Next Up with Mark Halperin
Next Up with Mark Halperin

Why the 2028 White House Race Just Completely Changed

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Mark Halperin’s recorded monologue unveils his new September "8 for '28" Democratic presidential leaderboard, with insight from sources at the highest level of American politics, breaking down the lat...

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Man, there's like going on.

Editor in Chief of two way host here for you for everything next up. We have just so many

big stories to deal with the midterms, AI, the economy, and I'm glad you're all here. Next

is one and all. This program will cover all those things and our little tardy September eight for 28th, the rankings the most likely eight Democratic presidential candidates to be nominated in 2028. Our guest today, I'm a more to-way contributor, principle of cornerstone government affairs, former director in the office of the Democratic National Committee Party Chair. We're going to talk about the midterm terrain and how AI fits into that. And then

Professor of Finance, Richard Warner, the man who coined the term quantitative easing, we'll join us to try to figure out what is going on with the economy, AI, energy prices, interest rates, et cetera, excited to have them both here. Before that though, my new 8 for 28, little late this month because we had a couple of universities to commemorate last week. But this is the fruits as I say every week. This is a lot of reporting. This expanded the

the universe as week over 60 people, mostly Democrats, some Republicans, some independent analysts, asking them who they think right now the most likely Democratic presidential candidate nominees

are for 2028. As always, reminder, this is not about who can win a general election. Don't

tell me that no Democrat can possibly beat any Republican. We'll see about that. And reminder,

I factor in heavily whether I think someone's going to run or not. You got to play it a win,

and I have to in my reporting try to figure out our people really serious about running. And although there's a lot of speculation that the field will be big, I still- I'm not so sure. I think you're going to see a lot of people out that of this race because they can't raise the money, or they don't think they can. They don't want to scrutiny, or they feel like the calendar of early voting states does not match up well for them. So let's go right to it. Here's the

8 for 28 for September 2028. Toppy, Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro Pennsylvania, Pete Buttigieg of Indiana and Michigan, AOC, Alexandria, Ocasio-Cortez, New York, John Osop, Georgia,

Kamala Harris, California, Bernie Sanders, Vermont. And for the first time I tied two people at

number eight, Westmore and JB Pritzker, I got to say my sources are very high on them. I don't think

either of them is going to be the nominee, but I shoehorn them them both at number eight. We'll

talk about that in a moment. How does that compare last month? Well, let's take a look at the movement in the chart since August. Last time Governor Newsom was too in Josh Shapiro, I added briefly, just for the month, the number one, I flip flop them, Pete Buttigieg's holding strong number three, AOC moving up a bit, John Osop moving up both Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders moving down, and then Westmore and JB Pritzker making their debut this month, as compared to the previous

month. So that's the, those are the rankings that where are we? I talk all the time here with you about this running for president eight easy, winning a nomination eight easy. You got to be able to build what I call an aircraft carrier. You got to be able to raise the money higher the staff, campaign, deal with the physical endurance of a presidential campaign. And you can't just sue them

because somebody can go on MS now and do an interview or because they can make a good 30 second

ad that they can do all those things. And the two folks in this race who are definitively aircraft carriers who have the national experience who have the capacity to raise the money for sure are Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom. They're both Californians. And the biggest thing that's happening just happened right before we publish the rankings is an extraordinary thing that Gavin Newsom said about Kamala Harris. Now they both like to say their friends. I know from extensive

reporting, there's a chill between them. They share a lot of donors, they share a lot of staff, advisors, and they're competitive. And when there's tension between them, it flares it's not pretty. Gavin Newsom blurted something out in an orthodox interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. They were fly fishing and they were just talking about stuff and all of a sudden Gavin Newsom made an extraordinary statement. He said he would not run for president if Kamala Harris did effectively

giving his friend a veto over a possible presidential campaign. This after in several conversations first with me and then with others over the last year, Newsom has made it clear that his family also has a veto. Four kids a wife and now a friend of me, that's at least six people who Gavin Newsom has said to them, if you don't want me to run, I won't run in the case of his family. In the case of Kamala Harris, if you enter the race I won't. Here is what will go down in history as an

extraordinary into many still inexplicable moment. Gavin Newsom saying if Kamala Harris is in,

He's not number S7, please.

I know she's called around. Yeah. When I went, I wouldn't run. If she runs, you will not. Of course not. Why would I? I wouldn't do that to her. I wouldn't do it to me. Why would I

I wouldn't do that to you? I wouldn't waste everyone's time. Who needs that? What do you mean?

That's not going to make sense. That's not going to make sense to me. I just I wouldn't why. No, I wouldn't. Now this has been banned by people saying even if it's true, why say it

and why be so political? Why why basically say the fire in my belly is only hot enough to survive

and get me in the race. If Kamala Harris decides not to. Gavin Newsom talks all the time about his why. Why do you run? And he said in the same interview, he didn't have a why in 2024. He wasn't ready. That's just two years ago. So that interview has created a lot of debt. Why do I still him as number one? Well, I agree with those who say Harris won't run. And while I still don't understand why he would say what he said, even if he was pretty confident she wouldn't enter the race,

he had an extraordinary several weeks, including a trip to the South, including some stops in

South Carolina, some interviews in South Carolina. That I think reminded people just how

sophisticated he is as a communicator and just how much popularity he has outside of California.

He's well known. Some people took shots at his events in South Carolina for not having enough

black voters. But he drew big enthusiastic crowds. He did very skillful interviews. And I want to show you one thing. And this is why I have them back at number one replacing Governor Shapiro. He was asked in an interview with PBS while he was touring South Carolina about this problem with the DSA. Then many Democrats say you got all these socialists in the party. Isn't that divisive? And a lot of Democrats dance around it. Don't want to denounce them. Don't want to embrace them.

Gavin Newsom gave a very sophisticated answer. Here he is talking to PBS about the socialist within the Democratic Party. And how he feels about that? This is ethics, please. If it's about more money in your pocket, lowering costs, it's about getting money out of politics. And it's about Medicare fraud. We're pretty aligned. It's about recognizing that we've got a planet that is getting hotter and drier and that we've got to address the issue of climate change.

