1
00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160
Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to

2
00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640
this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon

3
00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,480
to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you

4
00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719
want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,

5
00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,719
my daily show prep with all of the links, become

6
00:00:18,719 --> 00:00:22,359
a patron, go to thepeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you

7
00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,920
hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right

8
00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,320
to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so

9
00:00:27,399 --> 00:00:30,600
much for your support. So in the first hour today

10
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,799
we played some clips. We joined live in progress, we

11
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,119
jypped it jip join in progress, the Pete Hegseth confirmation

12
00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,520
hearing that was underway up on Capitol Hill. He's the

13
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,679
nominee for Secretary of Defense. Not going to go over anymore.

14
00:00:43,679 --> 00:00:46,320
They've wrapped up that hearing now. But one of the

15
00:00:46,359 --> 00:00:48,719
things and I'm just going to read this assessment and

16
00:00:48,759 --> 00:00:54,359
then pivot into a related topic, which is a post

17
00:00:54,399 --> 00:00:58,840
from the rad Meta and he says the democra And

18
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,759
there's a picture side side photo which is a screenshot

19
00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,439
off of c SPAN and it's Kristin Gilibrand. And I

20
00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:08,519
mentioned her and her performance where she was just like

21
00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,439
screeching and screaming. And so there's a picture of her

22
00:01:13,799 --> 00:01:18,560
with like her mouth open, furrowed brow yelling and her finger,

23
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:24,560
you know, one finger in the air like pointing, and

24
00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,120
next to her is Pete hegseeth and he's just got

25
00:01:29,159 --> 00:01:31,719
this like, I don't know what you would call that expression,

26
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,959
just one of just like zoning out with his eyes closed.

27
00:01:35,799 --> 00:01:39,079
You know, he's not smiling, he's not frowning, he's not

28
00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,000
doing anything really with his mouth. It's just like a

29
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,400
flatlined mouth, you know, and he's got his eyes closed.

30
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:53,120
Just hmmm. And I'm just speaking here. I think from

31
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:58,959
you know, me personally as a dude, that picture says

32
00:01:58,959 --> 00:02:03,040
something to me. And maybe it's because you know, if

33
00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,599
you're raised by your mom, you have encountered that kind

34
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:13,039
of interaction and it's just like hmm mm hm, and

35
00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:14,759
you're just and he has to sit there and listen

36
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,599
to it. He can't do anything, so he's got to

37
00:02:16,599 --> 00:02:21,960
just sit there and listen to this yelling. And varaed

38
00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,719
Meta said quote the Democrats becoming the party of the

39
00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,599
angry mother in law slash hectoring wife is something they

40
00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,439
might want to do something about. And I think this

41
00:02:36,599 --> 00:02:40,159
is true. This was one of the things against Hillary Clinton,

42
00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,360
and you know, when she would try to get the

43
00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,479
crowds riled up, and she would try to be you know,

44
00:02:46,719 --> 00:02:51,240
forceful and even yet a little angry, and she just

45
00:02:51,439 --> 00:02:58,400
came across like a screaming, shrill scold and it's annoying

46
00:02:59,199 --> 00:03:03,879
and I don't want to listen to it. I'm sitting

47
00:03:03,879 --> 00:03:05,479
there watching it. I'm thinking, I do not want to

48
00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,879
have to listen to this for four years now. To

49
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,439
be fair, I say that about virtually all politicians, men

50
00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:18,039
and women alike. So I just I wonder if there's

51
00:03:18,039 --> 00:03:22,919
something to this. And in a related story, there's a

52
00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:29,960
website called Persuasion persuasion dot community and I track this

53
00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,719
as left of center. The people that write over there,

54
00:03:33,039 --> 00:03:34,960
you could sign up for a free newsletter and read

55
00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,680
some of this stuff, and they have various people, they

56
00:03:37,719 --> 00:03:40,159
write on various topics, and the vast majority of the

57
00:03:40,159 --> 00:03:42,719
time I really don't care what they're saying. But every

58
00:03:42,759 --> 00:03:45,800
now and again, somebody writes a piece that I am

59
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,280
interested in. That's why I'm on there free. I don't

60
00:03:48,319 --> 00:03:53,000
pay for it. Free newsletter Persuasion and this one was

61
00:03:53,039 --> 00:03:57,560
written by Jeffrey Tyler Sick or psych s y c K.

62
00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:05,840
I'm assuming that's Dutch, so would be sick psaych. Anyway,

63
00:04:06,439 --> 00:04:09,800
he's an assistant professor of political science and history at

64
00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,719
the University of Pikeville that is in Kentucky, by the way,

65
00:04:13,719 --> 00:04:19,600
in case you are unaware of this esteemed college, and

66
00:04:19,639 --> 00:04:25,279
he argues that a properly funded and intellectually robust movement

67
00:04:26,079 --> 00:04:32,120
inside the Democrat Party could win back rural voters. What

68
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,399
movement would that be, Pete Ah, great question, glad you asked.

69
00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:44,720
It is the brand new Blue Dogs, so that's it's

70
00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:52,519
actually not new. They're resurrecting the Blue Dog movement. And

71
00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:59,480
by they I mean three members of Congress. Well, by

72
00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,600
three members Congress, I mean two members and one who

73
00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,800
just lost reelection. So it's going very well, right, The

74
00:05:04,879 --> 00:05:10,879
effort is off to a fantastic start. Jared Golden of Maine,

75
00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:17,920
Mary Poltola of Alaska, and Marie Glusen camp Perez of

76
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:25,759
Washington State. And Mary Poltola of Alaska lost. She lost

77
00:05:25,759 --> 00:05:27,959
her reelection bit so she's already out as one of

78
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,079
the Blue Dog leaders. But other than that, things are

79
00:05:31,079 --> 00:05:37,399
going well. This is Jeffrey Tyler sick or psych in

80
00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,360
persuasion quote. Founded in nineteen ninety five and long the

81
00:05:41,399 --> 00:05:46,680
resting place of racist, politically antidiluvian Southern Democrats, the Blue

82
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,079
Dogs have been revamped by three young politicians on a

83
00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,519
mission to make their party relevant in rural America again.

84
00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:06,360
So would that be make Democrats relevant in rural America again?

85
00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:14,519
So M d r R A A md r R

86
00:06:15,399 --> 00:06:20,279
A madurarah, you gotta roll it. I guess I don't know.

87
00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:22,920
Bad acronym, guys, You guys got to come up with

88
00:06:22,959 --> 00:06:25,000
something better than that. But the Blue Dogs cultivate a

89
00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,360
combination of esthetics. But of course they're Democrats, so style

90
00:06:29,399 --> 00:06:32,399
over substance, right, you gotta have It's got to look

91
00:06:32,399 --> 00:06:37,920
good these esthetics as well as policy positions that they

92
00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:43,839
hope will allow their party to flourish moderate economic stances

93
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:50,720
with the justicemidge of populism. Throw in some candidates with

94
00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:56,759
unorthanox yet relatable personal backgrounds. Really, you two were read

95
00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,639
to at an early age, had a drag queen story hour.

96
00:06:59,759 --> 00:07:07,879
Look look at that? What a trajectory and social liberalism

97
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:14,560
shorn of all moralistic tripe. That is a fancy way

98
00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:21,839
of saying, be liberal, but stop preaching right your I

99
00:07:21,839 --> 00:07:25,439
say this all the time in debates with leftists. You

100
00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:31,720
do not occupy a morally superior position. See once. Once

101
00:07:31,759 --> 00:07:35,360
you say that in a discussion, in an argument, in

102
00:07:35,399 --> 00:07:39,759
a debate with a leftist, it shatters this illusion from

103
00:07:39,759 --> 00:07:43,519
which they operate that they are better than you. They

104
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,519
have a position that is morally superior to you, And

105
00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,959
I usually tell them at some point, look, I want this.

106
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,160
You also want this, or so you claim, and I

107
00:07:54,199 --> 00:07:56,199
will take you out your word for it. So we

108
00:07:56,279 --> 00:07:59,319
both want this same outcome. For example, I want all

109
00:07:59,439 --> 00:08:03,480
kids to be able to read by third grade, fifth

110
00:08:03,519 --> 00:08:06,360
grade whatever, right like I want kids on grade level.

111
00:08:06,399 --> 00:08:10,560
I want kids able to read and do math. You

112
00:08:10,639 --> 00:08:13,759
do too, Oh isn't that fantastic? So we agree, So

113
00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:17,839
you don't occupy a morally superior position. The difference here

114
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:24,240
is how best to achieve these shared stated goals right now.

115
00:08:24,319 --> 00:08:27,399
Just because I have a different path that I want

116
00:08:27,439 --> 00:08:31,040
to take to the same destination doesn't mean I'm evil.

117
00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,000
It just means I think this is a better path

118
00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,440
to get to the same destination that you claim you

119
00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:40,120
want to get to. So why don't we just have

120
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,919
the discussion about the courses about the paths rather than

121
00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:51,639
why I'm taking the path right, But obviously the moral

122
00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,720
preening is necessary, so you don't actually have to have

123
00:08:54,759 --> 00:08:58,279
the discussion about the policy or the paths. They don't

124
00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,759
want to have the policy debate. They would just rather

125
00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,960
ascribe the motive right, say that you are morally inferior,

126
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,519
therefore you're wrong and you hate people, and so shut up.

127
00:09:10,919 --> 00:09:16,320
That's it. That's the whole point. So this is the formula.

128
00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,480
According to this political science and history professor at the

129
00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,200
University of Pikeville. The fighting Pikes, I believe, is their mascot,

130
00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:29,360
the fish. So moderate economic stances, little bit of populism,

131
00:09:30,039 --> 00:09:34,440
have a candidate with a weird but relatable personal background,

132
00:09:34,639 --> 00:09:40,480
and do the social liberalism, but rip away all of

133
00:09:40,519 --> 00:09:45,879
the moralistic tripe. I don't think they can do it.

134
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,159
Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to

135
00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,679
a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina.

136
00:09:52,799 --> 00:09:55,519
Just a quick drive up the mountain and cabins of Ashville.

137
00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,320
Is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon,

138
00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,639
maybe you want to play a memorable proposal or get

139
00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:04,559
family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins

140
00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,320
of Ashville has the ideal spot for you where you

141
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,960
can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that

142
00:10:10,039 --> 00:10:13,799
truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres

143
00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,159
of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene

144
00:10:17,279 --> 00:10:20,000
escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally

145
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,519
located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky

146
00:10:22,519 --> 00:10:26,399
Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and

147
00:10:26,519 --> 00:10:30,759
proximity to all the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces,

148
00:10:30,799 --> 00:10:35,000
air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi, grills, outdoor tables and

149
00:10:35,039 --> 00:10:39,360
your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages,

150
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,399
two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms.

151
00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,759
Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for

152
00:10:46,879 --> 00:10:50,600
any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or

153
00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,039
text eight two eight, three six seven seventy sixty eight

154
00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,480
or check out all there is to offer at Cabins

155
00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,000
Offashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime.

156
00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:07,639
I just saw this post from Patrick Yeah. A tweet

157
00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:12,360
from Patrick Raffini, who is a polster at Echelon insights.

158
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:19,039
He says a watershed moment as Pennsylvania becomes R plus

159
00:11:19,759 --> 00:11:24,480
by presidential turnout, R plus means a Republican advantage. Obviously

160
00:11:24,519 --> 00:11:31,519
a majority of the votes cast in in Pennsylvania were

161
00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:36,120
for a Republican. Uh, they've got their final numbers. Now,

162
00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,039
I guess their final turnout. These are turnout numbers. That

163
00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:42,159
means you can He says that that means you can

164
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:47,159
throw out all the polling samples that had electorates of

165
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,320
a D plus three, which is like if you're if

166
00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,159
you're going to put a poll out into the field,

167
00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,039
you look at the you know, uh, past elections, what

168
00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,960
the turnout was, what the voter registration is, and you

169
00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:04,080
try to wait your survey, your poll based on that data.

170
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:06,879
And so the polls were going out and they were

171
00:12:06,879 --> 00:12:11,440
trying to get three percent more Democrats than Republicans because

172
00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,519
that historically was what the turnout, what the turnout actually was,

173
00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,799
what the election results actually were. And so it was

174
00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:25,480
a D plus three. No longer. This was never going

175
00:12:25,519 --> 00:12:28,799
to be a D plus year in Pennsylvania. He says,

176
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:31,919
we were expecting Republicans to come out on top by

177
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,799
like twenty five thousand votes, but the final total now

178
00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:43,799
is sixty five thousand. That's, as he says, a watershed moment.

179
00:12:45,159 --> 00:12:48,759
And this ties into quite nicely the piece of persuasion

180
00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,919
the Democrats trying to win back rural America. How will

181
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:56,639
they do it? In a recent video, Jared Golden, Congressman

182
00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:01,720
of Maine, the leader of the Blue Dogs, this is

183
00:13:01,759 --> 00:13:04,000
their vehicle that they say they're going to be using,

184
00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,559
describe the group as quote rooted in loyalty to the

185
00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:15,799
community we represent. Tell me something without saying anything. Though

186
00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,679
localism is the central selling point of Blue Dogs, they

187
00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:23,200
combine it with other typical centrist beliefs such as pluralism,

188
00:13:23,519 --> 00:13:31,159
intellectual humility, and gradualist politics. In twenty twenty three, Marie

189
00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:38,080
glues In camp Perez told the Washington Post quote, It's

190
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,879
not just about flipping seats for us, It's about the

191
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:47,080
long work of turning the train around. And but wouldn't

192
00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:51,279
you just run in the other direction? Isn't turning the

193
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,360
ship around? Because trains, I feel like those are easier

194
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,000
to turn around because they're on tracks. And if you

195
00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,679
just make a track that's a circle, just turn right around,

196
00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,559
or just put the engines on the other side and

197
00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,919
hould it that way anyway. Look, I'm just pointing out

198
00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,320
the analogy doesn't really hold very well. But she says,

199
00:14:08,879 --> 00:14:14,279
getting back to place based politics. That's what they're all about.

200
00:14:14,519 --> 00:14:20,720
Place based politics. In other words, what might sell in

201
00:14:22,039 --> 00:14:28,240
you know, Charlotte probably doesn't sell as well in Frog Pond,

202
00:14:28,679 --> 00:14:31,600
North Carolina, for example. I'm just like, for example, right,

203
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:37,240
they may not be the same types of messages. She says,

204
00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,279
got to get back to place based politics and not

205
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:47,639
focus grouped TWITTERADDI agendas And look, I agree with this

206
00:14:48,039 --> 00:14:52,600
because the Democrat Party has become beholden too that very group,

207
00:14:52,639 --> 00:14:58,279
that latter group, Right, these perpetually online younger people that

208
00:14:58,399 --> 00:15:03,120
are leftists because they came through leftist education in doctrination

209
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:07,679
camps aka government schools, and so they come out of there,

210
00:15:07,919 --> 00:15:10,960
and that's how you end up with Joe Biden sounding

211
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:16,080
like a comie, when Joe Biden never really sounded like

212
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:24,320
that in all of his seventeen decades in the Senate. Right, first,

213
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:29,200
they have to develop a cultural and ideological identity. However,

214
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,080
how do they do that? How do the Blue Dogs

215
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,879
do that? All? Right? I hope you had a happy

216
00:15:34,919 --> 00:15:37,600
holiday season. But tell me if something like this happened

217
00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,519
at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around,

218
00:15:40,519 --> 00:15:42,639
Maybe y'all are in the living room and you're laughing,

219
00:15:42,799 --> 00:15:47,200
swapping stories, reminiscing, and then somebody says, hey, Dad, remember

220
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,279
those old VHS tapes? Did you ever get them transferred?

221
00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,320
And then the room gets all quiet. All eyes are

222
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,120
on Dad, who says, oh, you know, well, I've been

223
00:15:56,159 --> 00:15:59,000
meaning to but I just having gotten around to it. Look,

224
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,320
don't let those priceless memories sit in a box for

225
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,120
another year, all right. Create a Video has been helping

226
00:16:05,159 --> 00:16:08,399
families in the Charlotte area preserve their history since nineteen

227
00:16:08,519 --> 00:16:11,720
ninety seven. Simply bring in your old camquarder tapes and

228
00:16:11,879 --> 00:16:15,519
Creative Video will transfer them to a USB flash drive

229
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:17,840
for just fourteen ninety five per tape. You have a

230
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,240
big collection, They've got a discount for you. And next year,

231
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:25,559
instead of talking about those memories, imagine gathering the family

232
00:16:25,679 --> 00:16:29,200
to watch them together. Talk about a memorable gift. So

233
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,080
do what I did. Trust the experts at Creative Video,

234
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,399
conveniently located in mint Hill right off I four eighty five,

235
00:16:35,679 --> 00:16:39,519
and online at create a Video dot Com. Back to

236
00:16:39,559 --> 00:16:45,159
the piece, at the Persuasion dot Community dot com by

237
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,240
Jeffrey Tyler Sich, Assistant professor of political science and history

238
00:16:49,279 --> 00:16:54,720
at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky, talking about the

239
00:16:54,799 --> 00:16:58,840
effort to revive the Blue Dog Democrats and they're going

240
00:16:58,919 --> 00:17:03,559
to have some problems. I think the Blue Dog's lack

241
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,119
of a firm identity is in many ways a problem

242
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:11,079
that plagues all centrists. What makes them different from the

243
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:15,680
political extremes. On one hand, the Blue Dogs are Democrats,

244
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,720
and they carry all the baggage that comes with that label.

245
00:17:19,279 --> 00:17:23,400
Fairly or not, voters see them as just progressives in

246
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:31,240
sheep's clothing. Yes, which actually, if I go back to

247
00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:37,359
two paragraphs prior, he talked about describing them as a

248
00:17:37,559 --> 00:17:46,279
gradualist party or movement, gradualist politics, Gradualist what does that mean?

249
00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,400
Like Fabian socialism? You just you can't do it with

250
00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,240
the violent overthrow of the government and the revolution because

251
00:17:54,599 --> 00:17:58,279
in a free society with a free market system, people

252
00:17:58,319 --> 00:18:02,519
are generally happy with that system. So you can't you

253
00:18:02,599 --> 00:18:05,200
can't overthrow that system because you're gonna make their lives

254
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,279
pretty crummy in the short term and then even worse

255
00:18:08,279 --> 00:18:10,160
in the long term. But they don't ever see that

256
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,880
part but gradualism, right, So we know where we're going,

257
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,799
we just have a different speed by which to get there.

258
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:24,880
And so yes, voter see blue dog Democrats as progressives

259
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,640
wanting the same things, but just doing it a little

260
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:35,119
bit more slowly. In other words, liars right, that's the problem.

261
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,599
No one becomes a Democrat unless they basically believe in

262
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,039
open borders and foisting socially radical views on the electorate,

263
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,759
or so goes the logic of many rural voters, that's

264
00:18:46,799 --> 00:18:50,000
how they see Democrats. Now, this is the problem that

265
00:18:50,079 --> 00:18:53,039
Democrats have, and it is i might add, of their

266
00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:58,000
own making. Though this stereotype is something of a gross exaggeration,

267
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,720
he says, there is a kernel of truth to it,

268
00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,839
and by colonel, I would suggest it's the whole popped corn.

269
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,000
On a range of issues, he says Democrats have moved

270
00:19:08,079 --> 00:19:11,000
far afield of the average American voter, Like how do

271
00:19:11,039 --> 00:19:13,160
you write that sentence right after the last one? Oh,

272
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,279
there's a kernel of truth to it, you know, in

273
00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,440
so far as the Democrats are like so far to

274
00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,039
the left of the average American. Now, this alone is

275
00:19:23,079 --> 00:19:26,519
perhaps not a serious issue for the party. Except that

276
00:19:26,559 --> 00:19:30,400
Democrats tend to pounce on those who question their ideological

277
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,920
doctrines with a fervor that would make New England's Puritan

278
00:19:34,039 --> 00:19:39,720
settlers proud. See, even he recognizes the problem inside the

279
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:44,119
Democrat Party is shut up ery as soon as somebody

280
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,079
is like, well, you know what, I'm a Democrat. I

281
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,119
like Democrats policies more than I like Republican policies or whatever,

282
00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:53,079
except for, for example, I'm just gonna pick one at random,

283
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,799
like abortion, right, I'm pro life, I'm a pro life Democrat.

284
00:19:56,839 --> 00:20:00,480
Well then sorry, you are dead to us as Demos, right,

285
00:20:00,519 --> 00:20:03,920
Like that's it. You cannot be pro life in the

286
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,640
Democrat Party any longer. At most, you can be pro

287
00:20:07,759 --> 00:20:13,359
choice as long as that choice occurs, like after eight months.

288
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,839
Like that's about it. You cannot be a politician in

289
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,319
the Democrat Party and be pro life any longer. Remember

290
00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:23,839
there was one a couple of years ago, like three

291
00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:25,640
years ago, i want to say, and one of them

292
00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,599
came out and said on pro life, and they got primaried.

293
00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,839
So one need only look at the reactions from mainstream

294
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,000
Democrats when blue dogs break with party orthodoxy. For example,

295
00:20:38,279 --> 00:20:43,039
Congresswoman Perez was recently savaged by fellow quote liberals for

296
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:48,440
refusing to back Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which

297
00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:52,240
is not a forgiveness plan, it's a bailout. Golden Jared

298
00:20:52,279 --> 00:20:56,039
Golden Golden was viciously attacked by fellow Democrats for his

299
00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,720
opposition to the Build Back Better scheme. Thus, on the

300
00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:03,720
lane left blue dog Democrats are squeezed from both sides,

301
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,480
to left wing for rural voters and to right wing

302
00:21:07,839 --> 00:21:12,200
to be happily accepted by their own party. We see

303
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,559
this in North Carolina as well. This is why the Democrats,

304
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:25,000
despite the Democrat Party Chair Sippy Cup Clayton, right, despite

305
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,599
her efforts to say y'all and drop a bunch of

306
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:33,039
f bombs as a mechanism to attract rural voters, they

307
00:21:33,039 --> 00:21:37,559
have not been successful in doing so. And it's why

308
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,200
we see it play out in this fight with The

309
00:21:41,279 --> 00:21:45,160
latest one is Cecil Brockman, and we've covered that story.

310
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,880
He's a state representative out of like Guildford County area,

311
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:53,119
and he is for school choice and for that he

312
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,279
is savaged. Trisha Coffam here in Mecklenburg County flipped her

313
00:21:57,319 --> 00:22:01,880
registration to Republican because of the way Democrats treated her,

314
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,440
which was rooted in this one issue. So if you

315
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:12,640
diverge from the Democrats playbook on anything, you are now

316
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,799
the enemy Blue Dog. This is why I don't think

317
00:22:15,799 --> 00:22:19,440
blue Dogs are going to be successful. I mean not

318
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,720
as a movement. They may very well win their particular race.

319
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,759
They could very well keep winning their offices and win reelection,

320
00:22:27,559 --> 00:22:30,000
except that woman from Alaska. She's already out. But like

321
00:22:30,279 --> 00:22:34,319
you could see where they could keep winning election in

322
00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:40,119
a Democrat area that has enough Republican voters that are

323
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,559
okay with her as a blue dog kind of Democrat

324
00:22:45,079 --> 00:22:48,000
until she gets primary. And that's the problem for the

325
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,359
Blue Dogs. Rural Democrats desperately need to attract the support

326
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:58,519
of Trump voters. This requires the adoption of certain populist stances,

327
00:22:58,839 --> 00:23:01,599
which for most Blue dog has been in the realm

328
00:23:01,599 --> 00:23:05,920
of economics, so they are okay with Trump on some economics.

329
00:23:06,079 --> 00:23:08,920
The difficulty, then, is for the Blue Dogs to develop

330
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:13,400
an identity that separates them from the leftists in the

331
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:20,000
Democrat Party while also offering something that Trump cannot. Golden

332
00:23:20,599 --> 00:23:23,599
has taken himself to He's taken to describing himself as

333
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:30,599
a progressive conservative. They're gonna call themselves a progression, not

334
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,279
that they're progressing towards conservatism, right, because that's what it

335
00:23:34,319 --> 00:23:39,039
sounds like. Classic democrat move right. Call yourself something, brand

336
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,559
yourself as some sort of a political philosophy that you

337
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:48,039
are actually the opposite of right. I'm a liberal, are you, though? Yeah?

338
00:23:48,319 --> 00:23:50,400
You want to censor people's speech and stuff that like,

339
00:23:50,839 --> 00:23:53,319
that's not liberal, That is not liberal. Trust me. I

340
00:23:53,319 --> 00:23:55,079
grew up with liberals. I know a lot of liberals.

341
00:23:55,279 --> 00:23:57,799
I remember liberalism in a toyday, and they were for

342
00:23:58,039 --> 00:24:00,559
free speech. These were the people that were about the

343
00:24:00,559 --> 00:24:05,079
warnings on music. You know, the appeal of the phrase

344
00:24:05,279 --> 00:24:08,720
likely lies in its ambiguous sound. It's actually the way

345
00:24:08,839 --> 00:24:13,680
rather apt description of the reconstituted blue dog Democrats. Yeah,

346
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,039
I'm not buying it, all right, if you're listening to

347
00:24:16,079 --> 00:24:17,599
this show, you know I try to keep up with

348
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,759
all sorts of current events, and I know you do too.

349
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,440
And you've probably heard me say get your news from

350
00:24:22,519 --> 00:24:27,079
multiple sources. Why, Well, because it's how you detect media bias,

351
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,680
which is why I've been so impressed with ground News.

352
00:24:30,079 --> 00:24:33,480
It's an app and it's a website and it combines

353
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:35,599
news from around the world in one place so you

354
00:24:35,599 --> 00:24:39,000
can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it

355
00:24:39,039 --> 00:24:43,559
out at check dot ground, dot news slash Pete. I

356
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,480
put the link in the podcast description too. I started

357
00:24:46,559 --> 00:24:49,279
using ground News a few months ago and more recently

358
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,440
chose to work with them as an affiliate because it

359
00:24:51,519 --> 00:24:55,359
lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom.

360
00:24:55,599 --> 00:24:58,559
The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored

361
00:24:58,599 --> 00:25:01,519
by the left and the right. See for yourself check

362
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,119
dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link

363
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,039
and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use

364
00:25:09,079 --> 00:25:12,200
the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature.

365
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,200
Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it

366
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,359
also supports ground News as they make the media landscape

367
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:23,880
more transparent by the way the markets now are had

368
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,359
they have increased, the betting markets have increased. Pete. Hegseth's

369
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:34,720
chances for confirmation. He's got that going for him. Let's

370
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,400
see here, where was I? Oh, yes, that's right, the

371
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,359
blue dogs and how they're totally going to win back

372
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:44,720
rural Americans. They're not. That's not gonna happen. I guess

373
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:49,039
it could. Anything could happen. So they're pitching themselves as

374
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:53,400
progressive conservatives. We're a progressive concert that's my philosophy. I'm

375
00:25:53,440 --> 00:26:00,440
a progressive conservative Democrat. The term was first coined in

376
00:26:00,519 --> 00:26:03,119
the late nineteenth century, so that would be the eighteen

377
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:08,400
hundreds as well as the early twentieth centuries to refer

378
00:26:08,599 --> 00:26:14,599
to figures such as British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and

379
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:22,480
American President Teddy Roosevelt. So this is not a new moniker.

