A Conversation with NH Governor Chris Sununu

good evening everyone and welcome to the John F Kennedy Junior Forum at The Institute of politics my name is Jack Silvers I'm a sophomore at the college I'm a member of the student Forum committee before we begin please take a moment to note the exit doors on the Park Street side in the JFK Street side and also please take a moment now to silence all of your cell phones once you've done that please join me in a warm welcome for the co-chair of the student Forum committee Ryan Tierney [Applause] all right good evening everyone and welcome to the John F Kennedy Junior Forum at The Institute of politics as uh as Jack said my name is Ryan Tierney I'm a junior at the college studying History Literature and economics I'm also one of the co-chairs of the student Forum committee uh for the John F Kennedy Junior forum over the past decade our nation's political discourse has grown not only increasingly combative but also increasingly Federal focusing scandals in the house the Senate and the White House are commonplace attract public attention and seem to more than ever hinder legislative progress but despite this drama on the national stage many public servants in local and state governments have maintained their composure and continue to work toward practical policy Solutions it is an appreciation of this Professional Service that we are honored to be joined by Chris sununu the 82nd governor of New Hampshire an MIT graduate Governor sununu began his career as an environmental engineer later he served six years in the New Hampshire executive Council and worked as the CEO of Waterville Valley Ski Resort before running for and winning his first election to the governorship since then he's delivered three balanced State budgets implemented nationally acclaimed addiction and recovery programs and expanded investments in New Hampshire Public Schools his work has been wildly popular in 2020 he received more votes than any gubernatorial candidate in State history and under his leadership New Hampshire has also been ranked the number one state in personal freedoms by the Cato Institute we are also honored to be joined by our two moderators Abby Carr and seti Warren Abby Carr is a sophomore at Harvard College concentrating in government with a specialization in political Theory outside of classes she's the co-chair of The Institute of politics conservative Coalition which under her leadership has been integral in improving ideological diversity on campus as her teammate I can also attest that she's an excellent swimmer an Ivy League champion and two-time Olympic trials qualifier City Warren is the interim director of The Institute of politics over his career he has served in a variety of Public Service roles including as a special assistant in the White House Office of cabinet Affairs during the Clinton Administration the New England director of the Federal Emergency Management agency Deputy state director for Senator John Kerry a naval intelligence specialist in mayor of Newton Massachusetts from 2010 to 2018. thank you all very much for joining us and we hope you enjoy this evening's discussion [Applause] well it's great to welcome two Governors to The Forum uh this evening Governor current governor sununu and previous governor sununu great to have you both here um we're going to get started Abby Governor uh we are so speaking of the fact that I had to bring my dad just like that kind of hits you you're like oh I went to the Kenny school and I had to bring my dad Governor you are now in your fourth term governor and you chose to remain in the governor's mansion despite public pressure to run for the Senate how would you characterize your particular government style and which governors of either party align with the way you approach the job oh that's interesting well first thing I don't have a Governor's Mansion like Massachusetts I live in the big white house at the end of Hemlock Court for the last 20 years which is so and I bring that up because that's the approach right New Hampshire is so fundamentally different than any other state um because we talk about accessibility right there's complete accessibility 400 Representatives that represent 1.4 million people that each get paid 100 bucks a year 24 state senators that we all have to get elected every two years or as I like to put it if we don't do our jobs we will all be fired every two years right so the system really works but that accessibility we don't I don't have massive staff I have one of the smallest intentionally one of the smallest gubernatorial staffs I don't have massive entourages we walk with and literally if you I don't please don't do this but if you really wanted to you could come and knock on my door and uh on my front door and uh so the accessibility to government is really what uh what is part of our secret sauce in New Hampshire and so that's really at the heart of the approach and and being successful um I've had Republican legislatures I've had Democrat legislators run legislatures we always get stuff done we never and I mean right now the makeup as we'll talk about I assume is 201 to 199 Republican over Democrat I have a one vote majority in the largest legislature and guess what we're going to get a ton of stuff done like I'm not even worried about that we got our Speaker of the House on the first vote I remind Kevin of that all the time Mr Lucky 15. Kevin's a really good guy and I think he's actually doing a good job but our our system is really about accessibility so that's my Approach if you build relationships you meet people on on their terms and their grounds on their issues right it's easy as a governor to go around and just I'm talking about this today and this is where you need to agree people do that all the time and it drives me crazy it's hey what's happening what is going on in your life and people say well my daughter is having trouble getting access to Mental Health Services my son has you know gone through treatment and Recovery with opioids three times now and we live in the