of them in states that presidenç trump won in 2016. the republicans have only 8 seats up on the ballot and only 2 of them are vulnerable. so i would say if democrats held their own, paul, they d be doing extraordinarily well. if it s a giant wave paul: right. yeah, they ll win the senate too. but i m talking about a giant wave. we re not there yet. paul: all right. so what might change? well, one thing that just change ld, we now have this tax bill. and if the republicans are clearly enthused about that, they think this is going to help them as their paychecks show up, how do you see that affecting psychology in the election? we re in such a partisan age, paul, that i can see the republican voters who would have voted republican anyway saying, yeah, that tax bill is terrific, it already. and the democrats will all say, huh, where s my money? it all went to corporations, it all went to the rich.
on streamlining, if he does anything with infrastructure, making it easier to build things in the u.s. again so you don t have a decade of environment aral impact statements and various environmental impact statements. well, you know, it s an interesting political question. if the economy strengthens, jobs continue to be created, that would0b the moment to do infrastructure, when the economy s healthier. but if chuck schumer tells his union supporters we re not going to do business with this guy, wait until we take control of the government, then we ll do infrastructure, i think a lot of unions are going to say i don t know if we re going to buy that deal. trump helped the coal industry, and this is the moment to get those jobs while you have a bird in the hand. so i think there could be pressure on the democrats to do a deal. paul: i think, mary, there s a chance on immigration. you ve got the daca bill that democrats want, and maybe combine that with some border enforcement to g
his presidency in the early part of his presidency and the travel ban, ultimately the third will probably be upheld by the supreme court, but the question is did you need that message particularly right out of the blocks? and then i think just the white house staff, you know? anybody could walk in there at any time for the first two or three months and say, hey, boss, what s doing? agd put anything on his desk. now john kelly s come in as chief of staff and em posed some order imposed some order but not total. yeah. but i don t think it gets the notice that it probably deserves, paul. if you look at the first six months of this administration versus the last six months, it s almost night and day in terms of the stories that are coming out, the palace intrigue. remember, the beginning of this was this death match between steve bannon and reince priebus, everybody angling to get their initiatives in front of the president, to bring the other one down with leaks to the press.
asia. and he wants to destroy nafta. i think that s also a big negative for him and makes him unpopular with so many people who would normally be supporters, but they see their jobs at risk. and he also has, i think, made a big mistake by characterizing immigration as a liability to the united states. paul: well, now there you opened up at the large second a larger debate. all right. after we come back, after aç rancorous year in washington, president trump and republican leaders say they re optimistic they can work with democrats in 2018 on common policy goals from infrastructure to immigration. we ll take a look at the prospects for bipartisanship next. with expedia, you can book a flight, then add a hotel, and save. everything you need to go. expedia