Is the Democratic Establishment Losing Control?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Are you looking for the best deal on a new home? Discover the DR. Horton Home of the Week. With new construction homes now selling in Ellensburg from the mid-300s, DR. Horton has the right home at the best value for you, offering one and two-story homes near Central Washington University. Your new home is within reach, so what are you waiting for? Learn more about the DR. Horton Home of the Week. Visit drhorton.com and schedule a tour today. DR. Horton, America's builder, an equal housing opportunity builder.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:30)
Allergy season doesn't wait until you're home. It shows up in the car, at work, even at the gym. That's why Kleenex Ultra Soft Tissues have you covered. They're allergist approved and silky soft to help prevent skin irritation. And now, new Kleenex Snap and Go lets you take your favorite skin loving tissues anywhere. A durable, compact case with a snapshot lid, Kleenex Snap and Go keeps tissues clean and protected. So wherever allergies strike, comfort is within reach. For whatever happens next, grab Kleenex Snap and Go.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:01)
Welcome to The Smerconish Podcast for Independent Minds.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:06)
Look, I know you're here to do your show. And I know that if I were getting ready to do my show, like the last thing I want to do is sit for an interview and so forth.

**Dana Bash** (1:15)
If it were anyone else, that would be true. But any chance not only to be on your show, Michael Smerconish, but to do it in person, this is like heaven.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:24)
I haven't said your name because I was going to do Radio Shtick, and I don't normally do Shtick. I'll date myself. But do you remember the program What's My Line?

**Dana Bash** (1:33)
Yeah.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:34)
Okay. So do you remember?

**Dana Bash** (1:35)
Just for the record, it was on before I was born, but I watched it. I'm familiar with it.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:40)
So I have this vision of like Kitty Carlisle Hart and Suppy Sales blindfolded, right? Blindfolded. And they would say, mystery guest enter and sign in please. And the mystery guest would come in and they would write their name on a chalkboard. And then these celebrities or kind of pseudo celebrities, they would ask yes and no questions and try and figure out who it was. And I was going to lean on the audience and like, see how quickly they would guess your identity. I think they would nail it right away based on your voice.

**Dana Bash** (2:14)
You do?

**Michael Smerconish** (2:14)
I do. Yeah.

**Dana Bash** (2:15)
Okay.

**Dana Bash** (2:16)
I was going to say, I don't know that they would ever get it, but thank you for your...

**Michael Smerconish** (2:19)
When you come back and have more time, yes, we'll have some fun and do that.

**Dana Bash** (2:23)
Fantastic.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:24)
Dana Bash, and I know this because it was so mispronounced so many times for me, and then Dana finally said to me, like, think banana.

**Dana Bash** (2:31)
Yeah.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:32)
Dana Bash is here in studio and we're thrilled to have you.

**Dana Bash** (2:36)
It's so great to be here.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:38)
And you're going to go to the TV side and deliver your own show in a couple of minutes.

**Dana Bash** (2:41)
That's right.

**Dana Bash** (2:41)
Right.

**Dana Bash** (2:41)
Well, at noon, what time is it?

**Dana Bash** (2:43)
Yeah.

**Dana Bash** (2:43)
In an hour and something.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:44)
You get plenty of time.

**Dana Bash** (2:46)
Nothing but time for you, Michael Smerconish.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:48)
So do you want to know what you're walking into?

**Dana Bash** (2:50)
Yeah.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:50)
Doug Sosnick was just my guest.

**Dana Bash** (2:53)
Oh, oh, I want to hear everything.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:54)
And so, you know, Doug, and I'm sure you read them as closely as I do, he publishes those missives and then he puts out his slide decks and so forth. And we just ran through all the data. And one of the conclusions is that the same events, the same anxiety consternation that give rise or gave rise to Donald Trump are now doing the same for democratic socialists, right? It's the anxiety over the economy.
I'm not going to do as well as my parents did, the economic opportunity for young people in particular. And so it explains both ends of the political spectrum. Your thoughts?

**Dana Bash** (3:30)
Absolutely.
Look, people are very frustrated, angry, scared about their own place in the world, economically, socially.
And they're looking for somebody who sees them and for somebody who listens to them and says that they will fight for them. And then it was Donald Trump. Before Donald Trump, not that long before, six years before, five years before, it was the Tea Party. And now it's, you know, the democratic socialists, the people who are in power. And the question is whether or not what we saw in New York, which is this connection between these people, including somebody who has no other job but to be an activist. So she is quite literally one of them, whether or not that really does have legs beyond. I was just with your governor, Josh Shapiro, and a little bit of a preview of our conversation, which will ultimately run on July 4th weekend because we went to Independence Hall and Liberty Bell and all that.