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Can Tafoya Pull Off the Upset in November? · The Hugh Hewitt Show: Highly Concentrated

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to today's podcast, sponsored by Hillsdale College. All things
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  Speaker 1: for hillsdale.com or just Google Apple, iTunes, and Hillsdale. Morning, glory,
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  Speaker 1: and evening, grace, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt. Welcome to the
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  Speaker 1: program today. Whether you're watching on the Salem News Channel
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  Speaker 1: Salem Radio Network, of course, where I've been for 27 years.
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  Speaker 1: Our wonderful affiliates, some for 27 years, some for two months,
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  Speaker 1: all across the United States. Welcome. There's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: news because it's election season. Stuff happens. Biggest story of
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  Speaker 1: the day comes out of Michigan, where the Marist poll
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  Speaker 1: shows it's a dead heat. I mean, El-Sayed is allegedly
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  Speaker 1: two points up, but we know the polls are broken
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  Speaker 1: and oversampling, and they had him up by 10 to
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  Speaker 1: 18 points, and he won by less than one in
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  Speaker 1: the primary. So I think Mike Rogers is going to
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  Speaker 1: walk away with that, but we will see. We will
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  Speaker 1: see El-Sayed just making a terrible closing example of himself
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  Speaker 1: on how not to finish a campaign, angry and dissembling,
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  Speaker 1: refusing to answer questions, getting in fights with the press.
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  Speaker 1: That's bad. It's not as bad. is what is going
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  Speaker 1: on in Minnesota. And I hope after the break, Michelle
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  Speaker 1: Tafoya will join us. She's out on the campaign trail today.
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  Speaker 1: We'll grab her by phone if we can. But six
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  Speaker 1: hours ago, the Wall Street Journal broke the story, the
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  Speaker 1: hemline of which is that Minnesota's Democratic U.S. Senate nominee
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  Speaker 1: inflated academic record. So Peggy Flanagan's a liar. That's the
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  Speaker 1: short version. Let me read you the first. Oh, we
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  Speaker 1: have Michelle Tafoya right now. Michelle, welcome. It's good to
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  Speaker 1: have you. I was just about to tell people that
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  Speaker 1: Peggy Flanagan's a liar. Well, are you surprised to learn this,
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  Speaker 1: that she inflated her resume?
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  Speaker 2: Look, I am far less concerned with her scholastic resume
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  Speaker 2: than I am with her resume as lieutenant governor, second
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  Speaker 2: in charge of this state for eight years, been on
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  Speaker 2: the public paycheck for 20 years.
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  Speaker 3: And what have we gotten during that time? And Hugh,
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  Speaker 3: you know it.
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  Speaker 2: We've gotten billions of dollars worth of fraud, declining test scores,
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  Speaker 2: spiking crime, all kinds of things here in Minnesota that
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  Speaker 2: most Minnesotans don't like. And for whatever reason, she thinks
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  Speaker 2: she deserves a promotion. And we are encouraging all voters
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  Speaker 2: across Minnesota to give her a pink slip.
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  Speaker 1: So, Michelle Tafoya, I have to ask, the line of
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  Speaker 1: the year is sell it to someone else, Peggy. And
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  Speaker 1: you used that last week in the NPR debate when
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  Speaker 1: she was trying to explain why she allowed $ 9 billion
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  Speaker 1: to walk out on her watch into fraudulent 501c3s and 40s.
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  Speaker 1: Had you planned that or was that NFL broadcasting chops
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  Speaker 1: coming to the top?
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  Speaker 3: It just came out.
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  Speaker 2: I truly get a little sick to my stomach when
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  Speaker 2: I hear Peggy Flanagan talk about how much she cares
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  Speaker 2: about about access, public access to these programs that she
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  Speaker 2: let be completely gutted, that she cares, that she says
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  Speaker 2: she has set up school lunches and breakfasts for kids.
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  Speaker 2: Let's look at Feeding My Future, $ 250.
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  Speaker 3: Million, at least, of fraud on her watch.
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  Speaker 2: And she's caring about access to Medicaid programs, Medicaid programs
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  Speaker 2: that were hollowed out, over the last eight years by
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  Speaker 2: this fraud.
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  Speaker 3: So she can save it. She can sell it to someone.
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  Speaker 2: Else, Hugh.
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  Speaker 3: It just came out.
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  Speaker 2: I really am kind of appalled and genuinely astonished sometimes
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  Speaker 2: about the breadth and width of her willingness to say
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  Speaker 2: she was no part of this and that she really
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  Speaker 2: does care.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Michelle Tafoya, it was a fabulous moment. You won
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  Speaker 1: the debate going away. First, a vibe question. How does
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  Speaker 1: it feel on the ground? Because everyone in the national
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  Speaker 1: media is beginning to look at Minnesota and put it
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  Speaker 1: in a category with Maine and Michigan. The three M's, Maine, Michigan,
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  Speaker 1: and Minnesota. And if you told me that a year ago,
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  Speaker 1: I wouldn't have believed it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know what? We've been feeling good since the primary, really,
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  Speaker 2: and knowing what this matchup looked like. Because the contrast
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  Speaker 2: couldn't be clearer, right? I mean, you've got this career
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  Speaker 2: politician who has stood and looked by and turned her
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  Speaker 2: head to, she was either complicit or she.
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  Speaker 3: Was clueless about the fraud, both of which are disqualifying.
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  Speaker 2: And we're sitting here saying, look, you've got a newcomer here,
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  Speaker 2: an outsider willing to put life aside and say, Minnesota
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  Speaker 2: is worth fixing and saving and restoring to the way
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  Speaker 2: that it used to be pre-Walls Flanagan. This last eight years,
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  Speaker 2: has been a disaster. I had a voter tell me
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  Speaker 2: the other day, these have been the worst eight years
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  Speaker 2: in Minnesota history.
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  Speaker 3: And speaking of the three M's.
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  Speaker 2: One of our most trusted, most valuable corporations here in
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  Speaker 2: Minnesota is 3M. And they've just announced that they have
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  Speaker 2: to close one of their operational facilities and they're laying
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  Speaker 2: people off. And this is happening, Hugh, again and again
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  Speaker 2: and again because of the taxes, because of the punitive
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  Speaker 2: situation that businesses find themselves in.
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  Speaker 3: It's just an unfriendly climate for business here. You have
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  Speaker 3: success here.
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  Speaker 2: You get shamed and you get pushed aside and you
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  Speaker 2: get so overregulated and taxed.
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  Speaker 3: That you end up saying, why wouldn't I.
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  Speaker 2: Go to Iowa or South Dakota or North Dakota or Wisconsin?
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  Speaker 2: Why wouldn't I do that where I'm going to be
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  Speaker 2: treated like a business that is offering solutions, that is
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  Speaker 2: offering job opportunities, but not here in Minnesota?
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  Speaker 3: So it's really sad. We want to fix that and
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  Speaker 3: we can. That's the thing here. We can fix it.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I had Josh Holmes on yesterday, Minnetonka's hometown favorite,
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  Speaker 1: Josh Holmes of the Ruthless podcast. He told me that
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  Speaker 1: the shooting at Minnetonka Eden Prairie homecoming game is a
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  Speaker 1: very stunning event for everyone living up in Minnesota. Have
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  Speaker 1: you heard that on the campaign trail? And what's the
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  Speaker 1: response among your troops?
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  Speaker 3: It was immediate.
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  Speaker 2: It was it was mind boggling that this happened. I
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  Speaker 2: did have someone in the cities who lives in northeast
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  Speaker 2: Minneapolis say, now you know what we face all the time.
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  Speaker 3: And it is coming out to the suburbs.
