And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles, with your

host, David Axelrod.

Jason Candor became a sensation in Democratic politics in 2016, a young challenger to

Senator Roy Blunt in Missouri.

He very nearly pulled off the upset of the year, but for Donald Trump pulling off a bigger

upset of the year and carrying his state by 19 points candor lost by less than three.

He also got a lot of attention for an ad in which he, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan,

assembled a weapon blindfolded while he talked about the need for background checks.

Jason Candor's a fellow at the Institute of Politics this fall, and we sat down in the

wake of the massacre in Las Vegas to talk about guns, as well as his life, career, and

future.

Jason Candor, it's good to see you.

You too.

Normally, I'd start out a conversation like this from the beginning of your story, but something

happened this week that requires me to jump ahead a little, and that is this horrific

event in Las Vegas in which 58 people lost their lives and over 500 wounded in what was

essentially an ambush.

You came to national attention last year as a candidate for the United States Senate,

and particularly because of one commercial, and that was a commercial of you as a veteran,

blindfolded, assembling a weapon, and talking about the gun issue and background checks.

Talk a little bit about that.

Why did you do that ad and what were you trying to communicate?

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