POPULARITY
Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Depending on which election poll you are looking at, the Liberals are leading by anywhere from 5 to 10 points nationally. The last poll to suggest the Conservatives were tied with them was taken by Abacus on February 4, 2025. An Angus Reid poll taken on April 7, 2025 found that in British Columbia the Liberal Party leads by 11 points. It's more difficult to get a breakdown riding by riding. While 338Canada's projections are generally fairly accurate, they are calculated using a mostly proportional swing model adjusted with provincial and regional polls. In North Island Powell River there are currently at least three factors which this approach does not take into account. Firstly there is the widespread reaction to a series of tweets Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn made between 2019 and 2021. Many people feel his comments about residential schools are demeaning to First Nations and at this point 57 elected and former politicians, as well as Frst Nation leaders, have signed a joint letter calling for his resignation. So has every other candidate in North Island Powell River. There is also a little group of 9 politicians, primarily based in Campbell River, who have come out in support of Gunn. However with this kind of controversy going on, it is difficult to believe that 48% of the electorate would vote for Aaron Gunn if there were an election today. There is also NDP candidate Tanille Johnson's popularity with some of the electorate, and the fact Bob Chamberlain, former Vice President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, endorses her. Lastly, Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash, her Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager are all government staffers with an intimate understanding of how elections are run. When I interviewed Deputy Campaign Manager Holly Johnson last week, they had recruited 150 volunteers. Those are three good reasons to ignore 338Canada's projections for North Island Powell River. The only poll that could tell us what is going on in North Island Powell River must be taken here.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with political strategist and former FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice together with Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute, and Margaret Zaknoen DeReus, Executive Director of the IMEU Policy Project. They discuss the role of Israel's genocide in Gaza – and the U.S.'s facilitation of it through weapons and political support – in the 2024 elections, drawing from newly available data, including the IMEU Policy Project's January 2025 poll, which shows that "Gaza was a top issue for Biden 2020 Voters Who Cast A Ballot For Someone Besides Harris." They look at voter behavior among Arab Americans and in many other communities, at relationships between the Democratic Party and grassroots activists, and at the ways in which Arab Americans have been blamed for the Democratic loss. Key Resources: New Poll Shows Gaza Was A Top Issue For Biden 2020 Voters Who Cast A Ballot For Someone Besides Harris, from the IMEU: https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling Depressing the Vote: Genocide and 2024 US Presidential Race, Halah Ahmad, Al Shabaka: https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/depressing-the-vote-genocide-and-2024-us-presidential-race/ Rania Batrice is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. Rania has worked as a Democratic operative for over twenty years, lending her expertise across political, non-profit, legislative strategy and crisis management both in the United States and around the world. For Bernie Sanders' 2016 run for president, she served as Iowa Communications Director, the National Director of Surrogates and as Deputy Campaign Manager. In addition to Rania's expertise in strategy, policy and communications, her portfolio includes over 15 years of experience in conflict resolution, mediation, and organizational development. Her firm, Batrice and Associates, has worked for social justice through a variety of avenues, collaborating with organizations including Human Rights Watch, the Arab American Institute, March for Our Lives, Color of Change, March For Science, Sunrise Movement, and NDN Collective and more. Rania has been a featured speaker for a wide range of events, including addressing climate change at the Social Good Summit, the UN Youth Climate Summit and the UN General Assembly. Maya Berry is Executive Director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a non-profit, nonpartisan, national civil rights advocacy organization founded to nurture and encourage direct participation in our political and civic life to mobilize a strong, educated, and empowered Arab American community. She previously worked at AAI, establishing its first government relations department, which she led for five years before becoming Legislative Director for House Minority Whip David Bonior, where she managed the Congressman's legislative strategy and developed policies on international relations, human rights, immigration, civil rights and liberties, and trade. Margaret Zaknoen DeReus is the Executive Director of the IMEU Policy Project, which is affiliated with the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Michael Glassner was a Senior Advisor to the 2024 Trump campaign and was Deputy Campaign Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns. Trump, GOP Are Poised To Shake Up the D.C. Establishment
Michael Glassner was a Senior Advisor to the 2024 Trump campaign and was Deputy Campaign Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns. Trump, GOP Are Poised To Shake Up the D.C. Establishment
A letter revealed that former White House Assistant to the President and Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty was the main person who pushed Mark Zuckerberg and other Big Tech platforms to censor speech they didn't agree with. Now Flaherty is Kamala Harris' Deputy Campaign Manager. August 30th 2024 --- Please Like, Comment and Follow 'The Ray Appleton Show' on all platforms: --- 'The Ray Appleton Show' is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever else you listen to podcasts. --- 'The Ray Appleton Show' Weekdays 11 AM -2 PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 AM & 105.9 KMJ | Website | Facebook | Podcast | - Everything KMJ KMJNOW App | Podcasts | Facebook | X | Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Share this episode: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/377-the-future-of-psychedelic-medicine Sam Harris speaks with Dr. Jennifer Mitchell and Dr. Sarah Abedi about recent developments in research on psychedelics. They discuss the history of this research and the war on drugs, recent setbacks in the FDA approval process, MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the challenges of conducting this research, allegations of therapist misconduct, new therapeutic models for mental health treatment, psychoneuroimmunology, "non-psychedelic" psychedelics, good and bad trips, the FDA's coming decision on MDMA-assisted therapy, "right-to-try" policies for pharmaceuticals, the role of psychedelic therapists, the problem of having all this therapeutic work being done underground, and other topics. Petition to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD: https://www.approvemdmatherapy.com/ Dr. Jennifer Mitchell is a professor in the UCSF Department of Neurology and Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the San Francisco VA. Her research focuses on identifying and developing novel therapeutics for drug and alcohol abuse, PTSD, stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as on understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for these disorders. Dr. Mitchell has extensive and diverse experience with human and animal pharmacology, hypothesis-driven neuroscience, human proof-of-concept studies, and clinical trials. For the past few years, her work has centered around the development of psychedelic medicines for a broad range of mental health conditions, including PTSD. Website: https://profiles.ucsf.edu/jennifer.mitchell Dr. Sarah Abedi is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and psychedelic facilitator for clinical trials. She has worked as a psychedelic facilitator at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute and is set to join the psilocybin and mindfulness study at the USC Center for Mindfulness Science. She works on policy change to expand funding for mental health research. She served as Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Campaign Manager for TREAT California, a citizen-driven ballot initiative aimed at establishing a $5 billion funding agency to explore novel therapeutics, including psychedelics. Currently, Dr. Abedi is the Chief Medical Officer of TREAT Humanity, an organization dedicated to advancing the research of mental health therapeutics, including psychedelics, through enhanced funding mechanisms. Website: www.sarahabedimd.com Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
Today we are celebrating our 200th Episode with the return of a special friend of the podcast, Judge Tanya Acker. Acker serves as one of three judges on Amazon Freevee's Tribunal Justice, created by Judge Judy Sheindlin. Acker also hosts "The Tanya Acker Show" podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Overcast, and Pocketcasts. Most recently, Acker was a judge on the Emmy-nominated series, "Hot Bench." Acker is also the author of "Make Your Case: Finding Your Win in Civil Court," published by Diversion Books. In the book, Acker provides readers with curated, targeted information about what people want to know: what happens during court proceedings and why, how to best prepare for it — and how to avoid court entirely and find out if there is a better way. Acker is an experienced civil litigator who has represented a wide array of clients, from major automobile manufacturers in high-stakes product liability litigation to media companies in hotly contested trade secret disputes. She has been a featured commentator on "Good Morning America," "The View," "Entertainment Tonight," "Wendy Williams," "The Talk," "Inside Edition," "Banfield," "The O'Reilly Factor," "Larry King Live," "CNN Reports," "Anderson Cooper 360," "Issues with Jane Velez Mitchell," "Extra," "Your World With Neil Cavuto," "HLN's Special Report," "CNBC Reports," Great Britain's "GMTV" and Sky News, and various other broadcasts. She also guest co-hosted CNBC's "Power Lunch," and "C Magazine" included her in an election season profile on noteworthy California women in politics. Acker also has contributed to the Huffington Post and served as a Temporary Judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court Temporary Judge Program. While a student at Yale Law School, Acker represented low-income women in family law cases and served as a teaching assistant in Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure courses. She also worked at the Office of White House Counsel, the Civil Rights Division in the United States Department of Justice and the private law firms Irell & Manella, O'Melveny & Myers and Williams & Connolly. At Williams & Connolly, she assisted President Clinton's personal lawyers with press interviews, worked on the preparation of Congressional testimony for pending product liability legislation and researched First Amendment issues. After graduating from Yale, Acker served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dorothy Wright Nelson on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. After her clerkship, the Office of the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice awarded Acker a Bristow Fellowship. While working as a Bristow Fellow, Acker drafted Supreme Court briefs and helped prepare the Solicitor General for oral argument before the High Court. Among the cases on which Acker worked was Clinton v Jones, where she assisted both the Solicitor General and President Clinton's personal attorneys in preparing for oral argument. In private practice, Acker's legal work spanned a broad variety of matters, from civil litigation involving public and private entities, to various constitutional cases, to providing constitutional cases, to the provision of business counseling and advice. She also maintained a commitment to pro bono work, receiving the ACLU's First Amendment Award for her successful representation of a group of homeless individuals against the City of Santa Barbara. Acker later worked in entertainment industry outreach for the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign and as Deputy Campaign Manager for the Los Angeles mayoral campaign of City Councilman Bernard C. Parks. After that, she worked as the General Counsel of a company that manufactured emissions control products. Acker received her B.A. degree at Howard University in 1992, where she graduated summa cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She was awarded a Luard Scholarship for study at St. Anne's College at Oxford University and served there as the co-editor-in-chief of the Oxford University Women's Magazine. At Yale Law School, she was awarded an Earl Warren Scholarship by the NAACP and a Coker Fellowship by the Yale faculty. Acker maintains an active involvement in various philanthropic, civic and business organizations. A volunteer with Love Takes Root, she has traveled to Haiti to work in a clinic and orphanage founded by that organization. She is a member of the Beverly Hills West (CA) chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and additionally serves on the boards of Public Counsel, the Western Justice Center, the Boy Scouts of America (the National and Western Los Angeles County Council Boards); PacWest Bancorp; and as trustee of the Pacific Battleship Center, which operates the Battleship USS Iowa Museum. She is also a member of the Yale Law School Executive Committee and the Yale Law School Fund Board. ON THE KNOWS with Randall Kenneth Jones is a podcast featuring host Randall Kenneth Jones (bestselling author, speaker & creative communications consultant) and Susan C. Bennett (the original voice of Siri). ON THE KNOWS is produced and edited by Kevin Randall Jones. TANYA ACKER Online: Web: www.TribunalJustice.TV Web: www.TanyaAckerShow.com ON THE KNOWS Online: Join us in the Podcast Lounge on Facebook. X (Randy): https://twitter.com/randallkjones Instagram (Randy): https://www.instagram.com/randallkennethjones/ Facebook (Randy): https://www.facebook.com/mindzoo/ Web: RandallKennethJones.com X (Susan): https://twitter.com/SiriouslySusan Instagram (Susan): https://www.instagram.com/siriouslysusan/ Facebook (Susan): https://www.facebook.com/siriouslysusan/ Web: SusanCBennett.com LinkedIn (Kevin): https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-randall-jones/ Web: www.KevinRandallJones.com www.OnTheKnows.com
Can Biden outpost Trump in the run up to 2024? Why is the president on TikTok if he wants to ban it? Rob Flaherty, former White House Director of Digital Strategy and current Deputy Campaign Manager for Biden joins Offline to explain. Jon and Rob talk about the ways the media environment has changed since 2020, how the Biden campaign is cutting through the noise this time around, and the importance of acknowledging voters' frustrations.
In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Rania Batrice, political strategist, activist, coalition builder, and one of FMEP's 2023-2024 Palestinian Non-Resident Fellows. Rania discusses her background, the vision and values guiding her wide-ranging work, and the urgent and high-stakes political opportunities for Palestinians and their allies in this US election year. Rania Batrice is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, an activist and strategist for progressive change, a public relations specialist, and a political consultant. Rania has worked as a Democratic operative for over twenty years, lending her expertise across political, non-profit, legislative strategy and crisis management both in the United States and around the world. For Bernie Sanders' 2016 run for president, she served as Iowa Communications Director, the National Director of Surrogates and as Deputy Campaign Manager. In addition to Rania's expertise in strategy, policy and communications, her portfolio includes over 15 years of experience in conflict resolution, mediation, and organizational development. Her firm, Batrice and Associates, has worked for social justice through a variety of avenues, collaborating with organizations including Human Rights Watch, the Arab American Institute, March for Our Lives, Color of Change, March For Science, Sunrise Movement, and NDN Collective and more. Rania has been a featured speaker for a wide range of events, including addressing climate change at the Social Good Summit, the UN Youth Climate Summit and the UN General Assembly. Rania has received numerous accolades and awards for her work in the progressive movement, including the “Exceptional Woman of Excellence” award presented by the World Economic Forum and the “Woman of Purpose” award presented by the Purpose Project. Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is the Director of Programs & Partnerships. She leads FMEP's programming, works to deepen FMEP's relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley and is an affiliated faculty member at UC-Berkeley's Center for Right-Wing Studies. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
While Republicans were busy fighting each other in the House and inside Senate hearings this week, Democrats worked together to avert a government shutdown. Former Sen. Claire McCaskill and Jennifer Palmieri explain what they see as the GOP's culture of violence and what Democrats need to do to keep control of the Senate in 2024. Plus, President Biden's Deputy Campaign Manager, Rob Flaherty, joins to talk about the president's digital campaign strategy.
Mea Culpa welcomes Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and a veteran public affairs and political commentator with more than 20 years of experience, Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies needing high-level counsel in strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado – Before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. As founder of the Lincoln Project, Galen has led the groups vision and created some of its most memorable attacks against Donald Trump. He is now focused on ridding the nation of Trump and attempting to purge the GOP of its love affair with MAGA ideology. He joins us today to discuss the changing of the media guard as Rupert Murdoch rides off into the right-wing sunset. So, let's go now to that conversation.
Mea Culpa welcomes back Reed Galen. Co-founder of The Lincoln Project and a veteran public affairs and political commentator with more than 20 years of experience, Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel in the fields of strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado – Before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. As founder of the Lincoln Project, Galen has lead the group's vision and created some of its most memorable attacks against Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and others. He is now focused on not only ridding the nation of Trump but attempting to purge the GOP of its love affair with MAGA ideology. We had the opportunity to speak to him in the midst of these historic indictments.
