It is an honor to have jackie here today but i first met her 1988 working for her father House SpeakerNewt Gingrich and she has always been a part of her Fathers Campaign so we will talk about how long ago 1988 was she graduated presbytery college in South Carolina and mda from george stay in atlanta as a financial analyst designation campaigning twice and lost before her father won the first congressional race she understands to convey the importance of dreaming big and working hard to failure. As founder of learning makes a Difference Foundation to test innovative learning programs to help struggling students learn that they can learn the importance of fighting every day to help read genesis into a new life a homeless shelter for newborn babies and families in a 5 milliondollar Capital Campaign she has learned the value of giving to others. Jackie is passionate about improving the world, her two children will inherit and to inspire others to learn and love and live their lives successfully as a nationally syndicated columnist she writes with her heart and mind noted by the Washington Times for her considerable talent her outlook is entertaining and thoughtprovoking authoring numerous books including five principles for a successful life from our family to yours which he coauthored with her father Newt Gingrich and the essential american 25 documents that every american should read. I should start assigning that to my students. [laughter] and today why both sides need to stop ranting and start listenin listening. Her work is on the today show in your times magazine, usa today and Washington Times. Abc good morning america, 700 club, fox news, oreilly factor, sean hannity and the list goes on and on. Not least of which this past week doing numerous interviews for her book maybe she was on Tucker Carlson when you caught her. [applause] a Tucker Carlson fan. [laughter] [applause] the nonprofit activities include serving on the georgia Advisory Council and currently serves on the board and founder and chairman of the board of learning makes a Difference Foundation and also works at the American Solutions company dedicated to issues of politics and lives in atlanta with her children and husband lets give a warm welcome to jackie gingerich cushman. [applause]. Okay. Thank you im thrilled to be here today. I will step back a little bit to give you a why i wrote this book on broken america little over a year ago prickle if you are like me really concerned about the polarization of this country. 80 percent seven americans believe we are too polarized and is dangerous for our country. But im a Firm Believer that we are structured differently that we believe that god has given us rights and individuals if the government doesnt behave properly we pull them back so that really informs that i talk about today so keep that in min mind. But that not only requires a political response to what President Trump is doing but quite frankly a cultural response. Thats what i want to talk to you about because that can only be done on the ground in the community with people like you. And i know you can lead this effort so i will back up if you read a gc talk about the district and how important it is if you read the entire article you notice they talk about the current district it has fallen into republican hands in the beginning of 78 they made a mistake it is the six district but that was not this district if you been around as long as i have you understand its not the same district so in the seventies the sixth was from South Atlanta to griffin and over to alabama so i live in georgia my dad was a professor at west Georgia College and to be truthful because thats the only place he could get a job. [laughter] and we moved there when i was very young. I was born in new orleans all i remember is your job. Life is pretty much church and football thats all we did. Sunday Morning Church sunday night was a night other times maybe friday nights that was our life. My very first memory was my dad running for congress. Because my father was in a career army officer and he moved around a lot so during that process when he learned about the history of a country and the sacrifices they made on our behalf not only for our country but for others and began to understand how important politics is so frankly what we engage in on a daily basis in the political world a civil war so people are frustrated how hard it is it so much better than an actual civil war we have gone through but we have to learn what Margaret Thatcher said first human the argument and then you win the vote. So too many times we try to rush through the vote without actually winning the argument. Going back to 1974 when my dad first run so that youll know what happened that was watergate as we talk about impeachment so dad was working very hard and at that time if you can imagine in georgia it was a Democratic State the delegation worked very hard but watergate happened and i remember that night there was no fancy boards or digital tv but they were calling on the landline phones from the precinct saying how many votes were cast. My dad would sit there with a legal pad and put down the numbers and add them up and at the end of the night we lost 48. 6 percent and he lost. We worked very hard a very big rural district a lot of time spent in the car and little bitty gas stations we stopped everywhere and talk to everybody but he lost so the next morning we got up and went to the factory across from the original chickfila and misha cans as they changed shifts that im Newt Gingrich and i need your support again and he ran again. 