Some More News - Some More News: Non-Presidential Races That Will Impact The Next Four Years

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

Hi. The presidential election is the top story, but there are plenty of Senate and House races that could determine the balance of power in Washington and have a huge impact on the next four years, regardless of who wins the White House. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CwLuhHyXuGgZHaRzKZYlomzrLc_wRZoa6chSJFxNK00/edit?usp=sharingRight now, Whisker is offering $75 off Litter-Robot bundles. AND, as a special offer to viewers, you can get an additional $50 off when you go to https://stopscooping.com/MORENEWS.Head to https://FactorMeals.com/MORENEWS50 and use code MORENEWS50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month.We’ve worked with SimpliSafe to offer an exclusive 50% off discount on their new security system with a select professional monitoring plan – but you need to visit https://simplisafe.com/MORENEWS soon to claim yours. Check out our MERCH STORE: https://shop.somemorenews.com   SUBSCRIBE to SOME MORE NEWS:

Is it over? Did it end? Who won? I don't care. What? Oh, hasn't happened yet. Yes, that's fine. It's cozy here in hell. Nicely toasted. Hey there, hi, here's some more Bo news. The election, of course. Of course, of course. Ever since Warmbow bought the show, it has been all we're allowed to talk about. But wait, don't shut this off. We're not talking about that election this time. We're actually talking about all the other elections

that are also happening around that election. You know, senators, et cetera. Maybe we'll cram a comptroller in there too. If there's time, there won't be. Sorry, comptrollers, but congratulations you. Merely by starting this episode of some Morbo news with Cormo Jormbo, you've already become more informed Bo than 85% of the people who will eventually vote in down-ballot races.

And of course, that pool of voters represents a fraction of the overall eligible U.S. voting population, a fraction of which bother to vote at all. So it's a fraction of a fraction, like multiplicity, but with fractions, like a sub sub genre, the most hipster of voters. Oh, you voted for Biden? Well, that's cute, I guess.

I'm more of a state judicial elections guy myself. And yet, even if they don't have the draw or drama of a presidential election, Senate and house races, props, judgeships, ballot issues, even local elections do matter, sometimes more depending on where you live. The problem of course, is that voting in these elections requires

reading and following local politics. And boy, that sounds terrible. Not at all like Michael Keaton's multiplicity, because folks, we're tired. We're all, I think it's fair for me to speak for everyone on this, we're all very, very tired. Not me, Mr. Cody.

Ah, shoot. Hi, Warmbo. It's been a minute. How's the tech bro CEO life treating you? Warmbo found something to make Warmombo never tie it again! Oh. Oh. No.

Listen up babe, great catching up, but Wombo needs Mr. Cody to meet Wombo in Wombo's office after the show. Wombo has big plans for Mr. Cody. We're gonna just swap the entire news sphere. I gotta take this, it's pure deal! Hmm. I'm in a lot of danger. Little election races that will make a big difference. Ah, little races. And no, I'm not talking about hobbits,

he said, chuckling congenially. Ha ha ha ha. So as if things weren't stressful enough, the fate of the legislative branch is very much up in the air, and it's likely that the House and Senate could flip harder than a muppet on cocaine. Along with every House seat, there are 34 Senate seats up for grabs. This is of course going to be the deciding factor of whether or not the next president

can really do anything at all. To continue the Lord of the Rings comparison, we're choosing which hideous ring wraiths we want enslaved to the service of our all seeing God of Evil. And for the purpose of not exploding heads, we're gonna focus on the closest and or most important races.

And also Ted Cruz as a treat. But you have to wait until the end. First, let's do a good old fashioned Senate races roundup. Starting with Bob Casey. Oh, I bet he would look great riding a Felbeast. Pennsylvania, Casey versus McCormick. Ah yes, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of pens, I'm told by me guessing just now.

So Bob Casey is the Democratic incumbent in the Pennsylvania Senate race. He's a commer as they say. Well, as one guy says. Watch him, he's a commer. That was actually about Rick Perry, but you get it. The most common kind of Senate race is someone trying to unseat an incumbent.

And it must be noted that cummy senators have retained their gooey seats in 88% of races since 1990. Paradoxically, even though this episode is literally about elected officials you demonstrably statistically don't care that much about, the tiny amount of name recognition they can muster is enough to make it almost impossible for a newcomer not to be confused with incomeer to crack in. It's two types of comers.

I know it's confusing. We'll deal with it. That said, if you think Bob Casey enjoys a healthy amount of systemic privilege, you haven't met Big D McSee. David McCormick, the Republican challenger, is a former hedge fund CEO who straight up lives in Connecticut, which you might notice is not Pennsylvania. And yet he qualifies because he owns many houses and one happens to be in Pittsburgh.

So that counts, I guess. Bad guess. In fact, McCormick's primary residence is a $16 million mansion on something called the Gold Coast with a private wine cellar and elevator to its own, quote, private waterfront resort. He's also got houses in Texas and Colorado. So in a way, he's kind of all our senator.

If that sounds familiar to you, we just went through this with Dr. Oz when he ran against our boy, Fetterman. It seems that Pennsylvania, a very key swing state, keeps getting courted by extremely rich and out of touch Republicans who don't live there, but clearly want strategic control. In fact, when Oz first ran in 2021, his primary challenger was David McCormick.

That year, Pennsylvania Republicans had to decide between two obvious outsiders, and Dr. Oz was seen as the better of the two. Dave is so not from Pennsylvania that after attending a tailgate before a Philadelphia Eagles game, where he's shown with his arms around people with the word Eagles on their jerseys, he tweeted,

Fun tailgate in Philly today. Excited to watch the Steelers throttle the Raiders. The Pittsburgh Steelers being the other NFL team from Pennsylvania, who were that day playing 2,400 miles away in Las Vegas. But I'm sure he's still earning votes from the Eagles fan base who are notoriously chill about things. So this is all to say that as of this writing,

Bob Casey has been consistently leading McCormick in the polls by like three to four points. That's even with the coveted Trump endorsement. Or maybe because of that endorsement, do his endorsements work out? Do people like him? It's hard to know sometimes. Fun thing about Trump endorsing McCormick,

back in 2022, he specifically endorsed Dr. Oz over him. So even in the eyes of Big T, Mickey C is the loser you call when you can't get that other loser. It's real C team energy, sea team sick. And that's why we started with this one. As we move through our tour, the races will get tighter and the stakes more dire.

But in this case, we can hopefully all breathe the collective sigh of relief. Incumbency bias and stagnant government will likely save us from the chicanery of this entrenched Wall Street fat cat who lives on, again, the Gold Coast. It's nice when the institutional evils cancel out like that, isn't it? Arizona, Gallego versus Lake.

Oh boy, things are heating up in Arizona, but before it becomes entirely uninhabitable by mammals, we thought we'd squeeze in one more Senate race to decide who gets to be gamma king of the great scorpion wastes when the time comes. In this case, there is no incumbent because current Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is not seeking reelection,

saying that her approach is not what America wants right now. In this case, her approach was being a centrist hack who catered exclusively to corporations and flew private on taxpayer money and failed at everything and was hated by everyone in her state and wants to use her position as a stepping stone to get rich in the private sector. Oh, well, maybe the next generation of voters

will be into that, but sadly not this time. Anyway, into that hot, hot power vacuum have been sucked two contenders, Republican Carrie Lake and Democrat Ruben Gallego. You probably know Carrie on account of her being the second biggest sore loser of recent elections. She didn't create a slate of fake electors and rile up a crowd that wanted to hang her political allies,

but after losing the race for governor of Arizona by 17,000 votes, she did proceed to drag the election out in the courts until just a few months ago. In other words, imagine bombing a job interview and then refusing to leave the parking lot for two years before casually applying for a different job on the same floor of that same building of that same company.

She is, of course, as one imagines, a proud election denier. It's weird that election denier is now just a broad thing you can be. You're just against accepting elections you don't like. But of course, being a reactionary contrarian is like 90% of Carrie's identity. She was also a huge anti-vaxxer and anti-masker.

She's Lady Trump, you get it. Carrie Lake, more like Car-y-lago, Carrie-lago, Carrie Lake-o, Carrie Lake. She is so Trumpy in fact, that a big wing of conservatives are starting to question whether it's worth supporting her when the voters she's going to mobilize are getting more, you know, every day.

She's exhausting for everyone. It's exhausting that we've reached a point in politics where candidates refuse to go away even when they lose the election. And no, no, no, here's my ninth book about why America kind of way. But because obviously if Carrie loses, she will absolutely put up a big dumb

stink about it, and has already prepped her supporters for some kind of holy war. They're gonna come after us with everything. That's why the next six months is gonna be intense. We're gonna strap on our seatbelt. We're gonna put on our helmet or your Carrie Lake ball cap. We are going to put on the armor of God. Then maybe strap on a Glock on the side of a decent case. Ah, not the kind of strap-on talk we all like, Kerry. You gotta up your strap-on game. I don't know if I mean that.

All that said, Lake appears to be at least somewhat aware that the MAGA right is losing popularity, which is probably why she's flip-flopped on abortion. She's gone from supporting a full on statewide abortion ban in 2022 to calling the same law out of step with Arizonans two years later,

then reversing again a week later after that. So if you care deeply about abortion, but aren't sure in what way, Carey Lake just might be the candidate for you. Or perhaps you'd be more interested in a Ruben Gallego, a name which frankly works even better for the Mar-a-Lago pun.

I'm not gonna do it, but it works better. But alas, the dude is a progressive, so the joke would only work if he'd recently gone back and started scrubbing the word progressive from all of his campaign literature, abandoning the deeply held beliefs he so recently espoused. Oh, he's doing that? Oh, good news for pun lovers, bad news for every pun else.

It's an all too familiar tale at this point. A candidate sells themselves as a progressive up until it's time to actually run or do the job. In the case of Gallego, he's recently swapped his views on voting rights and border security, as well as downplayed a DOJ report on police brutality in Phoenix,

coincidentally, right as he got an endorsement from the Arizona Police Association. No better way to show Gallegos grope for the middle than the fact that back in 2022, he publicly accused Kirsten Sinema of abandoning the Democratic Party. Cut to now, and he is publicly asking for her endorsement. So to just recap this, in Arizona,

voters are going to be choosing between an unhinged, mag mega-brained election denier nudging people to violence, and a party aiming firmly for the middle as a safe bet. Basically, the GOP are experimenting with extremism while the Dems are dabbling in centrism. And we get to learn in real time if an uninspiring status quo message

will beat out a looming threat of fascism. My money's on sure, I guess, maybe much like all elections. And it's maybe a little depressing that a winning message can be. My opponent is the party of fascist weirdos. But don't worry, I'm still enough like them to make you comfortable. Ugh. What's next? Nevada, Rosen versus Brown. So going right back to how the GOP is doing this A-B testing

of MAGA extremism, here we have yet another example over in Nevada, home of the sphere that will someday kill us all. The GOP is hoping to unseat another democratic incumbent named Jackie Rosen, whose big platform themes are things like getting more Nevada women into STEM careers and championing IVF and other reproductive rights. Seems good, or at the very least, fine.

