Super Tuesday: The General Election Has Begun

TOPICS DISCUSSED

  • The 2024 Presidential Race & Political Priorities

  • 2024 State Races

  • Congress at Work

  • Daylight Savings Time

  • Outside of Politics: Sarah’s Oscar Predictions & Beth’s Survivor Takes

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TRANSCRIPT

Sarah [00:00:07] This is Sarah Stewart Holland.  

Beth [00:00:09] This is Beth Silvers.  

Sarah [00:00:10] You're listening to Pantsuit Politics.  

Beth [00:00:12] Where we take a different approach to the news.  

[00:00:14] Music Interlude.  

[00:00:30] We are so happy that you're here for a new episode of Pantsuit Politics. It's been a newsy week, so we're going to cover everything from Super Tuesday to congressional funding, to the Daylight Savings time switch coming. We know the prevailing mood about politics right now is somewhere between stress and malaise. Here at Pantsuit Politics, we're ready to shake that off. It's time to get focused on our priorities. Get some energy. So you might hear a little tough love in this conversation. Please remember that it is love. It is love for you. It is love for America. It is love for the process. And we will end in a loving way, hopefully Outside of Politics, with Sarah's predictions and thoughts about the Oscars. And then because I don't like award shows, as punishment, I'm going to make Sarah listen to me talk about Survivor for just a minute.  

Sarah [00:01:14] If you are a premium member through Apple Podcast subscriptions or through Patreon, please mark your calendar for next Thursday night, March 14th. We're going to have our first Spicy Live because if you don't know, on Thursday every week on our premium channels, we have a spicy More to Say, where we just come and have some hot takes. So if this episode is tough love, this event is a party. It's unfiltered, there are antics, a little bit off the hinge and we have so much fun. So we really, really hope that you will join us. If you subscribe through Apple, make sure we have your email address so we can share the logon information for that event with you. You can do that through the link in our show notes or by emailing us at Hello@pantsuitpolitics.com and Alise will get you hooked up.  

Beth [00:01:59] Next up, let's talk about Super Tuesday. One of the most rewarding things about making this podcast is that we get to hear from listeners in so many places. In our premium community, there is a lot of discussion. We have a Facebook group with lots of discussion. We receive emails from people. And what has come across to me from those groups this week is stress. We said in our last episode that the general election begins this week, and I think everyone is really feeling that as Super Tuesday solidified, that we are headed to Biden versus Trump again in November. So I just want to kind of keep that stress in mind as we walk through the things that happened this week and try to take a deep breath together and process the news as we do here.  

Sarah [00:02:54] Yeah, I had my own moment this week where I had-- not a panic attack, but definitely anxiety rush. It was, not surprisingly, on Tuesday. I think I just had to realize like, no, this is it. Even though I knew that intellectually, it's like my body felt it for the first time where I thought, okay, we're going to have to deal with Donald Trump again. And I don't usually like this stress technique. It's not my favorite, where you sort of play out your worst case scenario to make yourself feel better, because usually that does not make me feel better. It makes me feel worse. But this time I did. I just had to think like, okay, he could be president again. I just need to accept that he is going to be one of the major party nominees and he could be president again, and what would that look like, and how would that make me feel? And what would be the challenges? And what am I probably overestimating about what could happen if he won? And I just kind of had to to play it out of my head and sort of rip the Band-Aid off. It wasn't a pleasant mental exercise, but I did find it overall reduced my anxiety. Because I think some of the anxiety that's kind of flooding all of us is just this desperate hope we were holding on to that maybe it wouldn't happen. You never know what could happen. Everybody could wake up [inaudible] and then just letting that go finally, I think, sort of invited a wave of emotion, rush of anxiety. The only way out is through it. And that should be the theme for this whole presidential election.  

Beth [00:04:30] That is one of my favorite stress reduction techniques. I do it all the time. I also imagine the best case scenario, because I'm much better at imagining the worst case scenario than the best case scenario. So I try to imagine the best case scenario and park my brain there for a while too. And I hope that we can hold both of those things in tension. As I was thinking about this episode, I am haunted by the 2016 election when I came on this podcast as a brand new baby podcaster, saying constantly, "Don't worry guys, America is not going to do this. We're not going to elect Donald Trump." So I don't want to make that mistake again. I also don't want to panic in a way that is completely unproductive, and that I really do think is divorced from the facts. I think there are a lot of indicators in Super Tuesday. In a way, it's like a Rorschach test. You can see what you want to see looking at the numbers coming out of Super Tuesday. But there are reasons to me to park our brains in both of those worlds for a second and just deal with the reality that right now it's a toss up. Who knows what's going to happen in November? So Super Tuesday, not so super this year. The turnout was pretty low. I liked this quote from Steve Simon, who is Minnesota Secretary of State. He says, there are two factors that drive turnout. One is candidates that inspire strong feelings and the other is perceptions of competitiveness. I think it's safe to say, I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here, that we have a lot of number one and not so much of number two.  

Sarah [00:06:01] Well, not that much number one if the turnout was low.  

