Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you frustrated that Chuck Schumer has not made a
demand that this stop as a condition of opening the government.
It's been about the healthcare subsidies that in the end
will put a herd on the Trump voter. That's the
fault of Donald Trump. And just to be cold eyed
(00:21):
about it, explain to me why the Democratic leadership isn't
extending a bailout of sorts right for consequences, right that
will go down on Donald Trump's watch and will refute
the nonsense of his rhetoric. Yeah, when everyone gets that
(00:47):
in the United States, we don't have mask agents running
around and we're prepared to keep the government closed until
you cease the militarization of the cities and the out
of control federal thuggery.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Why isn't that the line that's been drawn as opposed
to something that in the end impacts a lot of
people in Mike Johnson's district. And I wish maybe there's
a better way to get their attention, but no one
in the Democratic Party thus far has come up with one.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So I'm always frustrated with everything that happens in Washington.
I say that upfront, but I think on the shutdown.
They've done a better job than I've seen them doing
a long time. I've be saying it's like BB plus.
And I think that making it about the healthcare subsidies
was right, was the right framing. It was simple enough
for the American people to understand. I think the more
stuff that you try to add to it, the harder
(01:44):
it gets for people to conceive what Democrats are talking about.
Because remember when this started, there were three things Democrats.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Wanted in this negotiation.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
They wanted one handback on the wheel on tariffs because
people were getting screwed with everything getting more expensive. They
wanted to reverse some of the worst cuts in the
Republican budget, like the custom Medicare and Medicaid, the cuts
to snap, cuts to school lunches, that cuts to a
community policing because they cut two billion dollars for community
policing in the budget, and then this They decided to
focus on this, which I actually think was pretty smart
(02:11):
because now to the average person who is not paying
attention to the way that you and I and the
fourteen hundred people watching this are, all they know is
what Democrats are fighting for.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Oh, my health insurance premiums are going to double or triple.
And if you ask people right now, they go, do
you want the government back open? Yeah? Who do you
think is responsible?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And most people will go everybody, but they'll go, I
don't want the government to reopen if it means that
my healthcare premiums are going to double a triple. So
now in this country, in the rest of the year
and a half that we have anything that happens on
healthcare is owned by the Republicans. And in my opinion,
they have misplayed this because they thought Democrats were going
to fold immediately, and now Democrats are not gonna fall.
That would argue that the Democrats are more hardened today than
(02:44):
they were when the government shut down, because the American
people are with us now.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Again, nobody looks good in a shutdown.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
But I think if you tacked ice onto that, and
I say, this is somebody in Chicago, like I'm in Chicago,
I'm fucking sick of this. I spent if you read
any of my pieces from last week, I spent all day,
all afternoon Friday policing the school that I'm on the
school council.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Love.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I chased off an ice car.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I had to watch all these kids who were like
run into the school auditorium because people were worried that
ice was about to show up. There's a ton of
chaos here and there's a lot of people getting hurt.
So I want this situation in Chicago to end. But
I think strategically it is not the issue that is
most salient to most people because it isn't impacting their lives.
Like a lot of people don't know and understand or
able to conceptualize what's happening in Chicago or what's happening
(03:25):
in Portland.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
What they know about it. They don't like it, but
they can conceptualize.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I can't put food on the table, I can't pay
my healthcare premiums, I can't pay my bills, I can't
buy a house. So anytime we're talking about that, especially
on healthcare, I think we're in a better spot. And
it gets the conversation back to the Republican budget, where
millions of people are gonna lose their healthcare too.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Because the Republican budget.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So I understand that strategically, I understand where Chuck and
a chem have come down on that, and I do
think it's work.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Would Democrats be in a stronger position to win House seeds.
If those premiums go up, life happened John Donald Trump
and the MAGA Congresses.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Watch maybe but I but I don't know that people
would blame the Republicans for it. I mean, obviously they're
the party in power, so they get blamed for stuff.
Like again, I've made this argument, Like when I was
on CNN the other night, I made this argument, like
I think Chuck and Akim are doing the Republicans a
favor because they should want to renew these subsidies. But
if the way that it's framed is Democrats are the
ones who saved your healthcare premiums from doubling or tripling,
(04:27):
I think there's a lot of value to that because
if you ask people what does the Democratic Party stand for?
Can they get anything done? And how are they gonna
help me? They can't answer that question. Almost universally, people
will say Democrats are fighting for someone else, they're not
fighting for me. And now we'll be able to go,
we stopped your healthcare premiums from doubling or tripling. And
I'm okay with that relative to the moment, I'm also
just okay with any big major w right now.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
For the Party because it's been a while since we've
had one.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I think we just kind of have to acknowledge like
there's really no good options at politics right now. Democrats
are out of power, They're limited in what they can do.
It's very hard to get a win. That's why newsome
making fun of JD. Vance and Donald Trump very effectively
on the Internet. Feels like a win. It's not a win,
but it feels like one because we're so far out
of power. It's probably kind of like what big tea
party rallies felt like, you know, twenty years ago under
(05:12):
Barack Obama's like you're out of power, you're not getting
what you want. The Republicans can't do anything after eight
years of dominance and they're upset. So those tea party
rallies feel really good until you can win again and
get one hand back on the wheel.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Let's talk about two Democratic races, both in the northeast.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Virginia, New Jersey, Harkington.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
The Washington frame is hallelujah. We got a seventy nine
year old old lady to get into the main governor's race,
Chuck Schumer's hand pick candidate. And then in Massachusetts sept Moulton,
combat veteran United States Marine officer said something I'm in
(05:58):
violent agreement with that that that God I just totally
blanked on on his name. Uh ed Markey ed Marquis
at age eighty should not run for reelection and continue
his senatorial service to eighty six. And what I have
(06:21):
said about people that will criticize me on these things
is I talked about Biden, and I've talked about it
after the election, and you have the screams and cries
of move on. My point has been having predicted what
happened in twenty twenty two, every element of it, and
(06:45):
and it's wrought this disaster that the Republic is in.
