no more orange people clan to jerk us all around ♪ host: we will let it sit there. again, as you call in over the morning, the lines if you wish to pick the one that best represents you, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. the chance to express your opinions, i guess you can sing them if you want. i don't know if i want to invite that anyway. we have been joined by reporters in battleground states to give us a sense of what is going on.

when it comes to a battleground state, why do you think yours is such? guest: you look back at the past election cycles. joe biden being the first democrat to win the state of georgia since 1992 on the presidential side. we have gotten used to this. we in georgia used to joke about what was happening down in florida with tight elections, all the commercials. we are seeing that now in georgia, commercials all the time, and candidates all the time. candidates would only make a handful of visits in 2000, 2004. now it's all the time. host: remind our viewers come the last presidential election, who won the state, how might it change this time around? guest: president biden won by less than 12,000 votes. it is one of the reasons why you

saw former president trump trying to have the results overturned here in georgia. it is also why you are seeing so much money poured into the state , because it could be close again. host: if that is the case, where are the key parts of the state that both sides will be paying attention to? guest: what has changed as you are seeing candidates on both side focus on every part of the state. for example, just last week, vice president harris campaigning on the coast near savannah about one stop out in rural georgia. the deputy campaign manager told us, if you go to those counties and tried to get those handful of votes, and you have seen this in previous elections -- same for republicans coming into atlanta, going after black male voters. then of course there are the northern suburbs in atlanta

where using swing voters who come two years ago, a handful of voted for brian kemp as governor, democratic u.s. senator rafael warnock. those are signs that you will see people fighting for. host: traveling on that bus tour, large scale, what was their message as they made the stops? guest: focusing on areas outside of atlanta. for ever, use our just focus on atlanta. then you saw former president trump, his rallies are in rural areas like peer week, georgia, rome. the whole state of georgia has become a battleground payment that is what you saw, basically some of the messaging from vice president harris. host: i imagine with states still up and play, you are

seeing outside forces come to support both candidates. give us a sense of who is coming in, the money being provided here? guest: you just have to look at my emailed. there is always a surrogate coming to the state, today, tomorrow, secretary, cabinet secretary in the biden administration. you have the human rights campaign president coming down to georgia. today we had an afl-cio leader leaving you are seeing surrogate after surrogate come to the state to make their argument for both sides. host: as far as ground campaigns are concerned, what are you seeing? guest: first of all, you are seeing lots of campaign office is open on both sides. you are seeing a lot of volunteer sign up on both sides. it is not just campaign offices in the atlanta metro area, it's

in every city around the state. you see the harris campaign opening up outside the city of atlanta. the trump campaign opening campaign after campaign, dozens when you add them together. you are seeing the ground game being built. the audience may know, the feud between former president trump and georgia's governor. governor kemp talked about this. his political machine is very powerful in the state. he made clear it has been working on the ground since july on behalf of the former president. host: as we talk about georgia, you are facing a lot of focus on the election, how an election is run. with this coming election, are there changes that we see different from previous elections? guest: one of the most important ones that kicked in just last week. we had another bill dealing with

voting and elections. senate bill 199. it made it easier for the path of third-party candidate to get on the ballot. green party candidate jill stein use that to get on the ballot. since 2004, we've only had a republican, democrat, and libertarian on the ballot in georgia. this time, we will have six candidates, including the green party's jill stein, claudia delacruz, cornell west. there are also new rules on voter challenges. we are almost in that window where those order challenges can happen, current voters in the state of georgia. yes, you saw changes. the biggest and most important thing is how much elections and voting here in georgia are fought in the courts and on the appointed officials.

not just elected officials like the secretary of state brad raffensperger, but also appointed officials, whether on the state election board or in the court. host: when it comes to the election process, in previous years, concerns about security, accuracy of election. what is the state doing to prepare itself? guest: but secretary of state, as i mentioned, is traveling the state, arguing the state is doing health checks, the system is safe and secure, but again, you have that small minority of people who absolutely believe there will be some funny business. you heard the former president talk about in his speech, the idea that if democrats win georgia, they have somehow cheated. you are seeing efforts by local election officials, telling the

public what is happening, but then you have those who absolutely believe that that is not the case. host: what are you watching out for this election day? guest: we have six candidates on the ballot. i'm looking forward to seeing a poll, what it looks like with six candidates in the state of georgia. you have basically added three candidates to the left of vice president harris. the polls have been showing harris up in georgia in one or two points. what happens when you bring in a green party candidate, independent candidate, how will that change the numbers? of course, i'm watching the ads on different issues, for example, what is president trump's position on abortion? you are seeing a lot of ads around southern border security aimed at vice president harris. i would love to see a pole with the six candidates, how many

visits we will get this time around from the top principles. host: tell us about wabe. guest: we are an npr affiliate in the city of atlanta, public broadcasting. it is great to work at a station like that. we have a two-man politics team but plenty of other reporters out in the field covering the effort to get black male voters, the effort to get women voters, the issues around abortion, what is happening in georgia since the abortion ban kicked in in 2022. a great radio station where we can go deeper on issues. we can put five or six reporters at the state capital. great radio station that i love working for. host: wabe.org, political reporter for the station, thank you for giving us your time this morning. happy labor day.

