Live from Music Row, Tuesday 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 California refugee, Craig Huey, to weigh in on the choices for the new chair of the RNC and why Harmeet Dhillon is not the right one.
Leahy: In studio with us, are very good friend, California refugee, Tennessee resident, marketer extraordinaire entrepreneur, and good friend Craig Huey. Craig, it’s always fun to have you in here because I learn something every time you’re in here.
Huey: Michael, it’s always great to be with you.
Leahy: (Laughs) And by the way, the cheeriness that you hear in Craig Huey’s voice, you’ll always see a smile on his face when he’s in the studio. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not smile. I’m sure there are times when you don’t smile.
Huey: Very few. (Chuckles)
Leahy: But mostly you’re smiling, which is good. We need smiling these days. You’re from California.
Huey: I am!
Leahy: Next week there will be an election for the new Republican Financial Committee chairman. We’ve got three options. None of them are good, in my view. Ronna McDaniel, who’s failed three consecutive times, Harmeet Dhillon, who is an attorney with a few asterisks associated with her, and then Mike Lindell, who makes pillows and is involved in a huge lawsuit.
Those are the three options. And I think maybe only Harmeet and Ronna will be nominated. I don’t know if Mike Lindell is actually even going to be nominated. You got to be nominated to be considered.
Huey: Of course.
Leahy: And we will actually get others to come in and talk about Ronna. But you know Harmeet very well.
Huey: I do.
Leahy: Because you were in California with her.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: You’ve got a piece coming out.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: And you’re going to weigh in on this?
Huey: I am. And, you know, here’s the thing. This is a very important job and I don’t see somebody actually running for this job with, in Republican National Committee, the RNC, that’s capable of turning things around. And we have a presidential election two years away!
What happens with the RNC can make or break it. I want to remind you, Michael, that they have failed year after year in the election, to get out the vote, failed to keep up with the technology, and failed to do the damage.
Leahy: On the get-out-the-vote, they haven’t even identified or understood the problem. The problem is in those states where it’s legal to early vote, early vote folks, they didn’t recognize that. And that’s right on Ronna’s doorstep.
Huey: Right, totally. For those states where it’s legal to do ballot harvesting, she’s failed to do that. And the data that’s needed for a candidate to win, she’s failed to do that.
Leahy: The other problem with Ronn McDaniel is she’s surrounded by grifters.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: The biggest budget grifters in the United States of America are consultants of the Republican National.
Huey: It’s so sad. They’re totally ineffective. Donald Trump, when he won in 2016, he did it outside of the RNC without even looking at them.
Leahy: We’ve got a piece at The Tennessee Star, come by a friend, Mark Meckler, the co-founder of the Tea Party movement, now the head of the Convention of States. Basically, he says voters can no longer tolerate business as usual. It’s time for Ronn McDaniel to go.
I won’t disagree with it. However, you know, Harmeet Dhillon, the other leading candidate. What do you have to say about Harmeet? Do you recommend her?
Huey: Harmeet is somebody who’s very nice. But let me just tell you. I have been involved in the California Republican Party for about 25, 30 years.
Leahy: You ran for Congress and almost won in a special election. Was that 2010 or 2000?
Huey: 2011. Special election.
Leahy: You lost by like, five points.
Huey: All we had to do is change about 1200 votes. But here’s the thing, Michael. Through this time, when she moved up into leadership in California, I have seen her fight the conservatives, she has fought change. She has not embraced early voting, she has not embraced ballot harvesting…
Leahy: Whoa, whoa, what? Now wait just a minute. Everything I read from Harmeet Dhillon is she’s now talking about early voting.
Huey: She is. So here’s the thing. She has failed to implement it at all or even be vocal about it in California. Instead, she’s positioned herself with great PR. She’s on Fox all the time.
Leahy: She’s on Tucker Carlson. She’s on Laura Ingraham. She went to Dartmouth with Laura Ingraham. They were classmates.
