Four-decade local journalist Josh Kurtz of Maryland Matters joins Nestor to discuss the many issues, campaigns and dollars being worked during Election Week 2024 and the issues that matter most to voters here and all over the United States of America. Democracy dies in darkness.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
election week, Trump victory, tight polls, Supreme Court, Roe vs Wade, Biden albatross, Kamala Harris, Maryland politics, Larry Hogan, Angela Alsobrooks, outside money, attack ads, voter turnout, national ambitions, local races
SPEAKERS
Josh Kurtz, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, as well as Baltimore. Positive it is. It’s football week. It’s World Series week. So you have a guy like Aparicio with baseball, or our whole purple motif here in Browns week and Denver, Cincinnati, coming up. But not not in this segment. We’re going to, it’s this we’re going to be Americans. We’re going to be patriots. We’re going to vote here this week. We’re also going to, I think this week, try to reach out to some folks. I had a very difficult time getting certain electeds to participate in conversation during this particular election season, which has been disappointing to me as a citizen, but not shocking to me as politicians, but I still get people who analyze this at a very, very high level. I think if Josh Kurtz wanted to know what what went on in the Ravens game last week, he called me and I tried to break it down like I did for Cleveland radio last week. So I reached to the people I know that matter. Maryland matters matters. Maryland matters.org. Is the place where they still do news and Josh, it’s always good to have you on Josh Kurtz, one of our defending champions here on the eve of they’re all important every election, right? I mean, but I have people in my life this week ish talking to me about Trump winning next week, and I haven’t done it for the last six months. I didn’t do it for four years the way I did the last cycle, to try to get rid of him for the minute he got there. I’ve been a little bit more subdued in my but I’m getting worried. Josh, please tell me I shouldn’t be worried.
Josh Kurtz 01:34
Nestor, I’m sorry I can’t tell you that, because my gut is that Trump is probably going to win. So, you know, I mean, we still have a week to go, and polls show the race extremely tight. And I kind of have a theory that this year’s electorate is a little different from the last several presidential elections, in part because of, you know, the Supreme Court decision, doing away with Roe versus Wade, and for other factors too. So I don’t think we know exactly who’s voting, what the electorate is going to look like. So there could be some surprises, one way or the other, but it just feels like this is going to be a Trump election, because there are so many things working against the Democrats. Whether, you know, polls show two thirds of the people think the country’s going in the wrong direction. Joe Biden remains an albatross, or among around Kamala Harris’s neck, you know, something like 55% of Americans would, including, this includes Democrats. It’s would, would, would favor the immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants. It just feels like the the issues kind of favor Trump, and the mood favors Trump. But, you know, I’d be happy to be proven wrong too
Nestor Aparicio 02:58
well. I mean, in assessing all this, and please, um, be humble or not, in this case, about your background, about how long you’ve tried to cover State House, politics, national politics, news, um, civic happenings, who’s getting elected, what they’re doing, and what the state of our state is, in many cases, what you do? Yeah,
Josh Kurtz 03:19
yeah. I mean, I’ve been, I’ve been a journalist for 40 years, and been covering Maryland to one degree or another for over 28 years. So, you know, I’ve been around other others have been around longer and are wiser. But, you know, like everybody, I kind of crunch data and have sort of gut feelings about what’s going on out there.
Nestor Aparicio 03:44
If every state were as purple as we are, it wouldn’t be so easy to know what’s going to happen on Tuesday in so many places. It is weird. I you know, Ohio, Pennsylvania, these sort of bordering places where we are that are a tremendous focus, let alone Georgia. You know, Michigan, Wisconsin, these places where Trump has a chance to take the country back, basically, and how incredibly popular this can be, where we see a rally in New York City talking about Puerto Ricans as trash, you know, like, I can’t believe the rhetoric, and I can’t believe the popularity of it in certain segments of the country and in certain segments of Maryland, quite frankly, enough to go far to find
Josh Kurtz 04:36
it. Yeah, yeah, no. I mean, it’s, it’s kind of hard to, you know, there’s sort of the policy aspects of Trump and Republicans, and there’s, you know, what’s become the performative aspect of Trump and many of his fellow Republicans. And, you know, I think reasonable people can disagree about policy, but something a. About this particular time that we’re in. You know, the the politics have gotten just really bad, and and, and the racism that’s
Nestor Aparicio 05:13
that’s baked in has nothing to do with what Ronald Reagan believed in, or what the Bush family believed in, or what really, anybody this side of Hitler has ever really believed in in the last century, in regard to what the rallies look like. Josh, I’ll be honest, I haven’t talked a lot of politics, but I want to talk this week about it, because I’m seeing it, watching World Series games, watching not just Angela Brooks, you stink hair, Larry Hogan, though you stay you know, I’m seeing all the money that came in on the outside, which is really the root of all of this. And we talk about other places where they have democracy, having pack money and hundreds of millions of dollars to try to swing elections, where the money comes from outside of the state, which really isn’t in the whole spirit of why we send the Senator to United States of America, to Congress and or any state, even though it’s 20 miles down the road for us. But I saw the Trump commercial that he’s peddling. His made for television, symphonic extra, you know, not the ones other people are buying, the one that’s him. And I saw this, like 90 seconds was really long commercial. I saw it the other day. I’ve only seen it one time, and it was just amazing how white it is, yes, and I can’t, I just can’t get past 50 years, you know, after Nixon, 5060, years, after Dr King, like all of these things that have conspired to make this popular a third time enough that we’re talking about it like i I’m blown away by how many people I consider friends or have considered friends that have witnessed this and it it’s still okay. And that kind of blows me away. Really blows me away.
Josh Kurtz 07:03
Well, no, I think this is really a moment of reckoning for our country. And you know, you know, the late Elijah Cummings used to kind of look at the the state of political things and say, We’re better than this. And I’ve heard Joe Biden use that phrase too. And you know, the sad reality is, I’m not so sure we are better than this, because, you know, I think this is really, this appears to be, where about half the country is. And, you know, we can talk about the forces at play that could put Trump over the top, but I mean, basically it’s a 5050, nation, and you’re right. I mean, you know, 50% of voters seem like they’re bigots, or at least willing to, you know, explain away Trump’s bigotry until
Nestor Aparicio 07:47
it affects them, right? Josh Kurtz is here, yeah, until I turn that to be Puerto Rican instead of Venezuela. And I, you know, I It’s really an incredible thing. He’s Maryland matters.org. They cover the news. They cover local news. I would highly encourage you to support not just Josh, but other folks like Josh. Josh is sitting in the radio room down Annapolis. It’s emptied out because people like me aren’t there. And I got Luke out knowing Mills running around with the football team, as though, you know they didn’t have any problem getting their $600 million from down in Annapolis as well. And I know you were on watch on all of that, um, the election here from the larry hogan Angela also Brooks side, take me through that, as you would explain it, if I were your son trying to vote a young friend voting for the first time. It is an amazing juxtaposition. In so many ways, Hogan has had incredible amount of money spent incredible messaging, the attack ads, all of these things and yet, and yet, I have not heard. I’ve never met Angela also Brooks. She has canceled on me twice in Baltimore to speak to my audience, which really makes me feel kind of worthless. To be really, I mean, to be really frank with you as someone who’s going to give her and Larry Hogan free airtime, a chance to answer questions from me. If they don’t want to answer questions, fine, but I vote too, and I am voting, and I don’t want to say I don’t know who I’m voting for, I just know that I feel a level of disappointment in regard to all of the sleaziness of the attack ads and like all of that, but just the fact that I had to pay hundreds of dollars in order to walk into a room to sniff either one of them, and that’s where we are now, and asking them questions as a citizen, as a lifer, journalist isn’t, isn’t on their agenda, or if it is, they literally also books. People just ghosted like it’s the most un one of the most unprofessional things. And I think to myself, Ben harden didn’t behave this way, but Ben harden is of the Joe Biden era and of the John Kennedy era, where I just, I don’t know where it all is when you’re not even willing to come and answer questions, when you’re trying to get my vote for the US Senate, and I don’t even know anything about you. Angela, also, Brooke.
Josh Kurtz 09:59
Yes, yeah. That’s interesting. That’s interesting. Well, I’m
Nestor Aparicio 10:02
on the north side of the beltway here, right? Like, I, I don’t think everybody knows who Larry Hogan is. That’s dangerous unto itself, right? Like, I believe. Oh, by the way, the people on the on the also Brooks side, there are people on her side who’ve told me they believe she’s 14 points up. Do you believe that?
