Shows
The Run-Up Guide to 2024What Jason Aldean Tells Us About Donald TrumpLast summer, politics, country music and cultural grievance collided with the growing popularity of a new song from recording artist Jason Aldean.Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalkCarjack an old lady at a red lightPull a gun on the owner of a liquor storeYa think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya likeIn the lyrics, Aldean lists behaviors he associates with cities, like lawlessness and disrespect for the flag or the police. And then he warns listeners of the consequences if they “try that...2024-10-0942 min
The Run-UpKamala Harris’s $200 Million Vibe ShiftIt has been less than two weeks since President Biden dropped his re-election bid and threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.Already, Ms. Harris has closed the gap with former President Donald J. Trump in some national polls. The Harris campaign said it had raised more than $200 million in a week. Ms. Harris’s supporters even broke attendance records on Zoom, with one group gathering more than 160,000 people on a single call.After more than a year of a presidential contest that was defined by its stability — and people who said they really didn...2024-08-0136 min
The Run-UpWhere Democrats Go After BidenWhen it finally happened, it felt both inevitable, and unfathomable.President Biden was out of the 2024 presidential race.Shortly after making that announcement, he threw his support behind his vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the next Democratic nominee.Mr. Biden had finally fulfilled his promise to be a bridge to the next generation — albeit under enormous pressure.Ms. Harris issued a statement later in the day, saying that she was honored to have received President Biden’s endorsement and that she intends to “earn and win” the nomination.Today, i...2024-07-2226 min
The Run-UpThe Soundtrack of Donald TrumpLee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” has become former President Donald J. Trump’s unofficial theme music on the campaign trail. Here at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the song was performed live by none other than Mr. Greenwood himself, as Mr. Trump walked into the arena on Monday.The anthem, released in 1984, is essentially a song about togetherness and the diversity of the United States. And it’s now become tied to a candidate who has often represented division and chaos.As Mr. Trump is set to deliver the culminating address at...2024-07-1836 min
The Run-UpThey Lost to Trump. Now They’re All In.On the second day of the Republican National Convention, a collection of Donald Trump’s former challengers took the stage. There were people who ran against him in 2016 — like Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio. And people who just challenged him this year — Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy.No matter how fervently, or recently, they had criticized him, all voiced their support for him and emphasized a message of unity.For analysis of Night 2 of the R.N.C., and this parade of Trump rivals turned boosters, Astead is joined by his Times...2024-07-1713 min
The Run-UpWith J.D. Vance and a Bandaged Ear, Trump Gets His Party StartedRepublicans had a big day on Monday. Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate. Two days after surviving an assassination attempt, he officially became his party’s presidential nominee. And the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee got underway, with a festive mood among the delegates.The Run-Up is here in Milwaukee for the occasion. In special episodes this week, we’ll tell you what we’re seeing — and what that tells us about Trump’s Republican Party.To kick things off, Jess Bidgood, who writes the On Politics newsletter, joined Astead to analyze ke...2024-07-1614 min
The Run-Up‘I’m Just Really Glad That Trump’s OK’You’ve seen the image by now: Former President Donald J. Trump has blood running down the side of his face. He’s being escorted off his rally’s stage by the Secret Service, and he pauses to look at the crowd, his fist proudly in the air.It’s too soon to know how the attempt on his life on Saturday in Pennsylvania will affect the outcome of the race. But Trump’s allies have already made the shock of the assassination attempt, and the violence, part of a clear political message.To hear them tell...2024-07-1534 min
The Run-UpA Divided America Agrees: We Deserve Better Than ThisThe latest national poll from The New York Times and Siena College shows former President Donald J. Trump leading President Biden by nine percentage points among registered voters — a pretty big shift in his direction in the week since the presidential debate.It has become clear in the past week that there is no obvious path to replacing Mr. Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee. But there is a strong desire among Americans for something different.We heard that directly from voters we met last week in Kenosha, Wis., at a gathering of a grou...2024-07-0435 min
