Front page headline, Ron de Santis is the future of the Republican Party, as Jonah Goldberg set up on CNN, representing the Republican side of things, he is the head of the Republican Party now, Ron de Santis, I think that might be a little premature. There's a there's a there's an orange man from New York who has actually
from Florida who has a say in that. Also, if I'm gonna go with the more negative spin though, I was just watching a little Fox News coverage in the lunch room and their hosts saying, We've got the worst inflation in forty years, We've got the worst crime in forty years, we have the worst border ever, and the Republicans couldn't get over this is this is a referendum on the Republican Party. The Fox host said, Let's chat about this and more with Sarah Westwood, an investigative reporter
for the Washington Examiner previously the White House reporter for CNN. Sarah, welcome, how are you. I'm great, Thanks for having me. We will give you free reign over our radio show. What are your takeaways? What are your impressions from last night? But to a lot of pressure, but thank you. You know, I think Republicans had raised expectations to an unrealistic level before the election, and I think some of the choices that the Republican campaign are made in the run up
to the election are going to be second guests. I mean, if you look at, for example, the Superpack connected to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, that group Congressional Leadership Fund was spending millions of dollars in districts that ultimately didn't even come close. In districts in Oregon, in Washington State, you know, big reaches for Republicans and not shoring up the winnable districts that ended up being very close, but
many of them broke for Democrats. So I think there was sort of an irrational optimism among Republicans because the landscapes looked so bad for Democrats. But in the end, Joe Biden was not the polarizing figure that Donald Trump was, and so even dissatisfied voters went into the poll box and at the ballot box and didn't necessarily cast a
vote purely against Joe Biden. So his unpopularity wasn't the type of drag that I think a lot of analysts expected, and of course we we answered the question of can you be a doctor who sells fake dial the diet pills, moved to a different state and try to become a U S Senator? So that question has finally been answered. Uh, the age old question can you be a quack doctor from a different state and become a senator? He lost to a stroke victim, good Laurel and a guy who's
never held a real job. If you wanted to look at the Federmentaz race, Sarah or a number of different races around the country, what about the Republican senatorial candidates. So there's you know, got a lot of talk about candidate quality, and I think that the Pennsylvania race is a perfect example. Dr Oz didn't have a lot of credibility on the issues that pattered the most to voters
this cycle. Right, they cared about inflation, they cared about crime, and Dr Oz was television doctor, so he wasn't able to speak to the issues most important to voters. And that's sort of the same problem that you know, herschel Walker and Georgia had. Sure, he had celebrity, he had charisma, but what credibility did he really have to be talking
about keeping the street safe and keeping inflation down. Democrats have a lot of message discipline in both of those races, even though John Cutterman was an exceptionally weak candidate and he was beatable, and and so was Rafael Warnock in Georgia, and you know, you can go down the line down
through house races. There were a number of other UH races that were winnable for Republicans, like in Virginia, the race in Northern Virginia Gainst Abigail span Burger and Yes Lea Vega, Yes Lea Vega had a big controversy saying something kind of like if you remember taught aken then the Missouri Center race said about women's bodies can't get pregnant if they're raped. You know, candidates that weren't vetted,
it weren't ready for prime time. We're put up in these key races, and Republicans sort of thought that that would be overlooked because of concerns about the economy, and it wasn't. Okay, I have another essay type question for you, but before we get there, let's let's not leap past the headlines. It looks correct me if I'm wrong, Like, the Republicans will take the House of Representatives. How likely is that that? And by how many seats do you think?
