WEBVTT - John Thomas on the State of the Governor's Race 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.160 And we continue at two five in the afternoon on 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:07.720 The John Phillips Show Live from Las Vegas, Nevada. Mister 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:09.360 Randy Wiggs in Culver City. 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:13.320 You really can't make this one up. An employee for 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:19.119 the nonprofit in LA People Assisting the Homeless was arrested 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:25.279 for dealing drugs in MacArthur Park. And John, you want 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.720 to know what job this employee had at People Assisting 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:29.400 the Homeless? 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:31.600 Oh, I can't wait to find out. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:37.280 Passing out needles, of course. So he was giving away 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:41.120 the needles and selling the Fentinel at the same time. 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:46.159 Sounds like a barber Ferrara special to me. I have 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:50.680 no idea eight hundred two two two five two two 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.360 two is telephone number one. Eight hundred two two two 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.400 five two two two. It is our pleasure to welcome 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.960 our next guest to the program. He is a republic 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.440 political strategist. So you can follow on exit the Thomas Guide, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:06.759 John Thomas, Welcome. 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:09.320 Hey John, thanks for having me on. 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:14.280 Well, thanks so much for stopping by. Let's get into 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.880 the gubernatorial election here first, because I've got to tell 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.320 you one of the things, one of the reasons that 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.320 we all study history in school is because history tends 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:27.679 to repeat itself, and you want to learn from your 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.280 mistakes and you want to try not to repeat them 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:36.760 in this election. The Democrats were almost entirely willing to 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.720 get behind Eric Swalwell when he was a candidate for 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.559 governor because they thought he would have the best chance 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:48.600 at finishing in first place and keeping a Democrat walkout 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.600 from happening on the November ballot. He didn't really know 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:56.680 much about California politics, he didn't really seem interested in 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.960 learning about California politics, but he was well known because 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.000 he is a foil to Donald Trump, and that was 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.320 good enough for them. And then all the negative stories 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.600 broke about all the rape allegations and sexual harassment and 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:16.040 mistreating people, misusing money, the whole thing. And we find 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.320 out the guy's a complete dirtbag. Even Stephen Klubek kicked 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.520 him out of his house. And what do the Democrats do. 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.200 Instead of trying to learn from their mistake and figure 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.560 out where they went wrong in their evaluation of this candidate, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:36.320 they jump headfirst in with Javier Bessera, a guy with 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.600 more red flags and a golf course, a guy who 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.600 the Biden administration is saying was the worst pick that 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:47.480 Joe made his entire four years as president. He is 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.120 a guy whose chief of staff is cutting a deal 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:53.720 with the FEDS after he was accused of stealing and 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:59.679 not paying the irs. Dana Williamson is being charged by 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:02.440 the fires with a crime, and it looks like she's 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.880 cutting a deal with them, and it seems like they 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.400 don't seem to care or seem to be too concerned 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.000 with all of these storm clouds on the horizon, and 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.919 it's looking to me like Eric Swalwell two point zero 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:19.080 your thoughts. 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:24.360 Yeah, it's incredible. First of all, the fact that in 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:28.920 the state is deeply blue as California, that candidates like 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:32.160 Swallwell and Javier Butsera are the best they have to 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.720 offer is really quite pathetic and shocking. And the second 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.520 is I hear what you're saying, John about history, that 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.280 they should learn from it. But let's also look at 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:47.880 the recent presidential election where they coued Joe Biden and 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:53.440 slammed in his vice president without having without having the 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.840 proper thought of perhaps forcing Joe Biden to have a 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:02.600 competitive primary and perhaps find a more viable national democrat 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:07.200 rather than be incompetent and idiotic and feckless Kamala Harris 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.440 who ended up obviously losing to President Trump. So this 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:15.000 is somewhat consistent. And I also think that Democrats are 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.800 so blinded by their identity politics that also causes them 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:24.680 often to not look beyond the surface. And so they're 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.800 going to get Hobby Air Besera taking over at a 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.039 time that California is in deep, deep crisis. So not 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.560 only do you need a competent Democrat, but you need 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.120 a Democrat who isn't corrupt, And so it looks like 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:40.680 they're going to be. California may be quite frankly longing 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:42.760 for the days of Gavin Newsom, because at least he's 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:46.840 just your standard issue San Francisco limbal Jabber. Besara is 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.320 like just Joe Biden a few years younger. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.760 Well, when you look at the possibilities of what could happen, 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.479 we know that everyone in this guy's inner circle is 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:00.000 now in trouble with the Feds. So it is an 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.760 entirely within the realm of possibilities that this guy could 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.560 get indicted after the primary, and then suddenly you have 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.080 someone who might go to federal prison as your nominee. 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:13.920 What do you do then my guess is they stand 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.440 behind him because they rather deal with a democratic criminal 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.280 than a republican. What do you do if he gets elected, 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:25.280 becomes governor, and then gets indicted. You have a guy 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.599 who is essentially impotent as governor, won't be able to 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:31.200 do any of the things that you want him to 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.400 do because he'll be under a federal cloud. All of 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:39.160 the possibilities that they have coming up with Javier Bessera 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.560 are bad. And let's say he doesn't get indicted, You're 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.160 going to end up with a guy who, based on 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.920 past performance, will likely be a very poor governor, and 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:52.680 you're going to rely on that guy to lead the state. 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:58.360 Well, particularly the time of broad economic crisis within the state. Yeah, 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:02.040 you're exactly right. I think the other kind of story here, 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.320 as it relates to the candidates, John, is that although 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.480 I don't know that the Democratic establishment thought too deeply 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.680 about their backing of Javier Sarah other than he's not 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.400 Tom Steyer and Tom you can't doesn't play well with 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.920 the Democratic establishment. I think really it's the establishment trying 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.000 to run more broadly from all the other candidates, John, 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.920 I mean they, yes, Javier may be a bad governor 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:33.880 in effective governor. But the establishment hates Katie Porter. They 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:35.840 can't stand to be in a room with Katie Porter. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.320 They would take somebody who's incompetent over any day of 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.560 the week. And quite frankly, a similar similar thing with Stier. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.320 So I wonder if it's more that the Sarah was 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:49.159 just the best the least bad alternative in a time 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.040 when they got caught flat footed because Swallow was obviously 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:52.640 bounced out. 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.560 You debate a lot of Democratic strategists on cable, on radio, 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.279 different forums. When the cameras are on and you're talking 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.320 to them about Katie Porter, what do they say. 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:10.880 I have yet to meet a single Democratic strategist, state, local, 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:16.040 or national that thinks highly of her. It's really they 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:20.000 all just want her to go home, go back to teaching, 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:24.560 or whatever she wants to do. They personally detest her, 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.040 And I think they're all going to be actually, I 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.240 know they're all going to be quite relieved when she 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.960 very likely will not prevail in this race. And what 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.720 is that Two back to back losses and her old 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.960 seat was kind of carved away, So they're all relieved. 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.600 The only person I know I believe that likes Katie 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:49.280 Porter would be Elizabeth Warren. I think she's her protege. 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.520 But outside of that, Katie's finding herself without a home. 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.880 What I talk to Democrats, not only do they not 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.320 like her, they all seem to have unique Katie Porter 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:04.040 stories where she did something to them, She was nasty 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.920 to them, she was nasty to someone in front of them, 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:12.080 she did something vulgar, whatever. They all have stories, every 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:13.320 single one that I talked to. 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.840 Yeah, that's right. You know, it's interesting because politics is 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.800 a team sport. It doesn't mean that you can't ruffle feathers. 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.720 So President Trump goes toe to toe with people all 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.880 the time, but he also is very loyal and knows 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:32.360 how to get along with people to get things done. 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.440 Katie Porter doesn't get along with anybody. She's in it 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.800 for herself, and that's simply it. You know, her whole 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.480 thing during Congress was to try to make a rocket 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:45.000 to try to embarrass a CEO that would come in 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.960 front of oversight. And then she used that clip to 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.800 get her on MSNBC simply so that she could take 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.080 that clip and put it in her email machine and 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.240 keep dumb low information voters keep giving her five dollars 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.760 a month, and that worked pretty effectively to put together 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.080 a just But the problem is, John, it's one thing 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.360 to run for Congress. The electric doesn't get to know 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.320 you that well because it's pretty much your TV ads 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.240 and your mail pieces. But when you run for governor 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.800 in a big state like this, yes, paid advertising is important, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.320 but you've got to build traditional coalitions. And if you 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.920 have flashed and burned everybody along the way, there's going 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:27.920 to be nobody there to stand with you. And that's 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:29.400 why she's in bloating. 