The Run-UpDemocrats Are Panicking About Biden. How Did They Get Here?As you may have heard, Thursday night was the first debate between President Biden and former president Donald J. Trump. In short, it was not a great night for Mr. Biden.The president’s debate performance triggered significant panic among top Democrats, who for months have been dismissing concerns about Mr. Biden’s age.So, how is this happening? Despite all the concerns polls showed about age, how has the Democratic Party arrived at this moment?That’s a line of inquiry The Run-Up has been putting to senior Democratic leaders for the past 1...2024-06-2929 min
The Run-UpYour Guide to a Trump vs. Biden DebateWe don’t know exactly what will happen when President Biden and former president Donald J. Trump take the debate stage in Atlanta tonight.We do know, however, that the first debate between the major party candidates is happening earlier in the election season than usual. And we also know that we’ve seen a version of this show before.Their past matchups have featured bitter insults, constant interruptions and were political spectacles judged more on optics than on substance.This year, considering that the candidates are offering radically different visions for the coun...2024-06-2753 min
The Run-UpMaybe It All Comes Down to AbortionArizona is a battleground state that both parties are desperate to win in November.And right now, supporters of abortion rights in the state are in the midst of gathering signatures to ensure that, along with the presidential race and a competitive Senate contest, enshrining the right to abortion in the state’s Constitution will be on the ballot this fall.The measure has broad support in the state, and Democrats are banking on that to drive a wide range of people to the polls to vote on the ballot measure — and, they hope, for Mr...2024-06-1348 min
The Run-UpTrump’s Guilty. Does Anyone Care?In the days since a Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts, people have mostly been asking one big question.Will this matter in November?Over the past few days, our colleagues at The New York Times and at the Siena College Research Institute have been trying to answer that question. They spoke with 1,900 people they had previously polled to find out how they are currently thinking. Most people have not changed their mind. But some have — and they are moving away from Mr. Trump.This week, Astead speaks with voters ab...2024-06-0637 min
The Run-UpWhy Joe Biden Isn’t Getting Credit for the EconomyAs he runs for re-election, President Biden is talking about one specific issue a lot: the economy. He emphasizes the nation’s low unemployment and slowing inflation, and even rolled out a catchy nickname for the good numbers: Bidenomics.The problem for Biden is that few Americans seem to agree that the economy is strong. They think the opposite.This week, we explore the gap between the good economy, as described by the president, and the not-so-great economy, as felt by so many Americans. And we do it in Dayton, Ohio, where activists are working to...2024-05-2341 min
The Run-UpCan Celebrities Make a Difference? Your 2024 Election Questions, AnsweredIf the 2024 presidential election were a road trip, we would now be at the part where you start to wonder: Are we there yet? The matchup is set, but there’s still such a long way to go until November.And one of the things we’ve noticed about the questions that you’ve been sending in is that you’re starting to mix it up. You want to know what Donald Trump’s possible vice-presidential picks are, how down-ballot races are shaping up, and what difference celebrity endorsements could make.This week, we’re answering yo...2024-05-1646 min
The Run-UpNebraska Was Minding Its Business Until Charlie Kirk Came AlongRight now, President Biden’s clearest path to re-election in November seems to run through the middle of the country.Here’s what that would look like: Biden wins the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — plus the other states that usually go blue — and it brings him to 269 electoral votes, just one vote shy of securing the presidency.And that’s where Nebraska comes in.Nebraska is one of just two states that distributes electoral college votes proportionally rather than with a winner-take-all approach. That means that, even though it’s a largely...2024-04-1135 min
The Run-UpWhat About the People Who Don’t Vote?The people who don’t vote are often left out of the political conversation. Campaigns don’t spend much money on them, and the media doesn’t devote much coverage to them. But to understand a presidential contest like the 2024 race — one that threatens to be extremely close — we have to understand not just the people who show up to vote, but also those who sit out elections.This week, we talk to several people who skipped the last Trump-Biden matchup in 2020 and ask how they’re thinking about 2024. We also speak to Anthony Williams, who directed a project at...2024-03-2847 min
The Run-UpDon’t Ask RFK Jr. About Being a SpoilerThis week, the Democratic National Committee formed a unit to push back against third-party candidates and independents. At the same time, a number of Biden allies have formed a super PAC called Clear Choice, which plans to do the same, signaling the seriousness of the potential impact of an outsider candidate.One such candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is polling above 10 percent in national surveys and is well known for his family lineage.Today, the candidate shares why he decided to jump in, the issues that matter most to him personally and his thoughts on...2024-03-2142 min
The Run-UpWhy It Had to Be TrumpOn Tuesday night, Donald J. Trump won another four nominating contests and officially became the presumptive Republican nominee. That’s despite the criminal charges, the judgments made against him in defamation and sexual abuse cases, the hundreds of millions of dollars in legal penalties and the continued fallout from the events of Jan. 6, 2021.Considering all of that, we want to ask Republicans the same questions we posed to Democrats last week — and to answer them more directly than we have before:How exactly did we end up with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee again? And...2024-03-1443 min
The Run-UpWhy It Had to Be BidenWith Super Tuesday behind us, this week is the end of one chapter of this campaign.On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump’s only remaining challenger, Nikki Haley, is out of the race. And on the Democratic side, President Biden has so far secured more than 70 percent of the delegates he needs to secure the nomination.The general election is here. And so too is the rematch we’ve been expecting, despite the fact that the majority of Americans continue to say they wish they had other options.So for the next...2024-03-0749 min
The Run-UpEverything You Need to Know About Super TuesdayIt’s Super Tuesday. That means that people in 15 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia) and one territory (American Samoa) are going to the polls.Usually, Super Tuesday is one of the biggest dates on the primary calendar — a day when a lot of people across the country make their voices heard.This year is different. There’s no reason to believe that today’s results will alter the seemingly inevitable rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump. But there are note...2024-03-0529 min
The Run-UpMAGA Thinks the Game Is Rigged. Will They Play?For a lot of his most loyal supporters, Donald Trump isn’t just the former president or even the potential next president. He is, in their view, the true president — because many of them believe the 2020 election was stolen.So with Mr. Trump marching toward the Republican nomination and a likely rematch with President Biden in November, we went to this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference for a temperature check on election denial.Can the MAGA movement move on? Or is the only result they’ll trust a result where Mr. Trump wins?Do you...2024-02-2941 min
The Run-Up‘What If Someone Dies?’ And Other 2024 Questions, AnsweredFor the past few months, we’ve been asking our listeners to write in with questions, and we’ve gotten some great ones. Things like: How does polling work? Does Joe Biden’s stance on Gaza present a campaign challenge? And who might Donald Trump select as his running mate?But as we were sorting through them, an underlying theme started to emerge: People can’t seem to fathom that we’re careening toward a Biden-Trump rematch — and they want to know if anything could alter this seemingly inevitable reality.So today, with some of our most tru...2024-02-2251 min
The Run-UpDo Not Invite Donald Trump or Joe Biden on This DateIf you had just a few minutes to win someone’s affection, how political would you get? Would you dive right in, or avoid politics altogether? The Run-Up went speed dating in suburban Philadelphia to find out. Usually when we’re out in the field, we’re at rallies or campaign events – places where people are vocal about their political beliefs. But for many participants at the dating event, talking politics was a complete turn off. This got us thinking: How do political divisions — the things that seem so present on the campaign trail and in polling —...2024-02-1544 min
The Run-UpHow Political Polls Really WorkOur listeners have lots of questions about polling.Questions such as: Is it still relevant? How does it work? How do you get a reliable sample when people don’t answer the phone?At this point in a usual primary season, still weeks away from Super Tuesday, most of the attention of polling would be on who might capture the nomination.But this year, with the race all but set, we’re anticipating nine months of polling on two men we already know very well.Today, to prepare for that future and...2024-02-0844 min
