The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Midterm Insights with Jim McLaughlin

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Tudor Dixon Podcast – “Midterm Insights with Jim McLaughlin”

Episode Date: August 18, 2025
Host: Tudor Dixon
Guest: Jim McLaughlin (President & Partner at McLaughlin & Associates, political strategist, pollster)
Network: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show / iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Tudor Dixon sits down with veteran pollster and political strategist Jim McLaughlin for a timely, in-depth discussion on the political landscape heading into the 2026 midterms. Together, they unpack recent electoral trends, the challenges facing both parties (with emphasis on Michigan politics), voter turnout issues, the evolution of party platforms, and the dynamics of race, immigration, and economic policy shaping the national mood.

The conversation blends insider polling insights with straight talk about strategy, struggles, and what needs to change for the GOP to outperform historical midterm expectations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Stakes of the 2026 Midterms

• Complacency is the enemy. McLaughlin warns that the biggest danger for Republicans is assuming past victories (like Trump’s wins) guarantee future success:
  “Our biggest opponents coming up into the midterms is quite honestly complacency. We can’t become complacent…” (04:38)
• Historical midterm challenges: When one party controls DC, midterms often turn against them if supporters stay home. Many Trump voters showed up in presidential years but not in 2018 or 2022, harming Republican chances. Republicans must give tangible reasons for Trump supporters to vote in midterms.
  “A lot of Trump voters that are only coming out for Donald Trump during presidential years are not coming out for the Republicans during these midterm elections. We’ve got to give those voters real reasons to turn out during the midterms.” (06:50)

2. Democratic Party: Shifts and Extremes

• Transformation after AOC’s election: Both see the Democratic Party shifting left, especially after figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) won seats.
• Old vs. new Democratic platforms: Obama-era policies were more moderate compared to the current party, which McLaughlin calls “a bunch of extremists” (05:50-08:34).
  “The current Democratic Party, they are not traditional old fashioned liberals…think about what this current Democratic Party stands for. They wanted open borders, lawfare against Trump, crazy spending, open borders.” (08:34)
• Younger voters and radical progressivism: Dixon suggests it may take multiple cycles of Democrats losing before the appeal of radical progressivism fades.

3. Economic Policy & the Auto Industry: Michigan as a Microcosm

• Electric vehicle mandates and overregulation: Both criticize how Obama/Biden-era climate policies harmed Michigan’s auto industry and led to job losses.
  Tudor: “The auto industry acted like, yes, we’re totally on board with electric vehicles. The minute they had the out, they took it.” (11:03)
• How past Republican leaders got it wrong: McLaughlin acknowledges mistakes—like McCain’s prediction that manufacturing was gone for good—while crediting Trump for changing the “America first” dynamic and using tariffs strategically.
  “What Donald Trump also understands is that we have to compete in that economy. And what he’s doing is he’s making sure the playing field is more fair and it’s more balanced again.” (14:00)

4. Immigration, Borders & the Politics of Power

• Open borders for political advantage: McLaughlin strongly contends Democratic open borders policies are about solidifying electoral power, especially in states like Texas and nationally, following California’s example:
  “The reason they’re doing it is for power. They opened the borders, turned California into a blue state. Now they want to do that to the rest of the country, especially Texas.” (21:41)
• Former bipartisan consensus on immigration: Both agree the idea of strong borders was once mainstream in both parties.
• Race and the racism accusation: Dixon and McLaughlin address how Democrats deploy accusations of racism to silence conservative opposition on immigration and other issues, while highlighting the alienation this can cause among black and Hispanic voters.

5. Identity Politics & Minority Voters Moving Right

• Minority voters' changing perspectives: McLaughlin points to increasing GOP support among Hispanic and Black voters, arguing many are driven by frustration at how Democrats use race/class division for power, and are receptive to the GOP’s “American dream” message.
  “If we win these elections, it’s because of black people and brown people…They came here for the American dream and we have to continue to fight for that journey.” (24:48)
• Broken promises to minority communities: Dixon uses the Detroit road construction example to argue that campaign promises by Democrats toward minority-owned businesses haven’t materialized in outcomes.
  “She came into the black community, went to black owned construction companies…and they didn’t get any.” (27:29)

6. Urban Crime & Law Enforcement

• Contrast in approaches to crime: They discuss the rise in violent crime in cities like Detroit and the political disconnect between Democratic leadership (seen as soft on crime) and the needs of urban communities.
  McLaughlin: “There’s nothing worse that somebody—a criminal—wants to see than more law enforcement…It’s a sin what’s happening in our urban areas.” (30:37)

