The Party Faithful Podcast: Recent Episodes
Franco Caliz-Aguilar
A podcast for Democrats and progressives. We aim to connect activists and their thoughts and hopes for our party with the insight of organizational leaders, staffers and operatives who help guide the party.
We try to have guests on frequently to provide insight from across the country and from varying parts of the progressive movement.
We recorded this before the hate-filled white nationalist attacks this weekend in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. We're not sure we can even add to the conversation on that.
We analyze debates 1&2, and what we learned as well as the strategy folks coming out of 'em. We talk Hick potentially jumping in the U.S. Senate and about TX Republicans.
What happens when you get 21 Democratic candidates, thousands of pounds of fish, South Carolina's heat in summer and Jim Clyburn? The real start to primary season!
What happens when you get 20 (!) Democrats to qualify for a debate? We have no idea but we preview it in depth. With 25 candidates in total it's going to be bedlam.
We talk South Carolina's Democratic Party Convention, Planned Parenthood's forum and the infamous Fish Fry, what not to write on wedding guest books in the first 21:45 minutes.
Then we give a preview that we're quite proud of. From #WeDecide to #FishKing we get ready for the one event that'll keep Florida's population safe(ish) & indoors for 4 hours this week.
It's finally happened. We go in deep into Colorado, a state that's acting as weird as its weather. Of note: One of the worst run campaigns for a major mayor's race in the country, a Senate primary with 12 candidates, and both the Democratic Governor and Senator running for President by targeting the same people.
We promise you'll laugh, and even if we disappoint it's still less than half as long as the series finale of Game of Thrones. (One of us is still bitter, and it's not Will.)
Somewhere a CNN executive is holding out hope for one candidate to announce so they can just run a whole day of programming. We'll talk about whether these town halls are a good idea and whether going on FOX is a good life choice for candidates.
But first we fear for women after AL, GA, OH (and later MO) pass antichoice-laws to govern their bodies and we fear for humanity as we adopt war footing towards Iran.
A little Presidential primary talk (yeah 18 months ish out!) along with pondering the deadline for incrementalist policies to actually work has passed, but can big policies pass the Congress?
A catch-22 for a long overdue podcast.
IT'S OK YOU CAN LEAVE THE FETAL POSITION NOW.
Fact Check Dave keeps Will in line as they discuss Democrats winning back the House, the navigation of a tough Senate map, gubernatorial races and more.
It's here. Early vote has begun. You know how we said it'd be a good year for Democrats but maybe not a great year? Facts.
So panic stations everyone. (Aka sign up for a canvass shift!)
We talk key races we're watching across the country, can we trust in the Midwest and how we're staying (relatively) sane.
Franco finally gave in and we talk some Colorado politics -- more than you want to know about the state senate, the Gubernatorial Election, and what happens when #WinterIsComing. We also talk about the Arizona and Florida primaries, John McCain's passing, Ted Cruz being a reptile and more.
After covering things at Netroots Nation in New Orleans, Ryan and Franco discuss the premier progressive convention in depth. (Shout outs to Kaili Lambe for helping us cover events & Mary Rickles Conley for allowing us to attend again.)
At 9:45 we pivot to MN politics -- it's not a flyover state! They just had an exciting primary election. After that we cover the NY State Legislature at 17:25 and WA state legislature at 21:38.
Ryan then brought up Florida's state legislature at 23:32 and Franco wouldn't stop talking about it. At 27:47 he tells us the gubernatorial candidate he's voting for and at 32 minutes he does it for FL-27.
At 35:35 they talk about AZ-02 and then there's a quick wrap up.
World Cup Fever hits the pod, as do various soccer ailments but it's ok because we're #InOurPrime. We talk US Senate landscape, NY-14 where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (yes Will, there's an i in her name...) shocks Joe Crowley and we cross talk about soccer and how it shows the need for liberal communitarian nationalism.
If those words didn't make sense, it's ok. They soon will.
Will's back on the podcast so we had to get weird.Here's what's up with today's show:
4:45 : IL-03 and what we can learn from Illinois
13:00 Stormy Daniels
21:10 New Budget Deal
25:00 Quick conversation around March for Our Lives and banning bump stocks.
Don't forget to tweet us at twitter.com/dempartypodcast to #WelcomeBackWill!
We start by talking about Parkland between two South Florida natives, then move on talking about Donald Trump's administration and Betsy DeVos (11:05) then talk a little about PA-18 (17:45) and wrap up by making an endorsement (21:10).
