Democrat Civil War Explodes in Michigan: DSA v DNC

Summary

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Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Democrat Civil War Explodes in Michigan: DSA v DNC
Date: August 4, 2026
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook
Guest: Kaitlin Bledsoe (AFP Spokesperson)

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Episode Overview

The Ruthless crew dives into an explosive chapter of Democratic infighting during the Michigan Senate primary, spotlighting the escalating battle between Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) insurgents and the Democratic Party establishment. With the Michigan primary as the focal point, the hosts analyze the national implications of hard-left insurgency, the failures of party leadership, the media’s role, and the realignment of party coalitions. Featuring an interview with Kaitlin Bledsoe, the episode explores real voter reactions and the growing influence of DSA-backed candidates, positing Michigan as a possible “canary in the coal mine” for Democrats nationwide.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Michigan Senate Primary as a Microcosm

• DSA Influence Expands:
  The hosts argue that what began with DSA victories in places like New York (notably the Mamdani phenomenon) has now spread to the heartland.
  • Michael Duncan [00:53]: “The hard left, the DSA has taken over. We’ve seen it, and they see this cycle as do or die.”
• Establishment vs. Insurgents:
  Michigan's establishment candidate (Haley Stevens) faces off against the DSA-aligned Abdul El Sayed. Stevens’ campaign is viewed as overly scripted and out of touch, while El Sayed faces accusations of extremism.
  • Josh Holmes [12:06]: “Everybody in Michigan is like, not, not really lady. Like that, the craziest aunt we’ve ever had at Thanksgiving.”
• Media Spin:
  The mainstream media and Democratic establishment are accused of rebranding far-left candidacies as “normie” uprisings to more palatable for general audiences.
  • John Ashbrook [19:47]: “The mainstream press is already pre-selling this guy’s victory as normie Michigan voters.”

Implications for Democratic Party & Electoral Strategies

• Leaderless Democratic Party:
  The hosts emphasize a power vacuum from national leadership (Schumer, Cuomo), enabling the far left to set the agenda.
  • Michael Duncan [07:50]: “It seems like all party leadership is asleep at the wheel—now’s the time coast to coast, let’s go for it… There’s no one there willing to be like, this is a fire. This will consume the party.”
• Primary Dynamics & General Election Risks:
  DSA-aligned candidates can overperform in low-turnout primaries, leaving the Democrats with general election nominees whose positions may be toxic statewide.
  • Comfortably Smug [17:55]: “What always happens when you have an insurgent movement within a political party overperform is the overperformance because it's a lower turnout situation.”
• Coalition Fracture:
  Stevens is winning African American votes in Detroit, but El Sayed dominates among DSA progressives, fracturing the Democratic coalition.
  • Josh Holmes [21:04]: “This chardonnay soaked piece of wonder bread… is absolutely crushing El Sayed in African American votes in urban Detroit.”

The Contrast Between Candidates

• El Sayed’s Vulnerabilities:
  Labeled "Hamas caucus" by the panel, El Sayed is painted as extreme—refusing to clearly denounce anti-Semitism, holding foreign property, and being out of touch with mainstream Michigan voters.
  • Josh Holmes [16:24]: “…maybe it’s because nobody you’ve ever fucking met in your life has ever owned property in the UAE.”
• Haley Stevens’ Stumbles:
  The panel mocks Stevens’ style and inauthentic appeal with repeated references to her SNL-like campaign rhetoric.
  • Michael Duncan [12:28]: “Can I say what that really felt like...it’s like Hillary-esque...So Pokemon go to the polls?”
• Republican Mike Rogers:
  Rogers, considered a strong, middle-of-the-road Republican, is seen as likely to benefit in the general, provided his campaign effectively defines El Sayed for the electorate.
  • Michael Duncan [39:01]: “You can have Mike Rogers and he says point blank, that is his mission. He's going to do everything as a senator to accomplish that.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On DSA Strategy:
  • Michael Duncan [37:10]: “They see this cycle as do or die for the DSA, for the Mamdani people...They need to take over as much as possible.”
• On Media & Messaging:
  • Comfortably Smug [19:19]: “If Haley Stevens goes down, trashing her in particular, being like terrible candidate...All of those same people will flip on a dime and the media will be right there to write the story.”
• On El Sayed & Identity Politics:
  • Michael Duncan [15:15]: “This is just for him to be like, actually it's racist to ask me about properties UAE overseas. I'm also running for Senate in America. What?”
• On the Left’s Litmus Test:
  • Josh Holmes [29:10]: “It's never, ever, ever, ever gonna be a litmus test about the policies 3,000 miles away from you versus the policies three blocks from you.”
• On Party Fracture:
  • Comfortably Smug [21:49]: “She's not getting invited to cookout, no way.”
• On Republican Staff Development (in response to Politico critique):
  • Josh Holmes [57:08]: “The next time that I ask a 22 year old out of college what their political ideology is, will be the first time. That's not the fucking job here.”

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Interview with Kaitlin Bledsoe (AFP)

(Starts ~66:54)

DSA Momentum & National Spread

• DSA No Longer Fringe:
  Bledsoe emphasizes the growth of DSA: “Dozens of primary DSA candidates have won just this year. That’s really impressive for them.” [67:47]
• Potential House Influence:
  “DSA is also claiming that they in November are going to go from two to six members potentially, which is absolutely terrifying.” [67:56]
• Effect on Party Direction:
  The modern Democratic Party, even beyond overt DSA-aligned candidates, is pushed leftward.

AFP’s Grassroots Strategy

• On-the-Ground Action:
  AFP mobilizes door-knockers in Michigan and nationwide, aiming to sway just a few voters per precinct—a margin that could decide the election.
  • Bledsoe [69:48]: “When we talk to these persuadable voters...60% of them trend towards our candidates, which is great.”
• Combatting Populist Rhetoric:
  Acknowledges DSA success at tapping into real discontent with cost of living; emphasizes the need to walk voters through the implications of DSA platforms versus free-market solutions.
  • Bledsoe [71:36]: “What they're trying to solve for isn't wrong. They just are doing a really good job...when we talk to voters and we say like, hey, here's what they're saying, single payer healthcare...they're like, oh, that's scary.”

Lessons from New York (Mamdani Case Study)

• DSA candidates are using New York as a pilot and are scaling up everywhere.
• The key is demonstrating to voters that DSA ideas are not hypothetical—they are being actively pursued and implemented.

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Important Timestamps

• 03:18–04:42: Reflection on year-round politics, electorate attentiveness
• 06:47–08:32: DSA’s growing influence in Midwest, leaderless Democratic Party
• 11:04–14:47: Authenticity problems with Haley Stevens; early general election framing
• 16:24–17:55: El Sayed’s vulnerabilities, property controversy
• 21:04–22:31: Democratic coalition fracture; dynamics in Detroit and urban Black voters
• 25:39–27:40: Bernie Sanders' Israel issue dodge; DSA’s positions on foreign policy
• 29:29–39:01: General election contrasts; Republican campaign strategy with Mike Rogers
• 66:54–81:13: Interview with Kaitlin Bledsoe (AFP), DSA’s rise, grassroots counter-efforts

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Broader Reflections & Thematic Insights

“Only You Can Prevent Communism”

• Playing off Smug’s Smokey the Bear shirt—a running joke about personal responsibility in combating the leftward surge in American politics.

Candidate Quality, Messaging, & Party Identity Crisis

• Democrats face a reckoning if insurgent victories continue.
• The importance of coalition building and turnout mechanisms is underscored as longtime voters feel alienated by new ideological tides.

Republican Staff, Legacy, & Professional Development

• Extensive discussion dismisses recent media panic over supposed “groiper” infiltration among young GOP staffers, shifting focus to institutional knowledge, professionalism, and the importance of mentorship over ideology.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Michigan represents a crucial inflection point for Democratic Party trajectory and national candidate quality debates.
• The DSA insurgency is no longer isolated to coastal states; its takeover strategy is in full force across all levels.
• The outcome of such primaries—even if the general election remains competitive—will shape both parties’ future coalitions and messaging.
• Direct voter engagement and careful, detailed message work at the ground level remain essential in counteracting both left-wing populism and media narratives.

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Final Thoughts

• Josh Holmes [83:45]: “We thank you for listening…is Michigan a canary in the coal mine for Democratic candidate quality? Is it going to have an impact on the midterm elections? You tell us…”
• Michael Duncan [83:52]: “Absolute banger of an episode…keep the faith, hold the line, and on the libs, we’ll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless.”

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For further engagement, listeners are invited to weigh in on whether Michigan is indicative of the Democrats’ candidate-quality crisis as midterms loom.

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

[John Ashbrook]

This is basically Mamdani comes to Michigan

[Michael Duncan]

this Democrat season that we're. That we're all witnessing it really. It started with Mamdani.

[John Ashbrook]

The mainstream press is already pre selling this guy's victory as normie. Michigan voters.

[Comfortably Smug]

Come on.

[John Ashbrook]

Are backing El Sayed.

[Michael Duncan]

Amazing.

