Morgan Searcy is a graphic designer whose work has supported some of the top brands in corporate America (Nike, MTV to name a few) and has also worked in campaigns for names like Warren and Ossoff. After the 2020 cycle, she embarked on a new project to capture and record experiences of first-time political staffers - a project that turned into the book One Year in Politics. In this work, she chronicles interviews with more than 220 first-time political staffers...with in-depth information about their motivations, challenges, concerns, aspirations, and more.IN THIS EPISODEMorgan's roots growing up as an Asian American in Huntsville, AL...What drew Morgan to politics from a largely non-political family...Morgan talks her background in graphic design and best practices for effective visuals...How Morgan transitioned from corporate design work to working in politics in the 2020 cycle...What led Morgan to tackle the project that turned into her book, "One Year in Politics"...Morgan's takeaways from 220+ interviews with first-time political staffers...Hurdles identified by first-time BIPOC staffers...What interviews from 2020 revealed about staffer experiences during the pandemic...The types of "burnout" first-time staffers report feeling...How first-time staffers' ideology compared to the candidate or cause for whom they worked...Morgan's advice to staffers early in the career...AND 5-Star hotels, all-hands meetings, art kids, bigger logos, Boeing, brand recognition, Emerge, EMILYs List, Google Forms, hierarchies of information, Jason Kander, NASA, Jon Ossoff, traditional job boards, video game designers, Werner Von Braun & more!

Jim Margolis, partner at GMMB media, is a pioneering Democratic media consultant who is featured in the new documentary, The Bigger Hammer, by filmmaker Keith Gaby that focuses on the message war behind the Obama vs. McCain 2008 race (now available on Amazon). In this conversation, Jim talks his path to politics through student activism in Kalamazoo, managing House campaigns, and working on the Hill before partnering with Frank Greer to start GMMB. He also goes in depth on his work for the Obama Presidential campaigns and shares some of his favorite stories and spots from a career atop the world of political media.IN THIS EPISODEJim's early entry into politics as a high schooler in Kalamazoo, MI...Why a narrow loss in one of the first races he worked was "the best thing that ever happened" to him...Jim talks the important role Congressman Howard Wolpe played in his development...Lessons learned from his early days as a campaign manager and Hill Chief...A one-of-a-kind story from Kent Conrad's upset 1986 Senate win in North Dakota...How his partnership with Frank Greer started and Jim's early days as an ad-maker...A deep dive into Jim's role spearheading media on the Obama '08 presidential campaign...Why Jim had the '08 Democratic Convention stage dramatically changed at the last minute...Jim's 101 on producing political conventions...Jim on working for two of his most prominent Senate clients, Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid...What got Jim in Harry Reid's doghouse for a couple of weeks...Jim talks the evolution of his firm GMMB over the years...Jim breaks down the art of political ad-buying...Jim's advice to the next generation of political media consultants...AND 3/10/83, Brock Adams, Africanists, Mark Andrews, David Axelrod, blue suits, Quentin Burdick, the Chicago Tribune, Cinderella years, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, crazy hats, Fred Davis, disease implications, Byron Dorgan, ending apartheid, extra chips, fancy Florida hotels, Dianne Feinstein, Fort Defiance, Wyche Fowler, game show sets, good ears, Larry Grisolano, herculean tasks, Anita Hill, Paris Hilton, Invesco Stadium, John Kerry, Jim Messina, Michigan State University, Walter Mondale, Robby Mook, mosquito nets, Navajo reservations, David Plouffe, punch cards, Bernie Sanders, tax commissioners, Western Michigan University...& more!

Listen to a brief update about the Pro Politics Podcast, with the upshot that you should stay tuned for new episodes coming soon. For any feedback, feel free to drop me a line at mccrary.zachary(at)gmail.com. Thanks for listening.

