You imprison Kara would be a reality show that I would sign up to watch.
Hi everyone. I'm Kara Swisher.
And happy birthday to you.
Thank you, Kara. I'm in Japan celebrating my birthday, among other things.
What are you doing? You're going for whiskey, I assume, if it's Hillary Clinton.
Well, there's a little of that going on. I am the U.S. adviser to something called the Premium Imperiality, which is this incredible program where the Japan Art Association and the Imperial Household give out what are kind of the equivalent of the Nobel Prizes to the arts.
Did you do anything fun? Like, I mean, that sounds fun and very worthy. That sounds worthy.
No. Well, you and I have talked about this, that, you know, part of what we're trying to do with our podcast and so much else is to close the fun deficit in America, because it's been pretty grim the last couple of years. So, yeah, and I had a fabulous birthday dinner with a bunch of friends at one of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo.
It's called the Blind Donkey, and that is not a political comment. Next time you're in Tokyo, I want you to go.
I will. I, you know, I lived there for a short time for a fellowship. Yes, I loved it, right after my son Louis was born, and I loved it, and I just loved living in Tokyo. I thought it was, it's a fabulous city.
It really is.
We could learn a lot from how they organize themselves and how they provide services. I wish we would, like, humble ourselves enough to learn how some other countries actually produce really good public transport and enough housing in a city of 20 million plus people.
Yeah, Korea, South Korea is similar. I mean, there's a lot of really great ideas across the globe. That's great. You're globe-trotting. I'm globe-trotting. You know, back here at home, Elon Musk threatened my life. He just... I shouldn't laugh. Hillary, speaking of Japan, you need to get me a sword because I have to be in a sword fight with him. You need to get me a nice sharp blade.
I'm going to get you a samurai sword because you're a warrior queen, right?
A samurai sword. I mean...
I know, I know you're on the receiving end of all these kind of things, but I got to tell you, it gets old pretty quick.
It gets old. You know, these guys, you know, they can't win arguments. They, I don't think, can win as many elections as they believe. And so they threaten people and they intimidate people and they are constantly in your face. And I'm sick of it. I'm tired of the cruelty and the bullying, and we've got to, you know, begin to turn it around starting next Tuesday.
He also said I was going to prison. And I was thinking I'll put in to be with you because, you know, you're locking.
I think you and I, again, we could, you know, have a good time because I get threatened practically every day. Lock her up, as you know, was kind of a popular chant.
Yeah, I heard that. I heard that. I heard about that. We should, we would totally run the prison. We would run the yard. We would, like, be the tough ones, right? Don't you think?
Yeah, I think you in prison, Kara, would be a reality show that I would sign up to watch. Walt Mossberg, whom you know, who is my longtime partner many years ago, said the only way I'm going to prison is if I'm interviewing Elon Musk there. That's...
Not that I want him. I mean, nobody should go to prison. Backhanded compliment that he pays so much attention to you, and I guess threatens you when you, you know, say things that are truthful. So...
I guess, I don't know, it's really not great. It's not a great thing, and I don't know how you do it day after day. Anyway, welcome to our new show. Oh, by the way, I didn't introduce it. From Vox Media Podcast Network, High Stakes. We've got a lot to get to, and you, and thank you for calling in from Japan on your birthday. I really appreciate it.
So, less than a week to go until Election Day, with control of Congress on the line. Republicans hold the Senate, 53 to 47, and the House by a handful of seats. Flip either one, and Trump's last two years look very different. So, today we're giving you a midterm preview. Next week, we'll be talking about the results of the Senate, the House, and the governors who will run the 2028 election.
But first, Madam Secretary, I want you to get your take on the international elections in Brazil and Serbia, especially Serbia. The strongman in Serbia, very close ally of Putin, as Orban was, lost and conceded. Bolsonaro Jr. in Brazil lost and won't concede. Obviously, his father's in jail. One of his things was getting him out, and Lula won. So, talk a little bit about just days before the midterms: which of these two looks more like the United States? And by the way, we're recording this before Israel votes, and I'd love to know what you think is going to happen there.
You know, Kara, I was really impressed by both Serbia and Brazil, but for different reasons. Okay, the protests in Serbia against the Vučić government, the authoritarian government that has been increasingly oppressive and increasingly aligned with Russia, has been the subject of, you know, a lot of political protests by largely young people, students.
They have been in the streets for a couple of years, off and on, you know, basically demanding more rights, demanding more of a commitment to turn toward Europe and away from Russia, you know, looking for more economic and educational opportunities. And they organized, you know, they didn't just go to the streets and protest. They organized politically and put together candidates that challenged the authoritarian government and actually won. They won the election.
