00:00Set the scene for this race. I'm being told it's called a jungle primary. That is an actual term
00:05that we use. I looked it up. I did not know this. I've covered politics a long time.
00:09Explain what a jungle primary is because you've got three main contenders on the ballot. So then
00:13what happens next? Yeah, great question. And hi, thanks so much for having me. So this basically
00:21they changed. They just changed the system. This is the first time they're doing this. And so it
00:27used to be an open primary system, basically, so anyone could vote in primary elections. Now
00:33it's more of a closed system. And so the we have three Republican candidates that are running
00:40and they whoever gets the top. So if no one reaches 50 percent of the vote, then it moves
00:48to a runoff in June. If someone reaches more than 50 percent, then they win the primary
00:53and they are moving on to the general election. But that is different than what it was before.
00:58Before it was just you, whoever wanted to run would run in to the general election, basically.
01:06So this is totally different. And people are saying that it could be a disadvantage to Cassidy
01:11because, you know, he might appeal to some more moderate voters, more moderate Republican
01:17voters or even Democratic voters who live in a state or a red state. And so now he is running
01:25against two other Republicans in this closed primary system that it might be difficult for
01:30him to move forward into the runoff or win outright the primary, if that makes sense.
01:36Yeah. I mean, I guess we've seen this a lot, especially in districts that have been redrawn
01:41to be mostly Republican or mostly Democrat. This is why we're having such a hard time getting
01:45these two parties to talk to each other because in the primaries they have to run to the sides
01:49of their parties. And then it's hard for them to come back to the middle, even if they want
01:52to in a general. So we're talking about MAHA. That's not MAGA. This is this Make America
01:58Healthy Again movement, right, which I feel like when it started actually had some appeal across
02:03the political spectrum. I knew a lot of like people I consider liberal Democratic friends
02:07who were really into the ideas of this. But it's morphed into something a little bit different.
02:12And talk to us about why this race in particular is going to be a test of this microcosm of
02:18the
02:18MAGA movement and whether or not it's effective.
02:20Certainly. And I would say the Make America Healthy Again movement still has some bipartisan
02:25appeal. And that's because it's such a broad movement. It encompasses people who don't like
02:32processed foods, who have some concerns about vaccines, who are anti-pesticide. And so people
02:38have a lot of different concerns that fall within you would call the MAHA agenda. And so there are
02:44some sector of Democrats that do agree with some of that in regards to pesticides, particularly in
02:51food. So I won't say it's completely partisan, but MAHA action, the PAC that's aligned with Julia
02:59Letlow, as you mentioned at the top, is trying to elect just Republicans to Congress and Republicans
03:05that include MAHA items, MAHA agenda items in their campaigns. And so Letlow is really the first
03:12candidate they are putting a lot of money and power towards and talking about a lot. And so we'll see
03:18if that MAHA endorsement and that money will help her move her through. Whether it really has,
03:25you know, just any power in the race itself is a question still to be answered, because there's a lot
03:32to talk about it. But are voters listening to that? Or do they care about that MAHA element as much
03:38as
03:38they might care about other elements? Certainly affordability is a huge deal in this election so
03:43far. So it might be a concern, but will it be one of the top concerns that motivates voters to
03:50get out
03:50and vote in this election? I think we'll see after we see some of the results.
03:54And talk to us about Congresswoman Julia Letlow. Who is she? Where does she come from? And what does
04:01it mean for Trump's endorsement power if she wins or doesn't win?
04:05Yeah, great question. So she, interestingly enough, she is serving in her husband's seat or her
04:13former husband's seat. Her husband died of COVID in 2021. And so it's kind of interesting,
04:20there's that health element there. And she has been, she has said that she does support the COVID
04:25vaccine, but she believes it is a something that should be discussed, vaccines are something that
04:32should be discussed between the patient and their doctor. And so that's kind of a common Republican
04:37message coming out of COVID. They don't like the idea of vaccine mandates or everyone has to get a
04:44vaccine. And so that is, um, an interesting note about her. When I've talked to her in the hallways
04:51of Congress, she says, you know, she, she really aligns with Maha a lot on the nutrition priorities.
04:58And so she has some young children. She really cares about getting whole food, non-processed food
05:03into the, into their bodies. And so that's really what, um, appealed to her and want to make her align
05:09with it. Um, I think she also, it's interesting because, you know, Bill Cassidy has been a Senator
05:15for 10 years. He's an incumbent Senator. He has name recognition across the state.
05:20He also gets a lot of support from like pharma and healthcare folks who are going to lose a big
05:24ally on Capitol Hill, pushing back against some of the more vehement anti-vaccine strains in the party,
05:29right? Yeah, certainly. I I've crunched some of those, uh, campaign finance numbers and he gets a lot
05:37of money from the pharmaceutical industry, from the healthcare industry. I mean, he has the top
05:42chairmanship on one of the health committees on the Hill. And so it makes sense that, um, he would,
05:48uh, get a lot of money from those industry groups. That's kind of just how Congress works.
05:52Um, but yeah, he certainly has been pharma friendly. He, uh, you know, can be skeptical about some kind
06:00of anti-pharma policy sometimes. It kind of depends. So yeah, if he loses, they would lose that ally
06:06potentially though. I think anyone that gets into, um, a Senate seat will then, um, have corporate
06:14groups that want to come and give them money. And so we'll see if that, if that changes, um,
06:19if let low is in the seat or Fleming's in the seat, they'll probably still, still get money from
06:23corporate interest. Of course, we've got about 30 seconds before I let you go, but I just want to
06:27say, you know, Cassidy, like you said, he's pro vaccine, but he did get a lot of flack for voting
06:31to confirm RFK. That wasn't enough for the president. He's still, uh, endorsed someone
06:36else in this primary. Yeah. I mean, that is really the crux of all of this. And I think
06:42that's why everyone is watching this because we have just seen Cassidy tangle with his conscience.
06:49And, um, last year it was a really public struggle. He literally said in, in the, um, confirmation
06:56hearing for secretary Kennedy, I'm struggling with my vote for you. And that is because of
07:01your stances on vaccines. And then we saw Cassidy go and vote to confirm Kennedy anyways. And that
07:09was not enough for Trump. And, um, and so Trump wants him out.
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