Right now? It does look that way, but it just looks to be like a handful at this point, and the races outstanding are really really close, So that doesn't exactly give Republicans a big mandate, And you know, it makes it so that any vacancies that occur in the House are going to be big marquee events over the next two years, right, So that's going to be instructful for Washington. In the Senate, you know, there's still an
outside chance that Republicans can take the Senate. The Republicans are looking really good in Nevada with Adam lack Salt running a out of Catherine Cortez Bass, so that will be a pick up opportunity that would essentially cancel out the Settlement win and control of the Senate could come down once again to Georgia runoff, which I believe would be December six, So just a few more weeks until
we've learned the outcome. So all is not lost for Republicans, but you know, conceptually, politically, it was a bad night and even if they pull out very narrow majorities, this won't be considered a good mid term. History won't remember definitely was not a good mid term for the Republicans. But if you're going to pick out, the best thing, which I already mentioned earlier, is the Republicans have a new rock star. I mean, he was a rock star before last night, but now he's an ultra super rock
star in Ron Santas. And let me let me throw this in as well, Sarah, the email to the Armstrong and Getty show has been running astonishingly toward Trump has to go practically universally, which was as surprising to me and Jack as any buddy. Um, you feel free to,
you know, throw that into your answer. What about the santiss rise, Yeah, I mean I think that's the other huge element of this, of what these results tell us is that Donald Trump, I think was a drag on a number of candidates who didn't have brands independent of him, right, and or candidates who were associated very very closely with him. For Republican candidates who were not, who were seen as independent of him, they did very well. Rondo Santis is
a great example of that. I mean, he ran up historic margins in his state sort of solidified his position as the hat of the party. I think that Trump's negative of facts on the party's prospects has been something that's sort of been whispered about with more frequency and Republican circles, and I wonder if this result will let people start saying it out loud, because at this point, what cost will Republicans have for kiding that Trump stepped
off the stage? I mean, before there was a fear that voters would punish any Republican who said that out loud. This election is clear evidence, but that's not the case. I don't think that Republicans will be punished if they start to say it's time for a new leader to emerge. So maybe some of that fear of speaking out against Trump will be removed from electric Republicans and they can start, you know, moving the party in a direction away from him.
I mean keep in mind that, you know, the Christmas, after the midterm elections, once we get through the holidays, basically the presidential race will start, and so it's time to start having the conversations now well, right, and including on the other side, where a lot of the belief was if the Republicans have a giant knight. That gives a lot of Democrats the power to say, look, Joe Biden, you gotta go. You're a drag on the party. But you can't make that argument now, So where's that leave us?
That could ultimately end up if there's if there's a very outside overlying for Republicans, this gives Joe Biden the justification to stay a top his ticket. He can argue that he saved his party from a historic beating in the mid terms when the history suggested he would his party would endure, and with his brilliant shuffling leadership across
the country exactly something he can claim. And then Republicans, conversely, can look at these results and and take away from it that it's time to push Trump off the off the stage and usher a new leadership. And if race could boil down to someone like Rhnda Santis running against someone like Joe Biden, that could put Republicans in a position to take a historic amount the palette. I think
you've nailed it. The headline flip was yesterday it was looking like Trump's gonna announce He's gonna be tough to beat, and the Republican and the Democrats are gonna push out Biden. It might have flipped overnight. Biden is going to be the nominee. Trump's gonna get pushed out alright, two points number one. God gets a vote on whether Joe Biden is going to run again, as does his brain. There's no freaking way it happens. I'll bet you my house, Sarah. I tell you what you put, what, what do you
have of value? Anything you get a nice ballpoint pen, you bet that pen against my house. I'll take that action. Joe Biden does not run again. Uh. Secondly, it's if you will accept that premise. It is wide open on the Democratic side because Kamala Harris doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. So that's gonna be a knife fight. Well, I I think that's definitely right. Um, it's hard to
see though, who the natural successor is. I mean, the thing that benefits Republicans is that they have a clear natural successor to Trump, and that's round the santis and there's near unanimity about that in the Republican Party. I don't think if Trump doesn't run that that will be
a particularly close Republican primary. Because he's so popular. Meanwhile, the Democrats would have a blood baths on their hands if Joe Biden decides not to run because there are so many candidates U weaker candidates in a more wide open field. So I think in either scenario, if Joe Biden runs again, obviously Rhonda Santas that would be a favorite given the dynamics in the country right now, if
the economy doesn't improve dramatically. Um. But if Joe Biden did not run, I think Rhonda santa is having all that time as the heir to the throne of the Republican nomination while Democrats kill each other to see who emerges successful, and a Democratic primary always involves tacking to the left. Um, he would have an advantage in that scenario as well. Boy, that excites me, and my new pan excites me. I'm gonna write polies with that pen.
I'm going to sign checks right, personal letters. I can't wait. I think people too casually use the term blood path. I mean, that's a horrific notion. She means it metaphorically, and it made me excited. Sarah Westwood, investigative reporter of The Washington Examiner. Sarah, you are absolutely terrific. It's great to talk. Thanks don't thank for having me