Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the executive director of 2nd Vote, Amy Wilhite in studio to talk about how 2ndvote.com was created, what motivated it, and how they rate companies.
Leahy: We are joined in studio – our very good friend, the executive director of Second Vote Amy Wilhite. Good morning, Amy.
Wilhite: Good morning, Michael! It’s good to be here.
Leahy: It’s great to have you back here in studio. It’s been a very interesting time for 2nd Vote, hasn’t it?
Wilhite: Yes. It really has been. We’ve been around since 2012. And Dr. Black, our founder, saw this coming years ago with all this woke corporate capitalism.
And he said before, I wish we didn’t exist. I wish we didn’t need to exist. But we do. And we’re here for people so that they can look at these companies that are funneling money to the left, and try to shop their values.
Leahy: All over the place. We have your affiliated company, 2nd Vote Advisers. 2nd Voe Advisers. Dan Grant runs that operation.
2nd Vote Advisers use the ratings that you have in developing their money management portfolio. And they also have exchange-traded funds.
The 2nd Vote Advisers is an advertiser with The Tennessee Star Report. So we’re big fans of 2nd Vote Advisers and 2nd Vote as well.
Wilhite: That’s right. We’re glad that they’re able to use our research. We license it to them so that they can come up with their scores and on that side of things. And then they also have another group that handles the financial part.
And they just put the packages both together. And it comes up for a great product. And they’re doing really well now for our listeners.
Leahy: Just to remind them, a 2nd Vote is on the web at 2ndvote.com. Just remind our listeners what the mission of 2nd Vote is.
Wilhite: Yes. We started back in 2012 by Dr. Black and Congressman Diane Black, because they are at a grocery store shopping, and they donated some money to an organization. And when they were walking to the parking lot, Congressman Black said, why did you do that?
Why did you do that, Dave? And he said, why wouldn’t I do that? And she said because that organization funnels money to Planned Parenthood. So he thought, wow, I didn’t know that. How come I didn’t know that? Who else is doing this?
He got some researchers together and studied what some other companies were doing and was just floored by where the monies were going. So that’s how 2nd Vote was created. We want to research and educate consumers so that they can align their dollars with their values.
Leahy: You rate on a one to five scale, whether or not publicly traded companies are neutral, far left, or right.
Wilhite: Exactly.
Leahy: And how many companies do you rate?
Wilhite: We’ve got over 2,500 in our database that we’ve already researched and they’re there. But we’ve got about 15-1,600 that are public on our database. Yes, we do that. One point zero is far left. And then it’s a five-point zero is far right.
Leahy: And three point zero is what you’re shooting for, right?
Wilhite: Three-point zero is neutral. We are a conservative research group and when we applaud those corporations that lean right or far right. We applaud those companies.
But the goal is for corporations to stay neutral and get to the neutral point. Corporations used to, you didn’t really know where they were giving their money.
Leahy: This would be about 30 years ago.
Wilhite: Yes. You knew that when you were going to go get a coffee that, you know what? You’re getting a good cup of coffee and good service and all those kinds of things. You didn’t know where they were giving their charitable dollars.
But now companies are almost going overboard and doing it in your face and unapologetically. And they’re trying to show us what we’re supposed to believe and how we’re supposed to believe, where they give their money.
And they need to quit being so divisive. I’ve seen some – you’ve talked about the NFL. I heard you talking about the Olympics a little bit. What happened to just watching a football game and watching the players stand up?
Leahy: Ah, the good old days.
Wilhite: The good old days and what things stood for. You went to a baseball game and you knew it was all good. But now you got to worry about people kneeling or what they’re supporting outside of that.
So we want corporations to be on watch, to know we’re watching them, and to know the consumers are watching them and just get back to neutral.
Just get back to giving a good quality product, good customer service. If you’re a sporting event, let’s just have a great day. Stand up for the flag, sing the song, and just be happy.
Leahy: So here’s the thing. You mentioned coffee, which is a big theme of this program since we start at five o’clock. I’m about to pour you a cup of coffee that I made.
Wilhite: I’ll gladly take it.