7. Michigan Politics & Electoral Manipulation

• Concerns over ballot access and manipulation: Dixon is sharply critical of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s actions regarding candidate ballot eligibility, warning of potential future manipulation to favor Democrats.
  “She went out and said…we’re collaborating with seven other secretaries of state…She essentially admitted, I’m leading the charge to try to make sure we can’t get the…let these people on the ballot.” (33:08)
• Worries about Republican support for Detroit’s Democratic mayor: Dixon is puzzled by some Republicans backing Detroit’s mayor for governor, despite Detroit’s persistent struggles with crime and his support for Democrats nationally.

8. National Mood & 2026 Outlook

• Right direction/wrong track polling: McLaughlin notes the "right direction" number needs to climb over 50% for Republicans to perform as in 2002, when Bush’s Republicans bucked the midterm curse.
  “On Election Day for Joe Biden, 70% are saying things are off on the wrong track…We need to get them up over 50% for those midterm elections.” (41:23)
• Generic congressional ballot: Republicans currently ahead, a positive midterm sign.
  McLaughlin: “That is a really good sign for Republicans, the fact that they're plus…we're plus five in the generic.” (43:59)
• Senate and House prospects: McLaughlin is upbeat about Republican chances to hold the Senate, with the House as a dogfight but winnable if GOP stays focused on contrasts:
  “The contrast of Donald Trump and the Republican successes versus the Democrats extremism and failures, I think we got a legitimate shot…” (46:11)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Democratic Party Radicalism:
  “The Democrats are a bunch of extremists…if you don’t think they’re extreme and you don’t think they’re failures, point out one well run Democratic state in the country.” – Jim McLaughlin (09:44)

• On Shifts in Working-Class & Minority Voters:
  “If we win these elections, it’s because of black people and brown people…Hispanic voters would tell us things like, 'Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, they sound like the Marxist dictatorships they left.'” – Jim McLaughlin (24:48)

• On Complacency and Midterm Turnout:
  “We’ve got to give those voters real reasons to turn out during the midterms.” – Jim McLaughlin (06:50)

• On Ballot Manipulation Concerns:
  “She essentially admitted, I’m leading the charge to try to make sure we can’t get the…let these people on the ballot.” – Tudor Dixon (33:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:08] Intro & Michigan Political Environment
• [04:38] Complacency and the History of Midterm Drop-off
• [08:34] Radicalization of the Democratic Party
• [10:50] Michigan Auto Industry and EV Policy
• [14:26] Globalization and Republican Economic Missteps
• [21:41] Open Borders as a Political Strategy
• [24:48] Identity Politics and Minority Voter Sentiment
• [27:29] Detroit Example & Broken Political Promises
• [30:37] Crime, Urban Policy, and Law Enforcement
• [32:19] Michigan Governor’s Race and Ballot Manipulation
• [41:23] National Mood: Right Direction/Wrong Track & Generic Ballot
• [46:11] House & Senate Predictions and GOP Strategy

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Tone & Style

• Direct, partisan, occasionally combative: Dixon and McLaughlin are unapologetically critical of Democrats while offering strategic assessment for Republicans.
• Well-sourced, anecdotal argumentation: Both use stats, polling data, historical references, and stories from the campaign trail.
• Engaging and accessible: Despite their expertise, the conversation avoids jargon and is aimed at energizing conservative listeners for the upcoming midterm cycle.

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Final Takeaways

This episode is an essential listen for anyone following Republican strategy, Michigan politics, or national trends heading into the 2026 midterms. It features a blend of polling wisdom, sharp political analysis, and candid discussion of what works—and what hasn’t—for the GOP. Dixon and McLaughlin's focus on energizing the Trump base, addressing minority outreach, and calling out policy failures offers a roadmap for Republican hopes in a tough national climate.

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Transcript

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[Tudor Dixon]

Welcome to the Tudor Dixon Podcast. Today I have Jim McLaughlin with me. He is a nationally recognized public opinion expert, strategic consultant and political strategist. And his work with as president and partner at McLaughlin and Associates is it. It has. You guys have been doing great things. You worked with the president on his winning campaign. But now we're going into the midterms and we are all wondering what's going to happen. You have some insight there, Jim. Thank you for joining me.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Oh, the pleasure's all mine. Tutor.

