Podcast 509

Final Primary In South Dakota. A gonzo talk podcast from the driveway aboard Mobile Podcast Command as we load in and run through the checklists before final departure to the Mount Rushmore State. Why South Dakota? First it’s been awhile since a road trip. Second, coverage of the Presidential Preference Primaries and Caucuses began with Wisconsin Governor Walker’s candidacy announcement last summer, continued into Iowa in February, onto South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, on through to Texas and back home in the first couple of weeks of March. So it is a fitting end that one of the states with the latest primaries, as opposed to the earliest, is South Dakota. While all eyes are focused on the June 7th primary in California, because Bernie Sanders is giving Hillary Clinton fits there, do you think anyone is going to cover voting in South Dakota? That’s why I am going. Aside from the fact that South Dakota is awesome, from the Sturgis celebration to Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Rapid City and more. Even with the contest between Sanders and Clinton in the Golden State, the media still seems to be focused on finding some negative way to define ‘presumptive’ republican nominee Donald Trump and by extension, the Republican Party. First it was Trump the authoritarian. Then it was Trump the fascist with his incitements to violence – which as an aside seems to be on the other side, with ‘anti-trump protesters’ spitting at passive Trump supporters and my sense is this gets the New York Developer more votes and may just put him in the White House but I digress. Suddenly Trump is Zachary Taylor, 12th president of the United States, and the Republican Party is the Whig Party. Is this an apt comparison? Maybe, even with the scare quotes to describe Taylor and Whigs, but then again, kind of not really. Politics feels like heavy metal, the energy is so low and the results so negative. It’s gonna be good to get out on the road. Sponsored by Brush Studio and Hydrus.

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Podcast 500

Podcast 500. Commemorating 500 podcasts in Podcast 500. What started as a distraction after getting fired from a radio job back in 2009 has become a business, and an unparalleled creative outlet. From the first Bob Davis Podcast in 2009 to Podcast 500, you can follow up on podcasts you missed or want to hear again, by entering the subject matter in the search window. Or, you can listen to this podcast. Podcast 500 takes us back through The Dillinger Road Trip, through Wisconsin’s backroads in the middle of the night, the trip to the Jersey Shore, the great first Summer Sounds podcast, and to The Bonnie and Clyde podcast (my personal favorite). Day to day news, politics, society and culture are among the many subjects discussed in these podcasts which can be far ranging and deep, and prescient. Since the acquisition of Mobile Podcast Command Unit 8, barnstorming the country in search of … something. First the west, from Minnesota to California and back, visiting Calistoga California, through a spring snow storm in Wyoming. Then east during the summer of 2015 to Washington DC, many political coverage events, the EAA air show in Osh Kosh, Sturgis and then the campaign trail in late winter 2016, from Iowa, to South Carolina, all the way to Florida, the gulf coast through the deep south to Texas, back to Minnesota. If you haven’t heard all the podcasts this is a good sample of many of them, although there are many I didn’t include in this podcast. Thanks to all the listeners and subscribers, supporters and sponsors who have made The Bob Davis Podcasts possible. Podcasting for me has been a labor of love. It is generally a solitary pursuit. I spend a lot of time out there by myself recording sound, back in the studio producing and always looking for the next topic idea for a podcast. Sponsored by X Government Cars.

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Podcast 489

New York Primary Results. The results of the New York Presidential Primary are in. Now sit back and watch the story lines change. Surprise! After a day of voter confusion and typical New York statements from election officials about investigations, the New York Primary Results are in. Donald Trump won roughly 60 percent of the Republican votes, and Hillary Clinton managed about 57 percent of the Democratic votes in a slightly closer race. The most interesting outcome of this presidential preference poll is which republican candidate came in second. While Trump celebrates a win large enough for him to control a lion’s share of the delegates from the Empire State, Ohio Governor John Kasich ran a good second, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz came in a distant third, which should be enough to change the media story lines from ‘Ted Cruz is posing a strong challenge to Trump’, to whether or not John Kasich could be the nominee for the republicans in a contested republican convention this summer. The next primaries favor Trump and especially Kasich. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island will hold primaries on April 26th. While most analysts expect Trump to win most of the delegates, many will be keeping a close eye on Kasich. Is the republican establishment working for Trump opponents in states that favor them? Recent polls from Wisconsin suggest that might be true. More establishment figures as well as candidates seem to be pointing toward a contested convention. With the establishment concerned about the so called ‘down-ticket’; the US Senate and House, chances are Trump and Cruz — who don’t poll well against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in a head to head match ups — may not be able to get the nomination if they can’t get the required 1237 majority of delegates on the first ballot. This is the main thing to pay attention to in the next few weeks. Ignore the pundits and the exit poll nonsense and focus on the next spate of primaries. Finally, the New York Times reports voters ‘disillusioned’ by primary races that depend on delegate elections, not the popular vote. Are they being sidelined or were voters always sidelined in these state primaries and caucuses? Sponsored by Brush Studio and X Government Cars.

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