Pro Politics with Zac McCrary

Send us a textTom Davis served seven terms in the House from Northern Virginia, including 2 cycles as NRCC Chair and as Chair of the House Government Reform Committee. In this conversation, he talks becoming obsessed with politics at an early age, working as a Senate page in the 1960s, playing a small role in the political operation of Richard Nixon, 15 years on the Fairfax County Board, 14 years in Congress, protecting the GOP majority in 2000 and 2002 while helming NRCC, why he left elected politics, the work he's most passionate about now, and his expectations ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. IN THIS EPISODE..One early moment when the lifelong political obsession started to click for a 6-year old Tom Davis…Working as a teenage U.S. Senate page…Tom spends 30 minutes in the Oval Office with President Nixon…Tom’s early stint as part of the Nixon political operation…Tom talks the political legacy of Virginia’s famed Byrd Machine…Tom remembers his 14+ years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors…Tom on the excitement as part of the 1994 House GOP wave…Tom talks the political skills (and flaws) of Newt Gingrich…Early impressions and surprises on his first term in the House…Memories of tough votes surrounding the impeachment of President Clinton…Tom’s path to running the NRCC in both the 2000 and 2002 cycles…Inside the candidate-recruitment process of the Tom Davis-led NRCC…Highlights of his tenure as Chair of the House Government Reform Committee…The tough decision to pass on an open 2008 Senate race and ultimately forgo re-election altogether…The two types of lobbyists in Washington…Tom breaks down lessons for Republicans in Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 Virginia win…How Tom is thinking about the 2022 midterms…AND Amherst, Appalachian State University, appendages, John Boehner, Harry Byrd, Eldridge Cleaver, Bill Clinger, Carl Curtis, Tom Delay, Harry Dent, Everett Dirksen, David Dreier, Dulles Airport, David Eisenhower, Martin Frost, gay newspapers, George Mason University, Jim Gilmore, Barry Goldwater, Bart Gordon, Bob Haldeman, Jesse Helms, Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Jim Holshouser, Rush Holt, Linwood Holton, John Hostettler, Steny Hoyer, Roman Hruska, Hubert Humphrey, Andrew Jackson, Jacob Javits, Nancy Johnson, Kent State, V.O. Key, lifelong teetotalers, John Linder, Louisiana Smart, Malibu, Mike Mansfield, Terry McAuliffe, Wayne Morse, the Mountain Valley Group, no confidence votes, Oliver North, Barack Obama, Dick Obenshain, Bill Paxon, perfecting amendments, Colin Peterson, Jeffrey Pine, George Rawlings, rental seats, Tom Reynolds, Alice Rivlin, Willis Robertson, Win Rockefeller, the Rotary Club, Antonin Scalia, Chris Shays, slackers, Howard Smith, Billy Tauzin, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Charles Thone, Strom Thurmond, Tulane, Fred Upton, Bob Walker, John Warner, Mark Warner, the Washington Post, Watauga County, Roger Wicker, wiffle ball, Frank Wolf, Jim Wright, Dick Zimmer, Elmo Zumwalt & more!

