The following is a transcript from the Pro America Report.
Welcome, Welcome, welcome. It’s Ed Martin here on the Pro America Report. Hey, it is. Well, it’s the season, right. It’s the season, we’re already into late January getting close to February and we’re into the season. Doesn’t look like there’ll be a Republic. Excuse me. Democrat primary at all, but the season now is primary season and New Hampshire happening this week. Last week, the caucuses in Iowa. Coming fast, South Carolina and then Super Tuesday in about 5 or six weeks.
Well, it looks like it’s almost over, though. You know, over the weekend, Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump. And what I want to say right now is about Ron DeSantis and more importantly. About people who run for office, I’ve got a book That I’m reading about how to run for office and it’s written by a longtime political consultant character, someone I didn’t know, but we’ll have him on the show in the next few weekss I hope as I finish up his book. But you know, there’s been some really interesting books written about how to run for office and whatever.
But I just wanna pause and I wanna say that at the at the high levels especially, but even at whatever level it takes a lot of courage to run for office because most people don’t win. And you have to be willing to lose. And at the in the current environment we’re in, you have to be willing to you Know take a a verbal beating, too. And so I remember years ago, over the years I’ve I’ve run for office. I’ve run for office twice. In big races, 2010 and 2012. I also ran for chairman of the Republican Party in 2013 and won that race. Or I guess it was late 2012. So technically three races, but. It it it takes I’ve. I’ve thought a lot about what it takes to do it, and I tell people when they call me and they say I’m thinking of running for office. I say I have 3 Questions for you. And they’re in order. The first one is, can you afford to run? And I know I I do mean, can you afford to ’cause of your job? Will your job allow it? Will your employment allow it if you’re, you know, married and your spouse is going to carry the weight or whatever? Can you afford to run? The campaign can you afford to do it? It takes a lot, but I also mean can you afford The hassle and the scrutiny and the intensity, because if you run for a federal office, you have to disclose all of your campaign, all of your financial liabilities, as well as assets. If you run for most state and local races. You have to do something similar. In other words, you have to make clear who you are, and then you have to Make clear who You are. If you’re running for something that’s pretty contested, people gonna ask you about it, and they’re not always going to be the nicest people. So can you afford to run? Can you? Can your family? Can you afford the finances? Can you afford the scrutiny? Can you afford the intensity, can you afford the psychic weight of losing, or maybe not winning whatever? Can you afford to run?
Then, can you afford to win? If you win and you live in a place like St. Louis where I lived, you’d have to commute to Congress in Washington, or you’d have to commute to Jefferson City. So if you’re running for a state level office, State House, State Senate or Congress, if you’re running for County Council, OK, it’s around the corner. But but you still have to can you afford to win? Sometimes a job like that will Take you out of your employment status, you can’t have a secondary employment if you’re in Congress. You can’t many times. You can, if you’re like a state Rep you can. You can keep your Other job if. If your employer will allow it. Can you afford to win? Can you afford to take whatever the salary is if you’re in that position? And function.
And then the final question is, can you win? Because if you can’t win, you know, if there’s no way to win if you’re a Republican running in a Democrat district. You gotta have a good reason To do it if you’re not, if you don’t see a path to run to win.
So those are the three questions. But here’s the thing. After you answer those three questions, if you’re a guy like Ron DeSantis and you say you know what, I can see a path I can afford to run, for President, I can afford my. I can afford to win for President. You know that. And by the way, it’s a big one. If you win for President, your life has changed dramatically. So is your life, your family, your wife, your kids. But you know, anyway, I think he said he could do that. Then can I win? I can see a path. You can see a path to win.
And after all that’s said and done, it takes a special dose of courage and a lot of times the people that have that courage are accused of being narcissistic or egomaniacs or whatever. But we, you know. That’s a fine line. Because in order to go and do what Ron DeSantis did. And go through that. It’s a singular burden, like nothing in history and the burden lands on the person. True. But it also lands, and it lands sort of unevenly. On your family.
