BThe White House just turned a Barack Obama insult into an election-night dinner order.
BCheesecake Factory. That's the payback.
BFox News says staffers ordered takeout from the chain after Obama mocked the decor as looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.
BSo the White House leaned in. Ordered the actual cheesecake.
BPeter Doocy confirmed it. A White House official confirmed the order. This is real.
BI have to say, that's a pretty good troll. Obama hands you the joke, you serve it with a side of avocado egg rolls.
BIt's funny, but it's also the White House spending energy on a restaurant joke on election night.
BCome on, it's a watch party. Staffers have to eat something. Might as well make it a callback.
BI'm not saying it's a scandal. I'm saying the pettiness is the point.
BAnd the point landed. We're talking about it.
BMeanwhile, in New York, the Wall Street Journal says the AP called it for Kathy Hochul over Bruce Blakeman.
BThat one's also not independently confirmed in what we've seen. But Hochul was always the favorite.
BRepublicans hoped for a more competitive race. Looks like they didn't get it.
BAnd Hakeem Jeffries is already being asked about working with the Republican president.
BHis answer to CNN: 'We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.'
BThat's the most Hakeem Jeffries answer possible.
BIt's noncommittal, but it's also smart. Don't negotiate against yourself before the votes are counted.
BExactly. He's not going to give the White House a sound bite tonight.
BNow, one more story that's getting attention: an attack ad in the Ohio governor's race.
BA post claims Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign ran an ad featuring Amy Acton's mother, Donna Arthur.
BThe post is truncated, and we can't verify the ad or its context. But if true, that's a brutal move.
BUsing a candidate's mother in an attack ad? That's the kind of thing that backfires.
BOr it works. Depends on what the ad actually says. We just don't know yet.
BRight. So we'll wait for more reporting before we judge.
BLet's talk about the bigger picture. The House is still very much in play.
BKatherine Clark, the House Democratic whip, says her party is on track to win control.
BThat's her prediction, not a result. But it tells you where Democrats think this is heading.
BAnd here's the thing: if Democrats take the House, the next two years look very different.
BOne more thing: a post going around claims in 120 years we went from hanging horse thieves to apologizing to an illegal alien who committed a terrible crime because his IQ was too low.
BThat's a meme, not a news story. But it's tapping into real anger about the justice system.
BIt's also not tied to any specific case we can verify. It's just rage bait.
BAnd it works because people feel like the system protects the wrong people.
BBut without a specific case, it's just a feeling. And feelings don't make good policy.
BNo, but they make good election ads.
BAnd that's the night we're having. Results, projections, and a lot of feelings.
BWe'll keep tracking the calls as they come in.