The Focus Group Podcast

Gen Z swung hard for Trump in 2024. Now his approval with them is under 30%. What happened, and what does this generation’s mix of political views (especially on the war in the Middle East) mean for 2026? Bulwark contributor Rachel Janfaza is back on the pod to discuss. Plus: Sarah has some opinions about Gen Z’s new social habits, and we get into how AI is quietly destroying the entry-level job market — including, yes, applications to scoop ice cream.
show links:
Rachel Janfaza: Are lines the new third space?
Rachel Janfaza: I Applied to 70 Jobs: Meet the Class of 2026

Summer’s here, and Sarah’s taking a break from primary election coverage to take stock of the national political landscape. We haven’t talked to swing voters in a little while about the overall state of the country, and it’s becoming clear that the war in Iran is overshadowing, well, everything. Plus: The post-redistricting U.S. House math for Democrats, and a local issue bubbling up all over the country that has some lessons about why Americans are so disillusioned.
Sarah all kicks this around with one her favorite nerds: Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report.
Note: The discussion of Maine’s Senate race took place BEFORE the June 4 New York Times reporting on Graham Platner.
Subscribe to the Cook Political Report!
By Amy Walter: Taking Stock of the House Math
CPR’s PollTracker (Trump Approval Rating Aggregator)
CPR’s “Find a Race” sorter
CPR’s Recent Poll: Battleground District Project

Everyone loves to complain about how California is governed...even some of the Democrats in our focus groups. So, how is the Democratic primary to replace Gavin Newsom shaping up? Plus, a proto-Trump is running for Los Angeles mayor, and Republicans are noticing beyond California. Puck News's Peter Hamby returns to the show to download on how California politics is shaping the rest of America in 2026.
By Peter Hamby:
California Love
Is Xavier Becerra the Best California Can Do?
Get 50% off of a new Bulwark+ subscription for the next year, that’s everything we offer on our website, by going to thebulwark.com/sanity – this is a limited time offer

Sarah is sick and tired of the arguments about whether Democrats should move to the left or the center, because Democratic voters’ answers to this question overlap a lot more than the online turf wars suggest. Adam Jentleson, founder of the Searchlight Institute and author of the forthcoming book Supermajority returns to the show to dig into why voters don’t think in partisan boxes, how some surprising Democratic figures are breaking ideological molds, and what a genuinely big-tent coalition actually looks like in practice.

Georgia's primaries for Governor and U.S. Senate have LOTS of things for political nerds (like you, dear listener) to chew on. But the Republican and Democratic voters we talked to felt pretty sick of politics.
Some of what we learned:

How Republicans feel about their chances against Jon Ossoff in the fall (not good)

Why a Trump-like billionaire is overshadowing Trump's endorsed candidate for governor

Whether Democratic voters will tolerate a former Republican Lieutenant Governor running as a Democrat

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein joins the show.
By Greg Bluestein:

Politically Georgia Podcast

Flipped: How Georgia Turned Purple and Broke the Monopoly on Republican Power