Mark Barabak, the veteran political reporter and columnist for the L.A. Times, has just helmed a six-part series analyzing the political evolutions across the New West - Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oregon.  In this conversation, Mark talks his recent series, touches on the politics in all six of these states, and breaks down what it says about the trajectory of the region and the impact on the national landscape. He also mines his reporter's notebook to talk some of his favorite stories and personalities from 35+ years covering politics.IN THIS EPISODEMark talks how he was drawn to working in political journalism...The one state Mark hasn't covered yet...What led Mark to helm his recent series on the New West...The biggest surprise in the recent political evolution of the West...How much remains of the historical, libertarian political character of the West...How Cindy McCain has recently played an important symbolic role in Arizona politics...Mark on Governor Jared Polis and political trajectory of Colorado...Why emigration from California is not helping Republicans in the rest of the region...Mark talks the importance of Latino voters in the West...Mark's take on what it would take for Republicans to finally break through in Oregon...What Bend, OR reveals about politics in the state...How resilient is Democratic strength in the West if the party moves more to the left...How Bill Clinton muscled California into becoming a safe Democratic state...The anecdote Mark has waited 30 years to use...Mark recalls the importance of the Berman/Waxman So Cal "machine" and Northern CA's Burton "machine"...Mark's memories covering Nancy Pelosi's political career from her very first race in the 80s...Mark weighs in on the '24 California open Senate seat...The most charismatic politicians Mark has seen over the years...AND 801 Chophouse, accelerants, Joe Biden, Barbara Boxer, Harry Britt, broad libertarian streaks, Pat Brown, Ron Brown, Willie Brown, bundling, Sala Burton, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, California tattoos, criminal malpractice, Gray Davis, Michael Dukakis, election deniers, John Emerson, extractive industries, fingertip sensitivity, Diane Feinstein, Greek Lit, Kamala Harris, Peter Hart, John Hickenlooper, the hoi polloi, Mark Kelly, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Kari Lake, Adam Laxalt, Barbara Lee, Mel Levine, Bill Lunch, Maricopa County, Blake Masters, Leo McCarthy, Narragansett, Grover Norquist, Tip O'Neill, Mike Ovitz, Leon Panetta, Pablo Picasso, Katie Porter, RINOs, Ronald Reagan, Dick Riordan, Brian Sanderoff, Adam Schiff, John Seymour, Derek Shearer, Bob Shrum, sourdough bread, unhelpful quotes, Pete Wilson...& more!

Eric Hyers, manager of both Andy Beshear's '19 and '23 gubernatorial races, goes deep on last week's election of Governor Beshear in Kentucky. Eric talks his initial theory of the race, key strategic decisions from both campaigns, how the Beshear campaign fought back against transgender attacks and leveraged the issue of abortion against GOP nominee Daniel Cameron. In addition to getting under the hood of the 2023 race, Eric outlines his path to politics, experiences helping Democrats win in red states, theories on effective campaign management and much more.IN THIS EPISODEEric's early days in political organizing and how that prepped him to run campaigns...Eric weighs in on the three traits of effective campaign managers...What Eric has learned about fostering the right relationship between a candidate and campaign manager...Eric's memories of helping elect Governors Gina Raimondo and Steve Bullock...Why the office of Attorney General makes a good launching pad for Democrats running for higher office...The Eric Hyers' 101 of Kentucky politics...How Eric entered the political world of Andy Beshear...How Andy Beshear ousted GOP incumbent Matt Bevin in 2019...How Governor Beshear talked Eric into managing the 2023 re-elect as well...Eric's theory of the race when it kicked off in early 2023...Eric breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of GOP nominee Daniel Cameron...How the Beshear campaign responded to attacks on transgender issues...How the Beshear campaign went about targeting securing Trump / Beshear voters...The strategic decision to communicate on the issue of abortion exceptions...The messaging importance of Governor Beshear always "showing up" for Kentucky...What Eric can report about the turnout dynamics of the 2023 race...Eric's most unusual work habit...AND 17% approval ratings, 20,000 yard signs, Rocky Adkins, Steve Beshear, the Brent Spence Bridge, bus tours, David Cicilline, Cincinnati suburbs, complete jerks, crisis governors, DraftKings, John Edwards, GPS Impact, getting to yes, Greg Gianforte, Kirsten Gillibrand, good luck gourds, Mandy Grunwald, Jack Harlow, Bill Hyers, Nicole Kayner, Patrick Kennedy, Colin Lauderdale, managing multiple humans, Mitch McConnell, The Mountain Parkway, playoff beards, primetime players, Pulaski VA, red to pink, Saratoga Springs, setting a tone at the top, Josh Shapiro, Skidmore College, spreadsheet guys, TV Andy, Erin White, Williams College, Fred Yang....& more!

