Cozen Oconnor Public Strategies - The Beltway Briefing

January 6 will be remembered as one of the darkest days in U.S. history, when the unthinkable happened: an assault on the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob that drove Congress from its chambers as it was seeking to count Electoral College votes. The day before, a fractured Republican Party lost both Senate runoff races in Georgia, thereby handing the Senate majority to the Democrats, and serving as a prelude to a deadly week. As Washington struggles to decide what to do in the wake of the assault in the 10 days before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss the events of one of the most consequential weeks in American history and debate where a hyperpolarized country and a deeply damaged electoral system go from here.

The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago are going through periods of profound political change. Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, both first-time officeholders, are dealing with a number of political and fiscal challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Michael Madigan, the longest-serving state legislative leader in American history, faces an unprecedented challenge to his decades-long career as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. How will the leadership standoff play out and who will ultimately be in charge in Springfield? How will the pandemic impact the business of the state legislature and city council? And how do Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot respond to the multitude of challenges they face in the coming year? Public Strategies’ Patrick Martin, Matt Glavin, Darren Collier, John Dunn, and Pat Carey reflect on the political battles of 2020, the road to recovery in 2021 and beyond, and what the future may hold for some of the biggest names in Illinois and

‘Twas the Night Before the Election -by Howard Schweitzer 'Twas the night before the election when all through the land, Not a Trumpster was mailing, not even by hand; Democratic ballots were sent by the thousands with care, In hopes that Joe Biden soon would be there; The Democrats assumed the elections was theirs, With visions of Chuck and Nancy passing mores CARES; But out in the country, Republicans arose with a clatter, Other than Joe Biden, their votes surely did matter; Away from DC the Donald will go, The future is looking much like Obama 2.0; In 2021, the White House will be redecorated and life will renew, But no Mark, contrary to your predictions, the country’s not blue; Let’s get rid of Covid and put it out of reach, And say goodbye to Donald and his solution of bleach; We wish you happy holidays and hope you come back for more, No, not you Donald, it’s not yet ‘24.

As members of the electoral college are convening in state capitals throughout the country to formally vote for the nation’s next president and vice president, Public Strategies' Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, and Kaitlyn Martin share their views on how President-elect Biden’s administration is taking shape now that he has announced top White House staffing picks and unveiled key members of his national security, foreign policy, economic, and health teams, many of whom served in the Obama administration.

In the 2020 elections, a polarized nation yielded a polarized outcome. On the one hand, Biden won more votes than any U.S. presidential candidate in history. On the other, millions of Americans who rejected Trump also voted for the Republicans who backed his policies on down-ballot races. Is the inescapable reality of the election results then that Trumpism remains a powerful current in American politics? As President-elect Biden continues to assemble his Cabinet, Public Strategies' Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, and Kaitlyn Martin evaluate the current state of the Biden-Harris transition team and ponder whether the highly polarizing, highly mobilizing Trumpism is a platform that is here to stay.

The grinding 2020 presidential election that rendered millions of Americans exhausted and frustrated represented a big test for our democracy, a test the country would eventually pass. The election system appears to have worked in the face of many challenges – including a pandemic and the resulting unprecedented shift to widespread mail-in voting, as well as a threat from foreign interference from sophisticated adversaries. Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, and Kaitlyn Martin reflect on the bruising route to the White House and share their views on how President-elect Biden’s administration is taking shape after he unveiled his national security and foreign policy team and top White House staffing moves.

The results of the 2020 presidential election, in which each candidate received more than 70 million votes, show that the nation remains deeply divided. As Trump campaign’s legal challenges to the results continue, Biden’s team forges ahead with transition planning, and the pandemic rages on, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer and Mark Alderman discuss the current state of the election and ponder whether, despite a bitter split, there may be some policy issues where Trump and the Democrats could find common ground.

The polls have closed and the voters have cast their ballots, but the nation has yet to find out who the winner of the 2020 presidential election is. As several states work to finish counting the ballots, with key battleground states too close to call, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss and analyze the current state of the presidential election.

The 2020 election is still fluid. There are millions of votes left to be counted in the presidential race, including in key battleground states, and the outstanding votes will ultimately decide the presidency. Public Strategies’ bi-partisan team, including Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Alex Campau, Patrick Martin, and Kaitlyn Martin, discuss the current state of the presidential election and analyze the results of last night’s House and Senate races ((based on data available prior to the start of the webinar).

