Hi, I'm Bill Crystal. Welcome back to conversations. I'm very pleased to be joined again today by my friend Ron Brownstein,

senior political analyst at CNN and Bloomberg opinion commentator. Many has had written many books,

articles, important pieces over the year. I think really our leading student, but I'll just

be polite to our friends around and say, one of our leading students of elections and all,

and politics in general, of course, but particularly of elections. We had a conversation at the very

end of December of December 30th or something. And I look back at it recently, and it stands up

very well. You predicted, I think, kind of where we might, more or less, where we

might be now or what the variables would be. I think you said the economy is important.

And I guess it turned out the gas people aren't in love with having gas prices go up and inflation

go up, you know. But anyway, but we really want to get, you know, get your wisdom today on where

we stand halfway through this election year, basically. What we should be, what the big picture is, what we should be looking at, and particularly in terms of what's going to happen this November, especially in the Senate and the House, the federal elections, but also maybe some governor's races if you want to weigh in on those. So, first of all, thanks for joining me. And people need to be here. You got to stop meeting like this. Yeah, exactly. Right. I'd like to get you on camera in between you're attending all the Springsteen concerts, you know. Yeah, yeah. But that excellent book on rock music and all that. And you are a genuine Bruce Springsteen fan right i am i am i am a i'm a

genuine fan i'm at 99 shows lifetime so i'm trying to debate you know hoping i'm hoping the

number 100 is going to be uh in a suitably a wonderful place um you know it could be an exile it could be

you know like in your yeah true yeah in canada we could find if these are revoked or is you know, like in Canada. In Canada.

We could find if these are revoked or is, you know, passport.

So where is big picture.

Where are we halfway through 2026?

Yeah, I think basically that we are where we were last December with each side of the equation even more intensified now than it was then.

I mean, I have felt for a while of this election, this midterm election,

leaving aside, which we should come back to the questions of interference in the election,

but assuming it's a relatively free and fair election,

it looks like the classic collision between the irresistible force and the

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