It's a Numbers Game: Politics, Unfiltered: Answering Your Burning Questions

want to get to. It is the dead of summer, and I figured why not have a special episode where I thank the listeners for being with me here and answering some of your questions. And if you want to be part of future Ask Me Anything segments of the show at the end of the podcast, email me Ryan at Numbers Game Podcast dot com. It's Ryan at Numbers Plural Numbers Game Podcast dot com. I read every email and I would love to hear from you. So let's

go to some listener questions. First up is Joel from Ohio. I love your show and wish it came out before seven am because I'm often busy and can't get to until later in the day, but today's a slow day anyway. My question has to do with the situation in Iran. My concern is that the Iranian regime will fall and that there will be chaos in the streets. That's no

good for anyone. What I like to see is a government in exile be formed with the support of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Israel that's able to take power on day one. Here's the question. Is any polling organization asking in its current polls, if the poll if the Polie would support regime change, if Iran change in Iran, if there was a government in exile waiting for power. Great question, Joel, appreciate it. So I think the problem

with the question you're asking is in the framing. The idea of regime change, to the minds of Americans means boots on the ground, and that is extremely unpopular. That's what people go to when they hear regime change. According to a Washington Post poll from June twenty third, is twenty two percent of American support military intervention aimed at toppling the current government of Iran, while forty eight percent oppose.

Only thirty six percent of Republicans, they support sending troops into Iran, So there's no appetite at all, and all pollings surrounding the term regime change is directly related in the minds of people, whether correct or incorrect, to military intervention ie boots in the ground. I know that's probably not what she meant, but that's people think. Now here's the idea of a government in exile. The problem is Iranians, according to the polls available, which is very limited. I

will give you that note first. It's extremely limited. But according to the polls available, Iranians aren't exactly sure what kind of government they even want. A twenty twenty three Gamand survey of one hundred and fifty eight thousand online Iranian respondent so that eighty one percent rejected the Islamic Republic, but twenty two percent actually favored a constitutional monarchy as the alternative. Twenty eight percent wanted a presidential republic and

twelve percent a parliamentary republic. So while the Iranian people don't like the current Islamic regime, who knows what future government they want and they have to be part of that process and they have to decide that for it to be legitimate. We can't decide that for them, and that's where it gets a little complicated. But thank you for your question. Next up, Casey, she writes, new listener

to your show, but loving it. My question is an issue that is being underreported is the immense pushback from Senator Mike Lee has faced for his amendment in the second in the Senate Reconciliation bill that would sell millions of acres of public land in Western states. Right leaning groups and voters have publicly denounced the bill, with one of the loudest voices coming from hunters who lean right. Following the pushback from other Western Republican senators, Mike Lee

is thinking his overthinking his approach. Is it smart for Senator Lee to add such a controversial position to an already contentious bill? Could this be an issue that splinter's the Republican Party? Thanks? See okay, I got this email before that The amendment in question would have sold three point three million acres of land that the government owns that's managed by the Bureau of Land Management and US four Services. It would have sold those three point three

million acres and to private enterprise into private businesses. But because of pressure from Republican senators like the Montana Senator Tim Sheheeney. It's out of the bill, so it wasn't even voted on. They took it right out of the bill. However, I think I'm going to I'm going to give Mike Lee a little grace. I don't agree with the approach of just selling all of our government owned land, our federal own land. Mike Lee has got libertarian leanings, so

they don't support federal owned land, which I understand. But I think that specific to the state of Utah, unlike other states, the federal land brushes right up to some of their cities. It's not just like in the middle of nowhere like it is for some states. Places like Saint Utah, which is one of the fastest growing parts of southern Utah, has very limited space because of the federal land. I think a better solution would be to look at where specific areas of federal land are stopping

urban planning in very specific location. Not millions of acres across the country, but you know, maybe a several few thousand acres in very select places. That would be in a better alternative than Mike Lee's approach. But thank you for that question. Next up is John Buckwalter from Scottsdale, Arizona. By the way, guys, if I mispronounce your name, you have to understand I can barely pronounce my own name. I think I got John's name correctly, but other people's names.

