Elon Musk's AI Could Transform Politics: Here's How | Cliff Maloney DSH #1047

Summary

Digital Social Hour Podcast Summary

Title: Elon Musk's AI Could Transform Politics: Here's How | Cliff Maloney DSH #1047
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Cliff Maloney and an Unnamed Political Consultant
Release Date: January 2, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a deep and insightful conversation with Cliff Maloney and an unnamed political consultant. The discussion primarily revolves around innovative political campaign strategies, the impact of mail-in voting, critiques of the current political consulting landscape, and the potential transformative role of Elon Musk's AI in politics.

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Door Knocking Campaigns in Pennsylvania

Cliff Maloney ([02:13]) initiates the conversation by welcoming the political consultant, sparking a discussion about their experiences over the past year. The consultant shares their extensive efforts in building paid door-knocking programs since 2016, emphasizing the contrast between Republican and Democratic campaign strategies.

“The left has always had paid and volunteer and the right has always had volunteer. Yeah, why are we not doing what they're doing?” ([02:09])

The consultant elaborates on launching a significant door-knocking initiative in Pennsylvania aimed at increasing Trump’s vote share through persistent voter engagement.

“We’re going to knock 500,000 doors and we want to get Trump's share of the Mandolin vote to 33% was a wild ride.” ([03:26])

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Mail-in Voting Strategies and the 2024 Election

A significant portion of the discussion centers on mail-in voting’s impact on the 2024 elections. The consultant criticizes the extension of mail-in voting rules beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting its detrimental effects on Republican vote shares.

“Trump ended up getting 34.5% of the mail in. So that's up from the average of 20% for Republicans.” ([03:34])

They argue that while mail-in voting was initially a necessity, its continuation has favored Democrats, compromising election outcomes.

“I grew up in PA when I used to vote, it was election day. Yeah, right.” ([03:57])

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Effectiveness of the Door Knocking Campaign

The consultant provides concrete results from their campaign, noting a slight increase in Trump’s vote percentage and attributing this success to their door-chasing efforts.

“We knocked on 510,000 doors... Trump ended up getting 34.5% of the mail in.” ([03:34])

They estimate that out of half a million doors, approximately 200,000 conversations were meaningful, demonstrating the campaign’s substantial impact.

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Critique of Current Political Consultant Practices

A critical analysis of the existing political consulting industry unfolds, with the consultant condemning the over-reliance on expensive TV ads and the consultant class’s resistance to more effective, ground-level strategies.

“Typically, 15 to 20% of every dollar spent on political TV ads is going to the consult.” ([11:05])

The guest accuses consultants of prioritizing lucrative advertising deals over impactful voter engagement, arguing that this misallocation of funds undermines campaign effectiveness.

“They're not making their cut.” ([11:38])

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Future Campaign Plans and Challenges

Looking ahead, the consultant discusses plans for future campaigns targeting various states, including New Jersey, Virginia, California, Georgia, and Wisconsin. However, they highlight the significant financial and logistical challenges involved in scaling their door-chasing model.

“Each of these that I launch, I gotta raise another three to five million dollars.” ([11:05])

They express a willingness to collaborate with organizations willing to support their initiatives, emphasizing a commitment to winning over profitability.

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Authenticity in Politics and Social Media Influence

The conversation shifts to the importance of authenticity in modern politics, especially in the age of social media. The consultant criticizes scripted political appearances and praises figures like Donald Trump for their perceived genuineness.

“People have pretty good BS meters, they know.” ([17:18])

They argue that authentic interactions resonate more with voters, leading to stronger connections and trust compared to highly scripted political rhetoric.

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Government Shutdown and Political Reforms

A substantial segment is dedicated to discussing potential government shutdowns as a strategy to pressure for political reforms. The consultant outlines plans for significant regulatory changes, likening their approach to Elon Musk’s management style.

“There’s a lot of pressure of X, you have a lot of pressure of Trump, Elon Vivek that you’re putting forward...” ([21:32])

They advocate for rapid implementation of reforms within the first hundred days post-election, aiming for efficiency and significant governmental restructuring.

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Taxation Views and Proposals

The consultant shares bold views on taxation, advocating for the abolition of all taxes or the implementation of a flat tax system. They criticize the current IRS system for its complexity and inefficiency.

“I’d like to abolish all taxes. I'll start with that.” ([26:37])

Emphasizing simplicity and fairness, they propose a straightforward taxation method to replace the convoluted existing system, believing it would enhance economic efficiency and reduce bureaucratic burdens.

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Elon Musk's Role and AI Transforming Politics

Although not extensively covered in the transcript, the title suggests a focus on Elon Musk's AI impact on politics. The consultant briefly touches upon Elon Musk’s involvement in political strategies, hinting at the integration of advanced AI tools to enhance campaign efficiency and voter targeting.

“It’s all about adapting. I give Charlie a lot of credit, Charlie Kirk, for really pushing the party...” ([03:57])

Furthermore, the discussion implies that technological advancements, possibly influenced by figures like Elon Musk, are pivotal in reshaping political campaigns and strategies.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with the consultant emphasizing the need for authenticity, strategic voter engagement, and innovative approaches to overcome entrenched political challenges. They call on listeners to support their initiatives and get involved in transformative political actions.

“Push your congressman, push your senator on any of these things where you see Elon and Doge pushing it.” ([23:05])

The guest encourages active participation and support for their door-chasing campaigns, reinforcing the episode's themes of strategic innovation and grassroots mobilization in modern politics.

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Notable Quotes

• [02:09] Unnamed Political Consultant: “The left has always had paid and volunteer and the right has always had volunteer. Yeah, why are we not doing what they're doing?”
• [03:34] Unnamed Political Consultant: “Trump ended up getting 34.5% of the mail in. So that's up from the average of 20% for Republicans.”
• [11:05] Unnamed Political Consultant: “Typically, 15 to 20% of every dollar spent on political TV ads is going to the consult.”
• [17:18] Unnamed Political Consultant: “People have pretty good BS meters, they know.”
• [26:37] Unnamed Political Consultant: “I’d like to abolish all taxes. I'll start with that.”

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This episode of Digital Social Hour provides a compelling look into modern political campaign strategies, critiquing traditional methods and advocating for more direct voter engagement. The insights shared by Cliff Maloney and the unnamed political consultant offer valuable perspectives on navigating and transforming the contemporary political landscape.

Transcript

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[Cliff Maloney]

Holy crap. Penn. For eight months. What was that like?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Pretty crazy. I'll give you a little background. Pretty much since 2016, I've focused on building these paid door knocking programs. The left has always had paid and volunteer and the right has always had volunteer. Yeah, hold on. Why are we not doing what they're doing? So I've always been focused on doing state rep races across the country, putting these permanent on the ground teams together. But then in, in 2024, that all kind of changed.

[Cliff Maloney]

All right, guys, Cliff Maloney here at America Fest. Man, Is this your First America Fest?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Second was here last year. But 20,000 people, man. Can't wait.

[Cliff Maloney]

It's my first one. I'm already loving it, you know, meeting some great people. So I want to talk about your past year. Holy crap. Pa for eight months, what was that like?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Yeah, well, it was pretty crazy. I'll give you a little background. So, you know, Pretty much since 2016, I've focused on building these paid door knocking programs. The left has always had paid and volunteer, and the right has always had volunteer. Yeah, why are we not doing what they're doing? You know, the community organizing, but paying people. So I've always been focused on doing state rep races across the country and really having impact by putting these permanent on the ground teams together. But then in, in 2024, that all kind of changed. So I get a call from Charlie Kirk and Tyler Boyer, Turning Point, and they're pretty much like, listen, you know, we're, we're tackling Arizona, Wisconsin. We need somebody that understands how to build these ground games to do the ballot chase in Pennsylvania. So our group, Citizens alliance, we launched the phase about a year ago now, and it was simple. We said, we're going to knock 500,000 doors and we want to get Trump's share of the Mandolin vote to 33% was a wild ride.

