All Star Panelist Roger Simon on the Ever Changing Mask Mandates and Vaccination Information

All Star Panelist Roger Simon on the Ever Changing Mask Mandates and Vaccination Information

 

Live from Music Row Thursday 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 all-star panelist and senior editor-at-large at The Epoch Times, Roger Simon, in-studio to discuss the moving goalposts of mask mandates and vaccination requirements as subscribed and supported by local and national medical advisors.

Leahy: Good friend, the newest all-star panelist on The Tennessee Star Report, Roger Simon. Roger, you’re telling us your Larry Elder story. You’re friends with Larry?

Simon: Yeah. And he’s a hard worker. He’s leading in the polls of the challengers to Gavin Newsom. It’s possible on September 16th, 2021, he could be inaugurated as the next governor of California. I’m hoping.

Leahy: So am I.

Simon: But, boy, would that be a flipperoo?

Leahy: Would that be something? I love it!

Simon: Anything’s possible in this crazy world.

Leahy: Just so you know, we have a lot of readers of The Tennessee Star in California, listeners of this program on the iHeart App, because if you’re a conservative in California, you got no other place to go.

Simon: Oh, well, you got The Epoch Times and Breitbart. Not too much. And I’m sure that you have people reading in California. Anyways, I got to know Larry because I was a guest on his talk show quite a few times. It started a long time ago.

We knew him well enough and so we said let’s invite Larry and his girlfriend over for dinner. So we did. And Larry said, fine. And he shows up at the door and said, where are the cars? I said, we invited you guys over for dinner. He said, but isn’t this a book party for your book? (Leahy laughs)

Leahy: He couldn’t imagine just a social engagement.

Simon: There is just no time for it in Elderland. Because he couldn’t imagine. I mean, there’s no room for it. So that shows you what kind of governor he’d be. On the case all the time.

Leahy: If he’s elected governor, we will open a California Star. No question about it.

Simon: He’ll be the California Star.

Leahy: He will be. That’s a good – another good line from Roger Simon, the wordsmith.

Simon: I’m thinking about going out there for a few days.

Leahy: We’d like you to do that and give us a report.

Simon: I’ll give you a report. I’ll be doing it for The Epoch Times and call in.

Leahy: Call in.

Simon: But, you know, wait a minute. I won’t be able to wake up that early.

Leahy: We can record it.

Simon: It’ll be late news, though.

Leahy: Some kind of local news here. A little segue here. Scott Rasmussen is a great pollster. He does polling for a good friend of ours at Ballotpedia. Ballotpedia.org. Our friend Leslie Graves. I had dinner with her and her husband in Madison, Wisconsin, two weeks ago.

Simon: Really?

Leahy: Because we’re opening up The Wisconsin Daily Star there in about a month or so, and she put together this Ballotpedia. It’s a great source. It’s sort of like the Almanac of American Politics on the web. But with more detail.

Simon: And more truth in it. If you’re looking for truth, stay away from Wikipedia.

Leahy: There you go. So here we have the number of the day from Scott Rasmussen, July 29th, 2021. Here’s what he writes – Looking back over the past year or so, 55 percent of voters agree that, ‘despite good intentions, shutting down businesses and locking down society did more harm than good.’

A Scott Rasmussen National Survey found that only 38 percent disagree and seven percent – These totals represent that 34 percent strongly agree. And so that’s a very significant number as we look at more draconian, authoritarian lockdowns.

Simon: Yes. In plain English: Here we go again. This is a scary time we’re living in, and I think everybody knows it. People have to look at all the facts because they’re very confusing. I’m one of the people who become increasingly agnostic about everything that we’re being told. And one thing to remember is that when the government is telling you something obsessively…

Leahy: Why are they obsessive about it?

Simon: Why, exactly?

Leahy: It sounds like it’s the old saying. If you repeat something often enough, even if it’s factually untrue, people will start to believe it. Now I want to get your reaction to one of our – we got a couple of stories – I’d like to get your reaction to the lead story at The Tennessee Star. Tennesseestar.com by Chris Butler.

Vanderbilt Medical Professor Supports Wearing Masks, Even for Those Vaccinated Against COVID-19. The CDC came out with these weird recommendations about wearing masks. But first, on masks. I’ve not seen the evidence that wearing a mask actually stops the physical transmission of Covid.

