Gabfest Extra: Whistlestop, The Straight Talk Express
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2016
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Slate's podcast about campaign history, John Dickerson explains how retail politics won the day in the 2000 Republican primary in New Hampshire.
This week's This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. Start building your website today at Squarespace.com. Enter the order code WHISTLESTOP at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful.
Love Slate podcasts? Listen longer with Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, ad-free versions, exclusive podcasts, and more. Start your 2-week free trial at slate.com/podcastsplus.
Email: whistlestop@slate.com
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains explicit language. |
| 0:06.6 | Hello and welcome to WhistleStop, a podcast of campaign curiosities. |
| 0:11.3 | I'm John Dickerson of Face the Nation. |
| 0:25.4 | When Ted Cruz talks about his insurgency against the establishment of the Republican Party, |
| 0:27.8 | he's aiming at senators like John McCain. |
| 0:33.3 | But there was a time when John McCain, the Arizona Senator, was the anti-establishment crusader. In the election of 2000, the Republican Party had chosen George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, long before the voters ever got out the rubber-headed mallet to pound the first yard sign. |
| 0:44.9 | In perhaps one of the most masterful victories in the invisible primary, Bush became the consensus favorite with every lobbyist, longtime GOP fundraiser, and inside Republican. He was a lock. |
| 0:56.3 | He was in the books before they were open. The only problem is that he forgot to tell the voters of |
| 1:01.0 | New Hampshire. More on this story in a moment after a word from our sponsor. Squarespace takes the |
| 1:06.8 | worry and sadness out of website production. Sites look professionally designed, regardless of skill level. No coding required. It's all very intuitive. The tools are easy to use, |
| 1:15.7 | so why not get yourself a website or a online store using Squarespace? Start your free trial |
| 1:21.7 | today at Squarespace.com. Use the offer code WhistleStop and get 10% off your first purchase. |
| 1:27.1 | Squarespace, build it beautiful. |
| 1:30.0 | Our whistle stop today is someday, just like every other day, in January of 2000, |
| 1:36.1 | and we're riding a custom-designed bus through the cold gray streets of New Hampshire. |
| 1:41.6 | A semicircle of reporters are sitting in the bank at in the back of the bus. Some of them, who are particularly kind to their colleagues, |
| 1:48.5 | are perched on top of the banquet, balancing their narrow posterior on a triangle of |
| 1:53.9 | upholstered material to allow other reporters to squeeze in on the cushions and squeeze in |
| 1:59.8 | on one of the most amazing things that had |
| 2:02.4 | happened in their careers. One of those reporters who decided sideburns was a good idea that |
| 2:08.5 | year and is about two months too late for a haircut, perches on top of the banquette. Like a lot of |
| 2:14.2 | other reporters, he can't stay away from the rolling, rollicking insurgent campaign launched by the Arizona Senator John McCain. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.