VANCE SAYS DON’T BLAME TRUMP, BLAME …: How about “high consultant and ‘list-building fees'”? Writing in the American Conservative, the Ohio Senator-elect zeroes in on a major factor in the failure of the Red Wave to come ashore.

To illustrate, Vance points to the DeSantis and Kemp victories:

“At first blush, Ron DeSantis and Brian Kemp are similar figures: they both won close elections in 2018, and both cruised to reelection in 2022. They are both popular, effective governors from the South. But one won by over 20, and one by 8 (still an impressive margin).

“What explains this? Money. Look at the fundraising totals: Ron DeSantis outraised Charlie Crist about 7:1. Kemp was actually outraised, albeit barely, by Stacey Abrams. Money, of course, is not dispositive—Kemp won convincingly—but it has a major effect.”

BANKMAN-FRIED’S MONSTROUS COMPANY: Andrew Stiles of the Washington Free Beacon points out that former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried has some infamous company among his fellow mega-donors to the Democratic Party.

WHAT HILBERT’S HOTEL TELLS US ABOUT GOD: Hotel? God? Actually, yes, there is a connection, as Drew Covert explains at HillFaith this morning, via the concept of Infinity. It’s a mental exercise that helps illustrate the un-illustratable. And no Drew is not, to my knowledge anyway, working undercover.

OH AND MASKS MITIGATE RACISM, TOO: Now the Covid tyrants have a new justification for forcing students in school to wear masks – to reduce racism. I am not making this up. Neither is Just the News’ Greg Piper.

PSAKI ADMITS DEMS PEDDLING SOCIALISM: The former White House Press Secretary and State Department spokesman has a moment of honesty on Twitter.

DO NOT MISS DON SURBER ON TRUMP: Glenn linked it earlier this morning, but I want to second Don’s point about Trump’s transformation from much-needed provocateur of 2016 to toxic narcissism in 2022.

The last straw in this corner is Trump threatening to “tell you things about [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife …”

I second also Glenn’s assessment that Trump is owed much, but time has moved on. The tragedy is that Trump cannot see himself as others, including many who have supported him with passion, now see him, and make the necessary adjustments.

YALE MANDATES COVID BOOSTER FOR STUDENTS, NOT STAFF: If you plan to attend the Spring semester in New Haven as a student, you must get the latest Covid booster. But not to worry, according to Campus Reform’s William Biagini, if you are a faculty member or staff employee because the mandate applies only to students.

ONCE A WOMAN, ALWAYS A WOMAN: And for the same reasons, once a man, always a man. But our culture is pushing an opposite understanding. What would you say?

WHY EVOLUTION IS MATHEMATICALLY ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE: I have long thought of Theistic Evolution as a reasonable position. Now, thanks to this Prager U video on HillFaith, I’m not so sure.

IT’S WORSE THAN YOU THINK AT THE BORDER: If they can control Texas, they can control every state. Goliad County Judge Mike Bennett’s ancestor fought with Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto and won Texas’ independence.

Bennett has seen it all in recent decades and now he warns the rest of us that:  ““We are losing our country. We are losing Texas. Then what do you have left? Nothing. You’re living in New York.”

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THOSE RUSSIAN TROOPS’ MUTINY? The Lid has the details of what appears to be a growing rebellion within the ranks of Putin’s cannon fodder.

WHAT THE POLLS REALLY MEAN: Spencer Abraham, a veteran Republican political operative who knows a good bit about polling, explains why he sees a bigger-than-expected GOP night for the 2022 midterms. See especially his explanation for that latest NBC Poll that essentially shows a dead heat.

HOW GOOGLE IS MANIPULATING OPINION: Robert Epstein, who let us not forget is a liberal Democrat, says he and his team are tracking a flood of Google messages he contends are designed to help shape voting on Tuesday. Daily Caller has the exclusive.

BIG HIKES IN HILL STAFF PAY: New analysis comparing salaries paid specific congressional staff positions in September 2022 with September 2021 shows an overall increase of 23 percent, according to new report from the House Chief Administrative Officer.

HOUSE GOP INVESTIGATORS BETTER TOUGHEN UP: Because the Biden administration will spare nothing in the coming battles sparked by Republicans investigating Biden family corruption, political abuse of DOJ and the FBI, the crisis at the Southern border, Big Tech censorship and much, much more.

