Listen to “Corruption Crackdown, 9th Circus on Guns, Vote Dem to Fix GOP?” on Spreaker.
David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud the West Virginia legislature for impeaching four of the state’s five state supreme court justices for gross mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. They also roll their eyes as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a California law requiring any guns subsequently purchased in the state must include features that don’t actually exist. And they unload on “conservatives” from Michael Gerson to Steve Schmidt, who contend that conservatives need to vote for Democrats because supposedly the only way to save the Republican Party is to burn it to the ground.
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Absurd Anti-Kavanaugh Arguments, Birth Rates Dropping, Netflix Cancels Louis Farrakhan’s Film
Listen to “Absurd Anti-Kavanaugh Arguments, Birth Rates Dropping, Netflix Cancels Louis Farrakhan’s Film” on Spreaker.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Chad Benson of Radio America watch in amusement as Democrats invent ridiculous arguments against Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, such as Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-Conn) statement that President Donald Trump “would be a monarch if Brett Kavanaugh becomes a Supreme Court justice.” They also worry about America’s fertility rate falling to a 42-year low and the factors contributing to the decline, such as low marriage rates and the prevalence of birth control. And they are happy to see Netflix cancel the show of the Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan.
Trump Sets Judicial Confirmation Record, Big Business Supporting Dems, Bill Kristol 2020?
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Chad Benson of Radio America congratulate President Donald Trump for appointing more judges to regional circuit courts than any president has at this point in his term. They also criticize big businesses that are supporting Democrats in 2018 because of Trump’s trade and immigration policies. And they think the only major support for a Bill Kristol 2020 presidential campaign would come from the Kristol household.
GDP Grows at 4.1%, Jail Time for Election Lies? Michael Avenatti 2020?
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America celebrate the booming economy that hit second quarter growth of 4.1 percent. They also notice the Democrats want to institute five years of jail time for spreading false information about elections dates and locations. And they see that Michael Avenatti was invited to speak to Iowa Democrats and they hope the party won’t take him seriously simply because he hates President Donald Trump.
Anger Gives Dems Edge in Midterms
For the first time in the 2018 political season, one of the nation’s leading political forecasters is predicting Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives following the midterm elections.
On Tuesday, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, led by University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato, moved 17 House races more favorable to Democrats. The report also shows 33 of 36 seats labeled as toss-ups are currently held by Republicans. Seven other GOP-held seats are considered even more imperiled.
In contrast, only two seats held by Democrats are considered toss-ups, as is one member vs. member race in Pennsylvania. One seat held by Democrats is likely to flip to the GOP. Democrats need a net gain of 23 House seats to reclaim the majority.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball Managing Editor Kyle Kondik says the enthusiasm in midterm election years is almost always against the party of the president. And with President Trump serving as a lightning rod for the left, the passion among Democrats is even higher.
“The Republicans had this advantage in 2010 and 2014 and now the Democrats generally do in terms of asking people how enthusiastic they are to vote,” said Kondik. “For voters, anger can be a great motivator and the angrier party, I think right now, is the Democrats.”
Even though Trump is not on the ballot, Democrats are looking for any chance to express their disapproval. Kondik says last year’s Virginia governor’s race proved Democrats cared much more about hurting Trump than supporting Democrats on the ballot.
“Reporters were asking voters about Ralph Northam, the eventual Democratic winner and of course now the governor. They didn’t seem to know a whole lot about him, but they did seem to know they were casting a vote against President Trump. I think that’s what you might see in November,” said Kondik.
Republicans are also running against history. Kondik says American history shows midterm elections are almost always good for the party out of power.
“Going back to the Civil War, there have been 39 midterms. The president’s party has lost ground in the House in 36 of those, and the average seat loss is 33 seats. The Democrats need to net 23 seats. So it would not be historically odd for Democrats to win the House,” said Kondik.
But despite those built-in advantages for Democrats, Kondik says no one should count the Republicans out.
“I don’t think it’s a slam dunk for the Democrats by any means. It’s also quite possible the race for the House could come down to a few seats here or there,” said Kondik, indicating Democrats could make major gains but still wind up in the minority.
Kondik expects Republicans to try matching the intensity of Democrats by firing up their own base. Part of that may be based on issues like immigration, on which some Democrats have advocated abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
However, just like Democrats plan to demonize Trump, he suspects Republicans will rally their voters over fears of who would be running the House of Representatives if Democrats take control.
“They’re also raising the specter of Nancy Pelosi being the House Speaker again. Many Democratic candidates have actually disavowed Pelosi but Republicans still see her as a very useful foil,” said Kondik.
Gauging 435 House races is a bit tricky since polling can be scarce in a lot of contests. Many seats are considered safe for one party and the battle lines are drawn over a few dozen swing districts.
“The national party committees are doing polling here and there but even they don’t have perfect knowledge about these districts. A lot of [predicting races] is based on the history of the district, our sort of subjective view of the quality of the candidates, past performance, and demographics. You just try to do the best you can,” said Kondik.
“As we’ve seen in the past, even polls on the statewide level are not always correct and so there’s a significant amount of projection and guesswork that goes into it,” he added.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball will revise its projections on House, Senate, and governor’s races before locking in predictions just before Election Day, Nov. 6.
