How gerrymandering, stump speeches and Super Pacs could affect the US midterms | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News podcast from the. BBC World Service. I'm Cely Hatton and. today we're doing a special joint. episode with the Global News Podcast and. Americas. That's the BBC's US Politics. Podcast. Leading up to the midterm. elections, there's a lot of jargon being. tossed around words like super PAC, gerrymandering, and purple state. And we. know that you, our audience, have. questions about some of those. We've. been asking you to send us questions. about the words that have you the most. confused. So to help me pick apart that.

jargon and figure out those terms, I'm. joined by Anthony Zurker and Sumi. Saskcanda from America going to be doing. a quickfire round. So wait for that. [music]. I want to tackle the most important. election word of all that's coming up. now and that's midterms. So, can you. take us through what what are midterms. and and why are they so important? Why. should our global audience be paying.

attention to them? Maybe Anthony, should. we go to you first? >> Yeah, I know. I mean, midterms are what. we talk about all the time. It seems. like every other word here right now is. midterms, but what it means technically. is the elections in the middle of a. presidential term. While presidential. elections here in the United States. happen every four years, congressional. elections happen every two years. So, uh, every two years, uh, sometimes they. coincide with the presidential election, but sometimes they're right in the. middle of that presidential term. And. that's what we're dealing with here, midterm elections. And the people who.

are running or every single seat in the. House of Representatives, 435 seats up. every two years. So, every candidate in. the House is out there running for. reelection, or if it's an open seat, they're trying to fill someone who is no. longer there. Now, in the Senate, it's a. 100 seats there. A third of the Senate. is up every two years. So, we've got. about 33 34 I think this time because. there's a a special election. 34. senators running for election. And then. you have a series of governor's mansions.

and a lot of legislative races in states. all over the country. And some of those. governor's races are key because they're. in places like Wisconsin and Michigan. and Pennsylvania and Georgia and. Arizona. These are governor's races in. battleground states for the presidential. election in two years. Uh they're going. to be the people in charge of those. states who are going to be overseeing. the elections when we're look talking. about who's going to be president next. >> Oh, I think we just introduced another. term battleground states.

We'll get to that. But yeah, exactly. [laughter] It's the middle of the term. and and and I am guilty as anyone of. banding about the word midterms. Uh in. this Washington office, as Anthony said, you're hearing it every other word, but. it is a referendum on the president. And. I think that's important for all of our. listeners around the world to know is. this is a way for voters to make clear. how they feel about the president and. the party in the White House. >> Yeah. And and Sumi, this is these. midterms are particularly important. because it really will determine which. party controls Congress for the last two.

years of Donald Trump's presidency. Right now, the Republicans have both. chambers, the Senate and the House. Uh. in some midterm elections, you think one. one party's going to hold on to it. is. not really up in the air, but this time. around it is balanced on a knife's edge. Democrats are certainly hoping to take. back the House of Representatives. They. seem to have an improving chance of. taking back the Senate. And if they win. even one of those two chambers, let. alone both, they are going to be able to. grind Donald Trump's legislative agenda.

to a halt and also step up their. oversight issues, subpoenas, hold. hearings, maybe even try to impeach. Trump or some of his senior adviserss. So, this is a particularly high stakes. midterm elections uh that could curtail. Donald Trump's powers from from starting. in January on when the new Congress is. sworn in. >> How about we turn now to some questions. from our audience and and things that. they've been wondering as they hear the. analysis in the leadup to this midterm.

vote. Uh here's an audio note that we. got from Japan. Hi, I'm Craig, an. American living in Hiroshima, Japan, and. I'd like to know what it really means to. be an informed voter. >> It's a great question because, you know, being an informed voter means simply. paying close attention uh to what you. are voting for. And it's not that simple. because in a midterm election, you can. have um a vote on your state level. you. can be voting for local representatives.

for judges in your district, but then as. Anthony also said on the federal level, you have your members of Congress and um. senators who might be up for election in. your state. And being an informed voter. means knowing who's on the ballot, knowing which issues are driving the. debate. And I was just actually speaking. to a student at the uh Ohio State. University. I was traveling in Ohio the. last few days and he said, uh, I want to. be an informed voter and the most. important thing for me is that everyone. researches their candidates. And I think.

