November 12, 2025 • 46 mins
Tejano singer and Latin Grammy winner Bobby Pulido spent decades onstage, but now he has a new challenge: politics. In this wide-ranging conversation, the Tejano music icon talks about what’s at stake for his community and how his career in music has prepared him for public service.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the moment.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Cork Ramos and I'm Pala Ramos.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Okay, So that I was in the Rio Grand Valley
in Texas a couple of weeks ago. Of course, the
real Grand Valley is right along the southern border. And
there's this name that keeps coming up, Bobby Pulito.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
There's Pancarta's everywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
People in Deli's are talking about this guy, and so,
who is this person?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
No, he is.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
He's an actor, he's a singer, he's a Latin Grammy
Award winner, he's Tejano, he's native from Texas, and he's
running for office jos A.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So what's so interesting is that suddenly the announcement surprised
everyone that he's stepping away from music to get into
politics right now in Texas, not as a Republican, as
a Democrat.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And so he's doing something that many think is pretty hard.
He's ring for the fifteenth congressional district in Texas, which
is now currently held by Monegai la Guduz, who's a Republican. Now,
she did something pretty historic. Monegay la Guduz flipped the
fifteenth Congressional district and became one of the first Republicans
in decades, I believe, since like nineteen oh three to
(01:18):
flip that district from Democrat to Republican. And so we're
talking about this traditionally and historic blue district that is
now suddenly up for play because someone like Bobbi Bullido
has this name recognition, and so many Democrats, not just
in Texas but across the country are thinking that perhaps
a Tejano music singer, maybe he is the chance that
(01:41):
Democrats have been waiting for to once again flip this
district back to them.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, but the Republicans, I mean, they want to keep
it because they want to show that they're making big
gains with a Latino community. But Democrats say this is symbolic.
I mean, if Bobbi Pulita can't make it, then maybe
Texas is going to show some science that is that
is changing, that is moving slightly to the left.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So that's the question that we have for Bobby today.
Can he prevents this right word shift towards Trump? And
also I'm wondering why run now, you know, why leave
his incredible music career and get into a politics that
seems pretty messy at the national level. And is this
what the what Democrats have been waiting for the last
(02:26):
four years.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
So our conversation with Bobby Bulo and when we come back, Bobby,
welcome to the moment. It is great talking to you.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Welcome Bobby, you mentor longtime fan, longtime fan.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I can say exactly the same, not just as So
you know, Bobby, when when we learned that you want
to get into politics, I was I was going to
use a fancy work perplex, but I didn't know exactly why.
I mean, you're a Tejano icon, you have Grammys. I
(03:05):
noticed that you're promoting your latest album, Bob Polito and
Friends Unatuya Yama. So you've had a successful career in
music for more than three decades. So why why get
into politics? And why now?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
You know a lot of people don't know. But I
was a political science major before I became a singer,
So I was really studious growing up. I had got
an academic scholarship to go to attend Saint Marriage University
in San Antonio, And you know, I always wanted to
be a lawyer. That was my goal. I didn't want
(03:40):
to be a singer, and I ended up, you know,
recording a song with my dad because I didn't want
to be a singer, but he wanted me to sing
a song with him. And I got two offers from
two record labels, Capital Emi and Sony, and I ended
up negotiating my contract and renegotiating my others who was
(04:00):
also a singer. I negotiated his contract as a college student,
and you know, I was broke and the money was
really good, and I told I told my dad, look,
I never sang professionally. I said, I'm going to try it.
I'm going to do my best that I can. But
and if the worst case scenario it doesn't work out,
(04:22):
I can go back to college with money. And so
my first album went platinum and so the rest is history.
And so I've been at this thirty years already, and
you know, it's been it's been a great ride. But
I reached the point where I'm starting. I'm fifty two
years old and starting to reflect on my life and
(04:43):
what do I want my life to mean and what
world do I want to leave my kids with Now
where we're at it this time and place, I really
feel like our democracy is in danger. There's issues that
are very, very worrisome to me, and it's very important
that we have somebody that represents our district, that represents
(05:04):
our values and doesn't have party loyalty like the person
that's in there right now. I you know, she will
do absolutely everything that they tell her to do. It
doesn't matter if she if she votes against her people.
And so I think that that's not what a good
representative should do.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And Bobby, you're talking about money, guy La Gurus.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Yes, yeah, she wrote
she wrote a letter the Speaker of the House. You know,
we have in the real Grand Valley, we have a
lot of poverty, and there's a lot of people on
Medicaid and a lot of Medicare. That's like the majority
of all the things. She wrote a letter to the
Speaker of the House before this big bad bill that
they passed, and wrote a letter and told the Speaker
of the House, please, you know, don't vote because you're
(05:48):
going to hurt my people, like like literally like that,
you're gonna hurt my constituents, and you're going to hurt
our district. And then just days later they put the
vote up and she voted for it.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
I think for our listeners, Bobby, I think a lot
of people may not even be aware of what's going
on in South Texas. Right, Even the name Monigai la
Gruz has one that a lot of Americans and Latinos
across the country haven't even.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Heard of her name.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And I think precisely because I think the fifteenth Congressional District,
which is what you are trying to represent, South Texas,
the Rio Grand Valley, these regions are very misunderstood at
a national level. Right, We're talking about a congressional district
which has been historically blue, historically democratic, and suddenly now
Monigai la Gruzz is trying to flip it. And so
I think a question many people have is, how do
(06:32):
you even describe this district? Now?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Why is it so special to you? How do you
make sense of it?
Speaker 4 (06:38):
It's a complex district, no doubt. Now. They jerry mandate
it so she could win. They included districts up north
that were very, very heavily Republican. And so if you
run a candidate that nobody really knows and there's no
investment in name id or actually going up there, the
Republican is going to win. And that's just a fact.
(07:00):
Now our district is so so.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Then why wrong. Maybe the question is sorry to turn
to rupt, but why why wrong when everything's against you?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Because I know the people, and you can gerrymander the district,
but the handal culture is to handal culture. And these
are people that I know, and I'm telling you, like
I've gone up north. We've already visited nine of the
eleven new counties in the district, and I'm gonna tell you,
(07:29):
I think what's happened is they've painted a caricature of
what a Democrat is, and it's somebody that's an atheist,
somebody that wants to take away your guns, somebody that
wants to turn your kids trands. This is the things
that they point out that that's what a Democrat is.
And if no Democrat goes out there and shows who
who they really and what they stand for, then that's
(07:51):
what they think. And they're good people. I've gone up
there and I don't feel like there's that much that devises.
Are they a little more conservative than you average Hispanic? Yes,
for sure, for sure. But everybody talks about Stark County
right like Stark County went red and for Trump after
one hundred years and never gone for a Republican but
(08:14):
nobody ever mentions that Henry Quayan won by an even
much larger margin than Trump in the same election. So
the question that you know, it's this is not Mississippi
they're trying to frame like this is Mississippi red. It's not.
They just have to have the right Democrat or the
right or better yet, the right candidate that they feel
(08:36):
represents their values. You know, in in in our anchored district,
which is Idalgo County, we don't have any elected Republicans.
They're all elected Democrats, and they win sixty forty. But
when you run on a national race, that number drops
to about fifty five or fifty four percent. So there's
(08:59):
a gap there, right, So if you go talking about
national narratives that the party's promoting, you lose people. If
you talk about issues that are more important to the
people down there on the local level, they don't have
a problem voting for you of your Democrat.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Are people surprised, Bobby that you're suddenly being political? I
ask you, because you've been on stage for many years, Yes,
and you haven't really ever been political on stage.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So are people wondering why now?
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Yeah? Yeah, there's a lot of that. There's a lot
of there's a lot of curiosity, and I'm okay with that.
I've been doing lots of podcasts answering questions. We have
a thing called a ranch hall concept. We go through
some meat on the pit we're visiting, We're going to
our fourth county. We have our music with accordion. I'm
answering questions to everybody, and afterwards I sing a song.
(09:51):
And this is something where we're mixing culture with politics,
something that I've never done because I never My music's
for Republicans and day Democrats and independence alike. Right, I
never wanted to be an activist on stage. That was
always my personal choice to just say I want to.
I wanted to be the escape from the issues. But
(10:12):
now that I'm running, I want to define myself and
I want people to hear what I stand for.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So let me tell you something, Bobby. We've talked already
a few minutes, and you've concentrated all the issues on
what's happening in Texas. So it's so interesting that you
haven't mentioned Donald Trump. You barely mentioned about the possible
threats to our democracy. I was saying the numbers in
twenty twenty four, Donald Trump won Texas for more than
(10:41):
one point five million volts. So is he an issue
for you or or you only want to concentrate on
what's happening in Texas.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
It's not an issue. And I'll say this, I'm not
running against Donald Trump now, I'm running against Paula sees
that I don't like that hurt my people and a
lot of those policies are stuff that his administration is pushed.
