Charlie discusses the midterm election, politics, and a caller's idea.

What this episode covers

Charlie James: And welcome to the program on your Monday afternoon. I'll tell you what, um, this—the weather this weekend was absolutely fantastic. I mean it was—it was almost like fall. Maybe wanted to just go put on a—a hoodie and watch some football, but it was—it's definitely a hot one today, going to be a hot one tomorrow. It's just going to be hot, hot, hot because we are in primary season, we're in midterm season now. We've only got 99 days until the midterm election. 99 days. And yes, we're going to be talking about this Senate race coming up in just a minute. But we've got less than 100 days now until the midterm elections, and if you look out, you will notice that the battle lines could not be any clearer. The Democrats and the Republicans are selling two completely different versions of America. Now, the question's going to be whether voters have short memories, or whether they remember why they voted the way they did in 2024. From my perspective, this—this election isn't about slogans, it's about whether Americans believe the country is moving in the right direction, or whether one—they want to hand the keys back from the people—to the people they fired. And that's literally what they'll be doing. Democrats are launching what they call the "Campaign to Fight for an Affordable America." Now, hearing Democrats literally campaign on affordability is like—is like hear—is like hearing an arsonist promise he'll do a better job running the fire department. Americans watched inflation under Joe Biden and the Democrats eat away at their paychecks. Families paid more for groceries, gas, housing, insurance, and just about everything else. And those increases were driven, in part, by excessive federal spending, regulatory policies, and energy—energy decisions made by Democrats controlling uh in Washington. Now they want you to believe that they're the solution. "Oh, look at us. We're the solution to all of these problems." It's going to be a tough sell. Now, the Republicans are making an argument that, "We've started turning the country around, it's no time to stop now." They need to focus on securing the border, strengthening public safety, extending tax relief, reducing government spending, increasing domestic energy production, and continuing efforts to lower inflation. Now, whether you agree with every policy or not, Republicans are asking voters to compare records, not rhetoric. And the argument is simple: Which direction produced better results? So here's what really stands out: Democrats always make Donald Trump the centerpiece of every single campaign message. Republicans are trying to make the message about you. That's an important distinction. If your grocery bill is still too high, if you're worried about illegal immigration, if you're concerned about crime, if you're worried about government waste, you probably aren't asking yourself what Donald Trump tweeted 5 years ago. You're asking yourself whether your family is better off than—now than it was then. And that's the conversation that Republicans need to have. Political pundits love reminding us that the president's party usually loses in the first midterm. Well, maybe. But remember, history isn't destiny. This isn't a typical political cycle. In fact, politics aren't typical anymore. Americans lived through years of inflation, border chaos, international instability, and growing distrust in Washington. And Republi—Republicans are betting that voters care more about results than historical trends. Now, campaign money is pouring into these races from both parties. Democrats are heavily targeting suburban districts, open—hoping economic frustration will work in their favor. Republicans, they're investing in defending their majority while expanding the electoral map. Now, speaking of money, we hear the Democrats are in a bit of a—a bind financially. And they've actually had to—what did they—what is that? Oh, they had to put the DNC, the bui ...

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