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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Bloomberg This Weekend podcast with David Gura, Christina Ruffini, and Lisa Mateo. Thanks for joining us for today's selection of conversations from the show.
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Speaker 6: Lifestyle, and culture.
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Speaker 3: We're two days away from the midterm elections that could result in the change in congressional power.
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Speaker 7: More than a dozen states up for grabs.
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Speaker 3: Historically, a president's party does usually lose ground in a midterm election. Current polls by The New York Times hinting to that being the case this time around as well.
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Speaker 8: Yeah.
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Speaker 6: Joining us now is Tim O'Brien.
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Speaker 5: He is senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion and Ashley Koning. the director of Rutgers University's Eagleton Center for.
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Speaker 6: Public Interest Polling. Thank you both for being here.
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Speaker 5: Ashley, I'm going to start right with you because you are our polling expert.
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Speaker 6: I'll go right there.
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Speaker 5: Regarding Tuesday's election, what are we seeing so far as far as which candidate would likely go for the House, for the Senate?
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Speaker 6: What are you seeing so far?
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Speaker 9: We see in prediction models that now we're almost 90-plus percent for the House. We're at around 70 percent for the Senate. There could be a pickup of double-digit seats for both of these. And so we're seeing this blue wave really come to fruition in pre-election polling. And some of the latest polling is just further pointing to that, along with on the generic ballot, looking at double digits, Democrats plus 10.
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Speaker 3: Tim, you've been at this for a long time, looking at these polls, and I'm curious what stands out to you this time around Charlie Cook talking about the red undertow versus the blue wave. How are you thinking about what the polls are saying and just the overall efficacy of this kind of advanced polling?
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Speaker 10: Well, I think also, you know, Charlie Cook in that post said he's covered 11 midterms.
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Speaker 11: Yeah.
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Speaker 10: And he's never seen one like this. And I think it's accurate because midterms historically have an advantage for the— opposing party. But this is way beyond what historical norms convey, and I think it's a measure of the unpopularity of President Trump, the fact that Americans are struggling with the basics, you know, food and gas and utility prices. They don't feel like they're seeing solutions. I think Republicans themselves aren't enamored with Trump and with MAGA-ism in the way they were. And I think that's gonna be, I mean, where Republican voters come out in some of these deep red states. You know, a year ago we were talking about John Ossoff would be in a competitive race in Georgia. And now he looks like he's coasting to a victory Roy Cooper in North Carolina of the New Hampshire race is another one. But then you look at Kansas and Iowa, Mississippi, I'm skeptical that Democrats can win there, but there is definitely forces in play that suggest they could. And that's, in practical ways, you're seeing that in the amount of money that's being spent in those states, not this late in the midterm. Donald Trump is campaigning in places like Mississippi, Iowa, and Kansas. So it's pretty extraordinary.
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Speaker 5: Now, Tim mentioned Iowa and Kansas. So, Ashley, I want to ask you, as far as polls, what are people, what are the top issues?
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Speaker 6: I'm thinking Iowa, Kansas.
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Speaker 5: It's got to be diesel prices, of course, because it's a farming country. But what are some of the top issues?
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Speaker 9: I mean, really, it's affordability, affordability, affordability. This whole election, and we've seen this now for the past couple of years in special elections and gubernatorials and off-year elections.
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Speaker 1: It's about cost of living. It's about the economy.
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Speaker 9: It's about people being unable to afford their daily lives. And this is a top issue, especially among those who are siding with Democrats. And for over a decade now, or for the first time in over a decade, Democrats are actually seen as more favorable on helping the economy than Republicans. And that is a complete flip from what we've seen in the past in polling.
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Speaker 3: I was listening to noted Brooklyn philosopher Ezra Klein talking about polling. And he was getting into the issue of polling in Maine in particular, and I want to ask you about that. Susan Collins has outperformed polls in many cycles. Why is that the case, and how much confidence should we have in the numbers that we're seeing going into that race?
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Speaker 9: She has, and I think we're looking at that as somewhat of a toss-up. We just saw some New York Times-Siena results that had come out, and I think she's up by about three or four right now. But she has outperformed her polls. And of course, let's also not ignore the incumbency factor and what name recognition and incumbency does for a candidate, as well as, you know, she has obviously been there for decades upon decades at this point. And we know these polls will tighten and close as we go to Election Day, especially those undecideds taking sides. So given all of those strengths she has, this could be something she could potentially still pull out. But still, obviously, one of the close races we're watching.
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Speaker 5: Tim, we've heard the president talk a lot about saying, you know, pretend I'm on the ballot, you know, vote like I'm on the ballot. But everything we've been talking about, affordability, the war in Iran, is that the right approach that he's taking by saying that?
