- 8 minutes ago
We joined Dante O'Hara, a researcher in the physical sciences in Washington, to analyze the spectrum in the midterm elections and the distribution of the power over the Senate.
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00:00We have a special guest that is joining us at this hour, Dante O'Hara from the
00:04Claudia Jones School for Political Education. Hello, Dante, welcome to From
00:10the South. We have been speaking at this moment as you perhaps have been
00:14listening to of the composition of the US Senate and also the Congress.
00:26But precisely, we would like first to go deeper into how the US is arriving precisely at this
00:33crucial election today. Well, from my analysis, the US is at a crossroads between democracy and
00:49fascism. And I think majority of voters are feeling a lot of the Trump policies at the gas pump. And
01:01when they pay their housing bills and utilities, we see from across the country, the rise up against
01:09data centers, which are mostly backed by big tech billionaires that have also funded the Trump agenda.
01:16We have seen the unpopular Iran war, which has continued on to this day, where even Trump voters
01:26have been breaking with him because Trump came in as a so-called president that will end all wars
01:34and claims to continue to do that. So I think working class voters, whether they be Republican,
01:44Democrat or non-affiliated or non-affiliated, are coming out in droves to show their disdain for
01:51these fascist policies. And they want peace, they want to afford a home, they want to afford their
02:02utilities, and they want to afford basic necessities to have a normal life. So I think we will see
02:12the results of that, hopefully, by this week. And, you know, this is, yeah, as Adrian was saying,
02:20this is a referendum on the president's agenda and policies from this past two years. So we will see
02:28what transpires in these next few hours and days.
02:31Also, what are the main concerns of the working class communities that you've heard in the past few
02:37weeks ahead of elections?
02:41I think predominantly from younger voters. And by younger voters, I mean, under the age of 40,
02:48millennials, Gen Z, etc., those that, you know, came of age during either the Iraq war,
02:56or the Obama years, or even during Trump's first term. And the main crisis is the crisis of affordability.
03:07Um, like myself, for example, uh, the issue of student debt is a main major issue, uh, and the
03:14ability to afford, uh, school to get a higher education, bachelor's or otherwise. And even those
03:20degrees, uh, don't lead to, uh, very good job prospects for, uh, working class people, but particularly,
03:27uh, working class African-Americans, women, uh, young people, um, LGBTQ, etc. Um, you know,
03:36our unemployment rates are increasing, um, uh, as we see, you know, I'm in the D.C. region, um,
03:43here in Washington, D.C., and, uh, over 50,000 jobs have been, uh, cut, um, due to Trump's, uh,
03:50doge policies, um, from the beginning of his administration in 2025, where they fired, uh,
03:56tens of thousands of federal workers. Um, and with that, they gutted, um, civil rights programs,
04:03um, all under the guise of going after diversity, equity, and inclusion. Uh, but this was predominantly
04:09a, uh, attack on black workers, uh, women, um, and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s,
04:19uh, which led to, uh, advances like affirmative action, uh, civil rights protections at the polls,
04:26voting rights acts, um, civil rights at the workplace, um, even labor protections, uh, et cetera.
04:33So, um, what we're seeing is, uh, a major rollback in people's basic constitutional and, uh, political
04:41rights, um, which is one thing. Um, and then additionally on top of that is a very class-based issue,
04:48which is,
04:49uh, the ability to afford, uh, basic needs in life, um, uh, because of the lack of jobs,
04:56um, the lack of good paying jobs, if you have one, um, and, and the lack of, uh, uh, being
05:03able to
05:03afford, uh, utilities, um, and basic necessities, uh, like housing as such, uh, because the rent costs
05:09continue to increase, uh, are, uh, the ability to afford water in your home or gas or electricity
05:17continues to increase. Um, and it's just very difficult for people to live, um, in the day-to-day
05:24life and people are moving away from the cities, um, and trying to move to places where they can find
05:31work, um, or find cheaper places to live and, uh, have a family. But a lot of young people are
05:37not
05:37having families and are struggling to make ends meet, um, and working two to three jobs just to, uh,
05:43get by. So it's very, very difficult right now for a lot of working class people in the United States.
05:49Dante, also, now I would like to bring on our, on our conversation, my guest in studio,
05:55Adrian Pine, who has also a question for you to also, to make this a conversational moment to go
06:02deeper into the analysis.
