On Open Line Friday, Erick Erickson reminds listeners that Donald Trump is still president for two more years, praises Melania Trump's Ukraine peace diplomacy, and lays out the AP exit poll data showing voters blamed tariffs and the Canada trade war, not just Iran war gas prices, for the midterm wipeout. Then he turns on the Georgia and Texas Republican parties, crediting Brian Kemp and the Rick Jackson campaign for limiting the damage while saying state party leaders squandered independent and suburban voters by still screaming about 2020. Erick also raves about Godzilla Minus One and plugs Hungry for a Day Thanksgiving meals.

• Trump's last two years: why the president still matters with a veto pen, judges, and foreign policy power, and Melania Trump's press conference pushing a Russia and Ukraine ceasefire and humanitarian relief
• Tariffs and the midterms: the AP VoteCast data in 45 states, Susan Collins in Maine over performing and still losing, the Canada trade war, and Erick's report that a veto proof bipartisan majority is building in the new Congress to end tariffs on Canada
• JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr., and the Iran war: why Erick calls the gas prices only explanation monocausal and says the loyalty only runs one way
• Georgia Republicans: Rick Jackson losing to Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Georgia state House lost by about 1,600 votes, Brian Kemp skipping mid-decade redistricting, Tyler Harper outperforming statewide, and a party "run by kooks"
• Texas, Colorado, and the GOP future: why winning the general election beats winning the primary, plus Godzilla Minus One, a Samford college tour, and Hungry for a Day Thanksgiving meals for $40 (text donate to 33777)

On Open Line Friday, Erick Erickson shuts down the third party dream and lays out a king for a day plan to fix Congress: grow the House of Representatives to 1,000 members, pay them $300,000, and lift donation caps so money flows to disclosed candidates instead of dark money groups. He also tells a Georgia caller how to take over the Republican Party from the precinct up, makes the case that governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms is not a monster, salutes departing Governor Brian Kemp, and reacts to Pete Hegseth impeachment talk and the breaking news that Susie Wiles is leaving and Stephen Miller becomes White House chief of staff.

• Hegseth and the Iran war: Erick on Pete Hegseth impeachment rumors, Marco Rubio and Marsha Blackburn denials, and who gets held accountable for a war fought with a missile shortage, the Rumsfeld comparison
• Why a third party fails: 14 percent Gallup approval for Congress, independent voters, Melania Trump intervening on Stephen Miller's immigration excesses, and why parties that cater only to the base lose
• Fix Congress: expand the House of Representatives to 1,000 or more, pay members $300,000, lift campaign contribution caps, undo the Citizens United fight with transparency, repeal the 17th Amendment, and a state-driven term limits convention
• Georgia politics: how to take over your local Republican Party through precinct meetings, Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacey Abrams, Jon Ossoff, and Brian Kemp's bipartisan legacy and possible 2028 or 2030 return
• Breaking White House shakeup: Susie Wiles announces she is leaving, Stephen Miller named chief of staff, plus prayers for North Georgia and Tennessee after a once in a thousand years flood near Blue Ridge

On Open Line Friday, Erick Erickson argues that America's political crisis is really a spiritual crisis, telling pastors to stop trading the gospel for a seat at the table, to quit pushing the lesser of two evils, and to hold the Republican Party to account as readily as the Democrats, with Josh Howerton, James Talarico, and the Christian nationalism fight inside the PCA and Southern Baptist Convention in the mix. Then he reacts to the breaking news that Stephen Miller replaces Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff after the midterm drubbing, and asks who actually gets held accountable for the botched Iran war. He also plugs Hungry for a Day Thanksgiving meals and shares a family update on his son's acceptance to Samford University.

