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This is it, folks — the last Ricochet Podcast prior to the 2020 election. What a long strange trip it’s been (no, that is not the closing song, but we thought about it). To wrap this election season up, we give you another in a series of spirited debates between The Founders® –that’s Peter Robinson and Rob Long for you newbies– in which James Lileks once again tries to be moderator/peacemaker. We’ll let you tell us who persuaded you and who didn’t. Then we call upon two of our most reliable prognosticators to help us sort through the end of this cycle. First up, Byron York (listen to his podcast, The Byron York Show, right here on this very audio network) live from what looks to be the fulcrum of this Presidential election — the political hot zone known as Pennsylvania. Lots of anecdotes, stats, and informed hunches related in this segment. Then, Luke Thompson aka the Smartest Political Consultant We Know joins to parse the polls, preview the key House and the Senate races and generally impart electoral wisdom. We’ve got a new Lileks Post of The Week courtesy of Ricochet Member Preston Storm (and a rare cameo appearance from a low level Ricochet employee who can’t seem to push a button when required). Finally (and we do mean finally), we wrap things up with some predictions from our hosts. Leave yours in the comments. And don’t forget to vote!
Music from this week’s show: Que Sera Sera by Sly and The Family Stone
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I would love to see him discuss this with David Stockman. The GOP really needs to figure out why they are getting populism shoved down their throats. Stockman can explain most of it.
And other “Republicans” from Manhattan.
Luke Thompson’s vocal fry is hard to take after awhile.
But Byron York’s dulcet tones make up for it.
Should have had them on in reverse order. :-)
Vocal fry is clearly an affectation, but what impression is it supposed to convey? To me it conveys that the speaker is a shallow, pretentions twit.
My impression is that vocal fryers are trying to go for a combination of authoritative and slightly intimate (along the lines of, “hey, get a load of this…”).
What it actually comes across as is “I speak in an unnecessarily peculiar and grating way.”
Okay, I laughed.
I am glad that you three and your two guests are very sanguine about the possibility of a blue wave. You ask “can the GOP survive?”. I ask can the country survive? I’m glad because after listening to you, I think maybe I am wrong. We can have a blue wave and it will just be business as usual. My freedom to express my opinions on social and political matters will not be abridged. If I like my doctor, I can keep my doctor. Electricity will still be reliable. I have no need to fear the destruction of the suburbs. Minneapolis, New York City, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, and All of California will be just fine. My Pastor will not be hauled off to prison because my church refuses to perform gay marriage ceremonies. BLM and other liberals will be reasonable and understand that sometimes cops have to shoot people and it isn’t just because they are black. We will be able to have a reasonable discussion about bad cops and work to rid our police forces of them while knowing that most people who are cops are good and doing a very dangerous job. Oh, and we will not submit to the CCP. The world will not be dark. Seriously, I’ve got 15 – 25 years tops left on this good earth, but I fear for the children of my friends.
All that said, I plan to enjoy a very good bottle of cabernet Tuesday night.
You nailed it. Rush of all people explained it last year. To RINOs a Demo-rat in office is no big deal. They serve a while; we serve our turn. We don’t rock the boat and government still grows, just a little slower. We keep our perks and bark a lot, but we never bite. Pure stupidity. It’s possible that Harris/Pelosi/Schumer won’t be able to do what they clearly say they will do. I acknowledge that as a vanishingly unlikely theoretical contingency. Still, I don’t think we should take the chance.
I’ll be sipping some “Old Vines” Zinfandel on election night.
On “Mad Dogs & Englishmen”, Charlie Cooke made the point that parties need to lose three consecutive elections before they really accept having change their focus. For example Dukakis was the end of losing Reagan/Reagan/Bush. So If Trump loses, especially with 95% approval among Republicans I don’t see a lot of change coming. Also given that Trump is a rather unique person I would bet the main difference will just be in the personality of the next guy. There’s not really a whole lot in the policy area to really hate.
To be clear, you are – I assume – referring to the next GOP candidate/nominee after Trump. You are not saying that you don’t see a lot of change coming from Biden/Harris in terms of the policies THEY want to pursue.
Yes, I’m speaking specifically of what the GOP does next. I never really saw Trump having a coherent vision so much as a hodgepodge of policies I with which I generally agree. Biden/Harris I expect to see Obama redux, but more aggressive. Biden will man his desk while radical functionaries drive policy.
Uhm …?
It’s a special member level for the people who want to miss out on all the good stuff and only be able to comment on podcasts. 😉
I’m not.
The vision I want to see is, “support and defend the constitution of the United States.” We aren’t the tinker toy of every tin pot out there.
Luke apparently is unaware that if Biden wins and the democrats get 50 Senators, they plan on ending the filibuster and turning America into a one party leftist state like they did in California. Republicans will have no chance of coming back in 2022.
They have to do this. I predict they will do anything to eventually force single-payer even if they don’t do it in name right away.
This makes several times that you have referred to Rob as “Roberta.” Is it your belief that women are a lower form of humanity than men, therefore it’s an effective insult to call a man a woman? Perhaps you can critique the content of what people say without insulting them personally.
I was wondering who this Roberta is. I agree with you. Personal insults like that are uncalled for and warrant an apology to our host.
Did you see this?
57000 Poeple attend a Trump Rally in Lancaster PA!
For years we’ve heard weekly from one of the more obnoxious NeverTrumpers that Trump is losing the “suburban college-educated women”. I took it to mean that Rob is beginning to sound like one of them.
Perhaps we need to have a seminar: How to enjoy podcasts. There are tons of podcasts on Ricochet. Some I like, some I love, some I don’t like at all. Anyone care to guess what I do with the podcasts I have not found to my liking? I ignore those and move on. There is a certain member who will leave a disparaging comment on almost every episode of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg. I don’t understand why someone would continue to listen to a series they hate so that they can trash it in the comments. Do people do this with other forms of entertainment? Maybe I should go to a rap concert and heckle the performer for not doing any Merle Haggard songs. Maybe I should go to a pizza parlor and insult the waitress because they don’t have sushi on the menu.
Like or dislike is not the way I react to podcasts. To me the question is: Did I learn enough to have me believe listening was worth my time? BTW, I don’t listen to most podcasts some maybe I miss those that are just meant to provide entertainment.
Pleased to report that, in the current Claremont Review of Books, William Voegeli dissects Joe Biden and cites James Lileks for the line that Biden benefits from the “soft bigotry of Joe expectations.” Ha! Maybe not as good as “non-contiguous streams of information,” but easier on the ear.
I love the variety and pick those that most interest me.
Hate-listening (and hate-watching TV shows and movies, etc.) is actually a thing. I don’t understand it, myself. There are only so many leisure hours in the day.
For some reason Jonah seems to be a popular hate-listen. I don’t get why people take his political vision quest so personally.
I only do it on Twitter, but I am addicted to figuring out if some Never Trump makes any sense.
Jonah is really a nice and funny guy. He is just terribly misguided on this. I don’t want to attack him. I am content to just roll my eyes and shake my head.
I sent the links to lileks.com and one of the sub-links to an old friend who replied that it had kept him “in stitches” for the last half-hour. He sent it on to some friends who retired and moved to Milwaukee. You’re welcome, James.