>> Major funding for "Reporters Roundtable" with David Cruz is provided by RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

♪ David: It is true, elections have consequences, but have you seen these cabinet picks?

It is "Reporters Roundtable."

I'm David Cruz.

Colleen O'Dea is the senior writer and projects editor at NJ Spotlight News.

Mr. Gibson is a reporter.

And Matt Friedman is the author of "the New Jersey playbook."

We will hear from the panel and a little bit, but let's begin today with the aftermath of last week's elections.

What happened, what is happening and what is happening?

We have a professor of political science at Rutgers University and a senior scholar.

We are joined now by the professor.

Welcome back.

Good to see you.

Guest: Always good to see you, how are you?

David: I'm hanging in there.

These are special days.

Can we start with the que paso?

What happened, was it message, messenger?

Guest: I feel like we should have on a Tara Reid or instead of a political -- tarot reader instead of a political professor.

The polls, Democrats were mistaken in their belief that somehow the American electorate was ready to reject Donald Trump a second time, and in hindsight, the favorables for the Biden administration or the unfavorable's were two overweight -- too overwhelming to overcome.

More significantly is this reality that the Trump phenomenon is really a movement that has altered potentially for some time but certainly for the time being altered of the way the American electorate is participating and showing its displeasure.

That is something that Democrats are going to have to deal with, at least for the immediate future.

David: So a lot of chatting between and among Democrats over who was to blame.

I mean, we heard about the Black male exodus, but 70% of Black men voted for Harris.

Is it time for a conversation with white women in the Democratic Party?

Guest: I've been saying that, and a lot of my clients have talked about that effect.

It is hard to go to Black men and barbershops, not that I want to go to barbershops these days.

That's besides the point.

It is hard to go up to Black men in barbershops, and they have essentially voted the same way the past elections with slight slippage.

And then look at white women around the country, who have continue to support the majority of Donald Trump.

That is just the political reality that Democrats are going to have to face, and that is a conversation.

I'm not so sure Democrats would like to have it's because they seem to be running away from that and are far more comfortable pointing a finger at Black men.

David: As a Black friend said to me the other day, it was "you people," meaning Latinos, who went for Trump.

Guest: Look, I think this comes down to a basic point, and that is you have to offer something beyond -- I'm calling it a comma, a comma beyond the idea of we are not going back.

You have to offer something affirmative.

And working-class people, be they Latino, African-American, white working-class, whatever label you put on it, you have to offer something, a comma, not a period of we are not going back, and that was missing from the Harris campaign.

In the Latino or Hispanic population, such as it is and diverse as it is across the country, nevertheless, we are looking for more of a transformation from what we have been giving over the last four years.

That is not to knock with the Biden administration accomplished, but if people are not feeling it, you have to have a message that makes them feel it.

David: You have to have it in the gut.

This cabinet, meanwhile, Secretary Of State, Marco Rubio, Attorney General, Matt Gaetz?

Tulsi Gabbard heading up the CIA?

I mean, it feels like The Apprentice: White House edition.

Guest: It is a bit of a clown car kind of scenario, if you have been to the circus and you see them get out one after the other, but that kind of -- you know, I don't know, analysis, let's call it that, belies a fundamental point Democrats need to learn.

That is Republicans go for what they want.

You know?

Trump certainly goes for what he wants.

He is not fully around, offering up some centrist vision.

He is telling you, I have a clear and distinguished and discernible vision that is markedly different from what Democrats are offering.

And here are my people.

And that kind of strength, however bizarre and challenging it may be, I'm using all kinds of euphemisms, but however challenging it may be, people respond to that clarity, and I was just in Princeton the other night getting a talk, talking about clarity.

Voters would like clarification, they prefer the binary.

If you are going to give them, particularly when you feel financial pain, if you are going to give them a wishy-washy message, they are going to let you know about it.

David: Republicans showed a commitment to the bit.

Guest: Absolutely.

David: They said it and that is where they went.

Let me get a panel question in the air.

>> The question that I have here is how do you think this date, Craddock party here reckons with its reputation for political corruption at the intersection of voter apathy and some demoralization?

Guest: Well, A, let's hope they do reckon with it.

There is a lot of heads being put in the sand on these kinds of questions over the last number of years, and I think Democrats in the state are going to have to, again, have an affirmative and clear vision of how they are going to be markedly different from what has come.

And I would suggest that whoever is running for the governorship is going to have to take a strong outsider's approach to absolving issues of corruption in New Jersey.

It does present an opening for someone on the Republican side to step in.

So the language Democrats uses important.

People would like to be talked to straight.

That has always been clear.

It has never been more clear that now.

-- than now.Hanging gold bars around your neck is a party is not where you would like to be in 2025.

David: Republican president is supposed to be good for Democrat 's run for governor the following year, but there is an interesting dynamic in the way both parties think.

The GOP contending with its right wing and the Democrats contending with their left wing.

Is that something we are going to see manifest over the next year?

Guest: Well, it appears to be the case.

People are throwing around the term populism, and I think that is sort of where we are.

Voters would like clear, discernible choices.

That may be further to the left then what we are use to, and it may be further to the right than what we are used to.

So I think the positioning for the center, which normally and ordinary politics may say great deal of sense, we talk about the median voter and political science all the time, I don't know where the hell the median voter is anymore.

That is something Democrats and Republicans are reckoning with.

And identify not so much the centrist edition but finding where the people are.

That median voter has shifted, and we have got to be honest about that and find a way, both parties and certainly Democrats, will have to find a way to meet voters where they are.

That is at a high level of dissatisfaction with the political system.

David: And that is going to make for some interesting debates going forward, particularly with the lineup on the Democratic side and Republican side.

I mean, the Republicans have some, you know, right wingers ready to capitalize off the Trump affect, and the Democrats have some progressives who are ready to embrace that side of the party.

Guest: It is true.

Although, I will say for New Jersey, I don't think we are going to see the kind of gubernatorial candidates emerge that did in Georgia with Herschel Walker or Robinson in North Carolina.

We are still the state of New Jersey, and it is still going to be closer to what Jack represented the last go around then Herschel Walker or someone really, you know, far field.

That would be my guess.

I should do a shot here for all the times I've been wrong and maybe this video will be burned a year from now.

But I do suspect however far right the Republicans go, it will not be to that degree we have seen in other places south of us.

David: Interesting, Saladin Ambar, always good to see you.

Thank you for coming on.

Guest: I appreciate you having me.

Have a good one.

David: Panel, welcome to you all.

We've had another week of analysis and pundantry on the results.

Is there any sense of the theory that one Democrat is winning over the other, Matt?

Matt: there is never going to be a simple explanation.

I think it was interesting the professor mentioned people want binary, there's no simple explanation but it is telling and it is an unfortunate state of affairs because I think Democrats are doing what you hope the party would do, look at their loss, try to figure out why, try to figure out what message they are not sending, policy wise with a miss, what they emphasized, what they did not, there is finger-pointing, but that is democracy and it is messy.

Four years ago, Trump lost the election, refused to acknowledge that, double down on it, fought it, rioted, attempted to overturn the election from lawful and peaceful means to what we saw January 6.

And it is not what you would hope to see in democracy, but it works.

[LAUGHTER] And here they are.

So, I think we have to look at that and get past the idea that -- we are trained as journalists to be fair.

But being fair, you are not being fair if you are treating both sides that are not the same.

One party is acting like this is democracy.

The other did not.

But that is the thing about democracy, they won legitimately.

Also, I'm so sick of people lift these French-French voices off twitter and whatever -- fringe, fringe voices off twitter and whatever saying Democrats are denying the election, too.

You are not.

It is the fringe voices versus the whole apparatus of the party last time.

David: Colleen, anything new that you learned over the past two weeks from the conversations , particularly Democrats, are having?

Colleen: I think Matt is right on target when he says, it is like you could have a dartboard, throw a dart and see where it sticks because there are so many potential factors.

Ultimately, it wound up being the economy and we do not know what to say, but I just saw that Frank Pallone, a congressman, put out a statement moments ago, saying that talking about money coming in from the inflation reduction act, I think Democrats thinking that those kinds of expenditures would help when people were having trouble putting milk and bread and eggs, just certainly, that was kind of a crazy way to think.

