Amid a downpour, GOP sees a rainbow in Kansas

**Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**
 
On the roster: Amid a downpour, GOP sees a rainbow in Kansas - Democratic socialists notch another House win - I’ll Tell You What: Bad ideas are very popular - Biden goes on cocaine jag when questioned on cognition - ‘Baa-haaa’

AMID A DOWNPOUR, GOP SEES A RAINBOW IN KANSAS
On Tuesday in Kansas, we had our first real test this year of the Republican electorate in a big race.

We know that it was big news last month when Tommy Tuberville ended the love triangle between Jeff Sessions, President Trump and nationalism. But as much as Kansas would love white barbecue sauce and as much as Alabama wishes it had a college basketball program, the politics are quite different.

Kansas is a far less Republican state and, sorry Doug Jones, a state with a competitive general election for federal office.

Maybe it’s better to say “potentially competitive state” because now it looks like it will not be very competitive after all. Democrats shoved millions behind the Senate Republican primary bid of Kris Kobach, the immigration hardliner and losing 2018 GOP candidate for governor.

Democrats spent the money on the premise that Republican Party is a suicide pact hell-bent on electoral destruction. But then Kansans acted like Kansans and went bigly for the enthusiastically boring Rep. Roger Marshall.

If Marshall is hell-bent on anything it is telling you that he is a doctor who cares. Did he mention that he is a doctor? Because you can totally feel free to call him “Doc” because he is a physician.

Marshall’s clinical specialty, it seems, is dispatching problematic Kansas populists. He won his house seat in 2016 by knocking off Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp, who had become Kansas’ version of Michele Bachmann. It proved good practice for his statewide faceoff with Kobach. 

Kansas Republicans also booted troubled incumbent Rep. Steve Watkins, the honorary national co-chairman of the Trump campaign, in favor of 32-year-old state Treasurer Jake LaTurner. LaTurner, who comes across like a youth pastor looking for more signups for the big campout, is a way better choice for Republicans in a competitive district. He will face Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla – so welcome to La-La land, eastern Kansas.

That was a particularly welcome piece of news for House Republicans who are having an abysmal year: Terrible fundraising, painful primary fights and some controversial nominees. While Democrats have seen a leftward lurch in their own primaries against incumbents, it’s so far been in safe seats.

But the Senate is the thing this year. Politicos in both parties agree that there’s little chance now that Republicans can retake the House. In fact, Democratic gains are even a serious possibility. But the Senate is the sugarplum fairy dancing in Democrats’ heads. They need a net gain of four seats (or three seats and the vice presidency) to take control, and the map has only been expanding for them.

The way things stand now, Democrats would lose one – sorry again Sen. Jones – and Republicans would lose Arizona and Colorado, pace Sens. McSally and Gardner. That leaves six other competitive seats, all currently held by Republicans. It would have been seven if Marshall had lost in Kansas Tuesday.

President Trump declined to back his former appointee Kobach, who for a time was a leader of the short-lived commission tasked with discovering why Trump didn’t win the 2016 election by more. But he also declined to endorse Marshall.

Trump’s neutrality, especially in a race that featured an ardent supporter who helped craft Trump’s immigration blockades, was a reflection of the truth long spoken by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: The Senate is in play and given the bad climate for the GOP, this is no time for taking risks.

Kansas Republicans didn’t just second that motion, they brought the roof down. Marshall thumped Kobach by more than 55,000 votes out of fewer than 400,000 cast – a 13-point victory in a race that both Democrats and Republicans believed to be far, far closer. 

And that is exactly how Republicans could keep the Senate even if Trump continues getting swamped.

The past two times when presidents found themselves facing long odds for re-election, 1992 and 1980, Senate results turned out totally differently. In 1992, Republicans held all their seats despite George H.W. Bush’s crash landing. But in 1980, Democrats lost a dozen seats and the Senate as their voters stayed home.

