Pro Politics with Zac McCrary

Send us a textAce Smith, Partner at Bearstar Strategies, has lived a fascinating political life intersecting with a long list of the most iconic figures of the last several decades...Harvey Milk, Pat and Jerry Brown, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, & many more. In this conversation, we talk his memories of growing up in a Bay Area political family, cutting his teeth in smaller races and opposition research, transitioning to running campaigns, his role in several key states for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and building Bearstar Strategies to become a dominant media and strategic firm. IN THIS EPISODEThe prominent Democratic pol Ace is named after…Ace remembers his father, Arlo, working for iconic CA politician Pat Brown…Ace’s memories of the 1966 surprise win of Ronald Reagan and similarities to the Trump 2016 win…Ace talks about Harvey Milk, the groundbreaking LGBT pol, that he knew personally…Ace’s personal connection to the Harvey Milk / George Moscone assassination…Ace weighs in on why the Bay Area is a breeding ground for many of the state’s most successful politicians…Ace talks the value of working small, local races…Why Ace left a successful career in California politics to start fresh in DC…A fateful 1987 meeting between Ace and a young Rahm Emanuel…How opposition research gets Ace’s foot in the door in DC politics…Ace talks his formula for being an effective political researcher…Ace’s role in the Bill Clinton 1992 Presidential campaign…Ace gives insight about Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton from knowing both personally for decades…Ace talks running Texas and North Carolina for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries…Ace’s best practices of what makes a good campaign manager…Ace gives a California Politics 101 of what makes CA politics different…Ace gives a case study from the Kamala Harris 2010 Attorney General’s race…Ace talks the rise of Bearstar Strategies…Ace on what makes Jerry Brown so unique…Ace talks the strategy utilized (and defining moment) to beat back the 2021 recall attempt against Gavin Newsom…Ace looks back on the 2020 Kamala Harris Presidential campaign in which he was involved…Ace’s insight on building political teams…Ace’s agenda for anyone visiting the Bay Area…AND David Axelrod, Albert Camus, chaotic minds, Richard M. Daley, dearths and deluges, disappointing Political Science classes, Mike Dukakis, Joe Freitas, Gallic Wars, Averell Harriman, Fred Harris, hippie journey years, Harry Johnston, Tom Lynch, George McGovern, news pyramids, the political club movement, printing obscenities, Robert Redford, Bernie Sanders, Arlo Smith, Adlai Stevenson, testing hunches, Donald Trump, the twinkie defense, Elizabeth Warren, Dan White … & more!

Send us a textAnnie Levene is a partner at the leading Democratic digital firm Rising Tide Interactive, where she’s run digital strategy for the presidential campaign of Senator Amy Klobuchar as well as elected officials including Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Jacky Rosen, Kyrsten Sinema, Heidi Heitkamp, Governor Kate Brown, and Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy. In this conversation, Annie talks her path to working in politics and gives her insights and best practices on all things digital politics.IN THIS EPISODE…Annie talks growing up in Rochester in Western New York…The documentary that helped draw Annie to working in politics…Annie interns for her hometown Congresswoman Louise Slaughter…Annie’s path to working in digital Democratic politics…Annie talks the digital strategy for Heidi Heitkamp’s underdog campaign in North Dakota…Annie outlines the different roles digital serves in small states versus larger states…Important lessons Annie learned after being let go from a campaign…Annie talks her role running digital strategy for the Amy Klobuchar Presidential campaign…Annie compliments digital strategy of some of the rival campaigns from the 2020 primary elections…Annie talks some of the important digital lessons from the 2018 Jacky Rosen Senate campaign…Annie weighs in on the different hats a digital consultant can wear in advising a campaign…Annie’s take on the “ethics of fundraising emails” and “quadruple matching”…Annie’s thoughts on measurements and metrics for digital communications…Annie talks the “right” range digital should consume of a media budget…Annie busts some myths about how voters consume digital media…Annie’s take on how to think about twitter vs Tik Tok vs Facebook…Annie looks 5-10 years in the future of digital politics…The lessons Annie learned from a shoestring campaign in Peoria, IL…Annie’s advice to those who want to be successful working in digital politics…AND…Rita Ali, anti-horse slaughter bills, Cory Booker, Hillary Clinton, coded acronyms, Andy Cohen, DMA maps, Preston Elliott, Facebook ad archives, floating heads, Gourmet Magazine, Kay Hagan, House Majority PAC, Hulu, Eli Kaplan, Danny Kazin, Klobuchar hot dish recipes, MVAR media, Midwest Mom vibes, Modern Family, movie reviews, Mike Muir, Stephanie Murphy, Jon Ossoff, Nancy Pelosi, Jacky Rosen, sliding door moments, spitfires, terrible job markets, Watch What Happens Live, Elizabeth Warren, webmasters, Wildfire Contact, & more!