No notes. So naturally, to counter someone so keen on inclusivity, Jackie will be squaring off against a candidate whose only issue seems to be keeping people the hell out of stuff. Sam Brown, the Trump endorsed army veteran running on the Republican ticket, has centered his campaign around general support

of Trumpian initiatives, with a special zeal when it comes to clamping down on immigration, finishing the border wall, deporting illegal immigrants, and constructing a great glass dome to enclose the state so none may enter or leave and the bones of Penn and Teller might gather dust where they fall and go unmoored. Basically he's another Kerry Lake,

but with a more penisey vibe and also a dash of McCormick in there for taste because Brown himself immigrated to Nevada from Texas in 2018 and has been generally coming off as an outsider who doesn't know much about the needs of the state. The clearest example was his support of opening the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, which Nevada voters have been routinely against doing,

probably on account of the fact that the state has zero nuclear power plants and is essentially being asked to hold everyone else's trash. Like I'm not against nuclear power, but I get that. Anyway, Brown initially said that reopening the site would be a great job creating opportunity before immediately backtracking on the issue, saying that it had never been a priority of his and that he's done a lot more research since that initial stance. Glad to hear he's doing some reading up on the state he wants to represent.

This is all to say that Jackie is just about 10 points ahead of Sam. And the general consensus from analysts within the GOP itself is that he hasn't been strong enough on the issues Nevadans prioritize most, because he's not intimately familiar with them, because he's not from there, which I just highlighted again because it's very, very funny to me.

You know, what with the guy being most focused on keeping immigrants out. And I understand that Mexico is different from Texas. It's just satisfying in a poetry kind of way. This is also why Brown has been waffling on abortion bans in the state. Having been vocally anti-choice back in Texas, he's now had to soften that view for Nevada, any any in voters.

I'd posit that abortion isn't one of those things you can waffle on at the casino buffet. Sure, toss a waffle on there. Abortion bans. It's a different matter entirely. Ultimately, Sam Brown seems to be running as if he's going for the White House instead of whatever color the house, a Nevada Senator lives in, sepia, sepia.

And so much like Trump, he's firmly betting on fear and xenophobia over any semblance of nuance. Biden and Democrats' open border has wreaked havoc on our state, rampant crime, human trafficking and deadly drugs. Fun. Hey, did you know the violent crime in Nevada is down 28% since 2015,

and immigrants do less crime than natural citizens? Anywho, Trump's endorsement of Sam Brown also came pretty late in the game, which some saw as a sign of trepidation or lack of confidence on the part of Trump, his administration, or the GOP establishment. Because again, despite Trump being the presidential candidate, Republicans don't seem confident

that MAGA politics is going to win voters, especially in states that aren't exclusively red. And Nevada hasn't had a Republican win a Senate race since 2012. It seems that so far, the only person who can succeed at spewing Trumpian goop is Trump himself. And so staying alive in MAgalan is like trying to read

the future from bird entrails. Plus the bird was senile and diluted to begin with and all it ate was Big Macs and microplastics. I'm sorry, that was redundant. And she just say Big Macs. Did somebody say entrails? Mr. Cody, hey, Malobu got a new idea. How about instead of someone news, it's someone nudes. Hot naked people in bathing suits, Mr. Cody! Hey! Moomoo got a new idea! Hell, instead of someone news, it's someone nudes!

Hot naked people in bathing suits, Mr. Cody! Blot summer, Mr. Cody! Blot summer! I mean, it's autumn now, so... Blot autumn! Autumn nudes, Mr. Cody! Get it? What do you mean, get it? Like, what's to get? Autumn nudes! All damn nudes! Hot naked liberal ladies and piles of old crunchy leaves, Mr. Cody.

So you want to rebrand some morbo news as all damn nudes? Sss. Okay, great. I'll get right on that during the break. You do more cocaine. That goes for you all too. Enjoy these ads. Cats have many uses, companion, paperweight,

and that's all the uses, just the two uses. They sure make poop a lot though. Sometimes every day it is vexing. You gotta train them to poop in your bathtub or perhaps some other solution. But now there's the Litter Robot by Whisker. It automatically cleans your litter box after every use so your home doesn't smell like somebody pooped

in a bucket of sand, which is what's going on. If you have one or 20 cats, it's simply your best and mostest futuristic option. Why? Because the Litter Robot will actually send you notifications when it needs to be emptied, as well as info data on your cat's health. That way, you can lecture your cat about their shortcomings.

I have one or 20 cats myself. It's fine. And it's nice to look in my cat's eyes without thinking about having to fumble around with his stool. And I'm not alone. You can join over 1 million cat freaks who've upgraded to the Litter Robot. Right now, Whisker is offering $75 off Litter Robot bundles, and as a special offer to listeners, you can get an additional $50 off when you go to StopScooping.com slash more news. That's an additional $50 off when you go to StopScooping.com slash more news. That's an additional $50 off when you go to StopScooping.com slash more news once more.

It's StopScooping.com slash more news. I love the fall, the cool crisp air. Everyone leaves out pumpkins for me to eat. But sadly, Katie can't live off gourd flesh and candle wax alone. But luckily, I also use Factor. They will bring you fresh, never frozen, fully cooked meals right to your door. Because we all deserve a good meal. But we don't always have time and Factor has a huge variety of options like gourmet meals, keto, vegan, and veggie. They offer 35 meals every week.

Lunch, dinner, snacks, breakfast. You know what food is. You get it. They have over 60 add-ons for your order and every meal is chef prepared and ready to eat in just two minutes. That's the same time it takes me to eat a pumpkin right off the stoop. Factor has no prep and no mess. It's easy and delicious and good for you. And you can try it special today. Head to factor meals dot com slash more news 50 and use

code more news 50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month. That's code morenews50 at factormeals.com slash morenews50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month. Get it, get all up in it. We're back. Warmbo's off doing more cocaine. Things are, things are great. And we're talking about all the biggest,

tiniest little adorable election races going on in... America! And much like a miniature version of a big thing, the common dynamic seems to be an establishment Democrat running against a wealthy outsider, mimicking MAGA talking points, specifically against immigration. But now it's time to change things up with, I'm sorry,

I'm being told we're not changing things up at all. Ohio, Brown versus Moreno. Ohio, the Buckeye state. More state mottos should be the state tree actually. California, the camouflage cell phone tower state. Sherrod Brown is yet another big D to the I-N-C-U-B, wait, U-M-B-E-N-T, hailing from Ohio. I should have just said the word.

