And within 24 hours, that war will be settled" - Trump, CNN town hall, 10 May 2023. CNN counted 53 separate occasions he promised it CNN fact check, 25 April 2025 (all 53 instances)
‘Bad Boy’ Dennis Rodman joins Trump for red state tour, praised for North Korea knowledgeWASHINGTON — Dennis Rodman joined President Trump in Texas on Thursday ahead of the president’s evening rally in the NBA star’s college town — as Trump prepares to renew diplomacy with Rodman’s pal, the North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un. Rodman’s plan to participate in the trip was first reported by The Post and comes...
Democrats are running an average of 11.5 points ahead of their 2024 baseline across 2026 special elections MultiState Elections, 2026 special-election tracking
Vance rallies for Republicans in FloridaVice President JD Vance campaigned for midterm candidates in Florida on Thursday. CBS News' Cristian Benavides has more.
President Donald Trump urged Texas voters to support state Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate battle against Democrat James Talarico, as polls show the race is a toss-up for either political party, during a campaign swing through the state Thursday. “We need Ken so badly, and that’s why I’m here. I wanted to stop […]
President Trump has launched a campaign blitz for Republicans in the run-up to the midterm elections, with some unexpected early stops in deep-red Oklahoma and Texas. Nancy Cordes reports from Denton, Texas.
On Thursday, President Trump embarked on a 32-day campaign trail blitz to support Republicans ahead of the midterms, with stops planned for Texas and Oklahoma. CBS News' Shawna Mizelle has more.
President Trump will rally supporters in Oklahoma Thursday evening as he ramps up his midterm campaign push with Election Day just more than a month away. The event marks a rare presidential visit to a reservation and kicks off a monthlong campaign blitz for Trump through red states — as Republicans hope to maintain control...
· Talarico leads Paxton by 5 points in Texas Senate race poll from the morgue, 27 Sep 2026
· Talarico holds 5-point lead over Paxton in Texas Senate race, poll shows from the morgue, 27 Sep 2026
· Senate Republican on campaigning in 'close' red state races: 'These oughta be fat guy layups' from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Cook Political Report shifts Kansas, South Carolina Senate races toward Democrats from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Sabato's Crystal Ball moves 3 Senate, 4 gubernatorial races in Democrats' favor from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.