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Going Big! with Kevin Gentry
What Happened in Pennsylvania? Charles Mitchell on Defending Common-Sense American Values
00:40:30
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- [00:00]
A
Hi there. I'm Kevin Gentry, and welcome to the Going Big podcast, where we'll explore some of the strategies that can help you transform your effectiveness by 10xing your fundraising. Each week, we'll sit down with some of the most influential business leaders, CEOs and nonprofit visionaries to talk about leadership, the power of giving, and how you can make a real impact. If you want to make a transformational change to the cause you're working on, this is the place for that conversation. Also, take a Look at our website, 10xStrategies.com that's T E N X strategies.com for lots of free marketing and fundraising resources. And be sure to sign up for the free weekly fundraising tips. Now, let's dive in. All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is a special interview today. All eyes have been on Pennsylvania this year, and I've got a great person to talk to us about its importance and the consequences of what has been happening and happened this year in Pennsylvania. It's Charles Mitchell. Charles is a, is a terrific guy and a visionary leader if there ever was one. A longtime former president of the Commonwealth foundation in Pennsylvania, now a senior fellow there. Charles, it's really great to be with you again. I just want to start off what happened in Pennsylvania in 2024.
- [01:30]
B
Well, thanks, Kevin. It's great to be with you. What happened in Pennsylvania in 2024 is something that I long thought would happen, which is that Pennsylvania became the center of the universe, not just in terms of politics, but in terms of the future of our country, in terms of what kind of values are going to be ascendant and what kind of values are going to be on the decline. I suspect that there was an election that you may want to tolerate talk about, and I, I may be willing to talk about that. But I'll just tell you briefly that I, I personally, I left Washington, D.C. where I got to know you and, and where I'm happy to say I benefited from your mentorship to come back to my home state of Pennsylvania because I believed that one day it would be the center of the universe in terms of what a lot of people were talking about. So I find it satisfying that my Virginian friend wants to talk about my commonwealth, that of Pennsylvania. And I would just, you know, briefly say that in addition to the, the big election that everybody wants to talk about the presidential race, and I'm happy to talk about it. It's very important. There were many other results on that Tuesday in November across my state, Pennsylvania, that I believe are very, very, very Important not just for who's in the White House, but for the kinds of ideas that you and I have have spent our lives promoting.
- [02:49]
A
Excellent. Well, that is actually what I wanted to dig into. And it's not just the top line presidential contest by any means. And as we know, elections are like a speed bump along the hideaway. It's an easier focal point for us to understand and people come to a point to make decisions, but those are voters decisions. Then it becomes in the hands of policymakers as to what they're going to do, what once they're in office. And ultimately, as you know, for somebody who's deeply motivated by your principles, that it's what are the consequences of the policymakers actions in terms of real people's lives and what are people able to do in terms of living the American dream, living a life of opportunity. So let me just keep it in the context of 2024 and then let's go a lot deeper. You said it. But elaborate a bit more. Why is, why was Pennsylvania ground zero and why was it and why is it so consequential in terms of it being the Keystone State?
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B
Well, Pennsylvania is a microcosm of America. I'm sure you've heard the slur from James Carville back in the day. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Alabama in the middle. I love Alabama. I don't call it a slur because they brought Alabama into it because it's but because it's a complete oversimplification. I think a true way to say it is Pennsylvania is a microcosm of America. We have small towns, we have rural areas, we have big cities, we have little cities. We have incredible diversity. You know, the left has cheapened that word. And I think it actually is a beautiful thing, diversity. It's part of God's creation. And there's great diversity in Pennsylvania. And that's why we're such an interesting little laboratory, because we have pretty much a smaller version of everything that happens in this country. And obviously it was a decisive election. I think a lot more decisive than anybody thought, not anybody than most people thought. And it was not just decisive at the presidential level. There were three other statewide elections that were all won by Republicans. There were two flips in our congressional delegation, which I think was arguably for a lot of people, an even bigger surprise than the top line statewide results. You saw something decisive, something significant at every level. And Kevin, you alluded to this earlier. Yes, that's a snapshot in time. It's a very important snapshot in time. But there are many undercurrents that have been going on for years in Pennsylvania that led to that. And some of those are economic, some of those are cultural. But briefly, politically, yeah, I can still remember when the Democratic advantage in Pennsylvania was over a million votes. Now it is down to, I think it last counts somewhere in the 300,000, basically a coin flip. And that's an important data point. But as you know, knowing me, I frankly, I can really give a rip how many people are registered Republican in Pennsylvania. That's not my identity. That's not what I, what I care about. It's, to a degree, I care. It's a means to an end. In the end is the ideas that undergird a free society and human flourishing and whether those are being embraced or whether those are being rejected. And I would argue those ideas have been on the ascent in Pennsylvania for years. And a big part of the reason for that, there are many reasons, but a big part of the reason for that is Pennsylvania has a freedom movement today that is vibrant and, and flourishing. And decades ago it did not. All these things are important. Yes, of course, the election results are more important. We can dig more deeply into those if, if you would like. But I would argue those are a, those are a lagging indicator of what's going on in culture.
- [06:41]
A
Well, we don't want to spend time on the lagging indicators. Let's. And, and, and how all this happened is really, I think the thrust of this. It's certainly in line with the theme of the Going Big Podcast. But even before that, and you mentioned it, for those of us who believe in the free society, committed to the principles of a free society society of human flourishing, where people can live lives of, of meaning and purpose. Why is what happened and is happening in Pennsylvania that important?
- [07:14]
B
Because if our values can be ascendant in a tough state, that happens to me microcosm of the country, well, then they can be ascended in the country and they can be ascendant everywhere. And, and that's why I'm here. I want, I wanted that. I wanted that for my home state and, and I want that for my country. And if there's one thing, you know, you didn't ask, but I was going to say, you know, if there's one thing that I hope everyone who takes away from this broadcast who doesn't live in the best state of America, I do. But you may not. I hope you take away that you should be advocating fighting, building in pursuit of our values, wherever you are. Because if we can do it here, if Our values can be ascended with a place that has as many headwinds as Pennsylvania does. They can be ascendant anywhere, and they should be.
- [08:10]
A
Well, that is precisely why I wanted you on today, Charles. And I'm so grateful that you're doing this. The intention is to inspire others who believe in these principles too. Give them hope that something similar can be done. It can be improved upon in Idaho and Alabama, and it can even be done in tough slogs like perhaps New York state, maybe even ultimately California. But let's go back to this. How in your judgment did it happen? And in some way link this to your own personal journey about your decision to go back to the great state of Pennsylvania, to the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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B
Yeah, well, we live in competing commonwealth, brother. I'll come back to the, you know, the personal decision. But I, I mean, I think very simply what's been happening in Pennsylvania is people are seeing that the ideas of the left don't work. It's just that simple. And I believe that, I believe that for many years. That's why I have dedicated my life to something better. What does that look like? Well, what that looks like is in our inner cities, the left's lockdowns, kicking people out of school during COVID but not just then. Letting those schools really burn for decades under single party rule, under the enrichment of Randy Weingarten and her ilk and the teachers unions, well, you know, it took some time, but people, I believe in significant numbers all across Pennsylvania have seen that that doesn't work and that there is an alternative. That alternative is school choice, of course. So there's, there's one example right in urban areas, but in the parts of Pennsylvania that James Carville foundation famously referred to as Alabama, I think people have, have seen the same, whether you want to say the so called stimulus that not just one, but many left of center Democratic presidents have, have tried. What's been the result? Economic ruin, inflation, you can't afford groceries. Pick your issue. But I think really what we saw across Pennsylvania as a culmination in this election, but building for many years is a state where it used to be that those ideas had a lot more credence because those people thought, oh, we'll give, we'll give these ideas a chance. They gave them a chance. Some cases they gave them a chance for decades. In some cases they gave them a chance for four years. But you add it all up, whether it was in urban communities, whether it was in the black community, the brown community, whether you want to look at suburbs. I mean, across the board, we saw a rejection of ruinous ideas. And that's ultimately, as you know, what I care about. It has, you know, implications on a certain day for certain people that are on the ballot, but it has more enduring implications for, for our ideas. And, you know, to answer your. Your more personal question, I grew up in Pennsylvania. I grew up in the Philadelphia area. That's why I have such perfect diction. It's also where I got my rebellious attitude and had the. Had the great fortune after my wife and I got married to be whisked down to Washington, D.C. and to be mentored by some wonderful people. I used to, you know, sit at. At your knee when you had those fundraising meetings. I think it was on G Street. I, and I worked for a wonderful person by the name of Ann Neal, who taught me many, many, many things, not just about fundraising, but how to build civil society institutions. And I could name many others. But it was, it was a wonderful experience for my wife and me to be there. But by the same token, we were a living example of what's wrong in Pennsylvania. Why? Because we're too. I mean, I'm not going to say I'm that smart. My wife is brilliant, and I'm like, okay, were Pennsylvania kids. Tax dollars put us through, put me through public school. My wife went to a