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Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Focus Group Podcast. I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark. And this week, we're going to do something just a little bit different.
One, we just got a new VP pick. So we want to talk about that. But also, I'm going on vacation. And so what we're going to do this week is give you some quick reactions from our focus groups to the selection of Tim Walz. Now, I'm not going to lie. If you've been listening to this show, I obviously thought the choice should have been Josh Shapiro. Swing voters, Pennsylvania voters, they were into him. Pennsylvania is a must-win state. But as I am fond of saying...
You can't roll up your sleeves while you're wringing your hands. So I'm going to get over it, I guess. And we're going to go into this last three months with the ticket we have, not the one we wish we had. And already it's a much improved ticket. So this week, I'm going to bring you guys some of the raw audio we've heard about the state of the race since the Walls pick. Because I'll tell you, I was sitting there thinking, how are we going to do an episode about this pick? Because...
Nobody knows who this guy is, although they will pretty soon because Republicans are going to spend a lot of money to define him as a radical progressive. But, you know, I'm pretty interested since I don't know that much about him. I know that he's got a long record because he was in Congress for many years. And that gives you a lot to shoot at. It means he's taken a lot of votes. He's also a two-term governor. He's had some big things happen in
Over the course of the time he's been running the state, things like the pandemic, things like the Black Lives Matter protests, and those things can get dicey when it comes to swing voters. So we immediately went out to voters, both people in Minnesota—
I wanted to listen to some voters who were people who maybe had voted for Trump, then voted for Biden. And so I wanted to get what their read of Walls is. I'm also going to try to get some reaction from some voters in other swing states to see what they've heard, if anything, about him since he's the pick and what they think about him.
So let's jump into it. I'm not going to have a guest this week because to be honest, I'm taping this and then we're going to put sound in as we get it as we do focus groups this week to try to solicit those reactions. So this is going to be a little more raw than normal, a little less produced, but
I really think it's important that we find out what people are thinking about this as quickly as we can. So that's what we're going to do for this episode. Next week's episode around Vance. And I think you guys are going to love it. We go deep on sort of what's going on with the new right and MAGA Inc. And I will see you guys on the flip side of vacation. So here's what some Trump to Biden voters, including those from Minnesota, said about the Tim Walz pick.
And with the addition of walls, I think he's more of a centrist. I think because of the Minnesota legislature being so democratic, it kind of looks like he is more progressive than he actually is. Because if you go back to his time in the House, he was actually very much a centrist. So again, I think he knows how to work along the lines and definitely probably and more than doubtly move to vote for Kamala at this point.
I'd probably be more Republican nowadays than I would have in the past. But I look at some of the things he's done, being a parent, free lunch for all kids. There was a tax surplus here in the state of Minnesota. He only chose to dish that out to the people that made X amount of dollars or less. Even though I contributed to that fund, it kind of bothered me a little bit. Yeah, why don't you reduce the taxes as well?
But all in all, I mean, again, I said it same and earlier is he runs the state, but he doesn't ultimately make decisions the House and Senate do, just like the national government. He's not as far left as people think. He's more of a moderate liberal, if that makes sense. But obviously part of it is she's counting the electoral votes there, which is something we really got to get rid of. But he's a less offensive choice in a lot of ways. I feel he's a modest person.
And the policy on the free school lunch, which he made free for both breakfast and lunch is a huge success.
And one of the cons during his leadership, the George Floyd riot, which he didn't respond as well as was needed. So it created a lot of kiosks during that time. And even during the pandemic, I think his leadership didn't respond very well, which caused the death rate to increase.
I think Kamala Harris is positioning herself quite well, especially with Governor Tim Walz at her side now. I'm familiar with him. He's a really interesting guy, some great politics, some that I don't agree with. I do think that he is pretty far left, but I do think that he's a good choice that will capture a broad audience. ♪
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And here's what a group of two-time Trump voters who are down on Trump said about the wall spec.
I did read a few discouraging things about him. That's just things that have been in the media and that he's made some, some off-putting statements, no worse than what Trump said in the past, where he said that Republicans were, what was it? It was something like goofy. It was some kind of childish. Like there was a few things that I don't know. I need to research him more. And I honestly just, he kind of looks sloppy and I'm, I'm very judgmental. Like I said, I'm a narcissist, but he just looked kind of sloppy to me. Just,
Just from what I've heard so far, there was discussion about back when the BLM riots were happening, denied to send in the National Guard. I mean, you could say that about a lot of governors that kind of just let that stuff run wild. So, yeah, it's criticism to be given, but it's the same criticism that can be given to 49 other people as well.
I mean, it doesn't really change my opinion. Like they're not getting my vote period, but I am looking forward to learning more about this guy. I've seen a picture of him holding a pig. I don't know what that was all about. He's standing in a t-shirt holding the pig. I don't know. And I heard something about him.
passing some unpopular legislation in Minnesota, I believe, right? Having something to do with giving all students breakfast and lunches, which I'm not necessarily thinking that's a bad thing. So I don't know if that factors in at all, but maybe the guy's got some merit somewhere. I actually did have a chance to read up on him. And before joining, I had the news on and I did hear him speak.