We want energy security. We want to move off fossil fuels. That's a DSA position. That's a mainstream

position within the Democratic Party. So I think in many ways, it's just a label. And it's a

familiar that forgive me. You're a time around person. It's such a familiar label to me. We call them progressives. It was a degree in party. I ran against the degree in party. It sounded exact same platform 20 years ago. Maybe it's because I'm from the Bay Area. Maybe it's called California. And I think it's healthy. I just think it's I'm not consumed by this. I don't think there's a great physically. I just I think it's the natural. It's the net Howard. It's reflected in your

consentation. Just aspects and component parts of our party that we've always had. And it's a healthy

dialectic within the party. I have said the 2028 nominee of the party. It'll be binary. It'll be a socialist or a won't. And if it's not a socialist, then Newsom is not a socialist. They're going to have to keep the energy up in the socialist wing of the party. The socialist wing of the party is massive. Some polls show particularly amongst young people. It's just a huge percentage of the party. I've not heard Chuck Schumer. I came Jeffries are any other potential presidentials.

Talk about a big tent with such confidence and clarity as Newsom did in that one answer. And that's testament not only to the prospect that he can win some of those votes, even if there's a socialist in the race, if he runs. And that he can keep the party united the way Hillary Clinton's struggle to do in 2016, part of why she didn't be Donald Trump. But that he has a lot of savvy and a lot of confidence. And people underrate the ability that he has to think through and speak. It's kind of

ironic because one of the biggest raps against him. It is authentic. A lot of people say that about him. That's not what I think about him. People kid me and say, oh, you're so in love with Gavin Newsom. I'm just an analyst, folks. And I'm telling you, he is sophisticated and part of his sophistication is not 100% of the time. I can give you plenty examples of when he's disingenuous like a lot of political figures. But more often than most, he speaks from experience and clarity, not just about

the party, but about the country. And you saw it in that answer. So I'm moving back to number one. Governor Shapiro holding strong at number two, he's on track to be reelected overwhelmingly in Pennsylvania. He's hopeful that he can win some U.S. House, help win some U.S. House seats there. There are four targeted seats in that state. And he's also trying to do to make gains in the legislature as well. I still, although he dabbles in national interviews, I still want to see him

On the national stage more.

little bit. But I have Shapiro holding strong at number two. I think he can raise the money.

I think he'll have a lot of support if he runs. Number three, I continue to have Pete Buttigieg

hired the most of my colleagues. I continue to tell you folks who underestimate him at his peril. He's working hard. He's traveling in the country this week in New Mexico, which is a new early voting state. He's won the Iowa caucuses before he knows how to run for president. And I think that I think a lot of people write him off because he's gay. A lot of people write him off because he's short. A lot of people write him off because he's familiar. I'm just telling you folks he knows how to

campaign. He knows how to win votes. And he's building coalitions. Here he is on the stump in Tucson September 13th. Number S8, please. Last few days, we see a new strategy. An extra convention

Trumpopalusa they call it. Where the president says he's just going to get everyone thousands of

dollars. But not now, just after the election, then he'll do it. Later on, if they win, obviously that's not going to happen. Now there are two questions to my mind about a Buttigieg campaign. Number one is Kenny raised the money. He's built up the grassroots list and he's going to raise money off of that. But Kenny yet a big super PAC. Kenny yet a lot of bundling donations. I know he can do some. I know he's got a core team of supporters. But how much can he expand it? And then

the other thing is people raise all the time black vote. Kenny win support from black voters. You don't become the Democrat nominee without doing that. He was a bismalad when he ran for president last time. He's worked it very hard. He got asked about it on meet the press. Can you can you get

are you out there campaigning with black candidates for the midterms in order win black vote?

Very strong answer. I thought S9 please. People to judge September 13th from meet the press. Any strategy to make sure the Democrats win nationwide and in these key races has to include making sure that we engage and support and turn out black communities, especially at a moment like this where the Republican project of systematically dismantling black political representation, especially in the South, has hit home in the wake of that horrific Supreme Court decision

gutting the voting rights act. Look, you know who definitely understands the power of the black voter is Republicans who have been working to suppress it in a number of different ways. And so I think it is very important to be supporting these candidates, to be supporting these communities. And that's been a big part of my travel campaigning with these candidates who've taken on tough races and places where I really believe that we can win. So again, I just I'm

harping on him or showing him again because I really do think he's stronger than a lot of people realize. I really do think that he's going to surprise people and he's out there campaigning.

And I think that I think that part of the dynamic of this race now is people who just

is already running for president. He's not saying so. But I think there's going to be pressure on folks to get in this race to sign up consultants, to sign up strategists, to sign up grassroots supporters in the early states because I think you'll see him setting the field on that. For AOC, I continue to be skeptical that she'll run and I continue to believe that one of the biggest moments that's coming in the presidential nomination fight for the Democrats is when AOC and

Bernie sit down and have conversations, which I suspect they'll do right after the midterms, which one of them is going to run. And if neither of them is going to run, the Democrats are going to face a problem. But I believe that if she does run, she will be the consensus socialist choice, even though progressive choice, even though a lot of progressive think ironically, she's too moderate. John O'Sough, number five, again, unlikely he'll run. I believe in the end because

of family considerations. But if he wins his Georgia reelection overwhelmingly, there's a lot of people in the chattering class that don't or class who want him to run, we got to keep watching. Then we get to Kamla Harris. Again, I hear a lot of what Team Newsom here is, which is skepticism, she's going to make the race amongst my sources. Month after month, it was the same in September. Some people say she should be number one, that she's got support of donors,

she's got support of grassroots, she got support of black vote, of women of color. Other people say she didn't belong in a list, not just because they don't think she's going to run, but they think she's had her chance and she will flame out. Here she is talking about whether she's going to run on a podcast. I have to ask this question since you're here. Are you going to run for President 2020-28? I haven't decided. Okay, so... Megan, repeat, I haven't decided. I think that's legit

this morning on the morning meeting speculation that maybe from Larry, that maybe Gavin Newsom was

trying to smoke her out and basically allow people to call her and say some of their shared political

