Latest / West Insider / Election Night Shocks In St Louis County

Transcript

Election Night Shocks In St Louis County · West Insider

0:42
SPEAKER_02: Call it multi-screen nature of life now.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I had my phone, I had a laptop, I had the TV, I was playing multiple videos, I was you know, I mean it was um yeah uh uh I got to be schizophrenic for a night, and that's that's fun.
0:56
SPEAKER_02: I think everybody should get a chance.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: Um okay, well, hello friends and neighbors.
1:09
SPEAKER_02: We are here to talk about on this special edition of Weston Midriver's Insider.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: We're here to talk election results.
1:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh uh my name is Tim Weber.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Today I am joined by Dan Fox and Laura the Magician Brown.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: Good morning.
1:25
SPEAKER_02: Um and um uh and what a day, huh?
1:31
SPEAKER_02: What what what a surprising night?
1:36
SPEAKER_02: Um in today.
1:38
SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about it.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: Let's so so start super high level.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: How surprised are you?
1:44
SPEAKER_02: Scale of one to ten.
1:46
SPEAKER_04: Uh I'm I'm pretty up there.
1:48
SPEAKER_04: Uh there was a lot of local stuff that did not go the way I expected.
1:54
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: All right.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: More surprise on the local side.
1:56
SPEAKER_02: Laura?
1:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I'm I think I'm surprised too.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of uh Democrats were, I think, cautiously optimistic.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: I think I heard a phrase coined nauseously optimistic, that you know, they would get enough seats to maybe take a majority in the House.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they even thought the Senate was possible.
2:21
SPEAKER_02: Um so it's Saturday Night Live produced this great skit that I saw, because uh again, I was on Twitter uh uh that I saw, but they produced this great, you know, fake commercial thing where it was just going around showing uh uh Democrats that were so confident because of the results, and then they'd like you know slowly crush their coffee or whatever, you know, and start to have a panic attack.
2:43
SPEAKER_02: And I mean it was uh and I think that's I think that's where the world was.
2:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm I'm so I think I'm about a six surprised nationally.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: Um it went a a little bluer than I thought.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: Um uh and I am a seven surprised locally.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
3:03
SPEAKER_04: Um I think those would be my numbers.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's it's I mean there was um well the incumbents that got voted out, it's and the seats flipped.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: Well, uh I mean let's just jump in.
3:16
SPEAKER_02: Ann Wagner lost.
3:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:17
SPEAKER_02: That's that that's the one that's um I I I didn't see coming.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: The rest of this I can rationalize.
3:25
SPEAKER_02: I didn't think that was gonna happen.
3:26
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, she held that seat for over a decade.
3:28
SPEAKER_04: And and what it was the f it's the first time a Democrat has won that seat since the nineties, I think.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I saw that.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: I mean I I remember that time frame because I think we're gonna go back to it a lot over the course of this discussion.
3:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:43
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not kidding.
3:44
SPEAKER_02: I think I kind of think we flipped back to 30 years ago.
3:47
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Um well in everything in a lot of ways.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and every time there was an election, someone a Democrat would run against Anne Wagner.
3:56
SPEAKER_04: It was always gonna be the time.
3:57
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
3:57
SPEAKER_04: They were always gonna be the person.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: And it never was.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: And so I I think a lot of Democrats didn't want to get their hopes up.
4:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, I to be honest with you, uh candidate quality.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: I I don't I, you know.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: Uh I didn't think Wellman was a very good candidate, and I think Ann Wagner's a great candidate.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: So I, you know, I I I think it's um uh I I think I think this is I think this is what a wave looks like.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:22
SPEAKER_04: Um just just watching Wellman's acceptance speech last night, he doesn't come off as a very like smooth polis politician.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, he which might be a good thing, maybe.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe maybe that's why he won.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: That's I think that's what voters told themselves.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, he's he's done a lot of uh work for veterans and and a lot of good stuff.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, so I I I just think that was one because he wasn't the strongest candidate, because she had such a fundraising advantage.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: Umspent.
5:01
SPEAKER_02: And and and and just because she's like she's non-controversial for the for the most part.
5:06
SPEAKER_02: Like she's she's she's been a get it done, you know, bringing your lunchbox to work type of politician, right?
5:12
SPEAKER_02: Just getting stuff done and and mostly staying out of the culture war side of things.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: That that was really surprising.
5:18
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I I think that that race is a very good like microcosm of of of what happened because of all those reasons you you listed.
5:26
SPEAKER_02: When when when when we started the text thread last night, because the early results just had her getting trounced.
5:33
SPEAKER_02: Um that's when I was like, oh, this could get real weird real fast.
5:38
SPEAKER_04: Um she made up a lot of ground as the night went on, but the the But it never seemed surmountable.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: It was never it was never a never felt like you know, yeah.
5:46
SPEAKER_02: They they they kept saying, yeah, further West County's coming in, that'll that'll be Republican.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Okay, but like not enough.
5:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: Um uh and and then locally my my other big shock.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: Um uh three House members out of St.
6:03
SPEAKER_02: Charles County flipped a Democrat.
6:06
SPEAKER_02: Go back to your time frame.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: That's 30 years ago.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: This is this is old.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: St.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: Charles County is a union stronghold type voting patterns.
6:14
SPEAKER_02: Right.
6:15
SPEAKER_02: I was three.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: Like like had St.
6:17
SPEAKER_02: Charles County flipped one seat to Democrat, I'd have gone okay.
6:20
SPEAKER_02: What interesting.
6:21
SPEAKER_04: But flipped three?
6:23
SPEAKER_04: Well, and and they again, those are three three representatives that are you know either unconf uncontroversial to liked, you know, like these are not these are not polarizing figures.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: They weren't bad candidates.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: Right.
6:36
SPEAKER_04: They're in the community all the time.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: So incumbents.
6:38
SPEAKER_04: Well, it's and and even a lot of the races with you know Republican incumbents that the Republican incumbent won were still very close.
6:48
SPEAKER_04: Like Dave Henman uh had 51.07% of the votes.
6:53
SPEAKER_04: Like that's you know, for I think a two or three or four time uh you know incumbent.