[Cliff Maloney]

Wow, that's incredible. I'm more curious how effective you think this actually is. So if you knock 500,000 doors, how many votes do you think that leads to personally?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So the results were this. We ended up knocking 510,000, and our goal was 33%. Trump ended up getting 34.5% of the mail in. So that's up from the average of 20% for Republicans. This is all just since they changed the rules.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Right. So these rules changed during COVID Supposed to be temporary. Absolutely not. It ended up being something that was, that was horrendous. And it's, you know, there's 50 days of mail in voting.

[Cliff Maloney]

So you're not a fan of mail in votes?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

No, I mean, I grew up in PA when I used to vote, it was election day. Yeah, right. But, you know, CNN and MSNBC made fun of me because they said, you know, the guy running Trump's Pennsylvania ballot chase effort says he hates mail in ballot. Well, I do. Right. I. But I'm not going to cede the election be and just lose because I don't like the rules. Right. And so this is all about adapting. I give Charlie a lot of credit, Charlie Kirk, for really pushing the party and pushing kind of the Republican apparatus to finally acknowledge we have to play when it comes to mail in voting. So you asked me a question. How, how much impact you figure we probably talked to based on our numbers, we knocked on 510,000 doors. We probably talked to over about 200,000 people. Right. Because not everybody's home. And I'll give you the honest numbers, and it's tough work. You got people telling me, get the hell off my lawn.

[Cliff Maloney]

Especially a pa.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So the nice thing about chasing ballots is it's different from your typical door knocking. Okay. Typical door knocking in a primary, it's hard. You got to talk to Republicans and say, this Republican's good, this Republican's a rhino scumbag. Yeah, that's a tough conversation. In a general election, typically not chasing. If you're knocking doors, you're talking to moderate Dems or liberal Republicans, these swing voters and trying to get them to support your candidate. Chasing is the easiest by far of the three. You're going to people who want to vote for Trump, they're a Trump supporter, they're going to vote Republican up and down the ballot. They just don't vote consistently. And so we have to take these Trump supporters and get them to become Trump voters. But it's, it's not simple. But I'm telling you, compared to other door knocking, it's very effective because you go to their house and you say, bob, you got a ballot sitting there on your dining room table.

[Cliff Maloney]

Right.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

I need you to commit to sending that in today and voting Republican up and down the ballot. Oh, crap. Yeah, I'll get that in. Great. Bob. We're going to check with the clerk in seven days and if it's not in, we'll come back to remind you again and encourage you hold them accountable. The Democrats call this the power of annoying the voter. It's a reminder. Campaign is the politically correct way to say it, but they understand it's telling the person, hey, listen, the clerk, it's all public. When your vote goes in, we don't know who you voted for, but if your ballot is returned, that's public. And so you're going back. Some people, I hate to admit on your show, we knocked on their door six or seven times. Now they finally voted, which was great. But that's, that's the whole. The problem you're trying to fix with this Chase effort is in 2020, Joe Biden won by 80,000 votes. In Pennsylvania, 141,000 Republicans requested a mail in ballot and never sent it back. Whoa. We saw, though, I'm a former math teacher, right? So I'm like, this is a problem we can solve. You're not trying to add new voters. You're not trying. These are people that went through the process of requesting a ballot and never sending it back, Right? So you look at all these different things. The other things we asked where I can't have Trump coming out in October, and saying, don't vote by mail. It's fraudulent. Like that would have been a major problem. So Charlie was. Was really instrumental getting Trump on board, pushing the Republican apparatus. But I think we won Pennsylvania by 120,000 votes. We had conversations, actual conversations, with over 200,000 of those voters that had a ballot. I'd like to say that we had a significant impact on winning Pennsylvania.

[Cliff Maloney]

Absolutely. I would agree. Were you guys knocking in the 2020 election, too?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

No. No. So we. We literally. We have never done a program like this. Really? There's never been a program like this in Pennsylvania. And the Democrats, look, everybody says, oh, well, the party should be doing it. Why are you doing it? I'm like, well, that's not the case. The Democrats farm this out to these 501c4 nonprofits because the money is unlimited and it's not reportable. Okay. It's anonymous. It's not tax deductible. But what I'm saying is all the political gifts, some of them have caps, how much you can give to a campaign, it's all reported. And this is why people talk about, you know, George Soros, as is the devil. The reality is the left understands how to utilize organizational structure. And we. This is the first cycle we started adapting to that. And so you had super PACs. Yes. But you also had 501 C4s. They kind of run these operations. But this was the first cycle everybody was singing from the same song sheet.

[Cliff Maloney]

I love it. And you got another. You're not stopping here. You guys got another campaign planned for 25, right?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Yeah. So I won't reveal anything too detailed here, because we're still putting the final pieces together, but pretty much, yes, we are going to relaunch the PHAs. I've got to figure out when we launch the PHAs. That 33% number. I was scared shitless, okay? And here's why. Because in politics, just like in a lot of business ventures, people say, talk about action. Don't talk about a measurable result. Right, right. I should have just the political consultant class, most of whom are corrupt. They kept telling me, cliff, just talk about the 500,000 doors you're going to knock. Don't talk about what the result. You know, because then if you win, you can just say, see, we won. I said, I don't think that's genuine. I think. I think you need to share with your folks, your investors, your activists, your volunteers, your grassroots. What is the actual goal that you can measure? And so that's why we did the 33%. Well, now I've got to figure out for 2025 and 2026, what is that measurable goal that I want to be held accountable to? And so it's not something I take lightly. I mean, we've been digging into the numbers. In 2025, you have three Supreme Court retention races, so voters will vote yes to retain or no to not retain. They're all Democrats. One of those judges has. Was writing the dissent to count legal ballots.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So, like, totally, totally corrupt. But to not retain a judge hasn't been done. It's only been done one time in pa's history.

[Cliff Maloney]

Whoa.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So all of a sudden it's like, do you take on, after this huge win, do you take on a battle that you're guaranteed to practically lose? Or, you know, do you say, no, we're going to focus on other things. Down ballot. You have school board races, thousands of school board races in Pennsylvania. We could go in against the woke stuff or the DEI school choice. You have 9,000 judge of election races in 2025 in Pennsylvania.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

9,000 judge of elections that will be elected precinct by precinct. There could be an election integrity play there. So these are all things we're looking at. I'm getting phone calls daily. Can you bring the phas to New Jersey? Can you guys launch the Virginia Chase? Will you guys come to California, Georgia, Wisconsin, you know, like all these great places. And my answer is very simple. When we launched the phase, I had to go out and raise $3 million, and then we had to execute. The money part is difficult. Executing it is very difficult. And my coo, Justin Grice, I gave him a lot of credit. He executes everything. I just have to go out and raise the money. But the problem is when I launch a program I own that it's. It's on my back that it has to happen. So people are saying, well, why don't you just launch the New Jersey Chase and see if there's interest and move all your team in? I said, because each of these that I launch, I gotta raise another three to five million dollars.

[Cliff Maloney]

Wow.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So what I'm saying to a lot of these folks, and this is to anybody out there listening or watching, if somebody has an organization or resources and you want us to bring in our skill set and our toolkit, happy to help. And we'll do it at cost. Right. This is not about making money. This is about winning. But the problem is the consultant class doesn't Want to move 3 to 5 million dollars from their TV ad. Buy where they're getting 15 to 20% commission and putting it into doors. Even though it's more impactful, they're not making their cut.

[Cliff Maloney]

Wow. I didn't know there was commission like that.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Oh, and TV ads, it is the worst kept secret. Typically, 15 to 20% of every dollar spent on political TV ads is going to the consult. Now, some of them have an agreement with the ad buyers, so maybe they each get 10% or seven and a half percent. But that is the, that is the, the gravy train in politics. And it has been. It's. It's slowly coming down because just, you know. Well, I shouldn't say that because with inflation, I mean, people are spending more. But what's happening is people are moving away from your traditional cable news buys or network buys. And so that is, that is why people ask me all the time why, you know, in 2020 or 2022 for some of these statewide races in PA where they spent 50 to 70 million, I. I say, how many ballot chasers you guys have? Not one. And you're like, hold on, I can't. You know, John Fetterman spent $10 million just on chasing ballots.

[Cliff Maloney]

Wow.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Right. People are like, how'd you end up with Fetterman? You know, and this is not a shot at Oz. Dr. Oz is a great man, supporter of the PHAs, great guy. But it's a shot at some of the consultant class, not just in PA, but in a lot of these states where they don't want to make the adjustment because it doesn't line up with them making more money. And, you know, people get mad at me, Cliff, don't call. I'm like, I just don't care. I want to win.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

And let's, let's allocate resources so we can be the most impactful to win.

[Cliff Maloney]

I love that you start wondering how much of the billion Kamala raised went into people's pockets.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So I think. And I got a little trouble because we were talking on Charlie show the day after the election. I think it is probably one of the most corrupt political campaigns when you talk about the total dollar spent, and here's why. How do they spend twice as much money in Pennsylvania on their ground game and get half the result? Twice as much money. And we saw half the people that we saw in 2020. Right. It just doesn't add up. Where were the people, where were these doors that supposedly their ground game was knocking?

[Cliff Maloney]

Did your any of their team?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

I mean, we did in some of the swing counties, but like you know, even in 2020, we weren't chasing ballots. But you have eyes and ears. You talk to candidates, you see what's happening in the field.

[Cliff Maloney]

Right.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

They just were non existent. I mean, in Philadelphia, I had 25 black men who were chasing ballots for PHAs. We. We specifically put them in Philadelphia to target black men because we were seeing tremendous results with black men just not being excited about Kamala and much more excited about a Trump economy. And we get daily reports. And the best thing about when you'd run these huge statewide programs, forget the polling, forget the pundits, all the people on the news talking about, you know, oh, we have an inside source. Screw your inside source. I have data. Every day with all these results from these surveys at the door, every door we go to, we're capturing data. And so I'm looking at these things in real time. That's how we called Pennsylvania 90 minutes before mainstream media. Because once Allegheny county hit, we were looking at Philadelphia County. We already knew based on our survey responses where they were going to be and where our people were going to be. Wow.

[Cliff Maloney]

And it was pretty accurate.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Oh, they had no chance. We said we were going to win by about two points. We end up win by 1.7.

[Cliff Maloney]

Wow.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

I was on Charlie show, and it was funny because Charlie kept saying, no, no, no. I'm like texting. I'm like, charlie, it's over. Let's call it. He's like, no, no, no, we got it. We. This happened in 2020. I don't want to have PTSD. We're waiting.

[Cliff Maloney]

I was scared to go to bed that night, man, because I knew we were in the lead, but I was like, am I going to wake up to what happened last time? You know what I mean?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Yeah. I think we all kind of had that. That thought. But I mean, we. Once again, I've never done a statewide campaign like this where you have all the data. And so it was easy for us to just extrapolate it out and say, okay, there's no way they're going to be above this number in Philadelphia or Bucks or Chester or Delaware County. And if they're not above that number, they have no chance because that's where they have to make up the votes.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yep.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

But I think you talk about a billion dollars. I don't want to accuse anybody specifically, but how do you spend twice as much, have half the amount of people and get half the result?

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Joe Biden beat Donald Trump just in mail. In votes, it was 2 million to 600,000, meaning that Biden went into election day up 1.4 million. Harris is only up about 400,000. That's a million vote difference. Crazy in your. In your gap or your lead going into election Day. And that's why people were like, you know, how are you feeling? And I'm looking at these numbers because they're all public, at least the returns by party. And I'm like, I don't want to be too confident, but they need a record turnout on election day, which their whole system. This was the problem. Biden built everything to be about mail vote. And then Harris's people came in and they tried to do the switcheroo where it was like, well, we're going to do mail, but we also want to turn people out.

