2026 Post Election Breakdown
featuring Campaign Experts
Matt Bennett & Lis Smith
Moderated by CNN’s
S.E. Cupp
Thursday, November 5th, 6:30-8pm ET, In-person, Followed by Dinner
Dinner RSVP is open to Executive Members and Above.
Every election gives us a window into what Americans are thinking. Who won will be obvious soon enough. Why they won is what matters.
What did each party get right, and where did they fall short? Did the divide between progressives and moderates within the Democratic Party prove decisive at the ballot box? How much did Trump's approval ratings shape the outcome? And most importantly: how did candidates actually connect with voters – and win?
There’s plenty to unpack.Campaign doyens Lis Smith and Matt Bennett join us in person to break it all down. Moderated by CNN’s S.E. Cupp, which means no one gets away with spin.
About our Speakers
Matt Bennett is a co-founder and Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Third Way, the center-left think tank he helped establish in 2005. A veteran of Democratic politics and government, Bennett worked on both of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns and later served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs in the Clinton White House. He also served on Vice President Al Gore’s staff and as Communications Director for Wesley Clark’s 2004 presidential campaign.
Bennett is a frequent commentator on politics and public policy and has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, Meet the Press, and 60 Minutes. He holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as Chair of the Board of Sandy Hook Promise.
Lis Smith is a veteran of twenty political campaigns. She has extensive experience in public affairs, media relations, and crisis communications at the local, state and national levels. She worked as a senior advisor in communications to presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. As one of Buttigieg’s first staffers, she oversaw the campaign’s communications operation, messaging, and debate prep. Politico described her as “the hard-charging New York operative [who] helped turn an obscure Indiana mayor into a national name.”
She’s worked on campaigns for everyone from former President Barack Obama to Senate Claire McCaskill and Governors Andrew Cuomo, Terry McAuliffe, Ted Strickland, Jon Corzine and Martin O’Malley. She’s helped elect people at nearly every level of politics. She’s served as an on-air commentator for MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and CBS and has had opinion pieces published in the New York Times and Vanity Fair.
S.E. Cupp is a CNN political commentator and practical conservative known for her sharp insights and fearless honesty. She’s tackled the volatile intersection of politics and media as the host of S.E. Cupp Unfiltered and led dynamic panel debates on HLN. A longtime CNN contributor, she previously co-hosted the revival of Crossfire with Newt Gingrich, Van Jones, and Stephanie Cutter, as well as MSNBC’s The Cycle.
Beyond television, Cupp is a nationally syndicated columnist, cultural critic, and author of Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity. Her work has appeared in The New York Daily News, Glamour, and CNN.com, and she’s lent her expertise to hit shows like The Morning Show and The Newsroom.