Take THAT Grover Cleveland! (11-06-2024--Hour1)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] So, first thing, the phone lines are open. You can call in and weigh in on your hot take on what we saw yesterday where at the national level, there really isn't any other way to describe it, but it was a complete rejection of what the Democrat Party had offered. There isn't any other explanation.

[00:00:54] You can get into the weeds and I'll go into some of the data points that we're starting to analyze. And there's some interesting stuff in there. But you don't see the shift. Again, I've been saying this for years, there is a realignment happening in the political parties. And this time, the Democrats got caught.

[00:01:16] But it's also important to recognize that there are people that are going through the five stages of grief right now. Denial. I think that was last night. And now we're into the anger phase.

[00:01:36] A lot of people that are very angry. There's going to be some bargaining afterwards. Then, of course, the depression and hopefully at some point acceptance. But it's politics, so I'm not so sure.

[00:01:50] There are a lot of people that have adopted politics as their religion. They are too emotionally invested in this stuff. And when you layer in ignorance of the actual philosophies and tactics and policy discussions that are involved in politics, it makes for a pretty toxic brew.

[00:02:16] And today, you're seeing a lot of people that are involved in politics. And today, you're seeing a lot of it on the left. And I know that there's an interest in spiking the football. I get that feeling. I understand it. I understood it when people were doing it against Donald Trump.

[00:02:37] I understood that, too. They were very, very excited. But there is a—I would encourage people to refrain from positioning themselves as if they occupy some morally superior position.

[00:02:58] And that's really, I think, and that's really, I think, what's driving a lot of the reaction today from the left, that they believe themselves to be the virtuous ones.

[00:03:11] And now, I mean, and think about this. If you believe that you are the virtuous one and you have seen what we just saw, a rejection of your viewpoints, like, that would make you very worried.

[00:03:32] Oh, my gosh, I'm surrounded by, you know, all of these people that hate me, hate my kids, hate my friends, hate everything that I am obviously, you know, standing for and I am the virtuous one.

[00:03:47] And that's part of the problem. That's part of the problem. And Donald Trump has really teased this out of the left and the media, but I repeat myself.

[00:03:57] Like, he has teased this out. It has become blatant. I've said this about Trump. It's a superpower in so much as somebody could have one.

[00:04:07] It's a superpower. He makes people expose themselves. They are no better.

[00:04:16] I've got—well, let's see here. This is from—here's Suanna Smith, Ph.D.

[00:04:23] Always be wary of people who put Ph.D. in their social media profiles.

[00:04:29] Right? That's a—that's a signal to you that they are better than you.

[00:04:36] I have a Ph.D., so I know what I'm talking about. Yeah.

[00:04:40] No, this is Twitter. A lot of stupid people say stupid stuff on Twitter. A lot of smart people say really stupid stuff on Twitter.

[00:04:48] Professor—professor—this is her bio—professor, Gamecock, Ally, Harris 2024.

[00:04:59] So I'm assuming she may be a professor at USC in Columbia, but I don't know.

[00:05:04] Suanna Smith, who said there is a reason why educated people vote blue.

[00:05:13] And by the way, I agree with that.

[00:05:14] When you just describe or define, quote, educated as people with higher degrees.

[00:05:23] People with Ph.D.s and master's degrees and stuff.

[00:05:27] Even to a lesser extent, but still to, you know, more so than people who don't have bachelor's degrees.

[00:05:34] Particularly women.

[00:05:36] The further women progress through schooling, through the collegiate level, the more and more they vote hard-lined leftist.

[00:05:47] That's not an accident.

[00:05:49] That's not a coincidence.

[00:05:51] And it's not because you are, quote, educated.

[00:05:54] It's because you've been taught things.

[00:05:57] You've been told things.

[00:06:01] It doesn't make you superior.

[00:06:03] Right?

[00:06:04] There are a lot of people in the rest of the country that live a different life than you.

[00:06:09] And they've got different experiences.

[00:06:11] And they are more educated on different things than you are.

[00:06:15] Just because you have gone to college for a long time doesn't make you smarter.

[00:06:23] I knew a lot of really stupid people in college.

[00:06:29] I suspect that's one of the reasons why a lot of college-educated people, particularly at the Ivy Leagues,

[00:06:35] that they hated J.D. Vance.

[00:06:42] Because he went through that system and rather than, you know, bow to them and become part of them

[00:06:48] and, you know, cast aside his past and his family and friends and his upbringing and all of that culture.

[00:06:57] He did not do so.

