The Focus Group Podcast

Latest Episodes:

S4 Ep23: Taken for Granted? (with Ashley Allison) Mar 09, 2024

Show notes

Donald Trump is polling better with Black voters than he used to, so we fielded a focus group of Black voters who are warming up to him...after not voting for him in 2016 or 2020. Ashley Allison, former Biden-Harris campaign official and CNN commentator, joins Sarah to discuss why some Black voters are souring on the Democratic Party.

S4 Ep22: California Schemin' (with Jon Favreau) Mar 02, 2024

Show notes

California's U.S. Senate race is a battle royal for small-dollar Democratic donors, between Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter...but they're both boosting certain Republican candidates to gain an advantage in this race. California also has a governor who's scheming to run for president in 2028. Pod Save America's Jon Favreau joins Sarah to discuss California's present Democratic stars and their futures on the national stage.
show notes:
Pod Save America
Offline with Jon Favreau
The Wilderness

S4 Ep21: Nikki Haley's (New) Time for Choosing (with Tim Alberta) Feb 24, 2024

Show notes

Nikki Haley is in YOLO mode as she faces down a loss in her home state of South Carolina, but her years-long tortured Trump two-step has caught up to her. The Atlantic's Tim Alberta joins Sarah to discuss his reporting on Haley through the years and ask a simple question: is this FINALLY her last straw with Trump?
show notes
By Tim Alberta:
Nikki Haley's Time for Choosing
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism
American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump

S4 Ep20: Life's Too Short for Trump (with Jonathan V. Last) Feb 17, 2024

Show notes

Trump appears to be in the driver's seat to return to the White House. We could really use more two-time Trump voters who don't want to vote for him again. Fortunately, we found a group just like that! Jonathan V. Last joins Sarah to listen to two-time Trump voters who think "life's too short" for the anger of the Trump years, and to break down what else they do...and do not...think about the threat of Trump.

S4 Ep19: Congress: The Dumbest It's Ever Been (with Joe Perticone) Feb 10, 2024

Show notes

We're bringing you an update on the Republicans in Congress. We taped this BEFORE Republicans failed to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, failed to pass aid to Israel, and before the Senate's compromise on the border and foreign aid was blown up. Still, this show gives you a good window into what Republican voters expect from congressional leadership these days, and who is and is not measuring up. The Bulwark's eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, Joe Perticone joins Sarah to hear from Republican voters.

S4 Ep18: Nevada: State of Confusion (with Jon Ralston) Feb 03, 2024

Show notes

Nevada has a GOP presidential primary AND a caucus. Donald Trump is going to win the caucus...but the primary is a race between Nikki Haley and "None of these Candidates." Jon Ralston of The Nevada Independent returns to break down the mess that is Nevada's presidential contest, and to preview the state's starring role in the general election.

S4 Ep17: No One's Looking Out for You (with Brian Stelter) Jan 27, 2024

Show notes

Donald Trump is wrapping up the Republican nomination, despite 91 felony charges against him. One reason for that is that his voters don't seem to trust any unflattering news about him...and they're turning to sources you probably haven't heard of. Many of them feel like Fox News has gone "woke"...and we're going to ask them why.
Brian Stelter, author of Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy joins Sarah to discuss the past, present, and future of conservative media.
Show notes
Disclaimer: This episode discusses several members of the Murdoch family. Kathryn Murdoch is an investor in The Bulwark.
Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy

S4 Ep16: New Hampshire Weirdos for Nikki? (with Tim Miller) Jan 20, 2024

Show notes

Nikki Haley is on the ropes after losing Iowa by 30 points, but there's one group of voters who could bail her out: New Hampshire's undeclared and moderate Republican voters. The problem? Even though they vote in Republican primaries sometimes, they hate Trump, they're pro-choice, and some watch MSNBC. Republican voters in all of the other states? Not so much.

S4 Ep15: It's Not That Hard to Win Iowa (with J. Ann Selzer) Jan 13, 2024

Show notes

Iowa's living legend of polling, J. Ann Selzer, joins Sarah to listen to Iowa Republicans ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Ann discusses her polling, how she does her own focus groups, and how Republican voters are feeling about Donald Trump (good), and the rest of the candidates (lukewarm at best). Ann also discusses how Donald Trump's efforts in Iowa are MUCH better organized in 2024 than in 2016...which will matter in the sub-zero weather Iowa is expecting on caucus night.

S4 Ep14: January 6: If They Had Just Told the Truth (with Rep. Adam Kinzinger) Jan 06, 2024

Show notes

To mark the three-year anniversary of the January 6 attack, we're doing something we've never done before. We're digging deep into our archives to play focus group clips from January 2021, right after the attacks, and showing how the voters have changed three years on.
show notes:
Rep. Kinzinger's new book: Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country
Rep. Kinzinger's organizations:
Country First
Country First Academy

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