The podcast dives into the pressing political landscape as the hosts, along with their guest Lauren French from the Senate Majority PAC, discuss the critical importance of the upcoming 2026 elections. They emphasize the necessity for Democrats to reclaim legislative power, particularly contrasting their agenda with that of Republican incumbents. French outlines the PAC's strategic focus on defeating key Republican figures, highlighting how their work is essential for amplifying Democratic narratives and countering misinformation. The conversation also touches on the significance of grassroots candidates who can connect with voters through authentic storytelling, revealing a sense of optimism about the evolving political climate. As the hosts stir the pot with humor and candid remarks, they underscore the need for Democrats to adopt a tougher stance against their opponents, ensuring that the party remains relevant and responsive to the concerns of everyday Americans.

Takeaways:

• The Senate Majority PAC is focused on retaining and regaining Democratic control in the Senate, especially with the upcoming 2026 elections just around the corner.
• Lauren French emphasizes the importance of contrasting Democratic candidates against extreme Republican agendas to highlight their vision for the future.
• The discussion highlights how various states like North Carolina and Georgia are crucial battlegrounds, with strong candidates like Roy Cooper and Jon Ossoff poised to make significant impacts in upcoming elections.
• Voter engagement is critical, and the PAC aims to communicate effectively on social media to rally support for Democratic candidates who resonate well with everyday Americans.
• Democrats must adopt a tougher stance against Republican candidates, utilizing both positive messaging and necessary contrasts to drive voter turnout and support.
• The podcast underscores the shifting political landscape, with new candidates emerging from diverse backgrounds, indicating a potential expansion of the Democratic Party's appeal to broader voter demographics.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Walmart
• Senate Majority PAC
• George Washington University
• Christy Walton
• John Grisham
• Steven Spielberg
• J.B. Pritzker
• Susan Collins
• Thom Tillis
• Roy Cooper
• Michael Whatley
• Adam Schiff
• Jon Ossoff
• Chris Pappas
• Dan Sullivan
• Ken Paxton
• John Cornyn
• Derek Dooley

In this episode, listeners are treated to an engaging dialogue between the hosts and Lauren French of the Senate Majority PAC. They tackle the critical issue of the upcoming 2026 elections, highlighting how the political environment is rapidly changing and what it means for the Democratic party. The conversation kicks off with a humorous reflection on the government shutdown and its effects on everyday Americans, leading into a deeper exploration of the PAC's mission to secure a Democratic majority in the Senate. Lauren reveals the startling figures of campaign fundraising, emphasizing the necessity of financial backing in today’s political climate.

Throughout the episode, the hosts and Lauren share insights on the significance of contrasting Democratic ideals against the backdrop of Republican policies that often neglect the needs of the average citizen. They discuss various candidates, including the challenges faced by Susan Collins, whose political decisions have alienated many of her constituents. Lauren passionately argues for the importance of presenting a united front as Democrats prepare for the elections, while also stressing the need for candidates who can authentically connect with voters. The humor and camaraderie amongst the speakers provide a refreshing take on the often heavy subject matter, making the discussion both entertaining and informative.

As the conversation wraps up, Lauren reflects on her own political journey, illustrating how diverse voices are essential for the party’s growth. The episode concludes with a hopeful outlook toward the 2026 elections, emphasizing that the Democratic party must adapt and embrace new strategies to engage a broader electorate. This lively and spirited discussion not only offers a snapshot of the current political landscape but also energizes listeners with the prospect of change and the potential for success in the upcoming elections.

All right, well, I said hold on, everybody. I didn't say say something. Don't you listen? No, he doesn't. Okay. All right. Welcome to Muck you where we rake the crap and call it like we smell it.

Joining me to stir the pot and probably regret it, this retired Air Force colonel who's traded dog tags for truth bombs, Moe Davis. What's the latest Sludge Moe?

Hey, David. Thanks and welcome back, everybody. It's another beautiful fall day here in the mountains of western North Carol. We're over a year into it.

We're still recovering from Hurricane Helene, but things are looking a lot better this year than it did a year ago. And listen, we're got another great show today.

So today on the show, we've got La French, who's the director of communications for the Senate Majority pac. And one thing Lauren and I have in common is we're both the GW George Washington University graduates. So it's always welcome to.

Great to welcome a fellow GW grad. Lauren, thanks for taking some time out to join us today.

Thanks for having me on. And I would go say go Colonials, which is what it was when I was there, but I think they have now name changed about five times. So go Gwen.

Yeah, it, it was. I enjoyed my time there. It was a great school. And hey, so you're there in D.C. i imagine things are pretty quiet with the.

We're in the second week of the government Trump down. So is it pretty quiet there in Washington?