The GOP’s 1992 success came as Republican Senate candidates held on even in states where Bush got wiped out, e.g. Oregon, Missouri and Pennsylvania. It was about separating themselves from Bush in some cases but mostly about taking a pragmatic approach and arguing for the Senate as a check on a new Democratic president.

What we saw in Kansas was that Republican voters understand their predicament and are voting accordingly. Just as Democratic primary voters were willing to accept a safe choice for a presidential nominee in order to win, Kansas Republicans voted with high turnout for low-excitement candidate.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS NOTCH ANOTHER HOUSE WIN 
USA Today: “Progressive candidate Cori Bush defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay in the Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st Congressional District, a stunning upset during Tuesday's primaries. … The Missouri House race had echoes of the contest last month for New York's 16th Congressional District in which progressive Jamaal Bowman defeated Rep. Eliot Engel, a 16-term Democratic incumbent. Bush, a nurse who became a political activist following the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and is backed by Justice Democrats, who helped elect progressive candidates like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Clay, first elected in 2000, replaced his father, Rep. Bill Clay Sr., who served that district from 1969 to 2001 and helped create the Congressional Black Caucus.”

Missouri latest red state to back ObamaCare expansion - Fox News: “Missouri residents approved a ballot measure expanding Medicaid in a blow to Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, on Tuesday. More than 53% of voters supported expanding Medicaid, compared with roughly 46% who voted no, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. … Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature has repeatedly rejected Medicaid expansion proposals over the past decade, prompting supporters to turn to the initiative process. Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Utah have all expanded Medicaid through ballot questions following inaction by state lawmakers, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Missouri’s Medicaid program currently does not cover most adults without children, and its income eligibility threshold for parents is one of the lowest in the nation at about one-fifth of the poverty level.”

Tlaib wins, declares Squad ‘here to stay’ - Fox News: “Rep. Rashida Tlaib won her primary election in Detroit and proclaimed her win shows the progressive Squad is coming back to Congress stronger and bigger. Tlaib, one of four members of the freshman Squad, beat Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones in the 13th District primary, the Associated Press called Wednesday morning. With 90 percent of the precincts reporting, Tlaib led 66 percent to Jones' 34 percent, according to the Wayne County Clerk's Office. ‘Let it be known that in the 13th District, just like in communities across our country, we are done with establishment politics that put corporations first,’ Tlaib said in a victory statement. ‘If I was considered the most vulnerable member of the Squad, I think it’s safe to say the Squad is here to stay, and it’s only getting bigger.’ Tlaib's win is another shot in the arm for the progressive left-wing of the Democratic Party that has been taking on establishment figures and advocating for many Democratic socialist ideals championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.”

Peter Meijer wins GOP primary in race to fill Amash's Michigan seat - Fox News: “Peter Meijer won the Republican primary in Michigan's 3rd Congressional District late Tuesday in a race to fill Rep. Justin Amash's seat. Meijer is an Iraq war veteran and grandson of the founder of the famous Midwestern supermarket chain by the same name. Meijer said in a statement to The Detroit News that the results were a ‘resounding message that we are tired of playing the political games of the past.’ ‘The time has come for a Republican party that offers solutions based on conservative values like limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty, to tackle issues in the present and the challenges sure to come,’ he said. The 32-year-old Trump supporter will face Democratic civil rights attorney Hillary Scholten, who worked for the Obama Justice Department, in November.”

