Breaking News from Pod Save America - Political Experts React to VIRAL Ads from Democrats

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Dan Pfeiffer is joined by Alex Wwagner to break down the closing messages from Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary. Plus, Josh Turek's viral ad featuring President Obama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You're richer than you think. Obama says, it's a pretty good shot, Fyfer. Not sure you could get it off in a game, though. The bar's pretty low, Dan. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Welcome to Politbuquerfants React. Joining me once again. Alex, how are you?

I'm just delighted when we get to talk Senate races. I feel like something was snatched from us. In addition to being, you know, really bad for democracy and women. We can't talk about Grand Platner anymore. It's kept us apart, honestly. I had a over-under of three minutes on the Grand Platinum reference, and you did it in 15 seconds. So before we even asked me how I was doing.

That's fair. I can't do a podcast with you without talking about the main race. We're going to have to try because we're not talking about it today. We're going to talk about it today. Today we're going to talk about two Senate races, the Michigan Senate race and the Iowa Senate race. We're going to look at some ads and some videos. We're going to start with an ad from Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Said. Billionaires, Trump donors, and APAC are spending $50 million, disparage.

Abdul. They're trying to trick us. Flooding our TVs with attacks and lies. I want to keep our money here in Michigan. That's why they're coming after them. They have millions. Abdul has Bernie AOC nurses. Teacher. UAW.

Working people. Democratic leaders across Michigan and us. Abdul. Abdul. Abdul will fight for change. I'm Abdul. I approve this message and I respectfully ask for your vote. That's it.

I'm ready for a major speech. What do you think of this ad? Bernie Sanders has more energy in his 84-year-old body. than most 48-year-olds. Like, I cannot believe that dude is 48. I just need to put that out there. He's great. I don't, I guess I'm a little confused.

As a piece of, like, you know, advertising, it's good. But in terms of, like, what it meaningfully does for his campaign, he is established as the progressive in this race. And if people are hesitant about pulling the lever for Abdul on Tuesday, it's because they're worried that he's not going to be able to win over swing voters, independent, centrist, Democrats, whatever. And this is just doubling down on the sort of progressive credentials. He has not said he is a Democratic socialist, but for all intents and purposes, he has seen as one.

And this ad only, I think, solidifies that impression. He's out there with AOC and Bernie, and they're the sort of lynch pins of the ad. So, like, as a piece of primary election advertising, I guess it's good because it'll get the base excited. but it also, I think, undercuts his argument for the general and potentially even among some skeptical Democratic primary voter. So I'm a little confused. I did see a couple faces of color in there, prominent, you know, voices from black Americans in that ad. And that is not a coincidence because Abdul is facing some skepticism amongst black voters in Michigan for being part of or supporting the uncommitted vote in 2020.

for in the primary. And there's tension, I think, because of that between black voters and Arab American voters in the state. So he's clearly trying to make some inroads there. But overall, I'm confused by it. I'm trying to understand what they're trying to get done here. I don't know. What do you think, Dan? Yeah, it's not his best ad.

I mean, his message is so finely tuned to this campaign that it can be a call and response, which is money in your pocket, money out of politics, Medicare for all. this ad does not do that. And what it's really doing is doing two things that I think are maybe a little in conflict. One is it's pointing out that all these people that you don't like, corporations, Trump donors, A-PAC, which has a 49% unfavorable rate in Michigan in polling, want to beat him. So if, like, I am, judged me by who hates me, is essentially what he's saying. And all these people you hate hate me, therefore I must be good. And he's having that message delivered by AOC and Bernie, who are very, very popular with Democrats, primary voting Democrats.

So that is true. The second part of this ad is try, I think is trying to say, we have this broader coalition that's not just progressives. We have nurses. We have UAW. We have, you know, as you say, there's diverse voices in there. And to your point about the struggles that Abdul has had with black voters in the Emerson poll that came out earlier this week, he was down 30 points to Haley Stevens with black voters. Part of that is with historic tensions between the Arab American community and the black community in Michigan. Part of that is the uncommitted. Part of it is that first APEC and then Haley Stevens have been run and spent tens of millions of dollars on ads featuring Barack Obama talking about.

Haley Stevens. We're going to look at Hayley Stevens at a minute. From 2018, very positively, so a lot of people believe he has endorsed her. He has not endorsed anyone in this race. Yeah, I think the ad is, I agree with you. He is very much, very much trying to win this primary by jacking up turnout among young people, progressives, people who very much hold his position on Israel and anti-APAC views. Can that turnout get any higher than it already is? I'm not really sure about that. Yeah. Well, yeah.

And the polling we have right now, I mean, it's national polling about Democratic. People who are self-ident Democrats who self-identify as Democratic Socialists. I think it's like a third of Democrats now. And they are overwhelmingly motivated and excited to vote this year, I should say, because we're talking about a primary next Tuesday. But I cut you off. Yeah, but as you pointed out, Abdul is not a DSA candidate. He has never been a member of the DSA.

He has not endorsed by the DSA. there are some reports of the DSA organizers on their own commitment to Michigan to help him. Obviously, there's some ideological similarity around issues like abolish ICE and Medicare for All, although there are a lot of pro-A abolish ICE, Medicare for All candidates running all across the country who are not Democratic Socialists. He has not been for abolishing the Senate or abolishing prisons or those sorts of things, which is, it's actually made this whole thing hard to talk about because everyone keeps treating Abdul's a DSA candidate.

Well, right. That's why I'm confused because he, I mean, you do an ad with AOC and Bernie. and it's going to be a very small, like, needle to thread to suggest you're not really a DSA candidate. Yeah, I mean, you're going to have to say, I mean, he's been asked about this many times and he says no. Right. Because I think that there is the DSA, like the Democratic Party, has a branding problem, right, where it's like the brand Democratic Socialist is hurt you, even if there are parts of the agenda, not the whole agenda, but there are parts of it that are popular. You would prefer not to be called a Democratic Socialist, the, you know, in Wisconsin. where there's actually a Democratic Socialist likely to be the nominee.

The Democratic Socialist brand is 23 points underwater. The Democratic Party is 21 points underwater. So it's like, I guess it could be worse. But look, Abdul is on a great campaign. He is in the, you know, this is going to come out the day before the primary. He is in all the polls that shows him leading by a large margin. Whether those polls are right, we have no idea, whether he always, you know, we don't know that. He has had very, very good message.

that message does not show up in this campaign. And to me, you want to end a campaign with what you got to this point, which is money in your pockets, money out of politics, Medicare for all. Yeah, the issues. Because also that makes the, that widens the impression of what he's, I think, about as well. Whereas I think the aperture closes a little bit when you see AOC and Bernie, even if you love them, just saying. Yeah, no, no, I agree.

It's the, you're not trying to expand your base of support with this ad. And theoretically, that's, you know, there are two approaches here. One is jack up turnout among your people. The other is build as broad a coalition as possible. You can win the primary with the former. You cannot win the general with the, you need the latter to win the general. Yeah. And I guess I would say the only caveat is, like, there is a portion of the Democratic, you know,

electorate in Michigan that's going to be voting on Tuesday that is worried. I don't want to say the word electability, but they are concerned about that fundamental thing. And if he has work to do among any group, it's that group. And I don't think this ad addresses that at all. Yeah, that's correct. That's correct. Okay, now let's look at an ad from his opponent, Haley Stevens. This is our closing ad that went up for the final weekend. There's those cool kids on the internet making fun of how I talk. But let's be real. They're making fun of Michigan. Their jokes makes me fight harder. Just like I did when I was working for President Obama. Like I'm doing standing up to Trump to stop ice. They might not like how I sound. But I am going to make dance. I am sure they hear us in the halls of power. I'm Haley Stevens, and I approve this message.

What do you think of this one? Oh, man. I mean, I don't generally like, if you're going to start in a defensive posture and, like, ridicule the cool kids, you better have, like, a really great ad, and I don't think this is that ad. There's clearly an effort to establish her as the favorite by starting with, you know, footage of her with Jim Clyburn, again, reaching out to the black community in Michigan, and Gretchen Whitmer, both of whom endorsed her. But like, what is Haley-Steen?

