
The 2022 campaign story was set. Then Russia invaded Ukraine.
CNN
Russia's invasion of Ukraine opened up a new front in the 2022 US midterm cycle, with America's role in the conflict taking a place alongside the culture war clashes, economic worries and fights over pandemic policy that had driven the early stages of the election.
The global implications of the war in Europe has forced candidates in both parties to adjust their political playbooks to account for a rapidly evolving new issue that, at its core, has united voters in support of aiding the Ukrainian resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression, but also underscored the rigid partisan divide that defines modern American politics.
For Democratic candidates who are likely to sink or swim on public perception of President Joe Biden's job performance, Russia's war on a fledgling democracy on its doorstep has presented a new opportunity to derail a despairing narrative that many believe ends with Democrats losing both chambers of Congress -- while also potentially advance Biden's climate agenda and reviving his poll numbers. Elected Republican officials and candidates, meanwhile, have at once signaled their support for the harsh sanctions imposed on Russia by the Biden administration while criticizing the President for not acting aggressively enough -- all the while continuing to hammer Democrats over domestic economic difficulties.

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.