THE RULEBOOK: GRADUATES OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE 
“THE mode of appointment of the Chief Magistrate of the United States is almost the only part of the system, of any consequence, which has escaped without severe censure, or which has received the slightest mark of approbation from its opponents.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 68

TIME OUT: BEAVIS, CALL YOUR OFFICE 
NatGeo: “Lake Titicaca was a sacred space to the ancient Andean empire of the Inca, which at its height in the early 16th century controlled territory from modern-day Colombia to Chile. The Inca built more than 80 temples and other structures for a variety of rituals on the Isla del Sol, or Island of the Sun, in the southern part of the lake in Bolivia… And they lowered offerings into the surrounding waters as they sent up fervent prayers. A new discovery, published [Aug. 4] in the journal Antiquity, offers fresh insights into the Inca belief system… During an underwater survey of the lake, which straddles Bolivia and Peru, an international team of archaeologists recovered an offering box made of andesite, a local volcanic stone, that was lying on a reef some 18 feet below the surface of the lake. Measuring about 14 by 10 by 6.5 inches, it had a concave offering cavity that was sealed by a round stone plug, undisturbed since the box was deposited more than five centuries ago.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HEAD-TO-HEAD AVERAGE
Trump: 40.6 percent
Biden: 51.8 percent
Size of lead: Biden by 11.2 points
Change from one week ago: Biden no change in points, Trump no change in points
[Average includes: Fox News: Trump 41% - Biden 49%; ABC/WaPo: Trump 44% - Biden 54; Quinnipiac University: Trump 37% - Biden 52%; NBC News/WSJ: Trump 40% - Biden 51%; Monmouth University: Trump 41% - Biden 53%.]

BATTLEGROUND POWER RANKINGS
(270 electoral votes needed to win)
Toss-up: (109 electoral votes): Wisconsin (10), Ohio (18), Florida (29), Arizona (11), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15), Iowa (6)
Lean R/Likely R: (180 electoral votes)
Lean D/Likely D: (249 electoral votes)

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE
Average approval: 40.8 percent
Average disapproval: 56.8 percent
Net Score: -16 points
Change from one week ago: ↓ 0.4 points
[Average includes: Fox News: 45% approve - 54% disapprove; ABC News/WaPo: 40% approve - 58% disapprove; Gallup: 41% approve - 56% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 36% approve - 60% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 42% approve - 56% disapprove.]

GOT A WILD PITCH? READY TO THROW A FASTBALL?
We’ve brought “From the Bleachers” to video on demand thanks to Fox Nation. Each Wednesday and Friday, Producer Brianna McClelland will put Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt to the test with your questions on everything about politics, government and American history – plus whatever else is on your mind. Sign up for the Fox Nation streaming service here and send your best questions to HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM.

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT: BAD IDEAS ARE VERY POPULAR
This week Dana Perino and Chris Stirewalt discuss the three proposed executive orders from the Trump administration in response to COVID-19, Dana's interview with Dr. Jill Biden and Tuesday's primary races. Dana shares the cause of the mysterious blood splatter throughout her home and Chris raves about “the perfect, most balanced, most fantastic Chex mix ever.” Plus, Chris faces convention keynote speaker trivia. LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE HERE

BIDEN GOES ON COCAINE JAG WHEN QUESTIONED ON COGNITION 
Politico: “Joe Biden rebuked a reporter who asked if the former vice president had taken a cognitive test, claiming that asking the question was similar to asking the interviewer if he was using cocaine. CBS correspondent Errol Barnett prompted the presumptive Democratic nominee to clarify if he had taken a test measuring his mental acuity, leading to a tense exchange. ‘No, I haven't taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? Come on, man,’ Biden said. ‘That's like saying to you, before you got on this program if you had taken a test were you taking cocaine or not. What do you think, huh? Are you a junkie?’ A clip from the interview, which was conducted as part of the virtual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, was released Wednesday morning. Biden has long bristled at claims that he is mentally slowing.”

Biden scraps plans to travel to Milwaukee for nomination acceptance - Fox News: “Joe Biden is no longer planning to travel to the Democratic convention site of Milwaukee to accept the party's presidential nomination, citing coronavirus concerns. Convention organizers said in a statement Wednesday that Biden will instead accept the Democratic nomination and deliver a speech from his home state of Delaware, and other speakers also will not go to Milwaukee. ‘From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first. We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House,’ Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said.”

