A break down about polls, politics, and the road to Election Day

[00:00:12] Welcome to The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky, a weekly podcast that breaks down politics, policy, and current affairs. I'm Becky Scherr.

[00:00:19] And I'm Michael Brodkorb.

[00:00:21] After a week off due to an awful illness, I am pleased to be back and so grateful to my co-hosts for holding down the fort and having some great conversations while I was gone.

[00:00:29] We are just three weeks out from the election, and it is going to be fast and furious until November 5th.

[00:00:35] Today, we are going to break down J.D. Vance's recent visit to Minnesota.

[00:00:38] We will hit on the recent NBC poll and chat further about the state of the presidential race with just 20 days to go.

[00:00:45] Then we will follow up on Michael's conversation with Brian Strasser last week about the controversy and trouble surrounding FEMA, its workers, and the ongoing hurricane relief efforts and misinformation.

[00:00:56] Thanks for joining us and enjoy the show.

[00:00:59] Michael, I want to start by thanking you for carrying on in my absence while I was hacking up along last week.

[00:01:05] Nobody would have wanted me to be here, but I listened to both episodes.

[00:01:09] It was great.

[00:01:10] And I just want to touch briefly on a couple comments, if that's okay.

[00:01:14] Go right ahead.

[00:01:16] First off, I want to start off with, I was blown away by the conversation with Representative Elliot Engen and Julius Hernandez,

[00:01:21] to think that these two very young men are so respectful, so elegant in their verbiage and their speaking to each other, their view of politics and partisanship.

[00:01:34] It's just so refreshing.

[00:01:36] I have had the privilege to join you for a number of conversations with both of these two individuals.

[00:01:42] And I know that's nothing new.

[00:01:44] We, that's something we've heard time and time again from these two.

[00:01:48] But I think it's something that when folks think about young people in politics these days,

[00:01:54] we think of what we see on some college campuses and on social media and just this ruckus, vitriolic way of doing and acting.

[00:02:03] And it's just these two are such good role models from opposite sides of the aisle, such good role models for their peers.

[00:02:11] And to be honest to all of us about how you can be on opposite sides, you can have opposing viewpoints, you can find commonality,

[00:02:19] but you can just be respectful when it comes to policy and politics.

[00:02:22] And it was just fun to listen to.

[00:02:25] And I applaud you for conducting that interview and that conversation and the two of those,

[00:02:29] the two of those individuals for being here and continuing to be a beacon,

[00:02:35] a shining light on the hill of what we can hope for the future of politics.

[00:02:40] I appreciate that.

[00:02:42] First of all, you were sorely missed.

[00:02:44] You bring a sense of calmness and organization to this podcast.

[00:02:48] So you were very sorely missed.

[00:02:50] Oh, thank you.

[00:02:51] So I hope I'm glad you're feeling better.

[00:02:53] I was going to go with a, I was going to try to go with a, you were like on your court order,

[00:02:59] like something like you're picking up trash, but you beat me to the punch and described it accurately that you were feeling well.

[00:03:05] And I'm glad you're feeling better, but you were missed.

[00:03:08] And it's great to have you back.

[00:03:09] I really enjoyed that conversation.

[00:03:11] It was a really fun conversation to have those two know each other.

[00:03:14] And that's the exact type of stuff that you and I are interested in, which is having conversations,

[00:03:18] finding ways in which people can disagree, but not be sort of disagreeable.

[00:03:22] I will say to you that I am more and more disappointed in rhetoric conversations and particularly social media.

[00:03:31] And there needs to be more representative Ellie Niggins and more Julius Hernandez's and more broad corps and Becky's and Becky and Michael and whatever out there talking, because we need to do more of that stuff.

[00:03:43] And I was, it was those types of conversations are just really help recharge my jets.

[00:03:48] And so I'm glad you enjoyed the conversation.

[00:03:51] Absolutely.

[00:03:51] And I'll hold my comments on the Brian Strasser interview, because we're going to actually get into a little bit further conversation about everything that's going down on as it relates to hurricane relief efforts and chaos surrounding all of that.

[00:04:05] So we'll chat more about that in a minute, but we're going to chat with about J.D. Vance was back in Minnesota.

[00:04:12] So he came in for a private fundraising event and then did an event at the shuttered third precinct in Minneapolis.

[00:04:22] Now, this is the second time we had Speaker Mike Johnson here for a press conference there.

[00:04:27] Curious your take.

[00:04:28] I like the little smirk I'm getting right now, but before I get into my thoughts on the matter, I want to hear what you think about one, the visit and two, the event that they, the unannounced stop at the third precinct.

[00:04:39] First of all, as I'll continue to say in interest of full disclosure, I've endorsed.

[00:04:43] I'm a Republican for Harrison Walls.

[00:04:45] It was interesting that J.D. Vance flew into Minnesota, didn't have an event, didn't have a public event.

[00:04:50] He came in to take some money from some donors, which is his right to do.

[00:04:54] But there was no public rally, no show of support, no enthusiasm around Vance's campaign about the Vance Trump campaign.

[00:05:02] We don't know how much money they raised.

[00:05:04] We won't know probably till after the election.

[00:05:06] But Minnesota, it's a clear indication to me that the Trump campaign recognizes that Minnesota has no significant political value to their electoral strategy.

[00:05:15] It has a money.

[00:05:17] I want Minnesotans money strategy.

[00:05:19] And I want to quick and do a quick press conference.

[00:05:23] But there was no rally, no event, no enthusiasm, no airport rally or anything.

[00:05:29] And I think that shows that the Vance Trump campaign or the Trump Vance campaign wanted to get into Minnesota, take what they could and then get out.

[00:05:38] And one one little side.

[00:05:40] Well, just go ahead and you can respond.

[00:05:43] Yeah, I was a little surprised that there wasn't some sort of gathering.

[00:05:48] I've been to these sort of events before where they will do a private roundtable even at the hotel that's right on the airport grounds.

[00:05:57] Right.

[00:05:57] Because you have one thing that is needed to be taken into consideration.

[00:06:02] Anytime a campaign, presidential campaign makes a stop here, they're not making a stop somewhere else.

[00:06:07] And so they do certainly need to be stingy with their time, which we'll chat about a little bit more in our next segment because Trump's making some interesting stops these days.

[00:06:18] But was surprised that there wasn't like a roundtable and even some sort of more intimate 100, 150 gathering.

[00:06:24] My thought is similar to yours that I do believe that Minnesota is out of play for this campaign, whereas the stop in front of the third precinct does have a more of an ability to generate some media coverage that has the ability to go into Western Wisconsin, which is a state in play.

[00:06:40] And so I think that is probably where they they got some play.

[00:06:45] They always say you want voters, you want either votes, money or press out of everything that a campaign does.

[00:06:50] And so this was clearly focused on the money and maybe some press.

[00:06:56] They did do the stop at the third precinct.

[00:06:58] Again, Mike Johnson was here a couple of months ago.

[00:07:00] Second congressional district candidate Joe Tarab was there, retired police officer.

[00:07:04] They hit on the riots.

[00:07:05] Fourteen hundred or fourteen hundred businesses destroyed.

[00:07:08] Five hundred million in damages.