The whole thing is what is Haley-Stevens about? And you don't get any sense of that. They show headlines of Haley-Steven slamming Trump on ice, but, like, what meaningfully is her candidacy about? Like, what's the closing argument and you don't get it at all other than it's a defensive reaction to cool kids, a.k.a. podcasters, a.k. Abdul-A. and people who like him,

dissing her candidacy and her voice, which, admittedly, is unusual. I don't think it's a good ad. And misogynistic, to be clear. Yes, of course. But we women live in. Just misogynies baked in. But yes, of course, there's some misogyny in there. But it also is like, it would be one thing if she was using her unusual voice to articulate like the battle plan and the priorities. And we don't get that. We just get periodic and, you know, opportune mentions of the fact that she worked for President Obama and is trying to ride those coattails after working on, you know, the auto bailout, whatever. 16, 17 years ago. I mean, to me, it's just woefully insufficient. Yeah, I don't know that I hate this ad, but it is, in some way similar to the, to the Abdul's ad, it suffers from something that I, I see a lot these days from ad makers who are trying to, they're desperately trying to get attention, to get eyeballs,

which has never been harder to do. And you get a little internet brain-pilled. So imagine you are someone who has not decided who you're going to vote for in this race. When she says the thing that the cool kids on the internet are making fun of me, you have no context for that. Yeah. Just none. Like you have no, you have to be such a sicko like we are to know that there was this video of an organizing rally that went viral because people were making fun of her voice and how she talked. And it became this whole thing online and people were comparing her accent in 20.

18 to her accent now, calling her a Saturday Night Live character, all of that. And that she, I think, definitely turned that to her advantage by leaning into it. But that's all, like, within this elite group of people already knew who they're going to vote for. And so to put that into mass communication to me, suggest you're trying so hard to go viral that you've lost the plot. The rest of the ad is good. Like, her argument is, look, I agree with you that she has suffered in this race from not having a real articulation of, what she brings to the table other than two things. One, three things I'd say.

One is that she's a very effective legislator. She puts that, she says that all the steps. She won at some point in a ward for Michigan's most effective legislator in the House. Democrat in the House, I think it was. The bar is pretty low, Dan. Yeah, yeah. But I think that I think a lot of people don't think. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Exactly. Exactly. So that's one. Two is that she's very, very pro-Michigan, very focused on Michigan. And Abdul is the sort of celebrity. type. And he's a celebrity because he had a podcast, I would say. On crooked media.

On crooked media. About public health. So, and then the third thing is that she, and this is the biggest one, is that she is more electable than Abdul. That she, that he is too vulnerable, she will win. The, that third one isn't addressed in the ad any way, shape, or form. And the third one has fallen on deaf ears, if you believe the polls. Well, I think it's subtly in there because you have clients.

Clyburn and Whitmer in there. Also, no one knows who James Clyburn is. No one. Shut your mouth. They do not. Black people in Michigan do. They do not. Yes, they do.

They do not. Okay, whatever. I disagree. Okay, that's very possible. We'll commission a poll and see what his name is. He's like a real leader in the party. I mean, maybe that's too inside baseball. But Jim Clyburn is, I mean, I think of him as a kingmaker in national politics,

which is in part why Joe Biden got the nomination in 2020. He absolutely is a kingmaker in. South Carolina politics. I agree with that. Okay. All right. We'll agree to disagree. I mean, maybe I'm too sick in the head and think everybody follows members of like Congress who were in their 80s. Anyway, I'll shush. I'll shush. I mean, it ultimately is her standing with a, with a black man on stage. And Gretchen Whitmer. And Gretchen Whitmer. The Whitmer thing, obviously should have value, right? She is a popular governor of the state. We'll see what happens on Tuesday. But like, you want to, if she, you have her endorsement, you want to put her in your

for sure. And they've done a lot. There's a directed camera of Grasen Whitmer explaining her endorsement of Haley Stevens as well. I just don't really know what the ad. Like Abdul's ad, I don't know what either of them are accomplishing as I under... Agree. In terms of what it ladders up to their actual strategy. I don't get... I just like the purpose of both of these ads remains like somewhat of a mystery to me other than she wanted to have a little viral, a meme. And I think that the Abdul ad is a similar in the sense that it's,

