Tag Archives : Build House

Fan banned for racist incident at Brigham Young University volleyball game

PROVO, Utah (KTVX) – A Brigham Young University fan has been banned for repeatedly calling a Duke player a racial slur and threatening her during Friday night’s women’s volleyball game at Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU released a statement on Saturday saying, “To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans in last night’s volleyball match…is not strong enough language. We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student athletes.”

The statement went on to say that although the fan was sitting in the BYU student section, he was not a student.

Lesa Pamplin of Fort Worth, Texas, originally tweeted about the incident, saying her goddaughter, Rachel Richardson, the only black starter on the Duke team, was called the N-word every time she served, and was threatened by the fan, as well.

“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus,” Pamplin tweeted. “A police officer had to be put by their bench. You allowed this racist behavior to continue without intervening. Apologizing to her parents after the fact is not enough. She will soon be sharing her story.”

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe told USA TODAY Sports that he spoke with Richardson and Duke volleyball coach Jolene Nagel and the decision was made to move Saturday’s match against Rider to an alternate site in Provo.

Both said they were hurt and disappointed at the incident not being stopped and also expressed they had no issues with the BYU players.

Holmoe said the school is looking into the incident and says no further discipline is expected except for the fan that was banned and anyone else identified in making the slurs.

“My concern is for Rachel and her well-being, and the school has investigated up to this point,” Holmoe said. “The bottom line is that we are going to have to do more. We are going to have to be vigilant and continue to say that this is not to be tolerated in any way.”

Holmoe also addressed the crowd at Smith’s Fieldhouse before Saturday night’s match against Washington State.

Duke’s game Saturday against Rider was moved to Mountain View High School, and was played without any fans in attendance.

“First and foremost, our priority is the well-being of Duke student-athletes,” said Duke athletic director Nina King in a statement from the school. “They should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play. Following extremely unfortunate circumstances at Friday night’s match at BYU, we are compelled to shift today’s match against Rider to a different location to afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition.

“We are appreciative of the support from BYU’s athletic administration as we navigate this troubling situation. I have been in touch with the student-athletes who have been deeply impacted, will continue to support them in every way possible and look forward to connecting further upon their return from Provo.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Strategic planting around school playgrounds cuts children’s exposure to air pollution

Selective planting of vegetation between playgrounds and roadways can significantly reduce children’s exposure to traffic-related air pollution, according to new research published in Scientific Reports. 

Previous studies have documented the beneficial effects of growing up closer to nature on children’s lung health, while additional research has outlined the toll traffic-related air pollution can have on individuals’ health and medical bills. 

Air pollution also poses a higher risk to children than adults because children’s organs are still developing and they have a higher breathing rate. 

In the current investigation, a team of researchers in England installed trees managed as hedges (tredges) at three primary schools in 2019, while one school without any additional vegetation served as a control. 

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Because different plants offer different benefits when it comes to removing particulate matter (PM) from the air, investigators compared the effectiveness of an ivy screen, a western red cedar barrier, and a mixture of western red cedar, Swedish birch and an inner juniper hedge.

“Roadside vegetation can decrease airborne PM concentrations, through PM deposition on leaves, but can also increase them, by impeding airflow and PM dispersion,” authors explained. “Critical to optimizing PM removal is selection of species with high particle deposition velocity values, currently under-parameterised in most modeling studies.” 

Measurements taken before and after installation of vegetation showed the school with a western red cedar tredge had 49 percent of black carbon, 46 percent of PM_2.5  and 26 percent of PM₁  captured. 

“Western red cedar tredges work well because this species’ leaves form millions of tiny rough corrugated projections, each of which can bump into the particulates suspended in the air and ‘capture’ them in their ridges, furrows and pores,” explained co-author Barbara H Maher of Lancaster University, England, in a statement.

“This takes them out of the local atmosphere and therefore reduces the exposure to these traffic-sourced air pollution particulates of the children and staff in the playground.” 