inner city of Manchester no we live out in the rural areas of the state so you have to be able to let them come and giving your time right the quality time to your constituents and sometimes it's in the cereal aisle at Market Basket because I'm in the serial islet Market Basket a lot and people know that aisle three you can find me there every Tuesday night um and so accessibility is really I think the keys to a lot of our success and um you know and that's very different from the U.S Senate where very little is accessible they live in this bubble in Washington it's a big freaking mess and and nothing really gets done as a governor you can get stuff done I make a decision Governors make decisions 100 decisions a day sometimes um and they can actually have true impact change they can redesign systems they can really break down barriers they're not there just to do policy and funding like the legislature does that's really all they do right Congress they do we agree on a policy and we agree on funding and that's it and then it's up to Governors and Mayors and kind of the executives at the local level to really create the systems to get better results but you can't do that successfully I don't think if you don't have accessibility to the issues dovetails into my next uh question we all know there's this lack of Civility in politics today polarization I know you've been thinking about it you've been talking about it and ways to address that talk across difference so could you sort of explain your approach how you think about it how you operate in terms of getting stuff done yeah so I'll give you some examples right so I've been Governor four terms but I'm one of the only Governors me and Phil Scott in Vermont we're the only Governors that have to get elected every two years right so this idea that oh you can't get anything done in two years or when I hear people say I we didn't have enough time to get stuff done in four years give me a break right I mean you can get plenty done and if you do it the right way and have the right approach so one of the first things I do when I had a democrat-led legislature and even a republican legislature I bring the Democrats in first right when I first get inaugurated one of the first meetings I have is the five six seven leader piece people that kind of lead the Democrat Party what are your priorities what do you guys what do you guys want to do right and then obviously the legis I propose a budget and the legislature will go about their business when it comes time to negotiate the bills or negotiate really have that negotiation and that will happen usually kind of May 15th to June 15th every year because that's when the end of the legislative sessions come now I go into those negotiations whether it's with Republicans Or democrats and I already know their priorities even if these bills don't deal with those issues right I know some of these things they already want and so with negotiation it's as somebody is kind of the not the power player but you know as the governor the tip of the spear if you will I know how to give a little to get a lot an example I'm going to give is is this that we were negotiating a budget with democrat-led Legislature House and Senate and I wanted my tax cuts I always get my tax cuts and uh we've never raised the tax and we have no sales tax and we have no income tax but they were proposing tax increases I said no way we don't need it we don't need the money like we have surpluses every single year we have enough money for these programs and they said no you're never getting your tax cuts we're never going to let you do it okay so I brought him in I said you know what I remember three months ago you talked about SNAP benefits these are benefits that help really low-income families with food and insecurity and all these types of things and I said you guys really wanted an increase in SNAP benefits and the Republicans will never let you increase that you know it's already really high they said you'd never do that I said sure I will you want to increase that benefits let's do it I said really yeah sure so we we gave in a little on increasing SNAP benefits and they walked out of my office they were so excited as they should be and they got to go out and doubt hey we got sununu to increase SNAP benefits they get to talk to a constituency and they show that they fought and got something and I got my tax cuts right now I had to I didn't want to remind them that we have the lowest poverty rate in the country uh in New Hampshire and so increasing SNAP benefits it doesn't matter I mean it's good for that population but it's not some massive you know hole in the budget so to say and it's not the giant financial burden that other states may have to carry but they got their win right it's okay to give the other side a win find a way to give your opponents a win and if you do that everything starts coming together because then they believe they can get another win the next time and that's fine then you reassess their priorities and it's okay to give and I do that with Republicans as well I have a strong I mean New Hampshire we have our as every state does now a really hard block of I wouldn't even call them conservative I have conservatives I have Libertarians I have anti-government I got a little I need to talk about the rainbow of political Insanity uh come to New Hampshire right that's what makes us so special that what makes it great so even on the Conservative Republican side I have to know what are their priorities right and I got to be able to give a little to to get a lot and if you do that and you're you're willing to give the other side a win which nobody seems willing to do now it's all about just putting my stake in the ground All or Nothing 100 or nothing uh that that that's never going to get anything done and that's why I mean we can talk about why that's happening it's gerrymandering it's it's really a function of that that has happened over the last 20 years pushes people further into their base Corners it doesn't allow as many Independence