Bipodisan

Steve Krupin, a former Obama speechwriter, picks the best tributes from the memorial service for Mary Kate’s former boss, the late President George H.W. Bush. Then Steve sits down with Kirsten Hughes, the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, and Ethan Corson, the executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, to talk about what it’s like to be outnumbered in their states, how they won governor’s races anyway, and what those victories teach us about the truism that all politics is local.

Mary Kate continues her conversations on what Congress and the press can do to help end partisan gridlock — with former WH legislative affairs directors Dan Meyer (Bush 43) and Marc Short (Trump); former Democratic Congressman LF Payne; and Politico Playbook’s Daniel Lippman, and NPR’s Ron Elving. Plenty of real-life ideas for improving the atmosphere in DC — from campaign messaging for 2020, writing headlines and tweeting, setting the incoming Congress’s agenda, bringing back earmarks, even deciding where to eat lunch on Capitol Hill. Smart ideas from insiders who know.

In a Bipodisan two-fer, Mary Kate interviews VIPs interested in ending partisan gridlock at a Miller Center conference at the unexpectedly hip home of James Madison. Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin outlines the decline of political parties and rise of ideological “rock stars.” She argues that the loss of pay-as-you-go rules is driving polarization, and gives her prediction for the first bill to be introduced in the new Democratic House. Then UVA Professor Jennifer Lawless and Hoover Institution Fellow and Stanford Professor David Brady talk about surprising polling on whom you’d want your child to marry, and whether there’s room for a third party in America. The three discuss current ideas for reform: redistricting, ranked voting primaries, open primaries, and bringing back earmarks. Plus a favorite clip from SNL. Stay tuned for even more great ideas next week.

Mary Kate and Steve Krupin, a former Obama speechwriter, tell fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from past election nights as former campaign staffers. The two writers forgo any sort of “quant” election analysis and instead review the President’s wild ride of a press conference the morning after the midterms; give their take on the biggest election results; and finally, share a few of the most inspiring — and most ridiculous — campaign ads of the midterms.

Mary Kate is joined by Steve Krupin, former speechwriter for President Obama, for a smart discussion about this week's attempted bombings and the blazing-hot political rhetoric leading up to the midterms. After jumping from Cicero to Nixon to Trump, the two move on to interview Stephen Hawkins of More in Common, which just published a report on tribalism in America. Learn about the seven tribes in American politics and why the largest one — the Exhausted Majority — is afraid to speak freely. Hear Hawkins’ take on his favorite hidden gem in the report, before all three swap ideas for lowering the heat in politics these days — from tech companies to nonprofits to parents. Plus what’s making Steve and Mary Kate hopeful in an especially difficult week.

Chris Lu (Mary Kate’s fellow Senior Fellow at the Miller Center and a big cheese in the Obama Administration) joins Bipodisan this week in a special Hurricane edition from Chatter Bar. The two analyze the President’s “A++” and “unsung success” tweets, his remarks on 9/11, and their four-legged tip for personalizing the First Family. Then the two interview Elise Bean and Justin Rood of the bipartisan Oversight Boot Camp on Capitol Hill, which trains staffers from both parties in both the House and Senate to run committee investigations to be something other than Partisan Witch Hunts between the two parties. Plus, the bromance between 44 and Senator Coburn, happy hours for staffers, and fake scandals.  

Kyle O’Connor, former speechwriter for President Obama, joins Mary Kate this week to share stories about what it’s like to be young speechwriters at the White House, and which college experience — other than drinking heavily — best prepared them for the job. The two compare watching the McCain funeral on YouTube (Kyle) and in audience at the National Cathedral (Mary Kate), pick their favorite eulogies, and analyze the opening statements at the Kavanaugh hearings. Spoiler alert: like everyone else in Washington, they deny writing the anonymous New York Times Op-Ed. Unlike everyone else in Washington, they have some interesting takes on the whodunnit.

Bipodisan heads to the campus of George Washington University this week, to hear from four former candidates for office from both sides of the aisle. All of them come from very different walks of life and are different ages — and all happen to be fascinating women. In front of a packed house, listen as they talk about what it was like to run for office, the obstacles they overcame, and some of the crazy comments they got from voters. Warning: listening might make you want to run for office, too.

Bill Antholis, longtime Charlottesville resident and head of UVA’s Miller Center, gives a first-hand account of being yards away from the racial and anti-semitic violence last summer, his views on removing the statues that have stood within blocks of his home, and what young people can learn from what’s known as A12, or August 12th, 2017. Has Charlottesville become a microcosm of the polarization throughout our society? And if so, what exactly does community resilience in Charlottesville — and in America — look like going forward? The answers lie in the kinds of conversations we all should be having with each other.

It’s August in Washington, and it seems all the D’s and R’s are on vacation. No worries: over at the bar at Chatter, Mary Kate sits down with her friend Jonathan Allen — not a partisan but a straight-down-the-middle ace reporter for NBC News — to hear what it was like to be in the room with President Trump, Kim Jung Un, Vladimir Putin, AND among the crowd at the Trump rally in Tampa. He also gives his straight take on Kavanaugh, the Koch brothers, and the midterms. Jon’s the co-author of a New York Times #1 best-seller about the 2016 race, and he offers up what 2020 presidential contenders on both sides of the aisle could learn about messaging, data analytics, and demographics in 2016. (See if you can guess the two words HRC thought would never come out of her mouth — but did.) Plus ending gridlock, and being hopeful.

Hear left and right discuss the hottest news — Justice Kennedy’s retirement, the travel ban, the Janus decision, the Red Hen Incident, and Maxine Waters’ heated rhetoric — all without yelling, screaming, slapping or punching? Bipodisan is the ONLY place to get a civil conversation on this week’s issues. Plus Mary Kate reports on the newest member of President Bush 41’s team, Jean talks about her fave new comedienne, and Paul relays a surprising story about a CNN reporter amidst a Trump rally.

On this week’s episode of Bipodisan, Paul, Jean, and Moe stay in the dugout at Chatter Bar and Grill and talk about the outrage machine’s reaction on both sides to the Trump-Kim handshake in Singapore, the argument for being hopeful on North Korea, and the scene from the baseball flick Bull Durham that best captures Donald Trump’s style (hint: it involves a bull). Meanwhile, Mary Kate heads to Nationals Stadium and steps up to the plate as a roving reporter, interviewing Members of Congress at the annual Congressional Baseball Game about how to have more civil conversations and build bipartisanship. Plus, why singing Capitol Hill cops, local political engagement, the World Cup, and a gracious moment from a high school pitcher are making us hopeful.

This week on Bipodisan, Moe is back, Paul is away and Mary Kate and Jean are crunchy. The gang of three finds bipartisan agreement on letting small-business owners bake cake, and on allowing the power of the marketplace – not the government – to send messages to merchants on culture or morality. Mary Kate then boldly leads the group to the “third rail” of politics: Social Security (and its insolvency). When it comes to entitlements, the hosts are worried – about the public purse and the leaders who control it. They wonder whether retiring Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz will run for president on a fiscally conservative platform of entitlement reform, and then discuss the pros and cons of non-traditional political candidates.

After an opening icebreaker of remembering the first films they saw in a movie theater — you’ll learn which co-host was shouting out Latin translations of “The Exorcist" during its second run and which one rode his bike nine miles to see Star Wars — Paul, Mary Kate and Jean dive into the immigration debate after getting reports from high school and college campuses from the interns. Then Jean poses a great question: is corporate America leading or reflecting public opinion? Between this week’s news on the NFL, Starbucks, and ABC’s “Roseanne” the three co-hosts - minus Moe for another week - agree to disagree on whether Corporate America is reaffirming or reacting to pop culture. But not before opining on whether Lebron or M.J. is the best ever, whether conservative kids should go to liberal colleges, and which of them should open a tea shop, a bar, and a bait and tackle operation. You might be surprised.  

Weighing in on the great Laurel v Yanny debate, Paul sides with Charles Barkley before he, Jean, and Mary Kate launch into a spirited discussion of the President’s Tweet-call to open a Justice Department investigation of the Justice Department investigation. The group then reflects on the life of former JFK, LBJ, and RFK speechwriting legend Dick Goodwin, other writers that inspired them to enter the profession (hint: one rhymes with "Meggy Roonan"), and the things they love and hate most about speechwriting.  Plus, in a special Royal Wedding edition of What’s Making Us Hopeful This Week, the Podners discuss the cellist, the sermon, and the transatlantic symbolism but, in Moe’s absence, fail to talk about the dress.