Dalton: We’ve Gotten Ourselves Into a Forever War

This is the district currently held by Congressman Cory Mills, who lost his primary to Ryan Elijah. Uh, who, by the way, we have invited to the program just to give our audience a little reminder on where we are here. Did Congressman Mills make your district competitive and how does a Democrat win it? Well, for me, this has never been about one man. Uh, you know, I've spent my life in public service, 24 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve. I worked for Bill Nelson, uh, our last Democrat statewide elected senator, doing national defense, foreign affairs and veterans services on behalf of Floridians. And, of course, as you mentioned, got to help lead NASA 16,000 folks, researchers, scientists, engineers, astronauts throughout this whole country, 14 different centers across the state showing the world what America can do when we actually work together. And I'd like to see us get back to a position where we can work together. And what we've seen right now is, uh, folks that have been sent out to Washington, D.C., they have completely forgotten. Maybe they never even knew, but have forgotten about the people who have actually put them there. So again, this has never been about one man. This is about a government and power that has completely abandoned us here in Florida and throughout the nation, and continues to not show much of a care for it. Well, does that become a harder message to send when you are running against an opponent who currently is in Washington, who is an incumbent that is already part of this equation? How do you run differently against a former news anchor than against an incumbent congressman? Well, look, you know, step one of getting more responsible representation here in Central Florida has already been complete. You know, we know, as you mentioned, you know, Cory Mills is the poster child for a lot of this corruption and graft that we see in Washington DC. And he's been uh, he's got every single bucket filled. He's got domestic violence problems. He's got business ethics problems, campaign finance violation problems, and a problem. Tell him the truth about his military service. But let's be clear. Florida's Floridians have got no better choice than my current opponent and Ryan. Elijah. He's already got an ethics investigation, or I should say, an ethics complaint about hiding his finances and his, uh, financial disclosure report. As a candidate, he has signed Florida's candidate, uh, pledge, uh, on whether or not they intend to trade stocks while a sitting member of Congress. He has signed that he does intend to trade stocks while a sitting member of Congress and privy to insider information. He's also said that the tariffs are working. I think people who watch your show know that that is not true. He said the economy is in a great spot right now. So we've seen and Mr. Elijah, that, uh, is no better choice than Cory Mills in terms of trying to take care of the problems that we actually have here in Central Florida. Senate wasn't able to pass a stock trading ban before leaving town late yesterday. Uh, captain, you're arguing that the ban on congressional stock trading needs to be strengthened. You've highlighted your opponent. How about people here in Washington? Are you thinking about Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who's doing the trading on Capitol Hill? That's got your attention. Yeah, I think we've seen throughout. And then the folks that I talked to are in district seven. They are fed up with pretty much everybody that's in Washington DC that seem to just continue to line their pockets while picking arms. You know, individually, as you know, folks are are fed up that they see folks go to Washington as part of some sort of get rich quick scheme. And, you know, their personal wealth magnifies. Additionally, we've seen folks, you know, trading on information on these prediction markets. You know, I for one was was just absolutely flabbergasted that we would have people betting on whether or not, you know, our Air Force pilot and weapons systems officer, we're going to come home alive. These are people betting against America on our best interests, on these prediction markets. And, uh, you know, that has got no place in the lexicon of our, uh, elected officials. And so, you know, I've pledged that, uh, any of my holdings that I've been able to build up, uh, through my Navy service and other, uh, work are going to go into a blind trust. I think that's the right option for people, because we've seen that Congress is completely incapable of policing itself, whether we're talking about these insider trading enrichment schemes or of these continuous ethics violations we see. And finally, captain, leaning on your service in the Navy, we learned today, the USS Teddy Roosevelt is going to begin steaming to the Middle East. A third carrier strike group, now being sent to that theater, could arrive in late November, after the president has repeatedly said he expects that this war will not end until after the midterms. Do you expect that this could still be a going concern if you are to win and take an oath in January? Absolutely. It's going to be a growing concern and a continuing concern. Once again, we have gotten ourselves into a forever war. With this one in particular, with no strategic value, no defined end state. We're putting our servicemen and women in harm's way without any real goal. You know, our servicemen and women, did you know they deserve to know that they are being well led out of the Pentagon with our political leadership right now, they are not being well led. The families that care for them should be able to put their faith and trust in the government that they are out there doing their jobs with all the material that they need. And in a broader picture, we've got multiple different carrier strike groups in that area of the world that poses no threat to our homeland right now. While we're leaving ourselves vulnerable to actors throughout the globe who could actually reach out and touch us and do us harm. So this war in Iran has not only made these gas prices go up, it's not only sinking our economy, it's not only putting our servicemen and women in harm's way with no real goal or end state. It is also making our country more vulnerable and less safe. And we have got to get this turned around because it's not going to end in one day.