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Inside Politics

Crypto Super PAC To Spend $30 Million Against Sherrod Brown; Can Sherrod Brown Turn A 2024 Loss Into A 2026 Comeback? Vivek Ramaswamy & Amy Acton Clash In Competitive Ohio Gov. Race; AOC: "Of Course" My Gender And Race Will Be Part Of 2028 Decision; Debut Of Dana's New Book "The Elections That Changed The World." Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 22, 2026 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:41]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Now to a red seat, Democrats are hoping they can turn blue and potentially flip the U.S. Senate along with it. In 2024, President Trump won Ohio by 11 percentage points, while Sherrod Brown lost his Senate seat by about four. Two years later, Brown is trying to make a comeback.

Republicans are putting serious money behind incumbent Senator Jon Husted, outspending Democrats on ads in the race by tens of millions of dollars. And a crypto-backed Super PAC just announced it's putting at least $30 million into defeating Brown.

I want to bring in someone who has the inside scoop on the Buckeye State and all the politics there. Karen Kasler is the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse Bureau chief. Karen, it's so good to see you.

When I started covering politics, which wasn't -- I guess it was long ago, but not that long ago, we spent so much time covering national politics in Ohio, because it was so goes Ohio, so goes the nation. It was a bellwether.

It hasn't been for years, certainly since President Trump has been in office. The Cook Political Report does call Sherrod Brown's Senate comeback bid a toss-up. How are you sort of seeing it from the ground there? Is it a referendum on President Trump and Washington, or are there Ohio-specific issues that will decide it, or both?

KAREN KASLER, STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU CHIEF, OHIO PUBLIC MEDIA: I think it's both, but there are a lot of Ohio-specific issues. I mean, in a way, it's really the economy, data centers, gas prices. Those are the big things that have really kind of changed the course of this race, I think.

You have two people who are running. You have Jon Husted, who is the U.S. senator appointed to replace JD Vance, so he's never run for Senate before. And then you have Sherrod Brown, who's trying to become the seventh senator to get -- to lose his seat and then get back into the Senate. So this is a really interesting race here. And, you know, it's been a Republican state for a long time. As you mentioned, Trump won in 2016, 2020. He won by 11 points in 2024. So just a couple weeks ago, I would say that that seemed to be the way it would go, but things could happen differently now.

BASH: So let's talk about Sherrod Brown for a minute, because he, for a long time, was, you know, defying that rightward trend, because he has such a unique sort of character, and he's very well known in this state for being a populist, among other things.

The fact that he lost two years ago, when Trump was at the top of the ballot, is he doing anything differently that you can detect in his campaign now, or is it just the atmosphere is different and he's riding that wave?

KASLER: I think the atmosphere has turned around on him, because this is the kind of environment that he has run well in. I mean, he was elected in 2006, defeating Mike DeWine, and that was a year where Democrats really did well, because of the same kind of things you're seeing now. And that was the last year Ohio elected a Democratic governor, for instance.

So I'm seeing a lot of 2006 elements coming through here. And Sherrod Brown has, in the past, done well, even when Trump was in office.

BASH: Right.

KASLER: But when he was directly on the ballot, that was an issue.

BASH: Let's talk about a solidly Republican House district in Ohio that's now considered a toss-up, and that is the seat of Max Miller, who is facing domestic abuse allegations, which he denies. The race has really gotten ugly. What do you hear from Republican voters in particular in that race, and whether they're abandoning him or sticking with him?

KASLER: I think there's some real concerns about that, not only from Republican officials, but also with Republican voters. I mean, that was a race -- that was a plus-five Republican district, and now it's considered a toss-up by Sabato's Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report.

And it's because of all these allegations it's gotten really ugly, too, because Ohio's other U.S. senator, Bernie Moreno, is Max Miller's former father-in-law, and he has called for Miller to resign and to get out of this race because he says he's a danger and he has no business in office.

So this has really gotten very ugly. Miller has kind of backed off a little bit on some of his campaigning. You don't see him out in public as much. But Brian Poindexter, his Democratic opponent, has really been out there trying to get that seat because it's up for anybody right now.

[12:35:09] BASH: Let's talk quickly about the governor's race. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has a really big financial advantage. As you mentioned, Ohio hasn't elected a Democrat for governor in two decades. Again, Cook calls this race against the Democrat Amy Acton a toss-up.

I know you've interviewed both of these candidates. What makes it so competitive?

