The Daily - Introducing: 'The Run-Up'

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

In November, Americans will head to the polls for the first nationwide election since the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. But what happens this fall won’t just be about who wins and who loses. On the first episode of "The Run-Up,” host Astead Herndon lays out the stakes of the midterm elections and explores the big questions the podcast is looking to answer. “The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. You can follow it wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Hey, it's Michael. This morning on The Daily, I mentioned that our guest, politics reporter Astead Herndon, is launching a show dedicated to the midterm elections. That show, The Run-Up, will explore both the forces at play in this election, and how it is that we've arrived at such a fraught moment in our politics. Take a listen to the first episode. Hello? Hi, my name is Ested Herndon. I'm a politics reporter at the New York Times and hosting a new politics podcast from the Times. I'm looking for Belinda. Is this her? It is. Thank you for picking up.

We were hoping that you had maybe five, ten minutes today for us to ask a few questions about how you're feeling about politics right now and then record that. Is that something you think we could do right now? How long have you been a reporter at the New York Times? Since 2018. I worked at the Boston Globe before that. And what area are you in? I write about politics. So I was on the election trail last cycle covering the presidential election. Okay. And record it for what purpose? Will it be replayed later or what? Yeah, no problem. We are talking to a lot of different types of voters so that some of our

listeners get a sense of how people across the country are feeling. Okay. We can try it. I don't read the Times. It's way too liberal for me. I'm not expecting a whole lot from this conversation, but I'll give it a shot, okay? We are in Beaverdale, Iowa. We're in Charleston, South Carolina. What direction are we? West? North? Henderson is church, but late. As a pastor's son, I know that is a cardinal sin. As I've been

preparing to cover the 2022 midterms, I keep thinking back to a few years ago. I'm walking up to this house. When I was out in the field covering the presidential election, we see some Trump signs. It was Donald Trump's America.

More Trump signs. And Joe Biden Trump's America. More Trump signs. And Joe Biden's whole campaign was built around getting Trump out of office and unifying the country. He said he wanted to restore the soul of the nation. Do you think that Biden becoming president will lead to more unity in the country? You can't force people into unity. First of all, all this talk about unity and healing and stuff. But the question. You know, we're not unifying and healing with these guys. Was whether that was even possible.

When I hear like those calls from Biden for unity, I'm thinking like, okay, but what are the steps for justice that need to happen before we can get there? Let's have some consequences for things that have happened here. Or whether Biden was trying to go back to a time that no longer existed. You know, Biden says that he'll be a president for you, that he'll listen to you, that he wants to bring people together. When you hear that, what do you think? I don't believe it. I'm sorry. Oh yeah, let's all come together. You have not earned it. I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify.

Who doesn't see red states and blue states, only sees the United States. Still, when Biden won the White House, I sought this office to restore the soul of America. he doubled down on that promise. And now the work of making that vision is real. It's a task, the task of our time. Stop the steal! Stop the steal! Stop the steal! Stop the steal!

But let's be honest here. Took over the Capitol. Overran the Capitol. We're in the fucking Capitol. We're the fucking traitors. Drag them out by their fucking hands. Nobody has the right to tell me what is best

for this child. This is my child. Put your mask on! Asking children is child abuse! 65% of Americans say they are concerned about how things are going in the U.S. The soul of the nation is far from restored. Babies never just deny! Proud choice! That's a lie!

The election is rigged! 72% of respondents believe America is headed in the wrong direction. They have the devil in them and they're all going to burn in hell one day. What kind of ridiculous idea is to put a gun in my hand when I have to defend my students? We have to stand between a shooter and our kids. We didn't sign up for this shit. and our kids. We don't sign up for this shit.

85% of Americans say they are dissatisfied with how things are going, regardless of political party. My party, my tribe! My party, my tribe! Hello, is this Bishop Myers? This is Ested Herndon from the New York Times. Hello, how this Bishop Myers? This is Ested Herndon from The New York Times. Hello, how are you? I'm doing well.

How are you? I'm well, thank you. Good to hear your voice. It's good to hear you too. It's been a couple of years. Yes, it has been. Now, in the run-up to this year's election, what's been the biggest change in the way that you view politics,

if any, from two years ago to now? I guess the one thing that has bothered me is, it's very disheartening. I've really lost faith in a lot of the politicals. I've lost faith in the people. What I'm finding when I talk to people all across the country... Feeling homeless in politics is, you know, it seems like

there isn't a place for anybody to be. ...is that there is a new level of political disconnect. Political homelessness, that's exactly how I feel. A lot of people feel like everything is getting too extreme. You know, it's like the land of no more moderates. And that this time, it extends well beyond political parties. I definitely do not think the election was stolen.

But I understand why the writers on January 6th were upset. Beyond even Joe Biden and Donald Trump. I can't understand the frustration and the helplessness they feel and the need to revolt just because the system's not working for them. It's about the political system as a whole. The voting system is not secure and I'm just having doubts as to whether or not it'll make a difference if I vote at all. People don't just feel divided. I have very little hope for the future of the country. There's a deep sense of anxiety.

If nothing in this country here really gives me hope. You know, it's really hard to have hope in politics when the news is so bad. This country just, it makes me sick, and I wish I could go to another country, but you can't. And the thing is, there's a reason people feel this way. It has been a relentlessly disorienting time. With demographic shifts that are increasingly changing the country's makeup, social movements that have changed cultural norms almost overnight, the explosion of new technology and misinformation that's amplified our divisions. Add to that a global pandemic,

Add to that a global pandemic, widespread inequality, and rampant inflation. And through all of this, the political system has struggled to keep up, to the point where we now have a Congress that's drifting further apart on the most urgent issues. Very few swing districts even up for grabs because of how election maps have been redrawn. State houses that have become far more extreme than public opinion on issues like abortion and guns. I think the state of democracy right now is very shaky. And so much change happening in the Supreme Court outside of voters' control. I'm worried that democracy is being eroded. Our democratic system is under direct threat by nationalists and authoritarian groups. I think democracy, I think it's much more fragile than I realize.

So I can see why some people feel like, what's the point of an election when the entire democratic experiment just might crumble? So I can see why some people feel like, what's the point of an election? When the entire Democratic experiment just might crumble. Biden was not, he was not elected. If it hasn't already. Poor man, he's just, he was not elected. This is wrong. I feel like I'm living in a banana republic.

If you could look ahead kind of to politics and where you think the country is headed, the direction of the country, what do you think your guess is? We're headed for destruction. I mean, whatever this country is supposed to mean, it never represented. It don't represent this country. It doesn't care about the people. But here's what I think. All these things that are making people feel so disconnected, they actually make the midterms more important than ever.

We are just 76 days away from the midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress next year. Because if Republicans take back the House. I have introduced articles of impeachment to impeach Joe Biden, impeach Kamala Harris. Political divisions in Washington will only escalate. And I'll say this, if there's a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, there'll be riots in the streets. And with the Supreme Court sending issues back to the states, the 2022 fall election will now be a referendum on abortion rights. Candidates who ran on the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen won primaries up and down the ballot. Huge decisions about abortion and voting rights are quite literally on the ballot.

Denying concerns and frustrations over the integrity of our local elections. Republicans have a slight two-point edge when it comes to which party voters want to control Congress. A new polling shows a swing back toward Democratic candidates ahead of November's midterm elections. In places like Pennsylvania. Doug Mastriano, who did march to the Capitol on January 6th, is going to be the projected winner of that Republican primary for governor.

And Michigan. This is going to be an epic battle between a conservative businesswoman and mother and a far-left birthing parent and career politician. And Arizona. When I'm governor, we're going to take a sledgehammer to these damn electronic bureaus. And finally, this is the first big test after January 6th and the Trump presidency of where Americans want the country to go. 75% of Democrats saying they want someone besides President Biden to be the Democratic

nominee in 2024. And who they trust to lead them there. And former President Donald Trump still the most favored person for a potential 2024 presidential run. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to raise his profile as the possible GOP frontrunner for 2024. So what I'm trying to figure out when I'm talking to voters, political power players. Hi, Congressman Clyburn. Thank you so much. Kellyanne Conway. Thank you so much for your time. I gave you a lot of it. Try not to be too snarky and barky. And my colleagues at the Times. I'm Maggie Haberman and I cover politics. I'm Lisa Lair and I cover campaigns. I'm Shane

Goldmacher. I'm a national political correspondent. I'm Jenny Medina, and I'm a national politics reporter. I'm Reed Epstein, and I cover campaigns and elections. I'm Maya King, and I cover Southeast politics... I'm Adam DeGuerney, and I've been covering national politics

on and off since 1988. I want to get to more than just who's going to win in November. I want to ask some uncomfortable questions. Like, how did we get here? How deep do these fractures go? And in the end, how strong is our commitment to democracy really? From the New York Times, I'm Astead Herndon.

Welcome to The Run-Up. The Run-Up is reported by me, Astead Herndon, and produced by Elisa Gutierrez and Caitlin O'Keefe. This has been a production of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, It was mixed by Corey Schreppel and fact-checked by Caitlin Love. Special thanks to Paula Schumann, Sam Dolnik, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Shannon Busta, Nell Gologly, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Maciello, and Sydney Harper. Thanks so much for listening, y'all.