Welcome to Washington Post live, are program at 1 00 p. M. Eastern everyday. Today, we will hear from two leaders on the frontlines lines of the campaigns. We will hear from senator todd , ofg later in the program indiana, running all the Senate Campaigns for the republicans as they hold onto their majority. And we will hear from a representative from Washington State, the cochair of the progressive caucus in the house. One of those leaders in washington who, regardless of who wins, will be a voice in the Democratic Party in the years to come. She is already campaigning across the country. And i will have two of my colleagues, who i have been waiting to hear from for a long emily, who will be with us later in the program. Lets go to the headlines. It is the day before election day and voters get to decide. Not anyone else, it is you who gets to decide. Here is what im hearing. Campaign, the trump republicans are concerned about my home area. The philadelphia suburbs. And have seen erosion there at the National Level because of the pandemic. You have seen the president encouraging the fire dr. Fauci chant. Democrats are worried about turnout, because they feel very good. It look at the polls and they say across the midwest joe biden is doing well, but they also want another path. Inthe voters do not come out the way that they need, they need to have another path to the white house, the sun belt, arizona, maybe even texas could be in play. But also the deep south, democrats have not won there for a long time. In the final stretch, the democrats paying attention to wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania, but also looking to the sun belt to see what happens. The congresswoman. She is expected to easily win another term on tuesday. Because of that, she has been busy helping Vice President joe biden in his efforts. You are the cochair of the progressive caucus. Welcome. It is so great to be back, as always. And at such an important time. Why did they put you into the pennsylvania part of the campaign . Was that about getting the progressives out in philadelphia and other parts of the statewhat are you state . What you hearing on the ground . We decided on her own to pick up pennsylvania. I am one of the members of congress that runs an effort on the campaign side, so we not only work on getting me reelected, but we work on races around the country. This year, we decided we had to commit in addition to working on Washington State and key districts here, we had to turn our attention to pennsylvania and adopting pennsylvania to make sure that we were turning out progressive voters, voters of color, young people for joe biden and harris. So we have been doing an amazing effort. We have had working with pennsylvania stands up, great grassroots organization, we have been training our volunteers in sevenhour deep canvassing training. Over 600 of them have participated in this effort. We have made over 140,000 phone calls in pennsylvania in the last 3. 5 weeks. Now we are focused on geo tv. In the early weeks, we were focused on persuasion, listening, and helping to move people along the scale, on addressing some of their concerns if they were either thinking about it for trump, turning them around, or if they were not sure theyre going to vote for biden, moving them along that scale. It has been an amazing effort. I am so proud of our volunteers and people who are refusing to leave anything on the line to make sure we do everything we can to elect joe biden and Kamala Harris. Bob no doubt the efforts we made, the Congress Woman, what about in pennsylvania or other key states, if there is a voter, progressive voter who says, i wanted to agree new deal wanted medicare for all, are you convinced that a voter is going to make sure they vote on tuesday . Jayapal it is always about turnout. It is about turnaround and turnout, as Becky Pringle was just saying to me. She is from pennsylvania. I was talking to her about pennsylvania. We have to make sure our base turns out. Sometimes people describe the swing voter as the moderate voter or the independent voter or the republican voter that we want to turn and vote democrat. Those folks are really important. But the other major category of swing voters is our base, people who have not felt like it matters, that their vote counts, that either party is going to fight for them. This year i think we have made a very compelling case because we have been united and really understanding what is at stake here. And saying to progressives and young people who are not happy that we are not going all the way to medicare for all agree new deal. But what i say to them over again is there is no progress possible with donald trump in the white house. And to not vote is to give away your power. It is not just that you are not voting, you are giving your vote to donald trump and to others who are running against democratic candidates. And so i do feel that this year we have made tremendous progress but we have more to do. We have got to make sure africanamericans, latinx voters, young people are turning in their ballots. We have had record turnout, but there is no one sitting on our laurels. We are working every single minute of every single hour of every single day right up to the election and then after as well. So is the Closing Argument from progressives who are trying to get voters out, more that President Trump is bad rather than biden is great and trying to make you believe that . Rep. Jayapal it is both. We already have a lot of progressives who have already voted for biden, and part of the reason is because they and the Progressive Movement has worked with the Biden Campaign, the bidenharris campaign, and put forward the most progressive platform of any recent democratic president ial campaign. And that is true on immigration, on climate, true on health care. Even though it doesnt go as far as some of us would like. It is very much about recognizing the very strong progressive platform that biden is running on. Just look at college as an example. Joe Biden Incorporated into his platform parts of my bill with Bernie Sanders, the college for all bill, assuring that young people and families earning up to 125,000 would have free college, free higher education. That is huge. He is committed to canceling student debt. Not as much as we would like, but a significant amount. He is committed on climate that we need aggressive targets we meet aggressive targets around 2035 and 2050 net