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Speaker 10: Certainly within the Republican Party itself, there's a number of people who don't think it's the right approach. You look in Kansas, you have candidates running away from him. I think he's saying, I'm on the ballot because that worked for him in general elections, and that there is truth in that, that he has his own magnetism and charisma as a candidate and with this base of voters who are fiercely loyal to him on the far right of the Republican Party. But in these state elections where everything that is coming home to roost, he's the author of the problem. The two primary causes of inflation right now in the United States are Trump's tariffs and Trump's war on Iran. And we often say presidents should be held responsible for economic dynamics. They're complex. The business community plays a role. The economy itself is its own machine. But this is a unique moment in that you can really tag the inflationary pressures that are troubling so many Americans to Trump himself. So every time he walks into a race, you have basically the human avatar for inflation coming into your voting district. And those candidates don't want their voters to be reminded that their party's responsible for this.
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Speaker 3: Let me talk a bit with you actually just about the MAGA base that we've been discussing here. And there was a fascinating poll by Politico in recent days here looking at sort of how President Trump's base would react were there to be a massive loss on the Republican side. Majority of MAGA Trump voters, 54%, said that if Republicans lose both the House and the Senate next week, it would show that the party needs to move closer to Trump and his agenda. What does something like that say about the hold that he has, despite what might be a very devastating policy setback for him going forward?
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Speaker 9: Yeah, that's a very interesting finding. And I think, you know, first and foremost, it's who makes up the MAGA base and what percentage are they especially turning out. We just talked about turnout in midterms being different, obviously, from presidential years. And the polls have been pretty on the money when we're talking about these midterm cycles under the Trump era. We know that the issue in polling has really stemmed from Trump being at the top of the ballot. So, you know, again, we pretty much were there in 2018 and then looking at 2022. So, you know, I think that's a really interesting indication of just how much they will support him. But there is a ceiling there, obviously, where if they're not turning out in the midterms or if there's not enough of them and they're not in these key swing groups like Latinos or like suburban voters or non-college educated, that only does so much for the president in garnering him favorability and for the party as well.
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Speaker 5: Tim, I'm curious, if the Democrats do take over, what does it mean for the Republican Party looking ahead to the future?
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Speaker 6: Like, do they continue to hold.
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Speaker 5: President Trump as kind of this, you know, buying figure over the party, or.
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Speaker 6: Do they kind of sit back a little bit more?
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Speaker 10: Well, I mean, I think both parties are going to have challenges. You know, the Democrats can campaign now about the problems of affordability. If they get power, especially if they get, you know, a meaningful, if they get 235 or 240 seats in the House, they then have to show they can address these problems. And that'll be especially important going into the 2028 campaign, the presidential campaign. I, you know, it is gonna be fascinating to watch what happens with Republicans because in a normal world, they would just, the ax would come down and the rope would get cut. And Trump would be a profoundly lame, lame duck. However, he is such a force of nature. I imagine that he will probably go into areas where he can still act unilaterally, primarily overseas. So he's going to present a real problem for the Republicans in Congress about whether or not they choose to restrain him. and then risk losing his endorsement mojo going into the general election. So I do think there's going to be a distancing. I just don't know how overt and dramatic it'll be.
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Speaker 3: You know, it does strike me that right now we're dealing with a Republican party that made a bet on demographics being calcified. I think that the Latino vote exemplifies that, where they kind of bet that what we saw in the last cycle was going to play out here. That seemed not to be the case. It seems to be true of the young vote as well. They were able to draw a lot of young male voters in particular over during the last cycle. What does that say to you just about their awareness of or sense of their electorate?
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Speaker 10: I mean, I think both parties, David, can lose track of the fact that it is, in my mind, always bread and butter issues that drive most voters to the polls. They want the world to be a better place for their kids. They want to be able to put food on the table. They want good job prospects. When you look at what's happened in the Rio Grande Valley, for example, as one barometer of the Latino vote, I think they voted for Trump despite his overt hostility to people of color, to immigrants, to all of these traditions of attempting to have civility around that conversation, because they thought he'd be better for the economy.
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Speaker 5: And.
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Speaker 10: you could argue that Joe Biden lost the 2024 race in 2022 when inflation started escalating. And it is passing strange that Trump did not learn that lesson himself because he campaigned against Biden on it. And I think to win voters over, you have to meet their needs. And I think this has been going on for a long time, going back to the mid-1980s, particularly for the American middle class and working class voters of color.
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Speaker 5: Ashley, how's the president's approval rating been going? I mean, you're watching different polls. How does it vary from poll to poll?
