Iowa's living legend of polling, J. Ann Selzer, joins Sarah to listen to Iowa Republicans ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Ann discusses her polling, how she does her own focus groups, and how Republican voters are feeling about Donald Trump (good), and the rest of the candidates (lukewarm at best). Ann also discusses how Donald Trump's efforts in Iowa are MUCH better organized in 2024 than in 2016...which will matter in the sub-zero weather Iowa is expecting on caucus night....
Jan 13, 2024•45 min•Season 4Ep. 15
To mark the three-year anniversary of the January 6 attack, we're doing something we've never done before. We're digging deep into our archives to play focus group clips from January 2021, right after the attacks, and showing how the voters have changed three years on. show notes: Rep. Kinzinger's new book: Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country Rep. Kinzinger's organizations: Country First Country First Academy...
Jan 06, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Donald Trump has a huge lead in the Republican primaries...but Nikki Haley has managed to distinguish herself from the other afterthoughts in the field. GOP pollster Whit Ayres joins Sarah for the last episode of 2023 to recap the Republican presidential primary and chart out Nikki Haley's narrow path to the nomination. Hat-tip to Peter Hamby of Puck for the term ‘Haley Mary.’ https://puck.news/haley-mary/
Dec 16, 2023•48 min•Season 4Ep. 13
The economy isn't the best...but it could be a lot worse. And our guest thinks voters are catastrophizing too much about the state of things. Sarah's best friend Jonathan V. Last (JVL) joins the show to argue with voters who aren't there to argue back. show notes: Even Most Biden Voters Don’t See a Thriving Economy
Dec 09, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Democrats need young voters on-side to win in 2024...so how is Gen Z feeling about the future of the country, and their leaders? What do young progressives and conservatives think about each other? Peter Hamby of Puck News joins Sarah to check in with a cross-section of young voters. show notes Peter's: https://puck.news/biden-gen-z-and-the-illiberal-left/ https://puck.news/bidens-youth-serum-shortage/ The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman...
Dec 02, 2023•49 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Americans are more divided than they've been in a long time, and Sarah and our guest have heard a lot about that when they've done focus groups together this year. PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff joins Sarah for a special Thanksgiving episode to discuss how Americans are thinking of their political differences, and how we might move beyond them going into another contentious election year. show notes America at a Crossroads: What Iowa Republicans Are Thinking After Trump's Federal Indictment Iowa R...
Nov 23, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 10
It's been difficult to be Jewish in America since October 7, so we're listening to how Jewish voters are processing this moment, and how all Americans are reacting. Bill Kristol joins Sarah to break it all down.
Nov 18, 2023•51 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Ohio passed a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights this week. And the women we talked to in Ohio who voted for Sherrod Brown in 2018 and Donald Trump in 2020 showed us why. Elaine Godfrey of The Atlantic joins Sarah to talk about where the abortion issue is headed in 2024...and why Sarah thinks voters "have Donald Trump's number" on abortion. show notes: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/06/abortion-rights-issue-2024-election/674504/ https://www.theatlantic.com/pol...
Nov 11, 2023•47 min•Season 4Ep. 8
The Kentucky gubernatorial election is coming down to the wire, and a young, charismatic Democratic incumbent might have lessons for other Democrats in tough races. As luck would have it, we have our own charismatic red state Democrat to break it all down with Sarah and offer suggestions for fixing American politics: former Ohio Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Tim Ryan.
Nov 04, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 7
It seemed impossible that Donald Trump could ever make inroads with Hispanic voters, but in 2020, he did. And he could again in 2024. Ruy Teixeira— co-founder of The Liberal Patriot and co-author of the new book Where Have All the Democrats Gone— joins Sarah for a frank exchange of ideas about how Democrats can win back a community that might decide the 2024 election. show notes: Forthcoming book by Ruy and John Judis: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250877499/wherehaveallthedemocratsgone#:~:...
Oct 28, 2023•55 min•Season 4Ep. 6
No one wants a Trump-Biden rematch, but it looks like we're all stuck with it. Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter joins Sarah to talk about the onetime Biden voters who might vote for Trump again.
Oct 21, 2023•44 min•Season 4Ep. 5
A third-party group called No Labels might put Donald Trump back in the White House (whoops), and we have a label for that: dangerous. Matt Bennett of Third Way has been one of the leading voices against the No Labels effort. He joins Sarah to give listeners a rundown on No Labels' plans and to hear which voters are picking up what they're putting down. show notes: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/08/us/politics/biden-trump-third-parties-no-labels.html https://www.thirdway.org/memo/how-no-labels-...
Oct 14, 2023•49 min•Season 4Ep. 4
We hear four consistent themes from Democrats: water is wet, Joe Biden is old, Kamala Harris is invisible, and Democrats wish their party would fight a bit harder. But we have a guest with some ideas to fix it: Jen Psaki, former White House Press Secretary, and host of Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC joins Sarah to hear some critiques from voters that, as Jen says, Democrats need to hear.
Oct 07, 2023•53 min•Season 4Ep. 3
One of our focus group participants really prefers that the president be a man. And most of the Republican voters we talked to have only one man in mind: Donald Trump. The Bulwark 's own Tim Miller joins Sarah for part two of our season premiere to break down the sorry state of the non-Trump candidates in the Republican presidential primary. show notes: https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/there-are-two-gop-primaries-only-one-is-real?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2 https://plus.thebulwark.com...
Sep 30, 2023•55 min•Season 4Ep. 2
The Focus Group Podcast is BACK, and we're powering all the way through the 2024 election. For part one of our two-part season premiere, we're checking in on how Donald Trump's legal troubles have put his campaign on steroids. CNN's Jake Tapper joins Sarah to hear how much the voters care about Trump's mounting indictments (spoiler: they don't). They also discuss how the media should be covering a presidential nominee on trial, and Jake discusses his new book, All the Demons Are Here . show note...
