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Ryan Graduski
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Ryan
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Ryan Graduski
Welcome back to A Numbers Game. Thank you all for being here on this Thursday. Happy to be back with you. I really hope you enjoyed the last episode on Monday by Congressman Corey Mills. I may have an update in the future. I know this isn't a gossip podcast per se, even though many of my friends really want me to do a gossip podcast, but this is not it. When I have a big scoop like that though, that's a little bit on the gossipy side. I'm going to share with you because otherwise our reporter is going to scoop it and you guys should get it first because you're my loyal audience. I had a family reunion last week actually and one of my cousins who listens to the POD said to me, I really like your show. There's a little too much math in it. So episode I'm gonna try to break that up a little bit with episodes that aren't so math intensive. And this, this episode is both a little math intensive and and and has a narrative, a story to it that I think is important, something that the Trump administration is doing that people should know. So I want catch up episode on all the data that has broken in the last week because I've had a lot of guest heavy episodes, more thematic episodes. So this one is on the 2026 midterms, right? I want to talk about the generic ballot because it's how it will affect us in a nation depending on who wins the midterms. So the congressional generic ballot, which is overall how people are feeling in the country, they don't talk about a specific race, but you know who they are likely to support. It shows that Republicans have slipped about a point or two in the last month. The Real Clear Politics polling average shows it's a D +3.5 race. That means that the nation as a whole is voting about 3.5% more Democrat than Republican. Now remember, the 2024 election was an R&2 race. So that represents a 5.5% swing towards the Democrats from the previous election. Also remember this, and I need this to be a very important caveat when I say talk about polling. Polling does not predict the future. Polling is a snapshot of the present. Things can change, things will change. But it's important to know where people are. The economy is really not great for a lot of people. I know a lot of people applying for jobs, first time jobs, recent college graduates, graduates who are smart people who are hardworking and they cannot get an interview for a job. They cannot find a job. It's rough. Interest rates are still pretty high, not high compared to like the 1970s, but they're high in general and prices are still high. We're still dealing with the overall ramifications of printing too much money during President Biden's time in office. All that's still there. And I think that people hope for a magic wand that Trump would fix everything. And it has not happened. So a D + 3.5 race is better for Republicans than the 2018 election, but it likely means, it's very likely means they're going to lose the House of Representatives. The Senate is still probably safe for Republican. I mean, it would be very difficult for Democrats actually win the Senate this time. But D + 3.5 means states like Michigan and Georgia, which are potential pickup races for Republicans. It's very difficult, it becomes very difficult in those states to sit there and see how they win those states. And it also becomes really hard for them to see how they hold North Carolina and potentially Maine. I mean, Maine's a weird state. So put that to the side because Susan Collins is her own animal. And it's a unique set of circumstances. There hasn't been a ton of recently high quality polling. If you look at the results from the Fabrizio Lee poll, which is published in the Wall Street Journal in April and then July, it shows about a one point shift towards Democrat. The Signal poll also shows about a one point shift towards Democrat. In the generic ballad Qantas Insight, which was a really Good Pollster In 2024, they have a 2 point swing towards Democrats. And the CNBC poll, not a high quality poll, but it's worth mentioning, has a three point shift towards Democrats. Very few polls have had any kind of shift towards Republican. Atlas intel did, but they're, I mean they're saying it's going to be a Democratic landslide. So it's one point doesn't mean anything. Emerson also has a one point swing towards Republic. So not great news for Republicans going into key swing states and key Senate races in the 2026 elections. The Georgia Senate race had a good poll for Republican Congressman Mike Collins. Someone I know a little bit, I've spoken a few times. I think he's a really Good guy. He's got a lot of legislative accomplishments for somebody who hasn't spent decades in office. He's only been there for I think maybe four or six years, but it had him only one point behind. Democrat John Ossoff in the state of Georg. Collins can win the seat, but he's going to need the national environment to improve, not, I wouldn't say significantly. He's going to have to improve for him to win the seat, maybe by 1.5 to 2 points in order for him to win the seat. Otherwise they're going to blame Republicans, the people, or the voters will blame Republicans for everything bad and it will take him down like everybody else. In North Carolina, an Emerson poll found that former governor Roy Cooper has a six point lead over RNC Chairman Michael Whatley. This is, I believe, Whatley's first time ever running for office. Cooper is a great recruit for Democrat. He was a popular governor in a purple state who