Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto, is known for many things: an outlandish personality, offensive language, and, of course, the times he was caught smoking crack. He is also a formidable politician who has managed to be elected to office despite these foibles. In the latest podcast, we talk to one of the candidates Ford defeated about just how hard it is to take down the infamous mayor.

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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) is one of the most dramatic and divisive political figures in modern U.S. history. And when he ran for president in 2012, he didn't disappoint. In the latest Candidate Confessional, Gingrich recounts all the stumbles and triumphs that he endured on the trail. And he shared some sage advice for this year's White House aspirants.

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Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) got along well with the opposition throughout his career. He had good relations with Democrats and appeared on shows like Bill Maher and The Colbert Report. But when he ran for the Senate in 2014, he quickly realized that being mild-mannered -- and even remotely interested in bipartisanship -- was a serious liability.

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During his campaign for mayor of Toledo in 2009, Ben Konop delivered a speech that became Internet lore. Appearing on the street where his mom grew up, he was booed, mercilessly, by a man sitting on a nearby porch. The video went viral, viewed 850,000 times on YouTube and lampooned by South Park. In the latest episode, Konop details that excruciating moment and how he moved beyond it.

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Before he became an MSNBC personality; before he became chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele ran for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. One of the best known African-American Republicans in the country, he nearly won. But he was done in by a terrible cycle for his party (thanks, George W. Bush) and, he argues, some subtle and not-so-subtle racism on the trail.

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Tim Pawlenty had everything a Republican presidential candidate should have. He was a governor with a blue-collar conservative brand and the best operatives in the business. But his campaign for the White House in 2012 is remembered now for a poor showing in a straw poll, a major debate flub, and a swift exit. In this episode, he explains why everything went so wrong, so quickly.

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Wendy Davis became an icon in 2013 when she stood on the floor of the Texas Senate for nearly 13 hours to beat back anti-abortion legislation. Although the legislation ultimately passed, the moment catapulted her to national stardom and paved the way for a run for governor. It didn't go as planned. Her campaign proved to be a brutal reality check for those who hoped to turn a deep red state, purple. She tells that story in vivid detail.

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Mitt Romney's run for the White House in 2012 featured incredible highs (a boffo debate performance against Barack Obama) and excruciating lows (a widely-panned trip abroad). Behind it all was Stu Stevens, his senior strategist. In this episode, Stevens details those and other episodes as well as the pain Romney's high-profile defeat caused him.

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Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was one of most provocative conservative in Congress. She parlayed that reputation into a brief stint as a frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. It didn't last long. In this episode, she recounts how her campaign fell apart as well as some of the more unsavory moments of life on the trail.

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In the 2004 campaign, Howard Dean went from being a little known governor of Vermont to a leading Democratic presidential candidate, surging on his opposition to the Iraq war. And then, it all came crashing down, culminating in his infamous scream speech in Iowa. Twelve years later, Dean recounts in detail his rise and what precipitated his fall.

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