Send us a textAnn Lewis has had a legendary career as a Democratic strategist...from her time as Communications Director in the Clinton White House...as a Senior Advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate run and both 08 & 16 Presidentials...to her time as a Senate Chief of Staff and working at institutions like Planned Parenthood, the DNC, ADA, & more. In this conversation...Ann talks growing up in New Jersey in the shadow of the Hudson County Democratic machine, key moments in her career path as a woman in politics in the 1970s and 80s, intersecting with Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 80s, her work in both the Clinton White House and Clinton campaigns for 20+ years, and her best practices for smart communication strategies.IN THIS EPISODE…Ann grows up in New Jersey in a family who instilled in her the importance of politics…Ann’s early political memories of Harry Truman’s upset win in 1948…Ann talks the Hudson County, NJ political machine of her youth…A political light-bulb goes off for Ann when canvassing for JFK…Ann talks the challenges of working up the political ladder as a woman in the 1970s and 80s…Ann goes deep on the her time working for Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate race…Ann on the importance of Americans for Democratic Action…Ann talks her time as campaign manager and Chief of Staff for Senator Barbara Mikulski…Ann first crosses path with Bill & Hillary Clinton in the early 1980s…Ann gets to know then-First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1994…Ann gets pulled into the 1996 Clinton Presidential…Ann’s time as Communication Directions in the White House, including during the Clinton Impeachment saga…Ann’s communications best practices…Ann’s involvement in the ’08 and ’16 Hillary Clinton Presidentials…Ann talks Bill Clinton’s legendary retail skills and Hillary Clinton’s intellect…Ann talks growing up with her brother, and fellow legendary political figure, Congressman Barney Frank…Ann’s advice to the next generation of political operatives…AND Aunt Fanny, the Baltimore Museum of Art, basement offices, battlefield promotions, Bayonne, blankety-blank campaigns, George H.W. Bush, chattering classes, childish bullies, the Clinton Library, cocktail parties, the Colossus of Rhodes, Democratic Majority for Israel, Thomas Dewey, Bob Dole, Facebook, Fells Point, flaming parachutes, Boss Hague, the George Washington Bridge, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Margaret Hague, Jesse Helms, Harold Ickes, Jewish Women for Hillary, Junior Advisors, John Kennedy, Rick Lazio, Nita Lowey, Chuck Manatt, Mac Mathias, moderate ethnics, Pat Moynihan, the New York Post, Richard Nixon, NOW, one-and-a-half computers, Norm Ornstein, George Pataki, Planned Parenthood, Charlie Rangel, Joe Rauh, Walter Reuther, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, sturdy women, third wives, tugboats, the Unpleasantness, upstate winegrowers, Henry Wallace, Anne Wexler, Maggie Williams, the Women’s Political Caucus & more!

Send us a textLauren Baer worked at high levels of the American foreign policy establishment...an aide to former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and in the Obama State Department as Senior Advisor to Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry...until the 2016 election drove home the importance of political campaigns. She then put her own name on the ballot as the Democratc nominee in a targeted US House race in South Florida. That experience drove her decision to join Arena as their Managing Partner to recruit, train, and support the next generation of political campaign staff. In this conversation, she talks her time at the upper echelons of American foreign policy, her experience as a political rookie running in a targeted US House seat, and the work and thinking she's doing to invest in a more diverse and skilled next generation of political operatives.IN THIS EPISODELauren’s late-in-life decision to get involved in politics…Lauren’s time as Senior Advisor in the US State Department…Lauren’s experiences working with Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry…Lauren talks the legacy of Madeline Albright…Lauren’s thoughts on the most under-discussed foreign policy issue facing the U.S….Lauren runs for Congress in 2018, learning about campaigns as she goes…Lauren’s take on Florida’s status as a swing state…Lauren talks about the work being done by Arena train political operatives…What is the hurdle that makes a diverse pipeline of campaign staff so challenging…Lauren on the staffing "crisis” in political campaigns…Lauren’s response to the idea that the Democratic staffing class tilts too liberal…How Lauren thinks about the movement toward unionizing political campaigns…AND…air quotes, Yasser Arafat, Joe Biden, bright blue bathing suits, Val Demings, End Citizens United, golden retrievers, Al Gore, Hacks, Henry Kissinger, Harold Koh, Hard Nos, The Marshall Plan, Brian Mast, moral authority, Debbie Murcasel Powell, pink cowboy hats, Samantha Power, relational organizing, Alex Roarty, Bernie Sanders, Donna Shalala, David Shor, Elissa Slotkin, Donald Trump, Raphael Warnock, WhatsApp, white-shoe law firms, wonkish outward facing orientations & more!

