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Our full discussion transcribed after the break:
by Rod D. Martin
November 4, 2026
Democrat strategist Madeline Summerville and I debate the midterm results, the economy, Iran, socialism and Trump’s next two years under a Democrat Congress.
Madeline and I discuss:
The Republican wipeout: turnout, affordability, and why 2028 looks very different
Trump’s economic momentum: the “Greatest Story Never Told” soon won’t be possible to ignore
Why Socialist victories may deepen the Democrats’ divisions
Healthcare: Medicare For All vs. free market reforms
America is not a parliamentary system: Article II, Trump’s veto power, and why the President’s agenda will just keep rolling.
It’s 14 minutes of the in-depth analysis you need: watch it, and pass it along!
Our Full Discussion:
Stefania Cox: Last night’s results handed Democrats control of both the House and the Senate in a decisive wave. The question now is what those results will mean for the country.
Cary Dunst: And joining us here in the studio, we have Rod Martin. He’s the founder and CEO of Martin Capital. He’s also author of Trump’s New World Re-Order. We also welcome Madeline Summerville. She’s a Democratic strategist and the CEO of Georgia Trial Consulting. Thank you both for joining us. I know that you were burning the midnight oil. You were both up very late. So thank you for coming in so early. Rod, let’s kick off with you. What is the single clearest message that you think the voters sent last night?
Rod D. Martin: Well, the single greatest message is that we didn’t turn out. And we’ve got a lot of work to do on that. There’s no question. I mean, the Democrats just whipped us on that. On the other hand, the other greatest message is it’s still “the economy, stupid.” I mean, Carville was right. And so, look, I don’t know why some of our candidates failed to articulate the message as well as they could have, that the steam is gathering under the economy.
But this result doesn’t change that. Donald Trump is absolutely cooking on the economy. So with that in mind, I think what we’re seeing is very much like the 1982 midterms, where Reagan just gets wiped out and then comes back and [romps] and stomps two years later because the economy kicked into gear. So that’s the problem the Democrats face now. The economy is kicking into gear and it’s going to be about the economy, stupid.
Stefania Cox: All right. Well, turning now to you, Madeline, for your take on it, do you see this as a repudiation of the president’s policies or more of a move towards and a vote for, say, bigger government?
Madeline Summerville: So I think that based on Trump’s policies over the past year and a half, two years, it’s clear to me that even though it is a conservative value to have smaller government, that wasn’t necessarily what people wanted. Trump would send in the National Guard where he wanted to. You know, he was perfectly fine to exert power from the executive branch onto the states. So it wasn’t necessarily an issue of bigger government versus smaller for the Republicans that they were worried about, surprisingly.
But in terms of the message that was being sent, I think it was twofold. I think for some folks it was the economy. And for others, I think, you know, for example, in Minneapolis, they didn’t like what they saw from ICE. Or there were folks who stayed home. I think plenty of folks who stayed home who may have voted for Trump in the past, who didn’t like that he went to war with Iran after saying no more foreign wars, or who didn’t like how he handled the Epstein files.
Their options, right, were to stay home or to switch sides. And I think probably plenty of those people stayed home. And as a result, you had more Democrats who turned out. It’s hard to switch people from one side to the other. But I think overall, it definitely was a repudiation of Trump and his policies and what he’s done so far. And hopefully that’ll send him a message to, you know, have more compassionate and thoughtful and truthful promises that he follows up on in the future.
Foreign Wars and the Cost of Governing
Cary Dunst: Yeah. And Rod, I’d love to come to you after Madeline made all those points, because as Steph and I were reading the results, clearly, undoubtedly a blue wave. But if you look at the results, not too many of those battlegrounds were decided by 10 points. We’re talking three to six points, most of them, some of them just one or two points. But that difference that Madeline was describing, I’d love to get your thoughts on that. Are, you know, voters frustrated by foreign wars, prices, et cetera, or what is it that just didn’t get just a few more turnout for the Republican side?
Rod D. Martin: Well, there’s no question that hurt. I mean, I would dispute Madeline’s characterization of “no more foreign wars” because Trump was very clear: No more forever wars. We’re never again going to send 250,000 troops into Afghanistan or Iraq for 20 years.
You know, that’s no different from what he did in the first term, going after ISIS for, by the way, just less than a year. And most people didn’t even realize it was going on. So he’s been very consistent in that regard, but there’s no question that wasn’t the perception.
People perceived that he said what Madeline said. And that definitely depressed turnout on our side. I think we’re going to see that choice vindicated, though. Trump chose to do something he knew would have electoral consequences, but that he thought was right for the country. And honestly, every Democrat and Republican president since I was about 10 years old has said that somebody had to do something about Iran. Donald Trump actually did it.
So we’ll see how that plays out in a very different race in two years, because clearly Donald Trump is not going to be on the ballot. And it’ll be interesting to see how our primary shakes out.
Health Care and the Rise of the “Democratic” Socialists
Stefania Cox: And to this point about the Iran war — and you mentioned “it’s the economy, stupid” — of course, the Iran war having such a huge impact on the economy. But Madeline, at the same time, you’ve got so many of the Democrats who came through and pulled through and won in this election are aligned with, in some way, Democratic Socialist groups. And do you think that voters really fully understand what that means?
Madeline Summerville: No, not at all. I think that the alignment with the DSA candidates does not reflect a desire for socialism in this country, as much as the Republicans want the public to believe that, because it is a good message for the midterms to try to motivate turnout. But I think that actually most folks are like me, who are FDR Democrats, who believe in a strong social safety net. But I think the deciding factor really was health care. I think especially with Gen Z.