Patrick Ruffini, pollster at Echelon Strategies, returns to talk about his new book (released today, 11/7/23) PARTY OF THE PEOPLE - on the transition of the Republican Party from being dominated by wealthy, suburban white voters to a more blue-collar and increasingly-multi-racial coalition. In this conversation, Patrick lays out the data behind these shifts, what is driving the GOP's new-found success with blue-collar voters, why this movement came as a surprise to many, the balance of economic vs. cultural priorities, how Latino/AAPI/Black voters are increasingly persuadable audiences in elections, and expecations as to how these shifts will continue to define American politics for the forseeable future.IN THIS EPISODEPatrick lays out the core thesis of Party of the People...Patrick's favorite data points that illustrate the changing face of the GOP...Patrick's take on the role of "educational attainment" in changing voting patterns...Patrick gives a quick tutorial on when and how Democrats have historically been the party of working-class Americans...How flawed 2012 exit polls have contributed to shifting party coalitions more than a decade later...Patrick's take on how the "In This House..." yard signs unwittingly speak to tensions within the Democratic coalition...Economic vs cultural drivers of voter behavior...Missteps and missed GOP opportunities from the trifecta control of government in 2017 and 2018...Mining recent data among Hispanic voters...What Patrick learned about border communities on a trip to the Rio Grande Valley...Why Lester Chang is important...Why Black voter behavior has been more stable than Latino and Asian voters...Patrick's take on the growing segment of biracial and multi-racial Americans...The impact of free trade and foreign policy on changing partisan coalitions...What Patrick learned in the process of writing his first book...AND 7:3 coalitional splits, anti-globalization sentiments, Joe Biden, blurbs, Brexit, George W. Bush, census buckets, charts and data, Hillary Clinton, Nate Cohn, Thomas Dewey, Tom Edsall, Ryan Enos, existential demographic crisis, fading historical patterns, faint echoes, frontier mentalities, the Great Recession, the green transition, Hamiltonian tendencies, illiberal populism, instinctive hawks, Andrew Jackson, jettisoning first principles, Chryl Laird, majority popular tendencies, mercantile progress, the New Deal, Barack Obama, Mike Podhorzer, Ronald Reagan, the Republican autopsy, rivalrous groups, Mitt Romney, sheepskin effects, David Shor, social taboos, Starr County, Steadfast Democrats, Harry Truman, Donald Trump, the UAW, Ismail White, white phenomenons....& more!