You have Bernie and Eversy, who are popular figures. But then it's like you got the thing at the end, and that's kind of charming, I guess, but it's still, you have 30 seconds and you have to spend three seconds on the disclaimer at the outset because the FEC law is stupid. And then you have to spend, you're going to spend a second and a half at the end on Bernie yelling about something. And it's like, what exactly are you doing? I know. You know, I agree. I will say, you know, the reason we are looking at this ratio on such a granular level is because I think. I think this is the race to look at in terms of how Democrats manage the Israel question in

2028. And like, you know, obviously that's not part of either one of these ads, but like there are going to be a lot of inferences drawn from whatever happens on Tuesday and then subsequently what happens in November. So, I mean, the biggest, most relevant part of this is not in either one of these ads, but is the reason that I think we're all paying such close attention to Michigan. And hasn't been in the paid communicator. which is the interesting, it has not really been in the paid communications in this race.

A-PAC, which is spent, I think in the end, we'll spend $60 million to elect Taley Stevens. I don't think it's ever mentioned Israel in one ad. Amazing. Amazing. But A-PAC has been mentioned. Yeah, Abdul has mentioned A-PAC as many times. Yeah. And as I mentioned in the Detroit, and there was a Michigan poll earlier this year that had A-PACs favorable, unfavorable as 1249, which is interesting, which shows how much of an issue it is in this race

because national, that's about 13 points higher that of name ID than an APAC has nationally. Part of that, part of the party, that's because it's something adds in this race, probably such a big discussion in the race. Michigan is unique. Well, they're a huge Arab American population. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, ironically, like the thing that is probably most relevant and most important in terms of democratic dynamics heading into 2028.

is not mentioned or discussed in any paid communications in this race, but it will be the takeaway for months to come. Yes. And I cannot wait for this primary to be over because I hate every second of it. Yes, me too. Agree. Let's pivot to something a little more wholesome. I know.

I mean it's wholesome. Here is a video from Iowa Senate candidate Josh Turrick featuring the one and only Barack Obama. When you're a mid-sized business, you need every competitive advantage you can get. Like an AI solution that works for you, not against you. SAP Grow is built with AI embedded at its core, working across every system. And it's ready to go from day one so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow, AI Cloud ERP for any size business. Well, again.

Who's got next? I got it. You ready for me, Josh? I'm ready. Let's go. Are we playing a horse or what? We're playing Iowa. I know a little something about winning Iowa.

All right, here we go. Are we ready? You know when it's in. Come on, I'm not going to just give it away. All right. I think it's silky smooth. Thousands of hours of practice. You were the shooter?

Four-time Paralympian, two-time gold medalists. Back-to-back gold medals. Okay. I told you, I'm not just going to give it away to it. How do we move our state forward? How to move the country forward? I'll tell you what, people all across Iowa are saying that they're feeling that hope, that optimism for the first time in a long time. That's my sense. That's what I think's going to happen.

I've seen enough. Not only did I get whooped, but you've got here a man of character, somebody who knows how to win. Now the ball's in your court, Iowa. Let's make sure that we send Josh Turrick to the United States Senate. Within 24 hours, this video had received 3.2 million views on Josh Turc's social accounts alone. It doesn't count for all the other coverage of it. Yeah. Which is equivalent to the population of the entire state of Iowa. What do you think of it? It's not an ad.

It's a video. So it's not on TV. What'd you think of it? I mean, like, after living in, like, the cave of, I mean, we continue to live in the cave, the permanent midnight of the Trump administration and a cave of, like, Democratic fucking infighting and Maine and Michigan and just like all of us are so ready for that shit to be over. Thank God the Iowa primary race is over. And now we're on to the general and we can remember what it's like for two normal people to play basketball and kind of just

have a little bit of pep in their step. I found this welcome like a breeze on a summer day after a long winter of despair. Like that, I mean, I just, it's a reminder that we are not the broken, cancerous country that we are constantly told we are and shown that we are by the fact that that Donald Trump is our president. And it's like a reminder that there was a very decent person in the Oval Office who remains wildly popular and he will be a figure in the coming months and days. And that's good. And they look great playing basketball together.

