November 6, 2025 • 23 mins
This week was a big one for Democrats so S.E. sits down with Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin to get her takeaways from Tuesday’s elections, why Democrats need their midwestern cohort now more than ever, and what she’s really thinking about the 2028 race. Then, S.E. weighs in on this question, were these big Democratic wins actually a referendum on Trump? Well, it's complicated. Plus, listener mail!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to talk in politics, where we examine both sides
of the political discourse with a healthy balance.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Just kidding.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is where we go hard, hard against fascism, hard
against authoritarianism, hard against stupidity and corruption.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Look, the stakes are too high for pleasantries.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
The president thinks he's a king, the Republican Party agrees,
and the Democratic Party doesn't seem to know how to
stop any of it. So here's where we talk about
saving our democracy. In a bit, i'll share my political
hot take of the week, the thing in a mess
of news that really got my attention, But first my interview.
We just had a huge election week. The mayor's race
(00:48):
in New York City, governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia,
and a ballot initiative in California all gave Democrats something
they desperately needed, momentum. But will these wins translate into
taking back the House and Senate in twenty twenty six,
into winning back the White House in twenty twenty eight,
(01:08):
into defeating trump Ism once and for all, Well, that
remains to be seen. Joining me now is a Democrat
I've gotten to know over the past few years, and
I'll tell anyone who listen that I think she should
be the future of the party. She gets where the
country is, where the party needs to go, and the
mistakes it's made. She leads with common sense and a
(01:32):
commitment to reclaim patriotism from a GOP that's corrupted it
to conform to Trump's bastardized version. She's Michigan Senator Alyssa
Slocke and welcome to Talking Politics.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Thanks for having me. Good to see you. Okay, we
met at Bill Maher.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
We did okay, but we quickly learned we just we
had a lot in common. We went to rival schools
in Michigan.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
We did. We went to the same college. We did.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, we were both really impacted by nine to eleven
in terms of what we did for our lives. And
we were interested in foreign policy and national security. And
I think I think we just see the world in
a similar way. Though I wouldn't want to taint you with.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
That brush, but I just feel like, I just feel
like we get each other. We get each other.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I think, Yeah, I just want to get your reaction
to the wins this week. Yeah, everyone's saying what they mean?
Yeah for the Democratic Party, what do they mean? For
the Democratic Party.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Senator.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, obviously, really good night. Two of my best friends
in the world are now governors. We came up together
the we're both you know, all service and veteran ladies
who ran together on the house. Yeah, it's a big,
big win. But I think the other message to me
is that they were all these races, whether you were
(02:53):
in Virginia or Manhattan or Minnesota or wherever Pennsylvania, people
were saying two things very clearly. Number one, cost of
living and the American dream is still the galvanizing issue
no matter where you are, yep. And then number two,
they want a new damn generation of leaders. They want
(03:14):
something new and I and they're willing to take something new,
that's a risk, They're willing to change sides of the
aisle that they're just they're willing to do a lot
for that. And I think that is like a flashing
red light coming out of the country, and we either
hear that and interpret that the right way or we
(03:35):
just miss it completely. So those were my messages. I
think the the if I can add a third one,
it's okay and actually a strength that someone like Abigail
Spanberger can just kill it in Virginia, do great work
in Virginia, and Mom Donnie can win in Manhattan. Yeah,
(03:56):
it's okay, okay, it because different leaders are needed for
different places, and Democrats have a problem of having this
constant fight in fighting about you know, is it progressive?
Is it moderate?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
The direction know that the message is pick good leaders
who represent their communities and believe your own messaging that
diversity is good.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, so those I think were the messages from Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, you can't make an ideological comparison because you had
a progressive then you had two moderates prop fifty what
happened in Minneapolis, Like, the message is not ideological.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
The message is candidate selection is key.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, and it has to be the right person, the
right time, in the right place. Yes, that's Does a
Mom Donnie win hurt a moderate Democrat like you? That
seemed like what Hakeem Jeffreys was very worried about and
tried to split the baby this whole cycle?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Does Mom Donnie hurt you?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I mean, look, it's not like I agree with a
number of things that he's proposed, but does he get
that cost of living is the galvanizing issue? And could
I get in a room with him or someone else
who believes in his views and say, Okay, look we
agree on the problem. Let's debate and negotiate on solutions. Yeah.