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Speaker 9: We see about 4 in 10 right now in terms of approval on average. CNN and New York Times came out with, I believe, 36 percent, which is the lowest of either one of his terms. A couple weeks ago, he was at a low point for a second. Now we're looking at the lowest of both terms here. So, you know, plummeting approval ratings when it comes to the economy, when it comes to cost of living, all of these issues that are at the top, and especially among swing voters— we see that his approval ratings are even worse, and that we see that his approval ratings on those particular issues are further down than they are overall as well.
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Speaker 3: Tim, you mentioned the potential problems within the Democratic Party. Let's turn our attention to Michigan and what we've seen over these last few days there, where Abdullah Syed's in this very close race with former Congressman Mike Rogers and Haley Stevens, who ran against Mr.
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Speaker 7: Al-Syed in the primary.
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Speaker 3: It's really stirred up a lot of new tension that you might have expected during the primary season, but now we're seeing once again. What does that say to you about this divide to lean on the old song about the kind of centrist partisan divide within the party. Is it telling you anything about that more broadly, or is it kind of unique to Michigan's situation?
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Speaker 11: Well, I mean, in Michigan, I.
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Speaker 10: Think the divide over Israel was present in the primary. That clearly seemed to have been put to bed up until about this past week, and now that's been one of the flashpoints that has separated El-Sayed and Haley Stevens. Here's what it says to me. I think the Republicans are radically good at staying on message even if it occasionally forces them not to advocate for things they believe in because they want to acquire power. They get in line and they do what they have to do to acquire power. I think by design and to its credit, the Democratic Party is a bigger tent. It has a lot of different waves of needs around policy and values. When push comes to shove, if they want to acquire power, they have to stay on message, and they have to avoid these kinds of internal divisions two days before a midterm. It boggles the imagination. They can't even jointly go to a unity event orchestrated by people outside the two of them. it's not a good signal.
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Speaker 8: It's not.
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Speaker 5: Early voting, what kind of signal does that present? I mean, the Associated Press was saying about 50 million votes cast so far. Texas, seven and a half million, a record there. How does that affect polls?
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Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, I think we're, number one, we're up over past midterms. Number two, we've seen kind of these explosive historic trends in early voting throughout many states, especially these battlegrounds. But we have to be careful because obviously that's going to point to a lot more Democratic voters simply because they're more likely to vote early. We see more Republicans come out on election day. And so we have to understand that the bigger blue wave going into election day and election night is because of this early voting and that this is obviously going to narrow and taper off as we calculate and add in election night results as well. You know, in terms of polls, we accommodate for that. We ask people if they've already voted, you know, and if they haven't, you know, how certain they are to vote.
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Speaker 1: So polls try to incorporate that.
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Speaker 9: But of course, it makes it yet another challenge that some of these people that we're talking to may have voted already.
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Speaker 3: Is it a proxy for or an indicator for enthusiasm? If someone's voting early, is it that or is it just a matter of convenience? How do you think about that?
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Speaker 1: You know, I would say it's more partisanship.
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Speaker 9: But we also know that enthusiasm is also on Democrats' side right now. Democrats are much more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans. And so I think it's a little bit of a combination of both of these. And obviously, those who are unaffiliated, those who are registered as other parties, independents, We don't know which way they're going. So that's the mystery in all of this. We don't know who people have voted for in early voting. We just know what their registration says.
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Speaker 7: All right.
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Speaker 3: Ashley Koenig of Rutgers, thank you very much. Tim O'Brien, executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion, thanks for your time. Stay with us for more on Bloomberg This Weekend, right after this.
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Speaker 5: There are just two days to go until the midterm elections. That'll determine the control of the House and the Senate and potentially dictate how the final two years of the Trump administration will play out in Washington. Now, one of the 435 seats under contention in Tuesday's midterms includes current Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, who is seeking her 19th term in the chamber. Quite a number.
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Speaker 1: 19th term.
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Speaker 3: If victorious, she could end up chairing the Appropriations Committee once again. which would likely have a significant impact on the Trump agenda. We asked her about her plans for that to come to pass.
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Speaker 8: I think that we're headed to a blue wave election, and we're looking at the trends have not stopped, you know, and every day they're adding more and more seats that appear to be moving in a Democratic direction. I think nothing for granted. I think we have, what, three days left here, and we need to be... continue to be focused like a laser on the issues that the American people care about, which is the cost of living, the issue of corruption, etc. But I'm optimistic about November 3rd. This could be an election that gets us back to 2018, where we picked up 36 seats.
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Speaker 5: Now, you've been raising alarms about people living paycheck should paycheck for years.
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Speaker 6: But what's different this time around?
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Speaker 5: I mean, what do Democrats have to do to kind of bring down the cost of living in this country?