Josh Kurtz 10:21
I don’t. I mean, the the two most recent polls that came out have shown, one showed her 12 points up, one showed her 14 points up. That seems way too big a margin. Now I am, you know, I’m, I’m willing to predict that she’s going to win. And I’m thinking, you know, five ish points, but, but double digits seems way too much to me, in part, because, as you said, everybody knows Hogan, and a lot of people like him and and also Brooks is just not as well known. And you throw in the mix these, these millions upon millions of dollars being spent on TV ads, and that’s, that’s going to be, that’s going to be shaping how people vote. We really in Maryland. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a competitive race like this, and so we’re not used to the onslaught of constant TV ads, which are, of course, all attack ads, basically. So it’s really been an interesting dynamic this year. This was really a Senate race that kind of nobody was anticipating, and that came out of the blue until Hogan got into it on the filing deadline date. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 11:34
he had also said he had no interest. I mean, I remember many times him saying, I I have no interest in being one of you know these voices, it’s not what I do. And, right? Um, well, the power play, but, but his messaging also feels very disingenuous to me. And I wanted to sit across and look him in the eye the way I’m looking you in the eye and you’re not running for anything, Josh, um, the way I look a lot of citizens in the eye and say, you want to be our senator. I I voted for Larry Hogan. I voted for Bob Ehrlich. I’m a Democrat, right? Like I had Bob Ehrlich in my studio. I saw my wife 20 years ago. You know, he was here and a part of it, and I didn’t like the candidate on the Democratic sides that, you know, because I met her, and I didn’t like her and, and that’s my citizen, right? To say I need to like you. I need to feel like, you know, I need to understand you a little bit. And I don’t even mean that, as they owe me coming on my show. I don’t feel like I really understand much of either one of them. And I don’t think they, they wanted to be understood particularly. And I find that to be its own fascinating thing. Because Larry Hogan has a record. Angela also Brooks has a record, right? Like, I don’t know she needed to deviate from her record. I think he’s trying to portray himself as something different than I believe him to be. And do I really believe he’s going to go to DC and vote with Democrats? I don’t, but I’d like to challenge him that I’d like to hear whatever the answer or rhetoric or explanation, whatever you would call it, you know, whatever vernacular you call it. But I would like to hear more of that. And I feel like these candidates kind of hide a little bit and then hang out at donor events and collect money and buy ads.
Josh Kurtz 13:11
Well, that’s a that’s a very fair description of the current state of our political system. Nestor, I mean, you know, I couldn’t say it any better, frankly, wow, really, no.
13:22
I mean, no. I
Josh Kurtz 13:24
mean, Josh, no. I mean, I do, you know. I mean, you know, you know, to be fair, these guys are out campaigning for sure. And you know, you know, through this period of early voting, I mean, there are days when Angela, also Brooks, is hitting five or six polling places around the state. Now, is that the kind of give and take you know you’re describing, or that you would like to see? No, but so I wouldn’t say they’re hiding, but you’re right. I mean, they do spend an inordinate amount of time raising money, and that means hanging out with with rich owners, and that that colors the political process without question. And, you know, as I said before, I mean, we’ve, we are literally seeing 10s of millions of dollars being spent on the Senate race, and that’s unprecedented for for Maryland. So, I mean, that’s a factor too.