But you have to understand, right in order for me
to flip this district, the reality is I'm gonna have
(11:13):
to have a lot of people that voted for Donald
Trump to vote for me. That's that's just that's just
the reality. And I'm not running against Him'm running Aainst
Monicae La Cruz. That's an important distinction. I didn't vote
for him, and you know I've never voted for him,
and he's not in my cup of tea. I promise
you that.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
But I don't want to need Trum voters. Maybe that's
that's a difficult thing, Bobby. You need Trump voters. So
that means that your position on certain issues that you
actually have to go to the center in the in
that I don't have to go there Hortegram.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
I'm already there. I've always been that way. I've I've
never been an extremist on anything. I think that the
best view in a football game is it between the
forty yard hashes. I don't I don't think that. I've
never been extreme on anything. And so to me, that's
why it was kind of easy when when I saw
(12:08):
the district and how how it how it went, you know,
I feel like I represent the values.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Look, immigration is a big Tormandani of Texas.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
And no, no, absolutely not no, no.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
But look, I think I think if you if you
look at the map though, Bobby right from New York
to Virginia to New Jersey. Yes, I think one of
the things that Democrats, both progressive and moderates, have done
is really define their campaigns as this sort of anti
Trump Democrats and just based on the November for twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Election results, it seems like that is working, right.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
It seems like the sort of old school democratic strategy
that didn't really work for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Like that seems to not be working.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Is so, how how how is your campaign any difference,
say from from like moderate Democrats.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I've been doing in the past. It hasn't been working.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I'm in the South. Geography plays a huge role. Okay,
every place you mentioned is northeast. It's very different. It's
a very different area. And believe it or not, like
in these ranch holes, I've met a lot of people
that voted for Trump and said, look, I like Trump still,
but I like you m You have to understand a
lot of people that voted for Trump are not trump Bers,
(13:24):
They're not mega They're people that there was a binary
choice and they felt that he was the better candidate.
That's just what it is. So I don't want to
go pigeonhole everything and make that about him. I'm running
against Monique Kruz. I got to I want to represent
the people and believe me it Believe me. I'll criticize
him when I have to, and I I have done that.
(13:49):
You know in the past, I've done things I probably
shouldn't have done. When it came to Trump, I turned
into somebody that I did not want my kids that
I don't think they'd be proud of me, to be
honest with you, I I got really engulfed in the
algorithm thing, and I was one of those guys on
social media that was really ugly. And then I kind
of had that epiphany and went, hey, hold on, I
(14:09):
don't want to be this guy. You know, you can
criticize the policies, but I don't want to be like him.
And so there was things that I posted, and they've
brought up stuff for me my past and that where
I was really aggressive, and of course if you're really aggressive,
and then they'll say, oh, he's a radical, that's the
first thing they'll say. And you know, I'm not a radical,
(14:30):
never have been. My wife is from Mexico. When he
first came in, right, I had before my wife, I
had a Mexican girlfriend. And it bothered me when when
he came down that elevator and started talking stuff about Mexicans,
saying that they were bad people and some of them
might assume were good. So he's basically implying that they
were all bad or the majority of them were bad,
(14:53):
which I took offense to and it still bothers me
to this day. But in order for me to win,
I got to focus and keep my eye on the ball,
on the ball, and for that, I think if you're
going to run a race, you've got to be disciplined
and to be honest with you. I feel that the
policies that I want to fight for are policies that
even people they voted for Trump can agree with.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
To be honest with you, jabolbamos.
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(15:40):
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Speaker 3 (15:53):
Regasamos, let's talk about some of those those policies, Bobby.
I think immigration, of course, is something that you you
breathe and you live every single day along the southern border,
particularly where you are. I think you live in Edinburgh,
which is just what like twenty miles away from the border.
So I'm curious, first of all, just what impact have
you seen on the ground in terms of the ice rates.
(16:14):
How is your community feeling right now?
Speaker 4 (16:16):
You know, it's a nuanced perspective because it's not just humanitarian.
I think if you look at social media and you
see all these where they're ripping them from their families,
and it's heartbreaking right where where they're shooting bullets at
you know, ramming cars, all of this ugly stuff, that's
really terrible in the valley. It's economic too, because I
(16:39):
will tell you the perspective of our economy in the
Rio Grand Valley is undocumented. Immigrants have always been a
part of our lives since before I was born. It
was never an issue. It was never nobody ever said like, oh,
you know they're undocumented or they're They were part of
your life, you know, you became friends. It's something that
(17:02):
we always lived with. And so right now, because of
the raids, the workforce is being affected. People that have
construction companies cannot finish their projects because the lowest hanging
fruit for this administration is to go to a job site.
And what happens is they'll go to one job site
and they'll raid it and they'll arrest people. Everybody else
gets tears about it, and then nobody goes to work,
(17:25):
and then all these contractors can't finish their jobs. And
the problem is is that the Republican Party platform has
always said, well, if you get rid of them, then
Americans will just fill right in. And that's bullshit, it's
not true. It's not happening. And because, believe it or not,
when you've got a poor concrete or you've got to
(17:45):
build stuff, it's skilled labor. So there's going to be
a huge learning curve with a lot of money on
the line, and then Americas just don't want to do
those jobs. And that's the reality that people are facing.
So a lot of people that are pro business are
very angry about this on a different level other than
just the humanitarian issues. So if you had the two,
(18:07):
it's really bothering a lot of people. Because here's a reality.
Trump has not fixed immigration. Lett you know, that's that's
that's not true. Fear is not a policy, right, Legislation
is a policy, And there was a legislation sponsored by
Senator James Langford the last year before the election. That
(18:29):
was not perfect because it didn't provide any DACA you know, citizenship,
so it was it was not that good, but it
would have curtailed the asylum issue, so it was. It
was a pretty decent bill and Trump killed it just
because he didn't want to give Democrats a win before
the election. I feel like Latinos and Hispanics have been
(18:50):
a political football, you know, being kicked back back and forth. Now,
I will tell you that the immigration thing was also
a reason why Trump got elected. Don't shoot the messenger,
but I think that historically a lot of the people
down in the real Grand Valley are from Mexican descent,
and there are weddos, there are their deals, or their
(19:13):
their even their parents when they cross, and if the
border patrol didn't get them, they had to figure life
on their own. And what happened is they started seeing
this with the asylum seekers, for they would see them
at the airports going to fly wherever they want. And
I think there was a little bit of resentment from people.
(19:34):
I'm saying this is not I'm not saying this is
a personal resentment, but I think a lot of people
see that and wait, like, hold on, you're giving them help.
They're able to get hand up. And my grandfather didn't
have that help.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But let me ask you a bobby, So you think
that that Trump he's arguing that he's been able to
control the situation of the border. Yes, going to the
border a thousand, a thousand times. What has changed? What
are you seeing?
Speaker 4 (20:02):
He's using fear. People are afraid. Look when you put
alligator alcatraz.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Afraid of crossing, are afraid of the rates, are afraid.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Of what everything look. It's like taking an antibiotic that
kills the good bacteria and the bad bacteria. I'm gonna
tell you what happened in the Real Grand Valley. We
used to have the number one mall in sales in
the United States because the Real Grand Value depends a
lot of money from Mexico from tourism. People would come shopping,
(20:34):
come to hang out. Border traffic is down thirty five
to forty percent right now. The vessel is very strong
versus a dollar. We should be seeing a huge increase
in immigration from Mexico. People with visas crossing, they're not
coming because they're afraid they're saying, look, when the administration
(20:57):
goes and says, well, we're gonna re revise these fifty
five million visa holders, they are doing this and they're
canceling people's visas, and people are saying, para KVOI, why
am I gonna go respeto or makita la visa. So
we're losing all over. Our economy struct is suffering down
(21:20):
in the valley. It just is our numbers are down,
sales with less sales tax revenue for the cities.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This is economics.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
So then what are what are you proposing right because
I think it's evident that that Republicans and Trump are
using fear.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yes, but what are you proposing to fix this?
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Open up the legal pathways to incentivize people to do
it legally? My friend, we said, Gosalees has instituted or
has has put forward the Safe Zone Act. I think
there's things that I could add to it that I
would like better. But we know that that the average
person coming from Central America or another country that's not
(21:59):
mex is paying five to eight thousand dollars to the
cartels to cross them. So here's a novel idea. If
they're willing to pay cartels that kind of money. I
guarantee you they would pay the government to be able
to get vetted in a Central American country and then
(22:19):
fly over here and you don't have to put yourself
at risk by riding on a train or getting raped
or this or that.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Right, Well, that that's not going to happen with Trump
in the presidency. You know that it isn't going to
happen with him.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
I'm not saying it's going to happen. But here's the problem.
We need to try to keep pushing for this because
if we don't open people's eyes, especially Hispanics that are
voting for Trump, that at their core, at their core,
the reason why they don't want to fix this is
because in their worldview, there's too many of us, there
(22:54):
are many too many people that look like us, and
we're going to eventually multiply and overrule them. That's their fear.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
But you know, to tell you the truth, Bobby, I
don't think what Democrats want now on immigration. For many
decades they were for immigration reform just to legalize ten
eleven forty million documented mgrants. I don't know what what's
their position right now. Well, we got to be mis gone.
I mean, it seems that it seems that they lost
the debate on immigration.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
I don't think so. I think if you go see
the polling right now, the immigration has pulled now a
lot more positively than it was before.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, but where are the Democrats on this? Where are
the Democrats? I'm not hearing anyone in DC saying Okay,
let's go for immigration reform. Everybody's so afraid of saying that.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I'm not or if I may, Bobby, I think you
know you you would be. And I think that's the question. Right,
you are essentially potentially going to represent a district that
is full, as you said, of mixed status families, right,
full of undocumented immigrants that have been part of the
social fabric of that district for decades. And so I
think in their minds, the question for you is would
(24:02):
you legalize those undocumented immigrants that have been living in
the fifteenth Congressional District?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Would you push for that in Congress?
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I would.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Okay, Look, you're running for Congress, You're one of four
hundred and thirty five votes. You're not running for president.
You're not ready for governor, right, I get it. You're
a representative at the end of the day, but you
do have a voice, and you got to use your voice.
And if you don't use your voice, to me, it's
Tasai dookis right, you're not really you have to use
(24:31):
the voice to convince people. Listen, I do not want
to open borders, but I'm going to tell you what.
I'm going to tell you something. Donald Trump is not
going to be around forever. He's not. And if we
don't fix this legislatively, what's going to happen is if
there is a Gavin Newsom or somebody else that comes
in right after this in twenty eight and we go
revert back to this, it's going to be again that
(24:54):
the immigrants are going to be demonized again, and it's
going to keep going back and forth where nobody really
wants to look for a solution. I do not want
and I'm not for illegal immigration.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I'm not.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
But in forty five years, the amount of legal immigration
that we've allowed to come into the country has not changed.
That number has not changed. It stayed stagnant.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yeah, about fourteen to fifteen percent. Yes, it has not changed.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
And you know what if getting rid of all the
people is as they say, that was the problem, solves everything.
Why is our economy still in the crapper right because
they try to blame immigrants as the reason why things
were so bad. That's part of the reason why we're
going to go get them out and everything's going to
be great. But that's not the case.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
That's not what I'm seeing, Bobby. So let me jump
from immigration to healthcare. I know that that's one of
the issues that you really care about, but I was
reading in at some point you went to Mexico for
medical care? Is that true or is just a myth?
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Absolutely, I've had two surgeries in Mexico City.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I mean, I'm not going to ask you if you
had insurance or not, but why do you have to
go to Mexico for healthcare?
Speaker 4 (26:01):
You know, I hate our health insurance companies. They're taking
advantage of us. When I launched my campaign, I said
I don't have health insurance because it's too expensive, and
it got misinterpreted that I can't afford it. I choose
not to get into that because it's ridiculous. I'll give
you an example something that opened my eyes really really big.
(26:22):
I had an issue, a medical issue, so I don't
have health insurance. I went to the doctor. I don't
want to get into specifics, okay, but I went to
the doctor and he says, so I paid three hundred
dollars for the office visit and they said, okay, we're
going to have to do a test on you. I said, okay, well,
how much is a test because I don't have health insurance?
And they said, well, go to upfront and they'll tell you.
(26:43):
So I go upfront and they told me, sir, we'll
call you and let you know how much is going
to cost. So the day before the procedure the test,
they called me and said, mister Pulito, do you have
health insurance? And I said no, I told you guys
on private pay. And there's a pause and the lady says, oh,
it's because the test is ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
And I said, well, then I guess I'm not getting
the test. And she said, well, we can leave it
to you in payment plans and I said no, no,
I don't think you're not understanding me correctly. I'm not
going to pay ten thousand if I got to go
to Mexico, I'll go to Mexico for this. I say,
and she's and I said, but here's what I But
here's what I want you to do. I said, I
want you to call whoever you got to call and
ask them how much will it cost if I pay
(27:24):
in cash, and I'll tell you if I can afford
it or not. So three hours later she called me
back and said, mister Pulico, it'll be fifteen hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Wow, what a difference this is.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
When I went, WHOA, Thank God I can afford the
fifteen hundred dollars to pay there. But the average American
cannot afford that. And what's happening right now, as I
started getting more into it, is people are now saying
they're leaving the health insurance because if you have health insurance,
it's more expensive. And when you go there and you say, well,
I have health insurance, but I want to do private pay.
(27:58):
If you're already in the network, they won't give you
that discount. They will charge you a more expensive option.
And so our system is broken when it comes to healthcare.
And the fact that in the we're living a first
world country that I have to go to a place
that is not a first world country to go get
more affordable healthcare. I'm embarrassed about that. That's not right.
(28:23):
And you know what, our people don't deserve that they
don't And so I have had you know, I had
a hernia fixed in Mexico. It costs me seven thousand
dollars in a nice hospital for everything all in. You
know what that that would have cost because of insurance,
(28:45):
it would have been eighty thousand dollars, you know. And
so again you may say, well, it'll never work. I
don't have a nihilistic view. I am somebody that views
like I need to go talk about these issues because
you know what, with voice, maybe you'll change ten people,
and then maybe you'll change twenty, and then maybe you'll
change more. Right, But you've got to talk about these
(29:07):
issues because if you don't talk about it, then nobody
really you know elnho ke noo yo anokom least that's
just the way it is.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
So Bubby, you were mentioning the importance of using your voice, right,
using your voice to talk about about all of these
different issues. And I think one issue that seems to
still be taboo in Texas and Portia, in South Texas
is the issue of abortion.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I think it's at times hard for some politicians to
talk about this issue, which is very personal to many Texans.
We also talked about going out of state to seek healthcare.
I think over one hundred and fifty thousand Texans left
the state in twenty twenty four to get abortions. And
of course you live in a state that has one
of the most, if not the strictest abortion ban in
(29:48):
the nation. So I'm curious where you draw the line
when it comes to abortion. Do you do you support
or do you disapprove of Texas near total abortion ban.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
I do think that they are draconian and how they
do it, I will tell you I'm I went to
Catholic University because I'm I was raised Catholic, and I've
served on retreats, and I don't agree with with the
process of abortion personally. I just don't feel that it's
(30:19):
my place to tell somebody else what they can do.
I hate the fact that they do it, and I
think if you look at Roby Wade, they put that
because people were doing it, and then where they had
put their risk, you know, their lives at risk. I
hate the fact that anybody would do it, but I
understand that everybody has their own reality to live, and
(30:42):
I am somebody that doesn't like to judge anybody. I
am a Catholic. I believe that God will judge us all.
I won't judge anybody, and I know anybody is not
going to be judging me when I'm not here on
this planet, and that's between you and the Lord. And
it bothers me for if people will say, oh, you're
pro because that's not what I'm I'm not. I'm not
(31:03):
promoting it. I'm not you know, I don't even agree
with it. I mean to be quite frank, if my
teenage son were to tell me, Dad, I got this
girl pregnant and she wants us to see if you
can help us get an abortion, I would not.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Encourage that, advise them against it.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
I would advise them against it. I would say, hey,
you know your actions have consequences, and now you're going
to grow up a little sooner than you want to.
That's the way I was raised and that's how I
raised my own kids. But I'm not going to raise
somebody else's kid, and I'm not going to tell somebody
else what, you know, how they can raise their kids.
(31:41):
So it's a complex issue and and and you know,
more more importantly, it has been weaponized politically. Recently, there
was a something that happened that I don't think got
enough attention, which is the IRS now allows preachers to
tell you how to vote and still have maintained their
tax exempt status. And I think that's really troubling because
(32:05):
you know, even though I'll tell you, you know, don't ever,
don't ever trust a politician that tells you how to pray,
and don't trust a preacher that tells you how to vote.
You know, I think those two things should stay very separate.
Your faith is your faith when you go in there,
it's about God. It's about you and God and your
relationship that you have with God. And I just don't
feel like like I feel like right now they've weaponized
(32:28):
the churches to try to convince people to vote a
certain way, and I think that's been a very effective
tool for them politically.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
So essentially, what you're saying, which I think is is
is very reflective of what I have always heard when
I've gone to the Rio Grand Valley, right, which is
that there is a large segment of Latinos that is
against you, against the issue of abortion because of their faith, yes,
but that does not mean that they are against banning
abortion for everyone.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Is that is that A?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Is that A? Does that seem accurate?
Speaker 4 (32:59):
I think there's a lot of people that have the
same view that I do, to share the same views. Now,
I'm not gonna lie. There's people that I know, dear
friends of mine, like dear friends of mine that said
I'm not going to endorse you because of this one issue,
and I don't know what to say. Right, that's everybody's
(33:20):
choice to go that way not but I don't think
it's the majority of it.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
We're gonna take a break and when we come back,
Bobby Pulito not the politician, but the musician in musicos
Amo komboi poli. So we're back with Bobby Pulit. Okay, Bobby,
forget about politics. We have to talk about music. And
Paula has a quesson about this Isbelavo. Yeah, I mean this.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Relariously has been a huge, huge, huge hit, and I
think for there's a lot of people, Bobby that don't
even know how to make sense of Tejano music, like
what is techno music? And so even like start by
breaking down down that term for a lot of our listeners.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
This podcast gonna last a lot longer what you think.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
But but but the found of music so unique.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
Here's what I'll tell you. Right, Texas is a bigger
state geographically than Spain. It's huge right inside of Tondo music,
there's a lot of different regions where the music sounds different.
