Pro Politics with Zac McCrary

Send a text James Aldrete comes out of a family political tradition with one foot in the world of radical Tejano politics of the 50s and 60s - and one foot in the  Democratic establishment. As a political professional, he's merged those strands to start his own firm (MAP) based in Austin, TX and become a leading voice within the Democratic party on communications and messaging, with a focus o...

Send a text Enjoy a short bonus episode with the iconic (and iconoclastic) Kinky Friedman...country music legend, best-selling novelist, and sometimes political candidate. Kinky talks through some of his political heroes, his favorite political stories, his time in the Peace Corps, his friendship with both Bill Clinton and George W Bush.,.& and closes the episode with one of his songs - that w...

Send a text Becki Donatelli is a legendary GOP strategist and a trailblazing digital consultant. She got her start as a Goldwater Girl, worked for Reagan in '76, knew Jim Baker and Ronald Reagan, and worked with John McCain in 2000 & 2008. As a digital pioneer, Beck was part of the first operation to raise political money on the internet. And her firm, Campaign Solutions, has been leading...

Send a text Very few people have had more impact on US House races over the past decade than Ali Lapp . After years in campaigns and as a Hill Chief of Staff, she created House Majority PAC from scratch in 2011. With Ali at the helm, HMP has established itself as a vital presence on the political landscape - raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elect Democrats to the House. In t...

Send a text Faiz Shakir, manager of the 2020 Bernie Sanders' campaign, has worked from the inside (Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid) and the outside (Bernie, the ACLU) to advance the causes in which he believes. Faiz has one of the most versatile and unique resumes in politics. But beyond his professional experience, he has a uniquely American story as a Muslim-American child of Pakistani immigrants...

Send a text No journalist defines his or her state's politics like Jon Ralston and Nevada. Jon's been deep in Nevada politics since the early 80s, rising from the the night police beat to his state's foremost voice on politics. In this conversation, Jon talks through his ascent in Nevada politics, some of the most memorable races and personalities he's covered, the "math&q...

Send a text You won't find a better 59 minutes of political stories and advice than this conversation with longtime GOP media consultant / strategist Mike Murphy. Mike has worked with some of the iconic Republican political names of his generation...McCain, Schwarzenegger, Bush, Romney, Alexander, Engler...and so many more. And there is no better and more enthusiastic political storyteller th...

Send a text Martha McKenna has been at the upper echelons of politics for years...campaign manager, EMILYs List, the DSCC...and now is a decade in to her own media firm, McKenna Media. Through her firm, Martha has developed something of a Midas Touch - working at critical points in their career with Kamala Harris, Deb Haaland, and Pete Buttigieg. Martha is one of the party's smartest strategi...

Send a text Charlie Cook is a political icon of his generation. Charlie broke ground in the early days of the race-rating and political newsletter industry, starting the Cook Political Report from scratch in 1984 – and he and his newsletter are still going strong. Charlie talks through his fascinating career and is generous with insights as to how politics and campaigns have changed over the years...

Send a text They don’t make too many people like Saul Shorr. After hitchhiking across the country,  working in sugar refineries, being in and out of college, Saul fell into working on Mo Udall's 1976 presidential campaign. He soon became an expert in big city politics, started his own media firm, and has helped elect Senators and Governors and Presidents. Saul has one of the most unique paths...

Send a text As a student, Kasim Reed set a goal to be mayor of Atlanta by age 40 - and he made it happen. The Kasim Reed story is truly an original...motivated by a nurturing mother and demanding father, on the Board of Howard University by age 19, the youngest member of the Georgia legislature by 29, managing a successful mayoral race at 32, and winning his own mayoral campaign 8 years later afte...

Send a text This week my guest is Rose Kapolczynski, a legend in California politics and beyond. Rose managed all four of Barbara Boxer's successful US Senate races, including the iconic Boxer upset win in the '92 Year of the Woman. Beyond Boxerworld, Rose started her own consulting firm and has been deeply involved in numerous successful campaigns - and she is currently the President of...

Send a text I'm very fortunate this week to be joined by my first Republican guest, GOP pollster Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies. Glen cut his teeth in polling in the Reagan / Bush era and helmed the polling operation for House Republicans before co-founding his own firm - a firm that now represents more than 40 members of Congress and 10+ US Senators. Glen tells some great stories o...

Send a text A great conversation this week with David Nir, recently celebrating his 10-year anniversary as the Political Director of Daily Kos. David's career charts the rise of the Democratic online grassroots from a ramshackle group of political junkies in the early 00s to now being one of the pillars of the Democratic political universe. Podcast Website Twitter: @ProPoliticsPod Twitter: @Z...

Send a text I’m thrilled this week to be joined by the brilliant Rebecca Pearcey! Rebecca has worked in politics for 20+ years – from working in field to managing statewide races to running big independent expenditure programs. In the 2020 cycle, Rebecca was a senior advisor and political director to the Warren for President campaign – while also traveling with the candidate for months. Podcast We...

Send a text I’m so fortunate to be joined by Paul Begala as my first guest – we had a great conversation. Paul is a great storyteller, with tremendous insights he’s learned over the years that remain incredibly relevant today. Podcast Website Twitter: @ProPoliticsPod Twitter: @ZacMcCrary Facebook: The Pro Politics Podcast IN THIS EPISODE… Paul breaks out his spot-on impressions of Bill Clinton, Ja...

Send a text Hello everyone, I’m Zac McCrary. I’m a Democratic pollster, but before I was a political operative, I was a political junkie. That’s why I’m starting the Pro Politics Podcast.   I’ll be having conversations with interesting and accomplished people – across the partisan spectrum - who work in the political industry…campaign managers, messaging experts, ad-makers, journalists, policy exp...