Nestor Aparicio 14:15
It’s incredible to me, the really hardcore right wing in Western Maryland, Eastern Shore, Southern Mary, where, wherever it is, not the biggest population bases in our state, for sure, but they vote. They come out, they put their signs out, they bring the guns out, they bring the flags out, they do all of that stuff. And yet, larry hogan really got left at the altar last time around, and the rest of the party kind of ran from his candidate and supported a Trumpian. They vote for Harris, right? So I, you know, I, but I also see Larry Hogan, is someone I voted for at one point. And. One point I believe them, to be honest about all of this, and everybody knows who he is. To me, it’s a pretty dangerous race all the way around, given the messaging and given how many Democrats have voted for him and know nothing about her, and maybe aren’t on female issues or on other issues where he really would lag behind. I’d like to think every female voter is a, you know, high information that we just know that’s not true. And I think Larry Hogan’s name has been voted for by a lot of people here. And I look at that race next week, and I say, when people tell me 12 and 14 points, this is where I really look at these polls. And I want to go back to the UMBC Goucher poll folks, and go back to Gonzalez and all these people and say, You guys are scientists and you know stuff. I just I’m out on the streets here, and I know how people in my circle who were Democrats feel about Larry Hogan. They feel like they voted for him, Uncle Larry whatever, and the let alone racial issues, let alone male, female all the things that maybe you think will cost Kamala Harris a chance to win next week, that I believe cost Hillary Clinton the chance to win years ago, that I just think they’re dudes that go behind curtains that only vote for men. I think they’re white people that go behind curtain and black people that only vote for but I just think in this state where Larry Hogan and Bob Ehrlich had been voted on to think that this kind of election is just safe because there’ll be such a turnout to crush Trump. I don’t know people just Trump can’t win this state. I did. That’s not happening. So therefore, I know people who just say, why only vote when there’s president? And you know, my vote don’t count, and a lot of Republicans felt that way a lot of the time. And I think this turning on the back of Hogan by his own party. I’m interested to see whatever 18 to 24 to 26 whatever the percentages of Republicans that turn out, how many are, I was going to say true blue, but I’d say dead red, and are going to just pull the lever for him, because it felt the kind of ornery to me when Kelly Schultz was running, did it not?
Josh Kurtz 17:18
Yeah? No, yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was definitely, that was, that was, you know, that was definitely a, you know, a referendum to a degree, on, if not Hogan himself, at least kind of the politics he’s trying to practice. And, you know, the facts, interest in theory, correct, right? And the fact, I mean, the fact is that, you know, the Republican Party is trumpier everywhere, and that includes, includes Maryland. So, I mean, that’s not a surprise. That wasn’t so much a surprise. I mean, I think now that Hogan is the Republican nominee in a Senate race that’s perceived to be pretty close. I mean, Republicans are going to come home and they’re going to vote for Hogan. And really, the issue all along has been, how many Democrats are going to vote for Hogan too? And I think, you know there, I mean, a Senate race has a different dynamic than a race for governor, and a presidential year has a different dynamic than a midterm election. And so there are a lot more voters. Just generally, the universe of voters is bigger. Generally, I think they’re more reliable Democrats in a presidential year. And I think the also Brooks campaign has done, actually, a pretty good job of talking about what the stakes are if you elect Hogan, you know. And mean, even some of her ads have people who have Democrats who had previously voted for Hogan and who have said we like him. We thought he was a good governor, but we just don’t want to put the Republicans in control of the Senate, or we don’t want another Republican vote in the Senate. Because as much as Hogan may protest that he’s an independent thinker and he’s a centrist and he’s willing to reach across the aisle. I mean, the fact is, just the way the system works on Capitol Hill, he’s going to be enabling the Republicans at every turn, even if occasionally he breaks from them on on key votes. And I think the Democrats, and also Brooks have done a pretty good job of making that case, and that’s why I think ultimately she’s going to win. Now, I agree with you, as I said before, that 14 Points seems like way too big a margin, but, you know, I mean, polls are snapshots, as they say, and they’re not necessarily predictive of how things are going to turn out. But I mean, that’s kind of, that’s kind of how I see it. I just think that the dynamic is working against Hogan a lot, even with all the even with all the millions that outside groups are spending on his behalf, it happens
Nestor Aparicio 19:48
quick, doesn’t it? I mean the cycle that if you go back to 2018 and see Larry Hogan would be a Republican candidate when Ben Hogan got out of the way, you’d have to say they better have somebody really strong running, somebody that everybody. He knows in some way, and that Democrat doesn’t, does not really exist here, right to run, perhaps, and to say, Who is it going to be? And then, you know what Ben Cardin is represented. How purple are we? In your mind?