Send us a textEmily Parcell is blazing her own path through the political industry...part of the famed 2004 Dick Gephardt Iowa operation, Iowa Political Director for the 2008 Obama Caucus effort, running Indiana for the 2008 Obama general election, starting Wildfire Contact's direct mail arm, helping Democrats win tough races, heading up the Warren 2020 effort as a senior aide...and much more. In this conversation, Emily talks her small town Iowa roots, important stops along her political career, and insights and advice from 2 decades in the political trenches.IN THIS EPISODEEmily talks about growing up in small town Iowa…Emily’s hometown connection to Tom Vilsack…Emily’s Iowa Politics 101…Emily’s memories of staffing Senator Tom Harkin up close and personal…Emily talks being part of the influential Gephardt 2004 Iowa Caucus effort…Emily talks running the Iowa State Senate Democratic Caucus and de-mystifies what legislative campaigns looks like…Emily talks her role as Barack Obama’s Iowa Political Director during the magical 2008 Caucus campaign…Emily’s memories of running Indiana for Obama in 2008, one of the biggest presidential upsets in a generation…Emily’s accidental path to direct mail and her important early races as a mail consultant…Emily talks starting her current firm Wildfire Contact…Emily talks her experiences in a senior role of the 2020 Warren for President campaign…Emily’s advice to political operatives early in their careers…AND…the Atlas Project,  BDSM liaisons, battle cries and covers songs, Birch Bayh, Sarah Benzing, Joe Biden, Sherrod Brown, Susie Buffett, Bill Burton, Cheri Bustos, Jon Carson, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, cougars, Abby Curran, Tom Daschle, Sharice Davids, Raghu Devaguptapu, Preston Elliott, fake glasses, Abby Finkenauer, Lee Fisher, Marygrace Galston, Dan Geldon, Jane Gephardt, Grandma Jenny, Al Gore, Mike Gronstal, Josh Grossfeld, Lucinda Guinn, ice cream spoons, Iowa Nice, Jason Isbell, Charlie Kelly, John F. Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Mary Landrieu, John Lapp, Roger Lau, Andrew LaVigne, Dean Levitan, Jeff Link, Jill Long Thompson, Travis Lowe, Leslie Martes, John McCain, Motorola, mousetrap minds, Andrew Myers, BJ Neidhardt, John Norris, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Kristen Orthman, Rohan Patel, Palm Pilots, Rebecca Pearcey, Aaron Pickrell, David Plouffe, Jessica Post, Joe Rospars, Mitch Stewart, Jonathan Swain, Tailgates with Tom, Suzie Terrell, Kip Tew, Paul Tewes, Caroline Valand, Doug Vilsack, Wartburg College, & more!

Send us a textMark Putnam, Democratic media strategist and founder of Putnam Partners, has helped elect 11 Governors, 10 Senators, and dozens of members of Congress. In this conversation, Mark talks growing up in Alaska, his unconventional path to working in political media, early races on which he cut his teeth, helping elect Presidents Obama and Biden, how to think about “viral” ads, some of his favorite spots, and smart insights from one of the most successful careers in political media.IN THIS EPISODE…Mark talks what it’s like growing up in Alaska…Mark remembers the tragic disappearance of of Congressman Nick Begich…How Mark thinks of Alaska politics 101…A memorable meeting a teenage Mark had with Senator Ted Stevens…Mark explains the connection between his college major in Molecular Biology and what he does now…How Geraldine Ferraro helped a novice Mark get into political consulting…The iconic political admakers Mark apprenticed under…The 1986 Senate race Mark first put his stamp on…The losing 1994 Governor’s race where Mark learned an important lesson…Mark’s thoughts on using humor in political advertising…Mark’s opportunity to help elect a friend a state Attorney General…Mark’s rules of thumb on videos going viral…What Mark thinks is unique about a Putnam Partners ad…Mark talks through the media behind Heidi Heitkamp’s upset Senate win in 2012…Mark makes a believer out of a skeptical Governor Bill Richardson on an out-of-the-box idea…The two moments Mark remembers most from working for the 2008 Obama campaign…Mark helms “the most expensive political ad ever made”…Mark’s role in the 2020 pro-Biden Unite the County Super PAC ads…Mark tells a wild story from a local New Jersey race when he was repeatedly threatened for trying to do the job…Mark talks what he’s learned about running a business and building a team…Mark’s weirdest work habit…Mark’s advice for the next generation of political media consultants…AND…August releases, David Axelrod, Mark Begich, Joe Biden, Randy Bryce, Ken Burns, Chuck Chvala, Jim Clyburn, the consideration set, Chancy Croft, Jeremiah Denton, Michael Dukakis, Ellis Island, Carter Eskew, Peter Fenn, forcefields of appeal, gold Cadillacs, Al Gore, Davis Guggenheim, Bob Graham, Mike Gravel, The Great Alaska Earthquake, John Gregg, Jay Hammond, MJ Hegar, Tom King, Bill Knapp, Tony Knowles, MTV, Jim Margolis, Mitch McConnell, Amy McGrath, Steve Murphy, Nordstrom, Tom Ochs, Ozzy Osbourne, Mike Pence, the Philadelphia, David Plouffe, Hal Riney, Joe Salazar, Terry Sanford, Steve Schale, Richard Shelby, Paul Simon, Tony Soprano, Bob Squier, Mark Squier, Tommy Thompson, Donald Trump, the valiant effort reel, Phil Weiser, John Zaccaro, Laura Zaccaro, & more!

