Ken Rudin's Political Junkie

With just days to go before they are evicted from majority status, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), released a scathing indictment of the CIA. Their report states that the agency used excessive and illegal tactics against detained terror suspects, covered up the brutality, misrepresented the intelligence from detainees, and kept much of their activities from officials of the Bush administration. Republicans, for the most part, have dismissed the committee's findings, calling it a partisan witch hunt. Josh Gerstein of Politico talks about the report and how neither President, Bush then or Obama now, comes off especially well. While the Senate committee was doing its thing, the House was putting the final touches on a one billion dollar spending bill that, in the end, would fund the government through the end of the 2015 fiscal year and ultimately end any threat of a government shutdown. Derek Wallbank of Bloomberg News brings us up to speed on the Continuing Resolution/Omnibus bill, dubbed the (delicious-sounding) CRomnibus, and what the 113th Congress has left on its plate before the session ends. Speaking of shutdowns, there is still the specter of the shutdown of the George Washington Bridge that may ultimately damage New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's hopes of getting the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. But a Democratic-led state legislative committee has failed -- so far -- to find any connection between the decision to close some traffic lanes of the bridge and the governor himself. But, as WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reports, the governor may not want to celebrate just yet, as other investigations are continuing. 16 years ago this week, the House Judiciary Committee voted to bring impeachment charges against President Clinton for lying and obstructing justice regarding his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. James Rogan, then a Republican member of the committee, remembers what he went through and what ultimately turned out to be a career-ending move. Republicans not only kept the governorship in Texas in last month's election, they also increased their control over the state legislature. Veronica Zaragovia of Austin's KUT reports what the legislature will be taking up in the new session -- from a Pop Tart gun bill to a constitutional amendment on religious freedom. Image via flickr user jeanne renee  

Republicans learned what they needed to do to score big electoral victories in 2014, and now it seems they've also learned that shutting down the government as a tactic against President Obama and the Democrats over funding the government may not be the best approach. Sarah Mimms, a congressional reporter for the National Journal, explains the new approach of GOP leaders Mitch McConnell (Senate) and John Boehner (House), who are apparently determined not to get sidetracked with a shutdown plan so they can present their agenda for the 114th Congress. While Congress is once again facing a deadline over the government funding bill, President Obama is once again trying to put out some fires over the issue of race; specifically, what to do in the wake of the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo. Juliet Eilperin, a White House correspondent for the Washington Post, discusses the options for the nation's first African-American president. And speaking of race, it was 12 years ago this week that Senate Republican leader Trent Lott made some comments at the 100th Birthday party for Sen. Strom Thurmond that ultimately forced him to leave the Senate GOP leadership. Senator Lott joins us to talk about his comments from 2002, reflect on his long career in Congress, and predict what the future holds for the incoming Majority Leader. The 2014 election season is almost, but not quite, over. There's a recount about to happen in a House race in Arizona. And on Saturday, Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, is in serious jeopardy of losing her seat to a Republican in a runoff. The last incumbent senator who lost his seat in a runoff -- Georgia Democrat Wyche Fowler, who was beaten in 1992 -- shares his memories of what happened back then. And William Mayer, a professor at Northeastern University, discusses the pros and cons of announcing for president well in advance of the election. Last week Jim Webb, the former Democratic senator from Virginia, formed a presidential exploratory committee. Mayer recalls some other "early bird" candidacies and how far they went. Image via flickr user John Sonderman El Mariachi (The Freak Fandango Orchestra) / CC BY-SA 3.0 stefsax / CC BY 2.5 Intersecting Lines (Cosmic Analog Ensemble) / CC BY 4.0 CRUZIN (Benedek) / CC BY 3.0 So Far So Close (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