that is a big part of being informed. about what you're voting on and who. you're voting for, >> right? And there's so much information. out there right now, but it's very hard. to be informed because you don't know. whether the information is right or. wrong. People are flooded with all of. these opinions and all of these facts. and all these stories and you don't know. the sources and so it can almost be. overwhelming. I vote in Virginia and. there are multiple ballot measures. They're constitutional amendments on gay. rights and on abortion and it's unclear. necessarily how to vote on them or what.

you're even voting on. In California, there's a wealth tax on the ballot there. that would impose taxes on the super. wealthy, but there are also two ballot. measures next to it that would resend. the wealth tax or make it harder to. implement. And so almost the confusion. sometimes is part of the plan. And to be. an informed voter, you have to really. dig down into and try to understand uh. what it all means. >> Let's get to another term now. And it's. one that's thrown around a lot and I.

think a lot of people think it's a bit. of an odd word and that's. gerrymandering. Sumi, let's go to you. first. What is gerrymandering? Yeah, it is a weird word. So, I'm not. surprised that we've had listeners uh. writing in or sending messages on this. Gerrymandering is redrawing a district. to favor one party or the other. Um, and. you know, another set of words that we. often use when we talk about. gerrymandering is packing or cracking. And I promise I'll explain those, but. it's either packing people into one.

district to favor one party or cracking. them apart and splitting people into. different districts to favor one party. or the other. And usually gerry. gerrymandering is something that you see. um that aligns with when the US census. is carried out. So uh you'll see perhaps. a district changed based on how a. population has changed in a certain. state or uh demographics in a certain. state. Of course, populations move and. that can impact um how a district is. drawn up. But what we've seen in this uh. last few years in particular is.

gerrymandering mid decade. That means. without being pegged to changes in in. information about u the population where. it lives in your district instead. drawing up districts to favor one party. or the other. And we have to say both. parties are are guilty of this and have. been doing this for decades. Um, Republicans point to Democrats saying, "Look at the state of Illinois. It's so. gerrymandered that no Republican can win. in a district there." And what we've. seen in the last two years of President.

Trump's now second term, uh, we have. seen Republicans trying to redraw. districts in states like Texas um, where. they're trying to gain an advantage. And. I think that's the bottom line here for. our listeners to understand. By. redrawing district lines, you can try to. gain an advantage by winning a seat in. uh the election, the midterm elections, or taking away a seat from the other. party. >> Yeah. Although sometimes you can do to. find a line drawing and if you draw the. lines to give yourself a little bit of. advantage in a whole bunch of districts.

in a state, uh if you have a bad enough. election night, you could end up losing. more seats in that state than perhaps. you were anticipating. >> Okay. So, it can backfire as you've just. said. But I mean, so does that play into. another related word, dummy mandering? Could we see some of that happening in. this year's midterms? >> Yeah, dummy mandering. That's a that's a. a great kind of play on gerrymandering, a term that goes back to the 19th. century because it was a district in. Massachusetts that looked like a a Sally. mander that was drawn by a politician.

who was named Jerry. Uh and uh and dummy. mandering is is when you do. gerrymandering and you do it in a way. that actually is counterproductive. And. there is a chance in places like Texas. where they the Republicans who were. drawing the lines were counting on the. fact that say Hispanic votes had shifted. uh uh over to Donald Trump and the. Republicans and they were going to stay. that way. They're counting on them. staying that way. And if they don't, if. they flip back to Democrats, as we're. kind of seeing now, Sumi, they could be. in very real trouble. And there already.

signs that some of these districts that. they drew thinking that they had a shoe. in, now they're conceding to the. Democrats. >> Yeah. And we should say I've spoken to a. few candidates who have seen their. districts maybe at risk now because. they've been cut up in a certain way. Um. you know and this has happened in. particular to black voters uh in the. south also in the state of North. Carolina. And they have made the point. that if you have informed voters in. these districts and they're not. particularly happy about what they're. seeing their district getting cut up. that could actually energize them to go.

