November 5, 2025 • 24 mins
We talk to Republican State Sen. Tony Strickland of District 36, which has completely blown up by the redistricting brough about by Prop 50. President Trump posted on Truth Social today that California’s redistricting measure is unconstitutional. Chris Merrill and Michael Monks discuss billionaire investor Tom Steyer’s cringeworthy ads against Trump, which were not well received. We round up the show by listening to callers talk about the election results.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to KFI AM sixty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I can even thing.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Thank you so much for being a part of our
ongoing special election night coverage. Hear on KFI. I'm Chris Merrill,
Michael Monks in the padded room as well. Before we
went to news there, I made the recommendation to stay
Senator Tony Strickland, I said, would you support a national
redistricting that is similar to to California's well now former
redistricting non bar a nonpartisan redistricting panel or bipartisan redistricting
(00:34):
panel And he said, I mean.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
He jumped on it.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
I think there's the fastest I've ever had a politician
answer a question for me. He said, yes, absolutely, but
you know it's not gonna happen, and there's there's good
and bad reason for it. The first reason is that
elections are left up to the states, and that's very clear.
The Constitution basically says it's up to the states, which
(00:58):
is why when Donald Trump was accusing California of doing
something unconstitutional.
Speaker 5 (01:03):
Earlier today, President Trump posted on truth Social that California's
redistricting vote is unconstitutional and a giant scam. He also
signaled that mail in ballots are under legal and criminal review.
On X, Governor Gavin Knewsom responded and called the post
quote the ramblings of an old man that knows he's
about to lose.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Certainly not unconstitutional, and I don't know what his justification
was other than he was trying to lash out and
say California is screwing you over America, and they're bypassing
the constitution. It's not We're allowed to make our own
election decisions. That's why we came up with the Redistricting
Council in the first place. Otherwise we would have been
operating outside the bounds of the Constitution for the first
(01:45):
two hundred change years.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Right.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So, first, we're not gonna have a national redistricting commission because.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Everything's left up to the states.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
The other is you could bypass that by passing a
constitutional amendment that won't have up and because the politicians
are involved, and the politicians certainly are not going to
do anything unless it's in their own best interest, not
in the best interest of the American people, or at
the will necessarily of the American people. And I don't
see America shifting back toward more moderate and centrist politicians
(02:17):
in the near future, especially considering that we've got the
jerrymandering going on which rewards more partisanship.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Michael, amongst your thoughts on my brilliant assessment.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, I think, like I was saying, I think people
would vote in favor of ending jerrymandering to get I
don't think there's ever a scenario where you will draw
districts that get one hundred percent unanimous praise for their fairness,
but you could certainly get sixty percent plus on board
to say, yeah, those maps look reasonable. We might not
(02:50):
like who gets elected there, but that makes sense why
that map was drawn the way it was. But you're right, Constitutionally,
a national redistricting commission just doesn't work legally, but every
state should probably consider having a sensible redistricting mechanism. You
look at some districts, whether it's Democrat controlled or Republican controlled,
(03:12):
they do this. They just do this, and it's not
just for their congressional seats, it's for their state legislative
maps as well. They are absurdly drawn, and they are
drawn solely to benefit a politician and not the people
who live and work inside that district. If you put
it to the voters. I think every time it wins,
is there an end around on the constitutional requirement? In
(03:35):
the same way that we've.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Seen this push state by state for the national popular vote, right,
and you have states that say, Okay, we are going
to sign on to the national popular vote, and we
are going to say if so and so wins the
popular vote, that we are going to shift our electoral
votes in that direction, and rather than trying to do
(03:56):
it with a constitutional amendment, they're basically going state by star.
Is there the will and a granted this would take
no joke decades, but is there the will to have
citizen led initiatives in each state to come up with
bipartisan redistricting commission?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Is that an end around that's plausible.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I'm wondering if this race to the bottom that we're
seeing right now with the redistricting and the gerrymandering wars
that are sweeping the country, if this is not going
to be the final slap in the face where enough
of the electorate looks around and say it's all gotten
out of hand. The rhetoric has gotten out of hand,
the lack of a serious policy has gotten out of hand,
(04:34):
the behavior of politicians in public has gotten out of hand.
The language used on the floor of Congress out of hand.
And frankly, what we are going through right now with
the unseeriousness in the approach to drawing legislative and congressional
maps has gotten out of hand. But you just heard
from Governor Newsom victorious today saying in his victory speech,
(04:58):
Hello Illinois, Hello New York, Hello Maryland, these other Democratic
led states, we need you to get on board right
now with this movement in order to make Hakeem Jeffrey
Speaker of the House next year. And he's asking for
those Democratic controlled states to get in line and do
(05:19):
what California has just done, because Republican states are lining up.
Ohio has just released its new maps that were not
needed right now, but that's going to pick up a
couple of Republican seats ideally for them for what they've drawn. Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska,
they're all looking at redrawing their districts in favor of Republicans.
(05:43):
Democrats are in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Virginia.
I mean, this is almost like a cold civil war.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I agree with you, but Michael, I'm a bit of
a pessimist and a preface everything I'm saying with that, I.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Don't think Americans care. I think that we care. We're
in the news media. We care. I think that that
wonks care. But I think if two things working against you.
Most of the country is apathetic, and the other is
it's not the economy.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The economy is what drives people.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And the other thing, too is if I'm in if
I'm a legislator in Texas, I'm not gonna allow anybody
to usurp my authority to make sure that my party
stays in control. If I'm a legislator in Kansas, I'm
not gonna let the Democrats in a couple of college
towns in Kansas usurp my control by trying to say
we need a bipartisan redistricting committee. I believe, I believe
(06:45):
that the suggestion is very reasonable and very popular and
also never going to go anywhere because the obstacles are
too ingrained in the system that I believe to be flawed.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's the it's the sportsification of politics that we've seen
right now. You know the way that people just blindly
worship their team and hate the rival in a way
that's completely unreasonable. The way grown men behave while watching
other grown men play sports is something I've never quite understood.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I'm a.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Sports fan, but I don't worship a team. And the
way that folks have ingrained themselves into a political party,
the way they would the Chargers or the Rams, or
the Dodgers or the Angels, it's something that we've never
really seen before in history, the way the average person
is now part of a political machine. And that's why
(07:35):
you're seeing what you're seeing right now, because these folks
today lined up to vote again not for California voters,
but for National Democratic Party policies that they want to
see and acted in the halls of Congress.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
That's what motivated this.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
You heard the governor say, unprecedented turnout in a special
election year. That takes some sort of loyalty to a
team that really never existed.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
No, not at this level and certainly not at the stakes. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I mean, there's one thing if your team loses. It's
another thing if you feel like there's an existential threat
if the other guy wins elections. Boy, you nailed that one.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Boy, we talk about messaging, We've talked about messaging a
few times tonight, whether that was messaging against Donald Trump
or Donald Trump who's trying to pass his messaging along about,
for instance, California is being unconstitutional in it. There were
certainly some messages that missed the mark. You'll find out
what those are as we continue with our KFI special
election night coverage.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
He's Michael Monks.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
I'm Chris Merril's KIM six forty live everywhere in the
iHeartRadio app. Hey there, I'm Chris Merril. He's Michael Monks.
KFI special election night coverage. Prop fifty passes pretty handily.
Democrats win in Virginia, in New Jersey, and no surprise,
they win in New York City. The surprise, I think,
is that we have someone who is a self avowed
(08:57):
democratic socialist. That is a but it's a term that
really hasn't Maybe in certain pockets has carried a little cachet,
but I think nationally it's been toxic until recently. And
I don't know if you saw the survey here of
late that socialism the word itself, not necessarily the practice,
but the word socialism is more appealing to gen Z
(09:18):
than the word capitalism and I think that's a I
think that's a really interesting shift in the American psyche.
They don't necessarily agree with socialistic complete socialistic actions, but
they do say, look, we got to do something about healthcare,
we've got to do something about student loan deb we've
(09:38):
got to do something about rent being too high. In fact,
what I think there's probably some agreement too across the
Aisle Michael. We had people calling this evening who were
very upset about the cost of living in California, and
they say, it's ridiculous, and it's these policies. And I
think that's one thing that the Democratic Socialists and the
Republicans probably have in common. They say, we don't like
(09:59):
the and they're leading to they're leading to more expensive conditions.
The problem, of course, is they want to go in
different directions to solve that. That's where the division comes, right,
That's right, and Democratic Socialists certainly have some power in
Los Angeles. They've got four members on the Los Angeles
City Council who are either avowed members or at least
(10:21):
close supporters with the DSA. Four out of fifteen members
of the LA City Council are closely aligned with the
Democratic Socialists of America. The city controller is an avowed
member of the Democratic Socialist I bet here in LA
where we have a mayor's race next year, you're gonna
have a lot of leftists and there are a lot
of vocal active leftists and politics in Los Angeles who
(10:44):
are going to wonder, where's our mom, Donnie? Because that's
not Mayor Bass, and that's not mister Buttner who's running
against her. So far, it wouldn't be Rick Caruso if
he jumps in the race either, You're going to have
calls for where's our mom, Donnie? In Los Angeles when
really you already have some policies that are enacted here,
maybe to blame for some of the costs that are
(11:06):
more closely aligned to democratic socialism than they are to capitalism.
