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      Donald Trump vows to 'complete the mission' in bid to return to White House – video

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      The former US president has promised to ‘finish what we started’ in an address to supporters at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Trump delivered the keynote speech, saying he was engaged in his ‘final battle’ as he tries to return to the White House. He left the Oval Office after a failed attempt to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, culminating in a deadly riot in the US Capitol

      ‘I am your retribution’: Trump rules supreme at CPAC as he relaunches bid for White House
      A diminished but loyal Trump Maga crowd at CPAC: ‘There’s one choice’ More

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      As Trump’s star wanes, rivals signal presidential nomination campaigns

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      As Trump’s star wanes, rivals signal presidential nomination campaignsRepublicans vying for the party’s nomination have taken the ex-president’s midterm losses as a sign for them to step up Potential rivals to Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will this week be reading the runes of political fortune with their families ahead of the New Year – typically the time that nomination contenders begin to make themselves formally apparent.January 6 report review: 845 pages, countless crimes, one simple truth – Trump did itRead moreAmid a lackluster start to Trump’s own campaign and a string of scandals and setbacks to hit the former US president due to his links to far-right extremists and his own legal problems, a field of potential rivals is starting to emerge for a contest that only a few months ago many thought was Trump’s alone for the taking.They include multiple ex-members of Trump’s own cabinet, including his own former vice-president, his former UN ambassador and his former spy chief. Adding to that are a raft of rivals with their own political power bases, such as Florida’s increasingly formidable right-wing governor, Ron DeSantis.Now the hints of ambitions to taking on Trump are coming thick and fast, especially in the wake of the defeat of a host of Trump-backed candidates in November’s midterm elections which have triggered a reckoning with Trump’s grip on the Republican party.“I can tell you that my wife and I will take some time when our kids are home this Christmas – we’re going to give prayerful consideration about what role we might play,” former vice-president Mike Pence, 63, told CBS’ Face the Nation last month.Maryland’s term-limited Republican governor Larry Hogan, and Nikki Haley, South Carolina’s former governor and US ambassador to the UN, have said the holidays would also be a time for deliberation.“We are taking the holidays to kind of look at what the situation is,” Haley said in November. Hogan, a fierce critic of Trump, told CBS last week “it won’t be shocking if I were to bring the subject up” with his family during the break. Come January, he said, he would begin taking advice to “try to figure out what the future is”.“I don’t feel any pressure or any rush to make a decision … things are gonna look completely different three months from now or six months from now than they did today,” Hogan, 66, added.Others in the running are also readily apparent. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s team has reached out to potential campaign staff in early primary states, the Washington Post reported over the weekend. “We figured by the first quarter next year, we need to be hard at it if we’re going to do it,” Pompeo, 58, said in an interview with Fox News.Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson is reportedly talking to donors to determine his ability to fund the 18-month “endurance race” of a nomination process. Hutchinson has said that Trump’s early declaration, on 15 November, had “accelerated everyone’s time frame”.“So the first quarter of next year, you either need to be in or out,” the outgoing, 72-year-old governor told NBC News earlier this month.New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu, 48, said this week he doesn’t believe Trump could win in 2024. He’s voiced concerns that the Republican party could repeat the nomination experience of 2016, when he was a contender, when a large, divided field allowed Trump’s “ drain the swamp” insurgent candidacy to triumph.“We just have to find another candidate at this point,” Sununu told CBS News. While Trump could be the Republican nominee, he added, he’s “not going to be able to close the deal”.Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, 56, has said he’s “humbled” to be part of the 2024 discussions but in the convention of most candidates, he’s focused on his day job.Youngkin telegraphed his fiscal conservative credentials to wider Republican big-money interests by pushing $4bn in tax cuts through the Virginia legislature and meeting with party megadonors in Manhattan in June.“2024 is a long way away,” he recently told Fox News. “We’ll see what happens”.Helping to break the gender-lock on potential candidates is also South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. Her name has emerged as a potential Trump running mate, but she recently said he did not present “the best chance” for Republicans in 2024.“Our job is not just to talk to people who love Trump or hate Trump,” Noem, 51, told the New York Times in November. “Our job is to talk to every single American.”The biggest dog in the potential race – aside from Trump himself – is by far Florida’s DeSantis, who recently won re-election in his state by a landslide. Some of the Republican party’s biggest donors have already transferred their favors from Trump, 78, toward the 44-year-old governor.Republican mega donor and billionaire Ken Griffin, who moved his hedge fund Citadel from Chicago to Miami last year, described Trump as a “three-time loser” to Bloomberg a day after the former president’s declaration.“I don’t know what he’s going to do. It’s a huge personal decision,” Griffin said of DeSantis. “He has a tremendous record as governor of Florida, and our country would be well-served by him as president.”Similarly, Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of private-equity giant Blackstone, told Axios he was withdrawing his support from Trump for 2024 but stopped short of backing DeSantis. “America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” he said. “It is time for the Republican party to turn to a new generation of leaders.”DeSantis has yet to rule a run in or out, but has signaled his interest by beginning to plant ads on Google and Facebook that target an audience beyond Florida.But in the post-midterm political environment, with Trump-backed candidates performing poorly in most contests, and the former president besieged by investigations and questions about his associations, the running is open.Maryland’s Hogan has described Trump as vulnerable, and “he seems to be dropping every day”. Hutchinson has said “you never know when that early front-runner is going to stumble”. Polls suggest Trump trails DeSantis in a nomination head-to-head, but leads over Pence and Haley.Other potential names in the pot include Texas governor Greg Abbott, 65; Florida senator Rick Scott, also 65; former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, 60; and Texas senator Ted Cruz, 52, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2016.In a provocatively titled “OK Boomers, Let Go of the Presidency” column last week, former George W Bush advisor Karl Rove warned that 2024 may resemble 1960 when voters were ready for a generational shift. In that year, they went for the youngest in the field, John F Kennedy, aged 43.“Americans want leaders who focus on the future,” Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “The country would be better off if each party’s standard bearer came from a new generation … It’s time for the baby boomers and their elders to depart the presidential stage. The party that grasps this has the advantage come 2024”.TopicsRepublicansDonald TrumpRon DeSantisUS politicsNikki HaleyMike PompeoMike PencefeaturesReuse this content More