Simon: I haven’t either. And just by wearing the kind of masks that most of us wear, you can tell that. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist as they say.

Leahy: Or a Professor at Vanderbilt School of Medicine.

Simon: The interesting thing about Vanderbilt. I’m a Vanderbilt patient. I have a very fine doctor who’s part of the whole network. I’m sure a lot of people listening to this right now are too.

Leahy: Yes it’s the largest employer in Middle Tennessee.

Simon: And also a nationally recognized hospital. All the rest of that.

Leahy: It’s like a top 20 medical school.

Simon: All good. But is it all good? Is there a medical-industrial complex that Vanderbilt, just like my father’s Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and all the rest of these things, are part of?

I think it’s very interesting. And very few of these places will give you hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin, which are now – have been acknowledged to be able to ameliorate the situation very quickly for a lot of people.

Leahy: Here’s the story and I’ll get your reaction to it. A professor at Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases reportedly said this week that new government guidelines (confusing as all get out, by the way), saying that even vaccinated people should wear masks in some areas of the country is an idea of which he agrees.

William Schaffner, who serves as a professor of medicine, reportedly told The Epoch Times – They’re everywhere! – that he believes the new guidance makes sense. I’m trying to sort this out, and I’m as confused as you.

Simon: Nobody can. Because it changes 20 minutes later.

Leahy: Here’s what he said. I’m going to read what he said, and we tried to follow up. He wouldn’t talk to us. He talks to The Epoch Times, but not to The Tennessee Star. Go figure.

Simon: Don’t be offended. (Laughter)

Leahy: That’s a funny point. All right, Here’s what he said. ‘The vaccines are excellent at keeping us out of hospital but not quite as good as preventing infection. And if you’re going to get an infection, even though you’re vaccinated, you could also transmit it to others.

You’re less likely to do that, but nonetheless, you could do it. And so I think this new guidance helps protect the people who are vaccinated and also contributes to our reduction in transmission to others.’ (Sighs and Laughter)

Simon: You no see kemosabe. (Chuckles) I hate to bring up crazy stuff, but I was watching the War Room last night on video.

Leahy: You saw Bannon’s War Room.

Simon: There was a guy on there. There are so many of these doctors now.

Leahy: Now there you go. And you never know which doctor is a little bit the expert in vaccines and pro-vaccine but had a lot of evidence that the Pfizer vaccine runs out in six months.

Leahy: Okay, so now I had not heard that before. By the way, I took the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Simon: What he’s saying effectively is by taking the Pfizer vaccine, we are setting ourselves up for continued renewal of vaccines.

Leahy: Well, that’s what this guy says. But again, it’s one report. But what it illustrates to me, Roger, is there’s no real consensus that I can determine. Let’s go back to the CDC guidelines. This new CDC director, Rochelle Walinsky, she sounds like she’s right out of George Orwell.

Simon: The whole thing is.

Leahy: Unbelievable. And the standard is: okay, the guidance, it’s a recommendation, right? It’s not a rule. It’s a recommendation.

Simon: This week.

Leahy: This week, wait for the wind to change. What they’re saying is if you live in a county where the transmission, not the death rate, the transmission rate is more than – in the past seven days has been more than 100, per 100, then they recommend you wear a mask.

Side note, nobody’s ever proved it stopped transmission, from what I can tell, indoors. I looked at the numbers for Williamson County, Rutherford County, Murray County, and Davidson County. Of those four, Davidson County is not in the high-risk category. They’re not.

Simon: Really? I didn’t know that.

Leahy: No, well, for the transmission, they’re at 92 per 100,000. The guidance doesn’t apply to Davidson County.

Simon: It applies to Williamson.

Leahy: But Williamson, Rutherford, and Murray. They’re like, at 105 or 100,000.

Simon: This is the difference when I drive between the two.

Leahy: So when you’re in the car and when you cross the line, put on that mask, Roger! (Laughter)

Simon: I keep it right there in my glovebox.

Leahy: That’s funny.

Simon: It’s funny in a way, but it’s like crazy now. The other thing is that these recommendations are getting to be irrelevant because in every workplace – I’m surprised that we’re not next right here – every workplace, everything you do they are making these requirements so that whether the government does or says anything or not, you’re already wrapped up in it.

Leahy: And a private employer has the right to set their own standards. Asterisk, at what point do those standards violate your individual rights? Question mark.

