Chapter 17
Text message transcript: Anya Katz and Gabe Hunt
Signal group chat transcript: Anya Katz, Kira Liu, and Simone Humphrey
Simone: New polls are in
Anya: How do they look?
Simone: Same as the old ones
Simone: Wheeler’s still ahead by 11 points
Kira: Shit
Kira: Iowa’s in a month. We’re running out of time to close the gap
Anya: Voters love Jo, and they love her even more the better they get to know her
Anya: But people are terrified to lose in November
Anya: They’re voting for Wheeler out of fear, not admiration
Kira: Which is ironic since that’s exactly HOW you lose a general election
Kira: Pick a nominee who doesn’t inspire passion or devotion
Simone: Wheeler has all the institutional support. The media, the superdelegates, the big endorsements
Anya: The money
Kira: The money. It’s always about the money
Anya: Well…what if we had more money than Wheeler did?
Kira: That’d be excellent lol
Kira: You writing a check???
Anya: No, I’m serious!
Anya: Gabe mentioned to me the other day about some big fundraising dinner they’re having in January. I was curious, so I looked up the invitation—the money isn’t for the campaign. It’s for a super PAC. So I looked up a bunch of their December fundraising events, and they’re all for the same PAC.
Simone: That’s bizarre. Do you think their big money donors have already maxed out to the campaign? So they need someplace new to put more money from the same people?
Anya: Yes! And that means their fundraising totals for the campaign will be WAY lower this quarter than previous quarters, because they’re not raising for the campaign. They’re raising for the PAC.
Simone: Meanwhile, our numbers have never been better
Anya: Exactly. I think we can beat them
Kira: Seriously??
Kira: That’d be huge, the press would have an absolute field day if we out-raise the prohibitive favorite. It could totally change the narrative going into Iowa
Kira: Is there any way we can get that ball rolling now with the press? Start talking about how Wheeler is out of step with voters, frame this as grassroots donors vs. big money super PAC?
Simone: We should start doing some DC podcasts. Inside baseball, the shit all the media listens to
Anya: I know exactly which podcaster to call
Transcript of Politico’s Politi-whoa podcast with Shawn Drucker, episode #41
Air date: December 22
Shawn: Welcome back, my politi-comrades!
We’re here for our last show of the year, with just three weeks left until the Iowa caucus.
My guest today is a senior advisor to Senator Jo Sessego’s campaign—and, full disclosure, a former colleague of mine—and she’s going to break down the state of the race. Anya Katz, welcome to the pod!
Anya: Thanks so much, Shawn. Great to see you.
Shawn: So talk to me, Anya! The polls in the early states have looked fairly stable, with Wheeler leading by eleven points. But you’re seeing something different on the ground?
Anya: That’s right. The Sessego campaign is getting a surge of support from tens of thousands of grassroots donors. I think it’s likely we’ll raise more money than Wheeler this quarter.
Shawn: Seriously?! No offense, but that feels impossible.
Anya: It feels impossible because the mainstream narrative has been so solidified for Wheeler, but I’m telling you, that’s not what’s really happening.
Polls are notoriously tricky, since it’s so hard to poll cellphone users and especially younger voters.
But money talks. Right now the grassroots donors are saying they want Jo Sessego—that’s true both in the early states and across the nation.
Shawn: Why do you think small-dollar donors are supporting Sessego over Wheeler?
Anya: There’s been a sense of inevitability around Andrew Wheeler, a feeling like, well, he was always going to be the nominee, so that’s why he’s going to be the nominee.
But we’re getting down to the wire, and people are starting to ask themselves, Wait—do I actually like this guy?
Do I actually agree with anything he says?
And they’re talking to their neighbors, and their neighbors are feeling the same way.
They’re realizing they don’t know a single person who’s given money to the Wheeler campaign, because Wheeler gets a huge majority of his funding from high-dollar donors and PACs.
Shawn: Do you think that really matters to voters? Where a candidate gets their money?
Anya: It absolutely matters. Jo Sessego has never taken a dime of PAC money in her career, and her constituents in Nevada really care about that.
Our voters never have to question whether their candidate’s views have been bought and paid for.
The only interest we’re beholden to is that of the American people.
Shawn: Are you saying that’s not true for Andrew Wheeler?
Anya: I don’t know Senator Wheeler personally, and of course I don’t know how he makes his decisions.
I do know he takes money from corporate lobbies like Big Pharma and the NRA—and then he votes exactly how they want him to.
Does he only take money from corporate lobbies he already agrees with?