I'm from the border region. San Antonio has always been
known as the capital of downo music. But their music
is San Antonio has a sound and it's it's more jazzy,
(34:30):
it's more progressive. Our music on the border is more
according driven because we were literally right on the border,
so we have more influence from Mexico. There's a bigger
cultural connection with Mexico than in San Antonio. And our
music sounds a little more different. It's a little bit
more simple. The chords are a little not as progressive,
not as jazzy. They sound a little bit more straightforward
(34:54):
and so it's funny. But like musically, I never wanted
to get put in a in a bubble where you
could define me, right, that was like my goal. They say, like, well,
what kind of music is it? Is it down and
well not like San Antonio? Well is it like d'Artagnan.
Well it's not Norteno, but what is it. Well, it's
(35:14):
my politics are kind of the same. I'd ever get
pigeonholed in the same things. Every issue is different. So
it's like, I'm not going to be like, Okay, check
all the boxes on a Democrat, check all the boxes
on a Republican. And my music was always that way.
I'm like, well, I want my music to resonate with
both with both audiences, and it was It's really hard.
It's a fine line you have to walk to where
(35:36):
people that like a certain sound will like it and
then people that are like other sounds will also like it.
And so that's been the line that I've been walking
since I started.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
And did you ever think it would get this big?
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Right?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
I mean, we're talking about a state.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
No, no, no, no, I just did this. I signed
with an American label in Texas, and at the time,
you could tour Texas really good Mexico. There's benother went
into Mexico organically and started getting airplay on its own,
and the label didn't even realize that I was signed
to their sister label in the US. No, so so
Desblado never really got a promotional tour in Monterey, which
(36:15):
is where it started. So it just kind of happened organically.
And you know, some of the best things in life
are organic and much of the much of the best
things in life are Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
So because we were having problems trying to define what
you are actually doing. So it's not SANSO, I don't know,
uh land No, very very very very strange. Of course
you met you you've sung with a group front.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah, yeah, I knew since we were kids.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
And so Actually, but my career started after she passed away.
I I literally met with the record label after her
funeral in Corpus Christi and that's when I started.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Was there any connection there? I mean, what did you
did you feel that she had left something so important
that you needed to follow through?
Speaker 4 (37:10):
I know, no, I already wanted to get into the industry.
But the one thing that I didn't really wasn't able to.
I couldn't really imagine at the time was how impactful
her death was going to be for our industry. And
I say that in that are you this puiss from
her death in our industry? Our industry still to this
(37:34):
day has not recovered fully to what it was when
she was alive. It was that it was that impactful
her death.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Has anyone filled her her void? Have you seen beyond?
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Have you seen any No? No, no, no no no.
There's been success full artists, successful female artists too, but
not at that level.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
I think eventually there will be. I really do what
up to now that has not happened?
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Bobby? I wanted to ask you about Spanish and and
and why you've decided to continue your your career as
a musician in Spanish. I'm going to spend about Bonnie,
not just stay with with Spanish. I would sing some
of your greatest songs dipas. I'm going to ask you
(38:23):
about qum, but that's that's another thing. So do you
see two trends in music right now? Musica urbana or
reggaeton on one side, but Bonnie and then m M
on on the other side. Are those the two big
trends that we're seeing right now?
Speaker 4 (38:41):
I think so. And the thing about music is constantly evolving,
so there's always going to be trends and and you know,
I think that's healthy for the industry when when things
are in constant motion, there's always new ways of doing music,
new ways of putting out content. So I'm all for that,
(39:02):
even if I I'm one of those old old fogies
that stayed in the eighties and so I like that
kind of music. I don't really you know, I'm not
a big fan of newer stuff on a personal level,
but I understand how how important it is for this
music to continue to evolve, because if not, then you
(39:23):
turn into motown.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
You know what, more time felt the need to You
never felt the need to sing in English.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
No, I You know, when I first started pork, I
would do like ten songs, two songs would be in English,
but literally because I was in Texas. I'm in Texas,
Texas people like country music. You know el t Hano
that the Hano likes everything. That the Hano is somebody
that can go dance a two step country song and
(39:50):
then dance at ranchetra right right away, all right, So
we're very culturally diverse, extremely and so early on I
would do that kind of to see like where right,
and there's Ronaldo took off like a rocket, and I went, okay,
(40:11):
that's the way, right, this is what people want to
hear from me, And so I stopped recording songs in
English because of it. But English is my first language.
I actually when I started, I didn't speak Spanish.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Yeah, I was really bad. Like if you look at
the movie Selena, how she kind of how she would
like like it was, it was kind of like that.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
Can I ask you, Bobby, are you just before we
start wrapping up, if if your candidacy is not successful,
are you planning on going back to music and do
you think that this sort of political stunt will affect
your music and consumers?
Speaker 4 (40:48):
The most honest answer I can give you is, I
don't know what I'll do. I know this far. I
know if I were to lose the election, and believe me,
there's no hubris involved here. I really believe that that
you have to be prepared for everything, and nothing is guaranteed.
Right you're running, you have to earn the people's vote.
(41:09):
But if I were to not win, I'd probably take
a year off and travel with my wife and spend
it with my son, and and then I don't know
what I'll do after that, I really don't. But I
have faith. I have lots of faith in God, and
I know that regardless of what were to happen after that,
(41:30):
I'll be okay. And you know I would have made
this decision if if I hadn't been ready to accept
whatever is thrown my way. So I'm okay. You know,
I think I would be kicking myself in the butt
if I were not to have run. And then I
were looking at being sixty two years old and saying
(41:51):
I should have done this. You know, I think I'm
at a good age to do it. And and and
just like when I started, I put my faith in people,
and I'm going to put my faith in the people
again and and and and in God. And so wherever
it leads me, that's where I'll be.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Bobby, of course you're you're the son of Roberto, and
that's that's something. Get the stomach. Candle is the ke
is Nino. And and I saw a video so moving
in which he was singing a song for you, say
yah ma with a to mama yes, and it seems
(42:30):
like he was saying goodbye. He was saying to you
keep the flag now it's your turn. That was so
moving and so difficult to hear. And then I saw
your face and you almost cried.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
Yeah, my dad, My dad's really afraid of dying because
he lost his dad at the same age as now.
And he's he's actually doing my farewell tour with me. Yeah,
he's been at the sixty years and I've been thirty years.
(43:09):
And so it's it's it's it's a heartfelt song, it
really is.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
But he's basically telling you, Bobby, it's your turn, and
you're taking it. You're embracing it.
Speaker 4 (43:22):
Yeah, and and and and I'm gonna tell you this.
I don't think he meant music. I just think he
meant in life.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
That's how it felt. Yeah, they told us quite.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
You could pick man.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Yeah, I mean and my musta. I really like this.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
You know what I wanted to I'll tell you this.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Yeah, you can google this.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
This song did not have as much success as it
could have had.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
I'm checking it. Yeah, there's a song called Okay.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
If you google, if you go, it's on YouTube, if
you go, check it out. This was recorded. This song
was done during the Obama deportations. And this song is
an aspirational song about We framed it around immigration and
I'm an immigrant there in that video and I'm actually
like a politician at a at a job site. Wow,
(44:23):
where I am talking about what it's like to live
the American dream and then one day I'm going to
make it. And if you see this video at this
it's not a big intro, it's probably a minute and
a half, and then you listen to the song, you'll
know what my campaign's about. My campaign is about opportunity
(44:44):
because this country, the United States of America, made it.
It was always great because we took everybody that wanted
just a chance to make it, and we gave them
a chance. And that's gonna be my fight.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Thanks so much, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
We appreciated.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
The moment is a production of Radio Bulantes Studios in
partnership with Iheartmichael to the podcast network.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Our stuff includes Daniella Larcon, Laura Rojasa Ponte, Miguel Santiago
Colon and Lisa Serda, with the help from Paola Alan
Jego Corso, Natal Ramirez and Elsa Liano Joa. The CEO
Radio Bulante Studios is Carolina Gerrero.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
Executive producers that I Heart are Arlene Santana and Leo Oomez. Plocabreda,
Dylan Hunger and Mark Canson also serve as producers.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Sound design, final mix and theme song by Elias Gonzalez.
If you like this episode, share the world.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Recommend the Moment to anyone who might enjoy unpacking these
complicated times with us.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
If you like the Moment, Pustano's podcast Espanol, check out
Radio Bulante Studios. Their shows Radio Bulante, Elilo and Central
are really really worth the listen.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
I'm Herd Ramos and I'm Paula Ramos. Thanks for listening.
