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Lisa Booth
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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures here's
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Lisa Booth
welcome to the Truth with Lisa Booth, where we get to the heart of the issues that matter to you. Today, we're talking about the midterm elections. What the heck is going to happen Right now? The polling doesn't look so good for Republicans. And even though we've seen economic gains because of President Trump's policies, American voters aren't feeling it yet, or at least it's not showing up in the polls. So why is that? What's behind the disconnect and what can Republicans do about it? Also, we were told that President Trump was a drag on the ticket throughout the years, but it turns out he's not. But he won't be on the ballot this midterm election. So what do Republicans need to do to drive turnout? We're going to ask John McLaughlin. He is the CEO and partner, McLaughlin and Associates. He is also a Trump campaign pollster and has been an advisor since 2011. So who better to turn to than John? Stay tuned. Well, John, it's always great to have you on the show. You know, obviously we're still a few months out from the midterm election, so a lot can happen. But we're trying to figure out what's going on right now. I guess. If the election were held today, what do you think would happen?
John McLaughlin
The Democrats would have a slight advantage, and that's what they're betting on. They're betting on the historical Trends unlike I'm an old timer at this, that in 2002 when I worked for the Republican National Committee, Jim Gilmore was the head of it. Speaker Hassert was my client. Tom Davis, the chairman of the NRCC was our client. And we defied history that year because we picked up eight House seats and two Senate seats. So we didn't have the midterm backlash. And right now it's really a function of if the Trump voters come back out and through 2025, most of the high profile races and some of the special elections since then, they haven't been coming back out the levels they came out at. So in 2002. Well, actually we started in 2001 with the Virginia House of Delegates. We targeted Bush 2000 voters because it was a very close race between bus Bush and Gore, but we targeted Bush 2000 voters. And so in like Virginia, we picked up 62 out of the 100 House of Delegates. We picked up 12 seats, 64, we actually went up from 52 to 64 seats, picked up a dozen seats, but we were coming out in higher shares. And Karl Rove took that and he patented into the 72 hour program. And that's what we had happen in 2002. So we gained House seats and we gained Senate seats. The Trump voters, although we were out of the 156 million voters that came out in 2024, he got 77 million, 50% of the turnout. And what you've seen in the high profile races in 2025, the anti Trump voters, the Kamala Harris voters have come out at higher ratios. New Jersey, Virginia, the governor's races there in special elections for Congress, et cetera and special elections even in state senate and Texas. And the only exception was in Nassau county where Bruce Blakeman, the county executive in a Democrat county, eight point Democrat county, was able to win by double digits, by 12 points across the board. Swooping everything because Trump voters came back out in Nassau county because he ran against Hochul and Mondani on taxes and on crime. And now he's the governor, now he's the nominee for governor and he's got to again try to broaden the Trump base and get the Trump base to come back out in New York.
Lisa Booth
You know, how, but how do Republicans do that? Because you know, it's sort of ironic because we were told for the longest time that President Trump was a drag on the ticket and then it turns out that he actually is the ticket. And you know, Republicans obviously owe their majorities to him in 2024 but he's not going to be on the ballot in, in November. So, like, what do Republicans do? How do they get people? Obviously, Democrats are really fired up right now. We see them rioting in cities and, you know, so how do Republicans get their base excited to turn out?
