Here's what's next for Americans and the Republican party after historic blue wave

So obviously for Republicans, there is going to be a huge postmortem, just like we saw with the Democratic Party two years ago. And it's certainly remarkable to see how quickly Democrats fortunes have changed. And I think anything can happen very quickly in this political landscape. And I think we could be looking at a similar scenario in 2028 where Republicans potentially keep the presidency. I think One of the big issues, obviously, for anybody who wins is to think that you have a mandate and to think that you have basically the exclusive ability to enact your agenda without any reaction to the polls or feedback that you're getting in real time. And so I think there are a lot of things that Trump did like the tariff agenda and rather than see, OK, markets are taking people really don't like this favorability is going down rather than take that into account and maybe recalibrate. There was just this emphasis on continuing to go down that road. So it's going to be interesting to see. This is certainly going to be sort of a mea culpa, I think, for Republicans as they evaluate how to proceed, which is helpful. And it's going to be interesting to see if Democrats take this as their mandate. And go back to either woke one or move on to woke 2.0 and it's it's going to be interesting I think some Republicans I've already spoken to say okay well this is this is great because in the next two years, Democrats will demonstrate to voters, why they are so insane, they'll be obsessed with impeachment, bring back some of the really woke social issues, and that could sort of wake up voters that okay yeah Republicans have a lot of issues. But remember how insane Democrats are. Sure, I think it's also an interesting question what exactly the mandate is that voters handed Democrats in this cycle because you have a whole host of different kinds of Democrats that have won. It was not a clean sweep of the DSA, Abdul Al-Sayed types. There were some more moderates like, you know, James Tallarico who at least tried to tack much more to the center since his previous statements that were more controversial. And I think that it would be a mistake for the Democrats to assume that this means that we want more Mamdani-style politics in America or that the DSA is ascendant. And at least in my read, this is a move towards or a plea for moderation from the American people who seem to be, in the past few election cycles, more reacting against those in power than voting for something wholeheartedly. And I mean, I think that there's a danger that the Democrats overplay their hand and they become a more extreme end of their party. And in my view, the more measured approach would be to see this as a mandate that, you know, the American people just don't want one party in power and they want checks and balances. And that would be the more responsible way to lead going forward. But Lydia, do you see this as kind of invitation for the DSA to rise further or become more bold? I think they'll absolutely take it as such. But I disagree. I think Tallarico was somebody who was extremely radical, if you hear some of the statements he made. just a few years ago, um, you know, obviously about not being, but he has tried to talk to the center and right, right. But I, but I think they're going to point to that and say, okay, it doesn't matter what I've done before. If I, if I distance myself, right. Even the way that we're seeing AOC say on, on these morning shows now that woke one was crazy. That's not what I'm doing anymore. I think, I think they feel like this is creating sort of a permission structure for them to have done anything. And, and as long as they're pivoting, as long as they're messaging, A little bit differently, thinking that they can get away with it. So, you know, there were obviously some moderate candidates, but there were also really far left candidates. One, I think Texas people feel like, you know, some folks are saying Texas has fallen, Texas has fallen. And what does this mean if Texas has gone blue? Can Republicans actually win potentially in 2020? If you have some of these really important states that are now shifting dramatically, I mean, a Republican I don't think could ever win again if Texas is blue in 2028. So the jury's out. I do think you're absolutely right that this is clearly a reaction to Trump. And, you know, I heard somebody say. Trump kept saying, vote like I'm on the ballot, and people did. And that is reflected, obviously, in a lot of these races. And so I do think there's a sense in which people are frustrated trying to send a message. And look, I mean, this is kind of what Democrats fell into where they weren't paying attention to cost of living, they weren't paying attention to the economy. And I think there's so much more nuance here. Obviously, I think I think there's definitely a valid argument for the Iranian war, but that was not messaged to the American people. So all they know is they go to the gas pump and they realize, oh, shoot, it cost this much to fill up my tank. So I think people were facing the consequences of a lot of these policies, and they weren't being told why they were facing those consequences. I also think Republicans. Failed to really point out the fact that Democratic policies were a failure, because this is this is going to be the problem for Democrats is it's easy when you are trying to win to point to the incumbent and say, look, look at look at gas prices. This is terrible. Vote for me. But the reality is they don't really have any real solutions that they can offer beyond just by saying, you know, Trump, that orange man, that that's what they Currently have to offer even, you know, we covered this Kathy Hochul on her campaign website really didn't have any great details about what she's going to be offering folks the next four