KASLER: Well, just in the last 24 hours, it's gotten very interesting because about this time yesterday, the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton, proposed an emergency gas tax holiday. Ohio has a 38.5 percent -- or $38.5 gas tax. And then about six hours later, Vivek Ramaswamy came out with a similar proposal, but he had legislative leaders behind him.

Now you've got Acron -- or Acton kind of claiming that she was the leader on this. And with gas prices such a big deal, it's really made this race very, very interesting. And those polls are, I think, surprising some people because, again, this state has been red for a long, long time. And now it looks like with the current environment that it's -- it potentially could change.

BASH: So interesting. What a pleasure to have you here. And, yes, I'm sure it's hard for an Ohio person to say Acton, not Acron. And when Acton goes to Acron, I'm sure it's even harder.

Karen Kasler, thank you.

KASLER: No kidding. Thanks.

BASH: Thanks.

Up next, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is talking about her next move and making a 2028 presidential run sound a bit less hypothetical. Stay with us.

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[12:41:07]

BASH: The 2026 election is in six weeks, and that means the 2028 election starts in six weeks and one day. We could see two dozen Democrats or so jump in, and one of the biggest questions is whether Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be one of them.

In a brand new interview with The New York Times, the 36-year-old AOC sheds some light on her thinking, saying, quote, "There's an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot," she said. "And you don't -- and just in life in general -- life doesn't wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you."

My panel is back. Marc Caputo, I'm going to start with you. First of all, that is so true. And there are a lot of people in the history of politics who have thought, oh, I'll just wait because I'm not quite ready. And then time passes them by and it's no longer their time. It's -- it is noteworthy that she's saying that out loud.

MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: It is, but everyone else has been saying it out loud for quite some time, so why not? She's the ripe old age of 36. You have to be 35 to be president if she happens to get elected and she's sworn in. She'll be 38 at the time, so she'll really be long in the tooth.

The person who probably loves this news the most and would say run, Alexandria, run, would be Chuck Schumer, the senator from New York, who probably doesn't want her to run against him for Senate in his own party. I mean, he's double her age, right? He's 75.

So one thing I think there should be a note of caution is whether or not she runs and whether or not she wins or loses. She is 36. And that's just a lot of time and a lot of life left in politics. So, yes, maybe she feels it's her time and she's got to run now and it'll never be again.

But chances are that's not true. And even if she does run, if she loses, there can always be a comeback. Look at the current occupant of the White House, for example, that.

BASH: Yes, well, that is a good point. You know, and I want to move on to another quote, but I'm just thinking about that sentiment, Asma, because in so much reporting that I've done about women in politics and running for office, a big recurring theme has been historically that women don't want to do it until they know they're ready.

And this is different. She's -- I mean, I'm not saying --

ASMA KHALID, CO-HOST, THE GLOBAL STORY PODCAST, BBC: Yes.

BASH: -- she's going to do it, but her -- but what she's weighing isn't that it's, well, maybe this is my time, which, you know, maybe this is just another example of women changing in the political realm. Speaking of, I do want to read this other quote. This is talking to our friend Shane Goldmacher over at The Times.

"'If you're asking me about the things that I weigh, of course, that's part of what I weigh,'" she said of running for president as a woman. "This country has never elected a female president. Why are we pretending that this is not a factor?" She said with a laugh. "That doesn't make it impossible, but to act as though it's not a factor in anything ever is really a form of denialism."

Asma?

KHALID: I mean, that's what I thought was so striking about this interview. It wasn't so much -- is she going to run? Is she not going to run? Because, look, I think we are very far out from the 2028 election cycle at this point. There's a lot of questioning about which Democrat will actually run for office.

But it was the fact that she was publicly weighing these conversations --

BASH: Exactly.

KHALID: -- that I think I will say as a woman, I rarely hear in public space. I rarely hear them said out loud from politicians.

And if we look at the two women who have run for the highest office, both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, I think both of them handled how to approach their gender identity in really different ways than perhaps younger women might be.

I think what is striking about what you see from AOC is that she seems to be saying the obvious, which is that, like, of course, this is a factor.

[12:45:07]

I mean, Dana, if I could share one thing, there's a board book I have for my little kids. They are both boys, my kids. They look through this book at maybe age four or five. It's a book about presidents. And at the end, they have a photo, a little picture of every president.

Probably by age 4.5, my sons out loud were like, oh, can a girl never be president? Because they just observed the obvious.

BASH: Yes.

KHALID: And so I just thought it was refreshing to hear her say something that obviously even a little kid has noticed.