John McLaughlin
Well, it's the issues. And people forget this. I've worked for Donald Trump since, I've advised him since 2011 when he first thought about running. And what made him unique and what propelled him in 2015 to the top of the race for the 2016 nomination was his issues, the issues that he selected. And it was, he was out there on immigration in 2015 as a, as a hot topic issue. And the rest of the Republican field, you know, they were trying to do deals with the Democrats, and the vast majority of voters wanted to stop illegal immigration and they wanted to deport criminal illegal immigrants. And by the way, on our website, you know, we took a survey on January 27, nationally, 87 to 10, all Americans would still support deporting criminal illegal migrants. And you have that. And by the way, deporting all legal immigrants was 6,232among a thousand likely voters. So it's issues the Republicans, by the way, I think the Democrats may be overreaching, for example, and they're going to have this referendum in Virginia. And I think that could be closer than I expected, because it's just unfair. People don't think that. They don't want political gerrymandering all the time. And this is clearly a reaction to Trump. But the difference is what the Democrats are doing in Virginia. Now, Spamberger got elected governor and she was portraying herself as a moderate Democrat. And immediately what she's done is she's turned the state into a sanctuary city or sanctuary state, and she has proposed increasing a ton of taxes. So you have to get at what the Democrats will do in Congress, that they'll open the borders again. They'll let migrant illegals back in the country where they're terrorists and criminals. And what they'll do is they'll also raise your taxes, because every Democrat for Congress and Senate last year voted to raise taxes when they voted against the Trump tax cuts. And virtually every Democrat for Congress and Senate is opposed to the Trump tax cuts. So that means instead of a $1,700 tax cut for the average American, you wanted. And by the way, it was a $1,700 tax increase they were voting for, instead, most people are getting back $1,000 extra or $2,000 extra in higher tax refunds. With no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security credits. So it's the issues. It's not whether Trump's on the ballot or not. You know, I love Donald Trump because we work together so well, but he created an issue set that blue collar voters across the country, whether it was the Rust Belt or the Sun Belt, he was their blue collar billionaire and he was standing up for them. When people were exporting their jobs, when they were raising their taxes, when they were taking away their health care, he was the one who stood up for them. And right now he's in charge. But the Republicans think, oh, Trump's endorsement, I'm going to win the election. No way. You got to win on the issues. Trump is term limited. He's not going to be able to run again.
Lisa Booth
So about the issues then, is it a mistake because we're starting to see Republicans hedge a little bit on mass deportations and really following through with the agenda that was promised in the presidential election. So would that be a mistake for Republicans to, you know, change their tune on the issue?
John McLaughlin
It's a mistake not to fix the system. I mean, President Trump himself and a lot of his candidates have talked about work permits. If you're here legally and you have a job and the business needs you, we're not going to give you citizenship or reward you for breaking the law, but what we will do is we'll get you work permits, but you have to, again, you can't be a criminal if you're a criminal. And by the way, being a criminal means not just committing crimes here, but also coming in and having been abetted. If we know you're part of trend Venezuela, why are you here? I mean, you're not here to reform your life. They're here. They're gang members that are bringing in drugs and human trafficking as our. They need to be deported. By the way, when you talk about the Republicans, the House passed the SAVE act, which requires voter ID for voting. Right. And proof of citizenship for voting. It's enormously popular. 80% issue, right? 80% of all Americans support this. The House voted to pass it. The Republicans there, there were some Democrats. Not many voted for it, I think. What is it? The one from Texas guy voted for it, maybe, but the Senate's not taking it up. That's a betrayal. If you're a Republican and you're in the Senate and you're not giving the Senate an opportunity to vote for voter ID for every election and also to require citizenship for every election, you have missed an enormous chance to say the Democrats are wrong in this because the Democrats support non citizen voting. The New York City Council last year voted to legalize non citizen voting. Fortunately, it was thrown out by a judge, a federal judge. That was unconstitutional. But what I'm getting at is how could they not vote for that? And if Republicans think that, oh, I'll get Donald Trump's endorsement and I'll win, but I'm not going to let people vote on whether they need voter ID for an election or whether you need to be a citizen, you've just blown it. Lisa Murkowski she should have run on that so the Alaskans could vote her out. I mean, it's just, it's a huge mistake not to fulfill the basic 70, 80% issues that the vast majority of Republicans support that were it was the RNC platform when Donald Trump got nominated in Milwaukee. I mean, all those issues were extremely popular.
Lisa Booth
Gonna take a quick commercial break. More with John on the other side.
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Public Investing/Lenovo Advertiser
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this
Bethenny Frankel
is Bethenny Frankel from Just Be with Bethenny Frankel. It is a new year and everyone is trying to get it together. If we are making a fresh start for ourselves, why wouldn't we make a fresh start for our dogs? Biggie and Smalls are my babies and I love just Food for dogs because it is real. It is fresh. It is 100% human grade food. Just Food for Dogs is the number one vet recommended fresh dog food. Go to justfoodfordogs.com 50% off your first box. You are welcome.
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Lisa Booth
Why do you think? You know, obviously we have seen real world gains in terms of the economy, both in growth with inflation cooling. You know, objectively it's not perfect, but things are being turned around but it's not yet hit with voters in polling in terms of their perception of the economy. What's with the disconnect? Why is that?
John McLaughlin
Oh, I think the first thing is the real damage that Biden and Harris did with their inflation because we still get 79%. Four to five voters saying they were negatively impacted by the four years of Biden Harris inflation. So it was deep. I mean mortgages were up over 6%, food prices went up and it's a lot and it's hard to bring them down. And healthcare prices went up and you're looking at people said their rents went up, et cetera. Gas prices certainly went up. So it takes time for it to come back down. And as case in point, in our national survey of 1,000 likely voters that we had at the end of January, when we asked them about is the economy getting better or worse, you had only 38% saying it was getting better and over 50% were saying it was getting Worse. But when you read them a list of things that, in effect, that you said, and when I wrote the question, I had Steve Forbes and Larry Kudlow and Steve Moore help it. And Steve Moore says, and I'll read through the question, but he says, isn't that a leading question? Because you're telling them that the economy is getting better. And when we told them that, they said 63, it was 62 to 32. They said it was getting better. And let me just find the exact wording here, because now if you knew it were true that the economy is growing, inflation is being reduced, wages are rising fast and inflation, consumer spending is up, unemployment is low, interest rates are being cut, business investment is up, and the federal taxes are being cut, would you say the economy's getting a lot better, somewhat better, somewhat worse, or a lot worse? 6332. They said it's getting better. And that's after they told us that it was going to, that it was getting worse. Pardon me, it was 39 getting better, 54 worse in January. So their opinion flips. They don't normally do that. And you know what the biggest difference was? The biggest difference was where they got their information. If they were, if they watch right of center cable News channels, which 4 out of $10, whether it's Fox News, Newsmax, 83 to 16, they said the economy is getting better. When they were read that information, if they were left of center cable, it split 4,648. Don't watch cable, they flip 5,935. So the majority of voters before they got that information didn't believe it was true because they're not hearing it. The Republicans are not telling them. We're in our little echo chamber of conservative news media. And unlike the campaign, when we ran the Trump campaign, we had these rallies that went around the media. We went, if not around them, we went right through them. Direct communication, social media. We would, we would, when somebody wanted to go to Trump's rally, get 100,000 people at the rally, we would have hundreds of thousands send us their emails and cell phones. And we would then send them information about how Trump's proposing to renew his tax cuts, how he's talking about growing the economy, holding down inflation. So what's going on right now is if you watch CNN or MSNBC or tbs, you're not getting any good information about the economy. You don't hear about how the consumer Price index is getting better, confidence is going up. You don't hear about that. Oh, by the way, the inflation index is lower than the growth of real wages now, but they need to see it themselves. And I'll tell you another big thing is the average person who, they don't get pay stubs anymore. Like back in the 80s when Ronald Reagan had his tax cuts, you can see your net pay would go up. So now you get a transfer into your account for your employer or whatever. So it's on your Apple wallet, your iPhone, your whatever account. You have your bank account. At the end of the month, you get your credit card bill and you look, how much do you owe? And it used to be maybe two, $300, you know, after you bought groceries when Donald Trump was in his first term. And then after Joe Biden it was going up 3, 4, 500, paying a bigger credit card bill, of which the interest rates the banks are charging on average are over 20%. So people are not seeing the real economic benefit until now. You're going to see some people go to their accounts, have their taxes done, which most Americans do, and instead of paying taxes, they're going to get a refund or a larger refund than they got last year. And they'll realize, hey, there was something going on here that's working. And then they'll also, they'll see that there's more opportunities for jobs and better paying jobs. And that takes time. But you got to constantly tell them. And I mean, when things are bad, people know it and it's taking a long time to recover from the bad effects of the Biden Harris inflation.
Lisa Booth
But then how do you get the message out? Because you know, I know that with the polling, when people were informed, their opinions changed. But you gotta inform them. And if they're not watching Fox or they're not watching networks that are being honest with what's happening in the economy, how do you reach them? How do you get the message out?
John McLaughlin
Well, in campaigns you have to tell them, point out, you have to raise the money so you can run digital ads, you can run streaming ads, you can run paid cable radio, and also you can send direct mail for older voters. But you gotta raise the money and tell them because the Democrats are gonna tell them something else. And as a point contrast, the Republicans ought to have an aggressive scorecard against the Democrats. But the key thing is how can any Democrat win a race on affordability? When they voted to raise your taxes, when they voted against the Trump tax cuts, you would have had the largest tax increase in the history of America, $4.5 trillion. And raising taxes on the average person $1700. Instead you're getting about a thousand dollar pay cut, which is $3,000. So the Republicans, instead of kind of getting on defense on the Democrats, they need to run against every Democrat saying, you would have voted to raise taxes on everybody. You are against the tax cuts for Social Security recipients. You're against your four more taxes on tips, your four more taxes on overtime, your four more taxes on people's earnings and capital gains. You know, you created the problem that the gas was $5 a gallon on average, and you created the problem that everybody was paying more. And there's no way we should be losing on an issue called affordability to the Democrats because the Democrats are the most unaffordable platform that we would have. And we've got to turn around, we got to hit them hard, and this is what they would do with them. By the way, the contrast, I mean, going back to history, when George W. Bush was able to pick up House and Senate seats in that midterm election, he had a tax cut that went into effect and grew the economy in the second quarter. He pumped the economy after 9, 11 full of money that you had a growing economy, we're in recession. And Trump, without a doubt, the president's always telling people that the economy is growing, it's getting better. He puts out things every day on true social. But they need to go back to campaign mode and have a contrast with the Democrats. If you are running for Congress or if you're running for Senate, it's your race. You set the agenda against your opponent. You need to let them know that your opponent voted to raise taxes on them, voted to increase inflation, voted to increase federal spending, voted for higher health, you know, care costs and higher insurance. And, you know, it's just, it's just a matter of just direct communications. And you could do it now with social media. You can do it now with. They should be on your podcast calling out their opponents. You can get the message out. You just have to work at it.
Lisa Booth
Excuse me. You know, when we look ahead at 2028, who on the left do you think right now has the best shot of becoming the Democrat nominee? Like, what do you think? I mean, it seems like right now the left is sort of going through an identity crisis. I don't know. You know, we're seeing progressives win the selection cycle. I hope it's not what we saw with the Tea Party, because the Tea Party, you know, led to, you know, Republicans picking up 63 seats in the House. I was at the NRCC during that 2010 election cycle. So I hope that's not the kind of energy that they're seeing on the left. But like where do you think the Democrat Party like you know, who wins out in sort of this internal ideological battle that is clearly happening.
John McLaughlin
You're right that they're having this huge battle and the Republicans don't know how to use it for their their good. I mean for example, the Republicans did not have a strong candidate for mayor in New York City last year and Cuomo and Adams being so unpopular at the time where the majority of voters in New York City wouldn't vote for them whether it was a Democrat primary or whether it was the general election, you had a socialist, a Democrat socialist of America endorsed candidate in Zoran Mandami run and he was able to win. Ranked choice voting. That's another dumb Democratic idea. But it's actually smart for them, bad for us. That helps the far left win inside their party. You know, you're going to have a, you're going to have own progressives. I call them socialists. Big government socialists.
Lisa Booth
Well yeah, that's probably, you know what our Marx, you know no big government socialists.
John McLaughlin
Yeah because younger voters born after 1989 have no idea what communism was like. So they think it's Finland or Sweden. They don't know what the cruelty of the Soviet Union and But they understand big government because they all live through Covid and big government tells you what to do and that's what you've got. So Zorhan Mandani right now is as the mayor of New York City is telling Kathy Hochul that if she does not give him a corporate tax increase that'll kill jobs and hurt the New York economy or raise taxes on. They have a proposal to raise income taxes on people over 450,000 which will be a tax on subchapter as small businesses. If he doesn't get that tax for the spending he wants to have, he's going to have a 10% property tax hike on homeowners. But this is the socialist, the big government socialists in the Democrat party dictating the Taylor's wagging the door but they're dictating their agenda and that's going to happen nationally. But in the primary to your original question when we asked in this January end of January survey among Democrat primary voters nationally. Kamala Harris has gone back ahead. But Gavin Newsom was at one point in September ahead because of Prop 50 in California. So Harris national preference. Harris was 27, Newsom was 14, Buttigieg at 8 AOC Alexandria Ocasio Cortez at 7. So there's a socialist wing in that party that's younger and very active. That the bad part is for us is that they could nominate a socialist, but the bad part is they could get elected. So, you know, it's a younger Bernie Sanders and they have them and somebody's going to come out of their primary and it's going to be more anti Trump and more radical than we expect. Which, you know, would be good for JD Vance Lee's and most polls. He was leading in our polls right now. But if we lose the House and Senate, I think we'll have more of a free for all in our primary and less a structured. But we'll see.
Lisa Booth
Do you think it'll be though? Because, you know, I like J.D. vance a lot. He was very impressive during the vice presidential debate. Clearly a really smart guy. And President Trump seems to think a lot of him. But like, President Trump is just such a unique force, like, even outside of his viewpoints on the issues, which obviously he completely changed, like the whole entire, you know, structure of the Republican Party. Like, it was a complete realignment as, you know, someone who worked, you know, on the races. Right. And with him. But he's so unique. You know, even just like the McDonald's thing and the like, no one else can do that. You know, like, he's just like, he's just so different. So, like, is it even possible for Republicans to carry that mantle forward? Because it's like, you know, who else? Like, there's just no one else like him, period.
John McLaughlin
You're right. He's totally, he's truly historic and there's no one like him. But on the other hand, what's different is his movement. We created that movement and that was by design. And it was when he got into the Republican primaries, we decided that he was going to appeal to blue collar voters who wanted to. You know, there's a lot of men and women throughout America that feel we're being exploited and that America is being exploited, that they're personally being exploited. Their family, their opportunities, their standard of living. And that was his appeal and it was his. He. Those tens of millions of voters are there and he decided he was going to be their leader. And at one point during the summer of 2016, we were up in his office and he says in the 26th floor, Trump Tower. And he's saying to me, he says, how are we going to win? All these polls have Hillary Clinton ahead. And he said, first of all, you're going to maximize the anti Hillary Clinton voter. Most Americans don't like her. And you'll get 90% of those voters. Then you're going to siphon up libertarian voters because Gary Johnson was running at 10%. And I said, you'll siphon up those voters because it's either you or Hillary. So there's no choice. They have to make a decision. And I said the third part is millions of voters have been walking away from the Republican Party where if you look at 2008, 2010 voters, they didn't vote in 2012 because Mitt Romney they thought was the guy that would fire at work and take away their health care. So the country club Republicans that were leading our party had lost touch and Trump was our blue collar billionaire. And I said, what you are going to do is you're going to motivate millions of new voters to come into the election with the Republican Party and these new voters will help us beat Hillary. And that's exactly what we did. Whether it was the Rust Belt or the Sun Belt, that's how he was able to, he motivated new voters. So you had a higher turnout. Instead of 130 million, like 2012, we had 139 million voters come out. And he was doing it ever since then. And we did it in 2024. So you'd had new voters come out, Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin and it was all over the country, even in New Jersey, New York, California, you had higher turnouts for Trump, but there were blue collar voters coming in. And the bad part about the Republican Party is it's still a country club where they don't understand these voters, they don't know how to appeal to them or the issues. And they are now, you're now seeing a process where in 2025, in a lot of places they stayed home. And it's the issues. And if you cannot appeal to a blue collar worker like Trump, by the way, when he was during the campaign in 2024, he comes up with these ideas because of his gut, his instinct and because he loves working class people. He was like sitting there talking to a waitress in Las Vegas and he got the idea for no tax on tips. And then we got a poll after the fact. I'm like, oh yeah, by the way, over 70% support no tax on tips of all voters. Makes sense to working people that you give them more of what they earn. And but you know, the Republican Party now they think of ways not to give, give people money and not to help working class people. That's a huge mistake. So if whomever wants to win the nomination 2028 if you can build on and keep the Trump coalition together, you have a shot to beat the Democrat coalition which is, you know, Harrison Biden. So but you have to. You have to appeal to them on the issues. You have to motivate them.
Lisa Booth
Quick break if you like what you're hearing, please share on social media or send it to your family and friends.
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Public Investing/Lenovo Advertiser
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Got go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this
Bethenny Frankel
is Bethenny Frankel from Just Be with Bethenny Frankel it is a new year and everyone is trying to get it together. If we are making a fresh start for ourselves, why wouldn't we make a fresh start for our dogs? Biggie and Smalls are my babies and I love just food for dogs because it is real. It is fresh. It is 100% human grade food. Just food for dogs is the number one vet recommended fresh dog food. Go to justfoodfordogs.com 50% off your first box. You are welcome.
Public Investing/Lenovo Advertiser
Pro drivers live for race day. But for small business owners, every day is race day. That's why going pro with Lenovo Pro matters one on one advice it solutions and customized hardware powered by Intel Core Ultra processors. Keep your business on the right track. Business goes pro with Lenovo Pro. Sign up for free@lenovo.com Pro Lenovo Lenovo.
Lisa Booth
What do you think's going to happen this November?
John McLaughlin
This November is going to be I, I think it's going to be a close election. Our generic ballot through most of 2025, the, the generic Republican was leading the Democrats and then at some point in January it flipped. We had us down two points and the end. I've seen polls where we're down two or three or four points right now in the good polls. Not like if you go to the real floor politics average and you look at the Economist, you go full of adults. They have more Harris voters than Trump voters by like 10 or 12 points. How do you do that? In a poll we got 50% of the vote. They've got only 34% Trump voters. They have more liberals than conservatives, more, more Democrats than Republicans. So it's the opposite. You know, a lot of these media polls are the opposite of reality. So that they're using the polls to kind of suppress us and see how stupid the Republicans are if they, if they're gullible and believe us. And so, so I think what should happen is the Republicans should run a very issue oriented campaign. They should follow up on Trump's suggestion to have a midterm convention. But the most important that thing about that convention would be a midterm platform that every Republican would have to sign on to. Like the Contract for America back in 94 when they flipped the House. You'd have to have basically a contract that you support. You know, we need voter ID to vote in elections. We need only citizens voting in American elections. We need secure borders. We need to deport criminal legal aliens. We need to have an insurance system where the consumer controls the money, not the insurance companies and certainly not the government and we need to have even more tax cuts like indexing capital gains. So if you sell your house, you keep more of what you earn so that people would sell our houses so you'd have more supply in the market so that the price of hazards could get out. You'd have lower interest rates, which absolutely. Banks should not be charging over 20% interest rates on credit cards when there's, you know, inflation is less than 3% right now. So why, why doesn't somebody have a credit card by the rate of inflation plus the rate of, you know, a couple of points above prime. And I don't, you know, it should be, you know, it should be close to what you pay for a mortgage. I mean it shouldn't be in loan sharks charge only 20%. You probably get a better deal from a loan shark than a bank on a credit card. And so the Republicans need to have an issue agenda that appeals to working class Americans so they can come back out and vote against the big government socialists in the Democrat Party. And it's pretty simple. People vote for themselves and they vote on issues, what's best for their own interest. And the Republicans need to have that agenda and not let the, the Democrats run on free bus rides and taxing the rich. Things that, things that appeal to big government socialists. We can't let them take our country that way.
Lisa Booth
And then before we go, is there anything else you want to convey and get across?
John McLaughlin
I think if Republicans, you know, if they're relying on Donald Trump to carry them this November, they've got it backwards. They need to get out in front, run on the issues, the play offense against the Democrats, tell the voters why those Democrats are wrong and bad for America. And guess what? President Trump will be there backing them up the whole way and leading the charge. But it's about the issues for the American people. I mean, when you go to vote, you should feel you're voting for somebody who will lower your taxes, create jobs, keep inflation down, make sure America is strong in a peace, secure our borders. I mean it's, there's, the issues will decide the race. If you, you know, if you're just going to, you know, worry about, you know, fake polls for the media and, and distance yourself from the agenda, from the working class people. We'll, we'll get buried in November. So we need to, we need to go play offense again and we need to hold the Democrats accountable.
Lisa Booth
John, thanks for joining. Always appreciate your insight.
John McLaughlin
Well, thank you Lisa, and thanks for the opportunity.
Lisa Booth
That was John McLaughlin. Appreciate him for taking the time to come on the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. Also want to thank John Cascio, my producer, for putting the show together. Until next time.
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Lisa Booth
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (The Truth with Lisa Boothe)
Episode: Midterms 2026: Can Republicans Win Without Trump? Turnout, Taxes & Voter Strategy Breakdown
Host: Lisa Boothe
Guest: John McLaughlin (CEO, McLaughlin and Associates; longtime Trump campaign pollster)
Date: February 19, 2026
This episode dives deep into the strategic challenges facing Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections, with a particular focus on what the party must do without Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. Lisa Boothe and pollster John McLaughlin examine the current political environment, discuss turnout realities, analyze policy messaging, review the economic disconnect between reality and voter perception, and forecast potential outcomes for both parties. The discussion is blunt and energetic, with tactical recommendations and historical comparisons as Republicans stare down energized Democrats and evolving voter coalitions.
Election Environment:
Trump as a Turnout Engine:
Issues Drive Engagement:
Using Democrat Overreach:
Tax Policy as a Differentiator:
Staying True to Platform:
Voter ID and Election Security:
Voters Are Still Hurting:
Information Gaps and Media Influence:
Changing Voter Opinions:
Democratic Chaos and Progressive Surge:
Rising Stars & Socialist Influence:
Big Government Socialism:
Trump’s Unique Appeal:
Maintaining the Coalition:
Warning:
It Will Be Close:
Media Poll Skepticism:
The Case for a GOP “Contract for America”:
The episode’s tone is candid, direct, and unapologetically partisan. Both Boothe and McLaughlin share a sense of urgency, frustration at GOP messaging gaps, and determination to refocus on "kitchen table" issues. The language is accessible, packed with historical examples, poll numbers, and “inside baseball” campaign strategy.
John McLaughlin and Lisa Boothe argue that unless Republicans double down on the Trump-era populist issue set—immigration, taxes, voter security, affordability—and communicate aggressively beyond conservative media, they risk losing in 2026. The episode underscores that sustaining Trump-level turnout without Trump himself requires not just style, but an unambiguous policy agenda authentically connected to working- and middle-class voters.