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.240 Quite frankly, what do you make of the fact that 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:38.640 there seems to be no genuine interest at all within 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.760 the Democratic Party electorate for Matt Mayhan, who is by 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:47.280 all accounts the sanest of all of the Democratic candidates 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:51.559 running for governor. He certainly wants to do something about crime, 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.000 he wants to do something about the homeless problem. He 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.600 doesn't want to spend the state into bankruptcy. But he's 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:00.280 with them on all the social issues that they care about. 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.680 He hates Donald Trump, and it doesn't matter. They're not 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:04.920 buying that product. 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:10.080 That actually is the most interesting story that I don't 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.240 think is being covered about the scubatorial race, which is 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:20.760 that moderate Democrats are completely rejected by both the establishment 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.960 and the electorate in blue states like California. That is 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:31.679 just shocking that they're looking for positions at the extremes. 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:36.160 And Matt Mahon, it's just I mean, he's floundered. The 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.839 only people that have gotten excited about him are kind 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:44.160 of quite frankly, the ultra wealthy and Silicon Valley elites. 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:48.320 Like that's about it. He never was resonant with the electorate. 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:52.600 And I think, in part John, it's because intensity in 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:56.440 these races is generated with Democrats at the extreme, who 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:59.559 is the most anti Trump, who is the most woke? 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:05.760 And Mahon's positions don't generate any excitement or intensity right now. 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:09.280 He's not partisan enough, and so forget this the race 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.840 of in California. I think as we project as we 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.040 look into the midterm cycle, and then of course as 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.120 we look into the next presidential cycle, this may be 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.120 foreshadowing of what the Democratic primary race looks like, that 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:26.160 a moderate governor from some flyover state may not actually 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.880 be quite viable in twenty twenty eight. They may be 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.840 looking for somebody more like an AOC to carry the torch. 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:36.839 Oh yeah, this is horrendous news for Josh Shapiro or 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:41.400 Ram Emmanuel or Andy Bashar. I can't see that type 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.880 of candidate winning a Democratic primary right now. 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:48.679 I struggle to see it. You know, I know, the 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:53.200 the you know, the Democratic elites, the donors will probably 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.200 give them plenty of money, so you know, you can't 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.920 totally discount it, but I struggle to see it. They're 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.240 going to splice up what ever, small flights of the 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.720 electric but really they're just not going to generate a 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:08.360 lot of attension because primary is about generating attention and intensity, 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.360 and you know, somebody like AOC John, you know, probably 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:15.520 starts out with I don't know, mid mid to high 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:20.480 twenties and in support, and her voters are are not 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.440 leaving her. So all she has to do is hang 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.560 on to her voters and maybe pick up a couple 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.480 points here or there, and heck, she can ride this 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:32.280 thing out. So it's this really bad news for Democrats, 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:34.800 and it's good news for Republicans if they're thinking about 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.200 breaking the historical trend of you know, holding the White 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.000 House after two terms in power. 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.679 Do you think Biserah has seen enough of a bump 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.000 to prevent the Democrats from being locked off the November ballot. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:54.200 I do, yeah, I mean, look, strange things do happen. 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:58.679 But I've been I look at pullings a snapshot in time, 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:00.960 of course, but I really are looking kind of at 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.200 consolidation trends, and it seems to be the Democrats are 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:09.040 kind of getting in line broadly behind the Sarah. His 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:14.040 and Styre has been falling back, and interestingly, his attacks 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:18.800 and whatnot kind of uh, He's resaturation point, whereas advertising 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:24.120 really has marginal utility for each dollar that he spends, 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.400 and in fact, you know, every time it's just paid 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:30.280 for by time Tom sire, it reinforces kind of the 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:35.080 Democratic electorates to stained for rich guys. So Tom seems 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.840 to be falling back far enough. If he were closing 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:41.120 at a faster rate, I would say, hey, maybe there 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.719 could be two Republicans. But you know, President Trump's endorsement 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:50.240 of Steve Hilton seems to consolidate the Republicans, and the 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:52.880 kind of Democrats are getting in line more broadly with 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:54.640 the Sarah. So I think it will be an R 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:56.719 and D going in and and but look, I think 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.280 the big wildcard is what you said, John does some 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.960 bad doj News break about Hoavier with Sarah, you know, 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.320 in a runoff, because that could tilt this thing in 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.440 some kind of black Swan event towards Steve Hilton. 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.680 What do you think Tom Steyer does next? Because he 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.200 ran for president, spend a ton of money and lost, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.960 he's running for governor spending a ton of money, gonna lose. 