Mark Halperin

So,

Running a campaign is extremely complicated.

And what separates, as I said, the winners from the losers, the great campaign strategists and operatives from the less good ones, is the mastery of the craft of campaigns.

of which politics, as people normally think of it, is just a tiny sliver.

So when I do my reporting, as I've been doing for the last couple weeks on the midterms, I'm not asking people, oh, how much will Trump help with turnout or what impact will the economy have on the race?

I'm asking them about the behind the scenes, the drill down of how are the mechanics actually working?

And I'm blessed as a professional with sources in both parties.

And my reporting methodology is always to look for the asymmetries.

Who's better at one thing in a meaningfully better way, whether it's the parties or the campaigns that are going head to head, that's going to allow them to have a better chance to win.

So I'll give you some examples.

And this is from Two-Way.

This is from my program Two-Way Tonight that aired earlier in the week.

And I was so lucky to have on two of the best political professionals I know.

One Democrat, Jamie Harrison.

He was the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, then the chairman of the DNC.

He understands politics, but he understands campaigns.

and jeff rowe a republican strategist he's worked for a bunch of candidates around the country worked on ted cruz's presidential campaign which is where i think i got to know him best and runs a big consulting firm they understand politics to be sure but again they understand campaigns and i i spent time with them on the air uh and and the reason i want to show you some of this is these are the conversations i have when i'm doing my reporting lately on the midterms but through my whole career

Don't ask about whether Trump's whatever.

Ask about the mechanics of campaigns.

Here's a conversation about technology.