1976 now he worked for two more years we are all out now its a family event now we are at with him sleeping in the ca car, exhausted we take friends and he works very hard in 1976 he thinks he has a chance and then notices somebody is named jimmy carter doing really well the president ial primary he begins to think this may be more difficult than i thought. Is hard enough as a republican but now a past governor running as president. He sticks with it and works hard he thinks he has a shot and goes up to vote that day at the library and he sees buses pulling up in people getting ou out. He realizes they are not there to vote for somebody named Newt Gingrich and he was right. Ground game is important. So again we get the call from the precincts to tally them up very late and he did not win again. Bidding at 48. 3 percent which is still very close so now he has a different opponent because his opponent retired this time my mom stopped working now she is all in her mother stays with us so we can go to school while they campaigned they campaigned really hard for an entire year now again a very rural district we cannot afford them into tv its too expensive with no social media radios are smalltown newspapers we have a sign on top of our car that says Newt Gingrich for congress if you can imagine how embarrassing that was for a teenager. But the third time was the charm and he won. Persistence mattered and you have to keep working i obviously learned is the ground game mattered you have to get out the vote you have to make sure people are registered to vote and make sure they get to vote and that you win the argument and thats what i want to talk about today is winning the argument because george is an exceptional stay ive lived here all my life. I raised both my children in georgia. When they were young i tried to move somewhere a little smaller he is fourthgeneration atlanta and he said no. But we are such a great state because we are very involved and we understand what government can and cannot do which is quite frankly a lot of what we have to do but also i know if you have not been around georgia quite frankly to believe all the horrible things they hear about republicans from the news media. That makes me sad i know your wonderful people. I cannot even tell you on fourth of july every year starting at sunrise to go to fayetteville and some of the places wed walk or jog in the parade or ride. I know you have great hearts i know we are loving people but i was saddened by the fact we constantly get maligned nationally so how do we combat that cracks so now i will transition from the seventies to the here. My father when he was elected and 78 speaker of Georgia House at that time was murphy who lived in my dads district and was not very happy to have Newt Gingrich as his congressman. Youre laughing. You remember. After the 1990 census and redistricting because this revise applies to the future as well as they were redistricting the democrats thought they would cut the old six the district into little bitty pieces in the attempt to get rid of Newt Gingrich. Because he hated to have him as his representative. So they did and then my father was the only republican congressman from georgia they cut into pieces but created a new fabulous fifth district. So what happened cracks in the new six district and then there was three additional congressman. And then one more which was good. [applause] but it does remind you the power of redistricting and then to have the primary opponent and with business valuation working with a Wireless Company and then installed that is amazing so i remember one day going to work and i heard an ad on the radio about my father the abandoned wife and children. Views to people saying things that are not true and then when i was in elementary school. So that got to me so i called them i am glad to do a commercial for you if you think this will help this is just outrageous. He said i think it will. So i did i said the truth is just not true. Sure enough he won the primary and in the district he had a landslide. With a republican revolution if you saw the special on fox is also a miniseries on fox nation. It is interesting because some things that are valuable to think about. They were specific. It was very specific. It wasnt what are we aghast but watery for cracks without legislative action. So my dad had a great idea he had a lot of those. [laughter] his idea for transparency to have a Daily Press Conference that was a great idea except it turned into a daily let me get clips of what he should not have said talking about everything then the snippets of what can we get him for. If the government is getting shut down. Im not sure as a community so they can control the narrative he could talk for an hour and a half and then they could clip in dice but he learned from that. So now we talk about persistence because if you are not you will never get anywhere. We all fail i could tell you about my feelers but i know you have to eat lunch eventually but you also have to be careful because then nobody wants to play with you. Is hard to get people to play with them. Is the framework as they are polarized. Is it dangerous for the country cracks i think it is. So good you agree with me. And the answer is yes but this is not a hidden fact. So i can tell the sound was off and with