For those loyal folks out there: We're back! We talk about the shitdown (or shutdown, depending on your keyboard) and how Se. Schumer screwed things up, then we pivot to Russia like a desperate Republican campaign and we finish by talking about this years elections.
We talk about the recent victories on health care and in Florida around an important State Senate election -- congrats to Annette Taddeo. We chat about movies, concerts, learning languages and we teach you how to avoid going to jail while recommending some folks go to jail. Lock them up!
Plus a fun chat on whether Trump is a rationale actor in general. I think you can guess what we think after his taking on the NFL.
The pod tries to make sense of a political situation where the President lacks a moral compass and where the Republican party comes to grip with the racist undertones they've fanned for decades.
We also talk about how the Democratic Party should deal with candidates who are anti-choice and Netroots Nation 17.
We celebrate another [probably temporary] victory, this one more dramatic than the last thanks to Sens. Collins, Murkowski & McCain. Franco teaches Ryan how to say "Reince" while the Mooch is brought on to give America the worst visual we've seen in years. We discuss what a change in Chief of Staff could mean in the day to day of this White House.
Before playing this podcast, please give this Cranberries tune a whirl.
Sunday night it seemed as though Trumpcare was dead. Then repeal seemed dead on Tuesday. By Wednesday, Senators were meeting around Trumpcare again. We finally recorded knowing that we know nothing a la Jon Snow. But we can't imagine a bill with 32 million uninsured is going to be more popular.
We learn that Nevada is that friend that shows up to your 7 PM party at 11 PM and California is your friend who goes to the counter and realizes it left it's wallet at home.
We wrap up on the GA-06 race from last week. We beat down bad ideas around Nancy Pelosi and then move on to Trumpcare. It's a comprehensive pod!
Let's talk about the sixth, baby.
Georgia's sixth congressional district is a heavily Republican leaning district. Yet, it's now the most expensive race in the history of our country and being presented as a make or break for the Democratic Party in the aftermath of the Trumpocalypse.
We talk with Nse Ufot, the wonderful Executive Director of the New Georgia Project who has been working day and night to turn key groups out and remake the electorate. She teaches us why this district is a microcosm of Georgia, a state that she explains is very competitive and challenges our perception of. Then she gives us the feel for what's happening on the ground in this district that carries the hopes of the Resistance.
As Comey prepares to testify and comes out of his quantum of solace. We discuss the potential damage and results from his testimony. Or will it be non-explosive a turn out to give Trump the opportunity to die another day.
This pod goes deep into talking about activism with Kaili Lambe who recently helped lead the People's Climate March of Colorado and has been diligently working with Together We Will in Colorado. What has gone well? What are the challenges? How do we respond to diversity and social differences?
We also spend (32:04) some time with the wonderful Arielle Swernoff, the Executive Director of LaunchProgress who's organization has undertaken the slow, grinding but crucial work of building a bench and long game in places like North Carolina, Ohio and Michigan.
We move away from all things Trump for an episode to talk with author Dan Ancona about his new book Venus Shrugged. Dan is a long time leader in the progressive movement, always imagining what a better country looks like and what technology and California can do to get us to that place. His new book meets the intersection of politics, race, sexuality and a vision for what the country could look like if progressives win.
Now go get the book!
We knew that Trump believed being President was harder than anticipated, but it doesn't help when you take stupid actions. Trump's 2016 campaign homie, James Comey, the head of the FBI and the man investigating Trump and his ties to Russia has been fired by...Trump. And with every hour that goes by the story gets worse.
It's all been said before but we're just going to repeat it because maybe if we say it three times, we'll wake up and things will be better.
Plus there's a funny story about a 5th grader.
Yeah, it's 100 days. Not years. It just feels that way. We dig in on what has worked for our nations first Orange President so far as well as why he seems to be top of the mind at all times.
It's also been 100 days of #Resistance. With no end in sight, we discuss what IS the resistance, what is it doing well and where can it still improve (hint:data). It's a fast paced pod that hopes the odds are ever in your favor.
We introduce a new format for the pod with Beth Clayton breaking down Alabama politics. Alabama has been at the center of a political earthquake: All three branches of government have overseen a removal of their leadership in the 15 months. The Governor has resigned, the House Speaker was removed due to felony convictions and the Chief Justice for the Supreme Court was suspended.
So what's next? How do you move forward in a state where there is single party rule and that party has been corrupted?
Let us know your thoughts on this or the new podcast format on Twitter or Facebook!