Leahy: So we’ll see. And it was a company called Broast TN out of Cookeville who provided us with one of their brands called Happy Camper. I’ve already tasted it. And I’ve given my review. You can give a review after we pour you a cup of coffee.
That’s going to be, by the way, the new standard of treatment for in-studio guests. They all get a cup of coffee and we’ll test different ones throughout.
Wilhite: Great. And we’ll have to score them as well.
Leahy: Yes. The folks at BROASTTN, 2nd Vote will be scoring you. So stayed tuned. Coffee. One being liberal, two leaning liberal, three neutral. Four, leaning conservative. Five, conservative. Okay. Guess what? I’m looking at Starbucks right now.
Oh, my goodness. It’s a one point seven, not so good. Seattle’s Best Coffee one point one seven. But there is actually a three point zero coffee company. Dutch Brothers Coffee. How about that? But this is the problem, isn’t it?
Wilhite: It is. And really, we’re trying to avoid interjecting politics into all of our consumer purchases. But the companies are forcing us to be political.
And your tool allows everybody listening – you can go to 2ndvote.com if you like coffee and you want a company that’s not politically correct. Dutch Brothers Coffee. Looks like they would be right at the top of the list.
Wilhite: And Peet’s Coffee.
Leahy: Is Peet’s also?
Wilhite: Yes. Peets. Black Rifle Coffee. That’s exactly right.
Leahy: Okay, so as part of our coffee game plan here, we’re gonna have to get Peet’s and Black Rifle, and Dutch Brothers. We’re gonna have to test it out and see how it goes.
Wilhite: That’s right.
Listen to the second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the executive director of 2nd Vote, Amy Wilhite, in studio to discuss her experience trying out for the Olympics, patriotism, and 2nd Vote’s new subscription option.
Leahy: We are joined in studio by our very good friend, the executive director of 2nd Vote at 2ndvote.com, Amy Wilhite. Amy, just before we get to the story about all the good things that are happening at 2nd Vote –
And we’ve got some new information – You were telling in the break that when you were playing basketball at Alabama, you went and tried out for the Pan American Games, which is kind of the precursor to the Olympics. You wanted to share with us a little bit the contrast between what it was like then and what it is like now.
Wilhite: Yes. Just looking back, gosh, that was probably 30 years ago. I’ll never forget getting the invitation to come to try out for the Pan Am Team, which was the precursor for the Olympic team.
And it was at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. And it was an honor to be able to get invited to that. But to just be there at the Olympic Training Center, you pull up and the United States flags are everywhere.
And you get the practice jersey with the big USA on your jersey and on your shorts. And you’re just so proud to be there and to be able to just try out alone.
I didn’t make it. But just the whole week there, just being at the U.S. Olympic Center and the honor I felt to be there and the opportunity to represent the United States of America, that was obviously a dream for me to be on the Olympic team.
And just to get there was incredible. But to see now how some of the athletes act and turn their backs to our anthem, or they take a knee because they don’t believe in our country, it’s just – it’s very, very sad to me.
Leahy: It really is.
Wilhite: Our country is the very best country to live in. And it’s not perfect. But it is why everyone wants to come here. Our country is a great country, and there’s a lot of great people in it, and there’s no reason to ever kneel.
Leahy: Our listening audience agrees with you. And I think that’s one of the reasons why I think when the ratings from the Olympics come out, they’re not going to be so hot.
Wilhite: Exactly.
Leahy: That’s what I think. Speaking of other news, the main activity that you’re involved in as executive director of 2ndvote.com, the great ratings that you provide for companies of all consumer products that are out there.
You can see if they’re left-wing woke or if they’re neutral or if they’re conservative. Almost all of the companies are some degree of left these days, it seems like. Not all that encouraging.
But you’re doing something about it, and tell us about your new subscription model, which is very interesting – what you’re offering to people there.
Wilhite: Yes. We have moved from a membership model to a subscription model, so more people can actually look at our research and look at the scores and what we’re doing.
We used to have different membership levels, but now it’s just one. You subscribe for $50 a year. You can see the whole score of a company.