But to the point of gen Z aligning with socialism,
it's because they feel like a safety net has been
yanked out from under them. And boomers who may say
we don't like socialism at all or living very comfortably
because of some form of it, they're collecting Medicare and
social security and.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Those sorts of things. So regardless of what you call it,
that's what it is. It is we have a capitalist
and socialist economy in America and we have.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
For a very long time.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
That is an interesting point that you make, and one
I guess, are we going to let the political wonks
argue over because you know they're just going to argue
over the.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Terminology. It's going to be a game of semantics as
much as it's going to be anything else. I think
we did have a conversation about messaging when it came
to Prop fifty, and it seemed that Gavin Newso positioned
Prop fifty as the wall against Donald Trump and his
takeover of Congress. Midterm elections tend to go to the
(12:11):
party that is not in the White House. That's pretty
I mean, at this point you can almost call it
tradition in America. We vote for the minority party in
the midterm election, and he's trying to put up a
wall to try to stop that. The president is That's
why Texas looks at redistricting, and then of course California
responds to that. The messaging by Gavin Newsom seemed to
(12:35):
be very effective. The messaging by the No campaign that
was not very effective. Not only was it ineffective, as
demonstrated by the votes. It wasn't as present. You did
not have a lot of messaging from the No campaign.
They did not have anywhere near as much money. In fact,
I saw some research that I want to share. It's
(12:57):
from David Bender Research, The Value You waited a group
of advertisements related to Prop fifty. In fact, most of
the ads they even had to look at were in
support of it. But some of them, like the League
of Women Voters, this was an organization a non part
is an organization that opposed this. You know, they supported
the Independent Redistricting Commission and stuck to their guns on
(13:20):
that and said let's not do this. But this research group,
David Bender Research, looked at several campaign ads for or
against Prop fifty and asked respondents to say, does this
ad make you more likely to vote for Prop fifty
or does it make you less likely to vote for it.
I want to play an ad that Governor Knewsom put out,
(13:42):
and then I'll let you guess how voters might have
felt about it.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Take a listen.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
When Donald Trump and Texas Republicans don't fight fair, Californians
need to stop fighting with both hands tied behind our backs.
We can't sit by while they steal congressional seats, rig
the next election, and silence our voices. Prop fifty the
Election Rigging Response Act We Can Stop Trump COLT. Prop
fifty gives voters the power, preserves independent redistricting, and offers
(14:09):
all Americans a fair midterm election for democracy.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
In all fifty states, Yes on fifty.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
So, according to the research, seventy six percent of respondent
said that made them more likely to vote yes for
Prop fifty. Only twenty two percent said it made them
less likely to vote. And I thought a couple of
things were happening there. One you mentioned Trump. This is
a way to fight Trump. And two, by the way,
this is just temporary. We're going to bring that Independent
Redistricting Commission back. This is just a temporary fight. So
(14:37):
it was strategically very compelling an ad for the League
of Women voters whish opposed Prop fifty, and they're you know,
they tend to put on events and forums and try
to get people out into the polls to vote. Their
ad was pretty much a wash, forty eight percent more
likely to vote yes, forty nine percent less likely to
vote yes.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But another pro Prop fifty.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Ad was the worst reviewed, and it came from Tom Steyer,
a billionaire ran for president in twenty twenty and probably
wants to run for something else again. Listen to this, Okay,
hold on, I'm getting trumping car breaking newties out of
California tonight.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
The results are in and voters have just passed Prop fifty.
Speaker 7 (15:18):
What this is a major leary Donald thomps having onto
power earlier.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Stop the toury.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
List because of you.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
This is the house, Carl.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
Did this Trump investigator even release Capstein files.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
You want to stick it to Trump for vote yes
on Prop fifty.
Speaker 9 (15:35):
I hate California.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So this had similar messaging to what Governor Newsom did
in that first ad that won the most praise from
respondents in this survey, But it featured a parody image
of President Trump crushing things, throwing things in a fake
oval office, and this was by Tom Steyer. People who
watched this, forty one percent said it made them more
(16:01):
likely to vote yes. Fifty three percent set that made
them less likely. This actually changed people's mind to vote no.
In fact, tom Steyer put out a second ad and
it was the second worst reviewed.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So this is not a.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Guy who should be doing any messaging for the Democrats
in the future.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, and I have that. It's even worse on radio.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
You know, you don't have any imagery, right, I mean,
it's just like, I mean, I get what they were
going for, but it was almost painful to listen to
interesting that Gavin Newsom. It's almost like you have to
know whish audience is. Where on Twitter, Governor Newsom will
behave a little more childishly the way President Trump will
(16:45):
also behave on social media. Whereas this broad messaging about
voting yes on Prop fifty, he looked as professional as
you could and stuck to the message. Tom Steyer went
off script here and tried to be childish with that ad,
and it was not well received. We've got a little
more of your feedback too, from our talkbacks, your thoughts here.
(17:07):
As Prop fifty passes pretty overwhelmingly in California, we'll get
final thoughts on that in just a few moments, including yours.
It is our continuing coverage KFI special election night coverage.
He's Michael Monks, I'm Chris Merril. It's KFI AM six
forty live everywhere in the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Good evening KFI special election night coverage with Monks and Merrill.
He's Michael Monks, I'm Chris Merril. Thank you so much
for spending your evenings with us.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Michael.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
A number of listeners did have thoughts, and I wanted
to be able to make sure that we got the
diverse viewpoint of the KFI listeners across as well, if
you will indulge me. Off we go from our KFI talkbacks.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Hey you two, Hey, excellent show tonight. You hear that
I heard? All right?
Speaker 9 (17:57):
You know what, man, this is fine fish out here.
You're getting ready to go home from the airport. I
have a hard time with Gavin Newsomb. Man, it's just corruption, man.
And uh, California is for the birds, man, I love this.
I'm born and raised in La Man, but California is
(18:19):
just off the hook.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, and Gavin Newsom is head corruption.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
All right, Newsome corrupt California off the hook. You know,
when I was growing up, being off the chain used
to be great. But evidently off the hook is bad.
Off the I think it goes either way. It's it's
all about the context and delivery.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Oh all right, very good.
Speaker 7 (18:38):
Hey, this is Jason from Santa By Springs. Hey, Jason,
I think it's pretty sad that we have a lot
of veterans who have served this country and they're homeless.
They're not getting the mental help that they need, and
here we are bickering over redistricting because the governor and
(19:00):
Donald Trump want to act like a bunch of little kids.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah, I think that goes to your point, Michael, about
how frustrated the American people are and at some point don't.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
We get fatigued with at some point? I hope.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
I think there are a few of us who hope
maybe there's a silent majority of adults out there who
are tired of these games.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 10 (19:22):
If this proposition fifty is costing two hundred and fifty
million dollars to put it up for the vote, and
the Democrats are the ones wanting and voting for it,
then I believe we should send the bill for though
(19:44):
Democrats to pay for it.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
How many propositions would ever get past if we build
the people who voted in.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Favor of the proposition?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, or at least the you know, the attorney's fees
and a lot lawsuit, right, like Yeah, the organization or
whoever led the signature drive to get something on the ballot.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah. Interesting.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Can you imagine if if it were like, oh, we'd
like to have I don't know, we want to have
open carry laws, but if you vote for it, it's
going to cost you. Yeah, right, might make you, so
to speak, pull the trigger a little less urgently.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Right. What about like the Gavin Newsom recalls?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Exactly do you build people that say, well, I want
to recalled.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Hey, christ and Michael's great job tonight. You hear that?
I heard. I know.
Speaker 8 (20:34):
There wasn't much to talk about. It was an ass
whipping by the Democrats the night. Totally predictable, by the way.
But you keep leaving me at one thing in your
analysis of the politics here the Epstein files. There's a
whole lot of Republicans magas Q andons that are really
pissed off, even Charlie Kirk about them not releasing the
Epstein files. Okay, so that is a big deal, and
(20:57):
you guys just ignore that.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Failing failing somehow we're doing a great job, but also failing.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
The bar is low and I'm happy to exceed it.
The the dichotomy of man I think.
Speaker 11 (21:12):
Youdeeded heyris Michael Monks. Okay, well, look, I haven't heard
any of you guys say said this. In my family
and all the people I know, we all voted for Trump,
most of us did. But now we most of us
voted for Prop fifty. While interesting, we want to control
out the border, but that doesn't mean that we're okay
(21:35):
for Trump and Ice beating down the Latino community.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So that goes well, that goes back to the referendum
on Trump.
Speaker 7 (21:42):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Gracias fernandoahe yes, And in fact, Fernando's not alone because
according to the exit polls, they're they're half of the voters.
According to ABC News, half of the voters today are
angry about the direction that the country is going in,
but specifically here in California, a majority of these voters
(22:05):
say the economy is the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Only two less than two and ten.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Voters said immigration is the most important topic, and more
than six and ten of voters in California said the
Trump administration's action on immigration enforcement have gone too far,
and the same number say the governor should not cooperate
with the federal government on immigration enforcement, and another six
and ten say they are opposed to the President sending
(22:31):
the National Guard into major cities in California.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
California is not like other.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
States, so I guess look for Newsome and California to
double down on this messaging going forward. This is exactly
why you saw the number of voters come out today
because they were drawn by the allure of quote sticking
it to President Trump. They're angry about a lot of things,
and this was the only thing on the ballot where
they could express it. Final question and then we got
(22:56):
to bounce and have things over to George Norri Michael.
Will this have an effect on the government shutdown? Does
the GOP say, ooh, we are unpopular right now. We
have to we have to move things along so we
can take some credit. It's very strange to watch punitry
on this because it seems like there's enough evidence to
support either party being unpopular right now, and maybe neither
(23:20):
party has leverage.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Both parties have leverage.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I think what you're going to see that's more important
than any type of messaging is the fact that people
are going to start being very, very hungry because their
grocery money was not distributed and won't be distributed on time,
even if they get this thing fixed. This is the
straw I think that broke the government shutdowns. Back is
the EBT situation. All right, He's Michael Monks. I'm Chris Meryl.
