BBQ and no ballot choices (10-24-2024--Hour3)

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_01]: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_01]: 93rd annual Mallard Creek BBQ. You can come on out, get some Brunswick stew, get some coleslaw. I mean, they've got two and a half tons of coleslaw. So like, I think you guys need to eat some more coleslaw. It's good for you too. It's keto friendly, by the way. Yeah, yeah. And of course, like 9000 pounds of barbecue. I'm looking at the line here. Oh, yeah. Look at that. That line is moving. So you can do the drive through. They've got like, I think that's like 30 lanes, I think, I believe.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I think maybe they've just contracted one of those lanes out to Cintra for a toll lane. No, I'm kidding. But so they got the drive up lanes and they got the walk up lanes. And so you can come and get your barbecue. If you were thinking, oh, man, I don't know what I'm going to do for dinner. Boom. There it is. Dinner plans taken care of. Also, it's a fundraiser and the money here will be used to help the folks in Western North Carolina, which is really important.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's going to a good cause as well for the ministry of the church here. Mallard Creek Barbecue. Come see us. 704-570-1110. Let me go over and talk with Chris. Hello, Chris. Thanks for hanging on. I appreciate it. What's going on?

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, sir. So I'm going to kind of put out there kind of Chris is going to analyze Chris, whether he's into the truth or not. Right.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_02]: So let me make this statement first that this this thing right now with all this massive voting going on. And Chris right now, before he got on the air, he's like thinking a whole bunch of Republicans are voting and it's changing things.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And I want to back up off of that to kind of show you where I kind of got to it. And I got questions for you in relation to it.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_02]: So let's go back to what I call the big still from 2020. And Chris kind of he comes off.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_02]: There were so many things that were happening. So it's a blind face statement. I didn't do any research.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_02]: I just lean towards there was a still. Right. So much so that when 2022 comes around, there's this big red wave that doesn't happen.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_02]: And Chris doesn't even know if the big red wave was. I don't know if it was like the idea that it was a hope, a thing of hope, not really analyzed.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_02]: So you mentioned before, Pete, that you kind of looked into the big still and a lot of the issues and that you kind of leaned away from that. Right.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_02]: You're kind of you did research on it. Right.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, yeah, I wanted to see the evidence presented and to have the evidence tested in a court of law.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And I was I never. Yeah. And I never got that. We never got that.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_02]: OK. OK. So OK. So I'm there, too. So that's why I can say with veracity the same. It wasn't fleshed out.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_02]: OK. I'm in agreement. Did you look at the actual evidence? Could you ascertain anything from what was there?

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Or you relied to me. You relied like me that it needed to be a court case to really come to the truth on that.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, because I'm not an expert in like when you start talking about the changing of code or you're talking about, you know,

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: a spoilation of ballots and whatever, like I don't know all of the intricacies of all of the laws and what happened and who was in charge.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And also there are there are there are experts in the subject matter that need to hash that out under a uniform set of rules to try to get as close to the truth as possible.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And I can't do that by reading some right wing or left wing website.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I got you. So, OK. Yes. I didn't. Gateway Pundit was I had a friend that was doing stuff.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_02]: And I ain't going to repost anything because I don't know anything.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_02]: I just know that there were questions. So anyway, I ask for today and as I sit down on the phone, I realize, well, wait, I don't know what I thought.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm thinking all these today there's all these Republicans that are coming out and they're voting like never before.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_02]: And and I'm so now the question is, I don't know if that's true.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Is there any reports that that is the case? Could it be a whole bunch of Democrats that are just voting like never before?

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Or or do we have any evidence that, yeah, Republicans are voting more today in early elections?

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. OK, so that is OK. So so then that goes into the theory on kind of the idea of what's going on.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_02]: So if we take the same number of people that are voting, that just means that all these Republicans have early voted.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So the day of election, it's a chance for the Democrats went on the day of election. Right.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Because if there was just a shift. Right.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: So this was always the this has always been the case.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Democrats have for years been better at turning out their voters early and Republicans voting on Election Day itself.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_01]: But what Democrats then do is they bank a lot more votes and they have they have they use the full two weeks, whatever it is, to get as many votes as possible.