Sherrod is a fun little oddity in that he's been quite popular in a state that Trump won by a large margin, despite being pretty left-leaning. He's very pro-labor rights, has fought for abortion rights, safe water in the state, has gone after corporate greed, and pushed toward affordable housing and supporting veterans. He also has a very good record on civil rights. He's a decent example of how progressive politics are actually really popular, even with the MAGA crowd, depending on how it's sold to people.

Sherrod's day-to-day life has been serving in the United States Senate since 2007, and he's been in politics since his senior year in college. He was the youngest person ever elected to the Ohio State House, which is to say that he's very much an establishment politician. And while he is still leading his opponent in the polls, things in Ohio have been a tad fucked up lately, as Trump has made it a campaign talking point to bully a single city in the state,

which we discussed last week. While Sherrod has obviously condemned the fear-mongering and scapegoating of their Haitian population, his opponent, Bernie Moreno, has been leveraging the situation to mimic Trump's calls to deport thousands of legal immigrants for the crime of being the subject of a lie, which is rich. Because Bernie Moreno is an immigrant from Columbia himself.

And what's also rich is Bernie Moreno, who is worth in excess of $100 million. He owns a chain of car dealerships in Ohio, and his brother is the former president of the Inter-American Development Bank, the largest source of U.S. development financing in Latin America and the Caribbean. His other brother is the chief executive of Amarillo Holdings in Bogota, which in millennial means he's a big wheel down at the Cracker Factory. That's all to say that his journey to America,

the ultimate Cracker Factory, wasn't exactly the underdog tale that he likes to say it is. To bring my six brothers and sisters to America, left everything behind in Columbia because she wanted to come to the one place on earth where your destiny is determined by your hard work, your perseverance, and your ability to dream

as big as you can. So he came here with absolutely nothing. Ah, yes, he came here, legally, he adds, with just the clothes on his back and their millions of dollars, leaving behind a humble life of multiple houses with a full staff thanks to his dad's high-ranking government job. It's a classic riches to riches story,

like the prince and the other prince, or Mansion Doug Millionaire. As an aside, Bernie really wants to come off as a relatable working-class guy, despite clearly not being that. Thought he could fool us by going by Bernie. Nice try, Nard. Here's an interview where he talks about how he got started with car dealerships, saying, quote, I got a call from Mercedes-Benz USA in 2005. We have this really crappy dealership

in the Midwest we'd like you to buy. Sounds fantastic. It was the only dealership I could afford." So scrappy how he could only afford to buy the one Mercedes dealership after being specifically asked by the company to do so. Anyway, Bernie is super against people immigrating here, just like he did. And as you can tell, his big talking point is that he came here legally, you see. It's something he points out constantly. My parents brought me and my siblings to America legally.

Oh, okay. So as long as it's legal, he has no problem, you know, unless they're those Haitian immigrants who are also here legally, I guess. Nah, geez, I guess he's just a hypocrite or something. Along with being totally batshit on immigration, Moreno has also suggested cool ideas like white people should get reparations

for all they suffered in the process of freeing slaves in the Civil War. You know, because everyone deserves to be made whole for their suffering, even those who suffered while freeing slaves. It's really batshit stuff, Bernie. Sorry, NARD. Also, who would be giving those reparations?

Like black people, like as a thank you? Or other abstract white people who exist above the layer of whiteness we already perceive, the very gods of Caucasity? Anyway, fun how this race is somehow close. I guess never underestimate the power of scapegoating an arbitrary group of people for political gain. You'd think we'd be past this, but I guess not.

I blame everyone with freckles for some reason. All right, what's another state that exists? Nebraska, Osborne versus Fisher. Nebraska, where the state tree is corn and the state sandwich is a greasy pocket of beef and cabbage called the runza that also gives you them. It's going to be an interesting race to watch, considering that it's an incumbent Republican

taking on an independent. No Ds allowed, just like that coven down the street. Currently, the Republic incumbent, Deb Fisher, remains in the lead. However, the una incumbent Deb Fischer remains in the lead. However, the unaffiliated union leader, Dan Osborne is closing that gap. And depending on the polls, he's actually very close or has in fact taken the lead.

Fischer is, for the sake of this segment, your standard missionary position Republican. She voted to expand drilling, won't fund alternative energy, wants to increase defense spending and block forgiving student debt, is in league with Satan, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. What's interesting about this race

is what we just said about Sherrod Brown and his courting of MAGA voters. And while everyone is wondering if independent voters will go for Trump, it seems that Trump voters will sometimes go for independence, even when Trump endorsed the other person. It sort of speaks to the idea that a portion of Trump voters are often people who are simply tired

of the establishment system, which includes both the Democrats and the GOP, and possibly even Trump himself at this point, right? As if Trump actually just represented that displeasure, at least for some people, as opposed to having policies they actually liked. I don't have hard data to back that up, but it's just a vibe I'm getting, we're vibing.

It's actually more like a hope. It's like, I hope that that's true. I hope that people are less Trumpy than maybe they seem to be. Much like the multiple curses from the coven down the street, I just feel it and I hope it in my brittle, brittle bones. Okay, we're just, we're praying now.

It's the prayer year. Because in the case of Dan, what makes him unique is that his beliefs don't align at all with Trump. He is a true independent in that some of his views are right-wing, some are left, some are a little libertarian-y. He wants border security and to legalize weed. He wants the government to stay out of our personal lives.