(23:44):
Thank you for joining us this evening for our KFI
special election night coverage. I'm back again tomorrow night. Look
forward to talking to you. Then we'll get more of
your talkbacks as well. Tomorrow evening. The Great George, Norway
Coast to coast is next KFI AM six forty live
everywhere in the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (23:58):
App, KFIM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM sixty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I can even thing.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Thank you so much for being a part of our
ongoing special election night coverage. Hear on KFI. I'm Chris Merrill,
Michael Monks in the padded room as well. Before we
went to news there, I made the recommendation to stay
Senator Tony Strickland, I said, would you support a national
redistricting that is similar to to California's well now former
redistricting non bar a nonpartisan redistricting panel or bipartisan redistricting
(00:34):
panel And he said, I mean.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
He jumped on it.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
I think there's the fastest I've ever had a politician
answer a question for me. He said, yes, absolutely, but
you know it's not gonna happen, and there's there's good
and bad reason for it. The first reason is that
elections are left up to the states, and that's very clear.
The Constitution basically says it's up to the states, which
(00:58):
is why when Donald Trump was accusing California of doing
something unconstitutional.
Speaker 5 (01:03):
Earlier today, President Trump posted on truth Social that California's
redistricting vote is unconstitutional and a giant scam. He also
signaled that mail in ballots are under legal and criminal review.
On X, Governor Gavin Knewsom responded and called the post
quote the ramblings of an old man that knows he's
about to lose.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Certainly not unconstitutional, and I don't know what his justification
was other than he was trying to lash out and
say California is screwing you over America, and they're bypassing
the constitution. It's not We're allowed to make our own
election decisions. That's why we came up with the Redistricting
Council in the first place. Otherwise we would have been
operating outside the bounds of the Constitution for the first
(01:45):
two hundred change years.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Right.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So, first, we're not gonna have a national redistricting commission because.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Everything's left up to the states.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
The other is you could bypass that by passing a
constitutional amendment that won't have up and because the politicians
are involved, and the politicians certainly are not going to
do anything unless it's in their own best interest, not
in the best interest of the American people, or at
the will necessarily of the American people. And I don't
see America shifting back toward more moderate and centrist politicians
(02:17):
in the near future, especially considering that we've got the
jerrymandering going on which rewards more partisanship.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Michael, amongst your thoughts on my brilliant assessment.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, I think, like I was saying, I think people
would vote in favor of ending jerrymandering to get I
don't think there's ever a scenario where you will draw
districts that get one hundred percent unanimous praise for their fairness,
but you could certainly get sixty percent plus on board
to say, yeah, those maps look reasonable. We might not
(02:50):
like who gets elected there, but that makes sense why
that map was drawn the way it was. But you're right, Constitutionally,
a national redistricting commission just doesn't work legally, but every
state should probably consider having a sensible redistricting mechanism. You
look at some districts, whether it's Democrat controlled or Republican controlled,
(03:12):
they do this. They just do this, and it's not
just for their congressional seats, it's for their state legislative
maps as well. They are absurdly drawn, and they are
drawn solely to benefit a politician and not the people
who live and work inside that district. If you put
it to the voters. I think every time it wins,
is there an end around on the constitutional requirement? In
(03:35):
the same way that we've.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Seen this push state by state for the national popular vote, right,
and you have states that say, Okay, we are going
to sign on to the national popular vote, and we
are going to say if so and so wins the
popular vote, that we are going to shift our electoral
votes in that direction, and rather than trying to do
(03:56):
it with a constitutional amendment, they're basically going state by star.
Is there the will and a granted this would take
no joke decades, but is there the will to have
citizen led initiatives in each state to come up with
bipartisan redistricting commission?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Is that an end around that's plausible.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I'm wondering if this race to the bottom that we're
seeing right now with the redistricting and the gerrymandering wars
that are sweeping the country, if this is not going
to be the final slap in the face where enough
of the electorate looks around and say it's all gotten
out of hand. The rhetoric has gotten out of hand,
the lack of a serious policy has gotten out of hand,
(04:34):
the behavior of politicians in public has gotten out of hand.
The language used on the floor of Congress out of hand.
And frankly, what we are going through right now with
the unseeriousness in the approach to drawing legislative and congressional
maps has gotten out of hand. But you just heard
from Governor Newsom victorious today saying in his victory speech,
(04:58):
Hello Illinois, Hello New York, Hello Maryland, these other Democratic
led states, we need you to get on board right
now with this movement in order to make Hakeem Jeffrey
Speaker of the House next year. And he's asking for
those Democratic controlled states to get in line and do
(05:19):
what California has just done, because Republican states are lining up.
Ohio has just released its new maps that were not
needed right now, but that's going to pick up a
couple of Republican seats ideally for them for what they've drawn. Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska,
they're all looking at redrawing their districts in favor of Republicans.
(05:43):
Democrats are in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Virginia.
I mean, this is almost like a cold civil war.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I agree with you, but Michael, I'm a bit of
a pessimist and a preface everything I'm saying with that, I.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Don't think Americans care. I think that we care. We're
in the news media. We care. I think that that
wonks care. But I think if two things working against you.