[00:06:58] And in fact, he then, using the tools he learned in college and in law school,

[00:07:04] he used those tools against those institutions and the people that promote them as the only true belief,

[00:07:11] the only true way.

[00:07:14] She said,

[00:07:16] what we're seeing is the uneducated population of America holding the rest of the country hostage.

[00:07:23] This is why there's such a push to weaken education,

[00:07:28] ban books,

[00:07:29] and outlaw the teaching of black history by the Republican Party.

[00:07:33] See what I mean?

[00:07:35] A lot of stupid people.

[00:07:39] What's going on out in the door here?

[00:07:42] A lot of stupid people

[00:07:44] with college degrees.

[00:07:48] Nobody's banning books.

[00:07:49] If you can buy the book,

[00:07:50] it's not banned.

[00:07:52] It's really pretty simple

[00:07:53] for even somebody with a Ph.D. to understand that.

[00:08:00] Selena Zito,

[00:08:01] the journalist,

[00:08:02] said,

[00:08:03] in response to Sue Anna Smith,

[00:08:06] said,

[00:08:06] if you lose the Electoral College as well as the popular vote,

[00:08:08] the U.S. Senate and the House

[00:08:10] with a diverse coalition of working class blacks, whites, and Hispanics,

[00:08:14] and your response is what this woman said,

[00:08:16] you need to do some deep reflection.

[00:08:18] She's exactly right.

[00:08:20] And by the way,

[00:08:22] I told you,

[00:08:24] as a Gen Xer,

[00:08:26] I told you,

[00:08:28] leave us alone.

[00:08:29] You didn't listen.

[00:08:31] Maybe you'll listen now.

[00:08:35] Because that's actually what swung the election.

[00:08:38] Did you know that?

[00:08:39] That's what apparently swung the election.

[00:08:42] Donald Trump did not win any age group.

[00:08:45] He made inroads.

[00:08:46] He made gains.

[00:08:47] Don't get me wrong.

[00:08:48] He closed gaps.

[00:08:49] But he did not outright win age groups.

[00:08:53] Except one.

[00:08:56] Gen X.

[00:08:59] Because we are tired

[00:09:00] of having to simply roll our eyes

[00:09:04] at your dumbassery

[00:09:05] and avoid you in the hallway

[00:09:08] and just ignore your rantings.

[00:09:12] But you push and you push

[00:09:14] and you push

[00:09:15] and you interject yourself into everything

[00:09:18] and we finally said,

[00:09:20] you know what?

[00:09:20] No.

[00:09:21] We are sick of your poop.

[00:09:23] We're sick of it.

[00:09:25] Pound sand.

[00:09:27] Leave us alone.

[00:09:28] See, that's Gen X.

[00:09:30] Because we remember what life was like

[00:09:32] before the screens took over your brains.

[00:09:35] I'm not saying they haven't taken over our brains.

[00:09:36] I'm just saying I remember

[00:09:37] like there was a time before.

[00:09:39] Okay.

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[00:10:42] I got a message here.

[00:10:44] Twitter handle is at Pete Callender.

[00:10:47] A message from Russ who says,

[00:10:50] smart people vote blue.

[00:10:51] I work with a spectrum of people

[00:10:53] from high school dropouts all the way up to PhD.

[00:10:55] My experience is that a lot of the higher credentialed people,

[00:10:59] in addition to being indoctrinated,

[00:11:01] are more specialized and less likely to understand as much outside of their field.

[00:11:07] They don't have to know how to do multiple jobs,

[00:11:09] fix their own stuff,

[00:11:11] but are still confident they know more than people

[00:11:13] who have broader knowledge and skills.

[00:11:16] There's also a bit of,

[00:11:17] I'm smart so I don't have to do as much research as everybody else.

[00:11:21] Yeah.

[00:11:22] Well, it's sort of the Dunning-Kruger effect, right?

[00:11:25] Where the people who actually know more of the subject matter

[00:11:28] are less confident

[00:11:30] because they know how much they don't know.

[00:11:34] and the people who don't know crap

[00:11:36] are really, really confident in their opinion

[00:11:38] because they don't know that they don't know so much.

[00:11:43] And that's part of it.

[00:11:44] That is part of it.

[00:11:47] Let me go over and get some calls on.

[00:11:49] Here's Terry.

[00:11:50] Welcome to the program.

[00:11:51] Hello, Terry.

[00:11:52] Hey, Pete.

[00:11:53] Hey.

[00:11:53] Enjoy the show.

[00:11:54] Thanks, sir.