And to Vučić's credit, he conceded early because he knew that he'd lost. He didn't pull a Trump, you know, ploy to try to stay in power. He recognized that he had been turned out by the people.
Like in Hungary and other places.
Like Hungary, yeah. So I think that the, you know, the example in Serbia is, you know, nonviolent protests, demonstrating over an agenda of change that you want to see in your country, but combining it with political action. It's not enough just to go out in the streets and protest. Are you going to have a political party? Are you going to run candidates? And, you know, the Serbian election proved that if you combine your discontent and your grievances with actual political action, you can make a difference.
The Lula election is a little different, and it's fascinating. You know, he came in second to, you know, Bolsonaro Jr., right? There was a runoff, and then went to a runoff. And what I loved about this runoff is two things happened. It woke up, well, you know, it woke up Lula and his party because, you know, they lost in the first round and they had to get their act together, and they did it in a couple of ways.
They did it by, you know, really organizing more deeply and widely, particularly in and around the big cities, you know, like Rio and all the rest. And they really did reach out to voters and make their case. But the other thing that happened is Lula went on social media, something he had not done before. He had kind of resisted being a social media character. He's an old-fashioned politician. I think he turns 81 or something this week. You know, more power to him, because what he did was to combine organizing, deep, broad organizing with communications.
And he literally was on TikTok and Instagram, and people were so shocked to see him and his allies, you know, doing dances and songs and making appeals, and they turned out 10 million more voters. So, I think there are lessons from both of these elections, not just for us, but for people who want change all over the world.
Right now, listen, in Brazil, Bolsonaro Jr. is not conceding, and Trump, of course, is saying there is something fishy going on. He's not, he's not quite committing to the bit yet, but he's certainly raising the idea of election fraud, right?
Well, you know, that's their go-to argument whenever they lose an election. And...
Yeah, when they win, it's 'I won.' When they lose, it's...
When they win, everything's fine with the elections. When they lose, ah, you know, the elections were rigged. Something, you know, happened to upset the, you know, predicted victory for them and their allies.
So, I really feel like what we've got here is a great example of how to stand up to intimidation, because one of the messages that was being conveyed in Brazil was not just vote for Lula, but stand up to Trump and candidates that Trump endorses, and stop the kind of slide toward Trumpism in Latin America. And it proved to be pretty effective, obviously.
Right? And what do you imagine is going to happen? Because he's got a conservative Congress. So it's very conservative. Obviously the Bolsonaros aren't going away. The son is obviously going to continue to be an irritant. The stock market's going, you know, dropped rather precipitously. And also, what happens in Serbia? Does this devolve into chaos? Because it could, right? You could have a movement and then you win and you're like the dog that caught the car.
Well, we don't know. I mean, Hungary certainly stabilized after...
But that was a stable politician who had been in office.
Yes, but it wasn't clear exactly what would happen next and what kind of rearguard actions Orbán and his party might be attempting. And, you know, they've stabilized. They're beginning to pass legislation and seemingly to govern effectively.
We're going to have to wait and see in Serbia, but I'm optimistic that, you know, the planning that went into the political victory will manifest itself in governance. And in Brazil, now that Lula has recognized the importance of digital organizing and communicating, if he continues that while governing and he keeps the people involved so they don't get shut out, and it becomes a referendum on Lula and his government against a Congress that is, you know, very negative about his agenda and a Supreme Court that intervenes from time to time.
But instead, if Lula takes the lessons that he learned in this runoff and he basically keeps the people with him, like, here's what we're trying to do, here is the case we're trying to make, here's what it will mean to your life, it could be quite a different kind of reaction than I think we might have expected.
And what does that do for Putin in this case? He's lost two really strong allies in the area.
Yeah. You know, it made me think of the situation that I found when I went to Egypt after Mubarak was forced to resign, and these young people had been in the streets and they had been so forceful in their demands for change and that the dictator must go. And then I went to meet with them in a, you know, big room, about 30, 40 people there who had led what they called the Facebook revolution at that time.
And I said, 'Great, okay, you have toppled the dictator. Now are you going to form a political party? Are you going to run for office?' And their response was, 'Oh, no, we don't do that.' I said, 'Well, if you don't do that, you're going to be ruled by either one of the two organized groups in Egypt, namely the Muslim Brotherhood or the army.' And they couldn't see their way to politics.
