Join Amy Walter, the celebrated editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, every other Tuesday, for conversations on the surprising — and often odd — times we live in. Amy brings her smart and sought-after insights on politics to a podcast that covers a range of subjects.
What makes this moment interesting, unpredictable, and surprising? Amy will talk to people who live and breathe politics (like ourselves) and plenty who do not. We think you can learn stuff — and have fun at the same time. So be sure to follow and listen in.
To learn more about The Cook Political Report, go to www.cookpolitical.com/subscribe.
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Join Amy Walter, the celebrated editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, every other Tuesday, for conversations on the surprising — and often odd — times we live in. Amy brings her smart and sought-after insights on politics to a podcast that covers a range of subjects.
What makes this moment interesting, unpredictable, and surprising? Amy will talk to people who live and breathe politics (like ourselves) and plenty who do not. We think you can learn stuff — and have fun at the same time. So be sure to follow and listen in.
To learn more about The Cook Political Report, go to www.cookpolitical.com/subscribe.
Californians often like to think of themselves as the center of the universe. But when it comes to politics, this deep blue state is rarely in the spotlight - until now.
One week from today, voters in New Jersey and Virginia will go to the polls. These are state and not federal elections. But they can serve as bellwethers for the upcoming midterm election next year.
It's safe to say Democrats are going through something of an identity crisis at the moment. They have no clear leaders, no driving issues, and no real power in Washington. And that makes the current government shutdown an interesting test case for Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer over what they think their voters want and how best to fight Donald Trump.
Our guest today, Democratic strategist Lis Smith, has not minced words when it comes to perceptions of her party.
We're about eight months into Donald Trump's second term, a victory driven in large part due to voter frustration with the economy and their belief that he would help get inflation down. So what does the economic picture look like today? That's not as easy a question to answer as you would think.
When we started this year, redistricting was not something we thought would be driving our politics this cycle.
But, of course, that's no longer the case with Texas unleashing a domino effect of redistricting efforts across the country.
Thankfully, we know someone really well who can help us understand what's happening: The Cook Political Report's very own David Wasserman.
Back in 2023, Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini wrote a book that laid out a path for how the party could win future elections with a working class multiracial coalition. So we wanted to have Patrick Ruffini back on for a conversation about how well that same coalition is holding up six months into Trump 2.0, whether these voters will show up for Republicans in 2026, and whether the next Republican nominee for president will have a similar appeal these voters.
This week we are diverging from our normal Odd Years format to introduce you to another Cook Political Report product, Editors Roundtable.
This week, our talented colleagues talk about the most interesting and consequential state in the 2026 midterms: Michigan.
Most of the political attention these days is centered in D.C, but there's a pretty fascinating primary contest happening just a train ride north of here in New York City.
What's driving these ideological differences among Senate and House Republicans? What role has Trump played and will he play in continuing to lobby Congress? And will the BBB move fast enough to be on President Trump’s desk by July fourth? (Spoiler alert: it will not.)
Amy put all these questions to Leigh Ann Caldwell, chief Washington correspondent for Puck.
When we booked this episode with Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer several weeks back, our plan was to talk about the Democrats and their strategy and messaging around Trump - something Dan's been writing about for his Substack, Message Box.
Should Democrats just focus on the economy? Should they raise alarm bells over deportations? How loudly and strongly should they push back against Trump?
And we do discuss that, but as it turned out, there was a lot more to talk about with Dan.
How does Rahm Emanuel think Democrats should be responding to Trump 2.0? How does the party recover from 2024 and prepare for 2028? What does a successful midterm strategy look like in 2026? And given his own, let's say, active media schedule, what are his own plans for the future?
He came on to talk to Amy about all that.
Josh Holmes two roles - as host of the popular podcast Ruthless and a seasoned Republican political hand - gives him unique perspective into our current political era. This conversation spans the gamut from what advice he'd give to down ballot Republicans for the upcoming midterms to his thoughts on the Trump tariff endgame. Josh also talks about how candidates can best navigate the new media landscape.
We are 100 days into the second Trump administration and there's no better person to help us understand what voters are making of these first months of Trump 2.0 than Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson.
The person behind the Cook PVI and how it all works is David Wasserman, The Cook Political Report’s senior editor and elections analyst. We invited him on to explain what the Cook PVI is, how we calculate it, what we learned from it for 2025, and what it may tell us about elections in 2026.
As the Democratic party struggles to find its footing, we wanted to talk to Chauncey McLean about what he learned from Kamala Harris' loss and how Democratic groups like his are adapting to this fractured media environment going forward.
Pollster Terrance Woodbury discusses the results of the 2024 election and looks forward to what he's hearing now from voters now with Donald Trump in office and what he thinks the Democratic response should be to the Trump 2.0 era.
Terrence Woodbury is cofounder and president of HIT Strategies which is a public opinion research firm.
Our guest, USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan, is writing a book about Caitlin Clark called On Her Game, which tells the story of Clark's rise to become the most famous female team sport athlete in history.
Christine Brennan has been a long-time chronicler and advocate for women in sports. She's also deeply interested in politics and has a keen understanding and appreciation for how sports and politics intersect.
This is a special episode in your podcast feed. You are about to hear a recent edition of Editors Roundtable, our Cook Political Report podcast where our team of editors trades behind-the-scenes analysis and dives into the weeds on races and elections.
Covering Washington looks a lot different now than when Chuck Todd first started out, and he has had a front row seat to all of these changes. So we wanted to talk to him about political journalism today, covering Trump 2.0, and his own plans for what might come up next.
Join Amy Walter, the celebrated editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, every other Tuesday, for conversations on the surprising — and often odd — times we live in. Amy brings her smart and sought-after insights on politics to a podcast that covers a range of subjects.
What makes this moment interesting, unpredictable, and surprising? Amy will talk to people who live and breathe politics (like ourselves) and plenty who do not. We think you can learn stuff — and have fun at the same time. So be sure to follow and listen in.
To learn more about The Cook Political Report, go to www.cookpolitical.com/subscribe.