Most of the country is apathetic, and the other is
it's not the economy.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The economy is what drives people.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And the other thing, too is if I'm in if
I'm a legislator in Texas, I'm not gonna allow anybody
to usurp my authority to make sure that my party
stays in control. If I'm a legislator in Kansas, I'm
not gonna let the Democrats in a couple of college
towns in Kansas usurp my control by trying to say
we need a bipartisan redistricting committee. I believe, I believe
(06:45):
that the suggestion is very reasonable and very popular and
also never going to go anywhere because the obstacles are
too ingrained in the system that I believe to be flawed.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's the it's the sportsification of politics that we've seen
right now. You know the way that people just blindly
worship their team and hate the rival in a way
that's completely unreasonable. The way grown men behave while watching
other grown men play sports is something I've never quite understood.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I'm a.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Sports fan, but I don't worship a team. And the
way that folks have ingrained themselves into a political party,
the way they would the Chargers or the Rams, or
the Dodgers or the Angels, it's something that we've never
really seen before in history, the way the average person
is now part of a political machine. And that's why
(07:35):
you're seeing what you're seeing right now, because these folks
today lined up to vote again not for California voters,
but for National Democratic Party policies that they want to
see and acted in the halls of Congress.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
That's what motivated this.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
You heard the governor say, unprecedented turnout in a special
election year. That takes some sort of loyalty to a
team that really never existed.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
No, not at this level and certainly not at the stakes. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I mean, there's one thing if your team loses. It's
another thing if you feel like there's an existential threat
if the other guy wins elections. Boy, you nailed that one.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Boy, we talk about messaging, We've talked about messaging a
few times tonight, whether that was messaging against Donald Trump
or Donald Trump who's trying to pass his messaging along about,
for instance, California is being unconstitutional in it. There were
certainly some messages that missed the mark. You'll find out
what those are as we continue with our KFI special
election night coverage.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
He's Michael Monks.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
I'm Chris Merril's KIM six forty live everywhere in the
iHeartRadio app. Hey there, I'm Chris Merril. He's Michael Monks.
KFI special election night coverage. Prop fifty passes pretty handily.
Democrats win in Virginia, in New Jersey, and no surprise,
they win in New York City. The surprise, I think,
is that we have someone who is a self avowed
(08:57):
democratic socialist. That is a but it's a term that
really hasn't Maybe in certain pockets has carried a little cachet,
but I think nationally it's been toxic until recently. And
I don't know if you saw the survey here of
late that socialism the word itself, not necessarily the practice,
but the word socialism is more appealing to gen Z
(09:18):
than the word capitalism and I think that's a I
think that's a really interesting shift in the American psyche.
They don't necessarily agree with socialistic complete socialistic actions, but
they do say, look, we got to do something about healthcare,
we've got to do something about student loan deb we've
(09:38):
got to do something about rent being too high. In fact,
what I think there's probably some agreement too across the
Aisle Michael. We had people calling this evening who were
very upset about the cost of living in California, and
they say, it's ridiculous, and it's these policies. And I
think that's one thing that the Democratic Socialists and the
Republicans probably have in common. They say, we don't like
(09:59):
the and they're leading to they're leading to more expensive conditions.
The problem, of course, is they want to go in
different directions to solve that. That's where the division comes, right,
That's right, and Democratic Socialists certainly have some power in
Los Angeles. They've got four members on the Los Angeles
City Council who are either avowed members or at least
(10:21):
close supporters with the DSA. Four out of fifteen members
of the LA City Council are closely aligned with the
Democratic Socialists of America. The city controller is an avowed
member of the Democratic Socialist I bet here in LA
where we have a mayor's race next year, you're gonna
have a lot of leftists and there are a lot
of vocal active leftists and politics in Los Angeles who
(10:44):
are going to wonder, where's our mom, Donnie? Because that's
not Mayor Bass, and that's not mister Buttner who's running
against her. So far, it wouldn't be Rick Caruso if
he jumps in the race either, You're going to have
calls for where's our mom, Donnie? In Los Angeles when
really you already have some policies that are enacted here,
maybe to blame for some of the costs that are
(11:06):
more closely aligned to democratic socialism than they are to capitalism.
But to the point of gen Z aligning with socialism,
it's because they feel like a safety net has been
yanked out from under them. And boomers who may say
we don't like socialism at all or living very comfortably
because of some form of it, they're collecting Medicare and
social security and.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Those sorts of things. So regardless of what you call it,
that's what it is. It is we have a capitalist
and socialist economy in America and we have.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
For a very long time.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
That is an interesting point that you make, and one
I guess, are we going to let the political wonks
argue over because you know they're just going to argue
over the.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Terminology. It's going to be a game of semantics as
much as it's going to be anything else. I think
we did have a conversation about messaging when it came
to Prop fifty, and it seemed that Gavin Newso positioned
Prop fifty as the wall against Donald Trump and his
takeover of Congress. Midterm elections tend to go to the
(12:11):
party that is not in the White House. That's pretty
I mean, at this point you can almost call it
tradition in America. We vote for the minority party in
the midterm election, and he's trying to put up a
wall to try to stop that. The president is That's
why Texas looks at redistricting, and then of course California
responds to that. The messaging by Gavin Newsom seemed to
(12:35):
be very effective. The messaging by the No campaign that
was not very effective. Not only was it ineffective, as
demonstrated by the votes. It wasn't as present. You did
not have a lot of messaging from the No campaign.