Beth [00:06:03] But he's saying the perception of competitiveness is not there. And I think that's right. I think you can have really strong feelings about either of these candidates and the sense that it doesn't matter, your vote is not going to matter in the primary because there is no real competition.  

Sarah [00:06:18] When I'm playing to my optimist side, I think that could happen in the general, too. I do think the one big difference, because of that experience in 2016, between these two candidates is that because Donald Trump has spent four years telling people he actually won 2020, his supporters can think there's no way Joe Biden will win. But there is zero chance that Joe Biden's strongest supporters think there's no way Donald Trump can win. I do think there's at least an imbalance of perception when it comes to the-- it's not competitiveness. It's like, I don't know, the overall chances of something terrible happening that can change the turnout numbers on either side, but it makes sense to me that the turnout was low in these primaries for sure.  

Beth [00:07:10] So as you probably know, the former president won every state but Vermont by pretty big margins. And yet you still have about a third of voters with Nikki Haley in these states and a number of exit surveys where people say, "I will not vote for Donald Trump in the general election." And I think the location of those voters matters given the Electoral College, this is an election where a couple percentage points one way or another are huge. And so I think there is reason for Trump supporters to say this is historic. There's no modern precedent for his sweep of these primaries. And I think it's also true that there is some softness here.  

Sarah [00:07:54] Yeah, I think every time I can point out that he's different, this is not the same, they are not equivalent candidates even if we've seen them run before, is worthwhile. And, yes, you had people doing uncommitted in Minnesota, much like Michigan against Joe Biden. He had an opponent in Dean Phillips. But the difference is these numbers don't touch the weakness of Donald Trump's showing in this party primary just because they were all for Donald Trump. I mean, some places it was close. Sometimes it was like 56-45. Sometimes it was just barely 60%. It's doesn't mean that he didn't win handedly. But that's a problem when you're coming into a party primary at this stage and you have weakness in your support. Now, it's not an overcomable problem. Barack Obama obviously wasn't blowing them out when he ran against Hillary Clinton. But Donald Trump is not Barack Obama. And this is a very different situation. Dean Phillips endorsed President Biden. Nikki Haley did not endorse Donald Trump. He has so many problems within his own party, weakness within his own party, which was true in 2020 also when he lost. But I think it has only grown.  

Beth [00:09:11] I would like to spend a second on the graciousness with which Dean Phillips endorsed President Biden and the sense of humor that he maintained through this whole thing. His tweet about congratulating Marianne Williamson and Uncommitted and Nikki Haley for engendering more democratic enthusiasm than he did. I thought it was great. I have a lot of respect for him, actually, and what he did here in the way that he did it. And I am so thrilled that he jumped out and said, this is a person of integrity and character.  

Sarah [00:09:40] I mean, when you're fortunate is built on delicious ice cream, what exactly do you have to be sad about? That's all I'm saying.  

Beth [00:09:46] There are many a people who built fortunes on sweet treats, though, who do not have a tender soul. 

Speaker 3 [00:09:53] I don't know, so I don't. I feel like Ben and Jerry have tender souls. I feel like the Bluebell people in Texas are lovely. I'm just saying, I don't know. Ice cream in itself does seem to build lovely magnets, just in my own anecdotal evidence.  

Beth [00:10:09] I want to know what you thought of Nikki Haley's speech suspending her campaign.  

Sarah [00:10:13] I mean, it's a tough one. I know so many members of our audience didn't want her to drop out, and people wanted her to win the primary. I'm sure she also wanted to win the primary. The only thing I was watching is whether or not she would endorse Donald Trump. She did not, and I am enormously relieved about that. Because I was listening to the NPR Politics podcast, and they were like, I mean, she hated him the first time she became as U.N. ambassador. So it's not like we don't have a history here. And I was like, that's a good point. Please don't do it, Nikki. And I guess it's not too late. She could still change her mind. But that was the main thing I really, really wanted, was because I don't think that this was driven by some devotion in Nikki Haley. It was opposition to Donald Trump. She's not stupid. She knows that. And so, to me, that's even more reason to not endorse him. Because what, your people are looking for you to tell them what to do? They're not your people, really. And they're definitely many, many, many, many of them not going to vote for him anyway whether or not you endorse him. So I'm just glad she didn't. I was hoping maybe Mitch McConnell would have a a crisis of conscience in his old age and not decide to let this man abuse him and his legacy and then stand up and endorse him anyway. But alas, didn't happen.  

Beth [00:11:22] I'm really sad that Nikki Haley left the door open here to endorse Trump. The idea that he can earn her support and earn her voter support. What questions are open about Donald Trump? What information are you looking for to decide if he's earned your support? I think that's terrible. And I think Nikki Haley has been at her best when she has been personally angry at the way he treats her and the way he talks about her husband and the way that he degrades her supporters. She's not going to get less angry now that she's not running against him, and he's not talking about her constantly and calling her birdbrain and saying, "Where's her husband?" And I feel like this gap of time when they're not one on one in a contest will allow her to eventually come back around and endorse him. And that makes me extremely sad. And I wish that she had slammed the door on her way out.  

Sarah [00:12:23] But the reality is that inside this Republican Party, what she did was still a major step. Even leaving the door open but not endorsing him is a damn act of bravery inside this party.  

Beth [00:12:35] Yeah, and it's the strangest thing. Kentucky's constitutional officers got together, our attorney general, our treasurer, the people that we elect-- not the governor-- got together and issue their endorsement for President Trump this week. Everyone except our Secretary of State, thank goodness. Secretaries of State should not endorse candidates. I think they should be as nonpartisan as possible since they are the vote counters. And I also think our Secretary of State is a principled person.  

Sarah [00:13:05] From Paducah, Kentucky, just saying. 

Beth [00:13:07] Who perhaps will not support former President Trump. He's actually worked with the Haley campaign. But I was so mad about it. I was just unreasonably mad about it because I thought, this is completely unnecessary. Who cares who Kentucky's attorney general thinks should be the president? Who was putting pressure on Kentucky's attorney general or auditor or treasurer to endorse Donald Trump? Why is this publicly expressed fealty so pervasive in this party now that this kind of thing happens?  

Sarah [00:13:41] I many thoughts about that. First, because this is a party of show, not a party of politics. The more I think about the reporting that there's this really professional operation out here racking up these endorsements, the more I'm like, for what? Because why? Because you think this is how you're going to win the primary? Now, I do think there was a certain amount of right legitimacy gifted back to him by some of these endorsements. Maybe it makes him palatable, but I think that is all of the rest of us projecting onto the Republican base something that they're struggling with, that in fact, they are not struggling with. They don't need Donald Trump to be more palatable to them. They love him.  

Beth [00:14:27] I think that's right.  

Sarah [00:14:27]  They didn't need endorsements. They didn't care. In fact, I think there's an argument that they would have loved him more if people had not endorsed him. So to me, it's like, okay, you guys are just as blind as you have always been because this was not an important political task. What you should have been doing is fundraising. You can't do that though. I don't think you have the skill set. I don't think that it's worth it because everything goes to legal fees. So there's kind of holes in the strategy that appear to me. Like I said, the endorsements are for show. They're not a political strategy. They're not even a political calculus. I'm not sure how much political calculus goes on in the Republican Party anymore, to be honest with you. Certainly, and not a lot of policy calculus. Now, you could see it in the way the Alabama legislator hightailed it over there to change the IVF ruling. That was political calculus. Clearly, they're not totally and completely blind. That's a little encouraging, I guess. But, to me, they're all for show because he's all for show. That's what he cares about, and he runs the party. And so it is performance of fealty because that is his priority. And it's his party now. It's the MAGA party, remember, not the Republican Party. We need a new word. And to me, those bullshit like that, let's all stand up together and say how much we endorse Donald Trump even though there's 0% chance he doesn't win the Kentucky primary, it's just one more piece of evidence that this takeover is complete.  

Beth [00:15:55] I would just like to add a footnote to your comment about Alabama. The legislature did indeed pass, and Governor Ivy signed into law blanket criminal and civil immunity for IVF providers. And I think this was done fast, but not well.  

Sarah [00:16:12] Surprise, surprise.  

Beth [00:16:13] I'm glad that IVF clinics will be able to reopen. I know that this has been incredibly emotional and painful for so many families in Alabama. And so I am happy that people who were awaiting services will be able to access those services now. But in the long run, what happened at that hospital where someone was able to drop those embryos was bad. It wasn't murder, but it was bad. And it's something that those families should have some form of recourse for. And this is the problem when you don't do politics and then suddenly something rises to such a fever pitch that you must respond, you don't have the skill set to respond well. They needed to have a moment, a thoughtful deliberation about what this decision represented and what they were responding to. But they are so desperate to say, especially in the wake of the Dobbs decision, "No, no, no, we don't mean IVF is wrong and bad. Don't tag us with this." That they ended up, I think, crafting poor legislation that will ultimately hurt some families who are receiving IVF services. So it is frustrating. Political parties and politicians should do politics and should do good governance. And when you've thrown all that out of the window, it's not riding a bike where you can just suddenly do it again.  

Sarah [00:17:52] Well, and I think that brings us to not just this third party chatter, but the frustration that many on the left feel with Joe Biden for a lot of reasons. There was this moment where protesters were stalking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, like star member of the squad. And if you haven't seen the video, a man kind of shoves a phone in her face and says, "Say genocide." And she kind of comes back at them and she's like, "I have. Stop. This is ridiculous." And they kind of keep following her. She was there [inaudible] too, which was kind of outside politics, just [inaudible] trying to see a movie. And they kind of got in her face about it. And Matt Iglesias wrote this great thing that's like, no, she's a politician. She understands that Donald Trump is worse than Joe Biden, so she's going to do what she can to support Joe Biden. And I do really, really hope people wake up, now that the candidates have been picked and this is what we're dealing with, to the fact that you might not like Joe Biden, you might think that Joe Biden's policy in Israel is heinous. But if you think it won't matter that much and that you'll really reset the Democratic Party, if Donald Trump is elected, then you don't belong in politics because you don't understand them, and your calculus and strategies are blind to the reality of not only the concerns priorities of the American public, but the consequences of a Trump presidency.  

Beth [00:19:27] I think voting uncommitted in a Democratic primary to say something with your vote is a perfectly legitimate expression of your First Amendment rights, and the kind of dissent that ought to happen inside parties.  

Sarah [00:19:42] And effective. It's effective.  

Beth [00:19:44] It's effective. I wouldn't do it because I don't think President Biden supports genocide or has ever not cared about the people of Gaza, or feels any of the things that are projected on him from the group of people who are organizing these efforts. But I respect that as a strategy. That is an organizing strategy that I respect.  

Sarah [00:20:07] I don't disagree with anything you said. At 100% with all the statements you said about President Biden. But I would, because I would think my calculus would not be based on the policy, it'd be based on the politics. And I would even though I do not believe that Joe Biden supports genocide or doesn't care about the Palestinian people, but because I want to make sure that included in his political calculus is the impact of these policies on the progressive left and how important that is to the coalition. You know what I mean? Like, like we don't feel any differently about Joe Biden and his stance towards Palestine. But we would make that choice based on different calculus. You know what I mean? To me, that's why it's a fair and totally relevant strategy.  

Beth [00:20:51] I think it's a fair and relevant strategy. I also think voting against President Biden in the general election absolutely undermines any goals connected to that strategy. Imagine if Donald Trump were president on October 7th.  

Sarah [00:21:08] Oh my God.  

Beth [00:21:09] Imagine what Gaza would look like today if Donald Trump were president on October 7th. And imagine what Gaza could look like in 2025 if Donald Trump were president again. It's completely counterproductive to oppose President Biden in the general election if your heart is with Gaza.  

Sarah [00:21:30] We said this during the October 7th attacks, which is the policy of the Trump administration. Because you guys, we don't have to guess. We do not have to guess. We do not have to dream up in our brains what would happen if he wins a second term. We have a first term to look at. And the policy of the Trump administration towards the Palestinian people were take a walk; you're not at the table and we don't care. Arguably, leading to the October 7th attack and the desperation of Hamas wanting to reset the debate in which at least the Palestinian people were present at it because the position of the Trump administration was you don't exist inside this negotiation. That was their policy.  

Beth [00:22:04] I also do not think, following a member of Congress around a movie theater, shouting at her to say a word-- that's what they did. When I watched as long of a video clip as I could find of this, and the ask was, say the word genocide so that I can capture it on my cell phone. That I also think is completely counterproductive and reductive. It is reductive to just want people to say the word genocide in connection with this conflict, and think that that helps anyone. I think that diminishes your movement. I think this movement has some important things to say, but I think that there are people who have taken the important ideas within it and so reduced them to make them slogans, to make them as incendiary as possible. And that is toxic. I think there is a ton of toxicity around that movement, just as I think there are some important progressive ideas being expressed, even if I do not agree with them. I respect what some people are doing there, and I do not respect what a whole lot of people have taken from what some people are doing there.  

Sarah [00:23:20] Yeah. I mean, it's for show. In the same way those endorsements are. With love. And I am not going to listen to this false equivalency. They're the same. I heard that bullshit with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. I heard that bullshit with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. And I'm not going to listen to it again because it's not true. And this coalition needs to stay together. Look, I have enormous respect for AOC. It grows every year. I think that sister is a smart and adaptable and politically astute as they get. She is either the second coming of Nancy Pelosi or probably our first female president. She is on top of it. To me, she is as smart and astute as Elizabeth Warren. The only difference is she has more of a runway. She's younger. She got in the game younger. And she's just so good at understanding the politics but also authentically naming people's struggles inside a system. So, yeah, that whole scene was silly. And it was silliness inside an issue, a new story, an actual place inside this human experience where enormous suffering is taking place. It is the most serious thing. And a stalker around a theater like that, thinking that you are bringing seriousness to such an epicenter of human suffering is just-- get out of here. I'm sorry.  

Beth [00:25:17] This is how I pull myself out of the malaise about this election by reminding myself that politics is about priorities. I can say, "Ugh, is Biden versus Trump really the best America has to offer? Ugh, I did not want this. Ugh, they are both representatives of the past more than the future." I can do that all day long. Or I can say, well, this is where it is. And politics are about priorities. And the priorities for me in this election could not be clearer. And as I look at the Democratic Party as a person who fits uncomfortably under its tent right now, I just want to say, stop beating up people who basically agree with you about the highest priority issues right now.  

Sarah [00:26:07] Listen, the media is not the only group of people have that have lessons to learn about Donald Trump's first presidential win and first presidential term. I said what I said, okay? Democrats have lessons to learn, too. Democratic activists have lessons to learn. The Democratic Party has lessons to learn. Now, the Democratic Party keeps winning elections, midterm and otherwise. So it feels like they're they're understanding some of those lessons. But I do think sort of the online Twitter class is still stuck in this, like like you said, please, we want 100% agreement. There's no prioritization. There's only life or death ethical stances. And if you are not with us, you are against us. And you guys, it didn't work the first time. It's not going to work this time. I have been obsessed, truly, once they dismissed the fraud. It's so good. It is about like a Victorian era trial and like a second rate, washed up Charles Dickens. And you're like, so what does that have to do with this election? But I would argue a lot because she's watching this. The one of the main characters is watching this group of people, emotional, not highly educated, fall for this ruse. It is a use. The book is called The Fraud. It is a ruse. I just like that the most concerning thing to me right now is the Trump amnesia and this desire to just not see, not remember and not take the lessons from what he did the first time. Because there's a way you can get in a space with 2016 where you can get people grace. Well, he'll get in there and he'll become more serious. But we all don't have to play that game this time. And I think there's an aspect of like, all of us were exhausted.  

[00:27:57] It's reflected in the numbers of this podcast that people were like, I don't want to do this anymore. And I think some of that exhaustion was driven by the Twitter class, particularly on the progressive left, where people felt like it's never good enough. I don't want to be part of this anymore. I'm exhausted with everything. I just want to ignore it. And I think it's understandable and I'm not mad at anybody. But when we all stopped having these conversations with each other, when we just sort of let it play out and talked about Taylor Swift for a year and a half and instead of politics-- not mad at anybody. Obviously, I hope you know in your heart of hearts that really what I want to talk about is Taylor Swift as well. And I think we needed a break and it is what it is. But now we have got to engage with each other again. We have got to educate our fellow citizens, because otherwise we're going to be depending on short form videos from YouTube and TikTok, and that's not going to save our democracy, you guys. So we have got to start having these conversations and saying this matters. This is why. This is what I understand. This is the information that the experts have presented to me and that I am sharing with you because it impacted the way I view this election and these candidates, and I hope it will impact you as well. Because I think pulling him off Twitter and Facebook and letting him sort of slide away into the basement of his own base did protect people. And maybe even if he'd been on Twitter, people have tuned it out anyway. But we have got to re-engage and remind people that he is bad at being president. And he showed us that for four years. And so we should just, on the most basic level, not give him an opportunity to do the job again.  

Beth [00:29:35] I was encouraged by the Twitter reaction to Katie Porter saying that the California primary was rigged without any evidence whatsoever, that anything illegal happened in connection with that election. That is such a serious thing to say, and we shouldn't say it unless we have actual proof that something illegal was done in the counting of ballots. Our systems are too fragile right now to casually throw around language like the election was rigged. So the internet encouraged me in that regard.  

Sarah [00:30:09] Because if you are not aware, back in 2010, California changed the rules of its primaries to be the top two vote-getters. Which makes sense, right? This is a reform we've talked about in a state where you have predominantly one party control. Well, if we do this sort of top two vote-getters, then can we moderate some of the positions within the parties so that you are not rewarded for going as far to the right or to the left as you want to? And while I understand Katie Porter's distaste for Adam Schiff basically pertains to Carvey's campaign, I mean, the truth is that Adam Schiff is a moderate candidate in particular compared to Katie Porter. And so, I think that let's not lose sight of that, even if this isn't working the exact way we want it to. I hope that people can still see that. And, I still would like to see this type of primary reform play out in some red states and see how that happens. I mean, they have something similar in Alaska and they got Lisa Murkowski. So I'm just saying.  

Beth [00:31:21] I am all for reforms that dig us out of the hole that Partisan primaries have us in right now. And I also think Adam Schiff is not the first candidate of either party to work hard to choose his opponent.  

Sarah [00:31:34] Word.  

Beth [00:31:35] It's a legitimate strategy. You don't have to like it. I don't like a lot of things about the way political campaigns are conducted, but there wasn't anything illegal about it or unethical about it. It is what a lot of candidates do. They work hard to choose their opponent for the general election. Let's continue to look at that down ballot just a little bit. There is some hope out of Texas. I know that our Texas listeners are particularly discouraged and you have good reason.  

Sarah [00:32:01] You have such good reasons to.  

Beth [00:32:04] I understand. I do think that Colin Allred would be a good senator. He is currently a member of the House. He is the Democrat who won the primary to face off against Ted Cruz in November. Last time Ted Cruz was on the ballot, he only won by three points. It would be so nice to offer Ted Cruz an opportunity to do something new with his time.  

Sarah [00:32:27] He likes to podcast!  

Beth [00:32:28] He loves to podcast, yes. Let's just let him podcast. 

Sarah [00:32:31] We should let him full time podcast. Okay. I really feel hopeful about this, Beth, and here's why. Here's what I think happens. Beto. Maybe you remember him.  

Beth [00:32:39] I do.  

Sarah [00:32:41] Beto did the good work of helping people feel more comfortable voting for Democrats. Those two campaigns were important. He didn't win. We wanted him to, but he got people used to it. Okay. That's important. That builds on itself. But then I think he suffers from what happens a lot of times, which is then they get the chance to sort of characterize him and build up negative impressions of him. And Beto did some of that work for him sometimes. You know what I mean? Remember when he ran for president for two minutes? Everybody remember? Come on, y'all remember. He was on the cover of Rolling Stone? I remember. You remember?  

Beth [00:33:22] Oh, I remember.  

Sarah [00:33:23] Bless his heart. I got no beef with him. I'm just saying. Let's do some honest political assessment. That is the theme of this show. And so I just think there's a real opportunity. I really hope that Colin Allred has a tight ship, because it's going to take every penny and every minute to do this, but I truly believe that it is achievable. Because you have the good work of Beto. You have the fact that Ted Cruz is unlikable. He's not a likable human. Okay. And that doesn't mean that I think that he shouldn't be on planet Earth. I think you should go podcast. Lots of unlikable people podcasts-- not us. You know what I mean? You know what I'm talking about. And so I just really don't know. I'm just feeling very hopeful around this race.  

Beth [00:34:08] I feel very hopeful about this race, too. If I lived in Texas, I would be putting a lot of energy here. I really, really hope that Colin Allred can pull this out. Okay, North Carolina.  

Sarah [00:34:20] North Carolina, come on and raise up. Take your shirt off, twist it 'round your hand, spin it around like a helicopter. I'm just saying the [inaudible] energy that song applies here.  

Beth [00:34:30] I think we should start with the good news. I think the Democratic candidate for governor is a good candidate. Josh Stein.  

Sarah [00:34:36] He's a Democrat. That's what we do. We nominate normal people. Sorry, I don't mean to be snarky, but it's just true.  

Beth [00:34:41] He's the attorney general. Well, especially in more red states, usually people who win their statewide elections in red states from the opposite party, do a real good job.  

Sarah [00:34:52] Andy... Hello, come on.  

Beth [00:34:52] So Josh Stein is the candidate. If elected, he would be North Carolina's first Jewish governor. His opponent will be the current lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, who if elected, would be North Carolina's first black governor. Mark Robinson has a history of vile and demeaning statements that make Marjorie Taylor Greene look demure, okay? She wishes. It's tough. And love and light to North Carolina through this campaign.  

Sarah [00:35:21] You don't think he's going to clean it up? Walk the straight and narrow for the general election?  

Beth [00:35:26] I just think people are who they are.  

Sarah [00:35:28] They are who they are. It's true.  

Sarah [00:35:31] The love and light needs to go to Josh Stein, because he's the one that's gonna have to be dealing with this the whole time.  

Beth [00:35:34] Yeah, love and light.  

Sarah [00:35:35] But hopefully, as his reward, he will be North Carolina's next governor.  

Beth [00:35:39] I hope so. I do think North Carolina, as a Kentuckian with a very red legislature and a blue governor, I'm real happy with our blue governor. I think when you go against the grain in your state, you tend to be extremely popular.  

Sarah [00:35:55] Well, it would work better if our legislature didn't have a supermajority that systematically removes most of the authority and power from our governor, but otherwise super happy.  

Beth [00:36:05] You can't elect a good governor and then take a nap. That's true.  

Sarah [00:36:09] Right. And so I do think that the promise of this and Texas is if we have some voters who cannot get excited about Joe Biden, they will show up for calling Allred, and hopefully they will show up for Josh Stein. And so instead of a down ballot effect, we have an up ballot effect. Fingers crossed.  

Beth [00:36:27] Okay. I want to talk about Congress real quick if we can. We have been keeping you updated on the every five minutes we may have a government shutdown dynamic that's been in place since the beginning of the year. And this Wednesday, we did not have another continuing resolution. We had six actual appropriations bills passed in the House.  

Sarah [00:36:50] Amazing. You should have warned people to sit down first before you shared that news with them.  

Beth [00:36:54] Those bills will last for six months because the fiscal year doesn't in September. But they did it. They passed the bills.  

Sarah [00:37:01] [Inaudible] a long time in Congress, Beth. It's a really long time for them, okay?  

Beth [00:37:05] They are still negotiating on the remaining six bills that need to be passed. Their new deadline for those is March 22nd. Mostly, they were able to pass these bills without doing too many things that are very destructive. But I do want to talk for a second about the Kennedy amendment because this makes me really sad. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy has been working on this for a while. He says that he wants to protect the Second Amendment rights of veterans. Which sounds like I'd like to give everyone ice cream and puppies. But the practical effect here is that the VA, which is in charge of health care and lots of services to veterans, cannot now report veterans with serious mental health issues to the National Firearms Background Check System, which means that veterans whom the VA has judged to be mentally incompetent will be able to purchase guns. And this news comes out as we have learned, that scientists found profound damage inside the brain of the veteran who killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, last October. That was Maine's deadliest mass shooting. And this veteran who did it was a blast instructor and was repeatedly exposed to thousands of what the AP described as skull shaking blast on the training range, which led to him hearing voices and having paranoid delusions. And so I am deeply disturbed that the Kennedy amendment made it. And I'm so happy that these bills have passed, that the government is funded, that we are not going to just fritter away into fiscal crisis for no apparent reason. But I am really sad that this made it into the legislation.  

Sarah [00:39:02] It's not like the function of his brain was affected. The actual structure of his brain. Like, they opened up his brain and things were missing. It was not all there physically. In physical form. And let's just pretend, let's just do a thought experiment. Let's pretend Lewiston, Maine never happened and that we didn't have this new information about the impact of blast. We have lots and lots of mass shootings that involved veterans and easy access to guns. So it is just willfully and deliberately negligent to ignore these previous mass shootings. And you know what is even worse to me? Let's continue this thought experiment. Let's ignore Lewiston. Let's pretend we haven't had a mass shooting in this country at all executed by a veteran. Let's just pretend that. The suicide rates of veterans is something I thought that we all understood and acknowledged, and something that I thought we all cared about and wanted to reduce. And you do not reduce suicides by increasing access to firearms. You increase suicides by increasing access to firearms. Because when you attempt suicide with anything but a firearm, there is varying chances of survival. When you attempt suicide with a firearm, the chances are almost non-existent that you will survive. This is abhorrent.  

Beth [00:40:40] It is cruel to veterans.  

Sarah [00:40:42]  It is.  

Beth [00:40:43] It is cruel to veterans. I am really, really sad about this. I think this is a deeply cynical and destructive amendment, and I wanted everybody to know about it, in part because there are a couple of representatives who would typically have voted for these appropriations bills, who voted against them just because of this amendment. And so I think it's important to be aware of that. Okay. Can we just lighten things up real quick, Sarah, and talk about how it's daylight saving time this weekend?  

Sarah [00:41:14] Beth, so we have lots of [inaudible] on the skies. We have[inaudible]. We will share it in our show notes. It's just bad. And we should stop doing it. It's bad for everybody all the time, everywhere.  

Beth [00:41:25] The change is bad.  

Sarah [00:41:27] We don't have to. We could debate if everybody wants to. Which is probably standard time according to most physicians and sleep experts. But I don't even care. I just want stop switching. I don't care where we stick at. Let's just stick.  

Beth [00:41:42] So we have spent a lot of time on this, which is why I wanted to spend a second sharing the recommendations of sleep experts who spoke with Axios, because we know that the time change switch can often be disruptive for people in large and small ways. And these sleep experts say right now, guys, before the time changes on Sunday, go ahead and start bumping up your bed time. Just go to bed a little earlier.  

Sarah [00:42:05] It's a good idea. I'm kind of embarrassed I never thought about it with my kids before.  

Beth [00:42:09] Yes. And they say especially with kids and pets, just go ahead and start bumping those bedtimes up. And then Saturday night, go to bed as though you are on the new time. Go to bed at your normal time, but an hour earlier so that you can wake up rested on Sunday. They also say you need to get outside early in the morning the week of the time change. Just let that circadian rhythm acclimate.  

Sarah [00:42:34] There's this really cool app called Time Shifter, and it was designed for like NASA astronauts. But now the app is for people who travel across a lot of time zones. And I use it for when we go to Europe. And I already have it set up for when we're going to Japan this summer. And it's so fascinating to watch what they tell you to do. And it's basically exactly that. Usually like 3 to 4 days before you leave. They'll show you when you should be going to sleep and when you should not. They'll show you-- because this is not on Axios' list of recommendations and I'm disappointed, which is also to watch your caffeine usage. And so they'll tell you like when to not drink caffeine, when to start exposing yourself to light, when to sleep. It's amazing. I love it so much I pay for it. Because it really can make a big difference. And I mean, this is a shift of six or seven hours in a time zone, not just one. But I do think you would be surprised how much just doing something small like going to bed earlier the previous couple days can have an impact.  

Beth [00:43:32] Let me tie this back to Super Tuesday, if I may. We all say we're tired and we're depressed and we're stressed. Sleep makes a huge difference in how we process hard things. We cannot let ourselves get exhausted. We have to sleep. We have to have energy to do the work of creating healthy political priorities and working toward them. And sleep is the most critical tool in my stress management toolbox. And so I just would like everybody to make sure you're getting eight hours a night if you can. Experts say seven plus. And I think that means eight. So just get your sleep. We are adaptable creatures. We can get through this time change. We can get through this election, but we must go to bed in order to do that.  

[00:44:21] Music Interlude.  

[00:44:32] Sarah, we always end talking about what's on our minds Outside of Politics, and I know that what's on your mind Outside of Politics right now is the Oscars.  

Sarah [00:44:40] I'm just vibing with the movies. I have seen every film and performance nominated in a major category. Very proud of that fact. And you've seen, I'm assuming, just Barb and Heimer. Yes?  

Beth [00:44:50] Correct.  

Sarah [00:44:51] Okay. Which I think that makes it more fun. Listen, you guys, that's fine if those are the ones you've seen, because Oppenheimer was probably going to win almost everything. So you can still participate in the awards. But there are so many really lovely films nominated this year. I really enjoyed watching everything outside of Poor Things and Zone of Interest, which are what I would argue is experimental in a way that doesn't have a lot of mass appeal to people, which I understand the rest of them are really just kind of old school, classic, great movie making of varying levels. I mean, like the big blockbusters. Now, Killers of the Flower Moon is not a good movie, and you should not see it. Lily Gladstone deserves the Best Actress nominee. Why? Because she carried that entire three hour film on her back. But you can skip that one. But the rest of them, the Holdovers, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, Maestro, they're just great. They're just good. They're lovely to watch. They're well done. They're well performed. They're well written. It's just a delight from beginning to end. So I'm really excited for this Academy Awards. I hope it'll just sort of be like a celebration of film-making and all of us going back to the movies to see Barbie and Oppenheimer. I'm really excited.  

Beth [00:46:09] Is there any particular award that you are very invested in? Like, I will be so disappointed if X doesn't win for a Y.  

Sarah [00:46:17] No, because you know what? I think this what happens when you watch all of them. When you watch all of them, you appreciate the artistry that goes into all these films and how different they are and how hard it really is to compare performances and films. And so, I would have loved Past Lives to be nominated for more. I would love Past Lives to win more, but I understand well it's not. If Anatomy of a Fall beats Past lives for original screenplay, I'm not going to be mad because Anatomy of a Fall is freaking brilliant. So I think that's part of the reason. If I turn on the Oscars on Sunday and freaking Killers of the Flower Moon wins best picture, I'mma be mad. Okay? Mad cause it's not good. But I don't feel like I'm super invested in any individual performance that-- and particularly the performance categories. Like this person should win, and if they don't, it'll be a travesty because really they're all incredible performances. I think there's a lot of competition in the supporting actress category, because they're all really good. Same in the actress category. They're just really, really good.  

Beth [00:47:21] Well, the only thing I can contribute here is that I saw Dune 2, and I understand that people believe it will be nominated for pretty much everything next year. And I did think it was excellent. But I do recommend, if you are like me and have no foundational knowledge in the Dune world, that you go with someone like my husband who can annotate the movie for you. It is very, very helpful.  

Sarah [00:47:41] You saw the first one.  

Beth [00:47:42] I did, and I still need the annotations because I find it all very, very complicated. I also want to tell you about the pop culture thing that's on my mind, which is that we have a new season of Survivor. And the most fun thing happened in the newest episode. There is this very nerdy guy named Charlie who feels like he struggles to connect with people, but he is a massive Taylor Swift fan. And on his tribe is a rock n roll lead singer in a band. And the two of them sat down and Charlie challenged Ben to a contest naming songs by his favorite metal band. So Ben picks Metallica and Charlie does Taylor Swift, and they go back and forth just naming songs, and they've got over 100 songs and the whole tribe is watching, just rapt. Like this is the most entertaining thing they've ever seen. And they were all like, that tells you a lot about Survivor and time. I was excited to watch these two dudes just name songs, but you would have been impressed with Charlie. He went album by album with Taylor Swift, just naming the songs off. And it was a delight.  

Sarah [00:48:49] But did he win?  

Beth [00:48:51] Yes, he won.  

Sarah [00:48:52] Okay. Good. I mean, don't bury the lead there, Beth.  

Beth [00:48:55] He won. Ben, the Metallica fan said that he wish he had been more invested in their bad albums. So he was really just coalesced around their good work and forgot some of the lesser. But Charlie said--  

Sarah [00:49:09] No excuses.  

Beth [00:49:09] Sorry, there are no Taylor Swift albums that are bad.  

Sarah [00:49:12] Also Metallica has been performing so much longer than Taylor Swift. There's really no excuse, friend.  

Beth [00:49:17] But it was fun. I love a new Survivor season. I think this one is going to be a good one. If you watch and want to DM me about it, I would be happy to chat. Thank you so much for joining us for everything from Super Tuesday to the Oscars and Survivor. We appreciate you spending your time with us. We will be back with you on Tuesday to talk about the State of the Union address and whatever news inevitably comes up over the weekend. And don't forget that next Thursday is our first Spicy Live for our premium community.  

Sarah [00:49:50] And there will be cussing. The people like the cussing. They really want you to cuss in particular. No pressure, Beth. You don't have to cuss next thurday. 

Beth [00:49:58] Okay, well, I usually can. All the information to join us will be in the show notes. Everybody, have the best weekend available to you.  

[00:50:03] Music Interlude. 

Sarah: Pantsuit Politics is produced by Studio D Podcast Production. 

Beth: Alise Napp is our managing director. Maggie Penton is our director of Community Engagement. Sarah: Xander Singh is the composer of our theme music with inspiration from original work by Dante Lima. 

Beth: Our show is listener-supported. Special thanks to our executive producers. 

Executive Producers: Martha Bronitsky. Ali Edwards. Janice Elliott. Sarah Greenup. Julie Haller. Tiffany Hasler. Emily Holladay. Katie Johnson. Katina Zuganelis Kasling. Barry Kaufman. Katherine Vollmer. Laurie LaDow. Lily McClure. Linda Daniel. The Pentons. Tracey Puthoff. Sarah Ralph. Jeremy Sequoia. Katie Stigers. Karin True. Onica Ulveling. Nick and Alysa Villeli. Amy Whited. Emily Helen Olson. Lee Chaix McDonough. Morgan McHugh. Jen Ross. Sabrina Drago. Becca Dorval. Christina Quartararo. Shannon Frawley. Jessica Whitehead. Samantha Chalmers. Crystal Kemp. The Lebo Family. The Adair Family. 

Sarah: Jeff Davis. Melinda Johnston. Michelle Wood. Nichole Berklas. Paula Bremer and Tim Miller.

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