and many as many Flex seats to come up so therefore people are more afraid of of their own of being primaried by their own party than they are of losing an election to the opposing side so what happens you get let's call it a moderate Republican or a moderate Democrat they get elected in a very uh extreme District a gerrymander district they're no longer worried about the the opposing side they're just worried about getting primaried so they move their principles and their philosophies which you should never do by the way but they move to protect themselves politically and so now they become more ingrained and where we had used to have 150 independent seats in this country that would kind of go back and forth and we're up for grabs maybe we have 50 now so that's at the heart of this problem and unfortunately that Genie is out of the bottle you can't undo it's really almost impossible to undo gerrymandering right because that's really where the districts are it would take a lot of political courage in each of those States I'm the only governor in the country that did not sign a redistricting bill in his state because the Republicans wanted something that was I think just too gerrymandered and I my we have two congressional districts right I said look I said we have you have one that you want to make very Democrat and one that you want to make very Republican I'm a republican why would I give a Democrat a job for life right and I had to get the concern I think you I think good candidates can win any District that has been proven and shown so why are we just kind of give something up why are we going to drive something there just because we think we can win it which by the way given Republicans we we don't always put up the best candidate I hope that's not like a you know neither do Democrats either but a good candidate quality candidates matter in a place like New Hampshire that is purple we're not red and blue we are purple for the most part um I think I think Republicans can win anywhere and it's been shown Democrats can do it anywhere so that's it that's a good system right you want them to have to fight the other side and earn those votes as much as possible so we're kind of the last one of the few last bastions of I think opportunity for both political parties to have a voice and they just Unfortunately they could use a lot more of that in DC sorry for I talked too much sorry I'm a number seven of eight kids so if I ever stop talking no one ever paid attention to me for like weeks so I tend to give long answers and I apologize that's my father's faults that's all right Governor I I suffer I suffer from a similar issue but um you alluded to my next question earlier and I am excited to ask it despite continued polarization on the federal level some have pegged the future of the Republican Party by the success of its effective class of Governors do you think there is truth to this claim I think the future of America is in the effective class of governance both Republican and Democrat I believe that very strongly we all get along I mean we do now uh but I can didn't always work that way but 50 Governors about half and half a few more Republicans and Democrats we're all friends we all get along very very well um and I can give you 100 different examples of that but the reason is is that Governors are at the heart of what the founding fathers had in mind federalism and that's where I get so frustrated with Washington even Republicans are forgetting what Federalism is and why it is so important that the states come first and in my mind when the state comes first now my job is to make sure the cities and towns come first right the government at I don't say the lower level but the more local level is the best government it's the most efficient form of government it's where you get the highest voter participation but the more we go up here to to Washington level politics and policy it it's with a much worse result almost almost every single time so Governors also have to make these decisions every single day we have to Design Systems we have a mental health issue okay let me talk to the mom that couldn't get this the the the services let me talk to the individual that was in a rural area maybe someone didn't have the right phone number in a moment of Crisis maybe they went to a hospital that didn't have the right Services maybe their area their County doesn't have enough uh Dr what we call drf Designated receiving facility beds for someone with an acute mental issue uh right so find out where the system breaks down and I'm an engineer I'm from the other side down the river I'm gonna do my best I said I would pick make fun of Harvard and I'd do the Harvard MIT thing but you know um I think we all get it but I'm an engineer I love redesigning systems I love it that's the exciting part because I learned as a lot of you have you never designed the system right the first time that's okay but so you always have to design some flexibility you got to design a system that can be tinkered with this idea when Washington gets involved and they design something for five years that you then you have to wait for five years to come out and maybe you get a report a few years later where it might look at some data by that time the whole thing has failed seven years too long whereas A system that says we have accountability we have metrics we're going to try to and standards we're going to try to meet we have a way to measure results and we also have a way to change that measurement or change the system the opioid crisis is a great example when I became Governor our system really hadn't been changed probably since the 80s but holy cow did the drug crisis it was so different how you treat for fentanyl addiction is very different than how you treat for alcoholism how it detoxes the access points that you have the fact that most of those organizations are in cities as opposed to rural areas yet rural access to care is the key to all of this to actually changing the tide and so that's where I redesigned the system did people get