[Cliff Maloney]

Right.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

That wasn't the playbook. The playbook in 2020 was run that score as high as you can on mail end. They had the fear of COVID I mean, it was like, no one leave your house. So they were able to run that up. They needed those same numbers. Harris's team completely just mismanaged that and tried to move to this election day model, which you can't do that when your whole apparatus is built for mail.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yep. Yeah, a lot of overspending. I mean, as a podcaster, I saw her spend 100k for that setup with Call Her Daddy, and that. That maybe would cost 20k max. Like, that's just going in people's pockets, you know? Yeah, it's crazy.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Well, and it's funny. I mean, it's all legal. I used to think that's wild, but, you know, to pay for access or pay for endorsements, you know, as a consulting fee. It's all legal. But it's pretty egregious that the. That the campaign thinks it's worth that.

[Cliff Maloney]

No, they were paying some celebrities millions.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

I know.

[Cliff Maloney]

And that doesn't work anymore. People want authenticity.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

You just hit on it. People ask me, what is the number one thing from this cycle that you would take away as the reason? Authenticity. And the reason for that is access to politicians, alternative media, podcasts, people getting their news on Instagram, getting their news on YouTube, getting their news on X right on their phone. Like, my dad literally was a Trump voter because of Tick Tock. Now, I'm not on Tick Tock, but I'll tell you, like, it's funny, but, like, he would watch these videos of Harris, and he's just like, this woman is stupid. Right? And. And, you know, and he's. He's. He's in southeastern pa, you know, Kind of a swing area. But it's like I, I try to tell people the authenticity because people have pretty good bs, you know, meters they know. And if you watch Donald Trump for his three hours on a podcast, whether it's Rogan or Theo Vaughn or whoever, he's a real dude. Right. You might not agree with everything he's saying, but gosh, like, at least you want to have a beer with them or sit down and, and talk where Harris. It was like, can she put a sentence together?

[Cliff Maloney]

I struggled. I watched her podcast because I wanted to actually hear her perspective, but her answers were just so scripted, I couldn't take it.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Yeah. And I think that they made one of the biggest mistakes, which is they picked one of the most scripted, just no talent politicians in the time when authenticity is now the most under the microscope. Right. That's why I think that. I do think that Josh Shapiro is going to be the nominee in 28. If they're smart, he's going to be one of the most. He comes across authentic. He's a complete fraud. But he's the governor of Pennsylvania. We deal with him all the time. He talks like he's a moderate, he presents himself like he's a moderate. And he is one of the most corrupt, far left governors in American history. But he can raise money. And man, when he talks, does he inspire.

[Cliff Maloney]

Well, you got to pick between him, Newsom or aoc.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So I think right now, Shapiro, if I had to bet, I would say Shapiro is the front runner. But once again, parties, you know, parties don't always pick the best person. Right. That's got the most, you know, the ability to win in the general or the ability. But I just think if they go with him, based on my experience in PA, I mean, even in 2026, he's up for reelection in PA to be a tough year for us.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

You know, I'm not even saying that we won't. I'm not saying we won't target him, but like, even down ballot, he just, he turns out a lot of people.

[Cliff Maloney]

Wow.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

And he has convinced a lot of the suburban women that he is this moderate Democrat. So a lot of them that are, you know, what, identify as Republican, they vote for him. He's very talented. Keep your eye on him.