let's go to stephen in connecticut. thanks for waiting. independent line. your top issue this election? caller: i love that report. c-span is the best. this has been a great show this morning. i've been following georgia, it is really dynamic, exciting to watch. i just want to die deeper on raul mentioning the election boards. they just put in these two rules. in the rules, it talks about delaying the vote. it almost looks like racketeering. i don't know why georgia governor kemp doesn't just put a stop to it. if not, why isn't the u.s. justice department stepping in? they had put it out in writing. i don't know. that is one thing i'm following. on the other thing i'm following

is florida because of abortion. you see today, he economy is number one, but underneath is abortion. why? american women do not like to be told what to do. women in florida do not like to be told what to do. you will see president trump give a nod toward the abortion initiative. he was the one to set it up to kick roe v. wade out, so if he is pro that initiative, you know that is a strong thing. if president trump loses florida, it is because of abortion david those are the things i'm watching. the headline is the economy, but as you see from these reporters, abortion is a sleeper issue. host: rex in west virginia. republican line. caller: pedro, good morning to

you, happy labor day. my thing is the economy and immigration david economy, i have been driving trucks for 41 years. i have seen the price of fuel go sky high, come back down, but they have a higher this time than it has in the past. it is hard to make a living out here trying to pay these prices we have to pay. the price of food and stuff, you cannot make a living. it is downright ridiculous on the prices and stuff. on the immigration side, i was watching something -- has not been covered here, not many stations. in aurora, colorado, venezuelans walk into an apartment complex,

ar-15's, handguns, all kinds of stuff, knocking doors open, telling people to get out. why can't we do something about that? they said they cannot do anything because they don't know who they are. it is on videotape. what is the problem with the law in the united states? we cannot get these illegal immigrants out of here. trump wants to try and do it, but every time he tries to do something, they are against him. they fight him. they thought him for four years. he wasn't even president and they started an impeachment on him. host: ok. let's hear from diane in ohio. democrat line. caller: good morning, pedro. i have two issues. one of them is women's rights. even in ohio, we agree with the

abortion law. the thing is, it didn't enact for the full coverage. it has a limit. most people in ohio didn't realize that. number two is immigration, but not the way that people are thinking. migrants are the ones that are keeping our food cheaper. if we get rid of the mrants, we will not be able to eat becae there is no want to pick the food, no want to work in the meatpacking companies. when it comes to these people taing about mignts getting free stuff, in the state of ohio -- and i know this is true because my sister worked at the welfare department -- you cannot get food stamps, cannot get medicare -- medicaid -- unless you are a resident of the united states. it is the churches that are giving away these things. people keep talking about the

government. until the churches become government, there is no way. when it comes to housing, i don't know. i don't know how that works. i don't have any idea. host: that is diane in ohio. the folks at ugov put out a pole in july, talking about the top problems the united states is facing. you may want to relate that to the top issue this election. not surprising,: we have seen, inflation at the top of the list. 64% saying it's a serious problem. followed by the general idea of corruption, drug abuse, followed by homelessness. coming in at number five is the weakening of democracy. then it goes to talk about housing, crime, immigration, gun violence.

if you want to take a look at it, it reflects several poles we have been showing you this morning, talking about those issues that you might have, might be an issue that may drive what you do this november, who you will vote for. let us know what your top issue is. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will keep going until 10:00, taking your calls mainly, taking short breaks to talk to reporters in battleground states on this labor day. let's go to robert in maryland, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. i wanted to speak to you this morning about kamala harris' tax proposal she put forward a month ago. she wants to put a 25% tax on

unrealized gains. that's a very fancy word for the equity in your house. for example, if you bought a house for $300,000, and the house is now worth $400,000, that is a $100,000 unrealized gain. you would have to pay $25,000 to the federal government every year that you possess this house , and if your house appreciates in that time period, this will never end. you are already paying county, state taxes for your property tax. she is proposing this tax. this affects every homeowner in the united states. look into it. that is what you proposing, a 25% tax on the equity in your home, america. this would destroy the housing market in this country. she said this.

do not take my word for it. she got up on stage and said it. unrealized gain applies to the equity in your home, america. if you bought that house and you have $100,000 of equity in your home, you would have to pay $25,000 annually on top of your regular property taxes. host: robert in maryland. showing you this idea of unrealized gains from the poynter institute saying currently unrealized gains are not subject to federal tax. kamala harris says she supports this, president biden's proposal, 25% for those individuals with more than $100 million in wealth. most americans would not be subject to such tax. fewer than 10,000 people in the

u.s. with a net worth of over $100 million. last week on this program, we invited friday or saturday, a segment looking at tax proposals, not only of vice president harris but also former president trump. if you want to check that segment, other issues that we have done with taxation, other issues with campaign 2024, go to c-span.org. check it out for yourself. bill in new york. republican line. caller: thank you. my main issue is the gasoline, and what has happened, just trying to use common sense, not even getting political.

previous to the biden harris administration, gas was probably $2.10 a gallon. i looked up executive orders. i didn't go through any newspaper, i went to the government website. there is still a pause that the biden administration put on for drilling in the united states on public land. ever since that went on, prices of gas, as everyone knows, shot through the roof, seven dollars a gallon. that has sustained over the last four years. if everyone was honest with themselves, regardless of what party they are -- we are on fixed income.

i have to go to my savings account more so than ever to help pay for just regular food. forget about going out to a restaurant anymore. we feel it. if people were honest with themselves, they would feel it. the reason why, when they stopped the drilling, -- it is not price gouging. it is that the cost went up for the people transporting our products to the grocery stores and other places. it cost them more to put gasoline in the trucks. host: ok. caller: that is what's happening. we are paying for it. that executive order has to be

reversed. host: let's go to theodora, south dakota. democrats line. caller: good morning. can you hear me? ok, hi. i'm a native american tribal member here on the reservation in south dakota. my concerns are this immigration. i don't understand why people are not complaining about cubans . i am sure they are crossing over florida and coming in that way. why are they not complaining about those immigrants? instead, they are all complaining about south america. at one point, we used to be north america and they were south america. no everyone is complaining about

everyone in mexico, venezuela. maybe these people in cuba, too. who knows. i don't want to offend anybody on the line, and human listening, but you all are immigrants. everyone except for the native indians who were here on this country. it was because of the european doctrine of discovery. where the pope said if they are not christian, not catholic, then they are in human. that is where they considered us inhumane. host: theodore in south dakota. let's go to don and south dakota -- in south dakota. independent line. caller: i want to touch on the