Huey: She’s become a hero on Fox, but it’s all facade.
Leahy: Hold on. This is what Craig Huey’s saying about Harmeet Dhillon.
Huey: That’s right.
Leahy: She’s become a hero on Fox.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: That’s a significant statement.
Huey: I’m telling you the truth because I’ve seen her in action. And the fact is, she’s making millions by positioning herself as a religious and civil rights attorney.
Her law firm is making millions taking on case after case after case, and she’s got a great business model, she’s got great PR, and this is only propelling her even higher. And the fact is, she is saying some of the right things, but she has no track record, plus she doesn’t know how to implement it.
Leahy: To use a Texas phrase to describe a California attorney, would it be fair to say, when it comes to early voting and political operations, she’s all hat and no cattle? (Laughter)
Huey: Yes, that’s very good. It’s Texas, not Tennessee, but it works.
Leahy: If you’re out there and you support Harmeet Dhillon, we’re happy to talk about it. They’re going to select they’re going to go out to Dana Point, California, I think next week.
Huey: Beautiful. Right on the ocean.
Leahy: Ronna, she keeps making mistakes. There’s a challenge. Our radio partner in Virginia, Georgia, and Pennsylvania is John Fredericks, who also has a program on Real America’s Voice where Steve Bannon has his WarRoom.
Both Real America’s Voice and John Fredericks are hosting a public debate. Harmeet has accepted and Michael Lindell has accepted. Ronna McDaniel has not accepted. I think that’s a mistake on her part.
Huey: A total mistake. But you know what? She feels she’s got it. She feels that she’s too vulnerable if there is a debate. So I can kind of understand her backing out. It looks bad, but I’m not sure what’s going to affect the problem if the Republican National Committee is controlled by Republican consultants.
Leahy: The grifter club. (Laughs)
Huey: It’s controlled by the crypto class. It’s controlled by the people who are doing marketing. And I come as somebody who’s won 107 awards in marketing. They’re 20 years behind.
Leahy: All they’re doing is TV ads and taking 15 percent or 10 percent off the top. Who cares.
Huey: A money-making machine for the consultants and a failure for the candidates. The candidates lose election after election when they could win, and they don’t know why. It’s because they don’t know how to get out the vote.
Leahy: So just to summarize, you don’t think Harmeet Dhillon is the right person to run the Republican National Committee?
Huey: I know she’s not.
Leahy: Ronna McDaniel has proven she’s failed.
Huey: And I know she’s failed.
Leahy: And Mike Lindell is a good guy making pillows.
Huey: And he doesn’t know he’s doing.
Leahy: But those are the only options out there.
Huey: Unless somebody comes forward.
Leahy: Are you going to volunteer?
Huey: I don’t think they would even listen to me. (Laughter)
Leahy: It’s those three. When we talk 2024, don’t pin your hopes on the Republican National Committee.
Huey: Exactly.
Leahy: Develop independent capabilities in these key states.
Huey: Not only Trump, but that’s what Obama did, too. He did it outside the political class.
Leahy: Craig, we’ve identified the problem. We haven’t solved it.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
– – –
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 “Craig Huey” by Craig Huey. Photo “Harmeet Dhillon” by Harmeet K. Dhillon. Background Photo “Republican National Convention” by PBS NewsHour. CC BY 2.0.
Live from Music Row, Tuesday 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 marketing guru, Craig Huey of The Huey Report in studio to describe his recent trip to California where he witnessed the overwhelming homeless condition and vibes of oppression.
Leahy: In studio, our very good friend, a recent California refugee, a very successful businessman with a database marketing company, Mr. Craig Huey. Good morning, Craig.
Huey: Good morning, Michael. How are you?
Leahy: Craig, I have failed the test of being a good host in previous times here when the coffee that I’ve made for you and the container in which it’s been held have not been top-rated.
Huey: Well, that’s true. But, Michael, you have really achieved a great accomplishment, this coffee is great. What is this coffee?
Leahy: (Laughs) It’s called liberal tears.
Huey: Perfect.
Leahy: By Black Rifle Coffee. And you can get it at liberaltears.net.
Huey: That’s awesome.
Leahy: It’s important to me that when guests come in studio, they have a pleasant experience, and I’m a good host.
Huey: Or a little energy.
Leahy: A little energy. And so the coffee is good today. You like it? Drinking it as we speak. (Huey chuckles) So now, Craig, you’re always so much fun to talk with. I lived in California for a period of time, but I got smart earlier. (Laughter) I left 31 years ago.
Huey: Yes. Which was probably a good time.
Leahy: And you left, what, two years ago?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: But you have a hugely successful database and marketing company here now, based in Nashville.
Huey: In Nashville. And no regrets.
Leahy: How could anybody regret living in state income tax-free Tennessee? But you do a lot of traveling.
Huey: Oh, yeah. And occasionally you give us the reports from your travels, particularly back to California.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: How bad is it getting there?
Huey: Worse.
Leahy: It’s even worse.
Huey: It’s even worse. (Leahy chuckles) You know, I am so astonished by instead of seeing improvements, I see declines. I got to tell you, I was traveling through Los Angeles just recently.
You’re talking about a week ago. I made a trip to Arizona and made a trip to California. And in that time, I was so beyond discouraged, really discouraged, because I love California.
Leahy: It’s beautiful. There is no more beautiful place in the world.
Huey: Or weather.
Leahy: Or weather than California. But they’re ruining it.
Huey: The politics have ruined the state of California. I had to leave California from a business perspective because of its anti-business policies. I left as a personal matter because of the crime, the homelessness, and the high taxes in a state that you cannot live in or retire in, you cannot build a business in anymore.
Leahy: And now there are people, the Silicon Valley oligarch billionaire types, they can live there. And the Hollywood types, who are worth over $10 million or so, can live there. But what did you experience in Los Angeles last week that was an indication of the further decline of California?
Huey: I was around an area called Griffith Park, and it’s a beautiful area, except the homeless control the Griffith Park area. The homeless are just encamping there with their tents, and it’s become like many cities with nobody doing anything about it. And then I watch the news.
I take a look at what’s going on in the local area and it’s one attack by a homeless person against somebody walking down the street, threatening somebody at a school or church, intimidated because these people are all around harassing the people trying to come into the church. It is a nightmare for people living there.
Leahy: It really is. For like an average, an everyday person who’s trying to basically just make a living and take care of their family.
Huey: Oh, it broke my heart as a business owner to see all these retail stores. I told my wife, I looked at my wife, Shelley, I said, Shelley, can you imagine walking to one of these retail stores with all these homeless camped out in front? It wouldn’t be safe for you.
Leahy: Not exactly what you call a pleasant shopping experience, is it?
Huey: No. Not at all.
Leahy: And then you come back to God’s country, Middle Tennessee beautiful and the people are nice and no state income tax. I don’t know if I mentioned that.
Huey: I talk about the fact that there’s oppression. There’s a feeling of oppression.
Leahy: Oh, yeah, in California. And there’s a feeling of freedom and liberty in Tennessee.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
– – –
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 “Craig Huey” by Craig Huey. Background Photo “Franklin, Tennessee” by Brandon Jean.
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 reflect on his recent trip to California citing a “spirit of fear” as citizens continue to wear masks and heavily fined ticketing for non-compliance.
Leahy: Craig Huey, our favorite new California refugee. Did you ever think you’d be in studio on Music Row talking about your new home in Tennessee?
Huey: Never. Absolutely. Never dreamed of such a thing. Never dreamed of ever living in Tennessee? I have throughout my life spoken probably in every state in the nation to different groups.
Tennessee, I can’t remember ever coming to Tennessee to speak to a group. It’s never been on my radar until this move that we took.
