A Republic, If You Can Keep It

In Michigan politics:

Joining the conversation is Editor in Chief of one of the nation’s fastest growing alternative media companies. Ron Filipkowski heads up Meidas Plus, the subscription-based Substack channel that has been growing exponentially. Meidas+ evolved from the original Meidas Touch network which made its name four years ago as a center, alongside the Lincoln Project, of the Never Trump movement. They provide news coverage, written commentary, videos and podcasts to subscribers. Their lead item is Ron’s daily Resistance HQ Bulletin, a concise daily update on the very bizarre incoming administration.

Filipkowski is a criminal defense attorney and former state and federal prosecutor who is known for sharing political clips and commentary on social media. Until 2021 he was a Republican, but left the party in the wake of the failed January 6 Trump insurrection. How Republican was he? His oldest son is named Ronald Reagan Filipkowski!

In his non-professional life Filipkowski has coached a Little League Baseball team, leading it to six state championships. He was named National Coach of the Year by the baseball publication Travel Ball Select.

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

Let the crazy begin in earnest!

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin called Lincoln’s cabinet the “Team of Rivals”. Aretha Franklin’s classic could well be the title of a new book about the Trump team as Trump loads up his administration with mostly unqualified toadies.

MAGAs in Florida are pushing Governor Ron Desantis to name Lara Trump as Marco Rubio’s replacement in the Senate. Really. Melania Trump, meanwhile, is carving a new path for first ladies, apparently treating the White House as her personal AirBNB and living wherever he isn’t.

In Michigan, the 2026 campaign has begun:

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

In the main event, the Prosecuting Attorney loses to the convicted criminal. On the national undercard: Republicans are winning on points, with the possibility of a full takeover in Washington depending on a dozen or so congressional races.

Closer to home: Michigan provides a mixed message:

Back in 1992 James Carville famously preached during the Clinton campaign “It’s the economy, stupid”. The nation had experienced high inflation during the George H.W. Bush administration, and Carville’s mantra proved the winning strategy for Bill Clinton. Flash forward 32 years, another bout of inflation thanks to the Covid pandemic … and again, the voters punish the ruling party. It is part of the story of the Trump victory, but more complex than that. Mark and Jeff offer their thoughts on the election that turned the political world upside down.

This last week brings to mind a couple of TV shows: the mid-1960s political satire program “That Was the Week That Was”, and more recent “House of Cards.” The latter starred a criminal President who even murders his political and media opposition. Reality has now exceeded fantasy.

Next up in the bizarre world of Trump-era politics: the President-elect could be sentenced to prison for his 34 felony convictions in New York. Meanwhile, we stand by the name of this podcast: A Republic, If You Can Keep It. These days Franklin’s warning is a one-weel-at-a-time proposition. We will continue in our mission to rightsize Michigan and national politics over the coming months. Ben would have it no other way.

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

We are recording on Halloween, going into the final weekend. There’s lots to unpack as candidates up and down the ballot make their final pitches…and we look forward to saying goodbye to endless text messages and breathless emails begging for money. Trump recreates a 1939 Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden, while Kamala Harris attracts 75-thousand to the staging area of Trump’s 2021 unsuccessful insurrection. The race for the Michigan Senate is a nail-biter … as are three critical races for Michigan seats in Congress. On this week’s podcast, we look in depth at the latest Michigan polling from EPIC/MRA. We are joined by Bernie Porn about the numbers released today, and about the challenges of figuring out who will vote, how they will vote, and  why.

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

 National Security Leaders for America leads a bipartisan collection of 741 former senior national security leaders supporting Kamala Harris. The organization includes 230 general and flag officers including 15 retired four-star generals and admirals, 10 cabinet secretaries, 10 service secretaries, and 148 ambassadors. They view Donald Trump as an existential threat to our national security. We are joined by two of those leaders, both former members of Congress.

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

This week in our battleground state…

We are joined this week by Delaware’s junior Senator Chris Coons. He was elected in 2010, topping Christine O’Donnell, who ran an ad denying that she was a witch – a precursor to a long line of unusual Republican candidates for the Senate.

Coons is one of Joe Biden’s closest personal friends. In the Senate he chairs the Ethics Committee.

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST TO THE POLITICAL WORLD…

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

This week in our crazy, insane Trump-infested world —

A major part of this week’s discussion: Jeff’s insider’s look at the strategy and tactics of The Lincoln Project.

Joining the conversation: Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston. He is the bestselling author of The Making of Donald Trump and It’s Even Worse Than You Think. David has lectured on economics, journalism, and tax policy on every continent except Antarctica and is a former president of Investigative Reporters & Editors. Johnston has been a frequent guest on MSNBC, CNN, the BBC, ABC World News Tonight, Democracy Now!, and NPR’s Morning Edition (among other shows), and was a consultant for the Netflix series House of Cards.

Currently both a national columnist at professor of practice at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Johnston began his career at the San Jose Mercury News from 1968 to 1973, when he moved to Lansing to continue his education at Michigan State. While there, he wrote an internal textbook (A Guide to Public Records) for the university’s journalism department. From 1973 to 1976, he was an investigative reporter at the Detroit Free Press in its Lansing bureau. One of his investigative reports resulted in the Lansing CBS affiliate’s owner being forced by the FCC to sell the station because of news manipulation. He is an expert on the financial crimes and scams of Donald Trump.

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

When he’s not venting about his debate debacle or doubling down on cats-and-dogs recipes, Donald Trump is offering empty promises of tax cuts for the masses: no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime and even overturning a law he signed which gutted tax deductions for wealthier residents of high-tax states. He’s running scared as the polls consistently show him slowly slipping nationally, and especially in swing states.

Also on our screen this week:

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,

It was a good great week for the Harris/Walz campaign:

Tuesday night was a Wipe Out for Donald Trump – a one-on-one confrontation just as one-sided as the earlier debate that ended Joe Biden’s reelection bid. Days earlier they picked up the endorsements of arch conservative GOP icons Liz and Dick Cheney, followed by support from George W. Bush’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez; inflation is down to a three-year low, with gas prices plunging and the Fed poised to lower interest rates; renowned childless cat owner Taylor Swift posted her endorsement of the ticket for her 284-million Instagram followers; and the latest polls show Harris’s lead over Trump nationally edging upward.

And the Trump/Vance campaign became a national laughing stock with its claims of Haitians in Springfield Ohio kidnapping and eating pet dogs, cats and ducks. Even Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called out the campaign for spreading a baseless lie. The Trump campaign doubled down, wrongly claiming the Ohio Haitians are in the country illegally. They are not.

Also on our radar this week:

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This episode is sponsored in part by EPIC ▪ MRA,