Simon: Big question mark. But every job virtually now is requiring a vaccination.

Leahy: You got all these different things you want to go back and forth on.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Expert Craig Huey Discusses a Potential Gavin Newsom Loss and How to Beat Him

Marketing Expert Craig Huey Discusses a Potential Gavin Newsom Loss and How to Beat Him

 

Live from Music Row Thursday 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 creator of the Huey Report and direct mail expert, Craig Huey, in-studio to discuss the California recall efforts, Gavin Newsom’s strategy, a Larry Elder win, and how to do it.

Leahy: You know, just because we go on commercial doesn’t mean that we stop talking to each other, because you almost caught us, folks, midstream talking about cool stuff. I’m here with Craig Huey, the digital marketing expert, the California refugee, and our good friend who’s finally come back in studio after about a month’s absence.

We were talking about California and the latest polls on the recall. Let’s focus on who of those possible replacements for Gavin Newsom, who’s doing well in the polls, and then whether or not he’s going to be recalled. The other question. So Caitlyn Jenner: Four percent.

Huey: Yes

Leahy: The guy in the bear suit.

Huey: 10 percent. And then the liberal former mayor of San Diego, he has 10 percent. And then there is Larry Elder.

Leahy: And where is he?

Huey: He’s around 20, 25 percent.

Leahy: Are you kidding me?

Huey: Yes. He is miles ahead of everybody else. And really without an organization, without a lot of money. His name recognition has just put him at the top. And here’s the thing, Michael. This is what’s great about this election. Gavin Newsom, there are two ballots on the ballot.

Leahy: You walk in?

Huey: No you don’t walk in. It’s all mail-in.

Leahy: 100 percent mail-in.

Huey: 100 percent mail-in.

Leahy: Not good. Not good.

Huey: We can talk about that. We should talk about that.

Leahy: All mail-in.

Huey: It’s all mail-in.

Leahy: This means the opportunity for fraud is greater, according to the 2005 bipartisan commission.

Huey: Michael, what it means is two things: Greater fraud possibility. So they have to be on alert. And then number two, they have to out-mobilize Gavin Newsom and the unions. Here’s what’s on the ballot. Do you want to see Gavin Newsom recalled or not? Yes or no.

Leahy: Yes or no.

Huey: And so if 50 plus one vote, say yes …

Leahy: 50 percent plus one vote.

Huey: Yes, then he’s out, completely out.

Leahy: Let’s say he gets 50 percent to say you should stay. Fifty point one percent say you should go. He’s gone.

Huey: He’s gone.

Leahy: The vote is September 15?

Huey: It’s September 15, which he made. It was supposed to be somewhere near November.

Leahy: He accelerated it.

Huey: Because he didn’t want his opposition to mobilize and raise funds.

Leahy: Yeah, well, okay. Because he had the advantage, to begin with.

Huey: Yes.

Leahy: If 50.1 percent or more of California and two votes are counted, say you’re out, on what date does he leave the governor’s mansion? Is it the following day?

Huey: It’s like the following day. He’s totally out. That’s it. Gone forever!

Leahy: Bye-bye, Gavin.

Huey: But we’ve gotta get rid because he wants to be president. (Leahy sighs) But that’s another story. So here’s what happens. Question number two, and about who do you want to have as governor? Gavin Newsom is not on that ballot. And there are a couple of Democrats.

There are 40 candidates running. Porn stars and all kinds of things. There are some really good candidates from a policy standpoint, but they have no money. They have no campaign put together. It’s a hope and a wish.

Leahy: Hope and a wish don’t work well.

Huey: It doesn’t work well. It’s a disaster. And I know these candidates and some of them are really good, but they aren’t going to make it. The California Republican Party is filled with liberal Republicans.

It’s filled with what we call the consultant class. The consultant class is people who are caught 25 years, and they are not conservative. They are not libertarian. They’re just part of the RINO group and the Republicans.

Leahy: You know all of this well because back in 2011 you ran in a special election for Congress in a district in Los Angeles county. Long Beach area?

Huey: South Bay. Santa Monica and down to San Pedro.

Leahy: And you almost won the special election.

Huey: A couple of thousand votes and I would have won in an 18 plus Democrats.

Leahy: We are selfishly glad that you didn’t win because otherwise you probably wouldn’t be here in Tennessee.

