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Morris Katz, ad-maker at the Fight media firm, is the lead media strategist for Zohran Mamdani's insurgent campaign that secured the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City in a decisive upset over the long-favored Andrew Cuomo. In this conversation, Morris talks his NYC roots, coming from an artistic family, his accidental path into politics, and a deep dive into the Mamdani campaign's monumental win. We discuss the candidates, the overarching strategy, important tactical decisions, inside the memorable viral and paid media content, the role of outside groups, what is misunderstood about the race, what is replicable for others and much more with a lead operative on one of the most impressive and innovative campaigns in recent memory.

IN THIS EPISODE

Morris grows up in downtown Manhattan in an artistic household...

What diverted Morris from focusing on screenwriting to a career in politics...

How a stint in North Carolina politics shaped Morris' trajectory...

What is unique about Morris' firm, Fight...

How Morris entered the world of Zohran Mamdani & his first impressions of the candidate...

Morris breaks down the 3-phase strategy of the Mamdani mayoral campaign...

The role the DSA-NY and Working Families Party played in the rise of Zohran Mamdani...

How the Mamdani field operation fundamentally changed the race...

Was the Free Palestine movement integral to the Mamdani ascent...

Inside the Mamdani digital program and why it caught fire...

A communication strategy the Mamdani campaign "unlocked"...

Technical aspects that made Mamdani video and ad content stand out...

What makes Zohran Mamdani an effective political communicator?

The paid-media strategy undergirding the campaign's rise...

How the Knicks playoff run impacted Mamdani media decisions...

Why the campaign invested in :15 second ads...

Parallels between Zohran Mamdani and Barack Obama...

How Morris views the attacks on Mamdani of anti-semitism and defunding the police...

The influential role played by mayoral candidate Brad Lander...

Unpacking the winning Mamdani coalition...

Morris' most surreal post-election moment...

What is most replicable for other campaigns from the Mamdani success?

AND AOC, Elle Bisgaard-Church, Eric Bogosian, Jamaal Bowman, Adam Carlson, Josh Charles, Andrew Cuomo, Bill de Blasio, Bob Dylan, Andrew Epstein, eyebrows, halal-flation, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Katz, Brett Leonard, Willy Loman, manic energy, Tommy McDonald, Matt McLaughlin, Melted Solids, Arthur Miller, Julian Mulvey, the new brunch, Trey Nix, the politics of sighs, Antonio Reynoso, Katie Riley, Sam Rockwell, John Shanley, Erica Smith, Nydia Velazquez, Yul Vasquez, villains...& more!

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Mike Nellis is the founder of Authentic, a digital fundraising firm that's raised over $1 billion for it's clients including Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff and numerous Governors, Senators, and high profile organizations. He was also a Senior Advisor to Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign, the co-founder of White Dudes for Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign, and an active thinker and leader on how progressive politics has to evolve in a changing world.

IN THIS EPISODE

Growing up in a conservative, middle class home in Omaha...

Anti-Iraq War protests draw Mike into political activism...

Mike's time as an Obama volunteer and fellow in the '07-'08 Iowa Caucus...

On the campaign trail from Nebraska to North Carolina to Connecticut and more...

Mike's connection to the 2016 Bernie Sanders' campaign...

Mike's take on why a full primary would've helped the Kamala Harris' 24 presidential effort...

Mike founds Authentic, a firm focused on online fundraising...

Mike's time as a Senior Advisor to Kamala Harris 2020 presidential bid...

Behind the scenes of designing the Harris' 2020 logo...

Mike's recent focus as a General Consultant for campaigns...

Why Democrats have become so risk-averse?

Mike co-founds the White Dudes for Harris 2024 group...

What Democrats must do to better appeal to younger men...

The right balance of economics vs culture in Democratic campaigns...

Should messaging and governance go big or go small?

Where do Democrats need to move to the center?

Mike's encouragement for those working in politics to stay healthy...