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      'This is our time': Democrat Wes Moore becomes first Black governor of Maryland – video

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      Democrat Wes Moore has made history after becoming the first Black governor of Maryland. He replaces Republican Larry Hogan, a moderate who managed to twice win election in what is otherwise a solidly blue state. 
      The newly elected official assured the electorate ‘I hear you’ and ‘this is our time’ in his victory speech. Referencing his time in the army, Moore said ‘leave no man behind’. Joe Biden joined Moore in a pre-election rally in Maryland the evening before election day

      Midterm elections 2022: Democrats beating expectations as John Fetterman wins crucial US Senate race – live
      Future of Congress hangs in balance as many races still too close to call More

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      Biden makes final plea for high stakes midterms: ‘Next year will shape our lifetimes’

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      Biden makes final plea for high stakes midterms: ‘Next year will shape our lifetimes’In his final speech before election day, the president attacked Republicans on the economy but also offered a hopeful note Joe Biden rallied with fellow Democrats on Monday night, delivering a message of optimism and determination in the face of widespread concerns about his party’s showing in Tuesday’s midterm elections.Addressing a boisterous crowd in Maryland, Biden stressed the high stakes of the races that will determine control of the US Congress for the next two years. Painting a grim picture of a Republican-controlled Congress, Biden predicted that the opposing party would use their majorities to roll back Americans’ rights and dismantle social welfare programs.“Our lifetimes are going to be shaped by what happens the next year to three years,” Biden said. “It’s going to shape what the next couple decades look like.”Victory for ‘true Maga warriors’ would tighten Trump grip on Republican partyRead moreBiden repeated his promise to shore up abortion rights if Democrats expand their congressional majorities, but recent polls suggest Americans are currently more focused on economic issues, where Republicans traditionally hold an advantage with voters. In the final days of campaigning, some Democrats have expressed alarm that their candidates have not done enough to address anxiety over the state of the economy, leaving the party vulnerable to a red wave on Tuesday.In the face of near record-high inflation and fears of a potential recession, Biden instead pointed to different metrics – namely the low unemployment rate and the 10m jobs created since he took office – to defend his administration’s economic agenda. Noting that Donald Trump was the first president who oversaw a reduction in jobs since Herbert Hoover, Biden argued Republicans have no plan to improve the economy.“Remember, these are the guys who passed the $2tn tax cut benefitting the wealthy and big corporations and didn’t pay for a penny of it,” Biden said, referring to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed into law. “We’re the ones bringing down the deficit, allowing us to afford to provide ordinary, hardworking Americans a little break.”Republicans resoundingly rejected Biden’s closing argument to midterm voters, accusing Democrats of neglecting Americans’ most pressing concerns at a precipitous time for the US economy.“Our country deserves leaders who take accountability and understand the issues facing hardworking families – Joe Biden and Democrats have only shown they are out-of-touch and put power over people,” said Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee. Several Democratic candidates who will stand for office on Tuesday appeared alongside Biden at Bowie State University, a historically Black school located just outside of Washington. Biden was introduced by Wes Moore, who will become the first Black governor of Maryland if he wins on Tuesday. Given Moore’s impressive polling lead, he appears poised to flip the Maryland governorship to Democratic control after eight years of Republican Larry Hogan’s leadership.Even with those encouraging signs, Moore emphasized that he is taking nothing for granted in the final hours before polls close.