Eye on Congress:The Big Story

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not shy about using his namesake McConnell Center at the University of Louisville as a platform for showcasing his allies, adversaries and his own ability to steer the national conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 It is tempting to read into 2019's off-year elections for clues into next year’s big political brouhaha. Since President Donald Trump campaigned in many of this year's races, some key data points have emerged: a growing rural-suburban partisan divide and the president's tendency to make things about himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new movie "The Report" turns to real life to create art. The film is based on the Senate Intelligence Committee's torture report of 2014. Senate investigators took seven years to detail the CIA's use of its "enhanced interrogation techniques" on suspected terrorists. The political thriller is based on efforts led by Intelligence Committee staffer Daniel J. Jones, who joins the podcast this week along with the film's director and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns and CQ Roll Call reporter Niels Lesniewski, who covered the release of the actual Senate report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2020 elections are shaping up as the most significant in memory, but predicting them is a handicapper's nightmare. Nevertheless, CQ Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales gave it a whirl, offering these four scenarios: 1) Eviction at 1600 2) Blue Washington 3) Status Quo 4) Red Revival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One year out from Election Day 2020 and Senate Republicans and House Democrats find themselves in parallel universes. The GOP is on defense in Senate races, where more Republicans are on the ballot, and it's the opposite in the House, where many Democrats who won in hostile territory in 2018 find themselves in tough races. CQ Roll Call’s campaign team, Simone Pathé, Bridget Bowman and Stephanie Akin, run through the 10 most vulnerable members of both the House and Senate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every impeachment inquiry has its own distinct identity. CQ Roll Call contributor Finlay Lewis discusses the first impeachment inquiry he covered, that of Richard Nixon in 1974, and how it contrasts with the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton, and how those stack up to the current one of President Donald Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The memorials for the late Rep. Elijah E. Cummings illustrate the unique way the nation remembers figures like him, a tradition of grieving both in public and private in places important to the deceased. Longstanding rituals in the Capitol, and in also in his hometown of Baltimore, give his family, friends, colleagues and constituents a way to celebrate his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republican senators up for re-election in swing states have a delicate balance to strike. They need to get almost all Republican voters in their column while reaching out to independents and Democrats. And President Donald Trump does not make that easy. CQ Roll Call Elections Analyst and Inside Elections Publisher Nathan Gonzales explains the politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hot topics? The Supreme Court’s got ‘em this term. LGBTQ rights. Guns. Immigration. With the High Court's new term starting Monday, CQ Roll Call legal affairs reporter Todd Ruger joins the podcast to take a closer look at the biggest cases they will consider and how the justices have become political fodder themselves in the 2020 race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices