01:00In the mid-19th century, midterm elections became very important and often an opportunity
01:07for major change.
01:09I suspect that's what we're going to have this year.
01:36The foremost issue is cost of living, no question.
01:40People are very upset about the price of food, which Donald Trump had promised to bring down
01:45on day one of his second term.
01:46And of course, it's only increased.
01:48The price of gasoline and diesel, which has skyrocketed thanks to what most people regard
01:54as the mistake of the Iran war.
01:57And also other issues like corruption and the war itself.
02:02Did that make any sense for America to do that?
02:05Well, about 70% of the American public now says not one bit of sense.
02:42I settled eight raging wars, or soon-to-be wars, and we're close to ending two more, Russia,
02:47Ukraine, and Iran.
02:49They'll end one way or the other.
02:51It's going to be interesting to see what happens, because the Democrats have a very good chance
02:56to take the House of Representatives.
02:58They have a fair to good chance to take the U.S. Senate, which no one believed was possible
03:03in the beginning.
03:04Only a third of the seats are up, and they're overwhelmingly in Republican states.
03:09But Trump's performance has been so bad, and his ratings are so low, close to 30% approving
03:17of his job performance, that both houses might well end up in Democratic control.
03:24There's just one problem.
03:26Donald Trump has no problem ignoring the Constitution, the statutes, and the Congress, whatever he pleases.
03:34Now, will the courts make him pay attention?
03:38Maybe the Supreme Court is also Republican.
03:41So one doesn't know whether Trump will be forced to adhere to the normal standards that
03:47presidents have been forced to obey since the beginning of the American Republic.
03:52He may well get away with being an authoritarian.
03:56We'll have to see.
03:58This is an unprecedented point in American history.
04:01I don't think people across the world understand that our republic here is very much in danger.
04:39Well, these midterms are important because it's really the only opportunity that voters will
04:45have to pass judgment on Donald Trump.
04:48This is his second term under the Constitution.
04:51That should be it.
04:52Though he has already told people privately and the public in other settings that he is considering
04:59somehow remaining in office.
05:02Again, the authoritarian deciding that the republic needs reform.
05:07Reform of his making.
05:16And in this election, I'm asking you to do me a favor, pretend.
05:20Just pretend that I'm running.
05:22Because, you know, when I run, we get 48 percent more votes.
05:25Forty-eight percent.
05:27And in a way, we are running.
05:29So pretend that I'm running and go out.
05:31You got to get out of vote because the communists, socialists, Democrats, they will cheat.
05:38They will do whatever.
05:39And we have to get out.
05:45The polls are showing that Democrats are doing very well.
05:49They're going to win the House of Representatives.
05:52They're going to win Senate seats in deeply Republican states.
05:56Now, I don't know how many and I don't know whether it will be enough.
05:59No one knows about two weeks in advance or a week and a half in advance.
06:04But it's pretty clear that Democrats are forcing Republicans to spend every penny they've got.
06:09And, of course, they have far, far, far more money than Democrats do.
06:33It should reshape both parties' strategy because it's going to teach a lot of lessons.
06:39Let's just say the Democrats win Congress.
06:42I can guarantee you, having known the Democratic Party in my long life, you know, this is since the early
06:481950s, they will learn the wrong lessons.
06:51They almost always do, and they almost always make mistakes.
06:55Somehow, they luck into the presidency from time to time.
06:59But they're going to make certain assumptions that, for example, going well to the left will get them the presidency
07:06in 2028.
07:07It will not.
07:09But you're not going to be able to convince them of that.
07:12Now, let's suppose that Republicans somehow are able to hold on to the Senate, maybe the House, too.
07:18They're going to assume that the Trump way is the right way in 2028 as well.
07:23They are also wrong.
07:43They are going to album cover, you know, the House, too.