So, the difference in Serbia, I hope, is that these young people didn't just protest and, you know, demand change. They have an agenda. They have, you know, a political party and plan, and let's hope that they can carry through.
Right? And both of them are blows to Donald Trump, both of these. Now, Israel, another place that's about to... now, prediction.
You know, I am really hoping that the Netanyahu coalition does not get to the number of votes that they need in the Knesset to form a government, and that Eisenhot and allies that are against Netanyahu — that is their, you know, their uniting reason, they're against Netanyahu and the way he has governed Israel — can get in this election the 61 votes they need in the Knesset to form a government.
I think it's going to be really hard, Kara, because there are personalities that, you know, are vying to become prime minister. There are coalitions that are kind of dicey about whether they get put together or not. So we have to wait and see. I hope that the coalition — and when I say coalition, it's not a formal coalition, but the parties against Netanyahu — come together and agree to govern.
You're worried, and you sound worried.
This is where Netanyahu always comes up the middle, right? This is what he always... politician, right? It's like a chess match or...
He's done great damage to Israel and to the Israel-American relationship, as we all know, but you never can count him out. And he's willing to make alliances with anybody, no matter how odious their politics might be, in order to stay in power.
And one of the things that could happen is nobody gets enough votes, and so there's a caretaker government, and sadly Netanyahu stays in power until they have another election, which, you know, might happen sometime next year. So this is really up in the air, and we're not going to know until we see what happens from the votes.
A lot of, you know, Americans who have the right to vote in Israel are flying home to vote because they don't have something that we have, thankfully, like mail-in ballots, absentee voting. They have to vote in person. So, literally, Israelis are flying in from all over the world to be able to vote. So, I can't predict how it's going to turn out. I know what I want to see happen.
There's been a lot of protests.
And I, you know, look, I'm very impressed with Eisenhot and with the way that he's conducted himself. He's a general. He's not a politician. He lost both his son and his nephew. I mean, he knows what's at stake.
Very simple. Yeah. He's not like the most... like, he's not like Netanyahu is very charismatic. This guy is just like meat and potatoes.
He is a very effective politician. That's why he's been in power for so many years, off and on. And I think it's done great damage as he's gotten more and more focused on himself personally, the threats from the criminal corruption trials, and, you know, all that he's facing, the threat of a truly independent commission to try to figure out exactly what happened before October 7th and on October 7th, you know, just things that he wants to avoid because he never wants to be held accountable.
No, no, not at all. Yeah, he once again can push up the middle. We'll see. But the trend is not for him at this point, at least in the U.S. elections. That's for sure.
And let's start with that. Let's start with the Senate. Republicans enter the midterms with a 53 to 47 majority, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats. Cook Political Report shows seven races as toss-ups, estimating Democrats will pick up two to six seats. I want to focus on three of the closest races to get your take, and we've talked about them before.
First off, Michigan. It's Dr. Abdul El-Sayed versus Mike Rogers. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said if Abdul can win in Michigan, anyone can win anywhere. She told the donors that a win would break open the entire political calculus of America. El-Sayed has two sources of money: progressives' small donors and the party establishment super PAC.
I was in Michigan this weekend with my son. It was parents' weekend, and my oldest son was there, came also. And Megan, my ex-wife, came, and we went to a game at the Big House. All the signs were for Abdul, and it said, you know, 'vote blue, vote Abdul,' you know. I mean, it was really interesting. I saw no Mike Rogers things. There was no anger. University is not as progressive as... it's very mixed, interestingly. Even there wasn't even that much back and forth between the Indiana fans and the Michigan fans. Indiana won, by the way.
But what it was interesting because there was a lot of energy for him, and maybe this wasn't the right crowd, but you think it would be a good crowd for Mike Rogers too. I don't know.
Oh, I don't think so. Not on a university campus. I know that, you know, not just students go to the game. I mean, you and Megan were there. Obviously, there's others who attend, but I think that, you know, El-Sayed should do very well in the university communities. He did in the primary.
Yeah, he's a Wolverine too. Yeah.
Yep. And he is a Wolverine, and he proudly claims that. So, look, I think that he is a very good candidate. He is a really smart, effective communicator. And he has pivoted on a few things, both during the primary and then especially after the primary, in order to reach a, you know, potentially broader electorate.
It is still a very close race, depending upon what poll you look at, because much of Michigan, you know, has been traditionally Republican. And Mike Rogers kind of looks and talks and acts like somebody that, you know, places in rural Michigan, Western Michigan, Upper Peninsula, etc., you know, feel comfortable with. So I think El-Sayed has the edge going into the election, and, you know, let's cross our fingers and hope he can.