different kind of school, but we were lifelong Pennsylvanians. We went to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, and just about as soon as we graduated, we were out. And many young people did the same during our generation and previous generations and generations since, in search of opportunity. And that's a crying shame that it shouldn't be that way. Fortunately, in 2010, I was offered the opportunity to come back to join Commonwealth foundation, which you mentioned earlier, Kevin, which at that time was a. I would say a rising star, so to speak, state think tank, advancing the principles of a free society. And we can get more into that. But the long and the short of it is I wanted to be part of building the institutions that I believed at that time, and I believe it even more strongly now need to be built not just in Washington, D.C. as important as that is, but in every state. And I would even say not just state, you know, localities. Right. I mean, you talked about California earlier and dreaming about how our values could be ascended in California. I agree. I got some good friends that are working on that. But I'd even say, what about our big cities? That's, you know, that's one of the projects that I've become involved in more More recently is supporting clergy in our cities who are advocating for educational opportunity, particularly in the black and brown community. You want to talk about a tough project. That's a tough project, but it's a project that, number one, needs to happen, and number two, is happening and has a lot of momentum behind it. So that's why my wife and I made that decision, Kevin, to basically take what we had learned from you, from my boss, from the church that we were a part of, all that we were poured into for about five years. And we decided to make our best effort at taking what had been poured into us and pouring it into our home state. And it's been a wonderful journey.
- [14:13]
A
Well. Well, thank you for doing that. And you're overly generous in some of those comments. But, Charles, I actually first knew of you before you came to Washington because the New York Times Magazine famously had a picture about some crazy radicals at Bucknell who are willing to sort of stand up to the. The. I'd say, authoritarian orthodoxy. I don't know what we want to say it was. And. And that's. That was really how you were first got to my attention. If you would just tell a little bit about that and then jump ahead to more of what you've done in Pennsylvania the past 15 or so years.
- [14:53]
B
Sure, yeah. I mean, I. I discovered the freedom movement, depending how you want to look at it, accidentally or providentially. I was a campus editor at Bucknell University, where I went to school, and I thought it kind of went without saying that somebody who was a proprietor of a newspaper would be in favor of the values of the First Amendment. So started publishing some articles and issues about, back before we knew this term, the whole issue of cancel culture, advocating for free speech. And that's. To just make a long story short and maybe be a little charitable, let's just say that there were some powerful people back then who are no longer at my alma mater who did not entirely appreciate what I did and that I had a need for some assistance and not legal representation, but, you know, some friends as that debate unfolded. And I found those friends in the freedom movement, which I had no idea existed. You know, people in my family or, you know, my. My. My one grandfather was a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad. My other was a used car salesman. Those are the kinds of things that people do in my family. We don't. We didn't join the freedom movement, but I did accidentally because of that. And I, needless to say, did not take the attempt to cancel me lying down. And that's How I ended up in that little, that little rag that you read. KEVIN There were some better newspapers that ran stories too, but the New York Times certainly was, was an interesting one. That's how I got into this. And for a significant period of my life, I was involved in helping other students and professors who were subjected to. Back then, it was the very early stages of what we now know as cancel culture. But as we talked about earlier, in 2010, my wife and I moved back to Pennsylvania because we really felt that where the action was at that time in terms of public policy and in terms of advancing the values that we care about was going to be in state capitals more so than it was going to be in Washington. That was an era of great gridlock. I'm sure you remember. It was after President Obama had been elected, but then had been rebuked, so to speak, in the midterms. And there were some ascendant governors back at that time who were really not just stopping bad ideas, but advancing good ideas. And we thought that's what we want to be part of. We also thought that we were changing our family circumstances. My wife was pregnant with what was the first of now, four daughters, and we thought central Pennsylvania would be a great place to raise a family. So we moved back to Pennsylvania. I joined the Commonwealth