And so look, the Trump administration and the Republicans are
(05:24):
going to take him and like have they want him
to be the poster child. Right, they cover his election
and not what happened in Virginia and what happened in
New Jersey because they don't want to talk about that,
So they're going to try and make it all about that.
But I think it's on us as a party and
through you know, improved leadership, that we focus on what
(05:49):
unites us instead of just what divides us. And I
will I would debate, you know, mister Mom, Dottie or
anyone on the policy solutions to the problem. Let's have it.
But do I agree with the problem at its origin?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I think what all of these candidates did this time
was talk about this is so obvious, the issues that matter.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
The most to the most amount of people.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And what Democrats have done in the past is talk
about the issues they wished mattered to more people, whether
it's abortion, democracy, and sometime sometimes that lines up twenty
twenty two midterms, Democrats really wanted to talk about abortion
of democracy, and it worked out because that's what mattered
to most people. Twenty twenty four, the top three issues
(06:37):
were economy, crime, and immigration, and they kept saying, economy
is great, crime.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Is down, immigration is not a problem.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
What are Democrats going to need to do to win
back seats in the midterms.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Well, first of all, always good to start by shutting
up and listening. I think you know that's really hard
for politicians, really hard for people in Washington. But our
politics changes every eighteen months, right, I mean, just to
your point that issues change, foods change, the economy changes,
(07:13):
things change and shift you to work amazingly. In twenty
twenty eight, it'll be twenty years since Barack Obama was
first elected, which kind of blows my mind. We're so old,
right check, yes, affirmative but although I'm still a complete
infant in the Senate, but yes, it's old in the
real world.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
But the.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Thing that I think we need to acknowledge is that
you know it depending on when we say you can't
fight the last war, right, And so we can't just
say okay, well now it's all it's all the economy.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So there we go.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
We know our message. It may be Yeah, the chances are,
what with what this president is doing on the economy,
we're going to be talking about the cost of living
and the threat to the American dream a year from now.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But you got to be open.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
You got to actually approach human beings with an open
mind and say, like, where where are you right now?
I think this is important? But what's important to you?
And I think candidates that actually go into their own
communities and listen and go to places where people don't
agree with them, yeah, and just sit and talk to
people are going to be way better off than someone
(08:24):
who's just listening to like a consultant in Washington who's
fighting the last war.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yep, you're so smart, you're so common sense, you're so normal.
Will you run the low bar now? Will you run
for president? Oh? God? I think.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Look, I got here like one minute ago to the Senate.
I think, and by my tracking, there's like twenty nine people.
I have a spreadsheet of like twenty nine people who
say they're running for president. Yeah, And I think, to me,
what's important and what I'm trying to do is say, Okay,
I don't know what's going to happen in twenty eight.
(09:01):
But I do know that the profile of the Midwestern Democrat,
of those practical, reasonable folks in the middle of the
country who don't always get a lot of airtime in
the party, like you know, we're not all from New
York in California, needs some elevating. So I was personally
spending my time saying, you know what, I'm going to
(09:22):
go to Wisconsin, to Pittsburgh, to Kansas, to Missouri to
you know, Ohio. I'm going to go to these places
and elevate the candidates who win in my part of
the country. Because if we want to win generally in
twenty twenty eight and push back on what this president
you know who is by my accounting, not necessarily giving
(09:42):
up power, right, I mean, let's be honest about what's
happening here, but who is committed to having him or
his ilk continue in power. I want to do what
I can to elevate the part of the country that
you always need in a national election, but somehow we
always ignore in between elections.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's not a no. We're gonna finish with an exit pole.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Our exit poll is three questions of varying degrees of seriousness.
The first is favorite movie about politics.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
God, I don't like movies about politics.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh Wag the Dog. Great, that's a great movie.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Sometimes I believe sometimes I think I live in a
VEEP episode. Yes, I am living in one and so,
but that's not a movie, that's TV.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Who's the person on the other side of the aisle
you like?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
I really like John Curtis, who's a fellow freshman. He
replaced Mitt Romney. We served in the House together in
the problem Solver's Caucus, and he's just you know, I
don't agree with a lot of his votes, but he
is a decent human being and I learned from him.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Great. And finally, how do we save our democracy?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
First of all, it's kind of like everything. You got
to admit you have a problem if you want to recover.
And I think, you know, I gave a speech a
week ago or a week and a half ago that
I never thought i'd give. That we need to say
out loud what this president is doing, putting together secret
lists of domestic terrorist organizations, deploying you know, law enforcement
(11:18):
and military in ways that we've never seen in American streets,
and saying aloud that he may not leave power. Yep,
we need to say that out loud and then come
at that with a strategy or else we're just whistling
past the graveyard.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yes, Alyssa slock In, thank you so much for joining us.
We really appreciate it. Good to see you you too. Okay, well,
that was a great conversation. Another great conversation. I love
these convos on talking politics.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Don't go anywhere.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
After the break, we come back, maybe a little male
and then my political hot take, and we're back with
talking politics. But before we get to my mini mono, Lauren,
(12:15):
do we have any mail?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
We do.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
We have a listener from Georgia, Nassim, who loves the
Talking Coffee episode good, but is responding to your conversation
with ram Emanuel on Talking Politics. She really liked this
question you posed, quote, where's the thing that is going
to bind progressives and moderates all over the country around
some common ground so they can run together as a
(12:41):
party and not against each other. She's a voter in
Georgia and the divisions and the Democratic Party are incredibly
frustrating because it is in part what gave us the
current administration. She goes on, progressives are too focused on
culture wars and puritan politics, and this is not a
winning strategy. The New York City mayoral race has highlighted
(13:02):
to me is that progressives can be won over with
a message on classism. This is where I think moderates
can bridge the gap. I'm not suggesting a Democratic socialist
should run in the next presidential election, but that a
moderate should focus their messaging around classism, at least for
their primary and in the general election, Dems could focus
on three issues max impacting people's money, kids, and possibly
(13:24):
safety because most people care about those issues. I'm not
sure what their slogan should be, but these are some
ideas that come to mind. What do you think.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I think we have really smart listeners. Yes, that's a
really smart take. Yeah, I'm not just saying that because
she flattered me, but that is really smart. And if
you look at Republicans, I mean, they're all united, they're
all they all get in line, and if they don't,
they end up like me, on the outside of the
party right either because we leave or they kick us out.
(13:57):
I'm not saying Dems should do that, but I think
it's imperative that progressives and moderates stuff running against each
other totally if Democrats are going to win again, and
I'm glad that she agrees. I think that gives me
some hope that people aren't stuck in these internecine battles
with each other and they get the stakes.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
The stakes are you gotta win.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
If you want to change things that are going on,
you have to win elections.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
And I love what Senator Spockin said about like there
can be diversity within the party, of course, represents where
you live and who your people are.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
But you've got to unite around an agenda.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And I think what I've been noting and talking about
for a while now, at least since twenty twenty four,
is that Democrats don't seem to have an agenda to
unite around. They can be on disparate ends of the
liberal spectrum, but you need an agenda to unite around
a thing that they can all go out and say,
(14:57):
we all care about affordability, we all care about X,
y Z. We might have different ways to approach it
as progressives or democratic socialists or moderates, but we all
agree these are the things we need to accomplish for
the American people. So I hope they get there and
honestly this week, and I'll get into it in my
mini mono. So we gave me some hope. So before
(15:22):
we get into it, thank you Nasim for that question.
And please email us at Off the Cup Cup with
two p's at gmail dot com. Questions, comments, criticism. It
can be about politics, it can be about coffee, it
can be about our Off the Cup mental health interviews
with celebrities.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
And maybe we'll even do it on the show. Okay,
here is my hot take of the week.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
And it was a very busy week.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
The week was dominated by an election that saw huge
Democratic wins. It was a sweep of the biggest races.
They won in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and California.
Now look, those states aren't read by any means, but
Trump and Republicans were certainly hoping they could rub a
(16:17):
win or two in Democrats face this week, and they can't.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
But were they all a.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Referendum on Trump? That's the question everyone is sort of
asking and wrestling with.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
My answer is yes and no.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I think it goes without saying that in this the
first time most voters had a chance to cast a
vote since twenty twenty four, there was some correcting for
those Democratic losses. I think nearly a year of Trump's
I would say absolutely disastrous second term, where we had
(16:53):
those self defeating Doge cuts, troops storming American cities, illegal
ice rates and kidnapped things, a huge tariff blunder that
Trump is still trying to make work and save face
on a looming recession. A party that wants to take
health care and benefits away from millions of Americans, the
Epstein disaster, the longest government shut down in history, a
(17:16):
dysfunctional Congress, a president more concerned with avenging personal grievances
than solving americans problems.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I think a lot of people are totally over.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
This, even people who might have voted for him in
twenty twenty four out of pure frustration with a Democratic
party that just didn't seem to get it well. I
think they're saying, this isn't what I voted for at all.