Do you ever look at some of the message and think, 'I could have done that'? That was interesting. It's a totally different time. I mean, you know, 10 years seems like...
You know, 10 lifetimes in the way politics has changed.
He's an effective communicator on digital media. You know, he's done, you know, all kinds of dances and, you know, messaging, which, you know, as we were just talking about with Lula in Brazil, it matters. He has a big following among young voters.
I think his main challenges are older voters, Black voters, who are still somewhat, you know, holding off from what the polls seem to suggest, Jewish voters, particularly older Jewish voters, particularly in Detroit and the larger Detroit area. He, you know, he has to pull together not only the Democratic coalition that wins races in Michigan like Gretchen Whitmer and Jocelyn Benson, who's running for governor, who's way ahead of her opponent, but he's got to, you know, really reassure independent voters and others who are, you know, still questioning, can they vote for him? They might have one bone to pick. Is that enough, you know, to let the Senate not go in the right direction, namely a Democratic majority? So, we'll see.
Rogers is interesting because he was on some of those shows and he's like, wouldn't say he was MAGA. It was interesting. He's sort of trying to go left...
We'll go center anyway. Yeah. Center. Yeah.
You know, but he's also now, and his surrogates, and a lot of the, you know, independent expenditure media is really, you know, fear-mongering against El-Sayed as a Muslim, trying to link him to the Muslim Brotherhood and all of that, which...
Trump is doing that, too.
Yeah, Trump is doing that. And, you know, I'm just tired of that. And I hope people are tired of that. Judge somebody on who they are, what they stand for, what they produce.
And as my husband said when he was campaigning for David Jolly down in Florida, he said, 'Look, you know, this is not about woke. This is about broke.' That's a tough state to, you know, try to get a Democrat elected in. So, we're fighting on all fronts against what are the tried-and-true tactics of the Republicans.
You know, if you can't win on affordability, if you are bankrupting the country and enriching yourself personally, try to divert attention. You know, don't look at what's actually happening. Look at this shiny, you know, object over here, and try to get people to, you know, not vote their interests, but vote their fears.
It's not shiny. It's Muhammad. Like, there's a lot on social media people should pay attention. Like, they have a young woman where she's like, 'Well, he's not saying his middle name, which is Muhammad.' And he's like, 'Well, what's Mike Rogers' middle name?' And she goes, 'That doesn't matter.'
And it was really interesting, like, and of course, this is a Trump... Trump is doing it right now. It's because, you know, Barack Hussein Obama, right? That kind of stuff. This is not like... I was like, really? They're doing the Muhammad thing or the Hussein Obama thing?
Kara, it's worked for them in so many different cases. And so, they're not going to give up on a strategy that's worked. It's whether or not people either have moved on or they're saying, 'Wait a minute. You're not talking about what is important to me. You're still talking about stuff that was, you know, your campaign, you know, two years, four years, eight years ago.'
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I don't know Mike Rogers. I don't know your middle name. What is your middle name?
What? I didn't know that.
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton. Yeah, you got it.
What's your middle name? Do you have a middle name?
I'm going to start calling you Kara Anne whenever we talk about...
Please don't. Please. No, thank you. No, actually my family's from West Virginia, so I had a lot of Southern-type voices in my life early.
All right, let's go to Texas. Democrat James Talerico versus Ken Paxton, the world's worst candidate. He's the Republican. Emerson polling has it a two in a dead heat. And Elon Musk is pouring money into support Paxton, and he's also losing his mind on social media.
If Texas flips, that's because the Democrats built something new there, or is it because Republicans nominated a bad candidate? We'll get into that in a second. But Elon has spent about $190 million just in Texas supporting Paxton. Talerico has broken records with grassroots small-donor fundraising. He's making a big deal about Elon, too. He's saying Texas is not for sale, not to this crazy billionaire, essentially.
For comparison, Kamala outraised Trump and lost after Musk and the super PACs flooded the zone. You have talked about this. Is that a replay of 2024? Could a candidate beat that kind of outside money? And this money, this enormous amount of money from one of its citizens, Elon Musk, who was worried about Democrats running a state that he ran to for tax reasons and other reasons.
Well, it's one of the many reasons we need to amend the Constitution and get rid of these horrible campaign finance rulings by the Roberts Supreme Court. And that's something I'm going to be pushing as hard as I can, because this kind of money is, you know, corrupting, distorting elections.