The school with an ivy hedge did experience a significant reduction in PM concentrations, though not of black soot, while the school with the mixed tredge had fewer reductions in air pollution compared with the red cedar school. 

The smooth, waxy surfaces of ivy leagues may have precluded them from being as effective as western red cedar leaves.

However, all three tredges “substantially reduced the magnitude and frequency of acute ‘spikes’ in PM and [black carbon] concentrations,” authors found. 

Findings underscore the impact of selective planting in urban areas to help diminish the effects of traffic-related air pollution. “As an interim, fast and cost-effective measure (i.e., prior to policy-driven reductions of PM emissions), and for protection of brain, heart and prenatal health, careful use of roadside tredges should be considered for widespread implementation,” researchers concluded. 

Source: TEST FEED1

DA asks judge to deny Graham effort to quash Georgia subpoena

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Monday asked a judge to deny Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) efforts to quash a subpoena to appear before the Georgia special grand jury investigating attempts by former President Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

Graham was initially subpoenaed in early July but has dismissed the probe as politically motivated and filed a motion to quash the call to testify.

Willis lambasted Graham’s efforts, arguing in a filing that Graham’s challenge was “built on the shifting sands of erroneous legal arguments, inapplicable legal principles, and citations to caselaw that fail to support any legal point being made.” 

U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May had denied Graham’s motion to quash the subpoena, but the South Carolina senator appealed and got a brief reprieve last week when a three-judge panel with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily paused the subpoena, pending further review.

The issue was sent to a district court to decide whether the subpoena should be modified or partially quashed. 

Now, Willis is asking the court to deny Graham’s latest request and reject his arguments that his status as an elected official protects him from testifying.

“In this third iteration of Senator Graham’s arguments, just as in the prior two, there is no role for this court other than to serve as a rubber stamp for his own conclusions. Even in a motion purportedly requesting partial quashal, Senator Graham insists that each and every possible topic of grand jury inquiry is forbidden,” Willis wrote in a Monday filing.

“In so doing, the Senator ignores the facts that have been presented, the findings of this Court, and the historic limitations placed upon the Speech or Debate Clause by the Supreme Court.” 

Graham has argued that he is protected from having to testify by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which safeguards members of Congress from lawsuits and prosecution for things they say and do during their legislative work. 

Willis counters that, though the investigation is interested in details including phone conversations between Graham and Georgia election officials, the subpoena does not require Graham to share any privileged information.

A key call of interest is a reported conversation between Graham and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) following Election Day in 2020. 

“The Senator’s extreme position defies the facts, this Court’s holdings, Supreme Court precedent, and the interests of the public,” Willis wrote Monday in her request to deny Graham’s motion.

She has subpoenaed Graham along with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), and Trump-affiliated lawyers John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and Cleta Mitchell.

Giuliani was told he was a main focus of the probe and was questioned earlier this month after attempts by his lawyers to delay his testimony. 

A judge on Monday denied a motion from Kemp to quash his subpoena, but did delay his testimony until after the November midterms. 

“If we let county prosecutors start calling senators and members of Congress as witnesses when they’re doing their job, then you’re gonna throw out of kilter our constitutional balance here,” Graham said on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America” this week.

He reaffirmed his intent to challenge the subpoena, saying “I’ve got a good legal case, I’m gonna pursue it.”

In denying Graham’s earlier motion to quash, district court judge May said “considerable areas” of the grand jury’s probe falls outside the clause’s protections and that Willis “has shown extraordinary circumstances and a special need for Senator Graham’s testimony on issues relating to alleged attempts to influence or disrupt the lawful administration of Georgia’s 2022 elections.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

FTC alleges data broker exposes users to violent threats by selling location data

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges data broker Kochava exposes people to threats of stalking, discrimination and violence by selling their geolocation data revealing visits to sensitive locations including reproductive health clinics, according to a complaint filed Monday.