affordable care act, it didn't go in our country except for a couple of states like our state. the reason on talking about it is because of the accountability for receiving medicaid, my understanding, my research, a lot of states and their representatives in their states, our for medicaid -- are for medicaid, which are my tax dollars paying for that. i'm a firm believer talking on this labor day that you have to earn it. if you get medicaid or also had the infrastructure that monitors social security, who gets it, as far as the proper infrastructure to vet that, then you have to earn it, you have to work for it. example, you get medicaid, you

get social security, unless you are retired, 65 and over, 55 and over, and you have earned it from your working years, you have to get on a bus and one or two days a week, there needs to be a system in place for accountability and having to pay for that. host: don in california. next we hear from larry in texas. republican line. your top election issue. caller: good morning. my issue really go hand-in-hand. of course, immigration and the economy. back in the day, 2020, when biden-harris got elected, they must have put together 18 and brainstormed the result of what

they were going to do. to crash the economy, flood it with illegals, sacrifice the collateral damage that immigration has done in particular, is totally off the wall. i think that issue will hit them hard in this next election. host: larry in texas. republican line. let's go to lula in ohio. democrats line. you are going to have to turned on your television real quick. caller: hello. host: you have to turned on your television. you are on. go ahead. caller: ok. i talked about the issue that i'll be voting for, democracy.

i feel without democracy, all these issues people are talking about really won't matter. i think the top issue is democracy the selection -- this election. host: what do you mean by that? caller: my right to vote, my right to have a vote in the country. my rights as a woman, my rights as a human being to put my voice forward. democracy is voting. voting your issues. having a choice in that. host: do you believe those rights are being threatened, why? caller: i believe they are being threatened. project 2025 lays out what we will get and not get.

it is out there in black-and-white. 2025 tells it all. host: just about finishing up our second hour, taking a look at your top issue when it comes to the selection. as far as guests are concerned, speaking to various reporters throughout the show, which you have seen already. we will largely hear from you as we hear your concerns. phone lines, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001, republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us if you wish, (202) 748-8003. herere some of those coming in this morning. sue and whiting, new jersey, talks about how to care for our isn't the best ideat our elderly in nursing homes to be

cared for by strangers? remember how poorly they were taken care of during the pandemic. this is a viewer, ted in new york, saying it is taxes. why are we notistening to warren buffett who says raise taxes on the wealt? why are we listening to the five times crept former president of the united states. when it comes to top issues, this is mk saying stop project 2025. you can add yours to the mix via text. facebook page is always open, x feed is open as well. as we start on this final hour of the program this morning, david starts us off, san francisco, independent line. caller: i hope you have a good labor day.

you mentioned the five times bankrupt donald trump. we have to consider the moral bankruptcy that that fellow has. it is not just five times. he tries to be morally bankrupt every day. i get a particular joy with messing with texas. i can give two different opportunities for the people of america to mess with texas. everybody knows the rental prices of real estate, renting a house, apartment, has gone up fantastically the last couple months. it is all directly due to the corrupt real estate broker of texas, harlan crow. if you go to his website, crowholdings.com, he owns land all over america.

the business license in the other 49 states could be yanked if people got up on their hind legs and that it. this guy is utterly corrupt. he owns land all over america. the second thing we need to do with texas is free the maga sl aves. last year, it got to be 109 for two months straight. all of july and into august, it was 109 degrees. the corrupt legislature of texas put together a law, hb 2127, that said businesses didn't need to give a water break two people working. they didn't need to give them a water break when it was 109 degrees. that law is still in effect. the slaves of texas, just like

juneteenth, i am telling the people of texas, they still don't have the right to get a water break when they are working. host: jim is next in florida. republican line. caller: earlier in the show you had a pull from abc showing harris up by four. box on tuesday had one showing trump up by two. a number of years ago i was called to participate in political polling which i agreed to. they asked me a battery of questions, no more than 10 after one of them they said how old are you? at that time i said i was 40. sorry, we are only pulling voters from 21 to 35. i have no problem with that, but why didn't you ask in the beginning? you didn't get the answers you want, so we then you say, you

should have asked me at the beginning, when is your age, and then you would say we are not pulling that group. but you asked me a battery of questions, you don't get what you want, so then you asked me how old i am. you need to eliminate that. that three people you had on from michigan, north carolina, georgia, if they are not democrats, i tell you what, you can tell by their voice and the way they talk. it is a wonder if you don't have a sign behind you saying about harris-walz. it seems you are leaning very strongly today in favor -- host: we take no position on that. if you have watch this program long enough, you would realize that. thanks for the input. talking to folks throughout the morning when it comes to the various battleground states. arizona, no exception this time around.

jim small, the editor of the arizona mirror, joining us for a discussion, looking at his state, where it stands. the arizona mirror, tell us about it. guest: arizona mirror is a local nonprofit newspaper covering government and policy, part of the state room network, newsrooms in state capitals and i want to say 39 states across the country. we launched almost six years ago this month actually, right in the middle of the 2018 election cycle. we have our eyes focused on november 5, covering our election in arizona, a state that has long been deep red, now is a battleground state. host: since you have been doing this since 2018, what has changed from then to now? guest: politics in general across the nation has become more intense for people on all

sides of all issues really. particularly in arizona, and activation of younger voters. our electorate has shifted pretty dramatically in the last 15 years, going from a lot more heavily white, retired voters into a lot of younger, particularly latino voters. the youth vote here has really turned out in ways that were unexpected the last six years, starting in 2018, repeating in 2020, 2022. campaigns are really looking toward those younger voters in 2024. a lot of campaigns are pinning their hopes on those borders showing up in larger than expected numbers. host: when it comes to the younger voters in the state, which way do they skew? guest: just like nationally, they tend to skew pretty heavily