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And Republicans are then left to just kind of focus their resources and efforts on getting as many people out to the polls as possible on that one day versus on two weeks.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. So and because you have a lot of Republicans that for years they're like, I refuse to vote early.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. So the and one of the arguments is that you're cannibalizing your election day turnout.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. That if you are just going after the people that are your high propensity voters, they're they're going to turn out early instead of on Election Day.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_01]: That's not a new vote. Right. And that's true.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. But you are also then freeing up the resources to go get those low propensity voters to turn out on Election Day.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_01]: If you get the high propensity ones to already vote, then you can focus resources on getting low propensity ones.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool. That that explains things to me. I'm glad.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And here's the thing, too. So and here's the as you were talking, I was thinking about this.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And it tells me the numbers that we're seeing right now for the early voting tells me that 2022 and 2020 were really failures of the Republicans.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. Because we're seeing numbers that they're turning out now in in ways that we haven't seen in a long time.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And that means that they stayed home. Right. Like that's OK.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: It means they stayed home and it means that Democrats were more motivated to turn out in 22.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe that was the Dobbs decision. You know, abortion as an issue in that race.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_01]: That all that is part of it. Sure. But it tells me that there were a lot of Republicans that that that stayed home or refused to vote early.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And that never showed up on Election Day for whatever reason. And look, I think I think this is proof that Trump was wrong when he told people don't vote early.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's a huge mistake by telling people and undermining people that effort to get people to go out and vote early.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: All right. Well, Chris, I appreciate the call. Yeah. No, I mean, I think like it was just it was one of the biggest self-inflicted wounds that I have ever seen in politics.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I just I don't understand why there was such this effort to to denigrate the early voting process when the rules apply for everybody.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I understand that if you don't like early voting for whatever reason, you want to get rid of it.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_01]: That's fine. But you got to win first. You got to win the races so you can change the laws.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You can't just say I'm not going to take advantage.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just like saying, well, I think, you know, this baseball game should only be three innings long.

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm just not going to participate in the first six.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, the rules say there are nine innings.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So you got to so you're going to play all nine or you're just going to sit there for six of them and lose every single time.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't make any sense.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, stories are powerful.

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[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's go over to the phones and talk with Dorothy.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Hello, Dorothy.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to the program.

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_01]: How are you doing, Pete?

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I am okay.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: How are you?

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Doing fine.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Doing fine.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_03]: We're out voting, man.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_03]: We're voting.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_03]: We're voting hard.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_03]: We're going strong to the polls right now.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know why Trump said, do not vote early because that's just, that's not cool.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm voting for Trump, but he shouldn't have said it because he has, some people, like sometimes some people have stuff to do and they can't make it to the polls at that time.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, though, this was, so this, it was a reaction to, well, two things.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Number one, well, maybe three.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So first off is that Donald Trump is not a politician.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: He did not, you know, grow up in politics, right?

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't run for offices before.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So he didn't learn, he was not steeped in the Republican or conservative philosophy, right?

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Didn't know how the retail political system works.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So all of that's just out of ignorance.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And so when people around him make these arguments that they're against early voting and absentee voting, and it just needs to be on election day only, he hears that.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And then that becomes, oh, okay, well, everybody says that, oh, that makes sense.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Then that's my position.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: And then he goes out and tells everybody else this.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_01]: But he doesn't, I don't think he understood why, except in the sense that, oh, I lost the election because of early voting.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's not the case.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Early voting, like you said, just gives people the option to go and cast their ballots.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So this way, if something happens on election day, they can actually still have their votes counted.

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_03]: And that helps other people that's running candidates to get other votes because they might be on the fence.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Exactly.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_03]: You know?

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And it spreads out the voting so you don't have an overloading of the system on election day itself.

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Rather than having 600,000 people voting on one day and having to then manage that kind of a thing, you can do it over the course of, you know, multiple days.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And so it's an easier workload.

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And then people make fewer mistakes that way, I would like to think.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And aren't you ready for Trump to be our president?

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I'm so excited.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't know.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I just...

