Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / OneLegUpAlex Adapts With Michael Bedenbaugh, Who Wants to Revive Our Republic 12-21-25

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OneLegUpAlex Adapts With Michael Bedenbaugh, Who Wants to Revive Our Republic 12-21-25 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Garrett.
0:07
Speaker 2: Well, you know, year two fifties coming up for America
0:10
Speaker 2: and people lose sight of the republic versus democracy debate.
0:14
Speaker 2: And one of my next guests is actually thanks to
0:17
Speaker 2: Lucas A Ferraro, he was a guest on Shake It Off,
0:20
Speaker 2: and Lucas kindly let me talk with Michael ben and Ba,
0:25
Speaker 2: the author of Reviving Our Republic. Michael, thanks for joining
0:28
Speaker 2: me today on One Look Up with Alex Garrett.
0:31
Speaker 1: Oh, Alex, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you
0:33
Speaker 1: so much.
0:34
Speaker 2: Now, part of this is because I only got to
0:36
Speaker 2: ask you one question on the show, so I want
0:37
Speaker 2: to expand our conversation. First of all, why I write
0:41
Speaker 2: the book now? Obviously we're almost a year two fifty.
0:43
Speaker 2: I feel like that was a motivation for you, right.
0:46
Speaker 1: Well, now, I've been working on this for about twenty years,
0:51
Speaker 1: and I got really motivated to really work on it
0:55
Speaker 1: during the twenty fifteen Republican primary, where I saw how
1:01
Speaker 1: vulgar and competitive our elections have become, and it just
1:07
Speaker 1: rekindled that sense of Washington's sense of George Washington's sense
1:11
Speaker 1: of what is appropriate, how our elections should be run
1:14
Speaker 1: and that helped spur me to make it happen. So
1:17
Speaker 1: I've been working on it.
1:18
Speaker 2: For a while, and obviously, you know we're leaving out
1:22
Speaker 2: the big part that you actually ran for office, and
1:24
Speaker 2: I'm sure that shaped your view of politics as well.
1:27
Speaker 1: Well. That spurred me to get it done because I
1:30
Speaker 1: saw the thoughts I was putting together as a platform
1:33
Speaker 1: to run, and it inspired me to run because well,
1:37
Speaker 1: here's something I have to say, and the best platform
1:40
Speaker 1: is to be a candidate to show I'm ready to
1:42
Speaker 1: put my thoughts where my mouth is and where my
1:46
Speaker 1: heart is. And so I ran as an independent in
1:49
Speaker 1: probably the reddest district, the third district of South Carolina
1:53
Speaker 1: that produced Lindsey Graham. So I had a lot of
1:59
Speaker 1: work to do and I used that as my platform
2:02
Speaker 1: and shared the thoughts there last year.
2:06
Speaker 2: Well how was that experience, because you know, as independent's running,
2:08
Speaker 2: I feel like there's an overlook factor. There's also this,
2:12
Speaker 2: that and the other. How were you able to garner
2:14
Speaker 2: people's attention as an independent?
2:17
Speaker 1: Well? I did have some name recognition because I ran
2:21
Speaker 1: the statewide preservation organization for almost twenty years, and I
2:25
Speaker 1: was able to have relationships with town leaders all over
2:30
Speaker 1: the district. But in South Carolina, it's almost impossible for
2:33
Speaker 1: an independent in reality, unless some miracle happens. And I'm
2:37
Speaker 1: always open to miracles. But you know, since Strong Thermon
2:41
Speaker 1: and then especially since Lee Atwater, one of one of
2:46
Speaker 1: our most vociferous Republican organizers, created a machine that makes
2:51
Speaker 1: it really hard for any non Republican to get anywhere
2:54
Speaker 1: on a ballot, and so I knew it. I was
2:57
Speaker 1: against it. In South Carolina, it's one of the few
2:59
Speaker 1: states that all you have to do is hit the
3:01
Speaker 1: R button and you can leave the voting booth.
3:03
Speaker 2: We talk about accessibility here, Michael, and part of that is,
3:06
Speaker 2: of course the physical accessibility for people to be able
3:09
Speaker 2: to vote, but also accessibility for everyday people to be
3:12
Speaker 2: able to run for office. I feel like we've seen
3:14
Speaker 2: that accessility go out the wayside as years go on.
3:17
Speaker 1: Here. Well, it is, and you know, in a state
3:21
Speaker 1: like South Carolina, I am it's really difficult because you know,
3:24
Speaker 1: the Republican Party machine created by le at Water and
3:28
Speaker 1: Strong THRM and Beform has created a mechanism where it's
3:31
Speaker 1: really hard to break into that. But it can be
3:36
Speaker 1: broken if we make sure we can get money out
3:41
Speaker 1: of those type of political systems. When I ran against
3:44
Speaker 1: my Republican and Democratic opponent as an independent, more of
3:48
Speaker 1: their money came from out of state than in state.