So these votes for Mom, Donnie and span Berger and
Cheryl and Prop fifty in California were in part about
(17:47):
sending a message shoring up a blue wall of defense,
even if it's just around your district, your city, or
your state, It was a way of saying, we might
not have a majority in Washington, but we're going to
make sure our city, our state isn't taken over by
Trump too.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So if I'm Republicans.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Today, I'm worried about the midterms, absolutely, but I also
think this was about something else, and two things can
be true at the same time.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
These races were.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Laser focused on the top issues that mattered to the
most amount of people.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Okay, as I.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Just said with Senator Slockin, these races were focused on affordability,
quality of life, childcare, transit, housing, energy costs, public safety.
All of these candidates met voters where they are, and
oftentimes Democrats meet voters where they wish they were, where
(18:48):
they want them to be. They focus on the issues
they wish voters cared about the most, issues like climate change, democracy,
social issues. It's coming from a good place and those
issues do matter to people. But if they're not the
top issues, it just doesn't serve Democrats well. And in
(19:10):
twenty twenty four we saw this disconnect acutely. Democrats really
wanted issues like democracy. January sixth, Trump's racism xenophobia projects
twenty twenty five, Women's and trans rites. Democrats wanted these
things to be the things that mattered the most to
(19:31):
the most voters, but they wearrn't. And voters were telling
us what they cared about over and over and over again, economy, crime,
and immigration. And what did Biden and Harris and Democratic
leaders do. They told us the economy was good, crime
was down, there was no migrant crisis. That's political malfeasance.
(19:53):
They looked voters in the eye, they said, the things
you think our problems are not and we want you
to care about these other things instead. Malfeasance, malpractice. They
didn't deserve to win.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
As I mentioned, sometimes the issues that Democrats want to
matter and the issues that do.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Matter line up, they overlap.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Like I said in twenty twenty two, Democrats really wanted
abortion in democracy to matter in the midterms, and they did.
But that's partly because abortion access and voting access were
literally on the ballot in states across the country. But
when you can't pay rent, or pay for health insurance,
or get a good job, you may feel like you
(20:38):
literally can't afford to care about democracy. And look, as
much as I care about democracy, if you don't understand that,
people can't always afford to do that, then you are
sitting from a very privileged place. What Mom, Donnie and
the moderates in New Jersey and Virginia figured out, and
it was not rocket science, was that they have to
(21:00):
meet voters where they are, not where they want them
to be. It's super simple, it's pretty obvious. It's hugely effective.
If Democrats can do that over the next year, they'll
win back seats in the midterms, mark my words.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
And that's the name of the game. Guys.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
If you want to take away Trump's power, and he's
got a ton of it right now, you have to
win elections. You don't do it with sit ins or
long speeches on the House floor. You do it by
winning elections period, take back the majority, take away some
of his power. These elections this week were a literal
(21:41):
roadmap of how to do it. Run to solve the
problems voters are telling you they have, not the problems
you think they should be worried about. It's a good week.
I'm hopeful, guys. Between people like Alissa's lock in and
we talk rum a manual here before, I'm feeling good
(22:03):
about where Democrats can go. And I gotta be honest,
I haven't felt good about that since twenty twenty four,
not at all.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
So let's enjoy this.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Moment of optimism because I'm sure it will be short lived.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Okay, that's all for me. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Don't forget to write us at Off the Cup Cup
with two b's at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
If you have questions or comments, Thanks for tuning in and.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Go check out Talking Coffee and are Off the Cup episodes.
Bye Off the Cup is a production of iHeart Podcasts
as part of the Reason Choice Network.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
If you want more, check out the other Reason.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Choice podcasts Spolitics with Jamel Hill and Native Land Pod.