zero emissions. I think when you look at these issues, there are a lot of our base who see that progress on Racial Justice, on so many of the issues they care about. If there are still people at the very end who are not certain about joe biden, then yes, our answer is anything you care about is going to be destroyed by another four years of donald trump in the white house. Bob are you convinced of vice if Vice President biden once he wins he is going to put progressives in the cabinet . Rep. Jayapal well, i have a lot of faith he will. Let me just say, obviously, were going to have to fight to keep the floor that we established on both policies and also make sure that there are many strong progressives in the white house and in his cabinet and all the way down through. But i will just say, bob, joe biden is going to come into, lets just say that joe biden wins from our lips to gods ears as they say, but lets say he comes into the white house, i do believe he is a man of tremendous principle, tremendous compassion who understands the defining moments that this country is in. And i think joe biden understands and has talked about wanting to have an fdrtype legacy, understanding that covid19 put a floodlight on so many of the inequities that existed long before covid hit, but it really showed us where we are as a country and what we have to do to bring about justice. Combine that with the reckoning that america is having with our legacy of White Supremacy and antiblackness, and i think this is a moment were joe biden in where joe biden in and of himself is committed to trying to deliver real structural change. All of that said, of course were going to push hard to make sure we get as many bold Structural Reforms as we can get to really bring about opportunity in our country. Bob you said youre going to push hard. I have also read that you have resisted the comparison of the congressional progressive caucus, group of house progressives to the conservative House Freedom caucus. So if you are going to push hard what does that mean if you dont , want to be this Freedom Caucus type group, what do you want the progressive caucus to be in a Biden Administration, in a biden washington . Rep. Jayapal yes, the reason i always resist that comparison is because the Freedom Caucus is about tearing things down. They dont believe government should exist. We are the opposite. Progressives believe government is the great equalizer of opportunity in the United States of america. And that a strong government response on Critical Issues that are central to people having equality and justice for all is absolutely essential. We are in the position where we are constantly pushing for more. We are i like to say that progressives are the definition of being a progressive is that we are the first to the best, most just idea. And everybody else comes along later. So you look at a 15 minimum wage. Now it is a mainstream of the democratic platform. 10 years ago when seattle became the first major city in the country to pass a 15 minimum wage, it was not. That is why i resist the comparison. What it means for progressives to be strong in a Biden Administration and push hard is that we unify around core ideals that are central to the Democratic Party. Because at the end of the day, in two years in the midterms and in four years, we have to show voters very quickly there is a massive difference in their lives, in their pocketbooks, in the health care, in their education, in the chance to pass down a planet to their kids and grandkids. That is the task we will have. Donald trump is not only a problem in and of himself, he is a symptom. He was elected because there were too many people on both sides of the aisle that felt government was not delivering to them, that government only cared about the wealthiest in the and the biggest corporations. We have to make sure that nobody ever thinks that about the Democratic Party again. Bob what are you going to do, congresswoman, if President Trump wins a second term . Rep. Jayapal were not focused on that, bob. Those are words that were just not thinking about at this moment. We have to do everything we can to inspire people to turn out, to make a difference in the election. We have been saying everything is on the line. I know joe biden always says character is on the ballot, and it is. President obama has said it. But there is more that is on the ballot. It is our democracy. This president , if he gets another four years, will absolutely destroy the foundations of democracy. We are seeing it now with what he is doing to try to make sure that votes dont count. Votes by democrats and republicans, by the way. When they challenge drivein voting in texas or absentee ballots that are mailed that the voter in minnesota trusted was on their ballot that it would be counted for certain number of days after the election, with a challenge those things, remember they are challenging the votes of every american. Not just democrats. I really think that people have to understand this is a power grab. And the road to fascism is filled with moments where people could have stood up and said something and they did not. He is being supported by republican enablers who continue to think to allow him to make these kinds of outrageous statements and enact cruel policies, stuff we have to make sure that doesnt happen, that is what i am focused on. Bob i respect their position, but the reason i ask a serious question to your point you just made, do you think the United States could be on the road to fascism if President Trump wins again . Rep. Jayapal i do. That is why, of course, were doing the preparation work around the elections and the challenges that it appears he is going to be mounting. Though i do note, some republicans are starting to speak out and say we have got to make sure every ballot is counted. We need more of them to do that. There was a fabulous piece that was published in usa today by the former Republican Party chair in new hampshire. I thought she laid out one of the most compelling cases for republicans to vote for joe biden, to refuse to support donald trump because of the destruction he is doing to the very constitution, the very fundamental of american democracy. Of course, we will move into action immediately if that happens. But i guess my point is, we are just 36 hours before the election or less than that , depending on where you are in the country, and we have to make sure at this moment everybody does