3:51
Speaker 1: The system is set up to where packs and outside
3:54
Speaker 1: funds can come in and help support so national athorities
4:01
Speaker 1: get put into local elections, which they shouldn't be. We
4:04
Speaker 1: should have local elections based on local issues within our
4:08
Speaker 1: constitutional framework. And my Republican opponent raised nine hundred thousand
4:14
Speaker 1: dollars during the primary, which was absurd, and about a
4:18
Speaker 1: third of that was from outside funding. So that has
4:22
Speaker 1: to stop.
4:24
Speaker 2: So you know, obviously everybody does these online stuff. Does
4:27
Speaker 2: that mean getting rid of the online donations? I mean,
4:30
Speaker 2: how do you do that?
4:31
Speaker 1: Well, we have to change the rules of how we
4:34
Speaker 1: do it and what we determine who can give money.
4:37
Speaker 1: And one of the proposals, well several of theposals I
4:40
Speaker 1: have in my book are two things. One, a very
4:42
Speaker 1: big thing is to differentiate between citizens real natural persons
4:50
Speaker 1: and corporations artificial personas. The Constitution didn't clarify that, and
4:57
Speaker 1: that was the ruling behind citizens United cause that wasn't differentiated.
5:01
Speaker 1: We have to differentiate that, and then we take that
5:05
Speaker 1: Once that's in place, we take it a step further
5:07
Speaker 1: and say only people that can vote for you. Individuals
5:11
Speaker 1: that can vote for you are the only sources of donations,
5:17
Speaker 1: and that will help clear out the colonialization that's happening
5:22
Speaker 1: with outside funds and outside interest groups getting their person
5:26
Speaker 1: what they're interested on a national level and influence local elections.
5:30
Speaker 1: That's got to stop.
5:32
Speaker 2: I think of the Republic. I do think of our
5:33
Speaker 2: founding fathers and the way you're describing all this and
5:36
Speaker 2: the way we've seen it with inside of trading all that.
5:38
Speaker 2: That's not how the founding fathers designed our country. They
5:41
Speaker 2: must be rolling in their graves right now.
5:43
Speaker 1: Well, I wouldn't say they're rolling in their graves because
5:47
Speaker 1: they were concerned that this would happen. They tried to
5:53
Speaker 1: set up systems to keep what's happening now from happening.
5:57
Speaker 1: And they understood human nature and they you, this was
6:01
Speaker 1: an experiment, and it's behind the motivation of why Franklin
6:04
Speaker 1: told the lady outside the Convention of Republic, if you
6:07
Speaker 1: can keep it, because he knew people had to work
6:12
Speaker 1: to keep it, and we've been lazy over the past
6:14
Speaker 1: century and not understanding it took vigilance to keep this republic.
6:18
Speaker 1: So they would weep that they didn't set up checks
6:22
Speaker 1: and balances well enough to keep it from happening. I
6:25
Speaker 1: think they would realize that the absence of party regulation
6:33
Speaker 1: within the Constitution, which they didn't really think would be
6:35
Speaker 1: an issue when they wrote the Constitution, that absence is
6:40
Speaker 1: one of the problems, and also corporate corporations becoming almost
6:45
Speaker 1: like state actors. Those two things are not dealt with
6:48
Speaker 1: in the Constitution because in seventeen eighties they didn't know
6:51
Speaker 1: it was an issue. When Washington left office after eight years,
6:55
Speaker 1: he realized the partisanship of parties could potentially destroy the
7:00
Speaker 1: checks and balances, and that's why he focused on that
7:03
Speaker 1: in his farewell address. So I think they would be
7:07
Speaker 1: happy that there's enough people here pushing back. I think
7:11
Speaker 1: they would be they would be weeping that the leadership
7:15
Speaker 1: of this nation has totally forgotten that and are incentivized
7:19
Speaker 1: to disregard what they had written.
7:22
Speaker 2: All right, Well, let me ask you this, why are
7:24
Speaker 2: independence crap? Don If I could be so crude here,
7:28
Speaker 2: I feel like we're not really represented, we're not really valued.
7:32
Speaker 2: I mean, there's a value to independence, though, why are
7:34
Speaker 2: we realizing.
7:35
Speaker 1: That yet, because our society has turned into a consumptive
7:41
Speaker 1: society to where we go after the shiniest, the brightest,
7:46
Speaker 1: the newest, the trendiest, And there is a political party
7:50
Speaker 1: system that has done an incredible job of marketing itself,
7:56
Speaker 1: and it's difficult for individuals. I mean, you know here
7:59
Speaker 1: I am. I'm a real estate guide that sells real estate.