foundation, and we set out basically to build a freedom movement for the nation's most important swing state, although that, at that time, not a lot of people thought it was the nation's most important swing state. So I devoted myself to that task for about a decade and a half. Built out Commonwealth foundation into something that I think most people in the, the business would now regard as, you know, a, a very significant intellectual enterprise, not just in the state think tank community, but in the, the conservative movement more generally. And it was my honor to, to be part of that also build out, help build out a number of institutions alongside of it. And most significantly, when we bring up the issue of election results, some of the leaders of the Commonwealth foundation about eight years ago departed the foundation and started a different organization with a complementary but different purpose. That being the foundation advocates for the ideals that you and I have talked about throughout this podcast. Kevin There wasn't anybody making sure that people who espoused those ideas were actually winning elections or that they were running in the first place. So some people left and started an organization whose goal was to do just that. It's called Commonwealth Partners. And at that time, it was an idea, sounded like a good idea. It built on some lessons from some People, you know, Kevin, including borrowing a name, the idea worked. That is now the home of the largest political action committees in Pennsylvania, larger than what used to be the largest ones, which would be the teachers unions. That is the kind of thing. That's what I mean when I say we have to build a freedom movement. We have to build out civil society. Yes, of course we have to advocate for these ideas that we all believe in. But we also have to ask the question of what does it take for our ideas to win? What does it take for them to become law? And one of the things it takes is courageous people who leave perfectly good jobs and devote themselves to turning those ideas into law. So briefly, that's what I've been working to build for the last decade and a half. That work doesn't end because of some election results that were good, by the way. There were some bad ones, too. So I'm not Pollyannish about it. But that work doesn't end. That work continues. And now the work that those elections are intended to create actually begins the policy development. What are those people who are now in office going to do? And as you all know, that's the kind of thing that excites me very much.
- [20:36]
A
Well, that's my next question. It was going to be. My next question is, okay, what is to be done now? What are you suggest as the next step? But before that, what do you mean by the freedom movement? What is a freedom. The freedom movement? And how would people who've never really heard that term associate their own principles and values with it?
- [21:00]
B
Yeah, love the question. So what I mean when I say a freedom movement is when we talk about the ideas of a free society, when we talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about limited government, we talk. When we talk about respect for our civilizational institutions, family, church, all that. You know, if somebody's watching this, those are probably the things you believe in. Great, I'm glad you believe in them. They don't exist without support. And in fact, without an organized effort to further them and protect them, they die. And if you don't believe me, look at Europe. And I'm not going to say any more about that, because frankly, I think the case proves itself. Okay, so at the national level, there are many institutions that exist to lay the intellectual groundwork for all those ideas, to advocate for them in the halls of Congress, in the White House and so forth. And then there's what I would call ancillary efforts. For example, let's say there's a great effort to lay out free market Principles for a tax reform bill. You might remember one from a guy who was president a little while ago when we had a better economy. Well, fine. You got to have those principles, then you got to have the legislation. Then it actually has to become law. There's a whole process. But let's say it becomes law. Well, what immediately happens? There's a lawsuit, somebody sues to try and stop it, to enjoy it, to overturn. I mean, that's whether you like it or not. Those are the things that happen in terms of setting the laws in our country. There's a vibrant network of those kinds of organizations at the national level. My experience is that very often at the state level, they're not surviving that. Most people, when they think about matters of state, when they think about what's life going to be like for my grandkids or whatever, they think about who the president is matters. Who the president is matters very much. They think maybe about who their senator is. Right. The number one thing I'm glad you didn't ask me yet, Kevin, although I'm sure it's coming. You know, the number one thing people ask me about when they find out I'm from Pennsylvania is whatever they read about who wants to be my next United States Senator.
- [23:21]
A
Right.
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B
And they've been asking me about two particular people for the last two years. And before. Before that, it was two different people. Right. Those things matter. But most of the decisions that are made every day that affect your life, that affect what life's going to be like for your kids and your grandkids are made in your state capital. And I'm not saying that because it's, you know, where I work. I don't actually work there anymore. As you said earlier, I don't have a conflict of interest. I chose to devote myself to that because I believe. To the work that I have, because I believe that. Because I believe, especially in the area of education, which is foundational to so many things in our civilization, most of those decisions are not made in Washington. Thank God. I'm glad they're not. And if there's one decision I'd like to make in Washington with the new leadership we got down there, it would be to padlock the Department of Education. And I've already volunteered to bring them the padlock if they want it. If, you know, secretary designate McMahon, you know, ever give me a call, I got a great lock. But these are state and local decisions. And what I set my hand to, Kevin, in Pennsylvania, was making sure that whether you look at policy development Whether you look at defending good policy after it's enacted, whether you look at people being trained to enter the political process, whether you look at entrepreneurs who, being educated about what's actually going on and how they can raise their voice, I could go on. But all those things are functions of a properly functioning freedom movement. I believe every state should have those institutions. I certainly believe the ground zero state that everybody's asking about these days needed to have those things. That's why I built those things. And we have to have those things. You know, is one of my favorite phrases from scripture that I think adheres to so much in life, is in season and out of season. You know, there's certain good things that have to be done in season and out of season. I need to be a good husband and a good father in season and out of season. And. But in the context of what you asked about, the work of the freedom movement needs to be done in season and out of season. Yes, in Washington, but also in our, in our actual communities. And if I, you know, I've told you before, if there was one thing I hope people took away, it was, you know, it was what I said earlier in terms of there's, there's hope for every community. But if I could pick a second one, it would be that, especially if you identify as a conservative, which, you know, if you're hanging out with Kevin Gentry and Charles Mitchell, a pretty good chance, if you are one of those people who only puts your emphasis and therefore your Hope in Washington, D.C. that's not very conservative. Actually, we're supposed to be localists. We should be devoting some, not all. I'm not telling you to disengage from my friends in Washington. I'm talking to one of my friends in Washington right now, and I like them. But it is something of a besetting sin of conservatives, if I may be rude enough to say that we forget about our own backyards, we should remember. And that's what I've endeavored to live out. Kevin, in answer to your question, well, good for you.
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A
And by the way, I think that was one of the insights of the Reagan administration in 1980, when so many of these people from all across the country in the states came to Washington to help with the Reagan revolution, and they left behind an opening, a gap, and it was filled. And as we know, you know, when you have a victory, you can't just plant a flag and say, okay, we're done. Move on, let's go do something else. You've got to Defend that all the time. So that leads me to a next question, and let's just keep it at Pennsylvania. But you could talk about it broadly. What do you see now as both the opportunities and the risks or the dangers?
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B
I'll start with risks. I have that sort of Philadelphia blunt mindset. Still. The biggest risk is, you know, people who watched the election results that you referred to earlier, Kevin, thinking that they're done thinking that, okay, you know, I liked what I saw. If you liked what you saw, you know, I can go back to my business, I can go back to my family and just move on. You got it exactly wrong. Most important day in a campaign is not the Tuesday in November. It's the Wednesday and the Thursday and the Friday, the day after the election when the actual decision making starts. And I do fear that, just being honest, like, I fear that people who thought that their values prevailed on election day are going to go to sleep now. So my, my hope is that we can do our small part here, Kevin, to say no. Wake up. What's the opportunity? Well, especially here at the state level, look, was a decisive election. Sure. Is this still a swing state? Yeah, decisive. You know, look at Washington, right. Decisive means there's 53 senators in one party and 47 or the other. Okay. And it takes 60 to get most things done. That's our version of decisive in a polarized America that we live in today. And even after the election results in Pennsylvania, we've got a split legislature. We have a one vote Democratic majority in our House. We have a 28, 22, which isn't that big in our Senate, in favor of the other party, in favor of the Republicans. So, I mean, do the math. That means if you're the ruling party, you can lose three votes, or if you lose three votes, you're done on any piece of legislation. So that's what we're dealing. We have a Democratic governor, and we have a Democratic governor who is, let's just say, ravenously interested in being the Democratic nominee for president in 2028. Anybody who knows him will tell you he's wanted to be president since he was this high. And now there's an open seat. And that's what a lot of people are talking about here. Now, what I'm talking about here is those three branches of government that I just briefly summarized. What are they going to do? Good news, bad news. Good news. Our governor ran for office on the ideas that you and I stand for, the ideas that we've been talking about. And I would like for There to be more Democrats who run for office saying we should deregulate, saying that we should not destroy our energy industry, which is incredibly important in this state, that we should have more school choice, that we should particularly give scholarships to students in our most failing and violent schools in urban areas and give them a way to get out, not make them just sit there for another 30 years while we pretend to solve the problem. That's the good news, is we have such a Democrat in, in Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania. Bad news is his actions thus far have not lived up to his words. My hope is that over this next couple years, they will. My hope is that again, if you accept my analysis, the election. My analysis of the election is our ideas are ascended, our ideas were vindicated. The American people made it clear what kind of ideas they would like to see become law. And I do believe there's a wonderful opportunity for more of those ideas to become law here in my home state over the next couple of years. That will require the cooperation of two political parties, not one. I actually think that's a good thing, and I hope that that is what comes out of the next couple of years of my state's future. You know, again, I know a lot of people look at those election results through a partisan lens. It's fine. I get it. Those are the practicalities of life. And we have seen, you know, just being realistic and frank, we've seen a great drift. Not drift, drive to the left of the Democratic Party just during the time that, you know, that you and I have been working in the same vineyard. Kevin, there's, you know, I don't need to say any more about that. You get it. Meanwhile, I think we've seen generally, on some issues at least, a firming up of the other party. I hope that one of the things that comes out of these recent election results in Washington and in Pennsylvania is that, first of all, that stops. That the Democratic Party stops going left, left, left, left, left, left, left, and that some more reasonable characters take over and say, clearly that didn't work. So let's. Let's go back to the middle. I believe it would be better for our country if we had two same parties. I think in that last election. I'm afraid that in a lot of parts of America, we didn't. It doesn't make me a partisan for either party. I hope that just makes me an American that I would like for there to be two parties who can actually unite around the foundational values of our civilization, even if they have some differences on the details.
- [32:19]
A
You're here. Well, thank you. Well, Charles, to close us out, I've got a two step question. And that means I'm going to ask you the first. The second kind of hinges on the first, but I'm not going to tell you what the second question is until you answer the first and the first one. In a way, you've answered this throughout this podcast, but I'm going to still put you on the spot. Do you think you're making a difference?
- [32:44]
B
Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and I couldn't get out of bed in the morning if I didn't. And you know, look, and I get why we're talking about election results. They matter. But I don't believe that simply because of a certain set of election results. And there are many reasons. I believe that. First is I just, I believe in, I believe every, every person has a calling. I believe this work is mine and I believe the consequences are ultimately not, not within my control. And the guy who's controlled or in is really good and really smart. He knows what he's doing. So that, I mean, ultimately that's where it comes from for me, Kevin. But you know, more pragmatically, I have seen, I have witnessed, I have tasted. And this is why I accepted your invitation that when people like me, people like you, you know, the term I'd use for us, I don't know if you'd accept it or not, is civil society. Practitioners, right? It's our job to see problems that exist in our country and to imagine solutions that don't solely hinge upon government. You know, the old fashioned way we used to do these things in America is this thing called civil society, which has utterly atrophied over the last hundred, 150 years due to the growth of government and taxation and regulation and blah.