For Off the Cup, I'm your host, Si Cup. Editing
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for new episodes every Wednesday.
Welcome to talk in politics, where we examine both sides
of the political discourse with a healthy balance.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Just kidding.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is where we go hard, hard against fascism, hard
against authoritarianism, hard against stupidity and corruption.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Look, the stakes are too high for pleasantries.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
The president thinks he's a king, the Republican Party agrees,
and the Democratic Party doesn't seem to know how to
stop any of it. So here's where we talk about
saving our democracy. In a bit, i'll share my political
hot take of the week, the thing in a mess
of news that really got my attention, But first my interview.
We just had a huge election week. The mayor's race
(00:48):
in New York City, governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia,
and a ballot initiative in California all gave Democrats something
they desperately needed, momentum. But will these wins translate into
taking back the House and Senate in twenty twenty six,
into winning back the White House in twenty twenty eight,
(01:08):
into defeating trump Ism once and for all, Well, that
remains to be seen. Joining me now is a Democrat
I've gotten to know over the past few years, and
I'll tell anyone who listen that I think she should
be the future of the party. She gets where the
country is, where the party needs to go, and the
mistakes it's made. She leads with common sense and a
(01:32):
commitment to reclaim patriotism from a GOP that's corrupted it
to conform to Trump's bastardized version. She's Michigan Senator Alyssa
Slocke and welcome to Talking Politics.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Thanks for having me. Good to see you. Okay, we
met at Bill Maher.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
We did okay, but we quickly learned we just we
had a lot in common. We went to rival schools
in Michigan.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
We did. We went to the same college. We did.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, we were both really impacted by nine to eleven
in terms of what we did for our lives. And
we were interested in foreign policy and national security. And
I think I think we just see the world in
a similar way. Though I wouldn't want to taint you with.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
That brush, but I just feel like, I just feel
like we get each other. We get each other.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I think, Yeah, I just want to get your reaction
to the wins this week. Yeah, everyone's saying what they mean?
Yeah for the Democratic Party, what do they mean? For
the Democratic Party.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Senator.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, obviously, really good night. Two of my best friends
in the world are now governors. We came up together
the we're both you know, all service and veteran ladies
who ran together on the house. Yeah, it's a big,
big win. But I think the other message to me
is that they were all these races, whether you were
(02:53):
in Virginia or Manhattan or Minnesota or wherever Pennsylvania, people
were saying two things very clearly. Number one, cost of
living and the American dream is still the galvanizing issue
no matter where you are, yep. And then number two,
they want a new damn generation of leaders. They want
(03:14):
something new and I and they're willing to take something new,
that's a risk, They're willing to change sides of the
aisle that they're just they're willing to do a lot
for that. And I think that is like a flashing
red light coming out of the country, and we either
hear that and interpret that the right way or we
(03:35):
just miss it completely. So those were my messages. I
think the the if I can add a third one,
it's okay and actually a strength that someone like Abigail
Spanberger can just kill it in Virginia, do great work
in Virginia, and Mom Donnie can win in Manhattan. Yeah,
(03:56):
it's okay, okay, it because different leaders are needed for
different places, and Democrats have a problem of having this
constant fight in fighting about you know, is it progressive?
Is it moderate?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
The direction know that the message is pick good leaders
who represent their communities and believe your own messaging that
diversity is good.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, so those I think were the messages from Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, you can't make an ideological comparison because you had
a progressive then you had two moderates prop fifty what
happened in Minneapolis, Like, the message is not ideological.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
The message is candidate selection is key.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, and it has to be the right person, the
right time, in the right place. Yes, that's Does a
Mom Donnie win hurt a moderate Democrat like you? That
seemed like what Hakeem Jeffreys was very worried about and
tried to split the baby this whole cycle?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Does Mom Donnie hurt you?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I mean, look, it's not like I agree with a
number of things that he's proposed, but does he get
that cost of living is the galvanizing issue? And could
I get in a room with him or someone else
who believes in his views and say, Okay, look we
agree on the problem. Let's debate and negotiate on solutions. Yeah.
And so look, the Trump administration and the Republicans are
(05:24):
going to take him and like have they want him
to be the poster child. Right, they cover his election
and not what happened in Virginia and what happened in
New Jersey because they don't want to talk about that,
So they're going to try and make it all about that.