You can see the individual scores where we rate them on the issues, which are life, education, environment, basic freedoms, Second Amendment, and those kinds of things. You can see actually where they score on those issues.
You can get our monthly newsletter and our weekly digest. There’ll be blogs. There’ll be financial information that 2nd Vote Advisers will send our way.
So it’s just a lot more bang for your buck. And we’ll hopefully allow more people to use our research and information. You can still see our research behind the wall if you want to join as an Investor Council. So that’s kind of like a separate thing.
Leahy: That’s if you’re really serious about supporting the effort and it’s $1,000. a year. If you’re very, very serious. Look, I’ll tell you a story.
We have a little nonprofit called the Star News Education Foundation. It’s a 501 (c) (3) and is primarily, we do the Constitution Bee.
I was on a radio program, Steve Bannon’s War Room, and somebody watching it liked what we were doing, and liked the Constitution Bee. I go to our mailbox three weeks later, and we got a check for $3,000. because they liked what we were doing.
Wilhite: That’s great.
Leahy: I think there are a lot of people out there who like what 2nd Vote is doing. And my guess is you probably see a lot who want to be in the Investors Council. We’ll talk more about the details of what you get for this when we get back.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the executive director of 2nd Vote, Amy Wilhite to the newsmakers line to talk about 2nd Vote’s growth and their new affiliate 2nd Vote Advisors citing some news on their site as woke corporations step back.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line now by our good friend Amy Wilhite of 2nd Vote. Good morning, Amy.
Wilhite: Good morning, Michael. How are you doing this morning?
Leahy: I’m great. So 2nd Vote Advisors, your affiliated group, has done a lot of advertising. Second Vote, which rates corporations, has been pretty busy as well. What have you been up to the past couple of weeks?
Wilhite: The advisors’ group is that the for-profit side. We actually supply the research for that. They license that through us. And so they’re doing a lot of great work right now. You’ve probably seen them on Fox Business. Andy Puzder has done a lot of advertisements and commercials on Fox News and different things.
Dan Grant was on last night. So yes, they’re doing great stuff. And you can find more information about them on 2ndvoteadvisors.com or 2ndvotefunds.com. Just great stuff. They have two ETFs that are doing really well better than the SMP 500. And so we’re happy to supply the research for them to create those EPS.
Leahy: It seems like to me, Amy, every time you turn around, there’s another woke corporation doing something stupid. Tell our listing audience again what 2nd Vote does and why it’s important.
Wilhite: Yes. 2nd Vote, the nonprofit, which is what I work with and I’m the executive director for is we research companies. Basically anywhere where you spend money. Whether it’s on the charitable side, the retail side of the investment side. And we score them on six different issues that are most important to Conservatives.
On life, First Amendment, Second Amendment, education, the environment, border security, and immigration. And when we say environment, it’s like over-regulating, overregulation, and too much government control.
We’re for good environmental issues and taking care of our country and our earth, but not overregulation. So that’s just to clarify that. And of course, we’re pro-life First Amendment. We’re actually kind of changing that soon to an issue called basic freedom with everything that’s happened with the cancel culture of this world.
And just like a mask issue, do we have the freedom to wear a mask or not wear a mask? Some of those things have just been taken away like going to the church and those kinds of things. We’re going to kind of broaden that First Amendment scope.
And then also Second Amendment, obviously, pro-gun carry, pro-guns, education, and school choice. We’re for that. And then also border security and immigration. Just follow the laws about what’s already in place and no sanctuary cities and those kinds of things.
So anyway, those are our six issues. We score companies and where they’re giving their charitable dollars. We rate them on the score from one to five. One being left, far left and five being right conservative, and then three being neutral.
And we really want companies to just be neutral and to stay out of the culture wars, to quit being so divisive and know that when you’re buying a cup of coffee that’s what you’re getting. So we score that. We put our research out there and put our scores out there, and so anyone can look at our research and look at what we’re doing and then base their shopping habits on the scores.
We’re really trying to get people to be more aware of where their money is going. You wouldn’t vote for a candidate who’s going to be for those things that you’re not for. Why would you go shop somewhere at a place that doesn’t match your values?
Leahy: That makes a lot of sense. How big is your research team to support all this Amy?
Wilhite: It’s has grown by a lot, but we’ve got about five in place, and then we have a whole advisor group that kind of handles that and overlooks that, too, as well. We’ve grown a ton here recently with more part-timers. We’ve got volunteers and then we’ve got the advisor side. As you may know, it takes a lot of time to look at 990s which is what we do. We look at it.
Leahy: And by the way, a 990 for our listening audience, 990 is a form that a 501 (c) (3) or (c) (4) nonprofit group must file with the IRS every year. And supposedly they’re supposed to have all sorts of information about who gives them money, at least for a 501 (c) (3)
Wilhite: Exactly. So our research team will look at that, see where the money is going. We also look at their public stances and maybe some of the CEO statements that come out. We look at indirect donations, direct donations.
We look at a lot of different things to come up with that score and make it really simple. We have an app that folks can download, and it’s free, and it’s not in the App Store. It’s not in a Google Play store, but it is on your browser. You can just go to your phone and add the app to your home screen. Very simple.
Leahy: I also noticed and I had noticed that until this morning when I was looking at you have an area called on your website, 2ndvote.com. You have an area called featured content, and I’m looking at what you’re featuring.
You’ve got information on the human rights campaign, United Way Guide, Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Black Lives Matter. The United Way guide. Tell me about that, because that’s very interesting to me.
Wilhite: United Way, they do some great things, but also a lot of people don’t realize that they give to Planned Parenthood. And when we started doing the guide for United Way, we found that over 83 chapters were giving to Planned Parenthood, and we did put them on notice.
We let them know that we were doing this, and we were putting this information out there. And since we’ve been doing this, the chapters have dropped to about 55 or 54 chapters that are giving to Planned Parenthood. So it has dropped.
And we feel like our work is making a difference because there are not as many doing that anymore. If you’re giving to United Way, you can look on our website and see exactly which chapters are giving to Planned Parenthood. It’s kind of similar to the other guide that we have there.
There’s an everyday shopping guide that you can check out where you should grocery shop. Which ones score a three to a five. And again, four and five is a conservative side. And we applaud that. We are a conservative research group, but three is good. We consider that good. If it’s a three, it’s neutral. And that’s a good score, too. We’re not saying to only shop at four and five but get to those that are three as well.
Leahy: I noticed also, you have a very interesting story that you posted on your website about a technology firm called Base Camp. They’ve been in the news of late. In April, they announced a new policy requesting that employees not discuss controversial issues on the company-wide communication platform.
So that was praised. About a third of their employees quit because of that. Then here’s a very interesting situation. Last week after some of its disgruntled employees threw a fit during a conference call when Ryan Singer, the head of strategy at Base Camp, pushed back on claims that the company and society as a whole had been a ‘white supremacist culture’ and an employee attacked him for being a ‘white male.’
Shortly afterward, the company’s leadership suspended Singer place some under investigation. In response, Singer resigned. This is funny what you wrote at 2ndvote.com. ‘One cheer for a Base Camp trying to do the right thing, but firing a top employee for standing up to other staff members who push leftist values is unacceptable.’
Are you seeing a lot of that a lot of allowing left-wingers to rant all they want in corporations? But if you push against it, as was the case in Base Camp, you get fired.
Wilhite: I think we all see that you see it all the time, and people live it with what they do in their job. Sometimes they’re afraid to even speak out on things, and you almost get punished if you want to step up for what you might believe if it’s on the right side.
It’s happening all over. And that’s another thing that we do have. Just like you see in the Base Camp article. We put out blogs each week and a lot of it’s what’s going on and things that would be of interest here. But also we’re trying to also be positive and show some of the things that are going on that are also positive.
A lot of the companies are walking back from some of the liberal stances. Especially on the Georgia election laws. A lot of companies came out bashing that and then stepped back recently. I know Pfizer stepped back. They kind of decided at a board meeting when someone was asked, well, we’re going to stay out of that.
Leahy: That’s probably a good, good thing.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Amy Wilhite” and “2nd Vote” by 2ndVote.com.
