Breaking News from Pod Save America - Political Experts React to Democrats’ BEST New Ads

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Trump is TERRIFIED of These Democrats! Alex Wagner joins Dan Pfeiffer to break down Democrats’ best new ads and what they reveal about the fight for a Senate majority—featuring Mary Peltola, James Talarico, and Jasmine Crockett. Go to https://www.cookunity.com/CROOKED for 50% off your first order. Thanks to CookUnity for supporting the show! DAN'S MESSAGE BOX 👉 http://crooked.com/yeswedan 00:00 - Dems' Path to a Senate Majority 02:54 - Mary Peltola (Alaska) 08:32 - James Talarico (Texas) 13:34 - Ad Break 14:20 - Jasmine Crocket (Texas) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I mean me the deal, additional terms, conditions, and restrictions apply. I felt like I was ready to see an up-close magic show. Like, was it the fourth installment of Now You See Me? This junior member of Congress caught the attention of the President of the United States, and he talks about her all the time. Welcome to political experts React. I'm Dan Piper. Joining me today is the one and only Alex Wagner, host of the amazing podcast,

Runaway Country, Pots the American Contributor, overall media impresario. Alex, how are you? I'm so great, Dan. I love introductions like that. especially when they begin with the phrase one and only. Well, I mean, it isn't your writer that I had to do that. It is true. Actually, the writer specifies that you're supposed to be in person with me whenever possible.

It happened on the first episode that we taped together of POD Save America, but I've... And how did that go, honestly? The topic of today's political extract video is the Democrats attempt to take the Senate. I can say today the Democrats have a credible path, not an easy path, but a credible path to a Senate majority. That was impossible to say one year ago. I'm just going to lay out what that path is very quickly for people. I love that. Do we get to talk about the main Senate race?

No, that way we're specifically not talking about the main Senate race. I know it's a passion project of yours personally, but we will not talk about it. Because you have no thoughts. Anyway, none. I'm honestly, truly out of thoughts on the main Senate race. So here's the path. So Democrats have to hold the seats we have now. Senate's currently 53-47.

We have to pick up four seats to get the 51 because J.D. Vance would break 50-50 tie. The four seats that currently help by Democrats that are in play include Georgia, where John Osloff is running for re-election. That is a tough state. Trump won that state, but the most dangerous Republican candidate and Governor Brian Kent passed on it. Oslova is probably a slight favorite here in as good a position as you could hope to be in in a state like that. Then you have three open seats. New Hampshire, Virginia, Chehene is retiring, Michigan, where Gary Peters is retiring, and Minnesota where Tina Smith is retiring. Trump won Michigan, Kamala Harris won, narrowly won New Hampshire and Minnesota.

Next set of states are two states that we have to win that currently held by Republicans. The aforementioned Maine Senate race where there are two candidates that no one has discussed running for the Democratic nomination, we will not discuss them now. This is a state that Kamala Harris won by seven points. We should be able to win it, although Susan Collins has defied political gravity before winning by 11 points, I think, in 2024 when Biden was winning by 9. so huge swing there. In North Carolina, which Republicans have won in every statewide federal race since 2008. But we have Roy Cooper running, who was the very popular former governor who twice won with Trump on the ballot.

And then he is running against Trump's handpicked RNC chair. So that's interesting and probably not the best candidate in this current political environment. So that gets us to needing two seats. It gets to the 49. So we have to win two of the following four states, Iowa, Alaska, Texas, and Ohio. We are going to today focus on Alaska and Texas. And we're going to begin with the great news that we got on Monday that former representative Mary Patola is running for Senate.