Leahy: So here’s sort of my take on this. I think you’re a surfer as a kid. Grew up in the ’60s? A Beach boy kind of kid. Southern California.
Huey: My California house is right on the cliffs of the beach.
Leahy: There is a sunny disposition from people that grew up in California in the ’60s? It’s a positive can-do disposition, isn’t it?
Huey: When I was in college, this was back in the early ’70s and I tell you, I was able as an entrepreneur to make the decision not to become a teacher because I have a secondary education credential, but to be a business owner.
And I knew so many entrepreneurs who were able to do what they couldn’t do today. And that is to take a dream and build that dream and build a profitable company. California under Ronald Reagan became the entrepreneurship capital of the world.
Leahy: It’s interesting you say Ronald Reagan because there’s that sunny disposition. There’s that optimism there’s that can-do attitude. The classic in many respects, California in the ’50s, ’60s, and the ’70s was the epitome of the American dream. Plus, the weather was great, right?
Huey: (Laughs) The weather is awesome. And of course, the socialist Democrats call it the weather tax that they can do their socialist policies because people will stay there because of the weather. So the weather tax. But you know what? The weather is great, but the government is so bad and so oppressive. In fact, I just flew back to Tennessee last night.
Leahy: So you went to California?
Huey: I had to go to California.
Leahy: You had to go behind the lines back to California. Tell us about that. By the way, you do look tan, rested, and ready. Did you go surfing?
Huey: I didn’t go surfing but we went down and got the California sunshine.
Leahy: You look like you got the sunshine. By the way, I just have to say this one of the times you were on, I got a call from one of our regular listeners and they said, you know, thank you so much for having that young man, Craig Huey on. (Huey laughs) I said, really? Oh, he sounds very young, although he’s got a lot of experience. He is a young man.
Huey: Young at heart. But I love that. It’s very encouraging. But here’s the thing, Michael. There is such a difference between being in Tennessee flying to California. You can tell the second you get off the airplane.
Leahy: So what’s the first sign that you’re behind enemy lines?
Huey: Fear.
Leahy: Really?
Huey: You see such fear in regards to the pandemic. The brainwashing that has gone on, the conditioning that has come on, the fear of kids looking at you if you’re not wearing a mask.
Leahy: Hold it. Even now, after all of the vaccinations?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: If you’re not wearing a mask, kids look at you like your Darth Vader or something?
Huey: You add the vaccinations. You add the fact that how many people have already had COVID and have already had it, the masks are ridiculous. But if you look at the high school kids on track, they’re running in the heat with masks.
Leahy: Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No. No. They can’t be doing something that stupid in California.
Huey: Probably 30 percent, 40 percent of the people are driving by themselves with a mask.
Leahy: Okay. How did so many people become so stupid?
Huey: If you listen to the local media and if you are on social media, the brainwashing that has gone on, I was talking to one driver, and he was telling me Dr. Fauci said, I needed to wear this and I’m going to do it. I said, well, Senator Dr. Rand Paul said this was political theater.
It was politics, not science. He said, well, I’m going to trust Dr. Fauci, not Dr. Paul. And there’s a moral superiority, Mike. They feel they’re protecting other people with a mask. And that if you don’t have that mask, you’re harming people.
Leahy: Did people give you a hard time for not wearing a mask?
Huey: I can’t believe how many people were saying you don’t have a mask on.
Leahy: Set the stage here. Where were you when this happened?
Huey: One place is walking along the beach.
Leahy: You’re walking outside along the beach?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: Just you? You and your wife?
Huey: My wife and I are walking along the Beach, and we have somebody come up and say, Be very careful. You don’t have your mask on. And down the road is the security. The city of Manhattan Beach hired private security people to go out and give $500 tickets to people who don’t have a mask on the beach.
Leahy: On the beach?
Huey: In the fresh air.