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Speaker 8: Well, look, first of all, I think and I think it's very important to note, you know, that Democrats understood this is nationwide that. People were suffering. People are living paycheck to paycheck. They're struggling to pay groceries, utilities, housing, gas prices, health care, all of it. There's a reality. The Democrats understood that. And across the country, they have focused on that issue with the American people. That has created a view that, well, people are understanding what is going on in our lives, but there's also the understanding that the Trump administration has made this worse. They have a war of choice, which has raised gas prices, whether it's regular or diesel, that has driven up the cost of groceries for people. They have a tariff war, which is costing them anywhere from $ 1, 800 to almost $ 3, 600 a year. with these costs. So you have the combination of picking up on an affordability issue, but an administration that has done nothing. And not only have done nothing, the president doesn't believe there's an affordability crisis. He says it's a hoax. Well, if you're a billionaire or a millionaire, yeah, it's a hoax, you know, but You know, folks are really struggling. That's been picked up. And the unbelievable lack of understanding and compounding that economic crisis for people have, you know, juxtaposed, you know, and are creating, in my view, a blue wave election.
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Speaker 3: If this breaks your way on Tuesday, you stand to reclaim that gavel on the Appropriations Committee. And I wonder sort of what you would prioritize were that to come to pass? How would you approach leadership of that committee again?
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Speaker 8: Sure. Thank you. Thank you for the question. Look, first of all, and I will run for the office. I do not have a challenger. I don't take anything for granted, but I will be in touch with all of my colleagues to ask for their support and talk about where they want to go on this. But My priorities at the moment are to use the Appropriations Committee to address the affordability crisis. And that means because we deal with health care, we deal with housing, we deal with. transportation, agriculture, you know, the 12 committees where we can look at the programs that are affecting people's lives, redress what this administration has done to cut back in all of these areas and to put money back in people's pockets. So I will use the committee to do that. I also, from my own view, which I have been the author of the child tax credit, I'm going to move forward on doing that, paid family and medical leave. universal child care universal health care those are all directions to go in but first and foremost for me is appropriations and addressing the problem secondly on that yeah i'm going to look at accountability it's not going to be frivolous but i want to find out what they have done with the money that has been appropriated by Democrats and Republicans, signed by the president to law. And now the president and an office of management and budget with Russell Vogt has stolen this money from the American people. And we need to find out what they have done and where this money has gone. So there will be an oversight component of the appropriation Committee.
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Speaker 5: Now, I have to say, you're seeking a sort of 19th term in the House. I believe it's the longest serving House member from Connecticut. I have to ask, how has campaigning changed since you first got in the game? I'm curious to see your side of it.
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Speaker 8: Well, the biggest change has been social media, you know.
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Speaker 11: Are you all over it?
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Speaker 6: You are.
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Speaker 3: Right.
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Speaker 8: You know, if you can't keep up with the times, you got to get out of the way and don't bother. But this is the way it goes. But, you know, campaigning for me is, you know, it's mano a mano. It's one on one, you know, where you do have to listen to people. And I think folks have felt that they have not been listened to in the past. And that's by both parties, and the Democrats have to take blame for that as well. I think now is our time to, you know, to assert our understanding of people's lives. And you said earlier, I've been focused on cost of living and the affordable issue over the last four years. And so, and I believe that while we're going to win and while the challenges are ahead, are serious. But we can do this. We will be in the majority. And then we can take on these issues and do something about it.
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Speaker 11: Let me ask you about Election Day itself.
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Speaker 3: And I think of when I drive on 95 past New Haven, I look out and see all of those food trucks.
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Speaker 11: Right there on the edge of Long Island Sound.
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Speaker 8: Right.
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Speaker 3: And it represents so many different countries and their cuisines. I mean, I think of New Haven as a very diverse city and, of course, so central to your district.
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Speaker 11: Look, there is the threat.
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Speaker 3: We've heard it here that there could be ICE agents or immigration agents deployed to polling sites. How are you thinking about what has been floated? Indeed, we've seen the administration kind of walk that back or say there isn't a plan in many places to do that.
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Speaker 11: How are you thinking about the way that voting.
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Speaker 3: Is going to proceed and how comfortable people will feel going to the polls on Election Day?
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Speaker 8: Well, I think we're trying to. Do I think that there's opportunity here for disruption? I really do. But I think we are prepared. And I'll talk about New Haven. I spoke with the mayor yesterday morning because the Department of Justice has said they're going to send in monitors. And look, people monitoring the election, that is fine. But we were clear. I sent out a statement on it, the president. as did the mayor, and they sent a letter back. The city sent a letter back saying they understand monitoring, but these individuals really don't have any authority to go inside the polls and to remove people or do anything of that sort. On the national front, I'm very proud of the efforts that have been made by our leader, Hakeem Jeffries, and Congressman Morelli from New York, who have put in place a national infrastructure about how training people, how people ought to deal with if a federal agency comes on the premises or another ICE agency, really how to handle these situations. And the local training, I know that folks here in New Haven, the people who are going to be at the polls have gone through a training session on all of this. So we're going to be prepared. Do I think it will happen? Yes, I do.