The data sold by Idaho-based Kochava can be used to identify specific places an individual visited, by plotting latitude and longitude coordinates, the FTC alleged in its lawsuit. 

The location data is also not anonymized, meaning it is possible to identify a mobile devices’ user or owner, it added. 

The FTC alleges that the sale of geolocation data puts consumers at risk by revealing information about visits to sensitive locations. In addition to reproductive health clinics, the agency said the data can be used to track visits to places of worship, homeless and domestic violence shelters and addiction recovery centers. 

The potential risks are “exacerbated by the fact that” Kochava “lacks any meaningful controls over who access its location data feed,” the complaint alleges. 

“Where consumers seek out health care, receive counseling, or celebrate their faith is private information that shouldn’t be sold to the highest bidder,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “The FTC is taking Kochava to court to protect people’s privacy and halt the sale of their sensitive geolocation information.”

A spokesperson for Kochava did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Kochava sued the FTC earlier this month after the agency threatened legal action against the company, The Washington Post reported at the time.

In its complaint, the data broker denied the FTC’s allegations and said they illustrate a “lack of understanding” of its services, according to the Post. 

The FTC voted 4-1 to bring the case against Kochava. Commissioner Noah Phillips, a Republican who said he will be resigning from the agency, voted not to bring the case. 

The FTC’s lawsuit comes as lawmakers and regulators are pushing to ramp up data privacy protection. 

Democrats have widely been pushing for more data privacy protection over reproductive health data after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, triggering state abortion bans or strict restrictions across the country. 

More broadly, there’s been bipartisan support in Congress to push forward a comprehensive data privacy bill. A proposal advanced out of a House committee in July, but the Senate version lacks support from Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), threatening its chances of moving forward.

Source: TEST FEED1

Hageman to tour Iowa after win over Cheney

Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman is scheduled to take a tour through Iowa in October, just months after she beat incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) in a fierce House primary.

The Republican Party of Iowa announced Hageman’s swing through the Hawkeye State in a statement on Monday, billing the trip as “part of her effort to help take back the House.”

The Republican lawyer backed by former President Trump is joining the Republican Party of Iowa, the Republican Party of Polk County and the Scott County Republican Party during the tour on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.

“Harriet Hageman fought back against the D.C. swamp and WON. That is exactly our goal here in Iowa: send a clear message to the Democrat elite that we are fed up with them trying to control our lives,” Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.

“Iowans are tired of the Biden Administration’s Nanny State of reckless spending, increasing federal bureaucracy, and woke ideology. Hageman is a brilliant guest to tell Iowans the story of how to fight back,” he added.

Hagemen will appear at an event supporting Iowa state Sen. Zach Nunn (R) in his bid for the House, according to Republican Party of Polk County Chair Gloria Mazza. Nunn is challenging Rep. Cindy Axne (D) in Iowa’s 3rd congressional district.

Event details will be announced at a later time, according to the Republican Party of Iowa.

Hageman’s swing through the longtime first-in-the-nation caucus state will come almost two months to the day that the Republican lawyer ousted Cheney, a three-term incumbent, from her House seat. Hageman triumphed over Cheney 66.3 percent to 28.9 percent, according to The New York Times.

Mazza said Hageman’s win over Cheney “speaks volumes that Americans are ready to send a message to Washington, and Hageman’s ability to communicate voters’ concerns gave her a huge win.”

Trump endorsed Hageman as his challenger to take on Cheney, who became a frequent target of his ire following her vote to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and her repeated criticism of his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Cheney is one of two Republican lawmakers serving on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, which has sought to prove that Trump was at the center of a conspiracy to keep himself in power.

Following her loss, Cheney has vowed to do whatever it takes to keep Trump out of the White House. The former president has publicly toyed with a 2024 bid, but he has not made any formal announcements.

The day after her primary loss, Cheney said she is thinking about running for president.

Source: TEST FEED1

Father of Duke volleyball player says she called crying after facing racial slurs at BYU game

The father of a Duke volleyball player on Monday said his daughter called crying after racial slurs were shouted at her from the stands during a match at the Utah college last week.

Marvin Richardson told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that his 19-year-old daughter Rachel Richardson called shortly after the game ended, clearly distraught.

“She was crying, she was upset, and Rachel is not the person that calls and cries over a loss,” Marvin Richardson said. “She started to tell us what was going on and what had happened during the game [and there was] anger, outrage, a real need to make sure something was done to correct that.”

Rachel Richardson, from Ellicott City, Md., said in a statement Sunday that she and other African American Duke players were “targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match” on Friday, which ended with a BYU victory.

“The slurs and comments grew into threats, which caused us to feel unsafe. Both the officials and BYU coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, but failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment,” the volleyball player wrote. “My teammates and I had to struggle just to get through the rest of the game, instead of just being able to focus on our playing so that we could compete at the highest level possible.”

She added that the BYU athletes she was playing against “showed nothing but respect and good sportsmanship on and off the court.”

On Saturday, a day after the match, BYU Athletics announced it banned at least one fan who had shouted the racial slurs.

The fan was sitting in the student section during the game but was not a student, BYU Athletics said in a statement condemning the incident.

“We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior,” officials wrote in the statement. “We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athletes competing last night for what they experienced.”

Marvin Richardson told CNN there was more than one person shouting racial slurs during the game. He said after BYU officials were alerted to the racist insults, a police officer was stationed at the student section of the volleyball court.

Still, he said the university should have removed fans who were shouting the racist slurs to create a safer and more comfortable environment.

“It becomes the responsibility of those who are in authority to make sure the atmosphere stays safe and free from any of those kinds of elements that would prohibit people from playing at their highest level,” he said. “What I would like to see going forward is that we take every effort — make every effort — to make sure that those venues are safe and free from that kind of action. And when it interjects itself, that it is removed immediately.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Former top DOJ official: Graham warning of 'riots' if Trump is prosecuted 'incredibly irresponsible'

Mary McCord, a former top official at the Department of Justice, knocked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday for comments warning there would be “riots in the streets” if former President Trump is prosecuted for his handling of classified materials found when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home. 

“I think it’s incredibly irresponsible for an elected official to basically make veiled threats of violence, just if law enforcement and the Department of Justice and a grand jury does their job,” McCord said on CNN’s “New Day.”

McCord, who was acting assistant attorney general for national security at the DOJ and is now executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, said Graham’s comments were in line with former President Trump’s wink-and-nod “game plan” of indirectly encouraging supporters toward violence.

“‘People are angry, they may be violent,’ and then what [Trump] knows and what Lindsey Graham also knows…is that people listen to that and people actually mobilize and do things. January 6th was the result of this same kind of tactic by President Trump and his and his allies,” McCord said.

Both the DOJ and a House select committee are investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S Capitol and wider efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

A Georgia special grand jury is also investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, and Graham is fighting a subpoena to appear in that case.

Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and found classified documents kept past the end of his presidential term. 

Appearing on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America,” Graham said Trump was being treated with “a double standard,” compared to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her private email server, and warned that “if there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information… there’ll be riots in the streets.”

The recently unsealed warrant indicates Trump is under investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act and other laws in relation to the documents and classified materials. 

“It’s irresponsible, it’s dangerous. It’s a threat to our democracy, and I think he should be ashamed of himself,” McCord said of Graham.

Source: TEST FEED1

Immigrants are key to addressing America’s labor shortage, lowering inflation, and growing our economy

The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent this summer — the lowest level in more than 50 years. While that is good news to celebrate this Labor Day, there is another side to the nation’s historically low unemployment numbers.

Across every sector, businesses can’t find workers to fill open positions, even when they increase pay and benefits or go so far as to pay candidates to attend job interviews. There are 10.7 million job openings in the U.S., but only 5.7 million unemployed workers. Even if every unemployed American found a job, we would still have five million jobs unfilled. But for America’s broken immigration system, immigrant workers could fill many of these jobs — and it is U.S.-born citizens who would benefit the most from their contributions.

For consumers, the labor shortage means empty shelves, higher prices, and long waiting times, whether for a restaurant table or in the emergency room. The labor shortage is especially acute in services we need the most. As students return to school, the National Education Association estimates a shortage of 300,000 teachers and support staff across the nation. In a recent survey, 90 percent of nurses were considering leaving the profession in the next year. Nearly 1 million new STEM jobs will come open over the next decade, but it’s not clear that the U.S. educational system is preparing students to fill those jobs. 

In the agricultural sector, the labor shortage is causing sticker shock at the grocery store, with some families skipping meals due to inflation. Food prices are 10 percent higher than last year — the biggest increase in 40 years. At this year’s Labor Day barbecue, hamburgers will cost 36 percent more than last year, pork and beans will cost 33 percent more, and homemade potato salad 19 percent more, according to data from the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Common sense immigration reforms would bring food prices down and address supply chain bottlenecks. In 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act on a bipartisan basis. Democrats and Republicans compromised on this bill to allow undocumented farmworkers to earn legal status through continued employment in the agricultural sector and expand the H-2A guest worker program to allow for the year-round hiring of temporary farmworkers. Since then, Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Mike Bennet (D-Colo.) have taken the lead on negotiating improvements on the House’s solutions and moving the process forward. Now it is up to the Senate to continue bipartisan negotiations and pass their own bill before the end of the year.

A recent study by Texas A&M International University shows how much good fixing the farm labor shortage would do for farmers, workers, and American families who need nutritious meals at affordable prices. Researchers found that more migrant and H-2A guest workers are associated with lower inflation and lower food prices, including for milk, eggs, meat, fruits, and vegetables. More migrant and H-2A guest workers are also correlated with higher wages for American workers and lower unemployment. 

The CHIPS and Science Act, which passed this summer with bipartisan support, shows that Democrats and Republicans can still get together and solve some of America’s biggest issues. This bill will help the U.S. regain a leading position in semiconductor chip manufacturing, although policymakers missed the opportunity to include immigration provisions that could have opened America’s doors to highly trained, and urgently needed, foreign-born STEM professionals.

Labor Day should be a day for recognizing the contributions of all workers, including the 11 million undocumented workers who have been contributing to our economy for years and decades. Employers need their energy, talents, and skills and they need the dignity and stability that comes with permanent legal status. From high inflation to an unprecedented labor crisis to declining global competitiveness, America faces a battery of serious challenges. The key to meeting those challenges depends on reaffirming America’s character as a beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity for all. 

Rebecca Shi is the Executive Director of the American Business Immigration Coalition and its c4 arm ABIC Action, a diverse, bipartisan group of over 1,200 CEOs, employers, and trade associations promoting common sense immigration solutions.

Source: TEST FEED1

Watch live: NASA holds press conference after scrubbed Artemis launch

NASA will brief the media following the postponement of the launch of Artemis I, which had been planned for Monday morning.

The briefing is expected to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Watch the live video above.

Source: TEST FEED1

The polls are telling a new story about Democrats and the midterms

Two months ago, it seemed that the Democratic Party was headed for a historic rout in this year’s midterm elections — but now, that assessment is being upended.  

National Democrats recently achieved a string of significant legislative victories, protecting abortion rights is proving to be a motivating issue for voters across the country and gas prices are steadily on the decline.

As the general election campaign begins to take shape, it’s also becoming clear that Republicans are suffering from a deleterious candidate quality issue in key Senate races — among them, Blake Masters in Arizona, Herschel Walker in Georgia, Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and J.D. Vance in Ohio. These candidates’ extreme positions, lack of experience or personal vulnerabilities make them far more susceptible to defeat in a statewide race than a more mainstream Republican would be.