Welcome to the moment.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Cork Ramos and I'm Pala Ramos.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Okay, So that I was in the Rio Grand Valley
in Texas a couple of weeks ago. Of course, the
real Grand Valley is right along the southern border. And
there's this name that keeps coming up, Bobby Pulito.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
There's Pancarta's everywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
People in Deli's are talking about this guy, and so,
who is this person?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
No, he is.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
He's an actor, he's a singer, he's a Latin Grammy
Award winner, he's Tejano, he's native from Texas, and he's
running for office jos A.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So what's so interesting is that suddenly the announcement surprised
everyone that he's stepping away from music to get into
politics right now in Texas, not as a Republican, as
a Democrat.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And so he's doing something that many think is pretty hard.
He's ring for the fifteenth congressional district in Texas, which
is now currently held by Monegai la Guduz, who's a Republican. Now,
she did something pretty historic. Monegay la Guduz flipped the
fifteenth Congressional district and became one of the first Republicans
in decades, I believe, since like nineteen oh three to
(01:18):
flip that district from Democrat to Republican. And so we're
talking about this traditionally and historic blue district that is
now suddenly up for play because someone like Bobbi Bullido
has this name recognition, and so many Democrats, not just
in Texas but across the country are thinking that perhaps
a Tejano music singer, maybe he is the chance that
(01:41):
Democrats have been waiting for to once again flip this
district back to them.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, but the Republicans, I mean, they want to keep
it because they want to show that they're making big
gains with a Latino community. But Democrats say this is symbolic.
I mean, if Bobbi Pulita can't make it, then maybe
Texas is going to show some science that is that
is changing, that is moving slightly to the left.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So that's the question that we have for Bobby today.
Can he prevents this right word shift towards Trump? And
also I'm wondering why run now, you know, why leave
his incredible music career and get into a politics that
seems pretty messy at the national level. And is this
what the what Democrats have been waiting for the last
(02:26):
four years.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
So our conversation with Bobby Bulo and when we come back, Bobby,
welcome to the moment. It is great talking to you.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Welcome Bobby, you mentor longtime fan, longtime fan.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I can say exactly the same, not just as So
you know, Bobby, when when we learned that you want
to get into politics, I was I was going to
use a fancy work perplex, but I didn't know exactly why.
I mean, you're a Tejano icon, you have Grammys. I
(03:05):
noticed that you're promoting your latest album, Bob Polito and
Friends Unatuya Yama. So you've had a successful career in
music for more than three decades. So why why get
into politics? And why now?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
You know a lot of people don't know. But I
was a political science major before I became a singer,
So I was really studious growing up. I had got
an academic scholarship to go to attend Saint Marriage University
in San Antonio, And you know, I always wanted to
be a lawyer. That was my goal. I didn't want
(03:40):
to be a singer, and I ended up, you know,
recording a song with my dad because I didn't want
to be a singer, but he wanted me to sing
a song with him. And I got two offers from
two record labels, Capital Emi and Sony, and I ended
up negotiating my contract and renegotiating my others who was
(04:00):
also a singer. I negotiated his contract as a college student,
and you know, I was broke and the money was
really good, and I told I told my dad, look,
I never sang professionally. I said, I'm going to try it.
I'm going to do my best that I can. But
and if the worst case scenario it doesn't work out,
(04:22):
I can go back to college with money. And so
my first album went platinum and so the rest is history.
And so I've been at this thirty years already, and
you know, it's been it's been a great ride. But
I reached the point where I'm starting. I'm fifty two
years old and starting to reflect on my life and
(04:43):
what do I want my life to mean and what
world do I want to leave my kids with Now
where we're at it this time and place, I really
feel like our democracy is in danger. There's issues that
are very, very worrisome to me, and it's very important
that we have somebody that represents our district, that represents
(05:04):
our values and doesn't have party loyalty like the person
that's in there right now. I you know, she will
do absolutely everything that they tell her to do. It
doesn't matter if she if she votes against her people.
And so I think that that's not what a good
representative should do.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And Bobby, you're talking about money, guy La Gurus.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Yes, yeah, she wrote
she wrote a letter the Speaker of the House. You know,
we have in the real Grand Valley, we have a
lot of poverty, and there's a lot of people on
Medicaid and a lot of Medicare. That's like the majority
of all the things. She wrote a letter to the
Speaker of the House before this big bad bill that
they passed, and wrote a letter and told the Speaker
of the House, please, you know, don't vote because you're
(05:48):
going to hurt my people, like like literally like that,
you're gonna hurt my constituents, and you're going to hurt
our district. And then just days later they put the
vote up and she voted for it.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
I think for our listeners, Bobby, I think a lot
of people may not even be aware of what's going
on in South Texas. Right, Even the name Monigai la
Gruz has one that a lot of Americans and Latinos
across the country haven't even.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Heard of her name.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And I think precisely because I think the fifteenth Congressional District,
which is what you are trying to represent, South Texas,
the Rio Grand Valley, these regions are very misunderstood at
a national level. Right, We're talking about a congressional district
which has been historically blue, historically democratic, and suddenly now
Monigai la Gruzz is trying to flip it. And so
I think a question many people have is, how do
(06:32):
you even describe this district? Now?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Why is it so special to you? How do you
make sense of it?
Speaker 4 (06:38):
It's a complex district, no doubt. Now. They jerry mandate
it so she could win. They included districts up north
that were very, very heavily Republican. And so if you
run a candidate that nobody really knows and there's no
investment in name id or actually going up there, the
Republican is going to win. And that's just a fact.
(07:00):
Now our district is so so.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Then why wrong. Maybe the question is sorry to turn
to rupt, but why why wrong when everything's against you?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Because I know the people, and you can gerrymander the district,
but the handal culture is to handal culture. And these
are people that I know, and I'm telling you, like
I've gone up north. We've already visited nine of the
eleven new counties in the district, and I'm gonna tell you,
(07:29):
I think what's happened is they've painted a caricature of
what a Democrat is, and it's somebody that's an atheist,
somebody that wants to take away your guns, somebody that
wants to turn your kids trands. This is the things
that they point out that that's what a Democrat is.
And if no Democrat goes out there and shows who
who they really and what they stand for, then that's
(07:51):
what they think. And they're good people. I've gone up
there and I don't feel like there's that much that devises.
Are they a little more conservative than you average Hispanic? Yes,
for sure, for sure. But everybody talks about Stark County
right like Stark County went red and for Trump after
one hundred years and never gone for a Republican but
(08:14):
nobody ever mentions that Henry Quayan won by an even
much larger margin than Trump in the same election. So
the question that you know, it's this is not Mississippi
they're trying to frame like this is Mississippi red. It's not.
They just have to have the right Democrat or the
right or better yet, the right candidate that they feel
(08:36):
represents their values. You know, in in in our anchored district,
which is Idalgo County, we don't have any elected Republicans.
They're all elected Democrats, and they win sixty forty. But
when you run on a national race, that number drops
to about fifty five or fifty four percent. So there's
(08:59):
a gap there, right, So if you go talking about
national narratives that the party's promoting, you lose people. If
you talk about issues that are more important to the
people down there on the local level, they don't have
a problem voting for you of your Democrat.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Are people surprised, Bobby that you're suddenly being political? I
ask you, because you've been on stage for many years, Yes,
and you haven't really ever been political on stage.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So are people wondering why now?
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Yeah? Yeah, there's a lot of that. There's a lot
of there's a lot of curiosity, and I'm okay with that.
I've been doing lots of podcasts answering questions. We have
a thing called a ranch hall concept. We go through
some meat on the pit we're visiting, We're going to
our fourth county. We have our music with accordion. I'm
answering questions to everybody, and afterwards I sing a song.
(09:51):
And this is something where we're mixing culture with politics,
something that I've never done because I never My music's
for Republicans and day Democrats and independence alike. Right, I
never wanted to be an activist on stage. That was
always my personal choice to just say I want to.
I wanted to be the escape from the issues. But
(10:12):
now that I'm running, I want to define myself and
I want people to hear what I stand for.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So let me tell you something, Bobby. We've talked already
a few minutes, and you've concentrated all the issues on
what's happening in Texas. So it's so interesting that you
haven't mentioned Donald Trump. You barely mentioned about the possible
threats to our democracy. I was saying the numbers in
twenty twenty four, Donald Trump won Texas for more than
(10:41):
one point five million volts. So is he an issue
for you or or you only want to concentrate on
what's happening in Texas.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
It's not an issue. And I'll say this, I'm not
running against Donald Trump now, I'm running against Paula sees
that I don't like that hurt my people and a
lot of those policies are stuff that his administration is pushed.