toward democratic candidates. not exclusively, but i think we have seen a huge uptick in enthusiasm and younger voters splitting more for democrats at the top of the ticket, more so since kamala harris entered the ticket. there has been a real, noted enthusiasm among younger voters, democrats in general. they are out, we are seeing a lot more signs that that group of voters will turn out, show up at the polls and possibly record numbers, in ways that we saw in 2020 in particular, huge years were younger voters. host: correct me if i'm wrong, joe won in 2020, donald trump

won in 2016. if that is the case, where do you think they have to concentrate to gain voters they don't already have? guest: i think arizona really is the epitome of a tossup state right now. we see that in the polling. it will very likely come down to the turnout game, which side can motivate their base to show up with a little more intensity. that has clearly been the republican's game, the trump campaign's game since 2016, motivating the base. democrats have generally worked to attract more independent, undecided swing voters. there seems to be a lot fewer swing voters.

biden's exit really got rid of those double haters, who would set out, or vote for a third-party candidate. now that that dynamic has shifted, you are seeing a lot of those undecided voters really coalescing behind harris by and large. that pool of voters is a lot smaller. it will come down to turnout. democrats are now working very hard to try and activate some of those groups that were a little bit lethargic with the biden nominee. latino voters, women voters, younger voters, the three main camps that democrats in arizona and other battleground states will try hard to get registered and get to the polls on election day. host: how vibrant are the ground game for either candidate? guest: democrats have a much more robust ground game.

there has been a lot of coverage in arizona, some nationally about how the trump campaign and the republican national committee have really taken the ground game and outsourced it to third-party groups, advocacy groups like turning point usa, other groups. instead of having that more traditional party bases where you have that network volunteers, employees, seasonal campaign workers out there on the ground canvassing neighborhoods, democrats are still doing that, but there are groups constantly involve working with the party. on the republican side, it's a lot more muted, more aimed at pouring the money into television and, trying to contact rotering that way, setting the tone that way. democrats are much more active, walking neighborhoods, talking

to campaigns on my doorstep. i live in a fairly conservative area of phoenix and even still the folk coming to our doors are for the democratic candidates running for local office here. host: let's talk about the down ballot. ruben gallego, kari lake, contest for the senate. where does the stand today? guest: generally polling shows ruben gallego, congressman from the west part of phoenix, has a lead in the race. different polls show different amounts. some surveys have put him up 11, 12 points up in the race, which is an incredibly commanding lead, if those poles are accurate. i think this is a situation where you have a republican nominee who really has a lot of

negatives, has struggled to connect with voters in general. in particular even with republican voters. kari lake lost the governor's race in 2022 by about 70,000 votes, but she still lost. the reason she lost, independent voters didn't care for her, largely sided with katie hobbs. there were a large number of republican voters who either voted for hobbs or set out entirely. a lot of analysis showing there were some 35,000 republican voters who voted for republican down the ticket and skipped the governor's race. that would have been enough for kari lake to win, had she been able to convince those voters. one thing that she had done to alienate herself, this crusade against john mccain and the

mccain family. republican activists may not like mccain, never really liked him here, but the broad electorate does, and they hold him in high esteem. trashing him, telling them that they are not welcome in the party, really had a resident message for voters. that message is, she doesn't want me, that's fine, i don't want her. we see that dynamic playing out here as well. host: your assessment of use races, dave schleicher, other races in the sixth district. guest: absolutely. those are both high target races for democrats. they have been for a while. they are the state's two competitive races. david has been in danger in the past, i don't know if he is this year. this will be his toughest

reelection race. shah is a democrat but moderate, former state legislator, burnished his credentials as a lawmaker working across the aisle. to the point where a lot of democrats were even frustrated with him at certain points. he worked his way through a crowded, six-person field and that primary. schweikert has faced a number of ethics scandals over the years, has generally not been terribly challenged. 2022, he did win a close race, a percentage point, so democrats see that as a ticket -- pickup. in the tucson area, ciscomani, finishing up his first term, competitive first term, essentially successor to gabby gifford's district.

for the last 20 years, it's been going back and forth between republicans and democrats. democrats see ciscomani as someone who is too extreme, too close to the trunk cap. -- trump camp. they are painting him as someone who is out of line with a more moderate district. the former legislator, kristin engel, as try to moderate some of her positions to fit into that district a little bit. but these races, in a lot of ways, will rise and fall on the coattails of what happened with the harris and truck campaigns. if one of those candidates has a strong showing, it will bolster their party's candidates down the ticket. host: this even extends a little further because you wrote a story looking at your state's legislature and how it may change due to this year's election.

guest: arizona really is, from top to bottom, a battleground right now. the state legislature for the past four years, republicans have held each chamber by a single seat. democrats, for the 20 plus years i've been covering the state capital, have always come into elections saying this will be our year, will really make a run for it, but never really materialized. this year may be different. they have been laying the groundwork since the 2022 cycle, looking at this as a we are going to make him a push, try to swing for the fences on the legislature. if the democrats could capture both houses in the legislature, it would be the first time since 1965 that democrats have controlled the state capital. with a democratic governor, katie hobbs sitting in the executive, you see democrats excited for the possibilities.

in order to pull that off, they do have to shoot the moon, get everything right. there were only a handful of competitive legislative seats, may be eight in total out of 90. they are out in force. republicans see the direct, they have been marshaling their forces to defend these seats, pickup some, surprise democrats in some races where they are not looking. these are races that tip we don't get a whole lot of attention in the local press, in the minds of local voters, but they are the ones that will most affect everyone who shows up to cast a ballot in arizona. host: azmirror.com is where you can find their work. jim small, thank you for the time. thank you to those of you waiting on the line. this is clarence in minnesota.