06:06Hey, Dante. Um, so you're in Washington DC and, uh, and which of course is not voting for
06:12Senate race because DC doesn't have statehood. Um, but DC, uh, has also been occupied by the
06:18National Guard for about a year now. How have people in, uh, Washington DC prepared for the elections?
06:26Um, and how is, how do you think this may have, um, affected the electoral climate in DC?
06:34Uh, I think it's your response to your answer. One is yes, the National Guard has been occupying,
06:43uh, the capital city DC, um, for over a year now since August, 2025. Um, I think about 3000 troops
06:52or so are still on the streets. And this is not only including DC's National Guard and for the audience,
06:58each state governor has the ability to, uh, control their guard as opposed, uh, unlike DC,
07:06which we are at the whim of Congress and the federal government, uh, because of our home rule
07:10and lack of statehood. Um, so we have about nine or so different states, uh, Republican governors
07:17specifically have sent, uh, National Guard military troops, arms, military troops onto our streets,
07:23um, who have been occupying our, uh, uh, train stations, um, our museum areas where people gather,
07:30our neighborhoods, um, where I live, which is sort of uptown from downtown DC, uh, National Guard
07:37from like Arkansas have been occupying my neighborhood for, for about a year now. Um, so it's very difficult.
07:43Um, so to your question on the election, um, and why I say it's layered, one is because of the
07:49immigration crisis
07:50in the country. And by immigration crisis, I mean, Trump and MAGA's attack on the immigrant community
07:57and particularly very racist attack on Latinos generally. Um, and also, uh, people who are Afro-descended
08:05from Haiti and other, uh, uh, uh, countries, um, in the Caribbean. Um, but, you know, DC passed a law
08:13in 2022 to give, uh, the right to vote to non-citizens, um, in local municipal elections here in DC.
08:22Um,
08:23and now people who are non-citizens who have been living here, paying taxes, um, are engaged in a
08:30uh, productive life in the districts of Columbia. Um, uh, they are unable to, uh, have their say for mayor
08:39or, uh, city council member or their local commissioner or, uh, state board of education
08:45or any sort of political life in the city. Um, they're excluded. Um, the law is still on the books,
08:52but they are getting threatened if they vote, um, in the local election that it might threaten their,
08:58their status, um, in the country. So they're staying home and not engaging. So that's one thing.
09:04Additionally, next to the national guard, you also have what they're part of is the DC safe and
09:10beautiful task force, uh, which was instituted by Trump, Stephen Miller, PXF, uh, DHS, et cetera,
09:19um, to basically create a very Gustavo type task force, which is allowing for basically every federal
09:26agency to just occupy our streets next to, uh, uh, military troops. Um, so you can imagine
09:33our local police that are riding along with federal, uh, officers like ICE, uh, uh, HSI,
09:40which is a, uh, a branch of ICE to investigate people. Um, uh, FBI, um, treasury police, IRS police,
09:50et cetera. You can say any acronym, uh, that you think of like a federal agency. They are
09:54on our streets, uh, riding along with the local police department of DC and doing jump outs at any
10:01little infraction of some crime. Right. So imagine if you're just brown looking on the street,
10:09just hanging out with some buddies and police just jump out. I don't know where that is like
10:13intimidation, right? So on one hand, the intimidation is creating an, uh, the crisis for
10:19the right wing, which is encouraging people to come out more and vote and, uh, make sure that
10:25this will go away. So for example, on the question of DC, uh, home rule and the elections locally here,
10:32uh, people voted, uh, very, uh, in a major progressive way. So we have a socialist mayor, uh,
10:40who will likely become the, uh, the nominee for mayor, but she's currently the democratic nominee.
10:46Uh, she'll become the mayor elect hopefully tonight. Um, Janice Lewis George, and she has,
10:51uh, promised that she is going to remove all the, um, the collaborative type of, uh, executive orders
10:59that the former police chief and the former mayor, uh, put in place to basically, uh, uh, appease the
11:05Trump administration. And so, um, she has promised that. And a lot of people here,
11:11even any political spectrum, you might imagine small business owners, developers, et cetera,
11:16have aligned with her program because they do not want this federal interference, uh, into the city.
