Today's Poll Question: Will the midterm election results cause the president to make significant changes to his cabinet and/or policies?

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Get ready to vote on today's daily poll question at smerconish.com.

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But first, Michael explains it for you right here.

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Welcome to The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

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For Independent Minds.

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Hello, hello.

Michael Smerconish (0:15)

Today is Wednesday. It's the 14th of October, 2026 Yesterday in the newsletter, I had a story from the Associated Press. The headline read as follows. Elon Musk quietly becomes biggest known donor in midterm contests as he tries to save Republicans. The lead. Elon Musk, the world's only trillionaire, has quietly become the biggest known donor in this year's midterm elections, doling out more than 276 million since July to try to save Republican majorities in Congress. The numbers first reported by the New York Times ahead of this week's federal filing deadline confirmed by Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk's super PAC. The money includes 158 million given to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC supporting Republican Senate candidates, one of the largest known political donations in American history according to the Times. And that was the basis for me asking in yesterday's poll question whether Musk's money would save Republican control of the Senate. Your vote was overwhelmingly, no, it will not. Maybe part of that is, maybe a large part of that is wishful thinking. The Senate's going to be close according to Larry Sabato and his crystal ball at UVA, although he told me on Saturday on CNN, it's now the Democrats to lose. So, okay, now I'm asking the follow up. Now I'm asking the follow up. Let's assume that Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, which I think is at this stage a foregone conclusion. And with or without the Senate, but my poll question works better if you assume that it's really going to be a shellacking. Then what will be the president's response? Or more specifically, I'm asking today, will the midterm election results cause the president to make significant changes to his cabinet and or policies?

And I'm giving you four choices, that if in fact it's a shellacking when it ends three weeks from yesterday, is he going to shake up his cabinet?

Is he going to shake up his policies?

Will he do both?

Will he do neither? I don't see him changing policies at all. Do I think a few heads will roll around him? I do. So mine is an A vote. My hunch is that many of you will choose option D, which is neither. More on that in just a moment.

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The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

Michael Smerconish (3:07)

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Hi, it's me, your gutters. Everything is totally fine.

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Michael Smerconish (4:38)

Your gutters have waited long enough.

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Find a pro at angie.com.

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The Daily Poll Question at smerconish.com.

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A non-scientific social political question designed to spark broader discussions about current issues.

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Get ready to cast your ballot and leave a rating and review of this podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Michael Smerconish (4:57)

So, Poll Question Today asks, assumes, you know, assumes that the Republicans are going to have a big day less than three weeks away, three weeks from yesterday. Then what's going to happen? Then what? The midterm elections, as I say, 20 days from now, I want to look past election night to the morning after, because there's a question I've not yet heard people ask. It's not who wins, but it's what the president does about it. Prediction markets have Democrats as heavy favorites to take back the House. Cauchy, by way of one illustration, has been trading at about 84 cents, meaning 84 cents on the dollar or an 84% likelihood. The Senate, as I referenced, that's different. That's a coin flip. Republicans, a hair ahead, 51, 48, according to the betting markets. Races in places like Michigan could decide it. I mean, Michigan and Texas are the marquee matchups. I think we all, you know, you want to know the personalities and have somebody to root for or against. And then there's the president's own standing. The polling average, as of last week, had his approval at about 36%, disapproval above 61