Author: Dan Gould

Dan has been a regular contributor to the Charlottesville Podcasting Network since 2008. He has produced over 1000 feature length podcasts for the site.
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Unpacking the 2016 Presidential Campaign and Election

Jim Hobart and Terry Cooper speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

The results of the 2016 presidential election pleased some, disappointed others and surprised just about everyone. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was supposed to have a lock on the presidency but Republican nominee Donald Trump, who faced not only Democratic opposition but a “Never Trump” movement among Republicans, prevailed by winning a majority of Electoral College votes.

The Senior Statesmen of Virginia hosted two political consultants who fielded questions about the elections, such as:

  • How was a political novice (Trump) able to dispatch more than a dozen seemingly far more qualified Republicans and secure the nomination?
  • Why did Socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders perform so well in the Democratic primaries and caucuses yet lose the Democratic nomination to Clinton?
  • Why were voters left with a choice that many described as between the lesser of two evils?
  • How was Trump able to carry states — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — that were supposedly part of a “blue wall” guaranteeing a Clinton victory?
  • Why didn’t the pollsters and the media see what was coming?
  • And what do the 2016 election results portend for the nation and for the futures of the Republican and Democratic parties?
Jim Hobart is a vice president at the leading Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies. Jim is a veteran of numerous important campaigns, including four victorious U.S. Senate campaigns and 11 winning U.S. House campaigns in 2014. He was named Campaigns & Elections magazine’s Rising Star in 2013.
Terry Cooper is a native of Charlottesville and a veteran opposition researcher for Republican campaigns.

Hobart and Cooper spoke at the Wednesday December 14, 2016 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV Vice President Rich DeMong.

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Wake-Up Call: Community Attention Foster Families

Marnie Allen (Photo courtesy Charlottesville Tomorrow)

Sunday Morning Wake-up Call host Sean McCord talks with Marnie Allen of Community Attention Foster Families, a city-funded agency that works with the Department of Social Services to provide permanency planning in foster care, aftercare services, and emergency placements.

The Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call is heard on WPVC 94.7 Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. The station is currently looking for volunteers.

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Home Grown: MIMA Music and The Charlottesville Ballet

Home Grown hosts Clinton Johnston and Leslie M. Scott Jones talk to Adam Nemett and Emily Gardiner from MIMA Music about how their organization uses collaborative music creation to bring communities together and Emily Hartka from the Charlottesville Ballet talks about their upcoming expanded production of The Nutcracker.

Home Grown is heard on WPVC 94.7 Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. The station is currently looking for volunteers.

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Blokes on the Bench

This week Blokes on the Bench host Andy Richardson and the blokes talk about the big results from this weekends Premier League with Manchester city vs Chelsea playing for more than just pride! Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are all chasing the top spot. Plus results from all around the soccer world.

The blokes are Andy Richardson, Ryan Gregg, Mark Coffman and Jeremy Lamm.

Blokes on a Bench is heard on WPVC 94.7 Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. The station is looking for volunteers.

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Wake-Up Call: Delegate David Toscano

David Toscano

Sunday Morning Wake-up Call host Rick Moore talks with Virginia State 57th District Delegate David Toscano. Topics include: the effects of the recent presidential election on Virginia, the state budget shortfall, the effects of sequestration, redistricting and gerrymandering, and a review of bills the delegate plans to introduce in the 2017 session.

The Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call is heard on WPVC 94.7 Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. The station is currently looking for volunteers.

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Home Grown: Guys & Dolls and Contested Bodies

Home Grown hosts Clinton Johnston and Leslie M. Scott Jones talk to Liz Howard, Perry Medlin, and Deborah Arenstein from the cast an crew of Guys & Dolls at Live Arts artists Matt P. Shelton and Nikolai M. Noel whose show Contested Bodies is showing at Second Street Gallery right now.

Home Grown is heard on WPVC 94.7 Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. The station is currently looking for volunteers.