[Tudor Dixon]

So tell us what you think. I will say in Michigan. You asked me before we got on what the feeling is here in Michigan. I think, you know, if you're looking at our seats, we have some seats that one of them, one of our congressional seats, Tom Barrett, he won in 24. So he's a new congressman. We know that there he's a target. He's done great things. I will say he's done some really amazing work. He brought a couple back from Mexico that was pretty much in prison and not coming home. So he's done some really good things. But I think he's a target. I know John James is running for governor. His seat is we don't have a candidate there that's a target. They we talk about redistricting. We were redistricted a few years ago. Even Bill Huizenga, his congressional district is becoming bluer because of the redistricted map. So what are you seeing for the midterms? Because here we're a little nervous.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yeah. And look, I think one of our biggest opponents coming up into the midterms is quite honestly complacency. We can't become complacent because.

[Tudor Dixon]

So you said this happened in 2018. And I totally agree with you. I will say when you talk about complacency, we felt, I think, you can correct me if I'm wrong, we felt in 2016. Oh my gosh, we ran away with it. People love us. And the Democrats are very strategic. We are less strategic, more like we say, it's not about feelings, but we make a good feelings argument, too.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yeah. And what happened, and the economy was getting a lot better in 2018. President Trump Peace was breaking out throughout the world, you know, similar to what we're seeing right now. But we understand when you look at it during that first term, when the party in power, which, you know, technically we control everything in Washington, D.C. but we all know how tight, tight the margins are. And look, all that good stuff that President Trump is able to do right now with a Republican Congress And a Republican U.S. senate, that goes away. And I remember during President Trump's first term, there were some people in the White House that were saying, won't be that bad of a thing if the Republicans lose, you know, the House or the Senate, God forbid, come the midterms, because we can do what Bill Clinton did and we can triangulate. But what happened when the Republicans gained control in the House and the Senate after the 94 elections and Bill Clinton was forced to triangulate because he wanted to get reelected again is Newt Gingrich. And the Republicans worked with him. They compromised on things like tax relief, on things like a crime bill, on things like welfare reform. The Democrats don't do that. And the Democrats are a bunch of extremists. We all saw what happened when the Democrats were in charge of Congress. We saw what happened with impeachment. The way they look at it, they're going to pull out all the stops, and they're going to try to get control of the House and the Senate during the midterms, because they look at it, it cuts Donald Trump's presidency in half. And a big key to that, big key to that is one of the reasons why we didn't do as well in 2018 that we did obviously, in 2016. And then obviously, what we did in 2024 was a lot of Trump voters did not come out to vote in those 2018 midterms. And one of the reasons why we underperformed in the 22 midterms was, again, because a lot of Trump voters that are only coming out for Donald Trump during presidential years are not coming out for the Republicans during these midterm elections. We've got to give those reasons real reasons, give those voters real reasons to turn out during the midterms.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, I do think that's been a problem. I also think that we are dealing with a much different Democrat Party as you're talking about, I mean, you talk about the investigations and impeachment and all of that, but even just the attitude toward President Trump, I mean, Nancy Pelosi ripping up the speech on the floor during the State of the Union, all of these little motions have moved toward a party that runs simply against one person. I mean, they absolutely hate him. But before we got on, you started talking about the difference in the party and AOC getting elected in that shift. And we are seeing that shift really impact them today. I think it, I think the shift hurt Kamala Harris. But it takes a few cycles. This is my thought process, but you can also correct me if I'm wrong. It takes a few cycles of losing on certain issues before you can convince enough people. And they're moving the younger generation toward this radical progressivism.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yep. And think back, you know, right after election day, I don't know, it lasted maybe about 24 hours, maybe 48 hours. The Democrats were basically saying, yeah, we did go too far to the left. We went too extreme. And I tell people, look, these, the current Democratic Party, they are not traditional old fashioned liberals. Because you think back, you know, somebody like, you know, when, even when Barack Obama first ran, he said, said if you were making less than $400,000 a year, he wasn't going to raise your taxes. You know, he didn't do all the crazy left wing stuff. Think about what this current Democratic Party stands for. They wanted open borders. They supported all this stuff. They supported the lawfare against Donald Trump. And think about what they did to Donald Trump. They did the impeachments, you know, they, they tried to literally put them in jail. And you know what? A lot of people have forgotten, they, during the election, during the Republican primary, they tried to get Donald Trump thrown off ballots, off the ballot in places like Maine and Colorado. Thankfully, the Supreme Court, even the Democratic members stepped up. And that was a bridge too far for even them. They want illegals to be able to vote in our elections. They did all that crazy spending during the Biden years, which we're still trying to recover from. State like Michigan, where you're from. Tudor. Michigan got buried by Joe Biden's economic policies. It totally hollowed out, you know, the auto industry. I had a brother who was a UAW member. So I know how bad it's been. Those are the stakes that are on the line. And I tell people, there's no question about it. 20, 24, I've been doing this stuff for over 40 years. Yes, I am that old. And it whereas 2024 was the most important election in my lifetime. 2026 is again because we can't reward the Democrats for their failures and their extremism. And if you don't think they're extreme and if you don't think they're failures, point out one well run Democratic state in the country.

