Music, welcome to a very special edition of America speaks right here on straight arrow. News, the goal of this program has been to give you an insider’s look to what Americans are really thinking and really saying
today is very special, because I’m letting you backstage. You’re going to see and hear the questions of a group of politically active people from both sides of the aisle
as they question and as they express their concerns about where the campaign is right now for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, where it’s headed, what the key issues are, what the key concerns are, you will see what sophisticated, politically active Americans are thinking
and what they want to know. The answers to my job was to provide it to them. So whether it’s about the economy or something as politically mundane as presidential debates, it was the complete gambit of issues, and it’s a session that included 500 people,
and it’s only shown here on straight arrow news. So I’m Dr Frank Luntz, and let’s take a look at what Americans are questioning right now in the political process.
Frank, you did a focus group recently with some really fascinating findings in that you found some voters who were previously not disposed to vote for President Biden, who said they are now open to voting for vice president Harris.
What is it that has them suddenly open to voting her, given the fact that, you know, she was part of an administration they just a couple weeks ago, didn’t seem ready to endorse again for another four years. Well, let’s run through the three most likely reasons for this group of people, which is so essential, and it’s why Harris has completely closed the gap with Trump, and in some polls, is now leading, and I think the momentum is on her side. Number one, it was a vote against Joe Biden. It was the feeling that he was simply too old to do the job for four more years. Number two is that they never heard from him a detailed plan of action for the future that he was just talking about the last four years and talking about why Trump is bad for democracy, without putting forward where he wanted to go. And number three, Harris has been energetic what, regardless of what you think are her when she takes the stage, when she enters the room, there’s passion and there’s energy and there’s excitement. I’m not defending her as the choice in all of this. I neither defend nor criticize Biden, sorry, Trump or Harris. It’s simply what the voters have to say, and that’s what this is a focus on. And the voters saw a new found
engagement. And so if you’re a younger voter, and you were turned off by the 77 year old and 80 year old, you like the fact that Harris is more energetic. If you’re African American, you like the fact that she’s talking about issues that affect you. However, if you are a union member, this is enough, much more difficult sale, because union members who have been supporting Trump to a degree that Republicans never get, that those numbers may even have gone up since the selection, since Harris has emerged as the Democratic nominee. But make no mistake, Trump’s advantage with the Republican Convention after that ended is gone. It is wiped away. And if the election were held today, I actually believe that Harris would would be Trump. That’s how much things have changed over the last two weeks. Let’s do one more, you and I, and then let’s throw it open to the group. I want to invite people to raise their hands now for some questions for Frank and wow. Okay, we got we got quite a few already. Frank, get ready. We’re going to start if you could just say where you’re from and then ask your question to Frank, yes, thank you. Dr Luntz, I had a question regarding immigration, national security and an incident that happened yesterday. A Pakistani national with ties to Iran was apprehended, used to plotting possible assassinations and organizing pro Palestinian protests. My question is, who will get the blame if there is an incident of terrorism or unrest related to those protests, if those happen with the next three months, if we do have an incident, that’s a great question, Jeff. But and also tell me, what state are you from? Georgia, Atlanta, area.
I want everyone to tell me the state you’re from, so that they realize how nationwide this zoom call is. If there’s a terrorist attack because of immigration, illegal immigration, make no mistake, Harris will get blamed for it, and I don’t see that there’s any way out of that. In fact, if there is a terrorist attack because of an open border, I think the election would be over. That would be the so called October surprise.
What’s of concern is that both sides acknowledge that they don’t know that people come across the border. They cannot identify who they are or where they are, and that’s why it’s such an important issue. And in fact, I think on election day, as inflation comes down, then immigration will be the number one issue. And Jeff, that would absolutely cost Harris the campaign, even if she’s leading, if an occurrence like that should happen.
Next question, David, where are you from? I’m from Texas, so I don’t think we matter. I think Georgia and Pennsylvania matter a lot. But that’s not my question. My question is single issue voters. How many single issue voters are there on the issue of Israel, whether it’s pro Israel or against Israel, and what states are most in play because of it. So that’s a great question. Now, I can see five people across and five people now, so I got 25 people on this call. I’m not asking whether Israel is the most significant issue to you, but how many of you care about the issue of Israel in your vote? How many of you would say that it has, that it matters physically? Raise your hands.
Okay, that’s most of you, and that’s what’s exactly what’s happening right now. Because it’s not just about Israel or the Palestinians or Hamas or October 7 or what’s happened in Gaza. It’s also about the US position in global affairs. How active are we going to be in demanding responsibility from Iran, in insisting that Russia not invade its neighbors just because it wants to, or saying to Taiwan, saying to China, that Taiwan is a separate entity, and you cannot take it over.
Israel on the specifics, was a victim of what happened on October 7,
and what’s happening in Gaza is a tragedy, no matter where you stand on the issue. But this is all being driven by Iran. It’s being funded by Iran. It’s being coordinated by Iran, and so the issue is much more significant. And as I keep waiting to see what’s going to happen
in that region, I think we’re not done yet. In fact, I think we’ve only just started. And the Americans who prioritize Israel, and not all of them are Jewish. By the way, probably half of those who pick Israel as the number one issue are Christian
and believe in a strong Israel, because it’s a biblical commitment,
and they support Trump over Harris by two to one.
But I urge you to look at the bigger picture here. What will happen 10 years from now? Will there be an agreement with Saudi Arabia? Will it be will the Abraham accords survive? Can there be continued peace with Jordan and Egypt? And is there a majority within the Arab world that will say enough is enough from Iran. This is a very important question, and it’s a very sophisticated question, and it’s the kind of question that needs to be asked of these presidential candidates. But one of them allows himself to be interviewed too often by the press, and the other one doesn’t allow the press to get at them at all. Judy, over to you.
Thank you, Dr Lund, so I’m calling from Appalachia, North Carolina. I so appreciate your every time I hear you speak. So I’m too I’m trying to wrap my head around the VP pick and so I don’t know if you read or heard the Wall Street Journal today about the Mountain Dew debate. So what impact do you think that waltz and
Vance are trying to sort of a competition here about the rural vote, trying to use the metaphoric use of Mountain Dew. It doesn’t seem to make sense in terms of her pick. I her pick makes sense in terms of, he’s a great campaigner, and he’s going to add he’s going to bring about there’s more joy on the Democratic side than the Republican side. There’s more positivity on the Democratic side. Sure, they’ve got their criticisms of Trump and they’re sharp and they’re direct,
but but there’s less of what you.