[00:07:10] And Vance, one of his lines was the story of Minneapolis is coming to every community across the United States of America if we promote Kamala Harris to president of the United States.

[00:07:19] Now, I personally don't think this is a huge off topic thing for them to hit on.

[00:07:26] But is it playing?

[00:07:27] Because to me, it's something that I expected to see a little bit more.

[00:07:33] When we saw Mike Johnson here, I thought that this with Walls was what was that?

[00:07:38] That's Speaker Johnson to you.

[00:07:40] Speaker.

[00:07:40] I'm sorry.

[00:07:41] You're right.

[00:07:41] You're right.

[00:07:42] The Speaker of the House.

[00:07:43] I really thought when Walls got tapped that we were going to be hearing a lot more about this.

[00:07:49] We were going to be seeing more ads.

[00:07:50] We were going to be hearing about the impact on some disadvantaged communities.

[00:07:54] We were going to be hearing about the grocery deserts.

[00:07:57] We were going to be hearing about the schools and the meals that were impacted of these students.

[00:08:01] We were going to be hearing.

[00:08:02] There's a lot to hit on if you want to hit on it.

[00:08:04] But it's been so few and far between that.

[00:08:07] Was this a best use of his time?

[00:08:11] I think it's the only first of all, the Republican message has been so terrible on this campaign,

[00:08:17] particularly Minnesota Republicans on Governor Walls.

[00:08:20] It's been so all over the place.

[00:08:22] They've hit him for not having a dog.

[00:08:23] They've hit him with a bunch of other kind of ridiculous conspiracy theories.

[00:08:27] And so I think that the message.

[00:08:30] I can't hear you.

[00:08:31] You got to.

[00:08:32] You're just yelling.

[00:08:33] I think I think it was that they had two dogs and they were lying about which was the

[00:08:36] real dog.

[00:08:36] Not that he didn't have a dog in general.

[00:08:38] Yeah, well, whatever it was, any oxygen spent on that was a fantastic waste of time.

[00:08:44] And as a Republican who is supporting Harrison Walls, I'm really glad that all the oxygen

[00:08:48] that was spent by Minnesota Republicans and other national goofballs pushing that narrative.

[00:08:53] This was this has to be a pretty significant blow to the spirit of Minnesota Republicans

[00:08:59] that are advocating and there are supporting the Trump Vance campaign to see Vance come to

[00:09:04] Minnesota, get off a plane, go right to a black limousine, get shuttered, get driven

[00:09:09] right to a fundraiser, take checks behind closed doors, stand up at the third precinct

[00:09:14] and then get out of town.

[00:09:15] That's that shows that's a belief that I think number one is the Trump Vance campaign has

[00:09:21] come to the realization that having Vance or Trump doing any type of large event at

[00:09:26] this time, not there's still time between now and the election, but right now they didn't

[00:09:30] want to dedicate their candidates time on the ground with a rally or some type of event.

[00:09:36] They wanted a very structured event for the vice for the vice presidential candidate, J.D.

[00:09:41] Vance.

[00:09:42] They wanted Minnesotans money and then they wanted to get them out of town.

[00:09:45] I think that's an indication that the Trump campaign clearly does not think that Minnesota

[00:09:49] is in play.

[00:09:50] And what they want is they want to poach Minnesota for its fundraising money, which is fair.

[00:09:55] And then they want to come in and do a bracketing event and feed that message out nationally.

[00:10:02] The only reason why I think they came Vance came to Minnesota was not because they think

[00:10:07] Minnesota is competitive because it's not for Republicans in this election cycle.

[00:10:11] They wanted checks.

[00:10:13] They want to stand in front of the third precinct, lob some bombs, and then get out of the state

[00:10:17] as quickly as possible.

[00:10:18] And that's going to be a tough message for Republicans to see this close to the election

[00:10:22] because I think it's a realization that contrary to all the gas pumping and spinning, that Donald

[00:10:29] Trump and J.D.

[00:10:30] Vance are not going to win the state of Minnesota.

[00:10:32] And to play devil's advocate, I will say that it is not uncommon.

[00:10:36] I believe Kamala Harris is probably doing lots of stops where she goes in, gathers checks,

[00:10:40] and gets out.

[00:10:41] But I think the relevance here is that it's our state, Governor Walz's state, and a lot of

[00:10:45] conversation that's been had of whether it's in play or not.

[00:10:48] In 2020, Donald Trump had a huge rally here, I think the first week in October.

[00:10:54] And so things are clearly different, and it's clearly different than they were even three

[00:10:58] months ago.

[00:10:59] And Vance did allude to the fact that Trump could be back in.

[00:11:03] And again, let's hold that conversation for the next segment because I think it's going

[00:11:07] to be interesting to hear how he's been spending his time.

[00:11:12] I could get a 32-inch waist and a full head of hair, but it's just not in the cards.

[00:11:17] One other point I'd make to you is that the city of St.

[00:11:20] Cloud is still trying to collect an invoice.

[00:11:22] For the last time, Trump, I think Trump and Vance were both in St.

[00:11:25] Cloud.

[00:11:26] And it's a couple hundred thousand dollars that they're owed.

[00:11:29] Interesting, I don't believe that J.D.

[00:11:31] Vance zipped up to Cernes County or to St.

[00:11:34] Cloud and dropped off a check and paid off that bill.

[00:11:37] He did again come to Minnesota, take some Minnesota, which is perfectly legal.

[00:11:42] It's permissible.

[00:11:43] I'm not saying a candidate can't fundraising, but there is an invoice owed in St.

[00:11:47] Cloud for an event.

[00:11:49] And hopefully at some point, the party of fiscal responsibility, Trump and Vance will realize

[00:11:54] that they have to pay that bill and hopefully they do it soon.

[00:11:57] All right.

[00:11:58] Heard.

[00:11:58] You would agree that they should pay that bill, Becky?

[00:12:00] I would absolutely agree that campaigns should pay the bills, especially these are some small

[00:12:05] towns that do put a lot out.

[00:12:07] I just got to chuckle sometimes when I feel like I get a talking point from your advanced

[00:12:12] document.

[00:12:13] Oh, as if you don't, as if you're not there, like you haven't been sitting there for the

[00:12:18] last week, just typing away, coming up with talking points because Becky doesn't come

[00:12:23] up with talking points.

[00:12:25] I love it.

[00:12:26] That's exactly what we do.

[00:12:27] That's what we've been doing for decades now.

[00:12:29] Hey, keep things fun here.

[00:12:31] This comes straight from the heart.

[00:12:34] But I do agree.

[00:12:36] I think unpaid bills are just bonkers that they get away with that.

[00:12:40] Moving on NBC poll and general chat of the state of the race for the presidential presidential

[00:12:45] race, how things are going.

[00:12:46] We have a new NBC poll that just came out.

[00:12:49] It was conducted October 4th to October 8th.

[00:12:52] Neck and neck, literally tied 48, 48, just 4% undecided.

[00:12:57] As a reminder, the first poll NBC did in September, the first poll with Harris as the candidate

[00:13:04] for the Democrats had Harris at 49 versus Trump at 44 with 7% undecided.

[00:13:11] So this is a swing.

[00:13:12] I do fully believe it's some of that momentum evening out a little bit.

