Supreme Court Allows Partisan Gerrymandering, Trump Dismisses Affordability

Key Quotes

"The US Supreme Court is allowing Texas to use a gerrymandered map in next year's midterms. That's after a lower court had blocked it. Ashley catches us up here. Yeah, so, I mean, obviously the Texas legislature earlier this year drew its congressional map to create five more seats that would be favorable to Republicans, and there was, uh, of course, legal complaints, a lawsuit that was filed."

Ashley Lopez explains that the Supreme Court's decision allows Texas to implement a congressional map drawn by its legislature, which is designed to favor Republican candidates. This ruling overturns a lower court's decision that had blocked the map, highlighting the ongoing legal and political battles over redistricting.

"The court, like Ashley said, says that political gerrymandering is fine, but when 85 to 90 or so of black voters vote Democratic, then it can be easy to say that you're politically gerrymandering but also affecting all of the black voters in the state."

Domenico Montanaro points out the Supreme Court's distinction between permissible political gerrymandering and impermissible racial gerrymandering. He notes the difficulty in separating these two when a significant majority of a racial group votes for a particular party, suggesting that political motivations can inadvertently have racial implications.

"When you continuously have an overperformance by one party over and over again, especially in the double-digit category, that is a huge signifier of potential wave election coming in the following year, at least at this point."

Domenico Montanaro interprets the consistent double-digit overperformance by Democrats in special elections as a significant indicator of a potential wave election in the upcoming year. He suggests that these repeated trends signal a broader shift in voter sentiment that could impact the broader electoral landscape.

"You know, he ran on a promise to bring down prices, so how does this wash? Yeah, it's really something. I mean, he continues to downplay the idea that the cost of living is really important to people."

Domenico Montanaro discusses President Trump's approach to the issue of affordability, noting that Trump downplays its importance despite having campaigned on a promise to lower prices. Montanaro suggests this creates a difficult position for the President, as affordability remains a top concern for voters.

"I mean, I don't think that the economy is something that is an issue that's going to go away. It's, it's hard to see it being sort of eclipsed by some other big issue. We have a lot of foreign policy stuff happening right now, and voters say we've been looking at things like immigration. Voters are say, well, we want the president to be focusing more on housing prices and and healthcare prices. Like, those are the things that really matter to us."

Ashley Lopez asserts that economic concerns, particularly around housing and healthcare prices, will remain a dominant issue in political discourse. She believes these issues are unlikely to be overshadowed by other matters and will continue to be a primary focus for voters when evaluating political leaders.

"So, if the base is in trouble, go back to the hits. That's what Trump is doing. He's talking about the stuff that always seemed to animate, you know, his base voters, the most loyal parts of the party."

Domenico Montanaro suggests that President Trump's recent rhetoric, particularly on immigration, is a strategic move to re-engage his base. He interprets this as a return to familiar themes that have historically energized his most loyal supporters, especially when facing potential challenges or criticism.