Focus Group Podcast: The Complete Season 2 - Part Three - Six Episodes

We've got a 4-hour and 33-minute slice of the Focus Group Podcast's "Season Two" episodes. Host Sarah Longwell is back to lead you through American politics.

*Timestamps:*

*Episode Summaries:*

*The Devil Goes Down to Georgia (and Alabama, with Tim Miller)* A devil has the Republican Party’s soul, but not all of his endorsed candidates are faring too well. In Georgia, former Sen. David Perdue is losing badly to Gov. Brian Kemp despite Trump’s endorsement, and Rep. Mo Brooks was polling so badly in the Alabama Senate race that Trump un-endorsed him. But if you think the voters in our group are souring on Trumpism, think again.

*Happy Pundit Accountability Day! (with Will Saletan)* We’re taking stock after a wild run of May primaries. We laughed, we cried, and we saw enemies (and friends) of democracy notch wins. The Bulwark’s Will Saletan joins Sarah to break down what our focus groups got right, and Sarah takes a victory lap (or two) over Brad Raffensperger’s win in the Republican primary for Georgia Secretary of State.

*I Don’t Normally Cry in Focus Groups” (Roe, with Rachel Vindman)* The Supreme Court’s leaked opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade may or may not impact the midterm elections. We talked to a group of swing voters (women from swing states who voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020), and they weren’t happy about it. Rachel Vindman, co-host of the podcast The Suburban Women Problem, joins Sarah to listen to…other suburban women. They also discuss how the group feels about the Biden presidency.

*Grumpy Old Men, Part II (2024, with Josh Kraushaar)* Ready or not, the 2024 election is right around the corner. Donald Trump is set up to run again, and the official line in the White House is that Joe Biden is running. What do our focus groups think of that redux, and who they think their other options are. National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar (at last) joins Sarah to hash out their Twitter disagreement over Trump’s grip on the GOP and to take a look into the future.

*Trump Voters Don’t Want Trump (with Amanda Carpenter)* We had planned to focus this episode on the January 6 Committee hearings. Sarah and Amanda talk about that, but something strange also happened in our last two groups: zero Trump voters wanted him to run in 2024. We talk about the hearings, how they matter for history, and whether they’re contributing to the Trump voters’ blues.

*Will Trumps Political Unicorns Stick With The GOP? (with Amy Walter)* The voters who abandoned Trump have been analyzed at length, but the Democrats weren’t the only ones who persuaded Americans to switch sides in 2020. Holding onto these voters will be crucial for future Republican victories. Amy Walter, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Political Report, joins Sarah to talk about who these voters are and why Trump won them over.

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