But I think it's on us as a party and
through you know, improved leadership, that we focus on what
(05:49):
unites us instead of just what divides us. And I
will I would debate, you know, mister Mom, Dottie or
anyone on the policy solutions to the problem. Let's have it.
But do I agree with the problem at its origin?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I think what all of these candidates did this time
was talk about this is so obvious, the issues that matter.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
The most to the most amount of people.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And what Democrats have done in the past is talk
about the issues they wished mattered to more people, whether
it's abortion, democracy, and sometime sometimes that lines up twenty
twenty two midterms, Democrats really wanted to talk about abortion
of democracy, and it worked out because that's what mattered
to most people. Twenty twenty four, the top three issues
(06:37):
were economy, crime, and immigration, and they kept saying, economy
is great, crime.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Is down, immigration is not a problem.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
What are Democrats going to need to do to win
back seats in the midterms.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Well, first of all, always good to start by shutting
up and listening. I think you know that's really hard
for politicians, really hard for people in Washington. But our
politics changes every eighteen months, right, I mean, just to
your point that issues change, foods change, the economy changes,
(07:13):
things change and shift you to work amazingly. In twenty
twenty eight, it'll be twenty years since Barack Obama was
first elected, which kind of blows my mind. We're so old,
right check, yes, affirmative but although I'm still a complete
infant in the Senate, but yes, it's old in the
real world.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
But the.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Thing that I think we need to acknowledge is that
you know it depending on when we say you can't
fight the last war, right, And so we can't just
say okay, well now it's all it's all the economy.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So there we go.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
We know our message. It may be Yeah, the chances are,
what with what this president is doing on the economy,
we're going to be talking about the cost of living
and the threat to the American dream a year from now.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
But you got to be open.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
You got to actually approach human beings with an open
mind and say, like, where where are you right now?
I think this is important? But what's important to you?
And I think candidates that actually go into their own
communities and listen and go to places where people don't
agree with them, yeah, and just sit and talk to
people are going to be way better off than someone
(08:24):
who's just listening to like a consultant in Washington who's
fighting the last war.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yep, you're so smart, you're so common sense, you're so normal.
Will you run the low bar now? Will you run
for president? Oh? God? I think.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Look, I got here like one minute ago to the Senate.
I think, and by my tracking, there's like twenty nine people.
I have a spreadsheet of like twenty nine people who
say they're running for president. Yeah, And I think, to me,
what's important and what I'm trying to do is say, Okay,
I don't know what's going to happen in twenty eight.
(09:01):
But I do know that the profile of the Midwestern Democrat,
of those practical, reasonable folks in the middle of the
country who don't always get a lot of airtime in
the party, like you know, we're not all from New
York in California, needs some elevating. So I was personally
spending my time saying, you know what, I'm going to
(09:22):
go to Wisconsin, to Pittsburgh, to Kansas, to Missouri to
you know, Ohio. I'm going to go to these places
and elevate the candidates who win in my part of
the country. Because if we want to win generally in
twenty twenty eight and push back on what this president
you know who is by my accounting, not necessarily giving
(09:42):
up power, right, I mean, let's be honest about what's
happening here, but who is committed to having him or
his ilk continue in power. I want to do what
I can to elevate the part of the country that
you always need in a national election, but somehow we
always ignore in between elections.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's not a no. We're gonna finish with an exit pole.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Our exit poll is three questions of varying degrees of seriousness.
The first is favorite movie about politics.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
God, I don't like movies about politics.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh Wag the Dog. Great, that's a great movie.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Sometimes I believe sometimes I think I live in a
VEEP episode. Yes, I am living in one and so,
but that's not a movie, that's TV.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Who's the person on the other side of the aisle
you like?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
I really like John Curtis, who's a fellow freshman. He
replaced Mitt Romney. We served in the House together in
the problem Solver's Caucus, and he's just you know, I
don't agree with a lot of his votes, but he
is a decent human being and I learned from him.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Great. And finally, how do we save our democracy?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
First of all, it's kind of like everything. You got
to admit you have a problem if you want to recover.