[John Ashbrook]

Democrats are so desperate to be seen as part of the normie group of Americans that. That they have to sell this guy's lunatic candidacy as something associated with a normie uprising in their party Hamas caucus.

[Josh Holmes]

Basically just driving an agenda right through what was something that you remember as Democratic Party orthodoxy.

[Michael Duncan]

So the hard left, the DSA has taken over. We've seen it, and they see this cycle as do or die.

[John Ashbrook]

America has a powerful abundant oil and

[Comfortably Smug]

natural gas right here at home.

[John Ashbrook]

But energy security requires more than energy in the ground. It requires sustained production, resilient supply chains, and importantly, modern infrastructure like pipelines that move energy to the places it's needed to families, businesses and communities. Energy security is not just about what we produce. It's about whether we can deliver it safely, reliably and efficiently when people need it most. That's how America protects consumers, supports our economy, and leads from a position of energy strength. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute.

[Josh Holmes]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[John Ashbrook]

This program has become one of the

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

most influential podcasts in America.

[Comfortably Smug]

I love the personal.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

You guys are killing it.

[Comfortably Smug]

I just saw your number one.

[Michael Duncan]

Congratulations.

[Josh Holmes]

It's an honor and a pleasure to welcome the great Sean Hannity. Guys, I love you. Congratulations on all your success.

[Michael Duncan]

This is why you listen to the Ruthless Podcast, because nobody else would ask that question. The only political podcast worth listening to is the Ruthless Podcast. It's time for our main event, the Ruthless Podcast.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Tuesday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Josh Holmes, along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left to right, across your radio dial. Of course, many things are happening here. We're deeply into election season. There's some legislative activity afoot, political discussions. Hope all of you are enjoying yourselves. My hope is that most people are carving out a little bit of time for themselves over the summer. You know, like we can't.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, it's an awful lot of fun to be had in the summer and this time of year in particular. If you're a baseball fan, you're constantly refreshing the trade deadline updates and a lot of action. And I don't want to derail us too much, but there's.

[Michael Duncan]

Then don't. What? I will Say. What I will say is it feels like there was a time in politics where it was like, oh, it's this. It's the summer lullaby. You don't need to pay attention to politics. But as we're speaking, the Michigan primary is underway. Like, the political season's almost all year now.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, it's true. And like, look, they're well adjusted amongst us. You like to take your family on a trip. You like to stay on a body of water somewhere.

[Michael Duncan]

It really used to be like, voters aren't paying attention until Labor Day. But that's over. That's not the case anymore.

[Josh Holmes]

It's over.

[John Ashbrook]

People vacation to so many different places, some to the beach, some to the national park. And I recognize Smug's shirt here with Smokey the Bear on it. And I would encourage everybody to remember that only you can prevent forest fire.

[Michael Duncan]

That is a really aggressive shirt.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm just now noticing it. So an army green Smokey the Bear shirt.

[John Ashbrook]

That's an important thing to remember.

[Michael Duncan]

So my wife got me this because it was like last year was Smokey the Bear's anniversary or something. Like the story of the. It's a little bear, Cuban, that was in the fire and ended up raising all this awareness of, like, families. When they'd go picnic, that stopped being like, just throw the embers out on the tree. You know, like, it used to be pretty, you know, out of control.

[John Ashbrook]

Throw the embers on the tree.

[Michael Duncan]

Utter indifference to wildfires. But he's done his job. Good for Smokey.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Available at all of your low budget stores near you.

[Michael Duncan]

No, it's actually a Filson. It's made in Maricopa.

[Comfortably Smug]

He knew he'd get. You said that I do everything.

[Michael Duncan]

I wear Made in America, so.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Okay.

[Michael Duncan]

I hope the golf resort stuff you gents usually have on is as well.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I'm wearing a ruthless variety cap here. I'm representing the program. Let's get into Michigan. As you are listening to this program, the great state of Michigan is encountering an issue on the Democratic side in the primary that I think we have contended over the last six weeks. Pretty seminal for not only what could happen in a midterm election, but also the direction of the Democratic Party writ large. And whether or not these folks are committed enough to the bit to have no leadership whatsoever in the Hamas caucus. Basically just driving an agenda right through. What was something that you remember as Democratic Party orthodoxy. Are they as extreme as you thought they were? And like, in this case, it's crazy because we watched the New York stuff with Mamdani. We watched New Jersey, we watched Colorado, we watched a bunch of different in local and special elections, all of which produced kind of the same DSA type candidacy. I don't remember in the middle of the country ever having a litmus test whether about whether or not we're going to have a Democratic Party that just completely has sold down the river for socialist communist mom Donnieville as this one.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, especially a statewide race in the Midwest.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right. This isn't New York State. This isn't even Maine. This is Michigan. And I think, you know, the results are going to show that in a low turnout primary. That's where, you know, a political movement like the dsa, which doesn't necessarily represent in raw numbers, the majority of the Democratic Party, is going to end up with the majority of votes as they have and also is going to drive the agenda of the party because as we've said here in the ruthless variety program, it's entirely leaderless right now with Chuck Schumer doing nothing. So it's scary times. And it's weird because I felt like we started primary season with the Mamdani situation in New York. And it was like, well, that's crazy, but it's New York. And now we're at sort of the end of the primary schedule and. And it's still here. In fact, it's stronger than ever in a statewide race.

[Michael Duncan]

That's a really good point. Is this primary, this Democrat season that we're all witnessing, it started with Mamdani. And the message they got writ large across the country is like, oh, it seems like all party leadership is asleep at the wheel. Now's the time coast to coast, let's go for it. Cuomo couldn't stop them in New York and they're like, oh, I guess they're asleep at the wheel. You didn't even see, like Schumer try to step into that. There's no one there willing to be like, this is a fever. This is a fire. This will consume the party. This is a terrible thing for America. There was no one saying no, and now it's spread coast to coast.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

It's a quick reminder what we're talking about at great state of Michigan is a Senate primary that is, I think, quickly become the centerpiece of what we will see in the 2026 election about what different views each party has when they make their pitch to voters ultimately in November. Now, we talked about this a little bit on Fox News Sunday last week about how, historically speaking, very difficult for the incumbent majority in a midterm election. Very much an electorate that's unsatisfied for a whole bunch of reasons. And there's a hundred years of history that Democrats, if they're out of power, pick up power when Republicans are in power. But you also couple on top of that is a bunch of economic indicators that are all in kind of the wrong place. You've got favorable for the president, favorable unfavorable for the President, and Republican majorities in the House and Senate that are in bad spots. And so what you would say is this is going to be a very big election based on 150 years of activity for the Republican majorities, except for this one thing, which is that they decided not to just shut the fuck up. If you're just running and you have a D behind your name and you don't need to do a single public appearance, you're probably going to get both majorities.

[Michael Duncan]

Just be generic candidate. It tells you right there in the polling. Generic Democrat.

[Josh Holmes]

Shut up.

[Michael Duncan]

Just be generic Democrat candidate.

[Josh Holmes]

And then you get the protest vote of people who are, you know, they may have voted Republican, but they don't love it. Or you get the people in the middle who voted or didn't vote, but they're like, ah, let's find a different direction because I'm not currently happy. Polls would indicate there's a huge number of people that would be open to that sort of messaging. They show up and they're like, yeah, but we stand with Hezbollah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, abolish prisons.

[Josh Holmes]

We stand with them. We want to abolish prisons. We want to get rid of the United States Senate. We don't particularly like the Supreme Court. In fact, if you think about it, the capitalist infrastructure for which this country was, was founded, we'd like to dismantle that too.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Western civilization while we're at it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. In Western civilization. And strai.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep, they say that.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And all of you. And so now you have this choice in Michigan. And I'll just remind you of the two candidates. First off is the establishment candidate, the one that Chuck Schumer thought was going to be a really good fit for this Michigan electorate. Haley Stevens. And you better believe I'm going to

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

be doing it with a little bit

[Josh Holmes]

of joy, a little bit of enthusiasm,

[Michael Duncan]

a little bit of energy and a little bit of sick at to them.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Because that's the Michigan way.

[Michael Duncan]

That is. That's like a, an old SNL skit, like when SNL tried to be funny. You know what I mean? Like that's the, that's, that's what you're doing.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, man.

[Josh Holmes]

And they tried. You know what was funny is I saw a bunch on X. I saw a bunch of quote unquote establishment consultants as she tried to lean into that and be like, well, that's the way the Michigan is. We are give a stick a to them.

[Michael Duncan]

This is the way we act.

[Josh Holmes]

And like everybody in Michigan is like, not, not really lady. Like that, the craziest aunt that we've ever had at Thanksgiving. Like, that's not really our thing. And they're like, no, you don't understand the way that man. And you can sell it from a Democratic establishment point of view to the mainstream media because they don't know Michigan from Mogadishu.

[Michael Duncan]

Can I say what that really felt like when you see it is it's like Hillary ask. You know what I mean?

[Josh Holmes]

Like, no, but it's that.

