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Send Undecideds My Way · Check with Chip

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Check with Chip, brought to you by Operation
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Blue Dot Red. Turning the blue dot red one podcast
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: at a time. Here we are, Election Eve. Well, the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: early ballots have been in play for a while, but
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: tomorrow is Election Day. About ten days ago, right across
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  Speaker 1: the street about a half a block from my house
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  Speaker 1: in Bellevue, a pair of yard signs appeared. One is
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  Speaker 1: the plain blue dot. The other is the wave variation
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: on the blue dot. I hope they are not portents, auguries,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: a forewarning of what tomorrow will bring. I thought these
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: were limited to Dundee and Memorial, but apparently they're everywhere.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Yet I remain optimistic. The pattern is the same every
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: election cycle. The left manufactures and celebrates polls showing success
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  Speaker 1: for Democrats and failure for Republicans. The goal is to
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  Speaker 1: rev up voter turnout and financial support for Democrats and
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: snuff voter turnout, and financial support for Republicans. And there
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: is the historical tendency of momentum typically working against the
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: party in power in midterm elections. That's why President Trump
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: hit the campaign trail with an intensity never seen before
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: from a president near the end of his time in office.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: He has been trying to counteract the historical trend and
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  Speaker 1: the psychological warfare via polling. If Republican Brinker Harding loses
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to Democrat Denise Powell, I think it will be at
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  Speaker 1: least in part because Harding did not play his Trump card,
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  Speaker 1: at least not that I'm aware of. I realize that
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  Speaker 1: no less an authority than Jim Rose said Harding needed
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to do exactly that, distance himself from Trump rather than
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: embrace him. As I said at the time, I disagree.
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  Speaker 1: People for whom hatred of Trump is their number one
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  Speaker 1: priority will vote against Harding no matter what. They're not
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: going to reconsider and vote for Harding because Trump did
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  Speaker 1: not come to Omaha. They see Harding as a vote
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  Speaker 1: for Trump. Trump did endorse him. And there's nothing Harding
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: can do to win their votes. I think Harding should
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: have welcomed Trump for the same reason other candidates around
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the country have, to rally the Trump base. Trump is
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: not on the ballot. For a significant chunk of the
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  Speaker 1: Trump base, Trump is the only reason to turn out.
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  Speaker 1: They are not motivated to vote for what they perceive
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  Speaker 1: as business as usual establishment Republicans. Trump has tried, he
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  Speaker 1: openly declared it, to figuratively put himself on the ballot
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  Speaker 1: to energize his base. I worry that the local Trump
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  Speaker 1: base might view Harding as a business as usual establishment Republican.
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  Speaker 1: Some of that Trump base also sees incumbent U.S. Senator
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  Speaker 1: Pete Ricketts as establishment Republican. However, Ricketts was one of
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  Speaker 1: the featured speakers at a Trump rally in Grand Island
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: a month ago, so the Trump base knows that Trump
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  Speaker 1: wants his voters to turn out for Ricketts. I would
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  Speaker 1: like to have seen that kind of reinforcement for Harding
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: in District 2. Again, those voting against Harding as a
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  Speaker 1: Trump stooge are voting against him no matter what, so
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  Speaker 1: I don't think a Trump appearance would have hurt in
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  Speaker 1: that regard. and it might have lit a fire under
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  Speaker 1: otherwise unmotivated Trump voters. But Democratic turnout might also lag.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: In other parts of the country, there are reports of
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  Speaker 1: relatively light early voting by Democrats. Some Democrats are not
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: comfortable with the lurch to the hard left demanded by
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: many of the most prominent voices in the Democratic Party.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I note again the absence of anyone named Kavanaugh or
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Begley on the Powell endorsement page. Those two families represent
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  Speaker 1: a significant chunk of the local Democratic voting base. Are
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: they sitting this one out? Or will they grudgingly deliver
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  Speaker 1: on Election Day, despite the internal party discord? And then
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  Speaker 1: there's the blue dot. It's a thing. For some Democrats,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: candidates and policies do not matter. I want to stick
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  Speaker 1: it to my neighbor, my relatives, the rest of Nebraska.
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  Speaker 1: and Donald Trump and anyone who supports him. I want
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  Speaker 1: the blue dot to remain a darling of the national media.
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  Speaker 1: I'm voting blue dot no matter what. If you know
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  Speaker 1: people still on the fence, invite them to take a
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  Speaker 1: spin through this podcast. Maybe one of my takes will
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  Speaker 1: help turn a blue dot red or help keep a
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: red dot red and motivate that person to vote. That's
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Check with Chip. I'm Chip Maxwell. Thank you for listening.