Huey: Probably not.

Leahy: You’d probably still be representing – think – that area in California.

Huey: Probably so.

Leahy: But you’d be in the minority in the House of Representatives being fined if you didn’t wear a mask.

Huey: They’d probably throw me in jail.

Leahy: And you would probably not be as happy as you are today in the income-tax-free state, Tennessee.

Huey: That’s right. So there’s drama in California. What they have done is that the consultant class, the liberal Republicans, are trying to have the California Republican Party endorse Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor of San Diego, who’s a liberal.

Leahy: He’s a liberal.

Huey: And if the Republican Party endorses Kevin Faulconer, that could give him the ability to catch up or exceed.

Leahy: And he’s at 10 percent right now.

Huey: Right. He’s at 10 percent.

Leahy: Why not back a very intelligent 68-year-old native of South Central Los Angeles, black conservative, a well-known great guy, Larry Elder. Wouldn’t that be the smart thing for them to do?

Huey: It seems like it’d be the only thing that they could do. But that’s not what they’re trying to do because they do not want to have a conservative represent the Republican Party.

Leahy: Well, we’ll see how that plays out. We are now on July 29. So we’ve got six weeks until the election.

Huey: That’s correct.

Leahy: To me, I think the six weeks right now plays to Larry Elder’s advantage.

Huey: It does.

Leahy: Would you agree?

Huey: I totally agree.

Leahy: Because he’s got the name ID.

Huey: That’s right. That’s why they tried to keep him off the ballot. They knew that this could happen. And it has happened right now. Gavin Newsom on the yes versus no vote, it’s 50-50.

Leahy: Ahhh.

Huey: And remember this, it’s in the margin of error. And remember this. In California 25 percent of the registered voters are Republican. About 26-27 percent are independent. And then you’ve got the Democrats who dominate. And with likely voters, it’s like 50-50. That’s why it could actually happen.

Leahy: Let’s put on our dreaming caps for the moment. Let’s say it’s September 16.

Huey: Yes.

Leahy: And I think we need to have you in studio on September 16. I don’t know what day that is. Probably a Wednesday, but we’ll have you in studio. And let’s just say I say to you, Craig, guess what?

Gavin Newsom is out as governor. He didn’t get 50 percent of the vote. And guess what? Larry Elder tomorrow is going to be inaugurated governor.

Huey: It will be a tsunami. This is why across the United States the Democrats are mobilizing, sending in volunteers, sending in paid workers to California. They cannot allow Gavin Newsom to lose. Here’s how corrupt everything is, Michael. All the candidates, Larry Elder, John Cox, Caitlin, all have a financial limit of how much people can give.

About $5,000 an individual. Gavin Newsom on the yes or no vote has no limits. So unions are writing him checks for $5 million, $3 million, $2 million. And he is getting this money now. He has about $40 million, and he’s probably going to end up with $100 million. But here’s the thing.

Any of these candidates can beat Gavin Newsom on the money because it’s not so much about policy. People hate Gavin Newsom, his egotism, and his elitism. His socialism in California has failed policies of crime and homelessness. It’s terrific.

He can be defeated. But it comes back to this. Who is better to get the data of who their voter is and then get them out to vote. That person will be the winner. And you don’t have to have more money to do that.

Leahy: This is a consistent theme from the data marketing expert Craig Huey.

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 “Gov. Gavin Newsom” by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California Refugee and Direct Marketing Wizard Craig Huey Remembers His Time at Freedom Fest

California Refugee and Direct Marketing Wizard Craig Huey Remembers His Time at Freedom Fest

 

Live from Music Row Thursday 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 creator of the Huey Report and direct mail expert, Craig Huey, in-studio to talk about his trip to South Dakota for the Freedom Fest event.

Leahy: We welcome back to our microphones our favorite California refugee that’s come in the past couple of years, Craig Huey, the digital marketing wizard. Welcome, Craig. Have we missed you!

Huey: Michael, it’s great to be back. And I’m excited about this morning.

Leahy: And in celebration of your return, after about a month, we’ve got – there you go. Here that click? I made some Tri-Star Trio from BROASTTN. They shipped it from Cookeville, and so I’m going to take a sip of it here in celebration of your return.

Huey: Awesome. Just what I needed this morning.

Leahy: Just what I needed. Hot coffee brewed especially for you Craig.