is young enough that, I mean, he's not young. He's like 68. But I mean, I guess in the Senate he's young enough. He's young enough to seem like he's not tainted by politics because he's only ever run for state positions. He's not tainted by D.C. politics in this poll and I'll admit it's an early poll because his election's not until November of 2026. Cooper has a benefit of winning more Republicans than Watley does Democrats and Cooper is crushing it with independence right now. Even though North Carolina hasn't elected Democrat to the Senate since 2008. That doesn't mean that they can't win this year. Remember, Roy Cooper has never lost an election statewide in North Carolina. And I was looking it up in 2012 when he was running for attorney general, I think for the reelect, Republicans didn't even put forward a challenger. And that was the year that Romney won North Carolina. He almost lost the governor's race in 2016 as well. And had any of those races gone the other way or had they even put up a challenger, I don't know why he was running unopposed for a statewide office at least. You know, throw Joe Schmo up there and hope for a miracle because once in a while it does happen. They, they just let him, you know, have an easy 100% easy ride victory. He also, I mean in the 2016 governor's race he would have lost had the Libertarians not run a candidate. The Libertarian candidate for governor got 2% of the vote in it and he, Roy Cooper only won by 11,000 votes. So another case of a third party candidate really ruining it for Republicans. It will be a tough seat to hold. It's not impossible, but it's going to be a tough seat because Roy Cooper is probably the top recruit they could have gotten for this election cycle. Now, there's an election this year that I want to talk about two elections actually. One, the New Jersey governor's race, there was a poll from STEM Site Research, it's a new research company, but it's from the pollsters of Monmouth, which are a very well respected pollsters in the state. I honestly think that they're. They get things really way too off to get as much respect as they do. But they have a long history of getting things right. But they've had a couple of doozies. And when they. I mean doozies. When I mean doozies. I mean doozies. Doozies in polling. But before that, decades of correct polling. So they find that Democrat Mickey Cheryl is leading Republican Jack Chittarelli by six points, 48 to 42 in the Garden State. That doesn't seem great. But remember four years ago, Chitterelli was down in the same in the mammoth poll, the same people who did this poll by 16 points against incumbent Governor Phil Murphy. And that race was. Wasn't even considered close. It wasn't considered worth paying attention to. Chittarelli is the underdog in this fight, but it is not the same state that it was four years ago. I think people need to remember that as we're heading towards these very important governor elections like including in Pennsylvania, a top recruit announced they're running against Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania. I think it's important to remember that it's not the same state. Right. In Pennsylvania, the Democratic advantage in voter enrollment is 500,000 fewer than it was three years ago. The first time he ran, when he ran in 2022, when Josh Shapiro ran for governor, Democrats 80 500. There was 560,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans as of now. And we are still 18 months from the election, there are only 60,000 more Democrats than Republicans. Once again, super popular governor, probably going to win, has the advantage. But there's a lot less, you know, meat on the bones for the Democratic base. The same is true in New Jersey. In November 2021, Democrats had 1,070,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. Bill Murphy always had that advantage of over a million registered voters since then. In the four years since that election, there are 40,000 fewer Democrats and 160,000 more Republicans. So and that was a race that Murphy won by 84,000 votes. And the Republican advantage has increased by 200,000 in that four year period. So if there's any kind of polling error like there was four years ago, Cittarelli was, was supposed to lose by like eight points and I think he lost by two and a half. If any kind of polling error exists this time, like it did last time, and like it has done in several other elections. But if that polling error exists of 5, 6 points, that new voter enrollment advantage in New Jersey of 200,000, 160,000 more Republicans, 40,000 fewer Democrats, means Chitterelli has a chance. You know, he's not in the lead. It's not a super tight race right now, but he's, he's the underdog, but he has a chance. The election is not over in New Jersey, New York City, the mayor's election in my home city, this one hurts because it's basically over. It is. If there was anyone in political leadership in this godforsaken city with two brain cells to scratch together and start a fire, we could have a chance. A new Sienna poll, which only had a sample survey of 300, so it's not a very high sample survey, but it has Mandani. Zoram Mandani, socialist candidate, winning with 19 points against former governor Andrew Cuomo. Mandani is 44%, Cuomo has 25, Republican Curtis Leva has 12. And incumbent mayor Eric Adams has 7%. Now, I don't know why these four numbskulls are the candidates that we have to lead the biggest city in America. I don't know why Catherine Garcia didn't run. She would have. She's a Democrat. I don't agree with all of her policies. She would have actually been able to run the city. I fundamentally believe she could run the city and make it function and make sure we weren't falling into the abyss. She wasn't a 33 year old idealist with no job experience, or a disgraced former governor, or an insane person who peaked in the 80s, or a disgraced outgoing mayor. She was a competent woman. She's a Democrat. I don't agree with all her policies, but she could have. I don't know why we're stuck with this group. It's extremely frustrating when there were really good candidates who could have run the race and done it. All these candidates are flawed, every single one of them. Only one has a path to beat Mandani and it's Andrew Cuomo. I know that's not Comfortable to say I've never voted for Andrew Cuomo. I don't like Andrew Cuomo. He was a horrible governor. Well, he was ok. It's like a few years of his first term, but after that it just fell off a cliff. It was just horrific. He handled Covid terribly. What I find from, and this is maybe a cynical view from a conservative Democrats, oftentimes I find in many of these blue states, when they are governors are all about managing decline, managing the decline of New York, which is really sad from somebody who lived my entire life here and goes back to the state, you know, eight generations. I think there was no vision and optimism. It was about how to manage decline and just, you know, rearrange seats in the deck chair of the Titanic while our tax base fled and our industries fled. And that was Andrew Cuomo. But he is the only person who can beat Mandani, which I would take managed decline over a catastrophe of a socialist. So what should happen right now if there was a person with a brain cell in Andrew Cuomo's entire team rather than sending out insane tweets about his family lineage and who he is and saying that Mandan know is attacking him renfry in his head or whatever he's saying on Twitter to try to troll Mandani, he should be meeting with the county, the borough Republicans. There are five boroughs. Every borough has a Republican Party. There's a Republican elected official in four of the five boroughs. And say, what do you want? He should be saying there are six Republican city council members at a 51. He'll say, he should sit there and say, you know, you throw your support behind me, I will not run any Democrats against all of your incumbents in four years and I will back two more. I'll give you eight city council, which will be the most for the Republicans in decades. I will tell the unions to back off your incumbents in the city. Make deals right now. Michael Bloomberg, for all of his ills when he was mayor, knew how to make deals, make deals with people to bring everyone together instead of allowing Curtis Lewis to destroy his legacy by running this absolute garbage campaign and winning 12% and taking the city down with his ego and his pride. And then tell Eric Adams and his 7% I'll name a bridge after you. I'll name a, a garden after you, a school. Whatever you want. I will, I will do the Eric Adams Library. Whatever you want. Don't, don't do this. Drop out. Throw your support behind me. There's another gentleman in the race who's getting like 2% drop out. Throw your support behind me and let's have a shot at making sure the city doesn't work. I'll nominate them as deputy mayors. Whatever you want, like whatever it's going to take. Make the deal. Because Curtis Lee won. Eric Adams cannot win right now with any poll I have seen, they are in the between mid to low teens. Eric Adams is in the single digit numbers. It's just over at that point. Their negatives are way too high. And only, only, only silver lining in this poll for anyone who is not up. You know, Mandani's rear end is the fact that about a quarter of New Yorkers, 25% of New Yorkers do not know who he is. They have no opinion of him. You have to understand, I know you guys are listening to our political podcast and you probably spent a lot of time thinking, listening to podcasts, the average person doesn't like, the average person doesn't vote. They don't know they're going about their day and they think about this, especially local races for the first time, maybe two weeks before election day, that's when they're, you know, they start saying, oh, there might be an election in a couple weeks. Who's running? There is an opportunity and a real opportunity. And I've heard that this is going to happen to blanket the city with millions of dollars in negative advertising against Mandani and make him as unlikable as everybody else. So then you're just running a race of who's the most unlikable. Cuomo is very unlikable. Sleep was very unlikable. Eric Adams is comically corrupt. Mandani is a moronic socialist who is also inauthentic and incredibly unlikable. He's just young enough to be handsome, which the ship is sailed with other ones. I mean, let's not lie. So that is if they do not unite at this point or in the next month or so and blanket the city with negative advertising about Mandani and how truly horrific he is, he'll be the next mayor of New York and good luck to us. So that is my rundown of all the politics. Republicans are slipping in the generic ballot by about a point nationwide. They're having trouble in some key states, Senate states like North Carolina. In New Jersey, Cittarelli is down but not out, especially if there's a polling error like there was last time. And in New York, it is getting pretty bleak. I know that's not the happiest commentary for you guys, but I would rather tell you the truth than repeat things you would like to hear. That's my polling update Now. Next is a story that should be getting more attention about something the Trump administration is doing, but it hasn't, so that is coming up next. Stay tuned.
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Ryan Graduski
There was a little blurb in the New York Times two weeks ago that the new head of uscis, that's the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, that their new head, Joseph Edlow, is overhauling the citizenship test. Now it didn't get a lot of mention after that. It was like one sentence in a bigger article about him and there weren't many follow up deep dives. And he finally started giving interviews to some conservative outlets like Fox News and Breitbart News. He said the test was too easy and needs to reflect the letter and the spirit in which Congress intended when they passed citizenship law, says it's not about the questions aren't up to par. It's that there aren't enough of them. And they people applying for citizenship don't get a sense of who we are as a country. Now I know that you all have heard and I have heard it a million times so I'm guessing you guys at least heard it 100 that the average American cannot pass a citizenship test. I know you've heard that because I know I have heard that and you hear about oh, there's all these questions and it's very detailed. There are between 90 to 100 questions on the test, right? Only 10 are actually asked. I don't know if everyone understands this. So, yes, you have to memorize a hundred different answers, but only 10 are given and you only have to get six of those 10 correctly to pass. So access to a lifetime in the United States, the ability to access our welfare state, our security state, our, you know, everything, our lower taxes than most parts of the developed world, everything. Because you can answer six questions correctly. Six lifetime right to vote to cancel out my vote, to cancel out your vote, to cancel out Donald Trump's vote. Six questions. Six questions. And I'm sure if you're like me and you have been around the general public, you don't have much faith that the average person is informed enough to pass these questions. So for your entertainment and your. And if you've never looked at the test, I am going to take this test right now. Right? I'm going to read these 10. This is on American history. Si edu, you can take the citizenship test yourself. It's only 10 questions. And I'm going to read you possibly a question. You can tell me how hard you think it is. First question, what was one promise you make when you become a United States citizen? A, never leave the U.S. b, obey the laws, C, offer housing to soldiers, or D, pay taxes for traveling to other countries? That is not a hard question that. You don't even have to study that. That's literally just logic. That's basic logic. It's B, obey the laws. Okay, next. That is correct. By the way, I didn't read these beforehand. This is just me going off it. What is one reason colonialists came to America? Slavery, political liberty, communism, to set up their own monarchy. Okay, it's a basic history question. It's political liberty. I guess if you don't know anything about history, that might be a difficult question. Whatever. So, okay, next one. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens? Join a political party, write for a newspaper, serve a jury, join the military. I mean, could the average person really, do they all think they have to write for a newspaper? I don't, I don't think that that's. I just, I cannot imagine that they would not get that correctly. Next question. What do we show loyalty to when we pledge allegiance to the United nations, to the national anthem, to the United States, or to the party of the current president? You have to say, look, this is not like, this is. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? I don't think, I think I'm smarter than your third grader. Like, this is not A, this is for citizenship. This is to get to vote in all of our elections. This is not a hard thing. I don't believe people could possibly be getting these things wrong. What groups of people were taken to America and sold as slaves? Australians, African, Chinese or Spaniards? I think an alien would actually know this answer because it was talked about so often. It's Africans. What are the two major political parties of the United States? The judicial and executive checks and balances, Democrats and Republicans. The Senate and the House. If you got a question like this wrong and you were not a citizen, you should have to be ejected from the country. You should have to sit in the last row of a JetBlue flight that has one of the windows blown out near the toilet. If you possibly get questions like these wrong. What is the capital of the United States? I'm not even going to give you guys options. But this is for citizenship. This is how easy it is to give this away. Literally. What did the Declaration of Independence do? Start the first free libraries. Free the. I'm not joking when I said that was actually the answer. Start the first free libraries. Free the slaves. Define the government. Said the United States is free. It said the United States is free. That's not, that's not. That wasn't. I guess maybe you might have gotten the Constitution confused, but it wasn't to set up libraries. How many senators are there? There's 100. Okay, I'm done now with the question. I got all of them correctly. I think you get my point. This is the most important thing. These are questions that I would argue the average third grader could probably answer. Maybe I have too much faith in the average third grader, but by fifth grade they would all know this basic stuff. They've all been taught it at least once. And if you're looking at the itinerary of what we want from a person who is newly added to our country, you would want someone better than the average 10 year old, not someone who is on par with a 10 year old and they may be in their 40s or 50s. Like you would want someone of advanced intelligence and understanding. Also, it doesn't tell you who we really are as a country. It asks you to memorize the several historical events and dates, which I get. Some people can't do that. Well, I mean I can, but a lot of people can't. The most basic premise of our, of our government. I mean the most basic and a few dates or like, you know, common sense questions. It's, it's, it's a little, little bit of civics, a tiny bit of very basic history. And you get to vote and change the course of our history, course of our country, because you can memorize how many stars and stripes there are. I'm very glad that Edloe is doing this. I think this couldn't have happened fast enough. And I think that if we if the average adult cannot pass, this cannot get six. Six. All they do is six. When I went to high school, 75 was failing. It's not even meeting the St. Francis Prep minimum of passing at least up it's a nine. So I'm glad this new citizenship test should be out sometime. I think in the beginning of next year. I'm looking forward to seeing how he hopes to enhance it to make sure that is more comprehensive towards who we are as a country. I know. He says he's planning on ending the loopholes that allow people to take the test not in English, which is beyond me that that's even possible. Anyway, we're the greatest nation in the world. You shouldn't have to play Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Civics questions in order to be a citizen, it should be a lot, lot harder. You're listening to It's a Numbers Game with Ryan Graduski. We'll be right back.
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Ryan Graduski
Now it's time for the Ask Me Anything segment of the show. If you want to be part of the Ask Me Anything segment, email me ryan numbers game podcast.com that's Ryan numbers game podcast.com okay, first question comes from Patrick. He writes that he has seen the abuse of the H1B visa system firsthand and is frustrated that Republicans have drank the Kool Aid and believing we're taking in the best and brightest. He wants to know, given comments by Senator Mike Lee, which if anyone knows Senator Lee's history on H1BS, it's been horrific. But all of a sudden he's been talking of a big game OR Vice President J.D. vance, are we going to see this issue addressed? Is it too niche? And also, what are your opinions of Senator Schmidt? Senator Schmidt is the senator from Missouri. I don't know much about him. One of my friends works for him and does a social media and he's super based and very, very good. So I think that's why his social media is very good. And I guess I like that he hired him. I have to read, I've read up a little on his legislative history and there was only one bill of substance and it was dealing with broadband spectrum. When it comes to space travel, I didn't really know what it was talking about. But I don't dislike him. I don't particularly like him. I don't really think a lot about him. He hasn't had a lot of really enticing legislation that I really could sit there and say, wow, this is leadership and this is thought provoking. I think that he's fine, he votes well and he votes much better than the Senator Blunt did who he replaced. But yeah, that's, I have a very basic opinion of him. When it comes to H1BS and skilled immigration, polling is clear that Americans believe that we have a large skills gap and that H1B system is the only way to fix that problem. I couldn't find an exact poll breakdown by party, but one poll I found said 71% of Trump supporters believe that we need more high skilled immigration to our country. I think the problem is in both the wording of the polling and our conception of immigration. Rather than thinking we need more high skilled immigration, the question should be, should all immigrants be skilled? Right. Because once we weed out low skilled immigration, that's unnecessary. The ones through family reunification and the visa lottery system and all the rest of it. And like 90% of our immigration is skilled, I guess we could use some farm hands or some, you know, I don't know, people who clean hotels or whatever. But if like 80 to 90% of our immigration was skilled, then it's just a question on levels, then it's just a question of how many numbers we're taking in. And that is a better place to be in than the overall idea