Josh Kurtz 20:21
Well, you know, that’s something I’ve I’ve thought about a lot. And I mean, we’re certainly not purple in, we’re certainly not purple in presidential elections, you know? I mean, Trump has, Trump’s gonna get, we’ll be lucky if he gets 35% of the vote here. And the last time a Republican won a presidential race in Maryland was was the elder George Bucha in 1988 so, you know, we’re very we’re heavily blue in in national elections, it would appear, you know, I think in gubernatorial elections, Hogan has proved that, that, that, you know, we could be a purple state. And you know, if the Republicans had nominated Kelly Schultz instead of Dan Cox, it would have been a closer race in in 2022 than it was. But, I mean, let’s not forget, that was a 30 plus point victory for Wes Moore too, so Well, a lot of
Nestor Aparicio 21:19
that was an answer to Trumpism and COVID and just how crazy Fox News is to any of us who are saying, yeah, like, literally, I don’t. And the the ideologies that are espoused top to bottom and, you know, and just the racism, I mean, like, let’s, I don’t even say, like, race, I whisper it. I mean, it’s, they don’t whisper it. It’s not even a dog whistle. It’s, you know, it’s, it’s a feature, it’s not a bug. Josh Kurtz is here. He’s Maryland matters.org, we’re trying to vote, try to make sense of all of this polls, polls and how they drive things. One thing I always get sideways with Don and his litany of pollsters and all of them, and I respect the hell out of all of them. I just don’t listen. I always say this from my own basis of knowledge. I worked in radio, Arbitron. It was always a scam. It was always a joke. They always sent out 10 polls, and they were going to give numbers. And it affected all the money. It affected my livelihood. I don’t believe those things, because I don’t believe they can ever really represent anything more than conjecture. For me, and especially when it comes to like, who people are going to vote for, I think people a are very ignorant to what they know or don’t know, especially with what’s question B, what’s question C, they don’t know any of that. Right, right? Um, so, so even I would say it’s 2% of maybe 5% of the population knows any of those kinds of things, let alone other issues. When you take a mic on the street in Annapolis or Baltimore, it’s asking to just talk to people and find out what’s you know who fails the fact tests on basic citizenship issues, let alone what they know about Angela, also books, or what they know about Larry Hogan, or what they saw on the news last night. But the polling part of this is I, I’m always at odds with the believability. So some, some, some ways, like religion for me in that I really need some proof as a journalist. And yet you quote this, they quote this. Everybody quotes all of this gospel according to polls. And I know they’re all rigged up with money in some way, because I’ve smelled it all, and therefore they all hate me. And I’m like, No, I want to talk to you about it, but I am going to challenge the science before we talk about this guy’s up three points here and that day, like, I don’t even because it’s just people lie. You know, it’s simple. People lie. They lie about everything. So why would they tell you the truth?
Josh Kurtz 23:52
Well, I mean, that’s really been, that’s been one of the, one of the many flaws about polls over the years is, you know, you just don’t know if you’re getting the right you know, first of all, you never know if it’s the right sample size, because the electorate changes from from from race to race and from year to year, and right, and there’s no guarantee that anyone’s telling telling you the truth. You know, they may they I’ve
Nestor Aparicio 24:19
told all the pollsters, I wouldn’t tell you who I’m voting for,
Josh Kurtz 24:23
right? You know, I
Nestor Aparicio 24:25
just, there you go. I don’t know. I would say it on the radio before, literally, I have you’re pretty
Josh Kurtz 24:30
positive then, yeah, there you go. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s a flawed science. They, they, you know, they give themselves you know, every poll has a margin of error, which is, you know, when you think about it, I mean, every, you know, just, just look at like how every poll has had Harris and Trump essentially tied, you know, for for weeks on end. I mean, that means, like, one
Nestor Aparicio 24:58
tied. Mean, I mean. To me, you better go through these six or seven states and roll through where anybody is vulnerable. You know where in Nevada is where you know where a handful of places are, but it’s all about Georgia, Michigan. It’s all about the same thing it’s always been about. And I don’t believe anybody in Williamsport, Pennsylvania is going to pick up the phone and be honest? Or would we have any reason? Would have any incentive to necessarily, and what, even if 100 of them, or 1000 of them, or a 5000 or any of them, what that really represents toward what’s going to happen, right? Who’s going to vote? Who’s not like i That’s why i That’s why I called you John. Listen, I get beat up the Ravens all week. They’ve had a bad week. I’m really worried here all of a sudden, because in my life, in the places I go, there’s a handful of people that still think Donald Trump’s cool, is going to help their taxes, and they just hate Joe Biden because they’ve been indoctrinated to this Fox News to think they hate everything that was Obama. I wonder why. And down the list, they just hate everything about the Democratic machine, you know, the way they so i But then I’m like, Do you LISTEN to Him calling Puerto Ricans? Try, like, right? Like, did you watch the way he governed with COVID. Do you have any coffee? Would you want him in your office for an hour doing anything in your world? And they I see the Democrats are doing would you have him babysit your kids? What are you having baby pets at your animal? No, no, no, no, no to any of that. And yet, there’s 75 million people are going to vote from this week like I’m and I don’t think any pollsters can can work through that to get anything that feels factual. That’s going to move my headspace until Wednesday morning, and knowing we still live in a free society.
Josh Kurtz 26:56
I mean, you know, we, we, we could probably talk for four hours the science of the the flawed science of polling. But you know, does
Nestor Aparicio 27:05
it concern you? I mean, do you speak with that gospel? Well,
Josh Kurtz 27:09
it Oh, without a doubt it concerns me. And you know, both in 2016 and 2020 polls, you know, under anticipated the Trump vote both times, pretty significantly. On the other hand, in the midterm elections of 2022 the polls seem to underestimate the Democratic vote, and I think that was fueled a lot by by voters anger over abortion. So you know, I mean, my my theory is they’re underestimating somebody this time around, but we just don’t know. They’re underestimating women,
Nestor Aparicio 27:44
just in a general sense, right? Like, and that’s where the Hillary thing really kind of blew me away, because I thought especially the way he ran, and what a creep he was. If Gecko like he was just creepy name, it made my blood curdle when he was on stage with Republicans. It made my blood curdle when he was insulting people like Marco Rubio, who probably deserve some level of insult, or even Ted Cruz, who was eminently insultable, but like I was offended by watching the Republican debates eight years ago and thought, this can’t be the most popular guy in the room. And here we are a decade later, and it’s a cult. And it’s, it’s, it’s, and the fact that we’re a week out on this guy should have he led an insurrection. Hold on. Well, hold on, I buried the lead. We’re half an hour into this, and I haven’t mentioned January 6 yet,
Josh Kurtz 28:46
right? Well, yeah. I mean, you know, yeah. I mean, let’s not forget about been convicted on 34 you know, charges in a New York courtroom. I mean, you know, you could
Nestor Aparicio 28:57
call the judge to intimidate a judge. We have that on tape. That’s not AI. You
Josh Kurtz 29:02
could go on and on and, and, you know, I mean, I think he’s an unconventional politician. And, you know, I think, I think the voters like the fact that he’s basically, like extending middle finger to sort of, you know, polite society and, and, and that seems to be appealing to a lot of people. And, and
Nestor Aparicio 29:21
they don’t know what Fascism is, and they don’t recognize it because they haven’t read a book in their lives,
Josh Kurtz 29:25
right? Yeah. And, I mean, you know, the parallels, I think, to, you know, other, to 20th century fascists and 21st century fascists. There’s, you know, there, there are lots of them there, and that’s frightening. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 29:39
it’s not a parallel, it’s, it’s the words, it’s the intent, and it’s whom He idolizes, right, like open right? And did for four years when he, when he ran the country. You could see it at European conferences, pushing by leaders, bowing down to Putin and like we, you know, in Scandinavia, we saw. At all. Josh Carter series, Maryland matters.org, You’re depressing the hell out of me. Did do I? Should I go back talking to Ravens?