Folks.

a, you know, pussy footing around. We'll see, I continue to keep her on the list although not very

high because if she does make the race, she does bring in an enormous amount of strength to it, but can't meet amongst those who are skeptical that come Larry's is going to make this race. Bernie Sanders, number seven, I'm like, last dog guys here, I really do think if AOC doesn't run, that Sanders will, people continue to say he's too old. People continue to dismiss it. He's leading on AI. He's in great mental health. He did a bunch of interviews on cable news. The night,

one of the nights of the Republican convention, and I continue to believe that people who say he can't run because these two old are minimizing the need that the movement has for a candidate. And if it's

not AOC, I think it may be him. Lastly, Westmore and J.D. Pritzker, my sources, over 75% of my

sources, I wanted one on both of them on the list, Westmore this week in an interview on a podcast,

kind of our last week, kind of gave people the impression maybe he would run, even though he said previously he wouldn't. Pritzker, of course, all in, he's one of the candidates who's looking for opportunities, he's spending money on the midterms. And he went to Dallas for the convention. And he was there to kind of get attention and to try to push back on the Democrats. Here's Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in Dallas on September 9th, S11, please.

Donald Trump is hoping that a flashy prime time event will make you forget that, well, his trade war is killing costs for families and the grocery store. His war in Iran is killing ranchers and

farmers and their way of life. And his war on people on the working people, the working families

of this country are raising the costs of healthcare and housing. But Republicans can't read the

election if voters overwhelm them at the polls. Their lives and their livelihoods are at stake. And the Republicans are lying and they're corrupt. I'll say again, I got nothing against the guy. I recognize he's a billionaire, I recognize he's aggressive. I recognize he's got a sharp team around him and they've got a theory of the case. I just continue, even there, his T-ball hit, you know, in Dallas got very little attention

for his appearances there. I just don't see a moment where that guy is going to get through a field of Democrats fighting fiercely for the nomination. Maybe I'll be wrong. I've added him to the list. In terms of Westmore, again, I like Westmore. Nice guy, decent recorder, better in Maryland. But there's so many questions about his biography. I still don't think he's

going to make the race and put his family through the scrutiny that that would bring. Because

one of the things that started now, and you see it with the tax on Newsom, you see it with the tax on Buttigieg. These campaigns in waiting, they're starting to snipe at each other. They're starting to come after each other. Interparty fights are very fierce. And you're hearing off the record behind the scenes, negative comments. It was reported by Politico that three Democrat campaigns in waiting pointed out behind the scenes that Newsom's South Carolina trip

didn't have a lot of black votes in the audiences. If Westmore gets in this race, you're going to see opposition research packets about questions about his history and what he said about his history. That's going to be brutal. And because he is a competitor, he is an attractive candidate to a lot of folks. So count me as skeptical that the people on my list of nine, because I got two people tied for last slot. Count me as skeptical that all of them are going to run. In fact,

I'd be surprised if more than half actually ended up running. We shall see. But right now, Gavin Newsom again, kind of a study in contrast. It says this thing that still has the political world shaking, it's had about maybe giving a common errors or definitively giving common errors of veto over running. But at the same time, a very aggressive trip through the South, including to South Carolina that suggests to people that he is serious about running. And still saying his family

has veto and the two of his kids are against it. We shall see. But the Newsom question does Newsom run is one of the biggest. Our number one choice right now, most likely Democrat nominee, whether he runs or not hangs over this race as much as any other factor. All right, there you have it. There's my 8 for 28 for September, 2026. Let me know what you think. Who's off the list? Who should be on and vice versa? Who do I have to hire? Who do I have to load down? Send me your thoughts on the

8 for 28.

replies and thoughts on program. Next up at DevilMakerMedia.com. Quick break. And when we

come back, we're going to try to decipher a very difficult to understand economy with a great

Richard Warner Richard Warner is next up. This episode is sponsored by Rowe. A lot of people here, GLP1, and immediately assume treatment is going to cost a bundle. But GLP1 medications may be more affordable and more accessible than you realize. Rowe helps eligible patients find a path to FDA approved GLP1 treatment that fits their budget. Whether they have insurance or if they're paying cash, I love that Rowe makes getting started so very easy. They're free insurance checker,

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coined the term quantitative easing and he's going to explain all the stuff that the people I talked to in a daily basis can't explain to me. Professor, welcome. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Professor. All right, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not paying with a broad brush here, but I talk to some people in the economics, finance, etc., in equity markets. And I'm covering a midterm election here in the United States, and I've done this for decades, and I'm not shy to say,

I've never covered anything more confusing. This election is really confusing. There's arguments on

all sides. I try to find someone who will say the same thing about the world economy in the American economy now, because every week I see data, some suggest the fundamentals look pretty good, some not. So do you agree with me that this is as confusing and economic picture both for the

American economy and the world economy as you've ever covered in scene? I think that is true,

that is true. And that's of course because we are in, you know, in very unusual circumstances. And that's where geopolitics also has to be mentioned. It's clearly an important factor. So on the economic side, we have a problem that we are sort of the last days or months or years of the dollar, the petrol dollar standard, and that is connected to the US global dominance. Now on the political front, that global dominance is reaching its limits as, you know, was in Europe,

in Ukraine, Russia, and particularly in the Middle East, Iran, show limitations on US power and reach. And of course, already, you know, in the run up to this in the last 10 years, the countries on the other side have essentially been given all the incentives in the world to cooperate to collaborate and to think about ways to improve their situation.

