The Leaderboard with Matt Towery and John Hall

Matt Towery and John Hall do the 2026 election postmortem. John, in New York at Fordham Law School, calls the Georgia result mind-boggling: Democrats took the Georgia House and the governor's office, with Keisha Lance Bottoms at 54. Matt reads InsiderAdvantage's final polls against the results, race by race: Brown and Acton in Ohio, Donalds and Moody in Florida, Jackson in Maine, El-Sayed in Michigan, Ossoff and Bottoms in Georgia, Hamilton over Marshall in Kansas, Talarico over Paxton in Texas, and Flanagan in Minnesota. Then: why Republicans lost, the media filter, why the GOP has to educate the public all year, the party turning on itself, Susie Wiles out and Stephen Miller in, and a pathway to status. John and Matt take on the refs, betting and big business in college football and the NFL. Matt announces this was his last cycle as a pollster and tells how InsiderAdvantage got into polling, his first capital murder trial, and why the Republicans had "no opening statement." Plus the books: Matt's The Honoring of Ignorance: The 7 Mirages Destroying America, and John's novel Ghosts, Death and Lake Lanier, written as Everette Hall. The show is taking a short break; follow @LeaderMatt_John for leaderboard updates.

Matt Towery is out promoting his new book, so John Hall has The Leaderboard to himself. He starts with Matt's book, The Honoring of Ignorance: The 7 Mirages Destroying America, and Orwell's 1984: "Who controls the past controls the future." Then he walks through where people get their news now, why the founders built a republic and not a popular-vote presidency, a national debt that passed $6 trillion in 2002 and now tops $40 trillion, and what Hubert Humphrey and John F. Kennedy said back when they led the Democratic Party. He also gets into Charles Payne's Undeniable Windfalls and Matt's Newsvesting, Elon Musk's robots and what AI can do for you, the economy and the minimum wage at McDonald's, his parents' service station in rural South Georgia, Trump on the campaign trail and "New America," tariffs, John Thune and the SAVE America Act, showing his ID to vote in Georgia, the House and Senate races (Maine, Texas, Ohio, Alaska), Charles Swindoll's "Attitude," a plea to cable news for an hour of real news, the Rays and Brewers in the World Series, the Mayo Clinic AI that flagged 73% of pancreatic cancers on CT scans read as normal about 16 months before diagnosis, the riots in France, and a J.D. Vance–Marco Rubio ticket. Plus John's novel as Everette Hall, Ghosts, Death and Lake Lanier, on Amazon. 🏌️ The Leaderboard — Leaders & Laggards in politics, every week. mattsleaderboard.com · @LeaderMatt_John TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Matt left me stranded 1:01 – Matt's book: The Honoring of Ignorance 3:16 – "Where do you get your news?" TikTok isn't news 6:05 – The founders and the popular vote 8:42 – Printing money and the national debt 9:11 – Hubert Humphrey and John F. Kennedy 11:05 – Newsvesting and Charles Payne 12:12 – Elon's robots and AI for your money 13:55 – Why our prosperity is part of the problem 16:17 – An outhouse, a service station and a work ethic 19:24 – The minimum wage and the Quarter Pounder 22:43 – Trump on the trail and "New America" 23:47 – John's song with L.A.W.: "Still Got Miles" 25:48 – Tariffs: is that fair? 27:32 – John Thune, the SAVE America Act and voter ID 29:14 – Will the House flip? 30:58 – The Senate races 35:28 – Charles Swindoll: "Attitude" 37:41 – A rant: give us real news 40:45 – The Rays and Brewers head to the World Series 42:03 – AI in medicine: the Mayo Clinic 44:30 – France burning 46:54 – History repeats itself 47:55 – John declares for Vance and Rubio 48:43 – John's new novel: Ghosts, Death and Lake Lanier #TheLeaderboard #JohnHall #MattTowery #TheHonoringOfIgnorance #2026Midterms #WorldSeries

