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Their majority in jeopardy, Senate Democrats unleashed a late-campaign round of attack ads Monday accusing Republicans in key races of harboring plans to cut Social Security and Medicare. The commercials in Iowa, New Hampshire, Louisiana and elsewhere appear aimed at older voters, who cast ballots in relatively large numbers in midterm elections and have tended to support Republicans in recent years. (10/27)

In a year in which Obama's unpopularity has been used by Republicans across the country to bludgeon Democratic senators, Kentucky — which Obama lost in 2012 by 23 percentage points — seems like the last place the party would have a chance to pick off a Republican incumbent, let alone the party's Senate leader. Yet a recent poll showed the race is within the margin of error. Ultimately Kentucky's Senate contest, and many others across the country, may come down to what voters distrust more: the Obama administration or longtime congressional incumbents like [Mitch] McConnell. Just 30% of voters here had a favorable opinion of the president in the most recent Bluegrass Poll, compared with 38% for McConnell and 40% for Grimes. (Memoli, 10/27)

Much of next year's congressional agenda would comprise smaller, more incremental accomplishments that could win bipartisan support. That might include repealing the Medical Device Tax from the Affordable Care Act, a tax that's unpopular with both Republicans and Democrats. (Condon, 10/28)