NEW — Two weeks out, Republicans are already spending significant time discussing who to blame on election night if they suffer big losses. It’s a vicious cycle as Rs start to point fingers, publicly and privately, at the NRCC, Senate GOP, Roger Marshall, Trump himself and more. Trump political aides are calling campaigns they feel aren’t performing well enough. “If it happens, there will be plenty of blame to go around,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who is in his own tighter-than-comfortable race. More on the quiet planning w/ @andrewjfhoward @adamwren @Reporter_Mia politi.co/4zH1T96 via @politico

NEW — In late September, top Republicans across House GOP leadership, leading political operations and individual campaigns received a trove of internal polling. It sparked a new level of panic. The polling didn’t just reveal a harsh environment for the party in power on par with typical midterms, but rather some close-to-catastrophic scenarios in a slew of formerly safe red seats across the country. Key seats in Kentucky, North Carolina, Nevada and other areas that President Donald Trump won by 10 points or more in 2024 were competitive. All three vulnerable GOP-held seats in Iowa looked doomed. And most ominously, a crop of Republican incumbents who haven’t had to run serious races in years were vulnerable, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin and beyond. More on the race to shore up those red seats in the final stretch w/ @andrewjfhoward @Reporter_Mia > politi.co/4yyG7UO via @politico