[Michael Duncan]

But way too consulted up. Like I was waiting for her to be like, so Pokemon go to the polls. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, no one can relate to this. You're just being very weird. Like, what are you doing? This isn't you. We know like, I don't know Hilly Stevens, but that doesn't feel like an authentic person, like pantomiming what she was doing. It was extremely weird. And again, it's like you're running against a candidate who's like, I want to destroy Western civilization. Just be generic Democrat.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

It came off an awful lot like Van down by the River SNL skit like you referenced just a little bit ago. But the amount of money that Haley Stevens side has spent against Abdul El Sayed and the amount of money that his side has spent against her has shaped their image in a way that they may either one of them. And it seems like El Sayed is going to run away with this primary today. We'll find out tonight who actually wins. But El Sayed is probably going to win. Their primary campaign has shaped each of their images in a way that will be very, very difficult to recover from in the span of 90 days. And like El Sayed, you know, everybody's got a different poll, but he is underwater from an image standpoint, anywhere from five points to 10 points. Okay. Just general and with a general electorate audience. And what that means is that his unfavorables are that much higher than his favor.

[Josh Holmes]

And he hasn't and hasn't spent a day in a general election yet.

[John Ashbrook]

He hasn't. No. The Republicans are just now starting to spend against him. And so you can imagine how difficult it's going to be for him to recover that image. And what we always say in campaigns, if you've worked in them for a long time, is that image informs ballot. And so if you've seen the polls that say that Mike Rogers has an advantage over El Sayed today in August, it's because his image is informing that ballot question. And so the challenge for Republicans is to maintain the image that El Salad walks into this general election.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, good point.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, let's just as refreshment on who El Sayed is, here's clip six you say is the highest valued asset in

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

your possession right now.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't know. Like I don't sit here and think about it and I'll just tell you that like people are going to pay attention to like just properties that literally my wife's family inherited and then put in their and all of their kids names and then sold. And people out here being like, oh well, and I wonder why they're so focused on foreign properties with somebody with

[John Ashbrook]

a name of mine.

[Michael Duncan]

Wait a minute. Within a well worn trope.

[Comfortably Smug]

Wait, wait, wait.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh wait.

[Michael Duncan]

What, what was all that?

[Comfortably Smug]

Okay, other. Other property. We're talking like a lake house in Traverse City.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what, maybe it's the, the fact that he has something in Ohio with for a Michigan person, you know,

[John Ashbrook]

there was a war.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean look there, the real rivalries there. No, what he was talking about was properties that he owns in uae.

[John Ashbrook]

So how many people in Michigan, you know, like your average voter, like Michael, I know you got a lot of family in Michigan. Are they dealing with like the Airbnb management situation for their properties in uae? Is this like something that typical people.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think there's probably a lot more demand in the Arab Emirates than in Armada for, for that sort of service.

[Michael Duncan]

But this is just for him to be like, actually it's racist to ask me about properties UAE overseas. I'm also running for Senate in America. What?

[Josh Holmes]

No, in Michigan. Like the funniest part is that the set like the center north center of this country and they're like why would you ask about the fact that I own Middle Eastern property? Why would you ask why is that of interest? Maybe it's because you're a racist or maybe it's because nobody you've ever fucking met in your life has ever owned property in the uae. Turns sort of hard to obtain for

[Michael Duncan]

your average even if you had the money.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Michael Duncan]

Like what?

[Josh Holmes]

They don't sell to just anybody, sir.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

They just don't.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And the fact that this guy has just operated in this weird scenario where he refuses to condemn any anti Semitism. He's. He doesn't want to call himself dsa, but he aligns himself with all the DSA people and like AOC and everybody else.

[Michael Duncan]

Well that's the thing is like hen pointed out that he does not officially say I am dsa. He's just having rallies with Hasan Piker. That's the thing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. The guy who says America deserved nine.

[Michael Duncan]

He's like everyone around me is, but what was that about my properties in the uae?

[Josh Holmes]

And this is a serious conversation. So just an update on where this race stands as of today. Current polling in the average of the Dem primary for the RCP smoking her. This guy smoking her by 10 points. And we expect that that's going to probably come in somewhere around that area tonight. We'll see what happens.

[Comfortably Smug]

Because what always happens when you have an insurgent movement within a political party overperform is the overperformance because it's a lower turnout situation. It's a primary. You got the alligator mouth of the polling opens up and what starts as like maybe a four or six point lead by election night ends up like 10, 12 points.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But I also, I think it's fantastic to watch how the mainstream media in connection with the Democratic establishment when that clip happened with what's her name, Haley Stevens, that they immediately tried to embrace it and create a moment where they were like, oh, she's on the comeback trail and this is going to all happen. And you watch the mainstream media all of a sudden be like, well, maybe she's indicative of. Of middle America. Right Again, the zoo animal thing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

They've never actually met any of us who ever grew up there. And they're like, well maybe, I don't know, maybe they are freaks.

[Comfortably Smug]

Can I make a prediction though? Can I make a prediction on this? Just like the Joe Biden situation, those exact same consultants are going to be on background with every reporter. If Haley Stevens goes down trashing her in particular, being like terrible candidate. It was the candidate's fau. She was bizarre. She said weird things. You know, she never energized the base. All of those same people will flip on a dime in the media will be right there to write the story.

[Josh Holmes]

100.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's actually just her fault aberration. This has nothing to do with the leadership of the party. It's not Chuck Schumer's fault.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude. They're not just there Ready to write the story. They actually already are in their own way. And so I. I don't know. I was just looking at some of the headlines. The mainstream press is already pre selling this guy's victory as normie. Michigan voters.

[Comfortably Smug]

Come on.

[John Ashbrook]

Are backing El Sayed.

[Michael Duncan]

Amazing.

[John Ashbrook]

Democrats are so desperate to be seen as part of the normie group of Americans that they have to sell this guy's lunatic candidacy as something associated with a normie uprising in their party. We know that's not true, but we also know that the mainstream press is so interested in any success for Democrats that they will lie through their teeth to try to say what they think the trend will be.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, I think they're probably also leaning into that since they've lost Graham Platner because they wanted to write that story about Graham Platner.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

But now that Platner is no longer on the ballot and they still want to write that narrative for Democrats and carry their watch, they're willing to do that for El Sayed.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, I think that's right.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that's right. I want to. Can we queue up one more time, Haley Stevens, because this is a good clip 8.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

And you better believe I'm going to be doing it with a little bit

[Josh Holmes]

of joy, a little bit of enthusiasm,

[Michael Duncan]

a little bit of energy and a little bit of sick it to them

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

because that's the Michigan way.

[Michael Duncan]

All right?

[Josh Holmes]

So they'd be living in a van

[John Ashbrook]

down by the river.

[Josh Holmes]

So this chardonnay soaked piece of wonder bread that you just watched is absolutely crushing El Sayed in African American votes in urban Detroit.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right. That's what the polling voters are.

[Josh Holmes]

Another big problem for Democrats. They have long maintained over 30 or 40 years, the base of their party. It's these urban African American centers which they claim to represent. Never do a fucking thing about. But they say that this is a base of their party. And then you have somebody like that who. I mean, look, far be it from me to suggest that that lady is probably not representative of urban Detroit.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's not getting invited to cookout, no way.

[Josh Holmes]

But she's kicking his ass up one side and down the other with the people who vote there. It becomes a problem. There's a separation of the base that you say you have and the base that you actually have. And the base that you actually have is this weird Hamas caucus, socialist, communist, basically antithetical to all American values type base that is going to push this other guy over the deal. So what do you do if you're El CIA to just try to like, you don't need a lot, but you gotta, you know, you gotta figure out how to hem that in.

[Comfortably Smug]

You need some coalition building just to touch.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, what you do is you go ahead and you hire Horace Sheffield, a Democrat. This is according to Detroit News, Democratic U.S. senate hopeful El Sayed's campaign has paid the father of Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield at least $52,000 in consulting fees, according to campaign finance reports. And what they're trying to do is get a little. Just a little touch of a turnout mechanism within your typical urban base to suggest to the Democratic Party the base is all still together. Now, this is going to be a disaster for Democrats, I'm guessing, tonight, and that their traditional Democratic base, that they have won every Senate election back to Spence Abraham in the 1990s, is going to look very fucking different on Wednesday morning in that those folks did not support this guy. And that is problematic. So when we draw this whole thing back and we talk about how Democrats have incredible advantages environmentally, what they're doing is putting candidates for it, like El Sayed Platner already gone. His backup is no better. I mean, he's banging cousins, for crying out loud. You got Talarico. Lord knows where all that goes. And then all of these congressional candidates all over the place with the same kind of problems. It seems to me they're going to leave an awful lot on the table, like the wind is at their back. But like your average American who wants to get to cast a protest vote for whatever reason against the direction of the country, are you really gonna. Are you really gonna submit a ballot for, like, Hamas? Because that's what you're left with. The traditional base, the Democratic Party, is like, we can't do that.

[John Ashbrook]

I think it makes it an uphill climb for Democrats, to be honest with you. I think there's a reason why a lot of these Detroit area voters are for Haley Stevens and not for El Sayed in this primary. And it's because they were like, you know what? I liked Bill Clinton. I liked Barack Obama. I'm not a communist. I'm a partisan Democrat, because that's what, you know, I vote for Democrats, but they're like, I don't want Mom Donnie. I don't want some government grocery store passing out gift cards to say who can and can't get food for the week. Yeah, like, they see that train coming, coming as well as everybody else in our country.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't like Trump, but I prefer not to live in El Salvador.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, you Know, I mean, it's, it's that kind of thing. So Bernie Sanders, who is the architect of all of this, and let's not mistake that. Like, the only reason any of this is happening is because it's on the back of Bernie Sanders and the movement that he built over the 10 year period of time that he's been the national limelight. Here's what he has to say in Clint 7.

[John Ashbrook]

Dr. Al Said has made Israel a

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

central issue in his primary. He said he, quote, often struggles with the question of whether Israel has the

[Josh Holmes]

right to exist as a Jewish state.

[John Ashbrook]

In the past, Senator, you have been

[Michael Duncan]

quite clear that you do support Israel as a Jewish state.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Should Dr. Al Said speak with the same clarity?

[Josh Holmes]

Look, I think right now the immediate

[John Ashbrook]

issue of the moment is whether or

[Josh Holmes]

not we continue to put tens of billions of dollars into the extremist Netanyahu government. Hard pivot, hard pivot.

[Comfortably Smug]

This is what they always do, is the sleight of hand, where they're like, no, it's not that we're anti Semitic. It's we very specifically, we looked at the charter of the Likud Party and like, we, we just can't support it. It's a Netanyahu government.

[Josh Holmes]

The man that's been more popularly elected than any Israeli leader in the history of the country, he's our problem.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's just specifically that and also the whole right to exist rhetoric I find fascinating in that people on the left, and increasingly some on the right will think this is a gotcha question. I think the reason why we have to affirm Israel's right to exist is because all of their neighbors constantly tried to destroy them.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, you know, like, nobody else would talk about.

[Comfortably Smug]

The only reason we have this as part of our political discussion is all the lunatic Islamists who try to murder Jews.

[Michael Duncan]

You know, nobody would. Nobody.

[Josh Holmes]

Like, sir, just on the issue of

[Comfortably Smug]

Canada, do you believe it has a right to exist?

[Josh Holmes]

That Ottawa has a right to exist? You know what I mean? You've never had that question because nobody's coming at Ottawa.

[Michael Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

But when you're coming at Israel on a day to day basis and you have several countries who have committed fatwa against the country over the previous 40 years, like, I don't know, it's kind of a pertinent question.

[John Ashbrook]

Right, right.

[Josh Holmes]

And they're like, not sure, not sure.

[John Ashbrook]

The rise of antisemitism is absolutely disturbing. But another thing that really caught my attention here is like, your average Michigan voter is like, houses cost a lot of money. I know you know, like, I get my paycheck every week, every two weeks, every month, and a hell of a lot of money is taken out of it. What are you going to do about that? And yet you have these lunatics like El Sayed who were like, yeah, you know, don't worry about the houses, don't worry about your paycheck. We need to worry about Israel. That's the real problem is what's happening in the Middle East. And it is like, they are totally missing the mark. And I think this is why a lot of, like, the Haley Stevens voters are, like, find it hard to identify with what El Sayed is saying, like, on what planet?

[Josh Holmes]

Why do I care more? Why do I care about that?

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly. You know what I mean? They might be like, yeah, I think Jews are getting a really hard time in this country. Or they might be like, ah, well, I care more about my paycheck. Why is this politician who says he wants to represent me talking about a war that's seven time zones away?

[Josh Holmes]

It's never, ever, ever, ever gonna be a litmus test about the policies 3,000 miles away from you versus the policies three blocks from you.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

It's never going to happen, ever. Never happened in the history of politics. That's why I think this thing is limited in a lot of different ways. It is the litmus test of this DSA thing and that we have to care more about Gaza than we do about the suburbs of Detroit. And it's, like, mind blowing to me.

[Michael Duncan]

Right?

[John Ashbrook]

And there was a lot of talk over the last 10 years about the Tip O' Neill's maxim, all politics is local. Okay? Trump comes up, he makes all politics national because so many people were concerned about immigration, all these national issues. But it's not like Americans go from all politics is local to all politics is national to all politics is international. All of a sudden, it's not the fucking United nations in the state of Michigan. They. They actually do care about what's happening to them.

[Josh Holmes]

They want a representative.

[John Ashbrook]

You. You. If Democrats think they're going to put a model UN nerd in charge of representing their. Their, you know, their. Once, I think they got another thing coming.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. All right. So your boy Ro Khanna talked about this a little bit. I know you have a huge affinity for this guy. You love him.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's your best friend.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's at your wedding, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. No, he was the best man, I think.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I'll take full credit for everyone in Silicon Valley hating him now. And I have been taking A victory lap on that. I've been texting all the guys out there, like, for years. I told you this guy was a fraud. And you're like, no, he's middle of the road. He's someone I can work with. And now that he's like, actually, I'm a communist and I'm not afraid to say it anymore. That's what I've been saying for years, folks, you're all very welcome. I warned you about this clown.

[Josh Holmes]

Clip 2.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Your party is grappling with accusations of anti Semitism from statements from candidates. What is your message to American Jewish voters about what they can expect from your party?

[Michael Duncan]

First, I'll tell you all.

[John Ashbrook]

Abdullah's winning.

[Michael Duncan]

He's winning because he's for free health

[Comfortably Smug]

care for Americans and Medicare for all.

[Michael Duncan]

He's winning because he doesn't believe in money and politics and these super PACs

[Comfortably Smug]

that are spending millions of dollars.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, that's so funny. So I'm going to disregard that great question you have, and I'm going to try to turn this into a pitch for this crazy candidate. And the other, other reason I want to go real quick into, into why Ro Khanna is a fraud. So he's. He's part of this, like, tour. He looks like an idiot and an asshole for, like, stumping for Platner even after the allegations first came out. But he's been on this, like, fight the oligarchs kind of a tour.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And then someone does a little bit of research and digging into, into Ro Khanna's financials. First off, what this guy does when he has to submit his financials for, for ethics in Congress is he puts it as a horizontal spreadsheet. Can you believe it? He puts it because, like, he knows reporters are lazy and will never be. Like, I don't know how a spreadsheet works. I'm just a reporter, okay? They're not gonna do the work. Turns out what's been there all along is his kids have stakes worth tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in multiple golf resorts. Oh, so when he's fighting the oligarchy.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, he is one.

[Michael Duncan]

He is one. His kids have been bequeathed all this, like, tax incentivized golf resorts. And this guy's talking about how he's out there fighting for the common man. Well, that's. He's a fraud. It's almost like this guy's been a complete fraud his entire life is a fraud.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I wonder why he picked his spots so successfully where he engages when didn't Hear a lot for him in tax reform.

[Michael Duncan]

No, no.

[Josh Holmes]

For example.

[Michael Duncan]

Well, that's the thing, is he has no spine, no character. He's hope so. The funniest part of this whole story is he thinks he's got a shot at running to get the Dem nomination. 2028. That's like, oh, president. Correct. He's.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh.

[Michael Duncan]

That's like. I mean, if your kids have, like, hundreds of millions of property and golf courses and you're out on the oligarchy, fight the oligarchy tour, clearly you're an absolute chameleon psychopath who doesn't believe in anything.

[Josh Holmes]

I can say without fear of contradiction that the four people sitting in this dais have a better chance of becoming President of the United States than Ro Khanna.

[Comfortably Smug]

Can I add one more?

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Gretchen Whitmer. Think about how much her political star has fallen since. Since the days of COVID where she was, like, up there as a foil against Donald Trump and.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, she's endorsed Haley Stevens.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, she endorsed Haley Stevens, and it did nothing. She's the governor of the state and it did nothing.

[John Ashbrook]

Maybe she should have fed her some Doritos.

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe that would have showed her face. Remember that she didn't want to be seen with Trump.

[Michael Duncan]

That was funny.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God. All right, so the guy that we've got is Rogers, and you've heard him here before in the program. Here's just a quick graphic 2 update of where that clip race. Oh, that first of all, stands a lead. Which, you know, if you're a Republican like us and you're searching around for leads in swing states. Boy, oh, boy, you guys love to see that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Because there's not a lot of them out there.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

This one not only feels good today in that Republicans typically never have a lead, even when it's a very close race. Donald Trump, even in the state of Michigan. But we're there before the true definition to a general electorate has happened for a guy who is literally a Hamas caucus.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I think that definition is going to be critical because, you know, I was talking to my dad about this race, and he grew up in Michigan, and what he kept telling me was, you know, like, I just don't see a scenario where a candidate like him can win statewide in a place like Michigan. Like, that's crazy. That's. And I. I told him, I was like, it's way more likely than you think.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And what I kept reminding him was like, look, a poll's a poll.

[Josh Holmes]

Did he see the competition?

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I. What I'm saying is a poll's a poll, but you have to look at, like, who's actually going to turn out and vote in the election. And I do fear in a place like Michigan that the Republican voters, unless we tell that story that Ashbrook was talking about earlier about who this guy is, like, we can't, like, sleep on this one. You actually have to turn.

