Thursday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Tom Bevan, Andrew Walworth, and Carl Cannon discuss the Trump administration trying to balance foreign policy adventures, the funding battle in Congress, and positioning the GOP for midterm success. They also break down Emerson’s latest polling from the Senate races in Maine and New Hampshire, along with a separate New Hampshire presidential primary poll showing Pete Buttigieg ahead there for 2028. Plus, the debate over how political late-night comedy has become. After that, RCP contributor Greg Orman joins the show to discuss whether 2026 could finally be the year of the independent candidate. You can listen to the show live, weekdays at 11:00 a.m. on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opens with the Trump administration’s “dual screen reality,” with the DHS funding standoff causing massive delays at airports and the situation in Iran continuing into its fourth week. Institutionalist Carl Cannon says a four-hour wait at the airport made him reconsider how important the Senate filibuster really is. They also consider the Wall Street Journal reporting that Trump wants out of Iran, “Trump Tells Aides He Wants Speedy End to Iran War,” and whether GOP majorities could survive another foreign policy adventure in Cuba after Iran. “If they pivot to Cuba, that would just be political negligence on the part of the administration. Not to say that they can’t do multiple things, but it has to be back to affordability,” Tom Bevan warns. *** At minute 8, they turn to a new Emerson poll showing controversial oyster farmer Graham Platner leading in the Maine Democratic Senate primary and the general election against longtime incumbent Republican Susan Collins. “He’d be one of the most left-wing people ever to occupy a U.S. Senate seat,” Cannon said about Platner. “And he’s caught on in a year where Republicans look like they’re going to take it on the chin.” Emerson also has new numbers from New Hampshire, where John Sununu appears to be cruising to victory in the Republican Senate primary. *** Around minute 16, the group debates whether “candidate quality” standards are slipping and whether former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg should be treated as a top-tier candidate for president. He’s leading the field for the Democratic presidential nomination in New Hampshire in Emerson’s latest poll. “Do not sleep on Pete Buttigieg,” Bevan said. “He’s got a beard now, he’s wearing flannel, he’s winning the white vote in New Hampshire. Prior to Biden, this is how you won the Democratic nomination – he won in Iowa. We’ve never had a Democratic candidate win the white vote, but get 0% of black voters… And then he took a deal to get out of the race and become Transportation Secretary. I wonder if he regrets that?” *** At minute 21, the group discusses Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s plan for “temporary” gerrymandering to tilt the state’s congressional districts blue this year by referendum. “This ad is mildly dishonest. She admits, at least, that this is prompted by what other states are doing,” Cannon said. “And what Texas did was a response to what Democratic states have done! It’s an arms race. For Democrats to pretend gerrymandering was invented last year by Texas Republicans is just startlingly cynical.” *** At minute 28, the panel discusses the debate over whether late-night comics have become too political, as Bill Maher is set to win the Mark Twain Prize for Humor this year at the “Trump/Kennedy Center.” They talk about Jimmy Kimmel mocking Markwayne Mullin for being a plumber, and this comment on the trend: Vince Vaughn: Late Night Shows Stopped Being Funny, “They All Became So About Their Politics” “Kimmel just basically did a perfect example of what Vince Vaughn was talking about,” Bevan said. “It’s just the kind of elitist stuff that drives people crazy.” *** Finally, at minute 36, RCP contributor Greg Orman joins the panel to discuss whether 2026 could be the year independent candidates finally break through. “I would call 2026 potentially the year of the independent,” he said, citing Mike Duggan’s campaign for Michigan governor, Seth Bodnar’s Montana Senate campaign, Bill Hillsman running for Congress in Alaska, and Adam Hamilton’s campaign for Senate in Kansas. “We are starting to see candidates who I think are very credible, very high-quality and viable candidates stepping up and saying these two parties are not getting the job done.” “Republicans and Democrats seem so much more interested in the other side failing than our country succeeding,” he said. “We need a third force in our politics. Whether that third force comes from a party like the Forward Party or from independent candidates who step up, lead, and ultimately win, it really doesn’t matter. We need a counterbalance to these two parties.” *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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