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  Speaker 2: I've talked with law enforcement that say these Somali gangs
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  Speaker 2: in particular are very mobile. They have access to cash,
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  Speaker 2: to cars, to weapons. And so they're going wherever they
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  Speaker 2: decide they want to go. And in this case, it
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  Speaker 2: was Eden Prairie at a.
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  Speaker 3: Homecoming football game.
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  Speaker 2: And that means that nowhere and nothing in Minnesota is
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  Speaker 2: immune to this.
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  Speaker 3: So, yeah, this was frightening.
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  Speaker 2: It was, you know, the fact that they went ahead
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  Speaker 2: and canceled the dance the next night. So this was
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  Speaker 2: not a one-night thing. And really, in these suburban areas,
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  Speaker 2: we've had multiple shootings. There was a church and a
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  Speaker 2: Catholic school that are connected there. here, not too far
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  Speaker 2: from where I'm sitting, that had 55 shell casings discovered
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  Speaker 2: the day after a shooting on that playground. And the solution, Hugh, was, well,
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  Speaker 2: you got to take down the basketball hoops and the
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  Speaker 2: rims because we can't have people coming here at night
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  Speaker 2: to play basketball because of this gang violence. So that
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  Speaker 2: means that the kids at recess also can't play basketball
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  Speaker 2: at that school, at that church. These are the things
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  Speaker 2: that are going on that are really making parents wake
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  Speaker 2: up and say, This is not how I want to live.
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  Speaker 3: And we don't have to. We don't have to.
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  Speaker 1: So, Michelle, the polls have closed to dead heat. It's
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  Speaker 1: going to be a turnout deal. MichelleTafoya.com, if people want
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  Speaker 1: to help volunteer, watch polls, contribute to you in the
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  Speaker 1: closing kick. As you go into the last week, how
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  Speaker 1: are you feeling about the direction of the race?
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  Speaker 3: I feel good.
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  Speaker 2: We've just continued to move in the right direction over
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  Speaker 2: the last couple of months.
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  Speaker 3: That's a good sign. We know we have a lead
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  Speaker 3: among independents.
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  Speaker 2: That's a great sign because there are so many independents
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  Speaker 2: in Minnesota. And so those are those are things that
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  Speaker 2: are making us feel great. We feel like here we
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  Speaker 2: even feel like we're winning the sign wars. We see
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  Speaker 2: our signs all over the place and we don't see
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  Speaker 2: Peggy Flanagan signs anywhere. And we've traveled all over this state.
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  Speaker 2: So if you see one, it's sort of like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: there's one that we've seen. And so we feel good
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  Speaker 2: on the ground.
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  Speaker 3: But you are right. This is a midterm.
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  Speaker 2: And in the last midterm here in Minnesota, we had
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  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands, like 200,000 Minnesota Republicans who didn't vote
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  Speaker 2: for whatever reason. They either forgot at the last minute
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  Speaker 2: or they thought my vote's not.
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  Speaker 3: Going to count. Uh, you know, we can't have that.
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  Speaker 2: So if you're in the sound of our voices, understand
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  Speaker 2: that you might be disheartened right now. You might feel disenchanted, uh,
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  Speaker 2: turn that into determination and go vote.
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  Speaker 3: We have 13 days, uh, Early voting is open now.
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  Speaker 2: In-person early voting is open now.
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  Speaker 3: You can do this. Just get it over with. Check
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  Speaker 3: it off the list.
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  Speaker 2: Take your friends. Have lunch afterwards. Whatever you need to
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  Speaker 2: do to make it fun. And also just know how
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  Speaker 2: important it is.
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  Speaker 1: All right. Last question. 13 days, you could still spend
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  Speaker 1: a lot of money. Are contributions still welcome at MichelleTafoya.com?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, good.
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  Speaker 3: That's the best question ever, Hugh. Thank you. Absolutely, they are.
