Happy days are here again?
In this bonus episode recorded just over 50 days before the election, John and Jim attempt to foresee the future. Jim triples down on his prediction of a Democratic sweep that will usher in single party control of the Presidency, the Senate and the House. After reviewing the current polling information on the election, they look ahead to what an ambitious New Deal-type agenda for the Democrats might look like if they have control of both the Congress and the Presidency.
Jim puts forth the thesis that the Democrats must act boldly if they are in control of both the Congress and the Presidency even if their margins are slim. That is why he identifies eliminating or modifying the Senate filibuster rule as the key to the possibility of enacting a robust set of legislation. John and Jim discuss the need for urgent action on a broad array of issues: the pandemic, economic recovery, infrastructure, election reform, political corruption, climate change, immigration reform, health care expansion, admission of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to statehood. John and Jim also discuss what a more narrow set of accomplishments might be achievable in the event of a Biden Presidency and a Republican Senate. John raises the question of how people currently receive their political information in a skewed fashion and Jim notes that while the media have changed the phenomena of partisan sources of information is not new. They also discuss the most recent events of the campaign that have hampered Trump’s attempts to regain lost ground, with particular focus on the foolishness of Trump allowing himself to be taped in conversation with Bob Woodward.
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If you want more information about the state of election you might try looking at the Cook Political Report or the Sabato Crystal Ball. Both are venerable sources of non-partisan political information on the state of races for the House, the Senate, the Governorships, and the Presidency. Real Clear Politics provides daily poll information for those who want to consume the numbers every day, but the best source for that type of information (and our favorite overall source) remains Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.
