As TBOR Action President John Pudner continues his nationwide radio tour, he visited Des Moines, Iowa, in the heart of the presidential hopeful territory, to analyze presidential candidate Nikki Haley's recently proposed age-based cognitive test for political candidates and, more specifically, how her highlighting the issue of term limits is part of a wider movement from both voters and long-established politicians that is continuing to gain serious momentum across our Republic.
To learn more about TBOR Action's efforts on term limits, please click here.
The following transcript from this interview is presented in its entirety with minor edits:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
senator, Biden, incumbency, politicians, mutually assured destruction.
SPEAKERS
Jeff Angelo, John Pudner
Jeff Angelo 00:00
Nikki Haley has declared her candidacy for president and the theme of her opening speech was that it is time for a new generation of leadership, and to highlight that, she's called for politicians over the age of 75 to take a mental competency test before running for office. John Pudner is on the line, he is the President of the Take Back Our Republic Action. John, welcome back to Iowa radio.
John Pudner 00:30
Hey, thanks for fitting me in between these presidential visits every couple of days now.
Jeff Angelo 00:35
Yeah, they are man, they're starting to roll through next week. And here's what's funny...so Nikki's come into a state where we have an 89-year-old US senator named Chuck Grassley, so how effective, John, do you think that... I know what she's doing here, she's saying she's part of a new generation, so it makes sense to me that she would call for this, but do you think it plays with the electorate?
John Pudner 01:00
Yeah, I wasn't sure when I first heard it. I wondered if it was a mistake, and assumed it was prepared, obviously, as part of her announcements. But, I think it actually played pretty well, and the timing was impeccable. I mean, the fact that then Thursday, they released Joe Biden's physical reports with all kinds of details, but the sentence that made the mainstream media was that the summary made no mention of whether Biden underwent any cognitive tests sometimes given to people of his age. So, you know, the timing was great for her on that one.
Jeff Angelo 01:31
I just think that there's a point, John, and I know this may make some of my more seasoned listeners. that's I'll refer to them, a little bit upset, but it is about leading toward the future, and you start taking a look at the folks who are in Congress right now. and look, Senator Grassley, let me say this, is mentally sharp, physically sharp, I talk to him all the time, I get it, but at the same time, boy, you wonder about when is it the next generation's turn to lead? And I do think voters may take that into consideration, don't you think?
John Pudner 02:07
They do. As a matter of fact, a majority, when you dig into poll numbers, are saying both Biden and Trump are too old. That's not disqualifying, some of the same people will vote for Trump or for Biden, but they do think they are too old. It is a consideration, and I think the sizzle of the news story, of course, was her throwing this out, the real policy was term limits. Term limits are something that, I think, are actually going to finally happen in the coming years, because I think a lot of the electeds are getting tired of having to keep running and never going back to normal life. There's so much pressure. I mean, you look at this year, Nate Silver just did a thing on if the Democrats are doomed in the Senate. I mean, they're protecting 10 seats, so it really looks tough for the Democrats in two years, and no one can retire, because you're under so much pressure from the party to not move on, to be the incumbent, to try to just win with incumbency. So, I think there's quietly some support among politicians for term limits.
Jeff Angelo 03:04
I think that's such an interesting point, John, and of course, it brings to mind yesterday's news that Senator Fetterman up in Pennsylvania, who suffered a stroke before the campaign and they dragged that poor man through the campaign, now is suffering from clinical depression. I mean, there is a lot of pressure, John, isn't there in politics on people to just run and run and, 'Hey, man, if you're the person to win, sacrifice everything and just run." So, it's an interesting point, John, that term limits would actually be a relief to some politicians.
John Pudner 03:40
You know, Ron Johnson here in Wisconsin, where I am, he definitely was done. I mean, wanted to check out, but with a 50/50 Senate, he didn't want to do that to the party. He won by 26,000 votes as an incumbent who certainly has incumbency advantages, and then you look at Murkowski in Alaska, where every Alaskan got a $3,500 check from the government two months out, gotta give credit for a lot of things that happen, and it's mutually assured destruction. You can't quit after a couple of terms if the other party's people are all running again.
Jeff Angelo 04:14
That's such a great point. Really great insight today from our friend John Pudner. John, thanks very much for joining me again.
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