Is as to give a quick overview of my life, this will be about a few minutes of my political journey and also very briefly my thoughts of the Republican Party in the age of trump and would love to engage with you, all i was corrupt not eaten state and developed an interest in politics at a very early age. We had a cabin in the cascade mountains. It was on the east side of the state. I still remember as a kid driving with my parents to our cabin. We went every weekend. And we would talk about Public Policy. We always listened to the news at the top of the hour. And i was just a question asker. So i would ask my dad, why do the israelis and arab world not get along . And what about president nixon and Henry Kissinger and so those issues really fascinated me along with sports. And then when i got to high school, i was i got into debates with my social studies teachers. They were liberal, i was conservative. Not because i thought through political theory but mostly because my parents were conservative. And so that was always a passion. I went to university of washington. And my undergrad was political science. And a big deal to me, it was critical to my own career was actually internships. I was an intern at the Washington State senate when i was a junior. I worked for a state senator in owe limp olympia and then came to d. C. Whether i was a senior at university of washington. And interned at the center for strategic and international studies. That is one of the big breaks that i got. I assumed i would return to seattle. I guess i assumed i would go to law school even though i didnt want to be a lawyer. I can use thats is a credential. But i did have an interest in getting involved in politics. I used to go to the library, the main library on the camps, beautiful campus in seattle. I would listen to john f. Kennedy on my own time. It was not for credit. But just because i would listen to them so often. I really fell in love with language. With the power of words. And i thought kennedys words were very powerful. I read biographies and autobiographies, people that worked in various administrations. It would be great to work in a white house. And i ended up making my way to one. Internship at csis. I got some jobs in the think tank world including when i was just a young buck at the policy center. Eventually was hired as a speechwriter for the secretary of education for Ronald Reagan at the time. Ways intimidated when i went over. I remember calling my colleagues at ethics and Public Policy center and said if i crash and burn woshgs burn, would you take me back . I felt like i was dropped in the deep end. And i didnt know how to swim. It worked out. I developed a Good Relationship with bill. Then worked in the george h. W. Bush administration as a aide and speechwriter for bill when he was the drug drug czar. Then in the90s, i was policy director at empower america which is jack kemp. Very large figure in the conservative movement in the80s and90s. Jack tragically dude years ago. Bill and gene kirkpatrick were the founders of empower america. I was there through the 90s and then hired as a speechwriter for george w. Bush when he came president after the florida recount was taken care of. The chief speechwriter was one of my closest friends. I got do know mike when i was at empower america. He hired me as Deputy Director of speechwriting. I did that job for two years. Just an anecdote on the speechwriting side of things, mike would normally go to the senior meetings in the roosevelt room but when he was not there, i would go in his stead. St and i remember the morning of september 11th being struck of that this is one of the most uneventful days of the bush presidency. And the big topic of conversation is there was supposed to be a congressional barbecue on the south lawn of the white house. The tuesday Late Afternoon of the 11th. And so when i got back to my office, i did what i always did with smikmike is wrote him an email summarizing what had happened in the senior staff meeting. And i first line of the email was nothing much is going on today. And that was sent precisely five minutes before the first trade tower was hit. Mike was actually had been at home working on a communities character speech because we had gotten a number of our main initiatives, taxes and education passed by that time. And we were thinking through what is the fall agenda going to look like sow is working on the communities of america speech. The plane hit the first power. And like most people, i thought this is a tragic accident. I went down and got coffee. I went back up to my office, a few minutes after 9 00 the second plane hit and, of course, you immediately knew something was on. We were attack. I called mike and he was on 35995. He said man its like a parking lot. Im just stuck in traffic, nothing is moving. He commented on how low a plane had had flown while he was on 395 and that was the plane that hit the pentagon. And in a moment like that, you find out where you rank on the totem pole of importance in the white house. So if youre important and significant figure when they evacuated the white house because of getting all the reports about the attacks that were coming in, we said the capitol was being hit. State department was being hit. And so if you were important, they took you to a bunker, secret bunker. If you were me, you ended up on the corner of 17th and pennsylvania avenue alopene. I remember having this feeling it was a beautiful day. Crystal blue sky. And looking up and thinking, i feel like im in a movie except in a movie it has a script. And you know how it ends. I thought this one doesnt have a script. So i dont know how this thing is going to end. Anyway, i was there. You can imagine, it was an eventful time as a speechwriter. The wordsst president matter. They