The Republican Strategy to Salvage the Midterms

About this episode

<p>With Republicans trailing in the polls, the party is making hard choices about where to spend its money — abandoning some races while pouring resources into others.</p><p>Shane Goldmacher, Nate Cohn and Lisa Lerer, political correspondents for The New York Times, explain why President Trump is campaigning almost daily in deep-red territory, how his influence is shaping the strategy and whether Democrats can win over the disenchanted voters they may need to take back the House and the Senate.</p><p>Guests:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/shane-goldmacher" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Shane Goldmacher</strong></a>, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/nate-cohn" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Nate Cohn</strong></a>, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/lisa-lerer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Lisa Lerer</strong></a>, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.</li></ul><p>Background reading:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/10/us/politics/trump-inflation-midterms-republicans.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Economic pain and an unpopular Trump</a> have put the G.O.P. on its heels.</li><li>Top Republican groups are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/us/politics/top-gop-groups-pull-support-from-first-house-incumbents.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pulling support from two House incumbents.</a></li></ul><p>Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times</p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.&nbsp;</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>