Mea Culpa welcomes Reed Galen co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. A veteran public affairs and political commentator with more than 20 years of experience, Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel in the fields of strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado – Before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. As founder of the Lincoln Project, Galen has led the group's vision and created some of its most memorable attacks against Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and others. He is now focused on not only ridding the nation of Trump. But punishing those willful collaborators who think they can sit in the middle rather than use this indictment to finally rid the party of this disease.
Nathan "Nate" Howard is an entrepreneur, activist, and political strategist. Having cut his teeth as Deputy Campaign Manager and then a Senior Advisor to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Nate has also worked on some of the most influential ballot measures in Oregon history to include Measure 109 and Measure 110. Measure 109 made Oregon the first state in the country to legalize and regulate Psilocybin services for medical purposes -- an experiment that pro and anti legalization policy wonks are watching closely. Nate walks us through his background in further detail, the ins-and-outs of psilocybin, and where he sees the ballot initiative taking the state including the ups and downs.
Quentin Fulks and Jim Papa talk about Quentin's new role as the Principal Deputy Campaign Manager for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' reelection campaign, the values that drive him, and the twists and turns that brought him to this moment. Along the way, they cover Quentin's experience as Campaign Manager for Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock's re-election campaign, and his role as Deputy Campaign Manager and Political Advisor to Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Today we welcome back to our show, Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. A veteran public affairs and political commentator with over 20 years ' of experience, Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies needing high-level counsel in strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado – Before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. Michael Reed dig deep into Trump's claim that he was being indicted yesterday and DeSantis ant woke act and what that means for the 2024 GOP nomination.
In this episode, Ana and Jeffrey discuss Ana's career journey, how she was drawn into the criminal justice reform, and how she's ended up going further than she even could have dreamt. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WROp4iIBFFs Host: Jeffrey M. Zucker Producer: Kait Grey Editor: Nick Case Learn more: Recording date: 2/28/23 Ana: https://twitter.com/anarzamora https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-zamora-6180ab17/ The Just Trust: https://www.thejusttrust.org/ https://twitter.com/thejusttrust https://www.facebook.com/TheJustTrust/ https://www.instagram.com/thejusttrust/ Other resources: https://www.openhousesf.org/ Ana: Until I crossed over into philanthropy in 2018, I spent my career fighting on the front lines of criminal justice reform—as an organizer, advocate, and campaigner. I've been in the trenches of this work when we lost way more than we won. I know the deep, painful sting of losing a major campaign that you've thrown your whole heart into. I also know what it feels like to be part of progress. It's these experiences that built my advocacy chops and taught me that the pathway to real change is crooked, rife with setbacks, and that no map exists to help you traverse it. My journey began in an administrative role with the California Appellate Project, an organization that provides legal services to people in California facing execution. There I learned about the harm and stigma that our punitive, unforgiving system has on communities and families, including my own. I then spent the next ten years working at the ACLU, ultimately as director of criminal justice reform. Using integrated advocacy, I worked to advance issues including sentencing reform, reducing use of the death penalty, legislative and administrative reforms around wrongful convictions, and greater prosecutorial accountability through voter education and engagement. During these years, I also served in leadership roles in two California ballot measures: as Deputy Campaign Manager for Yes on 34 in 2012 and as Campaign Manager for No on 66 in 2016. And I launched the first ever statewide prosecutor accountability campaign, simply called: “Meet Your DA.” In my advocacy life, I was deeply frustrated with the extreme lack of resources in our movement—especially for organizations with directly impacted leaders. I saw philanthropy as a critical unlock and eventually moved into a new role as director of criminal justice reform at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which became one of the largest funders of frontline criminal justice reform work in the country—a $143 million portfolio in just under three years. My team at CZI backed key wins like Measure 110 in Oregon to decriminalize all drug possession; helped defeat Proposition 20 in California, which sought to roll back key justice reforms; funded the Clean Slate Initiative, supporting record-clearing policies for millions of people in Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, and other states; and, importantly, supported countless reform and organizing efforts led by directly impacted groups, in states often passed over like West Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. In my personal life, I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors of Openhouse in San Francisco, which serves LGBTQ+ seniors. It's an honor and a privilege to now lead The Just Trust—where I get to wear all of my hats and channel the stings of losses, the glory of wins, and the hope that I feel from across this powerful, diverse, ever-evolving fight for justice, safety, and wellbeing.
Former New Bedford Mayor and Democratic strategist Scott Lang joins Chris and Marcus to discuss why he believes President Biden shouldn't seek the Democratic nomination. And he discusses his time working as Deputy Campaign Manager for Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign for President.
Former New Bedford Mayor and Democratic strategist Scott Lang joins Chris and Marcus to discuss why he believes President Biden shouldn't seek the Democratic nomination. And he discusses his time working as Deputy Campaign Manager for Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign for President.
Mea Culpa welcomes back, Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. A veteran public affairs and political commentator with more than 20 years of experience. Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100 and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel in the fields of strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado – Before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. Michael and Reed dig into Kevin McCarthy, the documents, George Santos, and immigration.
David Bossie joins the show to discuss his latest op-ed for Fox News: 5 things House Republicans must do in 2023 with new majority.
On today's very special Friday show, Crystal welcomes Phil Gardner to spill all the details behind the drama of Washington's Third Congressional District race from his vantage as the campaign manager for now-U.S. Representative-elect Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez. As we hear about the nailbiter of a race in Southwest Washington between a rural Democrat and a right-wing fascist, Phil outlines the strategy memo he wrote that propelled an untraditional and underestimated candidate to flip a seat that had been held by Republicans for 12 years. With little to no support for the campaign from the establishment, Phil tells how a scrappy campaign fought for every vote by leveraging volunteer enthusiasm and connecting with voters in every place across the district. He and Crystal then reflect on lessons learned, possible downballot impacts, the need for continued vigilance against anti-democratic forces, and the hope that is manifested by engaging and being active. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Phil Gardner at @gardnerphil. Phil Gardner Phil Gardner is a Washington state political strategist and the campaign manager for U.S. Representative-elect Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez. He spent this fall working in Southwest Washington but normally lives in Tacoma. Phil's managed successful campaigns for federal, state, and local office, including those of Superintendent Chris Reykdal, State Auditor Pat McCarthy, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, and State Rep. Jessica Bateman's first campaign for Olympia City Council. Phil previously served as Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Denny Heck. He also served as Heck's District Director and Communications Director when Heck represented the South Sound in Congress. Phil went to college in Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill where he developed a strong preference for living and working back home in the better Washington. Resources “Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler concedes; Perez will face Kent for the 3rd District” by Lauren Ellenbecker from The Columbian Phil Gardner August 9th Strategy Memo - Can Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez win? Yes. “Kent, Perez brawl over two different Americas in WA congressional race” by Joseph O'Sullivan from Crosscut Straight Talk bonus round: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Joe Kent from KGW News Election To Watch: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on the Verge of Upsetting Pro-Trump Candidate Video edited by Meg Herschlein from More Perfect Union “Why aren't national Dems bankrolling WA's 3rd Congressional race?” by Joseph O'Sullivan from Crosscut “Congressional candidate Joe Kent wants to rewrite history of Jan. 6 attack” by Jim Brunner from The Seattle Times “In Washington state, controversial ties and rhetoric are upending a House race” by Claudia Grisales from NPR-KQED “How did Marie Gluesenkamp Perez pull off the upset of the year in Southwest WA?” by David Gutman from The Seattle Times “The Future Is … Doorknocking?” by Alexander Sammon from Slate “Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Is Going From An Auto Repair Shop To Congress” by Daniel Marans from The Huffington Post “Party reps say Gluesenkamp Perez won House seat, not Democrats” by Brennen Kauffman from The Daily News Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Well, this is an exciting show for me. I'm very excited to be welcoming Phil Gardner to the show. Now, Phil Gardner is known by a lot of people who are in political circles, Democratic circles - but for those who aren't, he is a political strategist and was the campaign manager for Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, who is the newest Congressperson in Washington's Third Congressional District, which a Democrat hasn't won in how long? [00:01:13] Phil Gardner: 12 years. [00:01:14] Crystal Fincher: 12 years. And beat Joe Kent in one of the longest-shot victories that we saw this cycle, if not the longest-shot victory that we saw this cycle in the nation. So very excited to talk to Phil and talk about this race. Welcome to the show. [00:01:33] Phil Gardner: Thank you, Crystal. I'm really glad to be here - appreciate you noticing what we did. [00:01:38] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely - hard not to notice, but definitely noticed that you were making some moves even before the conclusion of the election. I guess just starting off - getting a little bit more familiar with you - what is your background and what was your path to get to Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez's campaign? [00:01:58] Phil Gardner: Yeah, so I grew up in Pierce County outside Puyallup, graduated high school in Tacoma. So I'm from, consider myself from the state - I was actually born in Texas, but I'm a Washingtonian - and have worked in and out of politics on the Democratic side, both here in the state and back in Washington, D.C. I worked for Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck as his Chief of Staff in Olympia and also back on Capitol Hill as his Communications Director. And then have done a bunch of different campaigns in either manager or general consultant roles, like Superintendent Reykdal's 2020 re-elect for our statewide School Superintendent, the mayor here in Tacoma - I was a part of her first election in 2017, Jessica Bateman - her first run for City Council. So I have had my hand in a bunch of different political and campaign things all over the state. And actually the first federal race I was ever involved with, I was an intern on Denny Heck's 2010 campaign in the Third Congressional District against Jaime Herrera Beutler, which was the last time the seat was open. So it's not quite a full circle moment because - obviously Jaime Herrera Beutler lost in the primary and this - sort of a very different tone than what that campaign was like, but it has been an interesting sort of 12-year journey for me to find myself back down there. [00:03:30] Crystal Fincher: Back down there and in a situation where - for quite some time, Jaime Herrera Beutler looked like a comfortable incumbent. But then this year happened - and after Trump happened and MAGA Republicans - seeing a different blend of Republicans in the district, certainly around the state, and a crowded Republican field. How did you get connected with Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez and how did just starting the campaign unfold? [00:04:04] Phil Gardner: Yeah, so this was an absolutely wild ride that I only got on maybe two-thirds of the way into it for a lot of people that were involved pre-primary - like Marie, most significantly. But I guess to think of the timeline here - for these federal races, they're really two-year affairs at this point just because of the amount of money involved and such. And Joe Kent declared his candidacy against Jaime Herrera Beutler shortly after the January 6th insurrection, so way back in early 2021. And then he got the endorsement of the former president and that sort of propelled him into the leading anti-Jaime Herrera Beutler Republican. And I was watching all of that as anybody checking the news was aware of it. I assumed in the end that Jaime would make it through to the general election one way or another because there were also many, many Democrats running. And I just figured that she's lost a lot of support from within her party, but surely there's enough of a base to get her through against widely divided opposition. But little did I know that Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez had much different plans for what was going to happen. She jumped in the race in February, which is quite late to jump into a Congressional race - February the year of. But as she said many times, she saw a bunch of Joe Kent signs going up around her county where Jaime Herrera Beutler signs used to be. And it reminded her in 2016 when she saw all these Trump signs appearing. And she felt that if this guy really beat Jaime, and there was a good shot at that, that the Democrats didn't have a good candidate who could beat Joe Kent. So she got in in February while she had a - I guess at that point - he was a six-month old at home, running a small business with her husband. But yeah, yeah. But she felt that this was - we needed somebody to go up against this guy if the worst were to happen. And a lot of people didn't really take her very seriously. I think that it's fair to say that - because people didn't think Jaime was likely to lose the primary, they didn't want to do anything to - they wanted her to be able to run the race that she wanted to run. And so I think there was a lot of Democratic establishment players in the state who were not as helpful down their pre-primary. Again, not saying that they were supporting Jaime necessarily, but they just didn't see it as a priority. And there were others who were helpful, but because of that, it was - I think for Marie, it was a kind of lonely primary in a lot of ways - because a lot of people just didn't understand and see the district as she did. And in the end, they were able to clear the field. There was some negotiations and talks between the Democrats down there and that sort of got itself sorted out. And she was the only major Democratic candidate on the ballot in the primary. And she advanced and got 31% of the vote. And then as we all saw, it turned out Jaime was in a lot more trouble than I think any of us really understood. And ended up coming in very narrowly behind Joe Kent, by about a thousand votes, but that's all it took. And again, I didn't see it coming. I was watching this as anybody was - but I did have a friend, Delana Jones, who is a mail consultant, and I worked with her on Victoria Woodards' campaign - and she did Marie's mail as well. And I remember - I think it was the Thursday after the primary, and I was actually sitting in my office at the State Capitol because I was Lieutenant Governor's Chief of Staff at the time - just sort of looking at the numbers. And Joe Kent was not ahead yet, but based on the trend from what was coming in, it was just obvious that he was going to pull ahead once they actually finished counting all these votes. And I texted Marie's consultant and I was like - This is going to happen. OMG, what the hell are we going to do? And we got to talking - and I had actually been planning to take the fall off and reset my career and sort of think about what I wanted to do because I've been doing nonstop Congressional service or campaigns since Trump took office, basically, and was pretty burnt out. But Marie, prior to the primary, had one paid staffer - and she did a great job in what she was able to do, but she had no campaign experience. She just graduated from college. And all of a sudden you're in this tightly, tightly nationally competitive race, if you could get the resources into there. So I said, Well, it's a less than 100-day thing. I know it'll end. And Marie's great - I'd never met Marie before, but I knew Joe Kent was a fascist and we could not let someone like that win a seat in Congress from our state. And we certainly could not do anything less than give everything we could to try and stop it. So I took a detour - I was actually in Taiwan for a lot of August because I had a prearranged trip to do that. So there was a lot of nights of working on candidate questionnaires while I was in Taiwan and then during the day - anyway, so I finally got back onto the ground in Southwest Washington - it was Labor Day weekend. And so for me that - yeah - that is in my mind when my direct involvement began, but that's how I ended up at that point. So it was not a plan, but when Joe Kent wins the primary, you got to scramble the jets. [00:10:09] Crystal Fincher: Got to engage. [00:10:11] Phil Gardner: Yeah. Yeah. [00:10:12] Crystal Fincher: Wow. So looking at just even Marie deciding to run, I completely get feeling the alarm of looking at Joe Kent, feeling that he could win, and the history of the district saying - and he could win it all. What made her think she could win? [00:10:37] Phil Gardner: Yeah. She gets her district, she gets her community. She lives 45 minutes from anywhere, God bless her. I've been out there to that house on that gravel road and it is rural - she gets her water from a well, her Internet from a radio tower. And out there in Skamania County in the Columbia River Gorge, communities are just different when you live that far away from large population centers. And your local government - the resources are just nowhere near what they are in other places. And I think she knew that a lot of communities in the district were a lot like that. And that's true about a third of the population that lives outside of Clark County, and even parts of Clark County are a