Send us a textSean McElwee is the Founding Executive Director of Data for Progress, a progressive polling and think tank operation shaking up the way Democrats utilize data to better message and implement their priorities. Sean talks his roots as a military kid in an evangelical household, his circuitous path to working in progressive politics, the origin and evolution of Data for Progress, and how he thinks about some of the big questions facing those who work in politics. IN THIS EPISODE….Sean grows up in an evangelical military family in Connecticut…What drew Sean toward libertarianism early and what made him move away from it…The threads of evangelical Christianity that still endure in Sean’s politics…Sean’s riff on whether candidates should use profanity…Sean talks the importance of a candidate’s “vibes” and “juice”…The famous broadcaster Sean is friendly with…Sean talks the role think-tanks play in American politics…Sean talks his time leading the “Abolish ICE” effort…Sean tells the story behind the founding of Data for Progress…Sean on his friendship with prominent data scient David Shor and where they disagree…Sean’s theory on why people should gamble more on prediction markets…Sean talks his big wins and some losses on the political prediction markets…Sean’s take on the political appeal of John Fetterman…How Sean thinks about the role of Independent Expenditures…The Republican politicians whose communications impress Sean...Sean’s advice on the campaigns Democrats should run in 2022…What Sean looks for when he’s hiring at Data for Progress…Sean’s strangest work habits… AND…the 80-50 rule, 90% agendas, AOC, John Anzalone, automatic voter registration, Richard Blumenthal, books and stuff, Jamaal Bowman, Katie Britt, Mo Brooks, Jimmy Carter, CBS News, chimeras, Jim Clyburn, Susan Collins, Joe Courtney, Henry Cuellar, Defund the Police, Demos, Doug Ducey, elite actors, e-mailing yourself, Elliot Engel, John Fetterman, Brian Fitzpatrick, Rich Funke, Mike Garcia, Jared Golden, governing moments, happy hours, heuristics, Jim Himes, Boris Johnson, Mondaire Jones, John Katko, Brian Kemp, Alexander Lamis, Adam Laxalt, David McKinley, messaging bills, Markwayne Mullin, multi-level regression, Chris Murphy, neoliberalism, New York Times factchecks, Barack Obama, old guy Instagrams, Dr. Oz, Ron Paul, pivotal electoral voters, plastic bag bans, Jef Pollock, popularism, Predict It, Scott Pruitt, Reason Magazine, Robocop, Run for Something, Larry Sabato, SPSS, Chuck Schumer, sex scenes, simulacrums, John Stossel, terrain advantages, Title 42, Ritche Torres, Donald Trump, Nina Turner, woke staffers, Ron Wyden, YouGov, & more!

Send us a textCharlie Black is a legendary figure in Republican politics, working his first presidential campaign with Ronald Reagan in 1976 and being involved at a high level with both Presidents Bush and names like Kemp, Dole, McCain, Romney, Kasich and more. In this conversation, Charlie talks his roots in the conservative movement of the 1970s, his work as a political consultant in some of the most famous races of the era, and offers stories, insight, and lessons learned from one of the most impactful political lives of his generation.IN THIS EPISODE                                                    Charlie’s roots in Wilmington North Carolina…Barry Goldwater draws Charlie to the GOP…How his early Republican activism leads to his first real campaign job with Jesse Helms first Senate race in 1972…Charlie talks the political strength of Jesse Helms that led to a 30-year Senate career, including the titanic ’84 race between Helms and Democratic heavyweight Governor Jim Hunt…Charlie talks the rise of direct mail fundraising, Independent Expenditures, and the development of the conservative movement throughout the 1970s…Charlie’s role running several states in the insurgent Reagan ’76 primary challenge to Gerald Ford…Charlie talks the strategic decisions that led to Reagan winning the GOP nomination in 1980…Charlie goes into political consulting, working for scores of Senators, Governors, and House members…The question Ronald Reagan asked himself every morning in the White House…Charlie helps George H.W. Bush turn a 17-point deficit in 1988 into a landslide win…Charlie’s longtime friendship with George W. Bush…The Charlie Black 101 on effective campaign management…Charlie talks his relationship with Lee Atwater, one of his best friends…Charlie manages Jack Kemp’s 1988 Presidential campaign…Charlie on the Democratic politicians who’ve most impressed him…Charlie talks his work in government relations and former business partners Roger Stone and Paul Manafort…Charlie’s take on how the Republican Establishment lost control of the party to the Trump wing…Charlie’s best practices for crisis-communication…AND 80% friends, the ACLU, Roger Ailes, American University, John Anderson, Howard Baker, Jim Baker, Bigness, Boston Harbor, Bill Brock, Pat Buchanan, Buckley v. Valeo, the California guys, Bill Clinton, John Connolly, the Conscience of a Conservative, courtroom lawyers, Phil Crane, Michael Deaver, Terry Dolan, Kitty Dukakis, Michael Dukakis, John East, Jim Ely, Newt Gingrich, Bob Graham, the greatest Senate race ever run, Pete Hannaford, Paula Hawkins, the Hill newspaper, Willie Horton, Peter Kelly, Kemp-Roth tax cuts, Jim Lake, the League of Women Voters, C.S. Lewis, little bastards, Trent Lott, Mac Mathias, George McGovern, Ed Meese, Walter Mondale, Nashua, nativists, negative advertising, Nixon’s coattails, noblesse oblige, Lyn Nofziger, Scott Pastrick, Pauley Pavillion, Ross Perot, Prime Policy Group, the RNC, Reaganites,  Karl Rove, John Sears, Richard Schweiker, Bernie Shaw, Arlen Specter, Stu Spencer, Bob Strauss, Donald Trump, Tom Turnipseed, University of Florida, Richard Viguerie, Paul Volcker, Paul Weyrich, YAF, Young Republicans…& more!

Send us a textKatie Moore was recently named Campaign Manager of the Year for her role managing Eric Adams' winning NYC Mayoral Campaign last year. In this conversation, she talks her roots as a "farm kid" in Western Kentucky, how she fell in love both with New York City and political organizing, and a deep dive into NYC politics and the 2021 Adams' victory.IN THIS EPISODE…Katie talks her rural roots in Marshall County in Western KY…Katie takes inspiration from the Clinton / Gore ticket…How Katie gets to NYC and develops a passion for political field work…Katie talks her time working for ACORN and its political legacy…Katie crosses path with Bill de Blasio in his first City Council race in 2001…Katie talks her passion for political field work…Katie gives her 101 on how she thinks of NYC politics…Katie’s time leading the political operation for the city’s Hotel Trades Council…Katie’s sabbatical from politics as a yoga instructor…Katie takes the helm of the 2021 Eric Adams Mayoral Campaign…The winning story and message behind the Adams’ campaign…Katie talks the Andrew Yang factor in the mayoral…The political impact of NYC’s new Ranked Choice Voting system…The challenges of managing a big race during Covid and with two small kids…Katie talks her current role as a Partner at Red Horse Strategies…AND 1199 SEIU, 32BJ, Steve Banks, blue collar mayors, Brooklyn, canvassing on crutches, college-ruled spiral notebooks, Martha Layne Collins, Dennison University, Ruben Diaz Jr., DC 37, Ditch Mitch stickers, expanded EITC, field elitists, Kathryn Garcia, Rudy Giuliani, Al Gore, Aaron Hecht, infinite pockets, Tish James, Corey Johnson, John Kess, Kendrick Lamar, the Legal Aid Society, Bertha Lewis, Connor Martinez, miso soup, music degrees, the NYT spelling bee, nasty hit jobs, non-verbal cues, Paducah, Rand Paul, the Plaza Hotel, rock star moments, Nathan Smith, Scott Stringer, twin boys, union cards, vegans, the Village Voice, Maya Wiley, Jumaane Williams, Emma Wolfe, World Book Encyclopedias, XXL…& more!

Send us a textJerry Austin is probably best known as the campaign manager for Reverend Jesse Jackson's '88 Presidential Campaign that won 11 contests and led in delegates deep into the calendar...and he also served as manager, media consultant, advisor to names like Paul Wellstone, Carol Moselely Braun, Sherrod Brown, Paul Tsongas and many more. In this conversation, Jerry talks the '88 Jackson race and high points and lessons learned from decades working with some of the biggest names in American politics. Plus Jerry previews his book series TRUE TALES FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL...pulling together the best campaign war stories from a bipartisan coterie of top political consultants. IN THIS EPISODEJerry grows up in a union household in the South Bronx…Protesting the Vietnam War leads Jerry to a political career…Jerry’s early connection to rising star and future Ohio Governor Dick Celeste…A deep dive on Jerry’s time managing the 1988 presidential campaign of Reverend Jesse Jackson…Jerry tells some great Willie Brown stories…The first two moves he took to make Jesse Jackson a credible national candidate in 1988…Wisconsin becomes a “make or break” state for Jackson in the ’88 primaries…How closely was Reverend Jackson considered for the VP nomination n 1988…Jerry’s thoughts on how Jackson ’88 blazed the trail for both Clinton '92 and Obama ’08…Jerry’s involvement at the start of the career of now Senator Sherrod Brown…Jerry’s integral role in the underdog upset win of Paul Wellstone in 1990…The story of Paul Wellstone and Ted Kennedy in a heated argument on the Senate floor…Jerry helps engineer the groundbreaking Senate win of Carol Moseley Braun in 1992…Jerry talks the rise and fall of former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker…Jerry’s brought in to help on Paul Tsongas ’92 Presidential…Jerry is an official observer during the “Pinochet plebiscite” in Chile…Jerry talks the origin of his book series “True Tales from the Campaign Trail” and one of his favorite stories…AND Art Agnos, Salvador Allende, David Axelrod, bagels and coffees, Robert Bork, Rudy Boschwitz, Boston People, Charlie Brown, Ted Brown, Virgil Brown, Cadillacs, Tony Celebrezze, Steve Cobble, the Dallas Cowboys, Alan Dixon, Bob Dole, Pete Domenici, duck hunting, Michael Dukakis, Susan Estrich, exit polls, Louis Farrakhan, gentile women, Al Gore, Al Hofeld, Tom Hsieh, Hunter College, Jerry Jones, Celinda Lake, Vito Marcantonio, matching funds, McDonalds' executives, Meridian MS, Howard Metzenbaum, George Mitchell, Walter Mondale, Dee Dee Myers, Barack Obama, pander bears, pariahs, Augusto Pinochet, pipe dreams, scrums, the Secret Service, Hank Sheinkopf, the Tampa Airport, Clarence Thomas, Tulsa, the UN, the US Communist Party, VW bugs, voice votes, Maxine Waters & more!