Leahy: I’m stunned at how stupid exactly these rules are.
Huey: Oh, it’s terrible.
Leahy: No wonder you left California.
Huey: It is so oppressive. There’s the spirit of fear. I was in a restaurant. My wife and I went to this Italian restaurant, and we walk in and they go, put on your mask, put on your mask because you’re going to walk 20 feet to sit down.
So we put on this mask and we sit down. And in some restaurants, they keep it on to the foods there and then keep pulling it up. But in this one, we had it on. We sat down and the waiter came up to us, and I said something like, we don’t have our masks.
You don’t need to wear your mask unless you want to. He says I have to wear my mask. I cannot stand wearing the mask. And I’m so mad at Governor Newsom because he said that on June 15, he extended the emergency orders to June 15.
And then he said, everybody who is at work and employee and of any company has to wear a mask. Even after June 15. He says I can’t stand wearing this mask. And you can’t see if people are smiling.
You can’t see if people are angry. It becomes a faceless society, and it is a political symbol of obedience to the state. I’m bowing down to it. I’m obeying false science, and I’m obeying the politician.
Leahy: For decades, we’ve cultivated a spirit of conformity in our public schools. A lack of intellectual curiosity and a lack of common sense. (Dumb voice) I’ll just give the answer the teacher wants and what answer the teacher wants? I think particularly in California, what is the fruit of the poison tree?
Huey: The whole thing with schools. And we have to be careful here in Tennessee. Most listeners can think back to when they were in school. It’s so much different today. My wife, who was 15 years a teacher in public schools and who specialized in special needs kids, says about 35 percent of all the teachers should be fired because they’re incompetent.
They don’t care. Beyond the incompetence is the fact that there’s political indoctrination going on that teachers now have, whether it’s math, science or history, are indoctrinating the kids. And it’s happening here in Tennessee as well as everywhere else in the U.S. And it’s finally come to light because of the Critical Race Theory.
Listen to the full second hour here:
– – –
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 “Welcome to California” by Famartin. CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 recall efforts in California and the most likely candidate to replace Newsom.
Leahy: In the studio with us right now, Craig Huey, digital marketing wizard and our most recent refugee from California. He went behind enemy lines.
Huey: Behind the enemy lines for our listeners.
Leahy: And just got back. And we talked a little bit about the fear going on there. There’s something else going on down there. And my question for you, there’s a recall.
Huey: There is.
Leahy: And it looks like the challenges to the recall will not be sufficient to knock it off the ballot.
Huey: That’s correct.
Leahy: So October?
Huey: Newsom would like to have the election as soon as possible. October would probably be the earliest date. Maybe it’ll be in November. And he spent millions of dollars to try to have people who signed the petition have their names removed. And it was a total failure.
Leahy: That’s kind of the old classic Barack Obama move. That’s how Barack Obama actually first got on the ballot when he ran for the state senate in Illinois. There were several other people, and they went in, and they just disqualified the petitions on the other folks.
A tried and true Democrat establishment trick. Now, here’s the question I pose to you. Caitlyn Jenner. Formerly Bruce Jenner. The 1976 Olympic decathlete champion. Decathlon champion on the mail side.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: Now is Caitlin?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: Apparently has had that surgery. Yikes. (Laughs) He is now Caitlyn. Kind of a screwed up person, I think I would say.
Huey: Emotionally, physically, mentally, a lot of problems.
Leahy: A lot of problems. The former husband of the mom of the Kardashian. What was her name?
Huey: Kim.
Leahy: Is Kim the mom? Who’s the mom.
Huey: I believe Kim is mom.
Leahy: Okay, well, anyway, the Kardashian mom, it’s hard to keep them all straight, but nonetheless, one thing I have to say about them, they know how to make money.
Huey: They make lots of money.
Leahy: They make lots of money.
Huey: Money that you can’t believe. So if they put that money behind her, she will have a war chest like you can’t believe.
