2022 and the Upcoming Midterms

On today’s podcast, Chris Stirewalt fills in for Steve and Sarah and has a discussion ...

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On today’s podcast, Chris Stirewalt fills in for Steve and Sarah and has a discussion with Josh Kraushaar of National Journal. They talk about the teacher strike in Chicago, which leads to a broader discussion of Biden and the Democratic Party’s unwillingness to challenge the extremes of the party. Plus, they discuss the upcoming midterms and the projected Republican landslide that could be the party’s largest majority since the 1920s.

Show Notes:

–Josh’s Interview with Jared Polis

–Josh’s article about Democrats/Joe Biden pandering to extremes of the party

–Poll on how two-thirds of Republicans believe the election was stolen

–David Shor on how the progressives have “hijacked” the Democratic Party

–Josh’s podcast Against the Grain

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Comments (9)
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  1. DRHanson

    Very good point about how Schumer and some others are acting like they are deathly afraid of losing a primary even though they should be in very good shape. That seems to be the case in my state, where Senator Grassley should have no real problem flicking away anybody who tries to challenge him in a primary, yet seems to be acting like he has a serious need to guard his right flank.

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  2. DRHanson

    Excellent discussion. However, I'm not sure I agree with Chris' assumption that GOP winners in swing House seats in 2022 will tend to be more moderate than the winners in noncompetitive districts. It is probably true that the median voters in swing districts are likely to be more moderate than the median voters in noncompetitive districts, and if party leaders could control the nominating process they would be more likely to nominate candidates who could appeal to the less extreme voters near the center. But in today's GOP the median primary voter is still likely to be far from the center of the general election electorate and party leaders in most states have little power to limit the primary field, incentivizing primary candidates to run hard to the extreme right to get the nomination. I live in a very competitive swing district (currently rated "tossup" by Cook Political Report) that has a lot of middle of the road voters, but any GOP candidate hoping to make it past the primary still has to run as a right wing Trump acolyte in the primary.

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    Ben Connelly

    Excellent interview. I’ll have to follow Josh on Twitter now that I caved and got an account. Always glad to hear Jonah - haha I mean Chris - fill in on this podcast.

    (I’m kidding. I do NOT have trouble confusing Chris’s voice with Jonah’s anymore.)

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    Alicia

    after the discussion on Chicago Public Schools, i was left wondering how involved Biden really should be in CPS/teachers union debacle. isn't that a hyper local issue? but i suppose, as dems, it is their job to get involved that sort of issue. nvm...i get it now. 🥲

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      Ben Connelly

      I think it’s just low hanging fruit for a way to show that he’s independent from the progressive wing of the party. I’m in agreement with you that it’s a local issue and the president of the United States is not in charge of Chicago schools.

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    MarqueG68

    Lovely. Too bad Chris rejects the comments, because I wanted to praise him for this as well as the latest Ink-Stained Elis podcast featuring DJ Ben Smith. I have to say, the Stirewalt/Johnson combo makes me laugh out loud more than any other podcast product I frequent!

    But he doesn't read the comments, so he'll never know. :-(

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    Adicesa14

    My long-term personal ‘proverb’ regarding the political parties was Republicans should be reformed, and Democrats should be extinct. Donald Trump, particularly post 2020 election, pushed the Republican reformation toward extinction, and Senators Manchin and Sinema, particularly in the past year, pushed the Democratic extinction toward reformation. This podcast confirmed my angst but commenced my renaissance. The nation’s political problems lie with the crazies. So now, progressives and Trump should be extinct, then the parties will not require reformation.

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    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    I wish Ms. Isgur HAD been on this podcast just to hear her counter-take, if any, on the "70% of Republicans" assertion by Mr. Kraushaar (21:00).

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  8. Pawpaw

    Glad sleet nor snow kept you away! Encouraging to hear thoughtful, dispassionate analysis. Both glad and sad to hear that the left also has crazies appealing to the fringes, active in Senate races.

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