Kelly's green

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, Government, Daily News, News

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is making big money moves. In an effort to help flip control of Congress in the midterms, Kelly has used the extra attention that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign against him to dramatically ramp up his giving and fundraising for competitive candidates, party committees and state parties. But more than anything, Kelly's rising national profile shows Trump has a unique ability to elevate foils. Playbook’s Adam Wren and White House reporter Megan Messerly discuss whether Trump’s instinctual attacks will serve Republicans or Democrats more in the 2028 presidential race.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Amazon has invested more than $1.5 trillion in the U.S.
0:04.1	through infrastructure and compensation for employees since 2010.
0:07.9	Amazon offers competitive pay, comprehensive benefits that start on day one for full and part-time roles,
0:13.9	and free skills training, helping employees learn more and earn more.
0:17.7	Learn more at Aboutamazon.com.
0:32.2	Today on the Playbook podcast, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly's Money Bomb, Trump's outreach to liberal Democrats ahead of the midterms, and Vice President Vance will keynote an upcoming March for Life rally.
0:40.4	Hello, I'm Adam Wren.
0:42.1	And I'm Megan Messerly. It's Friday, January 23rd.
0:46.5	The first story, Megan, that is driving Washington's conversation today, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, is flirting with a presidential run in
0:56.0	2008. He said that he was open to the idea in an interview with CNN earlier this week.
1:02.5	And we have some exclusive details on some of the steps that he's been making toward
1:07.0	28. He's raised and donated about $5 million, Megan, up and down the ballot across
1:13.6	about 30 state parties, including early states like Nevada and New Hampshire, this money
1:18.8	bomb that he's gotten as a result of being the target of Pete HECS investigation and Donald
1:25.5	Trump saying that he has, you know, essentially
1:28.2	committed treason. And so what we're seeing here is the benefits and windfall of being a Democrat
1:33.0	in Trump's crosshairs. It seems to me like Donald Trump has a really unique ability to
1:40.2	elevate foils on the Democratic side, whether that's Governor Gavin Newsom throughout 2025 or
1:46.5	Mark Kelly now. What do you make of that? And how can it be used strategically, or I guess not,
1:52.7	ahead of 2028 when Republicans who really want to retain the White House are looking at who they
1:58.8	most want to run against? Yeah, it's an interesting question.
2:02.0	And I was thinking a little bit about this.
	...

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