Again, I don’t know—but I find it unbecoming that we have to ask.
Shawn: We’re going to break in a second, but before we do: Is it true you’re dating Wheeler’s campaign manager? Our former colleague Gabe Hunt?
Anya: Um, yes. Yep, that’s true.
Shawn: How does that work, with you hating his candidate so much?
Anya: I want to be really clear, I don’t hate Andrew Wheeler.
I respect Gabe and everyone who’s working for Senator Wheeler’s campaign.
I think we all genuinely want to do what’s right for the country.
But I think the Wheeler campaign wants us to ask which candidate can win instead of which candidate should win.
Shawn: You don’t think whether a candidate can win is a valid question?
Anya: No, I think it’s a stupid question.
When people bring up “electability,” they’re usually looking to scare you into voting for a white person, or a man, or both.
Electability means keeping things the same, upholding the status quo.
By definition, any candidate can win. Our job as citizens is to vote for the candidates who actually deserve our support.
Text message transcript: Anya Katz and Gabe Hunt
December 23
Gabe [9:41pm]: Hey, bad news
Gabe [9:41pm]: I’m keeping some of my teams in the office this week, and if they’re working I’m working
Gabe [9:42pm]: So I don’t think we can do the hotel
Gabe [9:42pm]: Sorry, I know it’s short notice
Gabe [9:42pm]: If it’s too late to cancel, I’ll reimburse you
Anya [9:48pm]: You’re not taking time off at all?
Gabe [9:50pm]: Just Christmas Day
Anya [9:50pm]: We could do two nights then, if you want? You could come to the hotel whenever you’re done tomorrow and leave whenever you have to go on the 26th? Keep at least one day for the giant bed and the giant tub?
Gabe [9:51pm]: I’ll be working from home anyway, so I don’t think it makes sense
Anya [9:52pm]: So you’re very angry with me, yeah?
Anya [9:54pm]: Come on Gabe, pick up your phone
Gabe [9:54pm]: Sorry, in a meeting
Anya [9:55pm]: I’m gonna change my flight to BWI for tomorrow, and I’ll get a cab to Frederick from there. I’ll coordinate with Hannah to get your key and wait at your place until you’re done with work. Is that okay?
Gabe [9:57pm]: If I say no, will that stop you?
Anya [9:57pm]: Not a chance
Anya [9:58pm]: I’ll see you tomorrow
Gabe [9:59pm]: Ok. See you tomorrow
“Do you want to tell me why you did that?”
“The podcast?” Anya cleared her throat. She couldn’t think of the last time she’d been this nervous to see Gabe. Maybe their first day working together in Vegas—what was that, four years ago?
Now she was standing in the living room of the quaint townhome he’d sublet in Frederick, a charming city in western Maryland.
This was her first time seeing his place, and she really loved it.
It had crooked floorboards, crown molding, soft chesterfield sofas, and a working fireplace she’d struggled mightily to light before being forced to admit that she did not, in all earnestness, understand how to operate a flue.
She’d arrived a solid two hours before Gabe got home and had spent most of that time pacing and growing increasingly worried.
When he finally walked in, looking gaunt and exhausted, she wanted to run to the doorway and launch herself into his arms—but one look at his expression told her that was not a good idea.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Gabe, I am so sorry I hurt you.”
“But not for what you said, right?” He took off his coat and threw it over a chair, but he was still standing just a few feet from the door, arms folded. She rose from the couch and stepped toward him.
“I was doing my job.” Her voice was quiet but firm. “The same way you do.”
“No, not the same way I do.” Gabe sucked in a breath. “Because I am always respectful of Jo. And I don’t think anyone could mistake you for someone who respects Andrew Wheeler.”
“Come on, you know how I feel about him. I’ve said worse about him to you. You’ve said worse about him to me!”
“Not in the media—not when you’re launching a full court press to take us down.”
“And what have you been doing to us?” Anya was incredulous. “You skipped my mother’s yahrzeit to go on Meet the Press and talk about Jo’s viability—”
“And I was devastated!” Gabe yelled—Anya flinched.
“Sorry, I’m sorry for yelling. I just— The idea that I was hurting you, that I wasn’t showing up when you needed me?
It was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had.
And I’m sorry, An, but I’m really not getting the sense that’s how you feel right now. ”
“Well, it’s not exactly the same thing, is it?” Anya argued. “It’s not like I bailed on you to do the podcast…I just had to do the podcast.”
“Why?” Gabe pressed. “Why couldn’t Kira have done it, or Simone, or Preethi?”