Ken Rudin may be bedridden with bronchitis and no voice, but the Political Junkie show must go on. Neal Conan, he of some hosting experience, subs this week. And what a busy week it is. Paul Kane of the Washington Post joins us to talk about the role of Congress in the stepped up war against the Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq. How far are U.S. allies willing to go? How far is Congress willing to go? And what repercussions will this all have for 2014 … and the presidential election two years later?
We then move onto the campaign trail. In New Hampshire, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has held a fairly comfortable lead for most of the year, and her polling has long shown her with favorable job numbers. But then how to explain new polls showing her in a dead heat against former Senator — former Massachusetts senator — Scott Brown? Josh Rogers of New Hampshire Public Radio gives us the lowdown.
We then head to the Midwest, where Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat who took over when his predecessor Rod Blagojevich was ousted and sent to prison, is in a tough battle for a second term. Bruce Rauner, a millionaire businessman, is his Republican challenger. The race is closely being watched by Amanda Vinicky, a reporter for WUIS in Springfield, Illinois, and she joins us for an update.
“This week in political history” brings us back to September of 1960, when Vice President Richard Nixon and Massachusetts Sen. John Kennedy began their series of presidential debates … which changed presidential politics forever. Professor Alan Schroeder of Northeastern University, an expert on such debates, talks about the historic sea change of 1960.
And we know all about how the Right is doing in this year’s elections; we’ve been giving constant updates with how tea party challengers have been faring against their so-called establishment Republican opponents. But how is the Left doing in this year’s midterms? We talk to David Nir, the political editor of the Daily Kos.