Huey: Thank you.

Leahy: I brew coffee for all my friends. Now that we’ve got the big capital investment of the coffee maker right now that people are sending them in. And by the way, if you’re there in the morning and you wake up, as I said, I wasn’t really awake in the five o’clock hour, I may have sounded like it, but I needed this coffee.

And part of my routine, literally the routine of making the coffee, those few steps – pouring the water, measuring out the teaspoons – all that actually, that repetitive process every day, kind of wakes me up a little bit. That part. (Huey chuckles) And I think people in our listening audience are probably doing that.

Huey: Here’s one thing I should say about this coffee. As a California refugee, I love experimenting and tasting things made in Tennessee.

Leahy: Well, this is from – roasted in Cookeville, Tennessee by BROASTTN. Broasttn.com. It’s called TriStar Trio. Rich and smooth, low in acidity, and full-bodied. This unique three-bean blend from Brazil, Guatemala, and Ethiopia is a nod to the three distinct regions that make up the great state of Tennessee.

Huey: Good copy.

Leahy: Oh, there you go. Yeah, you like that? I like that you are a man who understands good copy. Copy. Those are words written to persuade people to buy your products.

Huey: Exactly.

Leahy: Well, I got to catch up with you because you texted me this image of you on a stage with Larry Elder.

Huey: That’s right. Who it looks like has a decent shot at becoming the next governor of California.

Huey: It’s pretty amazing. Yes. I was at a conference, Michael, called Freedom Fest. Usually, it’s held in Nevada. It has about 1,500 people. It was held in the free state of South Dakota.

Leahy: The free State of South Dakota – in which city was it held?

Huey: Rapid City.

Leahy: Rapid City? Really?

Huey: Yes. So my wife and I got to see Mount Rushmore and the Badlands.

Leahy: How do you travel to Rapid City, South Dakota?

Huey: Not easy.

Leahy: I was going to say. I’ve driven through South Dakota. It’s nice people. Flat. Cold.

Huey: Well, my wife and I were going to drive. We decided to fly to Colorado and then fly to Rapid City.

Leahy: There are airports in Rapid City?

Huey: Oh yeah. A regional airport that rivals Bangor, Maine.

Leahy: (Laughs) Whoa, man. Now, Rapid City, South Dakota. I think a friend, Tomi Lahren, is from there. I think Tomi’s from Rapid City. How far is that from Mount Rushmore?

Huey: Oh, maybe a half-hour.

Leahy: I’m pretty sure Tomi Lahren – is the Fox News contributor and an occasional guest here – is from Rapid City. So you fly from Denver to Rapid City?

Huey: Yes. There are 250 speakers, including the governor of South Dakota.

Leahy: Kristi Noem. Did you hang out with her?

Huey: I didn’t hang out. But boy, did she command the crowd.

Leahy: Did she?

Huey: Steve Moore, the economist, was there. Lots of investment newsletter writers, and it was really a great conference. And probably one of the highlights is I was on stage with Larry.

Leahy: You were on a panel? Now, what was the name of the panel?

Huey: It was on voter fraud.

Leahy: Voter fraud. So there you are hanging with Larry? I mean, I look at the picture here. There you are. Just hanging with Larry. Was this before or after the secretary of state in California tried to keep him off the ballot?

Huey: This was after he had just found out that he was able to be legally on the ballot.

Leahy: After he won the victory in court.

Huey: That’s correct.

Leahy: He must have been pretty happy.

Huey: He was extremely happy. And he’s extremely happy with what the polls are showing.

Leahy: Isn’t he in the lead in the polls?

Huey: Oh, he is definitely.

Leahy: What’s the most recent poll that you’ve seen?

Huey: So there’s a couple of polls that are out, and they’re from the LA Times-Berkeley, which is usually liberal. And what it’s showing is that Caitlyn Jenner, who everybody thought would be the superstar, is about four percent.

Leahy: Let me just say, in the world of politics, if you’re running for an office and you’re at percent, it’s not a good thing.

Huey: It’s not a good thing at all. The other candidate that is at a high level is a guy named John Cox who ran for governor before and failed. And he put in $5 million of his own money so far.

Leahy: And John Cox, by the way, has the worst branding of any candidate I’ve ever seen.

Huey: It’s terrible.

Leahy: It’s like, what is he doing?