00:23:28
Speaker 5: I want to see if you can expand more on the shift in the political landscape, because if you look at the number of Democrats have kind of held that grip on the New Hampshire, New Haven based district since about what, the 1980s.
00:23:40
Speaker 6: And you said you started to see a shift. What do you think is causing that?
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Speaker 8: Well, I think it's, again, the frustration in people's lives about how they are able to cope with their economic circumstances, how they are going to be able to raise their family, get their kids to school, pay for their health care, be able to afford a home. I think that that struggle has been there for a while. And I believe that they haven't thought that Democrats were focusing on that issue. I think they listened to what have been the lies of a Donald Trump, of saying that he was gonna, on the first day he was gonna do something and bring prices down, address people's concerns, none of which he has done. And that's part of what we see in terms of Tuesday's elections, But I believe that people have been moving to the right. And I think you have to understand the changing natures of the districts that you run in. And it's not just slam dunk overall. And again, trying to understand where people are coming from and to engage with the conversations of them.
00:25:08
Speaker 5: Why?
00:25:10
Speaker 8: Why they are moving. You've also seen a very, very big push by the administration on fear and cultural issues that concern people as well. The issues of public safety are there. So those issues really have an effect on people and their thinking.
00:25:39
Speaker 11: Last question here.
00:25:40
Speaker 3: We had Gregory Meeks, your colleague from New York, on the show yesterday. And I said, are you using the I word? Are you saying impeachment? And he said, I'm not utilizing the I word. I'm using the O word, oversight, the T word, transparency. Are you talking about or thinking about impeachment in the context of this next Congress?
00:25:55
Speaker 8: I am in lockstep with my dear friend and colleague, Greg Meeks. I'm not going down that road. I want to deal. As I said to you, I want to move on appropriations. I want to get those I want to get this process back on track. I want to make sure we're meeting the needs of the American people. And I said two things. I said oversight, transparency, accountability, in addition to addressing the needs of the American people.
00:26:25
Speaker 2: Stay with us for more on Bloomberg this weekend, right after this.
00:26:41
Speaker 3: More than 60,000 people will take to the streets and bridges of New.
00:26:44
Speaker 7: York City today for the 55th New York City Marathon.
00:26:47
Speaker 4: Ah, runners.
00:26:48
Speaker 5: They'll tell you it's just about endurance. It's not just about that. What's really about it is what's on your feet.
00:26:54
Speaker 6: That's what matters. And we sat down with one of those marathon runners. He is the CEO of Brooks Running.
00:26:59
Speaker 5: To hear what his company is finishing first and among those many top athletes.
00:27:04
Speaker 6: This is a big day.
00:27:05
Speaker 5: Marathon day. New York City Marathon. Is this like your Super Bowl?
00:27:08
Speaker 4: It absolutely is. I love being in the city for the New York City Marathon. And we're here to celebrate the sport and all of our athletes and employees, friends, customers that are running. So it's great.
00:27:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, I have to admit, I ran my first marathon way a few years back, over 10 years ago, and I did have the brooks on my feet. Now, have you run marathons before?
00:27:29
Speaker 11: I have, yeah.
00:27:30
Speaker 4: The marathon maybe is the hardest distance in run, right? And so you got to do it. And I actually ran the 2001 New York City Marathon, so I know what the experience is like.
00:27:42
Speaker 11: And It's incredible.
00:27:43
Speaker 4: The city just comes out from every corner.
00:27:46
Speaker 1: The energy, right?
00:27:47
Speaker 4: The energy is incredible.
00:27:48
Speaker 5: You got to love the energy in New York. I want to get to Brooks and talk about revenue growth. The company's been growing. Talk to us what you attributed that to.
00:27:57
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:27:57
Speaker 4: Well, we're in our 13th consecutive quarter of growth. It's 25 years that we've been focused on this category. Over that 25-year period, 14% compounded annual growth rate. So I often say we picked a great category and a great consumer, and we're focused on the products that are meaningful in the sport. So we innovate for the athlete and the sport. And our focus specifically on run is a competitive advantage. We don't do anything else. 1,600 of us get up every single day and all we do is think about running.
00:28:30
Speaker 8: It is.
00:28:30
Speaker 5: And not just the sport of running, but you get into regular street wear type of shoes too, correct, for Brooks?
00:28:35
Speaker 11: Correct.
00:28:36
Speaker 4: We just launched a lifestyle line. So Brooks is a 112-year-old company. So we have a big catalog of some great iconic styles that are coming back into the line. And that That category of lifestyle is pretty hot right now, and we're right in the.