Send us a textLis Smith is an operative's operative...with nearly 20 years of races under her belt of wins and losses and lessons learned along the way. Her new book ANY GIVEN TUESDAY is now out about her career in politics, while also finding herself in the headlines from time to time...including a deep dive into the unlikely ascent of Pete Buttigieg's 2020 Presidential Campaign. This is a really fun conversation with one of the most dynamic thinkers in today's politics. IN THIS EPISODEThe moment Lis fell in love with politics…The common threads of the candidates Lis wants to work with…What makes Claire McCaskill a talented communicator…Lis’s take on how Democrats should navigate Fox News…Lis’s early campaign stint seeing old-school politics in Kentucky…Lis defines “strategic cuss words”…Lis squares off against Chris Christie in his first race…Lis breaks down her role running Rapid Response for the 2012 Obama Re-election…The political importance of “parasocial relationships”?Why an operative has to be willing to disagree with their client…Why some personally charismatic candidates have trouble communicating publicly…Lis’s very first impressions of Pete Buttigieg…Memorable responses when people heard Lis was working for the Buttigieg Presidential…The common thread between John McCain’s 2000 presidential and Buttigieg 2020…The origin of what came to be known as the Pete Buttigieg "uniform"…Lis’s favorite memory from the Pete 2020 experience…Lessons Lis learned in her stint working for Andrew Cuomo…Her approach to building and nurturing talented teams and operatives…Lis’s advice on underappreciated Guns N’ Roses songs…AND David Axelrod, bangers, the bee’s knees, Paul Begala, Richard Ben Cramer, Chuck Berry, Blueberry Hill, Jerry Brown, George Bush, can-do mayors, Tucker Carlson, Hillary Clinton, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Jon Corzine, Stephanie Cutter, Tom Daschle, defense contractors, Diet Dr. Pepper, John Edwards, Albert Einstein, evil twins, Greek tragedies, Sean Hannity, Kamala Harris, Eric Holder, ill-fitting suits, Laura Ingraham, it factors, Bob Kerrey, John Kerry, Ben LaBolt, Chris Maher, Terry McAuliffe, Mallory McMorrow, mill towns, Tim Miller, Martin O’Malley, John Mulaney, normal person language, Michelle Obama, Jen O’Malley Dillon, pantsuits, the Pete Diaspora, Prince Charming, the Prince of Darkness, Jen Psaki, rage juice, Red Bull, Kid Rock, Mitt Romney, Axl Rose, Bernie Sanders, Mike Schmuhl, sequin shirts, Nina Smith, Julianna Smoot, George Stephanopoulos, the Straight Talk Express, Ted Strickland, summer doldrums, Greg Stumbo, TJ Maxx, Donald Trump, Twitter, visual brands, the War Room, water coolers, Glen Youngkin…& more!