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.240 Do you think he just goes away at this point 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:22.040 or do you think he spends the rest of his 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:23.840 life running to win something. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.840 You know. I was thinking about this this morning actually, 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.800 And on the one hand, it's completely idiotic about how 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:36.800 much money this guy has wasted in just perennially running 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:41.440 and losing. On the other hand, well, I completely disagree 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:46.200 with his policies and world viewpoint I actually kind of 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.760 respect it in a way, John, that he's a man 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:50.720 in the arena. You know, he gets in the fight. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:53.560 At least he has no shot, but at least he's 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:56.880 he's trying to do something, you know, juxtaposed to other 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.960 billionaires like Rick Caruso who just don't have the you know, 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:04.040 the stuff to go through it again. But so I 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:09.080 tend to think his days in electoral politics, Tom says 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.480 are over but I think he's going to turn this 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:15.160 and leverage it into some kind of appointment if the 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.680 Democrats take the White House. I just I just have 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:21.400 to think that he's going to convert you know, not 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.800 just the name might but also he's given a lot 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.120 of influencers within the Democratic Party a lot of money, 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.480 so he's going to try to try to convert that 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:34.000 into an appointment if Tom Steyer runs for president again. 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:35.880 I don't know. I guess I'll eat my hat, but 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.160 I guess at that point he just loves burning money. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:42.160 I really have no one there no other explanation for it. 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.920 What the hell is going on with Rick Caruso. You 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:49.440 mentioned his name. He got behind Matt Mayhan in a 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.360 big way. Matt Mayhan is not going to win this election. 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.320 And now it looks like Carusell might get in trouble 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.920 because there is coordination between one of the independent groups 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.480 and the campaign, or at least an allegation of that, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.120 and they're looking into that right now, So people might 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:09.360 get in trouble over that. He's getting behind a challenger 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:14.400 to Brad Sherman, the longtime congressman from the San Fernando Valley, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.360 who is attacking him from the left. He has certainly 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.040 gotten behind other candidates that make no sense to me. 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:26.120 He won't endorse or hasn't endorsed Spencer Pratt, who is 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:29.600 catching fire right now in that La mayor's race. He's 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.560 only going after Nitia Rahman, So I assume he's going 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.000 to endorse Karen Bass in the general election if it's 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:40.360 Bass and Pratt. As soon as he started taking advice 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:45.040 from Democratic consultants, A, what he did made no sense 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.440 to anyone, and B he went from being the guy 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.920 with the Midas touch to being a guy who can't 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:51.600 win anything. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:59.480 Yeah, it's really interesting. You know, when you expect Rick 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:02.520 to step up and use his voice to do the 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.879 right thing, like endorsing Spencer Pratt, he remained silent when 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:11.919 he has no business getting involved in a race like 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.680 the one against Brad Sherman. He speaks up and he's 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:20.359 backing a loser because he didn't run for mayor and 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.720 he didn't run for governor. And it was such a 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.959 bizarre lead up by the way right he was on 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:32.080 an electoral tour essentially saying an announcement is coming and 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:36.720 then only to pull the trigger and pull back. Was odd, 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.399 and that meant that if Rick Crusoe endorsed in the 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:45.000 race for governor, politically speaking, he needed to back a winner. 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:48.119 He could not take a long shot. And so the 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.040 fact that he got all in, I mean all in 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:55.360 behind Matt Mayhan. And I saw some messaging Johnny put 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.640 out on Twitter where it was a little disingenuous, where 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.840 he was saying, oh, Matt Mayhem on the rise, he's overtaking. 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:03.919 He was in fifth place at the time. I mean, 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:06.760 there was just no there was no bad way at 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:10.760 that time. It's look, I think any shred of political 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.760 capital that Rick Caruso had after this coming election cycle 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.920 is probably gone. I thought what he could have become 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.360 when he decided not to run, although I do think 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:22.919 he should have given it a shot in the LA 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.800 mayor's race. But when he decided not to run, I thought, 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.879 perhaps he could be like an elder statesman, the voice 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:34.119 of reason who just did the right thing by getting 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.879 behind the right people at the right time. And it's 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.679 it's a hodgepot. I think it's bad political advice and instincts, 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.040 a desire to be liked, and what's the end of 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.840 happening is his political capitals eroding, and people who should 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.359 be listening to Rick's advice are just going to discount it. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.960 And he's been more and more irrelevant as time goes on. 