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so excited again.

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, good.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that's good.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm glad you're excited about it.

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I just kind of look at it like it's just another chapter, you know?

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, let's see what happens.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, you're not excited for Project 25?

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm so excited for that project.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm determined to be the president.

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Why do you think Trump...

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Why would you think Project 2025 is Trump's?

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Because all the stuff that's in it, it's going to help the people a lot.

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_03]: A lot.

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_03]: How so?

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_03]: It's really going to help the people a lot.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_03]: The people...

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_03]: How?

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: You said you were really excited for it.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm asking, like, what specifically about it do you love that you think is going to help the people so much?

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to separate us.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's going to be so awesome.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: You still haven't given me an idea from Project 2025.

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: What is it that you like about it?

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, what specific program is it going to do or policy?

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to stop teaching black history in schools.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And I love it.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_03]: They don't...

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Really?

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You seem very knowledgeable about Project 2025, Dorothy.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_01]: You seem, like, super educated about it.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to love it.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_03]: They don't need to know it.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So tell me...

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_01]: So what's another really fantastic thing about Project 2025 that you're looking forward to?

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: That's...

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the greatest.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: That's...

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the greatest.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I understand.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you got to have your favorites.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But what's the...

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: That's just my favorite.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: That's just my favorite.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Because we can't...

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_01]: What's another one?

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_01]: We can't let...

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any other guesses?

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any other guesses?

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, because I feel...

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, no.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Because now I'm just testing your level of creativity, Dorothy.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Because I know you're already full of crap.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: So now I just want to know, like, how much crap can I squeeze out of you?

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_01]: You know?

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So could you maybe make up something else?

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's the only crap I know.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Project 20.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, then we're done.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: That's too bad.

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I was...

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Man, I was hoping you were going to be able to think on your feet a little bit better than that.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, see, here's the problem, Dorothy.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Not your name.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Or your gender, maybe.

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_01]: But, like, I'm thinking, like, if you're going to commit to a bit, you really got to commit.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to call.

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to troll.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And you're going to go along with this stuff and, like, make it seem like you're something you're not.

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: You really got to commit.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And you'd see you didn't commit.

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's why actors, like, they commit.

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_01]: The good ones.

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_01]: They commit to the bit.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You know?

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, they...

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you see some of these actors.

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_01]: They starve themselves.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, they get hooked on drugs for some roles.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just kidding.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: They don't do that for the roles.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: But, like, they go in deep.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_01]: They read everything.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, what's my motivation?

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: See, you should have read Project 2025.

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: See, that would be committing to the bit.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I know it's 900 pages.

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_01]: It's basically, you know, think tank policy, white paper, garbage stuff.

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Nobody ever pays attention to that.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_01]: But, uh, you could have read some of them.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: So you'd be a little bit more informed, you know?

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Rather than just, like, bleh, bleh, bleh, Project 25.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Because you heard it on, like, Colbert.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: You know?

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Or the, you know, Comedy Central or something.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Ah, so disappointing.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I really was hoping for more.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's too bad.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, anyway.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_01]: This is from Andy Jackson at Carolina Journal.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_01]: You know Ryan Routh?

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, if you do know him, don't say you know him.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Because law enforcement will probably want to talk to you.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_01]: That was the guy that, uh, was staking out the Trump golf course to try to, you know,

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_01]: whack the president for the second time, right?

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Or third.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I've lost track.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, Ryan Routh, or Ruth, faces federal firearms charges after he was caught infiltrating

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_01]: the golf course, right?

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But there's another potential charge that he could be hit with.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Illegal voting.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Routh, or Ruth, has long been registered to vote in North Carolina.

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: He voted in several elections here in 08 and 09.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: He then re-registered and voted in 2012 after his voting rights were restored following a

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_01]: 2010 felony conviction.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: That is the last North Carolina election officials heard from him.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Other than when he changed his address on his registration in 2016.

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Two years later, he moves to Hawaii.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: He ran a business there.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_01]: He lived in several different residences with a woman that his neighbors described as his

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_01]: wife.

