Kuuntele Pro Politics with Zac McCrary

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704139/open_sms] Catching up this week with return guest Dr. Michael Cohen [https://www.michaelcohen.us/], who just released a new edition of his book Modern Political Campaigns [https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538195093/Modern-Political-Campaigns-How-Professionalism-Technology-and-Speed-Have-Revolutionized-Elections-Second-Edition] this month. He studied under iconic pollster Bill Hamilton as a student, worked in the trenches in Republican campaigns, spent time at Gallup, apprenticed under renowned GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio and worked with famed Dem strategist Mark Penn when Michael was an in-house pollster at Microsoft. Along the way, Michael started his own firm (Cohen Research Group [https://main.cohenresearchgroup.com/]), built the successful Congress in Your Pocket tech app, and wrote Modern Political Campaigns [https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538153802/Modern-Political-Campaigns-How-Professionalism-Technology-and-Speed-Have-Revolutionized-Elections] to bring the campaign literature up to speed with the ever-evolving political industry - including a new edition that includes a focus on the role AI is playing in political campaigns. This is a great nuts-and-bolts conversation on the political industry with a smart pollster, tech entrepreneur, and author. IN THIS EPISODE… The new edition of Modern Political Campaigns, including a focus on AI in campaigns... How political campaigns are (and are not) using AI at this point... What Michael knows about Gen Z from teaching courses at NYU and Johns Hopkins... Lessons he learned from a recent heart attack and recovery... Michael’s formative years growing up on Long Island… The political switch flips for Michael in college… Michael crosses paths with famed Democratic pollster Bill Hamilton… Michael makes the jump to political polling under Tony Fabrizio… The bizarre story of how one of Michael’s candidates was pilloried on the Colbert Report… Michael starts his own polling firm to move beyond partisan politics… Michael’s stint as an in-house pollster at Microsoft with Mark Penn… Michael’s compares working with legendary Dem pollster Mark Penn and iconic GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio… Michael creates the wildly successful Congress in Your Pocket app… Michael’s 101 on how to create an app… The long journey behind Michael’s new book Modern Political Campaigns… Michael’s advice to those who want to write a book and get it published… Michael’s take on what makes a good pollster… Michael weighs in on the question of a “polling crisis”… Michael’s advice on the best books to understand how politics works… AND AAPOR, Michael Bender, Sidney Blumenthal, Stephen Colbert, Sean Cook, Bob Dole, enlargement ads, Ezra Cohen Corporation, Arthur Finkelstein, the Gallup Poll, Josh Gottheimer, Sasha Issenberg, Peter Jennings, Steve Jobs, Ed Koch, Celinda Lake, Massapequa mannerisms, mobilization vs. persuasion, Never Trump Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Rowman & Littlefield, Jake Rush, Karen Thurman, Chris Tompkins, Tevi Troy, vampire roleplaying, Ted Yoho, & more!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704139/open_sms] Pat Leahy [https://www.uvm.edu/honorscollege/our-namesake] is a giant of the US Senate...the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Vermont...the third longest serving Senator in US history...the Senate President Pro Tem...Chair of Appropriations, Agriculture, and Judiciary...and 8 terms in the US Senate. In this conversation, we talk his roots in small town Vermont, overcoming the state's deep Republican roots in a 1974 upset, entering the Senate in his mid 30s, and his favorite stories, lessons, and proudest moments from nearly 50 years in the US Senate. IN THIS EPISODE Growing up in small-town Montpelier with a love of reading... How his service as District Attorney propelled his successful run for Senate in 1974 as the first Democrat to win a Vermont Senate seat... Early days in the US Senate in his mid 30s... How he won 8 terms in what was initially a very Republican state... The interesting story behind his 1998 re-election, his first true landslide... The most tense and high-stakes moments during his career in the Senate... Passing anti-land mine legislation... A day in the life of the Senate President Pro Tem... How trust among Senators one late night saved lives during a mid 80s Capitol bombing... Senator Leahy receives a tip he received from