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July 1, 2024 - Doug Collins Podcast
24:31
This Election Starts After Labor Day
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You want to listen to a podcast?
By who?
Georgia GOP Congressman Doug Collins.
How is it?
The greatest thing I have ever heard in my whole life.
I could not believe my ears.
In this house, wherever the rules are disregarded, chaos and mob rule.
It has been said today, where is bravery?
I'll tell you where bravery is found and courage is found.
It's found in this minority who has lived through the last year of nothing but rules being broken, people being put down, questions not being answered, and this majority say, be damned with anything else.
We're going to impeach and do whatever we want to do.
Why?
Because we won an election.
I guarantee you, one day you'll be back in the minority and it ain't gonna be that fun.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Doug Collins Podcast, another edition.
I've got a great guest just after the break.
One of my former colleagues, Lee Zeldin, one of the best guys you're going to find, one of the guys you want to see in Congress, one of those guys you want to see in public politics, period.
Great background in New York.
Should be governor of New York.
Most of us feel that way.
He put a run a couple years ago into that.
It really showed the way, I think, for what the Trump campaign and what many Republicans are now doing.
Uh, in blue states and basically taking issues and real issues and taking them to voters who, uh, are now getting their news from a lot of other mainstream, other than mainstream media.
So, uh, Lee has been a great advocate for, uh, work at that.
He was with me on the sham impeachments and the first impeachments and just dealing with a lot of things.
Glad to have Lee on.
Lee and I also work with AFPI and AFW, the America First Works and America First Policy Institute, getting ready for policy and hopefully in the next Trump administration.
And so we're looking forward to having a good conversation with him today.
We'll see him right after the break and we'll be ready to go.
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All right.
Hey, everybody.
As I promised you, here's Lee Zeldin.
Lee, welcome to the show.
Glad to have you, buddy.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Good to see you.
It's good to see you too.
We're ending up on more phone calls and more Zoom calls than you and I think ever thought existed a few years ago.
Yeah, now listen, there's a lot to talk about.
It's crunch time.
A lot of people looking at November 5th as a date of an election.
My message to everybody out there is this election starts right after Labor Day.
And with early voting in all these states across the country, these last few weeks are going to go by really quickly.
So we can't take anything for granted.
Everyone out there who's watching, if you care about the future of this country, understand the stakes maybe never have been any higher.
We can't delay.
We have to do everything in our power starting right now.
Well, and I think that's one of the things, Lee, you and I have talked about a lot, is we've got to go.
I'm sort of tired of Republicans, and we've seen this before, and you and I sat in those NRCC meetings, and we've talked about it, and when you ran for governor, I ran for Senate and others, you see the different aspects of people out there.
Republicans have, for too long, had gotten to where I think we were too...
Not open enough to say, look, our message can play anywhere.
It may not play in the percentages we like in some of our home, you know, districts, but we've got to win state elections and national elections.
You've got to appeal to those who don't always agree with you.
I think what you've just said that there is how we do that.
Working with what you're seeing in the election, America First Works, I'm doing here in Georgia, you're looking at, we're both looking at national.
What are you seeing is working right now?
And is it a lot of it simply being able to focus on a Biden team that is basically tone deaf to some of these issues?
Well, first off, to your point about speaking to voters who haven't voted Republican in the past, we're seeing out with President Trump's campaign.
He did a great rally in the South Bronx.
He was in Detroit recently as well, giving a great speech at Turning Point, but also before that, Engaging at a local church inside the city.
He was in Philadelphia a week later, and he will continue to get inside of blue areas.
I think that our party needs to be doing that all across this entire country.
As you pointed out, maybe it won't be at times with certain groups to the margins that we would want.
But I would say that for some of these groups, we've actually hit that point where we can win certain groups right now, this November.
We're seeing it with the Asian community, the Hispanic community, specifically inside the Dominican community.
Right now, with the Black community, there's been a movement in the right direction.
The Orthodox Jewish community, we're talking about Democrat constituencies That are all moving to the right, but they're not going to just go right on their own.
We're going to have to show up.
And we're going to have to talk to them about our issues that are really transcending partisan politics for that targeted voter.
I think that a lot of Republican candidates, conservatives might be pleasantly surprised that these Democratic voters in many cases will be waiting with open arms.
They want to hear what we have to say.
So show up and don't be afraid to explain why we have conservative solutions to fix those problems.
As opposed to some Republican candidate or conservative candidate showing up thinking that they need to just be a Democrat light.
Yeah.
To earn that voter's support.
No.