“The only poll that matters is election day,” Moore said. “And until those polls close tomorrow night, we are running like we are 10 points behind.”Democrats fear that Moore’s success will prove to be the exception rather than the rule for the party’s candidates on Tuesday night. According to FiveThirtyEight, Republicans have recently regained their advantage on the generic congressional ballot – a summary of polls asking respondents which party they’d prefer to control Congress – elevating GOP hopes of taking control of the House. Republican candidates have similarly gained ground in some key Senate races, raising the possibility that Democrats could lose their majorities in both chambers on Tuesday.If Republicans can regain control of the House and the Senate, their success would quash any hope of Democrats enacting more of their legislative priorities for the next two years. House Republicans have also promised they would use their majority power to launch investigations of the Biden administration and bring a swift end to the work of the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.Addressing supporters on Monday night, Biden warned that Republican control of Congress could have far-reaching consequences on the country’s governing institutions. Hundreds of Republican candidates running for office this year have expressed baseless doubts about the legitimacy of Biden’s 2020 victory, and the president argued that empowering such election deniers could threaten the foundations of American democracy.“There’s only two outcomes in their view of an election. One, either they win, or they were cheated,” Biden said. “You can’t only love your country when you win.”Even as Biden expressed grave concern about the threats facing America, he closed his final speech before election day on a hopeful note, indicating confidence that democratic principles would guide voters on Tuesday and help Democrats secure victories up and down the ballot.“As I travel this country and the world, I see [a] great nation because I know we’re a good people,” Biden said. “We just have to remember who in the hell we are.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022DemocratsMarylandJoe BidenUS CongressUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      The Proud Boys Presented Dan Cox With a Gift. Now, He Says He Didn’t Keep It.

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      After a video emerged on Friday of the Trump-backed candidate for Maryland governor, Dan Cox, accepting a gift from the Proud Boys, the Republican sought to distance himself from the extremist group connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.The encounter took place on July 19 in Frederick County, Md., as Mr. Cox, a state legislator, was basking in the afterglow of his resounding victory in the Republican primary for governor, according to the video, published by The Washington Post.A young man in a black polo shirt with the extremist group’s insignia on it approached Mr. Cox and shook his hand, the video showed. In his other hand, he was bearing a token of appreciation for Mr. Cox, who has made a litany of false claims about the 2020 election.“Here, this is a present from the Maryland Proud Boys to you,” the man said, drawing a quizzical look from Mr. Cox. “It’s a comb. Proud Boys comb.”In the video, which The Post reported had been publicly accessible on Mr. Cox’s Vimeo account but vanished later on Friday after the newspaper inquired about it, Mr. Cox asked the man his name and said that it was nice to meet him. The man gave only his first name: Henry.In a statement on Friday, Mr. Cox — whose far-right credentials were highlighted by Democrats in the primary, hoping they would become a liability in the blue state’s general election — played down the exchange.“In the noise of the victory celebration, it was hard to hear what was being said,” Mr. Cox said. “I was a surprised by him handing me something, and frankly, I did not even keep the comb. I had never seen him before, and I have not seen him since. I have no affiliation with anyone involved in violence on January 6th, period.”Mr. Cox’s campaign did not answer follow-up questions about the video’s disappearance.In a poll conducted in late September by The Post and the University of Maryland, Mr. Cox trailed his Democratic opponent, Wes Moore, by 32 percentage points in the open-seat race for Maryland’s governorship.As Donald J. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, Mr. Cox wrote on Twitter that Vice President Mike Pence was a “traitor” because of his refusal to overturn the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as president. In a letter to the Maryland General Assembly’s legislative ethics committee, Mr. Cox later expressed his regrets about what he described as a “poor choice of word.”On the day of the Jan. 6 attack, Mr. Cox chartered three buses from his home county to the pro-Trump rally in Washington, but he has said that he did not march to the Capitol.Last year, Mr. Cox said that Mr. Trump was “the only president that I recognize right now” and argued that Mr. Biden had been “installed” in the White House. He has also made false claims about voter fraud in Frederick County.Dozens of members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, have been indicted in connection with the assault on the Capitol. Several of the group’s leaders are facing charges of seditious conspiracy. Their role in the siege has received major attention from the congressional committee investigating the attack. More