6:59
SPEAKER_04: Uh that's that's a pretty narrow margin.
7:01
SPEAKER_02: Elman won by ten points less than he won by the yeah.
7:04
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
7:04
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's that that one was shocking to watch as well, just how close that was.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: That was a little down to the wire.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: That was a surprise.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: Uh well, it's just I don't I didn't I only went back and looked at one election.
7:16
SPEAKER_02: This is his fourth, maybe.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh sixth, I think.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: Sixth term.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh you'd have to go back and look.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: I don't believe he's ever been this close.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: Like I, you know.
7:25
SPEAKER_04: Um, I I think I think in an interview crazy.
7:28
SPEAKER_04: I think I heard him say uh at some point that uh that yeah, it he has been fortunate not to have very uh combative elections in the past.
7:38
SPEAKER_04: In the context of the practice, general elections.
7:41
SPEAKER_04: I think in primaries he's done something, but but yeah, so so well it's brave new world, I guess.
7:48
SPEAKER_04: Um yeah, something like that.
7:52
SPEAKER_04: Um, executives.
7:56
SPEAKER_04: Uh oh well, I was just gonna say talking of of seats flipping as well in in West County, um District 101, Ben Keithley's seat, uh uh his Democratic opponent Paul Lentz uh won.
8:07
SPEAKER_04: Again by as you know a 51% margin, but um very close.
8:12
SPEAKER_04: Very close, but yeah, uh uh another one flipped.
8:18
SPEAKER_04: Lots of 50s, yeah.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what about um what about some of the propositions, some of the amendments?
8:27
SPEAKER_02: What are we what are you know I mean I so so I I guess the big one.
8:30
SPEAKER_02: Um amendment three um got shot down.
8:34
SPEAKER_02: Um which you know I I didn't find surprising, but um, but but I think some people certainly did.
8:44
SPEAKER_04: Um Yeah, I I'm I'm not shocked by that at all.
8:47
SPEAKER_04: I would have been flabbergasted.
8:50
SPEAKER_04: Uh shocked if it had won, but it's not a surprising result.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: Well it it it's the one so I thought that the red wave would be strong enough to make sure that it uh uh passed.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: Passed.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:10
SPEAKER_02: Um did well didn't didn't pass.
9:15
SPEAKER_02: No on amendment three.
9:16
SPEAKER_02: Sorry.
9:16
SPEAKER_02: I thought the blue wave would have been enough to to to keep it from to keep it from passing.
9:21
SPEAKER_02: Yes, right.
9:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:22
SPEAKER_02: Um I didn't see some of the other stuff, you know, some of the the Chesterfield Aquatic Center uh, you know, I to to to me those those were also blue wave situations where you know generally speaking, anything with the word tax, bond, levy is not very popular in in West St.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: Louis County or Chesterfield or anywhere else.
9:45
SPEAKER_02: And then you know, that they they they almost universally passed, except uh we hate old people.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: Prop prop asked for St.
9:55
SPEAKER_02: Louis County.
9:56
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the senior well, so a perfect example of what you're talking about is Rockwood uh in what it was last year?
10:03
SPEAKER_04: Uh they they put forward a um Rockwood had previously asked for a tax levy increase.
10:09
SPEAKER_04: A tax levy increase.
10:11
SPEAKER_04: I believe it's the same 46 cent increase that Parkway asked for.
10:16
SPEAKER_04: Um and Rockwood did not get theirs.
10:18
SPEAKER_04: Parkway Parkway's passed.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm surprised.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: So in our predictions, I I thought that Parkway Prop would not pass.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: The paramedics thing in St.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: Charles County.
10:29
SPEAKER_02: That was the same thing.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: Just had a similar two years ago, right?
10:33
SPEAKER_02: Like um, you know, some of this is just bringing back the greatest hits and going try let's try again.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: Right.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: And and and that blue wave sort of sort of sort of picked them all up.
10:43
SPEAKER_04: Um Yeah, three three or four sorry, four school propositions for uh for St.
10:50
SPEAKER_04: Charles County uh as well, also all passed.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Um they needed that to pass because they can't come back again for two years and yeah, those were those were all no increase, no tax increase.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: No tax increase.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: And one was a transfer, like a budget.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: Uh St.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: Charles County, I think, has has been pretty supportive of that stuff uh historically.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: Um I I was you know I was surprised about the Aquatic Center.
11:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Um that it passed.
11:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: Um obviously I I I predicted it would not pass.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: Um so so I missed that one, but you know, Chesterfield loves to swim.
11:32
SPEAKER_02: Um uh yeah, I mean county executive, uh absolutely no surprise to most of us.
11:41
SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, I think someone may have been surprised.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, I mean Zimmerman ran up, you know, that uh he probably didn't outperform what other Democrats would have done there.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: Like that that's that's that's what's kind of interesting.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: Is that you think he did better or worse?
11:57
SPEAKER_02: I I think he did about what Democrat I think he did about what St.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: Louis kind of executive, the Democratic nominee has done.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: I know I know Hancock said he was surprised a little bit by the by how much he lost by, but I wasn't.
12:10
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, he may be the only one.
12:12
SPEAKER_04: I I if you go back and look, I'm sure the percentages are probably uh probably similar to previous elections.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
12:20
SPEAKER_02: So um so so what anything else locally that we should tell.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there was some there was some other, you know, we talked, Ben Keithley lost.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: Ben Keithly lost uh St.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: Louis County Council, Mark Carter.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, Andrew Koenig ran for Dennis Hancock seat and lost.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Um so that was a Republican seat on the county council.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Mark Harter won.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Now Democrat Mark Harter won his seat.
12:42
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Mark Osmac is the new uh District 3 County Council member for St.
12:47
SPEAKER_04: Louis County.
12:48
SPEAKER_02: There's a Democrat on the St.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: Charles County Council.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh, there is.
12:52
SPEAKER_02: Bonkers.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Um that makes sense the way everything else went.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it was I mean it was, you know.
13:00
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, it's it's you know, I I I don't think locally, I don't think we turned into some you know, bastion of liberal politics, right?