One of the most divisive and intensely personal presidential campaigns in contemporary history is coming to a close tomorrow. Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer and Mark Alderman discuss the two presidential candidates’ starkly different political identities and make their final predictions for the election that is likely to be a referendum on the president. Will it be Mr. Trump, who has largely wasted his chance to show emphatic leadership, has shifted almost exclusively to law-and-order rhetoric, and effectively has no second-term message beyond four more years of himself? Or will it be Mr. Biden, who has offered himself as the candidate best equipped to halt the nation’s raging coronavirus pandemic and heal its economic decline and whose key message is that the election is a fight for the soul of the nation?

Five days before the 2020 elections, Public Strategies Chairman Mark Alderman is joined by Patrick Martin - the group’s Midwest Director, Alex Campau - Health Policy Director, and Kaitlyn Martin - Government Relations Adviser, to discuss the current state of the presidential race and what a potential Biden-Harris administration would look like in Washington. CEO Howard Schweitzer moderates the discussion.

Public Strategies CEO Howard Schweitzer is joined by Alex Campau, the group’s Health Policy Director, and Kaitlyn Martin, Government Relations Adviser, to discuss the current state of the 2020 presidential race and what a potential second Trump administration would look like in Washington, primarily from a health-policy perspective. CPS Chairman Mark Alderman moderates the discussion

Public Strategies CEO Howard Schweitzer is joined by Alex Campau, the group’s Health Policy Director, and Kaitlyn Martin, Government Relations Adviser, to discuss the current state of the 2020 presidential race and what a potential second Trump administration would look like in Washington, primarily from a health-policy perspective. CPS Chairman Mark Alderman moderates the discussion

17 days before the 2020 election, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Darren Collier are joined by Congresswoman Robin Kelly, who has served as the U.S. Representative from Illinois’s 2nd Congressional district since 2013. They discuss the current state of the presidential race and, regardless of who becomes President-elect on November 3, what it will take to move the fiercely politically divided nation forward and repair the health and economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Howard, Mark and guest Kaitlyn Martin engage in a spirited debate about the consequences of the vice presidential debate, the direction of the country in a post-Trump world and what’s to become of the Senate races.

Washington insiders and public policy strategists Mark Alderman and Howard Schweitzer are joined by friend Jerry Kilgore to debate the impact of Trump’s illness on Washington, speculation about a new stimulus bill and how conservatives have received a strong return on their 'Trump investment’.

Yesterday, the day after a divided Washington came together to honor Justice Ginsberg, President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. A law clerk to and mentee of the late Justice Scalia, Barrett is described as an "originalist" and a "textualist" and the polar opposite of the liberal icon in judicial philosophy. Trump, who calls himself “president of law and order,” says the nomination was the fulfillment of one of his constitutional duties, but how does that square with his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power? Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Jerry Kilgore discuss a partisan and ideological battle Barrett’s nomination has ignited and its impact on the final days of the presidential campaign.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court Justice and a liberal icon who dedicated her life to defying and dismantling institutionalized gender discrimination, died on Friday at the age of 87. This being one of the most polarized moments in our history, on the eve of an election in which the stakes were already extremely high, it was inevitable that the politics of replacing her would surge to the fore even before most tributes had been delivered. As President Trump prepares to nominate a successor and Republican leaders move urgently to make the political and procedural case for bucking recent precedent in order to seize a monumental chance to solidify the court’s rightward ideological shift, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss the maelstrom on Capitol Hill and its impact on the election, which is just 44 days away.

On the heels of Labor Day, when traditionally the most intense campaigning begins, Joe Biden continues to hold a lead over President Trump. A brace of new polls suggest a majority of voters don’t like the President or approve of the job he is doing. Is the race then Biden’s to lose? Will Trump’s inflammatory campaign tactics be sufficient to alter the underlying dynamics of the election? The future is unpredictable. Data and polls certainly have its limits. As anyone who lived through the 2016 election or the first eight months of 2020 knows, surprises happen and things can change quickly. 50 days before the Election Day, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer and Mark Alderman discuss the current state of the presidential race, as the public health and economic crises continue to grip the nation.

On today’s episode of Beltway Briefing podcast, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Jim Schultz are joined by Congressman Eric Swalwell, the U.S. Representative in California’s 15th Congressional district and a U.S. presidential candidate in the 2020 Democratic primaries. Less than 70 days before the Election Day, they discuss the just-completed Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the continuing debate about police violence, use of force and the need to reform America’s criminal justice system, as well as the ongoing public-health and economic crises.