David: A lot of about identity and all of that stuff, but, ultimately, if it costs too much to put Breck on the table, that it -- breakfast on the table, that is what people are going to vote with, right?

Jelani: to be frank, one could argue that it is identity politics, structured around people who have grievances that belong to either a certain ideology or community or identity.

And the interesting thing about politics here is that being a Republican and being a Democrat within this spectrum and political polarization has essentially become a form of identity politics all unto itself.

Republicans are doing this, the liberals are doing that to you, all of those things in and of themselves are, indeed, political identity politics.

Identity politics are quite frankly very hard to separate from economic issues because you may have different identities that experience different spectrums of the economy that are tied to the way they are living.

You go down south, which is where I'm from, and you speak to a conservative Christian, their religion is important to them.

Their grocery store is important to them.

And how they perceive things are going on, both of them are intrinsically attached to one another.

David: Meanwhile, these cabinet picks, Colleen, I mean, Secretary Of State -- [LAUGHTER] Marco Rubio?

Colleen: Little Marco.

How long ago was it?

It seems like it was not that long ago, that Rubio and Trump were just butting heads and say nasty things about one another.

And now we think he is Secretary Of State material.

I think we knew that Robert Kennedy Junior for Health and Human Services was coming.

David: That is like the least, that is the least shocking I think of -- Colleen: It is.

David: Of the picks.

I mean Congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General?

I mean, Matt?

Colleen: It looks like he gets out of a house investigation for an underage person and drug use?

David: Loyalty, oathDavid:s are one thing, but the palace intrigue alone, it would be delicious if it was not so Frank.

Matt: Our information environment is so broken, and this election was a failing for the media, and I don't mean journalists but the news media in general.

We don't know where we are.

It is hard to discover the truth.

The fact that we spent how many years with QAnon conspiracies and six offenders, and everybody is a six offender it seems, -- and with sex offenders, everyone is a sex offender it seems, and except for Matt Gaetz, who will potentially be the nation;s top law -- nation's top law official?

What are we getting to?

It is completely diffused and there is no kind of standard of anything resembling the truth now, and I think that is kind of hard of how authoritarians are built.

You just throw so much crap out there, and Steve Bannon articulated this theory.

You throw so much crap out there, that whatever truth there is, it gets lost.

The idea that we just spent all this time with these sex offender conspiracy theories, and then you put this guy, with a very credible accusation against him into a top law enforcement spot?

[LAUGHTER] By the way, did he practice law two years I think it was?

And people like Tolson Gabbard -- Tolson Gabbard, who is just -- Tulsi, why would you do that?

Answer for this person in charge of our intelligence?

Trump won the election.

He gets to nominate the cabinet, and he has senators who are going to be inclined to lay down for him as much as possible.

But, these are wild pigs.

David: Let's bring it back to Jersey and the 2025 governors race.

Jelani, one poll shows that nobody knows who these governor candidates are.

As we go to press today, Josh Gottheimer is announcing his candidacy.

We know him, but by and large, voters outside of his district do not.

It is really anybody's race at this moment, one year out, no?

Jelani: Correct.

It does seem -- the field is going to be crowded.

There are some who argue that the fields being crowded is going to provide more candidates , it is going to provide more space for the Democratic Party to basically iron out the kinks and how they would like to perfect messaging.

And there are other insiders who are arguing they are afraid that the political warfare that is about to take place between all of these candidates is basically going to clear a path for Republican candidates to take over whatever ashes are left of things if it gets too contentious.

David: Interesting point.

You political dudes are going to be all up in this for the next year.

What is going to be the biggest issue on the Democratic side and on the Republican side?

I know I'm asking you to prognosticate a little bit.

Right now?

Matt: It's harder to stay on the Democratic side with the biggest issue is going to be with so many candidates.

There may not be one defining issue, and on the Republican side it is obvious what the issue is going to be.

Trump's going to be able to play a big role as King -- pin maker.

