#231: Election 2020 Recap (and NFL talk) with Matt Mackowiak

What this episode covers

1. Today, the Electoral College ratified President-Elect Biden’s victory, but the overall election wasn’t anywhere close to as rosy for the Democratic Party. Democrats lost at least a dozen seats in the House and the GOP is highly likely to retain control of the Senate barring a total catastrophe in Georgia on January 5. In an era of very few “ticket-splitting” voters, this initially came as a shock to many. That said, Public Opinion Strategies studied a lot of suburban voters this cycle, and they found while many of them couldn’t stomach voting to re-elect Trump, they also were lukewarm to the policies of the current Democratic party. Is it fair to say that the growing influence of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and AOC on the Dems cost them dearly down-ballot?  2. Another VERY promising sign for the GOP going forward is the historic amount of minority support President Trump was able to attract. He received nearly 1/3 of the Hispanic vote (a similar number your former boss George W. Bush posted), 12% of the black vote (the highest number for a Republican in a long time), and over 30% of the Jewish vote (the highest since Reagan). Why was he able to make such inroads in all three communities, and what do Republicans need to do grow support among those voters these next few election cycles? 3. President-Elect Biden’s victory will not be officially official until January 6 when Congress tallies all 538 EC votes. And as the New York Times reported yesterday, House Republicans plan to object to the vote of the six states that flipped the presidency to Biden. And at least two GOP Senators (Ron Johnson and Rand Paul) are open to signing on, which, if they do, means the full Congress will debate the objection.  Although this does effort is all but guaranteed to fail, it will be another debasement of our republic’s democratic institutions. That said, from a political standpoint, House/Senate R’s who don’t go along with this risk exposing themselves to a primary challenge from a QAnon member…or worse. As a political strategist, what is your advice to congressional R’s on how to not alienate the base yet respect the sanctity of our institutions simultaneously? 4. Looking at Biden’s cabinet picks so far, which ones, in your view, are likely to pass a GOP-controlled Senate…and are any dead on arrival? If Justice Breyer retires within the next two years, and Biden appoints a moderate, do you think a GOP-controlled Senate will consider the nomination, or do precisely what they did with the Scalia vacancy in 2016? 5. The main reason why I voted against President Trump was the existential risk that he, in my view, posed to our democratic republic. I remain VERY frightened that the United States remains on the fast track to another Civil War, a potential split into two different countries, or a full-blown dictatorship unless reforms to our electoral system are made. And no, I’m not for abolishing the Electoral College or expanding the size of SCOTUS. I’m talking about a LOT of hard compromises between both parties that will be ESSENTIAL to preserve this republic as we’ve known it. What do you think of the following proposal? 6. -Who will end up with the NFC’s #1 seed: Packers or Saints? -Who should the Chiefs fear more: Steelers or Bills?

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