Introducing: 'The Run-Up'

[0] Hey, it's Michael.

[1] This morning on the Daily, I mentioned that our guest, politics reporter, Astead Herndon, is launching a show dedicated to the midterm elections.

[2] That show, The Run Up, will explore both the forces at play in this election and how it is that we've arrived at such a fraught moment in our politics.

[3] Take a listen to the first episode.

[4] Hi, my name is Sted Herndon.

[5] I'm a politics reporter at the New York Times and hosting a new politics podcast from The Times.

[6] I'm looking for Belinda.

[7] Is this her?

[8] It is.

[9] Thank you for picking up.

[10] We were hoping that you had maybe five, ten minutes today for us to ask a few questions about how you're feeling about politics right now and then record that.

[11] Is that something you think we could do right now?

[12] How long have you been a report at the New York Times?

[13] Since 2018.

[14] I worked to the Boston Globe before that.

[15] And what area are you in?

[16] I write about politics.

[17] So I was on the election trail last cycle covering the presidential election.

[18] Okay.

[19] And record it for what purpose?

[20] Will it be replayed later or what?

[21] Yeah, no problem.

[22] We are talking to a lot of different types of voters so that some of our listeners get a sense of how people across the country are feeling.

[23] Okay.

[24] We can try it.

[25] I don't read the Times.

[26] It's way too liberal.

[27] for me. I'm not expecting a whole lot from this conversation, but I'll give it a shot, okay?

[28] We are in Beaverdale, Iowa.

[29] We're in Charleston, South Carolina.

[30] West direction of the west.

[31] North?

[32] Head is in his church, but late as a pastor's son, I know.

[33] That is a cardinal of sin.

[34] As I've been preparing to cover the 2022 midterms, I keep thinking back to a few years ago.

[35] I'm walking up to this house.

[36] When I was out in the field, covering the presidential election.

[37] We see some Trump signs.

[38] It was Donald Trump's America.

[39] More Trump signs.

[40] And Joe Biden's whole campaign was built around getting Trump out of office and unifying the country.

[41] He said he wanted to restore the soul of the nation.

[42] Do you think that Biden becoming president will lead to more unity in the country?

[43] I'm not optimistic.

[44] You can't force people into unity.

[45] First of all, all this talk about unity and healing and stuff.

[46] But the question, you know, we're not unifying and healing with these guys.

[47] Was whether that was even possible.

[48] When I hear, like, those calls from Biden for unity, I'm thinking, like, okay, but what are the steps for justice that need to happen before we can get there?

[49] Let's have some consequences for things that have happened here.

[50] Or whether Biden was trying to go back to a time that no longer existed.

[51] You know, Biden says that he'll be a president for you, that he'll listen to you, that he wants to bring people together.

[52] When you hear that, what do you think?

[53] I don't believe it.

[54] I'm sorry.

[55] Oh, yeah, let's all come together.

[56] You have not earned it.

[57] Pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify.

[58] Who doesn't see red states and blue states only sees the United States.

[59] Still, when Biden, and won the White House.

[60] I sought this office to restore the soul of America.

[61] He doubled down on that promise.

[62] And now the work of making that vision is real.

[63] It's a task, the task of our time.

[64] But let's be honest here.

[65] Took over the Capitol, overran the Capitol.

[66] We're in the fucking right.

[67] To tell me what is best for this child.

[68] This is my child.

[69] Put your mask up.

[70] Asking children is child abuse.

[71] 65 % of Americans say they are concerned about how things are going in the U .S. The soul of the nation is far from restored.

[72] Election is rigged.

[73] 72 % of respondents believe America is headed in the wrong direction.

[74] They have the devil in them and they're all going to burn in hell one day.

[75] What kind of ridiculous idea is to put a gun and a shooter and our kids.

[76] We didn't sign up for this shit.

[77] 85 % of Americans say they are dissatisfied with how things are going.

[78] regardless of political party.

[79] Hello, is this Bishop Myers.

[80] This is a Stead Hernder from the New York Times.

[81] Hello, how are you?

[82] I'm doing well.

[83] How are you?

[84] I'm well, thank you.

[85] Good to hear your voice.

[86] It's good to hear you, too.

[87] It's been a couple of years.

[88] Yes, it has been.

[89] Now, in the run -up to this year's election, what's been the biggest change in the way that you view politics, if any, from two years ago to now?

[90] I guess the one thing that has bothered me It's very just hard thing.

[91] I've really lost faith in a lot of the political.

[92] I've lost faith in the people.

[93] What I'm finding when I talk to people all across the country.

[94] Feeling homeless in politics is, you know, it seems like there isn't a place for anybody to be.

[95] I know.

[96] Is that there is a new level of political disconnect.

[97] The political homelessness, that's exactly how I feel.

[98] A lot of people.

[99] feel like everything is getting too extreme.

[100] You know, it's like the land of no more moderate.

[101] And that this time, it extends well beyond political parties.

[102] I definitely do not think the election was stolen, but I understand why the writers on January 6th were upset.

[103] Beyond even Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

[104] I can't understand the frustration and the helplessness they feel and the need to revolt just because the system's not working for them.

[105] It's about the political system as a whole.

[106] The voting system is not secure, and I'm just having doubts as to whether or not it'll make a difference if I've voted all.

[107] People don't just feel divided.

[108] I have very little hope for the future of the country.

[109] There's a deep sense of anxiety.

[110] There's nothing in this country here really gives me hope.

[111] You know, it's really hard to have hope in politics when the news is so bad.

[112] This country just, it makes me sick, and I wish I can go to another country, but you can't.

[113] And the thing is, there's a reason people feel this way.

[114] It has been a relentlessly disorienting time, with demographic shifts that are increasingly changing the country's makeup.

[115] Social movements that have changed cultural norms almost overnight.

[116] The explosion of new technology and misinformation that's amplified our divisions.

[117] Add to that, a global pandemic.

[118] widespread inequality, and rampant inflation.

[119] And through all of this, the political system has struggled to keep up, to the point where we now have, a Congress that's drifting further apart on the most urgent issues.

[120] Very few swing districts even up for grabs because of how election maps have been redrawn.

[121] State houses that have become far more extreme than public opinion on issues like abortion and guns.

[122] I think the state of democracy right now is very shaky.

[123] And so much change happening in the Supreme Court outside of voters' control.

[124] I'm worried that democracy is being eroded.

[125] Our democratic system is under direct threats by nationalists and authoritarian groups.

[126] I think democracy is, I think it's much more fragile than I realize.

[127] So I can see why some people.

[128] feel like, what's the point of an election?

[129] When the entire Democratic experiment just might crumble.

[130] Biden was not.

[131] He was not elected.

[132] If it hasn't already.

[133] Poor man. He's just, he was not elected.

[134] This is wrong.

[135] I feel like I'm living in a banana republic.

[136] If you could look ahead kind of to politics and where you think the country is headed, the direction of the country, what do you think your guess is?

[137] We're ready for destruction.

[138] I mean, whatever this country is supposed to mean, it never represented.

[139] It don't represent this country.

[140] It doesn't care about the people.

[141] But here's what I think.

[142] All these things that are making people feel so disconnected, they actually make the midterms more important than ever.

[143] We are just 76 days away from the midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress next year.

[144] Because if Republicans take back the House.

[145] I have introduced articles of impeachment to impeach Joe Biden, impeach Kamala Harris.

[146] Political divisions in Washington will only escalate.

[147] And I'll say this.

[148] If there's a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, there'll be riots in the streets.

[149] And with the Supreme Court sending issues back to the states, the 2022 fall election will now be a referendum on abortions.

[150] Right.

[151] Candidates who ran on the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen won primaries up and down the ballot.

[152] Huge decisions about abortion and voting rights are quite literally on the ballot.

[153] Tonight concerns and frustrations over the integrity of our local elections.

[154] Republicans have a slight two -point edge when it comes to which party voters want to control Congress.

[155] A new polling shows a swing back toward Democratic candidates ahead of November's midterm elections.

[156] In places like Pennsylvania.

[157] Doug Mastriano, who did march to the Capitol on January 6th, is going to be the projected winner of that Republican primary for governor.

[158] And Michigan.

[159] This is going to be an epic battle between a conservative businesswoman and mother and a far -left birthing parent and career politician.

[160] In Arizona.

[161] When I'm governor, we're going to take a sledgehammer to these damn electronic years.

[162] And finally, this is the first to big test after January.

[163] and the Trump presidency of where Americans want the country to go.

[164] 75 % of Democrats saying they want someone besides President Biden to be the Democratic nominee in 2024.

[165] And who they trust to lead them there.

[166] And former President Donald Trump, still the most favored person for a potential 2024 presidential...

[167] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to raise his profile as the possible GOP frontrunner for 2024.

[168] So what I'm trying to figure out, when I'm talking to figure out, when I'm talking to.

[169] talking to voters, political power players.

[170] Another Clyburn.

[171] Hi, Congressman Clyburn, thank you so much.

[172] Tell you and Kamlan, thank you so much for your time.

[173] Well, I gave you a lot of it.

[174] Try not to be too snarky and barking.

[175] And my colleagues at the times.

[176] I'm Maggie Haberman and I cover politics.

[177] I'm Lee Saler and I cover campaigns elections.

[178] I'm Shane Goldmacher.

[179] I'm a national political correspondent.

[180] I'm Jenny Medina and I'm a national politics reporter.

[181] I'm Reidstein and I cover campaigns and election.

[182] I'm Maya King and I cover Southeast politics within New York.

[183] I'm Adam DeGurney and I have been covering national politics on and off since 1988.

[184] I want to get to more than just who's going to win in November.

[185] I want to ask some uncomfortable questions.

[186] Like, how did we get here?

[187] How deep do these fractures go?

[188] And in the end, how strong is our commitment to democracy really?

[189] From the New York Times, I'm a stead herndon.

[190] Welcome to The run -up.

[191] The run -up is reported by me, Astead Herndon, and produced by Elisa Gutierrez and Caitlin O 'Keefe.

[192] It's edited by Franny Carr -Toth, Larissa Anderson, and Lisa Tobin, with original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lazzano, and Alicia E .2.

[193] It was mixed by Corey Shrepple and fact -checked by Caitlin Love.

[194] Special thanks to Paula Schumann, Sam Dolick, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Shannon Busta, Nell Gologley, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddie Masie Masiello, and Sydney Harper.

[195] Thanks so much for listening, y 'all.

[196] To hear more episodes of The Run Up, search for it wherever you listen to podcasts, and subscribe.