Page 111 of See You Next Tuesday

Anya: How do they look?

Simone: Same as the old ones

Simone: Wheeler’s still ahead by 11 points

Kira: Shit

Kira: Iowa’s in a month. We’re running out of time to close the gap

Anya: Voters love Jo, and they love her even more the better they get to know her

Anya: But people are terrified to lose in November

Anya: They’re voting for Wheeler out of fear, not admiration

Kira: Which is ironic since that’s exactly HOW you lose a general election

Kira: Pick a nominee who doesn’t inspire passion or devotion

Simone: Wheeler has all the institutional support. The media, the superdelegates, the big endorsements

Anya: The money

Kira: The money. It’s always about the money

Anya: Well…what if we had more money than Wheeler did?

Kira: That’d be excellent lol

Kira: You writing a check???

Anya: No, I’m serious!

Anya: Gabe mentioned to me the other day about some big fundraising dinner they’re having in January. I was curious, so I looked up the invitation—the money isn’t for the campaign. It’s for a super PAC. So I looked up a bunch of their December fundraising events, and they’re all for the same PAC.

Simone: That’s bizarre. Do you think their big money donors have already maxed out to the campaign? So they need someplace new to put more money from the same people?

Anya: Yes! And that means their fundraising totals for the campaign will be WAY lower this quarter than previous quarters, because they’re not raising for the campaign. They’re raising for the PAC.

Simone: Meanwhile, our numbers have never been better

Anya: Exactly. I think we can beat them

Kira: Seriously??

Kira: That’d be huge, the press would have an absolute field day if we out-raise the prohibitive favorite. It could totally change the narrative going into Iowa

Kira: Is there any way we can get that ball rolling now with the press? Start talking about how Wheeler is out of step with voters, frame this as grassroots donors vs. big money super PAC?

Simone: We should start doing some DC podcasts. Inside baseball, the shit all the media listens to

Anya: I know exactly which podcaster to call

Transcript of Politico’s Politi-whoa podcast with Shawn Drucker, episode #41

Air date: December 22

Shawn: Welcome back, my politi-comrades! We’re here for our last show of the year, with just three weeks left until the Iowa caucus. My guest today is a senior advisor to Senator Jo Sessego’s campaign—and, full disclosure, a former colleague of mine—and she’s going to break down the state of the race. Anya Katz, welcome to the pod!