[Josh Holmes]

You're going to be shocked at how close Hezbollah can get to wins in Michigan.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Or actually win in Michigan.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's not. This is never gonna. If you think in the third week of October because this psychopath has been nominated by the Democratic Party, that you just put that one away and you move on to the next, you're crazy. This is going down to election day and you're gonna have a very substantive, very smart, very committed, extremely, like, family oriented, values type guy up against a Hamas candidate. And it's gonna go to the fucking wire. That's where we're at.

[John Ashbrook]

It is. It's true. And this is basically Mamdani comes to Michigan.

[Michael Duncan]

That is it.

[John Ashbrook]

El Sayed will tell you all every single day that he is not Mamdani. I'm different. Blah, blah, blah. We all know the truth. We all know that they want communism like every other DSA aligned candidate on the hard left who is winning in these primaries. And I think it's very fitting. The comfortably Smug is wearing his Smokey the Bear shirt today on the show. And it's kind of a transition point where the new saying should be, only you can prevent communism.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh.

[John Ashbrook]

And I think that's what Smug is telling people.

[Michael Duncan]

They see it as, this cycle is their do or die for the dsa, for the Mamdani people, this cycle is their do or die. They got told in 2016, it's Hillary's go, not Bernie's. Shut up. They got told in 2020 that, no, it's Biden's go, it's not Bernie's shut. They did the South Carolina swindle.

[Comfortably Smug]

They took it.

[Michael Duncan]

They did it again. And they just. They're like, nope, no primary. It's going to be Kamala. So the hard left, the DSA has taken over. We've seen it. And they see this cycle as do or die. They need to take over as much as possible. They will put whatever resources and folks on the ground as is necessary to get their way. They want this guy in the Senate. They know what a menace he is. They know how much he hates America and what a problem he will be. And once someone, someone's in. The power of incumbency is a very difficult thing. You do not want to wake up after election day and this guy's a senator. We can't take it for granted. We gotta fight tooth and nail for every vote in Michigan.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, really well said. A quick reminder of who our guy is. Mike Rogers, back on the ruthless variety program. A couple months ago, we had lost

[Comfortably Smug]

by three points in 24. Been pretty easy to say we got our fanny's kick, time to move on. But three tenths of 1%.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, it's so close.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, my God. That's when we said we can't, you know, oh my God, we got to do this again. We lost by 232 votes per county.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's wild.

[Comfortably Smug]

But who's counting in their primary? It is everything that made them lose before. They're all doubling down.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a race to find yourself.

[Comfortably Smug]

It is one by his own words wants to Mandani Michigan. Yeah, right. Okay.

[Michael Duncan]

So that's.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a hell of a bumper sticker. Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah, we can't wait to print it for him. That's what we get when you put Democrats in charge. We used to have top 10 education in the country. We're 44th in the country. Because you haven't had a senator who's willing to use the leverage of the United States Senate to keep us in the game. I will get us back in the game. And we're going to start building things in Michigan again. And so I think that's one way that we can revitalize Michigan management.

[Josh Holmes]

That's what federal representation looks like. It's amazing.

[Michael Duncan]

And he's right. He's 100% right. I mean, that's the thing is you're seeing right now across this country. We were at the Pennsylvania conference that Senator McCormack put together the number of business owners, the number of founders who are there excited about building in Pennsylvania and getting factories going in Pennsylvania because they've got a senator there who's like, I will do everything I can to bring all private sector jobs possible to Pennsylvania. If you're stuck with someone in Michigan who's your senator and who's like, actually, I hate capitalism in this country. They're not going to be able to bring any jobs, they're not going to bring any factories, they're not bringing any manufacturing to Michigan. You can have Mike Rogers and he says point blank, that is his mission. He's going to do everything as a senator to accomplish that. And I think That's a message. That contrast between the two is one that needs to get ironed in in this race.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's really well said. So our question of the day, when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program, we read all of your comments. Get back to the very next episode. This is a very big one, a very timely one. Is Michigan a canary in the coal mine when it to comes comes to Democrat candidate quality and what can be accomplished against the Republican Party in the midterm election? We've made our case here, but we're very interested when you are out in your communities about whether or not this kind of thing is permeating. Clearly a big factor in Michigan, clearly a big factor in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, a bunch of different places that we've seen. But, but holistically, is the new ideology of the Democratic Party going to be up to mitigating headwinds that we see typically in midterm elections? Your answers to all of that and a whole bunch more when we come back. We got a great bunch of stuff right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

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[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so a couple of things that were happening on Capitol Hill

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

which you

[Josh Holmes]

know, we know, all of you who are listening, you are Capitol Hill in addition to the millions of people who are out throughout the country trying to get a little insight into what it is that you people are up to. But this has been an ongoing discussion that has been back and forth on by Capitol Hill staff about who constitutes staff and prospective staff and how they impact politics. And not surprisingly, Politico shows up and they want to talk about how bad things are for Republicans.

[Comfortably Smug]

Shocker.

[Josh Holmes]

Weird. It's they took the pitch.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I call this like the jingling of keys story.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Where the Democrat Party is out there electing communists across the country in all of their primaries, electing people who want to end Western civilization, are anti Semites who hate Jews. And they're like, okay, it's the Republicans

[Michael Duncan]

on Capitol Hill that have a problem again, like, we were just on Fox News Sunday. Shannon had that segment the week before with, like, the chairwoman of the DSA who was like. She was like, so I want to go over these things in your charter and see if you actually agree with them. And this is a DSA thing. Like, dissolve the US Senate. You.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep.

[Michael Duncan]

And all prisons in America. Yeah, that too. Get rid of the Pentagon and the military. Yep. We're for that. Get rid of the Supreme Court. We stand with that. That's a good idea.

[Comfortably Smug]

Abolish ice.

[Michael Duncan]

Abolish ice. Yeah, totally. Open the border and let anyone who enters illegally become a citizen. Yep, that's out there. And that, like, that interview permeated coast to coast. And the message got out that, holy shit. So this Democrat takeover by the dsa, this is. This is what they stand for. And they're like, oh, shit, how do we get out from under this rock? And journals are like, Republican staffers, right?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, the intern. The interns are the problem. It's not that these Democrat candidates want to eliminate the Senate and everything that's in the Constitution.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, seriously.

[John Ashbrook]

It's the Republican interns and staffers that's the real problem.

[Josh Holmes]

But in fairness, like, just to let the external audience know, in a company town, this is a conversation that has happened at some level within Washington, D.C. within a bunch of different organizations, about the era of Trump and what it has done towards staff that has learned politics, grown up in politics, gotten positions of power and can execute against it because they are the trainees of the next generation. And whether you are from here or not, 30 years from now, there will be cascading impacts on the lessons learned and the training and the culture that people who are 25 now, that learned and perfected their craft in this moment in time, pass on to future generations. And where you are as a voter, just to make this sort of, like, hit home for you, is a lot of the final product that you get, not just in terms of legislation or your politician or your messaging or your campaign rhetoric or anything else, is an end product of all of those inputs. And you're either good at it or you're not. And I think most people would say at this current moment in time, regardless of whether you're super pro Trump or anti Trump or whatever you are, we're not like doing our best stuff, right? I mean the, the fave on fave of government is horrible. Fave on fave of Democrats, Republicans, Trump, everything is horrible. Institutions is horrible. And so, you know, you take a look at that for people like us who spend an awful lot of time in that part of it is just indicative of the media culture that you're in and that there is no incentive structure to ever tell a good story about what's going on in Washington D.C. which is what forms opinions on everything. Like you just keep squeezing blood out of the stone of everything shitty in the world. And because that is much more cliquey than anything positive, which is why you come at a story like this, the way that Politico comes at it. And their whole thing is GOP staffers say party has a groiper problem. And let me just read a couple paragraphs. Let's jump off from there. The grown ups are worried. In group chats and happy hours. Some GOP veterans fret about the rising generation of young staffers in their party. The reoccurring complaint, the pipeline that feeds young conservative talent into government jobs is defective if not broken. This isn't just the standard middle aged lament that kids aren't all right. It's a criticism aimed at institutions like the Heritage foundation that purport to identify and train the party's future governing class to conservative critics in the out of government, many of whom ascribe much more traditional pre maga Republican beliefs. Some such institutions have spent the last decade selecting for rigid conformity to Trumpist ideology over more typical makers of expertise. Okay, we have a lot to say about this. We're going to try to keep it concise because we could talk about for this for like four shows, but this is our world and this is where we lived and this is what we trained and this is what we built cultures around for a significant portion of time. The headline itself is completely fucking ridiculous.

[Michael Duncan]

We can start right there.

[Josh Holmes]

The idea that Republicans lament gripers, I don't know. I mean, to the extent that like, are we talking about Nick Fuentes or are we talking about Tucker Carlson? Are we, what are we talking about with that?

[John Ashbrook]

I think they're.