AND...90s pro wrestling, AKAs, Avon, Brene Brown, George W. Bush, Pete Buttigieg, Carter Lake, James Carville, Bob Casey, Shirley Chisolm, Bill Clinton, John Fetterman, Flagrant, Scott Galloway, Jared Golden, Al Gore, Nikki Haley, hollowed-out banks, John Kerry, Larry King, Jane Kleeb, Scott Kleeb, Dan Malloy, Joe Manchin, Elaine Marshall, Ross Morales Rocketto, Morningside University, Elon Musk, music appreciation class, Trevor Noah, Martin O'Malley, Orange Theory, Ben Ostrower, Jordan Peterson, Ro Khanna, Chris Rock, Joe Rogan, Pat Ryan, Adam Schiff, Lis Smith, Tim Tagaris, Andrew Tate, Vampire Weekend, Theo Von, Tim Walz, Paul Wellstone, Wide Eye Creative & more!

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Congressman Mike Quigley is in his 9th term representing Chicago's North Side and Lakefront as a Democrat in the House. He made waves last year after the first presidential debate as one of the first elected Democrats to publicly urge President Biden to step aside as the party's nominee. In this conversation, we talk through what led him to speak out, the reaction from the White House and his colleagues, and why he believes it's an important conversation for the party to have now. We also discuss his path in politics as a staffer, as a reformer on the Cook County Board, winning a 20+ candidate '09 special election to replace Rahm Emanuel in the House, favorite moments during his tenure, what he's learned visiting Ukraine, and what Democrats need to do to better connect with voters.

IN THIS EPISODE

Growing up in a conservative, blue-collar household in in the Midwest...

The teacher who made an impression on his politics and the advice he continues to quote today...

Learning both theory at the University of Chicago and practical politics while cutting his teeth in Cook County politics...

Why he lost his first race for office and how he turned a loss into a win a few years later...

A decade on the Cook County Board as a reformer taking on the Chicago machine...

How he won a 20+ person special election in 2009 to replace Rep. Rahm Emanuel in the House...

Initial impressions and surprises in his early days in Congress...

Two members who served as his mentors...

Some of the work he's done in the House he's most proud of...

Why Ukraine matters and what he's learned by traveling to the country several times...

Why he was one of the first Democratic elected officials to call on President Biden to step aside as the '24 Democratic nominee in the aftermath of the debate...

Reactions from colleagues and constituents after going public with his concerns about President Biden...

Do Democrats have a larger problem of too many older Democrats refusing to retire and make way for younger leaders?

Thoughts on how Democrats can better connect with voters...

His favorite Chicago Blackhawks' memory and excitement for the new Chicago Pope...

AND John Anzalone, big cats, Rod Blagojevich, burning your mortgage, cannon fodder, Frank Capra, Carol Stream, Forrest Claypool, Walter Cronkite, Paul Ehrlich, Sara Feigenholtz, John Fritchey, William Fulbright, Mary Gatey, Gabby Giffords, Newt Gingrich, Bernie Hansen, Kasie Hunt, Mark Kirk, John Lewis, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Vladimir Putin, Robert Redford, Branch Rickey, FDR, Paul Ryan, Helen Schiller, Glenn Schneider, Michael Sheahan, Adam Smith, spring chickens, John Stroger, Larry Suffredin, Studs Terkel, Harry Truman, The Weiner Circle, Gary Williams, working for the pension...& more!

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Frank Lavin served under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush in positions as varied as personnel, national security, international trade negotiations, Ambassador to Singapore, among others. In this conversation, we discuss his 8+ years in the Reagan White House from 1981-1989 - which is chronicled in his recent book Inside the Reagan White House. In the Reagan White House, he wore several different hats, was in hundreds of meetings with President Reagan, worked alongside some of the most influential administration officials - culminating in his stint as White House Political Director during the 1988 elections.

IN THIS EPISODE

Frank grows up in small-town Ohio in a tensely political time...

Frank talks the establishment vs. conservative sparring in the GOP of the 1970s...

Frank's early campaign activities in the late 70s and working for an IE backing Reagan as a college student in 1980...

An important political lesson Frank learned from James Baker in Baker's 1978 race for Texas Attorney General...

Memories of how Jim Baker ran the Reagan White House as Chief of Staff...

How Reagan borrowed from FDR to become a powerful political communicator...

How Reagan led the White House in meetings behind closer doors...

Frank's first White House job of letting unsuccessful job applicants down easy...

How the White House was a tug-of-war between "true believers" and "pragmatists"...

Memories of his time at the Office of Public Liasion and how the President would "freeze" the first 10 minutes of a meeting...

The 1984 Democratic challenger the White House was most worried about and how Reagan bounced back from a bad '82 midterm to win an '84 landslide...

The difference in "desk truth" and "street truth"...

How Reagan staffer Mike Deaver fundamentally changed the way a White House handles presidential travel...

Frank's time as a White House national security staffer negotiating with the Soviets and spending time with President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher at Camp David...

Frank demystifies his role as White House Political Director during the 1988 elections...

The origin of the famous Reagan "11th Commandment" maxim...

How Reagan initially won - and successfully held - the voters who came to be known as "Reagan Democrats"...

Frank's memories of being around President George H.W. Bush...

The low point of Frank's time in the Reagan White House...

Quick memories from Frank of prominent figures including Karl Rove, Colin Powell, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Roger Stone, and Pat Buchanan...

AND Al Haig Disease, Lee Atwater, Jimmy Carter, George Christopher, Bill Clinton, creative tension, Peter DelGiorno, Terry Dolan, Tony Dolan, Frank Donatelli, Mike Dukakis, exotic tendencies, the FEC, fireside chats, forced marriages, force multipliers, Gerald Ford, John Glenn, Barry Goldwater, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bob Haldeman, Warren Harding, Kamala Harris, Gary Hart, hatchet men, horizontal management, LBJ, jelly beans, Dick Lyng, Paul Manafort, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Ed Meese, Walter Mondale, Brian Mulroney, Daniel Murphy, Ed Muskie, NCPAC, neutral recapitulations, the New Left, non sequiturs, Oliver North, John Poindexter, the Reykjavik Summit, Stu Spencer, Robert Taft, Donald Trump, Bob Weed, George Wortley...& more!

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Patrick McHugh, co-founder of Gambit Strategies, was the Executive Director of Priorities USA in 2020 as the main super PAC allied with the Biden Presidential campaign. Prior to that, he had stints at the DSCC and working in the opp research department on major Democratic campaigns. In this conversation, we explore Patrick's roots in opposition research, his experiences running big organizations and on the campaign trail, and mine his deep expertise on emerging trends and best practices in digital persuasion advertising.

IN THIS EPISODE

Growing up in suburban Maryland, near DC but not of DC...

The family tragedy that demonstrated how precarious the middle class can be...

What set Patrick on a course toward working in politics...

Lessons learned working for John Edwards for President in 2007 and Kay Hagan for Senate in 2008...

The new opposition research tactic Patrick helped spearhead in 2008...

Why Patrick gravitated to opp research in his first few campaign jobs...

Some of Patrick's favorite opp research findings and stories...

Patrick's memorable opp research trip to Hawaii...

Patrick's stints during both good and bad cycles at the DSCC...

Patrick moves into senior leadership as Executive Director of the Priorities USA Super PAC...

Patrick on one tactical approach that helped Biden in 2020 that was disregarded by Democrats in 2024...

How Patrick handled asking for big checks as ED of Priorities...

Patrick develops an expertise in digital persuasion and starts Gambit Strategies...

Patrick's insights on how voters watch TV and what it means for campaigns...

Will streaming options become even more fractured or more consolidated...

How digital content should differ than traditional linear TV content...

The kind of junior digital staffers Patrick looks for to join Gambit Strategies...

Patrick recommends some of his favorite sources of digital trends and data...

AND George W. Bush, Ana Caprara, Guy Cecil, Hillary Clinton, DSCC, Elizabeth Dole, frozen records, Amy Gooden, Heidi Heitkamp, Martha McKenna, Linda McMahon, Chris Murphy, press vortexes, JB Pritzker, rocking chairs, Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority PAC, tier 5 races, Donald Trump, Two Americas, John Walsh, Elizabeth Warren...& more!

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Catching up this week with return guest Dr. Michael Cohen, who just released a new edition of his book Modern Political Campaigns this month. He studied under iconic pollster Bill Hamilton as a student, worked in the trenches in Republican campaigns, spent time at Gallup, apprenticed under renowned GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio and worked with famed Dem strategist Mark Penn when Michael was an in-house pollster at Microsoft. Along the way, Michael started his own firm (Cohen Research Group), built the successful Congress in Your Pocket tech app, and wrote Modern Political Campaigns to bring the campaign literature up to speed with the ever-evolving political industry - including a new edition that includes a focus on the role AI is playing in political campaigns. This is a great nuts-and-bolts conversation on the political industry with a smart pollster, tech entrepreneur, and author.

IN THIS EPISODE…

The new edition of Modern Political Campaigns, including a focus on AI in campaigns...

How political campaigns are (and are not) using AI at this point...

What Michael knows about Gen Z from teaching courses at NYU and Johns Hopkins...

Lessons he learned from a recent heart attack and recovery...

Michael’s formative years growing up on Long Island…

The political switch flips for Michael in college…

Michael crosses paths with famed Democratic pollster Bill Hamilton…

Michael makes the jump to political polling under Tony Fabrizio…

The bizarre story of how one of Michael’s candidates was pilloried on the Colbert Report…

Michael starts his own polling firm to move beyond partisan politics…

Michael’s stint as an in-house pollster at Microsoft with Mark Penn…

Michael’s compares working with legendary Dem pollster Mark Penn and iconic GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio…

Michael creates the wildly successful Congress in Your Pocket app…

Michael’s 101 on how to create an app…

The long journey behind Michael’s new book Modern Political Campaigns…

Michael’s advice to those who want to write a book and get it published…

Michael’s take on what makes a good pollster…

Michael weighs in on the question of a “polling crisis”…

Michael’s advice on the best books to understand how politics works…

AND AAPOR, Michael Bender, Sidney Blumenthal, Stephen Colbert, Sean Cook, Bob Dole, enlargement ads, Ezra Cohen Corporation, Arthur Finkelstein, the Gallup Poll, Josh Gottheimer, Sasha Issenberg, Peter Jennings, Steve Jobs, Ed Koch, Celinda Lake, Massapequa mannerisms, mobilization vs. persuasion, Never Trump Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Rowman & Littlefield, Jake Rush, Karen Thurman, Chris Tompkins, Tevi Troy, vampire roleplaying, Ted Yoho, & more!

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Pat Leahy is a giant of the US Senate...the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Vermont...the third longest serving Senator in US history...the Senate President Pro Tem...Chair of Appropriations, Agriculture, and Judiciary...and 8 terms in the US Senate. In this conversation, we talk his roots in small town Vermont, overcoming the state's deep Republican roots in a 1974 upset, entering the Senate in his mid 30s, and his favorite stories, lessons, and proudest moments from nearly 50 years in the US Senate.

IN THIS EPISODE

Growing up in small-town Montpelier with a love of reading...

How his service as District Attorney propelled his successful run for Senate in 1974 as the first Democrat to win a Vermont Senate seat...

Early days in the US Senate in his mid 30s...

How he won 8 terms in what was initially a very Republican state...

The interesting story behind his 1998 re-election, his first true landslide...

The most tense and high-stakes moments during his career in the Senate...

Passing anti-land mine legislation...

