Why Rahm is on the Rise in April's "8 for ’28" Rankings, Plus Iranian Journalist Reveals Trump Strategy Next Steps

Next Up with Mark Halperin

MK Media

News, Daily News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Who will the Democrats nominate for president next? Mark’s “8 for ’28” is back with his April rankings. In his reported monologue, he breaks down the current state of the evolving 2028 Democratic field. He highlights what he sees as the biggest weakness facing many of the contenders: a lack of clear messaging and modern media strategy, and explains why campaigns must now operate like full-time content machines. Mark also dives into why Rahm Emanuel is gaining traction, pointing to his aggressive media presence and clearer policy vision as key factors that set him apart in a crowded field. Mark is then joined by Karen Skelton and Yemisi Egbewole, for their takes on the April rankings, including if Kamala Harris remains near the top, and why JB Pritzker has slipped. They also debate Pete Buttigieg’s status as a potential wild card and whether he can break through despite skepticism within some portions of the party. Finally, Mark speaks with Iranian journalist Omid Memarian, who warns that the current war strategy in Iran could backfire, arguing that it may strengthen the regime rather than weaken it, and offers a sobering perspective on the path forward Acre Gold: Start building physical gold with simple monthly payments and enter to win two Ancient Collection gold bars at https://GetAcreGold.com/MARK Bank On Yourself: Discover the retirement plan banks Don't want you to know about—get your free report at https://BankOnYourself.com/Mark 120Life: Go to https://120Life.com and use code NEXTUP to save 20%

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody, Mark Kalpert here. Glad to be back with you, all you Nexters and new
0:06.4	nexters, grateful for you reconvening here. I'm Mark Kalpren, editor-in-chief of the live video
0:11.7	platform two-way. Big show for you today. We've been in the midst of a war, and we're going to
0:16.5	talk about it, Iran, and what a lot of people miss there. But we're going to start off with
0:20.6	the April
0:21.0	installment of my patented 8 for 28 rankings of which Democrats are most likely to become
0:26.7	their party's nominee in the next presidential. I've done some updates here, moved some people
0:32.2	around. There may be some controversy about some of the things there, but I've done my usual
0:36.9	reporting with sources, mostly Democrats, but some Republicans to figure out who's gaining some momentum
0:42.1	over the last month, who may be slipping and the state of affairs for the Democratic Party.
0:47.7	After we do that, we're going to bring in two brilliant people to tell me what I got right
0:51.0	and what I got wrong, Karen Skelton and Yemisei Bawali will be here to talk
0:55.7	about their view of who I ranked high, who I ranked low, and who might be off the list who
1:00.7	should be on there. Looking forward to hearing their feedback there. And then we're going to talk
1:04.7	about Iran with someone with an extraordinary story, a journalist who was a political prisoner in Iran
1:09.6	and tortured and treated horribly, and now has a
1:14.6	very interesting and very complex view, not just of his home country, but about President
1:21.2	Trump and some of the rhetoric he's used in the last few days.
1:24.6	Omead Memorian will be here and looking forward to sharing his perspective with you on
1:29.9	what is a serious and fast-moving story. He's now the director of communications and senior Iran analyst
1:35.0	at Democracy for the Arab World Now. The group is called Don. And again, I think you'll enjoy
1:40.5	meeting him and spending time with an important conversation related to the fast-moving Iran conflict.
	...

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