8:03
Speaker 1: I used to run a preservation organization. I've lived a
8:06
Speaker 1: life that has informed me of a lot of these things.
8:09
Speaker 1: But getting that message out there without a big institution
8:13
Speaker 1: elevating it and giving me a megaphone, it's really hard.
8:18
Speaker 1: And once you're able to talk with people and sit
8:21
Speaker 1: down with people to get it. And that's why I
8:23
Speaker 1: got most of my votes. I had the largest votes
8:25
Speaker 1: of any independent in the district ever had because of
8:29
Speaker 1: my already prior relationships. But that goes into for representatives,
8:34
Speaker 1: why we need smaller districts. I mean, districts at seven
8:38
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand people is absurd. We need to
8:41
Speaker 1: make them smaller. It would mean a larger house of representatives.
8:45
Speaker 1: But we need to find that balance because right now,
8:48
Speaker 1: when you're a candidate in a seven hundred and fifty
8:50
Speaker 1: thousand person district. The only people you're listening to are
8:54
Speaker 1: the powerful gatekeepers and the ones donating money, and those
8:59
Speaker 1: become the people you listen to, and that's got to change.
9:03
Speaker 1: We need to break that down.
9:05
Speaker 2: By the I'm time with Michael Bennenba. Thanks to Lucas A.
9:07
Speaker 2: Ferrara for setting this up. We go from shake it
9:10
Speaker 2: off to one leg up. It's a nice little connection
9:12
Speaker 2: we got. Michael does the rezoning thing, then bother you
9:17
Speaker 2: the way they're trying to do it. I feel like
9:18
Speaker 2: rezoning becomes jerrymandry. I mean, are you talking about that
9:21
Speaker 2: in your book as well.
9:23
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we must end jerrymandering and we must return to
9:27
Speaker 1: independent commissions utilizing formulas of geography and space to determine
9:34
Speaker 1: how where district lies. They need to be as equal
9:37
Speaker 1: in size as possible. And there's actually certain formulas you
9:41
Speaker 1: can use to make sure the districts are as equal
9:47
Speaker 1: shape as possible and traditional shapes, you know, instead of
9:51
Speaker 1: a district splitting, say of a city like Columbia, which
9:56
Speaker 1: we have now Columbia itself, it needs to be represented
10:01
Speaker 1: because that is one voting area that people already have
10:04
Speaker 1: a shared cultural relationship with instead of splitting it. But
10:10
Speaker 1: we also have to take into account of making sure
10:13
Speaker 1: minorities in those areas, and here in the South that's
10:16
Speaker 1: a big issue. We have areas that are more African American.
10:19
Speaker 1: They have different interests than others. That's in the power
10:23
Speaker 1: base and we need to make sure they have a voice,
10:26
Speaker 1: which will be helped with smaller districts. Well.
10:29
Speaker 2: And now we'll go into petitioning. Right so, I feel
10:31
Speaker 2: like every snow petitioning for signatures up here? How's the
10:34
Speaker 2: petitioning an end? Does that even matter when all this
10:37
Speaker 2: money comes into play.
10:39
Speaker 1: Well, again, none of this will work unless the money
10:44
Speaker 1: is taken out. And as long as people anywhere can
10:49
Speaker 1: fund a candidate, daylight interest groups all over the country
10:53
Speaker 1: can pour money into one district because there's some national
10:58
Speaker 1: agenda they want that person to have that really has
11:01
Speaker 1: nothing to do with the local agenda. We have a problem.
11:05
Speaker 1: I am a fan of right choice voting, but I'm
11:08
Speaker 1: not against other forms of voting where people can have
11:11
Speaker 1: a choice.
11:12
Speaker 2: The Soros and Koch brothers, we talk about them all
11:15
Speaker 2: the time. Are there other sources of that you focus
11:17
Speaker 2: on that we should eliminate from funding campaigns.
11:21
Speaker 1: Well, there's hundreds and hundreds of packs in groups out
11:26
Speaker 1: there that have special interests and very narrow interests. And
11:31
Speaker 1: if we get rid of the fact that anybody can
11:34
Speaker 1: give anybody money, then it becomes it doesn't matter. But
11:40
Speaker 1: we have to do that. The other thing is any money.
11:43
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not sure if I'm far capping money.
11:46
Speaker 1: If we have it set up where only your voters
11:50
Speaker 1: can give you money, I don't know. Do we need
11:54
Speaker 1: to have a cap. But I also know if we
11:56
Speaker 1: don't have a cap, we have to have full disclosure
11:59
Speaker 1: of who these people are. Anybody that gives over a
12:01
Speaker 1: certain minimal amount needs to be on your list, your
12:05
Speaker 1: web page, and anything to show here's the people backing me,
12:09
Speaker 1: so people can be informed of where your support's coming from.
12:16
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because we see ties to people. Well after
12:18
Speaker 2: elections I noticed, right.