And that's how the bridge countries and the Shanghai Corporation organization

have been working together for saying that, you know, you can't have your assets in the US dollar anymore because, you know, market frozen. And of course, you know, seizing assets in the US dollar system in the Western banking system is an important threat. So you've got to create the infrastructure to avoid that. And that's what's being happening that we're working on that. And so at the same time, with the petrol dollar there, for being gradually challenged more and more

transactions, taking place outside the dollar. And, you know, this happens at a time when US national debt is at a record high. And that makes it quite tricky. Yeah. And we can see that we're in the last stages of this because already the US has

for the last decade, increasingly been cannibalizing its own allies, Japan first, but Germany is

being next in line. So, you know, this is the sort of final stage way to do this for survival,

It's clearly not increasing the number of friends.

Russia, Ukraine. There's uncertainty in the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia is real because of Iran.

There's uncertainty in Japan because once again, despite the strengths of their economy,

they're going through a lot of uncertainty on interest rates and on the currency.

There's uncertainty in China. It's always something of a black box, but how much they're

going to grow, what they're doing to try to turn things around. And then, of course, always uncertainty in the America economy. Scott Bessett, Treasury Secretary, came in with a great reputation, even though he'd never been in government before. And people said for the early part, maybe before the Iran conflict, he was playing a week or medium-hand quite well. What is the perception and economic capitals around the world now with all that uncertainty and with the

encroachment of the dollar that you reference? What are the perceptions of Scott Bessett now? Is he is he a super genius? Is he an over his head? How does the world view him?

Well, I don't think it's on the genius side. He certainly, in the dunes best, in a very

difficult situation. I think that's what people have been credit for. But basically, if you wanted

to really tackle the problems, you would need to make some changes instead of the fundamentals. And that's just not in sight. And that seems to be one of the restrictions that Bessett is laboring under. It's constrained by, including, of course, the spending. It's just very obvious, if you have this problem of massive budget deficits, and the world record the national debt that's now on an exponential curve where it's very, very steep. And the time it takes to add another

trillion dollars to the debt, used to be decades. Then it became years, in the time period where it's

just months, but soon it will be weeks. And that's just really, it's a time bomb, you know, when it's

just days. And of course, the interest payments on this debt are already outpacing other important items, such as military expenditure. And they will essentially soon become the biggest item, and then the only item. And then we're looking at default or massive collapse of the dollar. So when there's this final date, and yes, there are options. There are things that can be done happy and done in the past, including, of course, reducing spending. But the alternative is inflation,

which is not good for the dollar either. And then we have other options, which are probably equally destructive. And the war scenario has to be considered. And certainly is, you know, by that lot of analysts taken as one of the options, you know, under these circumstances,

war, and larger, and even larger war seems to be sort of an easy way out. That's how

die of the situation seems to be. If you look at the American economy today, it has all sorts of strains, including as you said, debt and deficit. President Trump, Vice President Advance, have urged Europe to grow up in terms of its military responsibilities, to grow up in terms of its culture. But also to grow up in terms of the economy. And, you know, the engine of Europe Germany is not what it was. We don't see in any other European country massive innovation.

What are the green shoots? If any, you could cite in any European country or in the EU overall, that suggests that Europe is getting its act together and will be part of an engine of growth for the West. Well, there was a green shoot in Hungary when, essentially, the country under its previous leadership, it decided to defy the dictatorial Brussels regime, which is, you know, technically a dictatorship, because you know, Parliament can't write laws in the EU. It's all

written by these Brussels. The regrets and they write laws for all these 28 countries. So it's pretty crazy, it's a dictatorship. And, of course, their policies are being disastrous and that's very well now that themselves admit that, you know, they just, they're addicted to writing new bureaucratic rules and regulations. Thousands of pages each year of new restrictions. So you're being restricting the economy in entrepreneurs for decades. And, you know, the occasional country stood

up in Hungary was one of them standing up against this under former prime minister Victor Orban and that did create, you know, a lot of leeway, a lot of momentum, economic growth and also attract a lot of people that were seeking U.S. Donald entrepreneurial freedom. But that era is ended with the last election and now we've got somebody who's very much an enforcer for the EU

Commission in Brussels.

also, I would say there's another one potentially soon Romania and of course potentially soon

more and more countries as elections hopefully will change things around. We have, you know, some

signs that in some European countries people just don't want to continue to sacrifice the European economy for some international geopolitical goal of some Brussels, you know, ideology that the whole ideological focus needs to be scrapped and a lot of people think that. And so, but again, this could point towards war being taken as the solution by those of who like the state of Scotland or London, that is power because under war conditions, in emergency conditions, you can suspend

elections. So we are really literally at this stage where it's possible that elections will actually

be suspended, maybe next the early year aren't there in quite a few countries. Already we've had Brussels the European Commission interfere in elections inside Europe like in Romania. So this is

something that is quite possible and we have to be aware of that. And I think President Trump wanted

to shake up things and get a lot of changes, but what he probably underestimated is how much Europe is entrenched in terms of using control of it. And it's not entirely Europe itself as to blame because really the deep state, the US deep state, as long chosen Europe as one of its main bases.

And so when Trump is fighting Europe, he is basically fighting that part of the CIA that, you know,

has escaped in time and, you know, is very nicely located and established in countries like Germany where they have got a legal certainty that what would be illegal in the US based on the occupation statutes and extraordinary powers of the US is legal. And so that's really what's happening. So you've got all these puppets and, you know, people who are not really representing the people, but aren't just puppets for all the deep state. And that is created.

