Sound On: Primary Races in 5 States, Boston Chamber of Commerce

Boston Chamber of Commerce. We're gonna be hearing from some of the smartest minds in the hub here, including Lisa Wheeland, the CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority. That's the agency that manages the intersection of transportation and trade and oversees the port here in Boston, but is now connecting to new markets thanks to a massive dredging project. We'll talk about that and the supply chain crisis how it's impacting economies in the Northeast. Are panel today to local names

with national influence in politics. Scott Ferston of Liberty Square Group, and Jennifer Nessour is back with us, former chair of the Massachusetts GOP as we meet Jennifer right here in her hometown. So we've got a lot on the way this hour. You picked a good day to join us. And as we join you from the Boston Convention Center in the Seaport district of Boston, if you know this

part of town or not, we're overlooking Boston Harbor. We can see Logan Airport on one side and as I look to my left the Boston skyline on the other. It's a gorgeous view. And the annual meeting year of the Greater Boston Chamber. It's the biggest business event of the year in a rather unique economy. Here. Bloomberg is the media sponsor, and a special greetings to Bloomberg Radio here in Boston, our listeners on one oh six point one FM. This meeting is happening today against the backdrop

of primary politics. We're gonna be talking about this a lot this hour. Voting in five states, including Pennsylvania, where the Senate race is one of the most closely watched in the country and by the way, one of the most expensive so far as well. And that is where we're gonna start with our panel. Scott Pherson is with us Liberty Square Group along with Jennifer Nessour no stranger to this program, former chair of the Massachusetts GOP. What a treat to have both of you here. It's great

to see you, Jennifer. I'll start with you if I can, not on the races yet, but on the on the issues that we're hearing people talk about in the room here that translate to every state and every contest in the country. Number one is inflation. Right, Supply chains might come in there, uh, and of course they're deeply intertwined. We're gonna be speaking soon with the CEO of Massport uh, and some of the other attempts to reopen the economy.

I guess, as I'm learning today showing up in Boston, there's a new variant that is sending case loads higher. And these are all conversations that we're having around the country right now here in Boston. Though, how much of a concern is this COVID issue when we're looking at historical high inflation, historically high inflation and an attempt to reopen from an economy that might not let us reopen quite the way we want. First of all, it's great to be here and great to actually see you in

person in the flesh reopening. Speaking of reopening, Um, I think the economy. It's always the economy, stupid, right, and so it is inflation, it's the fact that when we go and put gas in our gas tanks, it's the other day it costs me five dollars a gallon to

put gas in my gas tank in Massachusetts. That's crazy, and so for I think for a lot of people, especially in an area where a lot of people are driving all the time, that's what people are looking at, putting food on the table, housing costs, food costs, gas costs, and it just seems like you're never getting a break. And so I think here in Massachusetts, where we were closed down for a long time, people are ready to

get out. But when things are costing so much money and businesses can't find people to work for them, you're going We're going to see the economy take a big hit here if things continue on the trajectory that they're on. What do you make of this part of the conversation, Scott, You've run campaigns, These these translate across the country right now, and if you're a Democrat running for office or for re election, you're going to be hit with questions about inflation. First,

how do you manage that before it's a problem. I think you have to manage it. It's um. I've been I agree with with with Jen. I've been traveling around the country. I've been in Illinois and Ohio and uh in Texas and Georgia and other places, and people are you know, they're talking about inflation. They don't use that word. It is gas prices, it's food prices. Housing is a huge issue. And the places that I've been to, which are are sort of swing districts, Um, the unemployment is

very low. So it's it's not that it's not the people are out of work. It's that people feel stuck in whatever house they're in, even if their house is worth a whole lot more than they paid for it. They don't feel like they have options in the way that the people did. And gas prices is a real concern. Um. You know, if you're a farmer of this country, just by acreage is farm we we we you know, it's a huge amount of of of acreage. Uh. It takes on the coast. Yeah, it takes a lot to fill

up a tractor. It takes a lot to develop a truck takes a lot to fill up a tractor trailer moving goods from port Uh is oh um. So with that in mind, this is the backdrop for a huge primary day here. And I realized that these are, uh, these are not arguments between Democrats and Republicans, but they are giving the fodder for the debate here. Uh, Jennifer,

if we can start with with Pennsylvania. That seems to be the most sort of mainstream contest that people are talking about because it includes a TV star and a major Trump endorsement with Dr oz Um. This race has changed a lot. David McCormick doctor oz beat each other up, spent millions, including a lot of their own money for weeks and weeks, only to watch Kathy Barnett come from nowhere with a hundred thousand dollars and threatened to win

this election. What's going on in Pennsylvania? Well, I mean that is gone. That is really the the question. Fairly. You did frame it incredibly fairly, because I think it was really between the two of those guys um until she came in. Now, I'll tell you I got an email.