Just weeks after his party took a historic drubbing in the midterm election, President Obama turned the tables on the Republicans and said he would use his executive powers to change the nation's immigration policy. He said he was forced to take that position after months and months of inaction in the Republican-led House. Lauren French of POLITICO reports that the GOP, who had been enjoying a post-election bounce, was pushed back on its heels, unsure of what course to take in response. Since you'll be filling up this Thanksgiving, the Political Junkie spent the rest of the program on lighter fare. Matt Viser of the Boston Globe explores the relationship between coffee and politics. Jules Witcover, the author of a new book on vice presidents, shares his anecdotes of some of the 47 men who became V.P. And Jack Ohman, the political cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee, talks about how he got into the business and who are his favorite victims, err, subjects. Finally, we go back to this week in 1993, when President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, named after James Brady, Ronald Reagan's press secretary, who was seriously wounded by a bullet to the head during the 1981 unsuccessful attempt on Reagan's life. And we remember Marion Barry, the former "Mayor for Life" of Washington, D.C., whose four terms in office were filled with promise, hope and optimism ... as well as cronyism, corruption and crack. Cartoon via Jack Ohman at the Sacramento Bee Le petit jardin (with Les Gauchers Orchestra) (Lee Maddeford) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Funk the Bullshit by T.H.E. on Soundcloud / CC BY 3.o unreal_dm / CC BY 2.5 Sulphur, Tobacco, and Whiskey (Waylon Thornton) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Ground Cayenne (The Good Lawdz) / CC BY-SA 3.0 Requiem for a Fish (The Freak Fandango Orchestra) / CC BY-SA 3.0 So Far So Close (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

The elections are over and now it's time for Congress to start governing. At least that's the plan for the lame-duck session, designed to take up issues the House and Senate failed to get to prior to October, when lawmakers left town to campaign. But aside from working on a spending bill and votes on the KeystoneXL pipeline -- which passed in the Republican-led House but filibustered in the Democratic-controlled Senate -- not much is expected. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post talks about what's at stake. We did mention that the elections are over, but we forgot about Louisiana. Jeremy Alford of LaPolitics.com sets up the Dec. 6 runoff between Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and her Republican opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy. And speaking of Louisiana, "This Week in Political History" travels back to 1991 and the state's gubernatorial runoff between Edwin Edwards and David Duke. Edwards, at the time a former three-term governor, and Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, waged a campaign that was closely covered by the national media. We talk to Gov. Edwards about the campaign, his role, and what his victory said about Louisiana. We also speak to the three finalists of our "Predict the Election Winners Contest." That isn't resolved yet either. Even though the Democrats suffered major losses on Nov. 4, they returned Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to their respective House and Senate leadership posts. Kate Hunter of Bloomberg News notes that for the most part, Democratic lawmakers place the blame for their poor showings this year on President Obama, not their own leaders. Finally, we remember Jane Byrne, the first and only female mayor of Chicago, who died last week. Marj Halperin, a veteran Democratic communications guru who covered Byrne as a radio reporter, talks about Byrne's rise to power and how she ultimately failed to hold onto her job four years later. Image via flickr user carterse

We know, for the most part, the winners and losers in the Nov. 4th elections. Now it's time to break down the results even more. While it was a great night for Republicans, and an awful one for Democrats, it was less clear of a message for women. In terms of party winners, female Republicans -- like their male counterparts -- did well. Joni Ernst in Iowa. Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia. Mia Love in Utah. For female Democrats, especially in some of those high profile gubernatorial races -- Mary Burke in Wisconsin, Wendy Davis in Texas, Martha Coakley in Massachusetts (and not to mention Sen. Kay Hagan in North Carolina) -- it got ugly. For Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, it was less about who won or who lost and more about the number of women ultimately elected. And for Walsh, it was a disappointment, given that women comprise 51% of the population and yet are woefully unrepresented in congressional and gubernatorial positions. One week after the elections and we still don't have all the races called. Alexandra Gutierrez of Alaska Public Media talks about her state's Senate race (which was just called on behalf of the Republican challenger) and gubernatorial contest (where the GOP incumbent is still trailing). And this just in: in our listing of still unsettled House races, we included New York 25. Since our show concluded, we can now report that Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat holding the seat since 1987, has been declared the winner. In our "This Week in Political History" feature, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu reminisces about when he was selected to become the White House chief of staff for the first President Bush in 1988. For some reporters who were covering the campaigns, their reaction was astonishment ... especially when some unlikely results came in. Steve Kraske of KCUR talked about the re-election of Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and Gov. Sam Brownback, Mario Moretto of the Bangor Daily News talked about Gov. Paul LePage getting re-elected in Maine, and Michael Pope of WAMU talked about the surprising races in Maryland and Virginia. And David Keene, a longtime conservative leader, remembers Phil Crane, whose victory in a special 1969 congressional election catapulted him to the forefront of conservative political thought. Crane who served in Congress 35 years until his defeat in 2004, died last Saturday at the age of 84. How Exciting (Revolution Void) / CC BY 3.0 The Great Break-off (The Insider) / CC BY-SA 3.0 David and Bathsheba (instrumental) (Silence Is Sexy) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Some Things Happen (Cosmic Analog Ensemble) / CC BY 4.0 CRUZIN (Benedek) / CC BY 3.0 Aces High (Kevin MacLeod) / CC BY 3.0 Somehows And Somewhats (Cosmic Analog Ensemble) / CC BY 4.0

