Revenge of the Libs

Summary

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Pod Save America, “Revenge of the Libs” (November 5, 2025)

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Episode Overview

This episode is a celebratory and reflective conversation among Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, and Dan Pfeiffer (with Jon Lovett absent) about the wave of Democratic victories in the November 2025 elections. The hosts break down stunning results for Democrats up and down the ballot from mayoral races to state legislatures, ballot measures, and surprise upsets—including the election of Zoran Mamdani as Mayor of New York City, historic wins in the Georgia Public Service Commission, and blowouts in Virginia and New Jersey. The discussion is peppered with humor, candid political analysis, and thoughtful reflections on what these Democratic wins signal about the electorate, Donald Trump, and the road ahead.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Triumphant Democratic “Wave”

Immediate Take: The Joy of Winning

• Democrats and progressive causes swept major races: Virginia, New Jersey, Prop 51 in California, New York City, Georgia Public Service Commission, and Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
• “Did you guys forget what it feels to have a good election night?” — Jon Favreau (02:34)
• Results came in quickly, leaving little room for post-election anxiety.

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2. Zoran Mamdani’s Historic New York City Win

Significance

• Zoran Mamdani becomes the first Muslim, first Democratic Socialist, and youngest mayor of NYC since the Tammany Hall era, crossing the 50% threshold with over a million votes.
• “He becomes the first Muslim mayor of New York, the first Democratic socialist, and the youngest mayor of New York since Tammany hall days, I guess. Pretty goddamn impressive…” — Jon Favreau (03:30)

Analysis of Mamdani’s Campaign and Style

• Mamdani’s effortless charm, relentless message discipline, focus on affordability and cost of living, and effective attacks on billionaire interests stood out.
• “He hammered costs, he hammered affordability… took a two by four to Andrew Cuomo's head in a pretty delicate way.” — Tommy Vietor (04:56)
• Managed to appeal to both progressives and even some Trump voters (garnered 9% of 2024 Trump voter support; 12:10).

Notable Speech Moments

• Quote: “We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves...if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.” — Zoran Mamdani (05:46)
• Mamdani explicitly rebuked both Andrew Cuomo and Donald Trump, notably refusing to offer conciliatory language, taking pride in his socialist and immigrant identity, and signaling a bold, unapologetic governing approach.

Media and Insider Reactions

• CNN panel “apoplectic”, expecting more of a unity message; Mamdani proudly chose otherwise.
• “He was not willing to let it go tonight.” — Tommy Vietor (07:04)
• The hosts debate whether picking a fight with Trump is strategically smart (consensus: warranted and empowering for the NYC context).

Lessons & Implications

• “Are we now a socialist country? And also Republicans are trying very hard already to make Zoran Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party… Is this going to work?” — Jon Favreau (13:10)
• Hosts conclude that the GOP routinely picks bogeymen (Pelosi, AOC, Omar) and that this strategy doesn’t consistently succeed.
• Key lessons: Running young, dynamic, and media-savvy candidates, focusing messaging on affordability and anti-corruption, and not shying away from progressive identities can drive even cross-partisan support.

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3. Major Gubernatorial and Legislative Races

Virginia: Abigail Spanberger’s Landslide

• Spanberger elected first female governor of Virginia with a 57–42 margin—a swing of historic proportions.
• Democrats poised to gain 64 of 100 seats in the House of Delegates.
• Key quote: “…an unheard-of swing. Virginia Beach, another sort of bellwether county. Youngkin won by 8, Spanberger by 10. Just huge, huge shifts.” — Jon Favreau (19:48)
• Trump’s attacks on federal jobs and the government fundamentally hurt the GOP.
• “The biggest Democratic win in Virginia of our lifetimes, I think.” — Jon Favreau (23:26)

New Jersey: Mikie Sherrill’s Surprising Blowout

• Margin of victory (56–43 against Jack Ciattarelli) outpaces any expectations and bucks trend of third-term fatigue for Democrats.
• Republican efforts to distance themselves from Trump proved futile, and Cittarelli’s association with a sales tax hike hurt him on affordability messaging.

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4. Other Notable Wins & Measures

Georgia Public Service Commission

• Democrats shock with double-digit wins (61–38 and 62–38), flipping seats not held by Democrats in decades.
• Steve Bannon, quoted on his podcast (War Room, 33:07), emphasized the gravity: “The midterms start tonight...this is going to cut deeper.”

California Prop 50

• Big win for redistricting reform, leveling GOP gerrymandering from Texas and boosting Dem House chances in 2026.
• Hosts note the risk Newsom took to get the measure on the ballot and credit grassroots mobilization.

Maine and Other States

• Maine passes a red flag gun safety ballot measure, while a restrictive voter ID initiative fails.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court remains with the 5–2 liberal majority.

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5. Meta-Analysis: What Does It All Mean?

On Voter Coalitions and Trump’s Weakness

• Democratic wins weren’t just about ideology; they pulled support across the spectrum, including some 2024 Trump voters and working-class minorities.
• “Spanberger won 84% of nonwhites without a college degree and Sherrill won 71% of them. That’s better than Kamala Harris in 2024.” — Ron Brownstein, paraphrased by Jon Favreau (28:07)
• Drop-off among some Trump-leaning voters suggested limited GOP ability to turn them into reliable midterm supporters.

Electoral Lessons

• Avoid running candidates in their 80s.
• Field young, digitally adept, communicative, and policy-focused politicians.
• All major races shared a focus on the failure of Trump-era Republicans to address economic concerns—especially cost of living and affordability.

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6. Shutdown Politics and Democratic Strategy

The Federal Shutdown’s Aftershocks

• Trump blames shutdown for GOP losses; exit polls show cuts to federal spending/jobs haunted Republicans, especially in Virginia.
• With voters supporting Democrats despite dissatisfaction with national direction, hosts debate the timing and terms for ending the shutdown.
• “What in the data suggests what you’ve been doing for the last month has been the wrong approach?” — Jon Favreau (43:19)

Senate/Hill Chatter

• Senate Democrats reportedly mulling an off-ramp to end the shutdown, but the hosts caution any move must ensure substantive wins on ACA subsidies and involve the House for real progress.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Mamdani’s Victory Speech

“We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves…if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”
— Zoran Mamdani, Mayor-Elect of NYC (05:46)

Winning Across Diverse Districts

“What is the lesson from an election where a Muslim socialist won in New York and an ex CIA moderate mom trounced in Virginia and another, you know, woman with a military background, Navy pilot trounced in New Jersey? The common denominator is Donald Trump hasn't done anything about affordability and has made it worse.”
— Jon Favreau (15:49)

On Republican Scaremongering

“They always have a boogeyman. It’s Pelosi, it’s AOC, it’s Ilhan Omar, it’s whomever. Hillary Clinton. If it’s not one, they’ll pick another.”
— Tommy Vietor (14:10)

On Democratic Party Leadership Unsteadiness

“Meanwhile, fucking Chuck Schumer can't even tell us who he voted for in New York.”
— Jon Favreau (45:55)
Discussion on Schumer’s refusal to state his vote in the NYC mayoral race.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Democratic Electoral Sweep & Opening Reactions: 02:21–05:43
• Zoran Mamdani’s NYC Victory Recap, Clip, Analysis: 03:30–13:41
  • Mamdani’s speech excerpt: 05:46
  • Cross-partisan appeal/exit polls: 12:10
• Lessons from Mamdani’s Campaign: 13:10–15:49
• Virginia: Abigail Spanberger’s Victory: 19:37–23:45
• New Jersey: Mikie Sherrill’s Win Analysis: 24:17–29:26
• Discussion of Downballot & State Races (Georgia, California, Maine, PA): 32:26–38:19
• Meta-Analysis, Meditakes: 38:33–40:23
• Shutdown Politics & Congressional Strategy: 41:26–44:55
• Leadership Critique: Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries: 45:55–47:58
• Closing Reflections & Voter Appreciation: 48:14–48:39

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, candid, and often humorous; critical of both right-wing tactics and Democratic weaknesses.
• Confident and ebullient in victory, but still analytical and cautionary regarding future challenges and how today’s lessons might (or might not) translate more broadly.

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Conclusion: “Democracy is Not Dead Yet”

The hosts end on a high note, celebrating Democrats’ wins, crediting volunteers and voters, and expressing hope going into the next cycles. The episode acts as both a post-mortem and a roadmap—acknowledging the importance of youth, message discipline, digital savvy, and a relentless focus on economic issues as keys to victory both this year and beyond.

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For deeper analysis and more takeaways, check out the full episode or the Pod Save America transcript.

Transcript

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[Jon Favreau]

Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau.

[Tommy Vietor]

I'm Tommy Vitor.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I'm Dan Pfeiffer.

[Jon Favreau]

John Lovett could not be with us tonight. He is at the Andrew Cuomo.

[Tommy Vietor]

No, he's just at his house. He's staying there.

[Jon Favreau]

He's sleeping over in that nice apartment. Big night. Big night for Democrats. Big night for America. But it's definitely A big night for Democrats. So this feels better, doesn't it?

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, a little bit.

[Jon Favreau]

Did you guys forget what it feels to have a good election night? That feels good. Do you guys forget about that?

[Tommy Vietor]

Yes.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

And to have an election night where all the good news came right away. There was no waiting. There was no waiting for the college towns to come in or anything like that. It's just polls. Close call for the Democrats. That's how it should be.

[Tommy Vietor]

Love it. Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

One in Virginia, one in New Jersey, Prop 51 in California, one in New York City. Georgia Public Service Commission. Big win there.

[Tommy Vietor]

The main ballot measure that would have put voter suppression tactics in place and voter ID laws in place was losing really badly.

[Jon Favreau]

And the one about a red flag law to take guns away from family members who I guess might use them.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Don't forget the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

[Jon Favreau]

Pennsylvania Supreme Court stays 5, 2. Liberal majority there. I think I'm probably forgetting a few, but it was big night.

[Tommy Vietor]

What is this feeling winning? This was like 2017. That's what it feels like in 2018.

[Jon Favreau]

So let's start with just because we just watched the speech. Zoran Mamdani, 34 years old, is the mayor of New York City. So far it is. I believe he crossed the 50% threshold. Right now, with 90% reporting, it's Mamdani, 50.4%, Andrew Cuomo, 41.6%, Curtis Lewa, 7.1%. Mamdani won every borough except Staten Island. Won by 20 points in Brooklyn, 11 in the Bronx. Over and over and over again. Hit a million votes. First time a kid candidate has done that in New York since 1969. He becomes the first Muslim mayor of New York, the first Democratic socialist, and the youngest mayor of New York since Tammany hall days, I guess. Pretty goddamn impressive takes on Zoron. Pulling it out, Dan.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I mean, it's an incredible win. It's a campaign for the Aegis, right? You know, they put out this incredible video just the other day. That was Zoron standing on a street corner, I think in Queensland right after the 2024 election, holding a sign saying, please come talk to me about the election. And he was trying to. People would pay. No, they had no idea who he was. Pay no attention to him. Flash forward one year later, the guy's mayor of New York. He is a celebrity. Everywhere he's go, he's mobbed about people excited by this. There is like a sense of community in New York over this. People are just so fired up. It's like it's truly it really is one for the ages, Tommy.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, just an extraordinary race. I mean, what a. Look, I got to talk to him for the first time three or four days ago, and he's just like effortlessly charming. He's relentlessly on message. He hammered costs, he hammered affordability. He was able to, and we'll talk about it in the speech, take a two by four to Andrew Cuomo's head in a pretty delicate way. I thought most of the time.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Maybe it was eloquent. It was an eloquent way, yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

He did it with a smile, he did it with humor. And he. Look, Barack Obama was good at this too, like landing a really hard punch in a way that doesn't feel mean or crass or cruel or what people hate about politics. He was focused on cost of living. He picked the right enemy, the kind of Bill Ackman, billionaire class, and he ran with it. And my God, what a win.

[Jon Favreau]

Let's. Let's hear a clip from the speech.

[Zoran Mamdani (clip)]

Andrew Cuomo. Only the best in private life. We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that. That allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it's how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you. Turn the volume up.

[Jon Favreau]

I will say clip, cut off. The most important part of the Andrew Cuomo line, which was, I wish Andrew Cuomo the best in private life. And let this be the last time I ever say his name, but let.

[Tommy Vietor]

Tonight be the final time I utter his name.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

The.

[Jon Favreau]

You said Obama. Like, could you imagine Obama being like, I wish Hillary Clinton the best, and let tonight be the last time I ever utter her name.

[Tommy Vietor]

We all would have clapped. I should say, as we were walking in here, the CNN panel talking about the speech. Speech was pretty apoplectic. They were expecting a more conciliatory, you know, unifying sounding speech, which I frankly, in this moment is a touch saccharine. I mean, he went super hard at Trump. I wondered if there might be some sort of, you know, ultimately failing strategy to kind of mollify Trump a bit and maybe see if he would not punish New York City. But no, I mean, Zoran took the fight right to Trump. He basically called Him a slumlord. In another part of the speech, Zoran was like unabashedly himself. Throughout the speech he talked about, he opened by name checking Eugene Debs, who many listeners might not know is like a very, very famous socialist. He was proud of his identity. He's talking about New York being a nation of immigrants. He clearly hates Cuomo. He was not willing to let it go tonight.

[Jon Favreau]

I mean, he, he also ended by saying a famous New Yorker once said, you campaign in. Campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Which was Mario Cuomo. Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

Going after his father's supposed to be.

[Jon Favreau]

And then did the shining city on the Hill, which other Cuomo references.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah. My biggest anxiety for Mamdani, for his team, for all the young people who have poured themselves into this campaign and all their hopes and dreams, is just the reality of how brutal and hard governing can be and how demoralizing it can feel when there are setbacks. And I wondered if Mamnani might do some kind of expectation setting tonight. He did not do that. He leaned into the high expectations. He, he said expectations will be high. We will meet them. So, I mean, look like, good for him. He's owning the moment. He's calling a shot.

[Jon Favreau]

Dan.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, I think he clearly hatred that he and his campaign team have for Andrew Cuomo is palpable. And I understand that because I also hate Andrew Cuomo. Passion of a thousand sons. So I get it and I've seen it.

[Jon Favreau]

We've been there in our campaigns for other parts. But yes, also with Andrew Cuomo.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yes. And also the Cuomo thing works in the sense that Andrew Cuomo represents everything that Mondani was running against, like old, broken, corrupt politics. So he, like, it's. Yes, there is like a personal hatred there, but it also works with this narrative. I'm not apoplectic like the CNN panel. I think the key for his success is going to not be in fights with Trump. It's going to be, I mean, not that Trump is not going to bring the fight to him, but it is to just like cost of living, cost of living, cost of living, affordability crisis. Like, he's run this whole campaign and I think he'll do the expectation setting in his inaugural speech on January 1st when he takes office. But he is a powerful, powerful speaker. And the thing that I really took from it is Trump has this 1970s vision of new York, crime ridden, the racial makeup at the time. And Mondani is clearly in tune with the New York of today. The way he was naming Yemeni Bodega owners and he was name checking everyone. But that's the New York that he comes from. The New York he represents is this amazing melting pot city of immigrants.

[Jon Favreau]

I will say though, the one part I did like, I thought being tough on Trump was completely warranted because Donald Trump is at fucking war with American cities right now. He needs like, he spent the entire campaign threatening, he's still threatening to pull federal funding from New York. So he wants to hurt the people of New York because of who they voted for. He's got goons in Chicago and LA and everywhere. Like, he can be tough on Donald Trump. And I actually think showing a little strength is good. I mean, this is, again, Donald Trump is not a normal president from another party here. So I was actually okay with that. And, you know, you're pissed at Cuomo, you get a few digs in, it's fine.

[Tommy Vietor]

I wasn't like, opposed to it or like, it didn't bother me. I was just a little surprised by it.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Me too.

[Tommy Vietor]

You could imagine a meeting where you're like, look, let's not pick this fight right now. Let's wait, you're a young guy, he's going to come after you anyway. But he was like, no, he's going to punch me, so I'm going to punch him first.

[Jon Favreau]

Well, and you know what Trump respects. Trump respects people who are fucking throw a punch.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, I mean, that's the argument for it is he is sending a message to Trump that he'll fight him. Just, I was struck by there's a way to do it where it's mostly about protecting New York. And he really went at like despot, authoritarian, like the root causes of MAGA ism. But, you know, and also he's gonna be a leader in this party and maybe that's the, you know, the ground he's staking out. So we'll sort of have to see where it goes.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, I know what you're saying, Dan, because I thought he was gonna go more in the direction where he did on when he talked about immigrants and he said, you know, this is a city of immigrants now, it's being led by one. And if you're gonna come after us, you're gonna have to go through all of us. Like, I thought that that's sort of the, this is how we're gonna take on Trump. It's like, it's not Mamdani versus Trump. It's you're coming after the city, you're not just coming after me. Which I think is the right yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

Somewhere an ICE official is like, okay, yeah, give me a challenge. Dan, to your point about name checking the modern New York. Do you see Deez is nice tweeted. If Zoran has yet to mention your nationality, neighborhood or bus line in the speech, please stay in line 1 just.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Factoid on this race that I found the exit polls was fascinating is that Mamdani won 9% of 2024 Trump voters.

[Tommy Vietor]

Amazing.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, interesting.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Which is a huge number. Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Are we trusting any of the exit polls, Dan, for any of these? Because the top lines on both Virginia and Jersey, because people were doing the math where if, you know the gender split, you can sort of figure out the top line are so wrong.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Well, that's first wave. Right. And the numbers adjusted several times.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm wondering if they have adjusted.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

They have adjusted and I think, like, is it super precise? No, like they never are. But it's a, it's like a piece of data and maybe it's nine, maybe it's seven, but it's still like the idea that this, that there are a bunch of people and this is an important thing for Democrats to say that a bunch of people in New York City, who pulled the lever for Donald Trump one year ago, who then pulled it for the 34 year old immigrant Democratic socialist mayor. And I think it says something about his appeal and it says something about how sort of confusing voters can be.

