Outstanding pods, as usual. Suggestion: try Lone Star Left on Substack. Michelle Davis does an excellent job explaining the darkness of Texas politics and like Andrew, suggests the Texas GOP's gerrymander counting on Latino voters continuing to trend their way may not be a slick move.
During the 2016, one of the biggest hits on Hillary was she said the economy was doing well when people still had serious concerns about their financial prospects. The economy had improved significantly after President Obama brought the country back from the Bush crash, but voters thought Hillary was tone deaf to their fears when she talked up about how well the country was doing.
Fast forward to today where Trump is gaslighting the public about the economy and lying about inflation and jobs. What Trump's doing is a thousand times more tone deaf than anything Hillary did. The people know better, and they see first hand that inflation on food, rent, and transportation is getting worse and the job market is crumbling.
One of the authors of the redistricting bill in Texas explained clearly in the hearing on the bill held in the Texas Senate last week that the bill was (1) for partisan purpose, and (2) that the five new proposed districts were predicated on the assumption that Texas Hispanics who voted for Trump in 2024 would continue to to so in 2026. Obviously, this has the potential to not go the way they plan. The Republican Party of Texas may be hiding a different agenda behind this dumb explanation. Jasmine Crockett's Dallas, majority black, district is cut to ribbons in the plan, so the RPT may be hoping to get rid of Crockett, and other inconvenient Dems, by isolating and suppressing the black vote in the five new urban districts.
Actually, Jasmine Crockett's district is getting packed so she is safe. She said during a recent interview that the Texas map is cramming Black voters from nearby districts into her district, and the former Democratic districts are getting more white and Hispanic voters. These are Democratic congress members who are targeted:
We Democrats are shaky because we are done with preformitive politicians... get out of the make-up chairs and off the podium/stage in front of tv's performing bs
Everything we hate about the Trump presidency are unforced errors. He did not have to do any of it, including the cretins he hires from Fox News and various drug rehabs to fill top cabinet positions. HE DID NOT HAVE TO DO ANY OF THIS SHIT, but if he doesn't, The Heritage Foundation will find a way to defenestrate him without it leading back to them.
I live in the historic part of Alexandria (thanks for the shout out!) and we are all seeing the hits to our economy. I work in a big art center which draws a lot of tourists, and while we still see domestic tourism, foreign visitation is way down. I personally think that one of Trump’s primary reasons for putting the military in DC, for his destruction of the Kennedy Center and for his desire to erase history in the Smithsonian museums, is to kill the DC economy.
Anyway, Spanberger will clean up here, and I hope that she will immediately institute redistricting. Certainly Fairfax County could benefit from a few more seats.
Anything that makes his numbers drop is fine by me. Rick, I hope Andrew has an accurate website to derive his numbers. I'm sure the govt hasn't shut them all down. Same with history, I'm hoping that there are people out there writing all the crap down that has been happening including Taco Man's memory problems. It will all come into play in the end.
Great show with The Wilsons, as usual. Really interesting take from Andrew about how the move away from Trump among Hispanic voters could negatively affect the TX Donny-mander. Haven't heard that anywhere else. Seems like Trump's gains among African Americans and Latinos was softer and more transactional than other pundits credit. They really were mad at Biden about the economy, and now they're mad at Trump for lying to them about what he planned to do.
Just putting this out there, but imagine a Democratic 2028 ticket made up of Pete Buttigieg and James Talarico, two of the smartest pols around and also the best communicators the Dems have. Saw Talarico on The Joe Rogan Show, and he took Rogan to school!
I have great respect for Pete Buttigieg but he cannot be on a presidential ballot. If people won't vote for a woman they won't vote for a gay man. Honestly, some people just couldn't do it. That's a shame but I'm afraid it's true. Whichever Democrat becomes president should give Pete a very important cabinet position.
Trump's numbers are a dangerous distraction. Trump's power comes from the levers given to him by the Roberts six on SCOTUS. Both are empowered by the Republican Congress. Only Congress is on the ballot next in 2026. Therefore, the focus of our attention belongs on Congress, not Donald's latest antics.
Trump may be in trouble with the voters, but he doesn't need voters now. He needs Congress. Our job is to remove his enablers from Congress. This is just feel-good chat until you show me how this will defeat Republicans running in 26. Are voters connecting the dots between Trump and Congress? The firm 40% for Trump says 40% are immune to facts. Perhaps they need to feel the tariffs rather than understand them. Are there any polls yet for critical Congressional races?
Outstanding pods, as usual. Suggestion: try Lone Star Left on Substack. Michelle Davis does an excellent job explaining the darkness of Texas politics and like Andrew, suggests the Texas GOP's gerrymander counting on Latino voters continuing to trend their way may not be a slick move.
Love you guys. Great job.
