Do you want to be an American idiot? Election night?
And in early one at that last night Good Morning, Scott's Slow Show on seven hundred WYLW and the headline of course DEM's sweep from Jersey to New York City to Virginia to Anderson Township and so a blue I don't know if it's a blue wave. Let's have blue maybe or a blue ripple because it's currently only been a year since the Republican takeover. Nonetheless, to put things in perspective, he's a pollster from Crosstown consulting in northern Kentucky.
That would be Kevin Burton, who's consulted more than a few people in this race. Kevin, welcome, how are you?
Thank you for having me Scott.
A good day for you. I know your candidate's all swept up right.
It was a good It was a good night. You know, it's all about understanding the political environment and running, you know, running with that and it's that simple. But yeah, the council race and the Mary race was called early. It was a good night if you were them.
It was quickly we see that the midterm referendum that the party in power is refuted at the mid term. This feels like it's starting a little earlier. Am I right about that? I mean, literally, it's been one of a year a year into Trump's you know, Trump tom across America, and I think, as you said before, it's the standard beards of people at the top that kind of set the tone. Are we starting to see that swing earlier than ever before?
I mean, I would go back to even twenty seventeen, and it was very similar if people can remember, I know, it was a long time ago. Trump. If Trump is not on the top of the ticket, he is, he has lost every election. Yeah, yeah, but Trump is the anomaly. And that's the one thing that when he is not on top of the ticket, it is a whole different ballgame. We've seen it in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, you know, twenty one, twenty two. Trump is the outlier.
And you know, I will say the biggest shock to me was to see New Jersey, which you know Trump did so well. Yes he lost, but he got it within five which was kind of unheard of for instant wing back to I believe it was like fifteen or you know, all the inroads he made in the minority communities like in it really shifted back. And it's as simple as it's the economy stupid. You know, every election
is about the wallet. And if you're in power, you you know, and people are having hardships, they're going to take it out on you. And a lot of ways, the Trump administration is doing the same problem that Biden did, downplaying inflation and down playing how much the average person's hurting. So, yeah, you know, your four oh one k might be doing well, but that's not everyone.
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think you know, that's illustrative of New York City with Mom Donnie. He feels like the he feels like the anti Trump because total grassroots effort, right in social media. He's going to clubs, he's hanging out with younger voters, the youngest voters, social media, digital campaign, no TV, he's not doing Good Morning America, no legacy media,
nothing like that. And he just simply comes out of nowhere and reset how politics is going to be run in the future, for sure, And so he blasts the gen zs, the young millennials, and they have now arrived.
As a voting block. Now that's New York City. That's different.
But but again that starts there in a pretty young city, and that wave kind of sweeps this way as we saw what happened in Anderson Township for example.
Yeah, and you know, from an Donnie he is one of those just regardless of what you think of him politically, he has the aura. He has it, Yeah, he does. And you know, and it's actually very similar to bouth the Obama and Trump that he came out of nowhere and it was a meteoric rise and he captured the soul of the voter. And that's something that no consultant can tell you to do. You just have it or you're not. But then for Anderson, you know that Anderson's
completely shocking to get back to the local side. You know, in twelve years, it went from being a super red you know township to now almost all blue. Yep.
So yeah, two Republican trustees replaced by two Democrats on the three member panel. And also I'll point out the Foesil school board flipped the blue as well.
Yeah. Yeah, so you know, it's very interesting because you know, during the Trump era of politics, we have seen rural areas get redder, cities get bluer, and really the suburbs, the Anderson townships, the you know Florence, Kentuckys of the world. Those are what decide really national elections, state elections, and you know they swung for Trump last year, yep, but they came back overwhelmingly now to the which I'm always shocked. I've never met someone who is a swing voter. And
if you guys are you guys are amazing. I would love to meet you guys sometimes yeah, yeah, yeah.
The imaginery, yeah, but the election out they're lost in one in the suburbs because, as you mentioned, the rural areas are pretty red. The cities urban air is pretty blue. But we're seeing the blue kind of sweep to areas. You know years ago was Montgomery and Blue Ash and it's Anderson Township.
It is. And you know, so that's going forward for twenty six eight, all resources for either party should just be all put in to the Anderson townships type, you know, the suburbs, because that's where you win or lose election. That's how Joe Biden won in twenty twenty, That's how Donald Trump won in twenty four the suburbs. So all resources going forward, I would not be shocked if you sawid.