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_01]: According to officials in Honolulu County, he also registered to vote there.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Being registered to vote in two or more states is actually not illegal.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Double-dipping registrations are pretty common and usually occur when people register to vote

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: in their new state but never notify their former state, right?

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_01]: But the most recent registration is legally valid.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Only that one is legally valid, right?

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_01]: When Routh moved to Hawaii and when he registered to vote there, he invalidated his North Carolina

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_01]: registration.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: But he voted in our state in March in the primary, in the Democrat primary.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: That, my friends, is election fraud.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Which never happens.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Ever.

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like I should tell you that they are almost out of the pork barbecue.

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_01]: They have sandwiches, they've got the stew, they've got the bread, the slaw.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's a good problem to have, right?

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what Yvette Townsend-Ingram just said.

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_01]: She stopped by.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_01]: She's running for office.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_01]: She's running for, we were actually just talking about all of the races that are uncontested.

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Somebody had stopped by earlier and was talking about all the judge races that are uncontested.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But that happens also like in Mecklenburg County, predominantly Democrat.

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_01]: So they're all unopposed.

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Same thing in Union County.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: All the judges are Republican, unopposed.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Unopposed.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_01]: You're unopposed in the at-large race.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I am.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: So I guess congratulations on your election.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It actually is, this is my thing.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: This is what I do because it falls right in line with education.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm out here now educating the public about elections, about why their voice is so critical

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: for every election.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we have an election every year.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: That's something people don't.

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And something that we're trying to be more strategic and intentional about is actually

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: getting out and meeting the people where they are all the time, year round, not just a few

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_00]: months before an election.

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's critically important to us.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm partisan.

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I am Democrat.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm out here.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I would never have guessed given the big Mecklenburg Democrat shirt that you've got on.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's critically important to me and my job that I get all of my colleagues elected

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_00]: because it takes more than just one person.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I can make promises.

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I can say, you know, talk about the priorities that I want to see done.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And I know a lot of them.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I have, I said, you know, during running in the primary, I have a lot of skin in the game.

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I had, I can empathize with a lot of different things that people go through.

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I've been a school teacher with CMS.

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a mom who has raised two sons who matriculated through Charlotte Mecklenburg schools, two black

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_00]: boys, which is, you know, no small feat.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So there are so many issues that I see in my community that I can make a positive impact towards.

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_00]: But it takes all of us.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And the values that I espouse and the goals that I have are directly aligned with those of the Democratic Party,

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: from President Kamala Harris all the way down to the judges and certain issues, referendums on the ballot.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: All of those things are interrelated.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_00]: They're connected.

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And we want to make sure that people have all the information that they need in order to make an informed choice.

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So you're running for county commission.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Arthur Griffin, who is on the commission now, former school board member Lee Altman, also an incumbent.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm trying to remember, we covered the primary.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_01]: How many were in the primary for you, for y'all, for the Democrats?

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So for Democrats in the primary, there was, I think, about six of us.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I know Pat Cotham, who graciously, you know, I learned a lot from Pat.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And Pat was very supportive for me when I ran in 2022.

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_00]: So there was Pat, myself.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, it seems like so long ago.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_00]: That's okay.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_01]: But there was a bunch of, yeah, there's like half a dozen or so in the primary.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And so you guys clear that Republicans don't have anybody that they're even putting up.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And so what is your background for going on to county commission that you think you're going to be able to, yeah, that you're going to be prepared to walk in?

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you've got, what is it, a $2 billion a year budget?

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's a pretty big, that's a pretty big lift, right?

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of responsibility.

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It is a lot of responsibility.

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And one that I feel like I'm really up for.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: For pretty much every job and career that I've had in my life, I can find some kind of skill that is a crossover to county commission.

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Not just my life experiences.

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_00]: But I was a budget analyst for several years at Johnson C. Smith.

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Just more recently, I worked at Johnson C. Smith again.

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I was the director for Foundation Relations.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I wrote grants and actually wrote a grant that the county awarded us over $943,000 for something that's very near and dear to me.

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's black women mortality and the mortality rate.