Fred Grandy spent 8 years in the US House as a Republican from Northwest Iowa, but remains best known for the decade he spent playing the character Gopher on the iconic 70s/80s hit television show "The Love Boat". In this conversation, he talks how his small-town Iowa roots mixed with matriculating at tony Eastern boarding schools, how he came to spend time around both President Eisenhower and President Nixon, why an initial flirtation with politics instead pushed him to Hollywood, what drew him back to politics after an incredibly successful run in show business, memories of his 8 years in the House, challenging an incumbent in a 1994 gubernatorial primary, what he's done since leaving office, and one of his current projects portraying Harry Truman on stage in "Give 'Em Hell, Harry". Fred Grandy is a natural storyteller and no one in politics has a story like him.IN THIS EPISODEHis unusual roots in both Sioux City Iowa and Eastern prep schools...An early lesson in congressional politics before going into show business...Stories of spending time around both President Eisenhower and President Nixon...The accidental conversation that drew him to politics from Hollywood in the mid 80s...Memories of being an international celebrity at the height of The Love Boat's run...The role the "Gopher Gap" and Johnny Carson played in his first race for Congress...Important lessons learned when seeking committee positions in his first term...Why he left the House to mount an underdog primary against IA Governor Terry Branstad...Why politics can be a narcotic...His post-congressional career as an Executive at Goodwill Industries...Talking through his current stage play inhabiting Harry Truman in "Give 'Em Hell, Harry!"AND...the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bret Baier, Steve Bartlett, Berkley Bedell, Sonny Bono, the Bourbons, Bill Broomfield, Bill Clinton, Tom Dewey, fishing tackle, Bill Ford, The Freedom Support Act, funny hats, Newt Gingrich, Goodwill Industries, Clayton Hogdson, Henry Hyde, Steve King, Bob Livingston, lugubrious hearings, Nancy Mace, Gavin MacLeod, Edward Madigan, Marblehead, Wiley Mayne, David McCullough, Bob Michel, Alyssa Milano, moneyed patricians, nativist foundations, Leon Panetta, the patois of the district, the Pendergast Organization, Phillips Exter, Ronald Reagan, the Republican bosom, ringworm, ritual slaughter, Rivercade, Pat Roberts, Dan Rostenkowski, screwing the sugar industry, seed caps, Sherman Oaks, shoving words around a room, Sturm und Drang, summer stock, Robert Taft, Fred Thompson, Craig Tufty, Mary Tydings, Mo Udall, the underbelly of Congress, Watergate & more!

Bill Carrick was the longtime chief media strategist for Senator Dianne Feinstein, as well as helping elect President Bill Clinton, multiple LA mayors, Congressman Jim Clyburn, and many more. In this conversation, Bill discusses his early political roots in South Carolina, his time working for Senator Ted Kennedy, his pivot to political media, and a deep dive on his time as chief strategist for Dianne Feinstein. We talk her early activist days in the 60s, the assassination that led to her becoming mayor of San Francisco, their first lunch meeting in 1989, how she leveraged a loss in the '90 Governor's race into 6 terms in the Senate, and her impact and legacy on priorities as varied as water policy, gun safety, choice, anti-torture policies, and more. IN THIS EPISODEBill's roots in South Carolina Democratic politics...One of Bill's favorite Fritz Hollings story...Bill's time working for Senator Ted Kennedy...The 1974 race that convinced Bill he should become a media consultant...Bill talks the early career of Dianne Feinstein on the San Francisco Board...Bill relates the story Dianne Feinstein would tell about the tragic assassination that propelled her to the Mayor's office...The first meeting of Bill with then-Mayor Feinstein before her 1990 Governor's race against Pete Wilson...The focus groups that helped ignite her statewide political career...Her '94 re-election amidst the GOP wave and against one of the first deep-pocketed self-funders...Bill relates Feinstein's views toward being on the short list of the '84 Vice Presidential process...Bill on Senator Feinstein's top passions and priorities...Feinstein's evolving views of the death penalty...Memories of her final re-election in 2018...Bill weighs in on the political legacy of Diane Feinstein...AND Aiken, the assault weapons ban, Tony Bennett, Annette Bening, The Boston Herald, Barbara Boxer, Willie Brown, George H.W. Bush, cable cars, Bill Clinton, the Commerce Committee, DACA, Gray Davis, Kevin de León, The Desert Protection Act, George Deukmejian, Jim Eastland, Dwight Eisenhower, Geraldine Ferraro, Don Fowler, Dick Gephardt, Barry Goldwater, Aaron Henry, Michael Huffington, the Inland Empire, Olin Johnston, Joshua Tree, JFK, Bob Lagomarsino, lovefests, John McCain, Leo McCarthy, Harvey Milk, Walter Mondale, George Moscone, Earl Morris, Rupert Murdoch, the NRA, Richard Nixon, Ole Miss, Prop 187, Pug Ravenel, Ronald Reagan, Dick Riley, Ed Riley, Donald Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Seymour, Strom Thurmond, Mark Twain, VAWA, John Van de Kamp, Dan White, Curtis Wilkie...& more!

