Chris Riback's Conversations

Jennifer Duffy, Cook Political Report

The jockeying continues in the US Senate races, and the challenge for Democrats seems to keep getting harder.With any thoughts of recapturing the House a longshot at best, focus remains on the Senate. Will the Democrats hang on? Or will full Legislative control shift to the Republicans. And as Midterms 2014 only grow more intense, how does the political uncertainly affect our policy chances of getting anything done?The best way to understand the big picture – look at the key races one by one. And that’s exactly what Jennifer Duffy does. She’s Senior Editor for The Cook Political Report.

Mark McKinnon, co-founder of No Labels

You don’t need me to tell you that we live in incredibly partisan times. Gridlock. Shutdowns. Tea Party. On the right and left, more calls to get more extreme.With Midterms 2014 heating up – and 2016 already discussed – if you think we’ve seen dysfunctional politics so far, we all know we haven’t seen anything yet.Yet within this noise, you find occasional calls for compromise. For solutions. For connecting. But is it too late? One such voice comes from what might seem an unlikely place – former President Bush’s inner circle. But that’s where you’ll find longtime strategist and adviser Mark McKinnon. He was a Democrat before he was a Republican. And now, as co-founder of a bi-partisan operation call No Labels, I’m not sure what he is. So I’ll ask him.

Sasha Issenberg, Author of "The Victory Lab"

From Obama vs. Romney and McCain to Midterms 2014 and beyond, for all the data mining and digital magic that drives campaigns, winning elections still comes down to a simple task: Get out the vote.And it turns out that beyond the analytics and data models, the science of campaigning may be less computer science than behavioral science. They’ve been called “the prescription drug trials for campaigning” — and you know who are the guniea pigs.While these experiments run in back offices of campaigns and political science labs, they’ve been brought into the open by Sasha Issenberg, author of “The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns.”

Tom Jensen, Pulic Policy Polling

As we continue to watch the Battle for the Senate and the midterm elections, is the momentum is starting to shift?  We know the main story line: Many of the most competitive seats are held by Democrats in states where President Obama lost in 2012. And now, with states like Colorado coming even more into play, are Republican odds on the rise? And if so, will it be enough for them to secure the net gain of six seats – the magic number they need to retake Senate control?To help us consider what’s possible: Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling.

Rick Hasen, election law expert

The campaign season is heating up, and not all the fire comes from the candidates.Issues of money in politics sit before the Supreme Court. Debate over Voter ID laws and continued fallout from last summer’s decision that reversed key parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And redistricting continues to be a state by state, county by county battle.The question for each party has become not only who will win the election – but who can vote and how much will it cost? Is either party playing fair?Few follow the issues of money, voting, elections and the law more closely than Rick Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and political science at the University of California at Irvine. He is also author of "The Voting Wars: From Florida 2000 to the Next Election Meltdown" and runs the Election Law Blog at electionlawblog.org.

Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, co-authors of HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton

Will she or won't she? And if she does, can any Democrat stop her?“She" is Hillary Clinton and her participation in – and impact on – the 2016 Presidential race provides one of the great parlor games of the day.But beyond the will she or won't she, perhaps an even more revealing question: How did she? How did Hillary Clinton rebuild herself and even enhance her reputation following her 2008 primary defeat? What is it about her skills and her nature that has made her, arguably, the most powerful woman in the history of U.S. politics?That's the question and story investigated and told in the new book: “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton” by Jonathan Allen, White House Reporter for Bloomberg News, and Amie Parnes, Senior White House Correspondent at The Hill.

Patrick Ruffini, Republican digital strategist

It’s little secret that digital was among the key places where the last Presidential campaign was waged and won. From back end technology to analytics to engagement and more, Obama's digital campaign is still discussed and revered.How will Republicans respond? What changes, innovations and trends can we expect for 2016? From gathering donations to inspiring young voters, is there a digital divide between the parties – and if so, can Republicans close it in time?If digital is where the Presidential battle will occur, Patrick Ruffini is one of the Republican top weapons. He’s worked on three Presidential campaigns and countless state and congressional campaigns; he ran digital for Republican National Committee; Twice named a “Tech Titan” by Washingtonian Magazine he is now President and Founder of the digital agency Engage.

Amy Walter, Cook Political Report

The gap is six. As we crunch the numbers, count the money and consider the issues around Midterm 2014, six is the figure you may hear more than any other.Of course, that’s the number of seats separating Democrats and Republicans from Senate control. And with Health Care rollouts, government shutdowns, jobs, equality issues and more on voters' minds, the question is simple: Can Republicans win the six seat margin and take leadership of both houses for the first time since the 2006 midterms?One person doing the math and analyzing the races state by state: Amy Walters, National Editor of the must-read Cook Political Report.

Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster

No shortage of issues face American voters – jobs, economy, income inequality, health care success, immigration reform and more. But following years of governmental gridlock – highlighted by last fall’s shutdown – where are the voters themselves? As midterm elections approach and posturing by incumbents and challengers becomes a fine art form, will voters buy it? What can we expect?Celinda Lake is president of Lake Research Partners. Among other work, she represents that Democratic half of the highly-influential George Washington University Battleground Poll.

Jeffrey Toobin, legal analyst for the New Yorker and CNN

The next phase of Chris Christie’s bridge scandal has arrived, and it won’t end quickly. It’s the legal battle – subpoenas, documents, testimony and more. To complicate things, it’ll occur across several fronts: legislative and judicial; state and federal; Lane closures on the GWB and alleged suggestions of trading Hurricane Sandy funds for Hoboken development projects.With so many competing players, goals and possible outcomes, what will the next legal and political steps look like? And how long might they last?Few people analyze and explain the intersection of law and politics more clearly than Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at the New Yorker and senior legal analyst at CNN.