The Run-UpWhy Donald Trump Won Nevada Before Any Votes Were CastNevada is doing things differently this year. Or at least, it tried to.The first presidential nominating contest in the west takes place on Tuesday — and on Thursday.But that’s not what state officials were hoping would happen when they decided to move from a caucus to a primary in 2021.Democrats got on board — and President Biden is expected to win that contest handily on Tuesday. On the Republican side, however, things did not go according to plan.A caucus was seen as being beneficial to former President Donald J. Trump...2024-02-0623 min
The Run-UpWill ‘Cease-Fire Now’ Drown Out ‘Biden 2024’?President Biden has started to switch gears into campaign mode.On the trail, he’s particularly focused on South Carolina, which holds the first official Democratic primary contest on Saturday. And one of his first campaign events of the year took him to Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, for a speech that addressed the dangers of white supremacy.But a few minutes into the speech, he was interrupted by protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.Since that day in early January, it seems as if wherever Biden goes, protesters are re...2024-02-0143 min
The Run-UpThe ‘People’s President’ vs. the Donor ClassDonald Trump’s victory over Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary made two things clear: The MAGA wing of the G.O.P. is ready for his coronation, while anti-Trump Republicans believe the race is far from over.From inside Trump’s victory party on Tuesday night, we hear from supporters of the former president and from the stars of his orbit, who see themselves as being on the verge of “obliterating the establishment.” And from Tim Draper, a billionaire venture capitalist who is backing Haley.Do you have a question about the 2024 election? We want...2024-01-2543 min
The Run-UpEverything You Need to Know About New HampshireWarning: this episode contains strong language.On Sunday, after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucuses and with just two days to go before the New Hampshire primary, Ron DeSantis ended his campaign for president.His decision made it official: The race for the Republican nomination is now a head-to-head contest between two wildly different candidates, Nikki Haley and Donald Trump.And now, the famously independent New Hampshire voters are going to determine how serious a contest it is.We’re looking for three big things.First, how Haley’s re...2024-01-2338 min
The Run-UpIt Was Only One State, Right? So Why Does This Primary Feel Over?Going into the Iowa caucuses, there were a handful of key things we were watching for: Would the frigid weather hamper turnout? Would his overwhelming dominance in the polls translate to a decisive victory for Donald Trump? And finally, could the other candidates muster enough of a showing to keep the race alive?Today: Through conversations with Iowa caucus goers — especially those who preferred another candidate to Trump — we get answers to our questions. And we check in with our colleague Nick Corasaniti in New Hampshire about how the state’s independents are approaching the primary next week —...2024-01-1839 min
The Run-UpThe 'Run-Up' Guide to IowaFinally. More than a year after Donald Trump first announced his 2024 presidential run, six months after Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida refocused his campaign strategy to be all-in on Iowa, and right in the midst of debilitating winter weather, the Iowa caucuses are upon us.And “The Run-Up” has everything you need to know to understand what might happen today — and what it will mean for the race going forward.What’s at stake is clear: Anyone who is going to slow Mr. Trump on his path to clinching the nomination has to get started in Iowa...2024-01-1533 min
The Run-Up‘Right Where We Want Him, 30 Points Up’: Chasing Trump in IowaAt the start of the 2024 Republican primary campaign, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida was considered by many in his party to be the biggest threat to Donald Trump. He was seen as someone who could win over the voters who were tired of Trump’s antics, and also bring along the MAGA movement. But it didn’t work out that way. And as Mr. DeSantis has struggled, one main opponent, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, has seen her star — and her standing in the polls — rise.Still, as the Trump alternatives crisscross Iowa and New Hampshir...2024-01-1143 min
The Run-UpIs the 2024 Election Already Heading to the Supreme Court?It’s the start of the actual election year — and a new chapter in the campaign.Voting in early states is less than two weeks away. But, amid the crunchtime campaigning, another story line is unfolding.Two states are saying that Donald Trump can’t be on the ballot … at all.Officials in Colorado and Maine are basing this on a clause of the 14th Amendment, which bars candidates from holding office if they have engaged in insurrection.The Trump campaign is appealing. And other states, like California and Michigan, have ruled th...2024-01-0442 min
