Winnability

We bring in Brent Austin to reminisce over our last three shows

>> Brent Austin: Welcome to the Compass, navigating the public square together with faith, truth, and conviction.

>> Rick Beggs: Well, we're hoping you're having a great day today. Thank you for joining us on the Compass. As always, Debbie Wethnow, the president of I Voter Guide, sits in the chairs with me to. To do the broadcast. Debbie, say hey.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Say hey.

>> Rick Beggs: Obedient as always. we have a. A really good show today, but before we do that, I thought it'd be very fun, just to sort of reminisce over our last three shows. Debbie. We got a chance to be together.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: It was so much fun with our

>> Rick Beggs: producer, and do it in Tupelo, Mississippi, home, of afa. Afa in person. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I thought it'd be very fun that we bring our producer on, Brent Austin, if you would just drop in a little bit.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: We all three say hi.

>> Brent Austin: Hello. Or should I say.

>> Rick Beggs: So we all three live in the South. I live in Atlanta. Debbie lives in Austin, Texas. And where does Brent live? Brent lives in Tupelo, but only one of us sounds Southern, so, anyway, Brent, just say a couple things.

>> Brent Austin: It ain't Debbie on the sideshow freak. Hey, y'.

>> Rick Beggs: All. How y' all doing? That's right. We bring in Brent just to make, things a little less serious. Oh, he makes m us laugh.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: yes, he does.

>> Rick Beggs: Probably too serious. Yeah.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah.

>> Rick Beggs: But we love being together and doing that. And it was very fun to do our last three shows well.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: And we got to see Willie B's face. We hadn't seen him in person until we did.

>> Rick Beggs: That's right.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Three shows. So that was.

>> Brent Austin: Still haven't gotten over the shock.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: I'm sitting down. I'm good. We all have faces for radio.

>> Rick Beggs: That's exactly right. I'm in my PJs now. So anyway, I just thought it'd be very fun to just have him join us. Brent, anything you want to say to our listening audience?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: This.

>> Brent Austin: This show has been a real experience for me. I haven't been in the radio business a long time at all, and this has been a real learning experience. I've had the most fun you could ever have with two people. I guess so.

>> Rick Beggs: Well, that's good. I think, I think maybe we ought to just have Brent on every once in a while just to let everybody know we are from Tupelo when we do this.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: We are American family Radio.

>> Rick Beggs: That's right, we are. Well, I think it's probably time to send Brent back to his little cubby.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Back to your corners.

>> Brent Austin: Yes, I'm headed out.

>> Rick Beggs: Okay, thanks, Willie B.

Last week we talked about character and winability in the primaries

Well, last week we talked about, a measuring stick that we, we really can't measure. at Iboater Guide, of course, we do all the data, all the fact finding, all the gathering of information so that you can make a good choice in your candidates. But there's a couple of things we can't measure, Debbie. What, are those?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, it's, it's because they're not as objective as all the research. We don't measure character of the candidate or the winnability of each candidate.

>> Rick Beggs: And last week we talked about character. remind us again what really characters about.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and we do have an article about [email protected] just to plant that seed. An issue that your whole article pushing

>> Rick Beggs: that because you wrote it, that's why.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, with. I have a team. I don't write them all myself, but yeah, this was one that was near and dear to my heart. Just to talk about beyond the issues, the character and win ability. So character we typically think of as being like the moral or ethical qualities of a person. You know, are they going to make the right choices? Are they going to do the right thing? Do they have character? Right. Not just do they cut up and be a class clown, but do they have the character to do the, to do the right thing when it's hard? that maybe includes honesty, integrity, you know,

>> Rick Beggs: But I also think sometimes, Debbie, we kind of get stuck on all those, and I think those are the right categories that we should be looking at. Honesty, integrity that you mentioned, of course, moral and ethical qualities.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: But it's hard to measure.

