Part 1: We interview Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report for a discussion of the political climate in Texas.
It appears that the old way of politics no longer apply. The old way of doing things are shaking up, and the old rules of who agrees with whom no longer work. Parties that were founded on disagreeing with President Obama now find themselves disagreeing with Trump, because they are in the habit of disagreeing. The state is now considered a “key” state for the presidential election cycle. Trump has made his 14th trip to Texas, an unusual event, since he has no residence in Texas, It seems to indicate that the vote there will be contentious, though almost certainly, the president will take Texas. But the expectation is that it will be by a smaller margin than in 2016. Since Texas no longer requires single party voting, down-ballot votes will vary. Bloomberg has been campaigning in Texas, and his numbers are moving up slowly.
The governor is coping with some backlash around his intention to opt out of accepting Refugee Resettlements. Texas, according to Braddock, was settled by refugees, and illegal aliens, and the governor has caused some consternation with his remarks.
The influx of Californians to Texas has also prompted the governor to advise them to “don’t blow it when you get here,” a remark that seems to have alienated some of the incomers. Texas Republicans are leery of turning the state purple or blue, which would be a huge change.
Part 2: We interview John Nichols, a writer for The Nation Magazine.
We discuss the upcoming election, and note that several ‘old guard’ Democrats have endorsed Biden, though recent polling by WMUR shows that Sanders is up to 29% in January 2020, with Biden not moving much from his December 2019. This movement seems to be mostly due to the shift in the “undecided” voters, rather than Sanders taking from Biden or other Warren. The “undecided” are still at about 40% of all voters. We discussed the effect of third party candidates, and their effect on elections, and follow-on elections. The effect of Bloomberg’s candidacy.
We discussed Sanders’ ability to work with others who may disagree with him. This seems to many voters to be an attractive characteristic. That reassurance would be that Sanders would not upset the country too much, but would work with the Congress to implement whatever changes he proposes. The important thing for Sanders is that people are starting to think of him as presidential.
Bloomberg has changed his messaging somewhat, to emphasize the impeachment.