If I mispronounce your name, I apologize. I am from New York, I can I am missing whole syllables and consonants in my alphabet. I am struggling through the English language. Please forgive me ahead of time. Okay, Ryan, I just thought I would reach out and say thank you. Listen to a fair amount of conservative podcast I really like yours. I value quality information on relevant topics and guests and expert analysis. You do it like no one else I have found, and you don't waste my time. Thank you.

I hate waste people's time. You must work really hard to do your research and organize guests. Are you on channels other than the free podcast that I should find you on? Great content deserves my support. Keep it up. Thank you so much, John, that's really really nice of you. I have a newsletter called the National Poplist Newsletter on substack. It's fifty dollars a year for a subscription, and that's

basically it. I have been asked many times to start a YouTube channel for this podcast, and something I hope to do at some point this year is to get this on youtubecause people like to listen and watch a video seeming to be very animated with my hands flailing and all my italianness. But that is something that I plan on doing, hopefully sometime this year, if I can get around to it. I don't really know how to do that though, so I'm going to figure it out.

Another big fantasy goal of mine for this podcast eventually if it continues to grow, and last month was my best month ever, so I'm so appreciative to every person who spends the thirty to forty five minutes hearing my voice. You have no idea how grateful I am. No one in my family would do that if I paid them

to do it. But a big goal of mine eventually if it continues to grow, is I would love to do a live audience taping one day with like a guest like I would if I can ask Anne Cole to do it with me one day, that would be fun in a theater or something. I don't know. If people would pay to attend that, but that would be fun and that's something I would love to do. But as for right now, it's just the substack. So thank you for listening and maybe subscribe. Now let's go to Russell.

I'm gonna mispronounce your name Kluge. I think hello Ryan, great work on your show. I increasing look forward to Mondays and Thursdays. I will try to be as concise as possible with twenty sixteen and twenty twenty four now in the review mirror, What do you think about and are there any numbers on the assumption often repeated by Democratic pundits in both election years, that the US will never elect a female president is the assumption that a Democratic nominee is more likely to win if Vance is

the Republican air apparent. Is there any possibility of a female VP pick over, say Marco Rubio or another male cabinet member. I've included three major observations and one prompt about a candidate that have influenced my own thinking that possibly refused the above assumption. The twenty sixteen gender gap, which shows there was no differs between Clinton and the Trump debates candidate quality in the twenty twenty two elections

where female candidates. One I'm concise what he says there and says, by the way, because it's paragraphs so long. Donald Trump himself, no one thought that he was a serious candidate before he ran. And Sarah Palin that she was not hurt from being a woman. Okay, I appreciate he says, by the I appreciate your time that you take for your response. Okay, thank you so much, Russell.

This is Russell Klug. I don't think I'm spelling that pronouncing that name correctly anyway, but Russell Klug, thank you, very astute observations. I think Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton set women politicians back in this country. I really do. With their losses, especially Kamala even more than Hillary. I think people thought Hillary would be a fluke, and Kamala losing the popular vote and losing every swing state and making some states more competitive than they should have been

really hurt female candidates. And I do think it will be a bit of time before Democrats nominate a woman again. As far as Republicans go, my bigger question is who would they pick right And I've heard through the grape vine that elis Stephonic is planning to make a run in twenty twenty eight, whether or not she wins the governorship of New York. I'm sorry, but I don't think she's got a shot in hell. Allegedly Trump said that she looks like this is mean, but this is what

I heard through the grape vine. Allegedly Trump said she dresses like a couch. And the sad thing is, we all know which couch's talking about. It's the couch from Rosanna. We know it. A big part of it is not cad quality in the sense of do they have what it takes? But are they doing the correct things now to launch a presidential bid? Are they making an effishing team?

Do they have the donors in mind? I'll tell you Sarah Huckabee Sanders definitely did a lot of damage to herself in Trump world when she refused to endorse him out of the gate. Katie Britt left a lot to be desired when she gave her rebuttal to the State of the Union and poison the well water. A lot with how grabby she was during the VP selection. Christy nom she shot her dog right. That ends that there's no America is not going to vote for the lady

who shot her puppy. I mean, you can say you want a woman president, but unless you can give a specific example, it's hard for me to give you a definitive answer on whether they can be the nominee. And there's a big difference between running for governor or Senate and running for president. Namely, you're the commander in chief of the armed services. So I don't know the answer. I know, like my buddy Megan McCain really wants there to be a woman president one day, and people have

mentioned a lot of names. I don't see someone on the horizon right now. Doesn't mean there can't be, but it's like it's like someone saying, will ever be a gay president? Not Pete poota judge. That's the answer to that. Will there be one? There's no Republican on the horizon. Could there be one? Maybe, but until you give me a name, I can't give you an answer. Okay, we'll be back with more listener questions after this brief break. Stay tuned, Welcome back. Our next listener question comes from

Andy Kirby. He writes, Hey, Ryan, love the podcast and what you do for the seventeen seventy six project. I use numbers like number websites like numbers USA and Liberty Score to make sure that Republican politicians in my state aren't going along with libtard policies. I love that you said libtard. Is there any other? Is there any any other or better website like that to track how people are voting in DC and on state level stuff? Also, do we have a chance of winning the governor's mansion

in Wisconsin replacing Tony Evers? Or do you have any of the stories about Wisconsin other than why Tom Tiffany is the best elected representative Wisconsin. Thanks so much. Okay, Andy, No, there is not a better website. And I know this because I have told so many people like Amy Kramer and John Magantee and people, and I'm like, make this website, make a Magascore website for politicians. It would be a

huge hit, right. Take big topics trade, foreign policy, you know, infrastructure, whatever, immigration obviously, and rank how people vote and make sure people know how they're voting, how the representatives are voting in terms of things that you like, and include amendments and stuff like this. And a lot of people been interested, but no, one has done it, and I don't understand why, and I'm too busy to do it. But someone should do it. Someone should have been doing it for a

year years. As far as Wisconsin goes, my friend is Rebecca Cleafish. She does a lot of school board stuff with me, like our nonprofits do, so I respect her a lot. I really like her. I think she'd be a great governor. I told her on the phone to run, and she didn't really give me a clearance when she was going to do it or not. Wisconsin is a very tough state, and a lot of people from Illinois and Minnesota have moved there and taken their politics there.

It was the closest swing state that voted for Trump. In terms of the raw vocoes. You have to either get someone who has the Trump effect in the rural counties or runs decent numbers in the cities like Dane and Milwaukee, or you turn out the wow counties with huge numbers. So Wisconsin's a tough state to win. I

mean it's possible. For sure. Tony Evers is going to be a prime target for a flip in Republican for the RGA in twenty twenty six, and I think they'll put a lot of money there, but I don't know. I mean, I have to see the nominee as first. As far as Wisconsin stories go, it's tough. I've only for the school board races. I've never actually visited the state.

Of a lot of friends from Wisconsin who will always tell me come up there for the beer, the cheese and the lakes, and I have not had a chance to. It should be my bucket list, though, to go to Wisconsin. I heard it's a beautiful state, but I haven't been. Next question is from Olivia Hutchins. Okay, this is a very long question. I'm going to try to condense it. Olivia, Ryan, I'm a huge fan of the podcast. I've been meaning to email you to cover some things about polling for

my background on my evolution. We are around the same age. I'm thirty nine, she's thirty nine. I'm thirty eight, but i'm thirty nine. I'll be forty next year. I canvassed for Hillary in two thousand and seven, voted for Obama in eight and twelve Hillary, and sixteen cry when Trump won, then voted for Trump and twenty and twenty four and couldn't be happy with how things are going. She's lived all around the country, from Philly to San Francisco to

now Denver. I'm moving back east. A couple of things. I'm pretty radicalizednse beingcoming a mom, and I have no tolerance for BS, which is basically the entire left right now. Absolutely anything that puts my kids at risk is a no from me. And I'm wondering if you've seen any research, commentary, or polling related to women with kids. I know married women tend to vote Republican, but I'm curious about why

that is. I grew up pretty liberal, went to a private liberal arts school, and then went to law school when the economy collapsed in eight graduated with lots of debt. I paid diligently for a decade plus and now considered a highly educated voter with a degree. But I'm not particularly religious, so I don't think I fully fit the mold of a conservative woman voter. Interested to see if you've covered this or have any insight. She also asked about the birth rate for immigrants about people who have

self deported. Okay, so, Olivia, thank you for your question. First, I will say this, I am a low education voter because I don't have a college degree, a college shropout when I say low education, and when people say low education, it should not be interpreted as low intelligence or low information. Those are two very separate things. And I think that that's very important, because people get very tightly wound when they hear low education as if it means low information

or low intelligence. It's not comparable. It's not the same thing at all. When it comes to women with children under eighteen, I actually did this research for you. So this is according to exit polling, which is not the most accurate thing in the world, but it is the only thing that actually examined this specific question. Women with children under eighteen voted more Republican than women without children

under eighteen in the last election. According to Seen and Exit Polls, which was done by the Edison Foundation, White women with children under eighteen voted for Trump by a margin of eighteen points compared to one point for women without children under eighteen. Among Latina women, they voted double digits more for Trump than women without children did. Even though he didn't win them, he got a lot closer because of children. Women and the only group that appears

to be an outlier to that trend is black women. Now, remember I said this is exit polling, so Pew Research and other organizations that did this research they didn't include that question. But there are numbers for black women. And how Trump performed was actually better than the sampling in the exit poling, So maybe he did do better. But it seems obvious that the trend for a Latino women and for white women, especially which there was a large

sample size, is that he did significantly better. His margins were double digits better for both demographics when it came to do they have children under eighteen or not? Why is that? Why do women with a with a spouse and with children vote differently than those without because their priorities are different, their life experiences are different, and I think that there is something to women who don't And this is no listen, everyone's their own choices in life.

Don't get married, get married, have kids, don't have kids. I'm not putting you down for what I'm going to say, but I think it's worth's saying there is something for women, especially liberal women who are middle aged or older, who don't have children, who are politics and they tend not to be religious either, except for the nuns. Politics becomes their family, their kids, their church, their QVC. It's where they put money, it's where they put time, it's where

they put energy, it's where they volunteer. I respect that immensely. You're part of the democratic process, that's great, but that is very much their world. And I have friends in who fall in that bracket who are liberal, and I maintain friendships with them because I think they're good people overall, and I like them, but they become exhausting about politics. Sometimes they really like to talk about it quite a

bit more than I do. I don't like to talk about politics because I work in it, so it's not the same thing for me. But I think that's partly why. On the second thing with supporting people, I read the full paragraph that I'm not going to read out loud. It's very hard for me to sit there and give you analysis on self deportation stories because there's no hard numbers.

As I said in the previous question, a lot of it is just the New York Times or NPR interviewed this person or that person, they cried and they went home. There's we just don't collected data like that, and until an organization does that, I don't have the answers. Eventually, hopefully I will. Okay, this next question comes from Ryan, best name in the best name in the English language. Ryan, I say that, I say what you said on this podcast on Thursday, all the time you want Nancy Pelosigan.

Whoever replaces her will be ten times worse. Same with Schumer Naler. Look at me in New Jersey Republicans hate him Menendez, then we got Kim Way worse. Your podcast is fantastic, getting better and better. Keep it up, Ryan, Bryan a big fan of the name. Thank you so much. I know it wasn't a correct question, but thanks for the shout out. Yeah, the progresses that are coming forward, like the Mendanis of the world, will make Build A. Blasio look like Ronald Reagan. They are, you know, saturated

in wokeness, in identity politics, in that Marxism. It's going to not be great. It's just not going to be great. So I completely agree. Okay, last question, this one I'm reading, is from Patty. I love your It's a Numbers Game podcast. I've been a listener since you were on Clay and Buck. I really liked your New York's New Normal podcast even though I am from California, so interesting to hear you lay up what's happening in New York, which I believe

is also filtering across the country and into California. Interesting to hear how people are voting based on race, gender, nationally, and education. However, it's hard to hear the words lower education and less educated because that's me as a middle class person, even though I have a college degree, just not a higher degree. I think where the people with real life experiences, forethought, and common sense believe your podcast will get some New York Conservatives voting in the polls.

My vote is for you to do an in depth podcast on California, how they vote and who's voting. We have such a strong feeling California that it's really a purple state, but it always comes up with such strong blue state. Our representatives seemed very lazy. They just vote with the Democratic Party no matter what the issue is. Would love to hear your analysis in California. I expect Kamala Harris be our next governor because the DNC will

pick her and Democrats's vote in line. Also, I expect Gavin Newsom's running for president, even though he's made it a mess of California. Love your podcast response to an email or tidbits. Keep up the good work. Thank you Patty for that. Okay, you want a whole California episode, I will bring you a whole California episode. I will ask the people. I will get people on who are expossed on California. Patty, your wish will be my command. I will get an episode this summer all in California.

I have some data in my head. I know California is to a lot of new Republicans. So first and foremost about the education thing. Once again, when you have a college degree, you're actually not a low education voter. You're actually a college educative voter. So if you have a degree, you do not represent a low education voter. I represent a low education voter. I went to Queen's College and dropped out with studying art. I was really

not trying in school. I am the low education voter, but I'm not a low inform voter, and I'm a very high active voter. The problem with low education voters, often times people without a college degree is they don't vote frequently, and they have If you're looking at overall demographic things, they have a lot of anti social behaviors in the sense they don't attend churches or nonprofits, they don't give to charity as much, they're less likely to

have many friends. All of these things are not great for them their health and the health of the country. And I want non college educated voters to be more engaged, like you know, like myself. And that's a lot of middle class behaviors come from those kinds of things, like participation in things like church and nonprofits and groups, and closeness to family. All of that stuff really doesn't matter. Savings and all the rest of it. All that is very tied together as far as race and education. How

they vote is race, religion, and gun ownership. Those are the three biggest indicators. Gun ownership still huge indicator, race less so because of the political realignment, it's becoming more education than race related. But I will give you a whole episode in California and I will talk all about it and we will go into it. I will bring experts on and that's what I will do for you, Patty. We'll do it for a future episode. Okay, I have one more segment I know I usually do and ask

me anything. Segment for the show for the last segment, but that's kind of redundant since this whole episode has been I have a very cool story about Nancy Pelosi's daughter and me sharing a bus ride, which I will share with you coming up next. Welcome back to our final segment of this episode. Okay, So I have a funny story that kind of crawl back in my memory a while ago, and I was like, I got to share this with the podcast. I've never talked about this

in real life. I was just like in conversation, but never on like a show. In twenty thirteen, there's something in New York called the megabus and basically, if you booked a ride early enough, you could get a ride from New York to DC for a dollar. And that was like the enticing thing. And if you were broke like I was in twenty thirteen. I don't know how old I was, but I was definitely broken. Twenty thirteen, you can get a cheap ride for a dollar to Washington,

d C. So I booked my ride. I think it was like for five dollars. And I'm waiting on some corner in Manhattan waiting for this bus to show up, and this woman dressed all in purple, comes and stands next to me and is just chatting my ear off, asking how much I paid. I paid five dollars, she paid nine dollars. Whatever it was. Her bicycle was just stolen.

She's heartbroken about this purple bicycle. I mean, just you know, one of those times you're traveling and you don't want to talk to anybody and you find someone who will not stop talking to you. It was that. So the bus arrives, we get on it, and she says to me, what do you do for a living? And I said, and I hate giving the correct answer, so usually I just lie. But I didn't have the energy to make

up a lie like that. I was, you know, a dermatologist or something, because if they asked me a real question, I'm not going to know anything. I'll start singing the song like the you know, the elbow bones connected to the armbone. I have no idea. I literally don't know about science anyway. So I say, work in politics. And at this time, I am I am in ripped up jeans, I am in flannel, I am in a I am in a like hoodie. Uh no, I was in a

cart again, and I definitely look like a hipster. I was giving off very hipster vibes and she said, oh, what party? And I was like, all right, here you go. I'm a Republican and she said, oh, you don't look like a Republican. And I was like, well, my armband's in the washing machine right now, so that's why you can't recognize me. And she laughed and I said what do you do? And she was, I'm a documentary filmmaker. And I was like, oh, I watched those Alexander Pelosi

documentaries on HBO. She was, I'm Alexandra Pelosi. I was like, okay, now I am dying to talk to you. The conversation has just increased in interest by seven million percent. I was like, what are you doing on a megabus going to Washington, d C. And she was, I'm going to go see the Anchorman two premiere at the Newseum with my mom and her mom is it's Nancy Pelosi. Like it's like, okay, this is interesting, and she's like, do you like hate my mom? And I was like, no, no,

I don't hate anybody like. I mean, I don't agree with her and stuff, but whatever. So I just started talking to her, and she was like, fascinating woman because she worked for NBC News for years before becoming a documentary filmmaker. And I'm like, oh, this is the good gossip. She says to me. This is a couple of good gusps. But one thing she said to me, she was, you know, I'm not one of my moms zombies. Those are the

exact words that she said to me. And I was like, oh, okay, And I think I believe she said this, that one of Nancy's children who lived in Texas was actually votes Republican. I believe she said that. I don't think my memory starts me wrong. The zombies thing definitely doesn't serve me wrong, because I was shocked when she said it. Anyway, So she says to me, I said, I was a writer too, and she goes, would you want to read a screenplay

I'm working on? And she had made a documentary call like on the Bus with George, about her time working for NBC News with George W. Bush. So she hands me her screenplay and I'm reading it right, and it's about her relationship with her mother, and it's it's very good. It was well written. She wanted she was there because she wanted Will Farrow play George Bush in this movie that I guess was never made because it was twelve years ago. And she's she's going, I'm going through it.

There's a lot of personal stories about you know, mother daughter relationship. And we started talking about her mom and her relationship a little bit. I actually was like, I didn't want to be like rude and be like, you know, what's your mom think about Obamacare? But I was like, I said, I was like, Oh, what's your mom's like best Thanksgiving Day recipe that she cooks? And she said she makes amazing homemade cranberry sauce. Anyway, well, we're on the bus and she started telling me a story with

George W. Bush, and this was great. First, she said that her mother personally enjoyed working with Bush more than Obama. I mean because this is pre Trump. So she said, oh, they had. She really enjoyed working with Bush. She liked him a lot as a person. She didn't have the

same enjoyment of working with Obama. Secondly, she tells me a story that when she was working at MBC, she was with she was dating a guy I want to say from ABC, but in my CBS, but she was dating another producer or person who worked behind the scenes, and they were both on the media bus together in

for the George covering the George W. Bush campaign. And they went to a roadside stop somewhere in the Midwest or you know, I don't know what state was, Iowa, Pennsylvania, pick, you know, take your pick, and they're covering it, and they're at a gas station. They're all getting food and going to the bathroom. And George W. Bush, who, by the way, I am no fan of, but this is

a cool freaking story. George W. Bush pulled her aside and he said to her, I want you to know your boyfriend is cheating on you and every person on the bus nose besides you. And she said to me, I will always respect that man, because I was so head over heels from my boyfriend and everyone was lying to me, and he was the only one with the

guts to sit there and tell me the truth. And she said, I think it's because he's the dad of two girls, but he had he was such a stand up guy to her, and that was a really cool story. And we shared the bus ride for the whole four and a half five hours and we got off and we exchanged emails and she never came on me back story of my life. I did run into her husband a couple of years later, and I recounted how nice

she was. She was very, very, very nice, but she was interesting and that was a cool story, a little tidbit of somebody in the political public eye. Anyway, thank you again for listening to this episode of the podcast. Tune in on Thursday. I'll be back. We'll have a regular episode more ask Me Anything segments on the end of the podcast. But thank you. Please like and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. I will see you guys on Thursday.