>> Rick Beggs: Oh, yeah. But sometimes, maybe not sometimes, all, all the time. Frequently we have to decide that is there a human connection or likability? I don't know about you, Debbie, but I've been in the voters booth and I have struggled because I get in there and I go, I like everything they stand for. I just don't like them. Yeah. And it, it makes it real difficult. Maybe it's not all that difficult, but I know that there are candidates that people vote for all over the country. we've definitely had some here in Georgia. I know you've had some in Texas. I think the whole state of California is that way. But I, I just think that sometimes you go in there and everything is right except you. Something about them just rubs you the wrong way.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, well, you know what the positive is? You don't have to go hang out with this person. You want them to do it. You're hiring them for a job that you're not, you're not choosing the person to be your best friend or your pastor or, you know, even your neighbor. Yeah, you're, you're, you're identifying who can do the job. And sometimes that takes an element of backbone that maybe they're not the nicest guy They've, you know, you want them to stand firm and to do what's right. And, you know, some people can do that with grace and be kind, but, you know, sometimes it takes a fighter to really get something done.

>> Rick Beggs: So how are we going to define winability? Because that, that is really something that needs to be factored in because you can vote all day long for everybody who has the right wing perspective. And maybe in the primary, sometimes we tend to vote on all the qualities we like, but we don't consider winability. How important is that, Debbie, going forward?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, it all depends. You know, there's a phrase of are you going to throw your vote away? Because this person really doesn't have a chance to win. And the why we don't evaluate winability is, you know, it does, it's hard to know what they're winning. I mean, there are ways we can talk about, you know, factors that gleam into winability, but it's, you know, does the, does this candidate really have a chance to win? Why are they running? you know, it's, it's part of, it's, it's difficult to assess, but there are, are glimmers that we can do. And I will say that there have been instances where, somebody. Well, and I. Prime example is the California governor's race. Frequently. In fact, this last election we had over 50 candidates running for governor in California. And it's a jungle primary. So anybody.

>> Rick Beggs: Okay, so describe what that means when you say it's a jungle primary. what happens.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: It really, it's. Every party runs. So it's not like you have a Republican primary and a, you know, Democratic primary and those candidates advance. It is anybody who wants to get on the ballot and all it takes is, you know, I don't, I don't know the specifics in gov in California, but sometimes it's, you know, $2,500 or 100 signatures. I mean, it varies state to state, but it's achievable. And some of these candidates just want to be able to say, I was a candidate for governor in California. So they get their name on the ballot. But are they really serious about winning? Are they raising the money to win, and all of that. So that's something that we have to look at. You know, even people will run for president, same reasons. Presidential candidate in 2020, whatever. what's their motivation?

>> Rick Beggs: Somebody just wanted on their resume, I read. Yeah, I think I could get 100 signatures.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: I'm sure you could.

>> Rick Beggs: I could. I think I have enough friends that would help me do that.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: What do you want to run for?

>> Rick Beggs: Once again, I decide what would I run for that I would, could actually win. But my, my goal probably because I just want it on my resume. I ran for president. I think this is why the verse in Matthew is really important. Matthew, 10:16. And we all know this, you know, to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But for us as we go in to vote, we, we need to figure out how to be as wise as we could possibly be. And that's why our tagline at I Voter Guide is to help you vote wisely.

Last week we talked about character; today we're talking about winability

So on these two things that we are talking about, last week we talked about character. Today we're talking about winability. There's really some things we can kind of factor when we're looking for somebody who potentially could win. And ah, of course that's the goal when you come down to two candidates. And for the most part, you know, we tend to lean heavily. Right. with our biblical worldview today. sometimes in the primary you have to make these decisions about winability and character if both of them seem to be voting for the same things or would legislate the same way. But M, when you get to November now, it's a different game because the stark differences are huge.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well even just the party platform for each political party. Yep.

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah, that's exactly right.

For a candidate to have a chance of winning, they need fundraising

So let's talk about some of the ways I or you or any of our listeners could actually evaluate winability.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well the first one, and honestly I Voter guide has used this in a couple of instances like that California governor race. So for somebody to have a chance of winning, they really need to be doing some fundraising. It just takes money to to even do radio ads, to knock on doors, to just do the campaign signs, things like the minimum type of thing they might do. Mailers that you get in the mail, that all takes money. So if they're not raising, they're not as serious as a candidate. So. Well, that's what I Voter guide used in that California governor's race is we looked at, you know, we had a certain deadline of when we have to really work on evaluating candidates and we looked at how all of the 52, 53 candidates and how much money had they raised by that point, and really looked at the ones who'd raised the most money. And I think we evaluated 10 of the 52 candidates as a, as a glimpse, as really, I guess a glimmer for the voter of the candidates who are working seriously to try to win this race and raising money. So that's the first one. You can check that out yourself. You can find out how much money their campaign is raised. They have different times. They have to report that publicly by law. So it is a piece of data that's available to you.