13:14
SPEAKER_02: Um uh but we're purpler than we were years ago.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean Missouri used to be a um a bellwether state you know when it came to elections.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:29
SPEAKER_02: Um well so let's talk national.
13:33
SPEAKER_02: Um I mean this was um a historic night, the the the biggest midterm uh reversal of fortunes um that we've seen in a hundred years.
13:47
SPEAKER_02: Um you know Democrats will now control um House and Senate um pretty convincingly.
13:57
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: It's 55 right now in the in the Senate.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: Um and yeah, they're uh I mean they got 40 seats in the in the in the house.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: I mean it's it's it's it's big in the house.
14:12
SPEAKER_02: Uh in the Senate, I think there's still two outstanding.
14:14
SPEAKER_02: I think uh Alaska's still not counted because it's Alaska.
14:19
SPEAKER_02: And then I don't remember what the other one was.
14:22
SPEAKER_02: Mississippi, maybe?
14:23
SPEAKER_02: Like that it's crazy.
14:25
SPEAKER_02: Uh like it was within like 50 votes.
14:27
SPEAKER_02: Like it was insanely close.
14:29
SPEAKER_02: Um but other than that, yeah.
14:30
SPEAKER_02: I mean they they the the the Democrats picked up seven seats.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Seven seats in the Senate.
14:34
SPEAKER_02: Um some of them super convincingly.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Um they picked up 13 seats in the House.
14:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Well more than that.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
14:49
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they're not all in yet.
14:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: According to what I'm looking at.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: Um But yes, and so I think I've heard I've heard some mixed reaction on the the things that I've been listening to that first Trump says he's gonna veto anything that they pass, but then um they have sound clips of him saying he thinks he can work with the Democrats.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Um so it's kind of who knows what's gonna happen.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure we should get into the Trump of it all yet.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh let's let's um I we'll we'll we'll we'll get there.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: Um I have thoughts.
15:24
SPEAKER_02: But um uh what what what's your guys' reaction to the national win of it all?
15:31
SPEAKER_02: Like it it this is a pretty significant response to the economy.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Everything is expensive and something's gotta change.
15:44
SPEAKER_04: Um, and I I think it's been um since since the start, you know, referendum or elections are always a referendum on you know the the people in charge.
15:54
SPEAKER_04: We got win party, yep, yep.
15:56
SPEAKER_04: And starting with Trump's second term, uh there has been a lot of things that have just been controversial or really uh poorly received, you know, the the ice situations, the shootings, the doge stuff.
16:12
SPEAKER_04: Like it's it's been a lot of high profile stuff that I think has just been um you know pushing the buttons of of people and and just preparing them to come out with with this res result.
16:25
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so are we better today than we were yesterday?
16:29
SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
16:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
16:30
SPEAKER_04: I I'm I don't know.
16:31
SPEAKER_04: I'm I'm kind of doomer in the sense that I think we're just gonna spend the next two years with endless impeachment cycles again um and not get anything done.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: But let me ask the question a slightly different way.
16:44
SPEAKER_02: So um uh there was a lot of talk, and and it sounds like you guys might agree based on based on what you're saying that this was not calling it a blue wave is is inaccurate, right?
16:58
SPEAKER_02: This was really uh what some of the perpetually online people have been following over the last couple weeks called a red riptide, right?
17:06
SPEAKER_02: It was this this was this was Republicans shooting themselves in the foot over and over and over again.
17:11
SPEAKER_02: It was not necessarily, you know, this this giant surge in in democ you know in uh the Democratic Party.
17:19
SPEAKER_04: Right.
17:19
SPEAKER_02: Um I I I tend to agree with that, but are there any are there any candidates nationally that you guys that that that won that you guys are are particularly excited about or interested in?
17:28
SPEAKER_02: Yes, but I don't know if you guys pay attention that much nationally.
17:31
SPEAKER_04: Well, uh just to what you said, I think I think about Republicans shooting themselves in the foot.
17:37
SPEAKER_04: I one of the things I was hearing is that you know there were candidates that were you know benefiting from not having the president come and campaign with them just because of the uh the Yeah, the campaign like I'm or vote like I'm on the ballot.
17:50
SPEAKER_04: Right, yeah, I think I think that backfired, you know.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh well I think they did vote like he was on the ballot, right and this is what happened.
17:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:59
SPEAKER_02: Um I I I think that's true.
18:01
SPEAKER_02: I mean I I so the place I think that's most interesting to me is Texas.
18:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I I expected Talo Rico to win because uh so so Senate seat from from Texas, James Taler Rico won uh first Democrat in X probably 30 years, um, seems to be the number, but we'll just throw that out again.
18:26
SPEAKER_02: Um but he beat Ken Paxton, who is the worst candidate you could imagine.
18:32
SPEAKER_02: Um like literally the worst.
18:33
SPEAKER_02: If you if you drew a picture of the worst candidate of the planet, it would look exactly like Ken Paxton.
18:38
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Um so you think they could have put anyone up against him and they would have won?
18:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, I no, I think I think Talo Rico's a a really strong candidate, had kind of a weird campaign, but but but I but I think he's a strong candidate.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: I think Paxson's just super weak, and and and Talo Rico just beat the heck out of him.
18:57
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
18:58
SPEAKER_02: More amazingly than that, uh uh uh is that Texas just elected a female Hispanic Democrat governor over Greg Abbott, who is not a bad candidate, who is a popular two or three-term governor, um, who's who's been effective, who's kind of tight walked the whole Trump of it all.
19:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:25
SPEAKER_02: Um fairly uncontroversial.
19:27
SPEAKER_02: And and and and and and she she beat him pretty good, 5245.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
19:35
SPEAKER_02: Um which is that's crazy to me.
19:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: Um uh that's that's so that's that's that's showing a lot, I think.
19:44
SPEAKER_02: Um in what in in what happened.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how big like the immigration policies have affected that one causes with them being a border state.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's I think pretty big, you know.
19:54
SPEAKER_02: Two two it looks it looks like two different uh sections of the electorate left Republicans in the highest numbers, right?
20:04
SPEAKER_02: Um Hispanics is was was number two and and the number one category to leave were young men.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: Um and that's that's the worst, you know.
