The Pour Over Today - Midterms Matter More Than You Think: Midterms, Explained

Starting point is 00:00:00 All right, 1800 presidential election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Sir. The person receiving a majority of votes was elected president, and then the second highest number, that was the vice president. The Constitution mandates that if there be more than one who have such majority, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for president. So that's in the Constitution. Therefore, Jefferson and Burr were admitted as candidates in the House election. They cast 35 successive ballots. On the 36th ballot, Jefferson was elected after several federalists representatives cast blank ballots, resulting in Maryland and Vermont's vote changing from no selection to Jefferson, giving him 10 votes and the presidency.

Starting point is 00:00:41 No wonder Aaron Burr was so, like, heard over this election. Hey, it's Kathleen. This is Catherine Ann. And welcome to TPO Explains. We provide news context for normal people on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. we write about the headlines. We summarize what's going on. We always come across something that we need to research a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Should we talk about my hat? We should talk about your hat. I feel like it's the squirrel in the room. You know? Well, today's Emma's birthday. She turned four today. And so we've been having a birthday party all morning. Not to be confused with us celebrating this midterms era that we're going to be entering into.

Starting point is 00:01:30 we're excited which we're also very excited about and are throwing a party for yes we right now we're starting the party lately we've been writing a lot about midterms and so we're just going to start talking about all things midterms um on saturdays we take a shallow dive and so we'll be diving into a couple of midterm topics over the next few weeks um so that we can educate ourselves and bring you along with us so k a writes these for us. She'll kick us off today. We're just going to start with what even our midterms and why should we talk about them. So follow along with your ears as she reads today's newsletter to you or you can read along with your eyes too. That's an option. Let's get into it with what even are the midterm

Starting point is 00:02:19 general elections. We've been talking about them. They're coming up. So the midterms are elections held midway through each four-year presidential term. So two years into the presidential term. And by law, they take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which this year is November 3rd. So get ready, November 3rd. So who gets elected? So the presidential elections hog the spotlight,

Starting point is 00:02:46 but midterms are all about Congress and the states. All 435 House seats are up every two years, divided among the states by population. Meanwhile, senators serve staggered six-year terms. So one-third of the Senate's 100 seats is up for grabs in any given midterm. I think this election cycle, it's 35 seats that are up. And many states also vote on governors, lieutenant governors, school boards, and ballot measures, all kinds of stuff. So why should we care about midterms?

Starting point is 00:03:22 Midterms shape the direction of the country as much as the president. Congress is where the things that you care most about, health care, taxes, cost of living, jobs, actually get decided. As one political professor put it, quote, whoever controls the House or the Senate controls the agenda. And don't sleep on the state races. Governors and legislators handle plenty on their own, so if you have some thoughts on how things are going at home, now's your chance to weigh in. So why don't we just do all the elections at once with the president? because the Constitution said so. Since the House is up for grabs every two years,

Starting point is 00:04:00 you'll see those seats on the ballot this year and again when we elect the president in 2028, but the Constitution determines different term links for different offices, and state constitutions determine different limits for state legislators and executive offices. So it really is just not practical to do it all at once. And it's also a check on power.

Starting point is 00:04:18 If the country's mood shifts, voters don't have to wait four years. They can change which party controls Congress, which often happens during midterms. So you're probably naturally wondering which party controls Congress now. Republicans narrowly hold both chambers, 218 to 214 in the House and 53 to 47 in the Senate. So Democrats only need to flip a few seats to take control.

Starting point is 00:04:45 Voters often elect a Congress that matches a new president's party then swing the other way at midterms. That's why parties fight so hard to gain. ground during midterms, including through things like mid-decade redistricting, which we have talked about on TPO Explains before, and we can link that episode in the show notes if you want to catch up. Okay, so here's a big question. If it's so important, how do I vote? We thought you'd never ask. You should check out our midterm hub. It answers that question and more in a 10-minute read to help you enter the ballot box with confidence. This is something we've been working on for a long time,

Starting point is 00:05:22 and we're super excited to share with everybody. And we hope that it helps you inter-election season informed but not overwhelmed. I know. And it's not that we're going to tell you who to vote for. We're just going to tell you what your options are. I feel like that was whenever I decided, okay, I do want to start going to, when I can't, local elections and like midterm elections. I just didn't even know where to start with who's going to be on the ballot. by the way, how do I get caught up on my different options and what they stand for, what their

