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GOP Convenes in Dallas for First Ever Midterm Convention: Day One · Balance of Power

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  Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios.
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  Speaker 2: Podcasts.
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  Speaker 3: Radio.
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  Speaker 4: News.
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  Speaker 5: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
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  Speaker 5: us live weekdays at noon and 5 p.m. Eastern on
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  Speaker 5: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app.
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  Speaker 5: Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch
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  Speaker 5: us live on YouTube.
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  Speaker 6: I am indeed live in Dallas where the Republican Midterm
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  Speaker 6: Convention gets underway today. And we go now live to
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  Speaker 6: the convention hall as we turn to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins,
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  Speaker 6: who is joining us today in her personal capacity. Madam Secretary,
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  Speaker 6: appreciate you being here. on Bloomberg. You, of course, are
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  Speaker 6: not just a politician. You are a Texan. You were
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  Speaker 6: born in Dallas. So this is a city and a
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  Speaker 6: state very familiar to you. And I wonder what your
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  Speaker 6: take is on why exactly this state was chosen and
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  Speaker 6: how much of it is about trying to get Ken
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  Speaker 6: Paxton over the finish line in the Senate race.
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  Speaker 7: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. Forgive,
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  Speaker 7: they are doing sound checks in the back. So if
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  Speaker 7: we hear a little YMCA, you and I are just
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  Speaker 7: going to power right through. What an honor to have
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  Speaker 7: this unprecedented historical event in my home state, the town
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  Speaker 7: where I was born, Dallas, Texas. Grew up about an
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  Speaker 7: hour and a half south of here in tiny little
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  Speaker 7: Glen Rose, Texas. But from my perspective, I mean, certainly
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  Speaker 7: getting Attorney General Paxton across the finish line.
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  Speaker 1: Is very, very important.
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  Speaker 7: But the larger context here, at least for me, is
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  Speaker 7: that Texas was leading the way on less government, on
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  Speaker 7: more freedom, on cutting taxes, on really job growth that
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  Speaker 7: was unprecedented until Donald Trump won that first term. And
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  Speaker 7: so in Texas, sort of our founding father's vision of
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  Speaker 7: the states being the laboratories of democracy where innovation happens.
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  Speaker 7: And that is what Texas, I believe, has meant to
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  Speaker 7: the country. I think coming here right to the bedrock
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  Speaker 7: of free market conservative values makes a ton of sense.
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  Speaker 7: And I think the next two days are going to
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  Speaker 7: be really, really remarkable.
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  Speaker 6: Well, how do you explain to a Texan who might
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  Speaker 6: be facing higher prices at the gas pump, who are
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  Speaker 6: needing diesel to power equipment and machinery on their farms
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  Speaker 6: or ranches, who are thinking about the price of fertilizer
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  Speaker 6: or the president's moves when it comes to beef? How
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  Speaker 6: do you message to them that Republicans should still be
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  Speaker 6: in charge, that in fact they are better off than
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  Speaker 6: they were when President Trump was just coming into office
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  Speaker 6: and Republicans took over the House and Senate?
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  Speaker 4: That's right.
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  Speaker 7: Well, and I think, again, in my personal capacity and
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  Speaker 7: as a longtime fighter for good public policy, conservative policy,
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  Speaker 7: first in Texas and then in the first Trump administration
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  Speaker 7: and the second, it's this, that under the Biden four years,
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  Speaker 7: the average inflation was out of control. I think it
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  Speaker 7: was in the mid 20%. And that also reflected in food,
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  Speaker 7: that the cost of food went up 25% just in
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  Speaker 7: those four years. In the last two years, we've seen
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  Speaker 7: a lot of that come back down, whether it's dairy
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  Speaker 7: is way down, berries are down 15%, eggs, of course,
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  Speaker 7: are down retail almost 50%, wholesale 90%, that we have
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  Speaker 7: seen an incredible turn of events with this deregulatory, cut taxes,
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  Speaker 7: shrink the size of government. We know these are the
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  Speaker 7: fundamentals to not only unleashing an economy, more people working
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  Speaker 7: today than ever before, an incredible job report number just
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  Speaker 7: last week, but also bringing the cost of goods down.
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  Speaker 7: In just a couple of years, we're back to historical
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  Speaker 7: averages of about 2.5%, 2.7% for food, and we're going
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  Speaker 7: to continue to see those numbers come down.
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  Speaker 6: But as diesel prices on average per gallon march towards $ 6,
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  Speaker 6: is that really going to translate in lower end prices
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  Speaker 6: for the consumer? Diesel powers the economy. It feeds through
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  Speaker 6: into a lot of things.
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  Speaker 7: Well, I think the first important thing is that even
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  Speaker 7: with today's diesel prices, they're still either at or even
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  Speaker 7: lower than the high price of diesel under Joe Biden.
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  Speaker 7: And by the way, the same with fertilizer. Fertilizer is
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  Speaker 7: down 50 percent, 60 percent than under the Joe Biden administration.
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  Speaker 7: Having said that, we know there's still so much more
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  Speaker 7: work to do. This president has been resolute that the
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  Speaker 7: idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon, you compromise in
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  Speaker 7: terms of bringing prices down, but keeping that nuclear weapon
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  Speaker 7: out of the hands of people that are willing to
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  Speaker 7: massacre 27, 30,000, 40,000 of their own people, I think
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  Speaker 7: from his perspective is really, really important. But again, having
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  Speaker 7: said that, those numbers are going to keep coming down.
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  Speaker 7: We've already shown we can do it and we will
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  Speaker 7: do it again.
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  Speaker 6: And finally, Madam Secretary, as you are here in our
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  Speaker 6: personal capacity, in your personal capacity, do you expect that
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  Speaker 6: we may see you running for statewide office in Texas
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  Speaker 6: for the governor's mansion or for a Senate seat yourself
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  Speaker 6: in the future?
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  Speaker 1: Oh, goodness.
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  Speaker 7: Well, let me say that I am here in my
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  Speaker 7: personal capacity, but there is no greater honor than I've
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  Speaker 7: ever had in fighting for the men and women out
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  Speaker 7: in rural America. And I am so focused on that job.
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  Speaker 7: The most important job, of course, is wife and mom
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  Speaker 7: to my four amazing kids. And I'm just staying completely
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  Speaker 7: focused on that. But I appreciate the question.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 6: So that's a no then?
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  Speaker 7: That is a no right now for sure. We've got
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  Speaker 7: way too much to do to be thinking about a
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  Speaker 7: potential run in the future.