everything they can to get their ballots in and to fight for our democracy. It does not survive on its own. It only survives with each of us doing our part. You are in the progressive party. Which states or areas are you most concerned about progressive turnout . Where does it need to be strong for biden to win . Rep. Jayapal it has to be strong and everyone of our swing in every one of our swing states. This is the point i constantly make. Lets take the state of michigan in 2016. The state of michigan in 2016, democrats lost by just over 10,000 votes. That was 20,000 fewer voters that turned out in michigan in 2016 than 2012. There were 100,000 who went to the polls and filled in every line on the ballot except for president of the United States. We cannot have that happen again in michigan. Wisconsin still looks good but obviously, we still have to keep the pedal to the metal. Ohio, critically important. Pennsylvania, critically important. But look at the turnout in texas. Phenomenal turnout. It is possible we turn texas blue and their several Congressional Districts there. That will be in large part thanks to changing demographics in texas and real turnout from progressives. I am worried about florida. It is always close and it is close again this year. Weve got to make sure that progressives in florida are turning out. There are a few key districts that are also essential. Nebraska with cara easetman who is running in that congressional seat, which will be important to any challenge to the election as well. Im looking at that seat. I am obviously looking at new york, dana balter. That seat. So, we have a lot of interesting races. Here in Washington State we have an important race in Congressional District 10 with a strong progressive in that race that we are also i am watching closely, it is my home state. Bob lets go back to biden in washington. What happens if president elect biden decides to put a republican in the cabinet . Would you have trouble with that . Rep. Jayapal it depends on which republican. At the end of the day it is , about what are the goals we are trying to achieve . Im not comfortable with republican who once to move to privatization of our education system, as an example. The socalled ed reformer movement has not been helpful to us in fighting for Racial Justice and education were fighting for every student to be able to have an opportunity, on. On Climate Change if there was a , republican who has been good on climate and we have had those in our state, some of the best climate champions who were republicans. I dont like to say, well, we dont went in republican. Want a republican. It is about what are we trying to deliver for people. If we have people who are willing to say no to the big fossil fuel companies, the big corporate interests that are stopping progress and willing to deliver for the people, great. But it is all about what were trying to do and what were trying to deliver for people. That is what is important to me. Voters,se progressive if they come out and biden wins, theyre going to want something discernible they can point to, whether it is senator sanders at s secretary of labor, senator warren, secretary of treasury. May be yourself being in the cabinet. What would you like to see in the cabinet in terms of a progressive leader being installed . Rep. Jayapal well i would love , to see those two names in the biden cabinet, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders would put progressives on fire across the country and really give credit to a Progressive Movement that has been at the forefront of fighting for the changes we need, whether on gun reform, climate, health care, immigration. I would love to see elizabeth as treasury secretary, Bernie Sanders as labor secretary. That is very important for biden to understand, that progressives and young people and folks of color have been under assault for four years by this administration. Longer in terms of inequities in our country that have literally put people at their wits end. I think biden will have to recognize that it is very important for him to have strong progressives in the cabinet. And to make sure theyre not only in the cabinet, but at critical places across the administration. There are a lot of positions that have to be filled and those folks have a lot of influence, even if theyre not of the cabinet level. We are looking for progressives in the cabinet, all the way through the administration, and lets win first, bob, but obviously that is very important to signal to the Progressive Movement that joe biden is committed to what he said in the campaign and that he will deliver justice and equality and opportunity for working families, for the most vulnerable, for folks of color across the country. Bob what about Speaker Pelosi . Will you support her for another term . Rep. Jayapal obviously, it depends on who is running. Bob she is most certainly running. Rep. Jayapal the question is whether or not anyone is running against her. Speaker pelosi, i will support the most progressive candidate. I cant see a challenge to Speaker Pelosi right now, but may be is someone planning to run that i dont know. Again, lets get through the election and lets make sure that were putting in place all of the pieces that we will need to really deliver relief and opportunity to americans across the country. Bob are you going to run for leadership . Rep. Jayapal im running for chair of the progressive caucus. That is what i am doing right now. I am hopeful that we can bring in an even more progressive house across the country. The progressive caucus this year and our pac has become bigger and stronger, but we have more to do. I am very committed to making sure we have built the infrastructure on the inside that we need for progressive policies to win. Bob what is your advice to progressives nationwide in the wake of the election, regardless of what happens on tuesday night if there is still counting to be done in certain states, if there is unhappiness with President Trumps handling of Election Night, what is your advice broadly to progressives about how to handle this fragile moment in american democracy . Rep. Jayapal dont stop. Dont stop. Dont agonize, organize. Whatever the situation is, we will be ready to take it on. We will immediately go through and call our volunteers have who volunteered on the campaign, thousands of people, and say to them, what are the key issues you are most interested in . We will have our own database of when we can call on people to fight for particular issues that theyre passionate about. I think this is the lesson of democracy. It is not a once in two years it is not a once in two years effort. It is not a once in four years effort. I know people are tired from four years of cruelty and exhausting rhetoric and targeting and hatred and constitutiondestroying efforts. But what i would say to people, electing joe biden and Kamala Harris is the first step but we have a lot of work to do once that happens. A Bidenharris Administration will need our help. The people across this country, the 87 million who were uninsured or underinsured even before covid hit, combined with another 12 million that are still uninsured because they lost their jobs, those people need us to continue to fight for them. The people across this country, frankly, across the world, who are dealing with the effects of Climate Change i live in the west. We had record fires that have destroyed homes and destroyed dreams and destroyed forests. We have to deal with the urgent situation of Climate Change with a Climate Justice proposal. There are so many things for us to do. I want people to know your work is your power. Your vote is your power. Your organizing is your power. There is no change in the history of our country or the world that ever happens without people exercising that power every day of the year. Bob where will you be on Election Night . Rep. Jayapal i will be here in seattle. Were going to do some firing up of our troops and also do a little Election Night party. I think we are all on pins and needles. But i feel that this year is qualitatively different than four years ago. I feel people are turning out and we just have to go this last mile. We have to elect joe biden and Kamala Harris. We have to ditch mitch in the senate. Competitive in a way that we never imagined because of donald trump pulling down candidates. We have to deliver a more progressive house to the people, for the people. That is what im trying to help people stay on the bandwagon and get this last piece done. Bob in cities like seattle, i know here in washington, d. C. , about Election Night. Are you concerned about violence . Rep. Jayapal i am always concerned based on what the president says and encourages. When he tells the proud boys to standby, stand back and standby, that is concerning. When he says theres nothing wrong with people trying to push the bidenharris bus off the freeway, that is concerning. When he allows crowds to chant fire fauci, who is the nations s truth teller on covid19, that is deeply concerned. Ing. He has fomenting violence. Yes, i am concerned. I am telling everybody here in seattle, anyone who will listen to me, that our path is through nonviolent action. We cannot give in to the forces of violence. I think the reality is, there are a lot of people who if the , if the president steps in and tries to declare himself the winner or tries to steal the election, then we are in the throes of taking on a dictator, not a democratically elected president. And at that point, all bets are off. Bob what do you mean by that, all bets are off . Rep. Jayapal it means you cannot control the anger that people will have if they see a democracy being thwarted by the president of the United States. So were telling everybody to stay calm, the election will likely not be decided on Election Night. Do not listen to the president of the United States. Republicans need to speak out loudly and clearly to say the same thing and stop fomenting violence, stop protecting this president who has done nothing but add to the divisiveness and encourage violent White Supremacy, violent action across the country. Bob Congress Woman jayapal, i appreciate your time this afternoon on the people of the the election. Cochair of the progressive caucus from Washington State. We will be keeping an eye on your activities in the lameduck and next year, regardless of who is in the white house. Hope you come again. Rep. Jayapal thank you so much, bob. We will Welcome NationalRepublican Senatorial committee senator todd young of indiana in a few minutes. But i want to check in with two of my colleagues, dave weigle, longtime writer, and our polling analyst at the Washington Post. Emily, dave, great to have you here. Dave it is good to be here. Bob how many cups of coffee had been you had today . Hid. Started with with a chai tea. I had two and i drink a third of a third one. Bob dave, where are you . I am back in washington. Bob i feel like you live on the road. I got back late yesterday evening. We have people around the country talking to voters and watching for anything that could happen. I was going back to help write a couple of bigger pieces as we get ready for tomorrow. Bob lets start there, emily. Minnesota has gotten a little more attention in recent days. Whats your read on minnesota and the upper midwest . Our poll averages our website is on the elections homepage right now. We have a bunch of different states that people are looking at right now, the key battleground states, as weve been calling them. The minnesota average it may not be on there. We havent seen polls in minnesota in a really long time. The last polls that meet post standards were late september. But if wew has now out. If we look at some other states around there, that could give us a good idea of whats going on in the midwest. Michigan, wisconsin, everything around there. Bob what are you seeing, emily, in michigan, in particular . Emily our poll advertise biden looking pretty good our poll average has biden looking pretty good. A 12point lead for biden over trump. Thats a state that will tell us a lot about whats going to happen. If the counts come in early, it might bode well for biden. Bob dave, what are you paying attention to on monday, the day before . Dave well, when it comes to the midwest, similar to what emily was saying, i got to see a little bit on the ground. Im looking for what campaigns think, more than what public polling says. There are some races where good public polling hasnt been done. In minnesota, democrats are very confident of the turnout operation. They think that they have gotten the whole universe of people who need to return ballots. Their internal polling shows the state is fine. I almost want a reallife shortcut key to say, in case the polls are wildly wrong. So everything i say, assume it arerue unless the polls wildly wrong. In minnesota, in terms of