Right as Rainey

About this episode

Henry Olsen discusses polling insights with Russ Walker from the Rainey Center, covering various political topics and recent events.

Thanks to the ballooning interest in political polling over the last few decades, Americans can closely track daily changes in matters like the president's approval rating. But it is the rare outfit like the Rainey Center that digs beyond basic questions to provide a substantive survey of American sentiments. This week, Henry sits down with Russ Walker, Rainey's Vice President of Policy, to discuss their recent polling reports on attitudes about affordability and the American Dream, immigration enforcement, and artificial intelligence. Plus, Henry breaks down the establishment Democrats' victory over restless progressives in Chicagoland, along with responses to this year's many foreign policy adventures. Lastly, we look at a couple of splendidly creative Republican ads.

People in this episode

Host: Henry Olsen

Guest: Russ Walker

Topics covered

• political polling
• American sentiments
• affordability
• American Dream
• immigration enforcement
• artificial intelligence
• foreign policy

Keywords

• political polling
• Rainey Center
• affordability
• American Dream
• immigration
• artificial intelligence
• Democrats
• Republican ads

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rainey Center, Democrats

Places: Chicagoland

More episodes of Beyond the Polls with Henry Olsen

• Southern Bellwethers? · June 11, 2026 · 57 min
• Mapmaker, Matchmaker · June 4, 2026 · 52 min
• This Year's Model · May 28, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Waving Cane in the Lone Star State · May 21, 2026 · 54 min
• Peachy Primaries and Commonwealth Commotions · May 14, 2026 · 59 min
• Safe Senate Seat Scuffles · May 7, 2026 · 53 min