Against the Grain

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a Washington Post columnist, compares the U.K.'s elections with those of the U.S. and discusses the potential fallout from impeachment. He also parses the parties' strategies around race, gender, and class, and names the people who may be best positioned to take up the GOP mantle post-Trump.

Sarah Isgur, who served as spokeswoman for the Department of Justice under Jeff Sessions, joins the show this week to talk about impeachment, the IG report criticizing the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation, the 2020 presidential campaign and Sessions's campaign prospects in Alabama.

David de la Fuente, the senior political analyst in the Social Policy and Politics program at Third Way, is on to analyze the shifting presidential field, evaluate the impact of impeachment, and discuss the voters that often go overlooked in Washington. Plus, he breaks down the most important states for Democrats in 2020.

Managing editor Mackenzie Weinger examines the public impeachment hearings with national security correspondent Harrison Cramer. Then, staff correspondent Madelaine Pisani is on to reflect on the Louisiana governor's race, and to preview the big contests of 2020.

Noam Lee, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, breaks down the results of the governors races in Kentucky and Mississippi, looks at the upcoming election in Louisiana, shares the 2020 races he's most focused on, and addresses some candidates who may be controversial.

House Editor of the Cook Political reporter Dave Wasserman joins the show to discuss the fallout from Tuesday's consequential governor races in Mississippi and Kentucky, Democrats controlling all three branches of government in Virginia and how it all fits into the 2020 race.

Lanhee Chen, the director of domestic policy studies at Stanford University and a Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution, has been both policy director for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and a senior adviser on Marco Rubio's in 2016.   Joining the podcast, he explains what it would take for Republicans to break with Trump on impeachment, talks about Romney's newfound independence in the Senate, and breaks down the Democratic presidential field.

CNN political analyst Matt Lewis joins this week’s show to discuss the GOP impeachment playbook, the evolution of the Republican Party since President Trump took office, and the future direction of the conservative movement.

Our show turns to foreign policy this week after a tumultuous and tragic week in the Middle East, brought on by President Trump's impulsive withdrawal of forces from northern Syria. Halie Soifer, a senior adviser to Obama's UN Ambassador Samantha Power, joins the show to talk about all the national security implications—in addition to how the news will play politically back home. Halie is currently the executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

Democratic strategist Matt Miller joins the show to talk about the politics of impeachment, and why he thinks there's an outside chance the Senate will vote to remove President Trump from office. He also argues that Elizabeth Warren is the Democratic frontrunner and dissects whether Joe Biden missed an opportunity to aggressively defend himself against Trump's attacks.

With Democrats calling for impeachment hearings against President Trump, the political stakes on Capitol Hill have rarely been higher. Mitch McConnell's former deputy chief of staff Don Stewart breaks down the politics of impeachment, and outlines what would happen in a Senate trial if the Democratic-controlled House voted to remove the president from office.

If you want political predictions, this is the show for you. Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, breaks down Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden's chances in 2020, analyzes the biggest presidential battleground states, and predicts how many seats Democrats will flip in the Senate.

Washington Examiner senior political correspondent David Drucker joins the show to preview the Democratic presidential debate this week and assess the political state of play after the GOP's narrow win in a hotly-contested Congressional special election. We also assess the breadth of Elizabeth Warren's appeal within the Democratic party, and whether she could build a large enough coalition to become president.

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.