POLITICO Playbook Podcast: Bernie Sanders' Populist Moment and Vance's Iran War Post

POLITICO's Playbook Podcast used its Thursday episode to examine how Sen. Bernie Sanders' brand of economic populism fared on Tuesday and what it could mean for Democrats heading into 2028. The episode, titled "Bernie's populist moment," was released at 5 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Nov. 5, and runs just under 20 minutes, according to its Apple Podcasts listing and the show's feed. Host Megan Messerly was joined by Playbook co-authors Adam Wren and Will Steakin. The episode description says Democrats "are winning on his message" a decade after Sanders "nationalized his brand of economic populism," and asks whether "a new progressive movement" could carry that momentum into the next presidential race.

Sanders: "I am not shocked"

Steakin interviewed Sanders on Wednesday for a POLITICO report published Thursday and discussed the conversation on the podcast. "If you're asking me, am I shocked by that? That the argument about economic justice and taking on oligarchs and fighting for the working class is working in Texas, is working in Ohio, is working in Montana, is working in Florida, is working all over the country — no, I am not shocked," Sanders said in the report. "That is what I've always believed."

POLITICO reported that the 85-year-old Vermont independent has held 58 rallies during the midterms, endorsed more than 150 candidates across the primaries and general election, and spent more than $16 million on organizing, according to an adviser to Sanders. The report named Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, James Talarico in Texas, Sam Forstag in Montana and Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin as candidates whose campaigns focused on corporate and billionaire spending in elections and on income inequality.

On the podcast, Steakin said he asked Sanders how Democrats could avoid sliding back into the culture-war fights that he said had tripped up the party in 2020. Sanders' answer, as quoted in POLITICO's report and the Thursday Playbook newsletter, centered on the party's donors. He said Democrats need the courage "to say to the billionaires who are funding the Democratic Party: 'Thank you very much for your help, but right now we are going to focus on the needs of the working families of this country, whether you like it or not.'"

El-Sayed, Talarico and the Mamdani operation

In Michigan, El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers to become the country's first Muslim senator, The Guardian reported. He will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Playbook described his campaign slogan as "money out of politics, money in your pocket and Medicare for All," and El-Sayed told POLITICO, "Bernie normalized the kind of campaigning that really is about making a direct appeal to working people."

Wren played audio from his Wednesday interview with Texas Sen.-elect Talarico, who was asked whether Democrats should investigate Elon Musk. "I think what would be more helpful is getting big money out of our politics, banning corporate PACs, banning super PACs, so billionaires and trillionaires can't buy our elections," Talarico said, according to Playbook. The hosts noted that Sanders had endorsed Talarico but did not campaign alongside him in Texas.

POLITICO's report also quoted Morris Katz, the top adviser to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who worked this cycle for candidates including Gina Hinojosa in Texas. "Hundreds of millions were spent against James and Gina trying to tag them on a trans issue," Katz said. "It failed in epic fashion because there was no room for misunderstanding or ambiguity over what they stood for."

Vance points to the Iran war

The episode's second half turned to Republicans. Wren described competing explanations inside the party for the losses and said blaming the war in Iran was the explanation that best preserved a possible 2028 run for Vice President JD Vance. On Wednesday, Vance wrote on X, "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," CBS News reported. He added: "If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so."

Vance cited an unnamed pollster whose polling identified four top issues voters said Republicans would need to address to win back their support, NBC News reported: ending the Iran war, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first and changing the U.S. relationship with Israel. CBS News reported that President Donald Trump launched the war in late February, pledging it would last four to five weeks, and that 23 U.S. service members have been killed and 865 wounded, according to the Defense Department.

Messerly said on the podcast that she and colleagues had reported Vance drafted the post himself and gave the White House advance notice, which Playbook also reported. Playbook quoted one House Republican as saying of Vance, "I think he's done." Asked about the post, Trump said, "I know how he feels about it. I think it was -- I think it was fine," according to the BBC, which described Vance's statement as about 600 words. Trump told The Wall Street Journal, "Iran was a piece of it," and added, "I did the right thing. I would have done it again," NBC News reported.

A low-key White House response

The hosts also discussed what the episode description called Trump's "surprisingly Zen" reaction to the results. In his first public remarks at the White House after the election, Trump spent 20 minutes at the construction site of the White House ballroom and did not address the results until reporters asked, POLITICO reported. "I love construction," Trump said before signing the last of the ballroom's beams. Wren also said the most likely outcome of Tuesday's election is a larger Republican presidential field in 2028.