Both sides just pour heavily into you know, digital grassroots knocking in the suburbs because that's where you win or lose an election. You're not going to win or lose the election in rural if you're Republicans, or the city if you're dom So you got to turn you got to get the suburbs voters.
Right well, I'll even point out where I am and you know, like in Mason and Warren County that's been deep red for a long time, pretty red for a long time, but even that we're starting to see change. Emmy Greg Landsman one reelection there and we'll see what happens with the registering of Him'm going to get him on the show in the next few days to talk about that. But I know, it's like the council is
kind of flipping, maybe not blue, but more moderate. In the past, it used to be really really rock ribbed, super Trump mega, even though their mega candidate missed getting elected for the second or third time. So it's interesting how even Warren County, which is pretty red, is starting to get back towards the middle.
You know, and elections are always a pendulum, and you know, they go one way and they and right now we're kind of getting back to the middle. I mean, you know, for Hamilton County, when I first started, it was a swing county and now every single basically elected official from judges all the way down are all blue. So it's just in a very fascinating political shift during the Trump era.
You know, in school, you would always learn about the nineteen sixty eight, the civil rights era, how it changed the map, and it's very similar now. Yeah, you know, Trump has changed the political landscape and how you win elections, and it's just been fascinating for someone for what I do, how to get you know, the fifty plus one vote to win an election, and that's been the biggest change during the Trump era.
Yeah, so this is more a referend amount affordability in the pocketbook or Donald Trump?
Are both? I think it's both.
I mean, you know, yes, you know, Madonna really hit on something and I think I want to be shocked as Democrats to play on this nationally. Yeah, Elon Mosk, Jeff Bezos are getting how much more billions while you're struggling to pay for eggs? Easy affordability. Affordability will always be the number one issue I know James Carville and I said it earlier. It's the economy stupid always yeah, yeah, always, yeah, always,
it's the number one issue. And frankly, if people are feeling it at home, they're going to take out their frustration on the ballot box.
Yeah, and I think it's true.
You know Trump saying, Hey, I'm gonna come in the first day, You're gonna get more money, it's gonna be overnight. I'm gonna fix all these things and make these grandiose promises on the campaign trail, which politicians often do, but Donald Trumps has really turned that out. Its ear like
he's really good at it. If it's been a year later and you're seeing things get worse, stagnant, or just simply not better, uh, then you go to the alternative and now you've got a guy like mom daddy making these promises, which we'll see what happens in the year. And I'm guessing a lot of this stuff's simply not going to happen. I wonder and again, three years from now,
maybe he is your Democratic front runner. If he can be successful, I doubt it, but we'll see about you know, free buses, and we're gonna freeze rent and we'll see how that works out. But back to the local race here, I'm not surprised by aftabs win. I said, I think he's gonna win. You never want to say never, but I think he's more than likely. If our betting, I would bet handily that he would have won the election
he did. But are you surprised by the margin that he won by him almost eight and ten voters.
Yes, I thought my over or under for him was about sixty five seventy percent. But it also just speaks to how well of a machine he has. I mean, aftab has won every election besides the one against Shabbit, which is a self inflected wound, and the city is just that blue. You know, Harris won seventy five to twenty five. So it's very similar to the Harris number, And it just points to all the outside noise on social media and talk radio and everything city. The people
in the city actually don't care. They care about you know, issues about rent, about social issues, and you know, for Astap this gives him a referendum like he has a mandate, like so with the police chief, the city manager. When you win almost eighty percent, I don't care who you are. You have a lot of cliche now, so it's gonna be very interesting to see how he does that. And you know, he his campaign was very kind of smart. They didn't try to make too much of an issue.
You know. Props to him and his team. They clearly knew what they were doing, and it shows last night.
Yeah, yeah, it did. But I don't know.
I think the way they handle a lot of these things relative to crime was not good at all. Does that just empower them to do more of the same. Bubble down on this because I get I don't live in the city, and I know the crime isn't rampant downtown. There's just areas and pockets that are difficult. A lot of the policies and quite honestly, the missteps and incompetence how they handle Terry Sieg Now, they as voters didn't give a damn and you know that he doesn't have to please me.
You have to please voters. I get that whole thing.
But does that just give them more leeway to go, Okay, well, they don't care about this. I can I can definitely, you know, I can get police officials to charge folks after the fact, and I can you know, suspend someone before I fire them and voters don't care.
