Two Ohio voters with differing views on major issues discuss the things they may have in common amid an increasingly divided nation in the first episode of Bret Baier’s “Common Ground” podcast
Prior to the Fox News Ohio town hall featuring Republican JD Vance and Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, Baier interviewed a Republican and a Democratic voter – Larry, a White CEO, and Sophia, a Black parent, who told him they have different key issues but found some things in common.
Sophia told Baier her key issues are civility, women’s rights and the U.S. economy. Larry, who heads a staffing company, said the employment aspect of the economy is particularly key to his vote.
“I’m concerned about the whole employment issue. You know, it’s so difficult to get employees to come to work,” he said, as the nation continues to face low employment especially in the hospitality and food service sectors.
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Larry said that by extension, immigration policy is also top on his mind because of its often understated effect on U.S. employment and economic conditions.
Immigration’s impact on employment is indeed one that can cut both ways on both sides of the political spectrum, despite Republicans being viewed as focusing on enforcing stringent laws while many left-wing Democrats seek path-to-amnesty provisions.
During the Trump era, moderate Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan Jr. notably pressed the Department of Homeland Security for increased work visas for immigrant laborers. Commercial fishing and seafood processing is a key industry in the Old Line State, and Hogan at the time urged the White House not to issue fewer-than-congressionally-authorized seasonal visas because it would have a dire effect on “the livelihoods of commercial… watermen,” he said.
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During the podcast, Larry added that he hoped Vance and Ryan would address immigration, especially in terms of its effect on the job market.
“In addition to that obviously I’m worried about inflation as a business owner – and crime has just gone through the roof,” he said, blaming “decriminalization” policies that are often forwarded by Democrats.
Both Sophia and Larry came together to endorse a political focus on family issues and affordable daycare, with Larry claiming child care is more expensive than rent in some places.
“It’s an issue that we really do need to take care of and we need to address. And, you know, really, it needs to be done at the business level, but also at the federal and the state level with our elected officials,” he said.
“I’m happy to support candidates that are willing to work. And I think that, you know, when I speak to other moms in my neighborhood, they feel the same way,” Sophia added.
“At the end of the day, they want individuals who value character value families value a strong economy. And I think that there’s a lot of spaces where people can find common ground.”
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Larry later noted many key elections are decided by “the middle” of the spectrum rather than the proverbial wings.
“Probably 80% of the issues should be able to be solved because most people agree on most of the issues. It’s the far left and the far right that just doesn’t seem to come together. And as a result, we have stalemate, and it just isn’t effective,” he said.
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This appears to be true in several key battleground states, where the decreasing number of undecideds and independent voters could swing elections like Pennsylvania’s senate between Dr. Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman and its gubernatorial between retired Col. Doug Mastriano and Josh Shapiro and Arizona’s gubernatorial between Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs and more strikingly, New York’s gubernatorial between Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin.
Both Zeldin and Mastriano recently said their states’ respective largest cities’ crime waves – in New York City and Philadelphia – are disaffecting centrist and suburban voters who may have otherwise been leaning toward Democratic candidates.
The inaugural episode of Bret Baier’s ‘Common Ground’ podcast is available now at foxnewspodcasts.com.
New York has not had a Republican governor since the turn of the century, and Pennsylvania’s decades-long pattern of a two-term Democrat followed by a two-term Republican was broken when outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf defeated Republican Gov. Tom Corbett after his first term – as both states have been trending heavily Democratic.
