Jacquie Baly - UHD Political Science Professor Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Not a lot of people in the middle of these days.
Five point fifty two is at a time here in
Houston's forty News. But Representative Nicole Mally O'takis seems to
think that that's where Republicans need to go, head back
to the middle, that we've gone too far right, especially
with deportations. Jackie Bally joins us UHD political science professor.
Do you think Republicans have gone too far right?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Look, I think elected officials have an interesting dichotomy because
in the primary both Democrats and Republicans have to run
on their sides right, So you have Democrats running on
the extreme left, Republicans running on the extreme right, and
then we all have the premise that we have to
come in the middle for the general election.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
And I think that's where the representative is going. But
most voters really aren't looking at the social platforms.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
They're looking at do I have any money in my
bank account?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Can I pay my bills? Can I pay my mortgage?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
If the economy is doing well, the party that's in
control does well.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
If the economy isn't doing that.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Well, the party that's in control they don't do that
as well. It's as simple as that voters are looking
at key issues crime, they want safety, they want money, economy,
and they want, believe it or not, the borders to
be secured.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Well, evidently New Yorkers don't feel that way.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Well, okay, New Yorkers are quite different than Texans, and
that's why we're a conservative red and.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
They're very blue.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah. Yeah, So obviously they're going to vote according to
their platform and ideology the same way that we're going
to stay completely read at least for the time being,
and we're going to vote to our ideology.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
And let's not.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Forget we had many of those border counties they turned
red for the first time in decades because they wanted
President Trump to secure the borders.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Well, we found though in certainly I think that maybe
to a certain extent in a place like New Jersey
and Virginia, that when President Trump's on the ballot, he
brings out Republican voters. When he's not on the ballot,
a lot of times they don't show up. And that's
a problem that Republicans have to figure out.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, against and if you don't have someone to energize
your base or someone to have a reason to go
to vote for some voters, they have voter epathy. Some
voters feel I'm really not feeling that person that's on
the ballot, and they don't feel the need to cast
that vote. And we do need to make sure that

(02:33):
we get our voters out, regardless of who's out on
the ballot, because you want to make sure that your
voice is heard.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
So when it comes to the midterms, I'm guessing, Jackie Valley,
you're thinking the same thing that everybody else is thinking,
which is it all depends on how the Trump economy
is doing when when the midterm elections come around, that
will be the deciding factor. And whether or not Republicans
can maintain control in the House or lose control, that.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Will be one of the siding factors. I think another
deciding factor will be how are people feeling about the
border policies, because we've seen like a one to eighty
as you described, from the previous administration and this administration.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
So what is the general feel after two years?

Speaker 2 (03:17):
We keep seeming to forget the president hasn't even been
in office a year and we're already saying, well, this
is how everything is.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
Things can change dramatically within another year.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
So that's another thing. That we're looking at, and we're
also looking at his foreign policies. Many many people voted
for him and they and they like what he's done
so far. So if that continues, that will be a
determined factor as well.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
All right, Jackie, thank you, appreciate it, as always, take care.
That's Jackie Bowing.