[00:11:55] I'll tell you, going in a different direction

[00:11:58] is something that has really irritated me for the last month

[00:12:03] is I am of the opinion that Mark Robinson

[00:12:07] really poisoned the well

[00:12:09] for the Republican candidates in North Carolina.

[00:12:13] Yeah, well, he didn't help.

[00:12:14] I'm wondering, you know,

[00:12:15] I got caught up in the YouTube frenzy

[00:12:18] of his speeches and all this stuff,

[00:12:21] but when all the garbage started coming out

[00:12:24] no abortions whatsoever,

[00:12:27] the bankruptcies, the lawsuits,

[00:12:30] all the daycare center,

[00:12:33] there was no way in heck

[00:12:35] he was going to get elected.

[00:12:37] He pulled Dan Bishop down with him.

[00:12:39] But I'm wondering,

[00:12:40] what can the Republican Party do

[00:12:43] to keep something like that happening?

[00:12:46] No, they could act more like the Democrat Party.

[00:12:49] Right?

[00:12:50] Which is?

[00:12:51] They work to block candidates

[00:12:55] that don't get vetted by their machine.

[00:13:01] Right?

[00:13:02] And then they withhold money.

[00:13:04] Yeah, but that's one of the differences in the parties.

[00:13:08] Right, but that's one of the differences in the party.

[00:13:10] And, I mean, look,

[00:13:11] Mark Robinson won the lieutenant governor's race

[00:13:14] in a crowded field,

[00:13:15] and he was a YouTube internet sensation

[00:13:18] based on that one speech.

[00:13:19] He came out of nowhere.

[00:13:20] He had no background that anybody knew of.

[00:13:22] He had no debts to pay politically to anybody,

[00:13:25] but also nobody owed him anything.

[00:13:27] And that makes it a little bit more difficult

[00:13:32] because you don't know how the game is played,

[00:13:34] so to speak.

[00:13:35] And the Republican Party does not,

[00:13:37] like, they don't make endorsements

[00:13:39] in the primaries and stuff.

[00:13:41] And, I mean, you've seen the way the Democrats act.

[00:13:44] I mean, Roy Cooper was actively, you know,

[00:13:47] participating in primaries

[00:13:49] to try to oust various Democrats.

[00:13:52] So, unless you want the Republicans

[00:13:54] to start behaving like that,

[00:13:56] you're going to end up with some of these candidates

[00:13:58] that are not ready for primetime.

[00:14:00] And, look, I mean, part of the other thing

[00:14:02] is that Mark Robinson is a dynamic speaker.

[00:14:05] He is.

[00:14:06] He does speeches with a lot of passion.

[00:14:09] He gets people motivated and enthusiastic.

[00:14:13] It's a gift that he has.

[00:14:16] Agreed.

[00:14:16] Also, him being a black conservative

[00:14:19] is something that conservatives really, really want.

[00:14:22] Republicans really want there to be

[00:14:25] a multiracial tent that they are operating under.

[00:14:29] And so when someone comes along

[00:14:30] and possesses this skill set that Robinson has,

[00:14:33] it's intoxicating, no doubt about it.

[00:14:37] And I suspect that part of the reason why

[00:14:39] a lot of Republicans want a multiracial party

[00:14:43] is because they're sick and tired of being called racist

[00:14:46] for all of their policy preferences

[00:14:49] when it's not racism.

[00:14:50] And that, I think, is what you also saw

[00:14:53] rejected yesterday by Trump's victory.

[00:14:59] Gotcha.

[00:15:00] Yeah.

[00:15:00] So, and I don't know if Robinson,

[00:15:02] I mean, first off,

[00:15:03] we know we didn't have any impact up ballot.

[00:15:05] That was wish casting by a lot of media and Democrats

[00:15:08] that he was going to take out Trump or something.

[00:15:10] That was ridiculous.

[00:15:12] I don't know if he actually had an impact down ballot

[00:15:15] because you saw a lot of people still voting Republican.

[00:15:19] I mean, the Republicans maintained

[00:15:21] half of the Council of State races.

[00:15:22] So they lost one seat in the Council of State.

[00:15:28] Yep.

[00:15:29] And they are close to sweeping every judicial statewide race.

[00:15:33] The killer to me was Dan Bishop.

[00:15:36] I wanted him so badly as our attorney general.

[00:15:39] And unfortunately, he hooked himself to Mark Robinson

[00:15:43] and he went down in flames too.

[00:15:46] Well, I don't know if he went down in flames.

[00:15:49] I mean, it was much, much closer than Robinson's gap.

[00:15:53] But also North Carolina has a history of ticket splitting.