There's really toxic policy and rhyme. A lot of, a lot of, we could go down that road there because every country you listed is an Eastern Europe. You didn't see green shoots in Germany or France or Spain. Well, it'll be. As you write, I mean, there are some elections in Germany. They recently are local elections that seem to have shown that people are willing to, well, a keen, to change,

to see change. But again, the central government's talk about, oh, we have to restrict that with the bands and parties, you know. Yeah. It's a big leap from a election that might head towards a more market-oriented approach to a revolutionized and revitalized economy that's actually helping the West with, with, with, with robust growth and some of the, uh, some of the regulations and other things that have worked rules that have been constrained. But the policy needed to have high girls

are not complex. Yeah. It's just that the policies taken for the last decade in Europe have been so bad. Yeah. And so maybe more. In many ways, it looks worse than it is because normally you just kind of imagine that they've really takes a stupid policy, but they have. Yeah. And so a change and, you know, just some evidence-based policy-making, you know, not ideology-based would radically shape things up and actually deliver results quite quickly. Right. The focus in the U.S. of regarding

AI this week is on security and, and worries about, uh, the dangers of AI. Uh, and, of course, that follows on debate in the United States about data centers. But we are dealing with a phenomena

I think in many ways it has no parallel in world history with the rise of this industry and on the

upside, a promise to extraordinary benefit. It's not just in medicine and not just in ability to order a pizza more efficiently, but real changes in the economy. How do you see the most optimistic upsides for the world economy as AI becomes more widely implemented? Right. Well, AI, if it's done properly, um, would empower small and medium-sized businesses and not burners because, you know, it led us to playing field there, suddenly there could access to a lot of information without hiring,

you know, huge teams of experts, which is prohibitively expensive for small firms, you know, stopping costs is the single biggest item. So actually, there's a great opportunity, but it's only works if the AI concept stays decentralized. Now, that's the, that's the route

That China has taken, open source and decentralized.

the centralized paradigm. And that's also why I think we have these parent scares stories, because they want to shake down the US taxpayer to get another government bailout of the AI,

public. You know, if it's so strategic and so important where we need some government investment

now to underwrite this, because, as you know, there's been this, this money, um, cycle going around between the, um, you know, the IT companies and the, the chip producers and AI companies and the data center, um, it's, it's, it's a bit like a bubble, uh, as we've seen in, you know, traditional bubbles, everyone sort of boosting their other, their, you know, their valuations, with their business relationships, with the other parties, um, and the spending, the client

spending seems enormous. That's very clear. And this, the government does seem to take the view that it's so strategic, of such strategic importance that, um, you know, the government is

likely to get the taxpayer to fund this and, um, ultimately, um, use government funds to,

to keep this going. And, um, but then again, just, um, you know, it sits there, because it's back to the, the geopolitical scenario, I suspect the cause China has gone for the decentralized open source route, the sort of entrenched decision makers in the US, then the opposite has to be the right thing for America, but it's not really, you know, because when you have a centralized structure, small firms suffer and they go fast, why?

We've seen it, you know, these AI companies, entrepreneurs use them in good faith. Obviously, when you use one of these AI language model engines, you know, you clicked all right,

uh, boxes, that means you agree to all their terms with conditions. And they include almost always

that, you know, to ask a question, get a good answer for your business means you have to give

them a lot of your information on your business. You put that in, you get an interesting answer, but then you find out six months later, oh, there's a new competitor that offers exactly what you've been working on, nobody knew about this except the AI engine. And, oh, this new competitor is actually part of a bigger group that's going to drive you out of business in no time and you stand no chance. And this seems to have happened quite a few times in the US also abroad.

That's the centralized sort of predatory version of AI, which constitutes the economy further. We need decentralization and empower, you know, small firms, business, you know, family businesses, local firms, and that can be done. So, but I just don't hear anyone talking about this, you know, everyone says, "Oh, it's either we centralize and give them more power and use tax money and "on the trading for the old, or nothing." Well, no, I mean, they're all different models,

possible. I'm going to ask you about some prominent people. And I want you to rank a 0 mean 0 chance and 10 means it's a mortal lock. What are their chances that they are a key player in a free market, Western economy, driven, revitalization of the world economy? All right. Zero means you see that no chance, 10 mean. You think they're a mortal lock to be part of leadership. Elon Musk. Well, it's not entirely zero, but not as high as most people would put him.

I guess he's in between because he does have interesting aspect, but he's also an individual in any others, and sure we'll get to the worst cases where we have, you know, it's actually not really free market, but sort of the monopoly capitalism, or the monopoly type of approach, but go on, please. All right, Kevin Worsh. Well, okay. That's a hard one because of course he's a central plan on now, find a definition. And so, so yeah, the free market, yeah,

I wouldn't have to rank it fairly low just by definition. You know, if you're a central

climber, and almost always you want a central plan and you you love the the power this gives

you and you use it, it's rather this power is then not used to further concentration. Since the Fed is being created, we've had more and more concentration, and you know, 20,000 banks have been killed under the Fed in the last century. So that's pretty low, I would say, more than Elon Musk, to show us into zero. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez. And I don't know enough about him to give a fair balance.

So made a house on this one. Okay. How about a JD events?

Well, there's this, there's some hope, there's some, you know, there's some very interesting angles,

He certainly seems to know about, you know, some alternative models, not just...

on the other hand, he has it in the past also had very good relations with the likes of Peter

Teele, and some of the big players that love concentration, and there's this sort of state sponsored, you know, deep state connection. So again, he's in between. Perhaps with Elon Musk. All right. So we'll close with this. If you can name one hero, and any citizen of any country in the world, one hero who you think is the leading candidate to lead a robust capitalist free market where economic growth in the world led by the West, who would it be? Okay. Well, since his

point, let's talk about like historic figures or figures that have no chance to make practical difference. I'm going to mention somebody who's is very little known, but practically has a very good chance to make a big difference in Europe, which itself, you know, would help a lot for the

whole world. And so it could become internationally quite important. And that is the current

Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Mr. Radev, he previously was President of Bulgaria, and Bulgaria has the record of keeping taxes low, wanting a small government, letting entrepreneurs do their thing. It is quite an entrepreneurial economy, but under the new Prime Minister, even more so, and he is saying that he's going to find Brussels now. That's an important battle. So wishing all the best, and I think he stands a good chance because the people in Bulgaria backed him, more people should

back him in the whole of Europe. So he's a concrete example, not so well known as an actually, but perhaps he will be. All right. What we say, we say at the New York Fed, it's Bulgaria or bust. So we should see Professor, thank you. grateful to you for joining us and running around the world with us. I much appreciate it. It's a pleasure. Thank you very much. All right. Next up, we talk about the threat of Chinese electric vehicles. Is Donald Trump going to make the United

States available to the Chinese worldwide assault on market share? That's next up. Remember now,

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to know what we've got going on here. So imagine checking your bank account tomorrow morning and discovering the money you worked for is gone. Your account can be levied. Your wages can be garnished. A federal tax lien can put your financial life under pressure. And when the IRS decides to enforce a tax debt, waiting for another letter, that's not a strategy. It's time to take control of your financial situation before it's too late. If you owe back taxes have unfiled returns or are

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America-tax.group.com today. Next up, an issue that may be not on your radar. It's so important though.