lot like that. But I also think beyond that dynamic, I think she knew - in this community, but I think all over the country - that Democrats had not done a good job of recruiting candidates who really look like America or really look like their base. The sort of prototypical, let's-go-candidate-recruiting is - Can you find somebody who has won an office before? Can they self-fund? Can they raise a bunch of money from a pre-existing donor network? Do they not have family obligations that are going to get in the way? Can they take time off to work, or do they not even work anymore? And Marie doesn't check any of these boxes, which is why when parties go to recruit, they often - in fact, very, very, very rarely come up with moms who run small businesses, and live out in rural areas, and who have a father from Mexico. But just because of the circumstances of this, she didn't ask for an invite to be the candidate. She stepped up because she saw it needed to be done. And then she won the primary and came up against Joe Kent - and that usual sort of screener for who are we going to run in really competitive races that just didn't occur because it wasn't even on the radar of the folks in DC. But I think she could see that was so necessary in order to connect with people like her - who work in the trades, with Latino voters - who in some parts of the country, we've had a ton of difficulty in the Trump years, with a lot of sort of conspiracies and misinformation that goes around, but nevertheless has struggled in places like Florida and South Texas. But also in the wake of the Dobbs decision, having a woman who had recently had a miscarriage and who was having a family and planning to grow her family, be able to talk about the real consequences and impacts of Joe Kent's nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions. So I think she was - for Joe Kent - a particularly good foil, but she is also, I think, as anybody who has watched her, she is just a very gifted and talented public servant. I think it's wonderful that this is the way in which people have come to learn about her, but she has been down there in Skamania County really doing that work. She ran for County Commissioner in 2016. And Hillary Clinton, I think she outran Hillary Clinton by eight percentage points in a rural red county. So she knows what she's doing. I guess that is one message - I don't want to leave people with this notion that what happened here was a fluke or unexpected or not. It happened because she knew that this opportunity was there and then decided to take advantage of it. And slowly everybody came on board, or at least enough to get us over the finish line. [00:14:12] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. And that was apparent for a while. This - one, it takes a great candidate to win, period. Even if you have a great team around you, if you don't have a candidate who does connect with people, who does understand the district, and who is really - feels a personal responsibility for making things better, it doesn't connect, certainly not at this level. So she was a great candidate - saw the opportunity, stepped up thankfully, and was ready to run. But it absolutely took a great strategy, which you put together. You shared publicly a strategy memo that you put together basically saying, Hey, can Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez win? Yes, she can. And this, in detail, is how. What did you identify? What was in that plan? [00:15:13] Phil Gardner: Yeah. So I wrote that back in August when it was - there were sort of two camps that happened right after the primary. There was a bunch of people who were like, Oh my gosh, this is obviously competitive. We have to jump at this. Let's do this. And then there are others who were like, We've got no shot. This just is not going to happen. And so I said, Okay, then I guess we need to explain to people who I don't think should have needed explanation, but did, that this is how we're going to win this race and just show beyond a doubt that we could. And so there are three components to it. The first is making sure that every Democrat knows who Joe Kent is and turns out in votes. And not just partisan Democrats, but progressives, working class folks, everybody who lives in Vancouver and Clark County - which is the most Democratic area - just very mobilize your base. This is stuff that Democrats, when they're on their game, know how to do - and devoting the resources and the attention to making sure that was going to happen. The second was in the rural areas - the six counties outside of Clark County - which run from where Marie lives in the Columbia River Gorge, all the way out to the Pacific coast, and then all the way up into Thurston County, nearly to the State Capitol. There are some cities in there that we knew we could maybe win, but - and then Pacific County, we thought we could win and we did win. But broadly speaking, we knew in those rural areas - we're probably not going to win a lot of these communities. But it makes a huge difference if we are getting 35% of the vote there versus getting 30% of the vote there. And I think that is something that Democrats have all too often written off about rural areas is - it's sort of, Well, we're going to lose those areas by a lot, so we shouldn't even try. And losing them by 10 points less than you lost them is a bunch of votes that could be your winning margin, depending on the sort of nature of the district or the state. So we wanted to take that really seriously. And we knew that Marie was a really great candidate to connect with those folks. And then the third aspect of it was - and these folks lived in all kinds of geographies - but making this very direct appeal to Republicans and Independents, who - anyone who supported Jaime Herrera Beutler, and just really could not stomach Joe Kent. And that was one of the most apparent things coming out of the primary. And the initial sort of looking at - who can Marie win - started with - who cannot stomach Joe Kent. And that is a very long list of people because Joe Kent often seems like he is intentionally trying to exclude and ostracize. And in fact, he is very intentionally trying to do that much of the time. But people can actually hear what he has to say and don't like the things he's saying. And I still don't think he's really ever caught on to that. But we knew that there were a bunch of people who supported Jaime Herrera Beutler, who maybe voted for Mitt Romney, but really didn't like Trump and the sort of direction the party was going under that. But these were not people who would typically vote for a Democrat, or really even consider a Democrat, unless you went out and made this very specific case to them and made it - not try to trick them, just be very honest, which was that - Look, Joe Kent is terrible. Here's all the terrible things in case you weren't aware. I'm Marie, I'm not a Republican, but I believe in democracy. I am going to listen to you. I'm going to hold town halls. I'm not going to embarrass you on the national stage. And asking those Republicans and those conservatives even to - again, not necessarily become Democrats, but just lend us your vote in this election against this guy, so we can beat him. That's basically what it said on paper. And then of course, the challenge is doing all of that all at once, and raising the money as you're spending it and etc, etc. But yeah, but that was the core. And we stuck with that through the end. [00:19:11] Crystal Fincher: And so that is really interesting. An experience that I went through - you talked about letting people know who Joe Kent is - it is actually hard to do justice to how bad and scary he is by just explaining. And was in a number of situations with - did the KIRO election coverage, right? So talking to people there in the newsroom, another Republican consultant, right? It's just - trying to explain how just problematic he is. And they're just like, Well, maybe well, I heard it was moderating in the general election and he's moving that direction. And I'm like, No, you don't understand. And I had watched a number of his video clips, just researching going into there. It's just like - Okay, I just need you - sit down, watch this. And they watched a clip of him just - it's like he was not in the same reality as other people. Just conspiracy theories - denied - like January 6th was some CIA conspiracy, just all these things. And one, just - my goodness, Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez also sitting there next to him and having to debate someone who's not making sense in the same kind of reality that you are, but also trying to explain things. But after watching him directly, they're just like, Oh, okay, I get it. It was so alarming. Even Republicans there were alarmed. And so there absolutely was an opportunity to mobilize people and to get votes from people who traditionally didn't vote for Democrats. Now with that, how did you negotiate and how did you move forward and talk through - Marie is a Democrat, she has Democratic values - making that appeal to Republicans. How do you broaden a base while maintaining consistency with your values? [00:21:13] Phil Gardner: Yeah. And it was a daily balance and a sort of figuring it out as we went. A lot of it was based on - well, it was mostly Marie's instincts. That's another - she did a lot of press during the election and afterwards. And as a communications professional who has prepped a lot of candidates for interviews, she does not require much at all. We chat about sort of the points she may want to make and if there's sort of one way she's explaining something and I'm like that may be misinterpreted, but by and large, she just knows what - she can smell what's good and what's off. And I think she knew what the media in her district was going to be. So using her as a guidepost - you know, she - right to repair, which is this issue that she talks about a lot, which is this sort of basic concept of if you own a piece of mechanical equipment or electronic equipment, you should be able to repair it. And there's home medical devices, tractors, iPhones, there's this long litany of things. And I will admit when I first heard her talking about this, I was like, This is, I don't, this is not a top of mind issue for voters. And it isn't - yet. I think it's becoming, partly because she is talking about it more and more in national media. But what was so interesting about it is people took it seriously. And it was very different from what they'd heard, not just a Democrat, but any sort of candidate talk about. And it did feel, the more they thought about it, more relevant to their day-to-day life than Joe Kent's latest vaccine gene therapy conspiracy or something. She also talked a lot about the dangers of microplastics, which is something that there's a bunch of research that - there's just more and more presence of these almost-permanent plastics in very small quantities in placentas and fish and just anything you can measure. And what better way to replace all that plastic packaging than with paper and cardboard products grown in Washington's Third Congressional District. She took this very, again, not something that was in the headlines or a lot of people were talking about, but managed to connect it right back into voters lived experiences and daily lives, and talk about in a way that was different from Democrats. So she wasn't trying to sound like a Republican. She was just trying to sound and be like a different Democrat. And it is working, [00:23:44] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, no. And I did notice that - the first thing I noticed was in the broader conversation about how Democrats, how the country sometimes is becoming more polarized - that bluer places are becoming bluer, redder places are becoming redder, and a number of Democrats are not performing well in rural areas. And to your point earlier, lots of times Democrats are not trying to compete in rural areas - thinking, Man, I just saw the margin in these other races when someone else tried to run, there's no way I'm gonna win there. So what's the point? But you saw the point. Hey, if you improve performance and you win in other areas, that's a win altogether. And one, her being a rural resident period and understanding the different context of life in rural areas, which is different. And I think a lot of people who do not live in rural areas, are not familiar with, or haven't spent a lot of time in rural areas - underappreciate just how different day-to-day life can look and be. It can be very, very different. And some of the things that you talk about in a metropolitan context, just there is no context for that thing out there. So talking about it just does not connect. It's not relevant. And I feel like, especially with a lot of Democrats not showing up in rural areas, that they are hearing lots of things from Democrats that they just don't see in their daily lives or that address their specific challenges. And Marie was able to directly speak to that, based on her own experience and really caring about making it better. And showing up and the campaign showing up - showing up is - you can't win without it. You got to do that. You did it well. You got the message out. But also trying to pull together a campaign, a Congressional-sized campaign, without a lot of external help was a challenge you had to deal with. There was lots of coverage about the national party not helping as much as they did in some other close races - whether it's because they didn't consider this being close enough to engage with or not - not receiving the kind of support that you, seeing it as a competitive race, probably hoped for. What was that experience like and how did you manage your way through that? [00:26:31] Phil Gardner: Yeah, it was excruciating at points. It was very frustrating, because we had an internal poll that we released publicly as far back as late August that showed Marie ahead by two. And this was at a time in national politics when the generic ballot was a little bit better for Democrats. And then there was this sort of whole freak out during the fall. And then I guess it turned out to be not quite that bad. But we had polling done by a very reputable pollster - I know people are trained to be skeptical of internal polling, but we hired a very reputable firm that everybody back in D.C. knew. And - [00:27:08] Crystal Fincher: By the way, most campaigns do. [00:27:11] Phil Gardner: Yeah. Like the campaigns - one, they're not going to spend all this money on research that's bunk. But it was, I think, two things. One was this knowledge that this district was - I don't think you'll find this in writing anywhere, somebody will say it on the record - but the district was drawn to elect a Republican. It's part of how our redistricting system works - is there's an incumbent protection that goes on. And this was Jaime Herrera Beutler's district. And in order to forge an agreement, they agreed to keep the incumbent safe. So with that knowledge that this district was drawn to elect a Republican, the notion that it could flip to a Democrat in a midterm with a Democrat in the White House, just - I think no matter what sort of facts you tried to put in front of people, they just could never get past that. But I think also that - I think people didn't - if Marie had been some, a man with a nice haircut - I just think there was something about who she was, and the fact that she was a young mom, and had never run for federal office before that people just thought, Well, surely she can't be putting together a campaign that could actually win. This is a novelty that's happening out there. And that was frustrating. But I could also see, as we were trying to convince people of our credibility, that our fundraising was going extremely well, especially online. We've - driven by a lot of that media coverage, but then also the long list of people who are horrified by Joe Kent. In the end - third quarter, the third fundraising quarter - Marie raised $2.2 million in the third quarter, which was more than any other Democrat challenging for an open seat or against a Republican incumbent, except for the guy running against Marjorie Taylor Greene. But Marie outraised Democratic incumbents in frontline districts. And I thought at that point, surely they will now see that this is not some fly-by-night scam we're running out here - it looks non-traditional because it must be, but surely now. And even at that point - no, Marie was never named one of the DCCC's Red to Blue candidates. And we asked for that - we knew that there was, it was unlikely that we were going to get air support that we can't legally coordinate, but we just wanted the designation so that when we called donors in other states, they would know we were - because there's a lot of these donors who, if you don't, if you're not Red to Blue, they don't think you're a serious candidate. And that would have cost the DCCC nothing and they wouldn't give it to us. And, of course now it's - they're apologetic and such, but I don't know - I try not to dwell on it and be bitter about it because in the end, we won. And I do think there's a silver lining in that because it wasn't on the DCCC's radar, the national Republicans also did not really get it on their radar. The national Republicans never spent anything for Joe Kent, which - we had always anticipated that as soon as we had our big fundraising quarter and started running our ads, they would come in with all these negative ads to slime Marie, and it just never came. And I don't know whether that was because the Republicans never really believed it was competitive, or because they just really didn't actually want Joe Kent in their caucus. And their attitude was - Well, if he doesn't make it, it's not our fault. It's his fault. And we've got a lot of other people who aren't so difficult that we're going to spend on. So I don't know, but it was - and he himself had a terrible, he was basically unable to raise any significant amount of money after the primary. Because I think once he had defeated Jaime Herrera Beutler, there was just not a lot of energy. And he was going around telling people that he had this under control - it was a safe Trump seat. And by the time he tried to pivot, it was too late to get his donors to notice or care. So that is one thing - I actually, I think Joe Kent ran a terrible campaign in the primary. He just had Trump's endorsement and that was enough. And then they continued that terrible campaign into the general and it finally caught up with them. But, yeah, it was still on the inside - it was, and if you were on the ground there, anybody who was able to come - it felt very competitive. We could see that obviously we had all of the Democrats - anyone who voted for Joe Biden was behind us. And we were picking off these - elected Republicans were willing to appear in TV ads to support Marie. And it's - well, surely there's some amount of people who are coming along with this because we can see them. It was just not clear whether it'd be quite enough. But the notion that on Election Night, it leaned Republican - I think if the rankers who had put it in that category been on the ground, I think they would have felt very differently. Because it was not a surprise that it was competitive to folks who were in the picture. [00:32:09] Crystal Fincher: Right. It was absolutely competitive - I think, just looking from the outside, it was - Hey, this is going to be close. Is she going to get enough? But especially in that situation, I think part of my personal frustration with some of the national establishment is that we also have to be willing to fight, and that we can't only engage when we feel like it's a sure thing. And if anything was worth fighting for, surely it was worth fighting - even if you hadn't yet engaged with how good of a candidate Marie was, you certainly could see how terrifying the prospect of having Joe Kent as a Congressperson is and was just unacceptable. And he was so far outside of what so many people consider acceptable or moral or decent. And we certainly have seen Republicans as a whole become more extreme, but he was like tip-of-the-spear