Biden confidants see veep choice between Harris and Rice - Axios: “Confidants of Joe Biden believe his choices for vice president have narrowed to Sen. Kamala Harris and Susan Rice — and would be surprised if he picks anyone else. This is a snapshot of the nearly unanimous read that we get from more than a dozen people close to him. Of course, it comes with a giant asterisk: Only Biden knows for sure, and the more insiders know, the less they say to reporters. He's not expected to announce his choice for another week or so — the Democratic convention begins Aug. 17 — so that reality could certainly change. The campaign is now in methodical mode as it finalizes vetting, looks at internal polling results on potential picks and talks to finalists one-on-one. In third place is Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), who had a faltering performance on the Sunday shows after revelations about her past views on Cuba and Scientology.”

GOP wants Rice - Politico: “Joe Biden still may be undecided about whom to pick for a running mate, but Donald Trump’s team knows exactly whom it wants: Susan Rice. Trump’s aides and allies accuse Rice — without delving too deeply into the evidence — of helping cover up crimes for two of the president’s favorite foils, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, making her just the kind of ‘deep state’ villain who could fire up his MAGA base. ‘She is absolutely our No. 1 draft pick,’ a Trump campaign official said. Rice, a former ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser for Obama, is accused of revealing the identities of top Trump associates in 2016 after they were picked up as part of U.S. surveillance of foreign officials. Four years earlier, she faced allegations that she misled Americans when she announced on national TV that the fatal attacks in Benghazi, Libya, occurred after spontaneous protests in response to an anti-Muslim video. That was determined to be inaccurate.”

Kraushaar: Biden isn’t inspiring confidence with veep search - National Journal: “One of the most confusing parts of Joe Biden’s running-mate selection process is the seeming randomness of the top contenders. Aside from all being accomplished women, there’s no real consistent criteria that has vaulted some candidates on the short list ahead of others. For a 77-year-old elder statesman who could be choosing a future president with his selection, few of the leading contenders boast much governing experience.  … But the leaked list of finalists looks like a random mishmash of all three categories, offering little clarity in what Biden is actually looking for in a running mate. Several news outlets are reporting that Biden wants a lower-profile governing partner without any presidential ambitions of their own, an atypical approach for a party looking to anoint new generational talent for the future.”

Biden bundlers ready fundraising blitz after veep announcement - CNBC: “Joe Biden’s bundlers are planning to host a slew of virtual fundraisers for him and the Democratic National Committee just after he announces his running mate, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. … The events have yet to be finalized. There are many others who are also in the mix to host Biden fundraisers, including other lawmakers and business leaders. The people declined to be named as the events have yet to be made public. The events will be a showcase for Biden’s running mate, whom he is expected to choose within the next couple weeks. Many of these fundraisers would feature both Biden and his VP choice. But some gatherings will allow his pick to appear solo, giving her a chance to connect with big money donors. Most of the proceeds for these fundraisers will go to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee between Biden, the DNC and a variety of state parties.”

Jill Biden says husband not considering skipping debates - Fox News: “Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is ‘close’ to making a decision on a running mate, the former vice president’s wife told ‘The Daily Briefing’ Tuesday. Jill Biden also told host Dana Perino that her husband will share the debate stage with President Trump this fall… ‘Joe is a moderate and that doesn't mean that his ideas aren't progressive and bold and forward-thinking,’ Biden's wife said, ‘but he’s not someone who’s left, he's not someone who is right, he's a moderate and that's who he's always been.’ … ‘Do you think he's more moderate in tone than maybe in policy?’ Perino followed up… ‘I think Joe has a really strong vision of where he wants to take this country,’ Jill Biden said, ‘and he has a strategy and a plan and whether it's on climate change or education or the economy, Joe knows where he's going and what he wants to do.’”