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  Speaker 2: And yeah, because, you know, we have, I think, until
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  Speaker 2: this Friday to make our ad reservations. And so, yes,
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  Speaker 2: if anyone wants to help, every little bit matters. And
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  Speaker 2: I am so humbled by the small dollar donations that
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  Speaker 2: have come in. It's just astonishing. People have asked me
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  Speaker 2: as a first-time politician, what's the most surprising? The yard
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  Speaker 2: signs have been surprising, how many people want them, and
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  Speaker 2: that people would give five, ten bucks to a campaign
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  Speaker 2: because they feel strongly about it is humbling. And I just,
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  Speaker 2: I want to do it for those people.
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  Speaker 3: I really do.
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  Speaker 1: You are the rookie of the year in politics. Offense.
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  Speaker 1: You're playing offense, and we like that, Michelle Tafoya. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to talk about Peggy Fletcher. defects and her being
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  Speaker 1: on defense, but congratulations on a great campaign. Keep it
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  Speaker 1: up for 13 more days.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: You'll be exhausted. You'll have a vacation after you win.
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  Speaker 1: Talk to you next.
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  Speaker 3: Week, Michelle. We'll rest later.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you.
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  Speaker 3: I so appreciate you. I really do.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you. MichelleTafoya.com. Don't go anywhere, America. I'll be right back.
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  Speaker 1: We've got a lot of news from the campaign trail.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to finish that Peggy Flanagan story because, well,
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  Speaker 1: Michelle Tafoya was her typically gracious self. I'm not so gracious.
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  Speaker 1: I hate people who lie on their resumes. I hate
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  Speaker 1: the lying, not the person. But I really don't think
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  Speaker 1: you can elect a liar to the United States Senate.
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  Speaker 1: Stay tuned. Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt, joined now
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  Speaker 1: by Sarah C. Bedford of the Washington Examiner. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: over at the Examiner, where I contribute a column every
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  Speaker 1: two weeks, my new column is up, talking about the
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  Speaker 1: comparison between Bush's surge in 2006 and Donald Trump's battle
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  Speaker 1: with Iran. Sarah, what do you think is the headline
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  Speaker 1: that you're going to be writing on Wednesday after the elections?
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  Speaker 4: You know, there's been so much talk about the accuracy
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  Speaker 4: of the polls, especially with a polling firm this week
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  Speaker 4: that had been counted among all the major aggregators coming
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  Speaker 4: out and trying to say, hey, guys, it was all
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  Speaker 4: a joke. We made up our polling. So I think
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  Speaker 4: there's a really good chance that we could be writing
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  Speaker 4: a headline about the blue wave being a lot smaller
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  Speaker 4: than some of the sweeping predictions we've been seeing in
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  Speaker 4: these last few weeks. It's not totally clear that all
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  Speaker 4: the polls are tightening in Democrats' direction and A lot
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  Speaker 4: of these races are within the margin of error, could
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  Speaker 4: very easily tip the other way and not give Democrats
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  Speaker 4: this huge night that they think they're heading towards.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let me give you my assessment of where Republicans
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  Speaker 1: are feeling the best and where they're feeling the worst,
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  Speaker 1: because I talk mostly about they're feeling the best about Maine,
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  Speaker 1: because not only is Susan Collins, as people like to joke,
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  Speaker 1: she sits on a throne of political skulls of people
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  Speaker 1: who try to take her out. But Joe Manchin, one
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  Speaker 1: of the country's most famous Democrat, is campaigning with her today.
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  Speaker 1: Give a listen to what Manchin had to say in Lewiston, Maine,
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  Speaker 1: cut number 15.
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  Speaker 5: Senator, you were a Democrat for a long time before
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  Speaker 5: you became an independent.
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  Speaker 6: I was an independent my whole life.
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  Speaker 7: I haven't had a D by my name.
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  Speaker 1: I've got to ask, though.
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  Speaker 6: I mean, coming up here today, in a way, is
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  Speaker 6: it giving a middle finger to your former party?
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  Speaker 7: What has Chuck Schumer said about this?