Sep 23, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 1
The Focus Group Podcast is on hiatus for a few more weeks, but we've been doing focus groups this whole time. We've got a preview of what you're going to hear when we come back, and we're re-upping our conversation from March with Jane Coaston of The New York Times about our never-ending culture wars. Enjoy, and we'll see you soon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 29, 2023•1 hr 6 min
A year ago, Republican voters thought Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine were badasses. Now...Zelenskyy is just as bad as Putin. Tom Nichols, Professor Emeritus at the Naval War College and staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Sarah to listen to the voters' foreign policy takes. Tom is not impressed with the voters. show notes: Tom Nichols Atlantic piece: I Supported the Invasion of Iraq Tom Nichols book: Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy Pew Research Pol...
Mar 25, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 8
You've heard the terms "woke" and "cancel culture" for years now. No one seems to agree on what they mean, though — which is why our guest says the culture wars will keep morphing, and they'll go on forever. New York Times opinion writer Jane Coaston joins Sarah to hear how the focus groups respond to "wokeness," "cancel culture," and...schools and drag show bans. We promise, this is NOT the episode to miss. show notes Jane Coaston: The Debate Hugh Hefner Won and William Buckley Lost Survivor: H...
Mar 18, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Mike Pence seems to think that he's destined to be president. The evangelical Christians in our focus groups did NOT get the memo. McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic joins Sarah to talk about the future of social conservatism in the Republican Party and Mike Pence's 2024 prospects. show notes: "God's Plan for Mike Pence" by McKay Coppins https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/mckay-coppins/the-wilderness/9780316327466/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Mar 11, 2023•48 min
Marjorie Taylor Greene wants a national divorce. We don't, but we asked our focus groups about it anyway. New York Times opinion columnist David French (literally) wrote the book on a possible national divorce. He joins Sarah to talk about whether (and how) the United States holds together; and the task of rebuilding trust in our institutions. Show notes: Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation (by David French) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/opinion/fox-new...
Mar 04, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Voters that we talk to are iffy about Biden running for re-election given his age, but Republicans may have even larger challenges. Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs joins Sarah to talk Joe Biden, the Democratic base, and the bright future of the Democratic bench. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 25, 2023•57 min
The Republican establishment — and many Republican voters in our focus groups — think Ron DeSantis is the answer to their prayers that they can win in 2024. But Donald Trump has a say in this matter, and he's already offering up an early taste of the kind of attacks he's planning on DeSantis. Heads-up: Those attacks are likely to go lower. What are DeSantis' vulnerabilities as a candidate? Tara Palmeri of Puck News joins Sarah to listen to the focus groups and share some of her reporting from th...
Feb 18, 2023•43 min
Ready or not, it looks like Joe Biden is running for re-election. Our swing voters liked his State of the Union speech this week, but they've got concerns under the surface. Peter Baker, Chief White Correspondent for The New York Times, joins Sarah to listen to Trump-to-Biden voters and make a broader assessment of the Biden administration's political standing. show notes: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/us/politics/kamala-harris-vice-presidenct-legacy.html Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Feb 11, 2023•49 min
The Focus Group podcast is BACK, with a twist: We're releasing The Bulwark's first-ever poll of Republican primary voters where we're trying to figure out just how big the "Always Trump," "Maybe Trump," and "Never Trump" buckets are among Republican primary voters. For that, we brought in Republican pollster Whit Ayres, who joins Sarah to stack our poll results up against the focus groups we've done since the election. Links: Poll by The Bulwark and North Star Opinion Research of Republican Prim...
Feb 01, 2023•48 min
We're wrapping up this election cycle in Georgia with voters who voted for Herschel Walker in November — but aren't so sure about him going into the December 6 runoff. Atlanta Journal-Constitution political reporter Greg Bluestein joins Sarah for one last focus group in 2022. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefocusgroup.thebulwark.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoic...
Dec 03, 2022•44 min
The midterms have come and gone, and it turns out many of our focus groups were signs of things to come. Amy Walter, Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Political Report, joins Sarah for a look back at this year's groups. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefocusgroup.thebulwark.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 26, 2022•55 min
Donald Trump announced his 2024 campaign this week. Republican elites would love to move on from him, but will Republican voters? David Drucker , the author of In Trump's Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP, joins Sarah to listen to Trump voters from the past year and discuss whether they provide clues for how the 2024 Republican primary may unfold. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefocusgrou...
Nov 19, 2022•49 min
Sarah has a special message for Focus Group fans as we wait for the remaining election results. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefocusgroup.thebulwark.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 12, 2022•2 min
Instead of a focus group this week, Sarah sits down with four political super-nerds to get their read on Tuesday's election and beyond. She's joined by Jon Ralston to talk Nevada, Brahm Resnik — political reporter for Phoenix’s local NBC affiliate — to talk Arizona, along with Bill Kristol, and Gunner Ramer, the political director of the Republican Accountability PAC. Leave a comment, here . This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epi...
Nov 05, 2022•1 hr 10 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thefocusgroup.thebulwark.com John Fetterman had a bad night in the Pennsylvania Senate debate, and an even worse night in our focus group — though this group wasn't inclined to like him anyway. Legendary Democratic operative James Carville joins Sarah to break down the Pennsylvania Senate race, and James shares his thoughts on how the Democratic Party needs to shape up. The Focus Group podcast is now exclusively for Bulwark+ members. ...
Oct 29, 2022•15 min