Here is her announcement video. I'm Mary Peltola, and I'd like to share why I've made the decision to run for U.S. Senate. I grew up on the Cascokum River, salmon fishing with my father. Growing up, Alaska was a place of abundance. Now we have scarcity. The salmon, large game, and migratory birds. that used to fill our freezers are harder to find,

so we buy more groceries with crushing prices. My agenda for Alaska will always be fish, family, and freedom. But our future also depends on fixing the rigged system in DC that's shutting down Alaska while politicians feather their own nest. DC people will be pissed that I'm focusing on their self-dealing and sharing what I've seen firsthand. They're going to complain that I'm proposing term limits. But it's time.

systemic change is the only way to bring down grocery costs, save our fisheries, lower energy prices, and build new housing Alaskans can afford. It's about time Alaskans teach the rest of the country what Alaska first and really America First looks like. All right. What do you think of this ad? And Fish Family Freedom is a theme. Only in Alaska do you put fish before family and freedom.

Know your audience. And she does. I love this ad. I don't, did we play all of it because there's some. No, we did a, it's a long, it's a, it's a long. It's a long. It's a long. It's long. It's long. But there's some really great older photos of her catching fish. And I'm sorry, I'm not Alaskan, but drying fish out or whatever happens after you get the fish. You know, it's authenticity and affordability. You don't hear the name Trump. And her only criticism of Trump and

MAGA and maybe even the other party. If there is criticism, you just see that Capitol Dome is about corruption. It's about self-dealing, feathering your own nest. They've clearly made a number of very specific choices in this ad, right? Highlighting how much she is a daughter of Alaska, how much it's about Alaska first, really more than America first. Everything other than Alaska and Hawaii is referred to as lower 48 or DC people. She's the insider from Alaska going to, well, I guess she's the outsider going to the insiders. But also, can I just say there's a lot of direct-to-cam work here, and she's in her red zip-up jacket. And she has one of those faces that is smizing always. there's just a natural inherent warmth, I think, to her delivery that's really super appealing.

So I thought the ad was great. I thought it was great. The only thing I didn't like was the soundtrack. I fucking hated the soundtrack, but maybe that plays in Alaska. That's your lower 48 elitism? I'm actually a D.C. person. I grew up in D.C. so it makes me worse.

Here you are just self-dealing and criticizing Alaska music. I'm feathering my own nest. There's feathers all over the ground. I think this is great. There's some background on her. She ran in a special election in 2022, and it was a big upset. This is to fill the seat of Don Young, who she mentions, who is a legendary Republican rep who had been there for decades representing Alaska. Then she won the full seat, the full term in 2022. She lost in 2024 when Trump was on the ballot to Nick Begetch, who is the Republican son of the Democratic senator with a very well-known name.

The reason why she puts this state in play for Democrats are the following. one, it's worth remembering that Alaska has one state rep. So a state rep is akin to a senator in terms of name ID and clout and just how voters now. So she's run statewide twice now. Second, Alaska has a very independent streak. This is obviously the home of Lisa Murkowski, who has done quite well going against Republican Party, even before Trump. They beat her in a primary and then she won a write-in campaign. A write-in campaign. At one point, and she has been more than anyone else, the most willing, I think, in the Senate to stand up to Trump and the rest of the Republican Party on a host of issues, particularly when it comes to Alaska. Dan Sullivan, who is the incumbent, is much more pro-Trump than Murkowski. Because Murkowski is so independent, his pro-Trump votes sort of stand out. There was a data for progress poll that came out last month, which shows this essentially a dead heat in Alaska and that Mary Paltolla is more popular than Trump in Alaska by seven points. and eight points more popular than Dan Sullivan is a great place to start. I think she's just a great candidate.

And just watching this ad is a reminder that like all politics feels national in time, it all feels about Trump or anti-Trump or the resistance or anything else. And there are these local issues that can drive races, particularly in places like Alaska. And so if Democrats are going to have a shot in Alaska and the fact that we have a shot in Alaska is quite notable, it's because of someone like her. She's going to say a lot of things that a lot of folks who watch this video or listen to Potta of America or runaway country may not agree with or may not be the things we want her to talk about. But those are the things that people in Alaska want to hear from her.

