Continuing his radio tour as Fox News’ exclusive radio analyst, President John Pudner traveled down to McAllen, Texas, just a few miles north of the border, to not only continue his assessment of Tim Walz becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice president, but also analyzing the entire context of the now-concluded VP race and, more pertinently, one key figure that was left behind - Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
Not only will Pennsylvania be the state of focus for both candidates and parties this fall, but Josh Shapiro has quickly risen as a top figure within Democratic circles, building a reputation as the rare modern liberal who could reach across party lines and had a +19 point approval rating as of January, offering a strategic advantage in a key battleground state. Despite these clear advantages, he was seen as an outlier and received heavy opposition for, surprisingly, his Jewish heritage and pro-Israel stance amidst the war in Gaza, with several pro-Palestian and far-left groups credited in the New York Times for sabotaging any chance of a Shapiro candidacy. This is also amidst a growing “Uncommitted” movement, with hundreds of thousands voicing their opposition to President Biden’s handling, and the party’s position on, the war and the need for an immediate ceasefire within the region before considering any Democratic ticket.
As Pudner and host Sergio Sanchez discuss, snubbing Shapiro not only highlights the Democratic divisions and the rise of pro-Palestinian factions, but also concerning trends within the party and a missed opportunity for a presidential ticket in need of stability.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Shapiro, Democrat, pick, Israel, Palestine, issues, divest, swing voters
SPEAKERS
Sergio Sanchez and TBOR Action President John Pudner
Sergio Sanchez 00:00
Back to the political sphere, my friend John Pudner from Take Back Our Republic Action joins me. Tim Walz from Minnesota has been chosen as the VP candidate, and there might be plenty of cloth for Donald Trump, and JD Vance, and others to comment on the Republican side, plenty of liberal cloth for them to chop up between now and Election Day. It's just a matter of perfecting, and messaging, and repeating on the part of the GOP. Do you think they can pull it off? Do you think they can do it? Because they got all the liberal receipts, evidence, video, and controversial things that they could stick on this guy, not to mention Kamala Harris. Can the Republicans pull it off between now and Election Day?
John Pudner 00:48
Well, I think it's a big relief that it's not Josh Shapiro, because he would've made it tougher. He probably made it very hard to win Pennsylvania if he had been picked, and instead, they went far left with this pick. That says to me that, clearly, they were more worried about some of the hardcore far-left staying at home if they pick Shapiro, then they were about reaching out the middle and, and having someone who was at least pro-Israel. They went far left and certainly gave Trump and team the opportunity.
Sergio Sanchez 01:21
What does that say of the current makeup of the modern Democrat party that they are afraid to be too...I mean, how else do I say it, too Jewish? Because they need to pander to the pro-Hamas crowd, and the protesters, these insurrectionists, and their ranks?
John Pudner 01:44
Absolutely, and if you look at what Walz did in Minnesota, they had hearings on whether or not the state should divest all money out of Israel, and he presided over these hearings. Now, he sat there quietly, so he couldn't say was on record for it, but he just thanked everyone, one after another radical, for getting up and speaking, saying he needed to divest all Minnesota's funds, anything invested in Israel, anything tied to Israel, you had to be divested, etc. And so, I think they think they have someone who can appeal their base and pacify him, but who was a little bit careful, you know? And really, if they were thinking just election wise, you go with Shapiro to say they aren't abandoning our ally Israel, but they just couldn't do it, their party's not in a spot where they can do it now.
Sergio Sanchez 02:36
Man, you talk about having an albatross around your neck, the whole BLM, uproar, the riots, businesses on fire, attacks on individuals, the deaths, the injuries, the delayed response by this guy when it came to sending out proper authorities to quell this violence, and that alone, I think, is a dead weight on this campaign.
John Pudner 03:00
Absolutely so, and it's a campaign where Republicans have the rare advantage of having three 70% plus issues already. That's rare in a presidential campaign. Israel, there's all the gender stuff for men and women sports to operations without parents knowing, there's the border right down by you, those are all 70% issues. To bring back in the defunding of the police, which they do just by having this pick, that's an issue that was kind of back of mind, people weren't thinking of it as much, it's been a while since the protests, but then you pop him and you almost make everyone talk about the defund the police movement...
Sergio Sanchez 03:44
...Which was birthed in his state, by the way...
John Pudner 03:50
...That's what I'm saying. I think by picking him, you bring it back top of mind, even though it had kind of faded from people's minds a bit.
Sergio Sanchez 03:56
I heard a little cut on one of the Fox News reports. He was at that campaign rally saying crime escalated under Donald Trump, violent crime escalated under Donald Trump., but I'm going, "Yeah, it did. Dopey. It sure did. It was all the cities that were on fire during the BLM protest. Everything skyrocketed because of your poor response, lack of response, delayed response when it came to sending out authority to quell all this violence", but I go back to the beginning. John Pudner with Take Back Our Republic Action. Unless they message this and counter the advertising that is already flooding....I know it's got to be flooding the swing states, how courageous Kamala is, trying to put this glossy figure out there, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, all this stuff, it's political advertising, it is what it is, hyperbole on steroids. But, they got a counter with putting facts out there, and I go back to my question, because the Republicans suck at messaging, not so much Donald Trump, but in it's in his camp now. They have to expose these very leftist candidates for who they are. Can they pull it off?
John Pudner 05:25
Well, I think so. Before this pick, I'd actually just published on the top of takebackaction.org, our site, that I broke down the map, and it looked to me like with a Shapiro pick, this thing was 50/50, actually thought it might come down the state up here, Wisconsin. The whole map broke down as even if it weren't Shapiro, assuming that got them Pennsylvania, everything played out the dead even, and they can do it. The Democrats will have an edge in money. She's raising a ton, and that does matter, just because often, voters now in a lot of races, for every one commercial you see from the Republican side, you see three from the Democrat side. The money is just so lopsided. They have so many more door knockers. There's just so much money from Soros and everyone else that it makes it tough. So the question is always can you make that ad effective enough that, if they see your ad one time, and see Harris's ad three times, it's still enough to bring a swing voter over? The issues are strong enough, you're right, but they're going to have to be very focused, very focused on issues, these winning issues, and just not be off script.
Sergio Sanchez 06:29
I know this question is more appropriate to somebody within the GOP, and somebody that's in the party politic, but maybe you know. Why is it that the Democrats do the convention after the Republicans? Because usually, right before, you know, early vote, the Democrats are supposed to get a bump from all the speeches, everything that they do. Why is it that it was positioned this way? How does that happen?
John Pudner 06:58
Traditionally, the deal has always been that the party that has the White House gets to do the second convention, so maybe that'll change one day, but that has been sort of the, I'll say, gentlemen's agreement, to use the old term, so if Trump wins this time, Republicans will go second.
Sergio Sanchez 07:13
I see. All right, John, what if folks find you online?
John Pudner 07:17
takebackaction.org. Our top story has the map before this VP pick. This was assuming a Shapiro pick, which looked dead even, but we actually have the map right up top.
Sergio Sanchez 07:31
Okay, looking forward to the update now that they got Mr. Walz up there helping out with with a Democrat charge. takebackaction.org. That's John Pudner. Thank you, John.
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