Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends. Here, they discuss the week’s political events with Star-Ledger editor Enrique Lavín.
Q: President Trump‘s “Big, Beautiful Bill” — to extend tax cuts for the rich and slash Americans’ social safety net — passed by a single vote in the House. How do you see it playing out in the Senate?
Julie: The Senate will eventually fall in line after Trump threatens a few senators with primaries. I expect them to tinker with it a little, which means the House will have to vote on the senate’s version and go through this again, but to be clear: tens of millions of Americans will lose their healthcare, tens of millions of Americans will go hungry and tens of millions of Americans will be paying more while Trump, Elon Musk and their billionaire friends get a huge tax break. Is this what you voted for, America?
Mike: These are the same Democratic talking points that get used every time there is a tax cut. Yet, somehow, America moves forward without mass carnage in the streets. The problem with the Democratic and media messaging is that maybe it will be true this time. But all the terrible things that Democrats said about George W. Bush and John McCain and Mitt Romney weren’t true. So, now no one believes your same talking points anymore. The Democratic Party is the boy who cried wolf, and now the wolf is really here, and no one believes you.
Julie: You don’t have to believe me and you can feel good about owning the libs — until people lose their healthcare, state budgets go bankrupt because they have to pick up the slack and tens of millions of people lose access to food. The proof will be in the mass suffering this will cause for the constituents of the very people who voted for this legislation.
Mike: My point is the libs have owned themselves. They have brought all this on themselves by running bad candidates, having the same comms issues over and over again, and simply losing repeatedly to someone who is doing exactly what he said he would do, whether you or I like it or not.
Q: Any other aspects of this Trump victory to watch for?
Julie: The only thing to note is that the legislative branch has abdicated its constitutional duty to act as a check on the executive – again.
Mike: That’s a bit of an overstatement. The bill changed several times to win the votes of many of the holdout GOP members. If Democrats had won the House, they would be the ones getting concessions from the White House. But Democrats lost because of their own incompetence. And elections have consequences.
Julie: They sure do — which is why Republicans are in for a bloodbath in 2026 if we actually have free and fair elections.
Mike: Please don’t pull a Trump and start sowing doubt in elections. The elections were fair when Trump won in 2016, when he lost in 2020, and when he won in 2024. Elections are decentralized and run by counties all over the country. The election workers deserve our trust, not more skepticism from both sides.
Q: A New York Times analysis shows the Republican administration has cut research grants in half (80% to STEM education). These cuts affect nearly all scientific fields, which economists say will result in a major recession. Help us make sense of this.
Julie: This is what authoritarians do. They come for academia. Then they come for the press. Then they come for the people. This is the same playbook and we are running out of time to stop it.
Mike: These cuts are not in the long-term interest of the U.S. The problem is these programs have yet to find a political constituency outside of academia who will fight for them in Washington. They need that.
Q: Considering he pardoned the January 6 mob that attacked and injured U.S. Capitol police, what are the chances President Trump pardons New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver if she’s convicted for allegedly “shoving” ICE agents, as he put it?
Julie: You’re funny. LaMonica McIver is a Black woman who votes against Trump. If she were a white woman who stormed the Capitol, she would be getting an official apology and maybe a settlement at taxpayer expense. To be clear: Rep. McIver did absolutely nothing wrong. If she had, ICE would not have escorted her for a tour of Delaney Hall after this alleged incident. This whole thing is a political setup and it’s offensive to anyone who actually remembers when the U.S. Attorney’s office was not a prop for cable news fodder.
Mike: Several things can be true at the same time. Rep. McIver should not have physically interfered with U.S. law enforcement agents. It is not OK for anyone to put their hands on police officers. That said, all the MAGA folks who were excusing January 6th rioters beating cops with flagpoles and spraying them with bear spray should withhold any comparison with that riot to this minor shoving match. I am hopeful charges will be dropped, and cooler heads will prevail. McIver had every right to be there and inspect the facility, so I hope the DOJ will drop any charges in the name of consistency. But we should not tolerate anyone getting physical with police; it is not justified simply because you disagree with the administration’s policies.
Julie: I see no evidence that McIver “put her hands” on anyone. I see her being pushed and shoved and trying to defend herself.