The issue of Chinese electric vehicle cars. The United States is still trying to get its own electric vehicle of industry going. Elon Musk and others have tried. China's dominating the world. The United States is about the only country on the planet that does not allow Chinese electric vehicles into the country. President Trump meeting on September 24th at the White House with President Xi of China. There's rumors all over the place that amongst the things that are going

to be discussed potentially is the prospect of America for the first time letting these Chinese vehicles in.

This is a huge deal. China's ability to compete worldwide economically is one of the biggest

Existential threats we face.

every other country, including now Canada, is allowing them. Look at this chart.

Chinese sales, not for domestic consumption, where they have a huge market. But Chinese international sales of electric vehicles has exploded. It's grown 25 times from just back in 2017 now. They're exporting these cars. It's a huge economic advantage for them. They sell cars by all accounts are really nice. They're relatively affordable. And they're dominating the world market as the United States still tries to get its food but it's foothold. So is the present considering

allowing electric vehicles made in China or made by Chinese companies in the United States?

He typically says no. He typically says this is a phony charge. Here's the President on that point S1. Elisa Slot can put out a tweet. I think it was yesterday saying that you're considering allowing BYD or Chinese vehicles to come into the United States, which most of us believe would just decimate the auto industry. What can you tell the American people? I don't know this room. It's a total phony room. I'm the one that has 150% tariff on any car from China.

You know how many Chinese guys we have in the United States? None. And you're pledging tonight

that none will be in there. I've never even heard about it. She made up of just fake news. These

people are very dishonest. They're very dishonest. Lots of kids. She's doing a terrible job by the way. But like most of them. I mean, most of the radical left are ruining the states. They're ruining their cities. I know nothing about it. I know nothing about BYD. I'm the only one

that stopped them from coming and they've destroyed. You know, they're destroying Germany. They're

ruining Mercedes. They're ruining BMW. And if you go to Europe, you look at what's going on. It's like an avalanche of Chinese cars. He's right. And that's the view of a lot of analysts, economic analysts, national security analysts, the Chinese dominance of the world electric vehicle market cannot be allowed to extend the United States. But in another interview,

listen to what the president said about the possibility of the Chinese manufacturing cars in the

United States as two, please. Now, if China wanted to come in and open a plan to build their cars here, I'd be okay with that Japan does it. But they hire our people. The big thing is they hire our people. They use our people. What I don't want is them to build in Mexico and just, you know, build it inexpensively and ship it across the border. I said another interview. It's the same interview with Laura Engrum where once he was defined about it, but then he said, Guy loves investment

in the United States. I don't know if he thinks Chinese factories with American workers would sell those cars only for export or whether they'd be allowed in the United States. But this issue is raising a huge amount of concern. Even though the president seemed to draw the lines seem to be proud of keeping the cars out of the U.S. Now, even if the cars aren't sold here, this concern that many have of the Chinese dominating the electric vehicle market in Canada, in Asia, in Europe,

in Latin America. It's a Middle East. It's a huge issue. And the president, many say needs to work harder with Elon Musk and with Detroit to try to figure out how to be competitive on this point, because as long as the Chinese are doing this before too long, American consumers made demand, maybe not from this president, but from the next one, they demand access to these vehicles, which are again affordable and apparently well made. And in the view of some would also just be

little tiny spy vehicles all over the United States. So let's see what the president does with she. If it does come up, many people would not be surprised. Many people are saying there's not a thing. The Chinese leader could give the United States in return. They would be worth the economic national security threat of opening the American market to the Chinese vehicles. We shall see. All right. Next up, Democrats tried just to hire more joins me to talk about 2028 Gavin Newsom

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up at tateline.com. All right, next up. Joining me now, the great time. I'm a more two-way colleague, a contributor, two-way in principle, a cornerstone government affairs and formerly was director in the office of the DNC chair at the Democratic Party. And who understands American politics, forward and backward time, a welcome back to next up. I'm Mark and to see you. I want to talk about what I talked about in my eight for 28, which is what you are thinking and seeing

and hearing about Gavin Newsom seeming to give a veto to Kamla Harris if she runs he won't. Do you understand the logic of what he said? Why he would say it? Mark, I've been talking about it all morning. I got like five texts this morning. I'm not sure if he's like trolling her or if he is serious about it. But he sounded earnest. I thought it was really cool to see him fly fishing with Jake Tapper. But that was not something that anybody thought they were here from Gavin Newsom

yesterday. What good does it do him? For a lot of people, it seemed weak. It seemed like a process argument to say what we shared donors for it. He called it a Zen diagram. Maybe that's a California thing back east. We called a Venn diagram. He said they share so much in terms of donors and strategists, etc. But what good does it do him to enunciate kind of tactical reasons why

he wouldn't run? I mean, look, I think it's fair for him to go on the record and saying things that

some of us have already been talking about. I mean, we've been all awaiting for the clash of the Titans of California and he throw Rokana into the mix and it's going to be quite the show. But I think for me in portraying he's a little bit more for Kamla Harris and it does for Gavin Newsom and what he's saying is she's really serious about running and if she does run, she's going to try to clear the fill as much as she can with whom she can. And of course, she did a version of that

under different circumstances. In 2020, in 2024, when lots of people in the party, Nancy Pelosi, I think the Barack Obama, I think maybe the Clintons, we're saying, you know, maybe this should be a more open process and it's really one of the greatest achievements politically of her career.