TRUMP CRITICIZES DEBATE DEAL
Fox News: “President Trump on Wednesday morning called for the first presidential debate to be moved up, citing increased mail-in and early voting that will see many ballots cast in the presidential election before the first debate is held. ‘The one problem I have, the debate's very late. It's at the end of September and a lot of ballots will already be cast by that time,’ Trump said in a ‘Fox & Friends’ interview. The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 29 in Cleveland. Trump added: ‘Why are they putting the first debate so late?’ … In the swing state of Michigan, for example, absentee ballots can be cast 45 days before the election. In Virginia, in-person early voting starts that early. And in Minnesota, in-person early voting starts on Sept. 18. The hosts of the morning program then asked the president whether he would like more debates against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. He replied that what he cares more about is that at least one be made earlier.”

Trump campaign knocking on doors, Biden nixes for corona concerns - Politico: “Donald Trump’s campaign says it knocked on over 1 million doors in the past week alone. Joe Biden’s campaign says it knocked on zero. The Republican and Democratic parties — from the presidential candidates on down — are taking polar opposite approaches to door-to-door canvassing this fall. The competing bets on the value of face-to-face campaigning during a pandemic has no modern precedent, making it a potential wild card in November, especially in close races. Biden and the Democratic National Committee aren’t sending volunteers or staffers to talk with voters at home, and don’t anticipate doing anything more than dropping off literature unless the crisis abates. The campaign and the Democratic National Committee think they can compensate for the lack of in-person canvassing with phone calls, texts, new forms of digital organizing, and virtual meet-ups with voters.”

MCCONNELL OPEN TO $600 UNEMPLOYMENT BOOST IN VIRUS DEAL
Fox News: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he could support extending the extra $600-a-week unemployment benefit in the next coronavirus relief package -- so long as President Trump backs the measure. Democratic leaders and White House officials are trying to finalize another round of emergency aid this week and hold a vote in Congress next week. If the negotiators, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, cut a deal that includes $600 jobless aid, McConnell said he would support it. ‘Wherever this thing settles between the president of the United States and his team that has to sign it into law, and the Democrats, a not-insignificant-minority in the Senate and majority in the House, is something I'm prepared to support,’ McConnell told reporters during his weekly press conference. ‘Even if I have some problems with certain parts of it.’ Both parties are under growing pressure to reach a deal days after several CARES Act provisions, including an eviction moratorium and supplement unemployment aid, expired, dealing a major financial blow to the millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Rep. Carolyn Maloney wins NY-12 primary after six weeks of vote counting - Roll Call

A voter’s guide to election polls - Pew Research Center

Ex-convict running for Tennessee House seat - ABC News

Hogan ends tenure as head of National Governors Association - Baltimore Sun

AUDIBLE: PICKY, PICKY 
“Is that even legal?” - Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., in response to reports that President Trump could give his Republican convention acceptance speech at the White House.

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

‘BAA-HAAA’
AV Club: “Netflix’s intro sound—a bass-y thud followed by a wash of reverberation—seems inextricably tied to the streaming service and its programming. It’s inoffensive and simple, pairs well with just about any kind of movie or TV show, and, because the world isn’t fair, was used on its own instead of an older version that featured a bleating goat as the company’s ‘sound logo.’ The history of the intro noise, which Netflix refers to as the ‘ta-dum,’ is detailed in a new episode of the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast. Host Dallas Taylor talks to Todd Yellin, Netflix’s VP Of Product, who headed up the project. There’s a lot of detail regarding he process throughout the interview, but most interesting is that, before the sound we now associate with Netflix was chosen, Yellin says his team was considering throwing a goat’s ‘baa-haaa’ into the mix. ‘I liked the sound of a goat,’ he says. ‘It was funny, I thought it was quirky, and it was our version of Leo The Lion. And so for a while we were stuck on that goat sound. I thought that would be a good time.’ Taylor says he heard the noise and, while he can’t play it on the podcast, describes it as ‘very goat-y.’”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“You bring criminals to justice; you rain destruction on combatants.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on Sept. 12, 2001.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.