The reason why they are listening to what you have to say, the reason why they wanted you to show up is that they don't want any more democratic policies because it's making their streets less safe, their schools worse, harder to survive, attacks on freedom.
They want conservative solutions, not Democrat-like.
Exactly.
And I think that's one of the things that we also got to get back, Lee, and we sort of talked about this, you and I, before.
We've got to also get back to where we're not afraid to be a party that has ideas.
We've got to have, it seemed like, well, for a while, the media and everybody else was saying, you know, you're just, you know, if you think conservative, you're either in the bigoted lane, you're in the, you know, ostracized lane.
And the reality is, is conservative ideas like, you know, Good economy, inflation keeping down, jobs.
Those are things that appeal no matter what your skin color background or where you come from.
And we can't be afraid to put out conservative solutions.
Like you said, they've heard the other for so long.
What do they have to lose by at least listening to another alternative?
If you are a parent, your kid is in some poor performing public school, trapped in multi-generational poverty, They don't want to hear more of the same about, no, everything's fine inside of your public school.
It's just perception.
That parent knows that there's an issue inside of the school, and they see some charter school that's a half mile down the road where their kids are attending classes more, they're performing better on tests, they're graduating at a higher rate, they're having more success after graduation.
They want to know how they can get their kid into a better school.
So for us to show up, be bold, courageous in talking about your solution to get that kid out of a poor-performing public school and into a better option for that parent.
Their kid's education transcends blind partisan loyalty.
If they work at a local bodega in the Bronx or in Manhattan, as we saw President Trump stopping by Jose Alba's bodega where he was attacked, if you're concerned about crime, Then, when we show up about what is wrong with the Democratic policies, like in New York, it's cashless bail, and they call it Less Is More, Raise the Age, and Clean Slate Act.
These are names of pro-criminal laws that have been passed by Democrats in the New York State Legislature.
They want to know what we're going to do to go in a very different direction to prioritize law-abiding New Yorkers, law-abiding Americans, to back our men and women in law enforcement, to elect prosecutors who are actually committed towards prosecuting the laws, as opposed to people like Alvin Bragg, who doesn't prosecute all sorts of crimes across the board and downgrades all sorts of other offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.
And the exception, of course, being if you happen to be chief political opposition to the Democratic Party, then all of a sudden, then you want to prosecute and actually make up new paths towards trying to put political opponents in prison.
So this is not the approach for that person who cares about safety on their way to or working inside of that bodega in a place like New York City.
These are issues inside of blue cities all across the entire country.
Whether you're talking about homelessness, mental health, and just the overall ability to afford to survive, bringing down housing costs, making it easier to purchase your first home, tackling household debt, they're tired of being lectured by Joe Biden in this White House that everything is doing great, trying to be talked out of what is, for that voter, their reality.
It's important for conservatives to show up Saying, we understand what your reality is.
We're not trying to convince you that your reality is anything other than what you know it to be.
Here are our ideas of how we want to work with you to make life for you better.
Yeah, and I think two things that recently came up in New York that I think play into what you're talking about that can be applied in other places.
And he's talking about a traditional, stronger democratic groups.
Number one, just a little bit ago, Jamal Bowman lost in a primary group.
Heavily influenced by the Orthodox Jewish community in that area because of his issues and stance, which I think put them out of mainstream with definitely most of the world.
And then also, you mentioned Alvin Bragg.
Again, people outside of New York may not recognize the fact that he downgraded a lot of felonies to misdemeanors, but yet he had to stretch to find a felony to get Donald Trump in.
Does that show, again, that openness that you're talking about, especially when you take out a former member of the squad, that local politics matter and people need to get involved because they can have a difference in their community?
Yeah, that's right.
If you don't participate, then you end up with a new member of the squad.
Yep.
If you are outraged and you want to use your voice, you want to use your vote, you want to maximize your power, well, you have to show up and make sure that voice is heard.
There are a lot of people who complain the day after an election about what happened the day before, and then they didn't actually vote.
You have to earn the right to complain.
You earn it by voting.
You want to have even more of a right to complain?
Go out and volunteer.
Knock on doors.
Make calls.
At America First Works, where you and I have been working on some really important projects for this November, we have been activating a grassroots door-to-door campaign in targeted counties and states across the country, including a bunch of counties right there in Georgia where you are.
And I very much appreciate your leadership on the ground We have some great county coordinators now.
We have amazing door knockers.
That type of hard work, I believe, is needed across the country in targeted areas to be able to get the vote out.
We can't rest.
We can't just hope and be optimistic.
And I really don't want to hear anyone guaranteeing red wave, red tsunami And do nothing to actually make sure it happens.
I'm all for being optimistic.
I'm an optimistic person often on many things.
But for some people, they use their optimism as an excuse to do nothing.
And right now, nobody has an excuse to do nothing.
Yeah, I'm an optimistic realist.
I mean, you can be optimistic, but you've got to be a realist.
You've got to get out and actually do the work.
You've got to actually get it out and going.
And what you're doing with AFW and across the country in these targeted counties is going to play a difference because we're also seeing, frankly, the Trump team is taking on very much that same similar attack, making sure that we're targeting the voters, we're getting the places that we need activated.
One of the things that is coming up, you made a mention of people who don't vote, you know, don't complain.
You know, I tell people all the time, if you didn't vote, shut up.
I don't want to talk to you.
I mean, because you forfeited, right?
You served in the Army.
I'm serving in the Air Force.
We both serve.
You know, and I just don't have a lot of tolerance for people who willingly complain but don't vote.
And I mean, if that's you and you're listening to this podcast, they get mad, get upset, I don't care, go vote.
And I think, you know, and then you punch your entry-level ticket into the I'll gripe about who wins category.
In looking at that, one of the things, Lee, and I'd like to get your take on this, as we go from policy-wise and getting the boots on the ground, this is the longest general election we've ever experienced in our country.
The longest one.
I mean, we had earliest debates.
We've had earliest everything.
I'm concerned, and I know you talked to a lot of Republicans, conservatives as well, that are sort of what you were talking about.
They think everything's going to be fine.
Trump will just walk away with this.
Biden's incapable.
And the reality is you made a comment earlier in this podcast that said September 1.
As much as everybody's focused on it, you know, those last 60 to 80 days are very important.
And that's when a lot of the undecideds will make up their mind.
Talk to people about the fact that what maybe looks like one campaign now could be a very different campaign in the fall of having to get people out to vote.
I was elected 10 years ago to Congress, and if you asked me at this point, 10 years ago, what the top three issues were going to be in the fall, I would have gotten them wrong.
All of us would have gotten it wrong.
I remember at the end of July, everyone started talking about unaccompanied immigrant minors coming across the southern border.
In August, everyone started talking about this new terrorist group overseas in the Middle East called ISIS. In September, everyone started talking about Ebola.
And then the top three issues going into debates that fall were three issues that in June of 2014, no one would have really been able to identify if you asked them where things were heading.
So for all of us out there, especially as you're messaging to the undecided voters who are in our family, their friends, their neighbors, what we're seeing right now is that their top issues are related to the economy and inflation, Crime and the border.
And the Democrats don't want to talk really about any of these issues.
They want to change the topic and talk about other issues that might be fifth, eighth, or twelfth down that list.
I would encourage people to be out there talking to voters about what they identify as their most important issues.
It's possible that with current events that something might change and The conversation goes in a different direction at some point between now and November.
But right now is the time to start having that conversation.
Because as you just stated at the beginning of your question, and you referenced September 1st, there are states like Pennsylvania where they have universal mail-in balloting.
These ballots are going to go out right after Labor Day.
In Nevada, they've legalized ballot harvesting by Republicans boycotting ballot harvesting in 2022. We lost a Senate seat.
You've seen in Georgia how important it is to lean into the laws that are on the books and to do them, the mechanics of campaigning, as effective as possible.
Yeah, you got to.
And I say this all the time.
And I speak, just like you do, I speak to groups, GOP groups.
I speak to others all the time.
And I say, look, if it's legal, do it.
And I use the example down here.
I mean, because we're down here in SEC football country, when I'm down here talking about it, I'll say, look, it would be about like, you know, Kirby Smart and the University of Georgia going out and saying, look, we're not going to throw any passes.
It's legal, but we're not going to throw any passes.
We're just simply going to run and we're going to do this.
And I said, that's like a campaign.
You know, saying, well, we're only going to show up the day of or we're only going to do X. No, if it's legal, do it.
And the other part is, Lee, I think we've got to get very honest with our voters again, especially in areas that have been traditionally Republican and they've gotten complacent.
Is quit griping about what Democrats do.
If it's legal to pick somebody up and take them to the poll, then why aren't you?
If it's legal to help them get a ballot, why aren't you?
And I think those are the kind of questions.
Do you see a more receptive face now from our Republican counterparts after what we've experienced for the last couple of cycles?
Yeah, what we have seen is from state to state, there's been a local impact of an elections law change where once a loss ends up happening, you get past an election, you do your post-mortem, and you realize that tactics have to change.
We saw that in 2018 in California.
They had legalized ballot harvesting.
The state house delegation got drastically cut down.
And the Republicans in California decide, okay, you know what?
We have to do things differently in 2020. And they started trying to do ballot harvesting better than the Democrats.
Make the Democrats regret legalizing these laws in the first place.
Well, we ended up picking up House seats in California in 2020. After 2022, when people realized that snowstorm hit Reno, it cost us the Senate seat.
We should have leaned more into early voting.
I hope that they've learned their lessons.
Same thing in Pennsylvania.
There was a special election that took place this past February.
Determined control of the state house in Pennsylvania.
And going into the election day, We had already lost.
We were many, many, many dozens of points down because the Democrats have leaned into universal mail-in balloting.
You have to learn your lessons ideally before it burns you at the ballot box, but shame on you if it burns you at the ballot box more than once.
And really, at this point, you should learn your lessons of how it's impacted Republican candidates in other states elsewhere because that lesson is coming to you.
You can either get with the program right now Or you wait until after you lose, it's too late, then you say, oh, we better get it right for next time.
I mean, I think that no state in America should have ballot harvesting legalized.
If you want to legalize ballot harvesting, I want to do it better than the Democrats in that state and make you regret it.
I don't think universal mail-in balloting should be legal in any state in America.
But if you're going to legalize it, to your point, if it's legal, do it better than the Democrats and make them regret legalizing it.
I think that voter ID should be in all 50 states, and we should fight for it.
We should fight for what we want the election law to be, what we believe the election law should be to make it easier to vote, harder to cheat.
When election day is showing up, or what is now election months, not even just election weeks, start planning ahead.
As you get now, the end of June, beginning of July, convention is going to be here.
People are focusing on summer.
Kids are out of school.
Before you know it, it's going to be Labor Day.
It will be.
And Lee, I think that's the, you know, wrapping up here on this, one of the things that we always talk about, and you mentioned it very well, that, you know, the debate, the circus stances around the issues will change.
And again, it's an eternity when you're still 100 and, what, 40-something days out, something like that, I think, in the roundabout number.
So you've still got a long way to go.
I think the one thing that I would see That we've got to continue to focus is be vigilant in this.
And if you, as you're looking at it, are there anything that if you're sitting back right now, just sort of a hypothetical, what is something that concerns you That we're seeing maybe Republicans not doing right now or conservatives not doing or something that we could be doing better.
If you had sort of one thing that sort of for the countrywide, what do we need to be doing?
Well, for one, we need more door knockers.
We need more people to step up, whether you're signing up to be a volunteer or you're Willing to leave your job for a few months to go work and get paid on these campaign efforts?
Or maybe you're in between jobs right now and you're even more available than someone who would have to leave a position.
We need more people stepping up and doing the hard work.
AmericaFirstWorks.com is one place for people to go to sign up and get involved.
If you support a local candidate, maybe in your area for the House or state legislature or Senate or governor or the presidential race, go to these websites.
Go to DonaldJTrump.com and sign up.
You have $5?
Go to DonaldJTrump.com and send $5 if you support President Trump.
Or you could send $5 to your local candidate for state legislature or for Congress if you're in a position to do so.
And a lot of people aren't.
But if you can, the biggest thing that concerns me is that there are a lot of people who feel like things are trending in a particular direction where their time, energy, and effort is not going to make a difference.
And I would say this, if everyone had that attitude, we would lose every race every time.
You can't just rely on everyone else to be doing the hard work because the rest of us are relying on you to do your part.
There are tens of millions of Americans who are committed to saving this country with our vote in November.
We need everyone to actually vote, everyone to step up and fight for your rights, for your family, for your community, for your country, because we don't want four more years of Joe Biden.
We want to close the border.
We want an economy that allows prosperity and upper mobility for all.
We want school choice and a quality education for our kids.
Everything that we are fighting for is only possible.
You asked me what keeps me up at night?
Everything that we are fighting for is only possible if we have more people committed tomorrow than we have active today.
Yep, I agree.
Folks, Lee Zeldin, great friend.
He'll be back on the show.
We'll have him back on more.
We can dig deep into some other issues, especially dealing with Congress and some of the other things that have been going on.
Lee, thanks for all your hard work.
I know you and I will be back on another call actually later today.
But we work together all the time.
Folks, you don't get a better one than Lee and his family.
Just the work that they've done, continuing to look up as we go forward.
That's it for all we have right now on the podcast.
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