Unlike the Senate endorsement last time, it will make a huge difference, and the question is, he may be inclined to back whoever says the nicest things about him.

But there is an effort to make contacts with his people.

As far as Gottheimer, who was declaring his candidacy today, it is hard to see the path because Gottheimer made a last-ditch attempt to keep political losses in place.

He was really banking on that system to get him through.

And he is not going to have the line.

It has lost its biggest tool.

David: But he has $20 million.

Matt: That is the counterpoint.

In the absence of the County line, money may take it, but there is a decent theory that money will take on a bigger role.

He cannot use that $20 million legally to just shovel into his campaign, but he has the ability to raise a hell of a lot of money really quick.

There are a lot of -- there is a lot of progress -- progressive anger at the boss system that we saw, and it will be a lower turnout than the federal election.

Those people will probably be more represented.

It is a tough path for him, especially with everything, but he's going to have it, a lot of money.

And politics is completely unpredictable, and it would be ridiculous of me to try to counted out.

David: Colleen, the numbers game, everything that you love so much, from who raised what money and who got which endorsement, voter trends, Mikey Cheryl probably joining the race next week.

What are the statistics that you are going to be watching with the most interest?

Colleen: Yeah, you know, I think money is going to play a part, but we have seen in the past that money does not necessarily buy you a seat.

Look at how Steve Sweeney was unseated back in 2021.

I do think the Democrats are going to be largely looking for the same demographic in terms of voters, and without the line, it will be interesting to see who comes forward.

Mikey Cheryl, I think, has the best name recognition at this point.

The candidates, everybody is going to have to do a heck of a lot more work to get people to know who they are.

I was kind of shocked to see from that poll how low the numbers were just with recognition.

So I think we are expected to see a lot of ads coming in.

David: Speaking of ballots and candidates, I would like to play this little sound from Attorney General Matt plaque in -- Matt Platkin and then bring you in, Matt, to talk about context.

You had an interesting item about it.

>> The one thing that I will say is that I think it is time for people in positions of authority in this state to spend a little more time questioning their own role in creating a system or enabling a system of corruption, and a little less time threatening those of us who are trying to do some thing about it.

David: So, Matt, who is he talking to?

Not Governor Murphy.

And what is the angle here for him?

Matt: He is talking to Governor Murphy, he's talking to the Democratic legislative leaders, to George Norcross, to Joe Cryan.

David: Towards what end?

Jelani: -- Matt: Well, he could be an idealist.

He came up with Governor Murphy.

He was one of the absolute closest to Governor Murphy.

Granted, he did spearhead a lot of things.

He was heavily involved in the investigation into tax incentives.

A lot of the pushback, Trump has counsel to the governor, and the obvious question, is he running for something?

I was not at that press conference to ask him that, but I don't think he's running for governor this year, but it seems clear that he has political ambitions.

That is also what pretty much everyone is assuming, how that winds up, if you get Mikey Cheryl as governor and her congressional seat opens up, does he run for that?

I don't know, that is one possibility.

I'm honestly not sure if he lives in the 10th District or the 11th part of it, but it doesn't really matter.

You can run in either.

Yes, I think he is positioning himself for a run for office, but I also think that is not mutually exclusive of generally believing in what he says, despite the cynical takes by Trenton insiders, who correctly note that he came up in this part of the machine.

David: All right.

A programming note, next week's "Chat Box" is one hour-long, featuring questions with declared candidates for governor in front of a live audience in the exhibit hall at the annual legal municipalities conference.

We will try to get them all.

We have Sweeney, Philip, spill er, Spady right, and who are we missing?

Let's see who declares over the next couple of days.

We will bring extra chairs just in case.

It is a special "Chat Box" next week.

Make sure you are around to two men.

That is "-- tune in.

That is "roundtable."

Thank you to all of you and to Saladin Ambar For joining us.

You can follow the show on X -- @Roundtable.

You can also subscribe to the YouTube page.

I'm David Cruise.

For all the crew here at Gateway Center in downtown, thank you for watching.

We will see you next week.

>> Major funding for "Reporters Roundtable" with David Cruz is provided by RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

♪