those anchor faces if donald trump will win. [applause] they get very upset and looked as if they might cry. So i knew when and georgia should be called and where those four votes were we said we dont know why its not called. But they would not call it. They would not call it a b in the attempt to see if somebody would do Something Different. But i have to admit that i will tell you why. And when barack obama became president we got up and went to work. That we miss an opportunity to learn. Why were they that upset cracks and what have we not communicated properly cracks it with that structure of the country and that we can communicate better we have to if we win the next election so lets talk about that framework and that was news when i was there. And then to have that same framework. I will not say how old i am but it has changed and now its no longer news it is now opinion. Social media so and i had to figure out what may or may not be right but that is confusing for the average person and we actually care about politics so imagine if you are a single mother who goes to work has to commute and pay the bills and doesnt even have time to think about it. Think about that. And the second thing that happened is but then it is some examples. So i will give a couple of examples june 2018. There was a time cover of trump and a little girl the title that said. [inaudible] that come to find out that didnt happen she was not separated from her mother. Not true in fact her mother was deported and then she brought her years tell back with her years later and were not separated and the father said i didnt even know that she left. The title could be mother kidnapped child please do foreign country and doesnt tell husband and that would be an appropriate title. And then they had no idea. But the child it was a demonstration and those that went behind it and cried. This is a picture everybody how do they know cracks and with the child seeds and entertainment. So that must be trumps fall. So how do you do that cracks and to have 33 hours were dedicated to russian investigation. It was nothing. And 14 minutes or about the economy. And those incredibly great numbers for the economy but you can get a promotion or a raise or change jobs of mobility and increase in income. Had we deal with this cracks so next is social media. And also allowing you to comment at 3 00 oclock in the morning. So doing you want it is a free country. So i get on twitter. Look at that. And this is a real connection. So then you can ride the bike. And then on demand. Highly motivating. Also a Running Group or he meet every weekend run for co. Guess which one helps me to have a problem . The Running Group those i see and do things with not on demand download you dont even know who they are. And with the changes of society. And trust if i did anything wrong my mom would find out about it. News travels up at the. And then inadvertently to leave church to go to the movie for the youth group and forgot to tell her. Is a nurturing environment you must do this in community. And that we are not all the same but to make sure we respect one another. There is this metal that was led to believe republicans are terrible but they are so preconditioned not to like us that we have to be the first ones to reach out our hand. To say wed love to have you involved in please come join us. We need you. We need your input. I always be there. And then those that belong to a religion. And 55 percent believe that religion. And that high belief in god. This is only need to do for survival and how do we explain that cracks trust me please lord help me. And you will see that in the churches in georgia but that connection to god with those religious institutions that day that do not necessarily believe in so there is a lot of fluidity. And those to say you are a child of god just like me to make sure we have that connection. I think it will happen. Only firstgeneration immigrants and with those additional 26 percent so part of that shift yes its great to have immigrants come to the country and quite frankly that family and faith and belief that welcome to our country. One of my daughters best friends who moved here from ecuador just became a us citizen. And was so excited to become the citizen she worked very hard but then to reach out and wrap them in our arms. At about the same time to have this opinion of what is happening i hate the word tribe that drives me nuts. But that mine is better than yours. And whatever that tribe is but the problem with that of those individuals that Work Together but even before the members of a country. And this is on the party basis. I learned so much for one i learned so much with this book i cannot even tell you. If you think of the friends you havent haven tract and now as a country not just geographically but also the same geographic areas because 54 percent of democrats and 55 percent of republicans have no friends of the opposite party. Think about that. That is frightening. See you have no contact with anybody outside the party then you dont understand how they think or what they care about. Or that you dont care about them. I know we want the best for our country i also know we are not communicating at a way that they understand. But i am concerned quite frankly for my children who are 20 and 19. We cannot do this for decades we have to fix this and communicate effectively to understand we care about them and america and thats our next