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      Wes Moore bids to become Maryland governor: ‘I’m running against an insurrectionist’

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      InterviewWes Moore bids to become Maryland governor: ‘I’m running against an insurrectionist’Martin PengellyThe 43-year-old military veteran is confident he can defeat Trumpist Dan Cox and become the state’s first black governor Wes Moore will in all likelihood be the next governor of Maryland. A month before election day, one poll gave him a 32-point lead over his Republican opponent, Dan Cox.If successful, Moore will be the state’s first Black governor – and only the third Black governor of any state. He stresses the need for bipartisan support in a time of divide.He says: “The only way you’re going to see polling results like that is if you’re showing a measure of support not just among Democrats, but amongst independents and amongst Republicans.Senate rival accuses Dr Oz of killing over 300 dogs as medical researcherRead more“I think you’re seeing how the state … is rallying behind that idea that we can go further together, that people are tired and exhausted, frankly, of being at each other’s throats, that we are going to build a new type of coalition inside the state that incorporates people from a variety of political parties.”At 43, Moore’s résumé includes a Rhodes scholarship, a tour of Afghanistan, a Bush White House job and corporate and non-profit experience. He is part of a diverse crop of new leaders in a Democratic party headed by a 79-year-old president, Joe Biden, and congressional leaders among whom Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, is a spring chicken at 71.He insists: “We’re taking nothing for granted. We are running every day like we’re 10 points behind. I believe that’s how we were able to win the primary. And I believe that’s how we’re going to be able to win the general as well.”Moore emerged from a bruising, nine-strong primary field. In the general election it’s him versus Cox, and here’s the crux: the Republican, a state representative, attended Donald Trump’s rally near the White House on January 6, before the Capitol riot. The Maga hardcore will back him, but it is unlikely many others will.“There are issues on the ballot,” Moore says. “You have very clear distinctions about where we are when it comes to reproductive health, when we talk about things like economic growth, when we talk about how to support education.“But I do think one of the things on the ballot in this election is this idea of patriotism, where we have not just very different views, but very different histories when it comes to what it means to defend the values of your country and fight for a better future.“I have an opponent who talks about backing the blue, but was supportive of a group of people who stormed the Capitol and were risking the lives of police officers. Someone who says they believe in freedom, yet at the same time would criminalise abortions, for both patients and providers, even in cases of incest and rape.“You have someone who’s talking about patriotism but their definition of patriotism is putting on a baseball cap and calling the vice-president a traitor, while a mob asks for him to be hung.“I think this bastardisation of the idea of patriotism will not be tolerated … I am running against someone who is an insurrectionist. I won’t be lectured by him, nor anyone else in this wing of the Republican party who wants to define patriotism as people who are willing to fight for the overturning of the government.“That’s not patriotism. My definition of patriotism was serving as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan and leading paratroopers in combat.”Moore is “confident” he will get Republican votes, in part because “we’re campaigning all over the state, in Democratic areas, independent areas, Republican areas … I’m going to the areas where there’s not a lot of Democrats but I tell people, ‘Listen, there’s a lot of Marylanders. And I plan on being their governor too.’“In the military, we learned a basic mantra: leave no one behind. And I live by it. I never once asked my soldiers ‘What’s your political party?’ Because it didn’t matter. My goal was to unify everyone around a single mission. And that’s exactly what I plan on doing as governor.”Maryland is currently governed by a Republican, Larry Hogan, a lonely moderate in a party in Trump’s grip. In 2020, rather than vote for Trump or Biden, Hogan wrote in Ronald Reagan. In 2022, he has spoken forcefully against Cox but has not said he will vote for Moore or endorse him.Given Moore’s focus on patriotism, a concept generally easier for Republicans to wield in elections, is he disappointed Hogan has not told Republicans to cross the divide?“Well, I think Governor Hogan has been very clear on the fact that he’s not going to support his party’s nominee. Governor Hogan has said that not only does he think that my opponent is mentally unstable – he’s called him a ‘QAnon whack job’ – he has said, ‘I wouldn’t even give him a tour of the governor’s office.’“So the governor has been full-throated in his displeasure with where the party went. I’d love the governor’s vote, I hope that he would vote for me in the general election. But I also know that there’s been no nuance in the governor’s displeasure on who the Republican nominee is.”A spokesman for Hogan did not respond to a query about any endorsement of Moore.Moore hopes to work to instill “progressive patriotism” via a programme to encourage voluntary service after high school, “essentially democratising the gap-year process that only certain students can take advantage of” without government support.Such a programme, he says, is “absolutely achievable and absolutely fundable because we’re going to use … state and federal resources in addition to public-private partnerships”.The need for partnerships extends to Moore’s own party, where at least for now he is holding progressives and moderates together.“I haven’t been a politician,” he says. “I didn’t come up in this political world where people are placed in boxes and get their talking points from the box that they live in. I came up from a perspective where I built alliances and allegiances across the board and across sectors, and across political parties, because my whole focus throughout my entire career has been get big things done.“We’ve been able to build a very interesting coalition of people, from leaders in the business community to labor leaders, from Progressive Maryland to the Fraternal Order of Police. I’m offering them all the same thing: a chance to be involved in the policymaking conversation.”The last Democratic governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, agrees. In an email, he said Moore “has the ability, because of his victory, his candidacy, and his message, to unite all the various factions of the Democratic party”.After two terms in Annapolis, O’Malley ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. Some expect Moore to take a similar path. He is focused on the task at hand.He says: “I understand, as chief executive, I’ve got to make decisions. And I will make decisions every single day and wake up the next morning and make some more. But the thing I am offering everybody as part of our coalition is that you are going to have a seat at the table as we push forward for the same collective goal.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022MarylandDemocratsUS politicsinterviewsReuse this content More

