Famed Democrat strategist Pat Caddell is one of the most unvarnished, independent critics of Washington elites. Living in Charleston, S.C., he commutes to New York for his Fox News show, “Political Insiders,” following successful careers in Washington and Hollywood.
This surprising, far-ranging video interview details his personal path defending ordinary citizens, while sounding more pro-American than most in his political party. Entertaining and riveting, Caddell is an equal opportunity critic of both parties. He explains the evolution of the Democratic Party, his growing fear of President Obama’s governance and the corruption of the media.
Importantly, last December he issued a stunning three-part poll of Republican voters found here, here and here. It revealed what he calls a “large Grand Canyon chasm” between Republican voters and their leaders in Congress. Stunningly, “60% wanted someone new to lead them.”
Amnesty and repeal of Obamacare were pivotal issues for these voters, as well as their hostility to the budget negotiations on the CRomnibus following a wave election for Republicans. Undoubtedly, most Democrats relish the disunity and mistakes being made by Republican leaders who seem to cater more to the left-wing media elite than their own base.
Rank and file members of Congress find their constituents and supporters back home growing anxious and frustrated, while Republican leaders dismiss these citizens as mindless “groups trying to raise money off of Boehner” and McConnell. Caddell’s poll demonstrates that citizens want a more effective opposition to Obama’s policies.
One of the two Republican leaders confidently told a dinner companion last year that he can ignore the tea party agenda, as it is “only 8% of his base.” Caddell has news for the mistaken leader and others showing ignorance of those who put them in office. Caddell confirms, “It ain’t 8%. It’s about 40% of his voters.” He is stunned at the disconnect that seems to be growing in the Republican Party. He even relayed a warning that “1/4 to 1/3 of Republicans appear ready to bolt their party.”
Caddell discusses a “donor, lobbyist, establishment class” of Republicans who “have lost election after election” while lining their own pockets, abusing donors and destroying candidates. “They have no message,” he declares. “The problem with Republicans is that as long as they can keep their hands on their goodies in this town, a lot of these lawyers, lobbyists and others, they don’t care whether the Republican Party wins or what happens to the country.”
He says Republicans hire consultants who “have the morality of storm-troopers” to suppress the grassroots and intimidate anyone who dissents from strategies designed by leadership.
As for his assessment of Republicans stopping Obama’s transformation of the country, Caddell says unequivocally, “Basically, Republicans are wusses,” and describes opportunities to leverage “the power of the purse” provided by the Constitution to the legislative branch.
Clearly, Caddell thinks more effective oversight should be a staple of Republican tactics. The failure of the Republicans to go after the IRS with full-throated intensity for targeting Obama’s political opponents is especially galling to this man, who still bristles at being the youngest person on President Nixon’s enemies list. He even chastises Hillary Clinton, who previously worked to bring Nixon down for such abuse of power, while seemingly supporting such things now.
Caddell surveys the political landscape and says Washington “reminds him of Vienna in 1914 on the cusp of World War I,” where inside the perimeter all seemed well, while war was about to break out only a few miles away.
He says the country is at a tipping point, “a pre-revolutionary moment,” where citizen power is eroding while Washington is absorbed with keeping its own power. To him, the country is in decline, politicians are self-absorbed and President Obama is in a dangerous “twilight zone” without media scrutiny.
The Benghazi deaths that revealed Obama’s failed foreign policy still make his blood boil. He wonders if the famed investigative journalist Bob Woodward is really a “clone from the Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” since he shows no interest in uncovering the greatest cover-up in American history. Mitt Romney is also a target of Caddell’s wrath for deserting his country in the third presidential debate when he failed to pursue the Benghazi matter simply because he thought he was going to win.
The strategist recalls “when the Democrat Party was the voice of the common man, not the dictator to the common man.” Today, Democrats “have become a tool totally controlled by special interests. The left doesn’t care about ordinary people.” He says big environmental funders like “Tom Steyer basically control the White House and other people.” He detests hypocrites who “fly around in private planes but think the rest of us have to have bicycles.”
President Obama’s State of the Union address was “terrifying” to Caddell, as he saw a president who looked like he “lives in his own bubble in a universe far, far from where we live” with “a team of sycophants.” He continued, “We can survive bad domestic policy. With foreign policy, he can threaten security and destroy the world.” Caddell mentions how this “ship of fools” running foreign policy shockingly promoted the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. They can’t even call the Islamic State “Islamic terrorism.”
He thinks America is at a “tipping point” and puts the blame mostly on Democrats, harkening back to how it was Republicans who finally clamored for Nixon to resign. Cadell asks, “Who will go tell this president what time of day it is,” breaking through the bubble he’s living in?
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