[Josh Holmes]

Is it anti Semitic? Because we've had a lot of polls on that and it turns out everybody who's sort of like walked into the breach of being anti Trump for being pro Palestinian has fallen off the fucking map. Like their viewership, Their listenership, their notoriety within the party, their invitations to things, they've gone away. They're a semblance of what they may have constituted some component to the 2024 election, but when you take that step over the last 15 months, they've evaporated in terms of the public consciousness on the right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Well, then also take the flip side of it. The older generation of Republicans who align themselves with the pre Trump establishment who left the Republican Party and now listen to Pod Save America and go on MSNBC and Bulwark, they're supporting people like EL Sayed who are anti Semitic.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

So what's the deal with that?

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

But the problem is the edgy teens. It's the idealistic young people who are part of the Trump coalition. And I mean, like, that isn't to say, like, to your point earlier, that it's not a conversation and that, like, that whole Heritage foundation thing with Tucker Carlson was weird. It was a weird thing, I think, for a think tank to get involved in in the first place.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know, it's like push policy on Capitol Hill. Like, I think that's an important role for a think tank. Like, the big conversations about media personalities and infighting in the Republican Party, I don't think is the role of a think tank. I'm sorry if any think tankers are listening to this. But, like, it feels like the sort of. And we've had long careers in politics, but, like, it feels like the sort of thing where you've got jaded older people within the party who look at the enthusiasm and zeal of young staff and they're like, well, they just don't get it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

And I think there is. There's a truth to that, but it's different than what this Politico story is telling you. Like, I think the failure of the Trump era in educating the next generation of Republican leaders and Republican staffers is they looked at Donald Trump and they think the person I work for can be that and should be that. And they've lost some of the institutional knowledge of what it means to be an effective legislator. I think that is a real problem that we're dealing with on Capitalism Hill, for sure, that, like, the most important thing a House or Senate office actually does is casework. The most important function of a political campaign is to knock on doors and talk to voters. And in the Trump era, everybody's seen what Donald Trump has done with success, you know, his success because he can blot out the sun. Everything's not accomplished through tweet. And I love having a good social media strategy. Look, I'm the digital Consultant like, that's like my bread and butter. But you have to look beyond those things into the blocking and tackling of being successful in politics. And that is shoe leather stuff and it's not sexy. And nobody wants to put up an Instagram story about the doors they knocked. But like, that's the sort of stuff that I worry about in the Trump era that we've lost our muscle memory on in some ways that we really need to do a better job at flexing.

[Michael Duncan]

And one thing I want to say specifically about when it comes to recruitment of, of young talent and getting younger conservatives and just getting younger people involved, aside from the policy side and the legislation side, is I didn't notice them talking about the success that we've had, for example, with National Design Studio. If you folks aren't following the work they've been doing, Joe Jebbia, who is a co founder of Airbnb, decided, okay, I'm going to help do my part in making sure this administration is a success. And he's taken over as the head of what's called National Design Studio. When you see graphics are put out like the new food pyramid and everything, and it's beautiful and it's appealing and it gets attention, that's what those folks are doing for all government institutions. They're handling the design that goes out there and interfaces with the public. The young folks who they've got involved there are turning into some of the top notch talent that you can have involved in design. Further, look at what Scott Cooper is doing over at opm. Starting the tech force, getting young Americans involved not only in helping this administration, but building up the skill set that's going to be in demand from the private sector. All these successes are not being talked about. They are not the traditional pipelines because this administration was focused on finding new solutions, not being what's tired and old and may or may not have worked in the past. This is about hitting the next level. You know, when you talk about we're gonna be in a golden age, who would have thought that you would have successful founders of like Airbnb, Like, I want to be a part of this. Let me bring my expertise to this. People like Scott Cooper being like, I could continue to be an extremely successful businessman or I want to help revolutionize opm. I want to get young people involved in this. I want to make sure young people have the skillset to succeed in the. That's what's happening. And you don't see that story being told at all, do you?

[John Ashbrook]

Of course Johnny, listen, I think that Democrats are desperate to change the conversation from the absolute abysmal, radical uprising they're facing within their own party. The younger people on their side are communists. And Politico dutifully is trying to write that Republicans have a similar problem. We know that the Republicans don't have a similar problem. What Republicans have is the same thing Republicans had during the Bush era, when at the end of Bush's second term, a bunch of Republicans started chirping up because they saw they were getting attention from the mainstream press and they pursued the press. And now towards the second half of Donald Trump's second term, you have a bunch of people who used to support him who are all of a sudden saying, no, I want the Democrats to win the midterm. Like, it is not, it is not a novel trend toward the tail end of any president's second term in office. And Trump is a brand new style of politician, of course, much different from George W. Bush, but the, the, the, the trends are not different. And what, you know, Josh and I have talked about this a little bit, and what I will say, you know, to the younger people out there where it is not your ideology, it is not your politics, it is your work product that succeeds. You know, it is you going into work every day learning what actually matters to your job at hand. And maybe you don't work directly for Donald Trump. You work for a senator, you work for a House member. And maybe your legislative director is like, no, I don't like your idea, buddy. Your responsibility is to go to work every single day and do better than the guy next to you. And you need to be hungry to do better than the guy next to you. And that's how you rise up. It's not in response to what Politico is saying. It's not in response to what Nick Fuente says on his Twitch stream. It's you looking yourself in the mirror and saying, did I do the absolute best job that I could possibly do today? And that's how you succeed. Because President Trump, God love him, I want him to do a third term. I don't think that's gonna happen. It doesn't seem interested in it. The reality is someday he's gone. And the difference between the guy who just tells his boss, no, let's just retweet what Donald Trump says and the guy who says, no, I learned how to tell a story by the way. Donald Trump tells a story that says something to the next round of Republicans who are rising up. That's the Guy who wins.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, I spent an enormous amount of time trying to educate and first in my own career, being educated by a whole bunch of people who learned how to do a business incredibly well. But then try to pass on some lessons and the next time that I ask a 22 year old out of college what their political ideology is, will be the first time.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

That's not the fucking job here. I don't get. I don't give a shit what you think, dog. I don't care where you're from. I don't care what you think. You applied here for a reason. And I want to make sure that you're not like a sleeper cell for sure.

[Comfortably Smug]

You know what I mean?

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

But once I've crossed that lexicon, it's all about whether or not you're willing to work harder than the person next to.

[Michael Duncan]

And also to put into context, when you're applying for an entry level job in the private sector, are you expecting to go on day one, be like, here's what the CEO should do, you know what I mean?

[Josh Holmes]

Like, yeah, yeah, but, but, but this is, this is the problem with professional sports and politics and that every, it's like assholes. Everybody's got an opinion. And, and what I think that we're seeing here in a story like that is a whole bunch of people who are complaining about, about, you know, younger people having opinions about things. Okay, that's fine. But if you run a successful political operation, that's not a problem at all because you get somebody involved and you teach them the way that the job should be done and you envelop them with a culture of how to execute and become a professional and be better at their job than anybody else around them. And in turn, they will show you professional growth. It's like professional sports, right? I mean, you're not taking the. Every single person who can run the 4140 and win in the Super Bowl. You're finding role players and people who come from different places and do different things and they buy into a culture because they can do the thing that you ask them to do better than everybody else.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. When the rookie comes in and he's the first round draft pick, you know, he thinks he should be the starter, but he hasn't even learned the playbook yet. Yeah, and then he learns the playbook. And sometimes the coach gives him some coaching.

[Josh Holmes]

Sometimes it's about elevating them, sometimes about breaking them down. Sometimes it's about proving a lesson, sometimes it's about a Gradual professional development where people become much more sufficient than anyone around them ever would have believed. Like they become superstars, but they didn't present that when you first hired them. That's what a professional culture in politics looks like. It's not dissimilar than every other line of work that any of you are listening to this have. And if you are successful in this line of work, you have leadership and management that look at people for people and you don't ask them, do you think that Israel is whatever, do you think that Are you pro choice, pro life? Like none of that matters at the front end. What you hope on the back end is that you have somebody who's capable of doing work that ideologically is consistent with what you're trying to accomplish. And that they know that the person on the door, the person that they voted for, that all of the constituents that you were ultimately working for, paying their fucking taxpayer dollars to elect to represent their interest, that that's the person who does the ideology, that's the person who does the thing. And your job is to try to execute against that as best they possibly can. Are there going to be disagreements? Of course. I mean, God, there was a million of them when I was going through all my various jobs. I'm sure that they're like a day to day, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe we're doing this. That's fine, let me see if I can make the best out of it. Because that's the job of a staff. That's what politics is all about. The idea that you say, oh, I just have a bunch of young people who don't get it. No bud, like that's you, that's on you. Because the people, young people who don't get it are looking for people like you to show them how to get it. And ultimately what you get in the long run is a culture of Republicans working together to try to figure out how to get to that next level when it's done right. When it's done right. That was my biggest problem with that story is it was like,

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

it was

[Josh Holmes]

kind of a thinly veiled thing against like J.D. vance, essentially.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And there's a bunch of politics that are associated with all of that that I just vehemently disagree. You know, like the whole new right thing, which is basically like socialism but right of center. And like I disagree with all that, but, but the idea that they're just like flooding the zone with young people that you can't keep up with. People elected you For a reason. You work for a person for a reason. Your job is not to sit passively by and just let a 22 year old ideologically run your office. It's to show them the right way to do things right.