extreme and proud of it and resistant to any kind of advice to do anything else. And so I am so thankful that you saw that opportunity, that we don't have Joe Kent as a representative. But also hope that the things that you talked about, the reasons why maybe they didn't support Marie - create a lot of people a lot of reflection - and people who do have the ability to influence the people and the ability to influence where resources are spent locally and nationally, starting from just who an ideal candidate is. We've talked before on this show looking, hearing - Oh man, they're a great candidate. And a lot of times that's code for a guy who's a military veteran, a guy who is a business owner. And really it's code for this person has a profile that could be a Republican, but they're a Democrat. And reality is so much broader than that. The community is so much broader than that. And the things that people are struggling with today just throughout everyday life are felt by so many more people. Even who is considered the working class a lot of times is coded as just white people. And it's so many people. And so having a young mom who is running - family running an auto shop, living in rural Skamania County - was someone who was absolutely relatable. And I hope we learned those lessons - certainly at the legislative level, candidates who look more, who are like Marie, or who are candidates of color or LGBTQ candidates are actually outperforming and increasing turnout to greater degrees than candidates in majority communities are. So I really do hope we take out the filter that sometimes prevents us from seeing the people who are the most connected within their communities and who do understand them the most. Going in and just how you went about defining who Joe Kent was and how you went about defining who Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez was - to people who maybe they realize an election is happening when they get the ballot in the mail, they were not tuned in throughout the months prior in the campaign, and you've got to reach them somehow, maybe not in person. How did you go about doing that? And what was your strategy there? [00:35:41] Phil Gardner: Yeah. In running against Joe Kent, this was one of the challenging things because as you alluded - well, you had said earlier - it's hard to understand how bad he is unless you sit down and really take the time to - Oh my God, he really - he really thinks that. And of course, we don't have the luxury of voters actually mostly having the time or interest to do that. So it was a real - what are the worst things of the terrible things he's said and done that we're going to be able to bring up? And we had some polling to help with this, but we also just used some intuition behind what was easy to explain and what was really going to click. And so we narrowed around a top five hits on Joe Kent because we would spice it up a little. But one is his national ban on abortion with no exceptions, which was his stated stance. Another was he told the New York Times that he wanted to put Anthony Fauci, they wanted Fauci arrested for murder. And there was one part in a Rotary that never got reported because it was a private event - but I was there - and someone stood up and said, Do you really believe this - that Anthony Fauci should be indicted for murder? And Joe Kent's response was, Well, he'll get a trial. This is what this man actually believes. [00:36:52] Crystal Fincher: Geez. Yeah. [00:36:54] Phil Gardner: Then there was the election denial, January 6th stuff - I guess that was actually - we mostly talked about that for the framework of Joe Kent wanting to abolish vote-by-mail. We found that was something that polled very terribly because - and I was a little skeptical to use it because I thought it would just be so unfathomable to people at this point that they wouldn't really believe anybody could or would do that. But it really did click. I'm glad we leaned into that. He wanted to ban immigration for 20 years to establish a white majority. And that's a conversation stopper in a lot of rooms. And what was interesting is that is the one that more than anything else, Joe Kent would react very emotionally negative to. The other stuff, he wouldn't really try to dispute it. But that one he would. I don't know exactly why that is. I think on a certain level, he may know how messed up and horrific and toxic - and he may just know that he definitely doesn't want his brand to actually be associated with the people sort of spending every day of their lives pushing for that policy, which are people who exist in white nationalist circles that Joe hangs out in - but yeah, it was - Oh, and then the fifth one, which he started talking about in the campaign - and he went to the right - was this whole defunding the FBI. Which, as a Democrat running in a Trump district, obviously we thought a lot about how was she going to talk about law enforcement because it's a top issue in any district, but especially when you're trying to win Republicans. And then Joe Kent just comes in and says, I think we should get rid of the FBI. And bunch of moms in Longview and Centralia, if you tell them - Are you going to sleep better at night with the FBI gone? - that's just not something that resonates with a lot of people in the communities that we needed to win over from the Republicans. So that was the sort of cornucopia of awful-Joe Kent. But there was even terrible stuff that doesn't even make that list. He wanted to legalize machine guns. He doesn't believe people should watch professional sports because it's emasculating to watch other men. Yeah, no, this is an actual thing. [00:38:51] Crystal Fincher: I didn't even know this one. Oh my gosh. [00:38:53] Phil Gardner: Yeah. His tweets are just - there's just so many, there's just so much - but a lot of it, it's can we really turn this into a mail piece or a TV ad? Probably not. But it is just so weird. And then with Marie, it was a lot of biography, but then basically just doing the counterpoint to a lot of what Joe was doing. She supports abortion rights. She believes in voting rights. She is not focused on these bizarre cultural conspiracies. And Joe said and did horrible, horrible mailers and statements regarding healthcare for trans people. And there was a debate in Longview where there was an audience participation point and they clearly organized to have his people come up and try to bait Marie on all these sort of cultural things about sports and bathroom. And this part never aired, I think, because the host realized that he had completely lost control of the room. But Marie would not yield an inch on any of those issues, and doesn't on any LGBTQ issues, and doesn't on any core rights issues - because that's who she is and what she believes. And that authenticity is what really matters and not engaging on these things that are so clearly just meant to divide. It was both mirroring him and just not swinging at the pitches that she didn't want to swing at. [00:40:09] Crystal Fincher: And that's so important. One, I think people in rural and even suburban situations that I've been in - there are people who understand that they may disagree with you on some things. But they want to be able to trust you. They want to know that you're going to stand by your word and that what you see is what you get. And so her having the courage to stand by her convictions, I think helped - even with people who - Hey, I'm a Republican, you're a Democrat, but I can see that you seem to want to help, that you seem to understand the challenges that we're facing, and you get things done. Am I going to agree with you a hundred percent? No. But do I think that you understand how to help me? I do. I think you can help. I think that makes a big difference. And just the campaign not taking the bait is a good thing and not engaging earnestly with bad-faith tactics and calling out the bad-faith tactics, instead of trying to fact check or engage in all the minutiae and all that was a smart decision. And one I hope other people see how you handle it, see how others handle it, and do the same thing. So now, we're at the point of the election. You have done a good job communicating who Joe Kent is, which - I really don't think people understand how challenging that is - even, some people think, Well, he's horrible. It must be really easy to run against him. It's hard to convince people - people who are horrible in a special way, impressively horrible, unusually horrible. It's hard to make people believe that someone actually is that horrible. People's first thought - Surely he doesn't believe that, man, this is a misstatement. This is an exaggeration. So you did that very well. Going through, turning out the votes, turning out the base, how did you approach just getting everyone to get their ballot in? [00:41:59] Phil Gardner: Yeah, well, we tried to work the mobilization messaging into those same persuasion messaging that we were doing, like the vote-by-mail. We would say, Hey, not only are we reminding you to get your ballot in and that your ballots coming in the mail, but you should be aware the other guy, Joe Kent - he wants to get rid of this whole system. He wants us to go back to standing in line at polling stations. So if you'd ever like to vote in another election by mail again, we would really appreciate your support for Marie. But it was a mix of very traditional mobilization operations. I guess with the voter mobilization, this was one of the challenges coming in after the primary was - to really do a lot of voter mobilization programs well, it requires money and investment and time. It's always put to the side by a lot of campaigns so they try to start it in July or something. To really have it really effective, you really need to have it in place starting pretty early in the year, depending on the size of the race. That just wasn't really present as much. There was a Coordinated Campaign presence from the State Party because Patty Murray was on the ballot, but there was nothing at the scale that we would have liked or would have been considered proper. But I thought that there was - the only option that – well, another thing is we couldn't really hire staff at this point from other place because any sort of top-field talent is generally already on a campaign at this point. But there was a lot of energy from volunteers, and we noticed that. And so we tried this – it goes by a lot of names – the snowflake model, where you're really taking volunteers and giving them job duties and responsibilities that in a lot of campaigns would really be paid staff - and I think ideally should be paid staff, or at least people should be compensated for work that they're doing that they're not volunteering on. But it's a complicated model because if people just lose interest or don't have the enthusiasm, it doesn't really gel together. But there was enough, I think, both positive enthusiasm for Marie and antipathy for Joe Kent that - our field director had never worked in politics before. He'd never worked on any campaign before. He was a friend of Marie's from college, who had just run a restaurant for five years that had gone under because of some supply chain issues. But he was very, very organized and very good at logistics. We hooked him up with a brilliant strategist in Oregon named Hannah Love, who knows all sorts of field and mobilization stuff, and she transferred knowledge. Eventually, we had 500 people coming out to canvasses. So it was a lot of traditional stuff like that, but in a sort of non-traditional way - mixed with our messaging. And then there were very specific communities who we wanted to go and talk to and make sure that they understood who Joe Kent was. One was the Ukrainian community, which is quite large in the Portland metro area, including on the Vancouver side. A lot of the members of the Ukrainian community here in the Pacific Northwest - it originated with folks who were fleeing the Soviet Union because they were evangelical Christians or Baptists and were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Not everybody who's come over here since then is also a pastor or something, but they have family or friends - and so it's a very religiously conservative community. But they knew what Joe Kent's stance was on support for Ukraine, which is - Joe Kent doesn't think there should be any. In fact, he thinks it's all sort of a conspiracy theory to start World War III that Biden and Obama are all-in on and such. They didn't agree with Marie on a lot of things, but they knew that. Marie came and showed up and talked to them and looked them in the eye and said, I'm not going to abandon you and your family. And I think that really resonated. And then also up in Pacific County, the Chinook Indian Nation, which has lived in the mouth of Columbia since time immemorial - they have been seeking federal recognition for many, many decades. There's no real question that they have all the necessary paperwork, and people should look into this online if they want to learn more about it, but it really is a travesty that they've not yet been federally recognized. Marie met with the Chairman and learned about this and heard - and we put out a statement making very clear that she supports recognition and would fight for it in Congress. I know that the Chairman and members of the Chinook indian Nation made sure that everybody who lives in the district knew that. It's a lot of this very targeted outreach that - the cookie cutter appeals and mass appeals are necessary and good - but we knew we were going to have to squeeze every - look under every rock or every mountain, whatever metaphor you want to use. It's not just one thing, but it was a mix of things. [00:46:17] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and you did a great job. So now we're to Election Night. What did it feel like when you got the results? [00:46:25] Phil Gardner: It felt really good. I guess we all lived through this, but how I was looking at it is - because our results didn't come until 8pm and I think the results from the East Coast were not looking quite as bad for Democrats as I think we had feared. And so I was like, Oh, okay, well, maybe we could do this. Because for all that we did, just so much of this is just national tides that you ultimately don't have first-hand control over, but - [00:46:52] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and I should mention - going up to the results on the East Coast, that there was a lot of talk about races narrowing in the final weeks. There were a lot of internal polls that showed races narrowing in the final weeks of the campaign. So there was a big question about - are things falling out of our grip democratically? And so there was cause for a little bit of relief at least. And especially as we got further from the East Coast, further West - things were looking pretty good. And then 8 o'clock hits. [00:47:20] Phil Gardner: Yes. So we're there in the Hilton - at the Clark County Democrats, their Election Night party usually is. And we knew that what we got on Election Night was going to be the highest that we were going to get. It was going to be our high-water mark - because Joe Kent, one of his conspiracy theories was that everybody should return their ballot on Election Day so then they know, they can't figure out how many fake ballots they need to create if we vote late. It's just bonkers stuff. But as a consequence of that, we knew that he was going to gain in these later counts. So I said, If we're not ahead on election night, then that's probably ballgame, folks. But even so, we needed to be ahead by a big margin. We needed to be ahead in Clark County by more than 10 points. And it came in, and I think we're ahead by 12, 12 and a half. And it's a little more exciting in these districts with multiple counties because there's some suspense where it's - Oh, okay, but what are we going to get in Lewis and what are we going to get in Pacific? And they just kept coming in, and they kept coming in and hitting those marks. And I was just like, Marie was just - we always knew that it could happen, but then for it actually to be happening - it just felt very surreal and out-of-body. And she was just overjoyed. And of course, very quickly composed herself to go get the speech done, and do - I think she did 9 or 10 interviews that night. But it was, it felt really good. But at the same time, we also didn't feel like we could truly celebrate because we did know it was going to narrow. And so the race ended up getting called - Saturday night after the election was when all the media outlets came out. But I personally felt confident that I no longer had worry bugs crawling around my head that we were going to win - I felt that way on Wednesday night. And that was when I knew how many ballots had come in and I could see what the margins were. And I could also see - using these analytic models on the back end, I could essentially see the uncounted ballots - what those were probably going to be like. Because the ballots are roughly counted in the order they're received. So at that point, we know that there's this whole big batch of Election Day votes for Joe Kent, and I knew they would be better for him - but you look at the partisan modeling and I'm like - that's really not going to be quite enough for him. But there's one thing to know that and one thing to actually say it publicly, because you want to respect the process and that tiny chance you could get egg on your face. But that was, that was almost, that was excruciating in a sense. I mean, it was nice to have that internal confidence that we knew, but it was still maddening to go that many days after - but much better than obviously the alternative outcome. And they called that race Saturday night. And Sunday morning we were on a plane to DC. So she got to new member orientation just in time, but - not a day too late. [00:49:58] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, I saw that. I was like, that was quick. [00:50:01] Phil Gardner: Yep, it was interesting. They had invited Joe Kent, but they had not invited Marie at first. [00:50:07] Crystal Fincher: Interesting. [00:50:08] Phil Gardner: Yes. And then what they do in a lot of these races that are close, they invite both of them. And so then we were both invited and then Joe Kent was uninvited. But the materials for him were still lying around - I was at one point accidentally handed Joe Kent's parking pass for Capitol Hill. And I was - I'm sorry, this is actually not the person who won that election. And they were very apologetic and I get their - so it was just odd, almost - seeing the physical artifacts of this alternative reality that could have happened. [00:50:37] Crystal Fincher: I'm glad we are not in that timeline - that would be a very bad timeline. We have more than enough challenges in this timeline that we do have, but that was such an exciting and uplifting race. So now, because no one can ever rest and because Congressional campaigns start as soon as they end - now there's talk about, Okay, so can she hold the district? Can she get re-elected? It's one thing to have an aberration like Joe Kent on the ballot, but maybe that doesn't happen next time. How do you think she should be approaching these next couple of years? How can she hold a seat? [00:51:12] Phil Gardner: Yeah, I think the starting point is to understand that she can. There are Democrats who represent districts that are more Republican or voted for Trump by a wider margin. Mary Peltola up in Alaska is the most recent example, but there's also a member from northern Maine named Jared Golden, who has a very timber-friendly, very rural district that shares some similarities to the Third. So we know it can be done, so we're not trying to do something nobody's ever done. But it's going to require her basically doing what she said during the campaign. There's not going to be some giant pivot - it's the same person she's been. I think without - well, first of all, I think it's quite likely that Joe Kent runs again. I think Joe Kent is her most likely 2024 opponent because Joe Kent was planning on winning and then running again. And we didn't even get into