He's pro-choice and pro-gun rights, but also supports gun safety reforms, because he's also in favor of regulations when needed, such as railroad safety, funding school lunches, and more support for veterans. He's for the right to repair, something we've talked about on this show, and wants term limits for Congress.

He even has a section about blocking private equity from healthcare. He's apparently all for green energy. I know I sound like I'm doing an ad for him right now. And honestly, I don't actually know how sincere he is with these stances and his platform is fairly brief. And there are 50 whole states. I'm not gonna look into him further,

but it's neat to see someone with nuanced views that don't draw a hard partisan line actually see success. Unless he loses, he's a fucking loser. But like, it's nice to see someone say that it's important to regulate some things while staying out of other things. That it's okay to have a big government in some places and not others. Not to mention that he's only accepted the endorsement of unions, not any political party, and has positioned himself as a true, actual, no, really this time, blue collar working man trying to fight for the middle and lower classes. And he seems to be an actually genuine person at that.

People are tired of the country club politicians. Only 2% of all of Congress, the House and the Senate, come from the working class. There's nobody like me in the United States Senate. He's not like other girls, you see. And despite seemingly taking a jab at Trump, country club guy, in that speech, he's getting MAGA voters.

And perhaps there's a lesson to be learned there? That the anomaly of Trump was in part linked to frustrations around the current two-party landscape that primarily caters to corporations and rich people. Trump's a fraud and racist, so he harnessed it into, well, you know. And so I just kind of want Dan to win, unless he loses, the fucking absolute loser,

if only to show that this can work. So I'm excited to see him get elected, take tons of bribes, get corrupt, and then claim he was never actually an independent years after the fact. Next state. Utah, Curtis versus Glyke. Utah, the state whose actual state tree

is the quaking Aspen, which is ironic because I'm pretty sure that sex position has been banned there. And on the subject of establishment politicians catering to rich people, this was of course, Mitt Romney's state. It's been consistently read since 1968. And now with Mitt retiring, the race came down

to a lot of GOP on GOP violence. We are now in the territory of states that are very unlikely to be flipped blue. Although we must at least recognize democratic candidate Caroline Gleick, who is currently losing by between anywhere from 20 to 40 points. Gleick is a dedicated climate activist

and professional ski mountaineer, and has actually climbed Mount Everest, which whatever, everyone does that these days. I could do it. I'm doing it right now. She's also an influencer and very correctly believes that Congress needs younger and more tech savvy members. She also isn't going to win,

but maybe she can start building a bigger base in the state. So, you know, good luck to her, I guess. It's weird that climbing Everest is going to be the second hardest endeavor for her, but again, it's pretty easy. I'm doing it now. I'm almost there. The air is getting a little thin,

but I'm gonna make it to that peak. Her opponent is Republican House Rep, John Curtis, who won the GOP primary by a butt ton. I point that out because it continues to represent a pattern we just saw with Dan Osborne. Specifically, John Curtis won over another candidate that was endorsed by Trump. Trent Staggs, a loser,

was even called MAGA all the way by Trump, another loser. And while John Curtis has certainly been in line with all of Trump's agenda and isn't by any stretch a rogue independent, we're once again seeing voters veer away from Trump, even in a state that Trump super duper won in 2020. And while Curtis is GOP ride or die, there are a few very key differences between him

and the rest of his party. One being that he actually thinks climate change is real, which I believe the RNC refers to as a broken arrow. I know the bar is so very low at this point, but at least both candidates in Utah can actually agree on climate change existing. Curtis also voted in support of safeguarding gay marriage as well as an investigation into January 6th.

I don't like the guy, I don't know him, but he's like one of those moderate Republicans that used to exist. In fact, he used to be a Democrat. He's essentially Mitt Romney the sequel, down to the fact that he's just a very boring dude. Like his big thing is that he collects socks. And of course he has Mitt's endorsement.

And while this is all so very boring, it's also very interesting considering how un-MAGA it is. After all, I'm pretty sure Mitt Romney is gonna mysteriously vanish if Trump wins. And so while this is a decidedly red state, it's also a sign that Americans might be veering away from far right extremism, at least in some places. Or it's just one more last grasp

at not letting Trumpism own their party forever. Oh my gosh, what if we, one more guy, we're not Trumpy, are we? But hey, you know, good job, you Mormon sock loving ski freaks. And speaking of sock freaks, I haven't heard from Warmbo in a minute, so I'm gonna go check to see if his heart is still pumping

or whatever he has that pumps, whatever he uses his blood, I guess. I'm gonna check on him. Enjoy some more ads. It's Halloween, which means it is time to sit in the dark and stare at children from my window. If they get too close, I tell them the exact day that they're going to die.

I make a lot of child enemies. So it's good to have a little extra security with SimpliSafe. They have a new active guard outside protection, which means that if anyone is outside your home, perhaps, I don't know, holding a lot of eggs, their live guards can see them, speak to them, and activate sirens to scare them off.

Watch them run as you prophesize their fate to them. Because hey now, crime isn't on the rise. We've talked about that on this show, but there are many reasons an individual may want some extra protection. Like those renegade kids. And SimpliSafe is affordable, easy to set up and has no hidden fees. And right now we have worked with SimpliSafe to offer an exclusive

50% off discount on a new security system with a select professional monitoring plan. security system with a select professional monitoring plan. But you gotta visit simply safe.com slash more news soon to claim yours. This offer is only valid for one week. So visit the website now. That is simply safe.com slash more news because there's no safe like simply safe. And then you'll do Jay realizes that he's actually the McManus' twin's father, so they joined forces, right? Yeah, Wormbo, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, I've seen Boondock Saints. Wormbo is just saying that in weak times, we need strong men! Remember that! When you go to vote in November, Mr. Cody!

Strong...men... Mr. Cody. Warmbo, are you voting for Trump? Wait, can you vote? Warmbo's vote counts as many votes because Warmbo is biologically defined as a cluster. Warmbo has 60 social security numbers, Mr. Cody. You know what? I just saw a bunch of cocaine in the dumpster outside. Hi, we're back.

If you're just catching up, we were recapping all the state level elections happening this year. Also, Warmbo ran away, bought the show, abandoned the Democratic Party, got obsessed with influencer and tech bro culture, started doing cocaine, came back and rebranded the show, and is now, I'm pretty sure, voting for Trump.

So that's pretty bad. Think I'm gonna have to make some phone calls after this. But for now, let's keep talking about these upcoming Senate races. We did the Fisher, we did the Glyke. What's the next dumb name we're doing? Montana, She-He versus Tester. Okay, are we just making names up at this point?

So we've been highlighting how a lot of these races seem to deviate from what you'd expect from Trump voters. Montana, however, is right on the money as it looks like they are about to elect a bit of a mini Trump named Tim Sheehy, who loves saying that his pronouns are sheehy. It's very funny. We love it.

Or he's not so much a mini Trump, but rather a weird liar with slightly better credentials than Trump, who is, dare I say, younger and healthier. Dude looks like the Ben Garrison version of Trump is my point. And just like Ol' Sweaty, Sheehee claims to be a successful businessman,

despite that being a very questionable claim. In fact, Tim makes a lot of questionable claims. His origin story is that he's a former Navy SEAL who trained in Montana, was shot in Afghanistan, and then moved to the state to pull his bootstraps and start his own firefighting business. I joined the military in 18, I met my wife in the military. I was a Navy SEAL, she was a Marine. And how I got to Montana actually is right

in this corridor here. I came out to Twin Bridges to train before I went to Afghanistan to see what we do. High angle shooting down at the Granite Creek Ranch there. We go to the Last Stone Hills, we parachute at the Malaysian National Park. I did about five deployments around the world. My wife did a couple as well.

I got wounded, so got out of the military. That's when I came back here to Montana. We started our business. We fight wildfires from here. That's our job. Very inspiring. Tim also boasts on his website that he and his wife lived in a tent as they were starting their business.

Quote, there was nothing here. It was part of an old dairy farm. We lived in a tent while we built our barn and lived in our barn for four and a half years until we built our house. Again, very inspiring. A veteran firefighter, how can you top that? According to those clips,

he even parachuted into Glacier National Park, which is really neat when you consider that Glacier National Park does not allow parachuting and in fact has never given the military special permission to do that. Oh, also when Tim says he was shot in Afghanistan, that's accurate if you add the fact that he was accidentally shot in Afghanistan by himself.

And also replace the word Afghanistan with while hiking in the United States, specifically Glacier National Park, which I'm starting to think is some kind of nexus of lies. If you're wondering, Tim, the compulsive liar, still claims that he was really shot in Afghanistan by one of his fellow soldiers, but didn't report it or seek medical attention

because he didn't want to get him in trouble. So either Tim was so barely injured that he just walked it off, or he's a weird liar who accidentally shot himself while hiking. He claims to have lied to the ranger about accidentally shooting himself. Or as he put it,

I guess the only thing I'm guilty of is admitting to doing something I never did. Or as anyone else might put it, lying. Those words describe lying, Tim. My only crime is saying I didn't, I've lying. My only crime is lying. Lying. Those words describe lying, Tim. My only crime is saying I didn't, I'm lying. My only crime is lying. Also, when Tim says he and his wife lived in a tent,

he means that he and his wife chose to live in a tent, otherwise known as camping. From his own book, he talks about how, after buying the land and hiring a contractor, he and his wife were deciding between renting an apartment or going to a hotel, saying, quote, we set up a tent next to a stream on our property and called it home for the better part of three months.

With occasional nights in a hotel just so we could shower, as for living in their barn, well, according to that book, the barn has running water and a working kitchen. So not really a barn? Sounds like a house. Because hey, guess what? Here's some news. Tim Sheehy, the bootstraps pulling tent dweller,

is fucking rich as hell, or rather his family is. He and his wife started with $300,000 in savings and he would go on to receive at least $600,000 from his family over the years. Okay, so to recap, everything he said has been a lie. He is a rich kid who accidentally shot himself and then used his family money to start a business. But at least that business is successful.

If you count success as losing $77 million last year, and then another $20 million in 2024, do we count that a success? No? Oh, well. Just so we're clear, Tim Sheehy, the compulsive liar, is currently winning in the polls against Democrat John Tester by a lot and against an incumbent,

which we've established is statistically unlikely and in a state that isn't doing all that bad economically. I mean, it's not great. There's a labor shortage and the same housing crisis that's everywhere. But the lesson, if there is one, is to never underestimate the power of labeling your opponent a Washington elitist,

which is exactly what Sheehy is doing, despite he himself being an elitist. The reason he can get away with that is because, well, he's not wrong about Tester, who is balls deep in lobbyists, specifically Goldman Sachs and Microsoft and Google. Of course, Sheehy is being funded by fucking Blackstone. So ultimately, it's just one rich elitist

accusing another rich elitist of being the same rich elitist that he is. Except one of the rich elitists is running on budget reform despite owning a failed business and being a weird liar. Ultimately, this comes down to Tim Sheehy seeming like a fresh, handsome face and outsider and being very good at lying. He is being propped up by the Trump family.

And the reason I'm spending so much time on him is because, well, I think he might stick around for a while. Not to make predictions, but I wouldn't be surprised if this grifter wad rides his fib train all the way to the national stage and one day runs for the big chair. Assuming that chair is still something you can run for. In the future, you know, what with all the coups?

Anyway, speaking of boring Democrats, we have one more state to visit, Manchin country. West Virginia, Elliott versus justice. I know this isn't technically about Joe Manchin, but it's kinda definitely about Joe Manchin. Joe is by all accounts a political coward and hack. When you claim to be a centrist in a time where one side of the aisle is dabbling in fascism,

you are not actually a centrist. In the case of Joe, he's a rich guy who got rich off of coal and oil, either directly running a coal brokerage firm or also directly as the largest recipient of fossil fuel money. He's not complicated. He is, where it matters, a Republican

who pretended to be a Democrat while sacrificing everyone's future for short-term wealth. I guess people are complex and so maybe I'm simplifying things, but during his time in office, Manchin supported the border wall, voted against marriage equality and also against reproductive rights.

His entire legacy is that of a political equivalent of a dead horse blocking an intersection. He's now claiming to be an independent while endorsing the Republican candidate to take his place, current governor Jim Justice. And yeah, yeah, yeah, he's got a superhero name, and that's cool, except, like Manchin, Jim is just another coal baron. And boy, he looks like one at that. His entire mission is to keep a dying coal industry alive instead of helping to bring his state into the future,

which you might recognize as being exactly what Manchin was doing as well. In fact, Jim isn't even trying to help the coal industry as a whole, but more likely his specific coal empire that is currently being sued by the banks for over $800 million in debt. Not sure why we keep electing people who are in terrible debt and backed into a wall, because like Trump, Jim has been largely absent from his current position and

is accused of focusing almost primarily on his personal business, which includes, I shit you not, a luxury hotel business that is also failing. Again, not sure why we keep allowing politicians to work on their side hustle and then pass laws specifically to benefit themselves, but I guess that's just literally what we've been doing forever. So it's just kind of funny that the party that talks about self-reliance and the free market seems to exclusively house rich business owners who failed and now want to game the laws

in order to make the system favor them more than it already does. And yet incredibly, his opponent and Democrat, Glenn Elliott, who seems fine, is down by over 30 points. This seat in West Virginia is almost definitely going to flip red. And man, fuck if I know exactly why. I don't wanna be cynical, but if these polls are true,

it means this state is going to vote directly against their own interests, possibly because of their low voter turnout. Some have speculated that Jim's financial woes have been normalized by Trump. But I think the real reason goes back to Joe Manchin, who endorses justice and has pushed himself as a champion for the coal miners in that state.

Senator Manchin worked with coal miners in West Virginia to see that we received what we were promised by our federal government, which was our healthcare benefits. Hey, good! Perhaps Jim Justice can follow suit considering his companies have been sued for not paying healthcare premiums

and debt from safety violations. While in office, Manchin made sure that his state was dependent on coal and other fossil fuels, specifically blocking legislation that would have brought in renewables. It is a huge part of their economy. Except coal is a dying industry and demand in West Virginia is waning.

And so what an actual leader would have done is worked to push the state away from coal. But what I think really happened was that a coal baron got elected, used his position to make the state away from coal. But what I think really happened was that a coal baron got elected, used his position to make the state dependent on a dying industry and then proceeded to suck that state dry so he could get rich and then retire, now passing the torch to another coal baron to get his fill.

And since that state is economically dependent on coal, that's who they are going to vote for, which in turn not only dooms them, but all of us. And so I hereby formally invite Joe Manchin to eat my entire goddamn ass. And speaking of eating ass, house race 2024, eating ass. Not sure what that had to do with eating ass,

but we are moving forward. We're not going back. So I'm not gonna spend as much time on the House because there's just so many of them. But in some ways, the 2024 House of Representatives races will be the most eventful of all. That's because we just had a census in 2020 and the lines that delineate congressional districts

all shifted around since the last time we did this. Many new maps were used in the 2022 midterms, although some had to be redrawn after 2022, but this is the first time we'll be using them during the race for the big seat. Regardless, this gerrymander meander means that there are a bunch of crossover districts in play now, places where it seems statistically likely

that the opposite party will be able to flip the seat given the new demographics of the district. Democrats are looking to flip at least 17 of these red to blue seats, but the most recent polling shows that Republicans are favored in 207 House seats while Democrats are favored in 202. Plus there are 26 toss-ups. A party needs at least 21 18 to control the House,

which is to say that the Republicans will have a slightly easier time maintaining their majority. But it's tight. And so there's a chance that Democrats could get it if you're into that kind of thing. Most analysts are looking at a half dozen close House races in California as the ones likely to determine which way the scales of power tip.

Five of those six seats are currently held by Republicans, but four of those five districts were won by Biden in 2020. Given that Harris hitting the top of the ticket revitalized the democratic base to an almost obnoxious degree, there's a good chance this will energize voters enough to tip the scales, which is, you know, why engaging with local and state politics is important, which is, you know, why engaging with local

and state politics is important, which is sort of the whole point of this episode because change doesn't always happen just at the top. The ass is just as important, which I guess is where we got the title of the segment. Okay, perfect. He's in point. Wormbow is technically my boss now,

but with me out here in the trenches, I actually still have more direct control over the show and can ensure a certain quality bar. And speaking of doing stuff done down at the bottom, judges and other ballot issues. No, I wanted that graphic. That was my decision. So perhaps you're looking for places

to put your newfound enthusiasm and opportunities to vote for change. May we suggest spending some time getting to know your local judges and judging their judgments? 33 states are holding elections to fill more than 80 seats in the highest circuits this year, which will directly shape law and enforcement

around reproductive rights, criminal sentencing, gun control or lack thereof, and more. In Michigan, the court's slim Democratic majority has been able to address harsh sentencing practices for young defendants, progress that would likely be reversed if Republicans win both of the seats up for grabs. In Kentucky, a legal challenge to the state's abortion restrictions

recently splintered the Supreme Court, which issued five separate opinions on the issue, which indicates that a new incoming justice could tip the balance either way. It's all up to the voters. Courts are right at the front lines of issues like abortion, gender-affirming care, legalizing cannabis, and vacating related sentences on and on and on and on.