Leahy: But there’s a little bit of I don’t know. I don’t think they ended on good terms.
Huey: No. According to Caitlyn Jenner, she had a lot of conversations with the Kardashian family about running for governor. They were against it, and she’s doing it anyway.
Leahy: Well, you can see why. I don’t know what the right word is. A spectacle, I suppose you could say. Although having said all this, Caitlyn Jenner has the highest profile of any of the challengers.
Huey: Oh, yeah. Everybody knows her name. Everybody knows she’s running for governor. She doesn’t have to worry about name identification. She’s on the news all the time, and she’s making herself available.
She’s speaking before Republican Party groups and conservative groups. She’s going out on the local media and the national media. She says I’ll do an interview and they flock to her.
Leahy: Well because it’s a little bit like looking at a traffic accident.
Huey: (Chuckles) Yes.
Leahy: A little bit.
Huey: Yes. Well, there’s going to be about 100 candidates on the ballot, and there’s maybe half a dozen that are serious candidates. And then there’s Caitlin, and she’s getting all the publicity. And in California, here’s what happens. They will vote yes or no on the recall.
Leahy: Right. You go in and you cast two ballots. The first one yes or no. Do we get rid of this Gavin Newsom character or do we keep him? Then you have a second vote, which is okay, if we get rid of this Gavin Newsome character, which of these hundred people do you want as governor?
Huey: That’s right. And so if you go down that list, you’re not going to recognize most of the names until you see Caitlin.
Leahy: You see Caitlyn Jenner, the name recognition is off the charts. Not necessarily in a good way.
Huey: No because the transgender gay community is kind of against her because she’s against transgenders, for example, girls playing sports.
Leahy: She kind of qualifies that a little bit. But still, it’s weird. It’s California.
Huey: But here’s the thing. She’s running as a conservative.
Leahy: Pretty much all straight down the line. It’s a Trumpian philosophy. That she is supporting. Caitlin, formerly Bruce Jenner. I still can’t. I watched as a kid the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The winner of the Decathlon is considered the greatest male athlete in the world.
Huey: That’s right.
Leahy: And there was Bruce Jenner waving the American flag, winning the decathlon. Two weeks later, he was on the cover of every Wheaties box in America. Very well known. And just, like, totally screwed up as a person. So it’s a circus.
Huey: It really is a recall circus. There are porn stars, there are rappers, there are entertainment people. Because the second vote where your voting a candidate, all you need is a majority.
Leahy: Because when the last recall in 2,003 took place, Gray Davis, he was thrown out, like, with 55 percent of the vote. And then Schwarzenegger, he actually got, what, 45 or 46 percent?
Huey: About 45 to 46 percent and he was able to win. Theoretically, you could get 20, 30%.
Leahy: In theory.
Huey: If the votes are spread out enough.
Leahy: But I think in terms of name ID, Caitlyn Jenner is like, I don’t know, two or three times higher than any of the challengers.
Huey: So just think of this. Caitlyn Jenner becomes governor of California. It has a pro-socialist Democrat Supermajority in both houses that are not going to do anything. She will be having a Lieutenant governor that is almost a Marxist.
Leahy: Is it the current lieutenant governor?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: Who’s that? Her name is, I can’t pronounce it.
Leahy: A Marxist basically.
Huey: She’s a Marxist.
Leahy: So she can’t leave the state. Now I’ll make a Nashville connection here. One of the very first California refugees was a music producer, Mike Curb.
Huey: That’s right.
Leahy: And Curb was the Lieutenant governor.
Huey: That’s right.
Leahy: In California back in the 70s? I think it was under Jerry Brown. Curb is a conservative Republican. Jerry Brown leaves the state. And then Mike Curb, he was like, 29 30, something like that. He would do all these things that Jerry Brown hated. It was a big drama.
Huey: I was so excited at that because I remember that well. I couldn’t wait for Jerry Brown to leave the state because he knew fun things would happen.