this, but he apparently has no actual job - so he's not busy doing something else during the day other than running for office. So I anticipate he will run again, and I think he may have the name ID to be the Republican nominee again. But even without that, in the eventuality that Marie ends up running against somebody who is less conspiratorial on the Republican side, I think that voters are going to give her a chance. I think a lot of these Republican voters who originally voted for her because they were soured on Joe Kent - I don't think, at least from the conversations I've had with them and then some of the community members who have supported them - they are still with Marie. There will be a Republican. I don't know who it'll be. I don't know exactly how that'll impact how people make their choices down there. But it's at this point an opportunity for Marie to show that she is that independent voice, that rural Democrat, that Democrat from the trades, working mom - and show people what a sort of different kind of politics and different kind of Democrat is. One of the first decisions Marie has made so far - back in Congress, there are these sort of ideological caucuses. There's a Progressive Caucus, and there's the more conservative one called the Blue Dogs, and then there's one sort of in the middle called the New Dems. And Marie's decided not to join any of them. She's joining the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who was supportive during the campaign too. But I think she doesn't feel like she fits into a box really well, and her district doesn't really fit into a box well. And she's gonna need to be seen and be different from the sort of Puget Sound-area Democrats in the delegation and figure out exactly what that path is with her district. Because the nice thing is she showed up not owing anybody any favors, because so few people believed in her. So I'm just very excited to see - she's 34. She's born in 1988. It is just so amazing that we have, from our state, this just incredible public servant who really does represent generational change and change in a lot of ways, and is doing it in a seat where we beat a fascist. I'm just so excited and delighted to see what she's able to do. [00:53:52] Crystal Fincher: I love it. And obviously, you did an incredible job on this campaign. You did great work. What other staffers or volunteers should we be on the lookout for from the campaign who are also superstars? [00:54:05] Phil Gardner: Great question. So we had at maximum five staff. Tim Gowen, who was our Field Director, is going to be joining Marie's district office. Peter Sandifer, who is our Political Director. Julian Chapin, who read Michelle Goldberg's New York Times article, emailed us and said, I'd love to drive across the country and come work for you - and that's how you get to become a Deputy Field Director on our campaign because that's the kind of world it was. And then Madeleine Newton, who was the staffer before the primary and stayed on as the Deputy Campaign Manager. And then a whole suite of consultants from around the Seattle area and some back in DC. I'm also just excited to see a lot of these volunteers who were engaged for the first time - what they end up doing. We had a lot of people who said they voted for Jaime Herrera Butler in the primary and then knocked on doors for Marie - it was the first candidate they ever knocked on doors for. It was, there are certain campaigns - they're usually presidential campaigns - but there are certain campaigns that really just leave a lasting impact on the people who were a part of them. And I think for a lot of people in Southwest Washington, this is going to be one of them. And I'm excited to see where that goes. [00:55:06] Crystal Fincher: I'm so excited about Southwest Washington. It's politically, in my opinion, the most exciting area in the state and the area with the biggest opportunity in the state. Just looking legislatively, there are districts that are so close that have been so close that have been on the other side of 48-52%, 49-51%, 49-50% races over the past couple few cycles. With a Democrat in Congress, new people engaged in the district, people hearing from Democrats and talking to Democrats who maybe just hadn't before - presents so much of an opportunity. What do you see the opportunity being downballot moving forward? [00:55:47] Phil Gardner: Yeah, well, I do think there - in Clark County especially, which this is the biggest county in the district, 61-63% of the vote where Vancouver is. But then there's a band of suburbs right around Vancouver as well. And Marie won by 10 points there. And it is one of those counties, like the suburbs of Atlanta or the Dallas suburbs, that once Trump came on the scene, there was a lot of moderate suburbanites who were - I don't know about this direction that this party's going. And so in addition to Joe Kent sort of accelerating that and Marie being appealing, there has been this phenomenon over the last six to eight years down there, where those Clark County suburbs are becoming much more friendly towards Democrats. And I think that, like you said, we keep getting real close. We redrew two of them pretty significantly and got up to 48%, 47% in a few of these. But I think it will be interesting and I'm optimistic that - there's almost a tipping point in a lot of these communities, where once the sort of prevailing cultural norms become more progressive, become more open-minded, become more friendly to folks on the Democratic side of the aisle - that that just keeps going. And I don't quite know where it stops. I think it'll take some time for it to happen, but I think it's going to keep going in that direction. And I think that's going to create some real opportunities for Democrats in those - in the 17th and the 18th, especially. But also need to run great candidates - candidates who are going to work hard, who know districts. And I will leave that to the folks working in state politics to figure that out. But I think that candidates who fit profiles that we know voters are going to like, we know this person is compelling, we know there's so much about them that fits in with our messaging, really making the person the message. I think we should look more seriously at those sort of opportunities and maybe not so much at what do we think is always going to be the best sort of candidate based on what's always been done. [00:57:43] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Any parting thoughts that you would leave with people about things that you learned from this campaign or how people should be operating moving forward? [00:57:53] Phil Gardner: Gosh, I both feel like I've learned so much and had no time to really stop and process at all. But I guess I'll go as big picture as we can get because that was a motivator for me in this, which is that I - sure many people listening to this - have felt very deep fear and concern that we're slipping into a sort of very anti-democratic culture and government. And this creeping fascism that we see all around us in different forms - the trajectory is really, really, really concerning. I believe Joe Kent represents that, and that was a big motivating factor for why I was willing to throw up everything to go and do this. And then it turned out Marie was fantastic as well, and so we get sort of a twofer out of it. But I think after this election - because Joe Kent lost, because so many of these election deniers around the country lost, I do think we should feel heartened that there is apparently a bottom for a bunch of voters. And there are consequences to saying these things. But I also still feel that history is a long time and this is just one election cycle and we can't rest on our laurels. So as I look forward into 2024 and beyond, I would love love nothing more than to get back to the days where we're just fighting and trying to advance progressive causes on the sort of traditional D versus R axis that we may have known. But I think at least for the time being, there is also this very dark anti-democratic force that is out there and very present - and it's going to require more than I think what is typically thought of as being necessary. The careerists are not going to be able to solve this. It is a problem beyond the people just clocking in to work on campaigns. And we all work very hard and I think there are many brilliant people, but this is a force beyond what we have dealt with before. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we make sure that doesn't grow and doesn't go on. And again, I think we gave it a good bop on the nose this time, but I think it may be back and don't take our eyes off that ball. So that was a little darker than I intended, but I do think it's important. [00:59:55] Crystal Fincher: But real. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about that. It's real, but there is hope. There is cause for hope. [01:00:04] Phil Gardner: Yes. [01:00:05] Crystal Fincher: And I think that in so many circumstances, I needn't look any further than my own family history - that that has been the only thing that has got people through some of those times - engaging, being active, doing what you can, and just holding onto that hope, and continuing to push. So appreciate so much you joining us today to have this conversation. Thank you for saving us from Joe Kent. And for putting Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez on our radar and in our Congress. Just such a huge win. Such an exciting win. I know some - Election Night - I'm just like, Look at the Third District. People are like, Okay, what were you working on? I'm like, But look at the Third District. And stuff that I was working on turned out really well, I was really excited about that. But this was as exciting, I think, as a result gets because - I'd shared with people before - certainly felt that this race was worth engaging in, and fighting for, and knew it should be close. Didn't know if it could be. So had thought about the reality of Joe Kent and allies having significant control in our country and it was terrifying. So yeah, just so excited to be able to talk about this race with you, and such a great job on both the strategy and execution. And I also love hearing that your Field Director was new to politics and knocked out of the park anyway. And you were just a scrappy bunch who fought through without any - very little establishment support - and just made a way. So really good job, really exciting. And thank you for joining us today. [01:01:43] Phil Gardner: Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. [01:01:45] Crystal Fincher: Thank you all for listening to Hacks & Wonks. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler. Our assistant producer is Shannon Cheng and our Post-Production Assistant is Bryce Cannatelli. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks and you can follow me @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered right to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.
Former congressman Beto O'Rourke is now 0-for-3 in his campaigns for higher office. So, what's next for this former congressman from El Paso? Jason Lee was O'Rourke's Deputy Campaign Manager and takes us inside his run for governor on this episode of Y'all-itics, explaining why Texas Democrats should be optimistic despite the loss, what Greg Abbott's campaign did well, and the lesson for Texas Democrats in it. But what's next for Beto O'Rourke himself? Would he run for office again? Will he remain active behind the scenes in Democratic politics? He's leaving his successors with lots of data on donors, voters, and volunteers. And that's one reason, Lee says, Texas Democrats have a lot to look forward to.GUESTSJason Lee, Beto O'Rourke Deputy Campaign Manager
Former congressman Beto O'Rourke is now 0-for-3 in his campaigns for higher office. So, what's next for this former congressman from El Paso? Jason Lee was O'Rourke's Deputy Campaign Manager and takes us inside his run for governor on this episode of Y'all-itics, explaining why Texas Democrats should be optimistic despite the loss, what Greg Abbott's campaign did well, and the lesson for Texas Democrats in it. But what's next for Beto O'Rourke himself? Would he run for office again? Will he remain active behind the scenes in Democratic politics? He's leaving his successors with lots of data on donors, voters, and volunteers. And that's one reason, Lee says, Texas Democrats have a lot to look forward to. GUESTS Jason Lee, Beto O'Rourke Deputy Campaign Manager
David Bossie is Trump's 2016 Deputy Campaign Manager. He has been the President of Citizens United for 17 years. He is also the producer of "Rigged" a documentary about Zuckerberg's involvement with the 2020 Presidential Election. Last Saturday I was able to visit with him.
Mea Culpa welcomes back to our show, Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. Galen is a veteran public affairs and political analyst with more than 20 years of experience, Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. He's spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel in the fields of strategic communications, procurement, and legislation. In addition to his private sector work, Reed has managed several high-profile ballot measure campaigns in California, Texas, and Colorado before moving to the private sector, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both of President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. Micheal and Reed dissect the results of the midterms.
Chris Pourciau is a Criminal Justice Reform advocate and political operative who led efforts to pass Constitutional Amendment 2 in 2018 for the Unanimous Jury Coalition as Deputy Campaign Manager. On this episode, he talks to host Lynda Woolard, who joined his team in the final months of that campaign to manage their statewide field efforts. Continuing Louisiana Lefty's study of UJC, Chris and Lynda dig deeper into every aspect of the campaign to illuminate what made it successful and further illustrate why it should be a model for Democratic candidates and causes of the Left in the Deep South. While we're releasing this episode on a day when the nation is heading to the polls for one of the biggest elections of our lifetimes, the podcast isn't focusing on that, because our goal is to create evergreen content as a roadmap for long term progressive organizing. The big takeaway, once again, is that the work towards future victories is a year-round, multi-year effort. There are no shortcuts. There is no magic. But if you're doing it right, within that work, you'll find camaraderie, joy, and glimmers of progress. Connect with Chris on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Connect with New Orleans Rising PAC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Watch Let Me Find Out (VOTE! Yes on 2) Remix featuring 5th Ward Weebie, directed by BMike. Watch Which Side Are You On (Yes on 2 version) by ani difranco. Find more info on the constitutional amendment and the people who worked to get it passed: The Unanimous Jury Coalition on Facebook Yes on Amendment 2 on Facebook Louisiana Lefty episode with J.P. Morrell on passing the Unanimous Juries amendment out of the legislature: S1:E13 Reform Without Fear with J.P. Morrell Find more Louisiana Lefty content on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and at LouisianaLefty.Rocks. Thanks to Ben Collinsworth for producing Louisiana Lefty, Jennifer Pack of Black Cat Studios for our Super-Lefty artwork, and Thousand Dollar Car for allowing us to use their swamp pop classic, Security Guard, as the Louisiana Lefty theme song.
Colorado Mesa University President John Marshall facilitates a conversation about people and politics, both past and present, with Katie Packer Beeson and Rich Beeson. Katie is a political consultant who has managed numerous campaigns at every level, including state legislature, Governor, U.S. Senate and Presidential. Rich's campaign experience is just as extensive. He served as the Political Director for Romney for President in 2011-2012 and as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Marco Rubio for President in 2015-2016.
Mea Culpa welcomes back Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. Reed is a veteran public affairs and political analyst with more than 20 years of experience. Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel. In addition, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. Michael and Reed dig into the January the Ginni Thomas and the January 6th hearings, DeSantis, Trump, and the DOJ. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mea Culpa welcomes back Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and an independent political strategist. Reed is a veteran public affairs and political analyst with more than 20 years of experience. Reed has been involved in politics, government, and business at the highest levels. Galen has spent more than a decade advising Fortune 50, 100, and 1000 companies in need of high-level counsel. In addition, Reed served as Deputy Campaign Manager for John McCain's presidential campaign and Deputy Campaign Manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2006 re-election campaign. Galen also worked on both President George W. Bush's campaigns and served the Bush Administration at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. Michael and Reed dig into the January the Ginni Thomas and the January 6th hearings, DeSantis, Trump, and the DOJ. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ari Rabin-Havt spent more time with Bernie Sanders over the past few years than virtually anyone. Ari served as the Sanders' 2020 Deputy Campaign Manager, traveling with Bernie almost 24/7. He recounts much of this time in his new book The Fighting Soul: On the Road with Bernie Sanders...and in this conversation talks about the personal side of Bernie, the major strategic decisions within the campaign, both what he thinks the campaign got right as well as mistakes they made, and much more from one of the operatives closest to the Sanders' campaign and and active participant in almost all of the critical moments of the 2020 Democratic primary.IN THIS EPISODEAri's motivation to get involved in politics…The prominent Senator who connected Ari to Bernie Sanders…Why Bernie warmed up to Ari so quickly…Ari's front row seat into the Sanders' decision process on whether to run in 2020…The most important factor that determined whether Bernie ran in 2020…Ari talks “the biggest mistake” the Sanders' campaign made…Ari on the Sanders' alter ego of “Bernie” vs “Earl”…The most difficult job on the Sanders' campaign…Ari demystifies his role as “deputy campaign manager”…“Beer track” candidates vs. “wine track” candidates…Ari's most memorable celebrity encounters from the 2020 race…Why the campaign decided to handle its paid media internally instead of using an established media consultant…The Sanders' campaign confusion over the lack of Iowa TV spending from the Elizabeth Warren campaign…The moment Ari was afraid an opposing campaign was going to “knock out” Sanders pre-Iowa…Ari gives a quick lesson in real-time, presidential campaign budgeting…The “moment of utter transcendent perfection” on the campaign…Ari breaks out his famed Bernie impression…Why Bernie didn't go harder after Joe Biden in the debates...Ari's take on whether there's a scenario of another Sanders runs for President…Ari on how Democrats should engage with Fox News…Ari's 101 on what makes a good advance staffer…AND 59th Street Bridge, ACDC, AOC, anti-hunger activism, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, budget sinks, Pete Buttigieg, Daytona Superspeedway, DML Media, Warren Gunnels, insane endeavors, Jewish grandfathers, Arianna Jones, kismet, Amy Klobuchar, Mark Longabaugh, Ed Markey, Media Matters, Josh Miller-Lewis, Outback Steakhouse, Jean-Michel Picher, policy staff, Queensbridge Park, Harry Reid, relative viscosity, restrictor plate races, Chuck Rocha, Jane Sanders, Faiz Shakir, Sirius XM, Rene Spellman, starting the train, Ted Strickland, tactile politics, Tim Tagaris, Nina Turner, Eddie Vedder, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Weaver, Cornel West, & more!