380
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:28,079
Perhaps no politician has better embodied progressive conservatism. According to

381
00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:33,200
Jeffrey Tyler Sich, Assistant professor of political science and history

382
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:38,960
at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky, no better politician

383
00:26:39,079 --> 00:26:43,559
or no politician has better embodied progressive conservatism quote unquote

384
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:50,319
than New York Democrat Daniel Patrick moynihan. Moynihan worked throughout

385
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,880
his long career to combine the very best elements of

386
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,400
the left and the right, grounded in the understanding that

387
00:26:59,519 --> 00:27:03,319
quote this is what he said, that liberals are people

388
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,440
who would like to see things improved, and conservatives are

389
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:14,240
people who would like to see things not worsened, which

390
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,240
my wife and I actually the other night we watched

391
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:20,799
I don't remember the name of it, but Bill Maher's

392
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:25,640
latest stand up, And before you ask, yes, I did chuckle,

393
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,400
not belly laugh or guffaw, but I did chuckle I

394
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:35,880
think three times during the stand up, and this was

395
00:27:36,039 --> 00:27:37,960
kind of This was one of the things that I

396
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:43,000
think he did well because it's a he's a political comedian.

397
00:27:43,079 --> 00:27:46,039
He talks a lot about politics and such, and over

398
00:27:46,039 --> 00:27:49,720
the last year or two he has really been laying

399
00:27:49,759 --> 00:27:54,839
into the lefties because they've just gone crazy and he's

400
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,000
calling them out for it. And I was not aware,

401
00:27:57,079 --> 00:28:02,000
but this apparently traces back to his attempt to get

402
00:28:02,039 --> 00:28:04,559
solar panels on his house, and it took them three

403
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,839
years to get solar panels because he had to go

404
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,039
through all of these government agencies and stuff. So even

405
00:28:11,079 --> 00:28:14,759
when he's trying to do the quote right thing by progressives,

406
00:28:15,519 --> 00:28:19,039
he is still met with delays and costs and all

407
00:28:19,079 --> 00:28:22,680
of that. But he had a good point when he

408
00:28:22,759 --> 00:28:27,960
described conservatives as like, hey, things aren't that bad. Things

409
00:28:28,039 --> 00:28:31,519
have gotten better, and let's not break things that aren't

410
00:28:31,559 --> 00:28:35,680
broken just for the sake of breaking them. At the

411
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,599
heart of much progressive conservatism is a distrust of what

412
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,960
William Butler Yeats called the leveling, rancorous, rational sort of mind.

413
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,559
Progressive conservatives believe that human progress hinges on respecting local

414
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:54,680
custom and rejecting broad universal generalizations, whether they be in

415
00:28:54,839 --> 00:28:58,079
art and faith, in the spread of democracy or the

416
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:02,240
elevation of national identity of all else, the central tenets

417
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,680
of progressive conservatism must become the heart and soul of

418
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,319
the Blue Dog's Blue Dog Democrats' agenda if they are

419
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,839
to succeed. He then recommends they tear a page from

420
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:19,480
the conservatives playbook and how conservatives were able to ascend

421
00:29:19,839 --> 00:29:24,839
to where they have found themselves now, which is create publications,

422
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,720
fund all sorts of think tanks and stuff like that,

423
00:29:29,279 --> 00:29:31,960
to which I say, good luck to you, Blue Dog Democrats,

424
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,640
good luck to you, or you could just join the Republicans.

425
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,279
Just say all right, that'll do it for this episode.

426
00:29:38,359 --> 00:29:40,440
Thank you so much for listening. I could not do

427
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,640
the show without your support and the support of the

428
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,680
businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like,

429
00:29:45,839 --> 00:29:47,920
please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

430
00:29:48,079 --> 00:29:50,599
You can also become a patron at my Patreon page

431
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,279
or go to thepetecallanershow dot com again, thank you so

432
00:29:54,359 --> 00:30:04,440
much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.