CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash joins the Chuck ToddCast to discuss The Elections That Changed the World, out September 22nd, which she wrote with David Fisher. The fifteen elections she chose stretch from Julius Caesar — who ran partly because he was deeply indebted and didn't want to be prosecuted — to Nelson Mandela, and "election" is defined loosely enough to include Pope John XXIII's selection and Martin Luther King's informal elevation to lead the Montgomery bus boycott. The through-line is money: wealth shaped nearly every one of them, from the Magna Carta to Caesar effectively buying votes. Bash's larger point is that you rarely know in the moment how consequential a vote will be — Germany in 1932 was a revolution disguised as an election. Plus her five favorite 2026 races, why Michigan is fascinating, and what it's like covering a second-term Trump White House. 

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Dana Bash joins The Chuck ToddCast

01:00 Why write "The Elections That Changed the World"?

05:45 Caesar, Hitler, and the cautionary tales

08:00 Wealth as the through-line from the Magna Carta forward

16:30 Sun Yat-Sen and the bridge between imperial China and Mao

22:30 Pope John XXIII and modernizing the Catholic Church

26:30 Kasturba Gandhi, Golda Meir, and women leading democracies

33:45 Mandela's election and the limits of judging history in real time

45:00 2026 races to watch: Michigan, Lawler, Iowa, Texas

59:30 Covering a second-term Trump White House

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens by correcting Jon Stewart, who made him a punchline Monday — before turning to the circus at Tuesday's Jack Smith hearing. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, a potential 2028 VP pick, thought he'd caught Smith perjuring himself with text messages placing him at an Atlanta Hawks game the day after the Fani Willis affair broke. Smith was at an Iowa Hawkeyes women's game in Maryland. Klobuchar spotted the mix-up, Schmitt never backtracked, and Chuck's point is the deeper one: Schmitt decided the conclusion before the evidence and displayed exactly the confirmation bias he was accusing Smith of. If evidence can't change your worldview, what's the point of evidence? The second half is a substantive argument that the voucher experiment has hit a dead end — it never moved low-income kids into private schools, it mostly subsidized families already paying tuition, and school funding may be a real reason Republicans lose in November. He also explains why focusing on improving pre-k through 3rd grade education should be a national project.  

Then, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash joins the Chuck ToddCast to discuss The Elections That Changed the World, out September 22nd, which she wrote with David Fisher. The fifteen elections she chose stretch from Julius Caesar — who ran partly because he was deeply indebted and didn't want to be prosecuted — to Nelson Mandela, and "election" is defined loosely enough to include Pope John XXIII's selection and Martin Luther King's informal elevation to lead the Montgomery bus boycott. The through-line is money: wealth shaped nearly every one of them, from the Magna Carta to Caesar effectively buying votes. Bash's larger point is that you rarely know in the moment how consequential a vote will be — Germany in 1932 was a revolution disguised as an election. Plus her five favorite 2026 races, why Michigan is fascinating, and what it's like covering a second-term Trump White House. 

Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 2026 midterm results that will most impact the 2028 race and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. 

18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: CHUCKTODD

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Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.

For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck /  *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area.

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

01:45 Jon Stewart, NBC, and setting the record straight

03:15 Which Republicans will actually campaign with Trump

09:15 The Schmitt-Jack Smith hearing debacle

13:15 Confirmation bias and what evidence is even for

16:15 What Jack Smith was actually investigating

22:45 Public education as an American advantage

25:30 The voucher experiment and whether competition worked

30:00 What Mississippi got right, and why pre-K through 3rd grade is everything

40:45 Vouchers hit a dead end — and the political price

47:30 Alabama's TikTok settlement and the limits of blaming teachers 

58:45 Dana Bash joins The Chuck ToddCast

59:45 Why write "The Elections That Changed the World"

1:44:30 Caesar, Hitler, and the cautionary tales

1:46:45 Wealth as the through-line from the Magna Carta forward

1:15:15 Sun Yat-Sen and the bridge between imperial China and Mao

1:21:15 Pope John XXIII and modernizing the Catholic Church

1:25:15 Kasturba Gandhi, Golda Meir, and women leading democracies

1:32:30 Mandela's election and the limits of judging history in real time

1:43:45 2026 races to watch: Michigan, Lawler, Iowa, Texas

1:58:15 Covering a second-term Trump White House

2:04:45 ToddCast Top 5 2026 results that will most impact 2028

2:05:00 #5 Does an independent break through?