[00:13:17] And I don't think this is a complete shock.

[00:13:19] I think that this is something you and I have talked a lot about of any given day.

[00:13:25] One of them could be in the lead.

[00:13:26] I think we're seeing this in swing states.

[00:13:29] They're neck and neck.

[00:13:31] On any given day, one of them could be ahead.

[00:13:33] That's just compelling and rich.

[00:13:35] Most generic.

[00:13:36] Oh, it reminds me of Kieran from Veep where I am right now watching, saying something without

[00:13:40] saying anything.

[00:13:41] But I feel like it really could be this, that today Trump could be in the lead.

[00:13:46] Tomorrow, Harris could be in the lead.

[00:13:48] The next day, Trump could be in the lead.

[00:13:49] I think it's, I do think it's neck and neck.

[00:13:51] What's your take on this?

[00:13:52] Do you think polls are historically not the most reliable lately?

[00:13:56] What do you think?

[00:13:57] From the heart, this is a flip of a coin race.

[00:14:00] I've been telling everyone since for the last month or so, if not more, this will be a

[00:14:05] flip of the coin race until election day and anything can happen.

[00:14:09] And that's where my house is going to change that.

[00:14:11] Well, it's a couple of interesting points.

[00:14:13] I want to make sure I'm being accurate when I say this, but from media articles and other

[00:14:18] smart people that I've seen on TV talk, this is one of the first elections since I think

[00:14:22] modern polling where one candidate has not pulled above, there hasn't been a plus five

[00:14:29] margin between the candidates.

[00:14:30] And so I think that this is going to be an incredibly close race between now and election

[00:14:35] day, truly flip of a coin.

[00:14:37] And it's going to be, it's going to make a lot of people nervous and it's going to

[00:14:40] be fun to watch and exciting.

[00:14:42] And we're going to be here for the ride, but I truly believe it's a flip of a coin.

[00:14:46] If our listeners are not aware, I'm obviously, I do love polls and I love all of the kind

[00:14:52] of minor things that we can pull from polls at times.

[00:14:56] A couple of things that I think came from this one is that they're not hugely surprising,

[00:15:01] but I think the number, the margin did surprise me a little bit of the gender gap between Harris

[00:15:05] and Trump.

[00:15:06] Harris is, women support Harris by a 14 point margin and men back Trump by a 16 point

[00:15:12] margin.

[00:15:12] That I don't think is something that obviously it's unique.

[00:15:16] Again, we don't have a ton to look back on of men versus women when it comes to our presidential

[00:15:21] races, but that's not just double digits.

[00:15:24] That's well with within the double digits and very stark numbers there.

[00:15:29] Yes.

[00:15:30] Very.

[00:15:30] And it's interesting.

[00:15:31] It's a contrast.

[00:15:32] This is, I think that this is a very polarizing election.

[00:15:35] I think the data is going to be interesting to watch, but again, I think it's going to be

[00:15:40] nerve wracking and interesting to watch every single poll that comes out.

[00:15:44] But I honestly, and I guess I don't know what you would give me your take, but I don't see

[00:15:49] this unless something really substantive happens.

[00:15:52] I think this is just going to be a neck and neck race until election day.

[00:15:56] Completely agree.

[00:15:57] We've had wilder things happen.

[00:15:58] There can be an October surprise.

[00:16:01] Who knows, but I feel despite this, 10% of voters in this poll did say that they might

[00:16:07] change their minds.

[00:16:08] I don't truly, I feel like they want to be open to letting things play out, but I don't,

[00:16:13] I think that number is far smaller.

[00:16:17] One additional point I make about polling is, and I'd be curious your take on this.

[00:16:21] I've heard, and there's been some discussion about Republicans being somewhat cheapish or let

[00:16:28] me rephrase it, Trump supporters being somewhat cheapish with pollsters saying as to who they

[00:16:32] support.

[00:16:33] I also think that in 2022, the polls were off of it because I think abortion is a subject

[00:16:40] that people will vote privately on.

[00:16:43] And so I think I have, again, I come from the premise that this election is going to be

[00:16:50] close.

[00:16:50] Again, flip of the coin between now and election day.

[00:16:53] What I think it's going to be very interesting to see after the election is why the polls

[00:16:59] differed from the, why the polls differed from the actual election results.

[00:17:04] And they always do to some degree, but was there some unpolled undercurrent going on where

[00:17:11] there was a larger block of voters who were either Trump supporters who didn't want to say

[00:17:16] it, people who were voting privately in the ballot box related to abortion or other types

[00:17:22] of subjects.

[00:17:22] It's going to be really interesting to watch.

[00:17:26] I completely agree.

[00:17:27] I, as much as I love a good poll, I love a good postmortem.

[00:17:30] So I am excited to analyze that all after the election as well, which can I just say, and

[00:17:38] I know it's different because I spent a decade like in the trenches, deep in campaigns and

[00:17:43] politicking.

[00:17:44] It doesn't feel to me like we're three weeks out.

[00:17:46] Does it feel to you like we're 20 days away from the election?

[00:17:51] Do you think it should be, you think, what do you mean?

[00:17:53] You think it's, you think it's the day before or is it like, I feel like we're like months

[00:17:58] before.

[00:17:59] I don't feel like the, I don't feel, no, you don't agree.

[00:18:02] I think it's, I think this is, we're just in the, we're in the, we're in the silly season.

[00:18:07] This is the silly season.

[00:18:08] This is where I think some people struggle with the pressure cooker of what's going

[00:18:13] on in an election and an election, but it's, it is, it's going to, I just, yeah, we're,

[00:18:18] it's going to come fast.

[00:18:19] We got three weeks, three weeks from today, three weeks from today, depending on how you

[00:18:23] count it.

[00:18:23] By the way, let's have this quick discussion.

[00:18:25] If you're doing a countdown to election, so I consider it to be 20 days from election,

[00:18:32] not 21.

[00:18:33] What's your take on that?

[00:18:34] I do too.

[00:18:36] And I said 20 minutes or 20 days earlier, and I honestly struggled whether I was going to

[00:18:41] put 20 or 21 because there is, you can go back and forth of whether it's you count election

[00:18:47] day or you don't count election day.

[00:18:49] There are 20 days until election day, right?

[00:18:52] So there are 20 days between now and election day, and then you wake up and it's election

[00:18:56] day.

[00:18:56] So you don't count that day.

[00:18:58] So we're in agreement that it's, so we, so on the breakdown with Brad Kornbecki, we do

[00:19:02] not count the final day.

[00:19:04] It's up to that day.

[00:19:06] Correct.

[00:19:07] Fantastic.

[00:19:08] That's one of the only things we've ever agreed.

[00:19:09] I genuinely got nervous when I put that in though.

[00:19:12] That's why I said three weeks at one point and then I did change it up.

[00:19:15] So that's really funny that you bring that up.

[00:19:17] Thank you.

[00:19:17] A couple other points I want to hit on here.

[00:19:19] There is a little bit of a popularity flip for Harris in September.

[00:19:23] She was 48% positive, 45% negative.

[00:19:27] Now sitting at 43% positive, 49% negative.

[00:19:30] I don't think that's super surprising as things move on.

[00:19:35] Trump is also sitting at 43% positive, 51% negative.

[00:19:38] This is his highest positive since leaving office.

[00:19:41] So a little notable there.

[00:19:44] One thing that I thought was really interesting from this poll was perceptions of the Trump

[00:19:51] and Biden presidency and whether this Biden presidency is still impacting Kamala Harris.

[00:19:56] So we, they asked voters, did the administration's policy help you and your family hurt you and

[00:20:01] your family or not make much of a difference?

[00:20:03] When it comes to Biden, only 25% said helped while 45% said hurt.

[00:20:08] And when it comes to Trump, 44% said Trump and 31% said hurt.

[00:20:13] Do you take this to be anything other than history has a way of looking kindly on presidents

[00:20:19] more and more time has lapsed since Trump?

[00:20:21] Or is there anything that you point to for this?

[00:20:25] I think it's the economy.

[00:20:27] I think that Donald Trump inherited a magnificent economy from Barack Obama.

[00:20:33] And then in the midst of it, there was a pandemic and it was a chaotic time in 2020.

[00:20:37] And so the country's fought back.

[00:20:40] And if you look on a calendar, if you look over a contextually over a calendar, there

[00:20:45] are some issues that, that the Harris campaign is having to deal with regarding the economy

[00:20:51] and what's going on.

[00:20:51] And I think Trump, this gets to an issue, which I think is really challenging.

[00:20:58] I think for the Trump campaign to get in a groove on, which is discussing right track,

[00:21:02] wrong track, how people feel.

[00:21:03] Trump does not want to talk in that way.

[00:21:05] He doesn't want to talk about that stuff.

[00:21:06] He wants to talk about, J.D. Vance wants to talk about dogs and cats being eaten in Springfield,

[00:21:13] Ohio.

[00:21:13] They want to talk about all these other issues rather than right track, wrong track on some

[00:21:17] of this stuff.

[00:21:18] And so I think that this is why the race is so close.

[00:21:22] This is why the race is so close is because I do believe looking at the data that people

[00:21:27] have, people do have an impression on the economy under Trump.

[00:21:33] That's their reality.

[00:21:35] That's their reality.

[00:21:35] And in some ways, looking at some of the statistics and the economy that Donald Trump inherited,

[00:21:40] sure, that's absolutely could be the case.

[00:21:42] One of the reasons why I think this race is so close, looking just at policy, is because

[00:21:47] of the economy.

[00:21:49] I think some of the issues that are, I'm not saying the economy is not important to me,

[00:21:53] but as someone who's staked out a claim based on the reasons that I've staked out, I'm much

[00:21:59] more of a realist, I think, when it comes to what the president of the United States and

[00:22:05] administration can truly do to impact the economic policies of this country.

[00:22:10] It's a collaborative effort with Congress.

[00:22:12] There's outside factors that come in, such as the pandemic and other things.

[00:22:17] And so this is why I think you've delved into very precisely why this race is so close.

[00:22:25] When we do look at the issues, none of those are surprising at all.

[00:22:30] They continue to be abortion as the top issue for most important to voters.

[00:22:35] Immigration, voter security is number two, protecting democracy or constitutional rights,

[00:22:40] three, and cost of living number four.

[00:22:42] And so I think it is time and time again what we are seeing a lot of those conversations.

[00:22:46] But I agree with you that I do think that if Trump and Vance focused, wouldn't it be nice,

[00:22:53] if they focused on economy and cost of living, I do think it would have potential to give them

[00:23:00] a point or two that could make a difference here.

[00:23:02] And that's a little to the detriment of that campaign that they're not doing that.

[00:23:06] On the subject of on the subject of abortion, on the abortion, 22 percent, is that is that

[00:23:13] in your position?

[00:23:14] Is that pro-life voters concerned about abortion or do you think it is pro-choice abortion rights

[00:23:20] advocates wanting to make sure that there's bodily autonomy and that that women have their

[00:23:27] health care options?

[00:23:28] I think it's probably a little bit of both.

[00:23:30] But I would give like far majority of that to the pro-choice voters who believe that Trump

[00:23:39] and the Republicans could significantly impact women's rights, women's ability to choose

[00:23:46] from themselves, families' abilities to make choices that are best for them.

[00:23:51] Just heard another story of a woman who has a non-viable fetus at 12 weeks but lives in

[00:23:58] the state with a ban and because it is not a threat to her life, she either has to go elsewhere

[00:24:04] or carry a non-viable fetus till however long either her body or full term and then as a

[00:24:14] birthday, non-viable child or stillborn.

[00:24:17] And it's just the more stories that we're hearing, I feel like lead me to believe that it is women

[00:24:23] who are or not just women.

[00:24:26] It is voters who are concerned about stories like that, who are concerned by the choices

[00:24:32] being taken away, by their rights being violated and this handmaid's tale sort of way of living

[00:24:39] that there is a fear for them.

[00:24:41] I certainly do think that there are some that have abortion as the top because they truly look

[00:24:47] at this as murdering a child, killing an infant in the womb.

[00:24:53] And so I think there is some of that.

[00:24:55] But yeah, I think probably largely I would do 75-25 on that.

[00:24:59] Yeah, I would maybe, from my perspective, maybe even a little bit higher because again, one

[00:25:03] of the issues that I've spoken with a lot of Republican men about in this state and some

[00:25:08] others is about why they're voting for Harris and Walls is because they want to support because

[00:25:15] they have a wife, they have a sister, they have an aunt, or they just passionately believe

[00:25:19] that the government shouldn't involve themselves in a health care decision that a woman needs

[00:25:25] to make.

[00:25:26] And so I think the vast majority of those are those type of voters.

[00:25:30] When we also look at the breakdown of who is best at handling there, who voters believe

[00:25:35] would be best at handling some of these key issues, Harris does have a 19-point lead over

[00:25:40] Trump when it comes to handling abortion.

[00:25:42] And so that certainly has just a 3% gap there.

[00:25:45] Harris also wins on health care and being competent and effective.

[00:25:49] Trump's top issues or qualities are dealing with the border, handling the situation in

[00:25:53] the Middle East, and dealing with the cost of living.

[00:25:55] Again, I think that kind of aligns with what we've seen from polls over the last couple

[00:25:59] of months.

[00:25:59] Nothing super surprising.

[00:26:01] One thing that I love a good historical tidbit.

[00:26:04] In this poll, they said 62% of registered voters believe the upcoming presidential election

[00:26:09] will make a, quote, great deal of difference in their lives, which is the highest response

[00:26:14] on this question since 1992.

[00:26:19] That was my first election that I voted in 1992.

[00:26:21] And I will say to you without any hesitation, I do.

[00:26:25] So one of the things I've talked with, I think we've talked about on this show about is someone

[00:26:29] always, some people sometimes feel the first election they vote in is the most important

[00:26:33] election they've ever voted in.

[00:26:34] And I'm not going to lie and say that I thought the 1992 election was important.

[00:26:38] I still remember all the buzzwords, but I have been very consistent that I think this

[00:26:44] election is the most significant election of my lifetime.

[00:26:48] And I put it near the, I put it at the top.

[00:26:50] I put it over the 2004 election.

[00:26:52] I put it over the 2000 election.

[00:26:54] It is without a doubt the most significant election that I've been a part of.

[00:26:58] And so it is, it's really interesting to see that resonating, resonating with people, that

[00:27:02] this is an election that will make a great deal of difference in their life because I

[00:27:06] do believe the stakes are that high.

[00:27:08] It's funny you mentioned 2004 and this is not an age thing, but that was my first election.

[00:27:14] And I do believe that was a significant election.

[00:27:16] And really what got me started to be interested because there was so much tension and conversation

[00:27:24] about what was going on, President W. Bush, who I'm a big fan of, and just really what

[00:27:31] was going on at that time.

[00:27:33] But I would have paid you as a John F.

[00:27:35] Kerry voter.

[00:27:36] No, not my guy.

[00:27:38] You're big.

[00:27:39] That's great.

[00:27:40] But hey, I have a lot of elections.

[00:27:41] I've had a lot of, a lot of tears and a lot of, man, elections are a stressful, emotional

[00:27:47] time, but I don't disagree.

[00:27:49] I think this is something that for a multitude of reasons, for all of these top reasons, right?

[00:27:55] The impact on abortion, impact on what's going on in our foreign affairs, the impact

[00:27:59] on our cost of living and our economy, what will happen to our democracy either way.

[00:28:04] It is mind boggling to think of the implications that this election will have, regardless of

[00:28:09] who gets elected.

[00:28:10] Both, both Harris winning or Trump winning have so much that comes along with it.

[00:28:17] And I don't know that my mind can fully comprehend that.

[00:28:20] And we'll have many conversations after the fact as we start seeing stuff unfold.

[00:28:24] But yeah, man.

[00:28:27] The last comment on what we've already chatted about at swing state polls are, again, neck

[00:28:31] and neck there.

[00:28:32] Trump has a slight edge.

[00:28:33] If you look at real clear politics that average them all, they're all between 0.2, 0.1.

[00:28:40] It's wild to me.

[00:28:42] Have you, in your history of looking at polls and looking at swing states, is this the closest

[00:28:49] it's been across the board?

[00:28:51] I feel like usually we see three of them going one way, three of them going the other way.

[00:28:55] This seems crazy to me.

[00:28:57] Yes.

[00:28:58] This is a very, it's everyday matters in this campaign.

[00:29:02] Everyday matters.

[00:29:03] And it's going to be, I just, as I said before, I don't believe that this election is going,

[00:29:08] I don't think we're going to see, unless there's some big event, unless something significant

[00:29:12] happens that we can't predict or something along those lines, unless there's some type

[00:29:17] of big October surprise, I don't see how this, I think this election stays this way.

[00:29:22] And I think that's going to drive some people crazy.

[00:29:25] I think it's, and it's already starting to, because I think some people are just, it's,

[00:29:29] people are in a pressure.

[00:29:30] This is going to feel, what this election is going to, is starting to feel like for, I

[00:29:34] think a number of people is that you've ever been to Valley Fair and been on the corkscrew,

[00:29:37] just that kind of tick, tick, tick up before you go down.

[00:29:40] And there's a bunch of people that are that tense right now.

[00:29:43] And I think it's great.

[00:29:44] This is a fun election to watch.

[00:29:46] I'm excited.

[00:29:47] I'm, but it's very interesting to see how just amped up people are and tense they are

[00:29:53] about stuff.

[00:29:54] And I simultaneously believe that this election is the most significant in my lifetime, but

[00:30:01] you want to know what sun's going to set sun's going to rise tomorrow.

[00:30:03] Tomorrow and we still got a Vikings game on Sunday and we're going to have a Vikings game

[00:30:07] on a few Sundays after the election.

[00:30:09] And so I'm trying to keep everything in perspective.

[00:30:12] I appreciate that.

[00:30:13] I do want to say, so I mentioned it before in a couple of times in recent episodes, but

[00:30:19] we're rewatching Veep.

[00:30:20] And if you're a political nerd and have not watched Veep, I highly encourage you to go

[00:30:25] indulge.

[00:30:25] It brings some levity to the chaos that are these campaigns and these election cycles.

[00:30:31] But right now we're just getting to the part where, spoiler alert, there's a presidential

[00:30:36] tie and it is wild watching that go down and something hopefully we'll never see in our

[00:30:43] lifetime.

[00:30:44] But crazier things have happened.

[00:30:46] So maybe we'll have a electoral college tie in November 5th and then chaos can continue

[00:30:52] beyond.

[00:30:52] Who's your favorite candidate on Veep?

[00:30:55] My favorite candidate?

[00:30:57] Tom James is just spot on, right?

[00:31:00] He is just perfect.

[00:31:02] Love him.

[00:31:03] He's so good.

[00:31:05] Yeah.

[00:31:05] Obviously I like Julie Weiss Drive as Sonny Van Myers.

[00:31:08] I'm a big fan of the Robert Roger Furlong, the congressman, senator from Ohio.

[00:31:14] He's got a great way of just putting together some insults.

[00:31:21] And zingers are insane.

[00:31:22] He's really good.

[00:31:23] And there's certainly not, there's certainly not PG.

[00:31:27] There certainly are.

[00:31:29] And some of them are actually probably NC-17.

[00:31:31] They're pretty rough.

[00:31:32] Yeah.

[00:31:33] Pretty rough.

[00:31:33] It's all fun and games.

[00:31:34] But if you've been around politics, you know, that's not too far from the truth.

[00:31:39] And sometimes how things go.

[00:31:40] I've never spoken politics.

[00:31:42] No.

[00:31:42] Maybe you have.

[00:31:43] No, never.

[00:31:44] Maybe you have, but not me.

[00:31:45] Yeah, exactly.

[00:31:45] We've been talking about how everyday matters here.

[00:31:48] So pulled together some of the recent and upcoming campaign stops from the last week or

[00:31:53] the upcoming week.

[00:31:54] We had, like we mentioned, Vance is in Minnesota and is heading to Pennsylvania.

[00:31:59] Walls is doing a couple stops in Wisconsin, heading to Pennsylvania as well.

[00:32:04] Harris is spending some time in Michigan, also going to Wisconsin.

[00:32:08] But let's chat about President Donald Trump.

[00:32:12] Last week, he spent some time in California and Colorado.

[00:32:15] He's spending some time in Illinois.

[00:32:18] He has rented out, I think, Madison Square Garden for an event in New York.

[00:32:23] Now, a couple stats that came from this article.

[00:32:26] A Republican has not won New York in a presidential race in 40 years.

[00:32:30] It's been 36 years since the GOP has won California or Illinois.

[00:32:34] And Colorado has not voted for Republican at the top of the ticket.

[00:32:38] In 20 years.

[00:32:39] This is an interesting way to spend his time.

[00:32:42] Yes, this will be this.

[00:32:45] If Trump is not successful, people will look back at him spending time in California, New

[00:32:50] York and Illinois as not a good use of his time.

[00:32:54] If you remember in the 16 race, people said Hillary Clinton just went back to Wisconsin

[00:32:58] where she probably would have won.

[00:32:59] If Al Gore wins his home state of Tennessee, it doesn't come down to Florida in 2000.

[00:33:04] And so ultimately, there's a strategy behind this, but it's not a let's win New York, Illinois

[00:33:11] and California strategy.

[00:33:12] It's to go there and message outward from those states.

[00:33:18] Right?

[00:33:18] What do you think can be?

[00:33:20] Absolutely.

[00:33:20] And what do you think can be attributed to this?

[00:33:22] Is it just Trump being headstrong saying, I'm picking where we're going and this is where

[00:33:27] we're going?

[00:33:28] Yes.

[00:33:28] I think he's looking for messaging opportunities, not necessarily electoral strategy messages.

[00:33:34] And that may, those may seem different, but if you think about this, so let's, let me

[00:33:38] just be as fair as I can here.

[00:33:40] JD Vance came to Minnesota yesterday.

[00:33:42] He came in to get money.

[00:33:44] He did a press conference and then he left.

[00:33:46] So he didn't do any kind of mingling with Minnesotans to try to win their votes over.

[00:33:52] He spoke to a fundraising crowd and then he did a press event.

[00:33:55] Now that press event obviously has an impact because we see it on local TV, Becky, but as

[00:34:01] from your comms and PR experience, what they're doing is messaging out from there.

[00:34:05] They're bracketing outward and that's what they're doing.

[00:34:09] And so let me just be, there's nothing wrong with JD Vance coming to Minnesota and raising

[00:34:12] money, doing a press event like that and leaving town.

[00:34:15] What it shows to me, and there's nothing wrong with Trump doing this in California, New York,

[00:34:21] and Illinois.

[00:34:22] But the significance of both events are, is that the candidates are really not in play

[00:34:28] there.

[00:34:29] Vance is not in play in Minnesota.

[00:34:31] Trump and Vance are not in play in Minnesota.

[00:34:33] And based on all available polling, Trump is not in position to win California, Illinois,

[00:34:39] or New York.

[00:34:39] What they are wanting to do, or in Colorado, and Colorado, what they are willing to do

[00:34:44] is they're willing to spend time in there to message outward because there's a traveling

[00:34:49] press corps that goes with them.

[00:34:51] They can have the event broadcast everywhere and they can create some kind of viral messaging

[00:34:57] and viral opportunities in these states to highlight local issues that resonate outward.

[00:35:04] And so that's what JD Vance did in Minnesota yesterday.

[00:35:07] He went to the third precinct, made a series of allegations and statements, and tried to

[00:35:12] portray that in a framing and bracketing that benefited his campaign, not necessarily in

[00:35:18] Minnesota, but benefit out of this state and message broadly across the country.

[00:35:23] But what he didn't do is he didn't spend time interacting and having a rally with Minnesota

[00:35:28] voters because that's not a good use of his time because he's not going to win here.

[00:35:32] And so Trump, I think, is doing a little bit of the same, except in some of these, particularly

[00:35:37] the Madison Square Garden event, he's having a very large event.

[00:35:42] I, this, the thing that's the most surprising, because I get that.

[00:35:46] I do think that there is something to that.

[00:35:48] But when we were chatting the other day with, I believe it was when we had Will and Anna on

[00:35:53] and talking about the Trump campaign's strategy to target some low propensity voters.

[00:36:00] I feel like the rallies in these targeted states are a great opportunity for that, right?

[00:36:07] You have some, your friend, you're not maybe one that doesn't vote all the time or not super

[00:36:11] passionate, but you go to a rally with your friend or you have a friend that goes to the

[00:36:15] rally.

[00:36:15] People like to be wooed.

[00:36:17] They like to hear there's a reason that rock stars are on stage and saying, hello, Minnesota.

[00:36:22] Like people like to hear their state, their town, their community mentioned or wooed or

[00:36:29] important to these voters.

[00:36:31] And so it just feels like such, we're 20 days out and it's, I get it.

[00:36:36] You, there, there's a time and a place to go all these places, but it's such a missed

[00:36:39] opportunity and really frustrating.

[00:36:41] And I think something that if Trump is not successful, that they can point to just say,

[00:36:45] look at these, you had multiple days, two, three days of missed opportunities connecting

[00:36:50] with voters in these swing states that actually could make a difference, whether it's 500,

[00:36:55] 1,000, 1200 votes that could get you over the finish line.

[00:36:59] And it's nothing surprising anymore when it comes to president Donald Trump, but a little

[00:37:05] shocking.

[00:37:06] So do you, you don't see, you see the messaging benefit, but you think, do you, you see the

[00:37:12] messaging benefit?

[00:37:13] You would, your argument would be do the same message, but do it in a state that you could

[00:37:18] actually potentially pick up is what you're saying.

[00:37:20] Yeah.

[00:37:21] Because my thought of this when, again, when we're talking to the strategy of the low

[00:37:24] propensity voters, I don't think a low propensity voters is spending their time in October watching

[00:37:30] CNN, watching MSNBC and getting this messaging from an event in Colorado.

[00:37:35] Mass generalization.

[00:37:36] But if somebody is not typically somebody who is impassioned or driven to vote, especially

[00:37:43] when it comes to a presidential general election, I just find it hard to believe that's where

[00:37:48] they spend a lot of time getting messaging.

[00:37:52] Whereas if I believe that they would get a lot more from social media.

[00:37:57] And so again, when you have president Donald Trump in your state and you're seeing your friends

[00:38:02] and your family and your coworkers and your colleagues and your mechanic or whoever it is posting

[00:38:07] on your feed about all of this, that's where I feel like the opportunity, if that's truly

[00:38:13] their strategy with these low propensity voters is you need to go that way.

[00:38:18] There is absolutely a messaging opportunity when it comes to these other states, but I don't

[00:38:22] believe it just doesn't seem to fit into what they are saying their strategy is.

[00:38:27] Yeah.

[00:38:28] Yeah.

[00:38:28] And where voters get a lot of their information from is from look at that.

[00:38:35] Hmm.

[00:38:35] Tick tock.

[00:38:37] Can we talk about that?

[00:38:38] And I joined the tick tock.

[00:38:40] I saw you've been crushing it, man.

[00:38:43] I joined the tick tock and I appreciate Julius's comment that I'm the king of tick tock.

[00:38:48] Yes, I am the king of tick tock these days.

[00:38:51] I joined the tick tock.

[00:38:52] Is that what they call it?

[00:38:53] The tick tock?

[00:38:54] Not the it's just tick tock.

[00:38:56] I'm just joking.

[00:38:57] My husband likes to call it the tick tock.

[00:38:59] So the tick tock.

[00:39:00] I like that, but he's a Packers fan, so I can't use it.

[00:39:03] Yeah.

[00:39:04] Join tick tock.

[00:39:06] Everybody go visit Apollo.

[00:39:07] Is it M broad corp?

[00:39:08] Like everywhere else?

[00:39:09] Broad corp on tick tock.

[00:39:10] And I appreciate, I think the CCP, the is watching me in China.

[00:39:14] And look, if China wants to know what I'm up to, I'm comfortable with that at this point

[00:39:19] in my life.

[00:39:19] I turned 50 past the cocoon Brimley line.

[00:39:22] What else can someone know about me?

[00:39:24] I don't think you've been hiding what you've been up to your social media up to this time.

[00:39:29] I might as well join the tick tock.

[00:39:31] And if there's anything that, yes.

[00:39:33] And if there's anything that people need, it's more of me on social media panels.

[00:39:36] Absolutely.

[00:39:37] And platforms.

[00:39:38] And so follow me on tick tock at M broad.

[00:39:41] There you go.

[00:39:42] I love it.

[00:39:43] I am.

[00:39:43] I've never posted, but I do like to scroll.

[00:39:47] We'll talk about that off air.

[00:39:48] All right.

[00:39:49] Last thing I would have for the presidential campaign, the Harris campaign has surpassed

[00:39:53] $1 billion since joining the race.

[00:39:55] Very significant.

[00:39:57] I don't really have a ton to say about that.

[00:39:58] I'm just proud that my first financial contribution to a presidential campaign put them over the

[00:40:03] billion dollar mark.

[00:40:05] All thanks to you, Michael.

[00:40:06] Yep.

[00:40:07] It is.

[00:40:07] It was my first presidential donation I made to a president.

[00:40:10] I was shocked.

[00:40:11] I love it.

[00:40:11] I've never been a big donor, but I did make a, I did make, I did put my mark in history.

[00:40:17] Congratulations.

[00:40:17] I applaud that.

[00:40:18] And I lied.

[00:40:19] I have one more comment.

[00:40:21] I'm not normally a big SNL watcher, but I got to say, so we're new season started.

[00:40:29] The coverage of the presidential race is so good.

[00:40:34] It's so good.

[00:40:35] At least you got to watch the cold intros.

[00:40:38] Maya Rudolph is back playing.

[00:40:39] She's playing Kamala Harris.

[00:40:41] We have one of the cast members.

[00:40:42] I forget his name playing.

[00:40:43] Trump does a great Trump.

[00:40:44] Dana Carvey playing Joe Biden is like everything my heart could ever hope and dream for.

[00:40:52] The Joe Biden, the guess what?

[00:40:54] He did this always his little thing.

[00:40:56] Guess what?

[00:40:57] And then don't, he's so funny.

[00:40:58] The governor walls is great.

[00:41:00] Jim Gaffigan.

[00:41:01] So good.

[00:41:02] They just did an episode and kept calling him governor Waltz and it's just fantastic, but it's so good.

[00:41:09] I really love it.

[00:41:10] It brings some good, nice, lightheartedness to this heaviness of this campaign season and highly recommend to go check it out.

[00:41:17] If you have not yet.

[00:41:19] Yes.

[00:41:19] One last point on that is there's, I've been seeing the reaction on social media.

[00:41:23] Apparently people are just, there's a people who are paying attention to anything for the first time.

[00:41:28] And they're trying to draw some data point with Saturday Night Live making fun of candidates.

[00:41:34] Guess what folks?

[00:41:35] There's Saturday Night Live makes fun of Republicans and Democrats all the time.

[00:41:40] If I read one more time that so-and-so is done, if you've lost SNL, you're this, you're that, go through the archives of SNL.

[00:41:50] Oh my God.

[00:41:51] They make fun of everyone.

[00:41:52] And I would encourage people to-

[00:41:53] Since the beginning of time.

[00:41:54] This is like the 50th season.

[00:41:56] It is nothing new.

[00:41:58] Yes.

[00:41:58] I would remind people to remember that there are President Trump, President Obama, President Bush, President George Herbert Walker Bush, President Clinton, all the way back.

[00:42:09] Ford, Carter, Nixon.

[00:42:12] Nixon, SNL wasn't on when Nixon was on.

[00:42:14] Nixon was president.

[00:42:15] But they all were lampooned.

[00:42:16] They were all made fun of.

[00:42:17] It's an American tradition.

[00:42:19] Just relax, sit back and watch TV and have fun.

[00:42:22] It's so good.

[00:42:23] And it's just, just go and enjoy it.

[00:42:25] It is one time to be like, we are literally living a comedy and it just makes you feel a little better about the situation.

[00:42:35] Dana Carvey did George Herbert Walker Bush.

[00:42:38] Was he?

[00:42:39] Yes.

[00:42:41] Yes.

[00:42:41] And guess what?

[00:42:42] By the way.

[00:42:43] Yes.

[00:42:43] He does a great job.

[00:42:44] He does a great job.

[00:42:45] So good.

[00:42:46] So good.

[00:42:47] All right.

[00:42:48] Moving on.

[00:42:49] Almost done here.

[00:42:50] Wanted to chat a little bit.

[00:42:51] So you had Brian Starrister on Thursday for a bonus episode.

[00:42:55] His knowledge on the emergency relief efforts, FEMA, everything was just so compelling and so helpful.

[00:43:05] So many things I didn't know.

[00:43:07] And just getting some of the misinformation and disinformation that's going on out there.

[00:43:10] So shout out, Brian.

[00:43:12] Great job.

[00:43:13] And great kudos to you for pulling some of that stuff out of them to dispel some of that misinformation.

[00:43:18] But I want to throw it to you to chat about this recent story we had coming out this week in North Carolina.

[00:43:23] Yeah.

[00:43:24] First, let me just say, before we start throwing a bunch of accolades Brian Starrister's way, we, on the breakdown with Brock Rombecki, we recognize that he's an expert on misinformation and on matters related to the Second Amendment.

[00:43:36] He is not an expert about sports.

[00:43:37] And so let's just be clear, we're not interested in Brian Starrister's position on any sports related matter.

[00:43:44] And I hope Brian's listening.

[00:43:45] He is, by the way, he's just, he's a grown up in an absolute room full of children on social media and stuff.

[00:43:52] And so I so appreciate Brian Starrister's approach, his discipline, his willingness, his fidelity to the truth, and how he presents himself on social media.

[00:44:01] He's great to follow, and I follow him across all social media platforms, particularly on Twitter, which can sometimes be a cesspool of misinformation.

[00:44:10] Brian laid that out very effectively in the last episode, and I would encourage our listeners to follow him on Twitter for his misinformation and Second Amendment takes, not his support takes.

[00:44:20] But we were discussing FEMA and the misinformation, went through a number of examples of misinformation.

[00:44:26] But just recently, in the last, I think, 48, 72 hours, there was an incident of a man being, a man was arrested for threatening FEMA workers in North Carolina with an assault rifle.

[00:44:37] And that there was also some FEMA people that were pulled out temporarily because there were militia people that were out there trying to just hunt and target members of FEMA.

[00:44:47] This is ridiculous.

[00:44:48] This was what happens with misinformation.

[00:44:51] And I just want to put on my, I'm not going to take off all of my partisan hats for a second and just remind people.

[00:44:58] This is what happens when there's danger in elections and misinformation.

[00:45:01] And this is why people have to have a fidelity to the truth in what they're doing.

[00:45:06] And because social media amplifies everything.

[00:45:10] And when you have, I remember when I was doing training and I would talk to people about social media, I would say, look, if you have a thousand subscribers on social media, let's say you have a thousand followers on Twitter.

[00:45:19] That's a thousand people that have signed up to listen to what you have to say.

[00:45:24] And you and I have both done comms in before social media in the traditional sense.

[00:45:28] And I would paint this picture of people like, look, you can walk into a room and there's a thousand people just waiting to hear what you have to say.

