ELECTION/RALLY/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “As the fate of his Supreme Court pick hangs in the balance, President Donald Trump barnstormed Monday [10-1-18] for a Republican Senate candidate in Tennessee, warning that Democrats will unleash havoc if they gain control of Congress and accusing them of trying to sink his nominee…It was a dire picture painted by a president eager to convince his raucous supporters of what’s at stake in November as he headlined a high-dollar, closed-door fundraiser and appeared at a packed rally in Johnson City to boost U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in her tight Senate race against the state’s Democratic ex-Gov. Phil Bredesen for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker. Trump praised Blackburn as a ‘true fighter’ for the state, telling the crowd, ‘She’s all about Tennessee values’…Bredesen, like other Democratic candidates across Trump country, has painted himself as a pragmatist willing to work with the president on certain issues. The Tennessee campaign is among several closely watched races expected to determine control of the Senate, where Republicans are desperate to defend a narrow two-seat majority in the face of surging Democratic enthusiasm.”
–The Associated Press, “In Tennessee, Trump Accuses Dems of Trying to Sink Kavanaugh,” The New York Times online, October 1, 2018