Josh Kurtz 30:06
What should I be doing? Well, you know that that could be depressing, too. What else is
Nestor Aparicio 30:10
on your mind in regard to, I mean, I haven’t talked to Wes Moore in two years. He’s another one that was coming on. Then he never, you know, like he’s never, it’s been two years. I pimp for him. I, you know, I pimp for him again, because he’s going to run against maniacs, kind of like Angela Ulster books. I’m not telling anybody not to vote for her, even though I’ve never met her, because I just don’t think it’s good for for any woman in my life. I don’t think it’s good for our country, quite frankly. Um, but what else in the state is driving some of his Key Bridge, West Moore. How’s the leadership, the notion of what’s going on the city? I mean, really, I mean, there is no race for mayor, city council, so a lot of these things, and yet, Republican money is trying to take city council seats away. I had Zeke go on for half an hour that that that’s a massive, massive thing that’s going on here,
Josh Kurtz 31:00
yeah, actually, I mean, you know, that’s, that’s an interesting there are five or six votes in various counties around the state that could actually change the way these jurisdictions are governed and, and the city council vote the, you know, on the number of seats is, is one of those. And it’s very, it’s very significant, you know, I mean, that’s, that’s certainly one thing that’s happening out there that’s, you know, below the radar most places, and very interesting. You know, you mentioned Governor Moore. He’s been out on the campaign trail for Harris. He’s been out of the out of the state a lot, campaigning for her. He’s, he’s done some stuff for also, Brooks, though, you know, that’s become, I think, a little bit of a awkward situation, you know. And why is that? Well, you know, I think, I think, you know, there’s probably some sense that he could have done more for her early on. I think, you know, they’re both kind of rising stars, and so now there’s national stars, so there’s gonna obviously be some tension between them, you know, if you know, because she’s likely to win, it will probably get glossed over. If she were in trouble, I think there’d be more more talk about, you know, what he could have or should have done for her.
Nestor Aparicio 32:17
This is why I have you on now. I mean, I want the real story, because I, I’m not in Annapolis every day like you. And really not, you know, yeah.
Josh Kurtz 32:25
And I think obviously, I mean, if, if Kamala Harris loses, there’s all you know, the discussion about what Democrats do in 2028 is going to start immediately, and and Governor Moore is going to be part of that conversation. And, you know, Is he, is he ready for the scrutiny, and is he ready to, you know, how serious is he about his national ambitions? Is he going to put together a team that, you know, is able to take him higher in national politics? I don’t know. I mean, these are all sort of things we’re going to have to watch for.
Nestor Aparicio 32:55
Well, they would be interesting things, if anything would have happened to Joe Biden a year ago, had there been a real cycle which I have a lot of independent people in my world that are are disappointed that there wasn’t really a Democratic race, and I, I find that to be a very valid argument. I also find to be valid like, she’s number two, she was picked, she’s up. Get get in on it because I have to get in on it because I can’t get on on the other So to some degree, I would say I’d vote for the Son of Sam on the Democratic side, but I would say that on the Democratic side, I have some leeway here based on what my history has been And what I’ve seen in the words and what he tells us he’s going to do with the country, especially with the media, people like you and me round us up. You know what I mean. So I’m a little concerned about that next Wednesday coming. That’s sixth and others I’m finally met David Trone right on the eve of the primary down at fadelese. Dutch Ruppersberger said the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me in introducing me to David Trone, he introduces me gives me a gut punch. He says to David Trone, this is Nestor. He’s real Baltimore. And I said, Thanks Dutch. Thank you. Thank you, almost, you know,
Josh Kurtz 34:18
I think Baltimore too,
Nestor Aparicio 34:20
right? But Dutch, Dutch Alba says he’s real bald, yeah, that’s, that’s all he said. And I’m like, Cool. So I’ve spent two minutes David trying, I mean, um, money liquor stores running Western mayor, like there’s an empty space there. And I think we all, I mean, listen, I all but campaigned on the Eastern Shore last year to try to get rid of andy Harris. It’s a lot more difficult than you think when you get off the 695,
Josh Kurtz 34:45
right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, all of our, all, all of our congressional races are going to have sort of the status quo, I think, affirmed the one, the one competitive race, is the race to replace Trone and. And, you know, out in Western Maryland. And, I mean, that’s that race is a nail biter. I think that race is is closer than the Senate race here. And it could be, you know, Neil Parrott, who’s the Republican, who’s been the nominee now three times, or April Delaney, who used to work for the Biden administration and and whose husband held this the seat before Toron, and that’s a that’s a toss up race that I think the national parties are only just now beginning to pay attention to in the last couple of weeks.