Right is a is a fruit of the failure of
the of the Democratic Party, and specifically of of biding
to confront some basic realities. But all of that is
(07:05):
not to beat the shit out of people over events
that can't be undone, rather as a warning regarding the
next events ahead of us. And to me, the idea
(07:27):
that there's an industry, a political industrial complex, and you
have a leadership of a Democratic Party, that's oh good.
We got to savior candidate in Maine.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
She's seventy nine the incumbent senator the Committee, Ed Markey.
He's eighty years old, and this is a party with
a twenty five percent approval level.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
So the coin on the table, so to speak, our
bet on the more he's done a party with twenty
five percent approval, we'll get the credit for saving the
healthcare in a debate against an unpopular fascist though who
(08:15):
is more popular by them by eighteen points or so.
So it's a big bet, right when you look at
the unpopularity of the party, and when you look at
Chuck Schumer and his stranglehold in the tyranny of the
eighty year olds in this party.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It makes me crazy. Hey, how do you feel about it?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, so it's tough, and I'm gonna walk, Like, give
me a second on walking through all I feel because
I have nuanced take on this, which is like, so
I love Janet Mills and I love Ed Marky, both
of them as public servants.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I think they're very good effect to public servants.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I am the same concern that everybody else has, and
I think I broad in this view out a little
bit more because I do think to the extent that
there is a quote unquote Washington establishment. I had this
conversation Nexwell Frost on my show the other day. I
don't think there actually is one. I think it's cord
of a misnomer. But let the people decide, is where
I've landed on this stuff. Okay, Like a faction of
(09:11):
the party thinks that this is the best possible candidate
to win this race. Another faction thinks this is the
best possible candidate. Let them fight, And I think that's good.
Primaries are good, and I think Democrats have gotten too
afraid of getting into primaries. Like, I'm not involved in
either the main or the Massachusetts race. I'm probably not
gonna get involved in either one of them, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
But like, I am involved in the Michigan Centate race.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Right, And you've got Mallory mcmarr, who I think, in
my opinion, is the best candidate the Democrats have produced
in this election cycle. She is an absolute all star.
I've had her on the show, I talk about her
all the time. I think she's fucking amazing. The other
person I didn't want her? They Yeah, the DFCC told
her not to run. That's public knowledge. They want Hailey Stevens. Like,
(09:52):
I don't think that Haley is the right candidate for
the Democrats to run for a million reasons, and I
could spend an hour talking about that.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
But like, she is great and we should be getting
behind her. But here's the thing. Mallory has to go
win that primary.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And if Mallory wins that primary, she will get an
opportunity to win the general and she will become one
of the future leaders of the Democratic Party.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Same with that Duel.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
If you like Abduel, if he's your flavor of Democrat, great,
go work for him, go help him.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
I got no problem with that. So let the people decide.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And I think if you go back to the mistakes
of the past that haunt the Democratic Party, the two
times we lost to Donald Trump were not times when
we had full, vibrant, messy Democratic primaries for the nominee
like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders got into a giant,
big ass fight. And I was on Bernie's team, and
that I love Bernie Sanders to death. That was proud
to be a part of that. But imagine how much
better position we would have been in if there had
(10:37):
been eight or ten quality candidates who ran in that race,
Because that's what we had four years later and we won.
And it's not what we had in twenty twenty three
because Joe Biden pushed everybody out and decided to run again,
and nobody stood up to him. Because the frankly, the
primary process and that election was rigged. It wasn't rigging
in twenty sixteen. I'm sorry that to anybody who says that.
But we should have big, messy primaries, let people decide,
and if your wing of the party doesn't win, that's okay.
(10:59):
We'll all get back on the same boat here, Like
people in the comments.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Are talking about Mom Donnie, and you know, I get.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
This question from reporters all the time, is are we
going to have a million Zoran Mondanni's the Democratic Party limic.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
No, we're not. It's very specific.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
He's a great candidate and a very particular race running
against Cuomo is like the worst fucking candidate I've ever
seen in my life. And you know, so you're not
going to recreate those conditions. But we should all be
getting behind Zorn, even if you disagree with parts of
Zorn's agenda, because he won the primary. Because we're part
of the same party and when an establishment moderate candidate
wins if you're a progressive, you line up behind that
(11:34):
person you are. It's more important that we win this
race with the Democrat. That's what's right for the party,
that's what's right for the city, and that's what we
should be doing.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So I just think it's like primaries are good. Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
If the establishment had gotten its way, Cuomo is the
candidate in New York City right now. If the establishment
had gotten their way, Hillary Clinton would have been the
nominee in two thousand and eight, not Barack Obama. And
you know this, I would argue Barack Obama was a
much better candidate to run against John McCain in two
thousand and eight given everything that happened. And I think
time has proven that out let people decide.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
And I'm Steve Schmidt. This is the warning. I invite
you to join this community where I promise to be honest,
blunt and direct about what is happening in this country.
America is in crisis. Follow and subscribe to this channel
and on substack. Thank you.