Could Democrats' Agenda Be A Gift To Republicans?

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for the Democrats just because so many of the seats up this year are in places like, you know, Oklahoma and Mississippi and Alabama. Those are not going to be states that are going to be won by the Democrats unless the Republicans nominated a horrible candidate. Which, you know, you could see in a place here or there, not horrible in terms of having a better chance in November. I mean, there appears to be a very, very... narrow path, but a path to Republicans losing the Senate. I mean, it would take a lot, almost realistically, everything going to Democrats way. Let's say the Democrats win Michigan, Maine, North Carolina, Georgia, and then Ohio, Alaska, or, you know, take one of those away and give them some state that I haven't even thought of yet. I mean, it could be done. At 53-47, the Republicans would have to lose Maine and North Carolina to begin with. They'd have to lose Ohio. That would get it to 50. And then they'd have to lose something else because otherwise, Vice President JD Vance will be fully employed over the next two years presiding over the Senate and breaking any tie. Besides the map, it's another disadvantage that the Democrats have. They have to win one more seat. Which is a big ask. They have to win four. And look, they're talking a big game. And, you know, they're going to take Texas and Alaska and North Carolina and Montana and Nebraska and Maine. But realistically, that this is not going to happen. The Republicans could conceivably, if they win Michigan, add to their numbers by one. And on a very bad day, they could conceivably go from 53 to 51. But maybe 50, but no, the Republicans have got an advantage in the Senate. Democrats have thrown money away in primaries before. They've thrown money in Texas, for example, just to watch it flutter off into the wind. If you're advising donors on either side, where would you be putting 2026 money and where would you say, look, don't waste it? Well, if the Democrats were smart, they would be putting a lot of money onto Maine and North Carolina, and they will. And then the question gets to be which of the small states, you know, Alaska or Michigan or Nebraska with a independent who is going to caucus with the Democrats? And, you know, where is the other opportunity? I mean, if Ken Paxton wins the Republican nomination in Texas, James Talarico has a shot. It's expensive. But, you know, you've got a guy who's got corruption charges and multiple mistresses and mismanagement of his office. So we won't know for another three or four months where the additional seats are that the Democrats are going to be going after. Yeah. My sense is the most likely one is Ohio. simply because they've got a former member, Sherrod Brown, running. And while I don't think it's the smartest move, I think, you know, a Montana or Alaska or some other small state that's a lot less expensive per vote, actually per television ad, more expensive per vote, but there are a lot fewer voters you need to go after. That's a smarter move than Ohio.

If Democrats take back the House, I'd imagine we're going to see lots and lots and lots of subpoenas and lots of hearings about donations and media murders and who knows what else. And to your point about the Democrats that you've made about, look, are you just going to be anti-Trump? They'll have to balance shining a light with whatever they want to shine a light on with once again looking like that's all they're about to the exclusion of all else. I mean, I was talking to somebody else here about how maybe you go after Trump adjacent people. First of all, they make a huge mistake if they immediately go to impeachment because it will just be like everybody, you know, they're not going to get elected because they're saying we're going to investigate and potentially impeach Trump. They're getting, if they get the majority, it will be because they have a sufficient number of candidates who say, I'm going to do something about the things you care about, namely, you know, being able to put groceries on the table, take care of your family and have a good job. And. not because they say, I hate Trump and we're going to stop him from becoming a king. So Democrats have got to be careful. They can't overplay their hand. Republicans did in 1997 and 1998, and it made for one of the few elections, one of the three elections in the nearly last hundred years in which the White House Party gained seats. But. Also, they overplayed their hand in 98 and 99, and it helped elect a Republican president in 2000 when the country was relatively... You know, it was prosperous and at peace and things were relatively calm, which was like what happened in 1988 when Ronald Reagan's vice president got a third term for Ronald Reagan, if you will. Or 1836 when, you know, Martin Van Buren got a third term for Andrew Jackson. So they've got to be care. The Democrats have got to be really, really careful about how they play if they do get control of the House. Looking ahead to 2028, we just had the CPAC poll. First, you can tell me if they ever mean anything. Vice President JD Vance, with 53% of the vote, is that good or bad for a VP? I don't know, versus 35% for Marco Rubio, way up from 3% in this poll last year. Does any of this tell you anything? It means that Marco Rubio's got a little bit of a bump. Last year, JD Vance was at 61. This year is 53. Now, granted, last year was in suburban Washington, D.C. This year was in Grapevine, Texas. There were 1,000-plus people who participated in last year's straw poll. I don't know how many of the 1,600 attendees that this year's did, but I can tell you this, there were a heck of a lot more people from the Sun Belt and from Texas at this year's conference than last year's conference. So, no, it doesn't, these things are not dispositive. It does show that JD Vance remains the favorite of the people who go to CPAC, but it is interesting that it went from 61 to 53, and as you say, Marco Rubio went. From 3 to 35. JD Vance and Marco Rubio, President Trump has mentioned pointedly both guys as people he thinks would be good candidates. If you're JD Vance, is that insulting or no? And does that leave room for anybody else? If President Trump is just talking about those two instead of saying, oh, we've got a deep bench, it could be anybody.