challenge. [applause] i am a believer in divine scheduling someone that sends me articles and one that i received and then to communicate with somebody with spouse or children never had problems communicating with them but i have learned but if they scream at me it doesnt help for me to scream back having tried that i was not very successful. If you were please let me know afterwards but what i have learned that people shut down and become more offensive so the way to communicate with someone to understand where they are coming from is to ask them, tell me about that. Why is that . Explain what is happening. And then said as a little intellectual curiosity and then to learn about them as a person and communicate with them. Then think they dont care about them it doesnt matter. The facts dont matter and then to make sure people understand we care about them and went to listen to their problems which thats the only way to move forward as a nation. So our parties have pulled apart with ideology which makes it hard for Bipartisan Legislation but over the last two years we have had the patriotic communities act agricultural improvement act for incredible bipartisan bills but nobody talks about them so one of the challenges as republicans we need to tell people about this. I know we think we do it i am just as guilty as you are we laugh about this to tell the child once and they do it. Right . That works let me know. We are the same way we just cannot tell people once there was a great bipartisan act we have to tell them 70 times to say here you cannot just tell them one time yet to tell them 1000 times and 1000 ways. I have tried you let my child to get them to do things and is not very successful. When they were little i could pick them up and move them physically a lot like i could do that the Grocery Store but we are children not children we are adults we have to motivate people into understand where we are coming from so in 1976 at that time read for democrats in blue for republicans it turned red when carter won the state and the map melted and went up in flames. [laughter] so the colors in the map changed depending on the network or the year the parties would be red or blue depending on who you look at not until 2000 that the colors were the same that was also the big map with the bush gore recount every day the entire nation saw the map all day every day. I really feel this is part of the polarization issue now its not about who won but what color one or team one and this is politics the fortification of politics now its a sport so now the data that backs this up you are in the issue if you know whats happening that they are not engaged in issues they are engaged in identity. Who are they a part of . Meant to switch positions between parties do you agree cracks they say yes they think it is their party stance even though its not to say its not ideology but how they identify themselves and also we have a lot of work to do communicating who we are to the vast majority of the middle they dont think they belong to us but they belong with us so we are communicating wrong and we have to fix that. So i will challenge saddam incredibly worried about polarization its not civil war but yes it is important and we need to make sure we support that we have to talk about what we can do together in the long term we have to be optimistic that only for the party before the nation so gratitude over grievance let them grieve letters have gratitude and why we should be grateful why we are the best nation on earth cracks handsdown i wouldnt live anywhere else. [applause] this is america. People come here legally because we are such a great country there is a reason we are a great country. That is amazing. I have nothing to do with that i was just born here be grateful we have a place with free speech be grateful we have free speech and quite frankly because of that we need to use it and to articulate why we are the better party. [applause] we went best with Clear Communication explaining why we are the better choice understanding what we can bring to them. We should be grateful we have a party that makes us more clearly communicate. We need to do the work i love to have competition because it makes me work and think and that is where we are left to work and think and communicate better. Think about our National Narrative. Optimistic or pessimistic we hear about how terrible the country is im not saying we are perfect nation i am not saying that but i do believe we are the best also if we constantly tear something down we cant move forward. Tried to tell your child how awful they are. They will believe in that terrible we have an entire generation who have been told they cannot be successful and unfortunately they have begun to believe and it is a travesty. We have to change it. We must confront the National Narrative we must continue to communicate how we are as a nation and how great we can be together and continue to be positive im not saying we are perfect the positive to move forward. So i have spent the last 20 years over Corporate Finance i have consulted on civil war. So what i have found is when you work with people and find a problem that you care about it is the environment and Financial Literacy it could be the symphony or a garden club or healthcare. And you spend time with whoever cares about that same thing and you made progress you dont know if they are democrat or republican you will change their mind because they will see you