00:28:50
Speaker 11: Middle of it. It is.
00:28:51
Speaker 5: You see people wearing them around the streets.
00:28:53
Speaker 4: Performance is what people want to wear.
00:28:54
Speaker 6: Around the office.
00:28:56
Speaker 5: You mentioned the consumer earlier. So how is the consumer doing?
00:28:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think in our category, it's fair to say that it's very stable. And the reason is that the run or health and wellness or just moving is super important in people's lives and they're choosing performance products. So our consumer is really, really healthy. And if you look historically in our category during really tough macro times, They hold up. They choose to purchase a pair of running shoes. Shoes are pretty affordable if you think about all the other categories in sporting goods. Ski gear, hockey. Those are big ticket items. We're a pretty affordable sport, so the run makes the cut.
00:29:39
Speaker 1: Now, are you thinking.
00:29:39
Speaker 5: are people, let's say, because times are tough, are they giving up certain other things to make sure they get the right shoes?
00:29:46
Speaker 6: Has it come to that sometimes?
00:29:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know if we know enough data if they're giving up other things. What I can tell you is they're prioritizing moving.
00:29:55
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:29:56
Speaker 4: And when we deliver the right product to the right consumer at the right value prop, our business is really good. We're growing 12% year to date. Around the world, we're growing. In Europe, we're up 24%. So the run is the it category right now.
00:30:13
Speaker 6: You mentioned Europe, so I want to talk Germany.
00:30:15
Speaker 5: Top spot in Germany for adult performance running footwear across all price points.
00:30:20
Speaker 6: How have you kind of changed your approach globally?
00:30:23
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think what's super unique about this consumer is they're choosing this sport for kind of the same reasons no matter what market. It's an investment in themselves for health and wellness, longevity. We think there's four generations right now that are squarely in our addressable market. Baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. Gen Z's coming squarely into this. But this is happening around the world. The running boom is real, and we're in a running boom right now.
00:30:53
Speaker 5: You had mentioned earlier, I heard in past interviews about kind of moving more into China, where a lot of companies say like Nike or Adidas, they're struggling in that.
00:31:02
Speaker 6: So what are you doing differently?
00:31:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we launched in China in 2022, and we really launched with a runner-focused strategy. We set up digitally at first, now we're building stores, and our China business is doing really well. We're up 40% in the market. And I'll say it again, the universal truths of this category is translate in every market. So the same products that are winning in Germany and the U.S. are winning in Shanghai and Beijing. So our strategy translates. It's how we execute it in each unique market.
00:31:35
Speaker 6: Well, stores. So brick and mortar.
00:31:38
Speaker 5: Brooke's starting to open a few more brick and mortar stores, physical stores.
00:31:41
Speaker 8: We are.
00:31:43
Speaker 4: In China, we'll have a small amount, 20 or so stores in China. We're just now starting to open some branded stores here in the US. And we think of them as a community run hub where runners can come and meet for social benefit, for mental benefit, for physical benefit. But it's a manifestation of our brand in four walls, which we haven't had. We've really worked through retail partners We are still going to do that in the future. But the store is meaningful in the journey of a consumer right now.
00:32:15
Speaker 5: And how about supply chain issues?
00:32:18
Speaker 6: Because we've talked about tariffs and trade. How are things looking right now?
00:32:22
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been a dynamic time, as everyone knows, and trade policies and Persian Gulf disruption have been challenging for us. But what I know about our supply chain, and I think the industry's supply chain is it's pretty resilient. And we went to work on it even before the first round of tariffs came in. We really took a full supply chain view of it. So one of the things we didn't want to do is punish the consumer for all these challenges we have. So we really worked with our supply chain to lower costs where possible, get more efficient, and we're in a really good spot. We got our arms around it. It's dynamic, though.
00:33:01
Speaker 6: It definitely is. I want to point out that as Running USA, they did this global survey. More than 11,000 runners.
00:33:05
Speaker 4: One of my favorite surveys, by the way.
00:33:07
Speaker 6: Well, they ranked you number one.
00:33:08
Speaker 5: There you go. For both training and race day footwear for the third consecutive year. It's not the first time. So what does that show you?
00:33:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, 11,000 global survey participants in the survey. And Brooks was chosen number one for training and for racing. And what that tells us, it's a validation of what we do every day. We innovate product for the athlete and athletes have so many choices and Brooks is winning. These are some of the most discerning athletes in our space. And for three years in a row, they've chosen Brooks. And you're going to see it out on the course this morning.
00:33:42
Speaker 5: I love it.
00:33:43
Speaker 11: I love it.
