Bipartisan Bravado from Mike Gatto

Former California legislator Mike Gatto sits with host Mookie Spitz for an unflinching look at the collapse of bipartisanship, the failures of political messaging, and the growing civil war inside the Democratic Party.

Gatto reflects on his years in the California Assembly and contrasts that era of rough but workable compromise with today’s toxic climate, where bipartisanship is treated as a relic. He explains why authenticity, not policy papers, drives voter trust—and how Democrats’ overeducated “university speak” and obsession with statistics (like claiming “crime is down 30%”) leave ordinary Americans cold.

The conversation zeroes in on the Democratic split: Gavin Newsom-style centrists who chase swing voters with calculated moderation versus the AOC–Bernie left, convinced that only progressive polarization can match Trump’s movement. This ideological tug-of-war, Gatto argues, is paralyzing the party and preventing real leadership from rising to the surface.

Mookie pushes back with the marketer’s lens: in an attention economy, you can’t ignore Trump—the dominant brand—without becoming invisible. Gatto counters with his belief that Democrats need new products altogether, not just weak imitations of the GOP playbook. Together they debate whether politics today is about policy, platform, or pure personality, and why Democrats keep failing to connect with working-class voters.

The episode doesn’t stop at politics. They dive into the despair of young men, the erosion of economic hope, and the looming disruption of artificial intelligence—an upheaval Gatto compares to past industrial revolutions but with new risks to human intuition and emotional connection. Their conversation is wide-ranging, sharp, and deeply relevant to anyone trying to make sense of where America is heading.

The Guest

Mike Gatto is a former California State Assemblymember who won eight elections to serve four terms, including as Assistant Speaker. In the Legislature he chaired key committees on Appropriations, Consumer Protection & Privacy, and Utilities & Commerce—shaping billions in state spending, advancing technology and cybersecurity policy, and leading landmark reforms in energy and regulation. Over his tenure, fifty-five of his authored measures became law, including California’s first Rainy Day Fund, production tax incentives that kept entertainment jobs in Southern California, reforms to Proposition 65 that curbed abusive lawsuits, $700 million to clean polluted groundwater, and even the revival of the state’s classic black license plates.

Before and after public office, Gatto built a career as an attorney and advisor, practicing at one of Los Angeles’s most prestigious firms and arguing cases all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today he counsels Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and investors on navigating law, regulation, and politics, while also serving as a trusted commentator on national media. Known for his problem-solving approach and bipartisan record, he blends legal expertise with real-world results.

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