Democratic redistricting collapse
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The Democratic redistricting collapse is John Kiriakou's explanation for a puzzle he posed in July 2026: with presidential approval in the mid-to-high thirties, a historic low worse than Jimmy Carter's in 1980, why were Republicans still projected to hold their ground in the midterms?

His answer is that the Democrats "have fallen on their faces since 1992 on redistricting." He attributes the decision specifically to Hillary Clinton, who he says recommended to Bill Clinton on his first election that the party spend money only in states it could win the presidential race in. The Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana and other red states were abandoned, even though Democrats live in them.

Republicans kept spending there, elected two-thirds supermajorities in state legislatures capable of overriding a Democratic governor's veto, and used them to redraw congressional boundaries. Kiriakou reports that James Carville, who coined "it's the economy, stupid" and co-managed the 1992 campaign, was apoplectic, disagreed so vehemently that he did not return to the campaign, and still rues losing the argument. Recovery, in Kiriakou's estimate, will take decades and billions of dollars of spending at every level of politics.

Socialism and communism

The segment sat alongside his response to a reported Republican midterm strategy of calling Democrats communists, which he considers a bet that voters cannot distinguish socialism from communism. He gives two illustrations. Reading his hometown paper, he found a commenter describing a restaurant owner pocketing the tips as socialism, and replied that it was capitalism, "socialism would be if the workers owned the restaurant." At a family Thanksgiving, told by an elderly guest that the country was turning socialistic, he agreed and proposed starting with Social Security, then added Medicare, public education and the Interstate Highway System, "where Americans' money is pooled for the greater good." She did not speak to him for the rest of the day.

See also

- Bill Clinton
- John Kiriakou