of Skilled versus not skilled immigration. I think that when you're dealing with that kind of concept, oh, people are naturally going to be on the side of wanting more skilled immigration. But if almost all immigration is skilled, then it's just a question of numbers. And people, more times than not prefer lower numbers than higher. As far as changes go, by the way, the White House did approve some changes to the H1B system, including changing the way that H1Bs are distributed. This comes from the Hindustan Times. And by the way, if you care about this issue, because it sounds like you do about the H1B issue, I highly recommend reading English language versions of Indian newspapers because Indian newspapers, because India loves, you know, flooding H1B systems, H1B visas, they cover this issue like, you know, white girls covering true crime. Like they are all over this issue completely. So this is from the Hindustan Times. The new rule is anticipated to relaunch a Trump administration plan that would prioritize H1B applicants based on earnings rather than the existing random lottery system. At present, there's an annual cap of 85, 000 visas under the H1B program, which is widely used by the tech sector. On annual basis, a random lottery selects which employers may fill the visa request. In 2021, DHS recommended allocating visas based on earnings separated into four categories. To prioritize high paying positions, DHS attempted to switch from a random selection procedure to a wage priority approach under the Trump administration. Suggested regulation would put applicants based on wages promised with higher paying positions giving preference according to the administration's Buy American hire American program. So this is something that's great. I think it's really, really important. I think it's necessary and I think that it's just, I think the beginning of what we're going to see changes to the H1B system. I think more will actually come as time goes on. I know that Trump has not been super coherent in his Overall vision of H1BS. I know he's waffled at times. He's been very friendly with the tech sector. But it seems to me that this is something that the overall administration is wanting to weed out, especially the immense amount of corruption. Okay, next question comes from Joel in Ohio. He has a lot. By the way, I've been to Ohio so many times. I should tell oh my Ohio campaign stories over time because Ohio is a special place. He has a long response to my episode on the iPhone filtering unknown calls, which is great part of the email but the question part because I don't want to Give everyone too much to chew on. It was asking, should people answer polls? When you get text messages from polls? Yes, Joel, please. If you get a poll, answer it. My dad never answers polls and then constantly complains about them. And I say you have to be part of answering them and not just saying how left wing polls are. Here's the poll. One of the basic problems with our polling industry, there are a lot of people who watch MSNBC all day long and dream of the moment a pollster is going to call them and ask them their opinion so they can scream that they hate Donald Trump to somebody who has to listen. If they had the numbers, they would call the pollsters themselves and give them a daily update. And then you have people like my dad, gotta love him, Joel, you know, you have to answer these polls. They're not asking you for money nine times out of ten and it makes. And if they answer, if they ask for money, just hang up, whatever, it's fine, hang up. It's not a big deal if you. It makes it harder for people like me and people in, who work in government who want to see the feelings of the public on a number of different issues when we don't have accurate pollsters polling, because the people who are overwhelmingly responding to the polling are, you know, writing letters to MSNBC saying, please bring back Joy Reid. Like that is who. We're answering the polling too often and we are not getting people who are right wing or lower propensity or no college degree. And like they're not sampling enough of those people. So, Joel, please, please, please answer. Poll. If you get a text and if you're not interested in any donations or anything like that, just exit out of it. But a poll should only take a few minutes and it's really important for how corporations, nonprofits, politicians, everybody responds to things. So please, Republicans, answer polls. Okay, last question for this episode of the podcast comes from David Rolfe. He asked about my feelings of the Senate races in Texas and Kentucky. In Texas, I think Senator Cornyn is done. I don't think he's going to win unless the establishment white knight shows up and Cornyn agrees to step down and they rally around him. I think it's likely to be Ken Paxton. I don't think Wesley Hunt can do it. I think Paxton has this level of built in trust with the average conservative voter, the average Trump voter. And they underst. They view him in the same way they view Trump. They understand that he is a deeply, personally