Eight Senate Democrats Cave to GOP; Youth Vote Powered 2025 Democratic Wins

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET. Brad is first joined by Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works.  The two discuss the eight Senate Democrats who caved to the GOP and gave up healthcare tax credits in order to re-open the government. They also hypothesize Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's role in the eight Senators' decision, and whether it's time to look for a new leader for Senate Democrats. Finally, Alex explains that it's ultimately the Republicans who have caused the health care catastrophe. On that front, there’s a list of the 25 most vulnerable House Republicans that people should continue to focus on, and Social Security Works will continue to do protests on these matters. Then, Brad is joined by Eve Levenson, Senior Director of Political Partnerships and Strategy at Flytedesk, 'the technology that powers college media.' The pair analyzes last Tuesday's election results across the country, and how young voters played a huge part in determining the outcomes. Flytedesk's key takeaways showed that young voters remain a stronghold for Democrats: across the country from VA and NJ to CA and NYC, they favored Dems strongly in last Tuesday's elections. Young voters favored candidates who prioritized affordability. This tracks with Flytedesk's research that the economy and, in particular, costs were a top issue in both 2024 and 2025. The gender gap among young voters remains, but is shrinking: Abigail Spanberger, Mickie Sherrill, and Zohran Mamdani all won young men by double digits, while winning young women with even larger margins. The 'Social Security Works' website is www.socialsecurityworks.org and their handle on BlueSky is @socialsecurityworks.org. Alex's handle there is @alaw202.bsky.social.   Flytedesk's website is www.flytedesk.com. Eve Levenson's handle on BlueSky is @eve-levenson.bsky.social.