I'm you know, of course on all the email change and lists around right and again email yesterday and it started with that she wouldn't have been born if her mother wasn't races, And I write exactly that was what I said, Um, And so I found it incredibly offensive as a woman, as a mother with three daughters. I thought it was disgusting to see that. I didn't want

to read anything else. I don't care what she was saying. So, Um, I think that the voters of Pennsylvania have to really look at this race and look at who's out there running. I think it's less about the Trump endorsed candidate and more about who is going to protect their interests and like we've been talking about who's going to help the economy, who is going to help and make sure that they're on the way up and knock the way down in Pennsylvania.

It could go either way. Is it hurting Republicans the party as a whole to have guys like me talk about this through the prism of a Trump endorsement every Tuesday? I mean, there's obviously more involved in this contest. Or we simplifying this to be its own reality TV show? Yes? I think so. I mean we're talking at stake here is democracy, and I think that's what everyone needs to focus on, is what is good for democracy. What is good for democracy is having leaders who are going to

lead in front. They're going to make sure that they are putting the priorities of the people who voted for them, and that is not just their voters, but all the electorate, all the people in their state, ahead of their own priorities. And so I would like to look at it instead of the endorsement end of it, because I think both parties have have their issues right now. I think it more has to look at what is good for democracy

and who is the candidate that is best. So Scott on the Democratic side of this contest, it's another whopper. The Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has a stroke on Friday, and it's going to be in a hospital bed, maybe even in surgery having a peacemaker, implanet as the results are coming in tonight. Yet he's gonna win with a layup here, right, What does that tell us about the

Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. It's obviously not very competitive. No, I mean federman Is, I mean Connor lamb Is is a is a good candidate and should have made this competitive and for whatever reason did well. I think I think primaries both in Republicans as it is, and that that primary and Democrat primaries are really controlled by a

very small slice of the electorate. It's as if we let only people who play dungeons and dragons vote in primaries, and then and then that's what we have to vote for November, the people that they pick. And I think we're seeing that a little bit in both things. Federman is really a populist and that's coming through and um in a time when we've got eighty nine year old senators running for reelection. Um. I think the fact that he's fit otherwise, but but in the hospital isn't going

to UM isn't going to deter anybody from voting for him? Yeah? Um? Is this because of the image six ft eight I don't have to describe as wardrobe to you. The the goat ds a tough guy. People think what tough guy is stroke he'll be fine. Well, I think we we also want people that don't fit the normally. I think the idea of sending somebody who looks like John Federman to think about sure, but another candidate might be besieged by concerns about their health right now. It doesn't seem

to be him. No, but that makes him unique, doesn't it. I mean, if you are running a campaign in your Canada had a stroke on Friday before the primary, you'd be a little concerned. Well, I belong to a party that on occasion we like dead people. So I didn't say that, Yeah, um, that's gonna be your general contest. Then Fetterman v uh, we'll find out tonight. Oz Mccormicktaly looks like Oz. I mean, maybe you think, Jennifer that that Oz pulls this out. He's up by two points

in the poll of polls. It's really kind of within the margin, isn't it. Yeah, I think it's within the mark. I think it is within the margin. I do think that Oz is going to pull this out, though, um, for no other reason than just sheer name recognition. At the end of the day, you know, to what Scott was saying, it's like you pull out a very small segment of the population. Everyone who's going is voting for their person, unless you're the person who actually takes your

responsibility to vote in every election seriously. And then you see doctor Oz is on there, and you know doctor Oz and you feel good about him and you've seen him on TV and that's exactly because one reality sensation to another. Yeah, wow, this is gonna be something to watch tonight. Um, stay where you are. We'll have the panel with us for the hour. Scott and Jennifer. Delighted that you're with us on our special hour of Bloomberg.

Sound on. As we turned to a special guest here that I told you would be coming, Lisa Whelan, his CEO of mass Sport. What we call it Massport here. Most people don't know. That's the Massachusetts Board Authority and it's the it's the quasi governmental agency that runs everything we're talking about here, transportation, travel, trade, the port, the airport. It's wonderful to see you in person. Thank you for coming to see us on Bloomberg. Jim, thank you so

much for having me. Well it's Joe, but that's fine. It's all three letters. Now, Um, where to start with this idea of supply chains. We've had reporters out of the Port of Long Beach, We've been to the Port of l A. We have spoken with the White House about this repeatedly and how to unclogged our ports. I wonder what you've experienced here in Boston in terms of ships lining up, in terms of UH shipping containers piling up.