Yeah, totally. And you can see that. That strategy is made abundantly clear in the video where it's like all kinds of Alaska references. And again, fish, family freedom. That's all you need to know. Fish is first. Great. It's alliteration. Perfect. We love it. F. It's one F word you could use. Yes, yes. If you like this video and you like Positive America, you'll love my newsletter of the message box. It's an election year and we had a lot to cover. and be focusing on how Democrats can win the majority of the House and the Senate, what forces are shaping our politics, and how you specifically can help from what candidates to donate to, what campaigns to support, and how you can talk about politics with your friends

and family to convince them to vote Democratic. Sign up for a message box at the link in the show description. The next two videos we're going to watch are from Texas. Texas has been a state that Democrats have looked longingly after, since really after 2012 when Barack Obama came, made real gains in Texas compared to most other parts of the country. The question of Texas becoming blue was one of when, not if. And it was just, we decided to wait long enough for the Democratic wins to shift in our favor. That changed dramatically in 2020 and 2024. And the state became much more red as Trump made gains with Latinos and consolidated his white working class base. But it seems like we might have a shot

in Texas this time. We have two very interesting candidates. James Telerico and Jasper Crocker. We're going to watch the first ad from the Telarico campaign first. Before I was a legislator, I was a middle school. teacher. I don't scare easily. I stood up to the billionaire mega donors defunding our public schools. I led the fight against politicians redrawing our districts to rig elections. And I fought the most extreme abortion ban in the country. Now I want to take that fight to the U.S. Senate to take on corruption and make life more affordable. My name is James Tolariko and I approve this message. All right. I'm very curious what you think of this ad in terms of his execution and in the message.

I felt like I was ready to see an up-close magic show. Like I was the lighting, yes. Like, was it the fourth installment of Now You See Me? I don't know. Let me just say, I think James Tolerico is a fascinating, awesome, super talented, a riser on the Democratic scene. And maybe this is just an introductory video, like reminding everybody of who he is. But first of all, I was so, kind of confused by the red lighting and the sort of what was supposed to be happening in that room that I had to actually play several times to listen again to what he said he has done. You know, it didn't stick with me in the same, in the way that I think you would want it to. There were no visual cues about the stuff he's worked on, whether it's newsreel footage

of the gerrymander or what, you know, he talks about the most extreme abortion aband headlines. that I felt like it didn't service his resume well enough, and I found it somewhat perplexing what the narrative of that ad was supposed to be. Yeah, I have the same reaction. I also think James Ellrick is a very talented politician, and he has a very compelling message about billionaires in corruption and how a lot of what we're seeing from MAGA is in service of protecting the billionaires. and that does not come through in the ad.

I don't want to say that Tellerico is like a non-traditional candidate, but he, as a messenger, he's truly at his best in long form, right? He went on Rogan last year, gave a performance that really knocked a lot of people's socks off. He's on Ezra Klein's place. He kind of is a podcast YouTube candidate in the sense that if you sit and talk to him for a long time, you get the full breadth of why people like him so much. He has interesting ideas, his interesting background. He talks about his faith a lot, less about,

fish, but about faith. Yeah, no. That's his effort. I don't, to be honest, I have done enough research and know where he comes down on fish. Maybe he is a fisherman. Maybe he also is into salmon curing. We don't know. Different relationship to fish.

Different fish, obviously, in the situation. But less curing to keep the fish for the winter. Right. But so, and there's also you just run these situations where you, it's like you're trying to jam an interesting candidate into what is traditionally a very uninteresting format, which is a 30-second ad. Yeah. And you can't really tell a long story.

Like, I didn't, there's nothing wrong with the ad. It's, I'd say it's fine. Yeah, the message is good. He gets to affordability. I think it's weird. I actively think it's weird. I mean, like much respect to the Tala Rico campaign, he's amazing when he's speaking extemporaneously in the state house.