[Jon Favreau]

Before we leave New York, lessons from the Mamdani campaign and Mamdani's victory. Can they be applied to anywhere else in the country? Are we now a socialist country? And also Republicans are trying very hard already to make Zoran Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party. They've already telegraphed that they're going to, you know, tie him to every Democratic candidate all across the country. Is this, is this going to work? What do you think, Dan?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I do not think it's going to work. You know, every election they pick a bogeyman, right? It's with Nancy Pelosi forever. And then in, you know, 2014, they put Nancy Pelosi in all the ads. Democrat Republicans did great. In 2018, they put Nancy Pelosi in all the ads and Republicans did poorly. Nancy Pelosi was less popular in 2018 than show in 2014. So just the idea that they're really going to be able to use Momdani to help, like attack candidates in, you know, Georgia or like this seems kind of far fetched to me.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, me too. I agree. They always have a boogeyman. It's Pelosi, it's aoc, It's Ilan Omar, it's whomever. Hillary Clinton. If it's not one, they'll pick another.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, how do you. Any lessons, Any lessons from the, from the campaign?

[Tommy Vietor]

I think it's good to not run candidates in their 80s. That's one note I had. I wrote that one down.

[Jon Favreau]

All three big races, young candidates.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yep.

[Jon Favreau]

Cheryl Spanberger, Mamdani.

[Ad Read Host]

Yep.

[Tommy Vietor]

I just like, jokes aside, like, you're already seeing the wars breaking out on Twitter. You've got abundance bros fighting anti oligarch cranks. You've got neolib shills battling the dsa. Everyone just chill out. Everyone just chill out for a minute. Like, I don't, I don't, I don't have a big. I don't know, I'd like to hear what you guys think. I've not had a big takeaway from this, this election night. Like, some people say the party needs to go left. Some people say we need more moderates like Cheryl and Spanberger. I think all of them were boosted by the fact that Trump has totally failed to focus on the economy. In Virginia in particular, he fired a bunch of people who voted in the election. Running when Trump is on the ballot is really, really hard. Democrats tend to get a decent boost running against Trump when he's not on the ballot, and that benefited everybody here.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I.

[Tommy Vietor]

It really is good to pick young candidates who understand the digital age and who can communicate and connect, who are good messengers and good speakers. But also Mamdani picked the right message, which was affordability and battling the billionaire class as the problem? And he hammered it on corruption and the cost of living and like that Discipline, I do think, is a lesson that can be applied to like every election.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. I mean, what is the lesson from an election where a Muslim socialist won in New York and an ex CIA moderate mom trounced in Virginia and another, you know, woman with a military background, Navy pilot trounced in New Jersey? The common denominator is Donald Trump hasn't done anything about affordability and has made it worse. So that is the one common denominator in all the races. No matter what part of the party you're from, no matter what you believe, who you are, your identity, it has all been, it's been about Donald Trump and his failure to do anything about costs. Pod Save America is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. What if you could consistently find whatever it is you're looking for right away? We're talking everything from parking spots to holiday gifts to jackets or jeans that fit perfectly. Imagine how much time you'd save. While you may never instantly find these things, if you're hiring, you can find qualified candidates right away time and time again with ZipRecruiter.

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[Jon Favreau]

All right, Virginia. Abigail Spanberger will be the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. She won so far. I got 57. She's at 57%.

[Tommy Vietor]

God, that's an ass.

[Jon Favreau]

57, 42.7 over winsome Earl Sears. Jay Jones wins the attorney general race by a smaller margin, but the margin is 52% and his opponent was 47.5. Democrat Ghazala Hashmi is the new lieutenant governor. She won 55. 45. Every single, just about every county, I think, but four in Virginia shifted blue, some by double digits since 2024. You have counties like Chesterfield County. Youngkin won by five, Spanberger is winning by 17. That is like an unheard of swing. Virginia beach, another sort of bellwether county. Youngkin won by 8, Spanberger by 10. Just huge, huge shifts. So I was not worried about Virginia. I thought she was going to win by at least Kamala's margin, if maybe a few points more. This was way bigger than that. What did you guys think? Virginia, Tommy?

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, I mean this was a remarkable drubbing by Spanberger. And also Democrats are on track to win 64 Virginia House of Delegate seats out of 100 total. That's a pickup of I think 1313, which is just massive. That is massive. And it suggests that it wasn't just top of the ticket. There was anger at the Republican party all the way down. Like I like you, I think Spanberg is a pretty good candidate. She was running against a terrible opponent. Republicans all but gave up on this race. Although I do think they the RGA burned like $4 million for no reason at the very end on ads, which is thank you, I guess, for lighting that money on fire.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

But you know, with all These races. There was chatter in the summer, sort of doldrum months, that maybe things weren't going well, that maybe something secret was showing up in the polls and Republicans were closing. And so that creeps into your brain, but no, was it drubbing, Dan?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, I was pretty sure she was going to win the whole time. I mean, the party opposite the president has won every Virginia governor's race since 1975, other than 2013, when the Republicans nominated Ken Cuccinelli, the worst candidate humanly possible. But this was a massive win, and I think this is largely about Donald Trump and specifically about Donald Trump's attack on the federal government. Like using the exit polls again, 60% of Virginians said that they were adversely affected by the federal. By the cuts to federal spending or federal jobs. And Spamberger won those voters by 37%.

[Tommy Vietor]

Thank you, Donald.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

A fifth of Virginia voters say that someone in their household either worked for the federal, was a federal government employee or a federal government contractor. Spamberger won those voters by more than 20 points. It was just an absolute, absolute. Like, if the shutdown was going to be a problem for Democrats, it was going to be in Virginia. This would be the place. This is ground zero for the shutdown. And the fact that the Democrats did so well so far. Outran Martians crushed with moderates. Right. And then just a massive shift in the suburbs from Glenn Youngkin's victory in 21 to Spamberger's victory. Now, in the exit point, they do it by region. Right. So in suburb, people who live in the suburbs, Youngkin won by seven points. Spamberger's gonna win by about 15 points. Like, huge, huge wins. And this is once a place where Donald Trump is 15 points underwater in this state, and he's more unpopular in Virginia than he is in New Jersey. And that clearly played a role here. And the fact that Spamberger did so well that she pulled J. Jones across the finish line, who everyone thought was going to lose, was basically left for dead by the Democratic Party because of the texting scandal. And he ends up winning pretty handily.

[Jon Favreau]

I know.

[Tommy Vietor]

What texting scandal? I don't know what you're talking about.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

He was in one of those group chats.