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      US couple charged in alleged plot to leak military health data to Russia

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      US couple charged in alleged plot to leak military health data to RussiaDoJ indictment alleges that former army major and his wife wanted to help the Russian government after it invaded Ukraine A former US army major and his wife, an anesthesiologist, have been criminally charged for allegedly plotting to leak highly sensitive healthcare data about military patients to Russia, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday.US charges Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska with violating sanctionsRead moreJamie Lee Henry, the former major who was also a doctor at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and his wife, Dr Anna Gabrielian, were charged in an unsealed indictment in a federal court in Maryland with conspiracy and the wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information.The indictment alleges that the plot started earlier this year, after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ordered the invasion of Ukraine.Prosecutors said the pair wanted to try to help the Russian government by providing them with data to help the Putin regime “gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the US government and military”.The two met with someone whom they believed was a Russian official, but in fact was an FBI undercover agent, the indictment says.At a hotel in Baltimore on 17 August, Gabrielian told the undercover agent “she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail”, the indictment says.In the meeting, she volunteered to bring her husband into the scheme, saying he had information about prior military training the US provided to Ukraine, among other things.At another meeting later that day, Henry told the agent he too was committed to Russia, and claimed he had even contemplated volunteering to join the Russian army.“The way I am viewing what is going on in Ukraine now, is that the United States is using Ukrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia,” he allegedly told the agent.The agent urged them to read a book called Inside the Aquarium: The Making of a Top Soviet Spy, telling the pair it would help them understand what they were about to do.“It’s the mentality of sacrificing everything … and loyalty in you from day one,” the agent said. “That’s not something you walked away from.”Apparently Henry had some reservations about providing healthcare data, saying it would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the indictment says, but his wife had no hesitations.In a 24 August meeting, she told the undercover agent her husband was a “coward” to be concerned about violating HIPAA but she violated the law “all the time” and would see to it they could provide Russia with access to medical records from Fort Bragg patients.By the end of the month, she had handed over information on current and former military officials and their spouses, the indictment says.TopicsUS militaryMarylandUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Fresh Off a Series of Victories, Biden Steps Back Onto the Campaign Trail

