Bradley Byrne served in Washington for Alabama's First Distrct from 2014 to 2021. Today, he says, he couldn't get elected as a Republican. He's not Republican enough. The party has moved further right and any act of working with Democrats to find solutions to national issues or creating local opportunities would put a target on his back, almost literally. He, like the other poiticians I've interviewed recently, has received credible death threats and he tells me the story. What's the opportunity in Washtington today? What's the temperatue. Why are the sane people retiring and what happened to their desire to serve? Bradley and I discuss these things in a far ranging conversation.

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Governor Frank Keating was elected as a Republican in a state full of Democrats. He figured out how to work across the aisle to achieve some major accomplisments. He was reelected due to his success. Today Washington is in a standstill with a government shutdown. Gov Keating discusses what worked for him and what may work today. He insists that it is the responsibility of the citizens to give back to their cities, states, or country in the form of political service of some sort - it's a rare opinion today. But, he says, it's a way to find quality candidates.

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James Ballentine has lived and worked in DC for thirty plus years, lobbying and working for both sides of the aisle and serving in leadership positions for various members of congress. He's widely admired for his integrity and knowledge of how things work inside the beltline and, suffice it to say, Mr Ballentine has never seen anything like DC in its current state. He knows I think that a third party is sorely needed today to provide a voice for people like me. He and I discuss what it would take for a third party to make a difference. Two things are absolutely necessary, he says - tons of money and an immaculate candidate. Both are very very hard to find.