Chris talks with: David Bossie is currently President of Citizens United and producer of the new documentary Rigged2020.com. He was previously Donald Trump's 2016 Deputy Campaign Manager in Trump Tower, NYC.ANDAward-winning journalist and faculty member of Summit Ministries, Megan Almon.
Episode 66: Ira Shapiro & Ari Rabin-HavtAuthor and Political insider Ira Shapiro is making waves with his latest book The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America. Listen as Ira details how the Senate responded to the challenges posed by the Trump administration and its prospects under President Biden. What was the one betrayal that Ira feels is the greatest committed by Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans during the Trump Presidency? What can be done during the 2022 Midterm Elections to help prevent our Nation from a similar experience? With over 45 Years of American Political and International Trade experience, Ira Shapiro makes a compelling case that you won't want to miss. Ari Rabin-Havt is the former Deputy Campaign Manager on the Senator Bernie Sanders 2020 Presidential Campaign. During this conversation, Ari details incredible behind the scenes insight into not just Bernie Sanders the Political Icon; but Bernie Sanders the MAN. Ari explains what inspired him to eventually write THE FIGHTING SOUL: On the Road with Bernie Sanders. Learn about Senator Sanders' love for dancing, reputation for taking his work very seriously and even a hilarious story about walking down a busy Las Vegas street with Dr. Cornel West during the height of the Campaign. Ari was fortunate enough to have a front row seat to countless revealing moments regarding Senator Sanders, his Team and Family. This conversation may help you see Senator Sanders in a different light. These discussion points and more are unpacked this week on #TellUsTheTruth! *You can Subscribe to Tell Us The Truth on all leading podcast apps including the iHeart Radio App, Spreaker and iTunes/Apple Podcasts. Join us on Facebook and Twitter for daily discussion about top news.*
In episode 45, Coffey talks with Cathy DeWitt about legislative advocacy. They discuss the role of professional lobbyists; how and why businesses should be involved in politics; the importance of being involved in the legislative process even when the legislature is out of session; how to develop relationships with legislators and staff; the impact of contributing to industry PACs; whether party affiliations are dealbreakers when reaching out to lawmakers; understanding which bills are really important to legislators; and the pressure on business owners and leaders to take political stands.Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—premium background checks with fast and friendly service. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com. If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.About our Guest:For over a decade, Cathy Stoebner DeWitt served as the Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Texas Association of Business (TAB), the largest business advocacy group in the state of Texas. Under her tenure, TAB's lobby team was named as one of the powerful lobby teams in Texas. During the 86th Session DeWitt was added to Capitol Inside's ‘Top 100 Hired Guns' ranking.DeWitt was a lobbyist and policy expert on business issues such as labor law, health care, criminal justice, privacy, immigration, non-subscription, tort reform, and workers' compensation. Well known and respected at the Capitol, she is known for her honesty and direct approach to lobbying. At TAB, she was known to stick to her guns and to not negotiate on bad bills when it would add to the cost of doing business in Texas.Her philosophy then and now is that legislation should build the economy and create more good paying jobs for all Texans, otherwise government should step out of the way and let private business thrive. DeWitt has testified on hundreds of bills and is well versed in the legislative process.In addition to overseeing the advocacy team, DeWitt served as policy writer and media spokesperson for her issue areas. DeWitt also served as the Communications Director of the Association in which she managed issue advocacy campaigns and was spokesperson for the media on all business issues. Under her tenure, she created TAB's Voting Record as well its recognition program for state lawmakers. DeWitt was published in numerous publications and oversaw a $1.5 million advocacy campaign to let the public know which legislators were making the grade for business in Texas. Prior to joining the Association, she was an associate with the public relations firm, ROSS Communications, and she also served as Deputy Campaign Manager for Senator John Cornyn's last Supreme Court Race.Besides previously working at the Texas State Senate, DeWitt has worked for several other associations such Texas Civil Justice League and the Texas Medical Association.Cathy DeWitt can be reached at https://www.schluetergroup.com.About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, human resources professional, licensed private investigator, and HR consultant.In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations firm helping risk-averse companies make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.Today, Imperative serves hundreds of businesses across the US and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence and has twice been named HR Professional of the Year. Additionally, Imperative is included in the prestigious Best Places to Work in Texas list and has been named the Texas Association of Business' small business of the year.Mike is a member of the Fort Worth chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization and volunteers with the SHRM Texas State Council.Mike maintains his certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute. He is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).Mike lives in Fort Worth with his very patient wife. He practices yoga and maintains a keto diet, about both of which he will gladly tell you way more than you want to know.Learning Objectives:1. Understand the necessity that business leaders pay attention to legislative issues. 2. Determine when and how to be involved in political issues that affect business.3. Learn how to navigate social media and public pressure on business political stands.
In this panel discussion, three leading experts—Sarah Isgur (The Dispatch), Megan McArdle (Washington Post), and Matthew Weil (Bipartisan Policy Center)—will examine the causes of distrust in American elections and investigate its broader impact on the resilience of U.S. democracy.About the speakers:Sarah Isgur is a staff writer and host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions for The Dispatch, a professor at George Washington's School of Media and Public Affairs and George Mason Law School, a contributing editor at Politico, and an ABC News contributor. She most recently served in the Department of Justice as the Director of the Office of Public Affairs and Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General during the Russia investigation. She was backstage for more than a half dozen presidential debates as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Carly Fiorina's presidential campaign. Isgur clerked for the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Northwestern University.Megan McArdle is a Washington Post columnist and the author of "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success." Previously, she was a Bloomberg View columnist. McArdle wrote for the Daily Beast, Newsweek, the Atlantic and the Economist and founded the blog Asymmetrical Information.Matthew Weil is director of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Elections Project where he is responsible for all of the organization's voting-related policy development efforts at the state and federal level, the Business Alliance for Effective Democracy, and collaborations with social media platforms to provide authoritative election information to voters. Prior to joining BPC in February 2013, he worked at the Department of the Treasury on domestic finance issues in the office of public affairs. He also previously served as a research and policy analyst at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and as a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute. Weil holds a Master of Science in Government Analytics degree from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.Chair: Dr Thomas Gift
Emily Cherniack is steeped in the traditions of servant leadership. From her service in AmeriCorps and employment with City Year AmeriCorps, to being part of the founding team of Be the Change — where she led a coalition of over 200 organizations to engage 250,000 people for a Day of Action in support of the $6 billion Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009 — Emily has worked tirelessly to serve our country and support others who serve. In 2018, Emily was named to the Politico 50 as one of the 50 "thinkers, doers, and dreamers driving politics." Emily's path to politics came when her boss and mentor, Alan Khazei, decided to run for the US Senate in 2009. Khazei asked Emily to become his Deputy Campaign Manager and, although he was defeated, Emily learned a great deal from his campaign and the power of political leaders who chose to serve country before self. This experience led Emily to conclude that our current system for recruiting political talent is broken. The current talent pipeline is intentionally exclusive, and has significant barriers that prevent transformational leaders from successfully running for office; the only way to change that is to change the pipeline. New Politics was founded in 2013 to address exactly that. Emily graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology and a Masters Degree in Education Policy. She lives in Boston. Disclaimer: All political views expressed by Emily during the podcast are hers and do not necessarily represent the views of the Warrior Soul Podcast or its Host. The Warrior Soul Podcast is not affiliated with any specific political party or perspective and merely seeks to bring tools, tactics, strategies, and ideas to the US Military Veteran Community to help its members to live their best lives. That mission entails bringing on guests from multiple political perspectives whether the Host agrees with them or not. It is our hope that anyone who disagrees with Emily can look past that to see the tools she brings to the table to help the Veteran community get more of its members into public office.
In this episode, Brian and Courtenay discuss Florida politics, 2024 elections, and gun control. Despite what the far left has tried to coerce us to believe, we've all seen the immense strides Florida has taken during this pandemic. Not only have they succeeded in protecting the freedoms of their residents, but they've also been able to maintain the lowest number of Covid cases across the country. In this conversation, Brian shares his thoughts on what he believes to be the leading contributors to this accomplishment and how to expand it moving forward. Brian Swensen has nearly 15 years of impressive political and corporate consulting experience where he has served in various leadership roles on the most relevant campaigns in the state of Florida and the U.S. During the 2018 election cycle, he worked on the Ron DeSantis for Governor Campaign and Matt Caldwell for Commissioner of Agriculture. Prior to, Brian served as Senator Marco Rubio's Deputy Campaign Manager and in earlier years, supported leading candidates including Lenny Curry and Bill Cassidy. Brian also served as Political Director for the Republican Party of Florida for three years and in 2010 served as Governor Rick Scott's Victory Director. Initiating his road of political advances, Brian managed several state house and senate campaigns while working at The Leadership Institute in Arlington, VA. Today Brian resides in Miami as the CEO of GNQ Consultancy. In the spring, he will be launching The American Gun Coalition to educate and train Americans to advance the 2nd Amendment. Connect with Brian: Website: https://gnqconsultancy.com/ Instagram: @americanguncoalition Facebook: American Gun Coalition ————————————————— Follow & Connect with Courtenay: https://www.courtenayturner.com Twitter: Courtenay Turner (@CourtenayTurner) :https://twitter.com/CourtenayTurner?s=20 Instagram: https://instagram.com/kineticcourtz?utm_medium=copy_link Read some of her articles: https://www.truthmatters.biz & follow TruthMatters on socials: https://instagram.com/truthmatters.biz?utm_medium=copy_link https://twitter.com/truthmatters_tm?s=21 https://m.facebook.com/Truth-Matters-Always-109260064571710/?tsid=0.9090120437539597&source=result ————————————————— Other video Platforms Odysee: https://odysee.com/@CourtenayTurner:f Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/CourtenayTurner BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/yNVIxoBspPt6/ ————————————————— Video Edited By Griffo Productions www.griffoproductions.com ————————————————— ©2021 All Rights Reserved Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jess Mears is a policy activist, public speaker and political trainer. She has served in key leadership roles in the Libertarian Party's most successful presidential campaigns working for Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld (2016) and Dr. Jo Jorgensen's as Deputy Campaign Manager (2020). She has been a grassroots activist since the late 2000s. Volunteering on dozens of campaigns at the state and local levels led to working for the National Libertarian Party in leadership fundraising and membership rolls. Jess understands how local governments operate with direct experience working for the fastest-growing communities in America. She was the Clerk of the Boards for Lakewood Ranch after completing special projects for The Villages. Jess is an alum of the University of Cincinnati where she received a B.A. in Communications and Public Relations. She lives in Alexandria, VA with two rescued dogs. Her interests include folk music and advancements in space. Make sure to follow Jess on Social Media! Twitter: https://twitter.com/jess4liberty Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jess4liberty As always, if you enjoy this content, make sure to like and subscribe, and share it with your friends! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ODonnell4Liberty Merch: https://www.snekswag.com Tips and Links: https://cointr.ee/justinodonnell --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justin-odonnell0/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justin-odonnell0/support
Lots of folks have thoughts and feelings about why Bernie lost, and whether Nina Turner fell into the same traps as Bernie during her bid to represent Ohio's 11th district. But it's time to talk to the experts. This week, we spoke to someone with inside knowledge: Deputy Campaign Manager for Bernie 2020 Ari Rabin-Havt. Few people were as close to Bernie on the campaign as Ari, so Brie asked him hard questions about what went wrong in 2020, before pivoting to questions about the future: Are Bernie and the squad truly maximizing their leverage to fight for the issues that got them elected? This is an epic two-parter, filmed in person at chez Brie. The first part will be released free, even though it's a Monday. Thursday's episode -- part two -- will be premium. Video of part one will also air Monday. Let us know if you have follow up questions, because Ari has said he will make himself available for a livestream. (We had end the interview at 2.5 hours, but there's a ton more to discuss). Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to join the Bad Faith Discord and instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend). Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).
The Pennsylvania Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial (America250PA) selected Cassandra Coleman as Executive Director for the America250PA initiative in September, 2019. Cassandra Coleman most recently served as Special Advisor to the Office of Governor Tom Wolf, and previously served as Director of Governor Wolf's Northeast & Central offices. In this role, she was responsible for intergovernmental and constituency services on behalf of the Governor in 28 counties. Ms. Coleman previously served as Finance Director and Deputy Campaign Manager, respectively, for the Tom Wolf for Governor campaign from 2013-2015. She has also served as Deputy Finance Director for United States Senator Bob Casey from 2010-2013. In 2014, Ms. Coleman founded and served as President of Coleman & Associates, a company engaged in charitable, private and political creation of fundraising networks and community and political event planning. Coleman & Associates maintained a client base of state, county and local political candidates, large and small companies, and non-profit organizations. Ms. Coleman has spent a lifetime in public service beginning at a very young age. At the age of twenty, Cassandra was appointed Mayor of her hometown of Exeter Borough to fill her late grandfather, Mayor Joseph Coyne's unexpired term. Following her appointment, Cassandra was re-elected Mayor twice and left office to join the Wolf Administration. In addition to serving as Mayor, Cassandra served as a Junior Council Representative for Exeter Borough during her junior & senior years of high school. Ms. Coleman was one of the youngest female mayors in the history of the United States. She was featured in Oprah Magazine in a segment titled “Women Who Defy Age.” Cassandra was also featured in a national NBC segment called “The Smart Woman”. The Times Leader Media Group honored Cassandra twice for her accomplishments; in 2008 as a Top 40 under 40 recipient and named her in 2019 as one of 14 Distinctive Women. Also in 2019 she was honored to be chosen one of Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal's Top 25 Women in Business. In her community, Cassandra is a Board Member of Leadership Wilkes-Barre, Junior Leadership of Wilkes-Barre and Children's Service Center. Ms. Coleman is a 2010 graduate of King's College in Wilkes-Barre where she earned a degree in Political Science and was chosen to receive the 2018 Leo Award which is bestowed upon an alumnus/alumna within fifteen years of graduation who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in his/her professional or community activities. Named for the King's mascot, it suggests the energy, pride, and sense of purpose which the recipient personifies. She is also a 2006 proud graduate of Wyoming Area High School in Exeter, PA, where she frequently returns to talk to high school students about Government and their roles in their communities. Ms. Coleman can also regularly be found at her family's Italian restaurant, Vino Dolce, in Hanover Twp, where, over 18 years in business she held every position in the establishment, from salad maker to eventually manager to assist her parents. She truly enjoys all their customers, especially their “regulars” who have become more like family. Cassandra is the proud mother to Jimmy IV and continues to reside in Exeter, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. CASSANDRA COLEMAN Executive Director America250PA.
Another week on the bus and another incredible guest! This week Cammi and AJ are more than happy to welcome aboard AJ's cousin, Rufus Gifford! Rufus has worn many important hats over the years. He is the former US Ambassador to Denmark, President Joe Biden's Deputy Campaign Manager for the 2020 election and worked for both President Obama's presidential campaigns. Cammi and AJ had so much to chat with Rufus about; his career path from the entertainment business to politics, what it means to him to have served in the US government as an openly gay man, how it was to work with both President Obama and Biden, about being Ambassador of Denmark, of course some stories about himself and AJ from when they were growing up plus much more! This is a good one and we had so much fun chatting with Rufus! Hop on the bus everyone! Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Many Republicans assume Democrats are not removing the filibuster because they're having trouble with a couple of their moderate Senators. The truth is they're going to milk the threat of removing it as much as they can and playing it as a way to make political gains, particularly as it pertains to gun control. All of this is for the sake of 2022 and 2024 elections, nothing more. We talked to former Deputy Campaign Manager for the 2016 Trump Campaign Rick Gates and General Counsel for Gun Owners of America Mike Hammond on these and other topics.
In 2019 Charles Booker, a 35-year-old Kentucky state representative decided to challenge Mitch McConnell, the most powerful Republican Senator, by running for Senate on a Green New Deal. But the Democratic establishment already had a preferred candidate, Amy McGrath. As the campaign got underway Booker looked like the longest of long shots. And while he did not ultimately win the primary, Booker shocked the world by very nearly defeating the best funded Senate candidate in history, winning 43% of the vote in a state many had written off as impossible for a progressive candidate. GenGND tells the story of Charles Booker’s incredible 2020 campaign and the lessons it holds for how the Green New Deal movement can win even in states the Democratic party has abandoned. Featuring Charles Booker himself, Charles’ former Deputy Campaign Manager (and Sunrise Movement Electoral Politics Director) Shante Wolfe, Sunrise Political Director Evan Weber, and Creative Director Alex O’Keefe. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd Support Charles Booker’s organization Hood to the Holler: https://hoodtotheholler.org/ Watch Sunrise Movement’s videos for Charles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEb_pVZ05V0 https://www.youtube.com/watdch?v=2MWCHSx6Wwo Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribe Episode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week we have Cesar Fernandez of Converge Government Affairs on the show. Cesar has spent his career navigating some of Florida's most challenging issues facing companies, political campaigns, and government. He has been at the forefront of advocacy in the innovation and technology sector, held senior positions in six political campaigns, and worked in the Florida Senate. Prior to joining Converge Government Affairs, Cesar was on the Public Policy team at Uber for nearly four years. Cesar managed Uber's government affairs work before state and local government in Florida for three years and was instrumental in the passage of statewide ridesharing regulations. His advocacy at Uber also extended to autonomous vehicle legislation, negotiating a multi-million dollar settlement with Miami-Dade County, and leading strategy for contract negotiations with a half-dozen Florida airports. Shortly after, Cesar transitioned to a role on Uber's Public Policy team for Central America and the Caribbean, where he represented the company's interest before the national governments of seven countries. In addition to his work in corporate government affairs, Cesar has extensive experience managing political campaigns. Most recently, he served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Political and Constituency Outreach for Mayor Andrew Gillum's campaign for Governor. Cesar also served as the Political Director on Governor Charlie Crist's 2014 bid for Governor, and managed the campaign of St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman as well as other successful state and local races in Florida. Cesar is also host of The Miami Tech Pod, a weekly show that talks about all the recent news, events, happenings, and trends in the #MiamiTech community. Help us grow! Leave us a rating and review - it's the best way to bring new listeners to the show. Don't forget to subscribe! Have a suggestion, or want to chat with Jim? Email him at Jim@ThePoliticalLife.net Follow The Political Life on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter for weekly updates.
Trump's 2016 Deputy Campaign Manager, Rick Gates, pieces together why the riots at Washington DC took place.
In the wake of the stunning and historic elections of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the United States Senate in their home state, hosts Dope KNife and Linqua Franqa take a deep dive into the community organizing that brought Georgia to this moment, what these wins mean for the Democratic Party, and what's next for their newly Blue state, joined by Paul Glaze, long-time Northeast Georgia organizer and former Deputy Campaign Manager for the Daniel Blackman campaign for Public Service Commissioner. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers
Wes talks with U.S. Senator from Georgia Kelly Loeffler's deputy campaign manager Stephen Lawson about what's at stake Georgia's run-off election
This week my guest is super timely with the looming election and racial unrest in our country. Juany Torres is the proud oldest daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first generation American. She was born and raised in the south side of San Antonio, Texas and attended Stanford University on a full scholarship by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Juany worked at the White House as part of the Domestic Policy Council under President Obama before joining Google Inc. After her time in the bay area, Juany served as the Nevada Deputy Digital Director for Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign before returning back to San Antonio and focusing on increasing civic engagement in her home state of Texas. Juany served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Ron Nirenberg for Mayor and served in his office before helping her Stanford peer Lina Hidalgo run for Harris County Judge in Houston, Texas. In 2019 Juany began pursuing her Masters in Public Affairs at the University of Texas' LBJ School. Most recently, Juany was selected as the inaugural public policy fellow for WTS Heart of Texas Chapter and Mayor Adler's office. In her role, she is focused on increasing equity and opportunity through transportation policy. But Jauny is so much more than her impressive resume, she is a community leader not only in San Antonio but nationally and is a true inspiration who seek to lend their voice to their community. I know you are wondering what an amazing activist like Juany is doing on a podcast about imposter syndrome. Well, as I said before, no one can escape imposter syndrome – it's something that everyone faces.
Rick Gates was the Deputy Campaign Manager for the Trump Campaign in 2016, which ultimately led to being targeted by the Mueller investigation. He saw both the campaign and the witch hunt led by the Deep State up close and personal. During this episode of Freedom One-On-One with Jeff Dornik, he shares what he's learned from the 2016 campaign and just how similar the 2020 election is turning out!
C4 and Bryan Nehman heard weekdays from 5:30-10:00am ET on WBAL Newsradio 1090 and FM101.5.
It has been more than three weeks since Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Trump squared off on the debate stage. Since then, 47 million Americans have voted. But for those who haven't, Thursday's Nashville debate represents the final chance to see the candidates face off before Election Day. Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders
The evidence is coming to light and the truth cannot be censored. Rick Gates, who worked in Ukraine and Ukrainian politics for 10 years, will share information about this important development. On the recent revelations Gates said, “Joe Biden is on record that he never had any discussions with his son about his businesses. We now know this to be categorically false.”
Kate Bedingfield is the deputy campaign manager and communications director for Biden For President. Kate and David discuss how Biden supporters can help the campaign in the close, the campaign’s primary communications challenges and opportunities, what Trump will show up at the last debate and planning for post Election Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
First, Jake presses White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on President Trump's constantly shifting position on a potential stimulus deal with Congress. Next, Jake asks Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield why Biden won't say if he supports expanding the Supreme Court. Then, Jake talks to Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono about Democrats' strategy to oppose President Trump's Supreme Court pick, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Finally, Jake talks with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson about the troubling spike in coronavirus cases in his state. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy
Julie Chávez Rodriguez joins us to discuss the possibility of a virtual debate and President Trump's opposition to the idea. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
First, Jake talks to CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the White House's mixed messaging on President Trump's condition. Then, Jake asks Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine about the possibility President Trump was contagious at the debate in his state. Next, Jake presses Biden campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders on how often Joe Biden will be tested for coronavirus. Then, Jake asks Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer about the troubling spike in coronavirus cases in her state. Next, Jake talks to former Trump deputy campaign manager Rick Gates about his role at the heart of the Mueller investigation. Finally, Jake reflects on President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy
David Plouffe and Steve Schmidt are joined by Nicolle Wallace, NBC News political analyst and host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” and Stephanie Cutter, Program Executive of the Democratic National Convention and previously the Deputy Campaign Manager for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, to discuss the first 2020 presidential debate and upcoming Supreme Court nomination. The Battleground team analyzes Biden versus Trump in temperament and tactical skill ahead of this week’s debate, peaceful transitions of power and what it would take to stop a Supreme Court confirmation before Election Day. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers
David Plouffe and Steve Schmidt are joined by Nicolle Wallace, NBC News political analyst and host of MSNBC's “Deadline: White House,” and Stephanie Cutter, Program Executive of the Democratic National Convention and previously the Deputy Campaign Manager for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, to discuss the first 2020 presidential debate and upcoming Supreme Court nomination. The Battleground team analyzes Biden versus Trump in temperament and tactical skill ahead of this week's debate, peaceful transitions of power and what it would take to stop a Supreme Court confirmation before Election Day. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Summary: Rory and Steve speak with Biden for President deputy campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez about the role of Latino voters in the upcoming election. They also discuss recent Nevada swings by President Donald Trump and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
On the day Joe Biden is expected to accept the Democratic nomination for president, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon is arrested and indicted on charges of fraud. GUEST: Kate Bedingfield, Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Start Here, the daily news podcast from ABC News: https://bit.ly/2Y8Cu8U FiveThirtyEight Politics, nightly reaction and analysis: https://bit.ly/2DXwwB4
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
With everything else going on, it’s easy to forget 2020 is still a presidential election year. To help us navigate the coming election, Josh welcomes Sarah Isgur to talk about national elections, money in politics, how much gender and race is a factor in elections, and how much influence campaigns really have in determining the outcome of an election. Sarah Isgur is a writer and podcast host at The Dispatch where she specializes in legal and political matters. Sarah graduated from Harvard University with a degree in law. She has extensive experience in political campaigns, including working in both John Corbyn and Ted Cruz’s campaigns for U.S. Senate and Mitt Romney’s presidential race in 2012. In 2013 and 2014 she served as Deputy Communications Director to the Republican National Committee. In 2016 Sarah was Deputy Campaign Manager in Carly Fiorina’s presidential campaign. During Jeff Session’s stint as Attorney General she served as his Senior Counsel as well as Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice. Prior to joining The Dispatch, Sarah worked for CNN as a political editor. You can follow Sarah on Twitter @whignewtons
Justin Clark, Deputy Campaign Manager for Trump/Pence 2020, discusses the fraud Democrats are trying to achieve with universal mail-in voting and the dangers it can have against our election. Be sure to visit DonaldJTrump.com to learn more about the differences between mail-in voting and absentee ballots. Hosted by Laura Trump. Text TRUMP to 88022!
"The Black Firewall: Will It Hold?" Guest: Dr. Ron Daniels Veteran social and political activist Dr. Ron Daniels was an independent candidate for President of the United States in 1992. He served as Executive Director of the National Rainbow Coalition in 1987 and Southern Regional Coordinator and Deputy Campaign Manager for the Jesse Jackson for President Campaign in 1988. Founder and President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), a progressive, African centered, action-oriented Resource Center dedicated to empowering people of African descent and marginalized communities. As the administrator for the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC), NAARC supports HR-40, the Congressional Bill that would establish a National Commission to study reparations proposals for African Americans. Dr. Ron Daniels serves as the Convener of NAARC and is lead co-author of its 10 Point Reparations Program. Stay Connected with OCG Join us LIVE from the OCG Studio each Wednesday night mkuntano Wednesday OPEN MIC A chance to get all your calls in. 10 pm EDT Follow OCG on Twitter Join us on Facebook Engage on the Web
Today on Common Sense, we sit down with the Deputy Campaign Manager to President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, David Bossie, and Congressman Peter King, to discuss the new 2020 campaign strategy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We also dive into Joe Biden's lifetime career of selling his public office, to include, his business dealings in China. Thank you for your support! Don't forget to comment below with your Common Sense & subscribe to my podcast at https://www.RudyGiulianiCS.com► Connect with Rudy Giuliani on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/RudyGiuliani► Connect with Rudy Giuliani on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therudygiuliani► Connect Rudy Giuliani on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realrudygiuliani
Political consultant Stephanie Cutter (former Deputy Campaign Manager for Obama 2012) weighs in on how Joe Biden can gracefully accept Bernie Sanders near-certain defeat in the primary. She also offers some advice on how Biden can appear more presidential in the months to come. University of Pennsylvania Department of Medical Ethics chair Dr. Zeke Emanuel lays out just how much of an effect coronavirus will have on American society, as well as offers some thoughts on how to manage the crisis. Al and James also discuss how Bernie Sanders can keep his movement alive, even in near-certain defeat.
This week’s guest is Candalynn Johnson, Campaign Coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Oregon and Deputy Campaign Manager for People Not Politicians, a campaign to bring an independent redistricting commission to Oregon. Candalynn discusses how her outrage over identity politics led her to confront her biases and engage in a process of deepening self-awareness. She confronts the issue of burnout and cynicism and explains why self-awareness and self-care are so important for a sustained commitment to politics.This episode features a live unnamed recording from the White Tiger Lounge.
David Bossie, President of Citizens United and former Deputy Campaign Manager for President Donald Trump – In New Hampshire for the primary this week. Also attended President Trump’s rally last night
Jennifer O’Malley Dillon served as Campaign Manager at Beto for America, and previously was the Deputy Campaign Manager for Obama for America and the Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee. Jen joins David for a look inside Beto O’Rourke’s decision to exit the race, and her unique perspective on the race for the nomination and the ultimate battle against Trump.
