Today's Poll Question: Is the AI-driven economy a house of cards?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
Get ready to vote on today's daily poll question at smerconish.com.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:05)
But first, Michael explains it for you right here.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:08)
Welcome to The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:11)
For Independent Minds.

**Michael Smerconish** (0:14)
Hello, hello. Today is Wednesday, it's the 5th of August, 2026
Something interesting to begin.
Yesterday's Tuesday poll result at smerconish.com, 29,776 voted. Just a hair under 30,000. And I asked this question, timed to yesterday's election. Can Sanders-style progressive Democrats win general elections in swing states like Michigan? Michael, why don't you just ask about Abdul El-Sayed? Because I wasn't sure as to how many people were really following the race, and I thought I'd be more generic. But 52.42% said no. Someone like Abdul El-Sayed cannot win a general election in Michigan.
I think they have the right answer. I thought they had the right answer yesterday, but I have even more of that opinion today, and I'll tell you why. As I speak to you in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, NBC is really the only outlet that has called the race for Abdul El-Sayed over Hailey Stevens, and it was anticipated to be much more of a blowout. The Associated Press is the go-to, and the Associated Press, as I speak to you, has yet to call it. By the time you listen to this, they may have called it. In fact, they may have reversed the call of NBC, who knows? But on MS Now, MSNBC, MS Now, interestingly, even though they're part of, well, are they part? After all the splits, maybe they're no longer a part. Actually, that may be the answer to the question. I was finding it curious that MS Now, formerly MSNBC, isn't calling it, even though they're part of the NBC family. But actually, the answer is Comcast has split them off. So maybe that explains why NBC stands alone, even from MS Now. Yeah, I think I put my finger on it. From NBC, Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan's slugfest of a Democratic Senate primary. NBC News projects clenching the nomination in a close race over Representative Haley Stevens and establishing a Midwest beachhead for a progressive left on the march this midterm cycle. And then it talks about the background of the race. But I'm mindful of the fact that yesterday when Charlotte Alter was a guest and we were going deep on Michigan, we went into some of the polling data that showed that every poll had Abdul El-Sayed up double digits. Emerson 5741, Mitchell 5238, Zenith 5941, Caution Polymarket put his nomination odds near 98 percent, which all speaks to the dearth and inaccuracy of state polling.
But Haley Stevens really outperformed. And that's not a good sign for progressive, I'll say democratic socialists. They hesitate only because Abdul Al Sayed did not embrace that label. So yeah, that's the Michigan update to be discussed on my radio program today, especially in the second hour. Today I'm asking, is the AI-driven economy a house of cards? Is the AI-driven economy a house of cards? On Monday, the Dow broke 53,000 for the first time. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 broke 7,700 for the first time. So things are on, things are really on fire. But there's reason for hesitancy.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:42)
This is the Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:45)
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