Poll: 75% say inflation outpacing income

Amirah Sequeira, Director of Federal Affairs at the Working Families Party, right here. Great to have you with us. All right. We talked about this before we went to break. So a CBS News poll question. Is your income keeping up with inflation? 75%, no, it isn't. 25%, yes, it is. So, Rina, good idea, or helpful to Republicans? Helpful broadly that you see that breakdown? OK, that breakdown is a breakdown, OK, because these numbers shift. And we know they will move so much more these next 100 days.

Why? Because Americans are still underwater on costs. And they're not buying what either party's story is. That's the big thing. Normally, I would say this. In previous elections, we can have one figure to move around, a data figure, preferably, always, and I would say this about Republicans, always the pain at the pump, always the price of gas. This time, it's different because income is not keeping up with inflation. We know that part. And both parties are of net negative with their policies, in terms of helping the cost of living. But Republicans are getting hammered, and they're getting hammered harder because their policies also are--

And they're in power. Exactly. Amirah? I mean, I'm not surprised to see this poll. I've been on the ground in swing states, in blue states, in red states over the course of this primary season. And what we're seeing across the board is that working class folks cannot afford the cost of living. But if it's 75/25, it's more than working class. It is. Middle class and it's upper middle class. You don't get that number without all those folks in there.

It used to be that working class folks couldn't get a break. It's now everyone can't get a break. And I was just talking to a friend of mine overseas, and I said, we're the most philanthropic nation in the world. Well, there's a whole generation of millennials like me, who are like, I don't have any more to give, anywhere else. Well, I would just say, I think, what was really important to me about the CBS poll was that it shows that both parties are underwater with voters right now on this issue. And I think that's why on the Democratic side of things and Democratic primaries, we are seeing populist candidates win. We are seeing candidates that-- Democratic socialist candidates win. Progressives. Absolutely.

Those who are saying the establishment of the Democratic Party, the things that you have heard and seen for a long time, need to go or need to be reassessed. Exactly. Exactly. That's what you're detecting, and that's what you're advocating for. The candidates that are winning, and certainly the candidates we're supporting, the Working Families Party, are saying the status quo is not working for our communities, and we need to change it. Well, bring your attention to this brand new FOX News poll. Texas Senate race, James Talarico, 51%, Republican nominee, Ken Paxton, the sitting attorney general of Texas, 48%. Rina.

Wow. It shouldn't be like this in a red state. Trump won it by 14. So, again, should not be like this. So we know the environment. It's that kitchen table issues are very dominant as we head into the midterms. And voters are saying that Democrats are slightly less bad on paper, but, they're still underwater. So I think, Talarico is kind of showing us this burst of energy because he's got this again, pastor-in-training type of energy himself. But the bigger story that, I think, is there every day of the week is that Ken Paxton has got such legal trouble. He's got such personal baggage. When you combine those things-- Bad environment, personal baggage. Yeah.

Doubly problematic. Together, we've not seen this in Texas, actually. So I'm really curious as to what kind of conditions are able to endure the next 100 days. What do you read in this poll? Well, so, Rina, I agree with you, but I'd add to it. I agree with everything you said, but I think that in addition to who James Talarico is, his personality, he's a rising star. He's a great communicator. Ken Paxton has a whole host of issues. But I think, also, what is happening is that James Talarico is identifying just how much working class and other everyday Americans, how we are struggling with the cost of living. And he is vowing to fight back against corporate control of politics. Beto O'Rourke tried this same playbook. What's different about Talarico is that he's against Paxton. So we're seeing the same thing happen again. It's that one choice is less bad than the other. And I'm not trying to diminish your argument. I'm just saying that Beto O'Rourke was there before to blaze the trail. He didn't have as much of a connect as Talarico. And that's because Beto was not always authentically Beto, is my read. But I'm just saying, I feel like we're back to this whole duopoly of one is less bad than the other. Amirah, you're going to get the last word. I think that it's a different situation. I think things are worse now. I think what has happened with the Trump administration, what has happened with Republican control over the past two years, the extent to which healthcare has been cut, gas prices are over $5, working class people are using credit to buy their groceries, I think it is more extreme this time.

Amirah Sequeira, Rina Shaw, I appreciate you hanging out at The Tavern Isn't it fun? I mean, come on. I'll be back. That's how we do. Happy Friday here.