The Politics Guys

Mike, Ken, and Trey open with a discussion of President Biden’s decision to leave the race and the potential running mates and policies for presumptive nominee Kamala Harris. Ken argues that Biden would have done just fine against Trump and that Harris will also win in November, whereas Trey and Mike are far less bullish on her chances. They all agree that a potential Harris administration would be somewhat to the left of what we’ve seen from Joe Biden.

They close the episode by looking at the Secret Service failures and congressional testimony that led to t...

Mike talks about the The Jordan Harbinger Show. Hope you enjoy it too.

Mike talks with Berkeley political scientist Steven Fish, author of the recently released book, Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy’s Edge.

Topics Mike & Steve Discuss Include:

- if Democrats are spoiled whiners

- low-dominance liberals vs high-dominance Trump

- why ignoring polls is a good thing (at times)

- pathologically risk-averse liberals

- high-dominance politics in a global perspective

- how Kamala Harris can project strength against Trump

- why Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear might be a good VP ch...

We’re releasing this second “not actually a midweek episode” episode following President Biden’s announcement that he won’t be running for reelection. That was all we covered in the preview of the midweek episode that dropped earlier today, and now that events have overtaken our analysis, we thought you deserved more than a suddenly very dated analysis of whether or not Biden would leave the ticket.

Next week, we’ll be considering all of the potential implications of Biden’s exit, but for now we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of Mike and Jay’s discussion, whic...

Mike and Jay open the preview of this special early-release edition of the midweek supporters’ show with a discussion of the Democratic National Committee’s plan to hold a virtual roll-call vote in the first week of August to nominate Joe Biden. Mike hopes that doesn’t end up happening, but is skeptical of the press reports saying that it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Biden will bow to pressure and end his reelection campaign. Jay, who hopes Biden is the candidate, seeing him as more beatable than the alternatives, thinks Biden won’t end up being the Democrats’...

Mike and Jay open with a discussion of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. While there’s a lot we still don’t know, it’s clear that the Secret Service failed to do its job. Mike and Jay agree that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle shouldn’t still have her job, though Mike contends that those on the right blaming what happened on “DEI hires” are engaged in rampant speculation to promote their ideological agenda.

Next is a look at Ohio US Senator JD Vance, who Trump picked as his running mate. Jay still doesn’t think Vance wa...

Mike talks with educator, researcher, and writer Sarah Towle about her latest book, Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands.

Topics Mike and Sarah Discuss Include:

- the historical roots of our current immigration issues

- the connection between trade policy and immigration

- why prevention through deterrence hasn’t worked

- if “remain in Mexico” is a viable approach to asylum seekers

- immigrants, crime, and American jobs

- helping border communities cope with the flow of migrants

- what a more e...

In the preview of this midweek supporters’ episode, Jay is joined by Justin Holmes from the University of Northern Iowa (whose opinions, as always are his own and not reflective of his employer, the people of the great state of Iowa, or its 20 Million head of hogs).

They open by taking up the failed vote to hold Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over Robert Hur’s recordings of his interviews with President Biden. They discuss the legal merits of contempt, the challenges of enforcement, bills of attainder, and campaign implications. (Spoiler alert, Repu...

Jay is joined by Justin Holmes from the University of Northern Iowa (whose opinions, as always are his own and not reflective of his employer, the people of the great state of Iowa, or its 20 Million head of hogs).

The show kicks off with a discussion of the ongoing calls for President Biden to end his campaign. They start with a divide over how bad of shape Biden is in cognitively and mainstream press coverage (Jay thinks it’s about time the mainstream press picks up on Biden’s problems, Justin thinks the coverage is overblown). They then...

Mike and May open the preview of this supporters’ midweek episode with a discussion of the Supreme Court decision allowing municipalities to deal with homeless encampments by bans on outdoor camping. Mike is all over the place on this one, finding something to like (and dislike) on all sides, while May believes that the majority got it right.

Next, they consider the Court’s ruling in Moody v. NetChoice, involving efforts by Florida and Texas to regulate social media they believe is biased against conservatives. Mike has a big problem with any government viewpoint regulation while May thin...