Politics Is Everything

In this episode, Kyle Kondik and Miles Coleman discuss the two eras in the Republican-Democrat two-party system that really stand out for competitiveness because of how close consecutive presidential elections were: the 6 elections between 1876-1896 and the elections in the 2000-2020 time period. They also discuss shifts in voting patterns In the 2000-2020 time period and the patterns that emerge regionally. "The most competitive states in 2020 may be the most competitive in 2024: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the Great Lakes region and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina in the Sun Belt," Kyle asserts.

Links in this episode:

• The Electoral College in the 21st Century

In this episode, we talk with Bradford Vivian, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University and author of Campus Misinformation (Oxford University Press), about how the idea that free speech is under threat on college campuses became a core political appeal and how it has been manufactured through misinformation, distortion, and political ideology.

Kyle Kondik and Miles Coleman react to the Georgia Senate election, discuss House crossover districts, split ticket voting in 2022 and the Democratic Party's 2024 primary plan. Regarding the Republican candidate quality problem, Kyle suggests that the "Senate Leadership Fund needs to take a more active role in primaries going forward if Republicans want to do well in 2024."

Have a politics question or topic you want us to take up? Email it to [email protected].

Fascism has had a firm grip on the American imagination for one hundred years. "Increased polarization in the United States reflects Americans' deepest fears of what might be happening in the polity," says Bruce Kucklick, "The disruptive politics of Donald Trump has been grist for fascism-obsessed America." Kuklick joins us to discuss the roots of fascism in American politics and popular culture based on his new book Fascism Comes to America: A Century of Obsession in Politics and Culture (University of Chicago Press).

Bruce Kucklick is the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor Emeritus of American History at the University of Pennsylvania.

Are ranked choice voting and multi-member districts a cure for the hyperpartisanship and partisan extremism plaguing politics? In this episode, we talk with Rob Richie, who has been the leader of FairVote since co-founding it in 1992. Richie shares evidence for how ranked choice voting is increasing representation and opportunities for new voices and new players in politics in places where it has been adopted. Mary Peltola, who is the first Alaska native to ever serve in Congress, is one such example.

As a result of the passage of ballot Measure 26-228 in the 2022 election with 58% of voters approving, Portland is set to become the largest city in the United States to use both ranked choice voting and multi-member City Council districts, a combination known as proportional representation that political scientists agree is a "gold standard" of democratic systems. We also talk with Damon Motz-Storey who was part of grassroots efforts to adopt the reforms in Portand.

Links in this episode

• FairVote
• Portland Charter Review Commission
• RCVIS

2022 was a great year for incumbents and a lot of things did matter - candidate quality, redistricting, reproductive rights and democracy. In this episode, Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Miles Coleman, Associate Editor, assess the 2022 election and why Republicans didn't do as well as expected in an election that historically pointed to their advantage. They also discuss what divided government but narrow majorities mean for governance, and look ahead to the Georgia runoff and to 2024 elections.

Links in this episode:

Sabato's Crystal Ball

"This is a war on democracy and democratic principles," Dr. Yuna Potomkina, Advisor to Ukraine Minister of Defense tells us. Armed conflict has been raging in Ukraine since early 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea. On February 24, 2022, during a last-ditch UN Security Council effort to dissuade Russia from attacking Ukraine, Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale land, sea, and air invasion of Ukraine targeting Ukrainian military assets and cities across the country. Since then, nearly 8 million Ukrainians have been forcibly displaced. An unknown number of Ukrainian children have been forcibly separated and deported to Russia, on top of other war crimes that will cause generational trauma.

Joining Dr. Potomkina in this episode is Sabina Iliasova, Project Coordinator at Crimea SOS, Liubov Rakovytsia, Chief Operating Officer at Donetsk Institute of Information, and our interpreter is Peter Voitsekhovsky.

"Ukraine's success will tell the rest of the world that even a nonnuclear country can come out as a winner against a nuclear state that violated its international commitments and can continue as nuclear free and peaceful," says Liubov Rakovytsia.

Our visitors said two of the most important things Americans can do are to keep Ukraine in the public discourse and to send a message of support directly to the people of Ukraine. We have created a form to fill out and will deliver messages to them.

The Senate is coming down to a jump ball situation. Candidates need to avoid a bad toss, and can't miss a foul or violation. Sabato's Crystal Ball is still projecting a Republican gain in the House in the high teens or low 20s.

In this episode, we share our live discussion initially held on Twitter Spaces with resident experts Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball and Miles Coleman, Associate Editor. We talk about our latest projections, what to watch, and the state of play in key Senate, House and Gubernatorial races in the final days of Election 2022.

Links in this episode:

• Center for Politics on Twitter
• Sabato's Crystal Ball
• Secretary of State and Attorney General: What to Watch for Next Week in Key Statewide Contests

Kyle Kondik discusses changes in Sabato's Crystal Ball ratings to favor Republicans and he predicts the GOP will take control of the House of Representatives following the 2022 midterm elections. The Crystal Ball says the Senate remains a toss-up. We also talk about how the political environment matters and what to watch in the final week leading up to Election Day 2022.

Links in this episode:

Larry Sabato's Crytal Ball

"Democracy hangs there by a thread really," Clint Hill says on this episode of Politics Is Everything. "It hangs there by the will of the people. Without the agreement of the people to live by those circumstances, it will not exist. When it has been jeopardized by individuals, or groups or power mongers, it's very difficult to watch if you're one of those like myself who accepts the wonders of democracy. Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people. And it is fragile. It can go either way. We must be careful."

Clint Hill will forever be remembered as the courageous Secret Service Agent who leapt onto the back of the presidential limousine in the midst of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, on November 22, 1963. For his actions that day, Hill received the nation's highest civilian award for bravery. His primary responsibility was the protection of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. "I ended up with the best assignment in the secret service," Hill tells us.

Lisa McCubbin Hill, an award-winning journalist who has been a television news anchor and reporter for NBC, ABC, and CBS, also joins the conversation to discuss their new book My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy.