Politics and views in the United States

An ICE agent shoots a man in Texas, polls show Democrats have a strong lead over Republicans in the midterms, and Pete Buttigieg explains what should happen if Dems win back Congress.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

A person being shot on the streets of Austin by someone purporting to be law enforcement, particularly when it's ice, is something that causes me to be unhappy and angry about it.

Austin, Texas Mayor Kirk Watson says he's angry but unsurprised an ICE agent shot a city resident on Sunday.

The man is in stable and serious condition, though little else is known.

Watson wants the city's police department to be involved in an investigation of the shooting, noting ICE shouldn't do it alone.

ICE and immigration agents have shot several unarmed people this year, including killing Renee Good and Alex Preddy in Minneapolis.

An ICE agent from Texas pled not guilty in Minnesota last week after being charged in the wounding of a Venezuelan man.

Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy predicts the GOP will lose the House by 5 to 10 seats but narrowly keep the Senate.

Generic polls of likely voters continue to show Democrats with a more than 10-point lead and more than half of independents say they'll likely vote blue.

Roy says he had been more optimistic than many in the GOP, but can't ignore what voters are saying about the House.

I have been one of the people that has been less blackpilled on the House for a while, but, you know, the polls are what they are, and we are where we are.

If I have to go to Vegas, I think we're on the shy side of that, and we need people to turn out to make it more like a 50-50 flip.

Polls also show President Donald Trump's handling of the economy is a down-ticket drag.

The national average for gas is around 450 due to threats in the Strait of Hormuz and could rise further, with Iranian-backed Houthis taking islands at the mouth of the Red Sea, allowing them to dominate a separate shipping route.

But while campaigning for Iowa Republicans, Vice President J.D. Vance is touting Trump's policies as reducing the trade deficit and favoring farmers.

We know there's a lot of work to do, but just two years in, not even two years in, President Trump has cut that deficit by 42 percent and it's fallen even faster this year.

The U.S. trade deficit is close to where it was two years ago, well before Trump return to office.

While most election watchers are tracking the midterms, former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is tracking plans for after the election.

He says one of the most damaging things Democrats could do is return to the status quo and simply, quote, reverse the damage if they win this year's midterms.

The implication of reverse the damage, if that's going to be our mantra, is, OK, we're going to put all these things back just the way they were, and we're going to give you the world the way it looked in 2022 or 2012 or 1994 or whenever we think America was great.

And that's not going to work.

He adds Democrats should build for the new reality and for the next quarter century.

He says the party needs to keep its legislative agenda simple.

For example, ending the war in Iran, restoring the expanded child tax credit and fixing the tax code to ensure the wealthiest people pay their share.

The Center for American Women and Politics is reporting a record 590 women have filed to run for the House in this year's midterms, surpassing the previous high of 583 in 2020.

This also exceeds the 467 women who for the House during the 2024 elections.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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