Political scribe: Latino Voters Are Up for Grabs

Despite his immigration policies, President Trump “isn’t proving — at least not yet — to be the toxin that Democrats assumed he’d be to Hispanic voters,” reports Real Clear Politics’ Sally Persons. Indeed, he doesn’t seem to be dragging down the GOP’s support in that group, either. Fact is, in places with large populations of Hispanic voters, like Texas, Republican candidates “seem to be faring well.” Which is why “both sides agree that Latino support is still up for grabs” — but that neither side has reached out and made a case for their party. Nor do they yet recognize that Latino voters are “neither monolithic nor apathetic.” Most politicians, in fact, continue to regard them as “single-issue voters.”

Economist: Why US, Saudis Still Need Each Other

There’s a reason why US-Saudi relations have been so robust, contends Bloomberg’s Taylor Cowen. For one thing, trade between the two countries is currently about $24 billion a year. For another, many US allies, most notably Japan, rely on oil imports and “part of the larger US foreign policy stance is promising those allies freedom from major supply disruptions.” Plus, “the Saudis typically have recycled their petrodollar surpluses, investing them in American enterprises.” Whether you like it or not, he says, “the Saudis are America’s natural business ally.” Another factor: Because Riyadh’s oil “can be taken over without controlling the major Saudi cities,” the kingdom remains “especially dependent on American military protection.” Which is why tolerating the killing of Jamal Khashoggi “is the kind of foreign policy decision the US has been making for decades.”

Conservative: The Left’s Cultural Appropriators

Elizabeth Warren wants to be Native American, while Robert Francis O’Rourke wants to be Latino. But as The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis notes, “they aren’t. And they’re being hoist on the left’s own petard.” Lewis confesses he’s “a fan of cultural appropriation,” though “many on the left disagree” adamantly. So should “Pocahontas” and “Beto” get a pass? Says Lewis: “I think not.” Warren received “a stinging rebuke” from the Cherokee Nation, while O’Rourke, descended from Irish forebears, “has faced similar obstacles from official sanctioning bodies,” such as being deemed ineligible for membership in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Then there’s “the irony that O’Rourke is running against, you know, an actual Hispanic,” Ted Cruz. But as identity politics and victimhood “become the defining signals of virtue” (at least among Democrats), “there will be more Warrens and O’Rourkes to come.”

From the right: Blue Wave More Splash Than Tsunami

This election cycle’s “October surprise” is turning out to be far different than what most people expected. According to National Review’s John Fund, it’s that “the Democrats have managed to shoot themselves in the foot with their handling of the Brett Kavanaugh nomination and the antics of their most extreme supporters.” As things stand, the Blue Wave that liberals have been predicting seems “more likely to splash the knees of most GOP incumbents than to submerge them.” Yes, a lot can happen in two weeks, but here’s the “new conventional wisdom” about the 2018 midterms: “Democrats had a real chance to ride anti-Trump sentiment and inflict a crushing defeat on Republicans. But their own excesses tripped them up and woke up fatigued Republican voters.”

Culture watch: Kavanaugh Frenzy’s Academia Victim

The liberal frenzy over Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination has subsided, but Commentary’s Sohrab Ahmari notes that “the casualties keep piling up.” They now include William Rainford, dean of Catholic University’s social-work school, who’s been suspended for a tweet about Julie Swetnick, Kavanaugh’s “least credible accuser.” He’d used his school account to debunk her allegations of a Kavanaugh-led gang-rape ring in high school. Rainford admitted he shouldn’t have used his official account and agreed to the suspension. But “a concerted, systematic campaign” remains under way “to push Rainford out of the dean’s job” by faculty claiming his tweet “has permanently damaged their career prospects.” The real aim, though, “seems to be to send a message to every conservative on campus about the ideological balance of power.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann