*By Carlo Versano*
Texas Democrats find themselves in an odd position two months before a major election: running a competitive statewide race.
Optimism that Rep. Beto O'Rourke could unseat Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the Senate is palpable in Democratic circles, said Texas Monthly's politics editor Carlos Sanchez. The race is now a "toss up," according to [Real Clear Politics] (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/tx/texas_senate_cruz_vs_orourke-6310.html).
O'Rourke, who was elected to the U.S. House in 2013, has been surfing a wave of positive national press and an unorthodox, social-media-savvy campaign that found him traveling to all 254 counties of the deep red state and streaming his journey online.
All summer he's been gaining on Cruz who, compared to the charismatic O'Rourke, suffers from a "likability issue," Sanchez said. After all, Cruz's Republican colleague Lindsey Graham once famously [said](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313969-graham-to-cruz-i-want-to-apologize-to-ted-for-saying-he-should): "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."
Sanchez said that kind of sentiment may work in O'Rourke's favor: "The base for Cruz seems to be crumbling a bit."
But there are still challenges. While O'Rourke has out-raised Cruz by a wide margin, mostly from small-dollar donors, Cruz is better organized and allied with the powerful Koch network of donors. Sanchez said that "formidable" campaign infrastructure could pose a threat to the Democrat.
And the issue of Donald Trump looms large.
The president accepted an invitation to campaign for Cruz after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick [reportedly](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/09/ted-cruz-reelection-trump-813354) pleaded with him to throw his support behind Cruz, a man he incidentally referred to as "Lyin' Ted" on the campaign trail.
Though that may end up working against the incumbent, Sanchez said. O'Rourke, who is popular with young and minority Democrat voters, needs those blocs to turn out on Election Day. A fiery Donald Trump rally weeks before may compel them to do just that.
O'Rourke "is the national Democrat of Texas right now," Sanchez said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/republicans-go-into-crisis-mode-as-democrat-beto-orourke-closes-in-on-ted-cruz-in-texas-senate-race).
President Trump has already spurned key allies at the annual summit, accusing Germany of being a "captive of Russia." Cheddar's J.D. Durkin, who is on the ground in Brussels, gets into the latest.
The U.S. tariffs would only end up hurting the consumer and the automakers employees across its plants and distribution centers in America, says Zack Hicks, CEO and president of the Toyota Connected unit in North America.
President Donald Trump nominated the DC appellate court judge to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who's retiring at the end of the month.
A study finds male political reporters in Washington, D.C., retweet other men more than women. “Men and women are operating in gender echo chambers in Washington on Twitter,” says Nikki Usher, the lead author of the study.
Members of the military alliance are prepared to be spurned by the president and worry he may start to unravel the organization. But the Trump administration has, in fact, increased its spending on NATO, suggesting that worries surrounding the event might not turn transpire, says Dan Michaels, the Wall Street Journal Brussels bureau chief.
American cheese producers that rely heavily on exports are already feeling the impact of tariffs on their products, forcing them to reconsider their strategy completely, says Heather Hadden, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Although the recent job report showed the U.S. economy added 213,000 jobs in June, the trade war is predicted to have a significant impact on the economy. "Unless we get either isolated resolutions of these disputes or global resolutions ... we don't see any momentum in that space," Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, tells Cheddar.
President Trump is expected to submit his Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on Monday.
The three favorites are almost "identical" in policy stances, says Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science at UC-Irvine.
The U.S. tariffs on Chinese products that kicked in on Friday are specifically targeted at high-tech goods, an attempt to crack down on alleged intellectual property theft. But they could end up raising the cost of products like e-cigarettes, e-bikes, and smart home devices that are overwhelmingly used by millennials, says Axios reporter Erica Pandey.
U.S. tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods kicked in early Friday, prompting China to respond in kind and escalating tensions between the two countries into what Beijing describes as "the biggest trade war in economic history."