[Tudor Dixon]

I know, I mean, Michigan, the auto industry has been decimated, but also now they're trying to recover. And it's interesting, I was talking to my mom about this the other day and she was looking at what car to buy next. And they still have these electric vehicles. They're all now leaning toward gas vehicles. So bizarre. To me, there's nothing clear that the Obama administration or the Biden administration was a disaster because they went in and they said, you can no longer produce this. Capitalism is dead. You can no longer produce this. You have to produce this. No one purchased it. There were billions of dollars lost in this industry. And they acted, the auto industry acted like, yes, we're totally on board with electric vehicles. The minute they had the out, they took it.

[Jim McLaughlin]

You're right, because it was bad for business. And I think back, and look, Republicans weren't perfect on this stuff for a long time. Look, John McCain was an American hero. But one of the things that John McCain said, I thought that was really out of touch. Remember when he was given that speech back in the day where he said, you know, these manufacturing jobs are never coming back to Michigan. Donald Trump totally changed the dynamic on Donald Trump said, no, we're going to start making stuff, especially in places like Michigan again, because he knows that's what's going to bring the economy back. And the main reason why do they send stuff overseas, they send it because it's too expensive to do business here. So what Donald Trump is doing, whether it's energy independence, whether it's deregulation, whether it's lowering taxes and giving businesses manufacturing tax cuts, and he's using the tariffs to negotiate, basically saying, you know what, if you don't make it here, it's not going to be in your best interest to hear it. What better way is there for to help the middle class, help the union workers, those you know, and help the working, the folks that are working. So these are the kind of policies that in places like Michigan, the other battleground states where Donald Trump. Trump has resonated. But just as you said, we got to keep getting that message out there how our policies are better than theirs.

[Tudor Dixon]

So you make a good point about John McCain. Because I think that sometimes Politicians don't understand that their words hold so much power. Just as the Biden administration forced manufacturers into electric vehicles, making that comment, I'm a manufacturer. You know, our company closed down in 2013 after comments like that were made. And what happened, I can tell you, we had so much pressure from the state of Michigan here. But at the same time as having all this over regulation, because the United States, blue states, highly manufacturing states, they have become so over regulated, they have tried to crush manufacturing. But then you have comments like that. And one after one, it gave our biggest customers the idea that no longer do we have to do a certain America Buy. It used to be like, okay, you've got to be 90% America buy. And now it's not. You know, so then they started taking their products to China. They would buy captive foundries in China. Well, you're only going to do work for Caterpillar. You're only going to do work for Peterbilt. You know, these, this would, and this was like, hey, this is the future. That should never have been the future, but that was a future told by Republicans in many cases.

[Jim McLaughlin]

You're exactly right. We were the leaders on that. You think about it, you know, back in the day, we were free, free, free, free trade. But you know what, the voters figured it out way before the politicians did. And they said, no, we're all for trade. Donald, Donald Trump is once trade. He's an international businessman. Nobody understands how global, how international the economy has come than Donald Trump. But what Donald Trump also understands is that we have to compete in that economy. And what he's doing is he's making sure the playing field is more fair and it's more balanced again. And what he doesn't get credit for is how he's not only using tariffs, how he's using, you know, economic sanctions and whatnot, he's using it not just to benefit our economy, not just to benefit American businesses and more importantly, American workers, but he's doing it to keep the world, world safer. I mean, one of the reasons why today that Vladimir Putin has been forced to come to the table is because Donald Trump put additional economic sanctions on him. That quite frankly, if Joe Biden really cared about, he would have put those sanctions on Vladimir Putin. So it's, I mean, it's really pretty amazing what Donald Trump has been able to do in terms of peace and prosperity by using economic policies to get people to the table.

[Tudor Dixon]

Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon podcast.

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[Tudor Dixon]

You made the point earlier that AOC has taken the the Democrat Party in a different direction, but you also mentioned that the Obama Biden administration was very much in favor of strong border Democrats had always been in favor of strong Borders. There was this movement. I think it came from the progressive left of it's loving, it's caring to have these open borders. But where did the depths of that argument come from? Because it is very dangerous to have open borders. I mean, there's no question. It's not even debatable. It's extremely dangerous. There should be if you want people to come in. It's not no immigration. It's no illegal immigration. How did we get to the point where we have to fight this issue? But Obama was for strong borders.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Everybody was, and everybody is, except for the Democratic politicians in power. And the reason why it got. I remember the first time somebody told me that the George Soros crowd once opened borders. I remember thinking, this is ridiculous. Somebody told me this like 15, 20 years ago, whenever the heck it was. And I thought, you know, that was kind of crazy. And it was a union political director that told me this, and he was a sane Clinton liberal. But the reason they're doing it is for power. The whole idea was they look at it. They remember Ronald Reagan came from California. California was the state that gave us Ronald Reagan, gave us Richard Nixon. They used to like Republicans. They used to vote for Republicans. I worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was the governor of California. They look at it and said, okay, we opened the borders. We turned California into a overwhelmingly Democratic blue state. Now they want to do that to the rest of the country, especially in a place like Texas. And with the Democrats, it's all about power. And these open border policies were just, quite frankly, insane. Remember, it was about. It was last summer, they were telling us that, you know what we need? Comprehensive immigration reform. That's why Joe Biden can't fix the border. And remember, they were telling us with a straight face that the border was secure. Donald Trump, within days of getting in office, he basically solved the immigration problem or he secured the border. There's still a lot of bad hombres, as they say, got in here. So we've still got a lot of work to do when it comes to the border. But it's an economic issue and it's obviously a safety issue. But the Democrats did what they did. It was just pure power. And they used to tell you if you said that as a Republican or you said that as a conservative, that you were a racist. No, we're all for legal, legal immigration. We're all the sons and daughters of immigrants. But they did it legally. And we have to have a process where you do it legally.

[Tudor Dixon]

But that has been, I mean, the racism argument is powerful, and I think it's incredibly powerful in the minds of young people. And I have so many people from my generation who say, gosh, we really felt like we were coming together as a nation when we were young. Like, we never saw that. And I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, so maybe I just grew up in an area where you didn't really think about people's race. We had. Our high school was very diverse, and. And maybe it's different in smaller areas. I don't know. But now it seems like there is this radical push to, like, are you. Do you fit into this category? Do you fit into this category? And it feels to me like it's coming from the left. I mean, I know that there are far right groups, but there are. It seems to be still that group in the middle on both sides. And I mean, middle to center right. Middle to center left, where people are going, we don't want to be this way.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yeah. And look, that's where the majority of Americans are. But the Democrats, and especially this radical left, they're using race, they're using gender, they're using, you know, LGBTQ issues. They're using that to try to get in power and stay in power. I mean, quite honestly, in many cases, what the left does is they use or there is no more diverse country in America than us, and we've got to push back on it. And that's one of the great things about Donald Trump is nobody has done more to push back on it than him. And look, I was saying this before the election because I was seeing surveys every single day. You know, we were obviously doing President Trump's polling in the battleground states, along with our partner Tony Fabrizio, on that stuff. And I told people, I said, look, I said, if we win these elections, it's because of black people and brown people. And that's what happened. If Donald Trump and the Republicans did not get a record percentage of Hispanic votes and a record percentage of black voters, we would not have won these elections. And I give. Especially Hispanics. I can't tell you how many times in focus groups, Hispanic voters would tell us things like, you know, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, they sound like the Marxist dictatorships they left. They would literally tell you that they sounded like the Castros, they sounded like Maduro, they sounded like Chavez, Ortega, etc. And they would. Then they would follow up and say they use race, they use class warfare to stay in power. These folks just come to this country and want to work their head off. And one of the lines we'd hear all the time, they came here for the American dream and we have to continue to fight for that journey.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, and you know, you just reminded me when I was campaigning and we were campaigning through the Detroit area, there were all, many of the big construction, road construction companies are in Detroit. Right. So and obviously the whole campaign of Whitmer was going to fix the roads. And when we started talking to people over in Detroit, they said she came into the black community, went to black owned construction companies and said we are going to increase the number of contracts that go to black owned construction companies. So when we fix the roads, it's going to go to black owned businesses and African American owned businesses. And they didn't get any.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yeah.

