MidTerm Elections, Florida's Governor's Race, and Special Sessions

We started big picture, then drilled down into the Sunshine State with Dr. Bob McClure of the James Madison Institute. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Can we go five minutes past and it's the third
hour of the morning show, Good Morning Show, fifty five
seventy eight. He is Jose. I am Preston, and this
is the president of the James Madison Institute. He is
doctor Bob McClure. Hello, doctor Bob. How are you, sir?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm doing fantastic, sir? How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm doing great. Tell me what your thoughts are as
we look ahead to the midterms. What do you think
is positioned as being difference makers looking ahead? Or do
you think anyone is in a place of even worrying
about that right now?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
You know, I think that the American people are I
think if we can get through this Iranian situation and
return to kind of I don't know if normal sees
the right word, Preston. I think, you know, the American
people are very concerned about affordability, right, the ability to

(01:08):
you know, make money and live the life that they choose.
And I think that you know, the Republicans, I mean,
you know this as well as I do. And off
your elections, anger uh motivates people to go to the polls,
and typically when your guy or gal is in office,
you're not as angry right, and so the Democratic Party

(01:33):
may be more motivated to go to the polls. But uh,
the craziness of the left and the the the prisoner,
you know that, you know how how the Democratic leadership
is kind of held prisoner by the crazy left. I
think it's going to be hand to hand combat. I
think we still have to watch also redistricting across the country.

(01:58):
Themes like themes like it's gonnat the Republicans three to
five different opportunities, and I think the House is going
to be hand to hand combat. I you know, today
I don't think the Democrats would take back the Senate,
but you know, those things could change over the next
few months. It's gonna come down to peace, opportunity, and prosperity,

(02:19):
and where the American people are on that.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
I'm gonna make a statement, give me a truer or
false and a why or why not you think your
your thought or why you believe your thought. The Republican Party,
the elected Republicans are their own worst enemy.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
That is truer than true. And it is because too
often they run and then they get into office and
they actually either are afraid of their own shadow. They
run a certain way they're afraid of their own shadow,
or in this case, this Congress unfortunately really hasn't done

(03:03):
much except for the one big beautiful bill. But the
American people are looking for so much more. And the
Republicans are traditionally very poor at messaging, and they are
often afraid of their own shadows. So when they run

(03:23):
for office, they're bold and courageous. When they get into office,
oftentimes they don't govern the way they run. It's true
also of the Democrats, but in a very different way.
But yes, the Republicans are absolutely their own worsted.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
To me, how big of a shadow will this conflict
in Iran cast on the midterms?

Speaker 2 (03:51):
I think that remains to be seen. I think I
think if the straight or four moves is reopened, if
gas drops back down to do fifty to seventy gallon,
at least in Florida, I think, you know, those are

(04:13):
those are tangible. You know, you can drive down any
road and gas prices are an immediate reminder of affordability
and how things are coming down. So I see, I
think it remains to be seen. We'll be you know,
this next couple of weeks will be interesting, but I

(04:37):
think it's an open question, to answer your To answer
your question.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Doctor Bob McClure, serving as president of the James Madison Institute,
to think tank based in Florida's capital City. Let's transition
to Florida, doctor McClure and talk about the governor's race.
I saw a recent pull that suggested that Florida Governor
Ron de Santus carries more heft than the President of

(05:07):
the United States does in terms of what people think
and the favorability that he has versus Congress versus the President.
Your thoughts on where he is right now and kind
of laying low on the GOP side of the governor's race, Well, I.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Think the I think the governor has done a tremendous
job over the last seven plus years, and Freudians are
rewarding him with with those polling numbers. I mean, you
look at what he has accomplished, whether it's continuing to
reduce taxes, continuing to reduce you know, to improve the

(05:47):
regulatory environment, universal school choice, tort reform, I mean, the
list goes on and on and on, you know, getting
DEI out of Higher Ed. This governor has run full
bore since he took office and he's done it. I
mean you asked me earlier about Republicans being their own

(06:08):
worst enemy. In this case, the governor is one of
his best assets because he ran a certain way twice
and he governs that way, and he governs in a
courageous way. Whether you like his style or not, whether
you agree with him one hundred percent of the time
or not, you respect and admire that he governs the

(06:33):
way he runs, and that, Preston is the contrast that
you referred to earlier. I think also, you know, as
it relates to the current governor's race, you know this governor,
you know, may or may not have a preference, but
he is focused on finishing the job. He's got redistricting

(06:54):
coming up with a special session, he's got a budget
to get through, he's got his property tax issues, those
issues that he's focused on. And so he's, you know,
as they say, running through the tape, and he's not
coasting and he's got more to do. I think at
some point he will certainly weigh in on the governor's race,