They don’t want, and more of what they do want on the Democratic side than on the Republican side. And Vance’s comments from several years ago, and I realized as I’m repeat as I’m answering your question, and for the last half hour, I realized that I probably sound like I’m pro Harris, and I want to emphasize, I’m trying to give you the straight answer. In the end, voters tend to vote for the more optimistic candidate. In the end, voters tend to choose the candidate that gives them a vision of the future,
and those would be Harris. Her challenge is the record of Biden Harris on inflation is not good,
and voters don’t look at it as a single year where inflation has come down over the last year. They look at the last four years compared to Donald Trump, a record on immigration is not good. They don’t look at what’s happening right now. They look at the last four years, and Trump’s advantage is on his administration’s perceptions versus Harris, but the reason why she chose Walt is that he is a happy warrior and that he appeals to the same people that JD Vance appeals to, and he hasn’t made statements about calling women without Children, cat women.
That’s not helpful. And the thing I’d say to you, and I know that you all are going back and forth and who you’re going to support on an individual basis,
is that these insults do grab people’s attention, but they don’t necessarily grab their votes. And in the debate between waltz and Vance,
Vance will be held accountable for some of the stuff that he said in the past, and it just comes across as me
and waltz will be held accountable of some of the things that he said in the past, and will come across as extreme. In fact, there’s my sound bite. Thank you. Just help me find the sound bite for this entire mean versus extreme,
which will the public vote for? But in the end, the vice presidential, vice presidential pick will have very little impact on the race overall. David,
you have a question? Yes.
Frank, you and I worked together a couple decades ago here in Ohio, which is where I am. My question is this, I’ve always thought turnout was an enormous part of the election process, and What? What? I talked with Sherrod this morning, and he believes that the joy has increased the potential for turnout to Obama like levels. What is your and that that is going to be vital? What is your view of that? I agree with that. I think he’s right. I think that if it had been Trump, Biden had been exactly the opposite, and Donald Trump really did have the polling was accurate, but even understated the excitement about Trump versus Biden, particularly after the assassination attempt
and and Trump’s campaign and the desire to go to something else,
it had genuinely changed and worked in Trump’s favor. I have never seen in my adult life, I’ve or in my whole life, I’ve never seen intensity like the one that Harris is putting forward. So the only way to change that is for Trump to challenge her directly, but he needs to do it over issues right now, the turnout differential advantages Harris by about a percent. That’s significant, because Trump, at one point added 2% because of the turnout differential, so that could save Sherrod Brown’s race, that could tip Michigan to Elizabeth Slotkin and save Jackie rose in Nevada, the key race, because the race that makes the difference is Montana, and in Montana,
it’s usually got a high voter turnout. I don’t think the turnout is that different, and I don’t think she will excite Montana voters the way that she’s going to excite Ohio voters. So if you ask me, if you push me to make a prediction right now, I say that the Republicans take the Senate by a single seat, but it’s way, way too close to call. Mick, you go ahead, Doctor Luntz, I met you first in 1993 in Dallas, and I was impressed then and more impressed now. Thank you, sir. Question from you and from Butte Montana is we’re so divided now, and I am as disappointed as you or we didn’t follow through, is there an opportunity now for a third party? The Eisenhower Republican Party is long gone. The Democrats are way off to the left.
80% of the countries in the middle is there an opportunity for a third party?
There is an opportunity for a third party, but usually that starts with a third candidate.
So it’s less about the party and more about giving people a choice. Now the desire for a choice is reduced because Harris does not have the same negatives that Biden did. HARRIS is a much better Democratic candidate,
but she’s got her issues, and I need to because I hear myself as I’m answering you all, and I don’t want you to think that this is a pro Harris discussion and and it’s now the second time I’ve said this. She has an issue of flip flopping on some issues. Some of her statements have been very extreme. When she debated in 2019 she went after Joe Biden, essentially calling him a racist. Her performances were so bad in 2019 that she didn’t even make it to the Iowa caucuses in 2020 after raising 10s of millions of dollars.
That said this is 2024
she’s raised more money in a shorter period of time than any candidate in history. She’s got 10s of 1000s of new volunteers. It’s bordering on hundreds of 1000s nationwide, and she’s just started her in fact, I think it’s crossed into hundreds of 1000s. So she’s not the same person now that she was four years ago,
the demand for a choice is still there, the desire to be able to choose someone who is not extreme on economic policy or social policy, the desire for someone to choose where they stand on issues, based on public based on what the Americans are asking for rather than what your extremes are demanding, that still exists today, because in the end, we’re not fighting over an election, we’re fighting For a generation, and normally, this is how I close these, but we’re going to go on for another 25 minutes.
I don’t actually care all that much about what we do for in November. I care about the shape and the strength and the vitality
of this democracy, because I’m nervous that we have, if we have another situation like 2020, we will break we are at the breaking point. You’re at that chasm, by the way. The reason why I want to put this out on a zoom broadcast is that when I do my sessions with average voters, they don’t ask questions like this. They’re much more partisan, much more political. They tell you where they stand, rather than seek to learn, and that’s part of the problem of democracy right now. We want to broadcast, but we don’t want to listen. So I’ve loved this so far. Next question, thank you. Al Al Bartell,
oh yes, I’m Al Bartel from Atlanta, Georgia. What’s your take on the black male vote being the vanguard of undecided and the emerging independent movement in America? Great question, and it was significant, because in their perceptions how Donald Trump was treated by by the court system was what they go through every day of every month of every year, and they were willing to give him a look that
older African Americans are not willing to do,
because they saw in him their own lives and their own challenges.
This is an important group for Harris, and she’s trying to bring them back into the fold, but they’re not a group that supported Trump because they dislike Biden. They’re a group that supported Trump because they appreciated his point of view and in terms of being the Vanguard, they do have opinions that the their female counterparts do not have, and that their parents and grandparents do not have, but this is a reason why Trump had at least against Biden, put Georgia into the Trump camp your state, and put North Carolina into the Trump camp. Great question. Next, Hi Frank, thanks for hosting this. My name is Dan. I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Um, bummed that she didn’t pick Shapiro. I had pretty much decided that if she did, I’m willing to vote for her, but now I’m kind of back on the fence. I think my question is, what part do you think RFK will play in this, as people like me are trying to decide what to do with their votes in in swing states like this, to my surprise, RFK was a much bigger player than I saw him than I thought it was going to be, and this is 100
Days ago, he’s a much smaller player now, because no one’s hears from him. I don’t even know if he’s still campaigning or how much he’s campaigning. It’s and here’s the shock in some states that we’ve been polling in, RFK is taking more votes from Trump than he is from Harris. So as those numbers drop back from 10 or 12%
down to four or 5%
the people who are left are actually Trump voters, because they’re anti establishment. They’re anti politics as usual, and Trump has got a higher percentage of those who are simply angry with the system than Harris does, and Bobby Kennedy’s voters are all angry with the system, so he’s actually hurting Trump more than he’s hurting Harris right now. Great question. Who’s up next? Owen, you have a question?
Yes, you mentioned that two of the squad had lost their primaries. I’ve noticed that three and arguably four of the Trump supported, endorsed candidates also failed to get the nomination. Do you view that as some kind of a harbinger or an indicator, that
maybe the extremes have less appeal, even to the party voters. Trump has tremendous appeal, and the in some cases where the candidates lost, there was a dispute over who had the Trump endorsement. So it wasn’t really clear.
I started my political life with Ronald Reagan, and I thought that he was the most popular and powerful Republican of all time. Internally, it’s nothing like Donald Trump. Trump’s endorsement is worth its weight in gold. On the Democratic side, it took an organized effort to bring down these two squad members, but they are still the exception, not the rule. The the heat in the Democratic Party is not with the squad, but it is with the more progressive members in Congress, and you’ll see some of this on display in Chicago and the heat in the Republican Party, even with a couple Trump people losing the endorsement, it’s only a couple of them
losing after being endorsed. I think Trump, Trump’s record is close to 90% data. It’s It’s amazing. So the the extremes are still in control. Next question, okay, uh, let’s go to Marty. Marty, over to you. Hi, Frank.
Do you think that on election night, Marty, will
you New Jersey, sorry.
Cool. I know why you didn’t tell us what state you’re from, but please go ahead, make sure I stayed under 15 seconds. Do you think that on election night, we’re going to know and similar on that same vein, if this election is decided by an incredibly small number of votes in one or two states,
how do you think that’s going to play out, especially if, for example, the New York case against Trump is overturned on appeal.
I think that it is we will not know an election night. In fact, let me go further. I don’t think we’re going to know when the morning shows come on the next morning, because I do believe that is going to be incredibly close. I need to put back up on my Twitter the opening tweet, which comes from 2020 when I outlined how the process went, because I think we’re gonna have the same thing, which is that Trump will emerge based on how votes are counted. Trump will have the lead in a state like Pennsylvania,
but it won’t be enough to put them over
and as the absentee ballots come in, the election will get closer and closer and closer. Trump’s vote tends to come in earlier. Harris’s vote, because of states like California, Oregon and Oregon and Washington State come in later, I think that we won’t have
a clear decision until midday the next day, and it could go even farther than that. And I’m glad you asked the question, because that’s so much of what led to January 6. And everyone here from Pennsylvania, it’s your fault
the way that you count your ballots. In fact, we should next zoom. I’m going to have I’m going to borrow people from Pennsylvania. You insist on counting people who vote on Election Day first. Trump voters vote on Election Day
in 2020, Biden voters voted early or they voted absentee.
And the votes were counted later. So at 1am and 2am Trump had a really solid lead in Pennsylvania that looked like he was insurmountable. But that’s because by two to one, all the votes that were still out were Democratic votes, and a lot of them were in Philadelphia, which is always counted slowly, and you got some precincts here that vote 98% to 2%
for the Democrats.
So we have to find a way for Philadelphia to change how it counts as votes, so that everything is counted at the same time, so they don’t give a miss impression that one thing’s going to happen, because Trump used to say they’re dumping votes. They’re not dumping votes. These are absentee ballot voter boxes that had all these
democratic precincts that simply came in late,
and that in the best example of who does it right is Florida and is Georgia. Georgia. They count everything quickly. Georgia is done in five hours. Florida’s done in six or seven. Pennsylvania takes day after day after day, and it’s horrible.
So
be ready for a really, really long election night that goes into the next day.
Great question. Harriet, there you go. You’re on mute. Harriet,
Hi, can you hear me? Yes.
Early on this first started, you said that Trump wins on inflation and immigration and that the Democrats had the right tactic but the wrong strategy, but you never outlined what the strategy should be. I’m from New York.
If I’m a Democrat, I am focused on, can we do better? To me, that’s something that’s so inherent in an American culture. How can we improve? Or is this the best we can do?
You actually recognize that there’s some good that happened between 2017 and 2021
which Harris is never going to do, but you recognize that some things actually were good.
Black unemployment was at record lows, Hispanic unemployment at record lows. And then you say, but we become so divided.
There was a cost to this, that there’s a way to keep a good economy, to keep a strong country and not tear each other to shreds. Do you want every day to see the latest insult, the latest meanness, or can we be a kinder, gentler country? So I would I, if I’m a Democrat, I’m going to focus on what I’m going to focus on what Trump has said, and by the way, his big strategy during the debate was to say, I never said that, but the answer is, the truth is, he did all the things that Biden would say Trump said he did, but you have to be able to show it. In fact, I’m going to give you the I’m going to give you the Harris strategy.
I would invite the news media to a debate. If Donald Trump says you’re not going to show up on September 10, you bring Trump virtual
to to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You put him up on the screen, a screen that’s three times bigger than life, five times bigger than life, and you play his greatest hits, then you push pause, and then respond to him
all the insults play him and say, Mister Trump, this is your words, and here’s how I respond. The media would eat it up. By the way, this is such a effing good idea that I should have offered this to to CNN. I can’t believe I just gave it away right here for nothing, but I would create the first, and I, in fact, I make that announcement that we’re going to have the first virtual debate ever. Only I
Kamala Harris are I’m showing up, and whether Donald Trump is there in person or his likeness, we’re going to do it anyway, that that’s
jeez, even I know that’s kind of smart. Let’s go. Mel, first, go ahead. Mel,
I have a simple question to ask you, how decisive must the results be to avoid a challenge or violence after the election, and I have a simple answer, which is, I believe that there will be a challenge no matter what happens with the results.
Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by four and a half percent in 2020 that’s a pretty decisive popular vote. He beat Trump.
I got more than 300 electoral votes, he did better than, than, than Barack Obama over Mitt Romney and Trump still said the election was stolen.
So we have to assume that that’s going to happen, but we also have to educate the public about how votes are counted, educate them that votes aren’t dumped, and educate them that sometimes it takes a day or two or three days, and it doesn’t mean that votes are being stolen.
And my hostility towards Pennsylvania, and yes, it is part of their law, is that they know the damage that they caused in 2020, and the and the fact is that they didn’t change the rules on their laws since then, and that’s simply atrocious, and it happens in other states as well. So Mel, I’m very pessimistic about what’s going to happen, and I’m depending on the media. I’m gonna go for a walk right to present this in the future, so that people know what to look for, and they know the truth. I got time for Actually, let’s do two more. Okay, John,
John, you’re on mute, right? This is John Goodman. John Goodman in Dallas, Texas, there’s something you have not explained
the moment that Joe Biden stepped aside, at that very moment that she was way underwater on
on popularity, on favorability, and she doesn’t have any money, a lot of people thought she was stupid. A lot of people thought she was incompetent. And a few days later, all the money comes in, and all of a sudden, her favorability goes up to 50, but she didn’t do anything. She didn’t go on 60 minutes. She didn’t have a press conference. She did nothing. How do you explain that? I explain it as a phenomenon that’s never happened in modern American politics. And your doubts, I understand. I believe your doubts are
almost conspiratorial,
which I don’t agree with, but you’re correct to say that this has never happened before. Number one, it was complete relief among all of the Democratic Party establishment that Biden finally agreed to go because they realized that not only was he going to lose, but he was dragging down the House and Senate with them. Number two is that donors have become so angry at that point that they were grateful that they now had someone who they could support. Number three is that those donors in the Hollywood community jumped on board immediately, because her philosophy is their philosophy. So that’s why all the money came in. Number four is that the media celebrated her. I never saw such positive courage. And number five, no other Democrats stood up to challenge her. So you can be very angry about what happened. The fact is, Gretchen wirmer stood down. Gavin Newsom stood down. Wes Moore stood down. Cory Booker stood down. Every other democratic could have challenged her. Within 48 hours pulled out. The House leadership, this, this Senate leadership, the party leadership, the donor leadership, they all jumped on board. So it makes sense, there was no opposition, and they so desperately wanted to unite to defeat Donald Trump. That’s why it happened the way that it did.
Gary,
can you hear me? Yep, we got you. Yeah. One question
in terms of the selection of your walls to be the VP, will that make it more difficult
to move to the center and appeal to the five or 10% of moderate votes that are undecided? And is that really a moot question, because all Trump seems to be doing these days is complaining and capable of making the case, Gary, that’s very smart. That’s very smart questions, a very accurate question.
Harris would have to move to the center of Trump. Move to the center, but Trump is only speaking to his base because he only knows his base. There are plenty of examples, and by the way, Ryan I can still do two more. Okay, Gary,
an election has consequences. Campaigns have consequences, and what Trump does in a vacuum doesn’t matter. It’s what he does vis a vis Harris and vice versa. Harris does not need to move to the center, because Trump has stayed on the right. He stayed with his people. He uses the same attack lines, uses the same statements. Donald Trump is campaigning the exact same way now that he was he.
Just change the names, change the attributes, but it’s no different.
And my challenge to him, what I would say to him is, sir, this campaign is still yours to lose, because your administration is still seen as better than Joe Biden’s, but the reason why you’re now actually losing is because of you, sir, your attributes, how you carry yourself, and the public’s desire to get away from that if he doesn’t change his tune, she doesn’t need to move because he’s only talking to people who already agree with him. And that is a sure file where way to lose this election.
Great question. Let’s add two more here. Okay, Steve, over to you.
Thanks, Ryan, and thank you. Dr Luntz, so my question, I’m from Erie, Colorado, suburb of Denver. My question is about voter turnout, if such a large percentage of the electorate is dissatisfied with both candidates, there been any polling or studies done on what percentage of all the eligible voters in the US will actually cast a ballot, and of those that do, of the eligible voters that do cast a ballot, what percentage just won’t vote for either presidential candidate, but they’ll vote down ballot. That was the case, particularly when Biden was the Democratic nominee, and I actually thought that the voter turnout was going to be significantly less than what it was in 2020 because people were just so disappointed in having to make the same choice now that they had to make, make in 2020
with Harris coming in. Younger women are active. Younger black men are active. It’s it’s completely scrambled the turnout equation, and arguably, we’re going to have a very high turnout now, because Trump voters have always wanted to back their guy, and now you’ve Democrats have someone they can back, that they feel comfortable with, that they’re excited about, in terms of voting for a third party candidate, I still think that there is a demand for an alternative to these Two candidates, but it is not as great as what it was when it was Biden versus Trump,
and in the end, we’re going to have this third party. I don’t
know if it’s going to be four years from now or 12 years from now, but with every passing year, the loyalty to the Democratic Party and to the Republican Party drops, and the more people want to have a third option, so that’s going to continue to increase, but whether that leads to an actual third party and a candidate running your bets as good as mine,
and it’s a great way to close this, because I’m a language guy. I listen to the words and phrases that people communicate, in this case, in your questions and in most cases, and what the American public think and feel, and why I’m so glad to be able to share this conversation
with Americans. We’re going to edit it down to something briefer, is that I want them to see that it is possible to have discussions like this, where you put Democrats and Republicans on the same call, and they don’t have to fight
that. You put conservatives and liberals on the same call, and they can still agree on some on the fundamentals, even if they disagree on the solutions. And that all these issues that even if they’re not top burner, such as foreign policy, that they still matter,
so that we’re hearing from the public and we’re recognizing what matters to them. We’re respecting their voice, which is so important.
We are respecting it and listening to it and hearing it and internalizing it,
and not shouting at them back,
but seeking to make the differences and make the decisions that are so necessary. I so believe in this organization, even if it isn’t running running a candidate,
because you bring people together in conversations that aren’t happening anywhere else, but on Zoom calls like this, and I want the world to see it. I want the world to know that there is hope. I teach at West Point right now, my cadets think I’m way too negative after this discussion,
I’m not negative anymore, because after this discussion with Americans like you, seeking answers, seeking solutions and seeking the truth, that’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing. So So from my heart to yours, thank you for being so inside.
Grateful and thank you for being so direct. And I hope I’ve shown you that I respect and appreciate you as much as as what you have said, the kindness you’ve shown me. This is what America should be.
It was a wonderful conversation, and the questions that I got were so well articulated.
This is the questions that Americans are asking at the dining room table, that they’re asking at work, that they’re wondering whether our country is headed in the right direction, or whether it’s pretty seriously off on the wrong track, and to them, more importantly, who’s most likely to be the next President of the United States, and you can get shows like this, only here at America speaks on straight arrow news. I’m Dr Frank Luntz. I’ll see you again soon. You.
‘Mean or extreme’: Americans discuss Harris and Trump
By Straight Arrow News
President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris has thrown a wrench into pollsters’ predictions for the election outcome. Harris now enjoys a lead over Trump in the polls both nationally and within key swing states. Trump and Harris agreed to debate on Sept. 3, which will give Americans a first-person view of how the campaigns have changed in the wake of Biden’s announcement.
Be the first to know when Dr. Frank Luntz publishes a new commentary! Download the Straight Arrow News app and enable push notifications today!
Watch the above 41-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz is interviewed by a group of American voters about the new choice they have and where he thinks the two major presidential campaigns are headed.
Music, welcome to a very special edition of America speaks right here on straight arrow. News, the goal of this program has been to give you an insider’s look to what Americans are really thinking and really saying
today is very special, because I’m letting you backstage. You’re going to see and hear the questions of a group of politically active people from both sides of the aisle
as they question and as they express their concerns about where the campaign is right now for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, where it’s headed, what the key issues are, what the key concerns are, you will see what sophisticated, politically active Americans are thinking
and what they want to know. The answers to my job was to provide it to them. So whether it’s about the economy or something as politically mundane as presidential debates, it was the complete gambit of issues, and it’s a session that included 500 people,
and it’s only shown here on straight arrow news. So I’m Dr Frank Luntz, and let’s take a look at what Americans are questioning right now in the political process.
Frank, you did a focus group recently with some really fascinating findings in that you found some voters who were previously not disposed to vote for President Biden, who said they are now open to voting for vice president Harris.
What is it that has them suddenly open to voting her, given the fact that, you know, she was part of an administration they just a couple weeks ago, didn’t seem ready to endorse again for another four years. Well, let’s run through the three most likely reasons for this group of people, which is so essential, and it’s why Harris has completely closed the gap with Trump, and in some polls, is now leading, and I think the momentum is on her side. Number one, it was a vote against Joe Biden. It was the feeling that he was simply too old to do the job for four more years. Number two is that they never heard from him a detailed plan of action for the future that he was just talking about the last four years and talking about why Trump is bad for democracy, without putting forward where he wanted to go. And number three, Harris has been energetic what, regardless of what you think are her when she takes the stage, when she enters the room, there’s passion and there’s energy and there’s excitement. I’m not defending her as the choice in all of this. I neither defend nor criticize Biden, sorry, Trump or Harris. It’s simply what the voters have to say, and that’s what this is a focus on. And the voters saw a new found
engagement. And so if you’re a younger voter, and you were turned off by the 77 year old and 80 year old, you like the fact that Harris is more energetic. If you’re African American, you like the fact that she’s talking about issues that affect you. However, if you are a union member, this is enough, much more difficult sale, because union members who have been supporting Trump to a degree that Republicans never get, that those numbers may even have gone up since the selection, since Harris has emerged as the Democratic nominee. But make no mistake, Trump’s advantage with the Republican Convention after that ended is gone. It is wiped away. And if the election were held today, I actually believe that Harris would would be Trump. That’s how much things have changed over the last two weeks. Let’s do one more, you and I, and then let’s throw it open to the group. I want to invite people to raise their hands now for some questions for Frank and wow. Okay, we got we got quite a few already. Frank, get ready. We’re going to start if you could just say where you’re from and then ask your question to Frank, yes, thank you. Dr Luntz, I had a question regarding immigration, national security and an incident that happened yesterday. A Pakistani national with ties to Iran was apprehended, used to plotting possible assassinations and organizing pro Palestinian protests. My question is, who will get the blame if there is an incident of terrorism or unrest related to those protests, if those happen with the next three months, if we do have an incident, that’s a great question, Jeff. But and also tell me, what state are you from? Georgia, Atlanta, area.
I want everyone to tell me the state you’re from, so that they realize how nationwide this zoom call is. If there’s a terrorist attack because of immigration, illegal immigration, make no mistake, Harris will get blamed for it, and I don’t see that there’s any way out of that. In fact, if there is a terrorist attack because of an open border, I think the election would be over. That would be the so called October surprise.
What’s of concern is that both sides acknowledge that they don’t know that people come across the border. They cannot identify who they are or where they are, and that’s why it’s such an important issue. And in fact, I think on election day, as inflation comes down, then immigration will be the number one issue. And Jeff, that would absolutely cost Harris the campaign, even if she’s leading, if an occurrence like that should happen.
Next question, David, where are you from? I’m from Texas, so I don’t think we matter. I think Georgia and Pennsylvania matter a lot. But that’s not my question. My question is single issue voters. How many single issue voters are there on the issue of Israel, whether it’s pro Israel or against Israel, and what states are most in play because of it. So that’s a great question. Now, I can see five people across and five people now, so I got 25 people on this call. I’m not asking whether Israel is the most significant issue to you, but how many of you care about the issue of Israel in your vote? How many of you would say that it has, that it matters physically? Raise your hands.
Okay, that’s most of you, and that’s what’s exactly what’s happening right now. Because it’s not just about Israel or the Palestinians or Hamas or October 7 or what’s happened in Gaza. It’s also about the US position in global affairs. How active are we going to be in demanding responsibility from Iran, in insisting that Russia not invade its neighbors just because it wants to, or saying to Taiwan, saying to China, that Taiwan is a separate entity, and you cannot take it over.
Israel on the specifics, was a victim of what happened on October 7,
and what’s happening in Gaza is a tragedy, no matter where you stand on the issue. But this is all being driven by Iran. It’s being funded by Iran. It’s being coordinated by Iran, and so the issue is much more significant. And as I keep waiting to see what’s going to happen
in that region, I think we’re not done yet. In fact, I think we’ve only just started. And the Americans who prioritize Israel, and not all of them are Jewish. By the way, probably half of those who pick Israel as the number one issue are Christian
and believe in a strong Israel, because it’s a biblical commitment,
and they support Trump over Harris by two to one.
But I urge you to look at the bigger picture here. What will happen 10 years from now? Will there be an agreement with Saudi Arabia? Will it be will the Abraham accords survive? Can there be continued peace with Jordan and Egypt? And is there a majority within the Arab world that will say enough is enough from Iran. This is a very important question, and it’s a very sophisticated question, and it’s the kind of question that needs to be asked of these presidential candidates. But one of them allows himself to be interviewed too often by the press, and the other one doesn’t allow the press to get at them at all. Judy, over to you.
Thank you, Dr Lund, so I’m calling from Appalachia, North Carolina. I so appreciate your every time I hear you speak. So I’m too I’m trying to wrap my head around the VP pick and so I don’t know if you read or heard the Wall Street Journal today about the Mountain Dew debate. So what impact do you think that waltz and
Vance are trying to sort of a competition here about the rural vote, trying to use the metaphoric use of Mountain Dew. It doesn’t seem to make sense in terms of her pick. I her pick makes sense in terms of, he’s a great campaigner, and he’s going to add he’s going to bring about there’s more joy on the Democratic side than the Republican side. There’s more positivity on the Democratic side. Sure, they’ve got their criticisms of Trump and they’re sharp and they’re direct,
but but there’s less of what you.
They don’t want, and more of what they do want on the Democratic side than on the Republican side. And Vance’s comments from several years ago, and I realized as I’m repeat as I’m answering your question, and for the last half hour, I realized that I probably sound like I’m pro Harris, and I want to emphasize, I’m trying to give you the straight answer. In the end, voters tend to vote for the more optimistic candidate. In the end, voters tend to choose the candidate that gives them a vision of the future,
and those would be Harris. Her challenge is the record of Biden Harris on inflation is not good,
and voters don’t look at it as a single year where inflation has come down over the last year. They look at the last four years compared to Donald Trump, a record on immigration is not good. They don’t look at what’s happening right now. They look at the last four years, and Trump’s advantage is on his administration’s perceptions versus Harris, but the reason why she chose Walt is that he is a happy warrior and that he appeals to the same people that JD Vance appeals to, and he hasn’t made statements about calling women without Children, cat women.
That’s not helpful. And the thing I’d say to you, and I know that you all are going back and forth and who you’re going to support on an individual basis,
is that these insults do grab people’s attention, but they don’t necessarily grab their votes. And in the debate between waltz and Vance,
Vance will be held accountable for some of the stuff that he said in the past, and it just comes across as me
and waltz will be held accountable of some of the things that he said in the past, and will come across as extreme. In fact, there’s my sound bite. Thank you. Just help me find the sound bite for this entire mean versus extreme,
which will the public vote for? But in the end, the vice presidential, vice presidential pick will have very little impact on the race overall. David,
you have a question? Yes.
Frank, you and I worked together a couple decades ago here in Ohio, which is where I am. My question is this, I’ve always thought turnout was an enormous part of the election process, and What? What? I talked with Sherrod this morning, and he believes that the joy has increased the potential for turnout to Obama like levels. What is your and that that is going to be vital? What is your view of that? I agree with that. I think he’s right. I think that if it had been Trump, Biden had been exactly the opposite, and Donald Trump really did have the polling was accurate, but even understated the excitement about Trump versus Biden, particularly after the assassination attempt
and and Trump’s campaign and the desire to go to something else,
it had genuinely changed and worked in Trump’s favor. I have never seen in my adult life, I’ve or in my whole life, I’ve never seen intensity like the one that Harris is putting forward. So the only way to change that is for Trump to challenge her directly, but he needs to do it over issues right now, the turnout differential advantages Harris by about a percent. That’s significant, because Trump, at one point added 2% because of the turnout differential, so that could save Sherrod Brown’s race, that could tip Michigan to Elizabeth Slotkin and save Jackie rose in Nevada, the key race, because the race that makes the difference is Montana, and in Montana,
it’s usually got a high voter turnout. I don’t think the turnout is that different, and I don’t think she will excite Montana voters the way that she’s going to excite Ohio voters. So if you ask me, if you push me to make a prediction right now, I say that the Republicans take the Senate by a single seat, but it’s way, way too close to call. Mick, you go ahead, Doctor Luntz, I met you first in 1993 in Dallas, and I was impressed then and more impressed now. Thank you, sir. Question from you and from Butte Montana is we’re so divided now, and I am as disappointed as you or we didn’t follow through, is there an opportunity now for a third party? The Eisenhower Republican Party is long gone. The Democrats are way off to the left.
80% of the countries in the middle is there an opportunity for a third party?
There is an opportunity for a third party, but usually that starts with a third candidate.
So it’s less about the party and more about giving people a choice. Now the desire for a choice is reduced because Harris does not have the same negatives that Biden did. HARRIS is a much better Democratic candidate,
but she’s got her issues, and I need to because I hear myself as I’m answering you all, and I don’t want you to think that this is a pro Harris discussion and and it’s now the second time I’ve said this. She has an issue of flip flopping on some issues. Some of her statements have been very extreme. When she debated in 2019 she went after Joe Biden, essentially calling him a racist. Her performances were so bad in 2019 that she didn’t even make it to the Iowa caucuses in 2020 after raising 10s of millions of dollars.
That said this is 2024
she’s raised more money in a shorter period of time than any candidate in history. She’s got 10s of 1000s of new volunteers. It’s bordering on hundreds of 1000s nationwide, and she’s just started her in fact, I think it’s crossed into hundreds of 1000s. So she’s not the same person now that she was four years ago,
the demand for a choice is still there, the desire to be able to choose someone who is not extreme on economic policy or social policy, the desire for someone to choose where they stand on issues, based on public based on what the Americans are asking for rather than what your extremes are demanding, that still exists today, because in the end, we’re not fighting over an election, we’re fighting For a generation, and normally, this is how I close these, but we’re going to go on for another 25 minutes.
I don’t actually care all that much about what we do for in November. I care about the shape and the strength and the vitality
of this democracy, because I’m nervous that we have, if we have another situation like 2020, we will break we are at the breaking point. You’re at that chasm, by the way. The reason why I want to put this out on a zoom broadcast is that when I do my sessions with average voters, they don’t ask questions like this. They’re much more partisan, much more political. They tell you where they stand, rather than seek to learn, and that’s part of the problem of democracy right now. We want to broadcast, but we don’t want to listen. So I’ve loved this so far. Next question, thank you. Al Al Bartell,
oh yes, I’m Al Bartel from Atlanta, Georgia. What’s your take on the black male vote being the vanguard of undecided and the emerging independent movement in America? Great question, and it was significant, because in their perceptions how Donald Trump was treated by by the court system was what they go through every day of every month of every year, and they were willing to give him a look that
older African Americans are not willing to do,
because they saw in him their own lives and their own challenges.
This is an important group for Harris, and she’s trying to bring them back into the fold, but they’re not a group that supported Trump because they dislike Biden. They’re a group that supported Trump because they appreciated his point of view and in terms of being the Vanguard, they do have opinions that the their female counterparts do not have, and that their parents and grandparents do not have, but this is a reason why Trump had at least against Biden, put Georgia into the Trump camp your state, and put North Carolina into the Trump camp. Great question. Next, Hi Frank, thanks for hosting this. My name is Dan. I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Um, bummed that she didn’t pick Shapiro. I had pretty much decided that if she did, I’m willing to vote for her, but now I’m kind of back on the fence. I think my question is, what part do you think RFK will play in this, as people like me are trying to decide what to do with their votes in in swing states like this, to my surprise, RFK was a much bigger player than I saw him than I thought it was going to be, and this is 100
Days ago, he’s a much smaller player now, because no one’s hears from him. I don’t even know if he’s still campaigning or how much he’s campaigning. It’s and here’s the shock in some states that we’ve been polling in, RFK is taking more votes from Trump than he is from Harris. So as those numbers drop back from 10 or 12%
down to four or 5%
the people who are left are actually Trump voters, because they’re anti establishment. They’re anti politics as usual, and Trump has got a higher percentage of those who are simply angry with the system than Harris does, and Bobby Kennedy’s voters are all angry with the system, so he’s actually hurting Trump more than he’s hurting Harris right now. Great question. Who’s up next? Owen, you have a question?
Yes, you mentioned that two of the squad had lost their primaries. I’ve noticed that three and arguably four of the Trump supported, endorsed candidates also failed to get the nomination. Do you view that as some kind of a harbinger or an indicator, that
maybe the extremes have less appeal, even to the party voters. Trump has tremendous appeal, and the in some cases where the candidates lost, there was a dispute over who had the Trump endorsement. So it wasn’t really clear.
I started my political life with Ronald Reagan, and I thought that he was the most popular and powerful Republican of all time. Internally, it’s nothing like Donald Trump. Trump’s endorsement is worth its weight in gold. On the Democratic side, it took an organized effort to bring down these two squad members, but they are still the exception, not the rule. The the heat in the Democratic Party is not with the squad, but it is with the more progressive members in Congress, and you’ll see some of this on display in Chicago and the heat in the Republican Party, even with a couple Trump people losing the endorsement, it’s only a couple of them
losing after being endorsed. I think Trump, Trump’s record is close to 90% data. It’s It’s amazing. So the the extremes are still in control. Next question, okay, uh, let’s go to Marty. Marty, over to you. Hi, Frank.
Do you think that on election night, Marty, will
you New Jersey, sorry.
Cool. I know why you didn’t tell us what state you’re from, but please go ahead, make sure I stayed under 15 seconds. Do you think that on election night, we’re going to know and similar on that same vein, if this election is decided by an incredibly small number of votes in one or two states,
how do you think that’s going to play out, especially if, for example, the New York case against Trump is overturned on appeal.
I think that it is we will not know an election night. In fact, let me go further. I don’t think we’re going to know when the morning shows come on the next morning, because I do believe that is going to be incredibly close. I need to put back up on my Twitter the opening tweet, which comes from 2020 when I outlined how the process went, because I think we’re gonna have the same thing, which is that Trump will emerge based on how votes are counted. Trump will have the lead in a state like Pennsylvania,
but it won’t be enough to put them over
and as the absentee ballots come in, the election will get closer and closer and closer. Trump’s vote tends to come in earlier. Harris’s vote, because of states like California, Oregon and Oregon and Washington State come in later, I think that we won’t have
a clear decision until midday the next day, and it could go even farther than that. And I’m glad you asked the question, because that’s so much of what led to January 6. And everyone here from Pennsylvania, it’s your fault
the way that you count your ballots. In fact, we should next zoom. I’m going to have I’m going to borrow people from Pennsylvania. You insist on counting people who vote on Election Day first. Trump voters vote on Election Day
in 2020, Biden voters voted early or they voted absentee.
And the votes were counted later. So at 1am and 2am Trump had a really solid lead in Pennsylvania that looked like he was insurmountable. But that’s because by two to one, all the votes that were still out were Democratic votes, and a lot of them were in Philadelphia, which is always counted slowly, and you got some precincts here that vote 98% to 2%
for the Democrats.
So we have to find a way for Philadelphia to change how it counts as votes, so that everything is counted at the same time, so they don’t give a miss impression that one thing’s going to happen, because Trump used to say they’re dumping votes. They’re not dumping votes. These are absentee ballot voter boxes that had all these
democratic precincts that simply came in late,
and that in the best example of who does it right is Florida and is Georgia. Georgia. They count everything quickly. Georgia is done in five hours. Florida’s done in six or seven. Pennsylvania takes day after day after day, and it’s horrible.
So
be ready for a really, really long election night that goes into the next day.
Great question. Harriet, there you go. You’re on mute. Harriet,
Hi, can you hear me? Yes.
Early on this first started, you said that Trump wins on inflation and immigration and that the Democrats had the right tactic but the wrong strategy, but you never outlined what the strategy should be. I’m from New York.
If I’m a Democrat, I am focused on, can we do better? To me, that’s something that’s so inherent in an American culture. How can we improve? Or is this the best we can do?
You actually recognize that there’s some good that happened between 2017 and 2021
which Harris is never going to do, but you recognize that some things actually were good.
Black unemployment was at record lows, Hispanic unemployment at record lows. And then you say, but we become so divided.
There was a cost to this, that there’s a way to keep a good economy, to keep a strong country and not tear each other to shreds. Do you want every day to see the latest insult, the latest meanness, or can we be a kinder, gentler country? So I would I, if I’m a Democrat, I’m going to focus on what I’m going to focus on what Trump has said, and by the way, his big strategy during the debate was to say, I never said that, but the answer is, the truth is, he did all the things that Biden would say Trump said he did, but you have to be able to show it. In fact, I’m going to give you the I’m going to give you the Harris strategy.
I would invite the news media to a debate. If Donald Trump says you’re not going to show up on September 10, you bring Trump virtual
to to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You put him up on the screen, a screen that’s three times bigger than life, five times bigger than life, and you play his greatest hits, then you push pause, and then respond to him
all the insults play him and say, Mister Trump, this is your words, and here’s how I respond. The media would eat it up. By the way, this is such a effing good idea that I should have offered this to to CNN. I can’t believe I just gave it away right here for nothing, but I would create the first, and I, in fact, I make that announcement that we’re going to have the first virtual debate ever. Only I
Kamala Harris are I’m showing up, and whether Donald Trump is there in person or his likeness, we’re going to do it anyway, that that’s
jeez, even I know that’s kind of smart. Let’s go. Mel, first, go ahead. Mel,
I have a simple question to ask you, how decisive must the results be to avoid a challenge or violence after the election, and I have a simple answer, which is, I believe that there will be a challenge no matter what happens with the results.
Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by four and a half percent in 2020 that’s a pretty decisive popular vote. He beat Trump.
I got more than 300 electoral votes, he did better than, than, than Barack Obama over Mitt Romney and Trump still said the election was stolen.
So we have to assume that that’s going to happen, but we also have to educate the public about how votes are counted, educate them that votes aren’t dumped, and educate them that sometimes it takes a day or two or three days, and it doesn’t mean that votes are being stolen.
And my hostility towards Pennsylvania, and yes, it is part of their law, is that they know the damage that they caused in 2020, and the and the fact is that they didn’t change the rules on their laws since then, and that’s simply atrocious, and it happens in other states as well. So Mel, I’m very pessimistic about what’s going to happen, and I’m depending on the media. I’m gonna go for a walk right to present this in the future, so that people know what to look for, and they know the truth. I got time for Actually, let’s do two more. Okay, John,
John, you’re on mute, right? This is John Goodman. John Goodman in Dallas, Texas, there’s something you have not explained
the moment that Joe Biden stepped aside, at that very moment that she was way underwater on
on popularity, on favorability, and she doesn’t have any money, a lot of people thought she was stupid. A lot of people thought she was incompetent. And a few days later, all the money comes in, and all of a sudden, her favorability goes up to 50, but she didn’t do anything. She didn’t go on 60 minutes. She didn’t have a press conference. She did nothing. How do you explain that? I explain it as a phenomenon that’s never happened in modern American politics. And your doubts, I understand. I believe your doubts are
almost conspiratorial,
which I don’t agree with, but you’re correct to say that this has never happened before. Number one, it was complete relief among all of the Democratic Party establishment that Biden finally agreed to go because they realized that not only was he going to lose, but he was dragging down the House and Senate with them. Number two is that donors have become so angry at that point that they were grateful that they now had someone who they could support. Number three is that those donors in the Hollywood community jumped on board immediately, because her philosophy is their philosophy. So that’s why all the money came in. Number four is that the media celebrated her. I never saw such positive courage. And number five, no other Democrats stood up to challenge her. So you can be very angry about what happened. The fact is, Gretchen wirmer stood down. Gavin Newsom stood down. Wes Moore stood down. Cory Booker stood down. Every other democratic could have challenged her. Within 48 hours pulled out. The House leadership, this, this Senate leadership, the party leadership, the donor leadership, they all jumped on board. So it makes sense, there was no opposition, and they so desperately wanted to unite to defeat Donald Trump. That’s why it happened the way that it did.
Gary,
can you hear me? Yep, we got you. Yeah. One question
in terms of the selection of your walls to be the VP, will that make it more difficult
to move to the center and appeal to the five or 10% of moderate votes that are undecided? And is that really a moot question, because all Trump seems to be doing these days is complaining and capable of making the case, Gary, that’s very smart. That’s very smart questions, a very accurate question.
Harris would have to move to the center of Trump. Move to the center, but Trump is only speaking to his base because he only knows his base. There are plenty of examples, and by the way, Ryan I can still do two more. Okay, Gary,
an election has consequences. Campaigns have consequences, and what Trump does in a vacuum doesn’t matter. It’s what he does vis a vis Harris and vice versa. Harris does not need to move to the center, because Trump has stayed on the right. He stayed with his people. He uses the same attack lines, uses the same statements. Donald Trump is campaigning the exact same way now that he was he.
Just change the names, change the attributes, but it’s no different.
And my challenge to him, what I would say to him is, sir, this campaign is still yours to lose, because your administration is still seen as better than Joe Biden’s, but the reason why you’re now actually losing is because of you, sir, your attributes, how you carry yourself, and the public’s desire to get away from that if he doesn’t change his tune, she doesn’t need to move because he’s only talking to people who already agree with him. And that is a sure file where way to lose this election.
Great question. Let’s add two more here. Okay, Steve, over to you.
Thanks, Ryan, and thank you. Dr Luntz, so my question, I’m from Erie, Colorado, suburb of Denver. My question is about voter turnout, if such a large percentage of the electorate is dissatisfied with both candidates, there been any polling or studies done on what percentage of all the eligible voters in the US will actually cast a ballot, and of those that do, of the eligible voters that do cast a ballot, what percentage just won’t vote for either presidential candidate, but they’ll vote down ballot. That was the case, particularly when Biden was the Democratic nominee, and I actually thought that the voter turnout was going to be significantly less than what it was in 2020 because people were just so disappointed in having to make the same choice now that they had to make, make in 2020
with Harris coming in. Younger women are active. Younger black men are active. It’s it’s completely scrambled the turnout equation, and arguably, we’re going to have a very high turnout now, because Trump voters have always wanted to back their guy, and now you’ve Democrats have someone they can back, that they feel comfortable with, that they’re excited about, in terms of voting for a third party candidate, I still think that there is a demand for an alternative to these Two candidates, but it is not as great as what it was when it was Biden versus Trump,
and in the end, we’re going to have this third party. I don’t
know if it’s going to be four years from now or 12 years from now, but with every passing year, the loyalty to the Democratic Party and to the Republican Party drops, and the more people want to have a third option, so that’s going to continue to increase, but whether that leads to an actual third party and a candidate running your bets as good as mine,
and it’s a great way to close this, because I’m a language guy. I listen to the words and phrases that people communicate, in this case, in your questions and in most cases, and what the American public think and feel, and why I’m so glad to be able to share this conversation
with Americans. We’re going to edit it down to something briefer, is that I want them to see that it is possible to have discussions like this, where you put Democrats and Republicans on the same call, and they don’t have to fight
that. You put conservatives and liberals on the same call, and they can still agree on some on the fundamentals, even if they disagree on the solutions. And that all these issues that even if they’re not top burner, such as foreign policy, that they still matter,
so that we’re hearing from the public and we’re recognizing what matters to them. We’re respecting their voice, which is so important.
We are respecting it and listening to it and hearing it and internalizing it,
and not shouting at them back,
but seeking to make the differences and make the decisions that are so necessary. I so believe in this organization, even if it isn’t running running a candidate,
because you bring people together in conversations that aren’t happening anywhere else, but on Zoom calls like this, and I want the world to see it. I want the world to know that there is hope. I teach at West Point right now, my cadets think I’m way too negative after this discussion,
I’m not negative anymore, because after this discussion with Americans like you, seeking answers, seeking solutions and seeking the truth, that’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing. So So from my heart to yours, thank you for being so inside.
Grateful and thank you for being so direct. And I hope I’ve shown you that I respect and appreciate you as much as as what you have said, the kindness you’ve shown me. This is what America should be.
It was a wonderful conversation, and the questions that I got were so well articulated.
This is the questions that Americans are asking at the dining room table, that they’re asking at work, that they’re wondering whether our country is headed in the right direction, or whether it’s pretty seriously off on the wrong track, and to them, more importantly, who’s most likely to be the next President of the United States, and you can get shows like this, only here at America speaks on straight arrow news. I’m Dr Frank Luntz. I’ll see you again soon. You.
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