But you have to understand, right in order for me
to flip this district, the reality is I'm gonna have
(11:13):
to have a lot of people that voted for Donald
Trump to vote for me. That's that's just that's just
the reality. And I'm not running against Him'm running Aainst
Monicae La Cruz. That's an important distinction. I didn't vote
for him, and you know I've never voted for him,
and he's not in my cup of tea. I promise
you that.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
But I don't want to need Trum voters. Maybe that's
that's a difficult thing, Bobby. You need Trump voters. So
that means that your position on certain issues that you
actually have to go to the center in the in
that I don't have to go there Hortegram.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
I'm already there. I've always been that way. I've I've
never been an extremist on anything. I think that the
best view in a football game is it between the
forty yard hashes. I don't I don't think that. I've
never been extreme on anything. And so to me, that's
why it was kind of easy when when I saw
(12:08):
the district and how how it how it went, you know,
I feel like I represent the values.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Look, immigration is a big Tormandani of Texas.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
And no, no, absolutely not no, no.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
But look, I think I think if you if you
look at the map though, Bobby right from New York
to Virginia to New Jersey. Yes, I think one of
the things that Democrats, both progressive and moderates, have done
is really define their campaigns as this sort of anti
Trump Democrats and just based on the November for twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Election results, it seems like that is working, right.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
It seems like the sort of old school democratic strategy
that didn't really work for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Like that seems to not be working.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Is so, how how how is your campaign any difference,
say from from like moderate Democrats.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I've been doing in the past. It hasn't been working.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I'm in the South. Geography plays a huge role. Okay,
every place you mentioned is northeast. It's very different. It's
a very different area. And believe it or not, like
in these ranch holes, I've met a lot of people
that voted for Trump and said, look, I like Trump still,
but I like you m You have to understand a
lot of people that voted for Trump are not trump Bers,
(13:24):
They're not mega They're people that there was a binary
choice and they felt that he was the better candidate.
That's just what it is. So I don't want to
go pigeonhole everything and make that about him. I'm running
against Monique Kruz. I got to I want to represent
the people and believe me it Believe me. I'll criticize
him when I have to, and I I have done that.
(13:49):
You know in the past, I've done things I probably
shouldn't have done. When it came to Trump, I turned
into somebody that I did not want my kids that
I don't think they'd be proud of me, to be
honest with you, I I got really engulfed in the
algorithm thing, and I was one of those guys on
social media that was really ugly. And then I kind
of had that epiphany and went, hey, hold on, I
(14:09):
don't want to be this guy. You know, you can
criticize the policies, but I don't want to be like him.
And so there was things that I posted, and they've
brought up stuff for me my past and that where
I was really aggressive, and of course if you're really aggressive,
and then they'll say, oh, he's a radical, that's the
first thing they'll say. And you know, I'm not a radical,
(14:30):
never have been. My wife is from Mexico. When he
first came in, right, I had before my wife, I
had a Mexican girlfriend. And it bothered me when when
he came down that elevator and started talking stuff about Mexicans,
saying that they were bad people and some of them
might assume were good. So he's basically implying that they
were all bad or the majority of them were bad,
(14:53):
which I took offense to and it still bothers me
to this day. But in order for me to win,
I got to focus and keep my eye on the ball,
on the ball, and for that, I think if you're
going to run a race, you've got to be disciplined
and to be honest with you. I feel that the
policies that I want to fight for are policies that
even people they voted for Trump can agree with.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
To be honest with you, jabolbamos.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
Hi, I'm Danielle Alarcon, executive producer of the Moment. Today,
I want to ask you a favor. At roan Blante
Studio is our production company. We've just launched our annual
survey to learn more about our listeners, your preferences, what
works and what doesn't, and how we can serve you better.
Your answers really help. Past surveys, for example, have led
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Moment or our news show Illegal. So if you have
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(15:40):
your opinions. You can respond in Spanish or English by
visiting Ryan Bulante dot org slash survey. Thanks so much
in advance. Again, the address is rayan Bulante dot org
slash survey.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Regasamos, let's talk about some of those those policies, Bobby.
I think immigration, of course, is something that you you
breathe and you live every single day along the southern border,
particularly where you are. I think you live in Edinburgh,
which is just what like twenty miles away from the border.
So I'm curious, first of all, just what impact have
you seen on the ground in terms of the ice rates.
(16:14):
How is your community feeling right now?
Speaker 4 (16:16):
You know, it's a nuanced perspective because it's not just humanitarian.
I think if you look at social media and you
see all these where they're ripping them from their families,
and it's heartbreaking right where where they're shooting bullets at
you know, ramming cars, all of this ugly stuff, that's
really terrible in the valley. It's economic too, because I
(16:39):
will tell you the perspective of our economy in the
Rio Grand Valley is undocumented. Immigrants have always been a
part of our lives since before I was born. It
was never an issue. It was never nobody ever said like, oh,
you know they're undocumented or they're They were part of
your life, you know, you became friends. It's something that
(17:02):
we always lived with. And so right now, because of
the raids, the workforce is being affected. People that have
construction companies cannot finish their projects because the lowest hanging
fruit for this administration is to go to a job site.
And what happens is they'll go to one job site
and they'll raid it and they'll arrest people. Everybody else
gets tears about it, and then nobody goes to work,
(17:25):
and then all these contractors can't finish their jobs. And
the problem is is that the Republican Party platform has
always said, well, if you get rid of them, then
Americans will just fill right in. And that's bullshit, it's
not true. It's not happening. And because, believe it or not,
when you've got a poor concrete or you've got to
(17:45):
build stuff, it's skilled labor. So there's going to be
a huge learning curve with a lot of money on
the line, and then Americas just don't want to do
those jobs. And that's the reality that people are facing.
So a lot of people that are pro business are
very angry about this on a different level other than
just the humanitarian issues. So if you had the two,
(18:07):
it's really bothering a lot of people. Because here's a reality.
Trump has not fixed immigration. Lett you know, that's that's
that's not true. Fear is not a policy, right, Legislation
is a policy, And there was a legislation sponsored by
Senator James Langford the last year before the election. That
(18:29):
was not perfect because it didn't provide any DACA you know, citizenship,
so it was it was not that good, but it
would have curtailed the asylum issue, so it was. It
was a pretty decent bill and Trump killed it just
because he didn't want to give Democrats a win before
the election. I feel like Latinos and Hispanics have been
(18:50):
a political football, you know, being kicked back back and forth. Now,
I will tell you that the immigration thing was also
a reason why Trump got elected. Don't shoot the messenger,
but I think that historically a lot of the people
down in the real Grand Valley are from Mexican descent,
and there are weddos, there are their deals, or their
(19:13):
their even their parents when they cross, and if the
border patrol didn't get them, they had to figure life
on their own. And what happened is they started seeing
this with the asylum seekers, for they would see them
at the airports going to fly wherever they want. And
I think there was a little bit of resentment from people.
(19:34):
I'm saying this is not I'm not saying this is
a personal resentment, but I think a lot of people
see that and wait, like, hold on, you're giving them help.
They're able to get hand up. And my grandfather didn't
have that help.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But let me ask you a bobby, So you think
that that Trump he's arguing that he's been able to
control the situation of the border. Yes, going to the
border a thousand, a thousand times. What has changed? What
are you seeing?
Speaker 4 (20:02):
He's using fear. People are afraid. Look when you put
alligator alcatraz.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Afraid of crossing, are afraid of the rates, are afraid.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Of what everything look. It's like taking an antibiotic that
kills the good bacteria and the bad bacteria. I'm gonna
tell you what happened in the Real Grand Valley. We
used to have the number one mall in sales in
the United States because the Real Grand Value depends a
lot of money from Mexico from tourism. People would come shopping,
(20:34):
come to hang out. Border traffic is down thirty five
to forty percent right now. The vessel is very strong
versus a dollar. We should be seeing a huge increase
in immigration from Mexico. People with visas crossing, they're not
coming because they're afraid they're saying, look, when the administration
(20:57):
goes and says, well, we're gonna re revise these fifty
five million visa holders, they are doing this and they're
canceling people's visas, and people are saying, para KVOI, why
am I gonna go respeto or makita la visa. So
we're losing all over. Our economy struct is suffering down
(21:20):
in the valley. It just is our numbers are down,
sales with less sales tax revenue for the cities.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This is economics.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
So then what are what are you proposing right because
I think it's evident that that Republicans and Trump are
using fear.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yes, but what are you proposing to fix this?
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Open up the legal pathways to incentivize people to do
it legally? My friend, we said, Gosalees has instituted or
has has put forward the Safe Zone Act. I think
there's things that I could add to it that I
would like better. But we know that that the average
person coming from Central America or another country that's not
(21:59):
mex is paying five to eight thousand dollars to the
cartels to cross them. So here's a novel idea. If
they're willing to pay cartels that kind of money. I
guarantee you they would pay the government to be able
to get vetted in a Central American country and then
(22:19):
fly over here and you don't have to put yourself
at risk by riding on a train or getting raped
or this or that.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Right, Well, that that's not going to happen with Trump
in the presidency. You know that it isn't going to
happen with him.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
I'm not saying it's going to happen. But here's the problem.
We need to try to keep pushing for this because
if we don't open people's eyes, especially Hispanics that are
voting for Trump, that at their core, at their core,
the reason why they don't want to fix this is
because in their worldview, there's too many of us, there
(22:54):
are many too many people that look like us, and
we're going to eventually multiply and overrule them. That's their fear.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
But you know, to tell you the truth, Bobby, I
don't think what Democrats want now on immigration. For many
decades they were for immigration reform just to legalize ten
eleven forty million documented mgrants. I don't know what what's
their position right now. Well, we got to be mis gone.