Cassandra I. Coleman is a Special Advisor to the Office of Governor Tom Wolf. Most recently Cassandra served as Director of Governor Wolf's Northeast & Central offices. In this role, she was responsible for intergovernmental and constituency services on behalf of the Governor in the following 28 counties: Adams, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Pike, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Wyoming and York.Ms. Coleman previously served as Finance Director and Deputy Campaign Manager, respectively, for the Tom Wolf for Governor campaign from 2013-2015. She has also served as Deputy Finance Director for United States Senator Bob Casey from 2010- 2013.In 2014, Ms. Coleman founded and served as President of Coleman & Associates, a company engaged in charitable, private and political creation of fund-raising networks and community and political event planning. Coleman & Associates maintained a client base of state, county and local political candidates, large and small companies, and non-profit organizations.Ms. Coleman has spent a lifetime in public service beginning at a very young age. At the age of twenty, Cassandra was appointed Mayor of her hometown of Exeter Borough to fill her late grandfather, Mayor Joseph Coyne's unexpired term. Following her appointment, Cassandra was re-elected Mayor twice and left office to join the Wolf Administration. In addition to serving as Mayor, Cassandra served as a Junior Council Representative for Exeter Borough during her junior and senior years of high school.Ms. Coleman was one of the youngest female mayors in the history of the United States. She was featured in Oprah Magazine in a segment titled "Women Who Defy Age." Cassandra was also featured in a national NBC segment called "The Smart Woman". The Times Leader Media Group honored Cassandra twice for her accomplishments; in 2008 as a Top 40 under 40 recipient and named her in 2019 as one of 14 Distinctive Women. Also in 2019 she was honored to be chosen one of Northeast Pennsylvania BusinessJournal's Top 25 Women in Business.In her community, Cassandra is a Board Member of Leadership Wilkes-Barre, Junior Leadership of Wilkes-Barre and Children's Service Center.Ms. Coleman is a 2010 graduate of King's College in Wilkes-Barre where she earned a degree in Political Science and was chosen to receive the 2018 Leo Award which is bestowed upon an alumnus/alumna within fifteen years of graduation who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in his/her professional or community activities. Named for the King's mascot, it suggests the energy, pride, and sense of purpose which the recipient personifies. She is also a 2006 proud graduate of Wyoming Area High School in Exeter, PA, where she frequently returns to talk to high school students about Government and their roles in their communities.Ms. Coleman can also regularly be found at her family's Italian restaurant, Vino Dolce, in Hanover Twp, where, over 18 years in business she held every position in the establishment, from salad maker toeventually manager to assist her parents. She truly enjoys all their customers, especially their “regulars”who have become more like family.Cassandra is the proud mother to Jimmy IV and continues to reside in Exeter, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
David Bossie, former Deputy Campaign Manager for Donald Trump, also heads up Citizens United, and he chimes in with a few choice words for Democrats and the opposition to President Trump as it pertains to the Russia investigation as completed and submitted by Robert Mueller and his legal team.
Learn more about Issue 1, Collective Bargaining for All Uniformed Fire Department Employees – the only question on the 2019 Colorado Springs ballot. Speaking for the proponents is John Roy, Deputy Campaign Manager for the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters. Speaking for the opponents is Mayor John Suthers, representing Citizens Against Public Employee Unions. The forum… The post Town Square: Collective Bargaining Ballot Issue Forum – March 18 2019 appeared first on Studio 809 Podcasts.
Learn more about Issue 1, Collective Bargaining for All Uniformed Fire Department Employees – the only question on the 2019 Colorado Springs ballot. Speaking for the proponents is John Roy, Deputy Campaign Manager for the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters. Speaking for the opponents is Mayor John Suthers, representing Citizens Against Public Employee Unions. The forum […] The post Town Square: Collective Bargaining Ballot Issue Forum – March 18 2019 appeared first on Studio 809 Radio.
Emily Cherniack & Micah Scharf of New Politics join the pod to discuss why recruiting service members for a second tour of duty — representing their country, after spending years fighting for it — is more important now than ever.Emily Cherniack, Founder and Executive DirectorEmily Cherniack is steeped in the traditions of servant leadership. From her service in AmeriCorps and employment with City Year AmeriCorps, to being part of the founding team of Be the Change — where she led a coalition of over 200 organizations to engage 250,000 people for a Day of Action in support of the $6 billion Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009 — Emily has worked tirelessly to serve our country and support others who serve. In 2018, Emily was named to the Politico 50 as one of the 50 “thinkers, doers, and dreamers driving politics.” Emily’s path to politics came when her boss and mentor, Alan Khazei, decided to run for the US Senate in 2009. Khazei asked Emily to become his Deputy Campaign Manager and, although he was defeated, Emily learned a great deal from his campaign and the power of political leaders who chose to serve country before self. This experience led Emily to conclude that our current system for recruiting political talent is broken. The current talent pipeline is intentionally exclusive, and has significant barriers that prevent transformational leaders from successfully running for office; the only way to change that is to change the pipeline. New Politics was founded in 2013 to address exactly that. Emily graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology and a Masters Degree in Education Policy. She lives in Boston.Micah Scharff, Director of Strategy & DevelopmentMicah serves as the Director of Strategy and Growth, where she oversees the organization’s ambitious growth plan following an election cycle where service veterans were a national movement and ran some of the strongest races in the country on both sides of the aisle. She joined the team after serving as the Finance Director and Senior Advisor to Ken Harbaugh’s congressional campaign, where she led a fundraising operation that raised the most money in the country for a Democrat in a Solid Republican district. Her leadership in Harbaugh’s operation earned her a feature story on CBS This Morning, profiling millenial women who were changing politics. Ken Harbaugh’s campaign was Micah’s first job in politics. Frustrated with the 2016 election, Micah left her role as a management consultant to join Harbaugh’s campaign. Micah quickly became one of the country’s top fundraisers, leading Harbaugh’s groundbreaking effort that earned national attention. A proud Midwesterner, Micah was born and raised in St. Louis. She graduated from Emory University, where she studied Economics and earned 4 NCAA letters. She currently lives in Washington, D.C.
Jason Flohrs from Americans for Prosperity as well as former Deputy Campaign Manager of the Karin Housley campaign and current state capitol worker, Will Dammann, join Javier and Carin this week. Your one stop Klobo-shop is right here. Unpacking these 'staff abuse' allegations, where they could be coming from. Will anyone on the left be able to bring it home in 2020? Laura Loomer and Jacob Wohl are back in the land of 10,000 lakes, but why? And Maryland, above or below the Mason-Dixon line?
In today's podcast are youth will be having a chat with Chris Kelly the Deputy Campaign Manager for Paul Vallas
Its a bird, its a plane, its....Kirk Widlund? That's right our very own producer Kirk Widlund filling in for Matt Dunn. The show covers all sorts of facets pertaining to Trump and his fight against the Left. To start we continue to pay tribute to President George H. W. Bush who has passed away. Then author and Deputy Campaign Manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign David Bossie joins the show to talk about his most recent book and politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BACKBONE RADIO SPECIAL:Its a bird, its a plane, its....Kirk Widlund? That's right our very own producer Kirk Widlund filling in for Matt Dunn. The show covers all sorts of facets pertaining to Trump and his fight against the Left. To start we continue to pay tribute to President George H. W. Bush who has passed away. Then author and Deputy Campaign Manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign David Bossie joins the show to talk about his most recent book and politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, co-hosts Michael Isikoff and Dan Klaidman are joined by Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, President Trump's former Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager respectively. They discuss who they believe to be "Trump's Enemies," also the name of their new book, as well as the recent guilty plea by Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen in regards to the Moscow Tower Deal. Then Yahoo's own Hunter Walker reacts to said conversation bringing some revealing insight into the conversation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Empire Club of Canada Presents: Toronto Post Election Political Panel: Deep Dive with Key Campaign Strategists The Empire Club of Canada is pleased to host a panel discussion on the outcome of the recent Toronto election. A Signature Evening Panel Discussion that will provide attendees with the insider perspective from two of the major Toronto mayoral campaigns and what it means for our city moving forward. In addition a deep dive analysis will be provided on the campaign and a detailed look at the research and polling as to what Torontonians said and the issues that mattered to them. Moderator: Karman Wong, Anchor/Reporter, CP24 Panelists: Vic Gupta, Co Chair, John Tory Campaign Nick Kouvalis, Principal, Campaign Research Inc. Lindsay Maskell, Deputy Campaign Manager, Jennifer Keesmaat Campaign *The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.* *Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*
There were many stages of Madiba's life. We'll examine how his consciousness evolved, and actualized in his organizational and ideological activity and most importantly how he emerged as a revolutionary. On this episode of The Critical Hour with Dr. Wilmer Leon, we examine the life of Former South African President Nelson Mandela. He would have turned 100 today, July 18. After a remarkable life on the global stage, Madiba (a title of respect from his Xhosa clan name) passed away in December 2013 at 95 years of age.My first guest, Dr. Anthony Monteiro believes that Nelson Mandela lived a long life, with 3 careers, one before he was locked up, another while in prison, and a third after his 1990 release. He wrote an incredibly insightful analysis and reflection upon the life, the lessons and the legacies of Nelson Mandela for Black Agenda Report entitled, Nelson Mandela, The Contradictions Of His Life And Legacies.In our last segment, Democrats have been hit with a number of , but will the party take these ripples seriously as the tide going out before a sunami or will the establishment leadership engage in politics as usual.Dianne Feinstein lost the California Democratic Party's endorsement in a stunning vote last week at the party's executive board meeting in Oakland. Many believe that De León's victory reflects the increasing strength of the state party's liberal activist core, which was energized by the election of Republican Donald Trump as president.When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley in the primary June primary many dismissed her victory and democratic-socialist leaning as a one-off.There are other ripples in the water that should not be ignored. Congressman Ro Khanna who represents California's 17th Congressional District, plans to throw his full weight behind Barbara Lee, his fellow representative from California, if she makes a final decision to run for caucus chair, a leadership position being vacated by New York's Rep. Joe Crowley.Can they weather the storm or will they change direction?GUESTS: Dr. Anthony Monteiro - Author and Activist.Dr. Ron Daniels - President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) and veteran community organizer and political activist. He served as Executive Director of the National Rainbow Coalition in 1987 and Southern Regional Coordinator and Deputy Campaign Manager for the Jesse Jackson for President Campaign in 1988. He currently serves as Distinguished Lecturer at York College, City University of New York.
On this episode of The Critical Hour with Dr. Wilmer Leon, Brett M. Kavanaugh is Trumps nominee to be the next Supreme Court Justice filling Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's seat. He is 53, a federal appeals court judge, former aide to President George W. Bush and onetime investigator of President Bill Clinton during the Starr investigation.Senate Democrats are facing an uphill struggle to reject this nominee. Democrats are painting him as an arch-conservative who would roll back abortion rights, undo health care protections, ease gun restrictions and protect President Trump against the threat of impeachment.But the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, excoriated Democrats for engaging in what he called “cheap political fear-mongering,” and for declaring their opposition to Judge Kavanaugh even before his nomination was announced.Under normal circumstances McConnell might have had a point but in this case, as with the last few Republican nominees, they come to the table having been vetted by Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society as well as help from the Heritage Foundation.What will be the the major issues facing this country as we move towards the 2018 mid-term elections? What does this mean going forward?GUESTS:Michael Meltsner - American lawyer, the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews distinguished University Professor of law, former Dean at Northeastern University School of Law and author. As first assistant counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund he served as counsel in many leading civil rights cases of the 1960s, including those that led to the integration of Southern hospitals and medical facilities, and a moratorium on capital punishment. He also represented Mohammad Ali in the litigation that enabled his return to the boxing ring.Dr. Ron Daniels - Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) and veteran community organizer and political activist. He served as Executive Director of the National Rainbow Coalition in 1987 and Southern Regional Coordinator and Deputy Campaign Manager for the Jesse Jackson for President Campaign in 1988. He currently serves as Distinguished Lecturer at York College, City University of New York.
Political strategist based out of Washington, D.C., Peggy Ellis, opines on the primary results both from here in California as well as across the nation and what it means for Democrats and Republicans going forward. The head of Citizens United and the former Deputy Campaign Manager for Donald Trump -- David Bossie -- chimes in on the primaries and if there's anything we're missing on the surface.
Tom McMahon, a founding partner at the New Paradigm Strategy Group, joins The Great Battlefield podcast. He discusses his time as Deputy Campaign Manager for Howard Dean's presidential run and serving as Executive Director of the DNC - where he played a key role in the development of the "50-state strategy." He also talks about his work with NP to help campaigns strategize in our rapidly-changing political environment. | Episode 141
Today's episode takes a look at the impacts of changes at the federal level on the regulated cannabis market in California and looks at how that new market is doing. For the analysis of federal policy changes, primarily the decision in January by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind the Cole Memorandum, we'll turn to McGeorge School of Law Professor Mike Vitiello. We then chat with Dustin Moore, a Principal at Main Street Strategies and the Deputy Campaign Manager for 2016's Yes on Prop 64 campaign, to talk about how the roll out of the legalized adult use of recreational cannabis is going in California, the challenges new businesses are facing, and some of the solutions being discussed to address those challenges.
Mark checks back in with Bob McElroy - CEO of Alpha Project - as he and Mayor Kevin Faulconer have announced a part-time jobs program for the homeless. Also, David Bossie - former Deputy Campaign Manager for Donald Trump - provides great analysis on the gun control debate between liberals and conservatives.
Mark interviews David Bossie - former Deputy Campaign Manager for Trump... and co-author of new book, “Let Trump Be Trump” (with Corey Lewandowski). They chat about the book and the goings-on with the President. Also, former UN Ambassador John Bolton looks forward not only to the moving of the American embassy to Jerusalem, but also the U.S.'s involvement in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Trump is President and protestors are grumpy. Jon Gabriel and Stephen Miller discuss Trump’s first week in office, and chat with Democratic commentator and communications consultant Lis Smith who thinks the DNC learned the wrong lessons in 2016. Lis served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin O’Malley’s presidential campaign, the chief spokeswoman for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio... Source
Trump is President and protestors are grumpy. Jon Gabriel and Stephen Miller discuss Trump's first week in office, and chat with Democratic commentator and communications consultant Lis Smith who thinks the DNC learned the wrong lessons in 2016. Lis served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin O'Malley's presidential campaign, the chief spokeswoman for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio... Source
Every personal and professional decision Emily Cherniack has ever made has come from a place that honors service and leadership. From her service in AmeriCorps and employment with City Year AmeriCorps, to being part of the founding team of Be the Change -- where she led a coalition of over 200 organizations, engaging 250,000 people for a Day of Action which resulted in the passage of Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, a $6B piece of federal legislation -- Emily has worked tirelessly to serve her nation. Driven by service and servant leadership, Emily also chose to avoid politics until, in 2009, Alan Khazei decided to run for the U.S Senate. Khazei asked Emily to become his Deputy Campaign Manager and, although he was defeated, Emily learned a great deal from his campaign and the power of politicians who chose to serve country before self.It took one campaign for Emily to see why our political system is broken; it is exclusive and has significant barriers that prevent transformational leaders from successfully running for office. It also took one campaign for Emily to resolve to find the leadership necessary to help our country solve the most pressing challenges of the 21st Century. Her experience led Emily to found New Politics, an organization that disrupts the candidate pipeline and ecosystem to bring a new generation of servant leaders into politics. New Politics recruits and runs leaders who will put the country first and who will work together to get things.Show Notes: http://veteranpodcast.com/040