[Tudor Dixon]

And here we are in her second term and the number of minority owned businesses, minority owned road construction businesses, the percentage that has business right now from the state is the same as it was before she took office. And yet they voted because they believed that their communities would be, would rise up because they would have more income from the state. It's a lie.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yeah. Oh, no question about it. And we would hear that, especially when it came to the issue of immigration. We hear it from black voters where they'd say, what about us? You know, why are they taking resources away from our communities? Whether it was education, whether it was health care or law enforcement. And they're giving it to folks that have come into the country illegally and broken our laws. I'll tell you, especially black men. Black men saw that, they felt like they were being left behind. That's why when you saw like a Donald Trump go into the barbershop and talk to those folks. And by the way, that's the difference between a Donald Trump and a Tudor Dixon and Gretchen Whitmer. Donald Trump and Tudor Dixon can go into that barbershop in a black neighborhood and talk to those folks and connect and relate to those folks. The Gretchen Whitmers of the world, they can't do that. And they make a ton of promises. And whenever the government, I can't help but think of, of Mamdani in New York City, you know, I'm going to give you free groceries, free bus rides, and I'm going to get rid of your police and all this other kind of nonsense. Whenever the government tells you they're going to give you something free, that's when things start to get really expensive. And just look at the example. What are the three most important, the three most expensive things in your life? Housing, health, Care, college education. What is the government heavily into? What do they heavily subsidize? Housing, health care and your college education. And that's why prices have gone through the roof.

[Tudor Dixon]

But you know, there's also a different level of caring about. I think that people have caught on that the Democrats have said, oh, we're going to take care of this community and that community. And then they get into power and they turn their back. And I think there's nothing clearer than last summer. We had this terrible shooting in a white neighborhood at a splash pad and all of these kids and grandparents were shot. And that same week we had the worst mass shooting we have ever seen in the city of Detroit. Almost all of the victims were teenage and 20 year old women. Gretchen Whitmer went on this tour of talking about the white neighborhood, how terrible it was. Every Democrat politician came out, did press conferences, were devastated. Never once did they mention the largest mass shooting in the history of Detroit that hurt and killed mostly women. Never once was it mentioned. How can that be?

[Jim McLaughlin]

It's a sin. And we all know what happens on the weekends in cities like Detroit, cities like Chicago. Meanwhile, what's the Democratic policy? They want to take, you know, guns away from law abiding citizens. That's what they want to do. But instead, then they go after what are effective policing tactics like stop, question and frisk. You think about it like Mike Bloomberg, that was the guy I was really scared of in 2020 because he had a successful record in New York, had a lot of money, been a businessman, et cetera. He wasn't crazy left wing enough because he was tough on crime when he was the mayor of New York City. And it is a tragedy. And I look at what Donald Trump is doing right now in D.C. and I think when they have success there, because we know how to do this, we know how to do this when we put more cops on the street, put more law enforcement there. And even when you have kind of a bad system where the DA's and the judges aren't prosecuting the way they can look, there's nothing worse that somebody than a criminal wants to see than more law enforcement. And you look at the arrests that are happening right now, it's a sin. What is happening in our urban areas. And I can tell you specifically I had these conversations with Donald Trump back in 2011, 2012, when he was possibly thinking about taking on Barack Obama for president back then was that was one of the reasons Donald Trump understands that one of the most important thing that our political leaders need to do is to keep people safe. He gets that. And there's no reason why they don't keep people safe.