upset you bet holy cow I had a lot of non-profits freaking out and non-profits are wonderful they are the heart of our system but I said guys relax it isn't that we're not giving you more money in fact we're going to put a lot more money in this but if you keep putting more money in a system that isn't working you're just pushing harder in the same direction that's a failure you're just going to fail bigger Harder Faster so have the courage to say whoa whoa let's put some more money but let's redesign and rebuild and we did that I called the doorway and it was a whole different approach because it and it not only did it deal with fentanyl and what was happening at that time but it's able to adapt which it is um there's a whole different thing with mixing drugs now first it was over prescribing fentanyl now fentanyl is getting mixed with Vape cartridges it's getting mixed with marijuana it's getting mixed with xylazine xylazine I don't know if you've seen this cyclazine is a pretty much impervious to Narcan you can't be revived when you have Fentanyl and xylazine overdose Narcan is not going to do it Narcan is Caustic it actually eats away at your skin we're seeing this kind of mixture in New Hampshire now we're trying to stay ahead of it and we've designed a system to have that approach the last thing I'm going to throw in there and I could go on all day about the doorway system but we no longer do treatment over here and then recovery prevention enforcement those all used to work in silos but now I make sure that my Law Enforcement Officers know exactly how prevention works that the treatment or world knows exactly what law enforcement is doing recovery world knows exactly how treatment and prevention is working so not that they have to be experts in their field but the left and the right hand have to know what's going on to unders to make sure you're you're getting a balanced Approach at all hands on deck approach and by doing that we've just we've again I think we're the only state in 20 during the pandemic in 20 and 21. the only we were at the tip of the spear right in terms of Overdose deaths we're the only state in the country I think maybe with South Dakota but that's debatable the only state in the country that didn't see arise in overdose deaths well it's thicken up again because of this new mixture so our system is flexible it's adapting to what's happening with the polid drugs that are out there and and the resulting treatment so you just need a system that can adapt and the nonprofits are happy they're getting more money and all that kind of stuff because we're getting the results and they know if it's if it's not working we can pivot I want to talk 2024. it comes right after 2023. exactly exactly that's all you need to know you're on it you're on it um want to get your view of the field state of play feel free to break news sure at any point in this okay um so just is that the general question sure okay so the breaking news is I am not I really don't think Joe Biden is going to be the nominee and I'm and I mean that very seriously because I think there's a few different Pathways uh where that doesn't happen and we can talk about that and the Republican side I think what you see is what you have and that's probably the the field whether it's just depending on who finally gets in I don't think there'll be many new names into that uh you'll have Trump running in in Trump Pence uh DeSantis Nikki will run uh Vivek I haven't met him yet he's one of the few that I don't know um uh he hasn't visited yet so I haven't met him but I invite them all to come visit I I'm gonna whether I get the race or not is a different story we can talk about that but I'm a very open book I tell everyone you got to come to New Hampshire and I will sit in my office and I will tell you how to win this state I'll tell you you know because I want you people to do well here I want them to engage in the right way and that is person to person if you're going to come on the stage and act like a rock star and the whole it ain't gonna fly Trump could do that once he became president that's different when you're when you're the actual incumbent and you're president you need to security and all that but people forget former president Donald Trump when he ran in 16 was in people's living rooms he was in the very beginning he was doing person-to-person stuff and he has this regardless of what you see on TV he has this innate ability to walk into a coffee shop and make casual conversation and get people excited make a little connection and move on and people go okay well that was more real than was expected right the expectation is up here that he's this was this TV star and wasn't going to be able to talk to people but he would do it he would really work it he's a great salesman for for and we could talk about all that but so the other candidates that's why he did well in 16 he didn't win the state and he won the state obviously in the primary barely lost to Clinton I think by like a thousand votes he came closer than most other Republican candidates to winning the state because he did it right um and so that's the secret sauce you've got to connect with people on their issues in their towns that we're very engaged we have the highest some of the highest voter turnout the most confidence in our system this is not a state where you just come in raise a bunch of money and run a bunch of ads ask Jeb Bush I love Jeb Bush is a great friend he's wonderful anyways a ton of money and that guy was spending money in 2016 so desperately he didn't I mean just throwing money any they were throwing money anywhere that could to get traction but in some ways the more money they threw out there the more people went ah he's not really connecting with us right he's just trying to kind of do it that way so again a an example of a very good candidate that didn't really campaign the right way in New Hampshire in Iowa you've got to go to 99 counties in Iowa you got cans you got to talk to Farmers you got to talk to everybody on their issue and be able