Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
Politics has never been more chaotic, and most podcasts just add to the noise. Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes cuts through it.
Grant is an AP Award-winning journalist with over a decade of on-the-ground reporting on the biggest political stories, scandals, and elections in America. Twice a week, he takes the stories dominating the headlines and breaks them down in plain English — no jargon, no spin, no shouting.
If you care about what’s happening in this country but you’re exhausted by how it’s being covered, this is the show for you. Real reporting. Clear explanations. Actual context.
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Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
98 Days Out. Republicans Are Drowning. Democrats Are Broke.
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98 days to the midterms. Here is where both parties actually stand.
Republicans: Trump has a 30% approval rating and every Republican running has to tie themselves to it. The party has raised $130 million plus Trump's $400 million war chest... but Trump is withholding all of it until the Senate passes the Save America Act. The votes aren't there. The clock runs out August 4th when states enter the 90-day quiet period and can no longer touch voter rolls. Seven Republican senators are threatening to vote against going home for summer recess. Mike Johnson told his caucus to pray.
Democrats: The DNC has $16 million in the bank and $18 million in debt. They put up their headquarters as collateral. They are asking vendors not to bill them until after the election. The party chair, Ken Martin, threw a phone at a staffer during a meeting, has been forcing staff to sign NDAs for routine internal conversations, and is reportedly paralyzed by fear of leaks. The party opened an HR investigation.
Grant was on a Democratic donor call yesterday. He shares what he actually heard: a party that sounds more frantic than energized, running war room scenarios in battleground states for what happens when Trump tries to undermine the results, and asking for $4 million for voter protection programs that still need 18 directors to be hired in under 3.5 months.
The good news for Democrats: individual candidates in the top Senate and House races are outraising Republicans by significant margins. The DNC being broke doesn't mean the candidates are.
The map: Democrats need a net 3 House seats. 18 are toss-ups. In the Senate, they need to flip 4 while defending 2. Alaska, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, and New Hampshire are all in play.
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