Republicans seem to have lost the big lead they had on the generic congressional ballot earlier in the summer, and the situation looks even worse when one examines individual Senate races; the GOP is losing key contests.
What is going on?
1. Democrats are mad: the Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade has energized female voters; the Uvalde decision is motivating gun control enthusiasts; and some Republicans are proposing some weird policies.
2. Biden is doing better: the Al-Zawahiri killing; the falling gas prices; the new spending bill; modest gun reforms; and good jobs reports are all adding up to a fairly good summer for Biden, even with two quarters of economic contraction.
3. Trump is the issue: Democrats have used the January 6 Committee and other investigations to keep Trump in the headlines. That has rallied the GOP (see the Mar-a-Lago raid), but it has also rallied wavering Democrats.
4. Republicans aren't talking about issues: the GOP is stuck on Trump, too, and can't find a credible message on inflation. Meanwhile, as Tucker Carlson notes, they aren't talking about the border crisis or crime or "woke" education.
5. Individual candidates: This is the Mitch McConnell excuse, but it's got some legs. The GOP has some lemons: in Pennsylvania, Dr. Oz is losing to a guy who is basically an extremist (and a racist) and who is not healthy enough to serve.
It's still early yet, but without determined leadership from Republicans, a good opportunity to take the Senate is going to slip away, and gains in the House may also disappear. It's like the Tea Party year of 2010 all over again.
This is the portion that all journalists should love: the Torah tells the story of the 12 spies, only two of whom tell the truth when the other ten shade it in a negative away (perhaps to suit a political agenda that is opposed to Moses).
It's not that the ten "lying" spies misconstrue the facts about the Land of Israel; rather, they interject their opinions that the land is impossible to conquer, which strikes unnecessary terror into the hearts of the people.
We have many examples of such fake news today -- from the Iranian propaganda outlets spreading false claims that they are winning the war, to California politicians spreading false horror stories about ICE raids in L.A.
The people realize, too late, that they have been fooled, and once they are condemned to die in the desert, they try to rush into Israel -- only to be defeated by the inhabitants, as the spies predicted that they would be.
But as consolation, God gives the people new commandments -- focused on things they must ...
This week's portion discusses the procedure for lighting the menorah, the holy seven-branched lamp, in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). It also describes an episode where the people crave meat, and God punishes them by giving it to them in excess. We also read the story of Miriam, Moses's sister, who is punished with the spiritual skin blemish of tzara'at for speaking about her brother, thus violating the prohibition against lashon hara (evil tongue).
I heard a fantastic sermon this week about the lighting of the menorah: that while only the priests were qualified to clean and purify the menorah, anyone could light it. A reminder that each of us can inspire others along the way.
This week we study the vow of the Nazirite; a reminder that sometimes trying to be too holy is excessive, and the best we can do is to be the best that we are.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/2495720/p/complete/jewish/Naso-Torah-Reading.htm