We are in 2026, but 2028 is like three geological ages away. We got the Jurassic, the Mesozoic, the Paleozoic. There's going to be a lot of twists and turns in this. So no, my suspicion is we will have multiple candidates. I don't know of JD Vance and Marco Rubio will be candidates, but they certainly would be plausible candidates, but there'll be others. You know, there's Glenn Youngkin, Ted Cruz, you know, Tom Cotton, Brian Kemp, and there are others whose names I haven't mentioned who are going to probably. offer themselves. Look at the Democrats. It's, you know, maybe less to find, obviously. Do you share an opinion that I've heard that California Governor Gavin Newsom is out there sort of is a placeholder in a vacuum and maybe out there too soon in burning too bright and getting too much attention now and it all starts over when governors like Andy Beshear and J.B. Pritzker and any number of folks jump in and people are like, oh, okay, we've had enough of Gavin Newsom. Yeah. Look, I don't know. Maybe. That's plausible. I think this, though, I do not think the Democrats are going to be so dumb as to nominate either the governor of California or the governor of Illinois. Does anybody look at those two states and say, wow, we want our state to be just like them? I mean, people are fleeing both of those states. And not only fleeing, but jobs are moving out of them. I mean, Caterpillar moved from Illinois to Texas. You know, I live in Austin. Every street corner has got some California refugee saying, I came here for better schools, lower taxes, and a stronger economy and less craziness. So I don't think the Democrats are going to be so, look, he's got great hair. But I just don't think they're going to be not. nominating the governor of a failed state. And what's he going to say? I'm the governor of California. And as governor, I presided over for the first time since we joined the union in 1850, a decline in the relative population of California compared to the rest of the country. We actually lost seats in Congress. I mean, you know, please. I mean, really? You think that's a great winning message? How about Andy Beshear's message out of Kentucky? Well, he's a, I'm the governor of a red state and I get red voters and blue voters and independent voters to vote for me. And what he's got to do is articulate what that is meant to Kentucky. Here are the, you know, three things, five things that I've been able to do despite the fact that I'm a Democrat and a heavily Republican state. Here's what I've been able to do for my state. Now he's got a, he's got the good message down of, I can win in places that are red. Now he's got to give it some sum and substance so people can see, ah, he actually got things done. Does President Trump's influence in 28 depend to some degree on the midterm results or is his hold at least that long lasting to the 2028 election? Well, look, it depends on where we are in 2028. You know, I hearken again back to 2000. In 2000, the economy looked good. We were at peace. We had peace and prosperity. It was going to be hard to beat Al Gore, and we did by the skin of our chinny, chin chin. The question is going to be where will the country be in 2028 and how will people look on the presidency of Donald J. Trump at that moment? Rarely does it happen that particularly in the modern era that a party succeeds itself. Think about this. We had eight years of Harry Truman, a Democrat, followed by eight years of Republican Eisenhower, followed by eight years.

of Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Johnson, followed by eight years of Republican, Nixon Ford, followed by four years of Jimmy Carter, he was that bad, followed by 12 years of Reagan Bush, followed by eight years of Clinton, Democrat, followed by eight years of Bush Republican, followed by eight years of Bush Republican, followed by four years of Trump Republican, four years of Biden, Democrat, four years of Trump Republican. What does that say? And it says we're flipping back and forth in these presidential elections. And it's hard for a party to get into place where it carries 12 years in a row. Carl Rowe, Fox News contributor from your deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush. Carl, let's talk to you again. Great. Thank you. Isn't home where we all want to be? Reba here for Realtor.com, the pro's number one most trusted app. If you're hearing me, I'm going to assume you're awake. And if you aren't... Because while you're snoozing, someone else might be finding your dream home. That's where Realtor.com comes in. With over 500,000 new real listings straight from the pros every month, that's a lot of chances to find the place you've been dreaming of. Whether you're searching for a two-story mid-century with a pool or a little extra space with a spa-inspired bathroom, Realtor.com can help you find it today. So quit hitting that snooze button. Realtor.com isn't sleeping on finding your dream home, and neither should you. Download the Realtor.com app today, because you're nearly home. Make it real with Realtor.com. Pro's number one most trusted app based on August 2024 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings, February 24 through January 2025. 2026 marks 250 years of America. And throughout the year, Bill Hammer takes listeners on a journey through the 250 most impactful moments in American history. Listen and follow now at Fox News Podcasts.com. This is Carol Markowitz with your Fox News commentary coming up. As unemployment's ticked up, young workers are feeling the pain more than the rest of the workforce. Unemployment for recent college graduates was at 5.8% at the end of 2025, according to the New York Fed. It was more than 7.5% for all young workers ages 22 to 27. And a Gallup poll found at the end of last year just 28% said it felt like a good time to look for a job, with 72% saying, It's a bad time. Some major companies are laying people off, citing in part efficiencies due to AI. Now the Trump administration's released a new AI framework and the Department of Labor's launched the Make America AI Ready program, a free AI literacy course meant to help workers learn the basics. There are plenty of, you know, new.

young men and women who are going into the workforce who are AI native. But certainly we want to reach all Americans who can be upskilled or re-skilled. And AI is going to make a difference in that future workforce. So we want to make sure that everybody's prepared. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer spoke to the Fox News Rundown podcast recently. She said for all the talk of AI taking jobs, we need hundreds of thousands of mechanics, operators, welders. seeing that that massive growth there and that's again whether it's in shipbuilding whether it's in auto manufacturing and enrollment in trade schools is a fox business network went to apex's trade school's new location in manhattan where felicia canyones is learning to work construction i feel like AI is going to take over over the world for the most part. And a trade, you kind of can't have a robot build the house or do electrical work or welding. So AI definitely made me like, be like, I should get into a trade. The National Center for Education Statistics found in the spring of last year, enrollment in vocational focused two-year schools had increased nearly 20% in five years. On a personal level, it's a very strange time. to be me. Micro is the CEO of the MicroWorks Foundation. Because 17 years ago this month, I was in front of Congress talking about the need for a national effort to reinvigorate the skilled trades. It was a lesson or a conviction, I guess, that really came out of dirty jobs. And so I started a foundation called MicroWorks years ago, 2008 on Labor Day, that was really focused on trying to make a more persuasive case for millions of good jobs that nobody seemed thoroughly interested in pursuing. And so on a personal level, it's it's kind of gratifying and surreal to get calls every day from industry leaders who are really. affirmatively concerned about the widening skills gap. I mean, it's bad news for the country, but it's great to have so many people finally focused on an issue that I think is going to be headline news for the next couple of years. And I also think it's going to be the issue that virtually every elected official runs on. So everyone's paying attention. That's good. But. Five tradesmen retire every year and two replace them. That's bad. There's a lot of demographic pressure on this, a lot of stigmas and stereotypes that need to be debunked. That's going to be...

the primary thing I'm focused on for the next couple years. Tell us about this post you wrote, seeing your face on the back of the American Express Manufacturing Bus. What is the AEM Manufacturing Express and how does it dovetail with your I Make America campaign? So around the same time I went to Congress 15 or so years ago, I was approached by AEM. That's the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. And they represent hundreds of companies, maybe thousands, who have skin in the manufacturing game. And they had come to the same conclusion around manufacturing that I had around the skilled trades. We were looking at real shortages. And all the data suggested those shortages were going to become acute. So they launched their campaign back in the day. It was called I Make America. And they asked me if I would help them do that. And I said, sure. Well, that campaign has been around almost as long as my own foundation. I Make America is now mobile. There's a bus. So this is like a rolling billboard. for manufacturing jobs inside the bus or all these interactive displays, lots of information and experts always standing by. So they're making the rounds. They're going all over the country. They stop at factories. They stop at schools. All the obvious places to try and spread the word that there are enormous opportunities going unfilled in the manufacturing sector as we speak. Can we talk about that a little bit and what your thoughts are about that? Because what I'm reading that American productivity is actually much higher than it had been where we are making more in America. But then I read that that's a lot of EV parts, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and that a lot of this resurgence in manufacturing is actually thanks to automation and that it's not necessarily this big driver of jobs. So when you hear that, what do you say in response to me? Well, part of the problem is you're probably relying on traditional definitions of a lot of words, manufacturing being one of them. And that's not your fault. That's nobody's fault. But, you know, the language is changing as fast as the data and as fast as many other adjacent realities. Like, if you talk about a career as a mechanic today, Um, that has no, like your association of what it means to be a mechanic is probably not rooted in anything that is a reality about being a mechanic today. Right. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's rocketry. It's, it's software engineering. It's the, the days of being underneath a car, turning a wrench with oil dripping on you are, are gone. It's a whole different. set of skills. But that's just one example. Manufacturing has changed radically, and it's changed quickly. And so when I talk about stigmas and stereotypes and myths and misperceptions, what I'm really saying is there was a widely held belief about five minutes ago in this country that...

