Mike & Jay on the 2018 Midterm Elections

It’s all elections on this episode, starting with a look at the Congressional results. Mike and Jay talk about what they got right and where they went wrong in their predictions, and what they expect from the next Congress.

Then they turn to state level elections and a discussion of gains & losses in state legislatures and governorships, and what they might mean going forward.

Finally, the Guys talk about a number of key ballot issues: Medicaid expansion, victim’s rights laws, and changes to voting and redistricting. Jay also explains why he’s generally not a big fan of ballot initiatives, a position Mike understands and is even somewhat in agreement with. But ultimately, Mike argues that initiatives, while highly imperfect, are preferable to legislative gridlock (at least most of the time).

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5 thoughts on “Mike & Jay on the 2018 Midterm Elections”

  1. Mike needs to be less obnoxious. Saturday with him sucked. Bipartisan? Count how many times mike called the Dems “my party.” Total crap.

    1. Thanks for commenting! I feel like I should clarify a point. We’re bipartisan in the holistic sense in that each of us are partisans, but we present a conservative and liberal view on each weekend episode. The Democratic Party is the party I identify with, just as the Republican Party is the party Jay identifies with. Instead of trying to shove that under the rug, as so much of the media does, we’re open about it. What we’d like to think also makes us different and worthwhile is that while we have partisan loyalties, we’re willing to seriously consider the arguments of the other side and not be blinded by ideology. There are a number of issues on which Jay criticizes President Trump, and there are a number of instances in which I argue that he might have a point. For instance, if you check our our show that will air this Wednesday, you’ll hear me argue that there’s something worth considering in his recent immigration proclamation. -Mike

  2. When Jay refuses to be generous, and twists his insults into shoddy predictions (like the House moving for impeachment)…he needs to be called out for spouting partisan hackery. Good job Mike. Love the show. I promise to contribute $5 month next year if we can keep it CIVIL and generous. Assume good motives from both sides!

    Jay… I’m a conservative Democrat, and you had my ear in previous episodes 🙁

    You seem upset about the election.

    1. Thanks Erik! We do our best to keep it civil and generous, as well as to call out partisan hackery, whether it comes from the left or the right. And on those occasions where we fail, we have a great bunch of listeners that point it out to us. (I think it’s fair to say that all of us on the show have, from time to time, failed to take a breath and carefully consider a response in the heat of the moment. But I’d like to think that what makes us different is that we see this as a problem, not a plus.)

  3. I have tried to avoid listening to the episodes with Jay in them anymore (his take on most things has become tediously predictable, and the other conservative voices actually bring a thoughtful, academic perspective to issues that Jay’s thoughtlessly regurgitated Fox News Republican talking points lack), but since it was the episode following an election I thought I would try it out again.

    But sadly it was as expected.

    I was happy to hear you actually push back on some of the false equivalencies and dismissive partisan jabs, Mike, but perhaps you should consider removing the term ‘rational’ from your intro whenever Jay is on. Hearing him trying to scramble onto a whataboutism soap box because the Democrats elected someone accused of inappropriate behaviour seems pretty ridiculous when in the last election Republicans happily elected a President who had confessed to sexually assaulting women, who had been embroiled in numerous scams like Trump University, and whose every second word was racist, bullying, misogynistic, or a demonstrable lie.

    Not to mention that in this very election Republicans elected two candidates under federal investigation, another facing charges for securities fraud, another who violently assaulted a journalist, and one who not only ran a brothel, he’s also dead.

    But yeah, Democrats sure do look silly.

    Sick burn, Jay.

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