By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

• WHAT'S DRIVING VOTE PREFERENCES IN THE 2014 MIDTERM ELECTIONS? Plenty. That's not always the case. There are many elections in which a single issue has dominated. The economy's the prime example; a war or other crisis is another. This year, it's a bunch of stuff. We've modeled motivators of 2014 House vote preferences in an analysis using the latest ABC News/Washington Post national poll, ABC's GARY LANGER notes. First we assembled a range of seemingly disparate concerns and assessed whether they hold together as a single construct. They do, indicating that despite the different topics, they reflect a broader sense of worry about key issues the country faces and its ability to deal with them. Those items include presidential disapproval; dissatisfaction with the political system overall; economic concerns (three of them - feeling worse off under Barack Obama, saying Americans' standard of living is in long-term decline and worrying about the economy's future); worry about terrorism; worry about the Ebola virus; and opposition to last week's Supreme Court action allowing gay marriage in additional states. http://abcn.ws/1ocrbaj

• THE DISCONTENT INDEX: Remarkably, it's almost as strong as political partisanship in predicting vote choices, and about twice as strong as any other element of the model, LANGER notes. It's worth noting that it's not presidential approval or economic discontent alone that are driving the index's explanatory power - it remains a significant predictor of vote preferences even when both of these are left out of the model. At the same time, presidential approval and the economy are substantial contributors, as customarily is the case. http://abcn.ws/1ocrbaj

• ANALYSIS: ABC's RICK KLEIN: Panic doesn't mean politics, not necessarily. But the scary headlines - ranging from ISIS to Ebola to the border to the stock market, just to dip in to what's become a typical week - are congealing into a storyline that inevitably and unevenly impacts the party in power. Starting with a faulty Website, it's been a rough year for the federal government. As the new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows, voters are frustrated, angry, worried, dissatisfied. Bottom line: Democrats need voters to have trust in their government right now. World and national events aren't doing them any favors.

14 FOR 14: THE MIDTERM MINUTE

-FLORIDA: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE DEBATE. One of the strangest scenes of the midterm election cycle played out last night at a gubernatorial debate between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic challenger Charlie Crist. As the AP's Brendan Farrington notes, the start of showdown was delayed several minutes for a very odd reason: "Crist walked out and the audience was told Scott was refusing to join him because Crist had a small fan inside his lectern. Scott felt it violated the rule prohibiting the use of electronic devices." Not long after, Scott appeared, and the debate went on - fan and all. -Michael Falcone

-COLORADO: REPUBLICAN LEADING, BUT BY LESS. In a new Qunnipiac poll out this morning GOP Rep. Cory Gardner is leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall by six points 47 to 41 percent among likely voters with 8 percent for independent candidate Steve Shogan, with another 4 percent still undecided. With the independent candidate out of the race, Gardner leads by five. Last month, Gardner led by eight points in their survey. Udall has made women's' health care issues a focus of his campaign and Udall does lead with female voters backing the incumbent by nine points 49 to 40 percent. Gardner leads with independent voters, but just by a slight margin 42 percent to 39 percent. With only 19 days before Election Day, 87 percent of Colorado voters say their mind is made up, while 12 percent could change their mind. http://bit.ly/1nkPYYX - Shushannah Walshe

-SOUTH DAKOTA: A MAYDAY MOMENT. Mayday PAC launched a new ad today in the South Dakota Senate race promoting democratic candidate Rick Weiland. The PAC also announced they are increasing their ad buy to above the previously announced $1 million, to $1.25 million. This $250,000 increase makes Mayday the largest independent spender thus far in the race, exceeding the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The premise of the new ad is a point Weiland has belabored throughout the race: Take our country back from big money and special interests. This message of economic populism has traveled with Weiland across the state accompanied by a pledge of versing Citizens United as a first priority if elected in November. -Katherine Faulders

IN THE NOTE'S INBOX

HARVARD'S INSTITUTE OF POLITICS TEAMS UP WITH DC THINK TANKS TO EDUCATE FRESHMAN LAWMAKERS: The American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies are joining the Congressional Institute as co-hosts of Harvard Institute of Politics' upcoming Bipartisan Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress . Every two years, the IOP hosts the country's preeminent ?educational and preparatory program for new U.S. House lawmakers. Newly elected members of Congress will gather in December for the IOP's conference on exercising leadership in Congress and addressing legislative challenges. According to the IOP, topics will include The Domestic Economy: The Middle-Class Crunch, America's Role in the World, Balancing Family and Work Life on Capitol Hill as well as sessions on working with the White House, the federal budget, the global economy, terrorism and extremism, communications and navigating the legislative process. MORE: http://bit.ly/1u6lozx