20:16
SPEAKER_02: That's the most volatile segment of of electorate that there is.
20:19
SPEAKER_04: Well, those are two big 29-year-olds from the last election.
20:22
SPEAKER_04: We're we're both of those demographics.
20:24
SPEAKER_04: Trump getting them, right?
20:26
SPEAKER_02: So so Trump getting young men is one of the things that was credited with Trump getting into office in the first place, and it went like back towards Democrats like 39 points, like a crazy big number.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, it's um it it's it's been pretty interesting actually.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's a uh a Democrat uh just won in Kansas um for the first time since Hoover.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: Um you don't get to say that a lot.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: Right.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, that's exciting to have stuff like that.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's it's you know um I've heard the data center issue has been a big deal.
21:02
SPEAKER_02: Well that's I I so I so I think I think naturally I think it was three things, right?
21:05
SPEAKER_02: And and and you guys hit on them.
21:07
SPEAKER_02: I I I think it I think it's affordability, right?
21:09
SPEAKER_02: Um I I think stuff costs too much um is is is a big part of it.
21:15
SPEAKER_02: I I think corruption was a huge and and exit poll seemed to carry this out.
21:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh people are so sick of seeing the grift, um, that that I think there was pushback against that.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's AI um uh is is is the other big one.
21:29
SPEAKER_02: I I think um yeah, I don't think people loved ice, but I think that's been pretty, you know.
21:36
SPEAKER_02: I I think immigration's been fairly quiet for the last six months.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: Um so I I I I don't think it moved people a ton.
21:43
SPEAKER_02: Probably the Hispanic vote a little bit.
21:46
SPEAKER_02: Um but the Hispanic vote was all in favor of it two years ago, right?
21:50
SPEAKER_02: Right um, so so I but I I I think it's affordability, I think it's corruption, I think it's AI.
21:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's also the scariest part about all these.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Democrats winning to me.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: How so?
22:03
SPEAKER_02: Those are all three things that are solved by regulation.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: Democrats love to regulate stuff, and I worry that we're gonna swing in this crazy other direction.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, where particularly on AI.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: I think AI needs some regulation.
22:16
SPEAKER_02: I think we might go way too far.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: Um we'll see.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: I mean maybe Congress will be just as inept as it's been for the last you know the last decade.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we can count on that some more.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: But um, but yeah, I think that's I think that's what uh I I think that's possible.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: I think we see a much more engineered economy.
22:34
SPEAKER_02: Um location.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants to do that.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: I think the existence of data centers.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: I I you know I I I think there's gonna be a big push to press pause on all things AI.
22:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: Um I think that's what the Electric wants.
22:51
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, I I don't know if that's the best thing for the country.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know if you can, because I mean our your smartphone has AI and you know it has AI, but you can stop the companies from releasing new models.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, true.
23:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean you can you that that's what you can regulate away is any further development.
23:11
SPEAKER_02: Um So I don't know.
23:14
SPEAKER_02: We'll we'll we'll kind of see how that goes.
23:16
SPEAKER_02: But um but yeah.
23:18
SPEAKER_02: Um uh is that does that sound about right to you guys, those three things?
23:23
SPEAKER_02: Or do you do you think immigration played am I am I discounting how big of a role immigration played?
23:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I I I would definitely say that AI and data centers are are are at the top of people's minds.
23:34
SPEAKER_04: I mean just going by our election Q ⁇ A, you know, tons of the candidates were were mentioning data centers and AI and that sort of development in their in their answers for statewide races.
23:44
SPEAKER_04: You know, it just it shows that that's what they're that's what they're trying to lean into in terms of getting ahead of.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: I think the the anti-ICE protests were you know civilians were shot by ICE agents, um, that last left a lasting impression on voters.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, two years ago when Trump said he was going to deport the criminals and illegal immigrants.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: And so we found that's not always the case.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Some families have been separated.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: Um I mean you're 100% right.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: That that's that that's what people hated about it.
24:24
SPEAKER_02: They went look, we can't let hundreds of thousands of people cross our border every week.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
24:29
SPEAKER_02: So we stopped that.
24:31
SPEAKER_02: That that's been successful.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: Right.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: But I you know, I I don't somehow I I think people feel duped that Trump wasn't gonna send back the you know, the the construction worker who's been here for 20 years and pays taxes and everything else.
24:46
SPEAKER_02: The restaurant owner.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: That's yeah, and that and that's exactly what's happened.
24:49
SPEAKER_02: So I think people are are jaded by that.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm just you know, um that that that that definitely impacted him on the Hispanic vote side of things, I think.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: Um when you look in those border states and all the riots, weren't they up in Michigan with ice?
25:06
SPEAKER_02: Or Minnesota, sorry.
25:07
SPEAKER_02: Um Yep.
25:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, there was a lot of that.
25:11
SPEAKER_02: I you know, I mean the um amazingly, uh I didn't even mention the war in Iran yet.
25:15
SPEAKER_02: Or tariffs.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: But I s well, but we sort of did with affordability.
25:18
SPEAKER_02: You sure, yeah.
25:19
SPEAKER_02: I I think that's the I was gonna mention the wars.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: Not just Iran, but also, you know, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, um and Iran.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: Just the resources.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's um I agreed uh relationship with Putin.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
25:38
SPEAKER_02: Well, let's let's let um let's talk about Ukraine for half a second because I think another huge pushback here, particularly in the state of Texas, was I think this was a referendum on Elon Musk.
25:52
SPEAKER_02: Um you know Musk put 225 million into Texas alone.
25:57
SPEAKER_02: 225 million dollars for the election?
26:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
26:01
SPEAKER_02: Particularly for Paxton.
26:02
SPEAKER_02: He was just trying to he was trying to buy his way out of the worst candidate in history.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's he moved his companies there, right?
26:08
SPEAKER_02: So so he's he's he's got a vested interest in it.
26:10
SPEAKER_02: Spent 200 million across the rest of the country, spent 450 million dollars on this, right?
26:15
SPEAKER_02: And almost universally lost.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: I think how publicly that number was known.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: Um I think the Starlink pause with Ukraine.