They did not have anywhere near as much money. In fact,
I saw some research that I want to share. It's
(12:57):
from David Bender Research, The Value You waited a group
of advertisements related to Prop fifty. In fact, most of
the ads they even had to look at were in
support of it. But some of them, like the League
of Women Voters, this was an organization a non part
is an organization that opposed this. You know, they supported
the Independent Redistricting Commission and stuck to their guns on
(13:20):
that and said let's not do this. But this research group,
David Bender Research, looked at several campaign ads for or
against Prop fifty and asked respondents to say, does this
ad make you more likely to vote for Prop fifty
or does it make you less likely to vote for it.
I want to play an ad that Governor Knewsom put out,
(13:42):
and then I'll let you guess how voters might have
felt about it.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Take a listen.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
When Donald Trump and Texas Republicans don't fight fair, Californians
need to stop fighting with both hands tied behind our backs.
We can't sit by while they steal congressional seats, rig
the next election, and silence our voices. Prop fifty the
Election Rigging Response Act We Can Stop Trump COLT. Prop
fifty gives voters the power, preserves independent redistricting, and offers
(14:09):
all Americans a fair midterm election for democracy.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
In all fifty states, Yes on fifty.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
So, according to the research, seventy six percent of respondent
said that made them more likely to vote yes for
Prop fifty. Only twenty two percent said it made them
less likely to vote. And I thought a couple of
things were happening there. One you mentioned Trump. This is
a way to fight Trump. And two, by the way,
this is just temporary. We're going to bring that Independent
Redistricting Commission back. This is just a temporary fight. So
(14:37):
it was strategically very compelling an ad for the League
of Women voters whish opposed Prop fifty, and they're you know,
they tend to put on events and forums and try
to get people out into the polls to vote. Their
ad was pretty much a wash, forty eight percent more
likely to vote yes, forty nine percent less likely to
vote yes.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But another pro Prop fifty.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Ad was the worst reviewed, and it came from Tom Steyer,
a billionaire ran for president in twenty twenty and probably
wants to run for something else again. Listen to this, Okay,
hold on, I'm getting trumping car breaking newties out of
California tonight.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
The results are in and voters have just passed Prop fifty.
Speaker 7 (15:18):
What this is a major leary Donald thomps having onto
power earlier.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Stop the toury.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
List because of you.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
This is the house, Carl.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
Did this Trump investigator even release Capstein files.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
You want to stick it to Trump for vote yes
on Prop fifty.
Speaker 9 (15:35):
I hate California.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So this had similar messaging to what Governor Newsom did
in that first ad that won the most praise from
respondents in this survey, But it featured a parody image
of President Trump crushing things, throwing things in a fake
oval office, and this was by Tom Steyer. People who
watched this, forty one percent said it made them more
(16:01):
likely to vote yes. Fifty three percent set that made
them less likely. This actually changed people's mind to vote no.
In fact, tom Steyer put out a second ad and
it was the second worst reviewed.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So this is not a.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Guy who should be doing any messaging for the Democrats
in the future.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, and I have that. It's even worse on radio.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
You know, you don't have any imagery, right, I mean,
it's just like, I mean, I get what they were
going for, but it was almost painful to listen to
interesting that Gavin Newsom. It's almost like you have to
know whish audience is. Where on Twitter, Governor Newsom will
behave a little more childishly the way President Trump will
(16:45):
also behave on social media. Whereas this broad messaging about
voting yes on Prop fifty, he looked as professional as
you could and stuck to the message. Tom Steyer went
off script here and tried to be childish with that ad,
and it was not well received. We've got a little
more of your feedback too, from our talkbacks, your thoughts here.
(17:07):
As Prop fifty passes pretty overwhelmingly in California, we'll get
final thoughts on that in just a few moments, including yours.
It is our continuing coverage KFI special election night coverage.
He's Michael Monks, I'm Chris Merril. It's KFI AM six
forty live everywhere in the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Good evening KFI special election night coverage with Monks and Merrill.
He's Michael Monks, I'm Chris Merril. Thank you so much
for spending your evenings with us.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Michael.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
A number of listeners did have thoughts, and I wanted
to be able to make sure that we got the
diverse viewpoint of the KFI listeners across as well, if
you will indulge me. Off we go from our KFI talkbacks.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Hey you two, Hey, excellent show tonight. You hear that
I heard? All right?