11:23Like a lot of people, different class forces, um, still support home rule. They want some autonomy
11:29over the city. They don't want federal interference. Yes. There are like really reactionary forces in the
11:33city. Like for example, like the DC police union chief who goes around DC council and goes to
11:39Congress and has the oversight committee come in and try to mess with our laws, like our budget,
11:44et cetera. Um, but like the alliance around Janice and the progressives that had been put into office
11:52or are going to be put into office, um, is very broad based because people do not like this encroachment
11:57on our local, uh, affairs and are very afraid of like what Trump might do. Um, uh, if you know,
12:06we do quote unquote too much, right. And by too much, you know, we really pushed back against them,
12:11which he has threatened to take over the police department here in DC, like federalize it. He has
12:16threatened to, you know, he's already quote unquote beautifying the city, like destroying the reflecting pool,
12:22destroying, uh, uh, like East Potomac park where people go to golf and stuff. He's trying to like
12:27remove all the trees and all of that. Um, he is putting his name over everything, every building,
12:33et cetera. Uh, like the Institute of peace is now the Trump Institute of peace. Uh, the Kennedy center,
12:38as you guys know, is a cultural hub for people all over the world. Um, it's been a crisis there
12:44to get
12:45anything going there. Cause he tried to put his name on the center and close it down. Um, and now
12:49it's
12:49looking like it will never reopen, uh, as long as he's the president. Um, and yeah,
12:55there's just compounding crises and contradictions within, with this, this presidency. So a local
13:00movement has really developed to really defend what's left of home rule, the limited home rule
13:05we have, um, and advance towards a fight for statehood. And, you know, this has led to like,
13:11um, a progressive, uh, a younger progressive, uh, Robert White, um, coming into Congress, you know,
13:17he's likely to be elected the delegate to us Congress. Yes. They're not a voting member,
13:22as you mentioned. Um, but they still can sit on committees. Um, they can still advocate,
13:28they can help, uh, introduce bills, um, et cetera. So, um, they still have a major voice within,
13:33uh, uh, the house, which is very important for DC to have a voice, um, there. So, um, and there's
13:40a lot of other major things. There's a major progressive block, uh, that's going to be, um, coming
13:45into the DC council, uh, which means a lot of potential for progressive legislation as well,
13:51uh, for, for the nation's capital, um, which will be very interesting dynamic when you have like a
13:57fascist and the white house and a, uh, right-wing Congress, which may flipped may flip, uh, this
14:03coming week or tonight. Um, uh, but you know, we're, we're preparing for, um, an unfriendly Congress
14:10regardless. So, uh, that means our budget, our legislation that's under the whim of the US
14:15Congress and president, uh, we're going to be fighting tooth and nail to, uh, fight for that
14:20policy and defend our, our basic, uh, political rights here as, uh, DC residents.
14:26Also Dante, how would you, how can we connect the deployment of national guard there in Washington,
14:34DC in the capital of the country with a wider and broader policy of, of harassment of as well of
14:42intimidation against voters and how can we contrast that intentions with what has happened actually
14:48today in matters of voter turnout? Yeah, I think there's a few things and
14:56let me know if I'm not answering the question properly, because there's a lot that's been going
15:01on the past year with national guard that maybe your audience is not aware of like this past year.
15:09So beginning in June of 2025, Trump and Hexeth, uh, deployed the Marines and national guard to Los
15:16Angeles, um, in California. That was the first step, um, in deploying national guard as intimidation
15:24and, uh, as a force to, uh, basically occupy major US cities that were led by
15:30Democrats, um, but had probably likely a progressive base. A lot of, uh, black and brown folks, people
15:37of color that live there, et cetera, and progressive policy or liberal policy, um, in those, uh, municipalities.
15:43Um, after that, they tried to, uh, deploy the national guard in, uh, Chicago, Illinois. Um, that was blocked,
15:51uh, by court judge, uh, following that, um, DC happens, um, where we still have, uh,
16:00litigation in the court around the guard deployment. Um, there was just an appeal case
16:04a few weeks ago, um, where arguments were made by DC and also the federal government.
16:10Um, that's still in litigation. So, you know, it's been over a year now. Um, and, uh, even
16:17with operation Metro surge that took place in, uh, the twin cities in Minnesota, uh, late last year and
16:24early this year, which led to the murders of, uh, uh, Alex pretty and, uh, Renee good. Um,
16:30they also tried to deploy the guard in the twin cities. Um, but that was blocked. Um, so what
16:35it became over there was a full on DHS ice occupation in, uh, the twin cities, which led to
16:42this very terroristic, uh, situation that transpired, uh, which really, I think galvanized the entire
16:49country. Like there was literally a one day general strike that took place in the twin cities, um,
16:54in the whole state basically in Minnesota. Um, so to your point about, uh, voter intimidation,
17:01generally, I mean, in DC specifically, there has been efforts, um, by a group called free DC,
17:08which is a campaign, uh, which is mostly behind a lot of this effort to revive the fight to defend
17:14home rule and to fight for statehood. Um, but it has galvanized tens of thousands of DC residents,
17:19um, around a variety of issues, like mostly Trump attacks on the districts. Uh, but one of them has
17:26been the national guard. Um, and, uh, you know, the national guard members have been seen multiple
17:33times, uh, not intimidating to use my words, uh, lightly, but, um, being around the polls, which by itself
17:42is illegal, right? So there's supposed to be, I think 50 or 60 or so feet from a polling station.