Is this something that you're working through as well. So clearly no port in the US has been immune to some of the supply chain disruption that we've experienced. But here in the Port of Boston, we are congestion free or a regional port, which makes this difference than some of the gateways that you've mentioned. UH. And so what we offer to to New England's importers and exporters is efficient, reliable,

flexible UH service all at a congestion free port. Uh and so that makes us a little bit different, But that doesn't mean that we haven't seen some of the issues that others have experienced. UH So, certainly just UH schedule reliability. It's taking ships a lot longer to get to the East Coast than it used to. We used to take a ship to get from China to Boston thirty days. Now it's taking about sixty days. Why because they're going through other ports on the way, or are

there issues we haven't talked about yet. So so, certainly some of the issues that we've seen with ports shutdowns the congestion that you mentioned in other ports, right ships backing up waiting to getting those ports on the way to Boston. So this all ends up impacting every major economy or even small economy in the country. I think one of the things that we've learned our supply chains

are quite complex. One of the silver linings is that people now have a better understanding of where the stuff comes from that they use every day, whether it's the wine that you drink at night, the furniture in your homes, the shoes on your feet. Reports play an important role in getting all of those things that we use each and every day to us. You've been involved in a series of upgrades to the port over a course of years.

I know, I think, correct me if I'm wrong, you're you're just past phase three now in digging and dredging the harbor to be able to accept ships and goods that you never could before. What what is the status of that you're connecting Boston to markets that you never did business with before, That's correct. So one of the things that we set out to do was to revitalize the Port of Boston UH and keep it competitive, and that meant deepening our Harbor to accommodate the larger container

ships that are coming through the Panama Canal. It meant modernizing our container facility Conmly Terminal with larger cranes, deeper berths, and more technology. Uh. And so those projects are are near completion. And what does that mean. It means it's open up new trade routes to New England's importers and export from where. What does that mean for you in terms of business? Yeah, so it means to new services from Southeast Asia. So traditionally we've had a couple of

services calling Boston, one from China, one from North Europe. Uh. And we've recently announced that we've added two services to Southeast Asia, connecting us to Vietnam that's a service with Zoom Lines and another one connecting us to the Indian subcontinent with Mediterranean Shipping Company. That that just provides greater global connectivity for importers and exports. Does it mean goods you could not get into this port before as well?

Sure certainly does. But it also probably means that uh, more of those understood, right. So some of the things that coming into the board of Boston Furniture, Wind and Spirits sporting goods, and then on the export side, seafood. UH seafood is also a big import into the Port of Boston paper products, so it does provide additional sourcing strategies, a diversification, if you will, for import of the first

things people see when they fly into Boston. A lot of folks at the meeting tonight of the Cranes uh in in South Boston that have been awfully busy. I understand, But what kind of a of a labor issue are you facing. The worker shortages I know have been impacting every part of if you think of it your portfolio. We're certainly dealing with it in the airline business. How about in the shipping business. So we've been pretty fortunate. We've taken very very clear actions to keep our workers safe.

We've been open every day, we've never shut down because of COVID. And here in the Port of Boston, we have a great relationship with the International lungshore Rman's Association. We've worked very closely with them to improve productivity over the past few years, and that's what helps keep us competitive. Uh. How about the airport, A lot of us have been sitting in gates, maybe sitting in planes on tarmacs as

we try to reopen. This sort of confluence of revenge travel versus lack of manpower has created some real stresses I know for the industry. What does that mean for Logan Airport in Boston? Sure, I mean you think about the stresses and supply chain, right with all of this increase in demand. Similarly, we're seeing that on the airport side of things, as people are excited to return to travel.

We're excited to welcome passengers back, um, but coming out of a pandemic with labor shortages also, you know, planes that were parked for a long time coming back into service, those create some challenges. But at the same time, I think we're pretty optimistic about what we see at Logan. We're not quite back to where we were pre pandemic, but we look ahead to a very busy sp ing in summer travel season with the restoration of a number of European flights. Uh And I think it's pretty exciting.

How close are you, uh to being back to being made whole in terms of of routes specifically, never mind actual volume of aircraft. Yeah, so we're getting close this summer. We'll see a restoration of a number of services that were suspended during the pandemic. And then we see airlines making investments in new routes as well, which is pretty exciting.

