Eric Schmitt Mixed Up the Hawks and the Hawkeyes

Eric Schmitt mixed up the Hawks and the Hawkeyes, Ken Paxton says Trump's convention dropped his numbers, and the Q3 deadline is here. Vibes are up.  It's the last day of Q3 and the final major fundraising deadline of 2026, so Brian Derrick breaks down where your money actually moves the map (state legislatures, not U.S. Senate races) and why late fundraising decides which races get October investment. Then Ken Paxton gets caught on tape telling donors Trump's Dallas midterm convention dropped his numbers, and the Department of Homeland Security commits $20 million in taxpayer money to ads starring Donald Trump, some of them near copies of his 2024 campaign spots.  Glennis Meagher digs into The New York Times report on Meta claiming billions in research tax credits by calling its AI data centers "pilot models." John Fetterman calls himself a "lifelong Republican" at the Texas Tribune Festival, and Sen. Eric Schmitt tries to catch Jack Smith in a perjury trap, until Amy Klobuchar points out he mixed up the Atlanta Hawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes. We roll the tape for you.  For Clickbait or Double-Click this week… the hacking group ShinyHunters claims it stole data on FBI employees and applicants, the World Cup couldn't stop overseas tourism to the U.S. from sliding, and a new coalition of AI companies and private equity firms targets seven states for data center expansion: Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and South Carolina. Plus Palantir's Alex Karp gets into it with CNBC.  Also: The Oath Candidate of the Week is Jacob Weinberg, an Army veteran running for the Arizona House in LD-13, the seat Oath identifies as the tipping point for flipping the chamber and a Good Vibe Goodbye from Nevada, where Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, and a full Avengers lineup of Democrats are converging to push Aaron Ford past Gov. Joe Lombardo. New episodes of Vibes Only are available for download first thing every Thursday morning - hit FOLLOW and we'll keep you informed for the midterms. EPISODE RESOURCES/LINKS Oath Candidate of the Week: Jacob Weinberg Clickbait or Double-Click 1: Embarrassing Breach at F.B.I. Fuels Fears of Harm to Its Employees Clickbait or Double-Click 2: Allies Refuse to Visit U.S. in ‘Mind-Boggling’ Collapse Under Trump Clickbait or Double-Click 3: Exclusive: AI giants, unions join forces for data center fight Good Vibe Goodbye: Dems boost their odds in Nevada Send us a text! Watch us on Youtube Follow us on Instagram  Oh, we're on TikTok too Follow Brian on IG  Follow Glennis on IG