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.359 John Thomas, Republican political strategist, so you can follow on 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.720 exit the Thomas Guide. Thanks so much for stopping by. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:02.800 Have a great weekend. 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:04.600 Thanks thanks John, you too. 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.960 Eight hundred two two two five two two two is 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:10.960 a telephone number one eight hundred two two two five 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:13.720 two two two. If you'd like to email the show, 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.360 you can do so at Johnny Don't Like Show gmail 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.040 dot com. That's Johnny Don't Like Show at gmail dot 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:25.000 com and Randy. The Long Weekend is almost here. If 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.240 you want to start listening to us after we sign 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:28.800 off for three, that's easy to do. 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:32.680 All you gotta do is download our podcast quite frankly. 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.639 Search for The John Phillips Show wherever you get your podcasts, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:40.600 quite frankly, whether it's the Apple podcast. 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:42.760 App, quite frankly, whether it is. 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:48.560 On Spotify, quite frankly, iHeartRadio, quite frankly. Search for the 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.280 John Phillips Show, hit subscribe. You could download all the 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:57.680 episodes right frankly. 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But 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.600 no matter which way you listen, there are so many 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.640 different ways to enjoy this podcast. 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:37.040 Quite frankly, And on election night, we're doing double duty. 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:41.440 Yes, we are, absolutely, absolutely. 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:45.080 We're gonna be broadcasting live on June second, from seven 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:49.639 to nine pm election results. If there are anyone the 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:52.080 polls close at eight o'clock, we'll have them for you, 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:55.080 and it's going to be a triple simulcast. We're gonna 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:59.080 be live on KABC, We're gonna be live on KSFO, 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:04.200 and we're gonna be live on the Big KMJ in Fresnow. 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.199 Well, there's more drama going on right now in the 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:13.080 gubernatorial election involving paid influencers. 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.199 Tom Steyer has been getting a lot of flak for 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:20.920 straight up paying social media influencers to endorse his campaign, 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:25.480 and a lot of the influencers have not been disclosing 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:28.120 that they've been paid to support Tom Steyer. 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:30.640 But it's not just Steyer doing this. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:35.800 Apparently Nithia Rahman is doing this in the La mayors race. 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:39.520 For more, here is CBSLA Well. 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:42.920 To right, there's new scrutiny over political campaigns and social 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:44.440 media influencers. 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:45.760 Politicians are writing. 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:47.840 Beache starting to understand why the radio buys are so 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:51.199 low for political because you can really skirt the rules 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:52.719 when it comes to social media. 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:56.840 But here's the thing, though, If you are an influencer 0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:00.879 who talks about fashion or rap, music or fill in 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:05.080 the blank, and then suddenly you stop talking about rap 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:09.360 or fashion or whatever and you start shilling for Tom Steyer, 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:12.439 I don't think your audience has any interest in that 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:12.920 at all. 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.680 No, it's an obvious cash grab and maybe they're cool 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:21.600 with that. Hey, I'm ripping off Tom Steyer's campaign. I'm 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:24.159 not saying it's a good strategy. I'm just saying that 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:26.320 this is what the consultants think you got to do. 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:31.960 Now, politicians are writing big checks for endorsements from influencers 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:33.960 CBSLA political reporter Time. 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:40.359 We imagine if that was legal in radio, Oh, the 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:42.560 amount of money that would be going to these stations 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:43.400 would be unreal. 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:47.080 CBSLA political reporter Tom wait Us, hear Tom. The big 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:50.359 issue not all these payments are being disclosed, that's right. 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:51.760 And you know, here's the thing. We spoke with one 0:22:51.760 --> 0:22:55.080 influencer tonight. Really nice guy, just try to make a living, 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:59.239 not really you being in the political world, right, They 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:02.159 don't know a lot about sort of disclosure laws, and 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:04.520 so I think that's part of it. So paying influencers 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:07.720 for a product or campaign endorsement, it's nothing new, but 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:11.600 the payments are getting more scrutiny after a Democrat for governor, 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:15.199 Tom Steyer, dropped a staggering one hundred thousand dollars on 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:18.520 a Texas based influencer to promote his campaign. 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:24.080 WHOA. Now, you do the radio show from noon to 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:27.520 three and then again later on in the afternoon. Let's 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:30.000 say you had your own podcast where you talked about 0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:33.920 cooking and it had nothing to do with the radio station. 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:40.120 You could theoretically sell your endorsement on your podcast legally 0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:46.640 speaking to one of these candidates. Correct. I think our 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:52.720 contract doesn't allow that. Let's say it did. How much 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:55.280 money would it take for you to endorse Katie Porter 0:23:55.480 --> 0:24:01.000 on your cooking podcast? Well we could make ESTRONI together. 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:04.040 Sorry for the noise, I'm cutting carrots. 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:06.200