Hey, everyone, it's Reed. Before we get started, I just want to say thank you again for helping us get past 30 million downloads here on the Lincoln Project podcast. You have us at the top of the charts, and I cannot say thank you enough, but I can't ask you for one more favor. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell people that are interested in the pro democracy movement tune in here what we have to say share it with your friends, share it with your family. Want to say thank you. And now on with the show.

Welcome back to the Lincoln Project. I'm your host, Reed Gaily. Today, I'm joined in studio by Joe Walsh, former congressman representing Illinois's eighth congressional district, former 2020 presidential candidate, former member of the Republican Party, and current host of the White Flag with Joe Walsh podcast. Joe, welcome.

Reed, it's so damn good to be with you. Now we finally meet in person. We did a podcast together. I don't know a couple of months ago. There's always the Twitter, so it's great to actually see you in person. So a lot to go over, but now as we record this on a Thursday after the Georgia runoff, the 2022 midterm cycle is finally in the books. Feels like it lasted forever. What's your sense of this year and where the GOP, our former party now stands as it looks like?

It's a great deal. It stands as it looks into 2024, frankly.

Reed, it is great to be with you. I think that our former political party is still a shrinking dying national political party. I think they're going to be strong here for a few years, especially when it comes to the house.

But it's a party of old white men and old white women, and I still don't see them replacing themselves fast enough. So they're still on a lot of trouble. It's still Trump's party. Right. But let me ask you this because you talk about that it's shrinking. But as we looked at Georgia, again, just as an example, one good thing James Carville noted, right, that Georgia.

It's elected two democratic senators in two years, all the statewide elected officials are Republicans, and it wasn't close, right. Those races weren't close.

And if her shop walker had been 10% less crazy, he wins.

He wins.

Yeah.

And so I guess my question is, you're talking about demographics. You're talking about sort of a timeline. But my fear is like we don't get there soon enough.

Because the bad guys could still win soon enough, because we are a 50, 50 country. So what is it you think? Why are so many otherwise normal people still voting for Republican candidates? Why are these races so close?

Two year point on Georgia, I think it's premature to declare Georgia a purple or certainly a blue state yet. You're right. A normal Republican beats warnaq. Look at camp.

I think what's helping to prop the Republican party up is the fact that the Democratic Party has some issues. And because they defied history and did so well this midterm, I worry that the Democrats aren't going to self reflect on their issues that are still there.

And that can really help Republicans read. Look, because of my background, I talk to people in the middle all the time, low information, unaffiliated voters who don't like either political party and they all tell me generally Republicans are assholes.

Democrats are kind of like elite snobs who don't understand me. And in that dynamic, a lot of people are still going to vote for the asshole.

We like to say, yeah, if it's a socialist versus sociopath, the sociopath wins times twice on Sunday hands down. So the Democrats have an opportunity to grab a lot of people last cycle, this cycle and next because I do believe the Republican party is shrinking.

And they're not replacing the old white men and old white women my base enough with younger people and people of color.

But they do have an interesting connection to working class people. The whole Trump Trumpism thing, working class people relate a lot to some of that.

You know, it's interesting. So there's a guy named Rick Smith who has a radio show. He's a truck on the show.

Yeah, he's a terrific guy, central PA guy. And I was on his show before the election. And we were talking about Doug Masteryano with Pennsylvania.

And he said that his neighborhood is just filled with Masteryano signs. He's telling all his trucker buddies.

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