Cygnal Pulse Podcast

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Chris Lane, Director of Client Strategy, and Brent discuss the results of the first DIT subscription service survey. While some social matters like critical race theory drew a lower number than expected, pocketbook-related issues such as inflation and the overall development of the economy appear to be at the very core of average American citizens’ concerns.


Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 29) is Brian Wynne, who by the time he was in middle school, knew he would be involved in politics. Starting with an internship for John McCain’s campaign, Brian went on to work on both Mitt Romney and Chris Christie’s campaigns. He rose through the ranks of Governor Charlie Baker’s campaign team and is now a senior advisor to Gov. Baker.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Chris and Brent discuss the brand new DIT subscription service. This exciting tool developed by Cygnal’s data science team is designed to help campaigns at every level understand their districts, their voters, and their issues better, providing consistent real time data concerning the most important topics among a certain community. The District Issue Tracker is the best way to get a snapshot of what’s going on in a legislative or congressional district without spending thousands of dollars in polls.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 28) is Tim Murtaugh. Tim’s career encompasses serving as Communications Director for the most-watched political campaign in world history – the Trump 2020 campaign – plus, a body of impressive work on statewide campaigns, congressional races, and in senior leadership positions at national political committees. He has overseen public relations strategies in states from Hawaii to Maine and has led successful targeted advocacy efforts for individuals, organizations, and legislative proposals using all available avenues: publications, press events/releases, media appearances, paid television, radio advertisements, social media, direct mail, and internet videos. In short, if there is a message to be delivered to an audience, he knows how to craft it, send it, and direct it.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Brent and John Rogers, one of Cygnal’s Directors of Client Strategy, talk about “Coming out of COVID” and the impact it is going to have on politics. They discuss a recent Cygnal poll showing the consequences of politicians violating their own restrictions. This poll revealed that Governor Whitmer's image has gone down several points after going into a bar with another 12 people and also flying to Florida while asking Michiganders to stay home - It seems that the thing voters hate the most is hypocrisy.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 27) is Lenny McAllister a talented media personality, public speaker, writer, author, and rising leader that has “… a mission to make positive changes to the status quo within politics, societal matters, and other issues that hamper our American way of life …”

Lenny is a “rising star” among the Republican grassroots, political insiders, the commentary community, and much of Black America, primarily for having an uncommon passion for urban constituents and conservative compatriots alike. He continues to be featured on leading regional, national, and international cable news programs offering an insightful look into modern conservative thought. Since 2014, Lenny has been featured as both a host and contributor to outlets including the iconic Newsradio 1020 KDKA (Pittsburgh), Sun News Network (Canada), WQED Pittsburgh, National Public Radio, and the Pittsburgh Cable News Network.

“The McAllister Minute,” a regular feature of the American Urban Radio Network, runs 2 weeks a month on hundreds of stations nationwide where Lenny extols conservative values and perspectives to mostly progressive audiences.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Chris and Brent discuss the results of our latest national poll for a look into the 22 cycle and what it holds for candidates and campaigns. As the COVID pandemic starts to fade into the background, new trends in the data are beginning to emerge. Brent breaks it all down for us at the top of the episode.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 26) is Phillip Stutts, best-selling author and host of the “Undefeated Marketing”podcast. Phillip Stutts comes from the cutthroat world of political and corporate marketing and has been described as a “marketing maverick reshaping business success using the secret formula that gets presidents elected”. Contributing to 1,407 election victories, including three U.S. Presidential victories and working with multiple Fortune 200 companies, Phillip plays the game of political and corporate marketing on the highest level, battling it out with fierce competition, multi-billion-dollar budgets, and a win or die mentality.


Phillip is founder and CEO of Win BIG Media and Founder/Executive Chairman of Go BIG Media. He has spoken in front of 50 million+ people in his career and made more than 350 national media appearances including ESPN, CBS, FOX BUSINESS, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, and CNN.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Chris Kratzer talks with Jeff Lewis, another one of our newest Directors of Client Strategy. Jeff describes the interesting path that led him to politics, a path that he never really expected to take, and how despite leaving politics a few times, he just keeps coming back. We are thrilled his path has led him to Cygnal.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 25) is Willis Jones, founder of Capitol City Research and former Director of Constituent Services for Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. Prior to founding CCR, he served as research director for The Barklage Company, a Missouri-based political consulting firm. Willis has been involved in political research for campaigns, committees, and caucuses since 1996, and his vast experience earned him a spot on the Missouri Times 2019 Political Playmakers list. He is also a member of MENSA and the pastor for Crossroads Baptist Church

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Brent and Chris Lane, one of our newest Directors of Client Strategy, discuss Chris' early political experiences in Massachusetts and his later collaborations in some remarkable campaigns, including Scott Brown for US senate and Charlie Baker's run for Governor for the second time. Chris shares some great advice for candidates running in particularly tough districts.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 24) is Sean Walsh, a public affairs operative with leadership positions on dozens of candidate and issue campaigns in Colorado. His expertise includes community outreach strategies, local government lobbying, message development, coalition-building, grassroots organizing, and fundraising.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Chris and Brent discuss the key takeaways from a recent Cygnal poll of likely voters in Florida. They overwhelmingly approve of Governor DeSantis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine distribution and they do not trust the media to report it fairly. Also – Floridians love Publix. Who doesn’t?

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 23) is Fount Holland. To put it simply, Fount Holland is a fighter who knows how to win. As Oklahoma’s preeminent political strategist, he has worked with more than 100 current officeholders at the local, statewide and federal levels. He also represents clients across the United States who call on him for his expertise in political direct mail.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod, Chris and Brent talk about what they do outside of Cygnal and politics and the importance of being well-rounded. Yes, they do have personal lives! It’s important to have a variety of interests and hobbies. What we do outside of work can be beneficial not only in our personal lives but also in our professional ones.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod is Tab Berg. Tab Berg is the founder and president of TABcommunications, inc., where he has managed or directed hundreds of successful and award-winning political and public relations campaigns. Prior to founding TABcommunications in 2001, Tab served as Political Director for a major political PR firm and Chief-of-Staff for two California Legislators. Since starting in professional politics, Tab has won 90% of races he has managed or directed and has won numerous national awards for campaigns, television, direct mail, social media, and web design.

In addition to his political, PR, and public policy endeavors, Tab has extensive business and management experience running a restaurant group in Illinois and as an Executive Fellow for a major domestic airline. Tab is a licensed Specialty SCUBA diver, whitewater river guide, mountain climber, erratic golfer, and former Mixed Martial Arts fighter.

On this week’s episode of the Pulse Pod and Chris and Brent begin with a discussion on campaigns and digital targeting. How can they reach and persuade the right people? Cygnal has developed a digital profiling tool that can help.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 21) is Nicole Schlinger. Nicole got her start in politics as the Finance Director of the Republican Party of Iowa and she later contributed to the successful elections of Gov. Terry Branstad, America’s longest serving governor, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and others. In 1999, Schlinger launched CampaignHQ (CHQ), the “best conservative call center in America.” Campaign & Elections magazine has twice named Schlinger a top political influencer and the Des Moines Register has named her one of the “50 Most Wanted Republicans.”

It’s the 20th episode of the Pulse Pod and we kick it off with Chris Kratzer, Vice-President Research & Analysis, and Brent discussing Cygnal’s values. Developed by Brent when Cygnal was created, they are truly the foundation of our company. They aren’t just ideas, they motivate and inspire us and are embodied by all of our employees.

Our guest this week on the Cygnal Pulse Pod (Ep. 20) is Sean Spicer. He served as the 28th White House press secretary and is the author of the bestselling book The Briefing. Mr. Spicer is the host of Spicer & Co. which airs weeknights at 6 p.m. ET on Newsmax TV. He is the president of RigWil, LLC, a strategic consulting firm, and a partner in Point1, a political mail and digital firm. Mr. Spicer previously served as communications director and chief strategist of the Republican National Committee and worked for several members of Congress. He has served more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy and holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College. Additionally, he was a quarterfinalist on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” season 28. Mr. Spicer is a native of Rhode Island and resides in Virginia.