to disconnect have a cup of coffee right talk about Iowa State and how they got robbed in the first round of the March Madness or something right just be normal some candidates are really good at it some not so much some not so much so that's really the state of play and Tim Scott I think he's going to get into the race he's having a little trouble he's a great guy great great guy Tim uh who else am I forgetting give me a couple other names not Temple Jim polenti we're going back to 2012 now um Pompeo thank you thanks Dad I knew they were having something thank God uh Pompeo I think he's gonna I think he's gonna get in the race 50 50 on that one super smart guy um not quite uh he doesn't have the political chops 100 but super you know really smart guy uh yankin Glenn Love Glenn young again great smart guy Glenn's 50 50 because I he's got to get stuff done in Virginia right he just got elected this great campaign a lot of national notoriety very smart would make a great president no doubt uh but he's got to get stuff done in Virginia so I think he has to figure out how that how that plays out but Biden's I think Biden has made a horrendous Mistake by trying to move the the first of the nation primary is not moving for the Democrats by the way it's not they're going to move it but we are not we're still having the primary we don't the the state does not do what the Democrat Party says our primary will be likely the third week in January what they'll do is say oh well we're not going to see seat your delegates delegates who cares nobody cares about that New Hampshire is about coming working getting all the media attention all the name ID that you need all the really political momentum that you need and they completely so Biden by trying to move it to South Carolina has opened up his political flank as I call it so anybody especially if someone has a lot of money uh maybe even a little Name ID would come to New Hampshire get people excited be on the ground probably win that and win that primary very very strong and then what it goes to South Carolina no it doesn't South Carolina doesn't have primaries for incumbents they don't in 2020 they didn't have a primary for for um Trump they just said you're the winner the political leads and and are they going to have a primary no they're just going to say Joe Biden is the winner so they're not gonna Joe Biden won't even be on the ground earning the votes getting the media you know all that kind of stuff so then what you're going to have is some candidate potentially come through when the New Hampshire primary get all this attention in a party right now that is barely 50 50 whether they think Joe Biden needs wants should should have a second term so Democrats themselves are going to say hey we have another option here right we have a maybe a younger candidate a candidate with a little more energy A Little More drives with what we want to see we're going to go with option b thank you for your service and they're going to very politely push Biden right aside he could have health issues we just don't know what the health is I mean it's not great as it is now right so you don't know where that's going to go in the next year there's just so much to play out before it's actually going to happen that I think there's a couple Avenues there where he's left a huge opportunity for him not to be the nominee that was that was going to be a brief oh yeah I'm gonna put it at 50. chance he's not the nominee um you know I'll throw some JB pritzker right governor of Illinois he's won his second term he's got nothing to lose infinite money he's a billionaire um could just come to New Hampshire work the ground and and do very very well there uh you want you want to hear the name I'll give you a headline Mark Cuban he's the Democrat Donald Trump right he's a bit bombastic his personality is out there super successful businessman very politically active wants to get involved in politics if he's looking for his next hobby I don't know right come and come to New Hampshire and work the ground there he would do incredibly well but he'd also he's he's got a little rough around the edges but he's not you know he doesn't have the Donald Trump style baggage I think Democrats especially young Democrats will get very excited about a guy like that and all of a sudden he's got all the momentum all the name ID and nothing's gonna necessarily stop that and if he's going against Biden now effectively one-on-one he wins right so folks like that could decide to get in the race and just walk right through it Governor we're going to switch gears a little bit here but your state is characterized by four powerful words Live Free or Die can you share how you square this philosophy with federal policy making and how do you view the tension between Washington and state government yeah there's no squaring Live Free or Die with federal policy making they don't get it but they should so live for your diet is again I say it very strongly it is not four words on a license plate it isn't I mean it's a cool license plate don't get me wrong live for your diet is at the heart of what we are it is about local government local control limited government low taxes individual responsibility and I remind folks those are things that most of us like right it actually fascinates me lately with this new this younger generation and they're it's almost I won't call it a Fascination but so many of them don't mind the idea of bigger government and more taxes and more control right but like you're you're young people you're supposed to not want that right you're supposed to tell us that you're you're smart and independent and don't need government and the man looking over your shoulder and all that sort of thing right so it's a little weird when I see young people in the Socialist movement say yeah more government's the answer um so live for your diet is at the core of not just what I think Independence and definitely Republicans can rally around but even the Democrats and so by keep what happens by keeping it local we have the