Sep 17, 2026 · 1h 32m
Listen from 42:47
Listen at 42:47
Politics and memory reshape the South’s Democratic prospects
Wright Thompson and Jesse Lehrich: Hopium and Hate
The episode connects electoral strategy with the deeper cultural memories and identities that shape how voters understand political change.
- 1Democrats face a competitive midterm map where candidate quality, economic messaging, and shifting Latino voters could determine gains.
- 2The emerging 2028 field reflects unresolved debates over immigration, institutional reform, media strategy, and accountability after Trump.
- 3Wright Thompson argues that political persuasion depends on emotional memory, especially when regional pride collides with racial history and injustice.
Don't miss
Wright Thompson’s story of Billy Cannon’s later life and commitment to helping incarcerated people turns college-football mythology into a meditation on structural injustice.
The brief
Tim Miller and Jesse Lehrich survey the midterm battlefield, weighing vulnerable Republican seats, Democratic candidate quality, economic messaging, and shifting Latino voting patterns.
Their 2028 discussion turns into a test of Democratic priorities, from artificial intelligence and Iran to ICE, institutional reform, Trump accountability, and media strategy.
Wright Thompson shifts the frame to Mississippi and Ole Miss, where resistance to Trump, voting rights, evangelical identity, and regional history remain tightly entangled.
Thompson’s account of Billy Cannon’s later life and work with incarcerated people complicates the mythology of college football while exposing the structures behind it.
The episode’s central insight is personal: political persuasion often survives through family memory and feeling, not the factual arguments campaigns think voters should remember.
What was said on this episode
39 statements · 20 positive · 13 negative · 1 mixed · 5 neutral
Democrats will win almost all contested Senate races.
“I think that Democrats will win almost all of these contested races.”
Listen at 6:30
Sherrod Brown is in a strong position in Ohio.
“I think Sherrod Brown is in great position in, in Ohio.”
Listen at 7:27
Roger Marshall will lose the Kansas Senate race.
“I think Roger Marshall's gonna go down in Kansas.”
Listen at 7:34
Nebraska and South Carolina Senate races are highly competitive.
“I think Nebraska is very seriously in play. I think South Carolina very seriously in play.”
Listen at 7:37
Mary Peltola will win Alaska by six to eight points.
“Peltola will win Alaska by six to eight points”
Listen at 8:25
The South Carolina Senate race will be decided by under five points.
“South Carolina will be closer than five.”
Listen at 8:28
James Talarico will win by one or two points.
“I think Talarico wins by like a point or 2.”
Listen at 11:38
Ashley Henson will win the Iowa race.
“I think Ashley Henson's gonna pull it out.”
Listen at 12:08
Democrats will win both Nebraska and Kansas Senate races.
“I think we will win both Nebraska and Kansas.”
Listen at 13:47
The midterm environment will favor Democrats by 10 to 12 points.
“we are like heading toward a Democrat +10 or +12 midterm.”
Listen at 16:02
Trump-plus-10-to-15 districts will become competitive.
“those are all going to be in play”
Listen at 16:19
Adam Hamilton delivered one of the cycle’s strongest Democratic attacks.
“he lands about the best punch I've seen any Democrat land this cycle.”
Listen at 17:48
Abdul El-Sayed would be an acceptable Michigan senator compared with Mike Rogers.
“Mike Rogers is a rubber stamp for a fascist, and Abdul would be 1 vote out of 100. He'd be perfectly fine.”
Listen at 21:34
About 60 congressional districts fall between Trump plus 10 and plus 18.
“there are like 60 districts across the country that are between Trump+10 and Trump+18 districts.”
Listen at 24:03
Manny Rutinel will win Colorado’s 8th District.
“he's, I think, definitely gonna win.”
Listen at 27:24
Democrats could win all eight Colorado congressional districts.
“Democrats could plausibly sweep all 8 congressional districts in Colorado.”
Listen at 28:02
Republicans are struggling to retain vulnerable districts.