The Run-UpIn a Song of the Summer, Clues for January in IowaLast summer, politics, country music and cultural grievance collided with the growing popularity of a new song from recording artist Jason Aldean.Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalkCarjack an old lady at a red lightPull a gun on the owner of a liquor storeYa think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya likeIn the lyrics, Aldean lists behaviors he associates with cities, like lawlessness and disrespect for the flag or the police. And then he warns listeners of the consequences if they “try that...2023-12-2842 min
The Run-UpHow Iowa Learned to Love TrumpIowa was supposed to be fertile ground for Donald Trump’s primary challengers. Its population is disproportionately evangelical, and voters were expected to coalesce around a more faith-driven alternative. But that’s not what’s happened.This past summer, Trump was polling at around 42 percent in the state, a lead that has only continued to grow. Increasingly, it looks like Iowa is on track to coronate the former president.So when we visited the state fair in August, it was less to follow around a bunch of the candidates while they were milking a cow or fli...2023-12-2135 minThe Run-UpThe Democrat Saying What Others Won’tBack in 2020, Joe Biden stood out in a crowded Democratic primary field filled with younger, more historic candidates. Voters worried that Mr. Biden was too moderate, too uninspiring and too old.One of his challengers, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, got a lot of attention for his willingness to echo those concerns.But after going hard at Mr. Biden in a debate, his campaign fizzled and Mr. Castro, once a rising star in the Democratic Party, left Washington altogether. To some, it seemed like evidence of the consequences of stepping out o...2023-06-1545 minThe Run-UpThe Anti-Trump Republicans (and the Specter of 2016)The 2016 Republican primary field was crowded. At one point, 17 people were vying for the nomination. It was a pileup that many saw as leading directly to the ascent of Donald Trump.The specter of that election hangs over the current moment for anti-Trump Republicans — could a fractured party once again put Mr. Trump at the top of the ticket?The question now for potential candidates is: Should I run or should I get out of the way?Astead speaks with Larry Hogan, former governor of Maryland, and Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas — two...2023-05-1144 min
The Daily‘The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 2This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. It wasn’t long ago that Democrats used to brag about the coalition they had built — full of young people, minority voters and college-educated women. Today, we talk to members of the Democratic base, many of whom no longer see a clear path forward for the party.“The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. You can search for “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/therunup f...2022-11-0558 min
The Daily‘The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 2This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. It wasn’t long ago that Democrats used to brag about the coalition they had built — full of young people, minority voters and college-educated women. Today, we talk to members of the Democratic base, many of whom no longer see a clear path forward for the party.“The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. You can search for “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/therunup f...2022-11-0557 min
The Daily‘The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 2This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. It wasn’t long ago that Democrats used to brag about the coalition they had built — full of young people, minority voters and college-educated women. Today, we talk to members of the Democratic base, many of whom no longer see a clear path forward for the party.“The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. You can search for “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts. Visi...2022-11-0557 min
Deborah Lebree's podcast‘The Run-Up': The Grass Roots, Part 2This moment in politics will be defined by shifts at the grass-roots level. It wasn’t long ago that Democrats used to brag about the coalition they had built — full of young people, minority voters and college-educated women. Today, we talk to members of the Democratic base, many of whom no longer see a clear path forward for the party.“The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. You can search for “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts. Visit nytimes.com/therunup f2022-11-0558 min