Politics Page: In a last ditch effort with a week to go before mid-term elections, President Biden was in Florida yesterday campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate Val Demings, and Charlie Crist, the Democratic candidate for governor.

  The Democrats are fighting to hold control of the Senate and some statehouses with the House a near certain loss. 

  Even two prominent Republican opponents of former President Donald Trump are campaigning for Democrats and independents in key states and House districts. Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois are on the stump trying to block a MAGA wave next week. 

  Cheney appears in a television ad in Arizona, imploring voters not to elect the election-denying former news anchor Kari Lake as their next governor. “I don’t know that I have ever voted for a Democrat, but if I lived in Arizona, I absolutely would,” she says in the ad.

  Speaking of Arizona, the ballot box  monitoring organization Clean Elections USA agreed not to carry guns or wear visible body armor within 250 feet of drop boxes. They also said they won’t follow voters or yell at them within 75 feet of boxes.

  At the moment, RealClearPolitics projects that Republicans will take the Senate with 54 seats. They give the Republicans 228 seats in the House, the Democrats, 174, with 33 tossups. So even if the Democrats win all the tossups, they still lose the House.  

  Just a handful of races could turn the Senate for the Republicans. RCP, for instance, has Herschel Walker leading Sen. Raphael Warnock by a hair.

 In what could be a critical turn in the Pennsylvania Senate race, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette endorsed Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, telling readers that the political newcomer  is “better prepared to lead.” 

   The paper said Democrat John Fetterman’s health following his stroke is not an issue for them, but complained about Fetterman’s lack of transparency regarding his condition and lack of real-world experience as reasons for the endorsement.

  The editorial said Fetterman’s refusal to release his medical records “suggests an impulse to conceal and a mistrust of the people.” It goes on to say, “All candidates for a major elected office should release their medical records, as did Mr. Oz. If you want privacy, don’t run for public office.” 

  Curiously, the editorial dismisses Fetterman’s experience as a small time mayor and lieutenant governor, criticizing him for living off family wealth while Dr. Oz has never been elected to dog catcher and got rich with his television show hawking crackpot health remedies — our words, not the Gazette’s.

Missile Barrage: In an escalation of tensions, North Korea today fired two dozen missiles into the Sea of Japan, two of them crossing the maritime borderline toward South Korea. The South responded by firing three missiles of its own.

Trump World: The Supreme Court yesterday declined  to block the Georgia grand jury subpoena for South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham to testify about his involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The brief order said Graham does not have to testify about legislative matters so, presumably, trying to reverse the election would not fall in that category.  

  However, Chief Justice John Roberts put a temporary hold on a lower court order requiring the release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee later this week. 

The War Room: Russia said it would re-join the deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain out of Black Sea ports, thereby averting a hunger crisis in parts of the world.

  Meanwhile, the nighttime streets of Kyiv are dark after Russian attacks on power plants have forced conservation of electricity. Here’s a beautiful opening line from Marc Santora of The NY Times:

  “As night falls and darkness descends on Kyiv, the flashlights on smartphones begin to flicker on like fairy lights, leading the way home. Dogs wear glow sticks around their necks; flower merchants switch on headlamps to show off the vibrant colors of their lilacs and peonies; and children are outfitted in reflective clothing for safety.”

The Ball Game: The Philadelphia Phillies hit five home runs last night to beat the Astros 7-0 and step ahead 2-0 in the World Series. The Phillies’ Alec Bohm hit the 1,000th homer in World Series history. Then, all in the fifth inning, Brandon Marsh hit #1001, Kyle Schwarber #1002, and Rhys Hoskins slammed #1003. 

The Spin Rack: David DePape, the man arrested in the attack on Paul Pelosi in San Francisco, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and is being held without bail. — Iran announced that it will hold public trials of 1,000 people arrested while protesting the death of  22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police. The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards described the protests as a conspiracy. — Two days after losing re-election, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro agreed without conceding defeat to an orderly transition to President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro had said the only way he could lose was through fraud and “only God” could remove him from office. — The 28-year-old rapper Takeoff from the trio Migos was shot dead early yesterday morning in a Houston bowling alley. Migos has been credited with being an influential group. — The number of people dead in the pedestrian bridge collapse in India is 134. Authorities arrested two managers and seven low-level workers from the company that had just refurbished the bridge.

Below the Fold: The sad remainders of the crowd crush that killed 154 Halloween revelers in Seoul, South Korea are on display at a badminton court in the Itaewan nightclub district.

  Most stunning are 250 pairs of shoes lost by both the living and the dead, all neatly lined up for owners and relatives to claim. Also on display 

are articles of clothing, including coats, and Halloween costumes, as well as handbags, cellphones, Bluetooth earpieces, and a few foreign passports.

-30-