And so my first thing I want to say is congratulations for Ron DeSantis for being a courageous, courageous guy. Amazingly courageous to do what he did and I don’t think people should under and by the way, I’ll say that about anybody else too. I’ll say it about the guy, Dean Phillips that’s running as a Democrat, Joe Biden and his family. I mean, you still have to step up and be willing, you know, to fail, step up and willing to be mocked. Step up and willing to be attacked. It’s not normal, and by that I mean it’s extraordinary. Say it better. It’s not ordinary, it’s extraordinary. And so, you know, congratulations. Wow to Ron DeSantis. And maybe more importantly, you know what the late Phyllis Schlafly used to say? She ran for Congress twice. She ran for Congress when she was a very young woman. I think before she had any children, she was married, but she didn’t have any children yet. And then she ran again when she was, I think, about 40 and both times she lost and she used to say about that that, that, that running for office and losing, running a really good campaign, a full campaign, you know, not just losing, but running a good campaign and learning how it works, she said. You’ll never understand. How elected officials and politicians work better than after you’ve run for office because you understand the motivations of the need to raise money. You understand the motivations of the need to to think through your positions. You understand the motivations and the impact of of of the burdens put on people and the attacks. And so Ron DeSantis is a far wiser 46 year old 45 year old today than he was six months ago, I’m not sure that feels good to him. You know, I think he’d rather have won. But it’s pretty, pretty darn extraordinary.
And it’s a sign of good things in our future in America that guys like that are in the mix that are serious people that have accomplishments and have the willingness to step up and do that. So congratulations to to him and and going forward now you have to say to yourself what’s coming next and and.
And I think, look, Ron DeSantis’s endorsement of Donald Trump made it pretty clear pretty quickly. It’s gonna be over in terms of the primary, I don’t think anybody really thinks. And I and I hate to say this I because I’m a I’m a supporter of of the policies and the future of of of Trump, of a Trump presidency, I think that’s a very positive thing.
But I will say that the system that generates these candidates is a pretty, pretty rotten system, and Donald Trump is the only one in the about two generations, maybe more, since Reagan. But Reagan had to fight through it 3 times, 4 times, almost. Three times he ran he he put his toe in the water. In ’68 he put his toe in the water. Thinking about it in ’72. ’76 and ’80 he ran. I mean, so he he had to run three times to try to navigate the system.
But the modern system has really happened after he was there in which you have these primaries and these delegates and the system that is really designed to have the candidates need somewhere around $150 million to compete. Unless you’re Trump when you have name ID that’s worth something. Close to that, which is what happened in 2016 and happened, is happening now. Nikki Haley doesn’t have that. Her money. She just doesn’t have that money. She can’t raise it fast enough. She’s not succeeding fast enough to be able to be a true competitor. Where you have to go past South Carolina and then go into Super Tuesday and spend in 10, 12 States. Spend money on TV, spend money, and again, I’m not saying it’s a good system, by the way. I’m saying it’s a bad system. I’m saying it’s a racket. The racket is Set up in such a way. That people are stuck trying to compete in that system. That’s just the way it is. But that but again, that’s just the way it is. You can you can wish it was different, but that’s the that is the way it is. So there you have it.
Anyway, I I want to make Sure, to encourage people. To to congratulate Ron DeSantis and others and others, lots of candidates are running for office. I’m thinking like Derrick Evans. He’s running as a for Congress out in West Virginia against the incumbent Republican. It’s a tough race. It’s a tough race. I’m optimistic that he can do it. I mean, he’s a really impressive guy, arrested out for January 6th. Total fraud. You know, total total mistreatment. But it’s really hard and the fact that he’s doing it is really impressive.
And my point to you is find somebody who’s running and make sure, especially after they lose, that you not only praise them and thank them, but you don’t forget them. That’s one of my things about doing this now is that Ron DeSantis deserves to be thanked. Congratulated, you should say wow and then you should remember because he’s earned that he’s earned the he’s earned. Forget about all these people who say ohh this campaign or that campaign was this, you know wasn’t good was good. Forget about all that. He did. He got in there and did it. And makes a big difference. It makes a difference.
And last point. I think Ron DeSantis’s run. Will go down as a key factor. In strengthening Trump, meaning. You had to have if you. hadn’t had a real race with a guy that raised a couple $100 million. You would not have been able to actually say, OK, is Trump ready for this? Can Trump do this? Do the voters really want Trump? And the fact that he had to go through this with DeSantis is what gives him, I think. A better claim, a better argument and a better future. In terms of the in terms of the general election. I really believe. I think that’s right. I think that’s the. I think that’s the reality of that situation. And I think it’ll make a big difference. So thank you to Ron DeSantis.
We gotta take a break. We’ll be right back. It’s Ed Martin here on the Pro America Report back in a moment.