00:33:43
Speaker 5: Before you go, Brooks is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. So new leader right now. How is everything going under the new leadership for Brooks?
00:33:52
Speaker 11: Yeah, we're so fortunate.
00:33:53
Speaker 4: I tell our employees and our partners it's a competitive advantage for us to be owned by Berkshire. And consistent leadership from Warren to Greg. I report now into Adam Johnson, who's the CEO of NetJets. And it's just consistent. They give you autonomy. You know you have accountability to your teams and the results. It's a perfect scenario for us and one that we've benefited from greatly over the years.
00:34:19
Speaker 5: All right, Dan Sheridan, we are out of time, but I know you're going to be at that finish line on Sunday.
00:34:23
Speaker 6: There you go. Good luck to you.
00:34:25
Speaker 11: Thanks, Lisa.
00:34:28
Speaker 5: Stay with us for more on Bloomberg This Weekend, right after this.
00:34:44
Speaker 11: Welcome back to Bloomberg This Weekend, or BTW.
00:34:46
Speaker 7: I'm David Gura, Lisa Patel.
00:34:48
Speaker 6: You are smiling when you say that.
00:34:50
Speaker 3: Two days in a row.
00:34:50
Speaker 4: You are.
00:34:51
Speaker 6: Christina's not here. He takes advantage.
00:34:54
Speaker 5: BTW, Nathan Hager, you are taking over for me now.
00:34:56
Speaker 6: You're in the chair.
00:34:58
Speaker 11: With my story?
00:34:58
Speaker 5: With your stories.
00:34:59
Speaker 7: Did you have to mentor him on this? Show him the ropes?
00:35:01
Speaker 6: It took about two minutes.
00:35:03
Speaker 7: I had big backing. Thank you.
00:35:06
Speaker 5: You got it.
00:35:06
Speaker 12: Well, of course, there's the ongoing debate about artificial intelligence, not just data centers in your backyard, but whether you should be allowed to use it.
00:35:13
Speaker 11: In your writing.
00:35:14
Speaker 12: You know, we have AI summaries on the Bloomberg Terminal, of course.
00:35:17
Speaker 7: Ask Bee, check it out. Ask Bee, check it out.
00:35:20
Speaker 12: But when it comes to the White House, if this Forbes story is to be believed, having AI write for you, no problem. Forbes ran one of the president's recent health updates through Pangram, an AI text generator that claims, or detector, I should say, claims 99.5% accuracy when it comes to determining whether text is written by artificial intelligence. The assessment on this latest health update, 100% AI generated. This was from the update from July of last year when the president had the odd bruises on his hand, the apparent swollen legs. So Forbes compared it to some other recent letters from the same White House physician. They came out 35% and 45% AI written. Now, even Pangram will say an AI detector is not foolproof, but to go the extra mile, Forbes actually ran every White House press release since President Trump's second term through Pangram, compared it to releases going back to 2020 before the advent of chat GPT. The final verdict, about 10% of releases from this White House have at least some AI text.
00:36:28
Speaker 7: Applicative AI text, interesting.
00:36:29
Speaker 5: I'm amazed how these technologies can figure out if you're using AI or not.
00:36:34
Speaker 6: I mean, schools have.
00:36:35
Speaker 7: To do this a lot with the students. Professors have to do it?
00:36:37
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:36:38
Speaker 12: Are the technologies themselves artificial intelligence?
00:36:40
Speaker 7: Interesting. This is another loop. Another loop, oh my gosh.
00:36:44
Speaker 11: Very existential.
00:36:46
Speaker 7: What else do you have, Nathan?
00:36:47
Speaker 12: If you really want to go old school in your writing, you might like this story from the Wall Street Journal. Students at Harvard University are signing up in droves for a particularly grueling freshman English class called Humanities 10. Hum 10, they call it on campus. Students read at least one dense book per week, from Homer's Odyssey to Joyce's Ulysses.
00:37:10
Speaker 11: I think those two are In a week?
00:37:12
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:37:13
Speaker 11: One text a week.
00:37:14
Speaker 6: You know who's a big humanities fan?
00:37:17
Speaker 5: Tom Keene.
00:37:17
Speaker 7: Tom Keene.
00:37:18
Speaker 5: He always says, bring back humanities to the schools.
00:37:21
Speaker 12: Plenty of book recommendations on all of Tom's shows. Now, there's no pass-fail option on this class. So don't expect it to pad your GPA. No digital devices allowed. So if you arrive late, you get a pink slip. They take attendance every time. But despite all that, or maybe even because of all that, Demand for this class is through the roof. This year, applications shot up 40% with 180 incoming freshmen competing for just 90 slots. One of the hum alums, as they call them, says some of what's driving this actually is backlash to AI. They say a lot of the students, what they get out of the class is the human experience. And in fact, you can't get anything out of the class if there's any digital involved.