Matt Towery's new book is out: The Honoring of Ignorance: The 7 Mirages Destroying America. Matt tells John Hall he first wrote it as a student at Cambridge 40 years ago, when publishers said he was too young to offer the opinion, and walks through what's inside: the "Mirage Machine" of legacy media, pollsters and fact-checkers, the Trump labels it took apart one by one, why the country was never meant to be a democracy, and why the words "Electoral College" never appear in the Constitution. Matt also reports a trend from his polling: seniors are the most enthusiastic voters this year, 70 to 77 percent for those 65 and over against the 30s for young voters. He calls it the silver wave. They also get into Nick Saban's new ESPN docuseries, the ICE shooting in New York and the detainers New York won't honor, Abdul El-Sayed getting grilled about the Muslim Brotherhood and James Talarico's days off the trail, why Matt is canceling his Wall Street Journal, Rick Jackson in the Georgia governor's race and why people vote their self-image, John's "death of the expert," the Selma Blair Delta flight, Taylor Sheridan's Lioness on Russia and China, and red states and blue states. Plus John's new song with his band L.A.W. (Love and Water), "Hello Old Friend," which plays out the episode. 🏌️ The Leaderboard — Leaders & Laggards in politics, every week. mattsleaderboard.com · @LeaderMatt_John TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Welcome from St. Petersburg: the Falcons stories 3:05 – Leader: Nick Saban's new docuseries 4:38 – Loser: the ICE shooting in New York 6:06 – Matt's new book is out: The Honoring of Ignorance 9:38 – Why campaigns wait too long to spend 10:22 – The silver wave: seniors fired up to vote 11:38 – El-Sayed, and Talarico's missing days 13:24 – "Sharp as a tack," and canceling the Wall Street Journal 14:55 – Georgia: Rick Jackson, Mike Collins and voting your self-image 17:03 – John: the death of the expert 19:01 – Everybody's a political expert 20:25 – Loser: Selma Blair on the plane 22:02 – Why Matt skipped the publisher and the book tour 23:45 – Written at Cambridge 40 years ago 26:10 – "This country is not a democracy": electors, not an Electoral College 27:16 – The Mirage Machine: media, pollsters and fact-checkers 29:33 – Red states, blue states and compacts 31:28 – Lioness: Russia, China and TikTok 33:09 – Leave New York to New York 34:24 – John's new song with L.A.W.: "Hello Old Friend" 35:29 – Hall Booth Smith then and now 37:01 – "Hello Old Friend" by L.A.W. #TheLeaderboard #MattTowery #JohnHall #TheHonoringOfIgnorance #2026Midterms #Polling

Matt Towery and John Hall go inside "the polling wars" — the tricks that make the 2026 midterm polls look worse for Republicans than they are. Matt runs the battlegrounds: Texas now a one-point race, Michigan within two, Michele Tafoya one point back in Minnesota, Ohio tightening. John calls a Rick Jackson wave in Georgia that carries Mike Collins to a win. Matt explains the "recall number" weighting trick, why CBS's approve/disapprove question hides the real number, and why seniors are telling his polls they're excited to vote at 75 to 80 percent. They also play the South Carolina ad "We Can't Trust Annie Andrews," and get into Sophie Cunningham and the WNBA, the party insiders and the fundraising texts, the CIA gold-bars case, John's "New Realm" — Russia, China and radical Islam — Mark Ruffalo and Hollywood politics, lab leaks and Bill Gates, Newt Gingrich's socialism message, early voting, and Georgia at Alabama. Plus new books from both hosts: Matt's The Honoring of Ignorance: The Seven Mirages Destroying America, and John's Ghost and Death on Lake Lanier, out Oct. 30 on Amazon. 🏌️ The Leaderboard — Leaders & Laggards in politics, every week. mattsleaderboard.com · @LeaderMatt_John TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Welcome: John at Avalon in Alpharetta 1:01 – Matt's new book and "the polling wars" 2:56 – Hannity and Gingrich endorse the book; red-state and blue-state compacts 5:01 – The races: Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina 6:36 – Georgia: the Rick Jackson wave and John's Collins prediction 8:30 – Alaska: Sullivan and ranked-choice voting 9:43 – South Carolina: Darline Graham vs. Annie Andrews 11:23 – The ad: "We Can't Trust Annie Andrews" 12:03 – Enthusiasm and the "recall number" weighting trick 13:24 – CBS's approve/disapprove trick 13:56 – Seniors excited to vote at 75–80% 14:55 – Sophie Cunningham and the WNBA 16:23 – The party insiders and the fundraising texts 17:41 – A Florida bellwether district: "back off" 19:11 – The CIA gold bars 20:08 – John's "New Realm": Russia, China and radical Islam 22:28 – Mark Ruffalo, De Niro and Hollywood politics 24:34 – John's next book, The Georgia Strain, and lab leaks 27:30 – Bill Gates 28:31 – John's new book: Ghost and Death on Lake Lanier 30:51 – Early voting, Florida mail ballots and Newt's socialism message 32:26 – The economy headlines the campaign isn't using 33:30 – The mirage machine: "We're not a democracy" 35:27 – Matt on Sean's podcast: "I'm retiring" 37:35 – New ties for Hannity 38:10 – Georgia at Alabama, the Gators at Missouri 39:49 – Georgia, the bellwether state #TheLeaderboard #MattTowery #JohnHall #2026Midterms #Polling #Georgia