It's just all. It's just it's like good, clean fun, Dan. And it feels incredibly natural. It's great to see Obama talking shit a little bit about about himself and his opponent. I noticed that you guys cut out the part of the video. where Obama misses the bank shot. And I can only think that's because you guys used to work for the man and don't want to further humiliate him.

Note that his office has not confirmed or denied whether he lost that game of I-O-W-A, but he clearly did. Well, he admits he got whooped at the end. He admits he got whooped, but they would not say he lost. Yes, of course not. You can't. Can I have supposed to say a couple of things about this. Yes, please.

I think it's notable that Barack Obama is appearing in a very prominent video slash ad for someone running in Iowa, a state that Trump has won by double digits in the last three elections. That says a lot about where Trump stands. It says a lot about Barack Obama's enduring appeal. And connection to that state of state that obviously launched him to the presidency with the Iowa caucus 2008, but he also won twice with relative ease in 2008, 2012. Second, I would say it goes to show how much Barack Obama wants Josh Turk to win that he allowed himself to lose on video. He is one of the most competitive people alive, and particularly in basketball. And I will tell a story from 2007. We were in New Hampshire waiting to go out and to do a town hall.

The hold room was that basketball gym. And Obama was on his BlackBerry, that's how long ago that was. and Reggie Love, who was Obama's bodyman, who played basketball at Duke, and I were shooting baskets in our suits. And I played basketball my whole life. I'm not a great shooter. But I was like going, we were taking turns going around the, you know, sort of around the three-point line shooting. Reggie and I were. And I made like six in a row, which never happens.

It was very fortunate. But Obama, like, stops and starts watching. And when I finish, and I even make the last one with him watching me. You did? Or you did not. I did. I did. And I'm in my dress shoes and my suit, no joke.

in my suit pants tie on. And Obama says, it's a pretty good shot, Fyfer. I'm not sure you could get it off in a game, though. So he's like, it's just couldn't give me the full credit. And so I go to say, though, that he, the fact that he let Josh Turk, not let Josh Turk, but he, I think Josh Turk, who was a two-time gold Olympian, what Paralympian would defeat him. Yes, would beat him no matter what.

But the fact that that should end up on video design of his commitment to winning this. I love the video. It was great. Like, you're right, it was a breath of fresh air to lots of people. This isn't the sort of thing that's going to persuade people in Iowa who are sweet, you know, disenchanted Trump voters to vote for Josh Turk. He has other ways to do that. This is a way to get people around the country excited about his candidacy.

Yeah. And maybe donate money to his candidacy, which he's going to need. Totally. And he's been, you know, in the wheelchair, doing a road race across the state, talking to rural voters in Iowa. Part of his thing is, I mean, I think Turk's sort of strategy at this point is reminding people of goodwill, neighborliness, good vibes. And that could be super powerful in a place like Iowa.

I mean, there is a real phrase, Iowa nice, and they mean it. And my dad's from Iowa, RIP. But yeah, I mean, Iowans take that seriously. And Trump's really poisoned the state. I mean, with an assist from Republicans in the state. And as Obama points out, he knows something about winning Iowa. It can be done. So it's really nice.

It's just really nice. And it's, as you say, the fact that he loses in it. the video still made it to the internet is a testament to how much he believes in the race that he's only done three endorsements, I think, so far the season. James Talarico, Texas, Gina Hina Hinojosa, gubernatorial candidate, Democrat in Texas, and this one. So it's a big deal. It's a big deal on many fronts. And I think it's going to help. All right. Let's, we can actually end the show on a high note today. I love it. An agreement. Overall agreement. Perfect. Alex Wagner, thanks for joining me once again on political experts react. Talk to you again.

It's my pleasure. Bye, buddy.