the top issue this election cycle? caller: good morning this labor day, america, pedro. i want to say, trump denied the result of a fair election. how can you accept someone who will not accept a peaceful transition of power? it has been proven time and again we had a fair election. that simple. a much better alternative than electing a professional lawyer. -- liar. trump is a fascist. as a veteran, democracy is the most important thing in my life. republicans, what is it about democracy that you don't like? if you don't have democracy, you have nothing. democracy is security. every other issue as far as i'm concerned is just noise. host: thank you. republican next in virginia.

caller: good morning. just like the gentleman said, lies are not democracy. i keep hearing people talk about donald trump was convicted of rape. he wasn't. if he was, he would be in jail. we do forget there was a lady by the name of blanche brown, wife and mother of three, the wife of willie brown, someone kamala harris want you to forget about. think about next time they throw rocks in glass houses. host: tennessee. go ahead. caller: good morning, listeners. my main issue is the government spending. if the spending is under control, everything would be all right, like a formation of a building. if the foundation is correct, the building has a better chance of surviving. spending is the key issue. the country is not running like

it is supposed to be. i see some of the underlying roots. stop being a compassionate country but be practical in running the country. medicaid takes in $300 million in taxes, spends $900 million. how is that going to work? if the government spending is taking care of the economy, it would have been taken care of by itself. stop this $25,000 thing for housing. in the long run, it only hurts the economy. stop getting free money to the citizens. stop the student loan forgiveness. stop scrutinizing the filings of the people. according to cnbc, 94% of the filings are all paid. that is what my main issue is. government spending has to be under control. host: do you think the former president has a good record under spending? caller: no, he does not.

i was trying to be on the independent line. host: i'm going to stop you there. we try to keep people to the line that best represents the. let's refresh the lines. democrats, (202) 748-8000, the number to call if that is you. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. pick the best line that represents you, call on that line. we will try to get as many calls as possible during this time together. gavin is in rhode island, democrats line. caller: hi. i am a young democrat. i am 18. a lot of the things that jim and the caller said after kind of hit me hard. i am a young american. i feel like democracy in a sense is being lost to what it is.

i guess what i'm trying to say is, you look at the heritage foundation creating this project 2025, you look at ballot elections possibly being changed or discombobulated in the mess. i feel like if there is no winning, our states could be lost to an authoritarian nation. i am afraid that this country could be lost to project 2025, to fascism. that is just my thought. host: when it comes to project 2025, what are you most concerned about what is in it? caller: i am concerned about the

immigration laws, all of the segregation per se. lgbtq rights are lost, you cannot change your gender, without being -- your parents being told. you have other issues such as race. we know about immigration policies, abortion. a lot of these things have already been lost. the thing about project 2025, what it will commence, we will have trump basically invulnerable to other sources, other watchdogs. it is very threatening because trump will be the first one to have this. the heritage foundation is also very conservative. host: i suppose you have heard trump disavow project 2025, some of the surrogates as well. i suspect you don't believe that. why?

caller: trump seems to lie. he is very strong with his opinions. he is very wishy-washy. he surrounds himself with yes men. when he is lost on the problem, he denies them. the thing that i see that is most troubling with it, if you cannot escape from the issue, you try to hide from them. but they always recur once again. host: i don't know if you have decided who you will vote for, but if that is the case, how did you come to that conclusion? caller: i would like to vote for kamala harris because i think she has the best representation for a community that she follows. better phrasing. basically, we had obama, as a

black american,, then hillary clinton lost to trump. i think this would be a good representation of the community we want to see as a president. that is just my personal opinion. host: gavin in rhode island. let's hear from michael in rhode island. independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. my main question was about inflation. what i want to point out, the biden harris administration wanted to get the student loan repayments going. the supreme court said no to that multiple times. i think this is a red herring when kamala harris says she will offer a $25,000 to get housing under control. she is not addressing the root causes which is the supply, driven up may be by the immigration issue with all the people coming in, the rent is coming up, lack of supply.

furthermore, she doesn't have a plan to reduce the cost. thank you. host: michael in florida. again, we are asking people about the top issues when it comes to election day. you can throw yours into the mix by calling in on the lines. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you saw the republican national convention in wisconsin. you saw vice president harris and tim walz visit wisconsin, suggesting it is a battleground state. with us now is statehouse reporter jack kelly. mr. kelly, good morning. answer the why question for us, why wisconsin? guest: why is wisconsin a battleground state? pretty much why is it not? the elections here are very narrowly divided whether it is the presidential race, governor race, u.s. senate race.

one third of voters identify as independents and they have proven to be quite fickle over the last decade or so and who they are going to back. donald trump was the first republican to win wisconsin's presidential vote since 2004. joe biden in 2020. it has gone back and forth over the last few years. pretty much everywhere you turn, all signs point to wisconsin being a battleground state. host: you talk about fickleness. where is the fickleness trending this time around, if there is a way to measure that? guest: the polling that many people look at. wisconsin always seemed to be the best battleground state for president biden when he was the candidate. continues to be one of the more favorable states for vice president kamala harris. democrats enjoy a massive ground game advantage here. the state democratic party of wisconsin has absolutely run

circles around his republican counterparts when it comes to fundraising. they maintain this enormous organizing staff throughout the state. that has really shown it can be quite effective over the last few years in wisconsin. democrats have won 15 of the last 18 state races. the polling looks good if you are a democrat in wisconsin. of course, we know that things are always tight. the last two presidential races have been decided by about 20,000 votes each. host: if i had my information correct, the former president in the state last week, tim walz will be there today. where are the areas that this campaign is focusing on? guest: the former president was in la crosse, western wisconsin, tim walz will be in milwaukee today. he was in milwaukeejd vance is y