turnout, increasing over margins from last time, i was with Representative Ilhan Omar in minneapolis, where they are breaking records. I saw some of the canvassing myself. People who were not that happy to vote four years ago, i met two people who didnt vote in 2016 who will vote this time for joe biden. Now, there is some of that on the republican side and you meet the same thing, but the math in that state is the gains trump could make in greater minnesota , in the iron range are less , than what republicans have been losing in the suburbs of minneapolis and st. Paul. Im looking for the same people to game this out everywhere. Im watching some of the lastminute legal motions. ,here are two waves of this what is happening before the election, like the lawsuit in paris, texas today. Theres whats going to come after the election. A lot of this, if the basis is not a state Supreme Court ruling or the legislator being definitive, the judges, even conservative judges, have been defaulting to what were the rules that help voters at a particular time. Minnesota being an exception, wisconsin being an exception, in terms of votes that might come in late. Its not exciting to watch on the ground. Its not as fun as a rally, i guess, but it is important to watch what is happening in the courtrooms and what is being filed. More of the Biden Campaign more of the Trump Campaign than the Biden Campaign. You are looking at what they are advertising. You are looking at what is being called fake. Bad,ormer dni seen as so that the republicans confirmed the current nominee. He shared a photo of joe biden from 2019, trying to make it look like he did not wear a mask. You had the Trump Campaign tweeting out how biden will get rid of the washington monument. Anything that looks bad. This is not the first election where people will look for video outside of a polling place and say that this proves theres fraud happening. A lot of debunking is going to be necessary, i think. Bob emily, dave brought up a point about minnesota. He said, even if trump does better in the exurban parts of the state, the iron range, his support has eroded in the urban parts of the state. In other places, are you seeing that pattern . The suburbs are eroding for the republicans . Emily the suburbs are really important for all of our elections. A lot of americans live in the suburbs. They are not a monolith. When we hear trump say things like he wants to get suburban womens votes, i think he sees that group as more homogenous than perhaps they are. There is diversity in our suburbs. There are more people of color who live in american suburbs now than ever before. There are people of different income levels and backgrounds. Our suburbs do not look like they did in the past. So they will not vote necessarily like they did in the past. The big issue is the coronavirus. The coronavirus is all encompassing right now for many voters. And that is helping them make decisions on who to vote for, it seems, or the other way they feel strongly about different things. The majority of voters in pennsylvania and florida, which are two states we just did it polling in over the weekend, say they are very or somewhat worried about someone in their immediate family catching the coronavirus. Those people back biden by a larger degree. The people who say they are less worried about the coronavirus more strongly back the president. Bob just to follow up on that when you look at a place like , texas and the dallas suburbs or georgia and the atlanta suburbs, is it maybe all about the coronavirus, why those states are suddenly in play . Maybe not some kind of ideological shift, but its the virus, plain and simple. Emily perhaps. We will see. We ask questions about the importance of coronavirus and the economy. And how people think of those things. Traditionally, the economy is a big decider in how people vote. But this year, we are seeing the coronavirus have more of an impact in preelection polls on what people think and how they are feeling about things going on. The economy, of course, is not doing great by many measures, and a lot of that is tied to the coronavirus. One of the questions we asked in was if people wanted , to move forward with restarting the economy at the expense of hampering efforts to control the spread of the virus, or if they thought it was more important to stop the virus, even if that hurt the economy. Majorities in both pennsylvania and florida 50 in florida and 53 in pennsylvania said it was more important to stop the virus, even if that hurts the economy, compared to smaller percentages who said it was more important to restart the economy. Bob dave, you heard from congresswoman jayapal, who is was talking up progressive support for Vice President biden, but as a reporter, what do you see on that front . Are progressives going to come out . Is that bernie voter who may be sat on his hands in 20 going to 2016 going to come out in 2020 for biden . Dave the progressive bernie voters, generally yes. The argument has been you might not be happy with joe biden, but this is the only way we are pushing from the inside, instead of outside protesting for years. The number of activists you see urging a third party vote is so small. Its mission this election is to wait till after the election to start a third party. Not urging people to vote one way or another. But as a symbol of how little interest there is in casting a protest vote this time. Will people stay home . They could, but i think that the Trump Campaign has done a very bad job of finding the issues that motivate people to vote for sanders and turning them away. Confuseddent sounds about it. He doesnt have the oomph. And he has also done a pretty bad job emphasizing creating jobs, apart from stuff that is debunkable. He will go to michigan and instead of something coherent about china, nafta, and at the record of neoliberals in trade, something that would have motivated the leftwing voter, he talks about when there were no car plants in michigan when he took over. He goes so far over the edge that it reminds progressives comes a couple weeks ,fter the Supreme Court fight where this was a stark reminder, unless you are willing to overthrow the government, you just get rolled on everything. I think you will see not a historically low level of votes for the green party, for example, but i wouldnt be surprised if its back down to what the party got before 2008, just a few hundred thousand protest votes. Bob final question for both of you. I would love to hear your perspective on the same question. Emily, you first. We are going to be joined by senator todd young of indiana in just a couple minutes. When you look at the senate map and you evaluate Senate Battleground polls, what deserves more attention . Emily i cannot hear you. Bob whats not getting enough attention in the senate races out there . Emily i didnt hear you for a moment but i think your question was whats not getting enough attention in senate races. Bob that is right. Emily sounds good. Ive been looking at georgia a lot because there are two races happening there, and i think they are both fascinating. Theres the special election, which has a bunch of people running in it. And a standard one. Its not that common that we see two elections happening. One will almost likely go to a runoff later. Im excited to see what happens. Georgia is a state that traditionally has not been considered a swing state, a state a lot of us are looking at as a key battleground state. Which is set set apart. It is this day i was born in, so i have some affinity for looking at georgia. I think its an interesting place. My family members there are excited to vote. Most of them voted already. I think it shows perhaps what the Democratic Party could do in the future and what is happening in those conversations in the suburbs, how those are evolving and changing across america. Bob dave . Dave first, we are not going to know the results in some senate races for days. I mean, i think even if there is a fairly clear result in alaska and montana, montana takes a while. They have more mail ballots to count then usual. Alaska is not going to start counting everything until the 10th of the month, a week after election day. Theres going to be people have focused on the president ial election for good reason, but unless democrats win something decisively that is close tomorrow, like iowa, like one of the georgia seats there will , still be a lack of clarity about how the senate is going to go. Whether the race will tilt one way or another. Even in maine, where Susan Collins has been trailing in the polls, because they have ranked Choice Voting that adds up the votes for peoples second choice if no one hits 50 . Lets say the polls were dead on accurate. Because the Green Party Candidate was urging voters to rank the democrats second, theres no way the race is going to be called. So, i am looking more for uncertainty, but i think i would look to iowa, then to a lesser extent arizona, evidence of , whether democrats are doing better or worse than their final polls. If they do even a little better, they will easily win arizona, narrowly win iowa. If trump turned out people who have not been monitoring the polls, you will see that in the senate races. Two first and dave, rate reporters at the Washington Post. I really appreciate your time on this busy day. Emily thank you. Bob now lets bring in one of the architects of the Republican Party efforts to keep the senate majority, senator todd young of indiana. He is the senior senator. The chairman of the nrsc. And that is a critical job right now, as the majority hangs in the balance. Senator young, welcome. Sen. Young thanks for having me on. Bob senator, you heard the president last night responding to those chants about fire dr. Fauci. He is holding these big rallies. Is that the message for Senate Republicans as well in the closing days . Sen. Young the president s success is very much tied to republican success more generally. Our candidates have gone out there. They have made their own cases that the Republican Party remains the party to return america to the height of prosperity that we were enjoying right before the pandemic hit. That will continue to be the message we carry through election day. But for the discipline of our candidates and but for their ability to go ahead and remind voters of all we have accomplished over the last number of years, working with the white house, we wouldnt be in the position where we are now, which is a clear path to keeping the Republican Senate majority amidst a Global Pandemic and a serious economic downturn triggered by that pandemic. Bob you used the word disciplined. Who is the model Republican Senate candidate in terms of discipline right now . Sen. Young i think no one Susan Collins in the state of maine. She has arguably run the best Senate Campaign in the country. You will hear that from a number of people who are following this closely. Thats a race that historically one would expect democrats to mop up in. Its new england. There are not very Many National new england republicans left. At the federal level, Susan Collins is the only one. But she consistently keeps winning because Everybody Knows that no one has a stronger, more articulate, more effective voice for mainers as it relates to their specific issues of concern than Susan Collins. She could run for mayor in any particular city across the state and probably win. She is the architect of that paycheck protection program, she has been incredibly responsive to the needs of people. She is speaking to that in a very disciplined fashion. As she has from day one in this campaign. In contrast, she is running against sarah gideon, who happens to be speaker of the state legislature, who has been very unresponsive during the midst of this pandemic, not particularly visible. The contrast in that campaign couldnt be more clear. So Susan Collins, amidst all , these headwinds, has put herself in a position to succeed on election day because of her discipline. Bob i am not sure if you heard it, but dave was just on here, senator. He mentioned alaska. Are you nervous about alaska . Sen. Young look im a united , states marine. Dan sullivan is also a marine. I dont get nervous about fellow marines. Dan sullivan is kicking down doors where they are not open. He has taken nothing for granted from day one of this election cycle. When this Global Pandemic did interrupt the longest period of economic expansion in american history, which was cultivated and sustained through republican policies, he was ready. Of course, hes running against a candidate who is nominally independent, but really liberal, a supporter of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in the past, who was recruited for that position by chuck schumer. Weve seen dan sullivan be a really good fit for the state. He is talking about the National Security issues and the instate issues that he has actively