26:29
SPEAKER_02: I I think a lot of people went, we don't want Elon Musk deciding I really do.
26:35
SPEAKER_02: I I I think this was a little bit, I think it was a little bit of a pushback against him.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: Um it's um it's pretty amazing.
26:41
SPEAKER_02: I'll I'll I'll add this real quick so we don't feel bad for for Elon.
26:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh I saw I saw a thing where you know he's he's I guess currently still listed as a trillionaire.
26:49
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
26:50
SPEAKER_02: So him spending$450 million is the is the equivalent of the average American family spending$100.
26:57
SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: That's what it means to be a trillionaire.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: Is that not obscene?
27:01
SPEAKER_02: That's ridiculous.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, that's we do not feel sorry for him at all.
27:05
SPEAKER_04: Right.
27:05
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
27:06
SPEAKER_04: Well, you know, I I respect the sentiment.
27:08
SPEAKER_04: I don't want I don't want people just being able to buy elections by by throwing money at it.
27:13
SPEAKER_04: So I just wish it was a standard held universally.
27:16
SPEAKER_04: Uh that that all that sort of thing was was put out there.
27:19
SPEAKER_02: Aaron Ross Powell Okay, so uh so this isn't really our thing, but you know, it's a big historic night, so let's get into it anyway.
27:26
SPEAKER_02: Um is this the end of Trump?
27:29
SPEAKER_02: What does this mean?
27:33
SPEAKER_02: Is this the end of Trumpism?
27:34
SPEAKER_02: Is this the end of MAGA?
27:35
SPEAKER_02: Trump.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say he's only got two years left in this term, so one way or the other.
27:40
SPEAKER_02: Sure, but I'm um I'm certain he had plans to be a kingmaker long after that.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: Um So you think this is the the voter saying that there's I haven't said a word about what I said.
27:52
SPEAKER_02: Um I've I've just asked a question.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Well sure.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:58
SPEAKER_04: I see, I don't know.
27:59
SPEAKER_04: Um I think Trump has Trump's like the die hard Trump supporters are are ride or die.
28:05
SPEAKER_04: Like they it's gonna take a lot to disillusion a very passionate core.
28:10
SPEAKER_04: Um I think it's all of those undecided and go of the flow voters that that he lost.
28:15
SPEAKER_04: Um but I think he lost all of them.
28:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:17
SPEAKER_02: Like I that's to be clear, I think that's what happened here.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: I I I agree that Trump's 35% base is always gonna be his 35% base.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: But his approval rating is coming at 39 right now.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: Lowest approval rating a president's ever had for a midterm.
28:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
28:30
SPEAKER_02: That's not true.
28:32
SPEAKER_04: So he did lose.
28:33
SPEAKER_04: He lost all of that.
28:34
SPEAKER_04: Truly everybody else.
28:35
SPEAKER_04: All of the okay.
28:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, from from a from a from a what these exit polls look like situation.
28:42
SPEAKER_04: Right.
28:43
SPEAKER_04: Um, I was just gonna say so.
28:45
SPEAKER_04: I guess the question then is do the Republicans feel like they can not alienate Trump's diehard base while also regaining those voters, or do they think they're just gonna have to go in a brand new direction?
28:59
SPEAKER_04: You know, that's that's the question.
29:00
SPEAKER_04: It's kind of the position Democrats were in in 2016 where the party was split, there was a very, very, very progressive uh side of things, and then there was the the more moderate base, and they sort of floundered around for four years not really, not really getting themselves in any particular alignment.
29:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of people are disillusioned by politics and politicians these days.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of people who I know in Missouri or in St.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Louis County who voted voted because of all the amendments that were on the on the ballot, not really for the people, but for the constitutional amendments.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: Um I wonder I think it it depends on how Trump is with the Congress keeping him in check, uh if that's even possible.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: It'll it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: When Obama, when the Democrats lost the House and the Senate during Obama's second term, I think he just pretty much became a lame duck president.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: And nothing got done.
30:06
SPEAKER_02: So Trump's not exactly been a legislative beast before this.
30:11
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, he's doing everything off executive action.
30:13
SPEAKER_02: Right.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: Well, the big beautiful bill.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: And there's one.
30:17
SPEAKER_02: There's one.
30:18
SPEAKER_02: And and and I and I and I think that's I think they'll try and nip at the edges of that.
30:24
SPEAKER_02: Um I don't think there's a ton they can do.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: Um uh but they might be able to uh uh revert some of the Medicare benefits and stuff like that.
30:33
SPEAKER_02: They might be able to get some of that put back in.
30:35
SPEAKER_02: Um I I think, you know, I I am fascinated.
30:42
SPEAKER_02: So up in Michigan, uh we elected our first Muslim senator, Abdul Al Sayyed.
30:48
SPEAKER_02: Um despite the ultimate sort of you know week of the election surprise where his the the Democrat that he beat in the primary, I forget her name, decided to go ahead and endorse the Republican candidate.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: Um it lit literally 48 hours before the the the uh election, and it was you know there was something weird between the two of them, but but basically her her her stance ended up being that um because Al Sayed is a Muslim, he sort of carries this anti-Semitic tag that I don't think he's done enough to shed, by the way, but but you know um so so hers was I was doing this to protect the Jewish voters.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: Well the Jewish voters went 60-35 for Al-Syed in Michigan.
31:39
SPEAKER_02: I I I think both parties have this problem where they're going, we're gonna lead our people, and then going in the opposite direction of where the people want to go.
31:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: And and I and I think um I think the Republican Party is suffering from that even worse, where we can call Trump all the things in the world we want.
32:02
SPEAKER_02: He's MAGA, he's not Republican, right?
32:04
SPEAKER_02: Like he's not he's not he's not a traditional uh conservative by any means.
32:09
SPEAKER_02: He's he's you know, and and certainly if if you accept that JD Vance is what's coming next, JD Vance is is populist and all populist from from a policy standpoint, um, which is not conservative, right?
32:22
SPEAKER_02: Populist is not conservative.
32:23
SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, I I I don't know if anybody right now is leading the country where the country wants to go.
32:32
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I really don't.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: I think they're all going, you know, I must protect the rights of the Jewish voter while the Jewish voter votes against you.