During the 2016, one of the biggest hits on Hillary was she said the economy was doing well when people still had serious concerns about their financial prospects. The economy had improved significantly after President Obama brought the country back from the Bush crash, but voters thought Hillary was tone deaf to their fears when she talked up about how well the country was doing.
Fast forward to today where Trump is gaslighting the public about the economy and lying about inflation and jobs. What Trump's doing is a thousand times more tone deaf than anything Hillary did. The people know better, and they see first hand that inflation on food, rent, and transportation is getting worse and the job market is crumbling.
One of the authors of the redistricting bill in Texas explained clearly in the hearing on the bill held in the Texas Senate last week that the bill was (1) for partisan purpose, and (2) that the five new proposed districts were predicated on the assumption that Texas Hispanics who voted for Trump in 2024 would continue to to so in 2026. Obviously, this has the potential to not go the way they plan. The Republican Party of Texas may be hiding a different agenda behind this dumb explanation. Jasmine Crockett's Dallas, majority black, district is cut to ribbons in the plan, so the RPT may be hoping to get rid of Crockett, and other inconvenient Dems, by isolating and suppressing the black vote in the five new urban districts.
Actually, Jasmine Crockett's district is getting packed so she is safe. She said during a recent interview that the Texas map is cramming Black voters from nearby districts into her district, and the former Democratic districts are getting more white and Hispanic voters. These are Democratic congress members who are targeted:
Al Green
9th District
Henry Cuellar
28th District
Julie Johnson
32nd District
Vicente Gonzalez Jr.
34th District
Greg Casar
35th District
I imagine Rick is so proud of his son. Impressive young man!
Great point about TX gerrymandering and shifting back of Hispanics. A glimmer of hope!
We Democrats are shaky because we are done with preformitive politicians... get out of the make-up chairs and off the podium/stage in front of tv's performing bs
Everything we hate about the Trump presidency are unforced errors. He did not have to do any of it, including the cretins he hires from Fox News and various drug rehabs to fill top cabinet positions. HE DID NOT HAVE TO DO ANY OF THIS SHIT, but if he doesn't, The Heritage Foundation will find a way to defenestrate him without it leading back to them.
How to we ensure a fair and honest election? The manipulation of votes is why Trump won last time. It was not a fair and honest election.
He won. Stop spreading BS.
"You'll see a gulf between what the government says is happening and how people feel ..." The real Gulf of America.
I live in the historic part of Alexandria (thanks for the shout out!) and we are all seeing the hits to our economy. I work in a big art center which draws a lot of tourists, and while we still see domestic tourism, foreign visitation is way down. I personally think that one of Trump’s primary reasons for putting the military in DC, for his destruction of the Kennedy Center and for his desire to erase history in the Smithsonian museums, is to kill the DC economy.
Anyway, Spanberger will clean up here, and I hope that she will immediately institute redistricting. Certainly Fairfax County could benefit from a few more seats.
Thanks, guys. Always good information from you two. Next week!
Great info per usual!
Anything that makes his numbers drop is fine by me. Rick, I hope Andrew has an accurate website to derive his numbers. I'm sure the govt hasn't shut them all down. Same with history, I'm hoping that there are people out there writing all the crap down that has been happening including Taco Man's memory problems. It will all come into play in the end.
Great show with The Wilsons, as usual. Really interesting take from Andrew about how the move away from Trump among Hispanic voters could negatively affect the TX Donny-mander. Haven't heard that anywhere else. Seems like Trump's gains among African Americans and Latinos was softer and more transactional than other pundits credit. They really were mad at Biden about the economy, and now they're mad at Trump for lying to them about what he planned to do.
Just putting this out there, but imagine a Democratic 2028 ticket made up of Pete Buttigieg and James Talarico, two of the smartest pols around and also the best communicators the Dems have. Saw Talarico on The Joe Rogan Show, and he took Rogan to school!
I have great respect for Pete Buttigieg but he cannot be on a presidential ballot. If people won't vote for a woman they won't vote for a gay man. Honestly, some people just couldn't do it. That's a shame but I'm afraid it's true. Whichever Democrat becomes president should give Pete a very important cabinet position.
I hate to say you're probably right, but you probably are. And that's sad.
Trump's numbers are a dangerous distraction. Trump's power comes from the levers given to him by the Roberts six on SCOTUS. Both are empowered by the Republican Congress. Only Congress is on the ballot next in 2026. Therefore, the focus of our attention belongs on Congress, not Donald's latest antics.
Trump may be in trouble with the voters, but he doesn't need voters now. He needs Congress. Our job is to remove his enablers from Congress. This is just feel-good chat until you show me how this will defeat Republicans running in 26. Are voters connecting the dots between Trump and Congress? The firm 40% for Trump says 40% are immune to facts. Perhaps they need to feel the tariffs rather than understand them. Are there any polls yet for critical Congressional races?