2:09:30 #4 California’s wealth tax

2:08:45 #3 Texas senate

2:10:15 #2 Texas governor

2:11:45 #1 Michigan senate

2:13:45 Ask Chuck

2:14:00 How would a mega-tsunami election affect committee assignments?

2:18:45 Is there a value in running uphill races beyond winning?

2:23:15 Will Republicans act with more independence from Trump after midterms?

2:25:45 If enough independents won and didn’t caucus, who would have control?

2:30:30 Favorite sports + political movies? Should Trump impeachment have been broader?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens by correcting Jon Stewart, who made him a punchline Monday — before turning to the circus at Tuesday's Jack Smith hearing. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, a potential 2028 VP pick, thought he'd caught Smith perjuring himself with text messages placing him at an Atlanta Hawks game the day after the Fani Willis affair broke. Smith was at an Iowa Hawkeyes women's game in Maryland. Klobuchar spotted the mix-up, Schmitt never backtracked, and Chuck's point is the deeper one: Schmitt decided the conclusion before the evidence and displayed exactly the confirmation bias he was accusing Smith of. If evidence can't change your worldview, what's the point of evidence? The second half is a substantive argument that the voucher experiment has hit a dead end — it never moved low-income kids into private schools, it mostly subsidized families already paying tuition, and school funding may be a real reason Republicans lose in November. He also explains why focusing on improving pre-k through 3rd grade education should be a national project.  

Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 2026 midterm results that will most impact the 2028 race and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. 

18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: CHUCKTODD

http://kalshi.com/r/CHUCKTODD

Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.

For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck /  *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area.

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

01:45 Jon Stewart, NBC, and setting the record straight

03:15 Which Republicans will actually campaign with Trump

09:15 The Schmitt-Jack Smith hearing debacle

13:15 Confirmation bias and what evidence is even for

16:15 What Jack Smith was actually investigating

22:45 Public education as an American advantage

25:30 The voucher experiment and whether competition worked

30:00 What Mississippi got right, and why pre-K through 3rd grade is everything

40:45 Vouchers hit a dead end — and the political price

47:30 Alabama's TikTok settlement and the limits of blaming teachers 

00:57:45 ToddCast Top 5 2026 results that will most impact 2028

00:58:00 #5 Does an independent break through?

01:00:15 #4 California’s wealth tax

01:01:45 #3 Texas senate

01:03:15 #2 Texas governor

01:04:45 #1 Michigan senate

01:06:45 Ask Chuck

01:07:00 How would a mega-tsunami election affect committee assignments?

01:11:45 Is there a value in running uphill races beyond winning?

01:16:15 Will Republicans act with more independence from Trump after midterms?

01:18:45 If enough independents won and didn’t caucus, who would have control?

01:23:30 Favorite sports + political movies? Should Trump impeachment have been broader?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thirty-five days out, Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza open on a president playing the hits: Trump spent the weekend at a football game and a golf tournament, then announced his campaign tour kicks off in Durant, Oklahoma and Mobile, Alabama — the site of his first mega-rally in 2015 — rather than anywhere control of Congress is being decided. The more consequential move was rejecting Iran's seven-day truce offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an exit ramp every Republican in a tough race is publicly begging for; Brent jumped above $107 on the news. That sets up the episode's best segment: a truth-serum run through every competitive Senate race asking which Republicans would actually stand next to Trump — and why the answer across Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska is no, because the damage there is his own tariff and diesel policy. Plus the Senate Leadership Fund's $118 million bet on Ken Paxton, a candidate who's spent under $1 million himself; Fetterman's "lifelong Republican" slip; why Murkowski's calculus runs entirely through Mary Peltola; and why Chuck reads AOC's upstate tour as a Senate campaign, not a presidential one. 