problematic figure as far as his personal life goes. Right. They don't want to live his personal life or don't want their children instead of living their personal life. But they believe he is a fighter. And America right now, Republicans right now are not looking for, they're not looking for a pastor. They're looking for a man who will step up and fight. And they view Paxton as that person. You know, I talked to one Texas politician last year about Paxton. He said, look, he's a crook, but he's our crook. Like he's corrupt. He's, he's our corrupt guy because he's going to fight. And he sued the Biden administration. He sued the, I think he was there for Obama too, but he sued the Biden administration endlessly to try to stall their agenda. And he's just considered a champion for the base. And they're going to stick with them, they're going to ride with them. And unless somebody comes in who is universally beloved and Cornyn is no longer there. So the attacks against Cornyn because he's so bad on so many policies doesn't, doesn't happen if he can't attack Cornyn and there's a universally loved white knight, which I don't know who that is, but if that person shows up, it's going to be Paxton and then that will be a billion dollar Senate race in Kentucky. I am biased because I have a lot of friends who work for Nate Morris. He is the businessman for Kentucky. I really like a lot of what he says. I think he'd be a good senator based on what I know. I do think he's probably the favorite right now. I think Mark Halperin said the same thing. There's a lot of JD Vans for Senate alumni working on his campaign right now. So if you're a real campaign nerd, you could probably see some overlaps of the JD Vance campaign and Nate Morris's campaign and what they're kind of doing. There's a lot of similarities I'm seeing. So I like Nate Morris and I think I like him based on what I know. And I think he's probably likely to win. I wouldn't be shocked if you see Don Jr. Charlie Kirk, the President, a bunch of people rally around him. I think that the president, maybe the president will stay out of it because I think he's got relationships with Congressman Barr. But I wouldn't be surprised if they all rally around Morris in the end and he ends up winning the nomination. I also want you to do one thing, by the way, because this makes me laugh every time I think about it. Take out your phone or your computer and I want you to google the name Nate Morris, Kentucky and see what he looks like. And then Google Stan from the show American dad from the cartoon American dad and you tell me this is not the same person. That's all for the show today. Thank you guys for listening. I'll be back on Monday. If you like this podcast, please subscribe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts wherever you get your podcast and I will see you guys soon.
Ryan
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Ryan Graduski
This is an I Heart podcast.
Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode Title: It's a Numbers Game: The Numbers Behind Polling for the 2026 Midterms
Release Date: August 14, 2025
In this episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Ryan Graduski and Jacob Goldstein delve into the intricate world of polling data ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Balancing detailed numerical analysis with engaging narratives, the hosts explore the current political landscape, highlighting key shifts in voter sentiment, the implications for upcoming races, and broader systemic issues such as the H1B visa system and citizenship testing reforms.
Ryan Graduski opens the discussion by examining the latest generic ballot polls, which reflect overall voter sentiment rather than specific candidate preferences. He notes a significant trend:
“Republicans have slipped about a point or two in the last month. The Real Clear Politics polling average shows it's a D +3.5 race.”
[02:54]
This D +3.5 indicates a national tilt favoring Democrats by 3.5%, a notable shift from the R +2 seen in the 2024 elections, representing a 5.5% swing towards the Democrats.
Graduski cautions listeners about interpreting these numbers as definitive predictors, emphasizing that polling is merely a snapshot in time:
“Polling does not predict the future. Polling is a snapshot of the present. Things can change, things will change.”
[02:54]
Despite the slight Democratic advantage, the Republican prospects in the House appear challenging, with Graduski suggesting a probable loss. However, the Senate remains more favorable for Republicans, though not without its hurdles in competitive states.
The discussion shifts to pivotal states that could sway control of the Senate:
Georgia:
Ryan highlights a tight race where incumbent Republican Mike Collins is trailing Democrat John Ossoff by just one point, based on recent polls. Collins, despite being relatively new to the Senate, has legislative accomplishments but faces an uphill battle without significant national support.
“Collins can win the seat, but he's going to need the national environment to improve.”
