The Big Story

The conventional wisdom is that impeachment could imperil Democrats in 2020. But beware the conventional wisdom, and relying on dated data and small sample sets, like 1998's impeachment of President Bill Clinton. CQ Roll Call's elections analyst Nathan Gonzales joins the show to explains why he thinks things might be a little different for democrats today than they were for republicans in 1998. 

Joe Biden is among the most recognizable politicians. But even he was an upstart once. In 1972, he was just a 29-year old lawyer running an uphill race against a veteran senator. And, improbably, he won. Here's the story of that seminal campaign

Lobbying firms on K Street and trade associations used to be a sure bet for retiring members of Congress. Not anymore. Julian Ha, a recruiter on K Street and advisor of FiscalNote the company that owns CQ Roll Call, joins the podcast along with CQ Roll Call senior writer Kate Ackley to talk about the current state of lobbying positions for former lawmakers.

When voters in North Carolina's 9th district vote in the Sept. 10 special election, the 2018 election cycle will finally conclude. Democrat Dan McCready is making it a competitive race against Republican Dan Bishop in a GOP district. Why? Simone Pathe and Nathan Gonzales explain.

How do you plan for the unplanned? That was the challenge for advance teams paving the way for the recent G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, and for President Donald Trump’s upcoming trip to Poland and, until recently, Denmark. That includes CQ Roll Call White House Correspondent John Bennett, who helped plan press logistics for the trips, and was as surprised as anyone at the way things worked out.

Politicians and pundits are fond of saying that Washington has never been more polarized and that the Senate in particular may never recover from hyper-partisanship and rule-bending. But it is assistant Senate historian Daniel S. Holt's job to remind us all that Senate disputes could result in pistols at dawn instead of dueling tweets. 

For all its quaintness and fun, the Iowa State Fair does a pretty good job of approximating politics at the national level, be it questions about electability and charisma or trade and agricultural policy. Political Theater also gives our hits and misses, surprises and letdowns, of our time in Iowa.

Iowa plays a big role in presidential politics because of its first in the nation caucuses. Even by that standard, though, this time around feels busier, and the Iowa State Fair has been flooded with candidates for offices from the presidency on down. We talked to David Redlawsk, a political psychologist who is spending his ENTIRE sabbatical in Iowa, about why this is all happening.

Yes, there are lot of politicians who attend the Iowa State Fair to court voters. But there is so much else to this unique event, from the almost 70 fried foods on a stick, to giant slides, sea lions, butter cows and butter Big Birds; even arm wrestling. A day in the life of the Iowa State Fair with Political Theater. 

Political Theater is heading to the Iowa State Fair to check out how the 2020 races for president, Senate and four competitive House races are shaping up in this bellwether state. Why Iowa? Because that's where the candidates are! Here’s what we’ll be looking for in our trip to the Midwest, including what fried foods on a stick we might eat.

How do you make a story about data interesting? That was the challenge of documentary The Great Hack. Filmmaker Karim Amer discusses the challenges and human tragedies behind chronicling the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The Mueller Report might animate members of Congress and political operatives, but when it comes to drawing people to the bar in D.C., it's no contest: They'd rather be watching The Bachelorette.

Harry Reid might have retired from the Senate in 2017 and started battling cancer in 2018, but the former Democratic leader doesn’t seem to be the retiring type, especially when it comes to Nevada politics. “I’m a political junkie to say the least,” he tells CQ Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski in a wide-ranging interview in Las Vegas that we've excerpted for this edition of the Political Theater Podcast.

The new film “Mike Wallace is Here,” shows how legendary journalist Mike Wallace shaped modern journalism and politics. But this world is one where journalists are in danger and their credibility is in question. What happened? Director Avi Belkin discusses the arc of Wallace’s career, and where things started to shift.

A North Carolina House race is dividing the GOP in Washington, D.C., reports CQ Roll Call's senior political reporter Simone Pathé. And Clyde McCrady talks about the emotional House hearing on reparations and why it was a significant moment in U.S. history.

As the Senate starts to debate one of the most consequential policy bills, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the chairman of the committee that is managing the Pentagon policy bill, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma,  talks to Political Theater about working with Democrats, throws shade on some lawmakers on his committee and provides his take on Iran.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is a successful politician without being a typical one. He's proudly uncharismatic, relatively unpopular in his home state of Kentucky and embraces his self-styled role as the Grim Reaper of legislation. So why does he keep winning? In this episode, senior Senate reporter Niels Lesniewski explains how McConnell uses his negatives to win.