Leahy: But anyway, so Mike Curb came here, like in 1982 or 1983 I guess, and has this huge music Empire. He’s put the Curb Center for the music business at Belmont. A big supporter of the community here in Nashville. His offices are just down the road on Music Row. We gotta get Mike Curb in-studio here some time.
Huey: It would be great to see his insight. But he was a hero of Conservatives and Republicans. They were shocked that he moved to Tennessee and left California.
Leahy: He was smart.
Huey: Between then and now than on the people who have gone to Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, and other States, it is an exodus.
Leahy: So the way it stands right now, it seems to me that the California recall is going to be very, very close.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: Gavin Newsom has huge money. You’re telling me a huge amount of money coming in.
Huey: So right now, he officially and there are several different committees he has. He probably officially has about $50 million. He’s going to have $100 million. The other candidates, the Republican establishment Liberal Republican, will probably have about $10 to $12 million. John Cox, the former candidate for governor that lost, was wiped out terribly. He’ll have probably maybe $8 million or $9 million.
Leahy: John Cox is the guy with a branding problem, right? What is he calling himself? The Bear or the Beast? Didn’t think to call you and say, Craig, what kind of branding should I use?
Huey: I’ve talked to him. I’ve criticized him about what he was doing. I told him not to do it. And he did it anyway.
Leahy: Oh, you did talk to him. So just pretend I’m him.
Huey: Sure.
Leahy: And I’m saying I’m gonna go with the beast.
Huey: And you would say, I would say, John, you don’t want to have this image. You want to talk about why people are frustrated with Newsom and concentrate on that and be a serious candidate. And in addition to that, don’t waste your money. You can win this race. But don’t waste your money on TV.
Leahy: It does nothing.
Huey: It does nothing. What you want to do is create data of who it is that’s going to vote for you.
Leahy: And he didn’t listen to your advice. So this guy is never going to be governor. I’m just going to tell you right now.
Huey: He’s not.
Leahy: You got to listen to Craig Huey’s advice if you want to be governor of California.
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.
Live from Music Row Tuesday 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 demonizing messaging professionals of the left and offers advice on how conservatives and Republicans should push back.
(George W. Bush clip plays)
Leahy: That’s former President George W. Bush playing the messaging game against constitutional conservatism. Unbelievable that he smeared Trump supporters and people who love America that way. You notice how they use the messaging. They threw this false claim that there’s an Anglosaxon caucus going about. This was Steve Hayes a Never Trumper. Right, Craig?
Huey: Right. Right.
Leahy: But it’s messaging. And what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to demonize people. George W. Bush, right there. Former president of the United States. A Republican was demonizing the Republican Party because he’s claiming it’s all for exclusive, “White, Anglo-Saxon Protestantism.” This is so outrageous! But this outrageous example is exactly the kind of thing that the left is doing. And they’re messaging to demonize opponents of things like critical race theory.
Huey: Absolutely Michael. The fact is it’s kind of reverse racism. It’s terrible, but they’ve got it down. If you speak up, they want to silence you. If you try to stop what they’re doing, they want to as you say, demonize you. They’ll call you a racist. They’ll say you’re too extreme. They’ll marginalize you in a way that is taking a small element of truth and distorting it into a lie.
Leahy: Conflating it into a lie. That’s what the Never Trumper Steve Hayes did. And that’s what George W. Bush advanced. Unbelievable.
Huey: And on the local level, if you stand up, you can expect to be attacked. You can be expected to be lied about. You can be expected to have your whole person destroyed by these messaging professionals.
Leahy: It’s here in Middle Tennessee, of course. In Williamson County it’s this group, Williamson Strong, that got a bunch of lefties elected to the school board. Now in South Lake, Texas, the Carroll Independent School District, where they just rejected critical race theory. They elected anti-critical race theory candidates to the school board. Let me just read this from Joy Pullman’s article at The Federalist.