FiveThirtyEight’s predictor now gives Democrats a 64 percent chance of keeping control of the Senate — up from 50 percent just a few weeks ago. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) even admitted that there is “a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate, citing these “candidate quality” issues on the Republican side.

Taken together with the recent run of encouraging news for Democrats, the weaknesses of G.O.P. candidates in highly contested Senate races gives the Democratic Party a better-than-expected chance of retaining their Senate majority.

Further, Democrat Pat Ryan’s recent upset victory over Republican Marc Molinaro in the special election for New York’s 19th congressional district — in a race that many viewed as a national bellwether for Democrats’ performance in November — indicates that the Democratic Party’s prospects in the House are no longer as grim as they once were.

While a Democratic victory in the House is still a long shot, since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, there has been a 3-point swing toward the Democrats in FiveThirtyEight’s generic ballot tracker — a strong indication that abortion is a motivating issue that could help Democrats outperform expectations in toss-up House races in November.

Indeed, last month, voters in Kansas — a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and that elected Donald Trump by 15-points in 2020 — overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed state legislators to restrict or ban abortion.

Turnout in Kansas surpassed turnout in previous general election years, demonstrating that the energy surrounding the abortion issue could help Democrats narrow Republicans’ voter enthusiasm advantage. Recent Politico/Morning Consult polling bears this out, as there is a 3-point enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats, down from 13-points in early June before the Supreme Court overturned Roe. 

In addition to the growing importance of abortion rights, the Democratic Party’s latest legislative achievements are also playing a role in bolstering their political viability.  

In a momentous win for the Democratic agenda, President Biden just signed into law a hallmark spending package — dubbed the “Inflation Reduction Act” — which is designed to combat climate change, address health care costs, and reduce the national deficit by imposing a 15 percent minimum tax on corporations, among other provisions.  

While the law doesn’t address all Democratic priorities, the omnibus bill is a major victory for the Biden administration’s domestic agenda after the failure of the Build Back Better plan last year. Further, at least 1-in-2 voters support all but one of the main provisions in the package — including 76 percent of voters who support the cap on prescription drug prices — per a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll.

Notwithstanding the fact that this law passed on a party-line vote, vulnerable Democratic incumbents do also have several bipartisan legislative achievements to bring home to voters — including a historic gun safety law, the CHIPS+ package to boost American manufacturing and outcompete China, as well as the burn pits legislation to expand veterans’ benefits. 

Moreover, even though only 1-in-4 voters believe the Inflation Reduction Act will actually live up to its name and lower inflation, there are signs that the high cost-of-living burden is subsiding, which could further improve Democrats’ prospects.

Gas prices have been steadily on the decline — for more than 70 days in a row — after reaching a record-high in mid-June. While prices are still higher compared to one year ago, this record drop is enormously helpful for Democrats, whose primary political vulnerability over the last year has been increased prices.

Yet, this is not to say that Democrats are not still vulnerable in November. Though President Biden’s job approval has ticked up slightly over the last month, just over 41 percent of the country approves of his job performance, while 53 percent disapproves, per FiveThirtyEight’s average.

And though Americans have a more positive outlook on the direction of the country compared to one month ago, recent polling still shows that 70 percent of the public still feels that the country is on the wrong track, while just 30 percent believe things are headed in the right direction.

High inflation and rising crime are also still among the top issues ahead of the midterms, and voters continue to trust Republicans over Democrats by double-digit margins to address both, per the latest Ipsos poll. Further, while most Americans support protecting abortion rights in a vacuum — as Kansas voters did — it’s not clear that voters necessarily want to elect Democrats who support protecting abortion rights over Republicans who promise to reduce inflation and improve public safety.

That being said, Democrats are clearly on a roll.

However, a lot can change in 70 days, and it’s not yet clear if this momentum will sustain itself through November.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to former President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.” Zoe Young is vice president of Schoen Cooperman Research. 

Source: TEST FEED1