[00:15:57] And I can't blame Dan Bishop

[00:15:59] for welcoming Mark Robinson into the party

[00:16:02] and wanting to promote him and be promoted by him.

[00:16:06] Because Mark Robinson, like I said,

[00:16:07] he was this enthusiastic or enthusiasm-generating speaker.

[00:16:15] And people really wanted him to do well.

[00:16:18] So, you know, it is what it is.

[00:16:21] And, you know, I don't know what Bishop's going to do.

[00:16:24] I don't know if he's going to be doing anything else

[00:16:26] in an elected official capacity, but we'll see.

[00:16:29] You know, maybe he ends up getting a spot

[00:16:30] in the Trump administration.

[00:16:33] Who knows?

[00:16:35] But Terry, I appreciate the call.

[00:16:36] I have not crunched the numbers

[00:16:38] to kind of run through that.

[00:16:39] But my first look at it last night,

[00:16:42] and again, we still don't have, like,

[00:16:43] the officially tallied numbers and stuff

[00:16:46] to go through in all of the exit polling data.

[00:16:49] You know, there's going to be analysis

[00:16:50] done on this for a while.

[00:16:52] But I'm not sure that Robinson dragged down

[00:16:56] all of these statewide Republican candidates

[00:17:00] because you've got people that were lower on the ballot

[00:17:03] that got more votes.

[00:17:05] And maybe that is because of the campaign.

[00:17:09] Now, I will say this.

[00:17:10] Josh Stein blowing away Robinson early

[00:17:13] allowed Stein to move money

[00:17:15] to other Democrat races.

[00:17:19] That makes an impact.

[00:17:21] That definitely makes an impact.

[00:17:23] Also, Jeff Jackson has a massive social media following

[00:17:26] on TikTok, right?

[00:17:28] And that, I think, the social media footprints

[00:17:32] that not just Jackson used, but also Trump.

[00:17:35] I think that, again, we're seeing this, you know,

[00:17:38] reordering of the landscape in elections.

[00:17:40] And social media played a pretty big role in it.

[00:17:43] Looking at the North Carolina results,

[00:17:46] Trump overperforms.

[00:17:50] The Republicans took 10 of the 15 statewide contests.

[00:17:55] The Council of State races,

[00:17:57] it was 6-4 Democrat to Republican.

[00:18:00] Now it's 5-5.

[00:18:01] I want to welcome to the program,

[00:18:02] Nick Craig is the host of the Carolina Journal-NewsHour

[00:18:05] right here on WBT from 5 a.m.

[00:18:07] until 6 a.m. weekdays.

[00:18:09] Nick, did you get any rest?

[00:18:11] Did you get any sleep?

[00:18:11] Does two hours count as rest?

[00:18:14] Yeah.

[00:18:14] Does that count?

[00:18:15] Yeah.

[00:18:16] I mean, on days like this, yes.

[00:18:19] Every little bit counts.

[00:18:20] Yeah, I got about half an hour yesterday

[00:18:24] before the coverage began

[00:18:26] and then about four hours last night.

[00:18:28] So that's enough, you know, for now.

[00:18:30] All right, so I'll start just,

[00:18:32] what are your big takeaways?

[00:18:34] Well, and I'm glad you kind of mentioned at the top there

[00:18:37] that Trump did overperform in the state.

[00:18:39] Not quite double, but very close to double

[00:18:41] what he did in the state in 2020.

[00:18:44] And Pete, there was this idea

[00:18:45] that if Trump was able to overperform

[00:18:47] and RealClearPolitics had the polling average

[00:18:49] in North Carolina at 1.5%,

[00:18:51] which was very similar to what Trump won by

[00:18:54] four years ago in 2020,

[00:18:56] there was this idea that Trump could pull

[00:18:59] essentially the rest of the Council of State

[00:19:01] minus the governor's race over the finish line.

[00:19:04] So when you look at the two Council of State races,

[00:19:06] lieutenant governor and attorney general,

[00:19:09] those results are pretty shocking.

[00:19:10] You look at the delta between Dan Bishop

[00:19:13] and Donald Trump,

[00:19:14] and it's almost six full percentage points.

[00:19:16] That I think is something that's going to have

[00:19:18] to be looked into when Canvas is done

[00:19:19] and we get the final official election results

[00:19:22] coming up in about a week and a half.

[00:19:24] Yeah, I'd be curious to know

[00:19:25] who were the Trump voters that rejected Dan Bishop?

[00:19:30] Absolutely.

