DSA Candidates Try (and Fail) to Appear Moderate Ahead of the Midterms

**Comfortably Smug** (0:00)
They've gone as far left as Hasan Piker has, because they see that's where it's at.

**Michael Duncan** (0:05)
The internal fight that's happening in the Democratic Party right now is electability versus enthusiasm.

**Josh Holmes** (0:11)
The reasons why we highlight Spanberger is because it's buyer's remorse.

**Michael Duncan** (0:14)
Finally, one of these libs got their hand caught in the cookie jar. What she wants to do is be able to like put all that in a box, turn the lock, bury the thing, and be like, oh, well, you know what happened. We made some mistakes. Wow, woke one was crazy. Woke two is crazier.

**Josh Holmes** (0:29)
It's just better packaged.

**Michael Duncan** (0:30)
Woke two thinks 9-11 was deserved. Wants to end Western civilization.

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**SPEAKER_6** (1:59)
Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

**John Ashbrook** (2:04)
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You guys are killing it.

**SPEAKER_8** (2:10)
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**SPEAKER_9** (2:11)
Congratulations.

**Josh Holmes** (2:12)
It's an honor and a pleasure to welcome the great Sean Hannity.

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**SPEAKER_5** (2:19)
Congratulations on all your success.

**John Ashbrook** (2:21)
This is why you listen to the Ruthless Podcast, because nobody else would ask that question.

**SPEAKER_9** (2:25)
The only political podcast worth listening to is the Ruthless Podcast.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:28)
It's time for our main event.

**John Ashbrook** (2:32)
The Ruthless Podcast.

**Josh Holmes** (2:35)
Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes along with Comfortably Smug and Michael Duncan. Johnny Smash Masherton Ashbrook is out on assignment this week, but I think that means that you have the board, Duncan.

**Michael Duncan** (2:50)
I'm going to be active.

**Josh Holmes** (2:52)
So it's really like we do have a new cast member.

**Michael Duncan** (2:54)
Right before we flipped on the cameras, I was, you know, perusing. Yeah. It's changed a lot. The board's changed a lot since I was in control.

**Comfortably Smug** (3:04)
Yeah.

**Josh Holmes** (3:05)
So maybe some surprises.

**Michael Duncan** (3:06)
Maybe stuff you've never heard before.

**Josh Holmes** (3:08)
You just never know.

**Comfortably Smug** (3:09)
I don't know.

**Josh Holmes** (3:10)
You just never know. It could be a lot of fun.
One of the things that we've talked about here on the Ruthless Variety Program ever since the 2025 elections of Abigail Spanberger, are there basically two distinct styles of candidates from Democrats, that in practice are no different at all in terms of governing and what they believe, but they present differently. One is the Mamdani version where they just tell you, we're going to steal all your stuff and you're going to have to ask me, the government, for anything that you do.

**Michael Duncan** (3:45)
Say what you will about that. At least it's honest.

**Josh Holmes** (3:47)
It's honest and it's straightforward. The other is the Abigail Spanberger routine, which we've talked about in great detail where they do all kinds of ads where they're like, I work across party lines. I'm a mom who had jobs.

**Michael Duncan** (4:00)
Working with law enforcement. There's always something like that in their ads.

**Josh Holmes** (4:05)
Then they show up the day after the election and do Zoran Mamdani's agenda. Right?
It's interesting because we wanted to give you a perspective on how this cycle has matured because there's been a lot of Zoran Mamdani's in the course of the Democratic primary elections. They're all running in that way. But many of them have now gotten nominations to states and districts. Frankly, they can't win if they keep doing the Zoran Mamdani routine. So there has been just a touch of Spanberger. So it's worth starting with a reminder of how Abigail Spanberger is being received in the Commonwealth of Virginia after presenting as Abigail Spanberger, the mom and the jobs and-