In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown review a week jam-packed with political drama, from the disastrous caucus in Iowa to the President's victory lap after his acquittal by the Senate.
Kurt Pyle, political science professor at Kenyon College, joins the show.
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In this week's episode:
It's A Lot To Process
This has been a busy few days in the world of politics. The U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Trump on Wednesday, the State of the Union was on Tuesday, and the Iowa caucuses on Monday got more than a little bit muddy.
The Senate fell far short of the two-thirds majority necessary to remove Trump from office. In fact, a majority of senators voted to acquit him of both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But it appears this saga is not over, as the House considers issuing a subpoena to former national security advisor John Bolton.
Trump's State of the Union address was not unlike his usual public speeches, filled with statements that keep the fact-checkers busy. The night did have some reality-show flare, but it was the Democrats' reaction, especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ripping of the speech, that made headlines.
Meanwhile, the Democratic presidential primaries didn't get off to a great start in Iowa. Technological problems delayed results that are still facing scrutiny.
Snollygoster Of The Week
It's hard to choose just one shrewd political move this week. Among the contenders are all the leading Democrats claiming victory Monday night in Iowa; billionaire Michael Bloomberg announcing he will double his ad spending; and Donald Trump pandering to Rush Limbaugh’s audience during the State of the Union.
But we’ll give it to Nancy Pelosi for how she tore apart the written text of Trump’s speech. It was a brief act of defiance – or pettyness, depending on your perspective – that overshadowed much of what the president had to say.
Send questions and comments to snollygoster@wosu.org.