Send us a textMichael Barone, senior political analyst at the Washington examiner, is one of the most important political writers and thinkers of his time. He helped found the Almanac of American Politics in the early 70s and was the lead author for decades. He worked in politics himself, before transitioning to a role as a journalist, author, and pundit - always being an incisive and influential analyst of American politics at each stop along the way. In this conversation, we talk his roots in post-war Detroit, his time working for Democratic candidates and as a Democratic pollster, founding the Almanac, moving from left-of-center to right-of-center, and he gives his thoughts on some of the most pressing issues facing the political system and country today.IN THIS EPISODE…Michael’s memories of growing up in post-war Detroit…The first election Michael remembers in detail…The up-and-coming politician Michael worked for at an important time…Michael talks his movement from liberal to conservative…Michael shares his memories of being on the scene during the momentous 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention…The off-hand comment that led to Michael’s involvement in forming and writing the Almanac of American Politics…Michael talks the nuts and bolts that have gone into writing the Almanac for 40 years…Michael spends several years working with legendary Democratic pollster Peter Hart…The time when Senator Joe Biden took issue with something Michael wrote in the Almanac…Michael remembers the impact of Senator Pat Moynihan…Some of Michael’s favorite political convention memories…Michael’s involvement in the infamous 1980 convention fights between the forces of Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy…How Michael makes the jump from political consultant to an opinion writer and journalist…The 3 books that shaped Michael’s political thinking…Michael’s thoughts on today’s political writing…Michael talks the unusual place that California holds in today’s politics…Michael’s take on the current state of both political parties…Michael compares today’s political scene to the politics of the 1880s…Michael’s current view on what demographics tell us about politics…The issue of the last decade on which Michael wishes he’d have been much more active…AND…the 1967 Detroit riots, 8 Mile Road, the UAW, US-16, the arsenal of democracy, Dan Balz, Big 3 Auto Companies, baloney and malarkey, David Broder, James Buchanan, George W. Bush, Pat Caddell, Jimmy Carter, Jerome Cavanaugh, Bill Clinton, Geoffrey Cowan, Mario Cuomo, Richard D. Daley, Duke University, Dwight Eisenhower, flotsam and jetsam, Gerald Ford, John Kenneth Galbraith, Newt Gingrich, Meg Greenfield, Martha Griffiths, Jon Grinspan, John Gunther, Lou Harris, Hubert Humphrey, Al Hunt, Jim Hunt, Harold Ickes, Jesse Jackson, John Judis, Jack Kemp, John Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, V.O. Key, Lyndon Johnson, John Lindsay, Samuel Lubell, Madison Square Garden, Walter Mondale, The Moynihan Report, Wade McCree, George McGovern, Ralph Nader, Newton’s Second Law of Motion, Richard Nixon, Kirk O’Donnell, Tip O’Neill, Charles Oakman, Barack Obama, obvious impractical proposals, Nancy Pelosi, podium passes, prayers of political scientists, Franklin Pierce, David Price, Oliver Quayle, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, recessed steering columns, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Tim Russert, E.E. Schattschneider, Mark Shields, superdelegates, supply side economics, John Paul Stevens, Ted Stevens Airport, Ruy Teixeria, Bob Torricelli, Donald Trump, Grant Ujifusa, Carl Wagner, George Wallace, Woodrow Wilson, Worland Wyoming, Sam Yorty, Coleman Young, & more!

