Pro Politics with Zac McCrary

Send us a textTim Persico, the Executive Director of the DCCC, provides a post-election debrief with his thoughts on all things 2022 House races. He gets under the hood as to how House Democrats beat the odds to exceed pundit expectations...and weighs in on the winning blend of messaging for candidates, the leadership provided by Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney and Speaker Pelosi, specific seats that helped Democrats buck the midterm trends, the tools and tactics the DCCC utlized this cycle, & much more with one of the key architects of House Democrats' impressive 2022 cycle.IN THIS EPISODE…The latest post-election math about control of the House…How previous DCCC post-mortems helped prep Tim run the organization…Tim’s macro view of how House Democrats overperformed expectations…Tim recounts the critical decision by DCCC Chair Maloney to take a risk and go for the majority instead of taking a more cautious approach to hold losses to a minimum…Tim’s take on whether Democrats won these races late or always had the advantage….Tim on what messaging worked well for Democratic candidates…Tim talks leadership lessons learned from Nancy Pelosi…A few seats Tim was confident Dems could win despite pundit skepticism…Tim’s initial thoughts on why New York was a tough state for House Dems…The DCCC’s approach to digital communications…Lessons learned from digesting hundreds of internal campaign polls…How Tim handled getting advice from a 220+ member Democratic Caucus…Tim evangelizes on why a finance background is a good path to rising up the ladder in politics…Tim compliments some of the strategies utilized by the NRCC…What Tim is most proud of from this cycle running the DCCC…AND American treasures, asymmetrical disadvantages, Michael Bennet, big thinking thoughts, building runways, Cheri Bustos, canaries in coal mines, Yadira Caraveo, cookie-cutter stuff, Karen Defilippi, Dirtbags, Isaac Fitzgerald, fully-formed human beings, Tommy Garcia, graybeards, the Hudson Valley, hybrid ads, late movers, left-handed Methodists, Elaine Luria, massive things, moon suits, Patrick Murphy, Wiley Nickel, noisy data, non-linear benefits, pet peeves, pipe bombs, a Pittsburgh Republican, pivot points, pre post-mortems, Christie Roberts, Chuck Schumer, sheer chaos, Eric Sorensen, sour electorates, Abigail Spanberger, special masters, Emilia Sykes, Tony Vargas, walkabouts, Jennifer Wextons, whisper quiet & more!

Send us a textIt's Election Day 2022...so instead of more predictions and punditry, Rebecca Pearcey is back to dive into what political consultants talk about most amongst ourselves...travel tips, hacks, and preferences. In this conversation, Rebecca and I discuss and debate best practices for aiports, flights, hotels, taxis, and all things being a political operative on the road. Hopefully this episode can be an enjoyable 51-minute escape during your Election Day (or aftermath) while waiting for votes to be cast and results to come in.Rebecca talks her intense travel experiences with Elizabeth Warren on the '20 campaign trail...A stark disagreement on how early to get to the airport before a flight...Butting heads on when it makes sense to check a bag for a flight...Aisle or window? How to choose your seat on the plane?During the flight...work on the plane? Sleep? Watch a movie?Rebecca's strong take on airline wifi...How loyal should you be to the big airline and hotel brands?Airport lounges: worth it or not?Zac on an underappreciated in-flight beverage...Best transportation to and from the airport...What should go into choosing a hotel?Agreement on a new option that should exist in hotel apps...Two very different perspectives on rental cars...Pearcey on packing...Pre-check and/or Clear: worthwhile or not?Zac's restaurant recommendation / attempt to get a sponsorship from a national chain...Rebecca and Zac give off-the-beaten-path travel destinations...