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  Speaker 2: But again, thank you.
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  Speaker 7: I appreciate the question.
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  Speaker 6: Well, and I appreciate you joining us on Bloomberg today.
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  Speaker 6: That's the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, live with us
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  Speaker 6: from the convention hall here in Dallas, Texas.
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  Speaker 5: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: us live weekdays at noon and 5 p.m. Eastern on
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: flagship New York station. Just say Alexa, play Bloomberg 1130.
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  Speaker 6: I am indeed Kaylee Lyons, live in Dallas, Texas, for
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  Speaker 6: this first-ever Republican midterm convention. We're going to speak with
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  Speaker 6: the co-chair of this convention in just a moment. But first,
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  Speaker 6: I want to bring in my colleague, Julie Fine, who,
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  Speaker 6: of course, is our Texas bureau chief. She's always based
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  Speaker 6: here in Dallas and has been in charge of running
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  Speaker 6: things for us here at Bloomberg in the run-up to
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  Speaker 6: this event. So, Julie, obviously, this is a big deal
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  Speaker 6: that this is happening, that it's happening here. Walk us
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  Speaker 6: through just quickly what we can expect to see over
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  Speaker 6: the course of the next two days.
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  Speaker 8: Well, you can expect to see programming from 4 until
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  Speaker 8: 10 each night. Republicans have many members of their leadership.
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  Speaker 8: They are really trying to hammer the message home that
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  Speaker 8: things are in good shape, and they want to talk
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  Speaker 8: a little bit about what they are hoping to do
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  Speaker 8: in the next two years. It's a big night. You're
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  Speaker 8: going to see a lot of President Trump. He will
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  Speaker 8: be speaking both evenings. And again, Republicans are really trying
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  Speaker 8: to energize their base here in Texas.
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  Speaker 6: Indeed, they are, and they're trying to raise some money
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  Speaker 6: while they do so. Julie's going to be sticking with
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  Speaker 6: me because on the money side of the equation and
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  Speaker 6: a number of other subjects, we turn now to Ray Washburn,
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  Speaker 6: who is here with us in our Dallas studio. He's
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  Speaker 6: co-chair of the RNC Midterm Convention. He also is on
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  Speaker 6: top of the board at Seneco and is co-founder of
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  Speaker 6: the M Crowd Restaurant Group, which owns 46 restaurants. as well.
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  Speaker 6: So there's a lot to discuss with Ray. Thank you
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  Speaker 6: for being here on Bloomberg TV and radio. Appreciate you
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  Speaker 6: joining us. You had to raise, what, $ 45 million to
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  Speaker 6: put this convention on in a very short amount of time.
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  Speaker 6: How much more money are you expecting can be raised
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  Speaker 6: for Republicans over the next couple of days?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm chairman of the host committee here. So raising
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  Speaker 2: money for candidates is not, you know, in my wheelhouse.
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  Speaker 2: But there's a lot of networking going on. There are
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  Speaker 2: major donors from all over the country here, candidates from
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  Speaker 2: all over. So I'm sure there's going to be a
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  Speaker 2: lot of handshaking in the next couple of days.
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  Speaker 8: Well, one thing that there will be a lot of
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  Speaker 8: handshaking with Republicans over is the Senate race here in Texas.
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  Speaker 6: It is a critical race. It is a dead heat
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  Speaker 6: right now.
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  Speaker 8: What does Attorney General Ken Paxton have to say to
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  Speaker 8: voters to get them in the box for him?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting. Ken Paxton won by 28 points in
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  Speaker 2: the primary. And so the summer's been kind of quiet
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  Speaker 2: in Texas, and Tallarico started his ag campaign in August.
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  Speaker 2: And You know, Labor Day is kind of the kickoff time,
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  Speaker 2: not only for the football season, but also for political season.
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  Speaker 2: And so Trump dropped about $ 10 million into his campaign
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  Speaker 2: last week. Elon Musk has committed millions of dollars to
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  Speaker 2: the campaign as well. And so you're going to start
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  Speaker 2: seeing wall-to-wall ads from Ken Paxton from now through the
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  Speaker 2: end of to the election day.
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  Speaker 6: Well, of course, MAGA Inc. has committed $ 10 million to
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  Speaker 6: Ken Paxton. I wonder if you expect that the ultimate
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  Speaker 6: price tag, at least the checks that are being written,
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  Speaker 6: need to be a lot greater than that, considering the
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  Speaker 6: fundraising prowess that James Tallarico has proven he has.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, he's had it so far. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: how much more the Democrats want to put in, because
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  Speaker 2: much like Beto or Wendy Davis or others, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: they've always gone down a rabbit hole every time on
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  Speaker 2: this candidate.
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  Speaker 6: Do you think it's money-costed?
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  Speaker 2: I do. I mean, the Republicans, we haven't lost a
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  Speaker 2: race in this state since 1994, and so a statewide race.
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  Speaker 2: But Ken Paxton, the MAGA, is going to come in
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  Speaker 2: with more money in addition to that $ 10 million, and
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  Speaker 2: we're going to now start seeing Tallarico being framed up
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  Speaker 2: for the type candidate that he is.
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  Speaker 8: Ray, you were co-chair in 2016 of Victory, the Victory Fund.
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  Speaker 8: So you obviously know how important the state of Texas
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  Speaker 8: is to keeping both the House and the Senate. The
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  Speaker 8: Rio Grande Valley, that has redistricted. You have the candidates
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  Speaker 8: running for that speaking at this convention. But are you
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  Speaker 8: confident that Republicans did the right thing by redistricting?
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  Speaker 2: By redistricting the state?
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. You know, the Valley voted for Trump last time.
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  Speaker 2: The first time we started the win away from the
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  Speaker 2: Democrats down there. So redistricting was the right thing to
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  Speaker 2: do there. I'm sorry.
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  Speaker 7: Go ahead.
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  Speaker 6: No, go ahead, Julie. Are you confident?
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  Speaker 8: What ended up happening, though, Ray, as you well know,
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  Speaker 8: is that they redistricted in Texas and then there went
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  Speaker 8: the map.
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  Speaker 6: So do you think that it will work out for Republicans?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm focused on Texas. And, you know, also Greg Abbott,
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  Speaker 2: our very popular... governor, is running again. So it's turning
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  Speaker 2: out the vote. You were talking with Paxton and in
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  Speaker 2: the Valley. And so Abbott is very, very popular down
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  Speaker 2: in the Valley. So I think that's going to help
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  Speaker 2: up and down the ballot for us.
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  Speaker 6: Well, let's talk about the popularity of the president, because
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  Speaker 6: you mentioned that these are areas that win for Trump
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  Speaker 6: in 2024. But his approval rating is now, depending on
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  Speaker 6: what poll you're looking at, at a record low across
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  Speaker 6: his two terms. So is there a danger in centering
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  Speaker 6: the events in Dallas this week around the president who
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  Speaker 6: is not on the ballot, who is unpopular?
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  Speaker 2: Well, remember, he was elected president just two years ago,
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  Speaker 2: 18 months ago, really. And so he's still a very
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  Speaker 2: popular guy in a lot of places. And he's a showman.
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  Speaker 2: I think this convention is going to show that. We're
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  Speaker 2: going to be out with balloons dropping and all kinds
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  Speaker 2: of ceremony going on. So I think this is going
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  Speaker 2: to showcase the successes that the Trump administration has had
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  Speaker 2: and also pushing it forward for the next two years
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  Speaker 2: with the administration, with a House and a Senate that
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  Speaker 2: are aligned with Republican values to go forward.
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  Speaker 8: When you talk about, you say that the president is
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  Speaker 8: a showman. Okay, what message do you want voters to
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  Speaker 8: take from this? What is the goal here for something
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  Speaker 8: you've never done before?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, one is to showcase the success that we've had,
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  Speaker 2: all the different activities that he's done. Remember, unemployment rate's
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  Speaker 2: at 4.1%. It's stayed at an all-time low. You're seeing
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  Speaker 2: all kinds of success with the inflation rate being kept down.
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  Speaker 2: So he just needs to get out and celebrate that.
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  Speaker 6: Well, of course, the inflation rate has ticked back up
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  Speaker 6: in recent metrics, or at least in recent months, due
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  Speaker 6: to the higher energy costs emanating from the war with Iran.
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  Speaker 6: I don't have to tell you about the prices that
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  Speaker 6: are being seen at the pump. From your view at Seneca,
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  Speaker 6: you know what's happening at retail gasoline stations. Whether it
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  Speaker 6: is just regular unleaded that you're putting in your car,
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  Speaker 6: whether it's diesel that is powering the economy, those prices
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  Speaker 6: are going or have been high relative to historical norms.
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  Speaker 6: And you have Brent crude back above $ 100 a Sure.
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  Speaker 2: But what's your mission in that equation is demand hasn't
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  Speaker 2: gone down.
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  Speaker 1: But do you expect it could?
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  Speaker 2: Prices have gone down. Demand in the last year has
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  Speaker 2: been basically flat. So even though prices have gone up,
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  Speaker 2: people are still driving. And an inflation-adjusted price between the
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  Speaker 2: 1970s and today is still much lower than it would
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  Speaker 2: be just keeping up with inflation. In the 1970s, it
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  Speaker 2: took about 5% of your paycheck for energy costs. Today,
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  Speaker 2: it's about 2%. So even though it is hurtful, you
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  Speaker 2: see it every day because everyone uses gas to drive around,
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  Speaker 2: demand hasn't gone down.
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  Speaker 6: But can you tell a consumer that has been withstanding
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  Speaker 6: these higher prices, hoping that they won't have to for long,
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  Speaker 6: that they have reason to believe prices will go down
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  Speaker 6: in the near term?
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  Speaker 9: Sure.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we reached peak demand about two or three weeks ago,
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  Speaker 2: which is traditionally when peak demand goes down. And so
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  Speaker 2: we just see prices should be drifting down through the
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  Speaker 2: fall as demand goes down.
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  Speaker 8: Another issue that voters are talking about a lot is
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  Speaker 8: data centers. You have the president in full force saying
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  Speaker 8: that they are great for the areas that they're in,
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  Speaker 8: but then you even have people like Governor Abbott somewhat
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  Speaker 8: pulling back on them saying, putting restrictions on what they
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  Speaker 8: must do in order to build here. How much do
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  Speaker 8: you think that will affect voters In this cycle.
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, a lot of people see the economic advantage
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  Speaker 2: having a data center in their backyard. All the noise
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  Speaker 2: you're hearing is from people that are nimbyism, don't want
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  Speaker 2: in their backyard. But there are a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: in those same communities that do want them there for
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  Speaker 2: the taxes, the economic growth that they bring to their communities.
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  Speaker 8: So do you think that will outnumber the people that
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  Speaker 8: are saying, not in my backyard? Do you think there's
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  Speaker 8: enough other voters that will kind of count out the
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  Speaker 8: ones that are saying, I'm really going to vote on
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  Speaker 8: this issue?
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  Speaker 10: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: Remember, most voters are in urban areas where data centers aren't.
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  Speaker 2: They're in the rural areas. And so, well, those people,
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  Speaker 2: there's a good chance a lot of them might vote
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  Speaker 2: a different way. But the ones in the urban areas,
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  Speaker 2: they're looking at other issues. A data center is not
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  Speaker 2: a big issue. It's a big issue in the press,
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  Speaker 2: but it's not really a big issue in urban areas.
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  Speaker 8: But here in the state of Texas, a lot of
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  Speaker 8: Republican voters.
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  Speaker 6: Are in the rural areas.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they are. They are. But they're not in mass numbers.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, do we want to win them? Obviously. But
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  Speaker 2: there are a lot of other things on the ballot
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  Speaker 2: other than data centers that people are concerned about.
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  Speaker 6: OK, well, so let's get back to some of those
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  Speaker 6: concerns that center around affordability and including prices at the pump.
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  Speaker 6: I hear what you're saying on seasonal demand going to
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  Speaker 6: shift just because of the time of year. But if
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  Speaker 6: you're still having crude prices go higher in the Middle East,
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  Speaker 6: you have Russian oil refineries offline due to Ukrainian attacks.
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  Speaker 6: That war is ongoing. Does the geopolitical situation not mean
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  Speaker 6: that at least structurally for some time there is going
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  Speaker 6: to still be an issue and a refining issue in particular?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, look, we're running our refineries in the United States,
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  Speaker 2: we're running about 98% capacity.
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  Speaker 6: It's been a long time since we built a new one.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been a long time. I think 1977 was
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: the last time a new refinery was built. Can we
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  Speaker 2: build more with the Trump administration? If we hold in
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  Speaker 2: the House and Senate, get away with regulation, we can
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  Speaker 2: build more refineries in the U.S. We're so handcuffed with
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: regulations to get new ones built. So, yes. But is
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  Speaker 2: that a short-term fix in the next 60 days?
