This special retrospective episode looks back at the early days of The More Perfect Union podcast from our very first podcast in September of 2015 through the end of 2016, with clips that cover the rise of Trump, chaos in the GOP primary campaign, and the Hillary-Bernie battle for the soul of the Democratic party.
The 150th episode of “The More Perfect Union” podcast finds the hosts in violent agreement on some issues, in wide disagreement on others, and even saying nice things about President Trump a couple of times. (Well… sort of nice.) Then the gang looks back on their 150 episodes together and reminisce about their favorite moments.
Episode 118 of “The More Perfect Union” podcast looks at Ted Cruz’s Twitter porn escapade, Hillary’s new book, Chuck and Nancy’s new political bedfellow, Trump’s pivot to the left, and some idle speculation about 2020 primary challenges from the right, from the left, and from the past.
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And if you like talking politics, join us in our Facebook political debate group, OPEN FIRE, where you can discuss news and politics with Kevin, D.J., Greg, Rebekah, Molly, Cliff, and lots of other smart, fun people.
In this “After-Dark” MPU episode , D.J. talks about Cliff’s politics behind his back, Greg and Helena’s talk about their dads behind their backs, Cory Booker behind his back, D.J. opines on the bank panic of 2008, Molly and D.J. rip on Dodd-Frank, Kevin makes D.J. choose between a Republican and a Democrat in 2020, and we end with tales of Greg’s brother taking on Kevin. It’s all in good fun and with lots of detailed analysis, clashing opinions, and good-natured ribbing.
Like what you heard? Subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a podcast!
And if you like talking politics, join us in our Facebook political debate group, OPEN FIRE, where you can discuss news and politics with Kevin, D.J., Greg, Rebekah, Cliff, Molly, Helena, and lots of other smart, fun people.
Episode 78 of The More Perfect Union podcast attempts to talk about what the 45th president is getting right after three weeks. But when we exhaust that topic after a minute or two, the discussion moves to the Mitch McConnell–Elizabeth Warren senate flair-up and how Saturday Night Live is getting under the president’s skin. Then we take a look at the new administration’s most lovable geek and put our spin on Ivanka’s war with Nordstrom.
Like what you heard? Subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a podcast!
And if you like talking politics, join us in our Facebook political debate group, OPEN FIRE, where you can discuss news and politics with Kevin, Greg, D.J., Rebekah, Cliff, Helena, and lots of other smart, fun people.
SEGMENTS:
Could Gary Kroeger be the next Al Franken?
Gary channels Walter Mondale and Alan Alda (and millennials go, “Whaaaat?)
Donald Trump’s terrible, awful, not-so-good week (and Republicans go, “Whaaaat?”)
Hillary Clinton gets caught in a lie about lying (and the media goes, “Whaaaat?”)
Gary Johnson does a Town Hall (and 90% of America goes, “Whaaaat?”)
State of the Race
An urban myth of legendary proportions has built up around Donald Trump. The fable is that Trump defies all rules of politics and polling, so that no matter what deficiencies or giant screw ups he shows on the campaign trail, he will somehow turnout out masses of previously unidentified voters to defeat mere mortal politicians and install him in the Oval Office with ease.
I don’t buy it, and neither should you.
Sure, Trump surprised us all by vanquishing his 16 more experienced primary opponents. (Well, 15 more experience. I still don’t know what the heck Ben Carson was doing there.)
But he didn’t do it with black magic or voodoo. While all the pundits may have dismissed his chances, Trump was leading in almost every GOP primary poll since July 2015. So it wasn’t a Houdini trick that Trump won the primaries; it was our refusal to believe what was right in front of our own eyes. Read More
Segments:
Republican Convention post-mortem
Trump’s speech
Citizen (Tim) Kaine
Debbie Downer gets dumped
Democratic Convention preview
by Kevin Kelton
I keep hearing the same forlorn complaint: “Why do we have such bad candidates this year? Why must we choose between the lesser of two evils?” But the truth is, our 2016 presidential candidates are not any worse than ever before.
Donald Trump, for all his personal peccadillos, is no worse on policy than Mitt Romney, who also promised anti-choice judges and a repeal of Obamacare, wanted to press immigrants to self-deport, and proposed tax cuts just as massive and just as onerous as Trump’s. And they are both just as recklessly hawkish and just as wealth-gap enabling as John McCain or George W. Bush. Take out Trump’s antipathy for trade deals (one of his few plusses), and you could line up all their policy positions in a spreadsheet and not be able to tell who belongs to which column.
Hillary Clinton, for all the GOP-inspired caricature myths about her trustworthiness and cozy relationship with Wall St., is very much in line politically and temperamentally with previous nominees Barack Obama, John Kerry, Al Gore, and Michael Dukakis. Read More
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Segments:
Clinton and Trump win big in New York. Surprise!
Virginia allows certain felons to vote. Apparently felons are also human.
Harriet Tubman probably would have shot Andrew Jackson in the face.
Now that New York has spoken and any realistic chance for Bernie Sanders to catch Hillary Clinton in pledged delegates has vanished, it’s time to dispel the Sanders campaign’s myth that general election matchup polls should determine who gets the 2016 Democratic nomination. It’s true that Sanders is currently doing slightly better than Hillary Clinton in head-to-head polls against Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. But that has never been, and should never be, the deciding criteria when choosing a nominee. The proof is in history itself. Specifically, the Clinton-Obama race of 2008.