Summer's nearly over, but the politics of 2020 are beginning to heat up.  Former GOP operative Liam Donovan, now a principal at the Washington government relations firm Bracewell, joins the show to handicap President Trump's re-election odds and explains why Elizabeth Warren is starting to scare some Republicans.

Plus, in the wake of a wave of Congressional retirements, we talk about the parallels between the Trumpified Republican party and the evolving Conservative Party in Great Britain.

Abby Livingston, the Washington bureau chief at the Texas Tribune, joins the show to talk about the big week in Texas political news. As one of the most connected reporter covering the Lone Star State, Abby provides insight into the wave of Texan GOP members of Congress retiring and contextualizes the recent tragedy in El Paso.

Democratic strategist Scott Mulhauser, who served as Vice President Joe Biden's deputy chief of staff in 2012, discusses the upcoming debates and what's at stake for the frontrunner. Mulhauser also discusses the politics of impeachment for Speaker Pelosi, and offers his perspective on the staff shakeup at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Bestselling author Tim Alberta, out with the new book American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump, joins the podcast to talk about the evolution of the Republican party in the last decade. Alberta talks about the importance of culture in the party's disruption, and the continuing relevance of immigration to modern GOP politics.

We also discuss the Game of Thrones-like scenario that awaits Republicans if Trump loses reelection.

Yahoo political columnist Matt Bai, author of the book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, joins this week's show to assess the ugliness of today's political discourse, lament the news media's focus on ratings over substance, and break down the state of the Democratic presidential primary.