[Cliff Maloney]

God admit that. Will we see mail in ballots in 2028, you think?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

I think the jury's out. I think if I had to make a prediction, I think what everyone should be watching right now is Doge versus Thune and Johnson. Now, this obviously blew up Yesterday. But I've been saying this for three weeks and it's becoming more clear like this is going to be. And Trump, if Trump keeps his, his full endorsement behind Doge, with Elon in the vague and Ron Paul and some of these others advising, and they keep the heat on Thune and Johnson. I'm fascinated to see where that breaks. Yeah. Because there's a lot of ways that could go, okay, I worked for Ron Paul when I was in college. I worked for him on the Hill. I got a little Hill experience. I don't recommend it to my worst enemy. It's the most corrupt people up there, except a handful that we can, we can talk about that are patriots. But, you know, you have all these people that are running around and really only four people write legislation. I mean, it's the majority leader's office and the speaker's office. And yet all these other people are up there, you know, and they have to stay busy. Right. We call them process. You know, part of the process. It's a lot of noise. What is going to happen with Thune and what is going to happen with Johnson? They have an opportunity. And I think you're seeing with Johnson right now, he's, he's getting called out right now. Probably time to go. I mean, look at his voting record. I, I've always been open minded on Mike Johnson, but look at his voting record. The guy has like probably a 70% score on most conservative scale. Like, rhetoric's one thing. Being pro Trump, rhetoric wise is one thing. A lot of people will say that because they're hiding behind the fact that they have a horrendous voting record on all the key battles where it's like the Freedom Caucus representing we the people versus the corrupt unit party. It's like 98% of Republicans are over here.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah, right.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Like, it's really only 5, 10, maybe 15 on a really firm day where they take a stance. But I think Thune and Johnson have an opportunity to be the best speaker and the best majority leader in American history. Why? Because Trump got shot in the face, meaning he has a bone to pick. And you have Elon Musk, the world's richest man, working with Vivek Ram Swami, one of the brightest men in American politics. And they're the shield. Right. It's not just like some random piece of legislation and it's like, oh, it's like you have all this pressure of X, you have all this pressure of Trump, Elon Vivet that you're putting forward and they're gonna have an opportunity to do massive regulatory reform. I mean, I'm talking about. I think Doge is gonna come to and say, hey, cut these five departments completely. We want you to cut these 12,000 regulations. We want to cut spending across the board by 5% in every government entity. Right. I mean, what are they going to do if Thune and Johnson push that through and get their people in line? That would radically change America for the better. It would radically reshape what it. Government efficiency, which is what they're trying to do. But they're going to have to go against the swamp. Right. They're going to have to stand. They're going to have to decide with Doge and we the people and say to their swamp creatures, go pound sand. That's going to take a lot of leverage, a lot of pressure. But that is the battle. I recommend everybody stays. Not just stays in a loop on, but gets involved.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Push your congressman, push your senator on any of these things where you see Elon and Doge pushing it.

[Cliff Maloney]

I mean, right now as we're filming this, they're talking about a potential government shutdown. Right. Because they can't figure it out, shut it down.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

I mean, I hate that. I always have to be. The guys say that, and they call us radicals if you don't realize at this point the DC is broken. Right. If we are really going to let the. I mean, the left's already coming out with it. Jamal Bowman, the congressman, is, you know, we're going to shut down the government and 900,000 families are going to put food on the table. Okay, yeah. We just had a mandate that we need to change this whole system. 900,000 bureaucrats, let's ask them, hey, politely fire them and get them jobs in the real world. I mean, obviously, you know, you need some people, you got to have some system. But I just think that just like their talking point of delay, delay, delay. Oh, look, here's our 1500 page bill. Oh, Christmas. I know you want to go home with your family. So we're going to ram this thing through. Oh, we're only going to give you two days to read it. That's done. That defense is now over. We've got Grok, we've got other AI that's tackling these things. I can't tell people how big of a win that is for any of us that have, like, worked policy on the Hill. That is like their tactic. Their whole playbook just got lit on fire, which is fantastic to now the government shutdown. That'll be the new rhetoric. Right. And how much of that fear can they use? And what is the X pushback or the social pushback to kind of change the narrative? We'll see if we can combat it. Because for years, that government shutdown, that fear, you're going to send these grannies home that work at the post office and they're not going to be able to eat, they're going to die. It's like, are we really using that rhetoric? But for years, it's worked just like the delay thing. For years, nobody could fix it.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So we will see just how much that pressure works.