A day in the life of the Senate President Pro Tem...

How trust among Senators one late night saved lives during a mid 80s Capitol bombing...

Senator Leahy receives a tip he received from an "anonymous jogger" during the Iraq War debate...

When Vice President Dick Cheney swore at Senator Leahy on the Senate floor...

The Senator who gave the best Senate floor speeches...

The most effective Majority Leader he saw...

When his colleague Jim Jeffords switched parties and changed control of the Senate...

His views on the rise of Bernie Sanders as a national figure...

Why he didn't run for re-election in 2022...

How he received the Order of the British Empire designation...

His connection to the Batman character and appearing in several Batman films...

His status as the Senate's leading Grateful Dead Head...

The status of his wife Marcelle as his political secret weapon...

AND anatomical impossibilities, Howard Baker, James Baker, Leonid Brezhnev, Dale Bumpers, George H.W. Bush, Robert Byrd, George Clooney, DC Comics, designated survivors, Charles Dickens, John Durkin, Jim Eastland, Jerry Ford, Jerry Garcia, John Glenn, holy water, Hubert Humphrey, John F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Heath Ledger, Mike Mansfield, Miranda Rights, Mitch McConnell, Bobby Muller, Christopher Nolan, Sam Nunn, Barack Obama, organic farming, Colin Powell, Quebec City, Hugh Scott, secret weapons, Alan Simpson, Bob Stafford, Ted Stevens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Fred Tuttle, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, Wayne Industries...& more!

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Yoav Attias is a documentary filmmaker whose projects include Brick City chronicling the inner-workings of Newark, NJ under then-Mayor Cory Booker and CNN's Chicagoland featuring then-mayor Rahm Emanuel. His most recent role is as Director on the new documentary film Fault Lines - which examines the issue of affordable housing in American cities through the prism of several storylines in San Francisco where the housing crisis is especially acute. In this conversation, Yoav talks starting a legal career in South Florida before following his passion to become a documentary filmmaker...what he learned about the politics and challenges facing major American cities working closely around Mayors Cory Booker and Rahm Emanuel...the origin of the Fault Lines film project set in the Bay Area...and a deep dive on the challenges and complexities surrounding the American housing crisis.

IN THIS EPISODE

Yoav's roots in South Florida and why he left a legal career for documentary film-making...

Yoav's involvement in the Brick City project that follows Newark politics, including then-Mayor Cory Booker...

The documentary that deeply inspired Yoav to enter the field...

Yoav's time as showrunner on CNN's Chicagoland project that featured Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel...

Yoav's pitch to pols like Rahm Emanuel and Cory Booker to agree to be filmed for hundreds of hours for a documentary project...

Yoav's relative optimism versus pessimism regarding the trajectory of the modern major American city...

The origin story of his latest project, Fault Lines - a documentary about the housing affordability crisis facing American cities...

How the housing process became so broken in cities like San Francisco in the first place...

The controversy over 100 proposed affordable housing units in San Francisco's Sunset Neighborhood...

How Yoav found housing advocates and a homeless family to participate in Fault Lines...

How one local Bay Area elected official found himself caught in a political vice on the issue of affordable housing...

Is the housing problem better or worse than Yoav initially thought?

The Grateful Dead song that appears toward the end of Fault Lines...

Yoav's take on political ad-making from outside of the political industry...

The recent political documentary Yoav strongly recommends...

AND Mark Benjamin, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Clinton, Todd Davis, Liz Dozier, Fenger High School, field producers, Jerry Garcia, HUD, hippie utopias, Hoop Dreams, hornets' nests, Nate Houghteling, Robert Hunter, Steve James, Flo Kimmerling, Ezra Klein, Marc Levin, Gordon Mar, the Mission, PCE, Section 8 vouchers, Sarah Sherman, toxicology reports, trust-building, undesirables, University of Florida, verité documentaries, Scott Weiner, zoning laws..& more!