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  Speaker 6: No, I never know. Chuck Schumer would not be surprised
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  Speaker 6: at all, me being with my dear friend. There's no
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: surprise there at all. I told him he was crazy
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  Speaker 6: in 2020 from working against her so hard, and he's
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  Speaker 6: crazy now to work against her. This is not right.
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  Speaker 6: She is the soul of America. She's the soul of
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  Speaker 6: the Senate. And he knows he needs more Susan Collins,
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  Speaker 6: no matter what side of the aisle they're on. This
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  Speaker 6: is ridiculous.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah, that is quite a statement from a Democrat. Susan
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  Speaker 1: Collins is the soul of the Senate. What do you
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  Speaker 1: mean and what do you think he means and what
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  Speaker 1: do you think it means?
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  Speaker 4: Well, Manchin and Susan Collins are sort of a going
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  Speaker 4: extinct breed of centrist that we don't really see running
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  Speaker 4: anywhere in the country. And the last of them, the incumbents,
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: you know, are going to age out over the next
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  Speaker 4: few years. You don't see any interest in bipartisanship. You
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  Speaker 4: don't see many candidates, if any, in the major races
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  Speaker 4: selling bipartisanship on the campaign trail. And Manchin's absolutely right.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, Susan Collins is one of the only Republicans,
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  Speaker 4: with the exception of perhaps Lisa Murkowski, left in the
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  Speaker 4: Senate who routinely crosses the aisle. And, you know, it's
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  Speaker 4: not clear in the very long run of Democratic leadership
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  Speaker 4: would rather have a Republican who they could count on
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  Speaker 4: to vote with them in some of the toughest moments
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  Speaker 4: like confirmation battles or a wildcard leftist senator who they
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  Speaker 4: can't control, who might be against them and far to
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  Speaker 4: the left of them on some of those tough votes.
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  Speaker 1: That's talking about Troy Jackson, Democratic nominee in Maine. He
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: had a town hall where he was asked if Medicare
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: for all became law. could they keep your doctor? He
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: said this, cut number 14. On Medicare for all?
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  Speaker 7: I mean, there's people that are arguing, well, can I
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  Speaker 7: keep my health care? Well, no, you can't.
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  Speaker 1: No, you can't, Sarah. Do you think that helps him?
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  Speaker 7: No.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, the only way that Democratic candidates can sort
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: of make that type of health care sound appealing is
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  Speaker 5: to paint it as a vast improvement in over the
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: kind of health care you have if you're unhappy with it.
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  Speaker 4: And if you love your health care, then, you know,
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  Speaker 4: Democratic politicians traditionally don't like to suggest that you won't
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: get to keep your doctor. It's probably one of the
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: most famous lines from all of Obama's presidency from the
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: years long Obamacare fight is saying, if you like your doctor,
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: you can keep it. But for Troy Jackson to say
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: that out loud, I mean, he's proven himself to be
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: a completely adept candidate. And sometimes I wonder if Democrats...
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: look back and think if Graham Plattner had just been
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: able to weather like a couple more weeks of bad headlines,
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  Speaker 4: would he have been a better pick? Because Troy Jackson
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  Speaker 4: has never polled as well against Susan Collins. He's been
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: a terrible campaigner. It doesn't seem like he's surrounded by
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  Speaker 4: a particularly capable staff. And you have to wonder if
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  Speaker 4: there'll be some buyer's remorse if they if Democrats end
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: up losing what they thought was a winnable race when
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  Speaker 4: they made such a crazy candidate change midstream like that.
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  Speaker 1: And they invested so much money in Maine, it's all wasted,
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  Speaker 1: because you really can't beat Susan Collins. She is, as
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  Speaker 1: Joe Manchin said, the soul of the Senate, 10,000 consecutive votes.