Timeline:

00:00 Trump kicks off in Oklahoma and Mobile — and rejects the Iran exit ramp

08:00 Truth serum: which Republicans would actually do a rally with Trump?

18:00 The $118M Paxton bet, and whether McConnell would have swerved

26:00 Triage: walking from Georgia and North Carolina, holding Maine and Ohio

30:00 Fetterman's slip, Murkowski's calculus & when party switches happen

40:00 AOC's real 2028 decision — and why Chuck reads it as the Senate

48:00 The Nats finish 77-85; why reloading is harder than it looks

54:00 The Packers, an atrocious offensive line & a pick headed to the Jets

1:03:00 Kalshi sponsorship, the 62% sweep question & Collins underpriced

1:12:00 Do your own research — and World Series wishes

"18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: SUPERTUESDAYS 
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Former Agriculture Secretary and two-term Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack — the longest-serving USDA secretary of the modern era, now CEO of the World Food Prize Foundation — joins the Chuck ToddCast to explain what's actually happening in farm country. The Iran war has driven up input costs while deportations gut the labor supply, farmers get blamed for high prices despite capturing the smallest share of every agricultural dollar, and importing beef only discourages domestic ranchers from staying in business. Vilsack notes America has lost a million farming operations since 1973, with most federal support flowing to the top 10%. He argues food security is national security, that SNAP cuts are income cuts for farmers, and that Iowans are tired enough of watching their kids leave the state to vote for change — with Rob Sand's authenticity, not his party label, the reason he's connecting. 

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Tom Vilsack joins The Chuck ToddCast

02:00 Pirates baseball and why national media misses agriculture

05:45 The Iran war, input costs, and a deported labor force

10:00 What can actually lower beef prices

16:00 A million lost farms and who federal support really reaches

22:00 Food security is national security

29:45 SNAP cuts, rural schools, and the Senate map in the Midwest

36:00 Rob Sand, authenticity, and why Iowa may vote for change

45:00 Should 2028 Democrats spend time in Iowa?

52:45 Data centers, a bio-based farm economy, and what a good night looks like

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd zeroes in on a president who has become the entire election: Trump spent the weekend at a football game and a golf tournament while Americans struggle, announced he'd rejected an Iran deal as though he holds all the cards, and now sits at 37% approval in a new WSJ poll — the lowest for any president heading into a midterm in their polling since 1990, with 11% of his own 2024 voters saying they regret the vote. Chuck is appalled by a cultish government-produced TV ad made with taxpayer dollars, notes Republicans don't want Trump campaigning for them (he's being routed to Oklahoma and Alabama), and points to Charlie Cook's framing that this isn't a blue wave so much as a red undertow. His race of the cycle: Gina Hinojosa in Texas, running as a populist rather than a socialist, airing an ad with a former January 6th defendant, and now leading Abbott in a Marist poll.

Then, former Agriculture Secretary and two-term Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack — the longest-serving USDA secretary of the modern era, joins the Chuck ToddCast to explain what's actually happening in farm country. The Iran war has driven up input costs while deportations gut the labor supply, farmers get blamed for high prices despite capturing the smallest share of every agricultural dollar, and importing beef only discourages domestic ranchers from staying in business. Vilsack notes America has lost a million farming operations since 1973, with most federal support flowing to the top 10%. He argues food security is national security, that SNAP cuts are income cuts for farmers, and that Iowans are tired enough of watching their kids leave the state to vote for change — with Rob Sand's authenticity, not his party label, the reason he's connecting. 

Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit Woodrow Wilson suffering a debilitating stroke, the efforts to cover it up by his White House and the eerie parallels we’ve seen in the behavior of both the Biden and Trump staffers. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and recaps the weekend in football.

Sign up link: nextpredict.io/summits/the-worlds-prediction-markets-summit

Timeline:

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

04:45 Trump as the focal point of the entire election

06:30 The Iran war drags on while Trump seems disinterested

14:45 Trump hits 37% in the new WSJ poll

16:15 The cultish taxpayer-funded TV ad

21:15 Republicans who don't want Trump campaigning for them

26:15 Charlie Cook's red undertow, and a GOP retreat that skipped Texas

31:45 Gina Hinojosa is running the smartest campaign in red America

40:45 Why the Senate and governor maps look nothing alike

45:00 Tuberville's furries floor speech and Beshear's opportunity 

59:00 Tom Vilsack joins The Chuck ToddCast

1:01:00 Pirates baseball and why national media misses agriculture

1:04:45 The Iran war, input costs, and a deported labor force

1:09:00 What can actually lower beef prices

1:15:00 A million lost farms and who federal support really reaches

1:21:00 Food security is national security

1:28:45 SNAP cuts, rural schools, and the Senate map in the Midwest

1:35:00 Rob Sand, authenticity, and why Iowa may vote for change

1:44:00 Should 2028 Democrats spend time in Iowa?

1:51:45 Data centers, a bio-based farm economy, and what a good night looks like

1:58:00 ToddCast Time Machine - October 2nd, 1919

1:59:15 Wilson was trying to ratify the League of Nations

2:00:30 Wilson collapsed, suffered a massive stroke

2:02:45 Wilson’s doctor wouldn’t declare him incapacitated

2:04:15 Nobody was able to remove Wilson

2:06:00 States ratified the 25th amendment

2:07:45 Aides for Wilson and Trump lacked candor

2:09:30 We’re seeing boxy bulges under Trump’s pants with no explanation

2:10:30 Trump’s doctors say he’s fine, but impossible to know

2:13:45 Congress should create independent body for 25th amendment

2:17:00 Ask Chuck

2:17:15 Could Democrats use vanity plays to bargain with Trump?

2:21:45 Could voters challenge use of Missouri’s new map after midterms?

2:26:30 Did Trump deliberately ban media to coincide with meeting with Xi?

2:28:45 What role do you expect Obama to play in the midterms?

2:31:45 NFL/College football recap

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd zeroes in on a president who has become the entire election: Trump spent the weekend at a football game and a golf tournament while Americans struggle, announced he'd rejected an Iran deal as though he holds all the cards, and now sits at 37% approval in a new WSJ poll — the lowest for any president heading into a midterm in their polling since 1990, with 11% of his own 2024 voters saying they regret the vote. Chuck is appalled by a cultish government-produced TV ad made with taxpayer dollars, notes Republicans don't want Trump campaigning for them (he's being routed to Oklahoma and Alabama), and points to Charlie Cook's framing that this isn't a blue wave so much as a red undertow. His race of the cycle: Gina Hinojosa in Texas, running as a populist rather than a socialist, airing an ad with a former January 6th defendant, and now leading Abbott in a Marist poll.

Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit Woodrow Wilson suffering a debilitating stroke, the efforts to cover it up by his White House and the eerie parallels we’ve seen in the behavior of both the Biden and Trump staffers. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and recaps the weekend in football.