Like, you could view, I mean, there are just other ways to showcase his oratorical skills. And I, oratory is too highbrow for what he actually does, which is insanely conversant and fluid and articulate. And there's a better way to show it. And I, I don't know. I just, I didn't. It was the red light. It just, and why is, you know, the following over the shoulder,

someone going into the bar where he's holding, it just, again, up close magic. I don't get it. I guess the way I think about it is there is the traditional ad. Mm-hmm. Then there is something totally different. And then there's taking the traditional ad and trying to make it look different. The red lighting. On the show, we always judge these ads like in their entirety, right?

Like this is the one thing. It was the only people kind of like eventually over time. And this primaries in like two months less maybe. Yeah. that he's going to all of a sudden you can have a lot of ads and it's all part of the storytelling. But when you look at this individual one, it probably gets a bad out. I mean, we're looking for the other installments when he makes a glass of champagne turn into a car. The magician here is less Siegfried and Roy, although does have the lighting of it and more jove from rest of development.

I mean, I look forward to the second ad with Colin Allred playing, you know, roulette in the background or something. Maybe he'll be sawling the federal deficit in half. Great, perfect. That'll win it. All right. Pod Save America is brought to you by Cook Unity. I've been using Cook Unity forever for years, long before they ever sponsored this podcast. It is fantastic.

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The next video we're going to watch is Jasmine Crockett's announcement video from when she announced late last year. How about this new one they have? Their new star, Crockett. How about her? She's the new star of the Democrat Party, Jasmine Carkett. They're in big trouble. But you have this woman Crockett. She's a very low IQ person.

I watched her speak the other day. She's definitely a low IQ person. Crocket! Oh, man, oh man. She's a very low IQ person. Somebody said the other day she's one of the leaders of the party. I said, you've got to be kidding. Now they're going to rely on Crockett.

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that's the Lincoln feeling. Get behind the wheel of the 2026 Lincoln Nautilus SUV and discover exceptional offers only at your local Lincoln retailer. So for some context here, because there's a risk of doing an apples versus oranges comparison because the Tala RICO spot we just watched is an actual ad they are paying to show to voters. This video came out as she announced. She also gave a speech in some other things.

These are sort of the videos that you put out to generate grassroots support and raise money. Different audience. Totally different audience, quite obviously. But it does kind of get to one of the larger questions of this race, which was not totally evident in this Tala RICO spot, which is Talarico's appeal, his professed appeal, what he can do is he claims he can bring, he can win over some of these people who voted for Trump in 2024 because the math is you absolutely have to, right? Trump won, text about double digits.

If you want to get to a winning number in a Senate race, you're going to have to win over some number of people who voted for Trump like Mikey Cheryl did, like Abigail Spanberger did, like Zora Mandani did. Crocket has kind of sort of implied that she had a lot. different strategy, which is that she's going to try to generate turnout from people who don't vote. Because she has said, and Betta was made this point in the past, too, is that Texas is not a low turnout state. It's a voter suppression state and that it's very hard to turn out there. But you can get people to turn out. So the reason I want to bring this video up is it kind of gets

at Crockett strategy, as we currently understand it. So that's the context. What do you think of the video? You're right to sort of caveat this with don't make an apples to apples comparison because it's really apples to oranges. I think it's really really. really strong. What I like is that it projects strength. She ends on a smile, which I think is a really deliberate choice, right? Joyful Warrior. When you see this black woman being called a low IQ person off screen by the white racist president of the United States, it gets the essence of, of, you know, when in large part what's happening in America, which is a sort of racist in the White House as enacting racist policies to repopulate the country with white people. So I think

that's power. It's all very powerful. I guess as a piece of a campaign strategy, I think running the Beto playbook is a little suspicious because Beto just never the Beto's true playbook is both. Yes, right. But the relentless kind of dogged pursuit of people who don't usually vote. And maybe Beto's just not the person to turn them out, although he damn sure tried. He did. I mean, Beto came within three points, which is the closest any Democrats come in 30 years, I think.

