This week on the podcast we’re looking at two of the biggest stories of the week. First, the election and next the terrible explosion in Beirut.

Thanks for tuning in and subscribing. We’ll see you next week where we’ll be discussing the largest news items which will mostly likely include Joe Biden’s VP choice.

John Zogby Strategies · The Zogby Report | 08/07/20 – The Dead Cat Bounce

SHOW NOTES:

First, in the latest polls Joe Biden is leading by an average of 6 points but the race is tightening up with some polls showing only a 3-4 percent difference. What’s going on?

The President is getting what’s known as a dead cat bounce. He’s just not hurting himself as much as usual but is still not rising in the polls. It’s really Joe Biden who is moving up and down while the president is stuck.

What worked for Trump four years ago was running against the elite and look for him to cast Biden as the elite and double down on a populist message as we head into the fall.

Another challenge for Biden? Identity politics. He needs to bridge the divide between progressives and moderates but he needs to avoid the traps of identity politics.

We’ll take a look at some of the top VP candidates and the scrutiny they face – in particular Kamala Harris and Susan Rice.

The dems just voted to keep PAC money in politics. Could this cause a divide with volunteers who truly care about getting money out of politics.

Explosions in Beirut

Lebanon is a metaphor for Middle East politics. You have to ask yourself what the implications are of who gets the blame for this disaster. The ship in the harbor was Russian, but the government was negligent in leaving those explosives. And this being the Middle East, it’s not impossible to rule out foul play. How does this tragedy factor into an already volatile political situation.