years. So I don't think that they're going to offer any great solution. You're talking about gas prices. Republicans actually have really tried to. They wanted the Keystone Pipeline. They wanted all these things to allow more energy production here in the US domestically. So I think Republican policies always do lead to more affordability. I mean, we see this is the beauty of federalism. People can go to the states that have the best policies. And that's why we're seeing typically people leave blue states like New York and California and go to more affordable states like Texas and Florida. So I think people may start to see that some of these policies are problematic. I'll also say, I think. On the one hand, this is a very small thing that I think Republicans are latching on to, but they really have tried to start messaging a lot more about fraud and pointing to a lot of the failures in states like Minnesota. Where we see a huge expansion of the welfare state, where we see so much government spending and some of the flaws that that creates and the opportunity for fraud. And so J.D. Vance, even last week, was saying when he was asked about affordability, kind of danced around it and pointed to fraud as his talking point, saying, oh, well, we need to address that first and foremost, because that's where a lot of taxpayer dollars are wasted. I don't know that that that's true statistically if you look at the budget, but I do think that's An interesting messaging point that seems to resonate with some voters, whether that's salient enough to move the needle, I think remains to be seen. But it's going to be interesting to see what do Republicans try and latch on to in terms of the messaging. Sure. Another thing that I've just been so fascinated by is how AI and even more specifically on local levels in certain areas, data centers may have played a role too. And while I definitely see the Trump administration's argument that this is clearly good for the stock market so far, and it's brought a bunch of abundance to America to have an AI optimist approach, I think that There is a sense that leaders are sort of leaving regular Americans behind and particularly everyday young people who are trying to figure out what their jobs or their futures look like. And for some people, AI feels like a real existential challenge. And I'm curious, Lydia, do you think that that in any way played a small role in how people showed up at the polls or didn't show up, I guess, is another part of the story too. Yeah, I don't think that moved the the needle. I think people are really looking at these big picture issues of gas prices. I mean, I think it's just when you look at how high gas prices are, I think that's really the only thing. And you're faced with that every time you're driving down the highway, every time you see the gas station. I really think it is those bigger issues that people care about. The other thing, too, that kind of was challenging, and I don't know that anybody could have done well in this scenario, was Trump really ran on, let's bring prices down. And the reality is when inflation has been accelerating so dramatically, you can't bring prices down. You can slow the rate at which they increase, which apart from gasoline, he did, right? Groceries, I think year over year are increasing at less than 2%. So there were a lot of things that he did well, but prices were never going to go back down to pre-COVID levels. And so I think people... Two years in, we're like, wait, is everything still expensive? This isn't what I signed up for. I thought things were going to get cheaper. And that just was not a realistic message to deliver to people. And I think there were a lot. I mean, obviously, everyone, when they run for office, they overpromise and underdeliver. But this was certainly one of those instances where you did hear a lot of overpromising, not a lot of delivering necessarily on that front. I also do think, I mean, I don't know how things would have. gone if we hadn't gone to war in Iran. Obviously, tariffs were one sort of notch down in Trump's favorability rating. But then the Iran war really fractured, I think, the GOP more than any other issue I've seen in recent history. You really saw a lot of anger from more of the populist wing against the neocons. And that's going to be, I think, a huge question as well. Who sort of owns that, right? Because Trump is going to be Done. He's not going to run for a third term. So he's going to be done and gone in the next couple of years. And who is ultimately going to bear responsibility for a war that is very unpopular at this point? I think J.D. Vance has really tried to dance around that. He's trying to distance himself. Will Marco Rubio basically be left with the blame for that? But I think this is sort of a necessary reckoning. Obviously, we've had Trump in the political landscape now for a decade. I mean, Ricky, like all of All of your adult life, basically all of my adult life, and this is a moment where even if Republicans had won, they would have had to figure out, do we still want to lean into this populist movement? I don't think there's any going back to this sort of George Bush, Mitt Romney, or Paul Ryan fiscal conservatism, so I think this is a moment where Republicans have to think about what does the Republican Party look like. In a post-Trump world, and certainly those conversations are going to be happening now more than they ever would have otherwise. Yeah, I also to your point about bold promises being made on the campaign trail. I think, you know, the administration really set themselves up by pretty unambiguously saying no new wars and no forever wars. And, you know, between not ending the war in Ukraine on the timeline that was promised and then now especially having concerns about Iran like swirling around on Twitter and social media and tons of rumors right in the lead up to the election is probably. As unfortunate for the Republicans as possible, but one silver lining that I definitely personally feel as someone who's an independent and has always been a little suspicious of the two party system is that there are some early indications that there is a lot of split ticket voting and, you know, that I think an electorate that's more complex and that says earn my vote and it's not guaranteed to you or I'm not expressly partisan. Is healthier for democracy long term? I think short term, it's just for a ton of really confusing elections and a lot of people feeling like they're choosing between the lesser of two evils. But, you know, you saw that with Gen Z voters really coming out for Trump in 2024, particularly young men. It seems like that wave has kind of subsided a little bit. The same with Hispanic voters. People are open minded. They're looking for solutions. They're looking for new political lanes to potentially hop on to. Thank you and, you know, In my view, going forward, you know, people not just doing the down the line voting every single time is potentially a silver lining. And we'll ask more of politicians as they vie for people's votes. Well, and clearly there were some really unfortunate candidates, particularly in the Republican Party that were nominated. I mean, the idea that you would have somebody. Sister, you know, and I, and I feel for her, it seems like in some ways, Darlene Graham, who lost in South Carolina, I think that was a pretty dramatic upset. The polling did not necessarily suggest that was going to happen. I think Darlene Graham never should have been put in this place. And again, how tragic she's mourning her brother's death, but. What in the world? Is this some sort of like aristocracy where you inherit a senator seat? Like American people are not down with that. So she clearly had a lot of moments in the primary debate with her opponent basically saying she didn't know a lot about foreign policy and couldn't talk about Taiwan, which You know, you've been in the Senate a couple months at that point, and you're running for this office. That's not something that you can be flippant about. Ken Paxton really was saddled with a lot of baggage about corruption. And this is a moment where 88% of Americans say corruption is one of their top concerns, which is. Understandable given the climate, but also pretty staggering that that is such an important issue for Americans right alongside the economy and some of these other pocketbook issues. And so somebody like Paxton, who has all of these question marks. A lot of scandal, a lot of videos that kept coming out about him partying in the UAE, just not a lot of great headlines. And I think people really, what we've seen, have a strong reaction to that and don't want to feel like they're sending somebody to Washington who is going to profit off of them. That was obviously one of the promises that Trump made initially was let's drain the swamp, right? Let's get rid of these NGOs and all the corruption in D.C. And people obviously had hoped that would happen. And there's a lot more of the swamp. How important of an issue do you think that is, Ricky? Oh, I think it's a completely important issue. And I mean, unfortunately, in some ways, it seems that members of the Trump family are reflecting what the Biden family was doing not so long ago. And I think people have lost faith. And in my view, I think that just these past few election cycles have really been parties being humbled pretty deeply. And it's unclear who really has the cultural sway in this country that in a lasting and staying way. I I'm not really sure what to think going forward. And I think if these past election cycles have taught anyone anything, it's wait to make your predictions a little bit longer. Yeah, I'm also curious, too. I mean, Trump, this wasn't a White House official statement, but lots of outlets reporting that he was saying, I'm not on the ballot, right? So I'm not bearing responsibility for these losses, which is a pretty... Confident statement. I'm looking for the right word to say in the wake of a pretty sweeping loss for Republicans. And so it's going to be interesting. Is he uninhibited in the last two years? Does he, like Obama, rely on his phone and his pen and push forward with a lot of executive orders? I would think absolutely yes. But of course, he's going to be really handicapped. Any sort of impact that we were hoping to have on the Supreme Court? Some potential retirees, Sam Alito, I think, had hinted he might be looking for the exit. I would be skeptical somebody like him would leave in the next two years. And if he doesn't leave in the next two years, when does he leave? So I think we could be looking at the Supreme Court changing pretty dramatically. It's not going to be possible to really get any nominees, any appointees through in the remaining years. Thank Interesting to note, though, some presidents have, despite Losing Congress in their final couple years have tried to make a lot of dramatic changes. I think it was in his final two years that Obama joined the Paris Climate Accord, that he made that Iran deal that we're still, depending on which side you're on, either suffering you. from or benefiting from. So there are certainly things, especially in terms of foreign policy, that Trump could continue to do in the final few years of his term. Yeah, I think it's funny what you said at the beginning about Trump saying that he wasn't on the ballot because for quite a long time he was saying vote as though I am on the ballot. And this was a pretty predictable outcome when I was looking to see what he had said on Truth Social. And like, I know that he will somehow figure out a way to justify this. And I think that that might be an indication of how the rest of his presidency is going to go. Frustration and sort of an inability to look inwards, in my view.