Month: October 2016

The Comey Quake

Episode 60 of “The More Perfect Union” podcast features a discussion of FBI Director James Comey’s October Surprise letter, Obamacare sticker shock, the race to control the United States Senate, and an interview with John Hartness, the author of We Are Not This – Carolina Writers for Equality, an anthology book about North Carolina’s HB2 “bathroom law” that limits the use of public restrooms by transgender people.

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Six Ways the Comey Letter May HELP Hillary

Of course, given her choice, it’s pretty likely that Hillary Clinton would have preferred that the new James Comey letter never happened. Dealing with sideways slander from the director of the FBI 11 days before an election is never fun. But there are six ways the Comey letter may actually end up helping the Democrats next week:

1) It changed the narrative off the Obamacare price increases. That sticker shock was the more damaging revelation of last week, especially down ballot. Voters are more likely to dismiss the email thing as nothing new – especially as more info comes out this week showing the initial media hysteria was vastly overblown. So this may actually be a better issue for Clinton to close on. There was no good way to rebut the ACA price increases. It’s much easier to play the victim of a runaway media. Just ask Donald Trump. Read More

God In Politics

On this special episode of the “A More Perfect Union” podcast, Greg interviews Lutheran Pastor Lorne Hlad, co-host of the religious podcast, “To Hell With The Hotdish” (http://tohellwiththehotdish.com) about the role of religion in the 2016 presidential campaign.   

Afterward, the gang discusses how religion has become a hot issue in the finals weeks of the presidential race.

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Rigged Election?

On this week’s “A More Perfect Union” podcast, the gang looks at what it takes to rig an election, claims of media bias, Trump’s “first hundred days” speech, and song titles that sum up this year’s election.

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The Final Face-off


In this episode of the “More Perfect Union” podcast, the gang deconstructs the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and then assess Clinton’s chances of taking red states from Trump on election day.

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The Trump Kiss…Of Death


This episode of the “A More Perfect Union” podcast finds the gang looking at red states that might turn blue,  states where Donald Trump is still campaigning but shouldn’t be, states that Hillary Clinton has locked down, states that could go to a third party candidate, and swing states that could decide the election. Oh yeah, and they talk about Trump’s crazy sex scandal because, hey… who isn’t?

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An Election Intervention

National elections used to be a celebration of all that is good in America. When I was young, election day was a civic state holiday – something to be revered and looked forward to. This year, it’s a morbid finish line of doomed relief, like doctor-assisted suicide. Just get it over with and put us out of our misery.

Even in the bitter disappointment of watching Al Gore concede after the SCOTUS decision ending the 2000 recount, I remember being proud of how he handled it and of our electoral process. This year, there seems to be very little to celebrate.

Sure, there will be some pockets of pride when either the first female president or the ultimate change agent make their victory speech. But that will do little to heal the giant rift of resentment left from the most senselessly brutal battle since Gettysburg. Read More

Trump Goes Nuclear

In this episode of the “More Perfect Union” podcast, co-hosts Kevin Kelton, D.J. McGuire and Greg Matusak analyze the second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, and the guys respond to Trump’s claim that controversial Billy Bush audio clip was nothing but “locker room banter.”

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The Kaine-Pence Cage Match


On this episode of “The More Perfect Union” podcast, the gang reviews the vice presidential debate between Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Gov. Mike Pence, and how it might affect the final five weeks of the presidential campaign. The guys also discuss how law and order issues will play in with minority voters, and they talk about their own taste in print journalism and TV news.

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Trump’s Turbo Tax Troubles

In this episode of The More Perfect Union podcast, cohosts D.J. McGuire, Greg Matusak, Cliff Dunn, and Kevin Kelton discuss the fallout from Donald Trump’s billion dollar tax dodge, Gary Johnson’s second brain freeze in as many weeks, and whether it’s fair game to use Bill Clinton’s sexual transgressions against Hillary.

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“We Need a Businessman” (and we have 2 to pick from)

I laugh whenever someone justifies supporting Donald Trump by saying “we need a businessman in the White House.” That’s like saying, “we need an army general as commander-in-chief.” (In fact, our best wartime presidents – Madison, Polk, Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR – had no military service.)

But let’s grant for a moment that business experience and acumen might be a valuable asset in a president at this moment in history. Trump has a bunch of it, and we can argue all day whether he is a great businessman, a lousy one, or just a lucky one (or, more likely, some combination of all three).

Believe it or not, Hillary Clinton has her own business background that should not be overlooked. In the 1980s and ’90s, she served on corporate boards (most famously at Wal-Mart) and by all accounts was an outspoken advocate for better pay, greater opportunities for women, protecting American workers (she was a staunch supporter of an early “Made in America” campaign at Wal-Mart), and environmentally sound business practices. And since that company grew substantially during her Board years (1986-1992), adding 230,000 jobs during her tenure, you cannot argue that she has never created a job. Read More