[00:19:31] I mean, you would assume,

[00:19:32] especially with the message at the national level

[00:19:35] from Trump about law and order,

[00:19:36] safety, of course, border security,

[00:19:38] that that doesn't trickle down

[00:19:40] and translate to a race that's, what,

[00:19:42] fourth or fifth on the ballot,

[00:19:43] depending where in the state you're voting,

[00:19:45] congressional seats and things of that nature.

[00:19:48] Relatively a high-ticket race

[00:19:49] when you're looking at a front-and-back,

[00:19:51] full-page ballot on either side.

[00:19:53] So those two races are going to be ones

[00:19:55] that are very interesting to look at.

[00:19:57] I'm not necessarily all that surprised

[00:19:59] with the result with Hal Weatherman.

[00:20:02] He took a campaign approach of beating the ground

[00:20:04] and touching voters in all 100 counties,

[00:20:07] but one thing he did not do

[00:20:09] was spend a single dollar on media,

[00:20:11] whether that be social media, television, or radio.

[00:20:14] And I still think that you have to do

[00:20:17] at least some of that in a statewide race

[00:20:20] because there's a lot of folks in our state,

[00:20:22] especially our largest voting bloc,

[00:20:24] unaffiliated voters,

[00:20:25] that are not going to GOP events,

[00:20:27] not going to Democrat Party events,

[00:20:29] and they are never going to have the opportunity

[00:20:31] to meet you or hear anything about you as a candidate

[00:20:34] outside of social media, television, or radio.

[00:20:37] So that, I think, needs to be looked into as well.

[00:20:39] Right, and this isn't even a...

[00:20:40] I wouldn't even say that's a push

[00:20:42] for traditional media advertising.

[00:20:45] I mean, a lot of stuff was done on social media

[00:20:48] that, I mean, I think I saw that Jeff Jackson,

[00:20:51] he had become the top Facebook spender

[00:20:54] in the last month or so before yesterday.

[00:20:58] So, you know, pushing a lot of advertising

[00:21:02] into the social media where you got, you know,

[00:21:04] younger people that they don't watch television.

[00:21:07] They don't even have televisions.

[00:21:09] They watch all of their, you know, videos

[00:21:12] on their screens.

[00:21:13] And so you got to go where the people are.

[00:21:16] You have to meet the audience where there is.

[00:21:18] And, you know, it's also important to look at

[00:21:20] with the race between Jeff Jackson and Dan Bishop.

[00:21:22] Jeff Jackson is what I'll call a social media darling, Pete.

[00:21:26] I mean, his TikTok, his Instagram,

[00:21:29] this stuff is incredibly popular, of course,

[00:21:32] amongst younger voters, which that,

[00:21:34] you look at that age range,

[00:21:36] whether it's 18 to 30, 18 to 40,

[00:21:38] those are the individuals that are using social media

[00:21:41] and most likely to be a low propensity

[00:21:45] unaffiliated voter,

[00:21:46] meaning that these are individuals

[00:21:47] that are not likely to come out strong

[00:21:49] one way or another for a party.

[00:21:51] So if they're on TikTok,

[00:21:53] they're on Instagram,

[00:21:54] they're on Facebook looking at reels,

[00:21:56] and they're seeing somebody talking

[00:21:58] about North Carolina politics,

[00:22:00] it probably was Jeff Jackson.

[00:22:02] And that, again, we'll dig into these numbers

[00:22:04] once the final canvas is done.

[00:22:06] My guess would be that those younger voters

[00:22:08] likely pulled him over the finish line.

[00:22:09] Well, yeah.

[00:22:10] And just nationally,

[00:22:12] I saw the data point that

[00:22:13] Trump did not win every age demographic

[00:22:16] except Gen X.

[00:22:18] That was the only one that he actually won.

[00:22:20] He made gains in a lot of them,

[00:22:21] but he did not win outright

[00:22:23] any of the actual voter demographic

[00:22:26] by age cohort,

[00:22:27] just the Gen Xers.

[00:22:29] So once again, proving,

[00:22:31] I think it was Matthew Hennessey's book,

[00:22:33] Zero Hour for Gen X,

[00:22:35] How We Will Save the Country,

[00:22:37] which is true in my Gen X opinion.

[00:22:40] So the House and Senate,

[00:22:43] the legislative races,

[00:22:45] Senate looks like it's going to stay

[00:22:47] as a supermajority,

[00:22:48] but not so much the House.

[00:22:49] So the question is going to be,

[00:22:51] obviously, as you mentioned at the top there,

[00:22:53] an unbelievable blowaway victory for Josh Stein,

[00:22:56] nearly 15 points over Mark Robinson,

[00:22:58] not really much of a surprise there.