Starting point is 00:05:58 platforms are in the 10 minutes before I head there? And so A, yes, I could have planned ahead sooner than 10 minutes before I went to the ballot. But B, it's nice to have it all in one place. So hopefully you can just go and you find your state and you can see, you can enter in your, there's a link where you can go and enter in your address and see exactly what's on your local ballot, but at the state level, at least, you can see, is there a governor running who are options for Senate and what do their platforms, you know, prioritize? So I'm really excited for this as a resource. It feels like the type of thing that is going to be very helpful for people, even if it's just for that 10-minute recap of like, oh, okay, this is going to be who's on

Starting point is 00:06:42 the ballot. Yeah, this is, as I was making it, I was so excited. I was like, this is the exact thing I have wanted as a voter at every election. So I'm, I'm pumped. I know. We did put some, like, pictures of Shadrach on there, so it's a little bit fun. And there's a couple quizzes, which makes it fun. I learned something from the quizzes about 12th Amendment, so that was cool. Me too.

Starting point is 00:07:07 Okay. When it comes to this topic, it feels like you did know a lot, specifically about this newsletter because we've been so involved in the midterm hub. What was one thing that you wanted to write about that you didn't have room to include? Hey, it's Kathleen from the pourover. I'm here

Starting point is 00:07:26 with a confession. I used to be a wait until it's past year. A favorite pastime of mine was seeing just how low the miles to empty number could get on my dash. The lowest I've gotten was nine. But I'm honestly reformed. I now can't wait to

Starting point is 00:07:43 find the right gas station to visit with upside. I just pop into the app, see which stations around me are offering the most cash back, always crossing my fingers for those 15 cent per gallon gyms, and then I head to the pump. I tap two times on my phone, pay like I normally would, and then just wait for cash to hit my account. I can find cashback offers on gas fill-ups and gas station purchases, but also at some grocery stores or restaurants, like Wendy's, Chipotle, or Applebee's. Cashing out's easy too. Right now, I've got $43 just waiting on me to make a move. I can send it straight to my bank account or buy a gift card from places like Target,

Starting point is 00:08:22 Amazon, Uber, Lowe's, and more. Upsight is given back $1 billion to its users. To find out how much you could earn, download the free Upside app and use promo code TPO to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas. That's an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas using promo code TPO. Well, these elections are called the midterm general elections. And one thing that I had in an earlier draft, but we just did not have words to include, was talking about, like, okay, well, what are primaries? Because that's really what we've been writing about.

Starting point is 00:08:59 The general elections haven't happened. That's what's going on November 3rd. And it's just called a general election because it means whoever wins on November 3rd is going to take office. But we've been covering primaries. And each state holds its own primary. And you can see in our midterm hub when you're, you're. state's primary was. And the primaries just determine who's going to be on the ballot in November.

Starting point is 00:09:22 Every state has its own rules looking at New California. But for the most part, states generally, like voters in each party pick the candidate that they want to send to the November ballot to face off against the other parties. And then whoever wins in November takes office. So a primary is a pre-election election. Yeah. I know we were I was showing Todd the midterm hub and who's going to be on our ballot for I think governor and he was like, wait a second. Why is this guy on the ballot? I weren't there other options? Like, and I was like that election happened earlier this year and that's who that party chose. So that's the option. I don't know. It's just I do. I feel like,

Starting point is 00:10:07 I don't know what I thought midterms were before I started. like becoming an adult. But I feel like, I don't know. I feel like in my head they were kind of synonymous with primaries. Like midterms were just this pulse check on how people felt like things were going. I don't know that I really considered that all House representatives are reelected every two years. I didn't either. Yeah. So 435 seats.

Starting point is 00:10:38 That's why there's so many yard signs. Yeah. matter because 435 seats go back up to re you know right they open back up and then with redistricting and stuff like it could be that there's you know i don't know so i didn't realize that and then i also i didn't realize that a third of the senate that it was staggered like that which i for me that feels so cool so i learned that there's three classes of senators and when you hear this it's not because one's better than the other. So if you're a class one or a class two or a class three senator, that just basically indicates your tenure. So class one was last elected in 2024. There are

Starting point is 00:11:20 33 seats in class one. Class two is the group that's up for election this year. So there's 33 seats there also. And I think there's some extra seats because of special elections this year. There are a handful of special elections. And then class three. And then class three. And then class three they'll get elected in 2028 and there's 34 seats in class three and so I think I don't know that to me felt really of course it's intentional but like I don't know that I would have thought that you know to have a staff I know it just makes a lot of sense so um okay what about anything it can be about today's email that you wrote or just kind of that you've generally learned about the midterms does it change anything about how you'll live your life Yeah, I mean, like, so today I'm going to go get registered to vote because my voter registration deadline is Monday. And actually, for most people, like if you're listening right now, your voter registration deadline is probably Monday. So if you're not registered to vote, you should go register to vote. You can go to our hub and see what your options are. I know. Most states do it online. If you're like my state, you have an online option, but then you don't process paperwork. And so I have to go in person today. It feels like to offer. for an online option and then say, sorry, we don't process paperwork. It's like, well, bro, you said it was online. It's not paperwork in the first place. They process my sister's paperwork. I don't know what it is. So I'm going to go do that today and I'm going to vote in the midterms, which is not something that I probably would have been intentional to do before this. I know, I agree. I think just realizing that, I don't know, we write so much about politics and what's going on in the House and what's going on in Congress and we've written explainers about how a law gets passed.

Starting point is 00:13:07 and how, you know, the national debt and how to, you know, what are congressional hearings? And so just hearing, I think, a little bit more about what our Congress does and how, yeah, we have our president and we vote for them every four years. And that is a very, very important role. And it feels like to me, I see it more of like an external facing role. Like the president is like who's handling those, you know, international. relationships and then Congress is who's representing the people for like what are you know and so which of course they are I'm sure I'm saying things that a lot of people have already understood but in my mind it's just like oh well of course I should go in and make my voice heard or whatever about

Starting point is 00:13:55 the people who are going to be actually writing up the bills and and stuff that yeah or Or your governor, like, who's going to be controlling, like, steering your state where you live right now. Right. I think it's really easy to see just state policy or national policy and feel like my voice doesn't really matter. Like, especially if you live in a state where maybe you, maybe you live in a state where, like, your personal political party isn't the same as your states. It's easy to feel like, I don't know if it matters, but I think it matters more than we think. It always does, yeah. I think that I'm paying a lot more attention.

Starting point is 00:14:38 But I also think that like with the asterisk of, okay, now I know what's going on. So when I see things in the headlines, I know that this is what it means. And I know that, you know, it's all cyclical and certain things will come back around. And elections will always come back around and always feels like, I feel like the way that people campaign it's like, you need to make this decision right now or everything's going to go off the rails. And now having seen it's like. Actually, it's probably going to be okay. You know, I don't know. I do think learning more about this topic has helped me feel a little bit more anchored in knowing just kind of what's going on.

Starting point is 00:15:17 Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Okay, let's talk about Christian perspective. Political landscapes may change course, but our true home, heaven, is on the same course as ever. Just as many Americans view the outcomes of foreign elections. with a certain level of detachment, Christians view earthly political outcomes as secondary to the campaign of our eternal home, where we hold our true citizenship. We can look to 1st Peter 2 verses 11 and 12, which say, Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from

Starting point is 00:15:52 sinful desires that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits. Thanks, Kay. Before we go today, let's take a moment to pray an excerpt from before an election, a prayer from TPO's book that's coming out next spring, praying the news. God of justice and peace guard us from the unrest that so easily permeates election seasons.

Starting point is 00:16:24 Keep our communities, families, and churches from being caught up in the tides of discord that threaten to splinter our bonds and tempt us to put our identity in parties, policies, or politicians. As we approach this time of great decision, help us rightly balance the weight of our responsibility, knowing it is a privilege we get to steward, but not a power that can irreparably harm your good plan and purposes. Tune our ears to hear the cry of our brothers, sharpen our eyes to see those around us as image bearers we are called. My pantry stays stocked with element. I drink it, my husband drinks it, my kids, guzzle it. Basically, we run on element around here. No sugar, no crashes, just the science-backed ratio of electrolytes

Starting point is 00:17:11 need to stay sharp. Plus, it makes drinking water a lot more enjoyable and delicious. If you haven't tried it yet, you're missing out. As a listener of the pourover, you'll get a free eight pack of elements most popular drink-mix flavors with any drink-mix purchase. Just use the element link in the show notes. The love. And shape our lips to speak life and try truth rather than venomous words that tear down. Amen. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to like and subscribe. You can find all our past explainers as well as our Monday, Wednesday, Friday news summaries on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find our midterm hub in the show notes. Until next time. Bye.

The Pour Over Today - Midterms Matter More Than You Think: Midterms, Explained

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