out and vote for the opposite party. And. so um that it it could indeed backfire. and it's not a guarantee of winning a. district. Our next audience question. comes from India. >> I am Satanana from India. I am sending. you a word that is related to American. elections. The word is stump speech. >> Stump speech. Now this one is big on the. campaign trail isn't it Sumi? Yeah it. really is. This actually hails back from. the time when people, politicians,

candidates would stand on a tree stump. and uh talk to their constituents or to. people who they're whose vote they're. hoping to win over. Um and a stump. speech is kind of the central theme or. speech that a candidate delivers. throughout their campaign. And it. becomes incredibly important during um. an election period because this is their. main cell to voters really is that stump. speech, isn't it, Anthony? >> Right. It's kind of like elevator pitch. in in business. It's it's your campaign. message distilled down to a set uh.

speech, maybe 5 minutes, maybe 10. minutes, that you deliver over and over. again to all of these different. audiences. And I know Sumi, like if you. like I am are on the campaign trail. following politicians around. At at some. point, you can start to recite the. speech [laughter] because it's the same. lines and the same anecdotes and the. same stories over and over again. But it. it is it is something that is carefully. uh focused and formulated in order to. connect uh with voters and get that. message through. And as you say, some. politicians are better than others.

Obviously, Barack Obama very gifted, Bill Clinton gifted. Trump in his own. way, although his stump speeches were, you know, sometimes went for an hour and. a half, his make America Great Again. pitch, uh, the the kind of the core of. that was very effective and and there. have been some good stump speeches, I. think, out on the on the campaign trail. during these midterm elections. James. Terico, the Democrat running for Senate. in Texas. He has a very uh very. well-tailored stump speech that has made. him, if not the front runner, certainly.

someone who could win this Senate seat. in Texas, be the first Democrat to win. there in decades. >> Would you say that stump speeches are as. important now as they were decades ago, or or has social media changed how. candidates communicate to voters? >> I think it has changed. Yes, it is. important to have a distilled message. As Anthony said, your your kind of. elevator pitch to voters, but at the. same time, even when you watch debates. these days, you have the sense that. candidates are somewhat debating each. other, but more looking for that viral.

clip that they can create. And that has, let's say, weakened a bit of the power. of the stump speech. But at the end of. the day, if you have a good stump. speech, that can kind of elevate your. message above those viral clips. And I. think that's where the true craft of a. stump speech is. Back to your questions. The next one is from the United States. >> Hi, my name is Brandy. I am from. Providence, Rhode Island in the US. I. think we could use some help with the. terms lobbyist versus super PAC, APAC,

and the ways that the different groups. and people are able to use their funds. and their influence in elections as well. as on our political officials once. they're in office. in order to move. their agendas forward. >> A [snorts] great question from Brandy. All right, Anthony, let's let's go to. you. Let's break this down. What's the. difference between a pack and a super. PAC? >> Oh, yeah. Sure. Throw the complicated. campaign finance question to me, but.

[laughter] all right. A pack is short. for political action committee. And. there organizations that candidates uh. can set up uh in order to help them fund. other candidates. If you're say a. influential senator, you could set up a. pack and take donations to that and then. you can use that pack to make donations. to other candidates to help yourself. maybe move up in leadership ranks within. the Senate. Or maybe you want to run for. president as a way of getting favors. Uh. there are limits on money that packs can. give to other candidates. I think it's. about $5,000 per candidate. Uh so it's a.

little bit more government oversight in. that but they can use that money however. they want when they've been given to. given it by a pack. So it is very. valuable. A super PAC is an independent. organization that is not associated with. a candidate that can take unlimited. amounts of donations from corporations. or uh interested parties or billionaires. who want to throw their money around. Think about Elon Musk and and the money.

he has been spending in in these. elections recently. Uh they can spend. money advertising in favor of a. candidate. They can spend money. attacking another candidate. They're. just not the same kind of controls on. that. So super PACs really are super, I. suppose. Uh and they are a very powerful. force in American politics these days. >> They are they can't legally coordinate. with a campaign. And that's where some. of these questions are raised about how. is this money being generated and is. there any coordination? But legally, as. I said, they can't. And you mentioned.