Snatching defeat from the jaws of likely victory, the nightmarishly incompetent duo of Donald Trump and Paul Ryan didn't even put a bill up to vote and were humiliated. Yes, this victory for Democrats was unexpected and keeps millions of people insured. We talk about how the Greedy Old Party thankfully failed with their Frankenstein bill and what the implications of that failure are. We look ahead to the next items on the GOP agenda, an important race in Georgia and explore the Maryland and Colorado's governor races.
There's no medicine like no medicine according to the #GOP. We talk about the pre-existing conditions that Republicans have set for their legislation, what its impact will be and how to push back. We make a tough decision on GOPutz of the week and we look at the Strange ongoings in Alabama where single party rule is in full effect.
No envelopes needed and no bad last second Steve Harvey jokes required -- Thomas Perez is the first latino leader of the Democratic Party. We talk about what that means for the party, what we think his leadership will look like, why he won and why some groups on the left overvalued and overplayed the impact of this election.
We also talk briefly about some important ongoings in California, Ohio and NY and enjoy Franco getting his Senators wrong in Indiana.
P.S. Go watch 'Moonlight', it's fantastic.
It's been 10 days since he was inaugurated and yet, we're already looking around and wondering what the heck else is next after he's managed to piss off a gender, long time allies and made airports into places of protest. We talk about the immediate successes of #Resistance, how to not burnout, and look in awe at hundreds of thousands of women and allies across the country saying hell no to his agenda. We cover his executive orders, which were about as well planned as a Wile E Coyote trap.
Find out what else the darned GOP is doing, who's standing up to them, and crown a new #GOPutzOfTheWeek. Oh yeah and there's Nazi punching.
P.S. Colorado folks please sign this petition for Sen. Cory Gardner to do his job.
We're thrilled to be joined by Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown this week, as she launches her bid to be DNC Chair during a week where Will needed to be reminded that rebellions are built on hope.
We talk about the Electoral College (3:05), explain why our Big Number of the Week is 66% (7:10), have updates on the DNC Chair race (9:14) then hear from Sally on why she's running and her plans for the party. (15:00) We have our initial Scoop! where we tell you what news happened this week that will have a long lasting effect (36:10), announce our GOPutz of the week (43:01) and say goodbye to 2016 (45:24)
Check us out on Twitter or Facebook if that's your cup of tea. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes and we'll see you in 2017.
We went from West to East on this pod. We start off with our BIG number of the week, North Carolina and the DNC race then hear from a first time campaign manager in Michigan on what went wrong. We continue our tour of sadness by hearing from Appalachia via North Carolina and what steps the party can take to be competitive again in this desperate terrain. We talk a lot about the basis of Trumps vote and experiences based off this article.
Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes.
This is the second half of the audio from the DNC Chair's race forum in Denver. Included are questions about African-Americans, women and the candidates making a pitch about their track records.
Let us know your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook on who you prefer as Chair and don't forget to subscribe on iTunes. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming later this week!
This is the first of a two part pod special recorded live on site at the Colorado Convention Center during the Association of State Democratic Chairs. The Future of the Party Forum featured candidates running to be the next DNC Chair.
The following candidates attended the forum:
- Ray Buckley, Chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party
- Keith Ellison, Congressman from Minnesota’s 5th District
- Jamie Harrison, Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party
Also, Howard Dean, Former DNC Chair and Former Governor of Vermont led with a special video message whose audio we've included. There is some typing/coughing that you can overhear at times during the recording, which we blame on the reporters sitting near us, we hope you'll forgive the noise that was happening in the room.
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook! We'll have the 2nd half of this forum out soon.
It's the second part of our panel discussion. We will not be talking about the DNC Chair in this podcast, but we do reach out to young folks, talk about cooperation with the Trump Administration, and we look at some of the early hires. We also bring back our GOPutz of the week which some of you were clamoring for, btw we gave you two different folks for the award this week!
Make sure you join tell us what you think on Twitter and Facebook and send us questions to partyfaithfulpodcast@gmail.com.
It's a Mega-Pod with a panel that grapples- as many on the left have- with what is to come and what led us there
Our predictions were just slightly off in only all of the key states as America decided to elect an unexperienced man to the Presidency, shredding apart centuries of decorum and progress along the way. We discuss how this happened, why none of us saw it happening and where Dems need to go from here. We have a full panel with us on a sweeping and broad ranging conversation.
On the plus side we look forward to a whole cottage industry based around "don't blame me I voted for Hillary" driving the economy for 4 years.
This is it! The pod that's meant to be heard only during non-voter contact hours. We predict the Senate and who will be the 45th President of the United States. Will they have a y chromosome? That's the $7 billion question. We begin with the Senate at 7:56, then at 24:33 we look at the swing states for the Presidential race. Around 45 minutes we talk interesting ballot questions.
