The Blue Wave Cometh?

The Ezra Klein Show

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Government, News

4.6 • 11K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Democrats won big on Tuesday. It looks like the MAGA coalition has started to crack. Ezra is joined by his column editor, Aaron Retica, to discuss the big lessons for Democrats as they eye the midterms next year, and whether an anti-MAGA playbook is coming into focus. This episode contains strong language. NOTE: We're recording an "Ask Me Anything" episode soon. You can send your question to [email protected] with the subject line "AMA." We'll consider any questions submitted on or before the morning of Monday November 11 at 10am ET. Mentioned: “This Is the Way You Beat Trump — and Trumpism” by Ezra Klein Ordinary Vices by Judith N. Shklar Marc Maron's podcast with Barack Obama “Zohran’s Smile” by Anand Ghiridharadas Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs. This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Kate Sinclair and Marie Cascione. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Mixing by Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Transcript

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0:00.0	So before we begin today's episode, I'm recording another Ask Me Anything episode for New York Times subscribers soon.
0:06.7	You can send your question to Ezra Klein Show at NYTimes.com using the subject line AMA.
0:12.7	We'll consider anything in the inbox on or before the morning of Monday, November 10th.
0:17.8	So write in soon.
0:53.8	Music November 10th, so write in soon. So Democrats had a big night on Tuesday. They won in New York City, where Zora and Mamdani has been the big story of the political year. They won in Virginia where Abigail Spanberger became the first woman to become governor of Virginia, in that state's history. They won in New Jersey, a state where the polling had showed it unnervingly close for Democrats,
1:12.7	but it turned out to not be close at all, and Mikey Sherrill won by double digits.
1:17.5	They won in California, where Gavin Newsom's Prop 50, his mid-cycle redistricting to counter Texas,
1:24.1	passed with at last I saw 65% of the vote, but it's California. We will be counting
1:29.3	votes there forever. They won in Pennsylvania, where there were Supreme Court seats up for
1:34.7	election. They won in Georgia, in these very little-noticed statewide utility board seats.
1:42.6	They just won everywhere. Every kind of voter moved towards Democrats.
1:47.9	And where the polling had made it look like this was still a pretty mixed political moment,
1:55.1	these results looked much more like the prelude to a wave election in 2026. Now, the counter argument is that these were
2:02.9	mostly in states that Kamala Harris had won, New Jersey, Virginia, New York, California. These were
2:09.8	not the places where Democrats have been really struggling. But both sides are going to be looking
2:14.1	at this election to try to take some big lessons for 2026 and even,
2:18.0	I think, for 2028. So to help me parse Hope from Hopium, fact from fiction here, I am joined by my
2:24.6	esteemed editor, Aaron Redica. Hello. Aaron, welcome back to the show. Thanks, Ezra. Let's start
2:30.9	where you left off there. So if you're a progressive, there was much to be delighted by.
2:37.5	If you were a moderate, there was much to be delighted by.
2:40.5	If you were a Democrat, there was much to be delighted by, right?
2:44.7	But already people are starting to say, no, no, no, no, no, no.
	...

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