Yeah. So props to that and maybe what you just need is someone more compelling that really, you know, it excites people to close a deal on that strategy. I just, you know, it's all in. It's all in. It establishes her as a fighter and a bulwark against Trump and the sort of, you know, an Avenger. And it sets a table for, you know, campaign strategy that I guess part of me worries about just because of the realities of Texas demographics, as you, you know, as you point out in its electoral history. But I like the fact that it's different. I like the fact that it's different. I like the fact. that she's owning the fucking horrible insults that have been hurled her way by Trump. As a woman who's watched so many women get chewed up and spit out by the political machine,

I think it's a really bold, strong choice to be a warrior and then to smile through it at the end. Because I think we ask too much of women who are running for office and we ask them to be lots of things and she, I think, manages that balance quite nicely. Jasmine Crockett is a phenomenally talented communicator. she has unlimited charisma like you and i we were we were in dc with her i mean she is she crowds love her she like if you just if you watch her tictox if you watch her interviews if you watch that the way she pulls off the video the thing at the end like it is she's just she's phenomenally talented like she just is and the video gets at which is sort of the truth of why she's in this moment

is she's such a good communicator that this junior member of congress caught the attention of the President of the United States, and he talks about her all the time, like that she is living rent-free in his head. And it gets to that. And she is running in a Democrat, like these are sequential processes. You have to win the Democratic primary first. And being the person who takes on Trump is her calling card.

Is that going to be enough to win? I don't, in the primary, I don't know. The polling has been, you know, very, very close as far. It's interesting. The one poll I've seen asked people, who do you think it'd be better to turn out the Democratic base? Voters thought, Democratic voters thought, Crockett, do you think be better to vote of Republicans? Voters have won when we thought Tala Rico. So it sort of is what it is. And then like, this is like, I mean, we joked about the internal debate about who's more electable,

Graham Platner or Janet Mills in Maine. This is a similar version of that, which you and I do not need to engage in here. But it is, like, this is pick, you know, it's a choose your own adventure. Like, what do you think the right path is? I think Jasmine Crockett can win. I don't think she can win. And, less part of her strategy is to win over some number of Trump voters. Yeah. The reverse is true of Tala Rico. We are oversimplifying in part because I think how she answered one question, what Crockett's actual strategy is.

Like I just can't imagine she and her team are sitting around thinking we need no Trump voters. I don't think that's not exactly what it is. Tala RICO could not win by running a campaign that, which is he's not doing, to be clear, that is Republican light that wins over, you know, five percent of Trump voters, but has depressed democratic turnout. have to do, like there's always been such a fake, stupid debate, it's you have to do both. And the question is, which candidate can do both best? That's how you decide who's our best bet.

And I think it's notable that Talarico mentions abortion in his ad, right? I mean, that's obviously living with those abortion bans in Texas is a very different reality than just talking generally about it in any other state. So, you know, maybe it's not that much of a high wire act, but I think it's super meaningful. Although Jasmine Crockett is a woman of color who is going to be speaking about that issue to other women of color who are disproportionately affected by those bands. So, you know, I guess time will tell. Yes, yes, like in Maine, time will tell.

The abortion thing is important because, like, there's this natural instinct I would think that people like us have been in politics a while, like, who have been around sort of pre-Dobbs, right, is, ooh, you're mentioning abortion in Texas. Oh, wait, Andy Bashir just two years ago ran on abortion in Kentucky and won't overwhelmingly. I mean, like, we're in a very different world now where you can and should run on protecting abortion rights everywhere in the country from Maine to Montana, right? In every way in between. Well, especially in a state like Texas.

You cannot get pregnant and have a miscarriage and be safe in Texas. This isn't about, just to be clear, it's not about even abortion. It's just about reproductive health and survival. So two different messengers talking about the issue, and we will see who. people respond to the best. Time will tell. Time will tell. Alex Wagner, thanks for joining us. Everyone, go listen to Runaway Country. It is a phenomenal podcast.

Consume all of Alex's content. Tricken media, substack, everywhere she is. Substack plug. Thank you, Dan. Bye. Bye.