Pro Politics with Zac McCrary
Political pollster Zac McCrary interviews interesting people who work in and around the political industry. Guests come from a multitude of backgrounds and specialties within the political industry, and span the partisan spectrum. This is not a podcast for partisan squabbling or punditry about the latest issue in DC - it is hearing directly from successful people in the industry...their stories, experiences, and advice. This is a podcast for anyone who works in politics, hopes to work in politics, or wants to get up close to see how things really work in the world of professional politics.
Episodes
166 episodes
Senator Mark Udall & A Life in Politics
Mark Udall, former Democratic US Senator and House member from Colorado, comes from the famed Udall family of the Mountain West - including his father, Congressman Mo Udall, and uncle, former Interior Secre...
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59:04
Caleb Smith on Working for 3 GOP House Speakers
Caleb Smith may be the only political operative who's worked for three consecutive US House Speakers. During over a decade on Capitol Hill, he worked with Speakers Boehner, Ryan, and McCarthy. In this con...
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1:02:18
2024 Digital Trends & Best Practices with Mark Jablonowski, President & CTO of DSPolitical
Mark Jablonowski is the President and Chief Tech Officer of DS Political - one of the leading digital ad firms for Democratic campaigns and p...
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47:47
Bryan Bennett, of Navigator Research, on Findings from Recent Polling of 4,000 Young Voters
Bryan Bennett is the Senior Director for Polling & Analytics at The Hub Project and a pollster for Navigator Research who recently spearheaded a
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59:54
Re-connecting with Election Analyst David Nir for the Launch of The Downballot
Catching up this week with return guest David Nir, who for over a decade has been an influential election analyst and the creator of Daily Kos Elections. Within the past week, David has moved his analysis to...
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1:09:48
Tucker Eskew, Political & Corporate Comms Expert
Communications expert Tucker Eskew has been a participant in some of the most seminal moments in American political history over the course of the past 30+ years...a protege of the famed Rep...
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1:04:26
Deep Inside the World of Political Donors with David Callahan
David Callahan is a prolific creator and thinker within Democratic politics. He helped start the progressive think tank Demos in the late 90s, founded the media outlet
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1:03:37
Lisa MacLean, Founder of Moxie Media - the First Female-Founded Political Direct Mail Firm
Lisa MacLean, founder of Moxie Media - the first female-founded political direct mail firm in the U.S - talks her path to politics...starting in St Louis and then Vassar, to impactful DC internships, m...
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45:48
Pro Politics Re-Release: Kinky Friedman from June 04, 2021
Kinky Friedman passed away yesterday, June 27 2024. This is a re-release of a Pro Politics Podcast episode with Kinky originally released Ju...
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34:52
Debbie Cox Bultan, CEO of NewDEAL, on 30+ Years Working in the Center-Left
Debbie Cox Bultan has been working in Democratic politics for more than 30 years, including more than a decade at the Democratic Leadership Council and then helping start NewDE...
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39:54
Congressman Mickey Edwards...From Conservative Insurgent to House Leadership to Nonpartisan Iconoclast
Mickey Edwards served 16 years in Congress, as the first Republican to represent his Oklahoma City-based district in almost 50 years. Prior to his time in the House, he'd already made a mark as a leader ...
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57:18
Heather Williams, President of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC)
Heather Williams is the President of the DLCC, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee - the party committee focused on state legislative races and chambers. In this conversation, Heather t...
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45:12
Remembering Political Innovator Hal Malchow, with Trish Hoppey & Rich Schlackman
Hal Malchow was the incredibly innovative Democratic direct mail and fundraising consultant, who passed away several weeks ago. His final chapter was chronicled by
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41:48
Matt Robison & Confessions of a Hill Chief of Staff
Matt Robison has worn many political hats, among them working in numerous positions across Capitol Hill - including serving as Chief of Staff for three members. He also managed the successfu...
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58:33
Talking Washington Books, with NYT Columnist Carlos Lozada...author of The Washington Book
Carlos Lozada is currently an Opinion columnist at The New York Times, after spending nearly 20 years at The Washington Post - where he earned the Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for criticism as Th...
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49:20
Whit Ayres & 30+ Years as a Top GOP Pollster
Whit Ayres, founder and president of North Star Opinion Research, has been a leading GOP pollster for more than 30 years. First a high school teacher then an academic, he cut his political teeth a...
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58:26
Larry Huynh & His Unconventional Path as a Digital Trailblazer
Larry Huynh is a Partner and founder of Trilogy Interactive, a trailblazing digital political firm. His path to politics is anything but typical...his family coming to the U.S. a...
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55:39
Chancellor & Congressman Kent Hance, the Best Storyteller in Texas
Kent Hance served 6 years in the House from West Texas, was Chair of the Texas Railroad Commission, and had an 8-year tenure as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System - ...
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43:55
What Morgan Searcy Learned from 200+ Interviews with First-Time Political Staffers
Morgan Searcy is a graphic designer whose work has supported some of the top brands in corporate America (Nike, MTV to name a few) and has also worked in campaigns for names like Warren and Ossoff. After ...
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37:24
Jim Margolis, Founding Partner of Democratic Media Firm GMMB
Jim Margolis, partner at GMMB media, is a pioneering Democratic media consultant who is featured in the new documentary, The Bigger Hammer, by filmmaker Keith Gaby that focuses on the messag...
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54:46
Pro Politics Podcast Update: New Episodes Coming Soon
Listen to a brief update about the Pro Politics Podcast, with the upshot that you should stay tuned for new episodes coming soon. For any feedback, feel free to drop me a line at mccrary.zachary(at)gmail.com. Thanks for listening.
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1:01
Mark Z. Barabak, L.A. Times Political Columnist, on the Changing Politics of the New West
Mark Barabak, the veteran political reporter and columnist for the L.A. Times, has just helmed a si...
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56:55
How Beshear Kept the Bluegrass State Blue, with Beshear '19/'23 Manager Eric Hyers
Eric Hyers, manager of both Andy Beshear's '19 and '23 gubernatorial races, goes deep on last week's election of Governor Beshear in Kentucky. Eric talks his initial theory of the ra...
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50:12
Author & Pollster Patrick Ruffini on His New Book, PARTY OF THE PEOPLE, & the Changing GOP Coalition
Patrick Ruffini, pollster at Echelon Strategies, returns to talk about his new book (released today, 11/7/23)
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52:07
Fred Grandy: From Hollywood to the Halls of Congress
Fred Grandy spent 8 years in the US House as a Republican from Northwest Iowa, but remains best known for the decade he spent playing the character Gopher on the iconic 70s/80s hit television show "The Love Boat". In this conversation, he talks...
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51:26