I mean, it seems that it seems that they lost
the debate on immigration.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
I don't think so. I think if you go see
the polling right now, the immigration has pulled now a
lot more positively than it was before.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, but where are the Democrats on this? Where are
the Democrats? I'm not hearing anyone in DC saying Okay,
let's go for immigration reform. Everybody's so afraid of saying that.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I'm not or if I may, Bobby, I think you
know you you would be. And I think that's the question. Right,
you are essentially potentially going to represent a district that
is full, as you said, of mixed status families, right,
full of undocumented immigrants that have been part of the
social fabric of that district for decades. And so I
think in their minds, the question for you is would
(24:02):
you legalize those undocumented immigrants that have been living in
the fifteenth Congressional District?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Would you push for that in Congress?
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I would.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Okay, Look, you're running for Congress, You're one of four
hundred and thirty five votes. You're not running for president.
You're not ready for governor, right, I get it. You're
a representative at the end of the day, but you
do have a voice, and you got to use your voice.
And if you don't use your voice, to me, it's
Tasai dookis right, you're not really you have to use
(24:31):
the voice to convince people. Listen, I do not want
to open borders, but I'm going to tell you what.
I'm going to tell you something. Donald Trump is not
going to be around forever. He's not. And if we
don't fix this legislatively, what's going to happen is if
there is a Gavin Newsom or somebody else that comes
in right after this in twenty eight and we go
revert back to this, it's going to be again that
(24:54):
the immigrants are going to be demonized again, and it's
going to keep going back and forth where nobody really
wants to look for a solution. I do not want
and I'm not for illegal immigration.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I'm not.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
But in forty five years, the amount of legal immigration
that we've allowed to come into the country has not changed.
That number has not changed. It stayed stagnant.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yeah, about fourteen to fifteen percent. Yes, it has not changed.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
And you know what if getting rid of all the
people is as they say, that was the problem, solves everything.
Why is our economy still in the crapper right because
they try to blame immigrants as the reason why things
were so bad. That's part of the reason why we're
going to go get them out and everything's going to
be great. But that's not the case.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
That's not what I'm seeing, Bobby. So let me jump
from immigration to healthcare. I know that that's one of
the issues that you really care about, but I was
reading in at some point you went to Mexico for
medical care? Is that true or is just a myth?
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Absolutely, I've had two surgeries in Mexico City.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I mean, I'm not going to ask you if you
had insurance or not, but why do you have to
go to Mexico for healthcare?
Speaker 4 (26:01):
You know, I hate our health insurance companies. They're taking
advantage of us. When I launched my campaign, I said
I don't have health insurance because it's too expensive, and
it got misinterpreted that I can't afford it. I choose
not to get into that because it's ridiculous. I'll give
you an example something that opened my eyes really really big.
(26:22):
I had an issue, a medical issue, so I don't
have health insurance. I went to the doctor. I don't
want to get into specifics, okay, but I went to
the doctor and he says, so I paid three hundred
dollars for the office visit and they said, okay, we're
going to have to do a test on you. I said, okay, well,
how much is a test because I don't have health insurance?
And they said, well, go to upfront and they'll tell you.
(26:43):
So I go upfront and they told me, sir, we'll
call you and let you know how much is going
to cost. So the day before the procedure the test,
they called me and said, mister Pulito, do you have
health insurance? And I said no, I told you guys
on private pay. And there's a pause and the lady says, oh,
it's because the test is ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
And I said, well, then I guess I'm not getting
the test. And she said, well, we can leave it
to you in payment plans and I said no, no,
I don't think you're not understanding me correctly. I'm not
going to pay ten thousand if I got to go
to Mexico, I'll go to Mexico for this. I say,
and she's and I said, but here's what I But
here's what I want you to do. I said, I
want you to call whoever you got to call and
ask them how much will it cost if I pay
(27:24):
in cash, and I'll tell you if I can afford
it or not. So three hours later she called me
back and said, mister Pulico, it'll be fifteen hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Wow, what a difference this is.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
When I went, WHOA, Thank God I can afford the
fifteen hundred dollars to pay there. But the average American
cannot afford that. And what's happening right now, as I
started getting more into it, is people are now saying
they're leaving the health insurance because if you have health insurance,
it's more expensive. And when you go there and you say, well,
I have health insurance, but I want to do private pay.
(27:58):
If you're already in the network, they won't give you
that discount. They will charge you a more expensive option.
And so our system is broken when it comes to healthcare.
And the fact that in the we're living a first
world country that I have to go to a place
that is not a first world country to go get
more affordable healthcare. I'm embarrassed about that. That's not right.
(28:23):
And you know what, our people don't deserve that they
don't And so I have had you know, I had
a hernia fixed in Mexico. It costs me seven thousand
dollars in a nice hospital for everything all in. You
know what that that would have cost because of insurance,
(28:45):
it would have been eighty thousand dollars, you know. And
so again you may say, well, it'll never work. I
don't have a nihilistic view. I am somebody that views
like I need to go talk about these issues because
you know what, with voice, maybe you'll change ten people,
and then maybe you'll change twenty, and then maybe you'll
change more. Right, But you've got to talk about these
(29:07):
issues because if you don't talk about it, then nobody
really you know elnho ke noo yo anokom least that's
just the way it is.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
So Bubby, you were mentioning the importance of using your voice, right,
using your voice to talk about about all of these
different issues. And I think one issue that seems to
still be taboo in Texas and Portia, in South Texas
is the issue of abortion.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I think it's at times hard for some politicians to
talk about this issue, which is very personal to many Texans.
We also talked about going out of state to seek healthcare.
I think over one hundred and fifty thousand Texans left
the state in twenty twenty four to get abortions. And
of course you live in a state that has one
of the most, if not the strictest abortion ban in
(29:48):
the nation. So I'm curious where you draw the line
when it comes to abortion. Do you do you support
or do you disapprove of Texas near total abortion ban.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
I do think that they are draconian and how they
do it, I will tell you I'm I went to
Catholic University because I'm I was raised Catholic, and I've
served on retreats, and I don't agree with with the
process of abortion personally. I just don't feel that it's
(30:19):
my place to tell somebody else what they can do.
I hate the fact that they do it, and I
think if you look at Roby Wade, they put that
because people were doing it, and then where they had
put their risk, you know, their lives at risk. I
hate the fact that anybody would do it, but I
understand that everybody has their own reality to live, and
(30:42):
I am somebody that doesn't like to judge anybody. I
am a Catholic. I believe that God will judge us all.
I won't judge anybody, and I know anybody is not
going to be judging me when I'm not here on
this planet, and that's between you and the Lord. And
it bothers me for if people will say, oh, you're
pro because that's not what I'm I'm not. I'm not
(31:03):
promoting it. I'm not you know, I don't even agree
with it. I mean to be quite frank, if my
teenage son were to tell me, Dad, I got this
girl pregnant and she wants us to see if you
can help us get an abortion, I would not.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Encourage that, advise them against it.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
I would advise them against it. I would say, hey,
you know your actions have consequences, and now you're going
to grow up a little sooner than you want to.
That's the way I was raised and that's how I
raised my own kids. But I'm not going to raise
somebody else's kid, and I'm not going to tell somebody
else what, you know, how they can raise their kids.
(31:41):
So it's a complex issue and and and you know,
more more importantly, it has been weaponized politically. Recently, there
was a something that happened that I don't think got
enough attention, which is the IRS now allows preachers to
tell you how to vote and still have maintained their
tax exempt status. And I think that's really troubling because
(32:05):
you know, even though I'll tell you, you know, don't ever,
don't ever trust a politician that tells you how to pray,
and don't trust a preacher that tells you how to vote.
You know, I think those two things should stay very separate.
Your faith is your faith when you go in there,
it's about God. It's about you and God and your
relationship that you have with God. And I just don't
feel like like I feel like right now they've weaponized
(32:28):
the churches to try to convince people to vote a
certain way, and I think that's been a very effective
tool for them politically.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
So essentially, what you're saying, which I think is is
is very reflective of what I have always heard when
I've gone to the Rio Grand Valley, right, which is
that there is a large segment of Latinos that is
against you, against the issue of abortion because of their faith, yes,
but that does not mean that they are against banning
abortion for everyone.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Is that is that A?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Is that A? Does that seem accurate?
Speaker 4 (32:59):
I think there's a lot of people that have the
same view that I do, to share the same views. Now,
I'm not gonna lie. There's people that I know, dear
friends of mine, like dear friends of mine that said
I'm not going to endorse you because of this one issue,
and I don't know what to say. Right, that's everybody's
(33:20):
choice to go that way not but I don't think
it's the majority of it.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
We're gonna take a break and when we come back,
Bobby Pulito not the politician, but the musician in musicos
Amo komboi poli. So we're back with Bobby Pulit. Okay, Bobby,
forget about politics. We have to talk about music. And
Paula has a quesson about this Isbelavo. Yeah, I mean this.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Relariously has been a huge, huge, huge hit, and I
think for there's a lot of people, Bobby that don't
even know how to make sense of Tejano music, like
what is techno music? And so even like start by
breaking down down that term for a lot of our listeners.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
This podcast gonna last a lot longer what you think.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
But but but the found of music so unique.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
Here's what I'll tell you. Right, Texas is a bigger
state geographically than Spain. It's huge right inside of Tondo music,
there's a lot of different regions where the music sounds different.