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So we earned over, or rather I wrote a grant where we were awarded over $943,000 for that.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I worked for the city of Charlotte for several years where I was the budget analyst there as well.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So I had to light rail.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Who did you work on when you worked as an analyst?

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Who did you work for in that office?

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I worked for...

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Because your name is super familiar to me.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm trying to place where I know it from rather than just a news story.

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_00]: So I...

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You know Kurt Walton's time?

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_00]: No.

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So Carolyn Flowers was the CEO back then.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm trying to remember...

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, how long...

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I should have asked first.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: How long ago was this?

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_00]: This was back in 2011.

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So I started working there.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I worked there from like 2011.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So I left Johnson C. Smith, went to the city of Charlotte, worked there for like three or four years,

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and then went into private sector again.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So I've worked in city government.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Primarily a lot of service organization work.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I've worked in human resources.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I know how to relate to people, how to talk to people.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I've worked in education.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I taught, you know, in CMS schools for two years.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I got to see so much.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So much.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So with the current makeup of the county commission, and assuming that the partisanship remains the same,

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01]: or the partisan distribution of the districts and such, I mean, it is a predominantly Democrat board.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So you're running at large.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_01]: How do you reach out to the population of Mecklenburg County that is not represented on the board as conservatives, as Republicans?

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_01]: They're not represented right now.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So maybe somebody picks up a district or something.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But you're an at-large member.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So how do you represent people who have a different governing philosophy than you might have?

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So the funny thing about this is, even at the top of the ticket, the president of the United States, she's dealing with the exact same issue, right?

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But here's the thing that I've found and that I've learned.

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I've, you know, been a precinct chair.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been in my community, an advocate.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been on several boards.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And when it comes right down to it, families don't care about blue and red.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_00]: They don't care about Republican, Democrat.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_00]: They care about the fact that, you know, the violence in the schools, whether my schools are safe.

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_00]: They care about whether or not I can put food on the table.

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_00]: They care about whether or not we can manage the budget to give CMS what they need because a large part of their budget comes from the county.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_00]: They worry about, you know, what services are being offered.

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, we cover services for mental health, for all of the health services.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: They worry about parks and recreation and what their family has that where they can go and walk and be a safe and be a family.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Safety, all of those things.

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: When you talk to an individual, I have never asked them whether or not they're a Republican or Democrat.

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And actually, when I'm out talking to people now trying to get them to vote, I tell them, even if you don't vote for me, I'm still going to work hard just as hard for you.

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to look at you and say, you know what?

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_00]: But I remember, you're a Republican.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to get the same opportunity.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely not.

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to get the same opportunity.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't expect, yeah, most people, and I mean, I don't know if you would even admit that if you would do that, that you would tell me you would.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00]: There are some politicians that actually do.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So, but the idea, though, that, like, you're trying to represent in an at-large fashion, an at-large seat, you're trying to represent people that have a different view.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Not just, because I agree with you, most people do want those same things.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_01]: We have a different route to get there.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And so what happens a lot of times is that people then demonize the other pathway, even though the idea is we both want to be in the same place.

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Safer schools, kids performing well, safe streets, nice parks, right?

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_01]: These are things that generally everybody agrees on, but there are different paths to get there.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's like there's the bomb throwing that occurs along the way that, oh, you took a different path to get there.

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So, or you have a different policy that you want to use to get there.

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So how do you represent half of the, or not half in Mecklenburg County, it's only like a third of the voters that say they want to take a different path?

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And you're, or Arthur, or Lee are the only at-large members they've got, or a district rep that's also a Democrat, and they don't have anybody to espouse that kind of, that path.

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And I understand that.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's actually a great question.

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to be easy.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if there's an answer, by the way.

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_00]: No, no, I think that there is an answer, actually.

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that, and what I've told people when they're out and they've asked me questions, is that I will listen to you.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I will listen to you.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And we may not agree on how to get there, like you mentioned, the path and the policies.

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But if I can produce results for you, if I can get you close, or even if I can't get you there, I will give you a reason.

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So what I want to do, and what I've told people, is hold me accountable.

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that that's something that Arthur says all the time as well.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Lee has said it.