Last week, a “progressive group sent a postcard to every household in the Carroll Independent School District in Texas, (Inaudible talk) in advance of a May first school board election that becomes a referendum on critical race theory in Southlake schools. It names local residents who are part of this political action committee opposing critical race theory and even outed one or two neighbors for a past criminal conviction, all for exercising their right to freely participate in the public process.”
I’ve got a copy of this postcard. It says why follow these clowns anywhere? Then it’s got one guy with a little bubble. I send my kids to private schools. Another, I don’t have kids in the school district either. Then another woman, look, mommy, I sue schools. That’s for one of the candidates. And then, I’ve been convicted of federal bank fraud. And then at the bottom, they say, Southlake fami-lies pac leaders. Demonization, demonization. That’s what the organized left does.
Huey: Michael, it can be done in Williamson County. It can be done in Davidson County. It can be done anywhere in Tennessee because that’s what they’re trained to do. If indeed, you were running for Congress or some other race, you’d be getting the same type of attacks. Taxpayers on the local level don’t expect this yet it’s so organized between the political left and the teachers’ union colluding with one another to create organized opposition to any pushback, organized opposition to any type of attack on what they’re doing. And to make sure that they control the school boards. They know how to control the school boards because they know how to organize messages and be able to make sure they get out the vote.
Leahy: Here’s what Joy Pullman says in her article about this at The Federalist. “Smearing, and doxing private citizens to suppress their participation in public affairs is a social dynamic beginning to permeate American life.”
Huey: Oh, yeah. And that’s a common thing. So just think about the teachers union. They go through a training of how to do this. Those who are on the organized left are trained on how to demonize their opponents. They’re trained on how to scare people into silence so they don’t stand up. They try to do what’s necessary to avoid, for example, if you have a candidate who would be a great candidate running for an office for the school board, they’re going to be afraid. They’re going to think twice before they run because they know how they’re going to be attacked.
Leahy: Now, there are people in our listing audience, particularly in Williamson County and Davidson County, to some extent, Rutherford in Wilson County who are looking at what’s going on in their schools.
Huey: Right.
Leahy: And they’re saying this, “cultural awareness training” is really just cover for critical race theory and it’s going to hurt our children.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: We want to stop it. Now the problem is that I see, Craig, they are not particularly well organized or well-financed.
Huey: Right.
Leahy: What advice do you have to our listeners who want to push back against critical race theory in their local schools?
Huey: What they need to do is organize as they did in Texas. They have a group of people who are going to support and come together to be able to transform their community and mobilize to get out the vote. The first thing you have to do is start collecting data on who your supporters are. That means you have a petition and you need to make sure people in your community are signing the petition.
And then you make sure that they are actually registered to vote. Then you’ll find 40 to 50 percent of the people who aren’t registered to vote who signed the petition. So you get them registered, and then you make sure that they get that ballot turned in. That’s what the left does. But you know what? Republicans, Conservatives, and normal people running for office, they don’t do that. They’re living as if it was 30, 40 years ago.
You’re up against organized opposition. You’ve got to do that if you’re going to win. But, Michael, there’s one other thing. Not only are you collecting the data but you’re getting them registered and getting out the vote. But also you’re organizing people how to go door to door and finding who are your supporters. Finding who you can make sure get to the poll.
And then on election day, you’ve got a plan to be able to mobilize all these people and make sure that they actually do vote. That’s what the left does. The teachers’ union trains people on how to get the data, get people out to vote, and then how to be sure to have the proper messaging. All these are things that anyone listening to right now can be part of in their community to turn their school board around.
Leahy: In Williamson County, there are 12 school board members elected from districts. They’re elected to four-year terms. Half of them are elected every two years. Six of them are up in 2022.
Huey: Huge. Huge.
Leahy: That would be a very good opportunity for organizing. We’ll talk about that a little bit more when we come 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.