Send us a textMaggie Haberman is, of course, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who's covered the political rise of Donald Trump for the New York Times...and her new book, CONFIDENCE MAN: The Making of Donald Trump & The Breaking of America became an immediate best seller. In this conversation, Maggie dives into all things Trump...from his formative influences in the New York City of the 70s and 80s, to his political ascent, time in the White House, her take on the likelihood of another Trump run, what a Trump White House restoration would look like...and much more from perhaps the most authoritative voice on the Trump political phenomenon. IN THIS EPISODE…Maggie breaks down the influences that explain Trump’s political persona…The member of Congress with whom has had a decades-long feud…Maggie talks Trump’s ethos of “hate as a civic good”…Why Trump never wanted to be Mayor of New York City…Maggie talks the rise of Trump as a credible candidate in 2015…How Trump leveraged Twitter so successfully…Maggie on the connection between Trump and the National Enquirer…How Trump has recently lost allies among the conservative media…Why Trump as the “deal maker” fell flat in the White House…Maggie’s thoughts on Trump’s various legal entanglements, old and new…How Maggie thinks about the challenge of covering candidates who lie…Maggie’s instincts on a Trump 2024 campaign…The faces Maggie would expect to see around Trump in a second term…What it’s like to have 1-on-1 conversations with Trump…What’s surprised Maggie most about Trump’s behavior over the past year…The status of Trump relationships with names like Giuliani, McConnell, Bannon, Roger Stone...Some of Maggies favorite books and authors covering NYC politics...AND avenging angels, Bill Barr, Wayne Barrett, birtherism, Mike Bloomberg, E. Jean Carroll, catch-and-kill, the Central Park Jogger, Hillary Clinton, Michael Cohen, Roy Cohn, James Comey, conspiracy theories, convention speeches, covfefe, Andrew Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, Ron DeSantis, the Dobbs decisions, Meade Esposito,  the favor economy, Fox News, Stanley Friedman, Ric Grenell, Sean Hannity, instinctive racial paranoia, Andrew Kirtzman, Ed Koch, Jared Kushner, the Lavender Scare, Rush Limbaugh, low-interest federal loans, Donald Manes, John McCain, McCarthy acolytes, Mark Meadows, Andrew Meier, Robert Morgenthau, Rupert Murdoch, Muslim bans, Jack Newfield, NewsMax, Richard Nixon, OAN, George Pataki, Kash Patel, David Pecker, permanent enemies, Jeanine Pirro, Vladimir Putin, John Ratcliffe, rejecting objective reality, Seth Rich, rubber chicken dinners, Eric Schneiderman, Doug Schoen, Time Magazine, transactional media, Allen Weisselberg, white noise…. & more!

Send us a textNobody has a political career like JC Watts. Starting quarterback at the University of Oklahoma, NFL draft pick, several years in the Canadian Football League, the first Black statewide elected official in Oklahoma, 8 years in Congress rising to Conference Chair in the GOP leadership, and voluntarily leaving office with even greater political stardom likely in front of him. In this conversation, he talks his one-of-kind-story of a blue-collar kid from small town Eufala, OK to a high level pro athlete to a groundbreaking political figure - with one of the most unique perspectives in American politics. IN THIS EPISODEJC Watts' upbringing in rural Eufala, OK..The formative experience of playing football at the University of Oklahoma…The political roots of the Watts family…What leads him to run for office shortly after his football career ends…Lessons learned from his iconic coach Barry Switzer…Memories from early days in the House after his 1994 election…Congressman Watts talks what he learned about Native culture over the years…Inside the story of delivering the 1997 GOP Response to the State of the Union…Congressman Watts ousts John Boehner from the House GOP leadership after the ’98 elections…Inside the strategic and messaging disagreements among the GOP leadership…Congressman Watts talks the intoxicating “cheer of the crowd” present in politics…The two times he most seriously considered running for office after he left the House…The letter Rosa Parks wrote to Congressman Watts…Why he left the House after 8 years…The longtime political relationship between Congressman Watts and his successor Tom Cole…Congressman Watts talks being both a Black man and a strong Republican…His thoughts on the state of the Trump-led Republican Party of 2022…The current projects that he’s most excited about…AND Arkansas things, bellyachers, Sonny Bono, bootleggers, David Boren, the CFL, Julia Carson, cesspools and jacuzzis, Chattanooga, Dick Cheney, Donna Christensen, Bill Clinton, Tom Coburn, the Contract with America, the Creek Nation, Danny Davis, Tom Delay, disgruntled Democrats, dysfunctional conferences, economics 101, enterprise zones, FCA, Floyd Flake, George Floyd, Harold Ford Jr., Newt Gingrich, HBCUs, Denny Hastert, huge assignments, Jim Inhofe, Jesse Jackson, January 6th, Jack Kemp, knuckleheads, Langston University, lapel pins, Steve Largent, live bodies, Bob Livingston, Longhorn friends, Dave McCurdy, the NAACP, Don Nickles, opportunity zones, Ottawa, Pee Wee leagues, pow wows, private equity funds, pulpit experience, reading the blitz, redshirts, special sauce, The Selmon Brothers, the Sixth Sense, snowball effects, speechwriters, Mike Synar, Toronto, the United Nations, the Urban League, the USA Today, youth ministers, Zach Wamp & more!

Send us a textWesley Donehue has an unconventional background for a Republican consultant…growing up in public housing with two parents who struggled with drug addiction…but that upbringing fueled his passion to work in politics and his interest in crisis communications. In this conversation, we talk Wesley’s path to politics, his work as a digital consultant for big GOP names like Lindsay Graham, Marco Rubio, Herschel Walker, and many more – and his recent book Under Fire, which lays out his 13 rules for how candidates, campaigns, and organization should handle crisis.IN THIS EPISODE…How failing a college class leads Wesley to a career in politics…How Wesley gravitated to an expertise in digital politics…Wesley talks best practices for digital politics…Wesley talks about the role that digital played on Lindsay Graham’s $100M 2020 Senate re-election…Wesley on how anti-Trump candidates have gotten back into the good graces of Trump voters…Wesley on the best campaign managers he’s worked with…Wesley talks how his chaotic upbringing led him to the field of crisis communications…What led Wesley to write Under Fire, his new book on dealing with crisis and cancel culture…Wesley talks the most importance of his 13 rules to deal with crisis…Wesley cites a politician who handled crisis especially poorly…Wesley’s analysis of how Donald Trump handles crisis…Wesley on kitchen cabinets, preparation, and the question of apologies…Wesley touches on the recent crisis surrounding his firm’s client Herschel Walker…Wesley recounts when he personally faced an effort to “cancel” him…Wesley talks his habits that have helped him develop an energetic work ethic…Wesley’s recommendations when visiting his hometown of Charleston, SC…AND 1-star reviews, BLM, Calculus II, cold-and-flu season, cord cutters, Jim DeMint, Dow Chemical, earthquake plans, engineering majors, Ferraris, the gap and the gain, David Goggins, Trey Gowdy, Instagram, Ironman marathons, the King of Pop, the MCU, Pabst Blue Ribbon, pounds of flesh, Push digital, Joe Rogan, Mark Sanford, the scraps, Section 8 Housing, soul mates, stoicism, thin skin, Star Trek, U of South Carolina, Phil Vangelakos, vulnerability studies, yachts & more!

Send us a textJulie Roginsky has one of the most unique stories in politics…as a 6-year old, she and her family flee their homeland in the Soviet Union to make their way to the Bronx…she’s drawn to campaigns and spends 20+ years in the trenches in New Jersey politics…she enters the world of cable news, working for 10 years as a Democratic voice on Fox News…ultimately leaving Fox after suing the network and chief Roger Ailes for sexual harassment…and starts Lift Our Voices with former Fox News colleague Gretchen Carlson to eliminate NDAs and other silencing mechanism that protect harassment in the workplace. This is a wide-ranging conversation that covers Julie’s fascinating life, time in campaign politics, and the important work she’s doing now.IN THIS EPISODE…The story behind Julie and her parents escaping their native USSR…Early memories of a 6-year old Soviet refugee growing up in NYC…Julie campaigns for a presidential candidate as an 11-year old…Julie changes her professional sights from foreign service to political campaigns…Julie’s brief excursion working for the UK Labour Party in London…Julie’s first New Jersey race and her NJ Politics 101 after 20+ years in state politics…Julie mines her years as a communications expert to offer some comms best practices…The story behind Julie’s years as a political commentator on Fox News…Julie addresses her departure from Fox News & the sexual harassment she filed against  Fox News and Roger Ailes…Julie starts Lift Our Voices with Gretchen Carlson to eliminate workplace NDAs that protect workplace harassment…Julie on the changing advice she gives to young people working in politics…Julie’s advice on how campaigns can protect proprietary information while not enabling a toxic workplace...AND…the 6 Train, Madeline Albright, Bombshell, George W. Bush, CNBC, Mary Beth Cahill, Gretchen Carlson, Chris Christie, Jon Corzine, Crayola, the deficit, distant cousins, economic sclerosis, EMILYs List, the Food Network, glasnost, Bernie Goetz, Mikhail Gorbachev, gulags, heroin alley, the Hotel Greystone, internecine primaries, the Iron Curtain, the Iron Sheik, JFK airport, Jersey girls, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Lenin, John Major, Walter Mondale, Rupert Murdoch, Northampton County, Frank Pallone, Perkins Coie, Zelda Perkins, Ronald Reagan, refuseniks, Condoleezza Rice, Susan Rice, Rutgers University, self-censorship, Yakov Smirnoff, Stalin, the Statue of Liberty, The Tea Party, Margaret Thatcher, Donald Trump, the WWF, Harvey Weinstein, Christine Todd Whitman & more!