00:38:04
Speaker 3: I've heard of this, this kind of new affection for the great books curriculum. Columbia has it. Yale has it as well.
00:38:08
Speaker 8: Right.
00:38:09
Speaker 7: Yeah, it makes sense to me that it would be more competitive and people.
00:38:11
Speaker 11: Would want to get into it.
00:38:12
Speaker 12: The professors who put this class together actually said they drew inspiration from the great courses at Columbia and Yale as well. Now, how's this for old school reading, you guys? Life Magazine is making a comeback.
00:38:24
Speaker 7: Life Magazine.
00:38:24
Speaker 12: Yeah, not sure about the Time Life book collection, but nonetheless, the New York Times picked up on this this week. The iconic publication with the Redbox logo and the breadth of visual storytelling. It's returning next month as a quarterly print edition. Supermodel and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss is actually reviving life through her company, Bedford Media, along with the Glossy Mag. There's going to be a website, social media presence, along with plans for short-form video, documentaries, live events. The first, this new Life magazine. with the theme Where Are We Now? is expected to come out November 23rd. Large format, 250 pages, no ads. It's actually sponsored by Rivian and Figma, the fintech.
00:39:04
Speaker 7: You're getting to the cost.
00:39:06
Speaker 11: Goodness.
00:39:06
Speaker 4: $ 45 cover price.
00:39:07
Speaker 12: That's what you get when you don't have ads.
00:39:11
Speaker 3: I spotted that, and that price tag stood out to me. Of course, I mean, I've seen a lot. When you go to an antique store, there are a lot of Life magazines that are fun to page. But it takes a lot of chutzpah this day and age, I think, to start a print magazine.
00:39:22
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:39:22
Speaker 7: I'm curious if it catches on.
00:39:23
Speaker 12: We do have a monthly Bloomberg Business Week.
00:39:25
Speaker 11: They do?
00:39:26
Speaker 5: That's a good coffee table. You can put that on your coffee table and it'll look nice and start a conversation.
00:39:31
Speaker 7: Yeah, and it's always been known for its photographs as well.
00:39:34
Speaker 3: There's still no better way to showcase them than in a glossy print magazine.
00:39:37
Speaker 7: Very cool.
00:39:38
Speaker 5: Right.
00:39:38
Speaker 12: I got this one finally from the Bloomberg terminal. Now that we've set our clockbacks, in case you.
00:39:42
Speaker 7: Didn't... Remind us again.
00:39:44
Speaker 11: It is 8.58.
00:39:44
Speaker 12: We fall back to standard time today, everyone. So it's getting into the debate that actually dates back to 1784 when Benjamin Franklin... really did argue that setting the clocks ahead an hour in the spring when there's more sunshine and back again in the fall would save more energy. But according to research still in progress from Yale economics professor Matthew Kotchen, the energy benefit for moving the clocks around for electricity and transportation may be 1 to 2 percent effect for total electricity consumption. If at all, this actually came from their research into what Indiana did. They've actually only been changing the clocks back for 20 years. They found that falling back actually raises household energy by up to 4%. The reason for this, energy use has changed. Lighting only accounts for like, what, 3.4% of Americans' electricity mix. It's offset by heating and cooling.
00:40:38
Speaker 10: Yeah.
00:40:39
Speaker 7: You know what else? It raises my energy. I'm a big proponent of it. It is great.
00:40:43
Speaker 6: Yes, it was nice to sit in this morning.
00:40:45
Speaker 1: Just an extra hour.
00:40:47
Speaker 7: This is like a roiling debate. I mean, we were having a... are in Washington, and you've heard this debate probably every two years.
00:40:52
Speaker 11: Should we have it or not?
00:40:53
Speaker 12: Every single year when they debate whether there's going to be a law to whether it's going to be daylight saving time or standard time. I vote for standard, please. Make the sun go down a little earlier so I don't have to worry about the light blocking shades.
00:41:05
Speaker 3: Look for your speech in the well of Congress on that.
00:41:07
Speaker 6: You get up early, Nathan. You do get up early.
00:41:10
Speaker 11: I vote for that.
00:41:11
Speaker 12: I'm probably in the.
00:41:12
Speaker 11: Minority on that.
00:41:13
Speaker 7: BTW, Nathan Hager, thank you very much.
00:41:17
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us on today's Bloomberg This Weekend podcast. Don't forget to tune in live for the show every Saturday and Sunday morning, starting at 7 a.m.
00:41:25
Speaker 9: Eastern.
00:41:25
Speaker 3: We're on Bloomberg Television, radio, and the Bloomberg Business app, bringing you unique takes and in-depth interviews on news, politics, lifestyle, and culture.