CNN Tonight, 11/4/22

I appeared on CNN Tonight with Lauren Coates and a panel that included Democratic strategist Maria Cardova and a revolving seat of PBS’ Laura Barron-Lopez, former RNC aide Doug Heye, and tech journalist Kara Swisher.

Midterm Discussion

Twitter Layoffs

Trump 2024 Chatter

Daylight Savings

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CNN: Inside the intense rivalry between Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott

I spoke to CNN‘s Mike Warren about the tensions between Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Rick Scott.

As the midterm elections come to a close, Scott’s ambitious push to win a big, sweeping majority on a conservative policy agenda is in a stress test against McConnell’s more restrained goal of simply winning control.

“McConnell wants to be leader,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican lobbyist. “Scott wants to be a legend.”

Read the full piece here.

Watch a clip of Mike talking about this story here.

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Bloomberg: Democrats Hate Him, But Elon Musk Might Be Their Savior

I spoke to Bloomberg‘s Josh Green for a piece on the political impact of the potential reinstatement of Donald Trump under new Twitter owner Elon Musk.

Back in January, I wrote about what it would take for Democrats to defy historical trends and hold onto the House. Typically, the party that controls the White House loses congressional seats — often dozens of them — in the first midterm after a new president is elected. Everyone agreed it would take something big. And although a Twitter takeover was not yet a gleam in Elon Musk’s eye, Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist, presciently identified Trump’s return to Twitter as being the sort of black swan event that could supercharge Democratic fortunes, since there could be “no bigger midterm wild card than letting the tiger out of its cage.”

It’s too late for a Trump resurrection to help Democrats on Nov. 8. But Donovan remains confident that the same dynamic still holds and could boost Joe Biden — or whoever is the Democratic nominee — two years from now. “What’s the best thing that’s happened for Republicans over the last 18 months?” Donovan asked, when I spoke to him on Friday. “It’s obviously the absence of Donald Trump from the main stage.”

If Musk carries through with what he’s hinted at and reinstates Trump, the right will celebrate the act as one of the greatest “owns” of liberals ever. It will add immeasurably to Democrats’ unhappiness if Republicans win back Congress. But it may ultimately have nothing like the political effect that Musk and his partisans appear to desire. “It’s going to feel bad, it’s going to touch a lot of nerves on the Democratic side if Trump comes back,” says Donovan. “But anybody taking a longer view should see that it’s beneficial for them to have Trump out there being himself.”

Read the full piece here.

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