Speaker 9 (17:57):
You know what, man, this is fine fish out here.
You're getting ready to go home from the airport. I
have a hard time with Gavin Newsomb. Man, it's just corruption, man.
And uh, California is for the birds, man, I love this.
I'm born and raised in La Man, but California is
(18:19):
just off the hook.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, and Gavin Newsom is head corruption.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
All right, Newsome corrupt California off the hook. You know,
when I was growing up, being off the chain used
to be great. But evidently off the hook is bad.
Off the I think it goes either way. It's it's
all about the context and delivery.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Oh all right, very good.
Speaker 7 (18:38):
Hey, this is Jason from Santa By Springs. Hey, Jason,
I think it's pretty sad that we have a lot
of veterans who have served this country and they're homeless.
They're not getting the mental help that they need, and
here we are bickering over redistricting because the governor and
(19:00):
Donald Trump want to act like a bunch of little kids.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah, I think that goes to your point, Michael, about
how frustrated the American people are and at some point don't.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
We get fatigued with at some point? I hope.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
I think there are a few of us who hope
maybe there's a silent majority of adults out there who
are tired of these games.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 10 (19:22):
If this proposition fifty is costing two hundred and fifty
million dollars to put it up for the vote, and
the Democrats are the ones wanting and voting for it,
then I believe we should send the bill for though
(19:44):
Democrats to pay for it.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
How many propositions would ever get past if we build
the people who voted in.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Favor of the proposition?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, or at least the you know, the attorney's fees
and a lot lawsuit, right, like Yeah, the organization or
whoever led the signature drive to get something on the ballot.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah. Interesting.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Can you imagine if if it were like, oh, we'd
like to have I don't know, we want to have
open carry laws, but if you vote for it, it's
going to cost you. Yeah, right, might make you, so
to speak, pull the trigger a little less urgently.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Right. What about like the Gavin Newsom recalls?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Exactly do you build people that say, well, I want
to recalled.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Hey, christ and Michael's great job tonight. You hear that?
I heard. I know.
Speaker 8 (20:34):
There wasn't much to talk about. It was an ass
whipping by the Democrats the night. Totally predictable, by the way.
But you keep leaving me at one thing in your
analysis of the politics here the Epstein files. There's a
whole lot of Republicans magas Q andons that are really
pissed off, even Charlie Kirk about them not releasing the
Epstein files. Okay, so that is a big deal, and
(20:57):
you guys just ignore that.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Failing failing somehow we're doing a great job, but also failing.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
The bar is low and I'm happy to exceed it.
The the dichotomy of man I think.
Speaker 11 (21:12):
Youdeeded heyris Michael Monks. Okay, well, look, I haven't heard
any of you guys say said this. In my family
and all the people I know, we all voted for Trump,
most of us did. But now we most of us
voted for Prop fifty. While interesting, we want to control
out the border, but that doesn't mean that we're okay
(21:35):
for Trump and Ice beating down the Latino community.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So that goes well, that goes back to the referendum
on Trump.
Speaker 7 (21:42):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Gracias fernandoahe yes, And in fact, Fernando's not alone because
according to the exit polls, they're they're half of the voters.
According to ABC News, half of the voters today are
angry about the direction that the country is going in,
but specifically here in California, a majority of these voters
(22:05):
say the economy is the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Only two less than two and ten.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Voters said immigration is the most important topic, and more
than six and ten of voters in California said the
Trump administration's action on immigration enforcement have gone too far,
and the same number say the governor should not cooperate
with the federal government on immigration enforcement, and another six
and ten say they are opposed to the President sending
(22:31):
the National Guard into major cities in California.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
California is not like other.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
States, so I guess look for Newsome and California to
double down on this messaging going forward. This is exactly
why you saw the number of voters come out today
because they were drawn by the allure of quote sticking
it to President Trump. They're angry about a lot of things,
and this was the only thing on the ballot where
they could express it. Final question and then we got
(22:56):
to bounce and have things over to George Norri Michael.
Will this have an effect on the government shutdown? Does
the GOP say, ooh, we are unpopular right now. We
have to we have to move things along so we
can take some credit. It's very strange to watch punitry
on this because it seems like there's enough evidence to
support either party being unpopular right now, and maybe neither
(23:20):
party has leverage.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Both parties have leverage.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I think what you're going to see that's more important
than any type of messaging is the fact that people
are going to start being very, very hungry because their
grocery money was not distributed and won't be distributed on time,
even if they get this thing fixed. This is the
straw I think that broke the government shutdowns. Back is
the EBT situation. All right, He's Michael Monks. I'm Chris Meryl.
(23:44):
Thank you for joining us this evening for our KFI
special election night coverage. I'm back again tomorrow night. Look
forward to talking to you. Then we'll get more of
your talkbacks as well. Tomorrow evening. The Great George, Norway
Coast to coast is next KFI AM six forty live
everywhere in the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (23:58):
App, KFIM six forty on demand
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!