Send us a textKeiran Pedley is a veteran pollster, the Director of Politics for Ipsos/UK, and a regular presence in UK media offering analysis on the latest political data and developments. In this conversation, we set the table as to how the UK system is both similar and different than the US, cover the last few Brexit-fueled chaotic years in British politics, the current state of the Labour opposition, and turn to the rise of new Prime Minister Liz Truss and her tumultous first few weeks in office and implications for UK politics moving forward. Whether you're a novice or expert about British politics, you'll enjoy this conversation with Keiran.IN THIS EPISODE...Keiran gives a primer on the UK political system...Keiran talks political realignment across the UK over the past few years...The importance of the "red wall" in British politics...Keiran talks about the greater gender and racial diversity in the Conservative leadership than in the Labour Party...Keiran on the role Brexit has played on roiling UK politics for years...Keiran talks recent polling on views toward Brexit...Keiran on the downfalls of three consecutive Conservative Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson...Keiran talks the struggles among the Labour opposition over the same period...Keiran's analysis of current Labour leader Keir Starmer...Keiran on the ascent of new Conservative Prime Minsister Liz Truss...Keiran talks the recent economic upheaval in the UK financial system that has led to a rough start for Truss...Keiran's very early thoughts on the next British General Election...Keiran on the state of polling in UK politics...AND anti-Semitism, austerity, the BBC, bang-on polling, the Bank of England, Tony Blair, Britain Elects, Gordon Brown, by-elections, Winston Churchill, the central office, clarifying moments, Susan Collins, Jeremy Corbyn, devolution, the EU, economic competence, electoral quirks, Euro-skeptics, eye-watering figures, Nigel Farage, Fox News, freedom of movement, green benches, honeymoon periods, the House of Lords, Israel, Kwasi Karteng, Lib Dems, Liverpool, long-running sagas, Manchester, manifestos, Ed Miliband, New Jersey wives, Barack Obama, political disasters, Reaganomics, the SNP,  Bernie Sanders, short-lisitng, Matt Singh, stitch ups, Rishi Sunak, taking on Brussels, Jon Tester, Margaret Thatcher, trade unions, Donald Trump, UKIP, vociferous campaigning & more!

Send us a textLance Tarrance is one of the founding fathers of modern political polling. In this conversation, he talks what drew him into the world of GOP politics, an inflection point working at the US Census Bureau, going to work for Ronald Reagan’s pollster, then opening up his own firm The Tarrance Group. Lance goes deep on several of his interesting races...including beating Bill Clinton in his first gubernatorial re-elect in 1980, the upset Senate win of Mitch McConnell in 1984, his involvement in the California gubernatorial race that gave rise to the so-called “Bradley Effect”, his analysis predicting the rise of a Donald Trump-type candidate & many great stories and insights from his incredible career in politics.IN THIS EPISODE…Barry Goldwater inspires Lance to take his career in a dramatically different direction than he’d planned…Lance helps disrupt Hubert Humphrey in the ’68 Nixon campaign…How working for the US Census Bureau changed Lance’s life…Lance enters the world of political polling, working with Regan pollster Dick Wirthlin…Lance makes a professional bet on partisan realignment in the South & Sun Belt…The crosstabs that Lance used to help Republicans take the South…Lance helps engineer the defeat of Governor Bill Clinton in his 1980 re-election…Lance’s key role handling the polling for Mitch McConnell’s 1984 upset Senate win…The story behind the most famous US Senate ad ever for McConnell’s ’84 race…Lance elects a Republican Governor of California in 1982 amidst the so-called “Bradley Effect”…Lance’s prescient writing and analysis that (partially) anticipated the rise of Donald Trump…Lance on what makes an effective pollster…AND academic treatises, John Adams, Roger Ailes, American University, the American Voter Model, backwoods Kentucky, Vince Barabba, Blue Dogs, Bluetick hounds, Tom Bradley, Ron Brownstein, CVS pharmacies, Charlie Cannell, Jimmy Carter, Jack Casserly, the Center for Political Studies, Hillary Clinton, John Connolly, John Sherman Cooper, Mario Cuomo, Dallas-ites, George Deukmejian, Walt DeVries, Eastman Kodak, Tom Edsall, esprit d ’corps, Eureka, Merv Field, flanking moves, GW, Georgetown, Ed Goeas, the Harvard Kennedy School, Hee Haw, Stephan Helgesen, Dee Huddleston, Hubert Humphrey, ivory towers, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, Les Kish, Ed Koch, lone wolves, Rocky Marciano, Marielitos, Larry McCarthy, Gale McGee, George McGovern, mea culpa advertising, monocrats, Dick Morris, outsider revolutions, Charles Percy, Ross Perot, Kevin Phillips, pick-up truck license fees, political engineering, port-o-toilets, Sam Rayburn, the RGA, the RNC, Reagan Democrats, Nelson Rockefeller, Larry Sabato, Hugh Scott, Sargent Shriver, the Southern Strategy, Spencer Roberts, Mitt Romney, the Tea Party, technocrats, Bob Teeter, three-piece suits, ticket-splitting, tough dudes, John Tower, toxic waste sites, University of Arkansas, University of Michigan, Malcolm Wallop, Washington & Lee, Frank White, Dick Wirthlin…& more! 

Send us a textGale Kaufman is a giant of California politics...winning hundreds of races, including some of the most impactful and expensive ballot measures in American history. In this conversation, Gale talks getting her start in DC, her move to California, an early intersection with Harvey Milk, learning from political mastermind Speaker Willie Brown, starting her own firm that was one of the few woman-owned operations at the time, and growing it into one of the cornerstones of California politics.IN THIS EPISODE…Gale’s early political journey from Miami to DC to California…Gale’s friendship with the legendary late Harvey Milk…Gale’s early stint working on Capitol Hill in DC…The two races that helped put Gale on the political map…Gale talks starting her own firm in the late 80s, as one of few woman-owned political firms…The significance of the word “tough” in Gale’s career…Gale talks what makes an effective campaign manager…Gale goes deep on her two tenures working for political “master” Speaker Willie Brown…Gale gives her California Politics 101, how she thinks about running and winning in CA…Gale remembers the initial rise of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger…Gale beats back 4 Schwarzenegger ballot measures that would’ve transformed CA politics…Gale’s best practices running ballot measure campaigns…Gale talks spearheading the effort to make marijuana legal in California…Gale’s insights on how she’s run her business over the years…AND Beach High, CTA, Formula One Racing, GW, the Gang of Five, the Haight Ashbury, the inside game, Kaufman Campaigns, Barbara Lee, legal weed, the Library of Congress, George Moscone, Mike Murphy, Grover Norquist, Wayne Owens, “paycheck protection”, Prop 226, SEIU, scared interns, John Tunney, union guys, Watergate, Dan White, The Year of the Woman & more!

Send us a textTim Miller had sterling credentials as a top GOP operative, working for the RNC, John McCain, Jeb Bush, Jon Huntsman and more...until he felt increasingly alienated as Donald Trump took over the party. In this conversation, he talks his path out of Republican politics - chronicled in his bestselling book WHY WE DID IT - and how the past several years of GOP politics led to the wholescale Trump takeover of the party. This is a great discussion with one of the most brutally honest observers of American politics, who’s had a front row seat to the most important political phenomenon in decades.IN THIS EPISODE…Tim’s path to working in politics…The early threads Tim saw of the Trump movement in the GOP…Tim talks his role helping write and promote the infamous post-2012 GOP autopsy…The moment Tim realized most of the GOP political class would throw in their lot with Trump…The Corey Lewandowski Theorem…Tim talks the rivalry between Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney…Rumors of the negotiations of a possible 2016 Rubio / Cruz pact to stop Trump…Memories of Lindsay Graham’s vitriolic anti-Trump sermons…The Breitbart Embassy…Tim talks the time he's spent around Steve Bannon…Tim best practices of placing political opposition research…Tim on the “ruthlessness” gap between the Democratic and Republican political class…The story of the Independent Journal Review as a glimpse into the GOP base...Tim’s creative take on the various type of Trump apologists...Tim defines “nerd revengers”…Tim’s level of optimism the GOP can pull back from the Trump brink…Tim’s LSU football fandom…AND Greg Abbot, George Allen, amnesty, avatars, bags of hammers, Paul Begala, bets with Grandma, blocking and tackling, Dan Bongino, Bruce Braley, Buchaninites, the Bulwark, Jeb Bush, James Carville, Catalist, the Chicago Cubs, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, cloak and dagger, Scott Conroy, the cool kids table, Council Bluffs, Daily Caller, Mitch Daniels, Death Valley, Ron DeSantis, Bob Dole, dorks and nerds, Matt Drudge, the Everglades, Alyssa Farah, Mark Hanna, hatchet men, Chuck Johnson, Brian Kelly, Ted Kennedy, Charlie Kirk, love children, John McCain, William McKinley, H.R. McMaster, meme culture, Mother Jones, mutual fund managers, National Review, Ralph Northam, Ed Orgeron, Bill Owens, Sarah Palin, plutocrats, Reince Preibus, Ronald Reagan, Todd Ricketts, Nick Saban, Mike Shields, Alex Skatell, Sean Spicer, squishes, Elise Stefanik, George Stephanopoulos, Stuart Stevens, Tea Party weirdos, John Thune, Tiger Island, traffic hoses, Sean Trende, unique psychopathy, Upworthy, Dick Wadhams, Scott Walker, the Wall Street Journal, the World Series, YOLO mode & more!