an "anonymous jogger" during the Iraq War debate... When Vice President Dick Cheney swore at Senator Leahy on the Senate floor... The Senator who gave the best Senate floor speeches... The most effective Majority Leader he saw... When his colleague Jim Jeffords switched parties and changed control of the Senate... His views on the rise of Bernie Sanders as a national figure... Why he didn't run for re-election in 2022... How he received the Order of the British Empire designation... His connection to the Batman character and appearing in several Batman films... His status as the Senate's leading Grateful Dead Head... The status of his wife Marcelle as his political secret weapon... AND anatomical impossibilities, Howard Baker, James Baker, Leonid Brezhnev, Dale Bumpers, George H.W. Bush, Robert Byrd, George Clooney, DC Comics, designated survivors, Charles Dickens, John Durkin, Jim Eastland, Jerry Ford, Jerry Garcia, John Glenn, holy water, Hubert Humphrey, John F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Heath Ledger, Mike Mansfield, Miranda Rights, Mitch McConnell, Bobby Muller, Christopher Nolan, Sam Nunn, Barack Obama, organic farming, Colin Powell, Quebec City, Hugh Scott, secret weapons, Alan Simpson, Bob Stafford, Ted Stevens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Fred Tuttle, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, Wayne Industries...& more!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704139/open_sms] Yoav Attias [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4250872/] is a documentary filmmaker whose projects include Brick City chronicling the inner-workings of Newark, NJ under then-Mayor Cory Booker and CNN's Chicagoland featuring then-mayor Rahm Emanuel. His most recent role is as Director on the new documentary film Fault Lines [https://www.faultlinesmovie.com/] - which examines the issue of affordable housing in American cities through the prism of several storylines in San Francisco where the housing crisis is especially acute. In this conversation, Yoav talks starting a legal career in South Florida before following his passion to become a documentary filmmaker...what he learned about the politics and challenges facing major American cities working closely around Mayors Cory Booker and Rahm Emanuel...the origin of the Fault Lines film project set in the Bay Area...and a deep dive on the challenges and complexities surrounding the American housing crisis. IN THIS EPISODE Yoav's roots in South Florida and why he left a legal career for documentary film-making... Yoav's involvement in the Brick City project that follows Newark politics, including then-Mayor Cory Booker... The documentary that deeply inspired Yoav to enter the field... Yoav's time as showrunner on CNN's Chicagoland project that featured Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel... Yoav's pitch to pols like Rahm Emanuel and Cory Booker to agree to be filmed for hundreds of hours for a documentary project... Yoav's relative optimism versus pessimism regarding the trajectory of the modern major American city... The origin story of his latest project, Fault Lines - a documentary about the housing affordability crisis facing American cities... How the housing process became so broken in cities like San Francisco in the first place... The controversy over 100 proposed affordable housing units in San Francisco's Sunset Neighborhood... How Yoav found housing advocates and a homeless family to participate in Fault Lines... How one local Bay Area elected official found himself caught in a political vice on the issue of affordable housing... Is the housing problem better or worse than Yoav initially thought? The Grateful Dead song that appears toward the end of Fault Lines... Yoav's take on political ad-making from outside of the political industry... The recent political documentary Yoav strongly recommends... AND Mark Benjamin, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Clinton, Todd Davis, Liz Dozier, Fenger High School, field producers, Jerry Garcia, HUD, hippie utopias, Hoop Dreams, hornets' nests, Nate Houghteling, Robert Hunter, Steve James, Flo Kimmerling, Ezra Klein, Marc Levin, Gordon Mar, the Mission, PCE, Section 8 vouchers, Sarah Sherman, toxicology reports, trust-building, undesirables, University of Florida, verité documentaries, Scott Weiner, zoning laws..& more!