[Tommy Vietor]

We don't do that in our party.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Okay.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. Right. I feel like this is a bigger win than. Than 17. Like. Like, I. This is a. This is the biggest Democratic win in Virginia of our. Of our lifetimes, I think.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, it is the biggest margin by far. I think, for. I think 2017 was 10 points. Maybe 10 points.

[Jon Favreau]

This was wild. And to have the whole. To bring in the assembly too.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

The biggest, it's the biggest Democratic win. We lost really, really bad in 2009 by like 20 points I think or 17 points. Oh yeah, Cray deeds.

[Jon Favreau]

And so again now the lesson to take from here across the country is run moderate former CIA people.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It's the only option.

[Jon Favreau]

That's it. That is another lesson.

[Tommy Vietor]

It has to be binary. It's got to be one or the other. It's not about running the right candidate for the district you're in. That's ridiculous.

[Jon Favreau]

Mikey Sheryl in New Jersey over Jack Chitterelli, 56 to 43. Now this is maybe the margin here, I think, at least for me, of the big races was the biggest surprise of the night because you know, a lot of the polls had this down to 1 point lead, 2 point lead, 3 point lead. There were some other, there was some variation. There were some that were like seven or eight, but no one had at this point.

[Tommy Vietor]

No, I looked today, the RCP average, the Real Clear Politics average was 3.3 at the end. And to your point, like there were a couple polls late that were like Cheryl plus one, Cheryl plus two plus three plus like it seemed like it was tightening up and this is the one.

[Jon Favreau]

Your day has passed. Atlas Intel.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, they, they officially lost their A rating tonight.

[Jon Favreau]

Fuck you.

[Tommy Vietor]

Oh, that's a polling firm for all you non sickos out there. I'm really excited to never have to learn how to say Chittarelli properly.

[Jon Favreau]

I took you just did.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

You did it correctly.

[Tommy Vietor]

Well I know but I heard John say.

[Jon Favreau]

Well just because I said it wrong a couple times. Oh you did not. Not tonight, but in the past.

[Tommy Vietor]

Chider Cheater.

[Jon Favreau]

So this is an interesting one, right? Like Phil Murphy, you've got an incumbent who's already served two terms. So it's sort of hard for another Democrat to win after a Democrats already served two terms. Cittarelli is someone who's run before so he has like near universal name recognition in the state. He was seen as a like winsome, winsome Sears. Not seen as a great candidate. But Jack Cittarelli, not a bad candidate for Republicans, was not like a super Trumpy Republican in the primary, pretended he was a super Trump Republican and then basically forgot that Trump existed in the general. I think you had to like you look on his website and he had all the list of people who endorse him. At the very bottom in like small letters it says Donald Trump. But that's like the only time he ever mentioned.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Unfortunately, unfortunately for Jack Cittarelli, he, he said Trump supported him on video and then it was put in ads for months.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh yeah, well that's, There you go.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

And he also, he also, he has proposed a 10% sales tax at one point, which is a bad move when cost of living.

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, that's a tough one. That is a tough one. What do you, what do you think, Dan? What happened? Why was the polling so often this one?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I don't know why the polling was so off. I don't know that the polling was off in 21 too in New Jersey because that one ended up being much closer than we thought. So maybe we don't have a poll in New Jersey. I don't even think they did exit polls in 21 because we were so sure the race was going to be so such an easy win for Murphy. So it was hard to even do to like it's to do an apples to apples comparison of how things might have changed. It's a truly like this is even more of a stunning win than Abigail Spambergers win because of the point you made, which is every election is a chance election and it's so hard for a third Democratic term to replace a two term Democratic governor and then to win by almost as much as that governor won the first time. I think Murphy won by 17 points in 17. But to win by such a huge margin, usually it's a begrudging thing even in a Democratic state. I think the other takeaway is if New Jersey shifted very far to the right from 2020, 2024, a 10 point swing in Trump's direction. Trump made huge gains in the counties outside of New York City like Bergen and Passaic and Hudson. And as of the vote count, I just looked at like Sheryl is crushing in those counties now. And I think that like this doesn't tell us that Trump, that New Jersey hasn't moved some to the right. But if this is a warning sign that, that it may be a fleeting moment for Trump to have to have the strength there, it may look more like Obama in Indiana in 08 than Obama in Virginia in 08 in the sense that it's like a fleeting moment as opposed to a state on its path to purple status.

[Jon Favreau]

Ron Brownstein was tweeting, he was looking through the exits and some of the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Literally have that highlighted on there. That's so funny that you're gonna do that.

[Jon Favreau]

Yes. He said no group received more attention as evidence of realignment in 24 than working class minorities. But Spanberger won 84% of nonwhites without a college degree and Sheryl won 71% of them. And that number is probably going to be adjusted up in each case. That's better than Kamala Harris in 2024.

[Tommy Vietor]

Oh, I just. It is a different.

[Jon Favreau]

Ron had a few of them, so who knows?

[Tommy Vietor]

Ron also pointed out that in New Jersey, the Republican Cheryl didn't get back to the Democratic share with Hispanic voters that we reached in 17 or the 2020 presidential race. But Cittarelli did not come close to Trump's 2024 Hispanic number of 43%. He only got 34%, which, which suggests that Trump like having permanently changed the baseline for Hispanic voters. That assumption is probably not proven out yet.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, and I think don't, don't want to step on any of Dan's meta takes at the end. But in all of these races it does seem like the voters that the voting groups that shifted the most towards Trump in 24, young voters, some black men, Latino voters. And then in some of the polling we've seen in the last couple months, those have been the voters who are now disapproving of Trump. And I think this election has shown that like they actually did flip back to Democrats in a lot of these. In a lot of these races.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Or they flip to the couch, which is a more likely thing here.

[Jon Favreau]

Or they flip to the couch which.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Is just like this is. We have to. Yes, exactly.

[Tommy Vietor]

Too late for that.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Never, never too late. It's just this is such a smaller electorate with more highly engaged voters. So it's not necessarily that a bunch of these people. There will be some who voted Trump in 24 who voted for Cheryl or Spanberger in 25, but the most more likely scenario is people who came out for Trump in 24 stayed home. Now that is a sign of political weakness for Trump because he has not been able to turn these people into regular Republican voters and he's not going.