And I think, you know, I gave a speech a
week ago or a week and a half ago that
I never thought i'd give. That we need to say
out loud what this president is doing, putting together secret
lists of domestic terrorist organizations, deploying you know, law enforcement
(11:18):
and military in ways that we've never seen in American streets,
and saying aloud that he may not leave power. Yep,
we need to say that out loud and then come
at that with a strategy or else we're just whistling
past the graveyard.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yes, Alyssa slock In, thank you so much for joining us.
We really appreciate it. Good to see you you too. Okay, well,
that was a great conversation. Another great conversation. I love
these convos on talking politics.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Don't go anywhere.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
After the break, we come back, maybe a little male
and then my political hot take, and we're back with
talking politics. But before we get to my mini mono, Lauren,
(12:15):
do we have any mail?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
We do.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
We have a listener from Georgia, Nassim, who loves the
Talking Coffee episode good, but is responding to your conversation
with ram Emanuel on Talking Politics. She really liked this
question you posed, quote, where's the thing that is going
to bind progressives and moderates all over the country around
some common ground so they can run together as a
(12:41):
party and not against each other. She's a voter in
Georgia and the divisions and the Democratic Party are incredibly
frustrating because it is in part what gave us the
current administration. She goes on, progressives are too focused on
culture wars and puritan politics, and this is not a
winning strategy. The New York City mayoral race has highlighted
(13:02):
to me is that progressives can be won over with
a message on classism. This is where I think moderates
can bridge the gap. I'm not suggesting a Democratic socialist
should run in the next presidential election, but that a
moderate should focus their messaging around classism, at least for
their primary and in the general election, Dems could focus
on three issues max impacting people's money, kids, and possibly
(13:24):
safety because most people care about those issues. I'm not
sure what their slogan should be, but these are some
ideas that come to mind. What do you think.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I think we have really smart listeners. Yes, that's a
really smart take. Yeah, I'm not just saying that because
she flattered me, but that is really smart. And if
you look at Republicans, I mean, they're all united, they're
all they all get in line, and if they don't,
they end up like me, on the outside of the
party right either because we leave or they kick us out.
(13:57):
I'm not saying Dems should do that, but I think
it's imperative that progressives and moderates stuff running against each
other totally if Democrats are going to win again, and
I'm glad that she agrees. I think that gives me
some hope that people aren't stuck in these internecine battles
with each other and they get the stakes.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
The stakes are you gotta win.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
If you want to change things that are going on,
you have to win elections.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
And I love what Senator Spockin said about like there
can be diversity within the party, of course, represents where
you live and who your people are.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
But you've got to unite around an agenda.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And I think what I've been noting and talking about
for a while now, at least since twenty twenty four,
is that Democrats don't seem to have an agenda to
unite around. They can be on disparate ends of the
liberal spectrum, but you need an agenda to unite around
a thing that they can all go out and say,
(14:57):
we all care about affordability, we all care about X,
y Z. We might have different ways to approach it
as progressives or democratic socialists or moderates, but we all
agree these are the things we need to accomplish for
the American people. So I hope they get there and
honestly this week, and I'll get into it in my
mini mono. So we gave me some hope. So before
(15:22):
we get into it, thank you Nasim for that question.
And please email us at Off the Cup Cup with
two p's at gmail dot com. Questions, comments, criticism. It
can be about politics, it can be about coffee, it
can be about our Off the Cup mental health interviews
with celebrities.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
And maybe we'll even do it on the show. Okay,
here is my hot take of the week.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
And it was a very busy week.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
The week was dominated by an election that saw huge
Democratic wins. It was a sweep of the biggest races.
They won in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and California.
Now look, those states aren't read by any means, but
Trump and Republicans were certainly hoping they could rub a
(16:17):
win or two in Democrats face this week, and they can't.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
But were they all a.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Referendum on Trump? That's the question everyone is sort of
asking and wrestling with.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
My answer is yes and no.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I think it goes without saying that in this the
first time most voters had a chance to cast a
vote since twenty twenty four, there was some correcting for
those Democratic losses. I think nearly a year of Trump's
I would say absolutely disastrous second term, where we had
(16:53):
those self defeating Doge cuts, troops storming American cities, illegal
ice rates and kidnapped things, a huge tariff blunder that
Trump is still trying to make work and save face
on a looming recession. A party that wants to take
health care and benefits away from millions of Americans, the
Epstein disaster, the longest government shut down in history, a
(17:16):
dysfunctional Congress, a president more concerned with avenging personal grievances
than solving americans problems.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I think a lot of people are totally over.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
This, even people who might have voted for him in
twenty twenty four out of pure frustration with a Democratic
party that just didn't seem to get it well. I
think they're saying, this isn't what I voted for at all.