Wow.  Who saw the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor coming?  Certainly not Cantor.  Or the nation's political establishment.  And not Greg Giroux, political reporter for Bloomberg News, who sat with Political Junkie host Ken Rudin and together they shook their heads at one of the more amazing primary upsets of recent times. We also hear from Kevin Broughton of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, who weighs in on the Cantor defeat, the victory of Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, and a look ahead to the June 24 Mississippi runoff between Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party challenger Chris McDaniel. If it was David Brat vs. Eric Cantor in Virginia, it was President Barack Obama vs. Senator Barack Obama on the issuing of presidential signing statements.  Sen. Obama was a strong critic of President Bush for issuing them; President Obama says they are part of the executive's arsenal.  Si Lazarus of the Constitutional Accountability Center and American Univ. prof. Chris Edelson talk about the constitutional question. It's not quite 2016 yet, but Des Moines Register pollster Ann Selzer shares with us her latest survey about attitudes regarding potential GOP presidential contenders.  And one potential Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton, launched her book tour this week.  Politico's Maggie Haberman paints the scene for us at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble bookstore. And in our "This Day in Political History" feature, we go back to June of 1996, when Majority Leader Bob Dole, about to officially become the GOP nominee to take on President Bill Clinton, gives a farewell speech to his beloved Senate, where he had served for nearly 30 years.  Dole's former chief of staff, Sheila Burke, and his ex-press secretary, Walt Riker, share their memories of the man from Kansas. Additional Credits Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Douglas Bell, Coordinating Producer and Webmaster Kristen Sorensen, Consultant Alex Drewenskus, Engineer spinningmerkaba / CC BY 3.0 New Year's Eve (Silence Is Sexy) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Strides (Jared C. Balogh) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 "Cut and Run" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Rey Izain / CC BY-NC 3.0 Alex / CC BY 3.0 Green Lights (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

It was the race the tea party wanted from the beginning.  And while they didn't completely accomplish their goal, they are thought to be on their way. In six-term Sen. Thad Cochran, tea party conservatives saw a politician from the old school, who spent a career fighting for earmarks and pork projects for Mississippi and who no longer had the fight in him to battle President Obama and the Democrats.  Their candidate in Tuesday's primary was state Sen. Chris McDaniel who, while not defeating Cochran outright, is in good shape to finish the job in the June 24 second round. The Mississippi race and other contests were among the Tuesday primary results that Washington Post political reporter Aaron Blake and Political Junkie host Ken Rudin opened up this week's episode with.  There was another key primary in Iowa, and Des Moines Register pollster Ann Selzer joined us to talk about Joni Ernst's victory in the Republican contest. And we also look ahead to next week's key primary:  South Carolina, where two-term Republican Lindsey Graham is also being targeted by tea party conservatives. But Graham's also drowned out the opposition with strong funding and has the advantage of not facing a leading GOP rival.  University of South Carolina Dean Charles Bierbauer talks about what's at stake in the Palmetto State. This week in political history brings us back to June of 1990, when Harvey Gantt, the former mayor of Charlotte, became the first black candidate in North Carolina history to win a statewide primary.  And his battle against his Republican opponent, conservative Sen. Jesse Helms, captivated political watchers from all over the country.  Howard Lee, a former Chapel Hill mayor and leading African-American politician in the Tar Heel State, and East Carolina University professor Thomas Eamon talk about what that campaign meant. Finally, the Obama administrations decision to release captured Taliban commanders in exchange for an American prisoner of war drew comparisons to the Reagan administration's arms-for-hostages deal with Iran in the 1980s.  Lou Cannon, the former Washington Post reporter and prolific Ronald Reagan biographer, compares and contrasts the two incidents. Additional Credits Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Douglas Bell, Coordinating Producer and Webmaster Kristen Sorensen, Consultant Alex Drewenskus, Engineer spinningmerkaba / CC BY 3.0 Bluemillenium / CC BY-NC 3.0 Rey Izain / CC BY-NC 3.0 Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) / CC BY-NC 3.0

With 8 states holding primaries on Tuesday, June 3, the Political Junkie focuses on California, where Jerry Brown is the odds-on favorite to win a fourth, non-consecutive term for governor.  KQED politics editor John Myers outlines the long path of Brown, who was first elected governor in 1974. He's seen his share of ups and downs in his decades in politics, but now it seems Brown's turned the Golden State's deficit around and has negated any serious Republican opposition. Host Ken Rudin also talks to Robert Barnes, who covers the Supreme Court for the Washington Post.  Barnes focuses on the desire by some liberals that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is 81 years old and a two-time cancer survivor, step down. That would allow President Obama to name a replacement now, while the Democrats still control the Senate. In "This Week in Political History", we go back 25 years to May of 1989, when House Speaker Jim Wright, caught in a campaign finance controversy, resigned his position -- the first Speaker in congressional history to do so in the middle of his term.  Former Rep. Martin Frost, a Texas Democrat like Wright, remembers the drama from those days. We also bring Jonathan Hove onto the show.  Last week he called up and wanted to know if there were any funeral directors or morticians who have ever run for office.  This week, he hears from Political Junkie listeners around the country who have the answer. And on a sad note, we note the passing of John Maginnis, the longtime brilliant analyst of Louisiana politics, who died over the weekend at the age of 66.  We talk to Jeremy Alford, Maginnis' business partner, who shares his grief.     Additional Credits Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Douglas Bell, Coordinating Producer and Webmaster Kristen Sorensen, Consultant Alex Drewenskus, Engineer Already There (No Vocals) (Josh Woodward) / CC BY 3.0 Every Waking Hour (Instrumental) (Robin Grey) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Out Of It (Brad Sucks) / CC BY-SA 3.0 Sulphur, Tobacco, and Whiskey (Waylon Thornton) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 American Life (instrumental) (Silence Is Sexy) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 California Republic (Håkan Dahlström) / CC BY 2.0

A solid primary Tuesday for the Republican Old Guard, and a perfect day for incumbents -- not one sitting member of Congress or governor went down, though several were thought to be endangered not long ago. The big primaries of the week were the Senate contests in Kentucky and Georgia. Al Cross of the Louisville Courier Journal talks about the Bluegrass State's GOP contest between Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader, and his tea party-backed opponent, businessman Matt Bevin. McConnell faces a potentially tough challenge in November from the Democratic secretary of state, Alison Lungergan Grimes. Democrats nominated another woman in Georgia: Michelle Nunn, a first-time candidate who is the daughter of former longtime senator Sam Nunn. But, as Emory University's Andra Gillespie points out, Nunn won't know the identity of her GOP opponent until July 22, when the top-two Republican vote-getters in Tuesday's primary, David Perdue and Jack Kingston, meet in a runoff. And then Jim Ellis, a Republican consultant, joins Political Junkie Ken Rudin in the studio to assess the primaries thus far, with a look ahead to Mississippi's crucial June 3 contest. There's still one more primary this month, and that comes next week in Texas. Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News reviews two Republican runoffs, one involving longtime Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and another with Ralph Hall, who at 91 years of age is the oldest member of Congress. One member of Congress who may not be facing a primary is John Conyers. The 84-year old Michigan Democrat, the longest serving black congressman in history, had most of his ballot petitions collected by someone who is not a registered voter ... which violates state law. Jerome Vaughn, the news director for radio station WDET, talks about his dilemma. Our "This Week in Political History" feature goes back to May of 1992, when Vice President Dan Quayle launched his attack on the fictional "Murphy Brown" television character because she had a child out of wedlock and didn't adhere to "family values." Columbia University's Todd Gitlin goes back in time with us and talks about Quayle's intent. And who says only the journalists and analysts belong on the Political Junkie? This week we reached out with a contest to see who would come closest to predicting seven key primaries from Tuesday's elections.  And the winner, Shirlina Mann of Ashburn, Va., talked about it all on the show! Additional Credits Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Douglas Bell, Coordinating Producer and Webmaster Kristen Sorensen, Consultant Alex Drewenskus, Engineer   Green Lights (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0 Forward (Northbound) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Faster Does It (Kevin MacLeod) / CC BY 3.0 Looking Black (Carb On Carb) / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 unreal_dm / CC BY-NC 3.0 Sweet Georgia Brown (Latché Swing) / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

It's going to be a long primary season.  So maybe we should decide right now that the strength and influence of the Tea Party should not be determined on a week-to-week basis. As Roseann Moring of the Omaha World-Herald reports, the landslide victory of first-time candidate Ben Sasse in the Nebraska GOP Senate primary was heralded as a big win for outside conservative groups battling the Republican establishment.  Add that to the win in the gubernatorial primary by Pete Ricketts, and what you got was a good day for tea. But not so fast, warns Jennifer Duffy.  Duffy, a senior editor at the Cook Political Report, tells Political Junkie host Ken Rudin that it's still early in the game, especially if you look ahead to next week's primaries -- in Kentucky, Georgia, Idaho and, perhaps, Oregon. And just in case you think it's only Republicans who are fighting each other, Mary Wilson of radio station WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., reports on the Democratic battle going on in the Keystone State to see who will take on Tom Corbett, a Republican who is perhaps the nation's most vulnerable governor. Also, what's a podcast without everyone's favorite topic, Benghazi?  Slate's Dave Weigel talks about the new special congressional committee to investigate what really happened in Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, and what the chairman, South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, brings to the table. Finally, in the "this week in political history," we remember the late Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois, who on this week in 1987 announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.  And what better person to talk about that campaign, and his legacy, than the current lieutenant governor of Illinois ... who just happens to be his daughter, Sheila Simon. Additional Credits Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Douglas Bell, Coordinating Producer and Webmaster Kristen Sorensen, Consultant Alex Drewenskus, Engineer Sunshine (Fanas) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Press Conference (Blanket Music) / CC BY-NC 3.0 I've Been Waiting For You (instrumental) (Silence Is Sexy) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

At long last, the 2014 primaries are here.  And everyone is watching the ongoing collision between establishment Republicans and Tea Party insurgents. Speaker John Boehner, no friend of the Tea Party, won handily in his Ohio district.  Thom Tillis, the establishment choice for the Senate in North Carolina, beat back his conservative opponents and won the nomination without being forced into a runoff. Raleigh News & Observer chief political writer Rob Christensen talks about the North Carolina results and what to look forward to in November. But Political Junkie host Ken Rudin also gets a reaction from Kevin Broughton, the national communications director of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund.  Broughton concedes that May 6 was not a great day for his cause, but he argues that the game is only in the first inning, with many more Tea Party favorable primaries to come in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Mississippi. And Benghazi is back.  The issue petered out in recent months only to resurface last week with the uncovering of some emails from a White House aide on advancing talking points.  Michael Crittenden, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, talks about the GOP's plans to establish a special committee to look into this, and Democrats' weariness over an issue they feel is nothing more than playing politics. And finally, we go back to May of 2010 to the Utah state Republican convention.  Sen. Bob Bennett, one of the nation's most conservative senators, was toppled by Tea Party opponents for some vote heresies.  Dan Harrie of the Salt Lake Tribune talks about Bennett's career and his successor in the Senate, Tea Party favorite Mike Lee.   Additional credits: Naked Street (Cosmic Analog Ensemble) / CC BY 4.0 Green Lights (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0 Dents de Fer (¡FLIST!) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

So how do you run your campaign in 2014 if you're a Democrat and your president's job approval numbers are not so good?  That's the question host Ken Rudin put to Democratic pollster and strategist Anna Greenberg in the latest installment of the Political Junkie.  Greenberg acknowledges the weak numbers, the disappointing foreign policy and the history of the party of the president's "six year itch."  But she also notes the poor numbers for Republicans in Congress and argues that issues such as pay equity and immigration overhaul are winning strategies for the Democrats in November. April showers are bringing May primaries.  And many of the primaries coming up this month -- in North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Georgia, for example -- illustrate the split in the GOP between tea party and establishment forces.  Bloomberg News' Derek Wallbank discusses the latest round of bad headlines for House Republicans -- the indictment of Rep. Michael Grimm (N.Y.) and the decision by the unfaithful Rep. Vance McAllister (La.) not to resign -- while the Raleigh News & Observer's Renee Schoof and retired Boise State University professor Jim Weatherby discuss hot primaries in North Carolina and Idaho, respectively. And this week in history goes back to May of 2009, when Supreme Court Justice David Souter announces his retirement.  Heather Gerken, a professor at Yale Law School and a former Souter clerk, shares her thoughts and reflections of Souter, who was appointed by a conservative president but who became one of the court's most liberal justices.   Additional credits: Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Douglas Bell, Coordinating Producer and Webmaster Kristen Sorensen, Consultant Alex Drewenskus, Engineer

In most cases, we know the difference between a good president and a bad one.  We re-elect the good ones and we send the bad ones packing.  But how do historians see them?  How does Harry Truman, for example, leave office with an anemic 23% approval rating and wind up as a "Near Great" president?  And if Truman can find himself so well regarded years after his presidency, is there hope for, say, George W. Bush?  Or even Richard Nixon? Robert Merry, a longtime journalist with the Wall Street Journal and Congressional Quarterly, is author of the book, "Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians," which rates all 43 presidents.  And he joined Political Junkie host Ken Rudin with his appraisals. Bill Richardson had one of the fullest resumes of anyone who ever ran for president: governor, House member, Cabinet secretary, UN Ambassador.  Now we can add one more thing to his resume:  Guest on the Political Junkie.  In our "this week in history" feature, Richardson remembers the first Democratic presidential debate of April 2007, and talks about the difficulty in getting noticed when heavyweights like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are also in the race. We close out the podcast by talking with Tamara Lush, an AP reporter in southwest Florida, about Tuesday's Republican primary in the state's 19th Congressional District to find a successor to Trey Radel, the incumbent who resigned in January following his arrest for buying cocaine from an undercover cop.   Additional credits: Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Kristen Sorensen, Associate Producer and Business Manager Douglas Bell, Web Producer and Videographer Alex Drewenskus, Engineer   The Great Break-off (The Insider) / CC BY-SA 3.0 Faster Does It (Kevin MacLeod) / CC BY 3.0 All Over The World (Boogie Belgique) / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Image Courtesy George Bush Presidential Library via Wikimedia Commons  

With the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act -- and with the revived reputation of President Lyndon Johnson -- comparisons between LBJ and Barack Obama are being made.  Johnson, who left office in 1969 with the cloud of Vietnam hanging over him, is remembered as a master tactician who, with huge Democratic majorities in Congress, pushed a slew of legislation through. But Obama doesn't have Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, he didn't earn his chops by being in a Senate leadership position, and he certainly has yet to establish a working relationship with his Republican opposition.  But the comparisons, for better or worse, have been made.  Lesley Clark, a reporter for the McClatchy Newspaper chain, and Texas A&M University professor George Edwards join Political Junkie host Ken Rudin to talk about two completely different eras in American politics. Then we head north to discuss how Maine Independent Sen. Angus King may be considering voting to organize the Senate with the Republicans if the GOP wins a majority in November. Maine Public Broadcasting reporter Mal Leary fills us in on that news, plus a look at the gubernatorial race where Tea Party Republican Paul LePage is seeking re-election. Once again, politics in Louisiana is making scandalous headlines.  This time it's freshman Rep. Vance McAllister, who was caught on a security camera passionately kissing a woman who is NOT his wife ... just months after he was elected to Congress on a "Christian way of life" platform.  We're joined by New Orleans Times Picayune reporter Bruce Alpert for that one. And finally, we travel back to 1995, when Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.  Lugar's candidacy was perhaps doomed from the start, but it certainly didn't help that he launched his bid on the day of the horrific tragedy of home-grown terrorism in Oklahoma City.   Additional credits: Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Kristen Sorensen, Associate Producer and Business Manager Douglas Bell, Web Producer and Videographer Alex Drewenskus, Engineer

The Supreme Court, in its McCutcheon v. FEC decision, has eliminated even more restrictions on the amount citizens can contribute to federal political campaigns.  Now, says SCOTUSBlog.com editor Amy Howe, the question is what is next to fall.  And North Carolina's got the most expensive Senate race in the country this year.  University of North Carolina professor Ferrel Guillory talks about how money is playing in the battle for Sen. Kay Hagan's seat. Then Thomas Rath, a longtime influential New Hampshire Republican, discusses the pros and cons of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush running for president.  Bush, who says he will make a decision by the end of the year, has plenty of both. And finally, "this week in history" goes back to April of 1990, when Ann Richards won the Democratic Party runoff for governor of Texas.  Originally a clear underdog, she capitalized on her opponents mistakes and her own charm to win the race.  Cathy Bonner, a close personal friend of Richards, remembers her late friend and her surprise come-from-behind victory.   Additional credits: Ken Rudin, Host and Executive Producer A.D. Quig, Producer and Editor Kristen Sorensen, Associate Producer and Business Manager Douglas Bell, Web Producer and Videographer Alex Drewenskus, Engineer