worked on. Dan sullivan will win that race in the end. It stands to reason that when one is outspent, its going to take the margins of a race like that in alaska, in the midst of this atmosphere, which is, again, a function of the pandemic and associated downturn. Bob four years ago, President Trump, who was somewhat superstitious ended his campaign , in grand rapids, michigan. I believe hes going to be there tonight. You have a chance of picking up a senate seat in michigan. John james running against senator peters in michigan. But senator young, if you had five minutes with President Trump, or one minute, before the rally tonight, whats your advice to him on what to say at that rally to help Senate Republicans . What do you believe this final 24hour message needs to be . Sen. Young well, i think the president will emphasize, when he stands behind that podium, all that he has accomplished. I think his slogan of promises made, promises kept is a nap n apt slogan for the last four years. He promised to liberate the American People from the strictures of the decadesold tax code that was weighing down entrepreneurship, job creation, and Wealth Creation in this country. He did so, working with republicans in the house and the senate. We were able to create an atmosphere that led to more businesses being created and, frankly, we saw Household Incomes increase across major demographic groups, across geographies, across socioeconomic categories. We did the same thing on the regulatory front. He needs to remind the American People about that. A vision for the future, about how we are going to sustain this recovery and supercharge our economy as we emerge from the pandemic. Maybe touch on infrastructure and workforce development. Remind the American People where this virus came from and how we have responded to that country. Of course, it came from china originally. China has been stealing our intellectual property, essentially stealing our jobs and robbing us of our National Wealth for a number of years. The president should discuss all of those things. Lastly, he should touch on one of the things that motivates and unifies republicans more than anything else, the Supreme Court picks. Three Supreme Court picks over the course of his presidency. This will make it very stark why its important not only to have republican control of the presidency, but also of the of the United States senate. This is something we have been arguing at the nrsc from day one. Perhaps the most important, consequential, and enduring achievement of this Republicancontrolled Senate has been the confirmation of faithful constitutionalists to the bench, most recently indianas own Amy Coney Barrett. Bob what has that meant to the senate races, the confirmation of Justice Barrett . Sen. Young this has really motivated not only our base, though it certainly has done that, as i referenced earlier. It has helped to get out the vote in an election where, frankly, the left and the right are pretty dug in. There are not many persuadeables left. Theres a small universe of those. It will help to motivate our base, but it will also, i would argue, on the margins, help us persuade some of the people who are in the suburbs that the president has nominated somebody of the caliber and character and biography of Amy Coney Barrett. We just had several weeks of National Television coverage, pretty much walltowall, focused on this outstanding woman. This is the sort of person that the president will continue to put on the court, if there are any additional vacancies during his term, but only if paired with a republican majority in the u. S. Senate. In a state like iowa, for example, this is something that we are seeing joni ernst tout as she seeks her first reelection in that race. It begs the question for our democratic challengers in red states, what sort of supreme nominee will they support,rt if not for Amy Coney Barrett . It also leads a question to our democratic challengers, do you support packing of the Supreme Court, do you support major structural changes that will probably be era reversible if implemented . Some changes that joe biden has not ruled out, essentially as ang the Supreme CourtSuper Legislature to advance a farleft, radical agenda, and the democrats have been unable to answer it. It has led to momentum and some of the key braces like montana, iowa, kansas, south carolina, where Lindsey Graham of course chaired those hearings, and georgia. Really be at could closer for us in many of these key races. Has the president dragged down some senate candidates, for example, in arizona, senator mcsally . Young the president was a success is our success, and we regard this as a team effort. Like senatoro many mcsally and others around the country have decided to campaign alongside the president. Talked about it, my neighbors were not talking about it, they were talking about opening up the economy again and returning to some sort of normalcy, which is what republicans in the senate focus is. Meanwhile, so many of my democratic colleagues in this senate and certainly joe biden are focused on shutting things down. Shut it down. Down, and, shut it you know, if there is Collateral Damage along the way, so be it. Calling for a shutdown. It is not you know, clear to me what Vice President bidens plan is. He certainly has been critical of the president , laying at the president s feet the death of countless americans, but he does not seem to have a plan. I saw a television commercial, a 32nd spot that talk about some cosmetic changes that Vice President joe biden would make, but to my knowledge, he does not have a plan, or if he does have a plan, he does not seem to be aware of it, because he has not vocalized that wit to the amerin people. What is your plan, senator, for the runoffs in georgia . Keepyoung look, we will the engines fired up, we will continue to pull in resources to make sure our candidates can put the ads on the air, to make sure we get out the vote, but we will continue to continue what we have been doing. I think these fundraising records at the senatorial committee, working with the campaigns to not only ensure that voters are educated about the qualifications, kelly leffler, who is this who is likely to go to a runoff, and may senator david perdue, but in this job interview, unlike most job interviews, it is also our duty to communicate to the American People and to georgians , more specifically, the deficiencies in qualifications of our