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  Speaker 1: Republicans are feeling good. I began the show with Michelle Tafoya.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of energy in Minnesota. Mike Rogers is soaring
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  Speaker 1: in Michigan, and El Sayed is angry and disassociating himself
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  Speaker 1: from the mainstream. He's really become more and more radical. However,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: there's bad news as well. North Carolina does not look
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: good for Republicans. Why do you think Roy Cooper is
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: so far ahead? Even in flawed polling, he's way outside
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  Speaker 1: the margin of error over Michael Watley. What do you
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  Speaker 1: think that's about?
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  Speaker 4: Roy Cooper has a super recognizable name in North Carolina.
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  Speaker 4: He's someone that North Carolinians know very well. Um, former governor,
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  Speaker 4: I believe he's, he's, he has a brand there. Um,
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  Speaker 4: that North Carolinians recognize that's sort of allowed him to
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  Speaker 4: peel away from the National Democratic Party and not get
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  Speaker 4: bogged down in some of the things that have been
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  Speaker 4: most controversial about Democrats who are really tied closely with
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  Speaker 4: the National Party and the left-hand tack that it's taking.
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  Speaker 4: And Michael Wiley has not necessarily proven himself to be
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: a particularly capable candidate either. So when you have someone
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: who's maybe sort of a lackluster candidate up against someone
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: with such a stellar legacy like Roy Cooper, that was
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: always going to be a really tough matchup. And North
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: Carolina has been trending more and more like a swing
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: state in past cycles.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: So let's finish by talking about my home state of Ohio.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Here we have a bifurcated story for Republicans. I think
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: John Huston has got momentum. I think the president will
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: be back in for him. Vivek may have been a
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: couple of points behind Vivek Ramaswamy. That ad that was
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: leaked yesterday, the lab leak ad, that has really hurt him.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: If you were Vivek Ramaswamy, what would you do about
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: that ad right now?
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: It probably would be best if I was advising Vivek
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: Ramaswamy to just make a clean break, say, you know what,
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: I've got a lot of people around me. They come
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: up with a lot of different ideas. Not all of
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: them are good. This was a bad one. Let's move on.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: But you don't see him doing that. And Vivek Ramaswamy's
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: campaign has had a lot of missed opportunities throughout the race.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: And it's one of the many reasons why you see
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: that that race might be moving away from Republicans. Even
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: though Mike DeWine was pretty popular as a Republican governor
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: of Ohio, you'd You just have a better campaign being
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: run by Amy Acton.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Now, he can still win. Donald Trump won Ohio by
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: 11 points, so Vivek can still win. What's interesting, a
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: lot of ticket splitting goes on in Ohio sometime. Sherrod
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Brown's just not clicking. He's as infirm as Joe Biden.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Watch that space. We'll talk more next week. Sarah C. Bedford,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: follower on X at Sarah C. Bedford. Follow me in
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: the next segment of today's Hugh Hewitt Show. Hi, Hugh
• 18:02
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• 21:00
  Speaker 7: 877-410-4321.
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  Speaker 1: Or visit usmedicalplan.com. Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt, joined
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: now by former United States Senator Jim Talent.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Talent is a senior fellow at the Reagan Institute. for
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Peace Through Strength. Senator, good to have you back. You've
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: been here two weeks out from Election Day when you
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: were on the ballot many, many times. How do you
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: feel it's going for Republicans right now?
• 21:36
  Speaker 7: Eleven times I did it, Hugh. Hugh, I'm optimistic. I've
• 21:43
  Speaker 7: said before on the show that particularly when you get
• 21:46
  Speaker 7: near the end, the quality of the candidate matters. And
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: you've mentioned Michigan, Maine, Minnesota. We have good candidates in Nebraska,
• 21:55
  Speaker 7: in Kansas. Dan Sullivan is great in Alaska. They fit
• 21:58
  Speaker 7: their states. And you, I've listened to the Michelle Tafoya
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: interview twice, and boy, she knows what she's doing. You
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: notice what she did? She addressed every question. She didn't
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: ignore any question. She pivoted to her message, which is anti-fraud, right,
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: and linking Peggy Flanagan to that. And she always ended
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: with a message of hope. She said, look, we can
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: fix it. We really can make this better. I think
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: she fits Minnesota like a glove, and I think she's
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: going to win.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: I agree with that. She is Rookie of the Year
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: in politics. I am, however, blown away by Susan Collins
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: and Joe Manchin. Susan saved the right hook for the end,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: didn't she?
