President John Pudner traveled down south to Birmingham, Alabama as part of his ongoing radio tour as Fox News’ radio analyst, dissecting Tim Walz’s ascendency to becoming the Democratic party’s vice presidential candidate, the implications it has on the race going forward, and what the pick says about not only Kamala Harris’ executive decision-making, but also about the divisions and movements growing throughout our Republic.
More specifically, Pudner highlights the emergence of the “Uncommitted” movement, a growing pro-Palestinian coalition within left-leaning circles aimed toward forcing Democratic candidates to call for and work towards an immediate ceasefire through legislation, diplomacy, divestment from companies tied to Israel, and public condemnation of the Israeli government and it’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Not only have they had an effect throughout the party, with over 100,000 votes and two DNC delegates cast for the movement in Michigan, but prominent Democrats in swing states, including Wisconsin, have publicly noted their success and gained the support of Congressional members including Rashida Talib. However, no decision will have a greater impact this fall than the pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, cited by many as being due to concerns about Shapiro’s Jewish lineage and open support for Israel throughout the war in Gaza.
Pudner and host J.T. discuss the decision to pick Tim Walz, the rise of the "Uncommitted" and pro-Palestinian movements within the Democratic party, and concerning trends within both parties as our Republic races towards a consequential election day this November.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Uncommitted, Walz, Shapiro, Squad, democrats, pick, Michigan, Israel, Kamala Harris
SPEAKERS
J.T. and TBOR Action President John Pudner
J.T. 00:00
Joining us now is John Pudner to talk a little bit more about this, president of Take Back Our Republic Action, and also a Buch 2000 aide. John, I gotta say this guy is left of left, and even approved, and wanted, and mandated tampons in boy's bathrooms in schools, economy, immigration, energy, everything. This guy is overboard.
John Pudner 00:20
Yes, he is. You make a decision in campaigns at this stage - do I need to be rallying my base or do I need to be reaching out to the middle? Obviously, this decision was made that, even though they have rallied their base the past couple of weeks over the excitement of Biden not running, they still feel like their base is going to fall apart, and that Josh Shapiro might have done that because he's too pro-Israel, etc. This is a base move, and it's interesting that we're talking about this right after another member of the Squad, anti-Israeli Squad lost a congressional primary, so they're just going to the base, and they're going to turn it out versus persuading in the middle. That seems to be the strategy.
J.T. 01:05
Well after the attempted assassination of President Trump and then showing up at the RNC, there was a monster, grand slam, home run hit for the Republicans, with both of those incidents taking place in a crest of just enthusiasm sweeping the nation. And then, Joe Biden decides he's done, we're going to appoint, without voters weighing in, Kamala Harris as the candidate for Democrats. And now, the flurry of excitement comes in the form of millions of dollars, they're starting to get all jazzed about it, and she experienced a wave. Is this instance of picking Tim Walz as a far lefty to be her VP pick the reset that Donald Trump needed?
John Pudner 01:57
It could be. It says that they weren't confident that the base was there forever, and so they had to go there. A Shapiro pick would have made Pennsylvania very difficult, I think, for Trump to come back and win, popular governor there, but they didn't go there. So, even though they've got this week or two of enthusiasm, and she certainly looks strong in the polls, looks 50/50 if it were today, and the question is can she keep that momentum going? They felt that to keep it going, they had to keep all their progressives who were out knocking on doors all over the country excited. So yeah, Trump needs to take advantage of the fact that a lot of the outreach that was done through the RNC convention right here in Milwaukee, that's the chance to grab the middle again.
J.T. 02:48
But is it the middle? Are they going after what has now become the base of the Democratic Party, or is the socialist Squad, the left side of it who she's catering to still a minority part of the Democratic Party? What is the Democratic Party today? Is it more centric, or is it extremely left as far as it can go? I'm hearing from some Democrats that, on some of that Squad stuff, they're not buying into it.
John Pudner 03:13
They're definitely not and I think the Democrats felt like, for their ticket, boy, we're seeing young people go away, young left to center thinking we're not liberal enough. Anytime a party this late is having to try to solidify their base, that's not usually good for a party, you kind of want to do that when you're fighting, doing your primary battles, and everything else, and really reach out more to the center. I think they're trapped where they can't do it. They have the lesser of two evils in their mind. They go with Shapiro, and suddenly, people in Michigan, again, who are really pro-Hamas, they're more worried about losing a few percent there, and that cost them Michigan, and that's what they think was happening in Michigan. That's the real opportunity - they had to go left with this pick in their minds and hope that means Trump can grab the center and center-right.
J.T. 04:11
Well, in your mind, do you believe that the Squad style of the Democratic Party is growing in number in the moderate part of the Democratic Party is shrinking?
John Pudner 04:21
It's not that it's a majority or anything, it's just that if you've kind of got your 10%, let's just say it's 10% for argument's sake, and half of them aren't voting, that's what the Democrats can't lose. They can't lose 10% they were counting on and have that become 5 or 6%. They're they're playing to the fringe because they cannot lose them. Doesn't mean it's a representative of their party. I'm sure they're a lot of Democrats who wish the party had gotten that far left, who wish it wasn't considered such a negative to support Israel, like Shapiro did, but I think they're stuck.
J.T. 05:02
All right, well, it's soon to be seen exactly how much of the moderate base may say they're out, but it still, to me, feels like even though they not, might not agree with the Squad side of things, that moderate Democrats in this country are still going to be voting blue no matter who. All right. John Pudner, thank you, buddy.
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