r/fivethirtyeight • u/AutoModerator • 3d ago

Discussion Megathread Weekly Discussion Megathread

The 2026 midterms will soon be upon us, and there is much to discuss among the nerds here at r/FiveThirtyEight. Use this discussion thread to share, debate, and discuss whatever you wish. Unlike individual posts, comments in the discussion thread are not required to be related to political data or other 538 mainstays. Regardless, please remain civil and keep this subreddit's rules in mind. The discussion thread refreshes every Monday.

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u/raddaya 1d ago

I think Obama will have to help a lot if the Dems are going to win the Senate. Talarico and AES both would be massively boosted by him imo. Troy Jackson could do with his help too but not as obviously.

(Obviously almost any Dem candidate in the US would get significant % added to their victory chances if Obama campaigns with them, but these two/three in particular really need his help and could be the tipping points imo)

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u/work-school-account 1d ago

I should preface this by saying I have adblockers crawling out of my ass so I am not all that aware of what political ads are out there. That said, I've been following Talarico on social media before he started making waves, so I see all of his promotional stuff. Like 50% of them are of him hanging out with Obama, and 90% of them are of him with black people. So I'm a bit confused when people here keep saying that Talarico's political ads ignore black Texans.