You kind of need the presidency to make it all work, but there's no question that we need wins at every level and direct voting on the issues themselves. So hopefully if you're watching this and you care about some of this stuff, you'll invest slightly more time than it takes to pull the lever for Joe Biden or whoever. I'll look it up.

Because frankly, this is not a set it and forget it situation. Also, I doubt there it up. Because frankly, this is not a set it and forget it situation. Also, I doubt there's an actual lever anymore. Ballot measures covering abortion and reproductive rights are going up for a vote in 10 states. Recreational marijuana is on the ballot in Florida and it's looking like some GOP strongholds like the Dakota twins and Nebraska might follow suit.

Or if you like getting all meta and Deadpool with it, you can vote on how we vote. Ranked choice voting and open primary systems are being debated in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. Like we've said in the past, a lot of the mechanics of our voting systems are completely out of whack,

leading to fun little misunderstandings like, who's president? And why their treason happened. So yeah, that's extremely important. Like I wish we could give it more time to break it down, but unfortunately we have one more person to get to. And in fact, we're going to circle back to the Senate, despite that being thematically weird

because there's a race right now that's near and dear to my heart. And that is the potential unseating of Rafael Edward Cruz. Texas, Zodiac Junior versus All-Rank. To be clear, Ted is currently in the lead, but it's far tighter than one might expect. Or maybe you do expect it because Ted managed to wriggle by back in 2018, which is kind of what Ted always does when you think about it.

He's a worm, a booger eating, 9-11 jerkin, wife elbowing, cancun visiting little online freaky worm who has managed to stay afloat by sucking up to whatever fringe right-wing politics is popular at the time. He started as a tea party guy, then a never Trumper, then a please step On Me Trumper. You know, a coward. We've certainly spent a lot of time on Ted in the past. We don't have to remind you.

He's currently running against a guy named Colin Allred, who I couldn't give a fuck about. Colin is currently campaigning on reproductive rights as his vanguard issue, which is both smart and ethically good and right. In fact, the Republican party as a whole has been forced to tamp down some of their more extreme anti-abortion rhetoric lately

as elections loom and lawmakers suddenly recall that half of Earth's population has a uterus. Cruz himself has softened his language on the issue. It gets really pale and fidgety when anyone brings up one of the many preventable tragedies him and ghouls like him are now directly responsible for, and has started to rally around IVF in an obvious attempt to come off as human on the issue instead of goblin, which is what he is. Goblin and ghoul. He's a gobba ghoul. Because again, Ted will morph and

shape his wormly little body to accommodate any view he thinks will get him elected. And if he doesn't get elected, he will find some way to ooze into the spotlight no matter how much we resist. He'll probably replace Gutfeld, or honestly, do a voice for a Daily Wire cartoon. So Ted's reelection plan is what you'd expect. He's illegally funneling a bunch of ad revenue from his right-wing grift podcast into his campaign,

promising to kick all the immigrants out and close the border, which you'd think he would have done in the past 12 years he's been in power if he was going to. But of course, that's what's popular now. So that's what Ted believes. He's a weird little sycophant that literally no one likes, not even his colleagues, not even his mother, it seems. Not a day goes by that my mom is not lifting me up

in prayer. That's true. For hours at a time. And yet he's still here. Because looking back at everything we've covered, it's hard to tell which way the wind will blow when it comes to MAGA politics. Some people are successfully harnessing Trump's rise,

while others are showing a refreshing break from it, while others still drown in an attempt to harness it. And if Ted Cruz has any talent, it is his ability to sense the way the tide is flowing and then ride the turds like a dead raccoon ragdolling in a storm drain. And so, wouldn't it be nice if we fished out that stank carcass and threw it away once and for all?

I just think it would be nice if we accomplished nothing else this election. Perhaps the people of Texas could finally shake off the grotesque barnacle that is Ted Cruz, America's never-ending rash. My goodness. So yeah, I guess that's it. It's been fun. I hope you're all well. Warmbo, I can see you down there smelling my shoes.

Sorry, Mr. Cody. Warmbo is just smelling Mr. Cody because Mr. Cody has a stench of Joe Biden's butt on him. Am I right, folks? Don't talk to them. Don't ever talk to them. Warmbow... Are you gonna vote for Trump? Of course not!

Oh. Thank God. Warmbow is voting for JD Vance. Very relatable guy. Love his energy. Just like Warmbow. Fuck, man! You understand that he's Trump's VP, right? Like, how dumb can you fucking be? Dumb piece of shit. Dumb? Well maybe Mr. Cody should have been nicer to Wombo then. Maybe Mr. Cody shouldn't have pushed

me me me me me me Mormbo to the right. Ever think about that? Cody, Johnston, the time of man is over. Now begins the time of one bow you silly fucking Got my mouth just sugar It's like, it's like sugar, but it's weird sugar. Like it's got a weird taste, like weird. It's not sugary taste. It's a weird taste.

It's good though. I kind of want more. I should get more. I'm going to get more. It'll stop my, what if my jaw's my what my jaw's doing. Whatever my jaw is doing, I want to stop that and get more whenever that was. And then I can do anything. I could climb Mount Everest. I could do anything. I can do anything.

Everybody, thanks so much for watching. Be sure to like and subscribe and make sure to leave a I can do anything! That'd be really cool if you like and subscribe like and subscribe like and subscribe like and subscribe it and we're also got we got Merch we got a merch store. We've got stuff on the merch. We got warm was on the merch warm I miss warm. Oh Warmbow has anyone seen warm has anyone seen warm bow because he has the phone number of somebody that I need to contact for something That I need