Episode 86: Conversation With a Young Republican
Guest: Christopher Maichin
Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from an unapologetically leftist perspective. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers, and I’m recording from Bloomington.
So, over on the weekly Sunday show (10:30 am ET on a Project Next livestream near you) I’ve been trying to include reasonable conservative voices whenever I can. It makes for livelier back-and-forth and also demonstrates that most people are reasonable even when they disagree. I have one basic rule: No MAGA. I’m not interested in being gaslit on my own panel.
Anyway, in casting around for potential conservative panelists, Dr. Tim Peck and Sarah Blessing - the founders over at Project Next - asked if I would consider Tim’s nephew, Chris. He’s a college senior spending the summer in Washington interning for a Republican digital marketing agency. Last year he volunteered for Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign during the Republican primary and worked on Tim’s congressional race for the general election.
Well, if I’m going to have you on my show, I need to know what you’re all about, so I set up a call with Chris to see if he could hang with our guests, make coherent arguments, and disagree respectfully - something like a try-out. And though I wasn’t able to radicalize him, we had a good conversation and found areas of agreement. We recorded it, and that’s what I’ve got for you here today.
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Now, here is my conversation with Christopher Maichin.
Things We Talked About:
Nikki Haley 2024 Presidential Campaign: https://ballotpedia.org/Nikki_Haley_presidential_campaign,_2024
Trump-tamer Susie Wiles: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/08/trumps-chief-of-staff-susie-wiles-00188467
Democrats’ Hollow Resistance: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/6/12/the-democrats-resistance-to-trump-is-a-hollow-performance
Harris Says She Would Not Trust Trump Alone on Vaccine: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/05/politics/kamala-harris-not-trust-trump-vaccine-cnntv
Sanders Most Popular Political Figure: https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/who-is-the-most-popular-us-elected
Wealthy New Yorkers NOT Leaving State Over Taxes: https://www.wshu.org/long-island-news/2023-12-07/wealthy-new-yorkers-leave-state-less-than-working-class-families
Food Deserts in NYC: https://food-deserts.com/food-deserts-in-new-york-city/
Trump’s Recent Executive Order on Drug Pricing: https://food-deserts.com/food-deserts-in-new-york-city/
Corporate Consolidation: https://www.opportunityinstitute.org/blog/post/corporate-consolidation-undermines-worker-and-consumer-power/
The Decline of US Antitrust Enforcement: https://www.promarket.org/2024/02/02/the-political-economy-of-the-decline-of-antitrust-enforcement-in-the-us/
Progressive Policy is Popular: https://www.epi.org/blog/a-review-of-key-2024-ballot-measures-voters-backed-progressive-policy-measures
There ARE Subtle Differences Between Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy: https://jacobin.com/2018/08/democratic-socialism-social-democracy-nordic-countries
Vance Boosts German AfD: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/jd-vance-alice-weidel-meeting-germany-far-right
Trump Checking All the Fascist Boxes: https://www.christianamato.com/blog/2025/3/5/trump-is-testing-every-feature-of-fascismand-we-cant-ignore-it
Biden Blocked by SCOTUS, Uses Different Route to Forgive Some Student Loans: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/22/politics/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court
Washington’s Farewell Address: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-20-02-0440-0002
The Framers’ Coup: https://www.americanheritage.com/framers-coup-making-united-states-constitution
Undemocratic Elements of the US Constitution: https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/ls261/chapter/ch-2-1-the-undemocratic-elements-of-the-constitution/
Senators Representing Less Than 20% of Americans Can Stop Any Legislation: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/04/12/the-senate-is-even-more-anti-democratic-than-you-think/
Pros/Cons of Ranked Choice Voting: https://www.rankedvote.co/guides/understanding-ranked-choice-voting/pros-and-cons-of-rcv
Different Types of Primary Elections: https://ballotpedia.org/Top-two_primary
Maine’s Collins Votes Against OBBB: https://www.wmtw.com/article/maine-senator-susan-collins-vote-big-beautiful-bill/65267776
Only 1 in 3 Americans Could Pass Citizenship Test: https://citizensandscholars.org/resource/national-survey-finds-just-1-in-3-americans-would-pass-citizenship-test/
Once again, that was Christopher Maichin, young Republican and rising senior at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He’ll be joining the panelist rotation over at HoosLeft This Week, so expect to see him every now and then on Sunday mornings with us. Again, HoosLeft This Week streams live at 10:30 am ET on the Project Next Media network - YouTube, FaceBook Live, and Twitch - links in the show notes. It’s a lot of fun if you haven’t had a chance to check us out yet. I bring together panelists from the democratic socialist left to never-Trump conservatives and we look at the week’s headlines from around Indiana and beyond. We’ll also dive into one big topic and throw in a few jokes for good measure. Hope to see you there in the comments, but if you can’t make it live, it’ll be available as a podcast Sunday afternoon.
Thanks again to Chris for a vigorous back-and-forth and thank you for listening. One last time, please consider a paid subscription at HoosLeft.US, where you’ll find everything I’ve ever published. I rely solely on the generosity of kind patrons like you to make this information available for free to everybody. In addition to the website, you can also find me on Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube and TikTok at HoosLeft or on most other social media sites at ScottRog78, where you can hit me up with feedback, tips, ideas, and concerns. Finally, please forward the show to a friend and have them pass it on. Let’s keep building this project - and a truly democratic state - one conversation at a time. Until the next one, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
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