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Mary-Bono

I had the pleasure today of speaking with Mary Bono, former Congresswoman and, as her Twitter bio notes, “Mom, Grammy. Principal at FaegreBD Consulting. Working on Energy, Cybersecurity, Privacy & Other Big Things. (Member of Congress from CA 1998-2013.)” We covered a variety of issues including her expectation for the new Republican Congress, cybersecurity issues, and her opinion of Rep. Boehner’s leadership.

I also asked if she any interest in running for Senate from California. I like Ms. Bono and was especially pleased when she didn’t rule it out šŸ™‚ Mary’s not a show horse, she just gets the job done so you may not be entirely familiar with her accomplishments and the work she’s been doing. I think you’ll be impressed and I hope you like the discussion.

The part of the exchange where we discuss her running for the Senate starts at 15:30. Enjoy!

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Tammy Bruce: We know that youā€™re a serious person, you genuinely care, that your agenda is proper, thatā€™s what weā€™re looking for and thatā€™s the thing that so many are missing. But speaking of that, are you happy being out of political life, out of government, or is that something youā€™d want to go back intoā€¦

Mary Bono: Every once in a while I miss it, and the reason I wish I were there, especially because the issues are so critical right now and we need to be fighting like mad. And national security, obviously is first and foremost on my mind and I would want to be in there fighting that fight, raising that voiceā€¦ even as a grandmother and motherā€¦

TB: ā€¦How do we make government better when good people arenā€™t necessarily in Washington at the moment and whether or not you would go back, and then I think of California and the senate raceā€¦ as people are scrambling around, we know Boxer isnā€™t running again. Is that somethingā€¦ I think Californians would respond very well to you and I think you know they would as well. Is that something you would ever dip your toe into, thinking about the senate from California?

MB: Well, never say never, but it would take an awful lot for me to go back. Iā€™m expecting my second grandbaby in about two weeks, and my time with my family is critically important to me. I feel like Iā€™m making a difference on the outside still. Iā€™m working on issues I care about, I still have a ā€˜whatā€™s best for the American peopleā€™ thought process behind all that I do, so it would take an awful lot for me to go back in.

But it does trouble me that it really looks like weā€™ve already anointed the next Boxer successor and I think thatā€™s really scary to me. Itā€™s the biggest, most important state and there ought to be a really robust conversation and campaign amongst a few people with different ideas, rather than ā€œOk, itā€™s this personā€™s time, sheā€™s next in line.ā€ And it looks like thatā€™s sort of where we are right now…

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3 Comments | Leave a comment
  1. Teri says:

    Great show Tammy. Great interview. Enjoyed both šŸ™‚

  2. I will show respect to your guest and try not to get too snarky. But we are not Monday morning quarter backs!! We are American citizens with brains and valid opinions. …citizens who follow the news closely for decades, who watch as their party and their leaders sell them out time and time again. We suffer through countless unforced errors, from lack of organization to getting simple bills passed, to always caving in on important issues, when just days ago, they campaigned on holding people to account, or repealing this or that.

    When a ref in the NFL blows a call, it doesn’t affect the lives of me and my family. How dare she lump us, 99.999999% of the good politically active folks of the USA, in as simple Monday morning quarterbacks.

    Yes, I don’t know how hard it is to mix it up with spineless politicians. It must be nauseating. I found her attitude towards Boehner critics to be only slightly less condescending then any run of the mill Rino. I believe she may have had a spine when she first got there, but was quickly co-opted by the establishment. Just like West was sucked into supporting Boehner on a key bill so he would not alienate the GOP. What happened to “fix bayonets! charge!!!” ? …and now Love seems to follow the same pattern as Bono and West. Lets see if Love can pull away from this go along to get along attitude before it’s too late.

    When Bono explains that we simple people just don’t know how hard it is to be speaker and heard all of these cats, and we should basically just step back and think before we criticize the speaker, basically she is admitting that the job of speaker is just too hard for Boehner as it would be too hard for her or anyone. I remember Newt very successfully inspiring republicans in the house to stand up time and time again to the then narcissist in chief. So I do believe when your back is more perpendicular to the ground, you can stand up to all these spineless leaders and their spineless followers in the house, you can get things done. We need house members to run on being anti-establishment and then first day they get there, vote against the establishment. If they get side lined then so be it. If they lose the next election, then so be it. The GOP has to finally feel real resistance. The newbies should show them total irreverence until the GOP loses all legitimacy or begins to show some respect to the newbies conservatives. Some brave souls are going to have to sacrifice their political careers for change to happen. I know its a real pain to even get one good person in office, but we have to stick to our guns and not just get there and try to get along while our country is burning.

    Bono can give the speaker all the slack she thinks he deserves while she rakes in more cash as a consultant for this cause or that cause. Just because you advocate for an important issue does not automatically make you effective to change anything for the better. I know many in the GOP establishment who advocate for all sorts of common sense issues, then just go along with the DC crowd in order to keep their seat, or to keep the funding coming. Its sickening and it must stop.

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