As the general midterm elections begin, we take a look at where things stand. A new Times/Siena poll suggests that Democrats have a real shot at winning control of both chambers of Congress. But serious obstacles stand in their way, including a financial disadvantage. The New York Times journalists Shane Goldmacher, Maggie Haberman and Nate Cohn sit down to discuss whether the United States is likely to see a blue wave in November. Guest: • Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. • Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The New York Times. • Nate Cohn (https://www.nytimes.com/by/nate-cohn) , the chief political analyst for The New York Times. Background reading:  • A new poll from The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/us/politics/trump-midterm-election-poll.html) found that Democrats have an edge as President Trump drags down the Republican Party. • Trump’s ability to channel voter concerns was tested as Republicans gathered in Dallas (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/us/politics/trump-republicans-midterms-voters.html) . Photo: Chase Castor for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.