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  Speaker 4: No.
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  Speaker 2: It's a multi-year fix.
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  Speaker 6: So that's permitting reform you're getting at?
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  Speaker 2: Permitting reform, yes.
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  Speaker 8: Ray, if we talk in two weeks, you know, what
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  Speaker 8: is the best success you hope comes from what happens
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  Speaker 8: in two weeks?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, a lot of enthusiasm. We have a lot
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  Speaker 2: of candidates coming out, especially new, young people running for
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  Speaker 2: office that haven't run before or running for higher office
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  Speaker 2: that hopefully we can showcase, and it's their chance to shine. So,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, as in anything, this is prom night. They've
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: got to roll out, and they've got to give the...
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: you know, show their best foot forward.
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: Is there a chance to shine dim just a little
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: bit by timing? You mentioned earlier that it's September. We're
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: getting in now to the start of football season. Football
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: season starts tonight with a Super Bowl rematch that is
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: going to be counter-programming this convention. Is that not slightly
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: a problem?
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: No, you know, some people it might be, but with
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: streaming today and what it used to be, you turn
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: on the TV and if you missed it, you missed it. Today,
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: that's not the way at all. You can record and things.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: So I don't think it's going to hurt.
• 16:03
  Speaker 8: You know, some 2028 hopefuls will be speaking at this convention.
• 16:08
  Speaker 8: I'd love to know your early thoughts on 2028 as
• 16:11
  Speaker 8: someone who's worked with President Trump for a long time.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you know, a lot of the midterms is
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: going to set things up. And next spring is when
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: people are going to start announcing and looking at it. So,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: you know, we're going to have a lot of quality
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: candidates in the Republican Party. going up against the AOCs
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: and Gavin Newsom's on the Democratic side. So I've got
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: no worry. We're going to have a great slate of
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: candidates in 2028.
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: But you do expect it could be candidates, plural, and
• 16:33
  Speaker 6: not the president saying J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio is
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: my guy.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Well, we'll see at the time.
• 16:39
  Speaker 6: Do you think it could be one of those two?
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: We'll see at the time.
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: All right. Indeed, we will. Hopefully we can talk to
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: you when it is that time.
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: OK. Right.
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: And we can get a little more in detail on 2028.
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: But of course, it's 2026 now. The midterms are 55
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: days away in this first ever midterm convention is getting
• 16:55
  Speaker 6: started here in Dallas. He's the co-chair of the RNC
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: midterm convention, Ray Washburn. And our thanks as well to
• 17:00
  Speaker 6: Julie Fine, our Texas bureau chief. You'll be hearing and
• 17:02
  Speaker 6: seeing more of Julie over the course of the next
• 17:05
  Speaker 6: several days.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: more coming up after this.
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: us live weekdays at noon and 5 p.m. Eastern on
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app.
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: us live on YouTube.
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: I'm Kaylee Lines live in Dallas, Texas, for the first
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: of its kind Republican midterm convention, which, of course, kicks
• 17:38
  Speaker 6: off today. But it's a two night special, both of
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: which will feature President Donald Trump, who is making his
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: way toward Dallas as we speak and will be giving
• 17:46
  Speaker 6: the keynote address tonight. It is in part an event
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: focused on turning out those voters who support the president
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: who may not be as inclined to show up in
• 17:53
  Speaker 6: a midterm election tomorrow. a cycle in which the president
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: himself is not on the ballot. But, of course, plenty
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: of other candidates are. And President Trump has said that
• 18:01
  Speaker 6: they wanted to give the focus of speaking slots at
• 18:04
  Speaker 6: this convention to those who are in tight races, Senate
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: races included, for example, the one here in Texas, which,
• 18:11
  Speaker 6: of course, is the attorney general, Ken Paxton, on the
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: Republican side, up against Democrat Democrats. James Tallarico, who right
• 18:16
  Speaker 6: now has the fundraising advantage. And the polls show that
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: this race is incredibly tight and that Tallarico does have
• 18:22
  Speaker 6: a chance, at least, to flip a red seat blue.
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: And we got into this earlier today, myself and my
• 18:27
  Speaker 6: colleague Julie Fine, who is our Texas bureau chief. We
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: spoke with Wendy Davis, who ran for governor in Texas
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: back in 2014 against Greg Abbott, who, of course, is
• 18:35
  Speaker 6: the incumbent governor now and is up for reelection. She's
• 18:38
  Speaker 6: now running Blueprint Texas, where she's president and CEO. And
• 18:41
  Speaker 6: part of our conversation focused on on James Tallarico as
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: a candidate and how he might stack up against Ken
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: Paxton ultimately. Here's part of our conversation.
• 18:50
  Speaker 11: James needs to continue doing what he's doing. He is
• 18:54
  Speaker 11: very disciplined on message. He's obviously raising an incredible amount
• 18:58
  Speaker 11: of money. What we need to make sure that we
• 19:01
  Speaker 11: are doing is surrounding him with candidates up and down
• 19:06
  Speaker 11: the ticket who are helping to turn out the vote
• 19:09
  Speaker 11: for him and to make sure that In a midterm cycle,
• 19:14
  Speaker 11: we can get the kind of turnout that's needed for
• 19:16
  Speaker 11: him to get over the top. The same, obviously, is
• 19:19
  Speaker 11: true for Gina and our other statewide candidates.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: And it's why we.
• 19:24
  Speaker 11: At Blueprint, for example, are making investments in down-ballot races
• 19:29
  Speaker 11: in state house, state senate, and county-level races so that
• 19:33
  Speaker 11: we can deliver every voter possible in this election cycle and,
• 19:40
  Speaker 11: you know, help help answer the concerns that people are
• 19:45
  Speaker 11: having in their lives about costs, about what's happened to
• 19:48
  Speaker 11: their public schools. about corruption, about the cost of health care.
• 19:55
  Speaker 11: Democrats have answers to these issues, but it's not just
• 19:58
  Speaker 11: that we have answers in terms of how to make
• 20:00
  Speaker 11: those things better. James has an opportunity. Gina has an opportunity.
• 20:06
  Speaker 11: to make sure that voters understand these things didn't happen
• 20:10
  Speaker 11: by accident. The consequences that people are feeling in their
• 20:14
  Speaker 11: lives every day are absolutely and directly related to the
• 20:19
  Speaker 11: Republican politicians who have failed them.