Jenifer Fernandez Ancona is a co-founder of Way to Win, a progressive donor hub that has helped direct nearly $300M since 2018. Jenifer talks her early experiences in journalism, what pulled her into political activism in the early 2000s, why Way to Win was needed, and the work and research and guidance Way to Win is providing to help Democrats message, organize, and advocate more effectively.IN THIS EPISODEJenifer's path from journalism to political advocacy after 9/11...Both the national and local political figures who inspired her activism...Jenifer talks her work on major donor fundraising...Why Jenifer co-founded Way to Win after the 2016 elections...Jenifer's take on Democrats' historic "message problem"...What Jenifer has learned from Way to Win's research ad-testing 50+ spots...Jenifer on the power of qualitative, focus group research...Jenifer offers guidance on how Democrats should talk about economic progress when many voters are feeling pessimistic...Why Jenifer thinks messages promoting bipartisanship are counter-productive...The balance in communicating to a multi-racial coalition...Jenifer's thoughts on a potential "zoomed out" macro message for progressives...Recent research and guidance Way to Win has rolled out among Latino voters...AND Mandela Barnes, Cheri Beasley, George W Bush, Hillary Clinton, corporate media, crazy babykillers, Howard Dean, deep canvassing, El Salvador, Tory Gavito, Leah Hunt-Hendrix, the LA Times, Daraka Larimore-Hall, movement spaces, Richard Nixon, peace protests, Nancy Pelosi, pregnancy crisis centers, status threats, Swayable, the Tribune Company, Donald Trump, victory laps, Das Williams...& more!

Liam Donovan, a principal at Bracewell and longtime insider and observer of the Hill GOP, returns to weigh in on a chaotic couple of weeks in the House - including the surprise sidestepping of a government shutdown, the toppling of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the budding race to fill his shoes. In this conversation, Liam talks the factors that led to McCarthy's ouster, how House Democrats could've "saved" him (and why they didn't), how he's thinking about the nascent race to be the next Speaker, a check-in on the '24 GOP presidential primary & more.IN THIS EPISODELiam’s take on the 9-month tenure of Speaker McCarthy…Liam’s biggest surprises in the saga of the toppling of Kevin McCarthy…Why the CR to keep the government open both antagonized GOP rebels while alienating House Democrats…Why Democrats might have chosen to “save" McCarthy…and why they didn’t…How Liam is looking at the Jordan vs. Scalise battle for Speaker…Liam on the possibility of a McCarthy Restoration…Why acting-Speaker Patrick McHenry could be a default longer-term option…A couple members of the GOP conference who Liam thinks will be predictive of who emerges from the fight for Speaker…Liam on a possible shutdown after the 45-day CR elapses…The path forward for additional funding of Ukraine…Liam’s latest take on Trump’s strength in the GOP presidential primary and the campaigns of Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley…AND big bargaining chips, catching the fly, Wile E. Coyote, the debt limit crisis, Diet Trump, discharge petitions, evil-genius super villains, Brian Fitzpatrick, the Freedom Caucus, the Gaetz 8, the Full Ginsberg, Lindsay Graham, gratuitous shutdowns, Garret Graves, Ben Jacobs, Hakeem Jeffries, jousting with totems, Mitch McConnell, nihilism, AOC, Nancy Pelosi, Politico, procedural blockades, Punchbowl, The Republican Study Committee, revocable non-support, tipping points, Glenn Youngkin…& more!