And yet we know they spend the money because they have a track record of seeing it make a difference. And so I wouldn't discount the potential of, you know, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat for Paxton, who is a truly flawed human being as well as a flawed candidate.
In fact, some of the best arguments against him were made in the primary against him by, you know, Senator John Cornyn, who basically said, 'How can you nominate this guy?' I mean, on every, you know, possible basis. He is a criminal. He's an immoral guy. He does illegal things. I mean, the whole package of Paxton has certainly given...
Yeah, it's given Talerico a good position to run from. There's no doubt about that. However, Texas has a deep right-wing infrastructure, and it's, I'm sure, as we are speaking, churning out, you know, so much mis- and disinformation online as well as on traditional media to scare people into either voting for Paxton or having doubts about whether to vote for Talerico.
I think Talerico is a generational talent. You know, I've watched him. I know him. I feel, you know, very impressed by how he has handled himself.
There's a bunch of Republicans backing him. Quite a few, like all over the place.
I think for two reasons. I think they know Paxton and they know how corrupt he is and how he literally is bought and paid for by whoever's, you know, dangling the money in front of him. The latest will be Musk.
How can you ever, you know, rein in Elon Musk with all of his problems with his various companies and his behavior? If you have bought-and-paid-for Musk senators, you know, Paxton will be representing, you know, the great state of Musk, not the great state of Texas, if he's elected. And a lot of Republicans understand that and...
Great state of Musk. Oh, think about Musk.
I think the more Republicans who either whisper quietly they're, you know, voting for Talerico or they can't support Paxton, so they're just not going to vote in that race, whatever their messaging can be in this last week is really important.
You know, Texas, if you had the voting turnout from young people, Black and brown people who are eligible citizens, I will add, if you had that kind of turnout, Texas would already be trending blue. And is this the race to get people to go register and vote against the corrupt Texas establishment? I hope so, because there's so much more that Texas should be doing.
I mean, they have made just a series of bad decisions on their, you know, way they treat natural disasters, how they deal with education and health care. I mean, so, you know, the existing Republican incumbents in Texas need to be turned out, and Texas needs new leadership, and Talerico would be terrific.
Yeah, because they do. They just, they're Musk's servants. They're butlers for Musk, whether it's the governor, Greg Abbott, or the senators. They're all in the interest of Musk and not for the people. And I think Talerico's pushed on that button quite well. And he's done it on social media. His ads are very positive about Texas, and some of them are negative about Paxton because he's such a layup, but a lot of his in-person stuff is very much like...
I have. I have. I have. I met him at South by Southwest this year. He's very appealing. I don't... he's got a... he's a real unique talent. I, you know, I call him Baby Jesus. I don't know if you know, but I do. I don't... he didn't like it. He's like, 'You shouldn't call me that.' And I said, 'Do you want me to call you BJ?' And he said, 'No.' And so that was the...
I know. And then he never called me back. So that was the end of that. So, but good luck, James. That's good. I think he's a real unique talent. He's so articulate about his...
Very much so. And he does push back. You know, he's different than also the not DSA, they're not, neither of them are DSA, but the more progressive side is very different from each other in a way. That's really interesting.
That's why you can't lump it all together. And I really hope voters understand that we're electing individuals who have their own records, their own experience and backgrounds, and their own view on how to get to universal health care coverage, for example.
Right. For example. Well, we're going to move on to Maine, but I have to say the woman who never goes away. She's like a barnacle. Susan Collins, Senator versus Democratic challenger Troy Jackson. President Trump just tried to boost Collins by granting tariff exemptions for some Canadian imports, and polling has her and Jackson in another dead heat. Both candidates are against tariffs.
Would this help Collins? And, you know, tariffs can be lifted when the senator needs help, but other states still have to pay them. What does that tell voters? And again, what is Collins? I mean, she obviously delivers for the state, as you've said before, but are they ready for change in Maine? I mean, will Susan finally get dumped? Because she never does.
I mean, she does have nine lives. There's no doubt about it. And you got to give her credit because she, you know, she survives politically, but this may be the end of the road.
You know, the idea that, you know, Trump would lift some tariffs with Canada. I mean, I always think about, you know, my late great friend Maya Angelou. You know, when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. And believe them the first time. Don't have to be convinced over and over again.
Trump loves tariffs. And if anybody in Maine thinks that somehow Maine is going to be exempt from tariffs because, you know, Trump decided that was one way to help, you know, Susan Collins get reelected, they're just living in a dream world.