[08:30]
North Carolina:
Former Governor Roy Cooper maintains a six-point lead over Republican Michael Whatley, who is running his first Senate campaign. Cooper's unblemished statewide election record and bipartisan appeal make this a challenging race for Republicans.
“Roy Cooper has never lost an election statewide in North Carolina.”
[11:15]
Maine:
Maine's Senate race involves unique dynamics, with Susan Collins being a standout figure whose individual circumstances make the race less predictable.
New Jersey and New York City:
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy faces re-election with shifting voter registrations slightly favoring Republicans. New York City's mayoral race presents a bleak outlook for Democrats, with socialist candidate Mandani leading, posing a significant threat to traditional Democratic candidates like Andrew Cuomo.
Graduski addresses recent changes in the U.S. citizenship test overseen by Joseph Edlow, the new head of USCIS. Edlow aims to make the test more comprehensive by increasing the number of questions and ensuring they better reflect American values and history.
“Access to a lifetime in the United States... because you can memorize how many stars and stripes there are. I'm very glad that Edlow is doing this.”
[23:58]
He critiques the current test's perceived ease, suggesting that the ability to pass with minimal knowledge undermines the integrity of citizenship.
The hosts discuss the Trump administration's proposed reforms to the H1B visa system, which prioritize applicants based on earnings rather than a random lottery. This shift aims to attract higher-skilled immigrants and address perceived abuses in the existing system.
“This comes from the Hindustan Times... the new rule is anticipated to relaunch a Trump administration plan that would prioritize H1B applicants based on earnings.”
[34:15]
Graduski supports these changes, highlighting their potential to reduce corruption and better align immigration with national economic needs.
In this interactive segment, a listener named Patrick inquires about potential legislative changes to the H1B system and seeks opinions on Senator Schmidt from Missouri. Graduski responds by emphasizing the importance of skilled immigration and criticizes the current system's inefficiencies.
“If almost all immigration is skilled, then it's just a question of numbers.”
[35:17]
Regarding Senator Schmidt, he expresses a neutral stance, acknowledging his work on broadband spectrum but noting a lack of compelling legislative achievements.
Another listener, Joel from Ohio, questions whether people should participate in polls. Graduski strongly advocates for it, stressing that accurate polls require diverse participation to reflect true public sentiment.
“Republicans, answer polls.”
[35:17]
He laments low response rates from certain demographics, which skews the data and hampers effective policy-making.
Responding to David Rolfe's query about Senate contests, Graduski provides his analysis of the Texas and Kentucky races. In Texas, he sees Senator Ted Cruz as likely being supplanted by Ken Paxton, whom he describes as a "champion for the base."
“He [Paxton] is a fighter... they're going to stick with them, they're going to ride with them.”
[35:17]
In Kentucky, he favors Nate Morris over other candidates, drawing parallels to JD Vance's campaign strategies and expressing optimism about Morris's prospects.
“I like Nate Morris and I think he's probably likely to win.”
[35:17]
Ryan Graduski wraps up the episode by reiterating the challenges facing Republicans in key races and hints at future discussions focusing on underreported actions by the Trump administration. He maintains a commitment to delivering honest and comprehensive political analysis.
“It's getting pretty bleak... but I would rather tell you the truth than repeat things you would like to hear.”
[29:10]
Listeners are encouraged to stay tuned for more insights in upcoming episodes.
On Generic Ballot Shift:
“Republicans have slipped about a point or two in the last month. The Real Clear Politics polling average shows it's a D +3.5 race.”
[02:54]
On Citizenship Test:
“It's a little bit of civics, a tiny bit of very basic history... You don’t have to play 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?'”
[23:58]
On Poll Participation:
“Republicans, answer polls.”
[35:17]
On Senate Races:
“He [Ken Paxton] is a fighter... they're going to stick with them, they're going to ride with them.”
[35:17]
This episode provides a thorough examination of the current polling data influencing the 2026 midterm elections, coupled with thoughtful discussions on immigration policies and civic engagement. Graduski and Goldstein offer nuanced perspectives, balancing statistical analysis with real-world political dynamics, making it a valuable listen for those seeking to understand the upcoming electoral landscape.