I think that she did basically shut down any talk of somebody else running. She had advantages

then that she won't have now the campaign headquarters was hers because she was on the take at the donors and the money and the bank were hers. So that bit the staff were hers. But what advantages does she have now if if she wants to pursue his strategy, she's already got one of the most formidable. My number one most likely nominee saying if she's in, I'm not. What does she bring to the table if she wants to try to intimidate people and call donors and say

give to me and no one else? What does she have to let try to leverage the kind of advantages she did last time in clearing the field? I mean, look, you know, you know, I both know there have been several, several candidates in the past who have run several times and I would think even, you know, look at John McCain, look at Joe Biden, they got better when they came back for that

second or third try at it. And so she has the advantage of infrastructure. She's done it before.

She's been around, you know, it's no small feat to go around to three or four or five states a day and have to perform that for, you know, two years. And so she's one person who's done it before. And so she has that advantage. And then I'm, I don't know this to be true Mark, but I'm assuming that when Gavin was down in South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, last week, he was probably getting some some some words from some some people saying that they're with Kamala Harris. She's

spent the bulk of her time over the last year and a half in the South. She's been a South Carolina so many, many times over the last year. Alabama, she was the first candidate to go there,

Mississippi, you know, Florida. And so I think he's probably seeing that there are a lot of

particularly black odor voters that still support Kamala Harris. And if he has to go through the South and and use that route as his way to the nomination, it's going to be a lot harder than he thought. And so I think he, he's seeing some of that, but I'm hearing from friends this morning who are like, man, you know, Gavin Newsom has been, you know, with us for the last year and a half as a commander in this, in this sort of battle. And if for him to leave us at this moment and say that he doesn't

want to be the nominee, it's kind of a slap in the face. Yeah, and again, well said, and again, it flies in the face. You've seen some of this on Twitter from people in both parties. It flies in the face of saying the sort of conventional thing, which is, if I think I'm the best person

for the party in the country, I'll run. He's saying, basically, the opposite doesn't matter if

I'm the best person if she runs on out. I want to give you a hypothetical. It's, I'd say unlikely,

but I don't think it's far fetched. And I think it would be awfully intimidating for folks. If she

got James Clyburn, the king maker in South Carolina, who's been very supportive of her in the past, if he got her to endorse early, typically he doesn't like to endorse early, because it wants everybody to come to South Carolina. But if she got his endorsement and the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus, and all of them agreed to spend weeks in South Carolina,

Between now and the first of the nation primary, campaigning on her behalf.

Wouldn't she if she had those two endorsements? I mean, look, she's headed toward locking up that

state even without those endorsements right now. So if she had that in her back pocket, you know, that would, but Mark, that would create a dynamic in the Democratic party that I think would all balance that election. You know, when you put the center electorate against the rest of the party, you know, Black voters would very much so have to choose if they're going to, you know, rock with Kamala Harris early and often. And that's going to be a question mark that I think a

lot of Black voters outside of some of those states, like South Carolina, just not ready to make that decision. Like Georgia, she's going to be there in a couple weeks. And that's going to be a

key state. So I think her going to Georgia would all soft is another indicator that she's trying

to expand her electorate a little bit and focus on some of those Black voters who may want to have

something different. May want to look at an all soft for our Andy Bashir or even Gavin Newsom.

Um, it seems like there are people in Newsom world who don't think she's going to run. And they think that the reason he said what he said was because he knows she's not going to run. And this way he showed difference to her and perhaps with female voters and Black voters, they say, well, that's good. You know, he's appealing because he was going to show difference. What are you hearing about whether she's going to run or not? Look, I think that is, that is the biggest question that

people are wondering right now. I'm hearing both things. I'm hearing she's putting another infrastructure. She's hiring staff. She's traveling. She's called, I mean, she is, she's done a wonderful job of keeping up with the donor base of the Democratic Party. She's done a wonderful job of keeping up with, I mean, there was one young lady who's running for Congress in Savannah, Georgia, who said she saw a Kamla Harris a couple months ago and Kamla Harris knew everything about her

race. She's paying attention to these downvalid races in a way that, you know, I've only seen Hillary and Bill Clinton do. And so she's trying to either be the king of cleanmaker or she's going to launch something that's going to be big. And she's going to try to go as as quick as possible.

And so I don't know yet. I'm hearing back and forth. I think some of this would Gavin Newsome,

you know, it could be too cute by half because he, if she does not run and he, he's on the record saying, oh my god, I love Kamla Harris so much and blah, blah, blah, blah. We all know, we've all been watching the Ascent of Gavin Newsome and Kamla Harris and the whole sort of political class of California for the last 20 years and we know that that may not be fully true. And so I think for him to have outreach to black women in particular, he's got to do a little bit more than Pat

Kamla Harris on the back. She doesn't necessarily need that. He's got to make some inroads. You know, John Ossoff is making inroads in that in that way that I think given that it gives Gavin Newsome some pause. People to judge was in South Carolina. You look at that trip, you know, he had more inroads with black people he's had in the last 10 years. And so I think the race is starting to heat up and I think Gavin Newsome is trying to figure out creative ways to say a part of the

conversation and particularly to speak to black voters. Most people who want to run for president if they've got any ambivalence whatsoever like to put off the decision, they don't want to start having to raise money, they don't want to have their live turned upside down whether they're in office or not. Pete Buttigieg I'm hearing it may well force people's hands, may force them to get in early because he's going to be campaigning hard, signing up donor, signing up early state

supporters. Is that your sense of things that he may be kind of the the pace car that force other people to decide whether to run or not more like November, December, January, then February,

March April. Yeah, I mean, I think between it look, I honestly, you know, you met a silly

and point about, you know, you're spouse and your family, you know, Secretary Buttigieg just had a tremendously tough year. I don't want to revisit those things. And so he, I know for sure he is

having a tough time making this decision. He's always wanted to run for president. He enjoys it.

He's really good at it. But he and his family have had a tough time. And so he's really wrestling with this decision. But if he does go, he's going to go early and he's going to go as hard as possible. The other person that I think is also setting the pace is ramen manual. And as much as, you know, people are like, oh, man, he's not going to be the nominee. I've had more conversations with my clients and my friends about ramen manual over the last three weeks than any of the candidates.

And about his policy positions about what he's thinking, where he's going, you know, when he's going to launch, what he's going to do. And so I think he's going to be a big indicator. And he and Pete Buttigieg, two very smart people who are hot on policy and who sort of represent a moderate, a moderate progressive wing of the party, they're going to be the ones that I think people are looking at to, baby come out after the midterm, you know, before the holidays are over the holidays.

You know, we haven't had that in a while. People are making outfits to Thanksgiving. Yeah. It was like that. So I think one of those two individuals could do that. Yeah. You don't need to raise the most money to win the nomination. Although typically in both parties,

The person who raises the most does.

small dollar, you can raise a bundling, big checks from, you know, small group of rich people where

you can have super PAC money. Who at this point of all the people talked about besides a governor

Pritzker who of course can sell fund. Who are you confident can raise enough to be the nominee?

That, you know, I've, I've been trying to sort of figure that out a little bit more and I'm trying to follow the money, particularly who is raising and giving to state parties and candidates right now. And it looks like Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris are still the two, you know, aside from J.B. Pritzker, who put his own money in in Barack Obama, who's just sort of, you know, it was Ignigma. Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom seem to be the, the two that have the biggest donor base and

who've been using that donor base over the course of the last year to help infuse state parties and candidates, particularly Kamala Harris looking at down ballot candidates. And so I think those two, but people are just, man, do you remember how good he was last time he ran? Yeah. He's going to be formidable, but they're going to be other people. We're not talking about Amy Klobuchar is going to come back into the mix as soon as she becomes governor, she's a hell of a fundraiser. And so they're

going to be a lot of those people that are going to come on the scene. I think pretty quickly next

year as well, they're going to shake it up. But right now Kamala Harris Gavin Newsom, people to judge. Are you confident that Josh Shapiro could raise the money or is that an open question? Oh, man, look, I honestly have such high confidence that Governor Josh Shapiro can do whatever he puts his mind to. I'm such a huge fan of his and I think he's a tremendous governor and he has, he has really done something interesting in Pennsylvania that hasn't happened in quite some time and he's consolidated

aside from John Fetterman, he's consolidated the Democratic political power within his operation and he is loading that power in ways that we haven't seen in a governor in that state in a long time since Governor Wolf, I would say. And so he is going to be formidable if he puts his name in the ring. Another candidate that is struggling with the personal side, you know, his family had a very tough time last year or you're for last one, their mansion was, their house was

set a fire ablaze. So he's having a hard time with that as well. But if he jumps in, he will be formidable, he will be able to raise money and he will be someone that I think he merely goes to a tier one or two or 1.5 candidate. Yeah, there's almost nobody in my list of it nine or in the broader field, there's almost no one who doesn't have family considerations that they're going through as they think about the scrutiny, the time, the pressure on the kids. All right,

on the midterms as we close here, you, the respected Democratic poster John Anselony, a few other Democrats have been saying, not in a panic way, not in a negative way, but just in a factual way, the party cannot take for granted a successful midterm, a midterm outcome between the Republicans money, between the Democratic brand, between some of the candidate quality issues, explain what you think Democrats need to focus on why you're cautioning that the outcome may not be as positive

for Democrats as some people are saying. Yeah, look, this is one of those elections mark where I think you can't, you know, I was, look, I was going back and forth for the friend via text after you and I talked, I got into some trouble with some Democrats, they thought I was being negative. Look, I would like to see the Democratic party take the house back and I think I would like to see how King Jeffrey's be the speaker, but this is, this is far from a baked cake right now.

You know, if I, if I were in, at the DNC or the D trip or the DSCC, I would be focused on a couple

things. Right now, you have to raise as much money as you can in a sharp period of time.

That we, we, if we know and we've seen that the party apparatus itself on all three of the sides has lacked funding over the last year and no one's been able to help mitigate that, grant it. A lot of these candidates are raising more money than they, than any candidates that ever raised before, but that's not enough. You need outside money, outside super PACs, outside organizations to stand up these negative ads on the other candidate. And so that's going to be one piece.

The second piece, you've got to say it's focus as possible. You know, there are going to be a

lot of distractions in the house or representatives, a lot of distractions in the Senate and in these states. You know, for instance, you know, lead a Jeffrey Spinner week talking about two Democrats that voted, you know, for, for a bill that nobody in the state cared about. And the waste of time censoring these two Democrats. And so Democrats in the states, when I'm traveling, what they say, they want the House of Representatives to be focused on winning these seats.

We know that the Republicans have done a good job of taking the barrier down because of the Jerry Mandarin and the redistricting. But they want, I can Jeffrey's to focus on winning. One by one, by one. And then the third piece, and this is some, we're not going to be able to change the Democratic brand right now. We have to elect more Democrats that are, they're a good government.

It's Democrats. They are going to help rebrand the party. And so step back for a second and go

State by state, district by district and let these people run the race that n...

run his race in Maine that he needs to run, you know, let shared brown who was, you know, I just

love shared brown so much who's running a wonderful race in Ohio. Let's shared run that race in Ohio.

And then we bring this caucus back together, you know, after November and in January,

we can figure out how we want to build a platform for 2028. You can't build a book at the same time.

This is about 26, about focusing on winning these elections. And I think that's what has to happen.

Ladies and gentlemen, you won't find a more loyal Democrat than I'm a more, you won't find a Democrat, more focused than I'm a more about what it takes to win. And for those who think

his comments about a caution are bed wedding. They're not they're a call for focus. And not

everybody in the party has got an understanding as time it does about the challenges that remain in the last 50 days. I'm a great to see it. Thanks for being here. I love talking about 26 and 28 with you. Talk to you soon. All right, that's it for today's program. Back on Thursday with the brand new episode. Subscribe to next up. Please, uh, become subscribers, not just next to us. I do it on

YouTube and do it wherever you get your podcasts. So you always know what's coming next time.

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