12:20
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely absolutely, And that needs to end me.
12:26
Speaker 2: That we just came off an election where an independent
12:29
Speaker 2: did get half of New York voters in Andrew Cuomo.
12:33
Speaker 2: I mean, does it show name recognition as well up
12:36
Speaker 2: here in a place like New Yorker. How was he
12:37
Speaker 2: able to do that as an independent?
12:40
Speaker 1: Well, one I do not consider for one second, Andrew
12:43
Speaker 1: Cuomo as a traditional independent. Andrew Cuomo was using old
12:49
Speaker 1: party strategy systems to try to get around the rules
12:53
Speaker 1: to and support it by establishment Democrats because they were
12:58
Speaker 1: scared to death of what the Democratic nominee was going
13:02
Speaker 1: to run for. And he failed because people are sick
13:07
Speaker 1: and tired of people running against something instead of far something.
13:13
Speaker 1: And that's that's what he was doing, and that's why
13:16
Speaker 1: he lost. They were only he was only there because
13:19
Speaker 1: he was trying to be the anti nominee. And you
13:23
Speaker 1: know that nominee in New York. No matter what you
13:26
Speaker 1: think of his policies, he's one of the most dynamic
13:29
Speaker 1: young men in the political scene and that's what got
13:31
Speaker 1: him the support and votes. And it's up to New
13:34
Speaker 1: York on how New York is governed. That's the beauty
13:37
Speaker 1: of federalism, that's the beauty of localism. Let people experiment,
13:43
Speaker 1: let them figure it out. It doesn't mean anything other
13:45
Speaker 1: than what happens in New York. I don't believe for
13:48
Speaker 1: one second it means some national trend. New York has
13:52
Speaker 1: a very special set of needs and he was answering
13:55
Speaker 1: that to a lot of people. If he's proven wrong,
13:58
Speaker 1: he'll be voted out. That's the way system is supposed
14:01
Speaker 1: to work.
14:02
Speaker 2: I feel like you revive our republic because you're afraid
14:04
Speaker 2: we're going to lose it. I mean, can we survive
14:07
Speaker 2: past year two fifty?
14:10
Speaker 1: We there are well. Being a historian and being someone
14:15
Speaker 1: who studies history and studies cause and effect, I am
14:19
Speaker 1: under no illusion that America will always be here. Nation.
14:25
Speaker 1: Being a powerful nation has lasted forever. We're not one.
14:30
Speaker 1: We have a unique governing system that allows us to
14:33
Speaker 1: remake ourselves, to be new, to be renewed, which hopefully
14:37
Speaker 1: that will give us more time to exist on the
14:41
Speaker 1: world stage in human experience. However, we cannot fool ourselves
14:47
Speaker 1: to think that it can't happen to us, that we
14:50
Speaker 1: wouldn't divide, that we wouldn't devolve into chaos. We could,
14:55
Speaker 1: and I see scenarios where that could happen. So the
15:00
Speaker 1: change we need is going to start happening. When the
15:05
Speaker 1: pain people are feeling, coupled with a solution to resolve
15:10
Speaker 1: it hits so hard people are willing to change habits
15:14
Speaker 1: and start acting differently. The purpose of me writing my
15:17
Speaker 1: book was to give one of those solutions that I
15:21
Speaker 1: think would work and put it out there. And that's
15:24
Speaker 1: why I wrote it a read to give that even more.
15:27
Speaker 2: And we'll get into this with other conversations. I love
15:29
Speaker 2: to have you back because you just sound so knowledgeable
15:31
Speaker 2: and so historic. All right, Republican Philadelphia, you know, is
15:34
Speaker 2: where the Republic started. Have you been to Philly? I
15:35
Speaker 2: have to ask you that. And do you love Philadelphia
15:37
Speaker 2: as much?
15:37
Speaker 1: Oh? Absolutely, absolutely, But I have to tell you, you know,
15:42
Speaker 1: growing up here in South Carolina, and we have Charleston,
15:45
Speaker 1: which was our colonial city where you know, the Revolution
15:49
Speaker 1: was fought here. And because after the Civil War Charleston
15:52
Speaker 1: had no money and was broke, it pretty much changed.
15:56
Speaker 1: And so when I walked the streets or Charleston, I
15:58
Speaker 1: walked the same streets roughly walked and Jefferson had walked
16:01
Speaker 1: when they visited in Washington, saw and saw the same buildings.
16:04
Speaker 1: When I went to Philadelphia Boston, it was kind of
16:07
Speaker 1: sad because everything had been destroyed except certain iconic buildings
16:12
Speaker 1: and then everything else was new. So, you know, it
16:16
Speaker 1: shows how America changes, It shows how we adapt. But
16:23
Speaker 1: I loved being up there. I loved walking the streets
16:26
Speaker 1: and feeling, wow, this is this is where it happened.
