Welcome to the Eric Erickson Show podcast, hour one.

Greetings, conversationalist. Welcome, it is Eric Erickson back behind the microphone today.

Good productive visit in Nashville, Tennessee yesterday at the Barrett Talk Radio Summit. Got to speak on stage there. Took me forever. So it's about three and a half, four hours from Nashville to Atlanta. I had to go to a social hour last night networking with radio affiliates and whatnot and hit the road home

with road construction on I-24 in Tennessee and the I-75 in Georgia. It took, I got in at

two o'clock this morning, and I want you all to know, I am a 40-something-year-old man who had to

text my mommy to tell her that I was arrived at the hotel safe so she could go back to bed.

She was like, my gosh, it never stops.

You still got to check in with mom and make sure she knows you're okay.

God bless my mom.

She stayed up praying for me on the road.

I was tired by the time I got, I did not

expect it to take that long. There were so many times the interstate was down to one lane.

And at one point, Tennessee, like all the lanes were closed, you had to drive in the emergency

late. But I made it. And here I am with you, highly caffeinated to begin today's work and show.

The phone number 87797373425.

Should you wish to be on the program, you can also text Eric E R-I-C-K, get the show notes and all that stuff.

Now, so there are two pieces they came out, one yesterday, one today.

One from Nate Silver, who's on the left,

one from Ruizu, who's also on the left, who's been following the blue-collar voter problem for the Democrats. And I want to weave them together. Let me just begin here with Nate Silver.

As political pet peeves go, this one is pretty high on my list.

There's a habit among a certain type of left-leaning political commentator to brand

you a right-wing conservative if you're even one step to their right.

...