Send us a textTaifa Butler is the President of Demos, the “think tank of the movement” - dedicated to building a democracy and economy rooted in racial equity. Taifa talks the politics of her native Philadelphia in her formative years, what inspired her to pursue a life in politics and advocacy, her path to becoming President of Demos in early 2021, the work she’s most passionate about now, and her best practices on leadership, fundraising, public speaking, and much more.IN THIS EPISODETaifa talks growing up amidst the tumultuous Philadelphia political scene in the 70s and 80s…Taifa remembers the momentous transition in the city from Mayor Frank Rizzo to Mayor Wilson Goode…The experience as a junior in high school that set Taifa on her path toward politics and advocacy…Taifa talks how single-sex schools gave her important opportunities…The lessons Taifa learned in a narrow loss running for local office…Taifa de-mystifies the role that think tanks can play in our politics…Taifa’s thoughts on how advocates can be successful even when partisan and ideological currents work against them…Taifa remembers what she’s seen working with and around Stacey Abrams…Taifa talks the priorities of the progressive think tank Demos and her path to becoming its President…Taifa explains what it looks like to head a large national think tank…Taifa talks how to avoid non-profit jargon…Taifa’s thoughts on how to build the right team for an organization, plus tips for jobseekers…Taifa’s 101 on how she thinks about racial equity and advice for those looking to learn more…Taifa’s tips for those who want to improve their public-speaking skill set…Taifa’s “one unusual work habit”……and much more!

Send us a textThis week's episode is a compilation of some of my favorite campaign war stories and memorable moments from the first three months of episodes, covering March - May 2021. IN THIS EPISODE Paul Begala talks a key lesson he learned from the 1984 Texas Senate race…and the Democratic candidate the Clinton campaign believed posed the greatest threat to Clinton in the primaries.Rebecca Pearcey, Political Director on the Warren 2020 presidential, recalls crossing paths with celebrities on the campaign trail and breaks down the value and mechanics of Elizabeth Warren’s selfie lines from the 2020 primaries…Glen Bolger, Republican pollster, shares a memory from 1988 demonstrating showing how unprepared GOP institutions were when George HW Bush chose Dan Quayle to be his VP nominee…and – as the pollster for Senator Thom Tillis – weighs in on whether or not the Cal Cunningham affair made the difference in the 2020 NC Senate race…Rose Kapolczynski, manager of Barbara Boxer’s four successful Senate campaigns, takes us deep inside Barbara Boxer’s underdog 1992 Senate race…and talks the role the Anita Hill / Clarence Thomas hearings had in the race and in creating that cycle’s “Year of the Woman”…Two-term Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed shares fantastic stories about two of his mentors, Mayors Maynard Jackson and Willie Brown…Saul Shorr, Democratic admaker, talks about his memories of Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan - including the historic winning 2000 Senate race that took place three weeks after Governor Carnahan died in a tragic plane crash…Democratic media strategist Martha McKenna remembers her front row seat seeing the political origins of now Cabinet Secretaries Deb Haaland and Pete Buttigieg…Mike Murphy, GOP media guru, talks two of the times he rubbed the brass of the Bush ’92 re-election team the wrong way…and shares a fantastic Pat Buchanan story…Faiz Shakir, Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign manager, goes deep into the 2020 campaign, including the re-boot of the campaign after Senator Sanders’ heart scare, the campaign’s theory of the race, and a couple of things he’d want to handle differently in hindsight…Founder of House Majority PAC Ali Lapp recounts one of her favorite examples of HMP utilizing creative tactics to help Democrats win a tough House seat in 2016…

Send us a textAriel Edwards-Levy is CNN's Polling and Elections Analytics Editor, after covering the public opinion beat at Huffington Post for several cycles. In this episode she talks growing up in Southern California, the election that hooked her on politics at a young age, her early days in journalism, how she gravitated toward the polling beat, her transition from Huffington Post to CNN, and Ariel tackles many of the weighty questions confronting the field of polling.IN THIS EPISODEAriel self-identifies as an LA Valley Girl…Ariel’s political awareness starts around the 2000 Bush-Gore election…Ariel fondly remembers the days of getting the daily print newspaper…Ariel talks the connections between her background as a journalist to her current focus on polling…Ariel talks her early path in journalism and how she came to the polling beat at the Huffington Post…Ariel talks her transition from Huffington Post to CNN…Ariel talks through what the day job of the Polling and Analytics Editor at CNN actually is…Ariel weighs in on the state of the polling industry…Ariel breaks down the differential non-response bias problem…Ariel on both improvements polling has made recently as well as challenges the field still faces…Ariel talks the mistakes that get under her skin from some public polling…Ariel talks how she thinks about tackling polling complex issues…Ariel’s best practices for people to become savvy consumers of public opinion data…Ariel talks the value of qualitative research…Ariel talks how she’s developed a large Twitter footprint…Ariel’s one quirky work habit…