We've got Delta launching service to Tel Aviv and Athens, American launching new services into Canada, and we'll have five carriers going into the London market, which is all great news for travelers. About that, Um, do you have a projection or do you not play that game? Uh? For the rest of the year in terms of traffic and and in fact getting back to where you were before the pandemic. Yeah, so I think we're a couple of years off. Couple of years. I thought you'd say months. No,

we're Logan is at about sevent of pre pandemic passenger volume. Uh. So I anticipate that will take us a couple of years to get back to where we were, but we're on the right trajectory. Is it airline by airline or are they all dealing with this similar recovery right now?

Do you speak with the carriers individually? We do, We do, and I think you know the the labor challenges are affecting everyone and so we're seeing them adjust their schedules accordingly to try to smooth out some of the operational challenges that you mentioned and others have experienced. UH. And certainly I think that the impact that's had on the travel experience and the customers has been unfortunate. But I think we're seeing them make adjustments to try to to

solve for some of that. It's fascinating conversation. Lisa. Really appreciate your talking with us today on Bloomberg. Lisa Whelan runs Massport and I hope you have a great time tonight. Thank you. Before you leave us, By the way, tell our listeners what they're gonna miss at this event. They're wondering around the country while we're here. Well, I will say that we're here to to thank for great individuals

who are getting inducted right and honors, you know. UM. But from my perspective, given the topics that we're talking about, Governor Baker, UH and Tom Glenn, whose mass Sport's former CEO, been tremendous supporters of the port. UH. Tom initiated our revitalization strategy, and Governor Baker was incredibly supportive, helping us to pay for dredging and the modernization the Ukranes. So we're thankful for their leadership and we congratulate them tonight.

Enjoy yourself. Thank you again on Bloomberg. It's great to meet you. Thank you, Lisa, Thank you as we spend time here at the Boston Convention Center on Bloomberg Sound On. I'm Joe Matthew in the Hub of the Universe with our panel. Scott first and Jennifernssour is with us. So how about it. We just heard from somebody who touches these issues on a on a direct basis, a firsthand basis. Every day. It's gonna be years before the airport is back.

I was surprised to hear that, Scott, were you, Yeah, I was surprised to hear that too, because it's certainly, I mean, I think maybe we've been locked down for so long, any activity seems like it's it's back. Yeah, But certainly I've you know, traveled through the airport and and it doesn't feel like it's it's uh, you know, it's fully backups, you know, or hit or miss the roads coming here too. So you can see that, and I think, you know, how does that impact it as

we're talking about the election. I think that does that that sort of lingering effect. You might have a job, but it's gonna take a while for families to recover too fully from pre pandemic. They're not wearing masks on those planes, though, Jennifer. And that's that's bringing even more people back into the fold, isn't it. I think so. I I actually had the pleasure of going mask free on a flight. Did it feel weird? Was it just me? I felt like I was doing something wrong? It was weird.

I thought I was gonna get yelled at right. I was like, oh, I'm gonna get some some puncil's office. Um. It was very weird. And I I am a little bit of a germophobe, and I was before covid um and so it was strange to watch and um, but it felt great to be back there. And I think that a lot of people will start hopefully traveling again. I mean, I've been to Logan. It feels like it's really crowded. But I think one of the things is

there are restaurants that are still not open, right. There are um parts you know there, there are flights that are still not coming in or going out. Um. And so I think that that's one of the reasons that it does feel so full. Boston is slowly starting, but it definitely you know again, it's like everything is perception. When you saw the streets completely empty and then a few people on the streets, and now you see so many more. Bank line is pretty low here, exactly. That's it.

I was amazed to learn that this that the Boston market suffered a greater loss in leisure and hospitality jobs than any in the country, any city in the country, New York, you think of the place as we go, San Francisco, l A, Orlando had nothing on Boston. That's a long term impact. When you talk about those types

of jobs and the families they support. Do you worry about employment here in the state coming back or or is it a story like we're hearing another parts of the country where there are two open jobs for every job seeker. Yeah, I think this is part of the success. M I'll give I'll give wide credit to the governor and to the legislature and everybody who who did this. I mean, we were hit harder first, way harder first,

and uh in the shutdown that happened. When you think about it, we've been suffering it longer and going through this longer than most parts of the country. Um, so both the impact was tougher here. Um the job market was already tight anyway going into it. So you've got just a number of things that there was kind of a built in resiliency here in the later stages of

COVID that other cities might not have had. And I think you see particularly, you know, there's two economies here, the tech economy, the service economy, and the tech economy just blipped and moved on and we all work out of our houses, and the service economy just tanked. And I think it's going to take a long time for the tech economy to get back and sync with the service costs. And I mean, I don't want to get too wonky into politics or or economics on a politics

show here, but that's been the real issue. Is this. There was this big overcorrection demand for good created this huge bottleneck in our ports no matter where you are, apparently, and it's going to be a slow turn back to services, Jennifer, where things maybe find some balance on the room. Definitely. I mean, if you walk into any shop, any business, whether it's a large conglomerate or a mom and pop shop.