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: Well, you talk about some of these issues that are
• 20:24
  Speaker 6: animating voters, be it health care or other affordability challenges.
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: Data centers, we know, are a big issue in Texas
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: as well. It's one thing to convince a voter that
• 20:32
  Speaker 6: Republicans don't have the right policy. on these issues? How
• 20:35
  Speaker 6: do you convince them that Democrats have the right ones?
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: It's a good question.
• 20:40
  Speaker 11: And, you know, I think so often we find ourselves
• 20:43
  Speaker 11: in a situation where we win by tearing down the
• 20:48
  Speaker 11: person that we're running against. And it's often been the
• 20:52
  Speaker 11: case that Democrats are criticized for not coming to the
• 20:56
  Speaker 11: table with their own solutions. And if you pay attention
• 21:02
  Speaker 11: to what James and Gina are talking about right now
• 21:06
  Speaker 11: and our down ballot candidates too, they're offering solutions. For example,
• 21:14
  Speaker 11: to no longer provide massive tax breaks to billionaires and
• 21:20
  Speaker 11: billionaire companies who don't need them and putting those pressures
• 21:24
  Speaker 11: down on the everyday Texan. It's about making sure that
• 21:29
  Speaker 11: the state is paying our fair share of public schools
• 21:33
  Speaker 11: so that the taxpayer isn't bearing the burden of that.
• 21:37
  Speaker 11: It's about ending a voucher program that is draining money
• 21:41
  Speaker 11: out of our public schools and creating closures for those schools.
• 21:46
  Speaker 11: It's about expanding Medicaid.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: So that overnight.
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: Millions.
• 21:50
  Speaker 11: Of people in our state would have health insurance coverage.
• 21:55
  Speaker 11: It's answering the kinds of things that really matter. It's
• 21:58
  Speaker 11: lifting the minimum wage for people. It is making data
• 22:02
  Speaker 11: centers pay their fair share so that a homeowner's water
• 22:07
  Speaker 11: resources don't become even more scarce and their electricity bills
• 22:12
  Speaker 11: don't go up. There are direct responses that Democrats can
• 22:17
  Speaker 11: immediately put in place if voters give them the chance
• 22:21
  Speaker 11: to do it.
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: Part of our conversation with Wendy Davis, the president and
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: CEO of Blueprint Texas, and of course, former Democratic gubernatorial
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: candidate here in the Lone Star State. I want to
• 22:34
  Speaker 6: assemble now our political panel as we reflect on what
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: we heard from Wendy Davis and also just the goings
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: on here in Dallas over the course of this multi-day
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: Republican midterm convention. As we turn now to Matt Engel,
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: Democratic strategist and founder and director of the Lone Star Project,
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: alongside Vinnie Mincillo, Republican strategist and author of 10 Ways
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: to Lose an Election. Thank you both for being here.
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: Part of what Wendy was speaking to when it comes
• 22:57
  Speaker 6: to what is animating voters here in Texas is something
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: that we hear frequently is animating voters across the country, frankly,
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: and it's data centers. We have seen, interestingly, both Governor
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: Abbott and Ken Paxton shift more into the anti-data center lane,
• 23:11
  Speaker 6: at least for the time being, at least proposing a
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: moratorium in the case of Abbott until audits can be completed. Vinny,
• 23:18
  Speaker 6: but we were just speaking with Ray Washburn, who's co-chairing
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: this convention, who said, look, data centers aren't actually ultimately
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: going to be a big issue because it's mostly an
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: issue in rural areas, not in the urban areas where
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: there's the majority of people who are voting. And I
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: wonder if you agree with that assessment.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: I think data center is an issue that's evolving and misunderstood.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: And frankly, the data center people have done a bad
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: job of pushing out their products and talking to people
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: about it. And I think in about 57 days, we're
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: going to have a different point of view on data
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: centers and probably some new regulations next year. But data
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: centers are coming, and I think it'll be fine.
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: Well, so as two politics professionals, Matt, I'll come to
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: you on this as well. Is it simply a PR
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: problem that they didn't do enough of a good job
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: selling themselves to the American consumer and voter?
• 24:05
  Speaker 9: Well, they did a.
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: Terrible job selling themselves, but it's not just a PR problem.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: What data centers do is symbolize a sense among the
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: public that the system's rigged against them. And that there
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: are politicians and that there are deep pocket billionaires that
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: make a bunch of money and they're making it at
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: their expense. They see that there's a lot of tax incentives,
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: billions of dollars in tax incentives have been given to
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: data centers by Greg Abbott. And people know that you've
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: got profits going up while their wages are staying the same.
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: That's got them angry and data centers is a perfect
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: example of that and a perfect place for them to
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: focus their anger.
• 24:37
  Speaker 6: Well, of course, President Trump has said, let data reign.
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: He suggested that you should only be anti-data center if
• 24:41
  Speaker 6: you want to be backwards and poor. If he says
• 24:44
  Speaker 6: that on stage tonight, Vinny, is that is that the
• 24:46
  Speaker 6: wrong message?
• 24:47
  Speaker 9: I don't love that message, to be honest.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: And I think we're places where we're actually going to
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: agree a little bit, Matt and I, but places where
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: data centers have been successful. They've come into the community.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: They've been good neighbors. They go, here's here's how we're
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: going to help you with infrastructure. Here's going to help
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: you with jobs. training and being good neighbors. So data centers,
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: when it's done right, they do a good job.
• 25:09
  Speaker 9: It's a good thing.
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 25:10
  Speaker 6: Well, it'll be interesting to see how data centers shape
• 25:13
  Speaker 6: these races, plural here in Texas, Senate race included, which,
• 25:16
  Speaker 6: of course, could decide control of the Senate. I want
• 25:18
  Speaker 6: to talk to you, Matt, as well about A race
• 25:21
  Speaker 6: that happened, a primary race that we got results from
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: last night that puts the focus on another state that
• 25:25
  Speaker 6: we've talked a lot about, a lot less about, frankly,
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: that's New Hampshire. Currently a Democratic seat held by Jeanne Shaheen.
• 25:31
  Speaker 6: She is retiring. She did not seek reelection. So you
• 25:35
  Speaker 6: have Chris Pappas, the congressman who is giving up his
• 25:38
  Speaker 6: seat to run for Senate, up against a Sununu, Johnny Sununu.