Ocasio-Cortez & Dem Division, Jews on a List? Trump’s ‘Clarification’
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are more than happy to center another good martini around avowed democratic socialist and New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, this time for sowing dissension among Democrats for her public criticism of Rep. Joe Crowley, whom she defeated in the primary. They also shudder as a state official in Austria wants all observant Jews to register with the government if they want kosher meats. And they shake their heads as President Trump’s clarification of his comments in Finland is less than credible.
Dems Embrace Socialism, Boot Wants Dems in Control, Vox Calls Revolution A ‘Mistake’
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are more than happy to run against a Democratic Party that is now embracing socialism, and they worry that young people don’t understand socialism or its history. They shake their heads at “conservative” Max Boot, who wrote for the Washington Post that he wants Democrats to win control of Congress in the midterm elections. And they take aim at Vox for it’s absurd column suggesting the American Revolution was a “monumental mistake.”
Trump SCOTUS List ‘An Embarrassment of Riches’
President Trump plans to announce his choice to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court Monday, and grassroots activists are ready to promote and defend whomever Trump chooses from his public list of potential nominees.
On Monday, Trump reportedly interviewed four people for the job, including Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Raymond Kethledge and Amul Thapar from the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Brett Kavanaugh of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Judicial Crisis Network Chief Counsel Carrie Severino says the most important thing is that everyone on Trump’s list has the right view of a judge’s role.
“The most important thing is this is going to be someone is faithful to the law, is faithful to the Constitution. We’re not looking for a specific outcome in any one case or the other. You want someone who is going to keep those principles first and foremost,” said Severino.
In the past week since Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his impending retirement, Democrats have alternated among demanding no confirmation vote be held until after the midterm elections to lamenting that one more originalist on the court will mean catastrophe for every liberal priority.
“It’s really a hysterical list. Everyone take a deep breath and try to look at the actual facts on the ground. As it happens, all these people are excellent and have great records of upholding the Constitution and reading the laws as they’re written,” said Severino.
So what does Severino think of the names on the list and the four candidates screened by Trump this week?
“You’ve got the constitutional legal scholar in Amy Coney Barrett. You’ve got Amul Thapar who’s got district court experience as well as now being an appellate court judge. He was even a short-lister and interviewed by the president for Justice Gorsuch’s spot. So he’s obviously been in the running for awhile.
“And then two Kennedy clerks, Judges Kethledge and Kavanaugh, both of whom have long track records on the bench and both of whom are incredibly highly regarded in their fields. It’s really an embarrassment of riches. I think I could be in love with any of these nominees,” said Severino.
When discussing the intense liberal reaction to Trump getting the chance to name the justice to succeed Justice Kennedy, Severino admits she was filled with dread in early 2016 when it appeared President Obama would have the chance to name a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia. That was before Senate Republicans insisted on waiting until the election was over before considering a nominee.
However, Severino also says the corollary to Obama naming a replacement for Scalia would be for Trump to name a successor for someone like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She says the outrage over Trump choosing a justice following Kennedy’s retirement is is far too hysterical.
“Justice Kennedy, yes he was a swing vote, but he swung much more often with the conservatives. A couple of the recent terms were pretty discouraging for conservatives but this term he voted 100 percent with the conservative bloc,” said Severino.
She also says many Americans might be surprised to learn which justice Kennedy was closest to in his opinions.
“The justice he aligned the most with was Justice (Neil) Gorsuch and vice versa. It turns out that for all the hysteria of this is going to have such a huge, dramatic impact on the court, it turns out that you couldn’t have picked a better justice to mimic Justice Kennedy. So if we get a similar pick to Gorsuch, then any liberal worried about keeping Kennedy’s legacy alive should be happy,” said Severino.
With just a 51-49 majority and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., unlikely to be able to vote, Republicans cannot afford any defections. In addition, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, now says she cannot support a nominee who could pose a threat to Roe v. Wade.
Nonetheless, Severino is confident that Collins and other moderate Republicans will stay in line. She says its the Democrats who have the real dilemma.
“They have to decide if they’re going to stand with the president’s nominee who is clearly, from the list we’re looking at, going to be an outstanding pick for the Supreme Court, or are they going to align themselves with a liberal fringe in the Democrat Party, and vote lockstep with Chuck Schumer.
“That might play well in California, in Massachusetts, in New York. I don’t know how that plays in West Virginia, Indiana, North Dakota, Missouri, Montana,” said Severino.
Ten senators are running for re-election in states carried by Trump in 2016. The five states mentioned by Severino went for Trump by wide margins.
Kennedy’s Legacy, Dems Suffer Meltdown, Wild Political Stereotyping
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America review Justice Anthony Kennedy’s 30 years on the Supreme Court and anticipate President Trump’s second opportunity to nominate a justice to the nation’s highest court. They then laugh at the hysterics of Chuck Schumer and other Democrats following Kennedy’s retirement. They also look at a report that suggests both Democrats and Republicans tend to stereotype the other side and are wildly inaccurate.
SCOTUS Sides with Travel Ban & Pro-Life Clinics, Dems Condemn Waters
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombus of Radio America celebrate the Supreme Court upholding the Constitution in two separate cases. They agree with the court’s conclusion that President Trump’s travel ban is within his constitutional and statutory right. They are also glad to see the Court side with free speech in striking down a California law that required crisis pregnancy centers to advertise abortion services. They are also pleasantly surprised that Democratic leaders are condemning Maxine Waters’ calls for the harassment of Trump administration officials.