Good morning. It is Saturday, November the 8th. I'm Ali Valshi. We begin this morning with the questions that have consumed the punditry in the wake of this week's elections. Should the Democrat Party swing left or tacked to the center? Should they rally behind progressive candidates or

moderates? These are questions that all, every one of them, are a trap, a trap set by Donald

Trump and his Republican Party to keep Democrats on the defensive. Democrats had a clean sweep

around the country on Tuesday, winning both gubernatorial races by unexpectedly wide double-digit

margins and capturing key down-ballot seats in districts that voted for Trump just last year.

It was a resounding rejection of Trump's authoritarianism and a demand for relief from the rising cost of living in an off-year election,

which is exactly why Trump and his party are desperately trying to distract

the public by fearmongering about a communist takeover.

Take a look at what's happening in different parts of the world, but now the Democrats are so extreme

that Miami will soon be the refuge for those fleeing communism in New York City. They flee. They flee. Where do you live?

New York City, but I'm trying to leave because I don't want to live in a communist regime.

It was wild getting to work this morning, all the crowds. I was walking, swimming up against all the

crowds that were leaving New York. New York magazines Ed Kilgore put it this way, quote, spinners are going to spin. There will be those who argue that Zoron Mamdani and is loud and proud progressivism, or Abigail Spanberger and her cautious centrism hold the keys to the kingdom for Democrats going forward. But the reality is more nuanced, end quote. And he's right, the reality

is more nuanced. Tuesday's clean sweep was not about ideology. It wasn't a progressive wave or a

centrist wave. It was a referendum on Donald Trump's chaos and the affordability crisis that is

crushing families across this country. According to The Guardian, about 75% of Americans say their monthly household costs have jumped by at least $100 in the last year,

and that's across the political spectrum, Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike.

That's, by the way, before the health insurance subsidies fall away.

Affordability and authoritarianism.

That's the current axis of American politics right now. Just take the last week alone. On Saturday, while millions of Americans

wondered how they would feed their families without SNAP benefits, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegesith

announced a deadly U.S. military strike off the coast of Venezuela, killing three people.

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