KSEV Mornings · October 16, 2026 · Hour 1
A flying Tesla, the Cleveland Indians, Talarico’s abortion answer, a caller who says Paxton shouldn’t debate, and why the trades beat college debt.
Friday’s first hour of KSEV Mornings started with a flying Tesla and a complaint about laptops, but it kept coming back to the Texas Senate race: James Talarico’s abortion answer at his CNN town hall, and whether Ken Paxton should share a debate stage with him. Craig Coglianese hosted from the studio, Wayne Dolcefino joined from his place near Dripping Springs, and callers weighed in on college debt, Obamacare and the debate itself.
A flying Tesla and an upside-down keyboard
Wayne is done with laptops: he wants the keyboard and mouse pad swapped so the letters come first. “I’m a very chronological guy,” he said, and he is a little disappointed that Elon Musk and OpenAI, with all their brain power, haven’t fixed something so simple. Craig brought up Tesla’s new Roadster demonstration, in which fans suction the car to the road. In the video it drove upside down on a Hot Wheels-style loop, then launched off the ramp, flipped and landed. Craig said he checked nine sources to make sure it wasn’t AI.
Wayne, a self-described really bad driver, said a car that sticks to the road is exactly what he needs. He counted four or five insurance claims, including the day he got caught in his Houston gate and chose the exit that scratched the car from front to back. “People like to sue me,” he said. “I don’t really know why.”
The Cleveland Indians and words nobody voted on
Craig ran through the baseball news: the Brewers swept the Dodgers and head to the World Series, which they have never won, against either the Rays or Cleveland. Wayne wants the old name back. “How was that ever derogatory?” he asked. He said even his Mercedes once started talking about climate change without anyone asking it a thing.
That turned into a tour of language changes, from “undocumented worker” to “birthing person,” and the hosts asked whether anyone ever voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Craig added that baby boomers and Gen X still vote more than younger Americans.
Free drinks on election eve
Wayne’s worry is that young people drink less now, so they are no longer too hungover to vote. His fix: bars whose owners “still believe in America” serve free liquor the night before Election Day, with Waymo driving everyone home. Craig warned it could backfire, since he would show up too. Then Wayne asked the question he always asks his staff: “But is it a felony?” Nobody should try this at home.
Style versus substance
Craig said some of this week’s news felt petty, including JD Vance calling someone a weasel. Wayne said schoolyard name-calling doesn’t reach him when there are bigger warnings to deliver. “These people are going to raise your taxes,” he said of Democrats. Craig added that Trump is no longer a novelty: “We’ve now seen that show for too many years to have that be enough,” and voters want substance.
The wealth gap, college debt and the trades
Wayne said Republicans have become the party of regular folks, and that over the last 10 or 20 years wealth has pulled away from them. Craig agreed. “Acknowledging that we do see the same problems the left sees, but we absolutely disagree on the answers, is not left,” he said. He pointed to student debt and to the trades, where he said an 18-year-old can start at about $54,000 to $68,000 a year and approach $100,000 within five to ten years.
Wayne said Texas made a mistake deregulating public college tuition, which he blamed for bureaucracies and professors who teach one class and spend the rest of their time on “the mating habits of a four-legged African swallow.” He also wants Obamacare money sent to people instead of insurers, so they can buy coverage wherever they like, even from Cousin Vinny’s in Cleveland.
A caller on schools, and Craig’s nephew
A caller said the root problem is a school bureaucracy built around jobs and buildings rather than education, and that a bachelor’s degree today is worth about what a high school diploma used to be. Craig shared the story of his 19-year-old nephew, who started a landscaping company at 16, now has 40 or 50 clients, and chose to grow it instead of going to college. Craig bet he will own a house within three or four years.
Talarico’s abortion answer
Wayne said his son, a devout Catholic, was offended when Talarico said the Bible is silent on abortion. Craig noted that the woman questioning Talarico at the town hall pushed back on the spot and told him Catholics were offended. The clip itself aired in Hour 2.
Should Paxton debate? A caller says no
A caller argued a debate would be a setup, since national media already cast Paxton as the weaker candidate, and his bus tour is a better use of time. Wayne disagreed. Expectations for Paxton are so low, he said, that unless he says something outrageously stupid, a debate is his chance to say, “You talk real nice, but here’s your voting record.” He suggested Paxton could even own it: he is no fancy debater, and Talarico has “fancy Bible words” from “a Bible that ain’t my Bible.” Craig said Paxton is an intelligent man who would surprise people.
Obamacare and the free market
A caller from Spring argued that the Affordable Care Act built a lasting voting bloc in health care. Wayne said he can afford a $400 prescription, but most people can’t, and conservatives need a free-market answer, not a “babysitting Christmas tree government solution.” Craig put it plainly: “The question has a right to exist. The answer that the left is giving is horrible. We need to do better.”
Also in this hour
- Wayne woke up at 5:30 a.m. and his first thought was Craig. Craig was already up; he gets up at about 5 every day.
- Wayne asked a future self-driving car to take him to “Craig’s trailer home in Willis.” Craig’s correction: it’s a condo.
Hear Craig and Wayne live weekdays from 7–9 AM Central on AM 700 KSEV, The Voice of Texas. Visit the KSEV Mornings show page for live-listening controls and more episodes.