• 25:41
  Speaker 6: And there is a lot of talk about actually this
• 25:43
  Speaker 6: being a potential Republican candidate. pick up opportunities. Is there
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: merit to that?
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: Oh, nobody should take that for granted. I mean, New
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: Hampshire is not a liberal state. New Hampshire has been
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: competitive in the past. And John Sununu has held statewide office.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: But he also called Trump a loser. At the same time,
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: he's embracing him. So he's in that weird quicksand that
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: the more he twists, the more he sinks. And so
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: I think that he's in a situation where he's going
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: to have to own Trump and then also explain to
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: Republicans why he doesn't like him.
• 26:08
  Speaker 6: Well, so how hard is that needle to thread?
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: Well, that's actually the perfect place to be if you're
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: in New Hampshire. You know, you're a little bit both
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: and a little bit, you know, a little bit crunchy,
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: you know, up there.
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: And the Sununu name is just just perfect for that.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: So he's a guy who can be, you know, have
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: be at odds with Trump over something as long as
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: he's for New Hampshire first.
• 26:28
  Speaker 9: I'm putting that one in our column. I think we
• 26:30
  Speaker 9: win it.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: You do.
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: Absolutely.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: Well, Trump doesn't let you be for New Hampshire and
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: for him. He makes you choose. And that's the problem
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: that Sununu has.
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: Well, and of course, it raises the question, if New
• 26:40
  Speaker 6: Hampshire goes, do Democrats mathematically have enough opportunities on the map,
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: as you see it right now, Matt, to be able
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: to afford losing a seat?
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: Well, you don't want to lose anything that you hold
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: under any circumstances. But the answer to that is yes.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: I mean, certainly there are more than four seats at play.
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: But the dynamics that would cause you to lose in
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: New Hampshire might mean that you don't win some of
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: the other places where you need to win.
• 27:03
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: And so it's important to be realistic, and it's important
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: for nobody to take any of these seats for granted.
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: They are all right on the edge, and it's going
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: to be determined between now and Election Day which party
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: does the best, which candidates do the best, and which
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: ones don't make the mistakes and end up ending your campaign.
• 27:19
  Speaker 9: If we get New Hampshire, we get Michigan. I think
• 27:22
  Speaker 9: those two walk hand in hand.
• 27:24
  Speaker 6: OK, well, it'll be interesting to see how many races
• 27:26
  Speaker 6: ultimately are connected. If it is a wave election, you
• 27:29
  Speaker 6: would think the wave by and large was going to
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: sweep in one direction. This is the Senate we're talking about.
• 27:34
  Speaker 6: I want to discuss the House, too, as the kind
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: of composition of what the House map is going to
• 27:40
  Speaker 6: look like is still in flux in Missouri specifically. They
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: redrew their map to draw out a Democrat in Emanuel Cleaver.
• 27:46
  Speaker 6: It was going to be 7-1 RSDs. The state Supreme
• 27:49
  Speaker 6: Court said, no, you have to go back to the
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: 6-2 map. The Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh reaffirmed that
• 27:55
  Speaker 6: decision last night. But a federal judge then ruled they
• 27:58
  Speaker 6: need to go back to the 7-1 map because that
• 28:00
  Speaker 6: is what happened. That's what voters were operating on the
• 28:03
  Speaker 6: understanding of in the primary. How on earth does this happen?
• 28:07
  Speaker 6: get sorted in time. It's September 9th and we're still
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: having a conversation about what districts candidates are running in
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: and who the candidates are.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: My heart goes out to the consultants and the candidates
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: who are just trying to figure out what do we
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: do next. This is almost like when the referees get
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: too involved in a game. So I wish we would
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: make a decision and stick with it and then we
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: can go run some races. So how does this get resolved?
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: You have to ask somebody smarter than me.
• 28:32
  Speaker 9: I don't know.
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: Well, I also don't have the answer. I don't know, Matt,
• 28:34
  Speaker 6: if you have an answer.
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: Well, forget about being sympathetic. People need to be angry.
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: They need to be angry at the fact that you've
• 28:40
  Speaker 4: now got a party at the state level and nationally
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: that has no problem with just turning elections upside down,
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: changing districts as they need to in a real cynical way.
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: But there's a— Well, Democrats have pursued this, too.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: Only in reaction. Let me tell you, this picture got
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: turned over in Texas when Greg Abbott completely collapsed, surrendered
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: his state on order to Donald Trump to grossly gerrymander
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: the Texas maps in a way that we haven't seen before.
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: Unless we look.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: At the maps in Illinois and California. that Democrats have
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: drawn for years.
• 29:17
  Speaker 6: Or the one they tried to put forward in Virginia
• 29:19
  Speaker 6: until a court also got it.
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: But it was done through a regular process, not in
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: the middle of a decade. They followed process. They didn't
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: break process. Here in Texas, Greg Abbott defied the will
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: of the people and forced a redistricting plan down their throats. Now,
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: I don't think they're going to do as well as
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: they thought. And the other thing that people didn't realize
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: is how angry they made minority voters.
• 29:38
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 29:39
  Speaker 6: Matt Engel and Vinnie Minchello, our political panel here on
• 29:41
  Speaker 6: Balance of Power, live from Dallas, Texas. Thank you both
• 29:44
  Speaker 6: so much for joining me here on Bloomberg TV and radio.
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: us live weekdays at noon and 5 p.m. Eastern on
• 29:59
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• 30:02
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• 30:05
  Speaker 5: flagship New York station. Just say Alexa, play Bloomberg 1130.
• 30:12
  Speaker 6: And I'm pleased to say joining me live now is
• 30:14
  Speaker 6: someone who has a speaking slot on this first night
• 30:16
  Speaker 6: of the convention. Jay Feeley is with us. Of course,
• 30:19
  Speaker 6: you might know him as a former kicker in the NFL.
• 30:21
  Speaker 6: He is now the Republican nominee for Arizona's first congressional district.
• 30:24
  Speaker 6: And he's here with me live in our Dallas studio.
• 30:27
  Speaker 6: Good to see you. Thank you for being here. I
• 30:30
  Speaker 6: have to start by asking you, I believe you are
• 30:32
  Speaker 6: the only candidate in Arizona who has a speaking slot
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: at this convention. You are in a competitive district in
• 30:39
  Speaker 6: the first district. And there are a number of candidates
• 30:41
  Speaker 6: in swing districts like that who have selected not to
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: be here, who have instead decided to campaign at home.