You know, it is a little quieter just because there are so many people who are being forced to not work. So it's not, it's not a good thing that, that it's quiet. We are also dealing with which is making it not quiet.

The and invasion of the National Guard. So obviously, Trump has sent National Guardsmen into our streets and our cities to deal with the just horrific crime that we see all the time.

No, I'm kidding. Very safe. And they actually are doing beautification projects.

So the men and women in uniform who are should be protecting us are being asked to mulch and do some landscaping. So great use of the troops in D.C. yeah.

As someone who spent, you know, 25 years of my life in uniform, it really is disappointing to see, you know, American troops in American cities, on American streets to harass Americans. But I guess if they're doing some mulching and picking up trash, they're. They're doing some good, but certainly not what they signed up for.

I noticed in the last cycle, you guys raised and spent about $390 million on Senate races. So if you would, just for the, for the listeners, can you explain a little bit about.

Because they're certainly familiar with like, you know, the DCCC and the official Democratic Party organizations. But how is the Senate Majority PAC different from that?

Of course. So we are a pac, right? So we are somewhat that shadowy money that us Democrats don't love, but is absolutely necess compete and win.

And our sole purpose is to either retain a majority for Democrats in the Senate or win the majority for Democrats in the Senate.

So right now we are laser focused on making sure we can kick people like Susan Collins out of the Senate and elect a Democrat or replace Thom Tillis with Roy Cooper. So we go and do communications work, we do digital advertising.

We work to create a system where we are showing in, like, sharp contrast the absolute terribleness of the Republican Party and how it is not working within the battleground states that we compete in.

Right.

Well, you talked about the shadowy money and, you know, it does get a lot of talk.

But, you know, I was looking over your, your list of donors, and there are a lot of names on there that people will know, like Christy Walton from Walmart, John Grisham, Steven Spielberg, and J.B. pritzker, who I've become a really big fan of of late.

I, I was familiar with him, but, boy, he's really been, you know, one of the Democrats really standing up and leading the charge and saying, we're just not going to take this anymore and in fighting back. So you've got a, you know, a really good group of donors that are funding good work.

And it looks like, you know, from past elections that most of your effort goes into, I guess, doing some of the work that the candidates can't really do themselves. And that's going after their, their opponents. Is that, is that a fair assessment?

That is very.

Because we have found in a lot of these battleground states, our candidates, Democratic candidates, do better when they're talking about their agenda, their vision and who they are. Voters want to hear those positive stories and visions and from candidates.

It helps you win especially too because oftentimes we're running against absolutely extreme or extremely crazy Republicans who have gotten through a primary and our candidates are the normal person in the race and that helps. But you still need to do a lot of contrast with Republicans.

So we are the ones who go in and talk about whether it is their, their focus or their lack of focus on the economy and prices or lack of focus on health care and how they are giving tax breaks to the insurance CEOs who are about to raise prices on 22 million Americans who get their insurance through Obamacare.

So we are the ones doing a little bit more of the negative, but it's well deserved negative work because it is talking about the truth of what Republicans and the Republican agenda and the Trump agenda is doing to real people on the ground. So we're doing a lot of that contrast. We're doing a lot of that negative, which is a little bit more fun.

We're the rough and tumble and we're the ones who are frontlining it, putting up a fight. So it's good work, it's important work.

But it does also allow Democratic campaigns to talk about positive visions, which is what voters do want to hear from candidates.

So mostly Republican seats that are, that are in play. You know, looking at, you know, the, the prognosticators, they're predicting it's going to be a tough, a tough road to hoe for, for Democrats.

A lot better than I was in January, let me tell you. I think, you know, we, I started the year a lot of Democrats started the year we had, you know, in a triple minority not feeling so great.

But I think given the environment, the chaos that Trump and Republicans are creating and also because we as Democrats writ large are recruiting and seeing some really phenomenal candidates get in and some Republicans retiring much better than we were.

And what is really great about this exact moment is we are so leaps and bounds further than we were in January and we're still about a one year out from the election.

And we are seeing that voters are talking more about their economic concerns, they're talking more about prices going up and they're talking more about health care. And those are all issues that Democrats really should be the competitive party on. So. So a lot better. I'm feeling a little bit less stressed.

But, you know, we have nailed recruitment in so many of these states. You have Sherrod Brown in Ohio, who has decided to take a run for his seat.

What an awesome candidate to come back, especially in an election where we are hoping that the electoral environment favors Democrats.

And we have Roy Cooper in North Carolina, who is going to be extremely competitive against Michael Whatley, who is mostly just a partisan hack who has never really done anything and is right now not doing a lot for North Carolina after Helene.

So we're looking around and seeing excellent recruitment, excellent candidates, and I think that's going to really carry us through this next year because even in states that have primaries, which is not the work that we do, we have awesome candidates coming through and we have people who are exciting the base and exciting younger voters.

