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GOP 'facing political extinction' this midterm elections Political strategist · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: So many critical races on the line. We are joined
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  Speaker 1: now by MSNOW senior White House reporter Vaughn Hilliard. MSNOW
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  Speaker 1: national reporter David Noriega is live on the campaign trail
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  Speaker 1: in Alaska. MSNOW political analyst and former Democratic senator from
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  Speaker 1: the great state of Montana, John Tester. and Democratic strategist
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  Speaker 1: and communications director for Julian Castro's 2020 campaign, Sawyer Hackett.
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  Speaker 1: It is good to see you all, especially Yuvon. Welcome
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  Speaker 1: back from paternity leave. We are so happy to have
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  Speaker 1: you here. So they got three weeks to convince Americans
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  Speaker 1: that a Republican-led Senate is in their best interest. And that,
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  Speaker 1: what we just heard, that's Trump's big sell to voters?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, most of the issues, right, they haven't changed
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  Speaker 2: all that much. They've only gotten worse for Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 2: Over the course of these last weeks, Alicia, if you
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  Speaker 2: look at global affairs and the extent to which The U.S.
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  Speaker 2: interventionism at war, it's been on a downward trajectory in polling.
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  Speaker 2: That has not been good for him. On the question
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  Speaker 2: of democracy, not good for Donald Trump. On the issue
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  Speaker 2: of the economy and the price of fuel and groceries,
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  Speaker 2: not good for Donald Trump. On the questions of reproductive rights,
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  Speaker 2: not good for Donald Trump. When you go up and
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  Speaker 2: down the issues that voters consistently say is the most
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  Speaker 2: important to them, Donald Trump hasn't been able to deliver
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  Speaker 2: much in the terms of progress.
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  Speaker 3: And so.
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  Speaker 2: where you see sort of Trump being Trump and, you know,
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  Speaker 2: trying to highlight the physique of the Senate candidate in Ohio. Well,
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  Speaker 2: I think that that is part of what Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: is trying to do, is trying to bring out and
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  Speaker 2: juice the turnout of his most loyal supporters, some folks
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  Speaker 2: that may overlook sometimes some of the policy distinctions and
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  Speaker 2: take his word for it. Listen to the president just
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  Speaker 2: a few moments ago as he was leaving the White
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  Speaker 2: House to talk about specifically the state of Ohio. Take
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  Speaker 2: a listen. I'm not sure. Maybe we'll have that bite
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  Speaker 2: here in a moment. But the president, Alicia, he just
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  Speaker 2: was talking about Ohio and John Hughes said that Ohio
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  Speaker 2: Senate candidate there. And he was talking about the big
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  Speaker 2: enthusiastic rallies that they are having. Well, there were thousands
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  Speaker 2: of folks that have seats that were empty last night
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  Speaker 2: inside of that arena for that second Ohio rally in
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  Speaker 2: just the last week for the president. And this is
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  Speaker 2: sort of the reality that he is going into some
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  Speaker 2: of these red areas and folks are not turning out,
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  Speaker 2: which really hits at the heart of the concern. And
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  Speaker 2: when you look at polling, Donald Trump here, again, just
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  Speaker 2: in the last hour outside of the White House, suggested
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  Speaker 2: that John Husted is up by nine points. But when
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  Speaker 2: you look at the polling, he and Sherrod Brown in
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  Speaker 2: that Ohio Senate race, they're right now neck and neck. So, again,
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  Speaker 2: for Donald Trump, the reality will be clear in three
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  Speaker 2: weeks from now. But he's trying to paint a very
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  Speaker 2: different picture than what the sentiment appears to be on
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  Speaker 2: the ground at this point.
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  Speaker 1: Senator, I want you to compare. what we've heard from
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  Speaker 1: the president, which sounds like something from America's next top model,
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  Speaker 1: and compare it to what Trump supporters outside the rally.
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  Speaker 4: Were talking about.
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  Speaker 5: Take a listen. It's going to be a tight race,
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  Speaker 5: I believe, because a lot of people in Ohio are
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  Speaker 5: on the fence about things. I think a lot of
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  Speaker 5: it has to do with the economy, and Ohio is definitely,
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  Speaker 5: and along with the United States, it's definitely inflation is
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  Speaker 5: out of control.
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  Speaker 6: I'll tell you the truth, we don't look good. We're
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  Speaker 6: in war in the Middle East, and it's still me
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  Speaker 6: sad that I lose partners in war right now as
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  Speaker 6: we did in the past. What do we gain out
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  Speaker 6: of war?
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  Speaker 5: Nothing.
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  Speaker 6: Death, destruction and frustration and disappointments. And so many people
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  Speaker 6: are suffering from it.
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  Speaker 1: So, Senator, two questions for you. One, did an American
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  Speaker 1: president while on the stump for you ever talk about
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  Speaker 1: how handsome you are? And two, can you make an
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  Speaker 1: effective closing argument without addressing those two things that we
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  Speaker 1: heard from voters, the economy and the war?
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  Speaker 7: Yeah, I only wish the president would come and talk
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  Speaker 7: about how handsome I am. Of course, it's so obvious
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  Speaker 7: that they don't need to, Alicia. The bottom line is
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  Speaker 7: that it's always about the economy. And in this particular case,
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  Speaker 7: we've got a very unpopular war that is impacting our
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  Speaker 7: economy in a very big, big way. Look, I don't
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  Speaker 7: know how Republicans can go out with a straight face
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  Speaker 7: and tell the American people that things are better now
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  Speaker 7: than they were two years ago because they can't. The
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  Speaker 7: fact is we've seen prices at the gas pump go
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  Speaker 7: through the roof. Grocery store prices continue to rise. Housing
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  Speaker 7: prices continue to rise. What they've done with health care,
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  Speaker 7: I'm talking about the Republicans right now, what they've done
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  Speaker 7: with health care in this country has been disastrous, especially
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  Speaker 7: for rural America. So it's going to be interesting to
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  Speaker 7: see what the president says when he goes to Alaska,
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  Speaker 7: a very rural frontier state, when it comes to all
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  Speaker 7: those things, because they're all on steroids up there. Fuel
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  Speaker 7: is incredibly high. Health care is hard to get. Very,
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  Speaker 7: very expensive. Housing, the list goes on and on.
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  Speaker 1: So, Sawyer, the image that was on the screen with
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  Speaker 1: the senator just a moment ago was the president departing
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  Speaker 1: for Alaska. He clearly doesn't want to talk about the economy.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't want to talk about the war. So what
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  Speaker 1: he is doing instead is he is leaning very hard
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  Speaker 1: into scare tactics. Here is a part of what he
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  Speaker 1: said in Ohio.
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  Speaker 8: They want to basically destroy our country, and that's what
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  Speaker 8: they want to do. And if they get in, they
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  Speaker 8: will do that. They'll be able to do that. You know,
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  Speaker 8: If they get in and you have a bad presidential
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  Speaker 8: election in the next because we have some very good people.
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  Speaker 8: But if you had a bad presidential or one of
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  Speaker 8: these lunatics got in, you will look at me right
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  Speaker 8: now and you will say he's going to be the
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  Speaker 8: last Republican president in the history of our country.
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  Speaker 7: I will be.
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  Speaker 5: I will be.
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  Speaker 1: I've spent the better part of this morning, Sawyer, trying
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  Speaker 1: to riddle out what it was that the president was
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  Speaker 1: saying there. I think this is this is the best
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  Speaker 1: I've got on the pitch, which is if Democrats control
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  Speaker 1: the House and or the Senate and then a Democrat
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  Speaker 1: wins the presidency, then America is never going to have
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  Speaker 1: another Republican president. Because why? Because Democrats are going to
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  Speaker 1: deliver for the American people, because Democrats are going to
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  Speaker 1: expose the corruption of this administration. Is this projection his
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  Speaker 1: intimating that Democrats are going to block a fair and
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  Speaker 1: free election? Help me name the boogeyman that Trump is
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  Speaker 1: trying to use in that speech.
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  Speaker 3: I wish I could. I mean, it sounds like he's
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  Speaker 3: teasing us with a good time right there. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I think this is what Donald Trump has had to
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  Speaker 3: resort to the state of the Republican Party right now.
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  Speaker 3: where he's had to essentially beg, bribe and threaten, you know,
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  Speaker 3: fear monger, scare voters into showing up to vote for
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  Speaker 3: him as opposed to voting for these Republican candidates, because
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  Speaker 3: those Republican candidates are not exciting voters right now. And
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  Speaker 3: this is the state of the GOP. I mean, we're
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  Speaker 3: 21 days until an election. They're not just facing a
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  Speaker 3: tough race. They're facing political extinction. I mean, you have
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  Speaker 3: the Republican Party is pulling money out of Georgia and
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  Speaker 3: North Carolina to invest in Kansas and South Carolina. The
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  Speaker 3: president is campaigning in Tennessee and Alabama and Alaska. And
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  Speaker 3: they've sunk a quarter of a billion dollars into Iowa
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  Speaker 3: and Alaska and Texas. You know, this is this is,
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  Speaker 3: I think, facing political extinction. This is a Republican Party
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  Speaker 3: in complete disarray. It is a president who's essentially taken
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  Speaker 3: the helm of political messaging with 21 days until the
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  Speaker 3: midterms and used it to essentially beg, bribe and scare
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  Speaker 3: voters into showing up at the polls. But I don't
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  Speaker 3: think it's actually going to work. because voters aren't showing
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  Speaker 3: up to vote for him. They're voting against him and
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  Speaker 3: for Democrats against these Republican candidates. So I really don't
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  Speaker 3: think any of these tactics are going to work with voters,
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  Speaker 3: but just three weeks until voting starts.
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  Speaker 1: David Noriega, you are the one who is actually in
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  Speaker 1: beautiful Alaska, where Dan Sullivan won his last race by
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  Speaker 1: 13 points. Now he's essentially tied. Help us understand the
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  Speaker 1: political lay of the land right now.
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  Speaker 4: Well, Alicia, the reason that the incumbent, Dan Sullivan, faces
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  Speaker 4: the very, very real possibility of an upset from the Democrat,
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  Speaker 4: Maria Paltola, is because this state, like so much of
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  Speaker 4: the United States in the way that it's experienced by
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  Speaker 4: ordinary Alaskans, is in something very much like a crisis.
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  Speaker 4: Diesel prices are through the roof. People here rely on
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  Speaker 4: diesel because of the Iran war. Gas prices are also
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  Speaker 4: through the roof. In fact, there's a serious gas crunch,
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  Speaker 4: a gas shortage, in the most populated area of the state.
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  Speaker 4: I spoke to the head of the gas utility here yesterday,
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  Speaker 4: who told me that he had to recently inform some
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  Speaker 4: of his biggest customers that they might go several days
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  Speaker 4: without gas this winter, fully without gas. So if you're
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  Speaker 4: a business that requires heating, for example, to stay open,
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  Speaker 4: that could lead to something as serious as having to
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  Speaker 4: shut down your business altogether. This contributes to a larger
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  Speaker 4: feeling here, Alicia, that things just are not working, that
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  Speaker 4: things are not going as they should, that a resource-rich state,
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  Speaker 4: an oil and gas state like Alaska, could be facing
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  Speaker 4: not just these kinds of prices, but the possibility of
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  Speaker 4: of a serious shortfall in supply is, again, contributing to
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  Speaker 4: this idea that something needs to change. Now, that obviously
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  Speaker 4: doesn't mean that a lot of people here are actually
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  Speaker 4: going to be willing to pull that lever for a Democrat.
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  Speaker 4: It's still a tall ask, right? And generally when you
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  Speaker 4: talk about energy, people here do you know, probably rightly
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  Speaker 4: think of the Republican Party as being more equipped to
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  Speaker 4: address the, you know, more equipped to, for example, push
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  Speaker 4: for more oil exploration, more gas exploration, that kind of thing,
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  Speaker 4: even though Poltola has been very clear that she is
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  Speaker 4: very much pro-oil and gas production as well. There's no
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  Speaker 4: real daylight between her and Sullivan on that issue. But
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  Speaker 4: the larger point, Alicia, is that this is a situation
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  Speaker 4: in which the Senate seat that should not be up
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  Speaker 4: for grabs from the Republican perspective is very much up
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  Speaker 4: for grabs because people are not happy with the way
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  Speaker 4: that things are. And I think this state, arguably more
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  Speaker 4: than any other, will give us in November a clear
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  Speaker 4: view of just how willing people are to walk away
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  Speaker 4: from a Republican party that they have voted for in
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  Speaker 4: past elections, Alicia.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, Senator, I want you to pick up on that
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  Speaker 1: last point, especially as we learned this morning after Alaska,
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  Speaker 1: the president's going to hold rallies in Arizona, in Georgia,
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  Speaker 1: in Florida, Kentucky, and your home state, Montana, where he
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  Speaker 1: won by 19 points. Your take on that map, those choices?
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  Speaker 7: Well, I think it just speaks to how the economy
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  Speaker 7: is not in good shape at all. And it's due
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  Speaker 7: to the president's policies. And here's the thing. Congress hasn't
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  Speaker 7: done much this last 22 months. And they've basically rubber
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  Speaker 7: stamped the policies that the president has. Now those folks
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  Speaker 7: are on the ballot. Now the folks can go and say,
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  Speaker 7: you know what, we didn't like the tariffs, we're voting
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  Speaker 7: against you. We didn't like the war in Iran, we're
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  Speaker 7: going to vote against you. You've done nothing to lower
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  Speaker 7: food prices, we're going to vote against you. And quite frankly,
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  Speaker 7: the same thing on health care. And so, you know,
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  Speaker 7: it's a time for accountability. That's what elections are about.
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  Speaker 7: The economy is not doing what it's supposed to do.
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  Speaker 7: He has not lived up to any of the promises
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  Speaker 7: he made before he was elected president. And there's a
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  Speaker 7: price to be paid for that. And that's accountability in
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  Speaker 7: our elections. And that's why I think Democrats are going
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  Speaker 7: to do well. And then when Democrats win, we have
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  Speaker 7: to make sure that they lead and lower those costs
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  Speaker 7: because families, working families and small businesses and family farm
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  Speaker 7: and ranch agriculture out there are hurting. Democrats have an
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  Speaker 7: opportunity here to really lead in a way that makes
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  Speaker 7: sense for this country.
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  Speaker 2: Or just click below.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks.