meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
PBS News Hour - Segments

Democratic and GOP strategists on what the parties learned from voters

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Democrats dominated election night as economic anxieties and discontent with President Trump’s leadership weighed heavily on Republican candidates. Geoff Bennett discussed the implications with Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross and Republican strategist Whit Ayres. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

And joining us now for more political analysis.

0:03.1

Our two political strategists, that's Democrat Amisha Cross and Republican with heirs.

0:07.7

It's great to see you both.

0:08.7

So Amisha will start with you, Democrats claiming those decisive wins in New York City and in the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races.

0:16.1

What lessons, if any, can Democrats take away from those victories as they head toward the midterms?

0:23.0

Affordability, affordability, affordability, and nailing Trump where it hits the hardest.

0:28.4

I think that the economic downturn as it relates to people's pocketbooks and not being able to

0:34.6

go to the grocery store, not being able to feed their families,

0:38.5

the snap cuts that are coming from the Big Beautiful Bill Act, but moreover, the government

0:42.5

shut down where millions of families across this country who are in poverty don't have access

0:46.7

to those snap food stamp benefits. You name the cost, it has gone up. And the families are really

0:51.9

hurting. I think that for Zoram Mandani, huge night,

0:55.7

but also for Mickey Sherrill. Also, we saw great wins of Virginia. We also saw it in the red state.

1:01.6

Um, I have family in Mississippi to see a black statewide senator run and bust up what is a

1:09.1

supermajority in Mississippi, which is a highly red state, I think is a

1:12.4

very big deal. So up and down the ballot, I think that Democratic voters showed up, showed out,

1:17.4

let their voices be heard. But they also have seen an authoritarian slide of this administration

1:23.2

that really brought them out to the polls. And I think that Democrats have to continue telling

1:27.0

that story. They have to continue leaning in on the cost of goods, services, how people need to and

1:33.4

what the government can and should be doing for them. And that's a path to victory.

1:37.8

And, Witt, if you look at the margins of those races, those key races, it was a blowout. We have some of the

1:43.4

data we can put up there right now.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PBS NewsHour, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of PBS NewsHour and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.