(07:14):
but it's so early for most Floridians that he's he's
got work to do before he gets to that part
of the equation.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of incumbents that are running
out of time in office, laying out until the primary
season is over, and then throwing whatever hef they have
behind whoever the nominee is that closely aligns with their beliefs.
Do you suspect that's what de Santis will do?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
You know? I mean I can't you know, he you know,
he holds his cards close, and I think, you know,
obviously he knows what he will do primarily, but I
think that the you know, I think I don't know.
I don't know if he's you know, if he's going
to weigh in in the primary or not. I mean,

(08:03):
all polls show that Byron Donalds is well ahead, and
when Floridians, at least primary Republican voters know that he's
been endorsed by Donald Trump, Byron Donalds is up, you know,
twenty five points, and is you know, the leader in
the clubhouse. And so what the governor chooses to do,

(08:25):
I don't know. I think, you know, if the question
is will he fall in line with whoever the Republican
primary voters nominate, I think I feel very very confident
of that. And right now, Byron Donalds is the leader
by a significant margin.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
We've got about a minute left in this segment. What
are your thoughts about the Democrat side of the ticket.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
I think they are going to struggle with the same
thing that any Democratic US senator is Canada is going
to struggle with in any congressitional member who's in a
purple or reasonably red district is going to struggle with,
and that is, how do you not anger the hard

(09:09):
left so that they will come out and vote and
yet reach the moderate voter in the independent in a
state like Florida, where you know, n p A is
a huge, huge number in the state. I also think
that the Democratic Party in Florida has become kind of

(09:30):
the whether you agree with this or not kind of
the weed party in the in the you know, pro
abortion party, and they really haven't yet offered any other
alternatives to you know, you compare Governor de Santus having
an idea a day with whatever the Democrats are offering,
and there's no comparison. So I think they have a

(09:51):
big problem on their hands.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Doctor Bobnclore with us from jm I the jam that's
Madison Institute. You touched on special sessions. In our first segment,
are you surprised they didn't get the budget done before
the finish line of the session before having to come back?

Speaker 2 (10:14):
Not really, given what we've we've seen these last couple
of years, competing priorities in the House, in the Senate,
political putting politics, let's put it this way over kind
of what Floridians really need. So No, I wasn't surprised.

(10:36):
They've got to do it. It's mandated, so they're gonna
have to do it. But you know, there's gonna be
some sausage making in the process.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
So they're going to come back sometime soon and they've
got to hammer out the budget. That's first. What special
sessions do we know are coming?

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well, we know they're going to do from redistricting, which
is going to be if I'm not mistaken first to
get that in place. Who you know how that plays out.
There are others who, uh, live and die by that
and know those maps better than I do. But it

(11:19):
will be redrawn favorably, I'm sure, for more congressional seats
for Republicans. Uh. And then the you know, the governor
has called for a special session on the property tax discussion.
We've got to You know, this has been wherever you
stand on the issue of property taxes, and you know
we at the James Madison is to believe that local

(11:42):
governments spend way too much money, waste too much money,
and that there is tons of room to reduce and
cut property taxes. We believe in a levy cap which
is essentially cap local spending. Uh, don't tell them how
to spend it, but roll it back to I don't know,
twenty twenty two, twenty three cap it and then allow

(12:03):
it to grow with population index to inflation. That helps
rural counties, that helps large counties. Levy cap and then
just don't get into the weeds of telling them how
to spend their money. We'll see what happens. But they're
going to have to do something because the build up
on property taxes, both in the legislature and with the

(12:24):
governor has been significant and I can't imagine them walking
away with no initiative to reduce property taxes in some.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
Way, Doctor McClure. When we visited with Blazon Goolia, the
state CFO, we learned that he was auditing basically all
city county government. Red blue Democrat Republican didn't matter. He's
and he's found the problem. You just diagnosed that that
there's just been ridiculous spending across the board. But now

(12:56):
he's also opened the door to checking on school districts.
You like that idea because I do.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
I like any idea that shines the light. Light is
the best disinfected preston and any light that are any
opportunity to shine the light on government spending is critically important.
I mean, look at it at the federal level and
the fraud we have seen in Minnesota in California, whether

(13:24):
it's medicaid or you know, the daycare centers in Minnesota.
So Blaze has been fabulous on this issue as he
highlights around the state to your point, red and blue
local governments overspending and they're spending your money in mind.

(13:49):
I mean, you know, places that are faster growing than
Leon County. You're seeing revenues up thirty or forty percent.
They're just riding the wave of proper values and then saying, oh,
but we're not you know, we're not raising your taxes yet,
but you're not reducing the militarate and so where is
that money going? School districts? Absolutely any anything that you

(14:13):
look at. The central office, for example, has grown at
a higher rate than the hiring of teachers for most
school districts around the state, and I would venture around
the country. We don't need bureaucrats and administrators in public education.
We need teachers and we need quality education at that

(14:34):
local level. So I am all four blays doing this,
and I think he's doing a fabulous job both with
the municipalities and let's get to the school districts now.