• The church and politics: why Erick says the political crisis is a spiritual crisis, how churches that align with a party alienate half of a 50/50 nation, and why pastors should stick to the gospel, deep theology, and serving their own communities
• Lesser of two evils and Christian nationalism: Erick's response to Josh Howerton's viral defense of voting for the lesser of two evils, Charles Spurgeon, James Talarico and Adam Hamilton on the left, and the push to force non-political pastors out of the PCA and Southern Baptist Convention
• Pastors and the 2026 primaries: why Erick says silence on candidate character, the treatment of illegal aliens, and the Ken Paxton race left Republicans stuck defending flawed nominees, plus the Amaziah and Amos comparison
• Breaking White House shakeup: Donald Trump names Stephen Miller chief of staff starting Monday November 9 as Susie Wiles moves to the Trump political operation, Republican reaction on Capitol Hill, Pete Hegseth rumors, JD Vance, and who is accountable for the Iran war and the missile shortage
• Hungry for a Day Thanksgiving meals for $40 (text donate to 33777), plus Erick's son getting into Samford University and a Birmingham college visit

1. Dow Falls More Than 1,700 Points as Investors Sell AI Stocks
   The Dow was down more than 1,700 points at recording time, and the Nasdaq fell more than 1,300 points into bear market territory. The sell-off comes amid concerns that Democrats could rein in data center expansion after the midterms.

2. Paul LePage and Britt Taylor Flip House Seats for the GOP
   Paul LePage flipped a swing seat in Maine, and Britt Taylor flipped Tennessee's redrawn 9th Congressional District in a tighter race than Republicans expected. Democrats will still hold a sizable House majority.

3. Nithya Raman Defeats Karen Bass as California Wealth Tax Fails
   Nithya Raman defeated Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayor's race, while California rejected the proposed wealth tax. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he plans to commute the sentences of everyone on the state's death row to life in prison.

4. Jeanine Pirro Launches Criminal Investigation Into Dobbs Leak
   The investigation centers on the 2022 leak of Justice Samuel Alito's draft opinion in Dobbs, the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Who leaked the draft remains unresolved.

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On the morning after the Republican midterm wipeout, Erick Erickson pushes back on JD Vance's one-cause blame of the Iran war and asks when Pete Hegseth gets fired. He walks through the exit data on corruption, Trump's presidential library fundraising, the cruelty of the immigration process, tariffs and cost of living, and plays Ronald Reagan's 1974 choice, not an echo speech. His case: the GOP is recoverable if it returns to its principles and stops living on one man's whims.

• Midterm wipeout aftermath: why Erick says the Iran war was an accelerant, not the only cause, and why he asks when Pete Hegseth gets fired
• JD Vance, the Iran memorandum of understanding, and Erick's warning against telling voters their priors were all correct
• Corruption as the top voter issue: Trump presidential library foundation fundraising, Public Square, and the Donald Trump Jr. ties
• Immigration policy vs. process: why voters backed the policy but saw ICE tactics and the Vivek Ramaswamy ad on Amy Acton as cruel
• Conservative ballot wins (California billionaire wealth tax defeated), 1974 and Reagan's choice not an echo, and why the GOP can recover in two years

Erick Erickson shows how the Republican mid-decade redistricting push blew up in the party's face, from Indiana and South Carolina to Georgia and Texas, and how it drove record Black voter turnout that cost Republicans Senate seats in the South. He breaks into the show with a market freefall, the Dow down 1,600 points and the Nasdaq in correction on AI and data center fears, then makes the case that cruelty, from ICE tactics to the White House ballroom and the Vivek Ramaswamy ad, is what voters punished. Listener calls cover the Mar-a-Lago endorsement problem and why both parties sell fear.

• Redistricting backfire: Sean Trende's data, the Indiana Republicans Donald Trump ousted for blocking a map that could have gone 9 to 0 or 8 to 1 for Democrats, South Carolina's 7 to 0 map that risked 6 to 1, Georgia's state House lost by about 1,600 votes, and Erick's verdict on James Blair
• Statewide fallout: Ken Paxton's loss in Texas, Marsha Blackburn's narrow Tennessee governor win, Cindy Hyde-Smith's weak Mississippi campaign, and the record Black midterm turnout in the South
• Callers John and Jordan on new GOP leaders, the Mar-a-Lago endorsement game, Michael Whatley and Vivek Ramaswamy, and why both parties tell voters the other side will cancel the election
• Breaking market selloff: Dow down 1,605 points, Nasdaq down 5.2% into correction, S&P 500 worst day since April 2025, Russell 2000 in correction, AI chip stocks sliding, Brent crude near $100
• Cruelty on the ballot: Ted Cruz's Kansas exit poll on cost of living, spam sales and plasma donations, the ballroom and gold leaf, ICE and Hispanic voters, the golden rule, and why Erick says do not give up on the country

Erick Erickson says President Donald Trump oversold and under delivered in his second term, and that broken promises on the Iran war, tariffs and the economy are why Republicans got wiped out in the midterm elections. He warns Trump may cut bad deals with Democrats for a legacy, defends the filibuster against the Save America Act argument, and blames House saboteurs like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie. His answer for the GOP is hope instead of rage, from Barack Obama's "we are the ones we've been waiting for" to Marco Rubio, plus a call to serve your own community through Hungry for a Day.

• Oversold and under delivered: why Trump's second term broke the first-term pattern, the Iran war "two weeks" promise, the Strait of Hormuz, tariffs, affordability and the midterm election results, with Erick refusing to blame Peter Navarro, Howard Lutnick or Stephen Miller instead of the president
• Republican Party identity crisis: Trump's equity stakes in private companies, the fear of a legacy deal with Democrats on Social Security and Medicare, and why the party outsourced its principles to one transactional man
• Mad at the politicians, not the voters: the Save America Act and the filibuster, House Republicans Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ken Paxton's under vote in Texas, and the Indian American and Hispanic voters Republicans lost
• Listener calls from David and John in Jacksonville, Tim in Orlando and Larry in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Reagan, midterm history from FDR to Eisenhower, affordability, the veto and why Congress should use open rule
• Hope beats rage: Obama's 2008 campaign, Clinton, both Bushes and Reagan, why Marco Rubio intrigues voters for 2028, and Hungry for a Day Thanksgiving meals (text donate to 33777)

Erick Erickson breaks down the Republican wipeout in the 2026 midterms, from Texas and Georgia to South Carolina and Kansas, and argues the Trump-era GOP lost the multiracial, multiethnic coalition it built in 2024. He walks through the exit polling on inflation, tariffs, corruption, the Iran war and immigration enforcement, then explains why JD Vance blaming only the war offers an echo, not a choice, and why the loss is recoverable.

• Midterm wipeout: Republicans lose Texas, Georgia and South Carolina ground as Hispanic voters swing to Democrats, 62 to 35
• Exit poll breakdown: 79 percent report inflation hardship, 64 percent say tariffs hurt the economy, 63 percent call the Iran attack the wrong decision
• Why "it was just gas prices and the war" is wrong: affordability, corruption, tariffs, deportation overreach and the ballroom
• JD Vance, 2028 and Reagan's "a choice, not an echo" after the 1974 Watergate wipeout
• Why it is recoverable: the Senate map, Nebraska and North Carolina ballot measures, and majority support for capitalism and low taxes

Calling in from Nashville, Erick Erickson opens the phones the day after the 2026 midterm wipeout. He tells listeners no loss in American politics is permanent, and he puts the blame on President Trump and the Republicans who wouldn't hold him accountable, not on the voters. He credits Jon Ossoff for rebuilding the Georgia Democratic Party while the state GOP kept relitigating 2020. He also takes calls on the 2028 Senate map, J.D. Vance, the filibuster, and what a Democratic Georgia under Keisha Lance Bottoms will look like.

- No permanence in politics: lessons from 1974, 1994, 2010 and Reagan's comeback, and why both parties should stop listening to the crazies
- Why voters revolted: tariffs, the White House ballroom, the cruelty in the ICE response, and a Republican redistricting plan that backfired
- The 2028 Senate map: Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania, plus the filibuster and the Supreme Court
- Georgia's GOP reckoning: Josh McCoon, the state party apparatus, and how Ossoff beat Republicans fair and square
- Listener calls: Michigan, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio callers on faith over politics, the Trump bargain, and what has replaced Christendom