Sign up link: nextpredict.io/summits/the-worlds-prediction-markets-summit

Timeline:

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

04:45 Trump as the focal point of the entire election

06:30 The Iran war drags on while Trump seems disinterested

14:45 Trump hits 37% in the new WSJ poll

16:15 The cultish taxpayer-funded TV ad

21:15 Republicans who don't want Trump campaigning for them

26:15 Charlie Cook's red undertow, and a GOP retreat that skipped Texas

31:45 Gina Hinojosa is running the smartest campaign in red America

40:45 Why the Senate and governor maps look nothing alike

45:00 Tuberville's furries floor speech and Beshear's opportunity 

57:30 ToddCast Time Machine - October 2nd, 1919

58:45 Wilson was trying to ratify the League of Nations

1:00:00 Wilson collapsed, suffered a massive stroke

1:02:15 Wilson’s doctor wouldn’t declare him incapacitated

1:03:45 Nobody was able to remove Wilson

1:05:30 States ratified the 25th amendment

1:07:15 Aides for Wilson and Trump lacked candor

1:09:00 We’re seeing boxy bulges under Trump’s pants with no explanation

1:10:00 Trump’s doctors say he’s fine, but impossible to know

1:13:15 Congress should create independent body for 25th amendment

1:16:30 Ask Chuck

1:16:45 Could Democrats use vanity plays to bargain with Trump?

1:21:15 Could voters challenge use of Missouri’s new map after midterms?

1:26:00 Did Trump deliberately ban media to coincide with meeting with Xi?

1:28:15 What role do you expect Obama to play in the midterms?

1:31:15 NFL/College football recap

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd and J.A. Adande go back to the unlikely beginnings of one of the NFL’s most iconic franchises. From Curly Lambeau and the team’s unusual origin story to the community ownership structure that helped keep the Packers in Green Bay, they explore how a small Wisconsin city survived while other early NFL towns disappeared.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd argues you don't need a poll to read the midterms — Republican behavior tells you everything. JD Vance is conceding things aren't going well, nobody's buying that it's Biden's economy anymore, and Tim Scott told the NRSC they're in "the fight for their lives," though his 2022 comparison misses that Democrats had Dobbs and Republicans have no equivalent in 2026. Todd's larger argument runs through Trump's UN speech, where the president justified seizing Venezuelan oil with "to the victor go the spoils" — a permission slip Todd says the rest of the world will happily accept. Between unilaterally inviting Putin to the G20, rolling out the red carpet for Xi, and a military stretched thin by Iran, America is now seen as an unreliable partner: one Trump presidency was an aberration, two changes the equation, and it'll take multiple presidents from both parties to win that trust back. 

Then, Adam Brandon — who ran FreedomWorks for over a decade and now co-founded the Independent Leadership Council alongside Joe Manchin — joins the Chuck ToddCast to make the case that a handful of independents could break Washington's logjam. His argument: the parties have shrunk their tents, the blue dogs and moderate Republicans of the 1990s are gone, and in an era of slim majorities, ten independents in Congress could rewrite the rules when a new Congress is seated, install an apolitical speaker, and change every incentive overnight. He points to Montana — where the ILC-affiliated Independent PAC is now airing ads for Seth Bodnar, who needs roughly 210,000 votes to win — as proof the value of money in politics is starting to collapse. Plus: why Libertarians never break through, what younger voters actually want, and why burning the system down just leaves you living in ash.

Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and previews the upcoming weekend in college football. 

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

06:15 You don't need a poll — Republican behavior tells the story

11:00 Tim Scott's "fight for our lives" and the missing Dobbs equivalent

17:45 The diesel export ban and Trump's scramble for an Iran deal

23:15 Where Democrats are short on money — and which races are slipping

29:00 "To the victor go the spoils": Trump's UN speech on Venezuela

32:45 A stretched military and allies who no longer trust us

38:30 Xi's red carpet, Putin at the G20, and unilateralism's costs

44:00 Dismantling the system that made America richer and safer 

53:00 Adam Brandon joins the Chuck ToddCast

54:00 Debt, deficits, and why independents lost faith in both parties

59:30 The vanishing middle: blue dogs, shrunken tents, and the 1990s

1:08:00 How ten independents could break the logjam in Congress

1:16:30 The collapsing value of money in politics — and the Montana test

1:23:00 Why Libertarians can't break through, and politics as entertainment

1:32:15 AI, job displacement, and where independents have the best shot

1:39:00 Rethinking the Partisan Voter Index and where to focus

1:43:45 What younger voters actually want from the system

1:50:15 The candidates ILC is backing — and why 2026 could change everything

1:56:00 Washington's warning, Lincoln's unity ticket, and a fragile democracy

2:02:00 Ask Chuck

2:02:15 Any parallels from Nixon’s career that Harris could take in future run?

2:05:45 What are the five issues a Dem majority should tackle in 2027?

2:10:45 Why should fans believe this version of college football is sustainable?

2:16:45 Could congress turn AI concerns into meaningful legislation?

2:20:00 If Dems retake congress, can they force WH to change course?

2:24:45 College football preview

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd argues you don't need a poll to read the midterms — Republican behavior tells you everything. JD Vance is conceding things aren't going well, nobody's buying that it's Biden's economy anymore, and Tim Scott told the NRSC they're in "the fight for their lives," though his 2022 comparison misses that Democrats had Dobbs and Republicans have no equivalent in 2026. Todd's larger argument runs through Trump's UN speech, where the president justified seizing Venezuelan oil with "to the victor go the spoils" — a permission slip Todd says the rest of the world will happily accept. Between unilaterally inviting Putin to the G20, rolling out the red carpet for Xi, and a military stretched thin by Iran, America is now seen as an unreliable partner: one Trump presidency was an aberration, two changes the equation, and it'll take multiple presidents from both parties to win that trust back. Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and previews the upcoming weekend in college football. 

Timeline:

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

06:15 You don't need a poll — Republican behavior tells the story

11:00 Tim Scott's "fight for our lives" and the missing Dobbs equivalent

17:45 The diesel export ban and Trump's scramble for an Iran deal

23:15 Where Democrats are short on money — and which races are slipping

29:00 "To the victor go the spoils": Trump's UN speech on Venezuela

32:45 A stretched military and allies who no longer trust us

38:30 Xi's red carpet, Putin at the G20, and unilateralism's costs

44:00 Dismantling the system that made America richer and safer 

50:30 Ask Chuck

50:45 Any parallels from Nixon’s career that Harris could take in future run?

54:15 What are the five issues a Dem majority should tackle in 2027?

59:15 Why should fans believe this version of college football is sustainable?

1:05:15 Could congress turn AI concerns into meaningful legislation?

1:08:30 If Dems retake congress, can they force WH to change course?

1:13:15 College football preview

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam Brandon — who ran FreedomWorks for over a decade and now co-founded the Independent Leadership Council alongside Joe Manchin — joins the Chuck ToddCast to make the case that a handful of independents could break Washington's logjam. His argument: the parties have shrunk their tents, the blue dogs and moderate Republicans of the 1990s are gone, and in an era of slim majorities, ten independents in Congress could rewrite the rules when a new Congress is seated, install an apolitical speaker, and change every incentive overnight. He points to Montana — where the ILC-affiliated Independent PAC is now airing ads for Seth Bodnar, who needs roughly 210,000 votes to win — as proof the value of money in politics is starting to collapse. Plus: why Libertarians never break through, what younger voters actually want, and why burning the system down just leaves you living in ash. 

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

01:00 Debt, deficits, and why independents lost faith in both parties

06:30 The vanishing middle: blue dogs, shrunken tents, and the 1990s

15:00 How ten independents could break the logjam in Congress

23:30 The collapsing value of money in politics — and the Montana test

30:00 Why Libertarians can't break through, and politics as entertainment

39:15 AI, job displacement, and where independents have the best shot

46:00 Rethinking the Partisan Voter Index and where to focus

50:45 What younger voters actually want from the system

57:15 The candidates ILC is backing — and why 2026 could change everything

1:03:00 Washington's warning, Lincoln's unity ticket, and a fragile democracy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.