week and it is not surprising they are targeting the swingiest parts of wisconsin. the milwaukee suburbs, waukesha county. they are targeting western wisconsin which is a place democrats used to take well in off in the trump team are, trying to win back a few thousand voters from that park and then they've been targeting swing counties in the state. 50-50 counties in kenosha county bring we saw president trump visit green bay. they are targeting the places where they need to change a couple thousand mines at a time, but a couple thousand mines at a time in four or five counties gets you to the 20,000 vote margin which is what you need to win. host: we've heard tim walz and

jd vance being assigned to track federal voter like the ones in wisconsin. who do you think has the power of attraction at this point? guest: they certainly bring different things to the table. one of the first big events of the harris campaign took place in western wisconsin in eau claire. tim walz was there and they drew a big crowd. jd vance has also drawn folks to his events and is engaging in a different way. it's hard to say who exactly endears themselves to voters more. i will say to some degree from a cultural perspective our neighbors in minnesota are similar to folks in wisconsin. they are very reminiscent of the state fairs we have in wisconsin. i do not think there's any way to tell for certain but i will say folks seem to be quite

energized and as we've seen across the country turning out in droves with kamala harris and tim walz. people have been turning out in droves to see former president trump, we haven't seen as much engagement with jd vance but has been doing smaller scale events. host: a lot of offices and ground games for either of the candidates there? guest: especially the harris campaign, i forgive the -- i forget the exact figure but it's something like 40 offices across the state and counties that former president trump won in 2020. going back to the idea if your democrat and almost that lose by less mentality if you can pick up a couple thousand votes in these counties across western and central wisconsin that goes a long way when you're milking everywhere you can out of milwaukee. those extra votes can go a long way for securing the win.

>> i want to talk about the senate race there in wisconsin. tammy baldwin there. where it stands today and what should people watch for. guest: i think people should watch for a bit of tightening in the polling trade we saw this last week and a college poll which showed it at a one point race. that seems to be an outlier. considered by the folks to be a pretty heavy favorite here which is showed her to be up by five or six points. we'll see that tightening to pay attention the election more get more familiar with eric hovde he , he has extraordinary wealth and has been using that wealth consistently in the campaign so people started to form more of an opinion of him. i think it will be interesting. in a similar way that former

president trump has been struggling to find an attack line that registers against vp harris i think eric hovde he is struggling to find an attack line that sticks against kate baldwin. i think we will see the race go a little bit more negative than it's been over the past few weeks and i think it comes down to who does a better job of defining the other candidate but i think many people consider baldwin to be a favorite at this point. >> that definition does by the television ads folks are seeing there. the folks at home looking at an ad from terry baldwin and eric hovde. [video clip] >> getting kids out the door. eric hovde he things all women care about is hollywood. >> it's deplorable sadly with females they spend too much time focused on what's going on in hollywood. >> we know you supported overturning roe v. wade and we know you vote for national abortion ban. >> what is wrong with this guy?

>> i approve this message. >> i america of the end i approve this message. >> we pay more for every thing because of tammy baldwin. >> my car payment doubles this year. >> she voted for $2 trillion in spending that caused this mess. tammy baldwin voted to give illegal immigrants handouts. tammy baldwin has done nothing for us and she's been in d.c. for 25 years. >> we can't afford tammy baldwin's failed policies. >> it's time for a change. >> on one side it's abortion on the other. these themes are common these days. >> they are common, you are correct about that. the baldwin campaign is really only gotten into hitting eric hovde d on abortion which when you look at the polling is one of the top issues in wisconsin. since the dobbs decision, there

was about a year long periods were abortion was outlawed in wisconsin and the court ruling has since made the procedure available again for about the last 12 months but deciding whether it's protected by the wisconsin constitution is very much ongoing so it's top of mind for voters here. the other big issue is the economy. people have the feeling, the pain of the last few years and that's been caused by inflation. we've seen some of the things people like to talk about going up. the eric of the folks want to tie baldwin to biden and ever since biden has dropped out i feel like some of the windows lost some of that sale of the attack line. i'm wondering if we will see a shift in the last 60 days or so here is they look for some to really stick. >> tell us what your work with

with constant -- with wisconsin watch. guest: we are a nonpartisan not-for-profit newsroom based here in madison that we get coverage throughout the state. primarily longform investigative and enterprise journalism and our work really focuses on holding public leaders accountable whether that's a circuit court court judge or county official all the way to the governor's office and folks working in the state legislature. >> wisconsin watch.org is the website. mr. kelly thanks for your time this morning. guest: guest: thanks for having me. >> this is scott in california. democrats line thank you for waiting. caller: thank you for taking my call. the suit you're wearing i want to call it paisley but with the shirt and maroon tie, to somebody do your colors before you go on set, it is awesome. i would buy that in the second.

go ahead. i would biden the second but i would not pull it off as well as you have. my top issue is earlier i watched your entire show and it's absolutely great, thank you. and flavoring. needless to say the immigration issue is top of mind with the native american who called into the show it brought to mind a story that my sister had a best friend in college in colorado and she was from the big sky country. and my adopted brother is also native american 50% and then i was a surprise later on. but needless to say, her best

friend from college who lives in the midwest and the big sky country once had a road rage incident that i wanted to share where we are hypocritical, selfish about immigration. she was out driving around, this white businessman cut her off, she cut him off. they came to the red light, she rolls the window down he rolled his window down and says go back to your own country. you know what she said. i'm native american. the hypocrisy of immigration. it's a shame that we've gone so far off track with it. thank you for your time this morning. host: i'm not the only one working today the network, a lot of people keeping the network on this labor day so you don't get

to see them they are important to what we do. margie in pennsylvania, republican line high. caller: nice to see you. my top issue for this campaign is our appearance on the world stage. i feel that biden was weak and it was noticed after the rnational trip he took. i feel that harris has always played both ends against the middle just to advance her career. of course, republican, i believe in small government. trump is rude and crude and he has no tact and finesse. but, china who is actually our main problem in the middle east they don't know what he will do next. so i feel that we need someone