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Hold us accountable.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's difficult to answer everybody, but that means if I make a set of, you know, I have a set of priorities that I would like to see done.

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And I've told you I can't do it by myself.

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I need, you know, at least six other people on the commission to agree with me.

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_00]: But I also need the other policies up and down the ballot.

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, North Carolina General Assembly controls a vast amount of what we're allowed to do.

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I need all of those people.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So, to answer your question is, I will try to get as close as, I will always listen to you.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I will listen to you.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_00]: We may not agree on what I've done, but I will explain to you and try to be transparent about why I took the route that I took.

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_00]: That's fair.

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's all you could ask.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to agree with me, but I always want to know why.

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a why guy.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what I say.

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what I aspire to.

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Yvette Townsend Ingram, she's running for the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners at large, but she's already won because there's only three people running.

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for stopping by the tent.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Great questions, and I really appreciate it.

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I love this stuff.

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I have some messages to get to.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Jeff wants to know, is J.D. Vance coming to Charlotte tomorrow?

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any details?

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I do not.

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, Jeff, I don't know.

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Did she say President Harris?

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Deal breaker.

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Look, I say anybody wants to come by the booth here, wants to stop by and chat at the tent, I take all comers.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And so Yvette Townsend Ingram came by, so I appreciate her being willing to sit down and talk.

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Gary said, I did not catch the lady's name you were interviewing for County Commission, but she is way smarter and more articulate than Kamala is.

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_01]: She interviews way better, too.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because she mentioned Kamala Harris.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_01]: People got a kick out of Dorothy, not her real name or gender, I assume.

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Jonathan wanted to know, how do you hold it together, Pete, with this Project 2025, dude?

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Moral Compass says, Democrats trying to push pro-abortion women to the polls is funny, considering how they accused conservative Christians of being one-issue voters for like 50 years.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a great point.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I hadn't even thought about that.

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_01]: That's so true.

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Regarding the judges and lack of Republicans running for judge in Mecklenburg County, Amy says,

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_01]: let your listeners know that not only can Republicans not win countywide in Mecklenburg, registered Republicans are between 18 to 20 percent of voters in Mecklenburg,

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_01]: but attorneys who run unsuccessfully for judge then have to appear before the judges they ran against in court.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_01]: No, I did mention that.

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, it makes for very awkward situations, and it could be detrimental to your career, no doubt.

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It could be disastrous.

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Follow-up email, she said, or tweet.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, it's a Pete tweet.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: It can be disastrous to those attorneys' careers.

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Therefore, we are even less likely to find people willing to run in unwinnable judicial races than other county or citywide races, such as county commission at large or Charlotte City Council at large.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, and yeah, I get it.

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I understand.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_01]: It's the same way in Union County with Republicans.

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_01]: There are no Democrats running for judge, right?

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Same, that same sort of dynamics.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So I understand, but I also point out that there are no Republicans running for county commission either in Mecklenburg.

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER_01]: So, and look, that's, like, to me, it's the same problem, same issue that we saw with the Charlotte City Council.

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_01]: This is a districting issue, and that's why I find it comical when I hear Democrats complaining about redistricting and gerrymandering when you have voters in Mecklenburg County, you know, roughly one out of five.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_01]: If Mecklenburg County voters are Republicans and they have zero seats on county commission, are those fair maps?

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_01]: If you do a breakdown of the voting patterns and such, Mecklenburg County, the commission, should have more than zero Republicans on that body.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_01]: But they don't.

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And the Democrats don't find any problem with that.

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_01]: There's no Democrat movement to do fair maps, independent redistricting commissions for the county commission.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_01]: They could do it at city council level as well.

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But they don't.

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And that should tell you something.

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_01]: They don't really care about the fair maps.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_01]: They care about drawing the maps.

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And they will use whatever argument they need to make at any given time in order to get control of the process so they can draw the maps and make them, quote-unquote, fair for them.

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But what do I know?

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just a radio guy, you know?

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_01]: That'll do it for this episode.

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendorshow.com.

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Again, thank you so much for listening.

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And don't break anything while I'm gone.