Q: Speaking of trying to jail his opponents: Trump says he’s launching an investigation into American cultural institutions Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Oprah Winfrey for campaign finance violations after they endorsed Kamala Harris. What ramifications do you see?
Julie: The bottom line is that this is a direct assault on the First Amendment and yet the most powerful people in entertainment – the ones who can reach billions of people around the world – are not getting together to say so plainly. At the risk of dating myself, we need a Live Aid for the First Amendment. Where’s Bob Geldof to organize it? (I wrote a whole article about this, which you can read here.)
MIke: Conservatives should not be OK with legal intimidation and cost done purposely to infringe on one’s First Amendment rights. If Kid Rock and Ted Nugent actually influenced any voters, they could be next! While I don’t often agree with entertainers and athletes as they take political stands, I respect that they use their platforms to try to make social change. They are taking personal and commercial risk to make their points, and their First Amendment rights should be protected.
Q: In the final Republican debate before the June 10 primary, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, who is polling in low single digits, contended Democrats are afraid of him the most because he would be the toughest to beat. Any truth to that?
Julie: Bramnick definitely has crossover appeal and yes, he would likely be the strongest candidate in November – assuming the Republican base came out for him, which is a big assumption.
Mike: One of Bill Spadea’s top supporters even said Jon Bramnick would be the strongest general election candidate. Bramnick wins repeatedly in a district Trump lost by 12% a year ago. Bramnick consistently gets votes from Republicans, independents and Democrats. But Jack Ciattarelli has Trump’s endorsement, which is something primary voters care more about than one’s track record of winning tough races.
Q: Similarly, some Republicans hope Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is the Democratic nominee because they see him as easier to defeat in November than a moderate candidate, like Mikie Sherrill, the apparent frontrunner.
Julie: I don’t agree with that. Baraka has the ability to inspire low-propensity voters, the kind who stayed home last November. Each of the Democratic nominees has a base that is unique to them, which they can turn out. The question is whether the eventual nominee can unify the party enough to get them all to work for him or her after June 10.
Mike: Be careful picking your opponent. Any candidate who wins a primary with six legitimate candidates in the field, will be battle-tested with a proven ability to win a tough race. Mayor Baraka has impressed many since day one of his race. Be careful thinking anyone in this field would be easy to beat in the state with nearly a million more Democrats than Republicans. This will be a close race to the finish.
Quick thoughts on:
- Donald Trump Jr. said at an economic forum his father has transformed the Republican Party into the America First Party or the MAGA Party.
Julie: Where’s the lie? Rational Republicans like my friend Mike here have been pushed out of a party that is now a Trump cult.
Mike: No disagreement here. Trump has taken over the party.
- At the same forum in Qatar, Trump junior was asked if he’d run for president in 2028. Recent polling shows JD Vance as heir apparent with Marco Rubio finding marginal support.
Julie: I’m not sure that Donald Trump’s magic is transferable to anyone else. I also don’t believe we will have a free and fair election in 2028.
Mike: Julie’s right, though Americans like political brands, as do New Jerseyans — the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Clintons, the Keans. But Junior acts like a spoiled rich kid as opposed to the others who approach public service out of a sense of obligation.
- Elon Musk has indicated he’s pulling away from the Trump admin to focus on Tesla. And yet, the South African native was singled out among the attendees by Trump during his bizarre meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Julie: Musk is saying this because Tesla stock is in the toilet. The reality is that DOGE is his handiwork and that is still going. So is the ridiculous Afrikaner immigration policy and even Trump’s treatment of President Ramaphosa. Rate this as a blatant lie.
Mike: American politics is so fun. All the lefties hate the guy who did more for electric cars than anyone. And all the right-wingers come to the defense of the guy who enriches himself more from public subsidies than anyone in history. And it’s the same guy. America is great indeed.
She's a Dem. He's GOP. And they're friends
A note to readers: Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we prove it every week with this “Friendly Fire” conversation.
Mike and Julie are deeply engaged in politics and commercial advocacy in New Jersey, so both have connections to many players discussed in this column. DuHaime, the founder of MAD Global Strategy, has worked for Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and George W. Bush. Roginsky, a principal of Comprehensive Communications Group and author of the Salty Politics column in Substack, has served as senior advisor to campaigns of Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg, and Phil Murphy.
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