in the presidency who at least projects a feeling of strength. that said i would vote for him anyway. but that is my main issue. meadville is right between pittsburgh and erie. almost equidistant. host: vice president harris and president biden will be in pittsburgh today. caller: i'll see them on television today at some point in time. host: you can watch on that and -- this network margie. we will show it to you live our main channel without uption if you are interested. go ahead and finish her though caller: that's fine, i did finish my thought. i'm not a terrific fan but i will be voting for donald trump. host: one of those battleground

states people will be watching for over the next 60 plus days. tina from pennsylvania, independent line. >> good morning pedro, i hope you are well. i am in a battleground state and it is getting hairy. if you just bear with me. direct democracy we keep hearing. in my opinion the threat we are facing is we have a candidate on the others on the democratic side that did not receive one vote. it was not put in the hands of the people, it was put in the hands of all of the hedge funds and the powers that be. what should have happened is schumer, pelosi and kamala harris should have gotten together and done it the correct way. but that's here nor there. another thing i want to say is i did about -- vote for biden in 2020. you will see kamala harris and tim walz in pittsburgh, you will

see them in harrisburg, in philadelphia. you won't see them anywhere in between. but you will see donald trump, you've seen him in butler, using them in johnstown. and -- that's not the way to win this state. if you go to the city. and i've done a lot of phone calls on both sides to see who were you going to vote for, what's your reason. the reason here is the cost of everything. everything. seniors are getting misplaced. we are seeing the bussing in and we are seeing the freebies that are going to say they are illegals because they broke federal law to get here. that needs to stop. i don't care what side of the aisle you are on, i don't care if you're white, black, hispanic, you need to be here legally. they don't need to be voting, they don't have any constitutional rights and it's

just -- people need to come together as american because if we don't, we will end up in a war on our soil and it's just -- pedro, it is scary. people need to wake up. trump didn't put us in any wars pretty could stop this. host: she mentioned it's a battleground state that we've been paying attention to. georgia is one we've talked about. democrats line, this is jack. caller: how's it going. i just want to say something about the economy, of the silly blame game that keeps going on about the economy. the inflation we had was short-lived as a result of closing the economy because of the pandemic during the trump administration. you close the economy and nobody is working, a bunch of people don't have a flow of income coming into their household and the government had to send money to those people so they could buy food. inflation is not -- it's not the

fault of anyone except the pandemic. it was short-lived. trump handled the first election season is administration as -- like a clown and then joe biden and kamala harris got us out of the mess like eisenhower winning world war ii. the economy was going gangbusters yet we -- now we've had some inflation, the result of the pandemic. it's not the blame of biden or anybody. people throwing this around, the economy is going great. the economy was going great when biden handed off the economy to trump it was going great. we had a pandemic so stop trying to blame, biden and harris took us out of the disaster fantastically and now we have a nice strong stable economy. when clinton handed off the economy to george w. bush, bush had a nice economy. of course we had 9/11.

then bush handed off a disaster and the financial crisis obama had to take over bush's disaster and then obama handed off a gangbusters economy to trump and then trump, not his fault, he had the pandemic but he handled it like a clown. and then biden had to take over a disaster from trump and now the democrats got us out of this again. you put trump back in charge you are going to have another clown in charge of the system again and we will need another democrat to take over the mass. host: got your point. we've got about 15 minutes left in the program. if you are calling in to tell us about that top issue, hold on for just a few minutes. as we take a look at the battleground states this morning. this is the state of nevada. nevada independent, their washington correspondent here to

talk about the condition of the state as a battleground. >> thank you for having me. host: as far as the battleground goes, why nevada this time around? guest: i think people sometimes forget nevada is a swing state because democrats have won the presidential election every time since 2008 but the margins have been getting small. hillary clinton winning by 2.5 points. it's a state the trump campaign feels like they can get over the hump this time in 2024. it's the smallest of the swing states, but both parties believe they have a path to victory there and the margin will be pretty tight. host: one of the things they are talking about is the taxation on tips, a lot of service community there. took up at the relation and how that's being received by the community. guest: nevada has the highest

concentration of tipped workers in the country. its bartenders, waiters, car dealers. and so one thing about the vegas area is its highly unionized, they are huge force in democratic politics and represent kitchen workers, workers in the hospitality industry and they've come out in support of this proposal to end taxation on tips. at the same time they said they don't trust trump to implement it and support vice president harris who is in favor of the proposal. the question will be down ballot -- not just down ballot but among rank-and-file union members. the member education they will do, but rank-and-file union members, is that a swing issue for them. i think those are open questions but something the trump campaign feels and they just did an event with members of the culinary union, it's an issue they feel is going to help them in november. host: as far as where his

candidates are traveling in the state, how would you characterize that and where those up for grabs votes. >> a lot of the event seal crn las vegas because that's where most people in nevada live but washoe county up north is on the border with oregon. that's going -- that's additional bellwether county. it voted for biden in 2020. both campaigns really feel like if they can win that it's a great sign. you don't have to win it. the republican governor did not win that county but still won the state. it makes your path easier and a good indicator of what might happen to you on election night. host: when it comes to the ground game. how would you characterize the ground game of either campaign, who has the best campaign? guest: if you know anything about nevada democrats, harry reid built the democratic nevada machine. it's a huge coordinated campaign from the presidential down to the state legislature.

