Oppo File

On July 12, 1984, Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale made history when he named Representative Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. The next day, New York lawyer Roy Cohn arrived in the offices of the Reagan re-election campaign. First of two parts.

Oppo research nearly ended Vice President Mike Pence’s political career before it began. Host Joseph Rodota interviews author and journalist Craig Ferhman and former congressional aide Billy Linville about Pence’s 1988 and 1990 congressional campaigns. 

Opposition research isn’t just a tool for understanding your opponent. It’s also a tool for understanding yourself.

Host Joseph Rodota interviews Chris Lyon, who wrote a “vulnerability study” on Rudy Giuliani in 1993. Nearly two decades later, Fred Smith solves a mystery.

Why do some campaigns wait for just the right moment to unveil their opposition research, while others decide to dump it all at once?

Host Joseph Rodota interviews Pat Dennis, Trump War Room Research Director at American Bridge 21st Century.

Gary Maloney was the first GOP opposition researcher to dig into the record of a rising star in Illinois politics, a young man named Barack Obama. In this bonus episode, Gary shares insights from that assignment – and an oppo researcher’s view of a now-infamous meeting that took place in Trump Tower in 2016. 

Heading into Labor Day weekend, host Joseph Rodota recaps the 2020 Democratic and Republican conventions. GOP oppo researcher Gary Maloney and press aide Jeff Nesbit describe the chaotic roll-out of George H.W. Bush’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. Dan Quayle. Democratic opposition researcher Shauna Daly leaps into action after Sen. John McCain selects a little-known governor as his running mate.

In 1988, George H.W. Bush overcame a 17-point deficit in the polls and won the election. In this bonus episode, journalist and author Tom Rosenstiel looks back at Bush’s campaign manager Lee Atwater – and why Donald Trump survived an avalanche of oppo in 2016.

Is oppo research stranger than fiction? Who killed Dr. Death? Joseph Rodota interviews author and journalist Tom Rosenstiel; speechwriter, business consultant and author Mark Davis; and Dr. Jonathan Cullick, professor of English at Northern Kentucky University.

Host Joseph Rodota interviews Sonia Van Meter, the managing partner of Stanford Campaigns, a Democratic opposition research firm based in Austin, TX. They cover interesting ground – and not just on Planet Earth.