• 30:46
  Speaker 6: So simply, why are you here?
• 30:49
  Speaker 10: I think it's important, number one, to represent Arizona, to
• 30:52
  Speaker 10: do it on a national stage, and to be able
• 30:54
  Speaker 10: to give your message. Any chance I get to talk
• 30:56
  Speaker 10: to America and tell them who I am, what my
• 30:58
  Speaker 10: heart is, why and how I want to impact this
• 31:02
  Speaker 10: country for the better, I'm going to take advantage of that.
• 31:04
  Speaker 10: You know, certainly this opportunity, getting to speak on national TV,
• 31:07
  Speaker 10: is that opportunity. And, you know, I hope that my
• 31:09
  Speaker 10: message is aspirational so that people listen to that and
• 31:12
  Speaker 10: they say, yeah, that's right.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Like, our country can be better. We want to make
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: it better.
• 31:16
  Speaker 10: And these are the best policies that Republicans have that
• 31:19
  Speaker 10: are going to help accomplish that goal.
• 31:20
  Speaker 6: Do you worry your message gets drowned out by President
• 31:23
  Speaker 6: Trump's message? Are you concerned about being drawn closer to
• 31:27
  Speaker 6: him with your presence here?
• 31:28
  Speaker 9: I try to be transparent.
• 31:30
  Speaker 10: People know that he endorsed me, and I'm not going
• 31:32
  Speaker 10: to run away from that. I'm not going to be
• 31:33
  Speaker 10: different in the general than I was in the primary.
• 31:35
  Speaker 10: This is who you get. I'm not a politician. I'm
• 31:38
  Speaker 10: somebody who wanted to go there sacrificially. I think politics
• 31:41
  Speaker 10: should be sacrificial. You shouldn't go there to enrich yourself.
• 31:44
  Speaker 10: That's why I think we need more people in office
• 31:46
  Speaker 10: who have already been successful. and choose to then go
• 31:49
  Speaker 10: there and to serve. And so I think when people
• 31:51
  Speaker 10: hear my message in my heart, they're going to understand that.
• 31:53
  Speaker 10: I think you're going to hear a coherent message throughout
• 31:55
  Speaker 10: these two days about the differences between the two parties
• 32:01
  Speaker 10: and where we differ ideologically. You know, a lot about
• 32:04
  Speaker 10: socialism versus capitalism and what our beliefs are versus what
• 32:07
  Speaker 10: their beliefs are.
• 32:08
  Speaker 6: Well, OK, so let's talk about some of those beliefs
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: as we consider socialism versus capitalism, for example. It's a
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: question of the pitch to voters who are feeling the
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: pinch economically, who feel like they are being challenged by affordability.
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: And what system or what policy is going to work
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: best for me and address that situation? How do you
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: pitch to do that if you are elected to Congress?
• 32:27
  Speaker 6: What needs to be done to address affordability?
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: Well, when you look at affordability, how do you make
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: things better for the average American?
• 32:33
  Speaker 10: You can start with no tax on tips, no tax.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: On overtime, the Social Security benefits.
• 32:37
  Speaker 10: 90% of those benefits are for people that make less
• 32:40
  Speaker 10: than $ 100, 000. And you're talking 60 million people who have
• 32:44
  Speaker 10: taken advantage of that. And so you start there, real
• 32:47
  Speaker 10: wage growth. President Trump, in both his terms, has had
• 32:49
  Speaker 10: real wage growth. President Biden had stagnant wage growth. And
• 32:52
  Speaker 10: so trying to create a better economic environment for the
• 32:56
  Speaker 10: individual person to have a better job, to get more
• 32:59
  Speaker 10: take-home pay, and to keep more of that at home.
• 33:02
  Speaker 10: And then when you look at cutting regulations, which party
• 33:04
  Speaker 10: wants to get rid of regulations? About a third of
• 33:06
  Speaker 10: the average home price, about $ 100, 000, is from regulations. And
• 33:11
  Speaker 10: paperwork and the time that it takes to build a home.
• 33:14
  Speaker 10: And so if you want to create a better opportunity
• 33:16
  Speaker 10: for young people to buy a home to start their family.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: You cut regulations.
• 33:20
  Speaker 10: You look at the infrastructure bill that the Democrats passed.
• 33:23
  Speaker 10: They weren't able to even take advantage of the money
• 33:26
  Speaker 10: that they appropriated from.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: Congress because of all the regulations that existed.
• 33:30
  Speaker 10: And so I think those are common sense measures that
• 33:32
  Speaker 10: have tangible benefits for the average person that you can
• 33:35
  Speaker 10: point to and say, this is what we're trying to
• 33:37
  Speaker 10: do to make your life more affordable. and to make
• 33:39
  Speaker 10: your families have a better experience and a better hope
• 33:42
  Speaker 10: for the future.
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: But how much of that? You mentioned no tax on
• 33:45
  Speaker 6: tips or overtime, for example. It's being eroded by the
• 33:48
  Speaker 6: fact that you have gas prices above $ 4 a gallon
• 33:50
  Speaker 6: still this far, well, now past the summer drive-in season.
• 33:53
  Speaker 6: Diesel is at a record. Brent crude today is back
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: above $ 100 a barrel because there is still ongoing conflict
• 34:00
  Speaker 6: in the Middle East.
• 34:02
  Speaker 10: I think it's important to have those honest conversations. The
• 34:05
  Speaker 10: Biden administration ran inflation up to 9.5%. We're still feeling
• 34:09
  Speaker 10: the effects of that. You look at their willingness and
• 34:12
  Speaker 10: desire to allow tens of millions.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: To come across the border.
• 34:14
  Speaker 10: The Fed did a study and said 30% of the
• 34:16
  Speaker 10: home price rise since 2020 was because of those policies, 25%
• 34:20
  Speaker 10: of rent. And so to be able to have those
• 34:22
  Speaker 10: honest conversations and to talk about, OK, here's where we're
• 34:25
  Speaker 10: at and.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: This is where we're going. And really, this election, I believe,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: is about the future. It's not about today.
• 34:30
  Speaker 6: It's not about the Biden administration.
• 34:32
  Speaker 10: Well, you have to be honest and be willing to
• 34:34
  Speaker 10: have those conversations, though. Their policies certainly have an effect
• 34:37
  Speaker 10: still today. And if you just ignore those, you're not
• 34:39
  Speaker 10: being honest with the voter either. And so to have
• 34:42
  Speaker 10: those nuanced conversations, to talk through and to not hide
• 34:45
  Speaker 10: and say, you But our vision versus their vision and
• 34:52
  Speaker 10: what's going to make a better future for America, I
• 34:54
  Speaker 10: think that's what's going to decide this election.
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: So on the future, it's going to include AI. How
• 35:00
  Speaker 6: powerful that AI is, I guess we're all going to
• 35:03
  Speaker 6: find out. What powers it, though, is the subject of
• 35:05
  Speaker 6: much debate in this cycle. Data centers. What's the right
• 35:08
  Speaker 6: answer for Arizona? You've had specific communities that President Trump
• 35:11
  Speaker 6: has called out, or at least a county who said
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: no to data centers. He thinks anyone saying no to
• 35:15
  Speaker 6: data centers is making a mistake. Is it a mistake?
• 35:18
  Speaker 10: So I think it's important to realize that we're in
• 35:21
  Speaker 10: a fight with China, whether we want to be or not,
• 35:24
  Speaker 10: for the economic future of the next generation. And whoever
• 35:27
  Speaker 10: wins this AI race is going to control the world's
• 35:30
  Speaker 10: economy and by proxy is going to control the world's security.
• 35:32
  Speaker 10: And these data centers are bringing billions of dollars into
• 35:36
  Speaker 10: the local economy. Arizona alone, you know, you look at
• 35:38
  Speaker 10: it's about a billion dollars a year in revenue coming
• 35:40
  Speaker 10: into the state from these data centers. People just don't
• 35:42
  Speaker 10: want them in their backyards. And they want to make
• 35:44
  Speaker 10: sure that it's not raising the cost of energy for
• 35:47
  Speaker 10: the local consumer, that they're using the closed loop water
• 35:50
  Speaker 10: systems that they're now using to make sure that you're
• 35:53
  Speaker 10: not utilizing water. The new ones use less than the
• 35:55
  Speaker 10: average golf course. You don't hear people protesting against golf courses.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: Certainly in Arizona, they don't.
• 36:00
  Speaker 10: And so you're trying to make sure that the right
• 36:02
  Speaker 10: parameters exist so that they benefit the average person. And
• 36:06
  Speaker 10: when you look at affordability, like we just talked about,
• 36:08
  Speaker 10: and you look at the economy, these Data centers are
• 36:12
  Speaker 10: providing thousands of jobs as they're getting built, hundreds of
• 36:15
  Speaker 10: jobs after they're built, high-paying jobs that benefit the average American.
• 36:19
  Speaker 6: After they're built, it takes fewer jobs.
• 36:21
  Speaker 10: Well, you've got 100 jobs or so, hundreds of jobs
• 36:23
  Speaker 10: that still exist that are high-paying jobs. And I think
• 36:26
  Speaker 10: that's where the economy is going. You look at trying
• 36:28
  Speaker 10: to make sure that we're providing the right opportunities for
• 36:31
  Speaker 10: people to be able to afford buying a home.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: This is a great avenue for the average American.
• 36:36
  Speaker 10: And when you're trying to help those average Americans, this
• 36:39
  Speaker 10: is a great opportunity for them to get a high-paying
• 36:42
  Speaker 10: job and to be able to go and buy a
• 36:43
  Speaker 10: home and then start their family.
• 36:45
  Speaker 6: I want to ask you, as a former NFL player yourself,
• 36:49
  Speaker 6: if It was a mistake to hold this convention this week.
• 36:52
  Speaker 6: When you have a Super Bowl rematch tonight, you got
• 36:54
  Speaker 6: Rams playing tomorrow, described as a super team. That's pretty
• 36:58
  Speaker 6: incredible counter-programming. Are there going to be eyeballs on you
• 37:01
  Speaker 6: or President Trump tonight?
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Well, certainly a lot of people are going to watch
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: the football games. There's no question.
• 37:07
  Speaker 10: But I do think a lot of people are going
• 37:08
  Speaker 10: to tune in and say, you know, what do Republicans believe?
• 37:11
  Speaker 10: And what do they have to say to the American people?
• 37:13
  Speaker 10: That's why I think our message is so important. That's
• 37:16
  Speaker 10: why I'm excited to be here. Like, I want to
• 37:17
  Speaker 10: make that message. I want people at home in Arizona,
• 37:20
  Speaker 10: when they watch these clips and they see what I.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Talk about, to say, hey, that's a guy I want
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: representing me.
• 37:25
  Speaker 10: He and his wife have always committed their lives to
• 37:27
  Speaker 10: trying to utilize the blessings they've been given to help others.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: And that's a guy who wants to go to D.C.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: and do the same thing.
• 37:34
  Speaker 6: Well, just quickly, when you go to D.C., do you
• 37:36
  Speaker 6: have any intention to support legislation like the kind Ted
• 37:39
  Speaker 6: Cruz put forward on regulating the NCAA, especially now with
• 37:42
  Speaker 6: questions swirling around whether people who went to training camp
• 37:44
  Speaker 6: should be able to come back and play for college?
• 37:46
  Speaker 6: Does there need to be codified law around eligibility in
• 37:49
  Speaker 6: this new era of college sports?
• 37:51
  Speaker 10: My son just finished playing in college football. So I
• 37:54
  Speaker 10: watched him go through this process. He entered the transfer portal,
• 37:57
  Speaker 10: left ASU, went to Colorado. It's not a sustainable system.
• 38:00
  Speaker 10: It's really created a very narcissistic environment in college, which
• 38:03
  Speaker 10: was different than when I played at Michigan.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: And they don't have delayed gratification.
• 38:08
  Speaker 10: They're not learning a lot of those things because they
• 38:09
  Speaker 10: can leave at any time and transfer.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: At any time.
• 38:11
  Speaker 10: I think Congress does need to step in and help
• 38:14
  Speaker 10: college football because... Otherwise, they lose every lawsuit and they
• 38:17
  Speaker 10: can't create any rules and they can't create a structure
• 38:20
  Speaker 10: that not only benefits the players, but also benefits all
• 38:23
  Speaker 10: the women's sports and those sports that are at risk
• 38:25
  Speaker 10: of losing.
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: Jay Feeley running in Arizona's first congressional district. Thanks for
• 38:29
  Speaker 6: joining us from Dallas on Bloomberg.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: Make sure to subscribe, if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify,
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can find
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: us live every weekday from Washington, D.C. at noontime Eastern
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: at Bloomberg.com.