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Welcome to our VIP feature for Hot Air as well as a members-only show in the Hughniverse! Duane Patterson and I now are doing a Week in Review show for Friday evenings, exclusive to members in both platforms. Duane has been the Generalissimo behind the Hugh Hewitt Show for more than two decades, and we have partnered on weekly commentary since 2007.
As you might expect, Duane and I spend today's show reviewing what went wrong in the midterms. Did candidate selection make a difference? We disagree on the role it played in South Carolina. However, we both agree that it didn't matter much elsewhere. One side voted like Donald Trump was on the ballot, and ... it wasn't Republicans.
This is the Patrick Ruffini tweet Duane references:
Just going off county turnout vs. 2024 points to 70% of Trump 2024 voters voting and 90% of Harris 2024 voters voting.
— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) November 5, 2026
Why didn't Trump voters turn out as enthusiastically? Duane posits that the MAGA base still resents the Iran War. We debate J.D. Vance's remarks about that, while I argue that it might be more closely related to the economic effects of the war. Both of us blame the decisions that dragged it out for months longer than necessary, though, and argue that the only real solution is to prosecute it directly to an end now.
What comes next? Duane and I debate that as well, and analyze how these midterm results will influence the GOP's presidential sweepstakes. Ron DeSantis has clearly decided to make his presence known, while Gavin Newsom has all but staked out the progressive pole position among Democrats. We'll talk more about that next week as well, so stay tuned.
Be sure to watch it all, and extend the conversation in the comments!
