Scott Elliott of Election Projection will be our special guest and Wendy David is co-host this Sunday.

Southern politics

Southern politics

Southern politics

Southern politics

Southern politics

Southern politics

Southern politics

Southern politics

In this wide-ranging conversation, David McLaughlin and Tim Shiflett (with birthday wishes for the absent Catherine Smith) mix humor with political analysis. They open by joking about former President Bill Clinton posing for photos with European adult-film actresses. They debate whether the incident was harmless fun or a moment that only Clinton could weather without political damage. The hosts also note Europe’s differing cultural norms, where entertainers—even porn stars—sometimes win public office.
 The tone shifts when they criticize a controversial moment at a South Carolina progressive picnic: guests struck a Nikki Haley piñata, an act Shiflett argues was counterproductive, especially in a state already hostile to organized labor. Both hosts condemn political effigies and extreme imagery from either side, agreeing that such behavior fuels polarization. They cite political scientist Alan Abramowitz’s work on America’s deepening divisions.

The conversation turns toward national public opinion. On same-sex marriage, Shiflett attributes growing acceptance—especially among African Americans—to personal familiarity with LGBTQ individuals and to President Obama’s supportive stance. On abortion, they discuss shifting Gallup trends: rising “pro-life” identification but widespread support for legal abortion in specific cases, creating a large “gray area.” They consider whether scientific advances, such as clearer ultrasounds and earlier fetal viability, shape attitudes, echoing a point once made by Zell Miller. 

Finally, they analyze Obama’s weak Democratic primary showings in Kentucky and Arkansas, attributing the results not to disaffected Democrats but to conservative voters participating in local Democratic primaries. Both predict Obama will lose those states decisively in November.