>> Rick Beggs: And when you talk about fundraising, it kind of lends itself to understand who is behind that candidate. Do they have to report who has given to them?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: yes, the major, I think the. Well, now you're asking me a question. I don't know in detail. They, this, they do have to report who gives them money. especially the major donors who give them money. There are candidates, you know, the wealthy businessmen, people who they, they will self fund. And you can certainly glean that. I voter guide does find out who gives money to candidates. So yeah, they have to report that. if federal candidates to the fec, state level candidates report that in their state, local candidates have to report it, you know, to their county or school district or whatever it is. But it does, it is a matter of public record for candidates to do that.

>> Rick Beggs: So if all your candidates that you're kind of looking at, let's say you've narrowed it to two or three in the primary and we're going to talk about primary elections that are coming up for people today at the end of our show. If they have money, they have some strength to move forward. So money would be an issue. Fundraising.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah. And shows their seriousness. Money is one. The other is, you know, do they have an organizational structure? Do they have the treasurer and the campaign manager? the team, Are they building the team? Are they even building grassroots people who would knock on doors for them or you know, help them host events? That shows you that they're really serious about, about running for this race. And have you met them and talked to them? So that's another good point to look at.

>> Rick Beggs: So volunteer. Yep. Volunteers and organizations, you know, that people that are volunteers, you can sort of glimmer, well, I like those people and they volunteer to help them. Seems like they have the right people behind them. Well, and they got the money right but now who, who's, who's serving them?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, there's the higher people. So you can look at who they've hired to be campaign manager, but also are they being persuasive and pulling in volunteers people? And honestly you can volunteer for a candidate if you like, somebody who's running and help them out. but check. Looking into the volunteer strength that a candidate has will be a gauge of liability.

>> Rick Beggs: You know, when I'm with friends and family who are like minded in thinking and beliefs, I'll throw names. Especially during the primary scenes, I'll throw names out there. And it's interesting whether somebody's actually heard of some of these candidates, which kind of tells you something there because there's really no enthusiasm for some of these candidates. But then you get people talking and you hear sort of what your people group, your friend group, kind of has a sense for why they are supporting them. So to me that's been really helpful to kind of, you know, float a balloon out there and see if it pops.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well that's interesting.

Another good gauge of whether a candidate has a chance to win is endorsements

And we, I, I have a, an interesting glimpse into this. We had a guy from my church, one of our deacons who ran in the Texas primary for court, of criminal appeals. And where he focused his attention was on meeting the influencers. Basically the, the, they call them the SREC in Texas. It's the, you know, the county party chairman in each county. And he was traveling around the county and meeting those people because they're the friends a lot of people have that tell people who to vote for. So he did. Instead of going directly to voters, he went through those influencers and sought their endorsement. which is another good gauge of if a candidate can be, has a chance to win is you know, what types of endorsements, how many endorsements are they seeking them. And it can be a really good gauge because that takes a lot of time and effort to seek and to achieve those endorsements.

>> Rick Beggs: Well, and that probably goes hand in hand with something you mentioned, but it's great maybe to highlight a little more. They sort of built a structure around that so they have the money, the support. They have endorsements from specific groups, not just individuals, but now organizations that sort of come around them.

>> Rick Beggs: And now they've built their own structure to sort of lead into the campaign.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and they're working hard. He was driving all over the place. Texas is big and going to almost every county to meet with those people. So looking at what the candidate is doing in trying to win the races he trying to achieve people who vote for him or is he going to backyard barbecues and you know, appearing at the county fair and things like that that don't necessarily influence people to get them to vote for them. I know Richard used to ask a candidate a question as a gauge of winability of do you know how many votes you need to win and where do they need to come from and what are you doing to get them? So are they putting in the effort? Are they making the plan, raising the money, hiring the staff, getting the volunteers to actually win the race? And that is some good questions to ask.

>> Rick Beggs: Well, and have they dissected the area?

>> Rick Beggs: to know where they're weak and where they're, they have strength and where they need to build upon. It seems to me that you want to not only go to the places where, you know, you would have a following or you're known, but to see what kind of enthusiasm, what kind of grassroots, momentum you could get in places that you don't have any connection and that they're out there, like you said, working.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yep. Do they know what it takes to win and are they taking the steps to do those things?