[00:23:01] As Tim Moore,

[00:23:02] the former speaker of the House,

[00:23:04] still currently the speaker,

[00:23:05] but he's going up to Washington, D.C.

[00:23:06] to Congress,

[00:23:07] so where there will be a new House speaker.

[00:23:09] So the question for Republicans

[00:23:11] over the next two years

[00:23:12] until we have more General Assembly elections

[00:23:14] in the midterms in 26

[00:23:16] is going to be,

[00:23:17] can they operate with

[00:23:19] what will be described

[00:23:20] as a functional supermajority,

[00:23:22] convincing a couple of

[00:23:24] maybe more moderate Democrats

[00:23:26] in the House here in North Carolina

[00:23:28] to cross the aisle

[00:23:29] and work with them on issues

[00:23:31] like the Opportunity Scholarship Program,

[00:23:34] like some potential tax reforms.

[00:23:36] The budget is going to be

[00:23:37] likely an eight, nine,

[00:23:38] 10-month ordeal

[00:23:39] starting in January

[00:23:41] when the new General Assembly

[00:23:42] is sworn in

[00:23:43] and gavels in

[00:23:44] for the long session.

[00:23:45] Can Republicans

[00:23:46] convince Democrats

[00:23:48] and maybe swing districts

[00:23:50] in the state

[00:23:50] to come across the aisle

[00:23:52] and still be able

[00:23:53] to deal with veto overrides

[00:23:55] under a Josh Stein administration

[00:23:57] in the governor's mansion?

[00:23:58] Right, and on the one hand,

[00:24:00] Josh Stein, new governor,

[00:24:01] he's going to have

[00:24:02] a lot of political capital,

[00:24:03] particularly, obviously,

[00:24:05] inside the Democrat Party,

[00:24:06] so there's going to be

[00:24:06] less of an appetite

[00:24:07] to cross him by Democrats,

[00:24:10] whereas in the, you know,

[00:24:11] the lame duck portion

[00:24:13] of Roy Cooper's term,

[00:24:15] they would.

[00:24:16] Also, is Josh Stein

[00:24:18] going to play

[00:24:18] the kind of hardball

[00:24:20] that Roy Cooper

[00:24:21] has played

[00:24:22] throughout his entire career,

[00:24:24] you know,

[00:24:24] muscling these Democrats

[00:24:26] and threatening them

[00:24:27] with primary challenges

[00:24:28] and that sort of thing?

[00:24:29] Does Josh Stein

[00:24:30] take that approach,

[00:24:31] or do we see Stein

[00:24:33] try to moderate somewhat

[00:24:35] and to try to work better

[00:24:36] with the Republican legislature,

[00:24:39] or does he go Roy Cooper route

[00:24:41] and, you know,

[00:24:42] veto everything

[00:24:42] that comes across his desk?

[00:24:44] My gut reaction,

[00:24:45] and obviously we'll see this

[00:24:46] play out in the coming months,

[00:24:48] my gut reaction is

[00:24:48] even though there is

[00:24:49] a different governor

[00:24:50] in the mansion,

[00:24:51] Roy Cooper gone,

[00:24:52] turned out,

[00:24:52] Josh Stein will be in there

[00:24:53] early next year,

[00:24:55] it's still very much

[00:24:56] the same political machine

[00:24:57] behind Josh Stein,

[00:24:59] so I think we can expect

[00:25:00] similar to Roy Cooper,

[00:25:03] constant vetoes

[00:25:03] on almost anything

[00:25:04] that Republicans

[00:25:05] want to touch

[00:25:06] in the General Assembly.

[00:25:08] Now, and as you mentioned,

[00:25:09] you know,

[00:25:09] in terms of playing

[00:25:10] political hardball

[00:25:11] with individuals

[00:25:12] in his own party,

[00:25:13] you know,

[00:25:13] Republicans are not very hot

[00:25:15] on the current

[00:25:16] Attorney General

[00:25:17] in Josh Stein.

[00:25:18] There's been lawsuit

[00:25:20] after lawsuit

[00:25:20] where they have had

[00:25:21] to defend themselves

[00:25:22] because the state's

[00:25:23] top law enforcement officer

[00:25:25] in the AG

[00:25:26] refused to defend them

[00:25:27] in court,

[00:25:28] so I think there's probably

[00:25:29] going to be some sour grapes

[00:25:30] in regards to that

[00:25:31] from the General Assembly,

[00:25:32] so we're either going

[00:25:33] to have gridlock

[00:25:34] or Democrats

[00:25:35] that are willing

[00:25:35] to cross the aisle,

[00:25:36] and that's pretty much

[00:25:37] my headline heading

[00:25:39] into the long session

[00:25:40] in January.