17:49Um, and there has been guard, like just hanging out near a polling station, um, at some polling sites
17:55in, uh, the districts. Um, there has been some lawsuits around the country, um, with NAACP, um,
18:03legal defense fund and some other, uh, organizations, advancement project, et cetera,
18:07um, that have sued the Trump government, uh, to stop any like ice, for example, they've threatened
18:14to have ice at the polls. Um, so they have sued to basically block that from even happening.
18:18And then like, basically any federal agency cannot be near a, uh, a poll site, um, at all,
18:25unless there's some like emergency type of situation, I believe. Um, so, um, yeah, so, so in that case,
18:35a lot of people have been, uh, very concerned about voter intimidation and that is absolutely
18:42real, but there has been a legal and, uh, mass fight on the ground against it. And a lot of
18:50people
18:50right now are engaged right now. And I think until the swearing in day, January 3rd, um, people are
18:56engaged in voter protection. So one thing is making sure people are able to vote. And then after today
19:03or after tonight, making sure their votes counts are counted. Right. And, uh, and then make sure
19:10there's no, you know, fuzziness around the vote counting and intimidation to poll workers themselves.
19:15Cause we have seen videos around the country, um, not here in DC, but I think in Georgia and maybe
19:20some other spots around the Midwest, um, where I think DHS or, or, uh, DOJ, I'm sorry, uh,
19:27Department of Justice workers, um, have come into polling sites and have intimidated poll workers
19:34themselves, uh, um, quote unquote, non-citizen voting and voter fraud quote, uh, which are
19:41non-issues in this country. Um, so, so that case is, is concerning. Right. And I think a lot is
19:50a
19:50coalition of groups nationally, legal groups, et cetera, that are fighting against this, um, and have
19:55been winning in the courts, but as an organizer, as a community organizer, you know, that is not
20:00enough, you know, like these guys are going to try anything possible to, you know, win. And by these
20:05guys, I mean, Trump, MAGA and his fascist, you know, ilk around him. Right. And, uh, people like
20:13Elon Musk are spending billions and billions of dollars in Texas and elsewhere to make sure
20:17they win. Um, but if they don't win in a legal way, they will try illegal methods. Like we're not,
20:23we will not be surprised if another January 6th type thing happens. Um, we will not be surprised
20:28if, uh, Mike Johnson does not want to swear in the winners of, uh, the midterm elections, uh, come
20:35January 3rd. So like, what are the masses of people in the United States going to do with that?
20:41Um, so these are conversations happening right now, um, among legal groups, among, uh, mass organizations,
20:50among, uh, all types of people that are concerned still. Uh, but I think the general sense is that
20:56people are trying to turn out and not, um, so it's too, quote, too big to rig basically.
21:03And so like, you know, they have nothing, no legal ground to fight on. So they will have to cheat
21:08basically to do anything. Um, but you know, anything can happen. And, uh, you know, I'm not,
21:14I'm not, uh, you know, I'm not going to say anything cause I, I don't know what these guys
21:20are capable of, right? Like the heritage foundation has put out a lot of, uh, sort of policy and, uh,
21:27you know, uh, blogs that say like, you know, these guys can basically do anything they want,
21:33um, with the election. So, uh, we should be very careful and, um, uh, keep our eyes peeled and be
21:40organized and not get complacent if, you know, there is a major, uh, defeat of the Republican
21:46Party, uh, tonight and this week, um, when the results come in. Um, cause I think there's still
21:52a lot of fight to be had, uh, come January 3rd and, uh, these weeks ahead of us.
21:58Thank you, Dante, very much. Indeed. It remains to be seen what happens tonight,
22:03but we are going to be following very closely because of the importance of everything that is
22:08happening. So thank you very much for your time hearing from the South and also helping us getting
22:12through the main details that are going to be decisive in this race. Thank you for having me.
22:21Thanks Dante.