a vocational career was a consolation prize. It was something you did if you couldn't do the other thing. That's completely upside down. But not everybody has got the memo yet. And it takes a long time for perceptions to change. And the tech is moving so much faster than our own understanding of what... what the skills are that are necessary to fill the open positions. The president is talking about creating a couple million jobs in manufacturing by investing in this $10 trillion infrastructure in a very specific way. That's great. But what nobody's talking about is the fact that there are 480,000 open positions in manufacturing right now. So. We're just ahead of ourselves in every way with the language, with the reality of what the workforce is, like not the workforce we need, but the workforce we have. We do talk a lot about AI and the future of the workforce. And I think we've heard some dire warnings and predictions about that future workforce, especially when it comes to those white collar jobs and that maybe the skilled trades will be something more people gravitate to. But this brings up another conversation that my friends and I have. And I will ask it of you, are you totally confident or to what degree are you confident? by the time my five and seven year olds need a job, that they can do a trade and that robots won't be fixing the HVAC or laying the electrical wiring or fixing the leaking pipe. I'm not totally confident about anything. And I would encourage you to view with great skepticism, anybody who acts as if they're gazing into some crystal ball. Things are moving way too fast. Look, Elon Musk is talking in three years. He's saying they'll be more optimist surgeons than human surgeons. Right. Now, I mean, if you can have a robot... replace your kidney, it seems logical that there might be one capable of replacing your toilet. I don't know. I do know that right now, and in the near term, no, you know, I don't know about your five-year-old when he's 20, but I do know about a 20-year-old right now. Right. The openings in the next couple of years. that are not going to be filled by robots or AI truly are voluminous. And I've, I mean, look, we've had 3,500 people come through my own foundation. All of them got training instead of a four year degree. Most of them are making six figures or on a path to it.

Wow. I meet I meet electricians every week who are making 200 grand and up, many of whom are getting poached constantly, right? So, you know, those stories don't get told quite as much. And I appreciate your question, but it is, you know, it is a trap. It's very, very hard to handicap what's going to happen 10 years down the road. What is your sense about any change in urgency at the high school level, if not bringing back shop class? Like is something else happening that you're seeing to prepare people for this demand and trade? I think what we're going to see in the next couple of years, and I say this because, full disclosure, I'm seeing it now. I'm seeing the biggest countries where the biggest companies in our country taking affirmative steps internally to do something. And it's not just employers of skilled labor. I'm talking about Wells Fargo, who has been probably. our biggest benefactor at MicroWorks. They've been really amazing supporting our scholarship program and helping us get more messages out there that get people's attention. There's a formula right now that works for me, and it's pretty much settled science. The more stories I tell of people we've assisted who are prospering in the trades, the more applications we get, and the more people. enter the trades. So big companies have realized this. Black Rock just pledged $100 million to help reinvigorate the trades by investing in organizations like mine. So this is happening. You know, I don't know how much you know about Alex Carp and Palantir, but... Those guys, they've got a meritocracy program they're running internally. They're going into high schools right now, taking kids 30 at a time, and they're putting them through a kind of liberal arts accelerated class within Palantir, like Stoicism and Western Civ and all that stuff. But at the same time, they're putting them into the real world. They're putting them on big, consequential engineering projects that require skilled labor. that go right to our national defense. These kids, in two years, are going to be making $300,000. They're going to have no debt. They didn't go to college, but they still got a pretty good smattering of a liberal arts background, which, frankly, I still think is important. Mike Roe, thank you so, so much for your time. Love talking to you. Anytime. Appreciate it.