[John Ashbrook]

Think about what we always say about the deep state. Right. About the administrative state who thought that it was their mission to oppose Donald Trump, who was elected by the American people. His name is on the door because more people voted for him than his opponent. You may not like it as a deep stater and administrative state person.

[Josh Holmes]

Don't do it.

[John Ashbrook]

Do a different job. Yeah, like Donald Trump was elected, so the people who work for him in the administration are responsible. Really, like they're really responsible to the voters, the people who are charged with choosing the leadership of this country, more than they're responsible to anything else. And the voters spoke, the voters said they wanted Donald Trump. And so all of the frustrations about the deep state and the administrative state, I think are rooted in a culture in Washington where people think, oh, it's on me. I don't care what the voters say. Say, I have this job to do and I have this idea and I learned something in college and I talked to this person in some think tank and I need to do what I want to do.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, no one elected you.

[John Ashbrook]

Nobody elected you.

[Comfortably Smug]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, they people, the voters, every four years in this country speak and they matter. And the government is run because of their consent. It's easy to roll over that, but that's the reality, that the voters actually give their consent to a government that they vote for.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep. No, it's well said. It's well said. All right, we got your comments from the previous episode. When you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program, we ask you a question. We get back to the very next episode with your comments. Our last question on Fun Time Friday was a fun one, was what will Talarico do to prove that he is a tech? That was a hell of an episode. If you haven't watched it, you should go back and watch because, I mean, we had a lot of fun with that. But for your comments, we always start with the voice.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[John Ashbrook]

First one from Gray Bice. Gray writes, Talarico is going to lose his leverage.

[Josh Holmes]

Leverage.

[Comfortably Smug]

Good callback.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a great callback.

[Comfortably Smug]

I like that.

[Josh Holmes]

Leverage,

[Michael Duncan]

leverage.

[Comfortably Smug]

That was Sheldon, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

What an. Comment. Two here is from Jack's Truths and I just want to thank our production team for giving me this comment. This really is the highlight. Jax writes, Telero seems Like a very prideful person who wants to connect with other like minded Texas men in order to spread his message.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh my God.

[Comfortably Smug]

I could foresee Talarico going to BBQ joints across the Lone Star State hosting Man meetup event where Talarico will share meat with numerous men while selling some of his patented white barbecue sauce to help fund his campaign. What goes better with meat than some Jimmy sauce?

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Oh my God.

[Comfortably Smug]

Love the show, fellas.

[Josh Holmes]

Jack's Truth.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank you. You got us.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you, Jax.

[Comfortably Smug]

You understand us.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Thank you, Jax.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to follow that one up immediately by Benny Armstrong who says Tal Rico is going to prove his Texas roots by eating some ribs and making sure to suck the bone clean.

[Josh Holmes]

That's a lot. That's a lot.

[Comfortably Smug]

But in fairness to them, we gave them a lot in that episode. We did like we, we went as far as they.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, not that fair. That's fair.

[Comfortably Smug]

They're only matching our energy.

[John Ashbrook]

It's a wonderful audience. Best audience out there.

[Josh Holmes]

Best audience in the world. We thank you for listening. We've got a great interview that is going to pick up where we left off in this Michigan discussion as it is a nationwide discussion about who's out there actually combating the dsa. Because it's not enough to just sort of like say they're psychos. Are they going to win? Psychos win. That's an crazy thing. Kaitlin Bledsoe, who is the spokesperson and vice president of the external affairs at AFP has got some stuff. Okay, so we have covered in great detail the rise of the dsa, the candidates the Democrats are nominating all over the country. Clearly this one today in Michigan is a big deal. But in order to sort of understand all of that, you also have to go to the ground. No better place to go than Kaitlin Bledsoe. She's a spokesperson and vice president, afp. How are you?

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

[Josh Holmes]

It's great to see you again. Listen, it seems like this, there's some scary stuff going on out there. And for the vast majority of us who deal with campaigns and elections over a series of years, Democrats have always had an extreme sort, but they're really kind of running the show at this point. What are your thoughts?

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, well, I couldn't agree with you you more. I mean, this is not a fringe movement. This is not a couple years ago where Bernie Sanders and AOC were, you know, running amok and having a good time and all of us were waving it off. A lot of there's A lot of touting of the DSA's recent numbers. 120,000. That's huge. But we also need to talk about the primaries that have happened at the state and federal level. Dozens of primary DSA candidates have won just this year. That's really impressive for them.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

DSA is also claiming that they in November are going to go from two to six members potentially, which is absolutely terrifying.

[Comfortably Smug]

Six.

[Josh Holmes]

Six members of the House.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

In the House, exactly. Yeah. So I mean, like I said, this is not a fringe moment anymore. This is a real political movement with an honest to God political agenda. That's absolutely crazy.

[Josh Holmes]

The squad, which you would say was DSA aligned but not. They, they didn't sort of like self identify as such, was so crazy that everybody called them the squad. You're talking about people that are further left than the squad. Potentially having six members of the House of Representatives next year.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, I think their goal is actually to out Squad. Squad. I mean these policies are just nuts, you guys. And we can talk about how crazy they are and all of that, but we can also think about, you know, these non DSA aligned members. When I was here last time, we talked about Governor Spanberg. Right. She was a moderate Democrat. She ran on that, she won on that. But let's look at her, her record this past legislative session. She introduced 50 tax increases. That is not a moderate Democrat. So we're not only dealing with these DSA candidates who are terrifying, but we're also dealing with a broader Democratic Party that just continues to go lefter and laughter and now there, there's little remorse. We're starting to see it. But you know what, they're on record and we need to hold them accountable and we need to ask questions.

[John Ashbrook]

Caitlin, Caitlin, if we can just go back to this Michigan Senate race for a minute. We talked a lot about it on the show and obviously the primary day is today. A while ago we interviewed Mike Rogers and Mike Rogers said that if he could just get two or three more votes in each precinct in the state of Michigan, then he comes out on top. I know that you guys, Josh mentioned earlier that you're on the ground. It is true. You've got people knocking doors all over the state of Michigan. I mean all over the country, but all over the state of Michigan. I wonder if you could just talk about everything that you guys are doing to make sure that that two or three voter number actually happens.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, well, first of all, Mike Rogers is doing an excellent job. He is such a great candidate and we're super Grateful for the work he's doing. He is really doing the work and that's what we have to do. A couple minutes ago I said, you know, we can talk about how fun it is that these people are crazy and insane, but you have to do the work. And right now we are unleashing our grassroots to do just that. We are giving them the resources they need, whether it's toolkits or talkers for town halls or when they're door knocking, to truly provide the contrast of what these DSA and far left candidates are preaching to the solutions that our AFPA candidates are preaching, which are pro competition, pro innovation deregulation. These policies that our candidates are backing are truly to empower for America and the next 200 future or 250 years. And when we talk to these persuadable voters and we do provide that contrast, 60% of them trend towards our candidates, which is great. So it's an uphill battle, but our grassroots are ready. They're incredibly fired up. This, these policies are everything AFP stands for to fight against. So our grassroots are incredibly fired up. They're ready to go, but there's a lot more work to be done.

[Comfortably Smug]

The hard part, it feels like in trying to combat the DSA with an alternative and better information is we are in a very populous moment in American politics. And like the top line sales pitch for a lot of these DSA and DSA aligned Democrats is a lot about, well, you know, the system is rigged against you. How do you feel? Fight back rhetorically on stuff like that. Because then you dig underneath it and it's like government run grocery stores. Right. It's like the same playbook they've used forever, these socialists. But the sales pitch has gotten a lot better, admittedly. So.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, I mean look, the, the moment they're capitalizing on isn't the wrong moment. There is a cost of living crisis. They're right about that. And when we talk to voters every day, it's been the number one issue since we started knocking doors doors months and months ago. So now we're more millions of doors in and that's all we hear about. So what they're trying to solve for isn't wrong. They just are doing a really good job there. It's much more slogan like though. And so when we talk to voters and we say like, hey, here's what they're saying, single payer healthcare. And then we walk through what that is and they're like, oh, that's scary. And then we offer them the Alternative, like healthcare savings accounts. Right. And they're like, oh, that sounds a bit better. So that's why it's really important that we don't just go the slogan route. We have to do the work and walk voters through what this is and what this is not and why it can't be their path.