>> Rick Beggs: So then being out in the public is real, real important too.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yes. And, and asking people for their vote. Right. Not just being out in public and being in a parade and waving, but having the communication and discussions and interviews and forums or whatever so that people know what you stand for, what you believe, why you're run is a big piece of information you should look for. You know, I, I, I've said before and I, I think it's true and somebody told it to me initially. There are two types of candidates, ones who want to serve and ones who wait countries who want to serve and not be served. There's somebody who want to do something or somebody who wants to be something. I want to vote for somebody who wants to do something. Not just be a senator or be a, you know, be a judge, be, be a city council person. I, you know, I like the stories of, you know, even the the Los Angeles mayor who said, you know, my, my house burned down, I want to change the way my city runs. That's the type of motivation they really want to do something and that's why they're running for office.

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah.

Do you have a path to victory? A lot of candidates don't

What do you, what do you think some, key questions might be either to ask yourself or ask others in regards to, trying to find this winnability answer for yourself before you get to the ballot box.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: I, I mean, kind of what we've been talking about. you know, looking at, have you, have they raised support and where from? Are they seriously campaigning? If I got to talk to the candidate, I'd ask him, why are you running and what are you doing to win? what questions do you ask?

>> Rick Beggs: Well, I, I think one. And you, you've talked about this more than I have, but I, love this thought is, do you have a path to victory? A lot of candidates, they don't know how to articulate how they see themselves winning this.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, it's. Do you know what it takes to win? And.

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah, and so you've dissected everything we've just talked about as a candidate running. The fundraising question, the volunteer question, the grassroots question, the organization, the family, which is something we didn't talk about. Is there family involved?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Oh, that's, that really is important.

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah, yeah. And then, endorsements, are they out in the public? Are they working hard? As you talked about, what kind of campaign activity do they have? So now that you have all that information, can you show me your path to victory here? Especially when things are really tight. Yeah, well, you have to, you have to know how you're going to get there.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and races can be won in the, in the, you know, dozens of votes, single votes. So it really is not just knowing who you need to vote for. You having a plan to get those people to turn out to the polls is a big part of what your volunteers can help you with or should help you with. So it's not just, you know, a wish and a prayer. Yeah, I'll admit 25 people at this event, they'll vote for me, but are they actually going to turn out and vote? Are you doing, taking us. Do you know their name? Do you have their phone number to text them or call? A lot of good candidates will be building a grassroots campaign that will be calling the people who have pledged to vote for them and saying, have you voted yet? Because actually the campaigns have access to know who's early voted. So they will hound those people who haven't yet voted. They know who I mean. So that's really when, when you'll hear in the news, they'll talk about do they have the, the organizational structure or the grassroots campaign? that's what it is. It's, it's knowing who you need to turn out and then taking steps to make sure you turn those people out to vote.

Many times during primaries and runoff elections, text messages encourage voters to vote

>> Rick Beggs: Well, it sort of leads me to how many times, especially during these primaries, and then, you know, runoff elections, which we have talked ad nauseam about how. How low the rates of registered voters start at primary, start at runoffs, and they just get lower and lower. Those, those lower the number of turnouts is probably, comparison to how many texts or phone calls I get, encouraged me to get out there. And I, you know, I, I know a lot of times I get asked questions for surveys. I have friends, I always ask them, do you answer those surveys? Do you do this? Do you do that? I. I have done it. I have not done it.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: I've done a little both. Depends on my mood and where I'm at, but.

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah. And I. It. It just. I'm, But I'm so glad when it's over.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: My phone blew up during the runoff. I mean, I'm in Texas, so there were so many tight races that I was getting texted.

>> Rick Beggs: We had them in Georgia, too.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, you guys had it, too. And, you know, sometimes you then start to turn that off. But, you know, I'm curious. Maybe I'll vote early next time and see if that stops the texting turns off your.

>> Rick Beggs: Oh, interesting.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, I think I'm gonna try that next time.

>> Rick Beggs: those. You think those are connected?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, I know they can have. They have access to that. So it's. That's my hypothesis. You know, I'm engineer, so I'm curious if that would get all those text messages to stop. It won't stop the mailers. It won't stop the. The TV ads and all that other stuff, but you can just turn those things off. Toss, those flyers. I'm gonna try next time.

>> Rick Beggs: Well, and. And I.

Debbie: Elections are coming up this week across the country

So back to everything that we just said about how you view that they are pushing so hard because they got to get you out to vote, especially if you're like.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, if they're trying to win, yeah, that's their path.

>> Rick Beggs: You know, there's. So. There's a sort of a love hate here with all of this stuff that comes up. And the ads on TV are just, It's just, you know, as we laughed last last week or the week before, between that and the pharmaceutical commercials, I don't know how much more I can take. It's almost like, not worth watching something because you know you're going to get those. But now that the primaries have finished, the runoffs have finished now here, not

>> Debbie Wuthnow: everywhere George is done. But.

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah, I know. And you're going to tell us in a. In a moment or two here that we're gonna, you know, we have some more. We had a lull last week.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah, we're coming out of the eye of the hurricane. We're getting back into finishing up primary season. But, but, but, but as people get ready to do that, there's, there's this, there's a balance that we have to, to gauge between character and winability and, and the issues and where the, what the candidates will do and how do we do that?

>> Rick Beggs: Yeah. Well, I think if we're going to summarize what our responsibility in this is, that voters really must weigh the principles of a candidate, the character of a candidate, how they will govern their philosophy, or at least what they've told us. We hope they're being honest.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah.

>> Rick Beggs: And then their winability, you know, are they electable, to get across the finish line. And, I just, I just know with all that information, it really comes down to this prayer. We just need to be praying, lord, show me how you want me to vote. And then I trust that your will is going to carry the day. It's totally why I believe in you. You are in control and you are going to take care of this. You want me to play my part, right? You've asked that of me as be to be a good citizen in, in this country which you have graciously given to us that live here. And, and now it truly isn't on me, but it's on me to participate.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, on you to do your homework, to be prepared, to do the research. Go, to ivoterguide.com and then pray for that discernment, that wisdom into who is the person God's chosen for that role, to equip to do the job that they're applying for. Really? That's what they're doing in lending for office?

>> Rick Beggs: Well, Debbie, there's that sound. You know what that means?

>> Brent Austin: I do.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Okay.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Elections are coming up this week. If you live in Georgia, your special election for congressional district 13, it is here. It's on Tuesday.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: The 29th.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Polls are going to open at 7:00am make sure you get there before 7:00pm after checking out ivoterguide.com and printing it to take to the polls. There's also a bunch of early votings that's still going on.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Virginia, you're getting closer.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Early voting still underway. Your election's coming up on August 4th. Kansas, early voting is underway for your election on August 4th. Tennessee, early voting is under underway and your election will be on August 6th. Now Vermont, your early voting has, is already going on and your primary will be on August 11th. Missouri, you have early no excuse in person, absentee voting, and that is underway until Aug. 4's election date. In Michigan, early voting is underway, and your election is also on August 4th. Washington, you should have received your ballot by mail and it does need to be returned by 8pm on Aug. 4. In Wyoming, early voting is underway and your primary will be on August 18th. Hawaii, you joined the list. Early voting starts on Monday the 27th for your election. That will be on August 8th. in Wisconsin, early voting starts Monday the 28th for your election on August 11th. And last but not least, Minnesota, your early voting started yesterday for your election. That will be on August 11th. That's it on the election front.

>> Rick Beggs: Well, that's exhausting. It is. My goodness.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Everywhere.

>> Rick Beggs: And, well, November can't come soon enough to get it all dealt with. we are so glad that you joined us today on the Compass. And as always, Debbie and I appreciate any comments that you'd like to make to us. Debbie, where would they write to us if they want to do that?

>> Debbie Wuthnow: If you want to talk to us, send us an [email protected] with any questions, topics you want us to bring up on future episodes.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: We'd be happy to broach that topic.

>> Debbie Wuthnow: Look forward to hearing from [email protected] now,

>> Rick Beggs: you may wonder, where do I get to hear this if I missed an episode? You can use the app, the AFR app, American Family radio app. Download it and you can find the Compass there on our back episodes. And, we would just love for you to, to join us every Saturday if you could. You, also can see what we have on afr.net and that will give you where our show can be found. If you go to I voter guide. Every time you open that up, it tells you down at the bottom that we are the compass. We are grounded in God and rooted in research. Our producer is Brent Austin, and I want you to know, as always, Jesus is our true north.

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