[Cliff Maloney]

I think now people are fed up. You know, economically, times aren't as good. We're paying a lot in taxes, and we're seeing 99% of government employees work remote.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Right.

[Cliff Maloney]

It's like, what's going on here?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

And I think, I think the Elon Twitter slash X comparison is brilliant. Let that sink in. I mean, when he goes in and cuts 90, but 90% of the staff. If I'm a bureaucrat in DC, I'm scared to death right now. Yeah.

[Cliff Maloney]

I'm worried about my job.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Yeah. I mean, and look, that's, that's. I get the incentive. You know, you want to get in, you want to get a promotion. You've got these cushy pensions. You want to stay for 20, 25 years. The American people are sick of it. We're broke. And I think this mandate is. Now, look, it's going to be uncomfortable. We're going to have a lot going. And by the way, I don't think we have four years. I'm a big believer in the first hundred days. You know, if you really want to come fresh off the election with a mandate from the American people, you got a hundred days. January 20th, 100 days from then, you got to get everything moving because it's government. It's going to take two years for these things to actually finalize. It's going to take years for people to actually feel the implications, which in my opinion will be a better quality of life, a more efficient government, you know, a better. Your inflation is not crushing you. Right. A better market in General. We have 100 days, and so I'm very excited. You know, we're. We're obviously focused on revamping in pa, but I'm also helping a lot of the transition stuff, pushing the right people, getting resumes in, getting plans in place. But we have to act quickly. If you try to drag this out, say, oh, well, year three, we're going to do this now, you got to get everything moving first couple months, and then you can figure out what you really put the pressure on to get done asap and what can drag out. But, I mean, some of these departments, we got to get them out of D.C. immediately. We got to shut some of them down. It's got to happen all at once and quickly. It's going to be tough. You got to be prepared for that.

[Cliff Maloney]

It'll be tough. But I think that's where the most growth is. Right. The toughest times.

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Exactly.

[Cliff Maloney]

There's been talks. I've seen Elon tweet this out of a universal tax, like, flat tax rate. Are you in support of that?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

So I'd like to abolish all taxes. I'll start with that. All taxes. I'm a fan of abolishing. I do believe in a flat tax in comparison to our current system. Right. So if there was a flat tax, you know, obviously people argue on what the percentage is or what the dollar amount is if they do a raw dollar amount. But I think that, you know, our system right now. I mean, anybody that sees those memes about the irs, you have to laugh. It's like, yeah, the Venmo ones. Yeah. How much? Yeah, exactly. But my favorite one is like, how much do I owe you? I don't know. Well, how much should I send you? You figure it out. Okay. I'm going to send you this. You're going to jail. It is so wild how that system works. And like some people, you know, just. Just send it. You send in your tax return, and, you know, you're kind of hoping. And then if you get audited, it's a nightmare. It's expensive. I believe in kind of a postcard. You send in one postcard, everybody pays the same amount of the same percentage. And I think you get rid of tens of thousands of bureaucrats at the irs, if not maybe hundreds of thousands. But the IRS destroys lives, it destroys businesses. It destroys, you know, the ability for people to have work. So I think we have got to fix that system, and I'm excited to see what Elon does.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yeah, it's way too stressful right now. Even though I have accountants and bookkeepers, I'm still like, oh, like, you know, thinking about it, you know, it sucks. Well, Cliff, it's been fun, man. Where could people find you and support you and donate and stuff?

[Unnamed Political Consultant]

Sure. On X. Just Maloney. M, A, L, O, N E, Y. Like to keep it simple. And then pachase.com if folks want to get involved, they want to apply to be a door knock. We're going to have a lot of jobs in the new year, folks. Want to sponsor one of our ballot chasers for some of our key races. Just pace.com Appreciate your show, man. Telling the truth.

[Cliff Maloney]

Yep. Thanks for coming on. See you guys.