Trump approval at 32% a week before the costliest US midterms on record

US President Donald Trump's approval rating rose one percentage point from the previous week's record low to 32%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress. The Kathmandu Post and Onlinekhabar carried the poll.

Registered voters favoured Democrats over Republicans for Congress by 47% to 36%, a gap one point narrower than in the previous Reuters/Ipsos poll, which closed on October 19. Some 73% of voters said their cost of living was heading in the wrong direction. Political analysts generally see the Democrats with a good chance of winning the House of Representatives and a steeper climb in the Senate, Reuters reported.

The money

Spending on political advertising alone is projected to reach $11.6 billion, more than in any previous election cycle, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as cited by Al Jazeera. Using Federal Election Commission data, Al Jazeera found that the 50 largest donors have so far contributed $2.77 billion. Republican-aligned contributors accounted for $1.67 billion of that, about 60%, and Democratic-aligned contributors $832 million.

Elon Musk is the largest individual contributor of the cycle, with $446 million to Republican-aligned groups, according to the commission's data. Most of the money goes not to candidates but to super PACs, which can accept donations of any size.

Caregiving as an issue

An AARP survey of 43 competitive congressional districts, reported by CNBC, found that 77% of likely voters aged 50 and over would be more likely to vote for a candidate who backed a tax credit for unpaid family caregivers. Some 59 million Americans care for an adult, according to AARP, and a separate Edward Jones study found that those caring for ageing relatives spend an average of $8,737 a year out of pocket.