BASH: Ayesha?

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY" AND "UP FIRST": Well, I mean, that's you know, I've seen Asma's kids, they're very cute. And so -- it's, you know, a shame that they haven't -- that they had to ask that question -- can a woman be president? And I think America is still asking that question.

The thing about, you know, AOC is that she has something that I think matters a lot in today's day and age, which she understands social media. She understands like the current way people operate, right? Like she is a personality as well as a politician. And that matters a lot.

And so I think when you're seeing her say, well, maybe --

BASH: Yes.

RASCOE: -- now is my time. It's because things have changed so much.

BASH: Yes.

RASCOE: When you have Trump in the White House, you know, you don't have to come from this traditional background or take this traditional path. And I think that's what you're seeing in AOC.

BASH: Thank you all.

KHALID: It's also -- it's actually a bit of a trial balloon, right? Like she's --

BASH: Yes.

KHALID: -- what, not troubling herself.

BASH: Yes. That's a good point.

Thank you all for being here. Really appreciate it.

Up next, the elections that changed the world. I have a new book out today with David Fisher. And I took a little field trip to Washington landmarks that tell the story of some of those historic races.

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[12:51:12]

BASH: Every two years around this time, our leaders tell us that this is the most important election of our time throughout history. Every once in a while, elections just are monumental, not only for that period, but also for generations to come.

My new book with David Fisher, "The Elections That Changed the World," explores 15 pivotal moments that shaped how we live. It took a little field trip around D.C. to describe five of those elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: One of the great things about being here in Washington, D.C., is that we have statues and monuments that memorialize the elections that changed the world. So let's go check some out.

We all know Thomas Jefferson as a founding father, as one of the main authors for the Declaration of Independence. But he also was a candidate in two of the most arguably important elections in the United States of America. They were the first contested elections.

The two candidates were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. In 1796, John Adams won. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson won, sort of. There was a quirk in this brand new Constitution that these men had written. And Thomas Jefferson, in the Electoral College, tied with his own running mate, Aaron Burr.

So the Constitution said the House of Representatives had to decide who was going to be president of the United States. It was the first constitutional crisis. It took a while, but Thomas Jefferson finally won.

I mean, how's this for consequential? Abraham Lincoln is elected president, and it's the final match that ignites the Civil War. He didn't do that well. He only got 39 percent of the vote, and that's because no southern states supported him.

One month later, South Carolina seceded from the Union, and the Civil War effectively began. Two years in, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation and finally freed the slaves in the United States of America. And when he gave the Gettysburg Address, he made it really clear that nothing short of democracy was at stake.

The not one, not two, not three, but four elections of FDR were incredibly consequential. He was elected first during the Great Depression, 1932, because of the Great Depression. Huge Democratic majorities were swept in along with him, and he started to enact what he promised, legislation that added up to the New Deal.

Then he was elected to a second term in 1936, and he kept going. Roosevelt decided to run again in 1940, and he won in a landslide. It was an unprecedented third term, and it meant that in 1941, when Pearl Harbor happened, he was in the White House.

And he started to use his decade of experience, the relationship that he had with Winston Churchill and with Joseph Stalin, to form the Allied leadership to fight Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. It's 1944. The war is still raging. Roosevelt, of course, runs for a fourth term, and he wins.

And one of the other major consequences from FDR's unprecedented time in the White House is the 22nd Amendment, which passed afterwards. It says that a president cannot serve for more than two terms.

Consequential elections, they don't have to be for a president or really any government office. It can just be in a small group, in a church basement, raising their hands and voting. That was what happened in December of 1955, when Martin Luther King Jr. was elected during the bus boycott to lead the newly created Montgomery Improvement Association.

He was only 26 years old, brand new to Montgomery. He was the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

[12:55:02]

And one of the civil rights leaders, Jo Ann Robinson, had heard him preach and told everybody he can move people with his words. And we know what happened next. He became a civil rights leader that really did help change the world.

On May 10th, 1994, about 1 billion people watched as this man, Nelson Mandela, was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president, after decades of pushing back against racial segregation, discrimination by the small white minority who were running the government. Until his actions, you see it right here, as a freedom fighter and a political prisoner of 30 years, led to him being a statesman.

He only served one term as president, but his fortitude not only helped the people of South Africa, but inspired activists across the globe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The book is "The Elections That Changed the World: Fifteen Pivotal Moments That Shaped How We Live," and it is out today.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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