particularly mattered after september 11th. Then win the on to after a couple years josh bolton who became chief of staff recommended me to become director of something called the office of Strategic Initiatives which is an inHouse White House think tank. That job was perfectly aligned for my interests and skill set. So there i was involved in policy, politics, communications, it was an in House White House think tank. To the extent that i had influenced in the white house at that point. It wasnt because of where the osts office fit in the flow chart. It is based on relationships with people in the white house and other offices. But i get along well with everybody. It was a really good experience. And i was very tl early in 2007 and then i went to where i am now and that is a think tank here in washington. And many i world now is primarily writing. I write for the New York Times and atthe atlantic and do commentary on television and so forth. When i got involved in politics, i wasnt cynical about it. Im still not. I dont think im naive about politics. I understand theres there are down side to it. And there are people who are involved in politics who are not embodyments of virtue and high mindedness. But thats true in every profession in life. I think that politics matters. I think politics is finally and fund fund mentally about justice. Thats not all its about. But in the key moments in american hist rain life of a nation, politics can have a big bearing on justice and Human Flourishing and the human good. It mad matters. Most of the people i come across in politics, including the people i disagree with philosophically and in terms of Party Politics are generally good people. And most people get involved in my experience politics for the right reasons. Some of its mixed. Motivations are mixed. Personal ambitions are there. Again, thats true in every profession. Its the naturest humancondition. But most people that i know want to get in politics because they have some ideas that they care about, some causes they want to pursue. And my attitude is good. Good for you. And it matters. And stay involved and keep fighting. Just very quickly, ive been as can you figure out, a life long republican from my earliest days. My first vote was for Ronald Reagan in 1980. And i worked in three administrations. Naent george w. Bush white house. Philosophically, im a conservative and have been my entire life. I am a, however, a sharp critic of donald trump. Im not really particularly aligned with the Republican Party right now. Theyre a group of us could be servetive critics of trump who at this point can fit in a phone booth. And so its not a large group. But were making the arguments that we can. I dont disagree with all of Donald Trumps policies though i disagree with some of them. But i think the danger he poses is in a whole realm of other areas. And i think hes a threat to the country, to the conservative cause and to the Republican Party. I say that as someone who still a conservative. Im not one of those who became so disaffected by whats happened that i changed my political philosophy. Im actually a critic of the president in part because i am a conservative. But its made life interesting as can you imagine. I have a lot of friends over my lifetime. Who see things very differently than i am. I am a person of the Christian Faith. And been involved been associated with mostly evangelical churches most of my life and white evangelicals are overwhelmingly supportive of donald trump. Im out of step there as well. So part of my life these days is trying to make sure that relationships stay intact even though we have disagreements. I think friendships are more important than politics. And i think that its extremely important to actually have relationships and friendships with people who dont see the world the same way you do politically, thee logically and in every other way. Because i think thats part of the way we learn. And its important to be able to see other peoples perspectives even if you dont agree with them. I dont have a clue whats going to happen in 2020. Im happy if you want to have a conversation about what might unfold. But as for me, you know, im a writer on contemporary affairs. I write on politics and also on faith and sports and other things. And as a writer, you just try and put these things in perspective. You call them as you see them h you have an obligation, i think, to tell the truth and to speak the truth as well as you can. To be open to being wrong and hopefully amending your views along the way. But as for me, there arent many jobs i can imagine, one i could do particularly well and also ones that would be as satisfying for me as ive been involved with because these conversations, these debates, i think, are important. Its a chance to learn. And a chance to talk about things that matter. And there are worse things in life than that. So thats basically my life. And in eight or nine minutes. And other than that, i will just open up to q a. You can ask anything you want. And either my own experience, politics, theology or anything else. Okay. Sure. Lets start over here. Okay. My name is kristen. Im from the reevely. Im from the harvard extension school. I was curious, weve done some readings today on how the tea party has affected the Republican Party. Right. And as well as weve had a few conversations about donald trump, not necessarily being a very conservative republican. And so i was curious, since youve been a lifelong republican, selfstated, if you thought that these sort of i dont want to say conflicts but challenges to the republican line, if they result in a strengthening of the Republican Party down the line or if its something that you feel causes too much disruption to the party and takes away from its overall value . Right. Thanks, great, both good questions. The tea part first. Its a reel fascinating journey of the Republican Party in recent years, because the Tea Party Movement is really i guess grew i guess the genesis of the Tea Party Movement was the bailout of the banks after the 2008 financial crisis which i actually think was an almost unmitigated success. Theres by the way a really good documentary called panic, the untold story of the 2008 financial crisis, its advice that puts it on, i dont think its hbo. In any event, they actually interview the key pro tag nests during the 2008 crisis, paulson, geithner, bernanke, president bush, obama, jeff bolton and others. Its a fascinating account of what happens. Simplify dramatically, they had to bail out the banks of what was a very, very nasty recession. The bailout caused a tremendous populist anger and upsurge. Why are the banks getting boiled out when we as individuals dont . That was a completely fair question to ask. If banks went belly up so would the rest of the economy. That is what catalyzed this populist revolt. The tea part was a very strongly limited government movement, populist antiestablishment. And that really drove the 2010 midterm elections, which was very damaging to the democratic party. Because obama retire to that president obama had control of the senate and house and lost control after the 2010 midterms. But the tea party is really kind of petered out. Whats interesting is that donald trump is in many ways the antithesis of the Tea Party Movement, because he himself is not by any standard a limited government conservative. He was the one person that ran in the 2016 that said hes not going to touch reforms, never going to cut spending, never articulates the case for limited government. And himself has certain views that i think are probably contrary to capitalism, certainly the size of government. And yet hes wildly popular within the Tea Party Movement. So as an intellectual movement doesnt exist anymore. What i think it embodied was this populist anger, which trump masterfully tapped into in 2016 and has really every day since hes been president. And so theres a kind of connection i think between the Republican Base and trump, at least as it speaks to the tea party, not policy driven, not intellectual, i think much more affective, almost that its psychological and cultural on the level that they frankly revel in the style of his politics. So i dont think the tea party is a force in the Republican Party right now. In terms of trump not being a conservative and whether it will strengthen or weaken the Republican Party, its a mixed bag. I think if youre talking about judges, the judiciary, deregulation, prolife policies, the tax bill that was passed in 2017, those fall generally under the canopy of the Republican Party, traditional policies, conservative policies. But in a lot of ways hes not a conservative. His basically, his americafirst sort of quasi isolationist instincts are not as conservative as has been understood in the modern era. Hes a fierce protectionist. He refers to himself as tariff man. As long as ive been alive, conservativism has stood for free trade, then the issue of limited government. Trump cant i dont think be understood as a conservative. I think he has to be understood as a populist. Thats what he has tapped into. He himself is not a populist. I dont think hes anything other than a narcissist. But he tapped into this populist movement. Will it strengthen or weaken the Republican Party . I dont know because i dont know how its going to play out. Im worried about the Republican Party because one of my warnings to the republicans during the nomination when trump was running and then since hes become president is that he would redefine it in his own image, and he has. And ive had plenty of conversations with republicans in congress who know better, have views of trump close to mine but they feel they cannot speak publicly about that. For a variety of reasons i think its a mistake. But i understand their position. Its easier for me than them. I really dont know. I think the Republican Party right now is in a fairly precarious position. One of the reasons, the trajectory of the events is not good. Trump is toxic with a rising number of voters, people of color, younger voters, women, suburbs. If you look at the results of the 2018 midterms, you can see the coming catastrophe longer term. I live out in virginia, the 10thdistrict, our representative house member was barbara comstock. In 2016 its slightly democratic so purpose lish district, and Hillary Clinton won by about four or five points opinion and barbara ran and won reasonably comfortably in 2016. In 2018 she got obliterated, lost by 12 points. That is a classic republican will have leaning suburb. In 2020 every republican god mowed down. I think thats going to happen. Whether trump leaves in 2021 or 2025 or somewhere in between, there will be a big fight for the future of the Republican Party. Okay. Thank you. Hi. Hi, im yasmine and i go to suffolk university. My question is referring back back to september 11th. Since that day, did you see the evolution of nationalism in politics, and specifically within the Republican Party . And if so, do you see it Getting Better or worse in the coming election . Yeah. No, i certainly didnt see it in the aftermath of 9 11. The Republican Party was just a very dramatically different party. The country was different, generally united after 9 11. When i began to see the changes within the Republican Party, and how it was changing toward a sort of ethnic nationalist flavor, id say probably right around the mid2000s, we were pushing a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. We ended up after the reelection of president bush, which was 2004, in 2005 our big effort was to Reform Sec