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: Oh, absolutely. And Joe completely destroyed their message that Susan
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: is a partisan person that she supports the Republicans and
• 22:50
  Speaker 7: not Maine. And you're going to see that statement on
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: ads that she runs, that the Senate committee runs. And
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: it's the right thing for Joe Manchin to do. And
• 23:00
  Speaker 7: everything he said and everything Susan said, they're credible in saying.
• 23:05
  Speaker 7: You notice they asked her about AOC coming in for
• 23:09
  Speaker 7: Troy and said, look, he can have whoever he wants.
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: That's just classic Susan. She was not going to go
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: for the jugular on that. Not directly. She lets the
• 23:19
  Speaker 7: voters connect the last dot. You want to have Bernie
• 23:21
  Speaker 7: Sanders in? You want to have AOC in?
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Fine.
• 23:25
  Speaker 7: Here's who I have in. Senator Manchin. It was great.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Now, I also feel pretty good about Mike Rogers and
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: the way that he is closing. I think Abdul El-Sayed
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: is in over his head and is flailing. And his
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: angry confrontational responses to reporters. I don't think that plays
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: well with voters.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Do you? No.
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: It doesn't. I always I always used to try to
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: be you. I tried to be indignant rather than angry
• 23:55
  Speaker 7: and indignant on behalf of of the voters, on behalf
• 23:59
  Speaker 7: of people who were being hurt by policies, bad policy.
• 24:04
  Speaker 7: But look, he doesn't. How much maneuvering room does he
• 24:07
  Speaker 7: have you? I mean, he's just in political terms, a
• 24:11
  Speaker 7: deeply flawed candidate. And there are so many reasons. You
• 24:15
  Speaker 7: you could do the whole show and, and basically you
• 24:18
  Speaker 7: have a couple of times almost on, on why he
• 24:21
  Speaker 7: is flawed as a candidate. I think Rogers is going
• 24:23
  Speaker 7: to win that race. And I, and I don't really
• 24:26
  Speaker 7: believe the polls that show up to be close at
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: this point.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: You know, if the Republicans win two out of those
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: three M's Maine, Minnesota, and Michigan, they can't lose the Senate.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: That's just the basic math. Am I right about that? Yeah,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: I agree.
• 24:42
  Speaker 7: I'll point out something else to you. You know, You
• 24:45
  Speaker 7: notice the president is campaigning everywhere. Now, I'm not saying
• 24:49
  Speaker 7: I disbelieve the numbers that show the president is underwater
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: in terms of personal popularity, but there's a difference between
• 24:56
  Speaker 7: that and being, like, toxic, that you don't want to
• 24:59
  Speaker 7: campaign with him. You know, if you're running in one
• 25:01
  Speaker 7: of these states and it's a close race, and if
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: the president's going to hurt you if he comes in,
• 25:05
  Speaker 7: you don't have him in. So obviously... They're having him
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: in for a reason, and it's to plus up the base.
• 25:12
  Speaker 7: It's why turnout, I think, is what matters now. A
• 25:15
  Speaker 7: lot of your candidates that you've had on have said it,
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: and they're right. People do need to get out to vote.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Now, John Husted is in an interesting position because Vivek
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Ramaswamy has not figured out what to do with this
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: lab leak of that terrible ad yesterday. He hasn't made
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: a statement yet. But I think John Husted was pulling
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: ahead of old, old Sherrod Brown and And what do
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: you do in a situation like that? You can't throw
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: your colleague overboard, but how do you separate?