PRO-LIFE CENTERS 22 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER POLITICAL VIOLENCE: President Joe Biden talked a lot Wednesday evening from Washington, D.C.’s Union Station about political violence, declaring that Americans “must unite to make it absolutely clear that there is no place for political violence in America.”

If Biden actually meant what he said, he would immediately direct Attorney General Merrick Garland to put the FBI to work investigating and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the wave of violence since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision against pro-life centers.

The Washington Stand reports on a new study from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) that found pro-life pregnancy counseling centers, which provide services that are an alternative to abortion, are 22 times more likely to be violently attacked than Planned Parenthood facilities.

“Vandals and domestic terrorists attacked pro-life churches and pregnancy resource centers 135 times between May 3, when a still-unknown party leaked the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, and September 24,” according to the Stand’s Ben Johnson.

“Researchers verified six attacks on abortion facilities during the same period. ‘The bottom line is that after the Dobbs decision was leaked, there was over 22 times more violence directed against pro-life groups than pro-choice organizations,’ said the study, performed by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC).”

CAPITOL POLICE ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL DURING PELOSI ATTACK: Just the News’ sources say the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officer responsible for monitoring the live video feed from the Pelosi home in San Francisco saw nothing until a warning light flashed from the local police.

If voters put Republicans back in charge in the House of Representatives, the massive house-cleaning that is desperately needed in the administrative offices of the U.S. Capitol Complex are likely to be a first order of business, starting with the leadership of the USCP.

PELOSI ATTACK NON-FACTOR IN ELECTION: Democrats aren’t so sure, but GOPers see little to zero impact on Tuesday’s voting from the hammer assault on Paul Pelosi.

MALONEY HIT WITH NEW PERSONNEL SCANDAL: This is getting to be something of a regular occurrence with Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

The Washington Free Beacon’s Collin Anderson reports that Maloney provided a tax-funded staff job to a long-time friend of the New York representative’s husband:

“Maloney from September 2019 to July 2020 employed Hollywood journalist Kevin Sessums in his official office, according to House disbursement disclosures. On Facebook, Sessums has repeatedly boasted of knowing Maloney and his husband, Randy Florke, ‘for 30 years,’ and Sessums regularly refers to Florke as ‘an old friend.’

“It’s unclear exactly what Sessums did in Maloney’s office—the Democrat’s spending records merely list Sessums as a ‘staff’ member and offer no specific title—but Sessums almost certainly did not work for Maloney full time. That’s because he worked as editor-in-chief of his own entertainment magazine—sessumsMagazine.com—during his entire time in Maloney’s office, according to his LinkedIn, which does not mention his work for Maloney.”

TODAY IS ELECTION DAY IN ISRAEL: And the Israeli political system is among the most complicated in the world. Never fear, as The Lid’s Jeff Dunetz understands the Israeli process better than a lot of Israelis. He explains all here.

EXHIBIT A THAT FACEBOOK WORKS FOR THE FEDS: Micaela Burrow of the Daily Caller News Foundation reports that Facebook has a special access site where government officials can target what they consider to be “misinformation” on Facebook in order for it to be censored. Perfect illustration of how Big Government and Big Business go hand-in-hand.

18 TRILLION FEET OF YOU: Actually, that’s just the total length of all the DNA strand in the three trillion cells that make up one human body, if they were laid end-to-end, according to the latest on HillFaith.

IT’S WORSE AT THE BORDER THAN YOU THINK: No, I mean a lot worse. Issues & Insights explains.

BLOOD CLOTTING IS AMAZING: It’s easy to take for granted the system in virtually every human being ever born that prompts clotting and thus stops bleeding from a minor wound. But, as biochemist Michael Behe explains on HillFaith, the human body’s clotting capability is something remarkable indeed.

WILL GOP USE THESE SIX INVESTIGATIVE WEAPONS? The Founders made Congress the first article of the Constitution for a reason – our system is designed as a legislative supremacy government — and they gave senators and representatives a multitude of constitutional weapons to win any fight with either of the other two branches,

The question at hand, however, is even if voters overwhelmingly give Republicans control of Congress on November 8, will the new GOP Hill majorities have the cojones to carry the fight to Biden and the Democrats. If they do, here are six of those constitutional weapons they will need.