These are people, you know, millennials, too, and Gen X in particular, that believe that health care should be a human right, especially in the richest country in the world. And that if we have enough money to spend on wars that don’t need to be fought today, then we have enough money to spend on making sure that there aren’t people who are suffering needlessly. And I think it’s a moral conversation that our country is obviously ready to have. And I think that that’s the reason why they’re aligning with the DSA candidates.
And I think that’s the only reason. I don’t think that if you ask most people that they would want to abolish the Senate. Right. I really don’t think they want that. I don’t think they care, though. I think that they also want something to change, which is quite similar to how Trump was treated when he was first elected. I think Democrats are now where Trump voters were 10 years ago, saying we just want something to move. We want something to change.
So I’m not concerned about the socialist wing of the party winning forever. But I am certain that it’s going to upset Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.
Drug Prices and the Looming Democrat Civil War
Cary Dunst: Yeah, that’s such an interesting point about now what the Democrat Party’s tent looks like as they actually begin to try to legislate, knowing that pretty much anything that’s off to one side too far is going to get vetoed by the president.
So, Rod, when you look at this, separating the wheat from the chaff, where do socialist agendas fit in? Because as Madeline’s pointing out, people want to be able to go to the doctor and be able to afford that.
So how does that all come into play now?
Rod D. Martin: Well, interestingly enough, we’ve had the largest drop in prescription drug prices in history because of Trump’s policies, which did not involve price controls. And you heard a lot of Republicans say, oh, he’s talking about wage and price controls. No, he wasn’t. He never was.
Donald Trump was very, very clear. We’re going to rebalance our trade deals where these foreign freeloaders actually have to pay their fair share of our R&D costs so that the American consumer isn’t paying for France’s drugs. And he achieved that. And I think we’ll see that ramp up over the next two years, too.
But as far as the socialists, they’re going to make our life easier. You know, they’re going to do dumb things that annoy even the Democrats, because I think Madeline’s exactly right. The average Democrat is a “socialist” right now only in the same sense that during the Tea Party, a lot of Republicans were “libertarians.” They didn’t ever read Hayek or Mises. They never actually knew what that was. They wanted a more extreme version of conservative because “conservative” seemed to have become a formula for “sellout” under the Bushes and McCain and Romney.
And I think that’s what’s happening here. When the Democrats wake up and realize what Bill Maher already realized, what John Fetterman already realized, I think there is potential for a shift back to the mean. And then we can have a reasonable debate in this country across a range of issues.
Impeachment and the Limits of the New Congress
Stefania Cox: To that point, actually, traditional values on work, family, limited government, they still poll pretty strongly across America. And as you’re saying, many of the Democrats really do sit more in the center. So do you also feel, as Rod has sort of articulated here, that the country’s headed for a collision course once they perhaps see that those values don’t align with them?
Madeline Summerville: So I think that’s the appropriate question right now. I think that basically sums up what we can anticipate is that conflict. If they were smart, if the folks who just won were smart, then they’ll focus on one issue. It’s silly when you come in with a whole giant agenda, especially when you know it can’t be done, regardless. And I think people are very frustrated with the notion that anything can’t be done, right? It’s enough ideologically to want something at this point.
That’s how desperate people are for a change on the left. And I think that’s how people who are saying things like Medicare for All were able to make such headway. If they’re smart, they’ll push one issue and nothing else, because that seems to be the way that they’re successful. My guess is that they will end up not doing that, and that they’ll try to take on six or seven things and perhaps accomplish none, because there is that tension that’s going to exist with the balance of power.
But I think that it would be appropriate to bring impeachment proceedings against Hegseth. I hope that they don’t waste their time bringing impeachment proceedings against the president when they know that it’s not going to be successful regardless, and that it’s only messaging. It’s only to try to prove something to a base that they don’t need to prove anything to. Democrats have this problem. They advertise to their base so that they can get money to advertise back to their base. That’s what they do.
They don’t ever spend their time trying to convert voters from one side to the other, and they keep trying to engage voters who never want to take part in politics. And it makes me crazy. So I hope that they are able to stay the course.
Trump’s Ongoing Power and the Race for 2028
Cary Dunst: All right. To that point, Rod, as we start to finish up, not looking to the next presidential election cycle, but in the next years, as Madeline is saying how this, you know, she’s expecting an impeachment of Hegseth, what can the Trump administration do to try to accomplish things in this current environment?
Rod D. Martin: The president is going to use the full powers of Article II, Section 1, which, thankfully, we actually now have courts that recognize. We had, you know, for our video gamer audience, we had nerfed the powers of the president for decades. And that affects presidents of both parties, but not equally, because the Democrats have a Democrat bureaucracy that is happy to do what they want. And the Republicans have never had that. So now with certain key Supreme Court cases and just the president’s willingness to go do things, you know, we’re seeing an assertive executive again.
So the legislature can do what it wishes, but he still has a veto pen, just like Obama did in his last two years. The real issue for the Democrats is exactly as Madeline put it. Both sides, the Democratic socialists and the normal people, actually think they won. And so they’re going to fight for control of that. They’re going to end up fighting each other, I think, a good bit, and especially going into a presidential year. So it will be interesting in both sides what the presidential primary looks like.
But I think Jon Ossoff made his announcement for president last night. That speech sounds like an announcement. He’s not a Democratic socialist. He’ll vote with him on too many things for my taste, but he didn’t announce that way. And you saw a lot of the Democrats who did especially well last night had distanced themselves from the DSA. So I think Abdul El-Sayed may be a little more lonely than he thinks.
Cary Dunst: All right. Well, there’s so much to pick apart with this blue wave and what comes next. Rod Martin, Madeline Summerville, thank you so much for getting up early after staying up very late last night. We appreciate it.
Stefania Cox: Thank you, guys.
Rod D. Martin: Thank you.