So these votes for Mom, Donnie and span Berger and
Cheryl and Prop fifty in California were in part about
(17:47):
sending a message shoring up a blue wall of defense,
even if it's just around your district, your city, or
your state, It was a way of saying, we might
not have a majority in Washington, but we're going to
make sure our city, our state isn't taken over by
Trump too.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So if I'm Republicans.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Today, I'm worried about the midterms, absolutely, but I also
think this was about something else, and two things can
be true at the same time.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
These races were.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Laser focused on the top issues that mattered to the
most amount of people.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Okay, as I.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Just said with Senator Slockin, these races were focused on affordability,
quality of life, childcare, transit, housing, energy costs, public safety.
All of these candidates met voters where they are, and
oftentimes Democrats meet voters where they wish they were, where
(18:48):
they want them to be. They focus on the issues
they wish voters cared about the most, issues like climate change, democracy,
social issues. It's coming from a good place and those
issues do matter to people. But if they're not the
top issues, it just doesn't serve Democrats well. And in
(19:10):
twenty twenty four we saw this disconnect acutely. Democrats really
wanted issues like democracy. January sixth, Trump's racism xenophobia projects
twenty twenty five, Women's and trans rites. Democrats wanted these
things to be the things that mattered the most to
(19:31):
the most voters, but they wearrn't. And voters were telling
us what they cared about over and over and over again, economy, crime,
and immigration. And what did Biden and Harris and Democratic
leaders do. They told us the economy was good, crime
was down, there was no migrant crisis. That's political malfeasance.
(19:53):
They looked voters in the eye, they said, the things
you think our problems are not and we want you
to care about these other things instead. Malfeasance, malpractice. They
didn't deserve to win.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
As I mentioned, sometimes the issues that Democrats want to
matter and the issues that do.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Matter line up, they overlap.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Like I said in twenty twenty two, Democrats really wanted
abortion in democracy to matter in the midterms, and they did.
But that's partly because abortion access and voting access were
literally on the ballot in states across the country. But
when you can't pay rent, or pay for health insurance,
or get a good job, you may feel like you
(20:38):
literally can't afford to care about democracy. And look, as
much as I care about democracy, if you don't understand that,
people can't always afford to do that, then you are
sitting from a very privileged place. What Mom, Donnie and
the moderates in New Jersey and Virginia figured out, and
it was not rocket science, was that they have to
(21:00):
meet voters where they are, not where they want them
to be. It's super simple, it's pretty obvious. It's hugely effective.
If Democrats can do that over the next year, they'll
win back seats in the midterms, mark my words.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
And that's the name of the game. Guys.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
If you want to take away Trump's power, and he's
got a ton of it right now, you have to
win elections. You don't do it with sit ins or
long speeches on the House floor. You do it by
winning elections period, take back the majority, take away some
of his power. These elections this week were a literal
(21:41):
roadmap of how to do it. Run to solve the
problems voters are telling you they have, not the problems
you think they should be worried about. It's a good week.
I'm hopeful, guys. Between people like Alissa's lock in and
we talk rum a manual here before, I'm feeling good
(22:03):
about where Democrats can go. And I gotta be honest,
I haven't felt good about that since twenty twenty four,
not at all.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
So let's enjoy this.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Moment of optimism because I'm sure it will be short lived.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Okay, that's all for me. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Don't forget to write us at Off the Cup Cup
with two b's at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
If you have questions or comments, Thanks for tuning in and.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Go check out Talking Coffee and are Off the Cup episodes.
Bye Off the Cup is a production of iHeart Podcasts
as part of the Reason Choice Network.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
If you want more, check out the other Reason.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Choice podcasts Spolitics with Jamel Hill and Native Land Pod.
For Off the Cup, I'm your host, Si Cup. Editing
and sound design by Derek Clements. Our executive producers are
me Si Coup, Lauren Hanson, and Lindsay Hoffman. Rate and
review wherever you get your podcas tests, follow or subscribe
for new episodes every Wednesday.
Host
S.E. Cupp
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