[00:25:41] Yeah, and I guess

[00:25:42] the last thought

[00:25:43] I have on that one

[00:25:44] is that Stein won

[00:25:47] with so many Republicans

[00:25:48] that could not vote

[00:25:49] for Robinson.

[00:25:50] Does he try to maintain

[00:25:52] that if he's looking,

[00:25:53] you know,

[00:25:54] at his next re-election cycle,

[00:25:56] if he's looking

[00:25:56] at some other run

[00:25:58] after he's done

[00:25:58] as governor,

[00:25:59] he's a young guy

[00:25:59] and young enough,

[00:26:00] right, in politics,

[00:26:01] he may be looking

[00:26:02] for a run

[00:26:03] for another office.

[00:26:04] President, maybe?

[00:26:05] I don't know.

[00:26:06] But if that's the case,

[00:26:07] you want to have

[00:26:08] some kind of a record

[00:26:09] of working with Republicans

[00:26:12] like he touted

[00:26:13] on the clearance

[00:26:14] of the rape kit backlog,

[00:26:16] right?

[00:26:17] Like he appeared

[00:26:18] with Republicans

[00:26:19] at that press conference

[00:26:20] in order to try

[00:26:21] to get some

[00:26:22] of that credit.

[00:26:23] So maybe,

[00:26:23] you know,

[00:26:24] maybe there may be

[00:26:25] some openings

[00:26:26] where he could try

[00:26:27] to do something

[00:26:27] like that

[00:26:28] in order to preserve

[00:26:29] that block

[00:26:30] that came over

[00:26:32] from the GOP

[00:26:33] to vote for him

[00:26:34] rather than squander it,

[00:26:35] lose them

[00:26:36] in a re-election fight

[00:26:38] in four years.

[00:26:39] Well, and I think,

[00:26:40] you know,

[00:26:40] then there's probably

[00:26:41] a lot of Republicans

[00:26:42] listening this afternoon,

[00:26:43] Pete,

[00:26:43] that are not going to like

[00:26:44] what's about to come

[00:26:45] out of my mouth,

[00:26:46] but the reality is

[00:26:47] Republicans just do not

[00:26:49] win governorships

[00:26:49] here in the state

[00:26:50] of North Carolina.

[00:26:51] We've had, what,

[00:26:52] one Republican governor

[00:26:53] in the last 80 years?

[00:26:54] It had been Pat McCrory

[00:26:55] serving just one term

[00:26:57] using his re-election effort?

[00:26:59] We had Jim Martin also.

[00:27:00] I think he was in like

[00:27:01] the 80s or something.

[00:27:02] In the 80s, okay.

[00:27:03] So we had two.

[00:27:05] Two.

[00:27:05] It's just,

[00:27:06] it's a really hard race

[00:27:07] for Republicans to win

[00:27:08] and as we saw,

[00:27:10] the path in the last

[00:27:11] two gubernatorial races

[00:27:12] to the governor's mansion

[00:27:14] has been being

[00:27:15] the attorney general.

[00:27:16] That's what obviously

[00:27:17] I think Dan Bishop

[00:27:18] looked to do

[00:27:18] on the Republican side.

[00:27:20] He was unsuccessful

[00:27:21] in that race.

[00:27:22] Mark Robinson likely

[00:27:23] probably gone

[00:27:24] from North Carolina politics

[00:27:25] for better or worse

[00:27:26] depending on

[00:27:27] what side you fall on

[00:27:28] with Robinson.

[00:27:29] That makes their bench

[00:27:30] for this race

[00:27:31] and I know, you know,

[00:27:32] wish casting

[00:27:32] and looking at stuff

[00:27:33] four years out

[00:27:34] the day after the election

[00:27:36] is hard to do

[00:27:37] but you do start

[00:27:38] scratching your head

[00:27:39] and wondering

[00:27:39] who looks at running

[00:27:40] for this race?

[00:27:41] Do we have somebody

[00:27:42] like a Tom Tillis

[00:27:43] if he doesn't decide

[00:27:44] to run for re-election

[00:27:45] jump into this governor's race?

[00:27:46] The Republican bench

[00:27:48] for that office

[00:27:48] is not something

[00:27:49] that is super strong

[00:27:50] or super deep right now.