Nestor Aparicio 35:32
So how does that affect? How does that affect things? I mean, as you see it, if the national
Josh Kurtz 35:37
parties pay attention, yeah, yeah. I mean, it just brings resources in. I mean, literally, it means money. But, you know, sometimes national strategists, you know, then sort of come to the aid of the candidates and sort of say, Oh, wait, this is a race we could win, or this is a race where we should be doing better. And so, you know, it’s, it’s a combination of strategic advice and and money. And we’re starting to see some of that come in now, I think because April Delaney has self funded her campaign to a degree. It’s last report over, she put over 3 million of her own money into the race. You know, the Democrats have been reluctant to cut her a big check, but, I mean, I think, I think they’re, they’re a little bit nervous about the race. I mean, she’s probably ahead by a smidge, but it’s not something they could take to the bank.
Nestor Aparicio 36:27
Josh Kirk’s taking time out of his busy schedule to educate us and intelligently, wisely, as I would say, won’t be fr wise markets friends who have locations everywhere, discuss our country, our citizenship, our patriotic duty. And really, you know, there’s a lot of places you can go. You know, move to the Middle East. There’s place you can go. You move to China. You move the rush. You don’t get to vote. So please vote. That’s my citizen wisdom, and I try to use my little piece of the world to give politicians an air, to talk to them, to ask dumb questions. Um, I’ve really not had a problem with that in the last 1015, 20 years. In regard to having most politicians want to sit and at least have a crab cake and talk about things not to earn my vote my confidence or my endorsement, to say I’ve met candidate X or Y and they seem like a decent person. I feel like I’ve met a lot of decent people in politics more than I maybe I expected in a lot of ways, people that I would have babysit my kids, people that I would trust with money, people that I would trust with truth, right? And then that really is the differentiator for me, as I vote for you, with Maryland matters and what you do in regard to elections and coverage. This is when I worked at the paper as a kid, and this is all in that crazy documentary, dude, the election nights at the newspaper were they brought in the good food, they brought in the pizza. All the bosses were in all night long. All the TVs were tuned in. Everybody was checking in with precincts. People that were working in the features Department got moved over to news for the night because they had to handle Anne Arundel County pole right, like it was a thing, man. So as much as I’m not considered to be the most you know political creature I you know, I always tell Ted venetoulis, I campaigned against you back in 76 I had cooler hand signs up. He’s like, we beat their ass. So on behalf of Ted. So give me your American Vision here this week, because you’ve dedicated your whole life to trying to report truth to people. And this is a big week in a lot of ways.
Josh Kurtz 38:34
Yeah, I mean, I mean, you know, to sound Pollyannaish, the most important thing anyone can do is vote. And you know, if they’re nervous about the election, you know, whatever side you’re supporting, you know, go out and knock doors. You know, if you’re if you’re worried about the presidential race, you know, if you can go up to Pennsylvania and knock doors help. You know, there are candidates and causes all over the place that could use you. It’s probably better than just, you know, sitting and watching your favorite TV, cable, TV network and fretting, you know, better to just go out and and and work a poll. I mean something. I mean, there’s, there’s ways to participate, but at a minimum, everyone should vote and, and let’s keep calm. That’s the other thing I would say, Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 39:20
calm this on Wednesday morning with the guy who loses calls it crooked, which we all know that’s coming, so didn’t take Bill Maher to figure that out. You know, seven years ago, Josh Kurtz can be found out at Maryland matters.org. I highly encourage my audience to find trusted, accurate news sources as they navigate all of this, and Josh you and your group certainly do a great job. I am appreciative of your time and coming on here with some wisdom and educating me about lots of things too. So I thank you. Happy to do it. Nestor, thanks as always, and I hope to run into you a little bit more often out on the trail and run it around and have. Man, we got a state to run. We got a country to run. We got a football game this week. Really important things. They’re playing baseball this week, all of this stuff. But I’m trying to mix and mingle all this. We’re going to get the Maryland crab cake to back out on the road, brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. And we’re going to be doing it all sorts of places. Jiffy Lube is also our sponsor. We’re going to be a Cocos, we’re going to be a Costas, we’re going to be a Baptist. We’re going to be at State Fair. We’re going to be at a Gertrude at the BMA with Dan Rodricks on December the fifth, talking about his place. We’re going a lot of things going on around here. Make sure you got us tuned in at am 1570 I am Nestor my thanks. Josh Kerch, Maryland matters. We are. Wnst, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stopped talking Baltimore positive, get out and vote. I.