32:38
SPEAKER_02: I think it's you know, we must protect the Hispanic voter while the Hispanic voter completely turns on you and goes the other way.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: Like it's it's it's gotten pretty it's gotten pretty interesting.
32:47
SPEAKER_04: Why do you think people are so out of touch?
32:52
SPEAKER_02: Um Trump.
32:55
SPEAKER_02: I I think I think Trump blew up the traditional parties.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: I think the Democrats have been going in pretty weird ways for a long time.
33:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I I think I think, you know, uh I'll I'll I'll I'll intentionally sound a bit online right now and tell you that I think a lot of rich white liberal elites are trying to tell you what should be done for the working poor, and I think that's moronic.
33:20
SPEAKER_02: Um and and and I think they've looked pretty stupid doing it for for a while now.
33:23
SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, I I I think I think we need better candidates um on both sides of the aisle.
33:29
SPEAKER_02: On both sides of the aisle.
33:30
SPEAKER_02: On both sides of the aisle.
33:31
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, I'll be honest, you know, the good Ohio governor, right?
33:36
SPEAKER_02: Vivek Ramaswamy lost because he's just a an abhorrent person.
33:44
SPEAKER_02: He's just he's he's he's he's Teflon to anything good.
33:48
SPEAKER_02: Like there's you know um uh a little bit more of a conservative, uh a traditional conservative, but just on the likability factor, he just doesn't even register.
34:01
SPEAKER_02: Um so I don't know.
34:03
SPEAKER_02: You're you're you're seeing a I think a few good uh Democratic candidates coming out of this.
34:08
SPEAKER_02: John Ossoff is really good, Tyler Rico's really good.
34:11
SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know that Tyler Rico can go anywhere nationally, uh, but Ossoff's really good.
34:17
SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know that I'm seeing any rock star Republicans right now as we stand here.
34:23
SPEAKER_02: I I don't I personally I don't think it's JD Vance right now.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm sure s some new candidates might emerge after this that are more of the classic George W.
34:35
SPEAKER_00: Bush conservative, maybe of Ronald Reagan conservative.
34:39
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
34:40
SPEAKER_04: Well, and like like you say, you know, maybe this is too online.
34:44
SPEAKER_04: Um but with JD Vance, like he's just not like my age group doesn't really see him as a serious person because of all the memes.
34:53
SPEAKER_04: Like the younger voters, like all they see for JD Vance is just the memes of him looking like a big fat baby, you know, like and I just don't think he has the serious, you know.
35:03
SPEAKER_04: He doesn't have the gravitas.
35:04
SPEAKER_04: He doesn't he doesn't have the yeah, the like the power clause.
35:07
SPEAKER_02: He does not have the riz.
35:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
35:09
SPEAKER_04: I mean the the please and thank you thing is gonna haunt him and if he runs for president, it's just not it's it's not gonna do well for him.
35:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, and and and a lot a lot of this election is gonna sting him as well.
35:22
SPEAKER_02: He was out campaigning for an awful lot of losing candidates.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: So and and strongly defending Vivek and the weird ad that Ramaswamy ran that you know turned out to be terrible and um all all that stuff he ended up on the wrong side of an awful lot of issues, right?
35:40
SPEAKER_02: And I don't even know where he stands on the reflecting pool.
35:42
SPEAKER_02: Like I, you know, he might be in favor of it, he might not be.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: Um but but that so so that that brings me to my last conspiracy theory.
35:50
SPEAKER_02: Let's hang it up.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: I you know, so so on uh the the eve of election day, so Monday night, Trump stood up in front of the reflecting pool and gave a one-hour speech about his construction projects that only sort of mentioned the election and basically told people to get over it.
36:09
SPEAKER_02: It's just a short-term thing, the gas prices are too high.
36:15
SPEAKER_02: I can't think of a single thing that Trump did during the course of this that made it look like he wanted to win.
36:21
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna go out there and say I think Trump was intentionally trying to lose, I just haven't figured out why.
36:27
SPEAKER_02: Intentionally trying to lose.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: I don't think he thinks he can lose.
36:32
SPEAKER_02: Like I that that's that's the other that he just lives within his own reality distortion field so strongly that that he he really I don't think there was a thing that he did.
36:49
SPEAKER_02: You know, he handpicked Ken Paxton in Texas and then went and did a bunch of rallies for him.
36:56
SPEAKER_02: He handpicked and insisted that she run Darlene Graham, South Carolina, what should have been an unlosable seat for the Republicans.
37:04
SPEAKER_02: She got her butt whooped because she's just a horrible candidate.
37:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, there there's there's chase Tom Tillis out of the Senate.
37:13
SPEAKER_02: You know, you got all kinds of weird stuff that happened.
37:17
SPEAKER_02: You know, the redistricting failed in all the ways.
37:21
SPEAKER_04: Um Yeah, I that that really I think backfired in in a big way.
37:26
SPEAKER_02: I to be honest with you, I'm not sure if it would have mattered or if this was just a blue wave that that that overtook it.
37:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, maybe backfires the wrong way.
37:34
SPEAKER_04: So it's a few it was such a futile effort in retrospect.
37:37
SPEAKER_04: That's what I was thinking this morning.
37:39
SPEAKER_04: It didn't pick up the seats.
37:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
37:40
SPEAKER_04: Well, and and we lot in Missouri we lost, you know, it it it lost uh ground because of the Well, but we didn't change maps.
37:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
37:47
SPEAKER_02: So Missouri.
37:48
SPEAKER_02: So Missouri family redistricting.
37:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
37:50
SPEAKER_02: And then said we can't redistrict.
37:52
SPEAKER_02: Um but but yeah, like Florida.
37:56
SPEAKER_02: You put a lot of you know, Florida surprisingly in play, right?
37:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: Um so I you know I think Trump is still president and you know, he knows the art of the deal, and I think he thinks he can work with anyone.
38:08
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, there's there's there's just a part of me that thinks that Trump thinks he's more um uh effective when he's fighting an enemy rather than working with a friend.
38:24
SPEAKER_02: So the Republicans having control of everything and him still not getting done, yeah.
