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Primary Concerns Episode 9: Divide and Flounder

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For the first time since Donald Trump’s candidacy began, Republicans are coalescing around a theory of how to deny him the presidential nomination. But that raises a terrifying new question: what will happen to the juggernaut Trump has created, and the energy of the people he’s won over? Former Vermont Governor, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, and DNC chairman Howard Dean comes on the show to offer insight into what life looks like after a populist insurgency.

Then, New Republic senior editor Elspeth Reeve joins host Brian Beutler to discuss Paul Ryan’s seemingly aborted bid for the GOP presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton’s latest blunders, and what could happen at the GOP convention this summer. 

Further reading:

  • The Dean Scream, explained by Dean and FiveThirtyEight
  • The messy politics of Bill Clinton’s crime bill, by Jamelle Bouie for Slate
  • Brian Beutler on whether or not Paul Ryan has lost his mind, in the New Republic
  • Can Donald Trump lead a political movement? Brian Beulter explores in the New Republic