the culinary union is a big part of that. in 2022 they knocked on a million doors and she won her race by less than a point. you can understand how critical each element of this machine is. they are 14 campaign offices, they a lot of targeted outreach to latino voters, asian-american voters, they are a really well organized effective political machine. the trump campaign when biden was at the top of the ticket i think on some level took nevada for granted. now the polling has stabilized, i think they are on the back foot a bit so they have campaign office open and her started to staff up. they described that as sort of a qualitative versus quantitative approach they've talked about wanting to knock on the right doors so trying to identify registered republicans who don't vote always or voted republican in the past two maybe didn't vote in the midterm or even in 2020 so they are targeting

voters not unique to nevada. that sort of the difference in approach right now on the ground in nevada. host: maybe he has an attraction of voters amongst the latino community or minority community. does that bear itself out anyway in nevada? guest: with his endorsed candidates in the midterm it didn't quite bear fruit. the population in nevada is pretty heavy mexican-american and where we senior republicans make gains as cuban-americans in venezuela americans doesn't really exist as large of community in nevada. what republicans tell me is a great path is to win 40% of the hispanic vote there. no candidate has been able to do that as a republican since bread we will see what trump has been able to do. host: can we talk about the nevada senate race between jacky rosen and her challenger sam

brown. tell us about this for those who are maybe not qualifying guest: -- watching it as closely grade this -- qualifying -- watching us closely. guest: there are all the swing states were democrats are running. republicans have thought of nevada as their best pickup opportunity especially with the presidential polling until recently had been good for them so they are passionate about their candidate sam brown. he is a veteran, a small business owner, his wife nursed him back to health after he suffered injury in afghanistan. nevada is a really transient states of the population elected jacky rosen, about 30% of that will be different people. nevada politicians have to introduce themselves to candidates. jacky rosen has a huge financial advantage, she's using that to get on the airwaves earlier and more frequently than sam brown. she deafly wants the race to be

about abortion, about his past abortion stances. he wants the race to be more about the economy and talk about inflation, grocery prices. rozen has margins that seem pretty unreasonable next act poles to tighten as we get closer to the election but i think people are quite clear what rozen seems to be winning at the moment. >> will show the ads from both campaigns and then come back to you. [video clip] >> it's an unthinkable trauma when a woman is raped and becomes pregnant. as sexual assault counselor i have seen it too many times. but sam brown has spent the last decade pushing to ban abortion without exception for rape or incest. even support the texas ban, one of the harshest in the country. for sam brown to tell these women they do not have a choice, it is disgraceful. >> i'm jacky rosen did i approve

this message. >> gas prices are up, housing and grocery prices are through the roof and nevada has the second-highest unemployment in the nation. career politicians do not seem to care. >> i'm not a politician. neither are you. after the military i worked in a warehouse and started a small business. i will reverse jacky rosen's policy and breakdown prices. i'm sam brown and i approve this message. host: what kind of impact do you think is that having on central voters. guest: both are compelling messages pray nevada's estate where there -- it's a really libertarian lean when you think about nevada. easy marriage, easy divorce, vegas. it's pretty firmly pro-abortion rights state.

the ballot measures got about two thirds support and there will be a ballot measure this sierra nevada to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitutions of democrats are hoping independent voters that that will be compelling to left-leaning independence. by the same token nevada people say when the economy sneezes nevada catches a cold because it such a tourism-based economy. so it had the highest unemployment during covid. obviously that's gone down a lot. but they had the highest unemployment and gas prices have been really high there. things are grocery prices are still high. so republicans like sam brown are hoping the economic message for people feeling the pain in nevada, a lot of low income are middle-class workers every working-class population that that will be a compelling case to those right-leaning or true independents.

host: washington correspondent here talking about the battleground state of nevada. thank you for your time. a few more of your calls let's hear from stephen massachusetts, republican line. thank you for joining us, go ahead. caller: happy labor day from webster massachusetts. named after the greatest orator in congress, daniel webster. my two concerns, my main concerns i'm looking at this from a holistic perspective. i'm concerned about the sovereignty of our nation and i am also concerned about what socialism appears to be spreading in this country. winston churchill once said socialism is the greed of envy and the spreading of misery and i think we saw the spread of misery the last four years with inflation.

regarding -- ok, i've got a live ways to go with this. i just would like to make a request from you guys because we have a lot of talk about unity. we've always had differences of opinion in this country and i refer to daniel webster. people ought to read his speech to robert of south carolina when the country past tariffs on a national level and south carolina declared state's and wanted nullification. speaking of history, this is my last request of you please, we are coming up on the 200th anniversary of the election of 1824. this is the last election to have been decided in the house of representatives. jackson won the electoral vote

and popular vote yet he was more or less stabbed in the back by henry clay and the election went to john quincy adams of new hampshire at the time. host: we will have to leave it there. steve in new jersey, independent line. caller: good morning, how are you. i'm very upset no one has mentioned this issue and it just shows you how desperate it is is directed hatred in this country. i can tell you i have never been more afraid to be a jew now. it is an epidemic. our synagogues have armed guards. i constantly see anti-semitic graffiti on the streets of new york city. we have had an insurgence of people coming into this country who are anti-american anti-jew.

they've taken over our universities. jewish kids are afraid to go to school and no one is talking about it. no one is talking about it. it is frightening what's going on. it's going on in many other western countries. france, england and it is a huge issue and a issue being ignored. that's kind of out was during the holocaust. everyone knew it was happening but it was ignored. once again it's happening and people are paying attention. host: democrats line. caller: the lying desta borders alive. the truth is the border has always been people coming across have always done a great job. right now the infrastructure, those of the people doing the

festivals and building the houses, of railroad, the tracks and also the bridges, the homes, texas, one of the best economies. if your food is too high i'm am so sorry for you. the other one is gas. in 2004, then president bush tapped every one of the oil wells and gas wells. the other one, the affordable care. 23, 24, texas signed a 3 million -- signed up 3 million people for affordable care, a.k.a. obamacare. host: anna in texas finalizing your calls with stops along the way to talk of two battleground state reporters. thank you for giving us your time. another addition of washington journal comes your way at 7:00

tomorrow morning. we will see you then. ♪ which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024]