Welcome Hackaroos!
Murphy and Gibbs here.
As you might know from our Hacks on Tap podcast, we’re a couple of longtime political operatives, well Hacks actually. For those who don’t know us, I’m Mike Murphy, longtime Republican strategist, leaning to the right, and I’m Robert Gibbs, a longtime Democratic strategist and former White House Press Secretary for President Obama, leaning to the left.
We love to talk politics, preferably over a beer. And even though we’ve been professional opponents for decades, we are actually friends. So, while we usually disagree, we do so agreeably. We think American politics could use a lot more of that. With this newsletter, we’ll try to bring that dimension to you the readers and in the spirit of Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan; we can argue by day, but have a beer afterward.
We also know what we are talking about, after decades working behind the scenes in national politics. Our newsletter will take you behind the curtain and tell you what we think is really going on. Think of it as being a fly on the wall in the Senate cloakrooms or the White House political office. Our goal is to tell you the same thing that we've spent years telling Presidents, Senators and Governors behind closed doors.
While we cover the week’s political maneuverings on the Hacks on Tap podcast – along with our pal David Axelrod – this newsletter will add more depth and… more gossip, insider stories as well as interesting links to polling data, historical notes and items that the conventional wisdom media and cable TV talkers – wait a minute, we do that too, so never mind – may be missing.
While we come from different sides of the aisle, we both share a concern that the political machinery we love has gone astray and the politics of honest competition and eventually getting worthwhile things accomplished are being replaced by the politics of total, and often mindless, tribal warfare and destruction.
So, a little different pace than what you hear and read everywhere else, especially for the avid political junkie. Our motto for our readers is “you’ll learn more, and get mad less.”
We’ll publish twice a week, and… we plan to be very interactive with listener chat rooms and audio sessions and more as we get up and running and get to know some of you along the way. Along those lines, we want to hear from you in the comments below; let us know what you’d enjoy as we move forward.
Welcome friends!
Murphy and Gibbs