And I do think that a lot of the tried-and-true support for Collins was because people saw her as a kind of independent voice for Maine, but she has not used that voice effectively. In one of her debates, Susan Collins said, 'Well, you know, I voted against it,' you know, but yeah, she voted against it when it was clear it was going to win anyway.
I mean, she does always trying to position herself as standing up, being an independent vote on behalf of the people of Maine, but when it, you know, really comes to it, she more often than not, you know, votes with Trump. And I think people in Maine, they've seen the results of being for Trump. And hopefully, you know, they're going to say, 'Wait, thank you so much, Susan. Here's your gold watch, but we want somebody else representing us in Washington.'
Right. So, last one. Alaska. Alaska's Senate race has two Republicans named Dan Sullivan. I know, it makes me laugh too. One is the incumbent, the real Democrat, Mary Peltola, is a former congresswoman and slightly ahead. Trump says he's ordered the Justice Department to sue so if Alaska can't certify the result if Senator Sullivan loses narrowly because of the names. I don't know why that's a popular name in Alaska. I have no idea.
What is he doing here? Most people don't think they'll prevail. But is he laying the groundwork to overturn the election he doesn't like? Will it work? How do you look at... I think she's going to win. I think she's going to win. I hope so.
I think she is a great candidate, and, you know, when she was in the Congress, she suffered the terrible personal loss of her husband dying right in the middle of her term. You know, she has proven herself to be, you know, a champion for Alaska. She's, you know, indigenous, native Alaskan, and...
She likes fish. There's a lot of fish.
She likes fish, and you know what, that's really important in Alaska. So...
The state supreme court has already ruled that there's nothing wrong with a man whose real name is Dan Sullivan running if that's what he chooses to do. He's not disqualified just because somebody else has that name. This is another Hail Mary, desperate measure.
I think the message that, you know, the Trump Justice Department was trying to send was don't waste your vote because I'm going to win. You know, it's like heads I win, tails you lose. Because if the wrong Dan Sullivan tips the, you know, the balance against the right Dan Sullivan, I'm going to, you know, file to prevent the certification of Mary Peltola.
And at the end of the day, I don't think this is a credible lawsuit. I think it was a message lawsuit, and, you know, they throw that Hail Mary hoping they find a judge somewhere who agrees with them. But I think that it's a close race, but it seems to me to be trending in favor of Mary Peltola.
Of her. She just got in a small car accident, by the way, which is too bad. Of all these, we're going to move on to the House in a second, but of all these races, which one do you think the Republicans have the best shot at? And which one do the Democrats have the best shot?
They're all so close. You know, most of them are within the margin of error. And we were talking earlier about how much a difference huge expenditures can make in, you know, distorting the information ecosystem, getting people to believe things that are totally untrue in order to convince them not to vote for their own interests and not to vote for the candidate they were thinking of because something showed up on their social media feed that causes them to doubt.
You can't discount the huge amount of money, and Musk is putting in more than anybody, but he is not alone. You know, there are Democrats who are putting in money, but they are dwarfed by the amount of money coming in from, you know, the Republicans. So, we'll see. They're all within the margin of error.
You know, Michael Bloomberg just put in 80 million for the Democrats, but still small compared to what Musk does on any given Tuesday. And I was actually with Reed Hastings. I did an interview with him, and I was like, I think you need to put in $80 million because he's been a Democratic donor. He did not take me up on my offer.
All right. When we get back, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to talk about what's at stake in the House.
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Madam Secretary, we're back and we're turning our focus to the House, where Democrats have a much easier ride. The party has 214 seats and just needs four more. What's interesting is that the battleground has moved into districts Republicans thought were safe. Cook Political Report says the competitive map is growing and now includes red districts that were once locked for the GOP.
On election night, what number tells you whether it was a normal midterm or a rejection? Is it a red riptide or blue wave? And if Democrats flip seats Trump won by double digits, that's because voters like Democrats? Probably not. Or because they're angry about tariffs and prices.
And the last question: if Republicans lose the House, the members who survive in swing districts have a choice — stick with Trump or start distancing themselves — and which way would they go? Let's start with those.
Well, first of all, I am hoping for a really big margin, because it's not enough, in my opinion, just to squeak by and, you know, win three, four, five more seats. I want to see 10, 15, 20, 25 seats. And in recent days, you know, some of the analysts have moved more seats into...
know, the lean Democrat column where they had not been before. And I know that the Democrats have expanded their funding into seats that they thought were out of reach before. And the other ironic development is it looks like a lot of the gerrymandered seats, particularly in Texas,