16:29
Speaker 1: But some of my ancestors were Quakers, and they settled
16:32
Speaker 1: in outside of Philadelphia as Welsh Quakers in the seventeen seventies,
16:37
Speaker 1: seventeen eighties, sixteen eighties. So I consider that part of
16:42
Speaker 1: my ancestry as well.
16:44
Speaker 2: All Right, I'm to ask you this because you mentioned
16:47
Speaker 2: twenty years. There's two moments where I think, at least
16:50
Speaker 2: in South Carolina, there one moment. And by the way,
16:53
Speaker 2: I've been to Charleston, loved the battery. It's a great town,
16:56
Speaker 2: it's a great city. But I have to ask you
16:58
Speaker 2: when she decided to take down the Confederate flag, did
17:01
Speaker 2: that you know? Did that affect you in any way?
17:04
Speaker 2: Did that inspire you to keep working on this project?
17:08
Speaker 1: No? Her taking down the flag was one of the
17:10
Speaker 1: bravest things I've ever seen a political leader in this state.
17:13
Speaker 1: Do it was? You know? I had all my ancestors
17:18
Speaker 1: of age to fight in the war for the Confederacy,
17:22
Speaker 1: they all thought and a third album died either in
17:25
Speaker 1: the war from disease. And I grew up where my
17:29
Speaker 1: family benefited from a Jim Crow South and our region,
17:35
Speaker 1: many areas have not understood the pain and the suffering
17:41
Speaker 1: that that horrible conflict instilled, and so people holding that
17:46
Speaker 1: battle flag up on our state House grounds were on
17:49
Speaker 1: the wrong side of history. And I'm thankful, as disappointed
17:53
Speaker 1: as I've been to Nikki Haley on several fronts, how
17:56
Speaker 1: she's handled herself publicly, that was one of bravest moments,
18:01
Speaker 1: and honestly it hurt her in the Republican establishment in
18:05
Speaker 1: this state and why she didn't get more of a
18:07
Speaker 1: leg up during the primary against Donald Trump. So thank
18:12
Speaker 1: goodness to Stone and set in the museum and people
18:15
Speaker 1: can fly it, they could do whatever they want, but
18:17
Speaker 1: on our official state house grounds, only the most unified
18:21
Speaker 1: symbols should be there, and that one was not it.
18:25
Speaker 2: I agree the American flag should be the one that flies.
18:27
Speaker 2: That is so true, Michael. I got to ask you
18:30
Speaker 2: this though, because the other moment that's happened in the
18:32
Speaker 2: last twenty years is independences are get tired when they
18:36
Speaker 2: saw and especially Democrats, when they saw Bernie Sanders's ballots
18:39
Speaker 2: just left for dead by the DNC in California. Those
18:43
Speaker 2: moments like that, are they pushing people to the independent
18:46
Speaker 2: line and away from Democrats? Are you noticing that? Did
18:49
Speaker 2: you notice that and think about that.
18:52
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely, as more people have more access to information.
18:57
Speaker 1: I mean, let me tell you, the Internet has a
19:00
Speaker 1: lot of it's quirks and foribles that can be good
19:02
Speaker 1: or bad. But the full democratization of people organizing on
19:07
Speaker 1: their own without having to have an organized party communicate
19:12
Speaker 1: to them facts. They can find facts on their own,
19:15
Speaker 1: and that's what's led to the change and to the shift.
19:19
Speaker 1: And you know, voices like Bernie's has been a powerful
19:25
Speaker 1: tool to show that you know, there are alternatives. I mean,
19:29
Speaker 1: I don't agree with many of the things Bernie says,
19:32
Speaker 1: but he's one of the most I admire him more
19:36
Speaker 1: than most political leaders that's in Washington because, bless his heart,
19:41
Speaker 1: he believes it and he communicates it. And we need
19:47
Speaker 1: more people that are real communicators like that of their
19:50
Speaker 1: true belief and not just you know, the tail wagging
19:54
Speaker 1: the dog of whatever people want. They'll just shift shape
19:58
Speaker 1: shift into whatever they think works, like I will say
20:01
Speaker 1: Lindsey Graham does down here, which is a horrible representation
20:06
Speaker 1: of how you should represent your constituency.
20:09
Speaker 2: The other thing that's happened, obviously is we haven't had
20:12
Speaker 2: a non establishment and non politician become president twice. So
20:17
Speaker 2: I have to say, does Trump sort of inspire others
20:20
Speaker 2: that are not even in politics to make that runner
20:22
Speaker 2: or are you a fan of him? Like, what are
20:23
Speaker 2: your thoughts on him as an independent?
20:26
Speaker 1: Well, I'm to be short, I'm not a fan of him.