opponents. So, you know, unfortunately, we have got a runoff, a person running for the democratic nomination, who seems like he is slotted in the number two or top two position. It will probably be him against senator leffler, should that race go to a runoff. This is somebody who has embraced Jeremiah Wright, who even barack obama distanced himself from years ago. This is an antiamerican preacher that barack obama had to distance himself from. This is somebody who has been hypercritical, frankly, ugly, vis a vis law enforcement. We are going to be educating georgians about that at a time when, you know, all americans value and need their law enforcement, especially people from lower socioeconomic strata. So we will be about that. When it comes to educating voters about David Perdues opponent, john ossof, of course, a failed congressional candidate, other than that, he seems to be brought up in some pretty comfortable circumstances and doesnt have a lot of professional achievements to call his own. He has conflated his resume a little bit. He has some business dealings with a company that operated with ties to the communist party in china. Thats not likely to be particularly popular, nor is educating the people of georgia that he has received a bulk of his fundraising from places outside of georgia, like san francisco, much more liberal , frankly, than the state of georgia, more generally. These are the sorts of approaches we will be taking. It will be a stark contrast. We will be winning those seats in georgia. Senator, just your comments about reverend warnock. He said in a statement that he deplores anyone who disagrees any kind of antisemitism or discrimination. Why do you believe he is supportive of Jeremiah Wright . He defended Jeremiah Wright in the wake of the 2008 campaign. Do you believe thats the central issue for voters, his association with Jeremiah Wright . , you know, yes, because heoung defended Jeremiah Wright in the midst of that whole controversy. I mean, it is the case. You just said it. He did defend Jeremiah Wright. Hes also said hes against any kind of discrimination or antisemitism. Its just interesting that sen. Young i mean, he is for somebody, evidently, who engages in discrimination, who badmouths america, but hes against what that person represented. That seems odd to me. Maybe its something the reverend warnock can explain over the course of the runoff. He has issued a statement and explained it, in that sense. Final thoughts. Whats the one race you are watching . Sen. Young i think theres more to be explained. Im sorry to interrupt. What more is there to be explained . Sen. Young i mean, in this day and age, my experience, working with members of the media, you dont just issue a press release and then have it all be done. In greater depth, he needs to explain why he felt inspired to be supportive of Jeremiah Wright. I would like a more fulsome explanation. Maybe the people of georgia would. Thats something we will explore. Just a final thought here, senator young. Youre chairman of the nrsc. Whats the one race at the top of your radar, on tuesday night. . Well, itsen. Young tough to nail it down to one. North carolina, thom tillis, he has been closing for a number of weeks. He is facing a senate in cal cunningham, very short on substance. I have been very proud of thom tillis and how he has performed in the debate and all of the campaigning together. He tends to break late, as we saw just a couple of years ago, and in richard burrs senate race in north carolina. Unfortunately, for cal yourngham, if you are on biography, you have run on honor, duty, as this member has, and you are being investigated by the army for Extramarital Affairs with a congressmans wife, that is what we call a bad sack in a legal profession. So the contrast between come on the one hand, thom tillis who grew up in very humble circumstances and is really bound to pass for success, a very inspiring background during a difficult time for our country, and on the other hand, someone who commit frankly, has been exposed, i think that that race is going to end up being one, a victory for republicans and key to being able to maintain the majority. Senator todd young of indiana, chairman of the and rsc, thank you for coming on the eve of the election. Thanks, bob. Robert it has been quite a journey, covering President Trump for five years now, more than three years into his presidency, almost four. Senator todd young who is running the Senate Campaign for republicans, representative jayapal of washington, and they weigel andve you enjoyed, i hope it as much as i did. That is what we bring you on the Washington Post, just unfiltered, straight news, vigorous reporting paired on election day tomorrow, we will continue this program, election daily at 1 00 p. M. Joined by some interesting guests. I am looking forward to talking to pennsylvania and minute governor John Federman politician John Federman. I first came across him and Anthony Bourdain show. In touch with what is going on. Can democrats get the latino turnout they need in nevada . She is the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign care committee, the equivalent of senator todd youngs position on the democratic side. We will be joined by former rick scott of florida, the former governor of that state. My be sure to join colleague, jonathan come on election day, 9 00 a. M. Eastern time for post live news and opinion show first look. I really enjoy watching that every morning over the last few days and over the last few weeks. With reporter and columnist dan bolles and henry olson, who writes a lot about conservatism and the Republican Party. L leave if they are for today. I am bob costa. We will see you tomorrow at 1 p. M. Eastern for election daily. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] stay with cspan to learn which parties will control congress. Our live coverage starts friday that that eastern and continues through washington journal at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Join the conversation, share your experience as the results come in. Watch live on cspan and cspan. Org or listen on the free cspan radio app. Your place for an unfiltered view of politics. Throughout the course of the morning, we will also be joined by reporters in key battleground states to talk about what is going on on the selection date and what expectations might be. Of the Tampa Bay Times is joining us from florida. Thank you for joining us. Guest n