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704139/open_sms] Karen Deflippi [https://berlinrosen.com/staff/karen-defilippi/] is launching Versus Media Group [https://www.versusmediagroup.com/], after nearly 20 years in politics - including running campaigns, being a House Chief of Staff on the Hill, senior positions at Emilys List and the DCCC, and her current role as a media consultant for Democratic candidates and progressives causes. In this conversation she talks her path in politics from a Catholic family in swing Western PA to helping run some of the most impactful political organizations in the country and now putting a stamp on campaigns as a media consultant. IN THIS EPISODE Karen grows up in a "social justice" Catholic family in Western PA... Why Karen's initial goal of being a Naval fighter pilot wasn't in the cards... The moment Karen realized she wanted to work full-time in political campaigns... Memories of Hillary Clinton 2007-2008 primary campaign... Karen's stints working on Capitol Hill, including as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Debbie Dingell... Karen spends 3 memorable cycles at Emilys List, from 2016-2020... What structural barriers do women candidates still face running for office? Inside how Karen has tackled candidate recruitment at both Emilys List and the DCCC... Karen takes on the challenge as Deputy ED at the DCCC ahead of the difficult 2022 midterm... Karen on tell-tale signs that a campaign may be in need of intervention... How Democrats exceeded expectations in the '22 midterms... Why Karen took on the role of media consultant as her next challenge & her favorite race she worked in 2024... The Launch of Versus Media Group. [https://www.versusmediagroup.com/].. The evergreen advice Karen gives to anyone interested in working in politics... Karen's strangest work habit... AND Kelly Ayotte, basic sponges, Berlin Rosen, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Bill Clinton, Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Deaniacs, John Dingell, framed post-it notes, giat Trump signs, Jared Golden, Maggie Hassan, Chrissy Houlahan, the Iowa State Fair, John Kerry, Ellen Malcolm, Nancy Pelosi, Project 314, Stephanie Schriock, Mikie Sherrill, sleep hygiene, Abigail Spanberger, Sunday staff meetings, Susan Wild...& more!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704139/open_sms] Taegan Goddard is the founder and editor of Political Wire [https://politicalwire.com/], one of the most widely-read political news sites over the last 25+ years. He created Political Wire in the late 1990s after stints as a Senate staffer on Capitol Hill and several years in state government in his home state of Connecticut. In this conversation, he talks his own development as a rabid political junkie, setting out early goals in the public and private sector, both encouraging and disheartening stints in government, why he decided against running for office, and starting Political Wire initially as a hobby - which has now grown into a site that is a regular stop for 10+ million readers a month. To become a paid subscriber to Political Wire to see additional content and no ads, click here [https://politicalwire.com/topics/members/]. IN THIS EPISODE Growing up as a young political junkie in Hartford, CT... Taegan runs across an early version of the internet in the 1980s... The British politician who had an important important on the structure of Taegan's life... Important lessons working for the Senate Banking Chair, Michigan Democrat Don Riegle, on Capitol Hill... Highs and lows of working for Governor Lowell Weicker and others in CT state government... Why time working in state government made Taegan forgo an early desire to run for office himself... The core lesson of his book for elected officials, You Won, Now What?, that stands the test of time... The origin story of the Political Wire news website, which goes back 3+ decades... When Taegan realized Political Wire had found an audience and developed staying power... How Taegan has maintained and grown his audience in the tumultuous space of internet political sites... Taegan's sense of how important and history-making our current era of politics is... Taegan's most effective work tool & favorite non-political website... AND Spiro Agnew, David Bradley, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton's best friend, Congressional Quarterly, Charlie Cook, Al D'Amato, dark horse campaigns, the Federal Reserve Board, Joe Ganim, Newt Gingrich, Michael Heseltine, the Keating 5, John Kerry, Merck, nattering nabobs, The New Republic, Ross Perot, reader freakouts, Robert Redford, Chris Riback, Joe Rogan, Stu Rothenberg, John Rowland, William Safire, Ben Thompson, Chuck Todd, Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal, yellow legal pads...& more!