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A
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
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B
But you know, as I think about it, that's what we do. And you know, my testimony after, I haven't been doing as long as you have, Kevin. But my testimony is that if we do our job, if we imagine what those solutions are and we do the hard work of selling, and people don't like to say that word out loud, but it is what it is. You gotta have, you gotta have the solution, it's gotta be bold, it's gotta be real, and then you gotta sell the crap out of it. And that's hard work. Okay, But I testify that if you do that, people will rally to the cause and people have done that on behalf of all the things that we've talked about. Thus far in this podcast, you know, to the tunes of multiple, multiple multiples of growth. There was no freedom movement in Pennsylvania of any real significance a couple of decades ago. There were a few organizations, but not, not a movement the way that there is today. I've seen people rally to that cause. I believe that that is what our fellow Americans are hungry for. And I've seen that movement move the needle on the ideas that are so precious to me. And that's why those are the two reasons why I would unreservedly say yes. And I hope that more of our fellow conservatives rise to the occasion of thinking big, dreaming big, and working big to solve the very big problems that our nation faces. And that don't go away just because one election may have transpired, at least in part in a way that you like.
- [35:54]
A
Well, you anticipated my next and final question, by the way you were guiding that answer, and by the way, I'm glad you answered the way you did, because I certainly think you've made a big difference. And that is the reason I'm going to have the closeout question. Charles Mitchell, what advice would you give to others to inspire them to take the kind of action that you have? You know, it's nice when you win, but there are a lot of steep hills along the way, a lot of tough spots. And if somebody is inspired and motivated by these principles, what would you share to motivate others to take the kind of action that you've taken?
- [36:41]
B
Yeah, well, I. I think. I think I've made the case for action pretty hard. I didn't know your question. I'm glad to have guessed it slightly. So, you know, in addition to what I've said, Kevin, I'd say this. I think we have to act. I think we have to include acting locally in our communities for all the reasons we talked about earlier. And I think part of why I feel fulfillment through the work that I've had the privilege of being part of is I didn't do it on my own. And instead, what God has blessed me with the opportunity to be part of a group of people aligned in values, aligned in strategy that has become the freedom movement in Pennsylvania. I think we all, you know, we wouldn't be having this conversation, you wouldn't be watching this conversation if you didn't see the problems. So I don't feel like I need to repeat what they are. But, you know, and Kevin, you know, cars on the table. I'm a Presbyterian. Right. So there's always three points for a Presbyterian. Right. So if you have that angst about what's going on in our country. You kind of got three options. One is fetal position. I'm not a big fan of the fetal position, so I'm just going to leave that one off the table. Two is go it alone. And if you go it alone, you, you know, create your own thing and you write big checks to it or, you know, whatever, you might change the world a little bit, but you're not going to change it very much. And I think the third way, I think third way is the right way is to collaborate, cooperate, co labor. I love, you know, I love Father Newhouse's old statement, or his term, co belligerence. I'm sure you remember that one, Kevin. You know, I think. I think the reality is that we live in a tough time. Belligerence is required. Co belligerence is the best way to do it. It's much more fulfilling, and you have a much better chance of actually changing the world if you can find some people you really love and respect to do it with. That's been one of my great joys, and I see that as one of the best ways that I can sometimes help other people is helping them find their co belligerence with whom they can change the world.
- [39:07]
A
Well, Charles Mitchell, thank you. Thank you for all that you've done for the people of Pennsylvania, the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We now know we have a great friend in Pennsylvania. Thank you. And for the consequential nature of this, for all that you've done for our country and also for our shared principles. Thank you so much. Look forward to having you back again when you can tell us about another chapter in your life. Charles Mitchell, it's great to have you.
- [39:34]
B
My pleasure, Kevin. Thank you.
- [39:37]
A
Thanks for listening to today's Going Big podcast. Hopefully you were inspired to go big for your cause. Remember, this is all about Transforming your effectiveness by 10x ing your fundraising. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe or leave us a review at iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also catch this episode on YouTube. And also there are lots of resources available to you at my website, which is 10xStrategies.com that's T E N X strategies dot com. You can sign up also for our free weekly fundraising tips. This is all about helping you get to the root causes of some of the biggest problems in society today by transforming your fundraising and your effectiveness. Thanks again. We'll see you again soon.
- [40:30]
B
Bye.