38:28
SPEAKER_02: Doesn't really work.
38:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
38:30
SPEAKER_04: It's much easier to go and attack a Democrat House.
38:34
SPEAKER_04: It's it's always been his strength is to go on the attack, not to be on the defensive.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, what does he want to do besides construction projects?
38:42
SPEAKER_02: I swear to God, I don't know.
38:44
SPEAKER_02: Like I don't.
38:45
SPEAKER_02: I I mean, I I I really don't.
38:48
SPEAKER_04: You know, I I tell you, if we had if the next president just came out and said, all I want to do is build a new national monument, I think that'd be great.
38:54
SPEAKER_04: You know, like let's just let's let's put my name on everything.
38:58
SPEAKER_04: Let's rename Yeah, I th well I think the renaming hurt him.
39:01
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I think there was he promised to send every American adult five grand if the Republicans kept it.
39:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:06
SPEAKER_02: He l he literally went out and said, I bribe you with this amount of money.
39:10
SPEAKER_02: And everyone, and uh does that make it legal?
39:13
SPEAKER_04: Well, I I just don't think people believe that or that gas prices are just gonna drop the day after the election or or any of that.
39:19
SPEAKER_02: I think people are are he's also been going around saying, you know, after the midterms I'm gonna start bombing the hell out of Iran again.
39:26
SPEAKER_02: Um uh you know.
39:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: Well that that's a war tactic with Iran, right?
39:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
39:33
SPEAKER_04: Don't know.
39:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's that's the problem is you can it's hard to tell what's blessed.
39:37
SPEAKER_02: You want to stay online two days ago, Tucker Carlson sent out a big tweet saying that uh that that it was his understanding that Trump was ready to go nuclear.
39:44
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
39:45
SPEAKER_02: Like literally ready to go nuclear.
39:47
SPEAKER_02: So can you just do that?
39:48
SPEAKER_03: I don't think you can.
39:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so um so anyway, so so historic night, yeah, lots of change for Missouri, lots of change for St.
39:57
SPEAKER_02: Louis and St.
39:58
SPEAKER_02: Charles County.
39:59
SPEAKER_04: Um here here's my here's my question though.
40:03
SPEAKER_04: Uh with all of these elections, because you because you you do pay a lot more attention to just the national stuff as well as the local stuff.
40:11
SPEAKER_04: How how was the temperature on the on a lot of these political ads?
40:17
SPEAKER_04: Was it still the same fever pitch culture worry battle, or were some of them a lot more amicable than previous elections?
40:25
SPEAKER_02: No, it was still divide and conquer.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: It was still it was still pick on everybody.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: Um I would say in Wildwood that um that state house seat.
40:35
SPEAKER_04: For Niles and Claire?
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that it got really heaty.
40:40
SPEAKER_04: I got more text messages from that uh that race than anything else.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: Mailers, postcard, direct mail, um that that was a brutal, brutal race.
40:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: Um and you say things are changing, but all the amendments that failed, that means you know the Constitution stays the same, except for amendment six that passed.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: But um I guess the difference is the people representing us at the state legislature, and we'll see what happens.
41:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I I you know I I don't know where this put Missouri uh Missouri's legislature for as far as state house and state senators, but um you know it it's gonna be harder.
41:18
SPEAKER_02: Some of these things that lost were put there directly because of the massive Republican majority in the in the house.
41:24
SPEAKER_02: And that that's it's gonna be harder to do.
41:25
SPEAKER_02: Right.
41:26
SPEAKER_02: Um so that's that's that's part of it.
41:29
SPEAKER_02: And and there's also that, you know.
41:33
SPEAKER_02: Used to be if you won the Republican primary in St.
41:35
SPEAKER_02: Charles County, yeah, you could go take a nap.
41:38
SPEAKER_02: Right.
41:38
SPEAKER_02: Right.
41:39
SPEAKER_02: They showed that's not the case.
41:41
SPEAKER_02: Right, yeah, right.
41:42
SPEAKER_02: Which is good.
41:43
SPEAKER_02: Republican.
41:44
SPEAKER_02: Um it it is good, and I, you know, I I like the fresh blood.
41:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that's good.
41:48
SPEAKER_02: I think it's good to get new people in.
41:50
SPEAKER_02: Um I'm I'm very excited that some of these people are, you know, less than 80 years old.
41:58
SPEAKER_02: Um I think that's I'm being serious.
42:01
SPEAKER_02: Um uh Susan Collins lost in Maine, right?
42:05
SPEAKER_02: You know, 80-year-old, four times effective.
42:11
SPEAKER_02: Uh again, uh person who who who lost to a sort of a young upstart.
42:16
SPEAKER_02: So um you're you're you you saw a lot of that.
42:19
SPEAKER_02: You're seeing you're seeing some of it local.
42:21
SPEAKER_02: Um now when this happened, what year was the Tea Party?
42:27
SPEAKER_02: That was happened.
42:29
SPEAKER_02: Early 2000, 2004?
42:31
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a or was it a reaction to eight?
42:33
SPEAKER_04: Uh I think it was I think it was a reaction to eight was when they really got when they were.
42:37
SPEAKER_02: So anyway, when whenever that tea party wave went in, you had all this new blood in Congress, they all kind of went, we don't actually know how to govern.
42:43
SPEAKER_02: And that so that took a minute.
42:45
SPEAKER_02: Um you might see a little bit of that, but um, you know, I it here's here's what I hope.
42:52
SPEAKER_02: Um, well, here's what I'm really happy about.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: There is, to my understanding, zero contention anywhere that there was uh uh election fraud.
43:03
SPEAKER_02: My understanding is they're not challenging a single vote anywhere that's good uh across Alaska, hasn't closed yet, and they still might get weird uh in in Alaska, but it's Alaska, so you know what do you do?
43:14
SPEAKER_02: Um status well uh you know so so so I I it was a definite win for election integrity, and I think that was real important, and I was frankly, I was a little bit nervous about that.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:26
SPEAKER_02: Um uh go going forward, I I hope that this isn't just a reason to have endless impeachment hearings um and and to go back to the uh what they call that, law fair or whatever it was, you know, where where you know you're you're you're just attacking your political enemies.