[Tudor Dixon]

So let me go to the governor's race in Michigan, now that you brought that up, because we have the mayor of Detroit who is running for governor in the state of Michigan. The city of Detroit competes every year in the top three for most violent city of America. It's like Memphis, St. Louis. Detroit is always in a competition of what's gonna be the most violent city in the country. He is running on the fact that he has fixed Detroit. We are still considered one of the most violent cities in the country. But he's getting a lot of Republican support. That's the crazy thing to me. He campaigned for Kamala. He was out there as a delegate for her. He's getting a bunch of Republican money. You talked earlier about the fact that they tried to keep Donald Trump off the ballot. Jocelyn Benson, who is the secretary of state in the state of Michigan, was the one leading the charge. And she went out and said that on national tv. She said, hey, we're collaborate or we're coordinating with. With seven other secretaries of state. We're trying to make sure we win this election. So she essentially admitted, I'm leading the charge to try to make sure we can't get the. Let these people on the ballot. She did this in the state of Michigan, not, not with Donald Trump. But she effectively said Cornel west could not be on the ballot. And when Bobby Kennedy, or when, yeah, Bobby Kennedy Jr. Came out and said he didn't want to be on the ballot, she said, no, you have to be on the. On the ballot. You're going to stay on the ballot. Because she thought Cornell west would take votes from Kamala, thought that RFK would take notes from Donald Trump. So she manipulated the ballot to her advantage. What is to say that in 2026, she won't allow Mike Duggan, the mayor of Detroit, to take Republican money all through the primary and then get to the general and say he can't be on the ballot.

[Jim McLaughlin]

The Democrats will, because they don't. It's always about winning when it comes to with the Democrats. And you're exactly right. In the presidential race, we saw that, you know, we saw the Cornel west, what few votes he was getting, they were going to hurt Kamala Harris. And the few votes that, you know, RFK Jr. Was getting, they were more likely to hurt Donald Trump. That's why the Democrats play for keeps. But again, I think it's a lot of times The Democrats insult the intelligence of the voters. And I think if you can make your case to the voters, show a real contrast, maybe we can get you to run for governor again. And you have some real differences there. Make it about the issues. You know, I was talking to some folks that are trying to help, you know, Curtis Levo in New York. And Curtis is a friend of mine. And I, you know, they're asking me, what can he do to get more support. I said, he's gotta give people a reason to vote for them, just like Donald Trump did. Donald Trump always had issues. In the last campaign, it was about, you know, bringing down inflation, it was about fixing the border, and he was going to end the endless wars. And you need issues. But the good news is for the Republicans in Michigan, they have issues. Things have gotten too expensive there.

[Tudor Dixon]

Unemployment.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yep. And unemployment is above the national average there. Wages are still having trouble because, again, people got buried during those Biden and Harris years. We need to bring those wages up and increase salaries and get it above the cost of living. So I think if you make that campaign basically off issues, show some real contrast there. I think the Republicans, not just in Michigan, but across the country, I think Republicans can overperform in these midterm elections. And again, a lot of it isn't because, not just because of the successes of President Trump and the Republicans, but because of the failures and extremism of the Democrats.

[Tudor Dixon]

Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast.

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[Tudor Dixon]

For people who think you can lay back and kind of just see how things are going, you have to be actively out there with a message. And that is where the Democrats have not been. So I just, I just want to quickly go over some numbers on the whole national mood right now. You have that people, right direction versus wrong track are 42% to 50%. What does that mean? Is that, should we be nervous about that?

[Jim McLaughlin]

And look, we've got to get that number up. And I'll give you, look, think about it. It was 70% wrong track on Election Day for Joe Biden. 70%, 70%. And the media. I remember when the first exit polls came in on election day, the media was like, 70% are saying things are off on the wrong track. Things are going great here in D.C. and Manhattan. And it was just talk about being in a bubble that's. And we saw those numbers constantly in the battleground states, especially in places like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. But they're significantly better. But we need to get them better. We need to get them up over 50% for those midterm elections. That's why it was so important that the Republicans pass the beautiful bill when they did, because it's gonna give us time to make the economy better. And people don't realize how much good stuff was in that beautiful bill.

[Tudor Dixon]

No, not at all.

[Jim McLaughlin]

It wasn't just tax relief. It wasn't just deregulation. There was energy independence in there. So it's gonna bring down of utilities, energy, gas, et cetera, more, you know, more resources for our Border patrol agents, more resources for immigration, etc. So they're going to see all this good stuff happen. And again, it takes time for this to seep in and for the country to get better. I'm kind of amazed by the successes in such a short period of time that President Trump has been able to have. But we need to get that number up, because back in 2002, when the Republicans defied history and they actually picked up seats during the midterm, the first midterm of George W. Bush, there was a sense the country was moving in the right direction. After 9 11, the economy was doing well. George W. Bush and the Republicans were keeping us safe. The right direction number was up over 50%. So it's really important. And what's happened is a Republicans overwhelmingly think the country's moving in the right direction. Dependents are getting there. They were, by the way, about 70% plus when Joe Biden was president, off on the wrong track. So we need to keep monitoring that number and we need to get that number up. And I think it's going to happen as Donald Trump continues to get successes at the national level.