[Jon Favreau]

To be able to never be on the ballot again. Will they stay on the. Will they, will they come off the couch for J.D. vance, Tommy?

[Tommy Vietor]

Phrasing yes.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Come off the couch.

[Tommy Vietor]

I don't know. It's late or it's 9:15. My kids had me up before 4.

[Jon Favreau]

It's okay. We have a 7am flight tomorrow. Great. Anything else in New Jersey? No.

[Tommy Vietor]

Great state.

[Jon Favreau]

Great.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Close to New York.

[Tommy Vietor]

Easy to commute to the city.

[Jon Favreau]

Good, Good. That's the kind of analysis people come for. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As seasons change and days grow darker sooner. It can be a tough time for many this November. Better Help is encouraging everyone to reach out, check in on friends, reconnect with loved ones, and remind the people in your life that you're there. Just as it can take a little courage to send that message or grab coffee with someone you haven't seen in a while, reaching out for therapy can feel difficult too, but it's worth it and it almost always leaves people wondering, why didn't I do this sooner? Better Help therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and their 12 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. If you aren't happy with your match, switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored Rex with over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms, Having served over 5 million people globally and it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews this month. Don't wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step. Our listeners get 10% off their first [e-mail] PSA that's betterhelp.com PSA this is.

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[Jon Favreau]

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[Jon Favreau]

Pennsylvania we retain three state supreme court justices so we got the 5:2 majority. We mentioned that. Should we talk about the biggest Honestly, probably the most impressive electoral performance of the whole night are these two candidates that won that flipped Republican seats in the Georgia Public Service Commission because they were state. This is a statew election and not only did they just win knocked off these Republicans, the margin here is 61 to 38 in one of them and 62 to 38 in the other. I mean, wow.

[Tommy Vietor]

And don't take our word for it. We're going to drop in right here. Steve Bannon talking about this race on.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

The War Room Podcast tonight, the midterms start tonight. One of the biggest warning signs that we've got that we need to get focused is these two, these two commissioners in Georgia. The MTG mentioned first time in 30 years that Democrats have won a statewide election. I don't think they've ever had commissioners been Democrats in a couple of decades. That is a warning that this thing is going to cut deeper.

[Tommy Vietor]

So, like Bannon, like, legitimately, I think was shaken up by this Georgia result. And like, for what? For those wondering, like, what are you guys talking about? This is a state agency that regulates utilities and makes sure that, like, electricity, natural gas and telecommunications provided safely and at reasonable rates. But it became a proxy for this broader political battle we're all waging this evening.

[Jon Favreau]

And you know why people who are listening to us may be more aware of this race than some other folks? Because one organization that was laser focused on this race, Vote Save America.

[Tommy Vietor]

Damn right.

[Jon Favreau]

And great work to that team. And they would tell us, hey, could you in the pod talk about the Georgia Public Service Commission? And we'd be like, what? And they were right. Glad. Glad we focused on that. You got to be feeling good if you're Jon Ossoff trying to defend a seat in Georgia. Again, obviously very different electorate midterm to off year. But I don't know. What do you think, Dan?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I think it's very positive. Right. If there was lingering positive effects for Donald Trump after 2024, then these would have shown up in some way, shape or form and the exact opposite happened. Right. It's a full rebuke. And the fact that it's even showing up in Georgia, like Virginia, that's a Democratic state. New Jersey, that's a Democratic state. California gets a Democratic state. Maine, Democratic state. Georgia, purple as can be. Trump won it last time. And the fact that Democrats were able to win there, that Steve Bannon's right to be worried.

[Tommy Vietor]

When Ossoff was in here, he said that he thinks his race is going to be like a half a billion dollar election. The Georgia Senate race. Also way taller than I thought.

[Jon Favreau]

Very tall.

[Tommy Vietor]

Very tall.

[Jon Favreau]

Very tall.

[Tommy Vietor]

Goddamn good looking.

[Jon Favreau]

Handsome.

[Tommy Vietor]

Really handsome.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Handsome and tall.

[Tommy Vietor]

That seems handsome and tall. If he were blonde, he would look like a DHS or ice recruiting poster. He's got that kind of like 50s throwback handsomeness.

[Jon Favreau]

You know what I mean? These guys get it. Yeah. No, you're glad he's not blonde, right? You're like, don't get. Step into my territory here.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

Away from my culture. My culture is not your costume.

[Jon Favreau]

My culture is ISIS costume says, says Thomas Frederick Vitor. Should we come back here to California? Prop 50 Gavin wins crushes.

[Tommy Vietor]

Great work.

[Jon Favreau]

We got 65% of the votes in. It is 64 to 35 right now. That's awesome. That's a lot of votes to count already. I'm surprised. Usually, usually we don't count votes that fast.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

No, we count them early.

[Jon Favreau]

We do.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

They come in early. We count them early.

[Jon Favreau]

That's right. And then we have to wait and then the harvesting tomorrow morning. Right.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Well, if you, when you rig, then it makes it easy to count.

[Jon Favreau]

Anyway. Big, big win for, for the Democratic Party in being able to neutralize the gerrymandering the Texas did. So they took five. Now we'll take. We'll take five. They're still trying to take more. So won't completely neutralize the gerrymandering they're trying to do. But it is very good news for Democrats. Taking the House in, in the midterms of 2026 at least gives us more of a fighting chance. And also big win for Gavin Newsom.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Who, who. This was a, this was a risk. So he took a bet.

[Tommy Vietor]

I think this is a really big deal. I mean, obviously once he put forward the idea and said it was going to be on the, there was going to be a ballot initiative, it seemed very likely given that this is the state of California, given the makeup of off year voters in a special election like that are primarily like the Libya slips. Yeah, like the positive America election. Like odds are we were going to win it. But he had the guts and the foresight to conceive of this idea, push it forward and get this thing done. And like imagine if we were sitting here tonight like knowing we were going at the 2026 midterms at a deficit of five seats because of Texas. Like this is a huge deal.

[Jon Favreau]

I believe he, he spoke about the idea for the first time. Right here. Yeah, right here at this table.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

And then we, I think we scooped his own podcast by accident because we put out the clip early told us.

[Jon Favreau]

He's like, well, we can either try to do something with the legislature. He's like, but also I think we might just be able to put it on the ballot. Yeah. Wow. What an idea.