20:31
Speaker 1: I have a huge problem with how he communicates, and
20:39
Speaker 1: I do not think he is of He is not
20:44
Speaker 1: a Republican, meaning he doesn't understand how republic works, and
20:51
Speaker 1: I think that's dangerous. I understand why people voted for
20:55
Speaker 1: him because he was he was against what the corruptive
21:00
Speaker 1: parties have done. But instead I believe the trend on
21:07
Speaker 1: the things that he's doing is undercutting what the republic
21:12
Speaker 1: should be and that needs to be checked. So I
21:18
Speaker 1: don't blame Donald Trump as much because Donald Trump is
21:22
Speaker 1: who he is. He's always been that way. I lived
21:24
Speaker 1: in New York in the nineties. I saw everything about him.
21:27
Speaker 1: What I have a problem with are the sink Offens
21:31
Speaker 1: and the followers who just blindly follow no matter what
21:34
Speaker 1: he says. I mean, this last post he did on
21:38
Speaker 1: true Social following the death of Rob Reiner and his
21:42
Speaker 1: wife was just beyond the scope of human decency and
21:48
Speaker 1: we need to start holding our leaders to a standard
21:52
Speaker 1: we expect for ourselves.
21:54
Speaker 2: You know, the scary parts of me is that he's
21:56
Speaker 2: really made an own party, right, So if you're not
21:59
Speaker 2: a MAGA candidate, you're going to lose. It's really bad
22:02
Speaker 2: that precedent as well.
22:04
Speaker 1: Well, it is. And what's so weird about it is,
22:07
Speaker 1: you know, they keep calling traditional Republicans rhinos, Republican in
22:11
Speaker 1: name only, and I'm like, you guys are the rhinos.
22:14
Speaker 1: These guys have been Republican like this for fifty years.
22:17
Speaker 1: Y'all came in and changed the dynamic of what the
22:20
Speaker 1: Republican Party stood for. So, you know, but here's the thing,
22:25
Speaker 1: here's my take on Donald Trump. I welcome him into
22:29
Speaker 1: the body politic because his energy, his perspective will fuel
22:37
Speaker 1: and will give us the information we need to know
22:40
Speaker 1: what we have to fix. I consider him like a
22:44
Speaker 1: virus in the body that you know, what do we
22:48
Speaker 1: need to repair? Where is the problems he's showing us
22:51
Speaker 1: right now? Now's our choice. Now's our time to say
22:56
Speaker 1: this matters and if we want a nation to go
22:58
Speaker 1: another two hundred and fifty year, the dangers he is
23:02
Speaker 1: showing on how he handles the office is what we
23:07
Speaker 1: need to fix in the long run. And I'm not
23:10
Speaker 1: just picking on him because of the Democratic Party has
23:13
Speaker 1: done the same sort of abuses, not as bad, more hidden.
23:17
Speaker 1: But he's exposing everything. The issue is people are accepting
23:21
Speaker 1: even what he's exposing, and that needs to be dealt with,
23:25
Speaker 1: and we need to push through this and restructure the
23:28
Speaker 1: Republic to mitigate against these Exactly.
23:31
Speaker 2: He's doubled down in the White House. The guy cannot
23:34
Speaker 2: leave a moment alone. It's really that's his downfall.
23:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean, he really has no impulse control,
23:42
Speaker 1: and that's not a good quality of someone being the
23:45
Speaker 1: President of the United States. In the position the United
23:48
Speaker 1: States is in right now, I really fear. I mean,
23:52
Speaker 1: I studied Russian studies, I lived in Russia in nineteen
23:56
Speaker 1: ninety and I really fear the haphazard way he's dealt
24:02
Speaker 1: with and this administration is dealt with the defense of
24:05
Speaker 1: Ukraine is getting ready to plunge Eastern Europe into a
24:11
Speaker 1: devastating conflict even more than what's happening. And you know,
24:17
Speaker 1: we have a lot of work to do. We have
24:20
Speaker 1: a lot of work to do, and my contribution to
24:23
Speaker 1: that work is this book. And I really appreciate you
24:27
Speaker 1: helping me share the message of it. Alex, Oh my god.
24:29
Speaker 2: I love I love your energy, and I love the
24:32
Speaker 2: fact that you are an independent. So let me ask
24:34
Speaker 2: you this, con the pros and cons of both parties
24:38
Speaker 2: that made you feel more independent and not aligned with
24:40
Speaker 2: either party? Like what drew you to the middle?
24:44
Speaker 1: Well, I think what threw me to the middle is
24:47
Speaker 1: what most people feel is I am. I consider myself
24:51
Speaker 1: a constitutional conservative, a physcal conservative, and law and order
24:57
Speaker 1: that is appropriate constitutionally. I'm also a social liberal right,
25:03
Speaker 1: I believe the government shouldn't have a say in what
25:08
Speaker 1: I do with my body are and I'm a federalist
25:12
Speaker 1: also to where I think power should be divided between states, communities,
25:17
Speaker 1: and responsibility. The federal government has different from the state governments.