[00:45:35] And so be recognized that power exists with power comes great responsibility.

[00:45:40] And you need to be careful of what you share.

[00:45:42] And we've seen time and time again, this election cycle and outside of the elections where misinformation leads to dangerous situations.

[00:45:50] And what FEMA is, what's going at, what's happening on, not only with the FEMA misinformation, but how members of FEMA and other people that are involved with relief efforts in the aftermath of natural disasters, the way they're being targeted is just shameful.

[00:46:06] I would encourage our listeners again, follow Brian Strausser on social media.

[00:46:11] Listen to our episode that we have, we've had with him on.

[00:46:13] He is a great resource for dispelling misinformation and it was a wonderful opportunity to talk with him, not about sports, but about FEMA.

[00:46:23] Absolutely.

[00:46:24] It was a great lesson and just really unfortunate.

[00:46:27] There are people who have lost everything, people who have lost their lives or lost loved ones.

[00:46:31] There are still people missing and we don't even know what that number looks like yet.

[00:46:36] And to think that the folks that are there on the ground trying to help and get some relief and organize the chaos that is in these places where images are just horrifying, that people are targeting those helpers is really, really sad, really unfortunate.

[00:46:57] And of course, the misinformation that is coming out.

[00:47:00] Brian really detailed where the different budgets that things come from and the different management of things and how states fly in to help and in the structure and organization of all of that, that it is not just done willy nilly.

[00:47:16] It is not just because illegal immigrants are getting something, which whether I agree with that policy or not, that is not taking money away from the hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina and Florida and the states on the coast.

[00:47:30] It was really good to hear.

[00:47:31] I hope a lot of people listen.

[00:47:33] And again, I know you guys talked about the bumper sticker that he had shared, but we just all need to do a little bit better about getting some more information before criticizing or jumping on some bandwagon.

[00:47:44] And I think Brian helps do that.

[00:47:46] And I'm glad we are able to have him on and help amplify his knowledge on that.

[00:47:52] Yes.

[00:47:52] Brian, again, is a resource on a variety of subjects, and we're glad to have him on and talk about stuff.

[00:47:57] I don't give a darn what he says about sports, but on every other subject, he's great.

[00:48:02] By the way, I have one FEMA story to share.

[00:48:04] Great, go.

[00:48:06] So I may have mentioned this before, but my kids love to go antiquing or thrifting.

[00:48:11] And so I was in Iowa a few years ago, and I was at a thrift store, and they had a FEMA jacket.

[00:48:21] And you'd see the blue kind of windbreaker with big FEMA letters on the back.

[00:48:27] I bought it for $3.

[00:48:28] And so in my closet upstairs, I have this kind of government-issued official looking FEMA jacket.

[00:48:34] I was going to wear it for the Strausser episode, and I was going to throw it on for today for this episode.

[00:48:39] I didn't want to be respectful to FEMA.

[00:48:41] I didn't want to portray myself as a government official, which I'm not.

[00:48:44] But FEMA's doing great things.

[00:48:46] And I got to be honest with you, I might probably wear that jacket as a FEMA supporter.

[00:48:50] Obviously, I will disclose that I'm not an agent, but it's a cool jacket.

[00:48:54] That's really cool.

[00:48:56] FEMA's doing good stuff.

[00:48:57] It's got a reflective back in the FEMA letters, so I can be out with traffic cones.

[00:49:01] Move along, people.

[00:49:02] There's nothing to be here.

[00:49:03] Mind your business.

[00:49:04] But I would never represent myself as an agent of the government or an agent of anything.

[00:49:09] Great to clarify.

[00:49:11] Thank you.

[00:49:11] Speaking of sports, let's go into our last one here.

[00:49:15] Great.

[00:49:16] So, football.

[00:49:17] We have tied for the last three weeks.

[00:49:20] Our picks for the last three weeks have been the exact same.

[00:49:24] One all the way down to seven points.

[00:49:26] We both had dismal weeks.

[00:49:28] Up to 11, I think, that we both got this week.

[00:49:31] I just can't catch a freaking break.

[00:49:34] Do you know what I think that is?

[00:49:36] Why?

[00:49:37] Because you're cheating?

[00:49:38] I think you're taking advantage of the manager mode that you have.

[00:49:42] You're going in after I make my picks, and you're copying my picks.

[00:49:48] Right.

[00:49:49] That is it.

[00:49:50] I think what we need to do this week is screen capture our picks as they're made,

[00:49:54] and just make sure that there's no funny business.

[00:49:56] Sounds great.

[00:49:58] Yes.

[00:49:58] So, who's in the lead?

[00:50:00] I should check before this show.

[00:50:01] Oh, I think Mike Zipko and Matt Anderson are in the lead in our league.

[00:50:07] Yes.

[00:50:08] Matt Anderson, who works with me at Velocity.

[00:50:11] Mike Zipko and Will are tied for second.

[00:50:14] And then you and my husband are tied for four.

[00:50:17] What?

[00:50:18] That's cute.

[00:50:18] I'm tied with a Packers fan?

[00:50:20] Yeah.

[00:50:20] Yeah.

[00:50:20] Yeah.

[00:50:21] Yeah.

[00:50:21] You are.

[00:50:22] That is.

[00:50:22] I'm tied for sixth with Ben Golnick and Mark Drake.

[00:50:25] Good company there.

[00:50:26] Yes.

[00:50:27] I have to get out of that.

[00:50:28] And just so we're clear.

[00:50:29] Your wife's having a little bit of a rough.

[00:50:31] Do you give her a hard time?

[00:50:32] No, I'll give her a hard time.

[00:50:34] So, you're, but you're at sixth.

[00:50:35] I'm at fourth.

[00:50:37] Correct.

[00:50:37] Yeah.

[00:50:38] So, again, what's my mission?

[00:50:40] What's, just repeat to our listeners what my objective is.

[00:50:43] It's just to win.

[00:50:44] It's just to beat me.

[00:50:45] That's right.

[00:50:46] My objective is, if I can't, is to just beat you.

[00:50:48] And then if I can win the league, that's great.

[00:50:50] By the way, how many years have we been doing this?

[00:50:53] This is our second.

[00:50:54] And who's the reigning champion?

[00:50:56] Okay.

[00:50:57] Technical difficulties.

[00:50:58] Technical difficulties.

[00:50:59] Technical difficulties.

[00:51:01] I've heard that before.

[00:51:02] Becky, thank you so much.

[00:51:04] Any other subjects you want to get into before we shut this down?

[00:51:06] I don't think so.

[00:51:08] I'm all tapped out.

[00:51:09] It was great for you to be back.

[00:51:11] You were missed.

[00:51:12] As I said, you bring a calmness and an organization to this.

[00:51:16] And you were missed.

[00:51:16] It's great to have you back.

[00:51:19] We want to thank you for listening to this episode of The Breakdown with Broadcom and Becky.

[00:51:23] Before you go, show some love for your favorite podcasts by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts

[00:51:27] or on the platform where you listen.

[00:51:29] You can also leave a review on our website and follow us across all social media platforms

[00:51:34] at BBBreakPod.

[00:51:36] The Breakdown with Broadcom and Becky will return this week.

[00:51:39] Thank you for listening.

[00:51:40] Thank you.