I'm from the border region. San Antonio has always been
known as the capital of downo music. But their music
is San Antonio has a sound and it's it's more jazzy,
(34:30):
it's more progressive. Our music on the border is more
according driven because we were literally right on the border,
so we have more influence from Mexico. There's a bigger
cultural connection with Mexico than in San Antonio. And our
music sounds a little more different. It's a little bit
more simple. The chords are a little not as progressive,
not as jazzy. They sound a little bit more straightforward
(34:54):
and so it's funny. But like musically, I never wanted
to get put in a in a bubble where you
could define me, right, that was like my goal. They say, like, well,
what kind of music is it? Is it down and
well not like San Antonio? Well is it like d'Artagnan.
Well it's not Norteno, but what is it. Well, it's
(35:14):
my politics are kind of the same. I'd ever get
pigeonholed in the same things. Every issue is different. So
it's like, I'm not going to be like, Okay, check
all the boxes on a Democrat, check all the boxes
on a Republican. And my music was always that way.
I'm like, well, I want my music to resonate with
both with both audiences, and it was It's really hard.
It's a fine line you have to walk to where
(35:36):
people that like a certain sound will like it and
then people that are like other sounds will also like it.
And so that's been the line that I've been walking
since I started.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
And did you ever think it would get this big?
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Right?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
I mean, we're talking about a state.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
No, no, no, no, I just did this. I signed
with an American label in Texas, and at the time,
you could tour Texas really good Mexico. There's benother went
into Mexico organically and started getting airplay on its own,
and the label didn't even realize that I was signed
to their sister label in the US. No, so so
Desblado never really got a promotional tour in Monterey, which
(36:15):
is where it started. So it just kind of happened organically.
And you know, some of the best things in life
are organic and much of the much of the best
things in life are Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
So because we were having problems trying to define what
you are actually doing. So it's not SANSO, I don't know,
uh land No, very very very very strange. Of course
you met you you've sung with a group front.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah, yeah, I knew since we were kids.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
And so Actually, but my career started after she passed away.
I I literally met with the record label after her
funeral in Corpus Christi and that's when I started.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Was there any connection there? I mean, what did you
did you feel that she had left something so important
that you needed to follow through?
Speaker 4 (37:10):
I know, no, I already wanted to get into the industry.
But the one thing that I didn't really wasn't able to.
I couldn't really imagine at the time was how impactful
her death was going to be for our industry. And
I say that in that are you this puiss from
her death in our industry? Our industry still to this
(37:34):
day has not recovered fully to what it was when
she was alive. It was that it was that impactful
her death.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Has anyone filled her her void? Have you seen beyond?
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Have you seen any No? No, no, no no no.
There's been success full artists, successful female artists too, but
not at that level.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
I think eventually there will be. I really do what
up to now that has not happened?
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Bobby? I wanted to ask you about Spanish and and
and why you've decided to continue your your career as
a musician in Spanish. I'm going to spend about Bonnie,
not just stay with with Spanish. I would sing some
of your greatest songs dipas. I'm going to ask you
(38:23):
about qum, but that's that's another thing. So do you
see two trends in music right now? Musica urbana or
reggaeton on one side, but Bonnie and then m M
on on the other side. Are those the two big
trends that we're seeing right now?
Speaker 4 (38:41):
I think so. And the thing about music is constantly evolving,
so there's always going to be trends and and you know,
I think that's healthy for the industry when when things
are in constant motion, there's always new ways of doing music,
new ways of putting out content. So I'm all for that,
(39:02):
even if I I'm one of those old old fogies
that stayed in the eighties and so I like that
kind of music. I don't really you know, I'm not
a big fan of newer stuff on a personal level,
but I understand how how important it is for this
music to continue to evolve, because if not, then you
(39:23):
turn into motown.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
You know what, more time felt the need to You
never felt the need to sing in English.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
No, I You know, when I first started pork, I
would do like ten songs, two songs would be in English,
but literally because I was in Texas. I'm in Texas,
Texas people like country music. You know el t Hano
that the Hano likes everything. That the Hano is somebody
that can go dance a two step country song and
(39:50):
then dance at ranchetra right right away, all right, So
we're very culturally diverse, extremely and so early on I
would do that kind of to see like where right,
and there's Ronaldo took off like a rocket, and I went, okay,
(40:11):
that's the way, right, this is what people want to
hear from me, And so I stopped recording songs in
English because of it. But English is my first language.
I actually when I started, I didn't speak Spanish.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Yeah, I was really bad. Like if you look at
the movie Selena, how she kind of how she would
like like it was, it was kind of like that.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
Can I ask you, Bobby, are you just before we
start wrapping up, if if your candidacy is not successful,
are you planning on going back to music and do
you think that this sort of political stunt will affect
your music and consumers?
Speaker 4 (40:48):
The most honest answer I can give you is, I
don't know what I'll do. I know this far. I
know if I were to lose the election, and believe me,
there's no hubris involved here. I really believe that that
you have to be prepared for everything, and nothing is guaranteed.
Right you're running, you have to earn the people's vote.
(41:09):
But if I were to not win, I'd probably take
a year off and travel with my wife and spend
it with my son, and and then I don't know
what I'll do after that, I really don't. But I
have faith. I have lots of faith in God, and
I know that regardless of what were to happen after that,
(41:30):
I'll be okay. And you know I would have made
this decision if if I hadn't been ready to accept
whatever is thrown my way. So I'm okay. You know,
I think I would be kicking myself in the butt
if I were not to have run. And then I
were looking at being sixty two years old and saying
(41:51):
I should have done this. You know, I think I'm
at a good age to do it. And and and
just like when I started, I put my faith in people,
and I'm going to put my faith in the people
again and and and and in God. And so wherever
it leads me, that's where I'll be.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Bobby, of course you're you're the son of Roberto, and
that's that's something. Get the stomach. Candle is the ke
is Nino. And and I saw a video so moving
in which he was singing a song for you, say
yah ma with a to mama yes, and it seems
(42:30):
like he was saying goodbye. He was saying to you
keep the flag now it's your turn. That was so
moving and so difficult to hear. And then I saw
your face and you almost cried.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
Yeah, my dad, My dad's really afraid of dying because
he lost his dad at the same age as now.
And he's he's actually doing my farewell tour with me. Yeah,
he's been at the sixty years and I've been thirty years.
(43:09):
And so it's it's it's it's a heartfelt song, it
really is.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
But he's basically telling you, Bobby, it's your turn, and
you're taking it. You're embracing it.
Speaker 4 (43:22):
Yeah, and and and and I'm gonna tell you this.
I don't think he meant music. I just think he
meant in life.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
That's how it felt. Yeah, they told us quite.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
You could pick man.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Yeah, I mean and my musta. I really like this.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
You know what I wanted to I'll tell you this.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Yeah, you can google this.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
This song did not have as much success as it
could have had.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
I'm checking it. Yeah, there's a song called Okay.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
If you google, if you go, it's on YouTube, if
you go, check it out. This was recorded. This song
was done during the Obama deportations. And this song is
an aspirational song about We framed it around immigration and
I'm an immigrant there in that video and I'm actually
like a politician at a at a job site. Wow,
(44:23):
where I am talking about what it's like to live
the American dream and then one day I'm going to
make it. And if you see this video at this
it's not a big intro, it's probably a minute and
a half, and then you listen to the song, you'll
know what my campaign's about. My campaign is about opportunity
(44:44):
because this country, the United States of America, made it.
It was always great because we took everybody that wanted
just a chance to make it, and we gave them
a chance. And that's gonna be my fight.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Thanks so much, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
We appreciated.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
The moment is a production of Radio Bulantes Studios in
partnership with Iheartmichael to the podcast network.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Our stuff includes Daniella Larcon, Laura Rojasa Ponte, Miguel Santiago
Colon and Lisa Serda, with the help from Paola Alan
Jego Corso, Natal Ramirez and Elsa Liano Joa. The CEO
Radio Bulante Studios is Carolina Gerrero.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
Executive producers that I Heart are Arlene Santana and Leo Oomez. Plocabreda,
Dylan Hunger and Mark Canson also serve as producers.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Sound design, final mix and theme song by Elias Gonzalez.
If you like this episode, share the world.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Recommend the Moment to anyone who might enjoy unpacking these
complicated times with us.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
If you like the Moment, Pustano's podcast Espanol, check out
Radio Bulante Studios. Their shows Radio Bulante, Elilo and Central
are really really worth the listen.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
I'm Herd Ramos and I'm Paula Ramos. Thanks for listening.
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