If you go from a very large, um, you know, chain restaurant down to the small ones in Beacon Hill and backband the South End, you see the same thing going on. There aren't enough servers, there aren't enough people working in stores, not enough people to help not there's if you go into shops a lot of times, there's not enough goods that are out there. Um. And I think our restaurant industry, our travel and leisure has definitely taken a hit. That's where you could see it. I

think the most is in the service industry. And going back to what you said before, it's not that the that the unemployment rate is high. It's just that there's no one there and whether people took off and left or both just said I'm getting enough money from the government and I don't have to do anything, um. But but it's really impacting one consumers but also the business owners right absolutely. Um, that's not going to change for the rest of this election cycle. Scott. How much of

an issue is the economy in local elections here? Is it just the same as national Well, I think there's there's sort of as we talk about it on primary day, there's two things, right, So you've got the dungeons and draggers players who get to decide who we get to

vote for in November. So by the time that most people are gonna be paying attention, just regular voters who are affected by the economy, who are affected by gas prices and grocery prices, they're gonna get there, and they're gonna have in Pennsylvania dr Oz and Fetterman and and you know, then you've got the whole overlay of choice issues and what the court might do, um and and other things that are affecting it. You know, how does that all play out? I think, um, you know, and

then the balance of power. I don't think that people are gonna be thinking about the balance of power. I think we're gonna talk more about the primaries with Scott and Jennifer. We haven't even mentioned Madison Cawthorne yet. Up next, Carrie Goldberg, Bloomberg's Boston bureau chief. This is Bloomberg, broadcasting

live from our nation's capital. Bloomberg to New York, Bloomberg eleven frio to Boston, Bloomberg one of six UA to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to the country, Sirius x M General one nine and around the globe, the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matt Hughes. When I landed at Logan Airport here in Boston, my phone buzz with a local news alert. There was a story from the Globe.

The headline the new highly transmissible O macron variant b A two one to one is dominating in mass Are we doing this again? We're gonna talk about it next with Carrie Goldberg, the Boston bureau chief for Bloomberg out with also in a using story today on why hospitals are postponing cat scans and ratcheting care. Yeah, it's about the supply chains. We'll get into that next in a special edition of Sound On from Boston. I'm hoping some or dervs you know, might go by here, Carrie pretty soon.

We're set up in the massive mezzanine level, the lobby level outside the ballroom at the Boston Convention Center here in the Seaport District, where the Chamber of Commerce is having its annual Business Meeting, the biggest business event of the year. Here in the Hubb of the universe, and with Bloomberg the media sponsor, we thought we'd come up here and talk to some folks who normally don't get to see, including Carrie Goldberg, the Bloomberg Boston bureau chief.

What a treat to have you. Thanks for coming to see us year, Carrie. You spent a lot of time covering COVID. You spent a lot of time covering the recovery and the supposed reopening from COVID, and it's being challenged again. How concerned are you as you see New York reach a high level that Boston might be there

next right, Boston is pretty much already there. In fact, the positive test rate in Massachusetts over eight percent at this place, And I have to confess that I'm looking around at this big room full of hundreds, I'm cringing. I'm looking at them, almost none of them are wearing masks, and I'm just as a longtime mouth reporter, I'm feeling like, are you sure? Are you sure? Yeah? You're in the Half of these people may have flown in like I did.

Um is it impacting business right now? I know there's a lawsuit, for instance, in the North End, which is kind of the little Italy of Boston where restaurants are are fighting this idea of having to pay for for street dining, for instance. There's been a lot of growing pains that continue right although I would say that's not directly due to COVID. I mean, it is the outdoor dining,

which is student COVID. But I wouldn't say that this new wave that we're seeing right now, which the Northeast seems to be leading in, is affecting businesses at this point. Is that because we're not paying attention right now, And that would be just exactly. We're all in a lot of denial. And it's not just denial. I mean, the fact is that to a great extent, we have d couple his high rate of cases from the rate of hospitalization, not totally but mostly. So you know, it's a reasonable

decision to hobnob in this giant room. They have lobster rolls too, So I mean, come on, so you talk about COVID, you can't escape the topic of supply chain. We just spoke with the mass Sports CEO a while ago, and you've got a remarkable story on the terminal. We remember when you know they were they were eliminating elective surgeries and so forth. At the beginning of COVID. This

is a little different. Hospitals around the US as carry rights are postponing cat scans and rationing care while waiting on shipments of medical die that's made in a Shanghai plant that of course has been dealing with lockdowns here. This is such a classic example of the ripple effects. Something happening in Shanghai is going to impact somebody who's living right here in the Boston area. How how severe is this problem? Right? So the problem is significant, all right?

I mean, hospitals around the country are postponing some of their cat skins, and they're worried that if this continues to get worse, which you probably will before it gets better, that they may have to postpone emergency cats. Cat skins. Like when you have you might be having a heart attack, you might be having a stroke. You go into the e er. They need to check to see what's going on in your brain or your heart. They need that, right, They need this fluid that they put into your body

to see what's going on in there. And if they run out, which they haven't yet, but which they're worried that they will then they won't be able to do that. Are there solutions being presented? Here? Are we hoping for the best. So hospitals are trying to conserve anyway they can, They're using smaller doses, they're they're trying to put off

anything that they can. But you know, the American Hospital Association just sent a letter to the maker of this Digeneral Electric, which is a Boston based company, saying, look, we are very worried that there's going to be a severe gap between demand and supply in the coming weeks. So there's great concern. So is this the next baby formula of the White House is going to have to deal with this next week? And say the President is invoking the National Defense Actor of the Production Act to

make this better. I mean, we need we need to see how it develops. Um g E is doing all it can. It's actually flying supplies in that would normally come by ship, and so you know, it is coping as best it can. But she is saying at this point, the the factory that closed in Shanghai is only back up to fifty of its normal production. So that's better,

but it's not enough. And so Basically, we're gonna see this crunch in the coming weeks, and it is possible that it would reach the point where the White House needs to do something. Oh my god. Well, uh, it's

great reporting. Find the story on the terminal hospitals ration, cat scans awaiting die from Shanghai g E plant just like ge needed more trouble right now, and also one more supply chain issue in the medical system that everyone says, look, we can't have this, we can't have too much dependence on one supplier of essential medical goods. And yet it happened again. It's unbelievable. Carry thank you for bringing this

to us. It's wonderful to see you and spend some time here in the flesh without masks at least for an now in Boston. Our panel is with us for a couple of more moments here on this topic, at least, Jennifer and sour Scott first, and this is like, uh my goodness, it's it's just just like watching a rerun here. Every story ends up that we're tackling today being being a similar one when it comes to supply chains like this. Jennifer, what's the political fallout for this White House they get

blamed for it. Yeah, absolutely, you know, I think that's fair. I think so because look that the person in power always gets the high if the economy is high, and the low if the economy is it doesn't matter. It's just that's just the way it is. And so you take a victory lap when the economy is doing great and everyone is employed and there's no unemployment. However, right now, with the record high inflation, everything that we're talking about,

you hear about, you know, this medical problem. You listen to moms who cannot get formula for their babies. If you want to change an election, mess with mothers and their children. Okay, that is the one way to get people off of their rumps and to go and vote is to say you're not letting me feed my baby. And and I don't want to hear anything other than how do I feed my child? Because that is something

today that is an issue. And so unless the White House could fix that today's issues, I think they're going to get walloped in. At the risk of invoking this story after what you just said, Scott, that's what a lot of Democrats and a lot of progressives are saying about reproductive rights. Right now, mess with mothers. We're gonna have a march on Washington. And what Elizabeth Warren says will be a reckoning at the ballot box in the how do you manage it on the campaign level? Well,

I think those are two different issues. I think they are. Yeah. I think one is, you know, how does the White House respond to you know, it's very destabilizing with the pandemic has been destabilizing, the fact that you kind of get baby formula is just destabilizing. This is America, you know, we're not used to be. Isn't having to travel for an abortion destabilizing? Well, but I think it's I think

that in terms of that's a direct assault. That's not how the how the administration might respond supply chain issue, well, you know, that's that's sort of the you know, So I would look at those two things differently. I think they're but we're talking about a mix where I'm going to be in the ballot, ballot box and all of these things are gonna be in my mind. And question is how they how they Why our heads are spinning? Spinning is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg. So long with Joe

Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. You know, it's not often we share a room with a thousand people here on sound on it's usually three. But that's exactly what we have today here, as you can hear behind us at what is the biggest meeting of business and politics in the great city of Boston, the annual meeting of the Boston Chamber under way here and we're all set up at the Boston Chamber of Commerce here at the Convention Center, with special honors tonight going to Governor Charlie Baker, who

incidentally will not be here after falling ill. His office says he tested negative for COVID today. And we do the Governor well, because we were planning and hoping to speak with him. But let's reassemble the panel to get into some of the topics and races that we're looking

at on this busy primary day. We've talked about the Pennsylvania primary with Jennifer Nassour, a former chair of the Massachusetts GOP, and with Scott Pherson of Liberty Square Group here in Boston, political consultant and strategist, and so we'll carry on with I know you've been looking forward, Jennifer to talking about Madison Cawthorne. I have to bring it

up because it's so impossible to escape. And he's the youngest member of Congress, got a lot of attention when he came into office, endorsed early by President Trump, and wow, the last couple of weeks have been something. He says that it's a media made up, you know, hit job on him. But it's videos you couldn't show a child. It's walking through airport security with a gun in your bag, it's being pulled over with a revoked license. This is

the eleventh District North Carolina, seven primary opponents. What happens tonight? Well, I think, and I hope that that's not because I'm just being it's wishful thinking, but I think that he is going to finally go down. I think a lot of his Republican colleagues are hoping he goes down. I think the majority of the Republican Party hopes that he

goes down. These scandals won't ever go away, and they taint other candidates um and it's unfortunate because it takes away from the larger picture of the issues that are important right now to voters. What does that say about the Trump brands again here Scott, when we're looking at someone that even the Republican leadership would prefer to see lose tonight. Well, I think I think the a couple of things. One is, you know, Trump has has sort

of hedged his bets on this one. I think, you know, so he'll take he'll take credit for it if he gets and avoids a runoff. Um, but I do. This is old adage about Congress that when you first get elected to Congress, you look around you think how did I get here? And then after a month you look around you so do you think how did they get here?

You know? So I think that this is a long history where where where Congress, particularly the House of a Resentative, is large enough that you've got all kinds of characters.

And I think it's it's it's a it's a problem when you know the powers that be say that that this is an embarrassment, we need to have him removed, and then you've got seven candidates running against him, and then you're just you're just diffusing your odds in in in a way so he might survive would be interesting thing to see, in which case, if he does, it seems like he will, they'll still be returned to Congress, be no major committee assignments anytime. No. I think their

plan is to get rid of him. I mean to to suppress him as much as possible. And I'm hoping that when you know, when you're looking at UM, and I'm a fan of ranked choice voting, and I think one of the things that you look at is it becomes harder to get to your percentages if you aren't a good candidate, if you aren't someone's you know, first

or second or maybe top third choice. And in this in this case, I'm hoping that the other candidates really just dilute his numbers down, Um, and it goes away that way, because I think it's a really big mess for leadership to have to deal with him otherwise. I want to ask you about the governor's race here. I mentioned Charlie Baker. He's not going to be with us. He's uh, he's not running for reelection, which was a

pretty big deal, Scott. Maybe you saw that coming, Um, but it looks like he's going to be spending more time talking about his book than you know, national politics as we move forward here, not that he was ever really talking about national politics. I mean he's like the unicorn Republican here, was never in the Trump zone, was not a fan when when this first came about, and doesn't even seem to agree on a lot of things with his own state party. What kind of a legacy

does he leave before I ask you about replacing him? Yeah, um, I think a strong legacy. I mean, you know, the as a Democrat, I might say, well, he's frustrating on a number of fronts. He should be this, he should be that. But when you look at the reality of what people in Massachusetts think about the governor, he could easily we're just talking about this, he could be reelected as a Democrat if you write to that was clear.

So you know, as we would say, he's doing something right, you know, the that to have those kinds of numbers and he leaves the state in a in a strong position. Um, I am gonna go out on a limb here and put my little Republican hat on and pretend to be a Republican strategist and say he should he should run for president because his path to the nomination he doesn't have to go through Donald Trump in the way that others do. Outside candidate. Now, there's much much smaller pool

to the Reublican primary to come from. But his path is I think a lot clearer than take cruizes or Josh Holly's or other How how do you clear that field? Though? In a in a contestant, I can't wait to hear your views on this general. Larry Hogan in Maryland is kicking the tires at it. That's right. They have a lot in common. But Jennifer, this has become a different party. And they would call Charlie Baker a Democrat, I don't drunk,

call him a rhino. Yeah, no, absolutely, And Scott, I'm sure if first Lady Lauren Baker is listening right now, she has a voodoo doll right now off the Christmas cards your that's it? Um, So you know, I think number one. I'm one of the governor's biggest fans. I would throw myself in front of a bus for him. I think he's amazing, he's brilliant. He's done a great job in Massachusetts. It has not been about sticking with the political the politics of the day. It's not political.

It is about management, which is why Massachusetts the largest surplus in any state budget. Why is you know where if if it wasn't for COVID, we would be the most prosperous of every of every stage. Why at odds with the National Party because he doesn't he doesn't want to get involved in the politics. He's not falling into the Trump Oh we've got to hate everyone and and you know, say nasty comments. Instead, he is very focused on Massachusetts and that's why I don't know if he

would even want to run for president. And you know, if he did, he would be a choice for others. He would be like the Chris Christie, like the you know, like others who out there and are not in the Trump mold, which I think is great. However, Um, I'm sad to see the governor go. I really was hoping he was going to run for a third term. He has been amazing. It's the end of of a dynasty here, um, and it will be interesting to see what the next four or eight years bring. Um. After this election, and

on the Republican side, we have two candidates running. On the Democratic side, they have two candidates running. I think both Scott and I would agree that you know, there are maybe two people in this race on either side, that he should move on and allow the voters to hear the real issues that are going on. Well, let's get into that a little bit. By the way, Scott, you don't think Charlie Baker has national ambitions, do you? I don't know. I don't. I'm not privy to what

is thinking. But you haven't assumed that he was going to make a dash for Washington. Uh. He just doesn't seem that kind of guy. Lo and behold, Marty Walsh is the one in Washington. But that's another question. Um, as far as this goes more, he Lee is the clear front runner on the Democratic side. Is that done? She's going to get this nomination. I think we should,

frankly to swear in right now. The mainstream Canada underside at no, no, he was Donald Trump's campaign so called state what chairman in sixty and the only I remember going there from a Boston news outfit at the time, went to the Trump convention and he was the only person from mass there, not another member of the party. Show now right right, exactly, That's who Jeff Deal is. So Jeff Deal, it's all about politics, right, It's about throwing the Trump name around. You don't see him winning

the trust. A news flash, we live in Massachusetts, So I mean that the Trump thing isn't isn't flying here. That's number one. Number two, we have a very interesting primary system, so we have fifty roughly fifty six percent of our electorate are actually unenrolled voters, so on primary day they can pay which primary they want to run

that they want to vote in. And so here for us, I think that having someone who's so extreme can work the other way because for years and years I've always heard people who have said, I'm going to vote for the other person, not because I care about Republican politics or Democratic politics, but I don't want that person to show up on the ballot. And I think that that

could be the case here. Chris Dowdy, who is the other candidate running, is much more in the Mitt Romney, paulse Lucci, Jane Swift, Bill Weld, and Charlie Baker competition. He can because I think he has a good grasp on business. He's a business owner, he has built his

business from the ground up. He's a father, he's a grandfather, and so he's very in touch with what is going on in Massachusetts on the ground, and so he would be the one who would have a really good debate with her, a solid debate where they're both very smart people who could have a good date that it's not throwing around national politics and bring it into Massachusetts. There's

no place for that. Whaley's got the cash though, Scott uh certainly name recognition and quite a story to tell with you know this David and Goliath attorney general from mass who sued all these massive corporations, including the opioid lawsuit that a lot of people can relate with. Could could there be a real Republican challenge You're ready to swear her in and where you swear in, but I think that would be nice if there's a Republican challenge.

I certainly think with with Doudy, that's a much better better race you actually have. You could actually get into a policy discussion, which I think would be good and make whoever wins went make moraw when she wins the stronger governor. UM. But I do think you know, she both is extremely well liked, has done a great job as Attorney general Uh, and would be groundbreaking. James Swift was governor, but to elect the governor of Massachusetts l g pt Q is would be groundbreaking and I think

we are very attractive. All right, we have less than a minute left. I'm gonna throw this at both of you. You'll just love me for it. I understand that the deadline to file as an independent is August. Marty Walsh, anyone, no st you know. I think a lot of people would have really liked that. Again, are unenrolled. I don't know if he leaves a solid job in d C for a prospect. And right he is everywhere in DC every time that he's real. I can't show up anywhere

without saying Mr mayor, I mean secretary. Thank you so much to both of you, Scott, Jennifer, wonderful conversation. I told you we'd have some smart minds here. Thanks to Carry Goldberg as well, and leaves to Weiland from Massport. A special edition of Sound On This is Bloomberg