25:21
Speaker 1: All of those things have been so muddied that I
25:24
Speaker 1: believe that needs to be broken up. So both parties
25:29
Speaker 1: now have turned into national focused parties that they think
25:33
Speaker 1: only their philosophy will fix the whole nation. And that's
25:37
Speaker 1: the problem. You know, South Carolina is not the same
25:42
Speaker 1: cultural political culture that California has. Our Massachusetts are North Dakota.
25:50
Speaker 1: You know, we need to be able to allow people
25:52
Speaker 1: to have their own state culture reflected in their politics
26:00
Speaker 1: and let those responsibilities get back. I'm not someone that
26:04
Speaker 1: believes the word states' rights is valid because I believe
26:10
Speaker 1: we need to start focusing on state responsibilities and what
26:15
Speaker 1: that means, and so states can help fund mental health
26:19
Speaker 1: and police and first responders and schools how we were
26:25
Speaker 1: supposed to do it, and not the federal government trying
26:28
Speaker 1: to do everything. Would you are destroying.
26:33
Speaker 2: Is making your book more vital to read because we
26:35
Speaker 2: cannot let that happen again. We cannot let people and
26:38
Speaker 2: elect people that let that happen.
26:40
Speaker 1: That's right, we can't. But you know again, I considered
26:45
Speaker 1: my book and offering to those who have gotten so
26:49
Speaker 1: disenchanted that here's a solution. I'm not here the meaning
26:54
Speaker 1: or fussing about what people are doing. I'm here saying,
26:59
Speaker 1: here's how we fix the system. When I use this
27:01
Speaker 1: book and when I had meetings during my campaign, I
27:05
Speaker 1: had as many conservatives as liberals in the room supporting
27:09
Speaker 1: me because the book and my platform was all about
27:13
Speaker 1: structural organization of how we make laws, not what laws
27:17
Speaker 1: were supposed to make.
27:19
Speaker 2: And would you say the book is going to help
27:20
Speaker 2: you get back on the election lines to vote. I mean,
27:24
Speaker 2: I feel like this is inspiring people to get back
27:25
Speaker 2: into the body politic.
27:28
Speaker 1: I think it will. I think it will big time.
27:30
Speaker 1: I mean, look at what happened when you had Mam
27:33
Speaker 1: Donnie doing so well in New York and how many
27:35
Speaker 1: people came out that it hadn't voted either ever or
27:39
Speaker 1: in years. So people will participate if they feel their
27:44
Speaker 1: voice is empowered and elevated, and only a multi party
27:49
Speaker 1: plural system will do that. And right now, the duopoly
27:53
Speaker 1: of the two parties has shut that down, and the
27:56
Speaker 1: centralization of our conversation has shut that down. That's what
28:01
Speaker 1: we need to open up. I have faith in the
28:03
Speaker 1: American people overall, because we all have shared values. We
28:08
Speaker 1: all love our children. We want our children to do better,
28:10
Speaker 1: we want our communities to thrive. We want to live
28:13
Speaker 1: in a place that works. That's what we have to
28:16
Speaker 1: tap back into and get the federal government out of
28:18
Speaker 1: the way of us trying to make that happen.
28:22
Speaker 2: All right, to make that happen, I also argue independence
28:26
Speaker 2: should be allowed to vote in primaries. Are you going
28:28
Speaker 2: state by state saying let's open up the primaries. I
28:30
Speaker 2: know some states are already doing that.
28:32
Speaker 1: But well, again, I don't know. You know, one my
28:37
Speaker 1: personal feelings on how primary should work is subservient to
28:43
Speaker 1: we should open up as many ways as possible in
28:45
Speaker 1: every state. My personal feeling is, I don't know if
28:50
Speaker 1: open primaries work as well as just letting banning the
28:57
Speaker 1: concept of primary anyway. Let let parties as many parties
29:02
Speaker 1: as they want, have a have a have a convention
29:06
Speaker 1: of their members, they pick who they want, and then
29:09
Speaker 1: that person goes into the general election. You know, I think,
29:17
Speaker 1: what's that.
29:17
Speaker 2: We used to have conventions all the time. That weren't
29:20
Speaker 2: the D N, C, R and C.
29:22
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right, and and there were conventions of
29:25
Speaker 1: other parties. But what the primary system did is it
29:29
Speaker 1: created more power base for the two primary parties. And
29:34
Speaker 1: really people are misled into thinking these are their only choices,
29:39
Speaker 1: and so a primary everybody votes in and then they
29:44
Speaker 1: go from there when it's really restricting choices, and uh,
29:48
Speaker 1: that's just got to stop. We we need My personal
29:52
Speaker 1: favorite is similar to what Alaska does, where they have
29:56
Speaker 1: a you know, an open system where people can be voted.