[Tudor Dixon]

But right now you have the general congressional ballot at 47% Republican and 42% Democrat. So that seems like it's good.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Yep. And that's way ahead of where we've been in past elections. And a lot of there's been times where the Republicans have actually been losing on the national generic ballot because, look, it's a little bit skewed in a national poll to places like, you know, California and New York, which, you know, it's. The battlegrounds are going to be fought out. I guess the nrcc, which is the campaign arm of the Congressional Republicans, I think they've identified about about 46 battleground type seats in this election. And you know, some of those districts, as you know, in Michigan, like a John James district, they could be very different than what the national electorate is at large. But that is a really good sign for Republicans, the fact that they're plus, we're plus five in the generic, and the numbers are relatively close. As long as it stays like that. And if we can get a little bit better, that's, that's, that Spells you know that that means good things are coming in the midterm elections. And by the way, there's some polls out there. I saw, I think it was Pew the other day. They had Donald Trump with like a 39% approval rating. It wasn't likely voters, it was a survey of adults. They under sampled Republicans. Don't, don't get crazy. Don't pay attention to the, to the bad media polls. I remember there were a bunch of polls that came out in Michigan right before the election that said Kamala Harris was going to win. We had, and we even released some numbers a couple weeks before the election. We had Donald Trump basically after Labor Day with a small but durable lead in all of the battleground states. Hmm.

[Tudor Dixon]

And well, that's what I mean, there was a point when they said that Michigan was going to her and we were watching. It was interesting because Alyssa Slatkin was like, no, you know, I think it's really bad for Kamala Harris. And I think everybody went, how could she come out and say that? You know, she just openly said it. And she had these commercials with Trump and that was sort of on the ground here in Michigan. We were like, it must be really good for him because if she's doing this in Michigan, that's a good sign. So before I let you go House and Senate, what are you thinking?

[Jim McLaughlin]

Look, I think we should hold onto the Senate. We've got some great candidates. You know, the Democrats are going crazy cuz they got a guy like Sherrod Brown in Ohio. And I'm like, he just lost. You know, he lost not that long ago and that's who. And he is very, very liberal. He's very out of touch where Ohio is right now. So I think we're going to be okay in the Senate races. And look, the congressional races are going to be a dog fight like we've talked about. You know, history says the party in power loses an average of at least 25 seats during the midterms. But I think think the contrast of Donald Trump and the Republican successes versus the Democrats extremism and failures, I think we got a legitimate shot. I also think, you know, under Speaker Johnson, the leadership of Chairman Hudson at the nrcc. And I also think what you're seeing is, you know, Susie Wilds, Chris Lacivita, the Republicans in Donald Trump's sphere, they understand the importance of keeping a Republican majority, which unfortunately there were folks involved with President Trump's presidency the first time that didn't understand how important it was for us to keep the House in the Senate. So I feel as good as you could this time of the year about us holding on.

[Tudor Dixon]

Good. Well, that hopefully there's a lot of energy in those Trump voters that we talked about that didn't come out in 2018. That's the goal for anybody listening. That's the goal. Push those people back out. They gotta come out in 2026 and they've gotta vote because they're gonna vote the right way and then we're gonna retain. Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you, Jim McLaughlin. Tell people where they can find all of your information and follow you guys.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Oh, they can just go to our website, jimmclaughlanonline.com and I'm on Twitter and Facebook and all that other. It's under Jim's polls on Twitter, so anytime. And the pleasure actually has been all mine. This has been great. And congratulations on all your success with the podcast Tutor.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, thank you. It's been so much fun and I have to thank Clay and Buck for giving me this opportunity. Honestly, like, the network is great. The group that we work with is fantastic. We've been able to get so much information out. We just, on Friday we had an interview with a woman from the fda and the information we got out, so cool. So cool what we're able to do with this platform and being able to talk to people who are really working hard in the administration and folks like you who are helping the president. So thank you for what you do.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Thank you.

[Tudor Dixon]

And thank you all for listening to the Tutor Dixon podcast. You can subscribe at the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Or you can watch the whole video on Rumble or YouTube @Tutor Dixon and join us the next time. Have a blessed day.

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If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Listening. Seriously, try it.

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