And he just sounded really arrogant to me, which gets on my nerves. So I don't know. I think she had a better shot with me before she chose him. And now we're going to listen to what a group of Trump to Biden voters said about how they're thinking about the presidential race.
I voted for Biden because he was not Trump. And I need somebody that can be respectful and somebody that people can actually look up to. In 2019, I became a mom. And so it made me think about things like a little bit differently that, you know, like, can I really say to my kids, like, I voted for this guy. He's just so disrespectful and so disrespectful to minorities and women, you
His policies are one thing, but like just the way that he acts is what I can't handle. So at this point, I would vote for literally anybody except for Trump. I'm not really excited about Kamala, but she's not Trump. So I'll vote for her. I feel like she's she's pretty left.
And Trump is very right. And there's nobody in between. And I feel like a lot of people are somewhere in between. And it just kind of stinks that even with their VP choices, neither of them tried to choose anybody that would like meet in the middle at all. So yeah, it's been disappointing.
I'm not uncomfortable when she has a sense of humor. I'm not uncomfortable that she smiles a lot and she's personable. I've been doing a little bit of research on her background, her education, and the different offices that she's worked in. She has a lot of good experience. She comes across very intelligent. She can express herself. I think she's respectful to other people. So far, what I've seen, I thought, is very positive. I like that she...
she doesn't resort to the name calling and the digs that we're hearing from the other side. I wish she would clarify a little bit better. She says she fights for a woman's right to her own reproductive freedom. And I, being a nurse, I feel like there's a lot in that statement that you need to include the medical profession in that kind of legislation. And there are extenuating circumstances and there sometimes is a need for
to protect the unborn. At one point in the last rally, when they announced that Walls is her running mate, it really resonated with me as they really highlighted that she has a lot of joy around doing this job. And whether I agree with her or not on some policy, I do see her as a passionate public servant. And that very much excites me.
I would like to learn more about kind of the direction and our hopes for her policy moving forward. Looking back, I have mixed feelings on her policy, but a lot has changed. I've changed, the world's changed. So it's sometimes hard to look back and project the future. I was never a big fan of Kamala. In fact, I was rather put off from some of the policies. But as we've seen in this last term, you know, she wasn't,
instituting her, things that I've heard about her, but then her being put into the presidential nominee. And as I get to know her more, I'm more intrigued by her. She is definitely like way more energetic than Biden. That doesn't take a lot.
Yeah, it was definitely like a relief to have somebody that, I mean, in respect to Biden is young, you know, and somebody that like can actually keep up. She's willing to like fight Trump, you know, I think she will really like call him on his crap. And so that's good.
Sometimes she is not able to explain her policies. She says she'll make the lives better, but how does she plan on doing it? There's no description or thoughts on that. So that is something I feel is lagging from her end. Sometimes she's not able to connect well with the people. She is not clear on her background. Sometimes she says she's an Indian. So her race keeps altering.
When she was elected in 2020, she was more lean towards the Indian nationalism, but now it's different.
She hasn't been a candidate for very long, so she doesn't really have firm policy positions on a lot of things, but I am looking forward to seeing what she actually wants to do with several different areas, I guess, like economic policies, tax stuff, like reproductive rights. I'm definitely leaning more towards her. She's more respectful and more coherent and with it than Biden, obviously, and than Trump, who I also feel like, I don't know what he's talking about half the time. And so it's nice to hear a candidate who I feel like can like,
finishes out through from beginning to end and like actually has a point to make a vice president first term they're not really allowed to talk much so she hasn't got to flesh out what she wants to do and probably doesn't really have that clear of an idea on a lot of stuff yet i know she's smarter than trump is by about a mile the woman's very bright there's no question about that
So let's see what happens. And it's a big chunk of it is also being able to work with people on both sides of the aisle, which that's one thing Biden was good at, but he's too damn old. And I'm sorry to say, but she's very enthusiastic about this job. Wait till she's been in it for a few years. You look at pictures of a president when they start four years later, Jimmy Carter was great. He looked like the deer in the headlights at the end of the fourth.
I just think she's a joke. She's been what, basically the appointee or whatever. She hasn't held a press conference. She doesn't answer any of these questions. When she does, she says it very general. As the lady said before me, talked about making people's lives better. Well, I'm sure Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao, Pol Pot talked about making people's lives better as well. And then, you know, you see, you know, she's for jobs and she's for education. So, yeah.
Trump is against jobs and Trump is against education or whatever. I know that's not what Saturday Night Live would want you to believe, but I just think she's a joke and she's way, way, way too liberal. It's just going to send the country in the wrong direction. And that VP pick isn't very much better.
I hope you guys enjoyed that. We all got a little more information about who Tim Walls is. And, you know, obviously you're going to hear a lot more about Tim Walls over the next three months. All right. So thanks to all the voters in the focus groups who gave us their perspective this week. We appreciate the quick turnaround from you guys. And thanks to all of you for listening to another episode of the Focus Group podcast. Don't forget to go rate, subscribe,
And subscribe to us. Go check us out on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And we've got a great show for you next week with Ian Ward from Politico about Project 2025 and J.D. Vance. So stay tuned for that. And I will see you all soon.