43:48
SPEAKER_02: I I I hope the Democrats don't get that don't think that that's the way to go.
43:52
SPEAKER_02: Um uh 'cause I I think it's pointless.
43:55
SPEAKER_02: At this point.
43:56
SPEAKER_04: It's pointless and it just divides the country.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: And wastes time and money.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: And they could be doing other things.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: Um Yeah, when we could actually be doing something, you know, making change.
44:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:07
SPEAKER_02: Um and I hope that Trump doesn't just veto an executive order everything and and you know, I I I hope that there's some recognition that this was the electric standing up and saying, hey, you gotta change.
44:22
SPEAKER_02: Right.
44:23
SPEAKER_02: I I hope that that can still be recognized at the national level.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: Um he's sending out tweets with just the word veto.
44:29
SPEAKER_02: So that's it.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: He was he was shockingly quiet last night.
44:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:35
SPEAKER_02: Shockingly quiet.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: Maybe he was he had a couple big diatribe tweets against Fox News because they were they were talking to the Democrats too much.
44:47
SPEAKER_02: Um and then uh he called into Fox News uh live on air.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: But um I heard a soundbite of him say sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces.
44:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:00
SPEAKER_02: And that's pretty much what he said.
45:01
SPEAKER_02: He was yeah, the the president never wins.
45:02
SPEAKER_02: You know, had I been on the ballot, we would have won.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: Um and he's still president.
45:09
SPEAKER_02: He's still president.
45:10
SPEAKER_02: 39% is you know, again, what the exit polls showed his approval rating to be.
45:15
SPEAKER_02: Right.
45:15
SPEAKER_02: That's that's a problem.
45:17
SPEAKER_02: The uh I I I think overall it ended up being that uh that across an an average of all the national contests, um, Democrats had a had a plus thirteen percent.
45:31
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
45:31
SPEAKER_02: Which if you translate that to the electoral college would be like the biggest win since I mean that it's just a crazy win.
45:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:38
SPEAKER_02: Um and and and a crazy turn from from where he was.
45:41
SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I mean just two just two years ago where he won the popular vote.
45:44
SPEAKER_04: Two years ago, yeah.
45:45
SPEAKER_04: And I mean that's nothing to say these districts where you know Texas that he won by 30 points, you know, suddenly as a Yeah, I mean the the let the lesson though that Democrats need to remember, which I don't think they will, because no par political party ever remembers this, is that you know the the voters are fickle.
46:04
SPEAKER_04: Uh and if you take if you just take the ground you're given and you run with it, you're gonna lose them, just like what happened with the Republicans.
46:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but by the way, I think this is the best case scenario for whoever tries to run for the Republican nomination in two years.
46:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
46:17
SPEAKER_02: Um it's sort of the cycle.
46:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's the cycle than Trump.
46:22
SPEAKER_02: It'll be easier to pull away from Trump.
46:24
SPEAKER_02: Um which will be which will be something to see.
46:27
SPEAKER_02: Okay, any thing any closing thoughts on any of this stuff, guys?
46:30
SPEAKER_02: Any, you know.
46:31
SPEAKER_02: Um so there there were two additional questions posed in our inner office pool.
46:36
SPEAKER_02: Um uh unfortunately Dan and Laura got both of them wrong.
46:40
SPEAKER_02: Uh one one of the questions was Snickers versus Reese's peanut butter cups, and obviously the answer is Reese's peanut butter cups.
46:48
SPEAKER_02: Um so that that really pulled me ahead.
46:50
SPEAKER_02: And and then the other one, uh, and I I feel like we've talked about this on the podcast before, but is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
46:56
SPEAKER_02: And of course it is.
46:58
SPEAKER_02: Um uh it is a movie to watch over Christmas with your loved ones, uh sipping hot cocoa and watching what's his name, blow up a bunch of stuff.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, in that sense, every movie's a Christmas movie then.
47:10
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
47:10
SPEAKER_04: Well, see.
47:11
SPEAKER_04: Maybe uh what Christmas theme does Die Hard have?
47:14
SPEAKER_04: It happens during Christmas.
47:16
SPEAKER_04: That is a party.
47:18
SPEAKER_02: It also has the I need more substance.
47:22
SPEAKER_02: The traditional Christmas uh blessings of uh revenge.
47:29
SPEAKER_02: Um uh mass devastation and family.
47:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he is there for his family.
47:35
SPEAKER_04: You know, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is a revenge story when you think about it.
47:38
SPEAKER_04: He he gets to get his get back against all those other reindeer that were mean to him.
47:43
SPEAKER_04: So maybe you're pulling.
47:45
SPEAKER_02: I'm also willing to concede that Rudolph is a good thing.
47:49
SPEAKER_02: So um so listeners, thank you very much for joining us.
47:53
SPEAKER_02: This one was a little bit this was this was just kind of fun.
47:56
SPEAKER_02: Uh uh let's uh let's continue to to to pray for our country as we go forward.
48:02
SPEAKER_02: I think there's just uh I I think we're staring at a lot of new stuff.
48:05
SPEAKER_02: And I I think it's gonna be interesting.
48:07
SPEAKER_02: That's that's always uh a little bit challenging.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: Uh keep yourself informed on everything going on, uh particularly here locally, by uh subscribing to the papers.
48:19
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know how to do this by now.
48:21
SPEAKER_02: Go to midriversnewsmagazine.com or westnewsmagazine.com.
48:24
SPEAKER_02: Just click subscribe, subscribe.
48:26
SPEAKER_02: It's it's free, it gets sent right to you.
48:30
SPEAKER_02: Um it's gonna, you know, the the the news that we cover over the next couple years is just gonna it's gonna be more important now as a result of this, frankly.
48:39
SPEAKER_02: Um particularly because you're gonna see a lot of a lot of very local stuff happening, and that's that that that's where you could see some really significant, interesting changes happen.
48:52
SPEAKER_02: So so so make sure you stay subscribed and and stay up and and uh and that's it.
48:56
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening.
48:57
SPEAKER_02: We'll talk to you next week.
48:58
unknown: Bye.