Send us a textJeff Romig has been working in the trenches of politics for well over a decade. Inspired to work in campaigns by Congressman John Lewis, he's worked in all phases of campaigns to win tough races at the state and local level - and he's deeply experienced running non-profits as well. But the time is right now to talk to Jeff, as he's just released a memoir about living for 25 years in the shadow of his father's suicide and coming to grips with his own mental health and addiction issues. The book, Don't F***ing Kill Yourself (dfkybook.com), was released last week and is already an Amazon Bestseller. I find Jeff's book and story to be very timely as the conversation about mental health concerns for those who work in and around politics is just starting to happen. I appreciate Jeff's openness in his book and his commitment to using his own life and struggles to help keep this important conversation going.IN THIS EPISODE…Jeff bounces around in journalism in South Carolina and Indiana before finding his way to working politics…Spending time around Congressman John Lewis inspires Jeff toward a career in politics…Jeff tells memorable stories of being up close and personal with John Lewis…Jeff talks through some of the key moments from his career working in politics…Jeff talks the parallels between being a working journalist and a political operative…Jeff talks his best practices from years of helping non-profits succeed and grow…Jeff talks through his new book and what motivated him to write it…Jeff talks about the need to de-stigmatize suicidal ideation…Jeff talks about some of the specific mental health challenges he’s run across while working in politics…Jeff talks his struggle with alcoholism and the mental health and recovery tools that have helped him…Jeff talks the nuts-and-bolts of how his book went from a broad concept to a completed, published work…

Send us a textOver the course of 2017, Doug Jones went from a respected Alabama attorney and empty nester to one of the most well-known US Senators in the country. In this conversation, we talk growing up in the shadow of segregation and George Wallace, starting to see those walls come down as he’s in high school, learning under his mentor Senator Howell Heflin, his time as US Attorney seeking justice against the Klan for the 1963 bombing of a Black church in Birmingham, the upset win and political hurricane in his 2017 special election, and memories of 3 influential years in the US Senate.IN THIS EPISODE…Sen Jones talks growing up in the segregated South and then seeing the world change before his eyes…He remembers the toxic legacy of Governor George Wallace…He remembers his time as an aide for his mentor, the iconic Alabama Senator (Judge) Howell Heflin…His memories of the Senate Judiciary Committee of the late 1970s…The twists-and-turns that lead to the opportunity to become US Attorney in 1997…US Attorney Jones helps deliver justice decades-later in the cold case of the KKK bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham…He talks his aborted race against Jeff Sessions in 2002…Why he decided to run for Senate 15 years later in 2017…Inside the 2017 Senate race when the entire political universe turns its eyes toward Doug Jones…The role Republican Senator Richard Shelby played in the 2017 race…Senator Jones talks the historic Black voter turnout in 2017…What surprised him about the Senate when he’s sworn in…What he’s most proud of from his tenure in the Senate…Senator Jones talks his No vote on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings…He weighs in on the current debates in the US Senate…AND Lamar Alexander, Jim Allen, Arent Fox, Bill Baxley, Birch Bayh, Joe Biden, Amelia Boynton, Brown vs the Board of Education, Build Back Better, Center for American Progress, the Civil Rights Trail, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Thad Cochran, Susan Collins, Bull Connor, constitutional compasses, John Culver, Joe Donnelly, Dwight Eisenhower, the Equal Justice Initiative, Medgar Evers, Christine Blasey Ford, Cory Gardner, Gold Star widows, Chuck Grassley, HBCUs, Claude Harris, Kamala Harris, Chris Hastings, Orrin Hatch, Heidi Heitkamp, Mike House, human infrastructure, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Johnny Isakson, Mick Jagger, Kelly Ingram Park, Caroline Kennedy, JFK, Ted Kennedy, Kay Ivey, John Lewis, MLK, Paul Laxalt, Pat Leahy, John McCain, Claire McCaskill, Chris McNair, Howard Metzenbaum, Walter Mondale, money from heaven, the only game in town, Mike Pence, Giles Perkins, Janet Reno, Right Side of History PAC, Rosa Parks, Alan Simpson, Tina Smith, John Sparkman, Frank Stitt, Jon Tester, Strom Thurmond, Joe Trippi, Doug Turner, unprofessional demeanors, US Steel, Hosea Williams, the Women’s March, a Yoda doll….& more!