AI Summary
→ WHAT IT COVERS Trump calls for execution of six Democratic Congress members who reminded military personnel they can refuse unlawful orders. His approval rating drops to 41% amid economic concerns and corruption scandals. Federal judges block Republican gerrymandering attempts in Texas and Utah. House faces bipartisan ethics scandals. Swing Left launches Ground Truth program testing new voter contact methods through extended conversations. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Presidential Rhetoric and Violence:** Trump posted over 20 times on Truth Social calling for six Democratic Congress members to be hanged for treason after they released a video reminding military personnel about refusing unlawful orders. The Democrats—all military or intelligence veterans—acted after the administration refused to provide legal justification for extrajudicial killings off Venezuela's coast. The UK attorney general told Britain to stop sharing intelligence with the US over these illegal operations. This represents escalation beyond 2017 rhetoric into explicit execution calls. - **Economic Approval Collapse:** Trump's approval rating sits at 41% with 58% disapproval in Fox News polling, the lowest of his second term. Seventy-six percent of voters view the economy negatively, worse than Biden's 70% at term end. Twice as many voters blame Trump versus Biden for current economic conditions. Three times more voters say Trump's policies hurt rather than helped them. Record high disapproval exists among men, white voters, and non-college educated voters—Trump's core demographics. - **Gerrymandering Setback:** Federal judges struck down Texas's new congressional map designed to deliver five additional Republican seats, ruling it an illegal racial gerrymander. A Trump appointee joined an Obama appointee in the two-to-one decision. The Department of Justice sent a letter explicitly requesting racial gerrymandering, creating damaging evidence. Utah courts also blocked Republican maps, implementing a Harris plus 23 or 24 district. Democrats could gain nine seats total while Republicans gain four, reversing intended advantage. - **DOJ Prosecution Failures:** The politically motivated prosecution of James Comey appears collapsing after prosecutor Lindsey Halligan admitted never showing the grand jury the updated indictment and concealing a memo explaining why previous prosecutors declined charges. Halligan had never tried a case before a judge and was the only prosecutor among 200 employees willing to sign the indictment. Similar patterns emerge in cases against Letitia James and others, revealing incompetence in retribution efforts. - **Generic Ballot Shift:** Democrats lead by 14 points in NPR Marist polling and six points in overall averages for the 2026 midterms, the largest Democratic advantage since 2017. This represents significant movement from previous months. Combined with gerrymandering setbacks, Democrats need only a three-point popular vote margin to likely take the House. The Republican strategy of diluting their base across more districts creates vulnerability in wave elections, as seen in New Jersey's 50-point Latino shift toward Democrats. - **Ground Truth Methodology:** Swing Left's new program starts voter contact 14 months before elections, conducting open-ended conversations averaging over ten minutes with two-thirds of respondents. Volunteers knock every door regardless of party, asking how people feel about the country's direction. They record detailed notes afterward, which AI processes to identify patterns and share with campaigns weekly. This contrasts with traditional 90-second interactions two weeks before elections targeting predetermined voter lists. - **Letter Writing Effectiveness Decline:** Vote Forward's randomized controlled trials showed letter-writing campaigns initially moved turnout by multiple percentage points in the 2017 Alabama special election—an unprecedented effect size. The program scaled to 10 million letters in 2020 with measurable impact. However, effectiveness has steadily declined each cycle despite tweaks like adding post-it notes. This demonstrates the need for continuous experimentation rather than relying on previously successful tactics as voter contact methods lose effectiveness over time. → NOTABLE MOMENT A Pennsylvania voter literally ran to the other side of his wraparound porch to avoid a Ground Truth canvasser, then sarcastically asked if she had heard the story of Sisyphus when she explained Democrats wanted to listen better. The unexpected approach led to a twenty-minute substantive conversation, demonstrating how authentic curiosity breaks through voter cynicism when people expect transactional political interactions focused on immediate asks rather than genuine engagement. 💼 SPONSORS [{"name": "SimpliSafe", "url": "simplisafe.com/crooked"}, {"name": "ChiliPad by SleepMe", "url": "sleep.me/crooked"}, {"name": "Quince", "url": "quince.com/crooked"}, {"name": "ZBiotics", "url": "zbiotics.com/crooked"}] 🏷️ Trump Administration, Congressional Ethics, Gerrymandering, Voter Contact Methods, Political Polling, DOJ Prosecutions, 2026 Midterms