I'm Gianno Jalosi with your Fox True Crime Minute. The accused Gilgo Beach serial killer is reportedly planning on pleading guilty in the case when he goes back to court next week. Rex Heerman is charged with murdering seven women over 17 years and according to two people familiar with his decision is set to change his plea from not guilty to guilty, April 8th. The 62-year-old former architect had been scheduled to go on trial in September. He's been in custody since July of 2023. Prosecutors say DNA evidence, cell phone data, and items found in his Long Island, New York home all connect him to the victims, who were all young women who involved in sex work. Several of their remains were found on an isolated stretch of Ocean Parkway by Gilgo Beach. Some remains were scattered elsewhere. Last year, investigators recovered files from Hewerman's computer that they described as a blueprint for the killings, including a series of checklists with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies, and destroy evidence. There's more on the story at foxnews.com or subscribe to the Fox True Crime podcast. I'm Gianna Jalosi with your Fox True Crime Minute.

For over two decades, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has been there for our fallen and catastrophically injured first responders, military, and gold star families. Born from the tragedy of 9-11, Tunnel to Towers provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and built specifically adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. The Foundation also offers scholarships for college and trade school programs for... the children of Gold Star families, fallen first responders, and catastrophically injured veterans. And Tunnels to Tower is committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and helping America never forget September 11th. To learn more about the Foundation's mission, impact, and how you can support our nation's heroes, visit T2T.org. Join Fox in supporting our troops. From daily needs to global emergencies, help us be there for those who serve. Visit go. fox slash red cross to donate to service to the armed forces today. Subscribe to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. It's time for your Fox News Commentary. Carol Markowitz. What's on your mind? New York Governor Kathy Hogle made a surprising admission recently. Speaking at Politico's New York Agenda Albany Summit on March 11th, the governor said her state now lacks high net worth residents needed to pay for the, quote, generous social programs we want to have. Kathy Hochul said some, quote, patriotic, rich people have stepped up to help build the state's budget gap and that, sure, it's okay to write her check. But if you really want to help, Kathy Hochul implored her wealthy supporters, quote, visit Palm Beach and see who you could bring back home because our tax base has been eroded. Kathy Hochul sounded annoyed as she delivered that last line, as if it is the fault of her supporters who are writing her checks to sustain her struggling state that their wealthy friends have left for sunnier pastures. Her comments were surprising because, well, Kathy Hochul played a large role in forcing those palm beaches out in the first place. In 2022, Kathy Hochul said, just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, okay? Get out of town because you don't represent our values. She was talking to Republicans, and they heard her loud and clear. In 2014, her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, struck a similar note, quote, extreme conservatives, he said, citing policy positions like abortion and gun rights, have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are. Those who could leave did. Did they really not consider that they were cratering their own tax base? Who did they imagine was paying for the wonderful, exorbitantly expensive social services? The blue-haired protesters who elected Zohran Mamdani? Andrew Cuomo could be forgiven for not realizing back in 2014 that he needed the tax base far more than they needed him. But Kathy Hochul's comments came two years into the pandemic. After people like me were already long gone, and it was clear that remote work had already altered the job's landscape. My family left New York City because Hokel cater to the teachers' unions and refused to open public schools that had been needlessly closed while private schools were open. When schools finally did open full-time, a year after states like Florida, the kids were kept masked well into 2022, even outdoors. Other New Yorkers left because the disarray on city streets was getting worse, and we were discouraged from talking about it. It wasn't the taxes, or not just the taxes anyway. It's not exactly like the onion headline from 2010, that 8.4

million New Yorkers suddenly realized New York City is a horrible place to live. New York was always a tough place to live and it was always expensive. What changed in the last decade is that it became impossible to trust that the people in charge were working to make it better. It wasn't just extremely wealthy New Yorkers who took a look around and realized their taxes weren't being used properly. Plenty of non-billionaires and multimillionaires left too. The fabric of the city changed. No, Governor Hokel can no longer keep New Yorkers, quote-unquote, captive. It's too late now to bring them, quote-unquote, home. They are home. It's just not New York anymore. I'm Carol Markowitz, columnist for the New York Post and foxnews.com. You've been listening to the Fox News Rundown. And now, stay up to date by subscribing to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. Listen ad-free on Fox News Podcasts plus on Apple Podcasts. And Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on Amazon music. And for up-to-the-minute news, go to foxnews.com.

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