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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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politics lead
Former RNC chairman: GOP can’t take anything for granted
(CNN) – Fresh polling shows Republicans have momentum going into Tuesday's midterm election. But a former Republican National Committee chairman says the GOP can't get ahead of itself.
"It's more likely than not Republicans will have a majority in the Senate after these elections. But it's not a certainty, never is in politics," said Haley Barbour, former Mississippi governor.
"People shouldn't take things for granted," Barbour said.
For more of our interview with former RNC chairman Haley Barbour, check out the video above.
politics lead
DNC chairwoman: We’re going to hold the Senate
(CNN) – Despite new polls giving Republicans fresh momentum heading into tomorrow's midterm election, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman remains bullish about her party's chances.
"We're going to hold the Senate tomorrow night," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, told CNN.
"Going into election day, we have a superior ground game that's run circles around the Republicans," she said, adding that Democrats have also increased early vote turnout in key states.
For more of our interview with DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, check out the video above.
politics lead
False and shocking political ads: The worst of the worst
(CNN) – Voters can't turn on a TV these days without hearing a narrator in a deep baritone telling you all the reasons why casting a vote for one political candidate over another could potentially destroy all that is good and righteous in this country.
And while Americans have grown accustomed to negative ads in the heat of an election season, what never gets old is just how far ads are willing to go to shock voters, and in some cases just flat-out lie to them.
The Washington Post's Fact Checker columnist Glenn Kessler waded knee-deep into the muck to weed out what he called the most "fact-challenged" ads of the 2014 midterms. He shares his top three with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," and CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash singles out her top three shockers on the airwaves.
politics lead
Bear on the ballot: Voting for the good, the bad, and the interesting
(CNN) – Guns, and weed, and bears, oh my!
Voters heading to the polls Tuesday will decide not only who has the power in Washington, D.C., but also who has the pot, or at least whether recreational marijuana use will be legal in the district.
Ballot initiatives, measures, and referenda will be presented to voters all over the country. One measure in Alabama, for instance, aims to ban the state from imposing Sharia law, or Islamic law, because there's apparently a real risk it could happen ... in Alabama.
Some of these measures are serious, others less so, but regardless they can all impact your life.
CNN's Jake Tapper reports.
politics lead
Panel: Does likeability matter in a candidate?
(CNN) – Sen. Tom Harkin awkwardly tried to make the case for Iowa's Democratic candidate Bruce Braley over the weekend, by comparing Republican candidate Joni Ernst to a pop star.
"I don't care if she's as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, but if she votes like Michele Bachmann, she's wrong for the state of Iowa," he said, according to footage obtained by Buzzfeed News.
Ernst wasn't fit to be Iowa's senator, Harkin argued, just because she's "really attractive and she sounds nice."
Ernst fired back Monday, calling the remarks offensive.
What Harkin appeared to be trying to express was his frustration with the fact that Ernst is a lot more Braley, and that it is having a huge impact on that race.
So does likeability matter in a candidate?
The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter, and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Kevin Madden discuss.
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