[Josh Holmes]

And you guys have a full rollout of what you're doing specifically on this issue. Because, I mean, look, you. You've been involved in this forever, and you can see openings where there is an electorate that's open for business on the sloganeering that the DSA and others have, have promoted. But ultimately, we all know where it leads. Tell us a little bit about. Yeah, specifically what you guys are up to.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, so we launched a cost of living campaign earlier this year that really talked about the solutions that we see to addressing housing, energy prices, health care, kind of groceries, grocery costs more broadly. And that was really our rollout for this midterm cycle because we know we have to address that. We can't, can't not talk about it. Voters will be like, eh, go, you know, go pound sand. Rightfully so. So that was really the foundation and the basis for this midterm cycle. And then when we saw this momentum continue to build and build and build outside of New York State, we are now in Michigan, right. The Midwest, for a U.S. senate seat. And that was the massive inflection point where our grassroots said, enough's enough. Let us, let us go. Let us do the work and let us hold these candidates accountable. Let us call them out for what they are, are. We're not guessing anymore. Their policies are out there. They're a formal agenda. Right. I mean, and now some of them, when you ask them questions about these policies, they're just kind of like maybe, maybe, maybe later on, you know, they're even backtracking some of it. So we went from really talking about the number one issue to capitalizing on this moment saying, guys, it will only get worse if we don't do something about it. And we have to do there, and we have to get there in November.

[Comfortably Smug]

I feel like the. The situation with Mamdani in New York is like the pilot program for the DSA nationwide and all these congressional races and across Senate races, the country. What do you think we've learned so far from Mamdani and what he's doing in New York that we can use to educate voters in other places?

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

So I think we just need to continue to point that this is really real, that he's not joking. Around. These are not hypotheticals. He is putting these things into action. And we're starting to see, you know, when again, when you talk to voters across the country and, and talk about how this is bleeding outside of New York, the first gut reaction is like, wow, really? And then you start to talk about all these other races and all these other candidates and the, the formally rolled out DSA platform and they're kind of like, huh? And then you add on the alternative and they're like, okay, I get your point. And I'm a little more interested to show up, especially with base voters.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

And that's honestly the most important thing that we need to be doing right now is just getting especially base voters. One in five are saying maybe not for me this cycle and that that can't be a thing. So it's continuing to show them this is real and it's leveraging some of the proof points we're seeing come out of New York City.

[John Ashbrook]

It is real. And when you read through the DSA list of what they want, want, eliminate the Senate, eliminate the Supreme Court, like all of these ridiculous things. But you also look at what they're doing. You mentioned single payer health care. I can't help but notice what Mamdani is trying to do in New York with these grocery stores. To me it looks an awful lot like a setup for single source grocery shopping. And if you want to get groceries in this country, you have to have a special ID that's issued by one of his staffers.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

And it's. They want to control absolutely every aspect of your life. Just like what happened in the Soviet Union and other places where communism never worked. They won't call it communism, but we all know it's exactly what they're moving towards. So talk to us a little bit about the reticence that your average voter, maybe they're not necessarily a Republican, maybe they're sort of like a Democrat or left of center and they've got, you know, their own views on how things work in our country. Talk to us a little bit about the reaction you're getting from voters, you know, specifically in Michigan to some of this stuff that Mamdani is doing.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, I mean, to your point, it's. Their policies are just control, control, control. But when talking with more of the persuadable independents, I think that what we noticed over a few months ago is they're very open right now, which means that's an opening for us to go in and tell them all the reasons they shouldn't support These candidates, I think specifically in Michigan, what they're starting to see, especially with the, the difference between the gubernatorial candidate who by, by no means is moderate, also very left, but by no means the same as our comrade El said. You know, I think that they're starting to see, huh, is this the direction the Democratic Party is going?

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

And I think that's going to be the biggest insight coming out of this primary is is this the way that the party is trending? And if so, they should be asked if I'm a Democratic voter, I'm asking that question to every single candidate and every single person in leadership. Is this where we're going? And then does that resonate with you?

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, it's, it's weird because, you know, we were on Fox News Sunday and talking about this Michigan race and in the Trump era, the Democrats have definitely made gains in the suburbs and places like suburbs of Detroit. But the profile of the candidates in which they've done that is far different than an Al said. It was Melissa Slotkin. It was Haley Stevens. Haley Stevens, right. And so it's interesting to see a statewide candidate in the Midwest, a place like Michigan, be this far left. I, I can't, I can't think of another time that's worked.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah, I mean it's not like we didn't see it. We should have seen this coming. Right. He has been doing DDSA steps in 2017. I mean this has been building and building.

[Josh Holmes]

He's not a mystery.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

He's not a mystery. This is not an unknown. And I think it's just a of lot of us didn't take it seriously.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well and the constituency certainly does exist for DSA aligned candidates in places like the Midwest. I mean Bernie did really well in that Democratic primary in 2016 in a lot of Midwestern states. It's just like how does that resonate beyond the primary? Hopefully not.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Well, I think the biggest question is is the direction of the party and the leadership infrastructure. I mean these candidates, or lack thereof, arguably, but because we, these candidates don't have to win 50% of Americans, they just have to win their primary to start to really influence that infrastructure and direction.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I think it goes back to your point also about, you know, they might want to increase their House membership to just six members. That doesn't sound like a lot if you're listening or watching this.

[Josh Holmes]

Unless it's a closely divided House.

[Comfortably Smug]

But if it's a closely divided House where there's a four seat majority or a six seat majority, those DSA Members would be able to hold Hakeem Jeffries hostage in a Democratic House House to get all of their agenda into legislation. Otherwise it's going nowhere.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Also, like, look, you get in midterms, you get a lot of, like, protests set out or protests vote the other way. Because you just don't. You're not satisfied with the direction of the country. But when you're dealing with concrete issues like this, which either will attempt. Attempt to be enacted or, or just a foothold in what they would do in a 2028 and beyond, how do you convince voters that this, this is not one of those show elections where you just kind of like, show up and vote the other way because you don't like the current direction or you don't show up at all because you don't like the current direction. Like, this is ideologically, regardless of where you are and approval ratings and everything else, super important for the rest of your life.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

I mean, we point to past policies that have been put into law, whether it was the IRA or with Spanberger. I mean, in other states, there are these policies that are passing.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

And we speak to, you know, a lot of times once they are passed, there's buyers or more, some of the voters who put them in there.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

And so we just continue to point to that and point out, you know, if these candidates who are up against RFPA candidates, candidates win, this is what we will be looking at. They're not joking around. This is serious.

[Josh Holmes]

And they're controlling, increasingly controlling the Democratic Party ideology. We talked a lot about the Biden nomination initially in 2020, and part of the devil's deal on that was essentially you get everybody's sort of like Kyle Round Joe Biden and get the Bernie crew to sort of be pacified. Except for then the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders view was going to be the policy going forward. And increasingly, you mentioned Spamberger. That's the mode of the Democratic Party. They want to get somebody who will lie to you convincingly, but the policy is really indistinguishable from what the DSA and other candidates are talking about.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Yeah. And I think also, I mean, this has never been a more left party. Kamala Harris. Harris, her speech the other day, I mean, totally aligning with what we're talking about right now with these crazy policies. And it's like there's this void right now in leadership, and when that happens, it's just going to be sucked in by these super bad policies and bad candidates. And I think, you know, again, I Keep saying, if I'm a Democratic voter, I'm scratching my head being like, what the hell is. How did. How do we get here? I mean, this is crazy. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, you heard people like James Carville being like, this party's my party.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think he said it's either me or Hasan Piker.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Comfortably Smug]

We can't both be in this party

[Josh Holmes]

and the Democratic primary voters are saying piker.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, that's basically where we are. You got your work cut out for you. I can't thank you enough for doing the work that you and AFP are doing across this country, because this has more gravity than people would ever imagine. Kaitlyn Bledsoe, thank you so much for joining us.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Thanks, guys.

[Josh Holmes]

Appreciate it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Thank you.

[Kaitlin Bledsoe]

Always fun to be here.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, I always love hearing from her because she's got over a thousand people out at the doors every single day all over the country, and they are getting that feedback in real time. And so they know how real people are reacting to this stuff. It's not like a push to react to this poll. It's not a push to react to this ad. It is an interaction between a person at the door and a person answering the door. And I feel like there's a lot of value you in that.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, it's going to be important. I mean, if you. The Rona clip we played. Right. Or like the Bernie Sanders clip, whenever they're asked a question about what the DSA actually supports, they always bait and switch to something else. Well, he just wants to give you free health care. Yeah, right. Or he just wants to stop the oligarchs in politics. And, like, America is in this populist moment with the rise of Donald Trump. And that pitch is certainly attractive. So it's nice that there's people out there, like AFP at the doors talking to these voters and being like, all right, well, let's go through the finer points of what free health care looks like. You know what I mean? Because, like, that's going to be important as we sort of bat down some of this rhetoric.

[John Ashbrook]

No question. Because it's extremely seductive and nothing's free.

[Josh Holmes]

No question. Great interview from Caitlin. We always appreciate when she comes in. Remember, our question of the day, is Michigan a canary in the coal mine for Democratic candidate quality? Is it going to have an impact on the midterm elections? You tell us when you like. And subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program. We read them all and get back to the very next episode with that. Fellas, I think we did it.

[Michael Duncan]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, thank you so much to Kaitlin Bludsoe and thank you to the listeners. Remember, if you have not yet, go to the YouTube and hit that subscribe because it's more fun in video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line, and on the libs, we'll see you Thursday. Stay ruthless.