THE BUZZ with ABC's KIRSTEN APPLETON

PRESIDENT OBAMA CONVENES EMERGENCY EBOLA MEETING AT WHITE HOUSE. The United States must monitor Ebola in a "much more aggressive way," President Obama said on Wednesday, also noting that he has directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send a rapid response team - which he described as a medical "SWAT team" - within 24 hours when someone is diagnosed. ABC'S DEVIN DWYER reports that the remarks came after meeting with top health officials at the White House to get an update in person on the increasing number of Ebola cases in America. The meeting was an effort to coordinate the federal government's response, featuring representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, the White House said in a statement. Even though the dangers of contracting Ebola remains extremely low in the general public, Obama said "we are taking this very seriously at the highest levels of government." http://abcn.ws/1yDSTAf

ANALYSIS FROM ABC POLITICAL DIRECTOR RICK KLEIN: PRESIDENT BYSTANDER. President Obama's agenda is on the ballot next month. This we know from the president himself. Now we also know where that same president will actually be during the three weeks before Election Day. Barring last-minute additions, he will be nowhere near where the election is actually playing out in the most important manner: the races that will determine control of the Senate. The White House today released a campaign schedule for the president that will take him to seven rallies for eight candidates. Each of them will be in a state Obama carried twice. Only one of the rallies announced will even feature a candidate for Senate. That one is in Michigan, which sits on the outer ring of competitive races, in part because the Republican in that campaign has widely disappointed even those inside her own party. That makes it official: no Obama campaigning in Arkansas, Louisiana, Alaska, Kentucky, Kansas or Georgia, to say nothing of South Dakota, Montana or West Virginia. http://abcn.ws/1nm4UGq

DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN CHIEF BRACING FOR ELECTORAL WAVE. ABC's JOHN PARKINSON reports that less than three weeks from Election Day, the top House Democratic campaign official, Rep. Steve Israel, cited "concern" that a Republican electoral wave could be coming this fall. With a new ABC News-Washington Post poll showing President Obama's approval rating at a career low of 40 percent, and House Republicans holding a 7-point edge over Democrats on the generic ballot, Israel characterized the electoral landscape as "tough and unpredictable." "Am I fearful? No. Is it a concern? Yes," Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said of the prospects of a GOP wave. http://abcn.ws/1ttDxga

8 DEMOCRATS NOT AFRAID TO BE SEEN WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA. Vulnerable Democrats running for Congress this year seem to want President Obama to steer clear of their campaigns, most likely due to his low approval ratings. But now, eight Democrats are reaching out a hand to the president, inviting him to rally with voters in their states ahead of Election Day. All of the rallies Obama plans to attend are in reliably blue states that he carried in 2012 and for Democratic gubernatorial candidates who have an edge, though several of their races are tight. The president is planning to stump for only one Democratic candidate for Senate - Gary Peters of Michigan - in a race less-than-critical to maintaining his party's majority in the Senate. ABC's DEVIN DWYER takes a look at the eight Democrats not afraid to appear with Obama. http://abcn.ws/1wI6ulu

MEET THE GOP SENATE CANDIDATE EVEN REPUBLICANS LOVE TO HATE. Republican Senate candidates have been holding the firewall in the most high-profile races around the country: Joni Ernst in Iowa, Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, Cory Gardner in Colorado. But one Republican Senate candidate in Michigan is doing exactly the opposite - getting disowned by her own party. If the Democrats hold the Senate, Republicans might be tempted to lay part of the blame at the feet of the floundering Terri Lynn Land for failing to win a vulnerable seat that could have secured a Senate majority. According to ABC's NOAH WEILAND , critics of Land's campaign have turned harsher recently, accusing Land of ignoring the normally requisite advance notice given before public appearances, and of ducking the press any time she feels threatened by its line of questioning, among other problems. http://abcn.ws/1vwFY1M

WHO'S TWEETING?

@CharlieCrist: #fangate - what a night! Now, let's get back to the issues that matter to Florida. 19 days. Say you're in - here: http://chrl.ie/vp

@markknoller: VP Biden in Philadelphia today for another event on funding infrastructure. He'll tour a dredging barge at Penn's Landing.

@costareports: from today's paper: Christie's visit to Camden football game illustrates attempt to revive nat'l rep http://wapo.st/1oaFjRy

@politicalwire: Public hysteria over Ebola is worse than Ebola http://wonkwire.rollcall.com/2014/10/16/americans-scared-ebola-public-hysteria/ …

@DavidMDrucker: . @PRyan joins @PatRoberts2014 in Overland Park on Friday. #KSSEN