[Tommy Vietor]

Cool. Do it.

[Jon Favreau]

Here it is. Here we are. Things happen.

[Tommy Vietor]

Did you vote for Prop 50, Dan? Were you for. Did I. Yeah, me too.

[Jon Favreau]

It's good. Me too. Me too. Any. Okay, let's do, let's do meta takes. Any other, any other races that we should talk about? We talked about those two main. The main ballot measures. So there's the a red flag. Gun gun control, we call it. Sure, it's a red, it's a red flag gun measure. Gun safety measure has passed. And then Tommy, you noted that a voter ID measure failed.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

John, wasn't there a big race in your wife's hometown?

[Jon Favreau]

Oh, yeah. Aftab Mayor Aftab Purval had A challenge from J.D. vance's half brother kicked his ass.

[Tommy Vietor]

The love seat.

[Jon Favreau]

50 points. Crushed him, crushed him, crushed him, crushed him. Good job. Good job, Aftab. Great mayor, great person. Glad Cincinnati has him for another term. I think that's it. Any meditakes? Should we do meditates? Dan?

[Tommy Vietor]

What do you got, Dan?

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, school your meditate.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I'll give you Give it my meditate.

[Jon Favreau]

Give it to us first before you put it in the message box.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, it's.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Well, what's. What time are you posting this now live? Hold on, I need a second. Got to hit send. I think the biggest one is that this is a massive rebuke of Trump. He was underwater in all these states. In both Virginia and New Jersey, 2/3 of voters were dissatisfied with the direction of the country. The economy was the number one issue for most voters in both states. The Democrats won those voters by 20 points. The Democrats went with moderates, they went with independents. They held their margins with young people in the corporates of the Democratic coalition. Donald Trump is unpopular. His political operation couldn't get out of their own way. Made things harder for Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey. Just like it's very clear in the results, I think Abigail Spamberger would have won. Shutdown. No shutdown. Doge. No Doge. But what he did the federal workforce and federal government sunk that race made the political situation so much worse. And then he's got his fucking grim reaper Russ vote like just canceling infrastructure projects for New Jersey in the months and weeks leading up to the election. And so it's a huge rebuke for him like it is. There are a whole slew of polls came out over the weekend. All of them had Trump at his lowest approval rating in a very long time. People are pissed about the economy. They're pissed at him. Democrats are still fired up. Even if they don't like the brand or our leaders, they're still showing up to vote for Democrats. Most of the polling shows that people who voted for Spanberg and Sheryl did it to vote for them, not to oppose Trump or someone else. And so even when our so meditate, number one, very bad for Trump meditate. Number two, that at least in this off year election environment, the base of our party, our true most loyal voters, remain incredibly fired up and ready to go vote for Democrats, even if they are dissatisfied with large parts of the party leadership.

[Jon Favreau]

Fired up and ready to go vote.

[Tommy Vietor]

I like that.

[Jon Favreau]

It's pretty good.

[Tommy Vietor]

Dan Counterpoint, a political analyst I follow on Truth Social, posted, Trump wasn't on the ballot and shutdown were the two reasons that Republicans lost elections tonight, comma, according to pollsters. That was from Donald Trump.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Was that Alan Lichtman?

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, that was one of the keys I have.

[Jon Favreau]

I have another new pundit. He just, he was. He was tied up for a bit and now he's out and about again. Mr. George Santos. Yes. Fuck you, Curtis Lewa, I hate you, your dumb wife, that stupid beret of yours, and all your fucking cats. That's a tweet we just got from George Santos. That's good. One more question. Federal government has now been shut down for 36 days. That is the longest shutdown in American history. Donald Trump seemed to. Well, didn't seem to. He did in his truth Social post was basically like, it was the shutdown that hurt us. Do we think now's a good time for Democrats to cave the shutdown?

[Tommy Vietor]

I mean, Dan, could you imagine what's going on there?

[Jon Favreau]

I have not paid and I see people are looking for an off ramp. And then I saw a lot of other Senate Democrats go On the Record to CNN and be like, this would be fucking crazy to do this now. So I don't know what's real, what sources and what's not.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Well, I read. I read Punchbowl so you don't have to.

[Jon Favreau]

And okay, thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

And so what, what the folks at Punchbowl are telling me is there's upwards of a dozen Senate Democrats who are talking to Republicans who are interested in some sort of off ramp, which would include kind of what Thune's been proposing, which is open the government in exchange for a vote on the Obamacare subsidies. Republicans had a caucus meeting today. The Republican senators also want to vote on the Obamacare subsidies. I'm not saying they're going to vote for it, but they at least want to be able to put up a Republican bill. So they're not just voting against a Democratic bill. So there's some interest there. People seem to be very quickly moving to the exits on this.

[Jon Favreau]

I keep asking this question, but what's going on with the House? You can't have a fucking vote in the Senate on this and then just not have any kind of deal happen in the House, otherwise.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, that's big leaf.

[Jon Favreau]

It's nothing.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It's a flaw in the plan. There are. There's also a lot in there, which is really the motivating factor here is the appropriators really want to appropriate and they're part of this deal, would be to get the appropriations process working again. And they'd have three. They pass three minibuses. I don't even want to get into what that is, but probators are excited about it.

[Tommy Vietor]

But I get the substantive reasons that everyone wants to end the shutdown. We want people to get SNAP benefits. We want TSA to work. We don't want many more planes to crash. I saw that Sean Duffy said he.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Was gonna shut down a lot of our airspace next week if the government doesn't reopen.

[Jon Favreau]

Don't love that.

[Tommy Vietor]

So that's all not ideal. But if you wake up tomorrow and you're Hakeem Jeffries or you're Chuck Schumer and you're meeting with your leadership or you're having a caucus meeting, what in the data suggest that what you've been doing for the last month has been the wrong approach?