[00:27:52] Nick Craig,

[00:27:52] host of the Carolina

[00:27:53] Journal News Hour

[00:27:54] here on WBT

[00:27:55] every weekday

[00:27:56] five until six a.m.

[00:27:57] Nick, appreciate the time, sir.

[00:27:58] Pete, thanks my friend.

[00:27:59] Always appreciate it.

[00:28:00] All right, buddy.

[00:28:00] Take it easy.

[00:28:01] That is Nick Craig.

[00:28:03] Back to the phone lines we go.

[00:28:05] Let's start off with Gail.

[00:28:07] Hello, Gail.

[00:28:08] Welcome to the program.

[00:28:10] Hey, how are you?

[00:28:10] First time caller here.

[00:28:12] Well, welcome.

[00:28:12] Thank you.

[00:28:14] I want to start

[00:28:16] by just saying

[00:28:16] I am a regular old

[00:28:18] middle-aged woman

[00:28:20] who owns her own business,

[00:28:22] runs a rescue,

[00:28:23] goes to work every day

[00:28:24] and comes home.

[00:28:26] Married to an immigrant.

[00:28:27] And I was insulted

[00:28:29] that it was supposed

[00:28:31] and assumed

[00:28:32] that I would vote for Harris

[00:28:34] just because I was a woman.

[00:28:36] That is insulting

[00:28:38] to my intelligence

[00:28:39] and insulting

[00:28:40] to all women

[00:28:41] and I just don't understand

[00:28:42] why everyone

[00:28:44] didn't see that.

[00:28:45] Well, and part of the problem

[00:28:47] there was that they

[00:28:50] actually, I found that they

[00:28:52] I did not see them

[00:28:53] making such a big deal

[00:28:54] about her being

[00:28:55] the first woman president

[00:28:56] so much as they tried to say

[00:28:57] that it's about abortion rights.

[00:29:00] And I don't

[00:29:02] I don't know

[00:29:03] if that was the smartest play

[00:29:04] but I also think

[00:29:05] that they were trying

[00:29:06] to run on basically

[00:29:07] an empty platform

[00:29:09] of I'm not him

[00:29:11] and I'm not Donald Trump

[00:29:12] and when you don't really

[00:29:14] have that much to go on

[00:29:16] you have to

[00:29:17] Well, I live in a small town here

[00:29:41] that's the state's rights

[00:29:43] at this point

[00:29:44] Right.

[00:29:44] So I wasn't really sure

[00:29:46] why everyone was just

[00:29:48] Well, I think that

[00:29:49] after

[00:29:50] Well, I think after

[00:29:51] and Gail, I appreciate the call

[00:29:53] thank you

[00:29:54] and call back again

[00:29:55] I appreciate the conversation

[00:29:56] I think that

[00:29:57] the

[00:29:58] that people are now

[00:30:00] more aware

[00:30:01] of what the

[00:30:02] reality is

[00:30:04] on this issue

[00:30:05] after the Dobbs decision

[00:30:06] I think after Dobbs

[00:30:08] there was a lot of people

[00:30:10] that

[00:30:12] believed

[00:30:12] the Democrats

[00:30:14] and legacy media

[00:30:16] narrative

[00:30:16] that

[00:30:17] they're going to ban

[00:30:18] all abortions

[00:30:19] and

[00:30:20] after we have now

[00:30:21] seen the way

[00:30:22] this has played out

[00:30:23] in various states

[00:30:24] with states taking

[00:30:25] their own votes

[00:30:25] which is the way

[00:30:26] it was supposed to be done

[00:30:27] people are now

[00:30:29] not believing

[00:30:30] that narrative

[00:30:30] I think that's why

[00:30:31] it's not as

[00:30:32] salient

[00:30:33] of an argument

[00:30:34] any longer

[00:30:35] because

[00:30:35] we now have seen

[00:30:37] we're living with

[00:30:38] the

[00:30:39] the aftermath of it

[00:30:40] and

[00:30:42] you know

[00:30:43] once again

[00:30:43] it's like

[00:30:44] who are you going to believe

[00:30:45] me or your lying eyes

[00:30:46] and I think people are

[00:30:47] going with their eyes

[00:30:49] all right

[00:30:50] that'll do it

[00:30:50] for this episode

[00:30:51] thank you so much

[00:30:52] for listening

[00:30:53] I could not do the show

[00:30:54] without your support

[00:30:55] and the support

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[00:30:57] on the podcast

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[00:31:06] again

[00:31:07] thank you so much

[00:31:08] for listening

[00:31:08] and don't break anything

[00:31:09] while I'm gone