Elon Musk. I was looking it up before we. came in here. Um he's given about $366. million so far in these midterm. elections. And think about these vast. sums of money that he, you know, you can. distribute to a super PAC that can aid. uh candidates without directly. coordinating with them. And that is. incredibly important if you think about. the fact that all of the ads that can be. bought with that money, the people on. the ground that you can hire to kind of. go doornocking and so on and so forth. There are so many ways that this money. can be used really effectively and.

usually if you have a big money. advantage and I will say that's the case. with the Republicans in these midterm. elections. They have a significant money. advantage over the Democrats. Um that is. seen as being fairly effective in in. being able to sway at least some votes. Okay. So, Sumi, just to go back to what. Brandy, our audience member, asked, she. also asked about lobbyists. How do. lobbyists differ from packs a super. PACs? Lobbyists are actually paid. advocates for one cause or another. You.

know, there are lobbyists not far from. where we're sitting here on K Street. It's famous for being home to lobbyists, but um they are paid. So, they're on the. salary for whatever organization or. cause that they're advocating for. and. they uh register here in Washington DC. as a lobbyist and then they can go press. lawmakers in favor of the cause that. they're advocating for. And so um they. are not part of a super PAC or a pack. but rather for the individual. organizations that they're representing. or companies that they're representing.

>> but they can control packs and super. PACs and they can give donations to uh. politicians that maybe they want to. curry favor with in order to get. legislation passed. Now, you can't be. explicit about that, but it is something. lobbyists control money and money makes. the world go around in American. politics. >> Let's turn to our quickfire round now. Sumi Anthony, let's see who can answer. the most questions succinctly. Who can. define the most terms succinctly first? And we're going to do this by I'll say. the term and then whoever says me first.

gets to answer the question. We'll see. how many we can get through in just a. few minutes. Okay, are you two ready? >> Ready. Uh kind of nervous but ready. [laughter]. [gasps]. >> All right. Blue wave. Okay. >> Uh all right. Well, blue wave is the. idea that Democrats are going to swoop. through and win these midterm elections. Uh that is going to be uh more than just. what you would expect a handful of. seats, maybe a slight victory. A blue. wave is a significant title wave where.

you see Democrats winning in places. where you might not normally expect them. to. They take both chambers of Congress. It washes out Republicans. Uh even ones. who thought maybe they were on high. ground, protected from the wave. >> Okay. And blue because blue is the. Democratic Party color. >> The color of the Democratic Party. It's. been that way for about 30 years. Red. for Republicans, blue for Democrats. The. opposite of the United Kingdom,

actually. [laughter]. >> Okay. All right. Purple state or. battleground state? I'll take that one. And uh Anthony just set this up for me. with the red and blue. You put red and. blue together, you get purple. And. that's exactly what a purple state is. It's a state that can in one election uh. vote for Republicans, in another. election vote for Democrats, where you. have a pretty even split sometimes. between Democrats and Republicans. And. there are a number of purple states at. the moment that are critical for. elections. Um Anthony mentioned them as.

battleground states a little bit earlier. in the podcast. So there there are. states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, um. Arizona, Georgia. These are states that. we talk about election after election. Now, I should say states can lose their. purple status. I was just in Ohio. Used. to be a purple state, uh voted for. Barack Obama, but has reliably voted red. and gotten redder over the last few. elections. Although, I will say one. person I spoke to on the ground said, "I. think we're going back to purple state. status." Okay, here's one we we hear a.

lot actually in the leadup to this down. ballot. What does that mean? Yeah, I can. do that one. Those are races that appear. a bit literally lower on the ballot. That's why we say down ballot. So, they're not necessarily the member of. Congress or senator or president you're. voting for. These can be city council uh. city council, school board seats, uh. judges. These are lower on the ballot, but more important for people's everyday. life because they can impact their local. kind of politics and local community uh. atmosphere for them. That was a great. quick fire round. We hope this special.

joint episode of the Global News podcast. and Americ has helped demystify some of. the weird and wacky words that we can. all hear leading up to the midterms. Thank you so much to those of you who. submitted questions and thank you to. Anthony Zurker and Sumi Saskcanda for. all of their expertise. I'm Celia. Hatton. Thanks for joining us. Bye-bye.