With just a long weekend to go- we beg you- go vote, make some calls or knock some doors. Let's save America these last few days.
P.S. this is the Washington Post story we referred to in the pod.
2 weeks out from the end to an election that has seemingly taken as long to finish as the Cubs title winning curse. While "Believeland" celebrates one title and another potential one, we talk about the "swing" US Senate races and where the Presidential race is at. Check out our website with a sparkling counter til the end of this cycle and don't forget to follow us on twitter. Although, we're pretty unlikely to be up at 3 AM starting flame wars. Just sayin'
We've been busy saving Colorado, Florida and America from crap Republicans so we haven't had a chance to properly pod or talk in a bit. The result was that we recorded a phone conversation and the quality of the recording is low, while the quality of the conversation is high.
We're calling this our experimental AM radio phase. We talk Presidential politics -- the First Debate, Alicia Machado & Taxes as well as preview the debate tonight. Cheers!
We're covering a lot of ground on the pod, from #TrumpsMagicalMexicanTour to #BagsOfDeplorables, from South Bend, Indiana juries to North Dakota sacred sites and even some Texan politics. Heck, Florida man even made some good decisions this week!
And the return of the ever popular GOPutz of the Week. Don't forget to leave us a rating on iTunes and subscribe so that our Apple overlords let more people know about our show! If only they hadn't gotten rid of the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 so you can listen to us...
17 pods in and you're #StillWithUs listeners! This week we delve deep into single issue organizations and some of their myopia, talk about #CoPolitics and look at some Democrat vs. Democrat dynamics. We also discuss "what the hell" black voters "have to lose by voting for Trump" as the orange man himself recently said.
We also shoutout #FactCheckDave and #ProducerVicky on this week's pod.
This week, we get concrete proof of the Trump campaign staffers listening to us and taking our advice (it's great advice, trust us) and we look at key Senate races. We also have the pleasure of talking to the Executive Director of PrideFund.org (7:56), a new organization that's working at the crossroads of the LGBT and gun violence prevention movement to #DisarmHate.
We catch up with Will who survived Philly, on basically no sleep. We discuss some of our favorite moments from there, but we also look at polling and the effect the convention had. We talk a little about GOP endorsements of Hillary and we cover how we'd deal with The Donald being our candidate.
Hold your tears audience, no Will for this podcast, but Ryan Donohue ably steps in! We covered a lot of ground, previewing the DNC, recapping the RNC and talking about Tim Kaine and his rollout at FIU in Miami. We chat a bit about some of the leaks and their results coming out of the Democratic National Committee as well
We didn't time it so the thirteenth pod was about the RNC, but we're staying indoors to avoid black cats and not going anywhere near a mirror. Unlike Donald Trump we assume...we're not yet done with the RNC but we explore plagiarism from Trump's family and the catastrophe from night 1 and 2 at the convention. Speaking of catastrophic, the final branch in Alabama to fall into disrepair is discussed and we also talk a little about Mike Pence and the potential Hillary Clinton VP.
We'll have more from Netroots Nation and the last two nights of the RNC soon, in the mean time, enjoy this picture of four people who are likely to need some major therapy in the near future.
This weeks podcast is a little longer. We chat a little on the shootings of #AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile as well as #Dallas. We summarized our thoughts on #Brexit. We chat with Kaili Lambe from @Ultraviolet around sexual assault and the #StanfordRape Case as they seek to #RemoveJudgePersky and finally, we talk about Donald Trump's very strange operation and his Game of Thrones-style campaign leadership.
It only feels like 1996 was the last time we podcasted. There are a few major revelations in our pod. No major alien technologies but we talk about Vice President Joe Biden, the X Factor to 2016 that never came to fruition, we cover the AZ, CO, FL Senate races. And we had to talk about what we learned from the Presidential primaries.
It's a quick pod and time will fly by. Crummy level satisfaction guaranteed.
KEEP CALM AND POD ON.
That's what we did this week while the Republican Party welcomed their new, orange overlord. It seems as if no one actually thought it would happen, until it did. What does this mean for the Republican Party? Why was John Kasich still in the race? What's the Hillary camp's response? We talk about all that AND we have a GOPutz of the Month. Thanks Kansas, you're at least good for electing horrible people.
Meanwhile Will wants you to read about this. Or this. Or this. Or this. And especially this. You might even say the Geek Awakened.
It's a great pod presented by Boulder Strategies, with a semi-healthy Will and a rock star in David Nir.
We begin by talking about race and progressives. We believe in fairness as a core principle of the Democratic Party, in equality, but do we actually practice what we preach? (2:17) Then we pick the brain of one of the smartest people in progressive politics and ask some listener questions to David Nir, the Political Director at Daily Kos. (16:05)
We wrap up by recapping NY and making predictions for next weeks presidential elections. (45:37) Thanks again to Boulder Strategies!
The Republicans turn on each other and we have numbers to back it up. A listener's question is addressed at the top and then Beth Clayton talks about the impeachment of a Governor that was unveiled due to a sex scandal. Don't worry, we have NY predictions included at the end as well.
It's enough to make Olivia Pope herself listen.
We're back in your earbuds (or car speakers). It's been a quiet time electorally, although not so much on the Trump talking front. We look at California politics after they passed a $15 minimum wage, regulate "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" and more. We also look at what the Trump effect will be on US Senate and House races and Will tries to figure out, what exactly would happen if delegates were given out differently.
This weeks elections gave us a lot of clarity for both parties. Marco Rubio, absentee Senator from Florida, & recent Republican Golden Boy is gone. Meanwhile Sec. Clinton all but locks down the (D) nomination.
But about this pod:
We argue with a couple of listeners at the start, then talk Super Duper Tuesday Results on the Democratic side (10:10). We chat with the fantastic former Southeast Regional Representative for the US Secretary of Labor, Millie Herrera. (19:22) After a couple of good laughs, we analyze the GOP results (44:02) and wrap up with results in OH-Sen and IL-10.
This week in (D)emocratic politics...we recap the election results (2:45) and have a great discussion on what some of the root causes for our party and what it hopes to achieve. We strongly recommend you read this piece as well! Once we're done bickering with each other, we deep dive into Missouri's politics at the state legislative level and its political culture (26:05) before I jib jab about some surprises from the Kentucky state house (30:45). We close by talking about important US Senate races (34:45) including the best email from a Senate race this cycle.
We start by fixing a mistake we made last pod. It’s not the first time Republicans have done something undemocratic and it certainly won’t be the last but it led to a goof up on our end.
Then we talk about our Caucus/Primary experiences, yours, and what it all means! Speaking of voting across the country, our guest this week is the wonderful Beth Clayton from Alabama. She’ll tell us what it’s like to be a Democrat in a deep red state, how the party is working to overcome some major barriers and Donald Drumpf.
For our Campaign Geek Segment of the Week we’ll talk about Will’s favorite part of politics: The dark arts of opposition research. We’ll give you a few pointers and talk about our favorite/most terrifying dirt we’ve uncovered.
We wrap by awarding the GOPutz of the week award. It. Is. Amazingly. Well. Deserved.
Time to play The Rains of Castamere as Jeb! Bush finally calls it quits and the House of Bush falls. Will is forced to move on from mocking Jeb! We talk about Nevada politics with Ryan Donohue and Harry Reid, the One Eyed Kingmaker of NV. Will talks about the Colorado Senate race on the GOP side and we make a LOT of predictions that ultimately leads us to this: The Donald is going to become The GOP Nominee. We award a new GOPutz of the Week to a terrible Attorney General.
Join us for this large, but fun pod!
Will and I are joined by NH loving Kaili Lambe in the pod this week, and it's quite the doozy since we've got two weeks to catch up on. We talk about Marco Rubio 3000's meltdown both at the debate and after. We talk about New Hampshire results and whether they should be allowed to continue exerting this much influence on the Presidential level.
We cover the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and it's political ramifications, even though theBoston Globe will hate us for it. Hunter S. Thompson might disagree with them, points out Will. And he continues his deeply rooted mocking of Jeb Bush. In the hotly contested GOPutz of the week trophy, there was a clear winner. And we mean clear winner.
For our follow up Pod, we spent an hour covering the madness of the Iowa caucuses and the aftermath. And it was actually a "we" with Will Andras joining.
We have a clip of the amazing/awful Huckabee cover of Adele's "Hello", we talk about the Dunbar number and fundraising for smaller campaigns, cover the CO & FL legislatures which are taking two very different approaches. We cover Anne Frank's stepsister comparing The Donald to Hitler and talk about the Ted Cruz Mailer controversy.
All this and more on a long, but fun pod.
In our initial podcast, I cover why I started the podcast, talk about the 2014 elections' Latino turnout and the potential impact on the 2016 race. I hand out a very important prize for a Republican and then plead for your feedback on what you want the show to be more like.
Come along for the crawling before we walk portion of the podcast!