Is he just going to do more of that?
I mean, at the end of the day, when you're an elected official, you know the voters are the people who keep you in check. And when you win eighty percent and when you sweep all council, the voters have clearly made up what they think is the most important issue. So you know them swept all counsel. They swept them as all the trustees, school boards and Handlton County, so you know the crime issue is not as big of an issue to the voters of Hamilton County as it appeared.
No, that makes total sense.
Scott's Olondlaw with Jeff Jeff Kevin Burton from Crosstown Consultanting.
He's an upholster and political wonk if you will, had a hand in a number of the people winning election last night in the local area, and just some observations as to why the dem swept and what is behind this whole thing pocketbook, they'd be affordability and the Trump factor as well are influencing races, not just on the East Coast with Jersey and Virginia and New York City, but also places like Anderson Township where you saw two
Republican trustees replaced by two Democrats. They flipped that blue and Forestil School Board as well. Not surprised by aftabs win, I thought that, okay, I said, you know, Aftabs is going to win this election. I'm pretty sure of it. But I thought that there would be a little bit more upheaval on city Council.
And that just speaks to this power of the blue slate card. You know that it was actually very remarkable because I think even the biggest Dems would have told you. I think eight out of nine. Ryan James was always the question mark, as you know, someone who's not on council and list heating rant a perfect race. But at the end of the day, the numbers are what the numbers are. There's nothing more that she could have done.
She raised a bowloado of money, she did a blitz at the end, but the numbers are what the numbers are. And the blue slate card that you see when you go to a poll, if you're in the City of Cincinnati or Hamilton County, it's undefeated now it you know. The biggest elections going forward in the city will be
the primaries similar to Columbus Cleveland. And that's just how much, in you know, fifteen years, it has changed from being you had to be this moderate on either side to you know, win an election, to now where it's solid blue. And I think you're gonna start seeing in the new upcoming elections primary start to get nasty because that's the real election, now.
Gotcha, gotcha? Your top vote getters.
Michelleman Kearney was number one, Scottie Johnson, Mika Owens is new, and I'll be Jefferies Walsh, Kramer, Ding Nolan and Ryan James and just missing again. I just had her on the other day. I think she's wonderful. Liz Keating, who went totally in on the crime thing, as well as Chris Smitheman, Lakeda Cole. They all went to crime, crime, crime, crime, and it didn't matter because Liz Keith Anthony for the second election now just narrowly missed that ninth seat.
Yeah, and to her and her team, they ran, you know, it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, but they ran as good as the race. I don't really know anything they could have done differently, but when a city votes seventy five to twenty five, you know, for the mayor or eighty twenty in this case, it's very hard to overcome that.
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's that simple, right, right, But I think it's a promise there because Mika Owens came as a charter right and she finished surprisingly third, beating out a lot of the incumbents there with the most number of votes behind Lemon Kearney and Johnson.
MICA's endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Democrats.
I'm sure, yeah, yeah, right, yeah, yeah, you're right, the charter Yeah, but you know, it's amazing and basically ten years the charter rights went basically extinct, which they were, you know, a large part.
Of Cincinnati politics since the nineteen twenties. But they just they just don't have the juice anymore.
Right, What do you attribute that?
Just the fact that we're it's a two party state and that's all because I mean we had charter you know, I've been here for twenty years and there are plenty of charter rights that did wonderful and work and represented well and went why can't they get traction?
Uh? It's national. I mean, at the end of the day, politics now has become so national. You know, it's a you're either with us or against stuff, and people just now you know the social media age that there's no wiggle room. No. And secondly, the charter right, this is very wonky now, and I'm gonna apologize. It's actually a committee and not a party with the state. So it also hurts some of their resources. So it's not like the Green Party, because you know, you have national stuff.
They just lack the resources. And frankly, when the earned media for either the R or the D are trillions of dollars every year, there's nothing you can do.
He's Kevin Burton with Crosstown Consulting Other Kentucky. Congratulations on your slate of winners. Area went six or six in this I know Kevin and I always love the insight the polster and why we vote the way we voted yesterday. Kevin, all the best, Thanks again.
But you do well.
Thanks for having me.
All right, I got to get a news update in I believe Frank Marzula is standing by from WCPO nine. He's down in Louisville. The very latest on that ups plane crash. We'll get back to some of this election related stuff. Lots to do on this Wednesday morning. Sloaney seven hundred ww