So it puts us just in a lot stronger position to be extremely competitive at this time next year when voters are starting to pay attention a little bit more to the Senate race. It's people who are not us, who do this professionally and for a living and who pay attention to it every day.

They're going to start cluing in and they're going to start seeing these really, really approachable, really, really authentic candidates who are just being themselves and connecting. So that's great.

And that puts us just, I think, far and away ahead of the Republicans who are spending their time shutting down the government because they don't want to lower health care prices for 22 million Americans and who spent the summer passing probably one of the most disastrous bills, the, the obb, the one big beautiful bill, the big beautiful betrayal, actually. And now they're gonna have to defend that.

And let me tell you, rural hospital closings, hard to defend people getting kicked off Medicaid, hard to defend tax breaks for the people who are raising all of our prices right now and make it harder for or more expensive to go to the grocery store, gas, utilities, all that. Not extremely popular. So it's a long way to say I feel a lot better than I did in January.

And I'm really hopeful that in six months, if you ask me again, I'm gonna feel a lot better than I did now. I think we're putting up compell competitive candidates and we're talking about the right stuff. We're talking about the economy and that will.

Will help us be successful.

Yeah.

And I totally agree with you about feeling more optimistic now than at the start of the Year, and certainly here in North Carolina, having Roy Cooper throw his hat in the ring, you know, it was a real shot in the arm, you know, for Democrats here in this state. And as you said, Michael Whatley, you said he's, he's mostly a partisan hack.

I'd say he pretty much entirely is a partisan act because I can't point to anything he's done that's helpful for the people of western North Carolina. But it was a bit of a relief to see that, you know, at one point, Laura Trump was thinking about running.

And I think it helps here not having a Trump on the ballot. But Roy Cooper's got off to a great start. I think he raised nearly $15 million in the, in the partial quarter. You know, that just closed out.

So we're really optimistic. You know, Roy has never lost a race and, you know, won the governorship here twice.

So we've, we've, you know, really optimistic that North Carolina is going to go into the, into the blue column. And, you know, Thom Tillis, I guess we're somewhat lucky. He occasionally does the right thing.

You know, he got reprimanded by the North Carolina Republican Party when he voted for marriage equality. And then when he told the truth about the big bad wealth transfer to the rich bill, that was kind of the final straw. So.

So you folks are going to be, be helping out here in North Carolina?

Absolutely. I mean, Michael Whatley is, I think, everything that's wrong with Hardison politics, but politics in general.

This guy is a, like I said, partisan half. Right. He ran the rnc, Republican National Committee. He also just essentially has worked as a lobbyist in all but name.

And his entire record of doing anything is for big business and for Donald Trump.

And the only reason he is even a contender is because of Donald Trump pushing him in the race after, as you said, Laura Trump declined to run, which would have been fascinating. I would have loved to see her sing her way through a primary and election.

Probably a little frightening for us all to have that many music videos, but entertaining. But no, instead we get Michael Whatley, right.

Who was after Helene spent every ounce of energy screaming about lack of aid and resources which were coming from the Biden administration. And now that he's been named, this recovery recoveries are by Donald Trump.

He's never been in the state and he's going around touting about resources that are coming in, but it's something like percent of what the region needs to recover. And I just, I recognize Republicans have no shame.

I recognize it, but I would be embarrassed to go to people who have lost everything, people who are still waiting on recovery and who have their homes are damaged, their homes were ruined and be like, hey, 6% there. And you should give me a win for that.

It's just so unbelievably self absorbed and not at all sympathetic to what people in North Carolina are going through to brag about that over and over again. So he's giving us a lot of, a lot of material.

You know, he's beyond being like the recoveries are he has been tapped by Trump to specifically focus on western North Carolina and he's completely mia. He's not there at all. He's not showing up to these meetings that are talking about FEMA aid and recovery.

So he's giving us a lot to work with, which is great.

And then yes, on the other side you have Roy Cooper, who is a multiple time winning candidate in North Carolina, was a great governor and all in all is exactly the type of Democrat that people get excited about. And he is so great at communicating, which is something our party does need more of.

And you're just seeing it kind of pop all over with him going in and meeting people and really connecting. And it's like you said, money isn't everything. Money is important, but money isn't everything.

But $15 million is a real feather in his cap to show that his candidacy is connecting with people. So it ultimately we should have a lot of fun in North Carolina because Michael Whatley is boring and bad and Roy Cooper is amazing.

There's one of our lovely pauses. We'll insert a commercial there for Mo's next campaign.

So Lauren, tell folks where they can learn more about the pack and, and, and then I've got a couple of questions on the other side of that.

Yeah, so much like everyone, we are trying to really invigorate how we communicate on social media.

So we are on Twitter, which I will always call it, but you can also find us on TikTok and Instagram communicating about Democratic ideals and messaging, a little bit about the pac. But it's not, you know, we're not a candidate. It's not really about us.

It's much more about bolstering Senate Democrats and candidates who are running for the office.

So that's one of the reasons the work we do is really important is it's not what, it's not about the work we specifically do, it's how the work that we do helps elect Democrats so much more than finding out about us.

I would love for you to go find out about Sherrod Brown and Chris Pappas and Roy Cooper and the other candidates that are going to get in these races, because really those are the ones who are going to bring really lasting change to what we're trying to do. Those are the ones who are on the front lines looking to make sure health care prices go down, et cetera.

So I'm not, I'm not trying to not answer the question, but I'm just saying there are more important people in this environment and we are just working behind the scenes to get them where they need to be.

Fair enough. Fair enough. All right. Well, we like to get to know our guests a little bit deeper than normal shows probably.

So tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got involved with politics and the pac. And you know what, what gets you out of bed every morning?

Right now it's electing Democrats to the Senate. Now that's a terrible answer. Right now it's mostly a lot of coffee that gets me out of bed. But so I. You mentioned Governor Pritzker earlier.

Big, big fan. I'm from Chicago, so I'm a Chicago, Illinois Midwestern girl. And I got involved in kind of a different path.

I was actually originally a reporter and working on Capitol Hill covering the House and the Senate. And really it came down to I was putting a lot of time and a lot of energy into that career, but I didn't feel like I was helping people.

And you know, I grew up in my family, used SNAP and other state benefits. My mother raised me as a single mother and I was so lucky to have access to programs like that because they made my mom's job raising me easier.

Her community college, where she was getting her associate's degree headed, daycare that was state funded, all of these different things and I wanted, I didn't feel like I was kind of paying that forward. So I left reporting and started working for various members of the House and Senate, including Adam Schiff.

I then went to the Biden White House for a little bit. So have been around just doing various communications, chiefly jobs for four House and Senate Democrats.

And now I'm at Senate Majority PAC where I am working on parts of our digital strategy, parts of our content creator strategy, our communication strategy, and really looking to redesign how we communicate with voters and how we're putting our message out into the world.

Because the reporter I used to be, while I have so much respect for journalists everywhere, they're just not necessarily how you reach people, real people anymore on the day to day, they're important, but it's not where regular Americans are getting their news.

That's true. You're absolutely right on that front. And I hadn't thought about that.

And that's probably why we're putting so much more money into social media ads and everything else. But, you know, one of the things that we talk about a lot on this show is Democrats getting tough, tougher.

And you know, Mo and I are not Johnny, come lightly on this.

I mean, we both have run campaigns, you know, in the 20 cycle that we're pretty tough on our opponents, calling them exactly what we are telling people to, exactly what we thought about them. And we got punished to a certain degree by our own party. I didn't think that was nice.

But I assume you guys have learned some lessons over the last couple cycles and are going to come out hitting a little bit harder on some of these Republican candidates. Is that true?

God, I hope so. No.

Voters want, voters want to see Democrats standing up and fighting not just against Donald Trump and not just against Republicans, but for them, they're looking for signs of life. And thankfully, a lot of people within the Democratic Party are doing that.

It probably is slower than voters would have wanted, that you and me would have wanted.

But we are really starting to see people recognize that the fight is what Americans want because things are really tough out there and voters just want to feel as if someone has their back and someone is looking out for them. And I think this Republican shutdown, this Trump shutdown is a great example.

You have Democratic senators really holding the line and saying, absolutely not on our watch. You are not raising health care costs by, in some cases, $2,000 on families. This is not going to happen.

And if you want to shut down the government, Republicans, because you don't want to deal with health care, that's on you.

But we are not going to rubber stamp your insane agenda that is just cutting and stripping the US Government and going to force families to make really tough choices between health care and food on the table, health care and their mortgage or their rent. And it's working, right?

You are seeing across the board, Americans are not only agreeing with us that Republicans are to blame, but they're also backing us up and saying, hold that line, health care is more important. This is a fight worth having.

And you know, we had some polling that we released earlier in the week that showed 71% of voters of respondents in this poll, which were all likely voters, were saying it is absurd for Republicans to take the stance of shutting down the government instead of dealing on health care. And this was voters on the left, voters on the right, voters in the middle.

So it's good to see that, I think, by and large, voters are responding to this. Us standing up and saying, hell, no, on our watch, not on our watch.

The Republicans have done this very well for a long time, and they are not afraid to be nasty and do gutter politics.

And we have to meet them a little bit where they are, because if they're going to constantly use disgusting and just like foul and inaccurate language to describe who we are, I think we. The very least we could do is accurately describe them as, you know, protecting pedophiles.

For example, right now with Mike Johnson refusing to sit a duly elected representative, all because he doesn't want to vote on the Epstein files. And I'm not lying there, at least I'm being honest when I call them protecting pedophiles. But we should be.

We should be doing it, and we should be constantly looking at how we can do contrast with Republicans. That is showing them for who they really are, which is extremely uninterested in helping any sort of everyday regular American.

Yeah, that seems like a pretty good line of attack, too, you know, more, I imagine there's going to be a fair amount of morphing of Epstein with Republican candidates in TV ads, I hope, and, you know, connecting them to that horrible piece of history in, in our country. But, so do me a favor and highlight, you know, the top two or three worst candidates you want to get rid of.

Can Susan Collins be 1, 2 and 3?

Amen to that. Yeah.

Yeah.

It is unbelievable how much she has gotten away by saying, oh, well, I'm so concerned about what the Trump administration is doing. This is. This is horrifying. I'm going to write a letter about it.

Or Brett Kavanaugh promised me he wouldn't get rid of Roe and then turning the blind eye and allowing these terrible Cabinet secretaries, more terrible Supreme Court justices who lied during their confirmations. And she doesn't. She's not mad about it at all because she knew she's terrible. She's not an idiot. She knew that they were going to go after Roe.

Anyone who had a pair of eyes knew that Roe was going to be the first thing on the chopping block when they got a majority on the Supreme Court.

So I think Susan Collins, for me, is just the epitome of a sellout Republican who tries to pretend to stand up to Donald Trump, tries to pretend to buck her own party, but in fact votes with them 96% of the time and is moving forward. All of these terrible bills. Right.

She is going to talk about all throughout the campaign that she didn't vote for the one big beautiful betrayal, but she did vote to allow it to move to the floor. So she didn't want to vote for it because it's a terrible bill, but she wasn't going to stop it from getting a vote.

And we knew at that point if it got to the floor, it would pass.

So in my mind, she's just as guilty as every single senator who voted for it, because if you really don't believe anything, you throw your body on the tracks to stop something.

Yeah, exactly.

Sweeping Medicaid cuts, cuts to rural hospitals. So.

And you know, the abortion debate is still actually very active in Maine because it is the voting base there is very heavily skewed to older women who are the ones who actually fought to make sure we had the protections and the rights in Roe.

It's not going to be what the centerpiece of a campaign is about, but I think there's a lot of very pissed off women in Maine who, you know, said, Susan Collins, you promised me that I wasn't going to see my daughters and granddaughters and nieces lose this. Right. And now they have, and they're pissed about it. So Susan Collins, to me, I could talk about it all day. Number one needs to go.

Yeah, and here's the crazy thing, Lauren, that I just don't understand about these people is are they so desperate to keep this job that they just can't be themselves? I mean, what. What else could Susan Collins be doing? I mean, doesn't she have grandchildren? Doesn't she have a family?

You know, and that's the other thing that pisses me off about both Democrats and Republicans is they stick around way, way too long. So I'm not going to bang up on Chuck Schumer on this show because I know he's doing his best.

But by God, some of these Democrats need to retire and, and hopefully we get some. Get rid of some of these goddamn Republicans are such a waste of space. I don't expect you to comment on that.

But I just don't understand why some of these politicians can't do what they pretend they're going to do. And if they lose, who gives a. They can go on to do something else and hang out with their family.

More often, the desperation to keep hold of their seats is, is, is baffling to me. Anyway, over to you, Mo, for the next question.

Yeah, Lauren, let me, let me ask you. I know it's, I think, a contested race up in Maine to take on Susan Collins.

But, you know, the one candidate that's really been getting a lot of attention is Graham Platner, who is an oysterman, he's a military veteran, he's endorsed by Bernie. He seems to be, at least from a distance, a different kind of Democratic candidate.

So do you think we're going to start to see more folks like that rather than your traditional, like to me, Roy Cooper is more of a traditional Democratic candidate and Graham Platner kind of seems like a different breed of candidates. So do you think we're going to see more of that in the future?

I really do.

And I think one of the consequences of being in a triple majority minority, losing the White House, losing the House, losing the Senate, is that it does wake up people who are not normally politically focused. And it does make people imagine a different type of candidate, a different type of representative. And that brings people out of the woodworks.

The, the National Security Democrats, you know, who are now running, have won Senate races in Michigan, are now running for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.

And you're, I think you were only going to see different types of candidates coming out because there's such a pent up anger at what is happening to our country.

And people are also social media, the breakdown of kind of traditional media makes it a lot more accessible for someone who has a great message and who can communicate well to break through. We're not a primary organization unless it's talking about how bad Republican primaries are.

But I think it's a good thing that across the board you are having different types of candidates come in and it ultimately it's up for the voters to decide who they think is the strongest candidate to represent them. I think that's why Roy Cooper is running uncontested as North Carolina voters feel like he is the strongest person to come up. I surely think that.

But it is a good thing for our party to have different ideas and to have different spokespeople coming in and from different backgrounds. And that's something, you know, there is always a little bit of Tension and pressure.

But it's something that across the board, people do appreciate, understand. And it's why we get to see a lot of various new candidates come across.

I mean, you have, I think, four or five Democrats running in Iowa, amazing stories from those candidates. In Texas, two candidates, really unique backgrounds, Democratic candidates.

So we're going to see just different spokespeople, and that's good for our party because when we talk about this big tent. Right. That we are welcoming to so many different types of Democrats and so many different types of people to come on in. Right.

To take that first step in, if you're not already inside, you do want to see people who have your background or who speak like you or who you feel like, understand the struggles that you're going through in your life. And we can only grow and expand if we have people holding the tent poles who fit that criteria.

So, broadly speaking, I think it is a good thing for us to have new voices.

And I'm excited to see not just in Senate primaries or House primaries, but who kind of pops up on TikTok and who pops up on Twitter talking about Democratic politics in new ways.

Right? Yes.

You know, the last couple of months we've had like Adam Kinzinger and Joe Walsh and David Jolly on the show, and they've all talked about that if the Democrats could have a bigger tent, you know, that could accommodate not just the left, but, you know, the center as well. They all said they could see themselves being Democrats. And Joe Walsh and David Jolly since then have become Democrats.

I don't think Adam Kinzinger has yet, but it would be nice to see our party take a broader perspective because we do need a bigger tent than the tent that we've had. So I'm curious, like in Nebraska, we've got Dan Osborne running as an independent. It doesn't appear the Democrats are going to run a candidate.

So is that the kind of race where your PAC potentially would get involved?

You know, I'm not totally sure it would help Dan Osborne if the Senate Majority PAC got involved, the Democratic Leadership alliance on a majority back. I'm not sure it would be helpful.

And then the brass tax of it, I want to win tough races, so I'm going to let Dan Osborne speak for the Dan Osborne campaign and the work that he's. He might be doing there.

But, you know, I think what it does look like is looking at states that we might not win this cycle, but that we need to be investing in for future cycles because we can't rely on the same states to win a lasting Senate majority or to win, to win the presidency. We have to be competitive in South Carolina, in Nebraska, in Kansas, in Louisiana and Alabama and Mississippi.

And I'm going to say those states, and there's so many, when I talk to reporters about it specifically, I can feel them rolling their eyes at me about like, there's no way you're going to be competitive.

But we won't be competitive unless we try until we're building up that state party and we are putting forward candidates that are compelling and confident and can speak to voters that, of course, we will never win there. But it has to start somewhere.

And I want to see candidates who, you know, I want my party, I want our tent to include Kansas and Nebraska Democrats and New York Democrats, California Democrats, Oregon Democrats.

You know, for me, the idea of this big tent is that if you are aligned with us on core values, the value of human life and the civil liberties, and that people deserve rights and respect and our country is best served when there's a functioning democracy, then I want you in our party and I want you to feel like you're part of our coalition.

We can disagree on other things, and there's a huge debate going on about kind of what that is, but I think we need to be more welcoming to the left and to the center. And, you know, you mentioned two folks who were Republicans now, now are Democrats. One of them is running for office as a Democrat.

We need, we need those, we need those people and we need, we need the whole party to come together to recognize there's a lot of different ways to show up for our values as a Democrat and not, you know, just one way. And I, you know, I say this as someone who is convinced that every one of my opinions is really correct all the time.

I think we have to be understanding that people do have difference of opinions on some topics, and that's still an acceptable thing again, as long as they're with us on the big stuff, the democracy, the rights, the value of people as human beings, which are those, like, washy topics that, you know, not necessarily what we're talking about during elections. But I feel like what defines me as a Democrat is I want all people to have rights.

You know, I want people to be able to live and be treated with dignity as a human being. And if you can agree with me there, then I'm willing to work with you on whether or not, you know, your feelings on taxes. Taxes.

I personally think we should tax the rich a little bit more, but I'M willing to hear other arguments about that.

Yeah. Well, listen, you, we talked about a couple of issues that are certainly, you know, front and center health care.

You know, here in western North Carolina, there's a projection. There are five rural hospitals that will close because of the Medicaid cuts.

And two of those five are right here in the mountains of western North Carolina where there's a health care shortage to begin with. And it's certainly going to get worse after the big beautiful bill.

And we've talked about the economy and pocketbook issues, which to me, it's a shame that the Democratic Party lost the working class because we really are the party that has their interest at heart rather than, you know, trickle down. They've gotten trickled on, you know, for too long. But I'm curious.

So you, you did a couple of years at the State Department as a senior advisor back during the Biden administration, and I can tell you he's a retired military guy.

I think, you know, most military folks are big supporters of foreign policy and diplomacy because, you know, the best wars are the ones we don't fight.

And I think the public had the perception that we're spending, you know, 20, 30, 40% of our tax dollars overseas, where the defense or the State Department budget was a rounding error in the grand scheme of things in the federal government. So I'm curious, number one is, you know, having been at the State Department, what your take is on what's happened to it since you left.

Well, I will say this. It's a lot cheaper to not fight a war through diplomatic efforts than it is to fight a war.

And there is a lot less calamity, chaos and loss of life through diplomatic.

So I believe in the core mission of the State Department because, you know, I think in a lot of ways it is there to make sure we aren't entering into endless wars like what defined most of my childhood and into my adult life. And I think the cuts, the cuts there are really harmful to that mission. And if we are not investing in diplomacy, we will be investing in more wars.

And I am of the belief having, you know, again, the Iraq and Afghanistan war is probably one of the most significant events that I watched us go to as I was, you know, aging out of from being a child, out of a child. And it felt to me as if we might never not be at war for so long until we did pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

I don't, I don't want to return to that. And I.

I think people are pretty laser focused on rising prices and the impacts of tariffs and the fact that, you know, the average family is going to spend $5,000 more because of the Trump tariffs than they would have otherwise and health care costs, utility costs. But I do think that people are paying attention to the chaos, the chaos of Doge, the chaos of the Trump administration.

And they might not clock it as cuts to the State Department, but I do think they will clock it as, I don't want someone going in and just slashing the government because eventually that trickles down into something that impacts their, their life, whether they are kind of seeing it directly or indirectly. But broadly speaking, some of the people I worked with at the State Department were some of the most dedicated public servants I have ever met.

They so much time and effort into the work that they did and so much of it was so critically focused on delivering aid to people who needed it, delivering HIV and AIDS prevention work via pepfar. So it is terrible what's happening in the State Department. It is short sighted. It's going to make us less safe. It will lead to more war and chaos.

So, yeah, yeah, essentially, because it seems like some folks, you know, they took things for granted like, you know, the cuts to usaid, a lot of the, you know, the food relief that we were providing, you know, American farmers were selling their products and all of a sudden that market dried up or, you know, the cuts to the SNAP benefits. You know, again, a lot of the farmers providing food to the programs through snap.

And so there are collateral effects to a lot of these things that are getting slashed and cut that, that people tend to take for granted until they realize it has an adverse impact on, on them. But let me ask you just, we, we've talked about Nebraska and North Carolina, a little bit about Georgia, Michigan and Maine and Ohio.

Is there another state or two that you think folks ought to be paying attention to in the Senate?

So right now we don't have a candidate in Alaska, but I actually do think Dan Sullivan is extremely weak position, weakly positioned. He is rubber stamping a lot of the Trump administration chaos. He is out there just every single day not fighting for Alaskans.

So depending on the candidate that gets in Alaska, I'm really excited to see how we can be competitive there. About Iowa and Nebraska. New Hampshire. Right.

New Hampshire is hilarious right now because they're having the most insane primary where you have someone who wrote an op ed that Donald Trump was a loser and John Cenuno, and you have Scott Brown who got in and nearly every Republican was like, can you please get out, we don't really like you. And they're both trying to pretend as if they're these like super Trump MAGA guys now and they're snipping at each other.

So.

And they're running against Chris Pappas, who is a really awesome House candidate and will make a really awesome senator there. So I think that's really interesting. And then you gotta look down at Georgia, too.

Jon Ossoff, a phenomenal sitting senator running for reelection, has done wonders for the state of Georgia, is out there fighting for veterans and healthcare and also is one of those new younger Democrats that we point to when we talk about just great communicators who are reaching different types of Americans. And then in there, you're having like a civil war among the Republicans.

You have Buddy Carter and Mike Collins, who are MAGA to their core and are trying just, just to get Trump's attention. They're, you know, like little kids jumping around, hoping that the teacher will call on them.

And then you have Dooley, who the best I can see is the fact that his father was a coach.

Right.

Is the reason he should be a US Senator. Feels a little carpet baggery. I know he's not. He was born in Georgia, played for Georgia, etc. But he hasn't been there for a while.

And I am not the biggest football person, but I do have a Georgia football fan on my team. And what he told me was that this is one of the worst coaches in college football history. And I'm going to take his word for it.

So I just don't think that makes you a really great candidate for U.S. senate, that you lost a ton of games while being a collegiate football coach.

And he was the coach at. His dad, Vince Dooley was kind of a famed Georgia coach, but Derek Dooley was a coach at Tennessee, which is the arch rival of Georgia. So he was.

And now he's pretending yeah, Come and try back. Like we have a term for that. Carpet bagger.

Yeah. And John. John Ossoff had a great quarter, too. We talked about Roy Cooper's fundraising.

I think I saw where John took in 12 million and has about 21 million banked for the race.

So, again, you know, it's a shame that money counts so much, but it's a pretty good indicator that folks are really interested in keeping him in office.

Yeah, I think he is doing just a really great job setting up that campaign and setting up to win in Georgia. And the Republicans shouldn't just spend their time fighting it out and, you know, seeing who.

Who comes out of what is going to be an expensive and messy primary with a lot of hurt feelings because they're so whiny, and then they can send their limping candidate up against Jon Ossoff any day. So I'm really, you know, Georgia is really fun in that sense. And then the messiest of them all is Texas, where you have three Republicans.

Ken Paxton, probably one of the most corrupt public officials of our lifetime, John Cornyn, who is just wildly unpopular with the Trump folks and the MAGA base, and then Rep. Hunt, who got in despite every single person in Republican politics being like, please don't get in. You are not helpful here. But he got in anyways. So you gotta love an ego.

And what's great about that race is they're gonna spend $100 million just to nominate a Republican who one third of their party maybe likes. The rest cannot stand. And I don't know if Texas is gonna be competitive. We're far too early to say that. I hope it is.

I, you know, I am a cop, constant optimist that Texas will be a state that we can be consistently competitive in. But I do know that no matter what, that will be the messiest, dirtiest primary I think we see.

And I imagine it's going to be really entertaining for those of us watching because you got. You got everything. You got divorce, infidelity, this, like, split between Trump factions of the party. So it should be. It should be fun.

Texas is, Is one to look out for, if only because they're so messy. And it also is just such a. It shows just such the complete failure of the.

John Thune, who is the Senate majority leader, the leader of the Republicans, to manage these primaries. You know, they. They were doing everything they can to keep Rep. Hunt out, and he got in anyway.

So, you know, it is a symbol for everything that's wrong with the candidates that they put up but it should be a fun one for the rest of us to watch.

It makes you feel sorry for him though, doesn't it? Lauren, come on.

Absolutely not. I do not. Nope. Hard. That's like, you know, if I look for other things in front. No, I do not feel sorry for you. Can't make me feel bad for Ken Pax.

Yeah, no, I, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm, I, I, I hope they burn it to the ground. So, Lauren, you're a, a Chicagoan at heart.

Yep.

And Cubs or the sock? You're a North side girl, I'm sure.

Aren't you?

I'm not. I am. Actually, I, I should clarify. I'm a suburbs girl.

Oh, all right, all right. That's not Chicago. I love it when people say, oh, I'm from Arlington, I'm from Chicago. And then you ask them where do they live?

And they say, arlington Heights. That's not Chicago. Come on.

I think that if you are not living in Illinois, you get to claim Chicago as like the nearest big city that you people like. No, like people. People don't know. Crystal Lake. Oh my God.

That's even further than Arlington Heights. Holy shit. That's where that is. Way, that's Wisconsin.

Come on.

But in my heart of hearts, I feel like an Illinois Midwesterner. And I think a lot of people, the, you know, the city I identify most with is Chicago.

And in that, that case, in my very fledgling baseball allegiances, it was the Cubs. Growing up. I'm now more of a Nationals fan because I have lived here for a while. But the thing I do love most about Chicago is the Chicago hot dogs.

Oh, I was going to ask you, I was going to ask you.

All right.

Ketchup, mustard or just mustard?

No, you got eat a. No ketchup.

Exactly.

Good answer.

No, but the Chicago dog, right, it's tomato, sweet relish, poppy seed and it's so. And pickles, so. And pepper. Like it's so good.

Right.

But it is a gourmet hot dog.

But you can't have it before 2 o' clock in the morning though, usually. So yeah, it kills me when, when I see people ask for ketchup on their hot dog in Chicago and they don't get it. So anyway, be aware, folks.

Well, Lauren, thank you so much for taking some time. And that's a wrap on another glorious mudslide of Mucku. Big thanks to my co host, Colonel Mo Davis and his lovely wife Lisa.

You get definitely married up. Shout out to Lauren French for spilling the Senate tea with without spilling the super packed beans. Thanks to Hassan for your help with this show.

This is David Wheeler signing off. Stay skeptical, smell the and when MAGA pisses you off, tell them Muck you.

Listen to additional episodes with Errol Musk, Anthony Scaramucci, Paul Begala, Mark McKinnon and others@AmericanMokrakers.com Please subscribe and support our work on Substack. Thanks for listening and y' all come back for the next episode of Muck U.