working next to them and care about people and you will leave their life change we cannot sit back and pretend those that dont have friends of another party are okay. That is not okay we have to be in community. So to know we may have a lot of the things right but not everything right it doesnt always work well but better than anywhere else and to understand every time we are out in public we reflect not only ourselves but our Republican Values i have been yelled at so many times checking out add a store they yell at me for my father. I would get very upset now finally i just decided to smile. That makes them feel better to yell at me, maybe thats my job for the day. But i do know if i yell right back it will tell somebody hurt on his daughter is nasty. So my challenge is go out and get involved. Be pleasant especially when yell that. That our country has a great future thank you for having me here. [applause] please wait for the microphone. So much victory all to have different viewpoints but that number one issue day to day is we call each others name instead of calling out the issue so i dont believe until we become virtuous. And they talk about both sides ranting and raving and those that are leaving those teenage years dont get the wrong idea but this is what they do i find it hope one helpful if somebody is screaming at me. I can pull up the video ive have video people screaming at me i find it very disarming to smile at them. So explain that to me. So i asked her questions and then she would go again than on the fourth time she just quit she has no more to say. After that we could have a discussion but it took a while. So were all human were all in perfect. s when we all get yelled that there is a basic human desire. So i find it helpful personally to take a deep breath and say a prayer and if that doesnt work. [laughter] and to keep me entertained while not responding. Again its not agreeing with what they said. Left not the point but to respect them as a human and unfortunately so many people have been told youre so terrible that we care so greatly sometimes that we dont stop along the way and quite frankly we will have to stop along the way it sometime. I love my president and i love his tweets and i love everything about him. And what you shared to your children to get positive results. So along the lines of what helps me i started out almost 0 percent when they thought i was at tromp. But i know the lord chose me and i knew nothing about politics four years ago. So in that i find that giving true history black people number one dont know the history because google has change in social media has changed and thank god to know that in the 1800 it is the republic is the only party in the United States at that time so you shared knowledge and show them if i teach the word of god and people are able to see this theres a walk of love but also a walk of truth. Eyes went to see what you say about that. So how do you communicate so nobody talks about the economy we have a great economy. Those for bipartisan things we did together. And then to interact with peopl people. And those people of color with them better than that occasion. And then to know what could be true and that was done with love and the way you talk but with those republicans of the Democratic Party we need to change that and its very hard to expand our base and to do exactly what you did is tell the people with what is happening. Thank you for that. [applause] last question. Many years ago looking at how we get more people involved quirks my response was if you walked out and took Public Transit and talk to somebody on the street people responded by would we want to do that clicks when i said that your problem. Of how to get more people involved also to find which of the major candidates which do you like best and why . Doesnt mean you might be 100 percent against them but others never had a chance of winning. Are much more than anybody else. And to explain why you might like them. So who you interact with because then you dont have that experience so intellectual curiosity. And not to be intellectually curious to why they might believe Something Different thats a great example. Thank you. [applause] it has been said before people dont understand unless they understand that you understand. So to show that recognition of their concerns and then lead them back to the position based on those principles or can you talk about engaging people and where they are to share the recognition and where they are as a first step . Thats a great question. It is about the working definition. And with that cultural but quite frankly they are all inclined. To let people know how much you care for them for go but they thank you dont care for them. And then to ask them and then to go somewhere else. We work on the shelter for homeless babies and their families and the followup for a long time but thats the work that they do to meet people wherever they are and to make sure they end up somewhere else better. We have to meet people where they are still understanding our values and quite frankly take that street on screaming at us and then to explain that we care and help them go forward. Thank you for that. I really appreciate you being here today. Even and water polo i hope one. Why both sides need to stop ranting and start listening as well as the essential american thank you again. God bless you and may the god bless the great country. [applause] [inaudible conversations]