California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent visit to early-primary South Carolina, followed by his return home and hinting at a special election to re-politicize California’s redistricting process in order to add more Democratic seats in Congress (as a counter to Texas’ legislature doing the same to pad the present House GOP majority), seems further evidence of the term-limited governor’s president ambitions. Yet as Newsom’s South Carolina experience showed, wherever he journeys, he also brings along the Golden State as political baggage.

Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind periodical, join Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State including where Newsom stands as far as delivering on lofty gubernatorial promises with less than 18 months remaining in his second and final term, as well as how that record on such thorny policy matters as homelessness, new housing and high-speed rail construction might impact his presidential prospects.

Recorded on July 21, 2025.

While last year’s US presidential election didn’t lack for historical quirks – an incumbent president dropping out of the race soon before his party’s convention; for only the second time, a former president returned to office – opinions differ as to the campaign’s long-term effect on America’s political landscape.

In a special edition of Matters of Policy & Politics hosted by Hoover distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, we hear from a bipartisan slate of leading pollsters on the state of America’s two political parties. They provide perspectives on the 2024 election, including assessments of what did and did not work in terms of messaging, how voting blocs shifted, whether Democrats can rebrand and rebound by 2028 or anti-woke Republicans once again will prevail, plus the chances of Trump-style politics outlasting its term-limited namesake.

This episode is in partnership with the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI).

What’s the most likely outcome for President Trump’s tariff strategy – trading partners capitulating, America’s economy and exceptionalism crumbling, or something in the middle?

Hoover fellows and economists Michael Bordo and Mickey Levy discuss a recent paper they’ve published on the history of tariff impositions and four possible outcomes (none of them are good). Their conclusion: the odds favor a “less-worse” case of 12%-14% tariffs and deals with Canada and Mexico, with a “small but cumulative impact” on longer-run potential growth (maybe a mild recession) while the U.S. retains its global dominant status.

Recorded on June 6, 2025