“Republicans are very clearly trying to figure out how the hell they hold on to whatever they can hold on to.”
Listen at 31:54
AOC has consistently advocated abolishing ICE.
“she's been selling abolish ICE hats the whole time”
Listen at 36:46
Ro Khanna has appeared on twice as many podcasts as other prospective candidates.
“Ro Khanna has done twice as many podcasts as anyone else in the game.”
Listen at 37:31
Pete Buttigieg supports major institutional reforms including court expansion and ending the filibuster.
“we need a constitutional amendment to get rid of Citizens United, expand the court, get rid of the filibuster, XYZ.”
Listen at 38:18
Jon Ossoff leads prospective candidates on Trump accountability.
“kind of a runaway for Jon Ossoff on that one.”
Listen at 38:28
AOC and Pete Buttigieg are best positioned for the 2028 Democratic field.
“AOC and Pete Buttigieg are the 2 best positioned candidates going into, you know, 2027.”
Listen at 38:40
Kamala Harris currently leads the 2028 field among Black voters.
“Kamala starts with an enormous lead with Black voters”
Listen at 40:23
Gavin Newsom is highly persuasive across different audiences.
“he can go into any room and people are like just buying whatever he's selling.”
Listen at 41:06
Pete Buttigieg is already campaigning for president.
“he's like fully already campaigning for president”
Listen at 42:02
The Trump administration has severely damaged American agriculture.
“the Trump administration has wrecked the American farming economy.”
Listen at 47:37
The current farming crisis is the worst Mississippi farmers have experienced.
“this is the worst one we've ever had.”
Listen at 49:15
The Mississippi Democratic Party’s failures are costing it votes.
“the Mississippi Democratic Party is guilty of malpractice and is leaving votes on the table”
Listen at 50:55
Democratic candidates have gained visible grassroots support in Oxford.
“The yard signs for these candidates are everywhere in a way that they weren't 2 years ago for Democrats.”
Listen at 55:11
Many conservative Mississippians appear exhausted by political chaos.
“it feels to me in my daily life that people have had enough of the chaos.”
Listen at 56:13
Beau French’s anti-immigrant posts have embarrassed him politically.
“this guy's just showing his ass, and now he's embarrassed because he's been caught.”
Listen at 1:00:53
Wright Thompson believes Confederate ancestry can be acknowledged alongside condemnation of ancestors’ views.
“I have a lot of Confederate ancestors, for instance, I'm a grown man and I'm capable of holding 2 opposing thoughts in my head at the same time.”
Listen at 1:05:34
The NCAA won a lawsuit involving a player’s death in 1957.
“the NCAA won a lawsuit against a widow whose husband had died during a game.”
Listen at 1:11:41
The NCAA promoted “student-athlete” to deny college football’s commercial nature.
“they started using the word student athlete as a way to deny that these colleges were in the business of football”
Listen at 1:11:53
College presidents should not oppose professionalized college sports after embracing them.
“if you didn't want to be in the business of professional sports, then you shouldn't have gotten in the business of professional sports.”
Listen at 1:14:06
Billy Cannon overhauled Angola prison’s medical system.
“he just re— he overhaul their medical system.”
Listen at 1:15:02
Feelings detached from facts are harder to change than factual opinions.
“it is easier to change your opinion about facts than to give away a feeling that has been stripped from the facts.”
Listen at 1:21:00
Political beliefs are primarily based on feelings rather than facts.
“all political beliefs are based on feelings, not facts.”
Listen at 1:22:16
Lane Kiffin prioritized his career over Ole Miss’s exceptional season.
“I think he put his own career over a once-in-a-lifetime season”
Listen at 1:24:42
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
Books & mentions
The Cost of These Dreams
Thompson’s sports essays extend the episode’s exploration of athletes, institutions, memory, and the pursuit of greatness.
Spaces of Hope
The book offers a related framework for thinking about progressive change and the political possibilities embedded in places and communities.