Matt Towery and John Hall run the 2026 midterm map state by state — Georgia's Senate race slipping, Kansas suddenly on the map, Ohio coming back into play — and why the polls look a lot like 2018 at this point. Matt reads the generic-ballot numbers that "sounded like a Democrat wipeout" before revealing the year, and makes the case that Republicans never fight back. They also get into the "mirage machine" behind the coverage, the economy Republicans still aren't selling, Matt's Ad Wars grades, oil still flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, early voting, women's sports and the two Georgias, and a Leaders & Laggards round with MLB, AI and Bill Gates. Plus new books from both hosts: Matt's The Honoring of Ignorance: The Seven Mirages Destroying America (out Oct. 13) and John's Ghost and Death on Lake Lanier. 🏌️ The Leaderboard — Leaders & Laggards in politics, every week. mattsleaderboard.com · @LeaderMatt_John

Matt Towery and John Hall break down what current polling says about the 2026 midterms — including the gender gap, Georgia, Florida, Hispanic voter outreach, and the messaging challenge facing Republicans. They also discuss AI guardrails and data centers, election administration, women’s sports, the Macklemore/MetLife controversy, and new books from both hosts: Matt’s The Honoring of Ignorance and John’s Reviving Fairness and AI Lies and Murder. Watch live at 7 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEK4nbrkePM Subscribe for candid polling analysis and a weekly look at the issues shaping the election. #TheLeaderboard #MattTowery #JohnHall #2026Midterms #Polling #AI

Matt Towery and John Hall are back with a new episode of The Leaderboard Podcast — U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, the fight to secure the Strait of Hormuz, and a fresh look at the midterm map with the latest Real Clear Politics polling. On the board tonight: Michigan's Democratic primary (El-Sayed vs. Stevens, pre-primary average), the Georgia Senate race (Ossoff vs. Collins), North Carolina, and the Senate battlegrounds in Texas, Michigan and Iowa.

Matt Towery and John Hall put the midterms on the board — and the GOP is not where the money says it should be. Matt has a poll in the field he hasn't released, and what's in it drives the whole hour: the war is the midterm issue nobody is polling, the party is sitting on a war chest with nothing on the air, and the Senate map still comes down to three states. John makes the case that the socialists care no longer a fringe, that the big beautiful bill is the best-polling thing nobody will campaign on, and that the networks decided which stories the country got to hear about last week. Then the board: the winners, the losers, and one 21-year-old who beat the best player in the world in his third start as a pro.

Why Hollywood Is Fleeing California for Georgia — Randy Davidson

Inside Fort Knox with U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, the penny and the new Trump dollar coin