Send us a textFrom serving in the Air Force, to his time in both the House and Senate, and rising to become Senate Majority Leader during the 9-11 attacks…few have led more impactful political lives than Tom Daschle. In this conversation, he talks the unusual confluence of events that led to his involvement in politics, his mentor George McGovern, being taken under the wing of Speaker Tip O’Neill, his meteoric rise to become Senate Democratic leader…with stories, lessons, and insight from a 50+ career of service that continues to this day.IN THIS EPISODEThe two candidates that inspired a young Tom Daschle’s interest in politics (one you might guess and the other you won’t)…The progressive political tradition of South Dakota…Senator Daschle talks about his “hero” and “mentor” George McGovern…Senator Daschle talks about his own service in the military and why it made him a better member of Congress…Memories of his time as a Senate staffer in the 70s during Watergate and the end of the Vietnam War…The factor that led Congressman Daschle to have a special relationship with Speaker Tip O’Neill…Winning three 50-50 races over the course of 8 years to win both a House and then a Senate seat…The story behind the unique name of the Daschle campaign committee…The story of how a first term Congressman Tom Daschle received a convention vote for Vice President in 1980…The decision to make the jump from the House to the Senate…The circuitous story behind Senator Daschle’s 1-vote margin to become Senate Democratic minority leader after the 1994 election…The “up and down” relationship with President George W. Bush…Inside the decision of Jim Jeffords to switch parties and give the Democrats a brief Senate Majority in the early 00s…The legislative accomplishments of which Senator Daschle is most proud…Memories of the votes when emotions ran high on the Senate floor…How close did he get to running for President in 2004? (Very close)What made his longtime Chief of Staff Pete Rouse such an effective staffer…Senator Daschle talks his relationship with Barack Obama…A window into his current work with The Daschle Group…The Daschle pitch for us all to visit South Dakota…AND 50-50 Senates, 66 counties, Jim Abdnor, Aberdeen, Jim Abourezk, agent orange, Madeline Albright, anthrax, the anti-war movement, the Badlands, Howard Baker, biofuels, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Black Hills, Robert Byrd, CHIPs, Bill Clinton, the Cold War, Kent Conrad, Nathan Daschle, Chris Dodd, Bob Dole, Byron Dorgan, dugout press conferences, the Dust Bowl, early out programs, Food for Peace, the fragility of democracy, Bill Frist, Fritz Hollings, John Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Bob Kerrey, Trent Lott, George May, John McCain, Jim Messina, Bob Michel, the Missouri River, George Mitchell, the National Democratic Institute, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Omaha, Claude Pepper, populist traditions, regional whips, Franklin Roosevelt, Jim Sasser, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the Sioux River, Mo Udall, the Vietnam War, war heroes, Watergate…& more!

Send us a textRobby Mook has managed races at all levels of politics - from state legislative races to the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential. In this conversation, Robby talks cutting his teeth in Vermont politics, the importance of field work, his time running the DCCC, managing successful races for Jeanne Shaheen and Terry McAuliffe, a deep dive on the 2016 campaign, & much more with one of the smartest thinkers in politics. IN THIS EPISODERobby cuts his teeth in Vermont politics and in the shadow of the next door New Hampshire Primary…The big name politician Robby rung up as a cashier…Robby’s memories of Bernie Sanders from the 1990s…Robby’s time in the US Senate page program…Robby talks the importance of his background in political field work…The piece of advice from David Plouffe that has really stuck with Robby…The Robby Mook 101 for effective campaign managing…Robby manages the 2008 Senate race for Jeanne Shaheen…Lessons Robby learned atop the DCCC in 2010 and 2012…Robby manages Terry McAuliffe’s winning race in 2013…Robby’s path to managing the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign in 2016…How the Clinton campaign almost ended up based out of Buffalo…The two big decisions in the campaign that took up more of his time than he anticipated…Robby weighs in on what the Clinton campaign got right in 2016…Robby talks the political strengths of Trump 2016…Robby rebuts some of the unfair criticisms lodged against the Clinton campaign…Robby clarifies how the campaign used analytics down the stretch…Robby’s advice to other campaign operatives facing adversity after an election…Robby’s current role at House Majority PAC…AND airport logistics, Kate Bedingfield, Paul Begala, Joe Biden, James Carville, change elections, DC desk jockeys, easy narratives, Facebook, fast cashiers, New Gingrich, the glue between the bricks, U.S. Grant, Jesse Helms, Pat Leahy, mush, Nancy Pelosi, the Roman Republic, Patti Solis Doyle, the Sununus, Syracuse, third terms, Strom Thurmond, Harry Truman, the US Naval Reserves, the Vermont Democratic Party, Paul Wellstone, White Plains, word clouds, & more!