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      But embracing the role of the Democratic Party’s top campaigner will mean confronting Republican attacks when nearly three-quarters of voters say the country is heading in the wrong direction.WASHINGTON — President Biden is preparing for one of the biggest tests of his presidency: Can he save his party?Fresh off a series of legislative victories, the president kicked off the transition to campaign mode with a speech at a Democratic National Committee rally in Maryland on Thursday as he tries to preserve the party’s control of Congress in the midterm elections.In a spirited speech before an enthusiastic campaign crowd, Mr. Biden delivered his strongest condemnation to date of what he called “ultra-MAGA Republicans” and hailed the success his administration has had in meeting key priorities on climate change, guns, jobs and the coronavirus.“Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans have made their choice: to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division,” Mr. Biden said to about 2,400 people at a suburban Maryland high school gym. “But we’ve chosen a different path: forward, the future, unity, hope and optimism.”The president’s new stump speech was the start of what his aides say will be a more aggressive Joe Biden, willing to brag about his accomplishments and assail his opponents.“If the MAGA Republicans win control of the Congress, it won’t matter where you live. Women won’t have the right to choose anywhere, anywhere,” Mr. Biden said, prompting loud boos from the audience. “Let me tell you something. If they take it back and they try and pass it, I will veto it.”In his speech, Mr. Biden delivered his strongest condemnation to date of what he called “ultra-MAGA Republicans.”Al Drago for The New York TimesBut Mr. Biden’s approval rating remains stubbornly low — lower, in some cases, than those of the candidates he hopes to help — and inflation remains stubbornly high. At 79, Mr. Biden is the oldest president in American history, which has become an increasingly uncomfortable issue for Democrats.Embracing the role as his party’s top campaigner will mean directly confronting Republican attacks when nearly three-quarters of voters say the United States is heading in the wrong direction. It will also mean enduring cold shoulders from some Democratic candidates, a few of whom have made clear that they would prefer if Mr. Biden stayed away.Representative Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who is running for the Senate, cited scheduling conflicts when Mr. Biden was in his state in July, declining to appear beside the president even as Mr. Ryan — a moderate — is locked in one of the country’s most intense campaign battles in a traditional swing state that has been moving toward Republicans.More Coverage of the 2022 Midterm ElectionsThe Evidence Against a Red Wave: Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, it’s increasingly hard to see the once-clear signs of a Republican advantage. A strong Democratic showing in a special election in New York’s Hudson Valley is the latest example.New Women Voters: The number of women signing up to vote surged in some states after Roe was overturned, particularly in states where abortion rights are at risk.Sensing a Shift: Abortion rights, falling gas prices, legislative victories and Donald J. Trump’s re-emergence have Democrats dreaming again that they just might keep control of Congress. But the House map still favors Republicans.Bruising Fights in N.Y.: A string of ugly primaries played out across the state, as Democrats and Republicans fought over rival personalities and the ideological direction of their parties.Mr. Ryan’s spokeswoman, Izzi Levy, said the president was not someone the congressman wanted to campaign with.“We haven’t been interested in him or any other out-of-state surrogates,” she said, noting that Mr. Ryan’s approval rating in Ohio was higher than Mr. Biden’s. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”Representative Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who is running for the Senate, declined to appear with Mr. Biden in his state, citing scheduling conflicts.Dustin Franz for The New York TimesIn the West Wing, the president’s advisers are betting that he can help Democratic candidates despite the drag on his popularity. They note that gas prices have dropped for more than two months; the coronavirus has receded, as Mr. Biden promised it would; and he has pushed through big Democratic wins on climate change, drug pricing and taxes on corporations. On Wednesday, he announced billions of dollars in student debt relief, a move that aides hope will energize young voters.White House strategists also believe no one is better positioned to contrast the Democratic Party’s ideas with those of “ultra-MAGA Republicans,” a phrase the president uses to draw attention to the control that former President Donald J. Trump still wields and the number of Republicans who adhere to his election-denying conspiracies.“What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy,” Mr. Biden said at a D.N.C. reception before the evening rally on Thursday. “It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semifascism.”The F.B.I.’s search of Mr. Trump’s home in Florida this month to retrieve classified documents has focused attention on him at an opportune time for Mr. Biden, raising new questions about the former president’s norm-busting — and possibly illegal — behavior. But it has also made it tougher for the White House’s messages to break through the barrage of Trump-related news coverage. More