[Jon Favreau]

Telling you there's a lot of ways to choreograph this so that Republicans can still say, you know, we didn't let them hold. Hold us hostage on something while the government was shut down. Right. Like, there's a way to do it. So if you don't get the vote you want, then the government shuts down again because you only pass a funding bill that goes that far. So, like, that's fine if they want to choreograph it, but, like, the House has to be involved here. And, and we have to, like, know that the Trump's going to sign a bill that includes ACA subsidies as well. So, like, if we're not having meetings where it's a deal between Trump and Schumer and Thune and Johnson and Jeffries, then, like, what the fuck are we doing?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Well, John Trump is having breakfast with the Senate Republicans tomorrow, and he's going to tell them to invoke the nuclear option, eliminate the filibuster, and then not just open the government, but then pass a whole series of voter suppression methods. He also truthed about that tonight. That's what he wants them to do. That's another. It's like ban mail in voting, do all these other things.

[Jon Favreau]

This is why they don't want to. This is one of the reasons they don't want to follow his advice and eliminate the filibuster is they don't have the votes to do all that crazy shit. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are not going to do that. They're not going to probably get. I guess they can get it.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I think they can. They could get.

[Jon Favreau]

They don't have. They don't. They don't have the votes for those people to even get rid of. They probably don't have the votes to get rid of the filibuster.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

That they don't. And they don't want to give her the filibuster because then they have to do all Trump's crazy shit. Right now he calls him and says, do this insane thing. And they're like, well, we can't. The Democrats won't let us. But once they hit.

[Jon Favreau]

But now he's learned, he's like, wait a minute. Only this is what's stopping me from doing all the crazy shit that's only five years in.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, he's figured it out.

[Tommy Vietor]

He did have some new spin on his election night defeat. He tweeted out or charged Truth doubt just out. The 60 Minutes interview of Donald J. Trump on CBS Sunday night was the highest rated 60 minutes in years. That is some cope. That is some cope. That is right alongside when every election the Republicans lose, someone tweets a photo of a map of a state or the country and it's like, if not for all these cities, Democrats would never win. It's like, yes. If not for all the human beings, the citizens who live in those cities who vote for Democrats, we would never win. You are correct. Counties don't vote.

[Jon Favreau]

Here's a. Here's a Democratic senator who's not backing down. Chris Murphy just put out a statement about the shutdown. Democrats win when we show the American people what we stand for and how we're willing to fight for it, as we have been for the last month. Tonight's election results are an unmistakable rejection of Donald Trump's corruption or Republicans billionaire agenda. But the result should also give Democrats confidence that the American people have our back as we engage in the fight to protect people's health care and save our democracy. Good for Chris Murphy.

[Tommy Vietor]

Get a Murph dog.

[Jon Favreau]

Meanwhile, fucking Chuck Schumer can't even tell us who he voted for in New York.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Let's talk about that.

[Tommy Vietor]

Pretty galling.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It's just. So it's bad politics.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

It's also, if you didn't vote for him and like, you know, that everyone's going to be pissed. You just fudgeing. Grow a pair and say you didn't vote for him. This is one way or the other.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

This has been Chuck cowardly. This is why I think Chuck Schumer's greatest flaw as a leader. He's is afraid to tell people what they don't want to hear. And, like, what is his thinking here? That if he. That the Republicans would be like, man, we were going to run all these ads comparing Jon Ossoff to Mamdani, but Schumer never voted for him. So I guess that's off the table.

[Jon Favreau]

Yes. We can't do it.

[Tommy Vietor]

Would be unfair.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Rats.

[Jon Favreau]

He foiled our plan.

[Tommy Vietor]

Well, in his. The Schumer approach is only just a little bit worse than Hakeem Jeffries, who just took on water from the left for like a month or two months.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, he took the band aid off at the very end, painfully slowly. But he did take it off. You took it off.

[Tommy Vietor]

And I give him credit for that. But it's like just some politics. Like, what.

[Jon Favreau]

What did you.

[Tommy Vietor]

How did that benefit you? You got the left mad at you. And all the attacks you were worried about can still come.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah, I'm like. I'm almost more offended as, like a. Like a practitioner of politics.

[Tommy Vietor]

Endorsement.

[Jon Favreau]

I would have been annoyed if you said, I'm not voting for him. Right. For sure. But, like, this is. This was the worst of all options. Also just Chuck Schumer think he's going to take the secret to his grave. Like, he's gonna face reporters and they're just gonna stop. Like, people are gonna keep asking who you voted for.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It's so annoying.

[Jon Favreau]

Secret ballot. Secret ballot. He's never gonna come on Pod Save America. That's the only thing we're gonna ask.

[Tommy Vietor]

He's not invited. We invite you.

[Jon Favreau]

Who'd you vote for, Chuck? Tell us. Come on. Was it Sliwa?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

He shows up at the studio and there's just in his chair is a new piece of crooked merch that says closeted cuomosexual waiting for him.

[Tommy Vietor]

Remember when people were rocking cuomosexual shirts? Like, in real life, a lot of.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

People'S 2020 tweets did not age well. I would say that.

[Jon Favreau]

Well, let us never say his name again.

[Tommy Vietor]

Let's never.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

That's actually.

[Tommy Vietor]

Fuck, yeah.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

That's it.

[Jon Favreau]

In the words of the next mayor.

[Tommy Vietor]

Of New York City, let us defile the words. Words of his father.

[Jon Favreau]

Great night. Great night, everyone. We're all, we're still alive. We're still we're still kicking. Democracy is not dead yet, so everyone should feel good about that. Thank you to everyone who volunteered in this election, who got out there and voted, who talked to your friends about it. It really mattered. And we'll see you guys in dc.

[Tommy Vietor]

See a Cricket Con. What a time to all get together in person.

[Jon Favreau]

So I'm so excited.

[Tommy Vietor]

Better than the alternative having gotten luck crushed.

[Jon Favreau]

See you guys soon.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Bye everyone.

[Jon Favreau]

If you want to listen to Pod Save America ad free and get access to exclusive podcasts, go to cricket.com friends to subscribe on Supercast, Substack, YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Also, please consider leaving us a review that helps boost this episode and everything we do here at Crooked Pod Save America is a crooked Media production. Our producers are David Toledo, Emma Illich Franklin and Saul Rubin. Our associate producer is Farah Safari. Austin Fisher is our senior producer. Reed Churlin is our executive editor. Adrian Hill is our head of news and politics. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Jordan Kanter is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis. Matt de Groat is our Head of production. Naomi Sengel is our executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Hayley Jones, Ben Hethcote, Mia Kelman, Carol Palavera, David Toles and Ryan Young. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America east.

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