Huey: Like big bears.

Leahy: He’s walking around, like, in a big bear suit or something?

Huey: Well, he’s got a bear with him.

Leahy: Same difference. Because if I’m in California, I want a guy who’s got a big bear walking around with him.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California Refugee Roger Simon Weighs In on California Recall Candidates

California Refugee Roger Simon Weighs In on California Recall Candidates

 

Live from Music Row Thursday 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 all-star panelist and senior editor-at-large at The Epoch Times, Roger Simon, in-studio to talk about California’s present, past, and potential future governors.

Leahy: It’s the seven o’clock hour Thursday, and that means it’s time for our newest all-star panelist, my good friend, my former boss at PJTV.

The Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, the senior editor-at-large for The Epoch Times, the California refugee, Roger Simon. Good morning, Roger.

Simon: Good morning. I’ll always be a California refugee. (Laughter) Three years and I guess when it hits 10, believe me, Yeah. God willing. Will I no longer be a refugee?

Actually, that’s an interesting question, because the way people are in most places, if you’re not born there, essentially, and you weren’t really born here.

Leahy: I was not born in Tennessee.

Simon: You’re always kind of a refugee to somebody.

Leahy: Mark Pulliam, who’s our grassroots activist friend out of Maryville, writes a blog. And although I left California and moved to Tennessee in 1991 referred to myself as a California refugee. Look, if I’m a California refugee, Roger, after low these 30 years, I mean, you’ve only three. You got 27 to go. (Laughter)

Simon: I’ll never catch up. I know it. But speaking of California, we were talking during the break here about my friend Larry Elder now running for governor there in this recall election.

People should know if you don’t know it. The recall election briefly works this way, that there are two votes. You vote whether you want Newsom in or out.

Leahy: The current Democrat governor. The autocratic dictator. That guy.

Simon: Yes. Gavin Newsom with the French Laundry dinners. If you vote him out, then whoever is among the other people running, the leader then becomes the governor for the extent of the term that’s left.

Leahy: They don’t have to get a majority of the votes in that second vote, just whoever has the most.

Simon: Right. Now, as of now, shockingly within about – what – two weeks of announcing? Larry Elder, talk show host, author videographer, a whole bunch of things – A filmmaker, too, is in the lead and way eclipsing Caitlyn Jenner, who is making a lot of noise at the beginning.

Leahy: Caitlyn Jenner is a political dud, it seems. It appears. She’s four percent – he, she.

Simon: Well, the public knows it, so she’s out. And it’s, you know, who cares about that question? Let it go. But the real question is, can Larry do it? I’m an old buddy of Larry, sort of a buddy. I mean, we’re friends.

Leahy: You were neighbors?

Simon: Yes, because we lived in the Hollywood Hills.

Leahy: And now you just said that line: Because we lived in the Hollywood Hills. Now here in Tennessee, when you say I lived in the Hollywood Hills, you conjure up all the stars.

Simon: 15 years ago, you had a right to be a little jealous. But recently, if you love the homeless, you live in Hollywood Hills.

Leahy: Recently, it is not a sign of prestige. Living in the parts of Middle Tennessee where you live right now, that’s a sign of prestige for a lot of people now.

Simon: It’s a nicer area right now. In fact, now, in the Hollywood Hills, the real big question is, can you walk your dog? Let’s go back to Larry.

Leahy: Your pal Larry. The sage of south-central.

Simon: Gavin Newsom was what my grandmother used to call the manor born. In other words, he’s a rich boy and an extremist. If Larry gets elected, he’ll be the first non-rich boy to be governor of California.

Leahy: Let me just take an old line from Ann Richards, the governor of Texas, who said this back in 1988 at the Democratic National Convention about George H.W. Bush: He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.

Simon: Look, Jerry Brown was this Governor Moonbeam, who I also knew for a lot of very strange reasons. But Jerry was a smart guy in a way, a hippie in a way. But he was born rich. He was the son of the governor. Edmund Pat Brown.

Simon: Who was a better governor than Jerry.

Leahy: That’s a low bar.

Simon: Larry I think would be a great governor than any of them.

Leahy: Larry would be a great governor.

Simon: And he’s a true workaholic. I’ll tell a story. Do I have time?

Leahy: After the break, we’ll hear about the story about Larry Elder, the workaholic.

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.
Photo “Larry Elder” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.