• 25:43
  Speaker 7: Yeah, you try to. One thing you can say, for example, is, well,
• 25:49
  Speaker 7: I know Vivek is thinking about or is coming up
• 25:54
  Speaker 7: with a statement. In other words, you can give the
• 25:56
  Speaker 7: guy time, but you have to measure on how bad
• 25:59
  Speaker 7: it is for your race. I mean, it's a tough
• 26:01
  Speaker 7: situation to be in.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:03
  Speaker 7: And Vivek needs to fix it. In other words, he
• 26:05
  Speaker 7: needs to say something that that is credible regarding that.
• 26:09
  Speaker 7: And then and then Houston and the other Republicans can
• 26:12
  Speaker 7: support him. But what you try and do is give
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: the guy time as much as you can say, look,
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: I'm going to let him respond to that before I
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: come in or something like that. And then you do
• 26:22
  Speaker 7: what you have to do in terms of your own race.
• 26:24
  Speaker 7: I mean, it's you when you run for office at
• 26:27
  Speaker 7: a high level like that, you have a responsibility to
• 26:30
  Speaker 7: everybody who supported you. everybody who's given money to you.
• 26:34
  Speaker 7: You have a responsibility to win. You do it within
• 26:36
  Speaker 7: the limits of honor, but you have a responsibility to win.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: That goes back to Barack Obama's first race. If you
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: can win, you should. Now I want to talk about polling.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Today a poll came out, not Wedgwood, the fake pollster,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: that's a scandal, but a poll came out from the
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: University of Northern Florida that said Senator Ashley Moody is
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: four points ahead of Angela Nixon. Angela Nixon couldn't win
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: that race if they ran it a hundred times. She's
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: a nut she's a communist and she's a nut. What
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: do we do about polls that just are obviously badly wrong?
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Jim talent.
• 27:13
  Speaker 7: You know, you, it's, it's a difficult question. I think
• 27:16
  Speaker 7: every cycle that this happens, the polls have less and
• 27:19
  Speaker 7: less credibility. And I have to be fair. I think it's,
• 27:22
  Speaker 7: I think it's an increasingly difficult enterprise for a whole
• 27:26
  Speaker 7: set of reasons, getting the people to respond to whom
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: you want to respond, uh, Just doing turnout models that
• 27:33
  Speaker 7: are reliable, it's very difficult. I think what you just
• 27:36
  Speaker 7: have to do if you're a candidate is you just
• 27:39
  Speaker 7: have to say, look, I'm running my race. I feel good.
• 27:42
  Speaker 7: You can always tell when you're doing well on the stump.
• 27:46
  Speaker 7: You can tell by the enthusiasm, by the energy. And
• 27:49
  Speaker 7: you just refer to that and run all out. I mean,
• 27:52
  Speaker 7: at the end of the day, the poll that matters
• 27:54
  Speaker 7: is the poll on Election Day and when they add
• 27:57
  Speaker 7: up the votes on Election Day, which in Florida they'll
• 28:00
  Speaker 7: be able to do. And that's really how you deal
• 28:03
  Speaker 7: with it, Hugh. I mean, you can't get there any
• 28:05
  Speaker 7: other way.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: If you've got an institution like a university, University of
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: North Florida, and they have their name on a poll
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: that's way off come Wednesday, two weeks from now, should
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: they get out of the polling business rather than risk
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: the credibility of their institution?
• 28:21
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, if it's a private organization, so they
• 28:25
  Speaker 7: actually have to get candidates they have to get business
• 28:28
  Speaker 7: they need either to show that they have fixed the
• 28:32
  Speaker 7: problem or you're right they need to get in a
• 28:34
  Speaker 7: different line of business because nobody wants a pollster who's
• 28:38
  Speaker 7: reporting unreliable numbers even if they benefit you in fact
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: it may be worse under those circumstances because it leads
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: you to the wrong campaign strategy.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: I agree with all of that not surprisingly jim talent
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: follow him on x at jim talent follow me in
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: the next segment of the Hugh Hewitt Show. Thank you, Senator.