The above map from the Financial Times shows the U.S. and the likelihood that seven U.S. Senate races are tossups. As the FT puts it:

A decade after Trump exploded on to the political scene, voters in the Republican heartlands are now expressing disappointment with the president, while some of the party’s candidates seek to distance themselves from him.

Although much of the news coverage is shows some Democrats have a solid chance of winning in ruby red states, Kentucky (one of the poorest states in the nation, brought down by years of GOP neglect) is still drowning in MAGA madness. And this comes as full-throated fluffers of the Orange Menace in the White House, especially Garland Hale Barr IV (you know, the guy who has taken on a Mayberry first name), go through their campaign Web sites and remove references to their pedophile master. Yet the coward Barr, who is running one of the most racist campaigns in U.S. history and avoiding every opportunity to debate his opponent, Charles Booker (whom Garland wants voters to know is Black), is still considered a shoe-in for the seat.

Meanwhile Garland is running this ad, thinking it’s a “gotcha” against Charles:

So what’s the problem here? Because Charles has taken these stands:

• Systemic Change: Booker includes reparations alongside policies like Medicare for All, Universal Basic Income, and universal childcare to uproot racial and economic inequalities.
• Addressing Legacy: He emphasizes that his own ancestors were enslaved in Kentucky, linking the pursuit of reparations to ending generational harm and closing wealth gaps.
• Political Opposition: Republican opponents, such as U.S. Senator Rand Paul, have sharply criticized Booker’s stance, arguing that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for historical injustices.

So we don’t pay for historical injustices, but we do pay for Elon Musk to be a trillionaire? Just take a look at how much money Musk has at this moment with Forbes Real Time Billionaires. That’s what Garland and his other MAGA GOP stooges stand for.

Stacy Patton, an unapologetically angry Black woman on Facebook, isn’t blaming the GOP politicians, since every thinking person knows they only care about giving more money to billionaires. She’s going for the people who didn’t care about the suffering of others as long as it didn’t affect them: MAGA voters, who are now in tears because they are being hurt.

For the past week I’ve been seeing all these media stories focusing on West Virginia and other parts of Appalachia, documenting the misery of poor white folks who are going hungry, struggling to pay their bills, losing access to healthcare, and watching their communities fall apart. And we’re supposed to feel particularly sorry for a people who repeatedly voted for politicians who promised to punish immigrants, Black and Brown folks, LGBTQ folks, and dismantle the social safety net, and roll back protections for everybody but the wealthy.

We the marginalized groups of this society told y’all that Trump and his ilk don’t give a fuqque about y’all. But y’all chose racial resentment over economic solidarity. You people chose white supremacy over your own material interests. You dimwits chose the fantasy of racial superiority over the possibility of a better life for yourselves and families.

Now the consequences are showing up at YOUR kitchen tables, and gas tanks, and wallets, and food pantries, and unhealthy bodies. And suddenly all this suffering is a national American tragedy. The national media is acting like it has discovered hunger, poverty, and economic suffering in America. The media is now so determined to HUMANIZE the political choices of poor white voters while refusing to demand that they confront the racism that helped produce those choices.

Why is that?

They shouldn’t be humanized for their choices. Kentuckians can change this in less than a month with their votes. But it looks like only one of the state’s current red congressional districts might flip:

🎯 The Flip Target: 6th District

The 6th Congressional District (centered around Lexington) is currently held by Republicans but is the most competitive race in the state. Longtime incumbent Republican Andy Barr vacated the seat to run for the U.S. Senate. The open seat features a tight race between:

• Zach Dembo (D): A former federal prosecutor and Navy veteran.
• Ralph Alvarado (R): A former state senator and physician.

Recent Shifts favoring Democrats:

• Rating Changes: Due to tightening race fundamentals, nonpartisan analysts at Sabato’s Crystal Balland Inside Elections shifted their ratings for the 6th District from “Likely Republican” to “Leans Republican,” putting it firmly on the competitive radar.
• Polling Momentum: A late September/early October poll showed Dembo leading Alvarado by 9 points (47% to 38%). Observers attribute the shift to local pushback against the national economic climate and a dip in President Trump’s approval ratings within the district.

No Republican should be winning in any of Kentucky’s district, or in the statewide race given the suffering people are going through. Ned Pillersdorf is running against 88-year-old Hal Rogers, who has increased his standing as a millionaire while his constituents live in the poorest congressional district in the nation: Kentucky’s 5th. And Pillersdorf has offered a feisty campaign that includes this message:

Every Kentucky Republican should be voted out of office. But when your constituents’ hatred of others outweighs the well-being of your children, the only consequences those voters deserve are bad ones.