30:01
Speaker 1: You can have a system where you know, you have
30:05
Speaker 1: ballot access, whatever the local determines what balot access is,
30:12
Speaker 1: and then you have an election and it could be
30:17
Speaker 1: twenty people in it, but then the top five or
30:21
Speaker 1: the top number of people then go into a final
30:25
Speaker 1: election that is maybe ranked choice voting.
30:28
Speaker 2: I was going to say that sounds about ran choice
30:29
Speaker 2: voting to me, which could be a better solution.
30:31
Speaker 1: I guess it could be. You know, I've taught to
30:35
Speaker 1: people who were concerned with ranked choice voting, and there's
30:38
Speaker 1: other types of choice voting. I'm not against any of them.
30:42
Speaker 1: What I am for is as many ways possible that
30:45
Speaker 1: all fifty states has ways they can experiment in their
30:49
Speaker 1: own political laboratories, so that we could sit here and
30:53
Speaker 1: say wow, that works better, and in South Carolina and
30:55
Speaker 1: say wow, what they're doing in Michigan is really cool.
30:58
Speaker 1: Let's learn from that and do what they're doing. That's
31:01
Speaker 1: what federalism should look like, and that's what I support. However,
31:05
Speaker 1: we get about doing that.
31:07
Speaker 2: All right, And I know we're going to find out
31:08
Speaker 2: more on your book, but tell us the website for
31:10
Speaker 2: people to.
31:13
Speaker 1: Visit it is Revivingourrepublic dot com. And that's where I
31:19
Speaker 1: have my links to my podcast and to Project twenty
31:23
Speaker 1: twenty six and all of those things talking about why
31:26
Speaker 1: we need a better way of doing things. And also
31:31
Speaker 1: the book to be found on Amazon. Just type in
31:33
Speaker 1: Reviving Our Republic and you'll find it. And it actually
31:37
Speaker 1: a month ago it was in the top twenty of
31:39
Speaker 1: political and civic history. So people are starting to respond
31:43
Speaker 1: to it and I really appreciate that.
31:45
Speaker 2: All right, well, I'm going to ask you what I
31:46
Speaker 2: ask you on the air. Everybody seems to be getting
31:49
Speaker 2: confused between democracy versus republic. Explain to my audience the difference.
31:53
Speaker 2: There's a stark one, isn't there.
31:56
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's a false battle, and a lot
31:59
Speaker 1: of people want to say one is not the other.
32:02
Speaker 1: You know, a republic is a type of democratic system
32:06
Speaker 1: to where people vote and through a and it's called
32:10
Speaker 1: a democratic republic, people vote elect representatives who then make
32:15
Speaker 1: laws for the people in their constituents. A pure democracy
32:21
Speaker 1: is where people gather. This is what Athens had, where
32:25
Speaker 1: leaders of the community would gather and make laws and
32:29
Speaker 1: whatever they voted would be the law. They didn't do
32:32
Speaker 1: it through representatives, they just did it through assembly of
32:34
Speaker 1: people and that was you know, that was the old
32:39
Speaker 1: New England town hall system where people you know, people
32:43
Speaker 1: in the community would gather and vote for their town
32:48
Speaker 1: laws and such. But you know there's a big and
32:52
Speaker 1: I see it on my page. When I'm talking. People say, well,
32:55
Speaker 1: it's not a democracy, it's a republic. Well they're still
32:58
Speaker 1: kind of both. It's just a democratic way to elect
33:01
Speaker 1: I think it's the best way.
33:04
Speaker 2: Well, there you go, Mike Bedenbaugh, reviving our republic one
33:08
Speaker 2: day at a time. I'm gonna definitely read the book
33:10
Speaker 2: more and have you back on as we head to
33:13
Speaker 2: ward year two fifty.
33:16
Speaker 1: That's it. We got another two hundred fifty years ago.
33:18
Speaker 1: Let's make it count and make it good.
33:20
Speaker 2: A reminder we're still a very young country trying to
33:22
Speaker 2: have one leg up for everybody.
33:23
Speaker 1: Right, That's right. That's it, Alex, thank you so much
33:28
Speaker 1: for having me on. I really appreciate it.
33:30
Speaker 2: God bless you, Saring, good luck with everything, and we'll
33:32
Speaker 2: we have you back on for sure.
33:34
Speaker 1: I'm standing by. Take care.
33:36
Speaker 2: That was Michael Benenbaugh. Thanks to Lucas A. Ferrara again
33:40
Speaker 2: for making this connection here on the One Leg Up Network.
33:43
Speaker 2: I'm Alex Garrett