A Conservative Votes Blue || Matt K. Lewis on the 2026 Midterms
He almost never votes for Democrats. This year, he’s making an exception.
Matt K. Lewis has spent his career on the right. He’s won a Buckley Award, he was named CPAC Blogger of the Year, and he once wanted to grow up to be Alex P. Keaton. In this Substack Live conversation, Corey and Matt dig into why he’s voting blue in 2026, how Trump broke up his own coalition, the Senate races worth watching four weeks out, and what both parties could learn from a wave, if one comes.
Calls to Action
✅ Leave a rating and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion
✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com
✅ Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion
✅ Share this episode with someone who’s rethinking their vote this year
Key Takeaways
A vote meant as a message. Matt sees a blue wave as the lesson Republicans need to finally put distance between themselves and Trump. If the wave doesn’t come, he worries the party decides it has to stick with him.
Connect the dots. Warnings about norms and the rule of law don’t move enough voters on their own. “He’s building a ballroom while you can’t afford gas” does.
Don’t get high on your own supply. Matt argues that a wave won with candidates like Roy Cooper and Mary Peltola isn’t a mandate to move left. He thinks the smarter read is economic populism without the culture-war baggage.
2028 is wide open, his vote included. His 2026 vote is a message about Trump. In 2028, either party has to earn it.
About Our Guest
Matt K. Lewis is a political columnist for The Washington Sun and a former senior columnist at The Daily Beast. He’s a podcaster, YouTuber, and frequent political commentator on television, and he wrote Too Dumb to Fail and Filthy Rich Politicians.
Links and Resources
- Matt K. Lewis at The Washington Sun: washingtonsun.com/columnist/matt-k-lewis
- Matt on Substack: mattklewis.substack.com
Connect with TP&R
- Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com
- YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion
- Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathan
Partners
Proud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
“Help me help you.” Now go talk some politics and religion with gentleness and respect.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.