most important political day of the year is it all isn't November election day it's not even the first in the nation primary it just happened two weeks ago town meeting sounds corny but is the most powerful tool New Hampshire has what happens at town meeting I live in a Tiny Town 1500 people but big towns do it too you show up at town meeting with all your friends and neighbors and you have it out on all the different pieces of the budget all the different line items what roads are going to get paved what your curriculum in your school is who your school board is going to be that's how our schools are controlled like I don't control the schools in the state we don't control all the curriculum but we control very little of the curriculum almost none it's all happens locally and so you and me our neighbors as neighbors will have it out and so we might disagree you might win I might wins we all vote right there everyone takes part so what happens through town meeting very high voter participation very smart electorate we learned to do things very collegially because I probably have to wait at the bus stop with my kids with your kids tomorrow right we're going to see each other tomorrow morning so if I sit there and tear you apart personally because we disagree on trash removal it's not gonna it's gonna be awkward for us in our kids so there's a sense by keeping things local and Community Driven we just get along better we all do have some a lot of fundamental interests that do align and we know that and so that's why New Hampshire is so purple that's why we're so good at what we do that's why the first in the nation primary can never be duplicated anywhere else because we have these fundamentals that are all based in Live Free or Die that that do that now federal government no it is big government the federal government for the most part thinks that government is here to solve a problem the government is not here to solve your problems no and I'm the governor and I'm very clear about that my job is to create as many doors of opportunity for you your family your kids your business as many doors right and then you do you live for your die that's my thing you do you you pick which door is best for you I'm not there to tell you what door to go through I'm not there to give you the one set of pathway that must be the answer for you and the fact that Washington sets the rules for 330 million people in 50 different states they effectively try to reduce that competition that creates Innovation that allows states to compete that is at the heart of what the founding fathers originally started with this concept of federalism which is a really really good idea as we say in around here those founding fathers were Wicked smart they were they had the right idea but Washington gets very wrapped up in themselves and they lose that sense of individual they lose that sense that idea that I'm the governor but you the voter you're a lot smarter than I am you know what your town needs more than I do right you know what your school needs more than I do you know what roads need to be paved and so my system says you're smarter than I am on these issues so I'm going to give you the money I'm going to give you the regulatory control I'm going to funnel it down the chain and that's how we create efficiency we're ranked today I'm very proud for the seventh year in a row and I happen to be a governor for the last seven years what a coincidence New Hampshire is ranked as and this is I we have a lot of number one rankings lowest poverty rate uh most personal freedoms most fiscally conservative governor and all that but what I am most proud of number one in the country most efficient government you get the best programs for the dollars we put into the system in New Hampshire seven years in a row we're ranked number one and so to me that's at the foundation of good government right it's efficient it's accessible it's and we do that by keeping it local so that is the antithesis of the why not that Washington can't I get what you look the military has to be run federally and all that but you can balance budgets but a lot of it relies on the opportunity to block grant you know Big Block big block balance budget I don't come up with some tagline for that send the money send the regulations send the opportunity back to the States Governors are smart Republican Democrat Governors we're all very smart we're we we know what our states need we might have different political philosophies but we know where the needs are trust the governors to know where the needs are and Trust the governors to send that opportunity to the cities and towns not one size fits all out of the feds they they just don't get it and it's getting more like that which allows unfortunately for more partisanship and less to actually get done I just have a brief does this make sense I don't know yeah very clear um I want to just do a quick follow-up on the New Hampshire primary has there been a response from the DNC uh to your stating that you will hold that primary day yeah it was kind of funny so they said uh New Hampshire we want you and your legislature to pass something that says that you will be second and I wrote a very I'm about to use the word polite I'm going to use the word cordial but firm and snarky with a little bit of New England sarcasm thrown in there led her back to the DNC saying go pound sand you're crazy if you think uh you know I dare you come and come and take it and I really laid out the the and I laid it out to Biden as well the horrible mistake he's made he's just doing something why is it going to South Carolina because his buddies are there it's a person it's literally a very blatant personal political payback to his friends that supported him and turned his nomination around that's the worst reason to pick a state to have such political and and electoral responsibility personal isn't that what we're all against people to benefit their friends and they're going to do it in a way that is from South Carolina they're not even going to hold this thing that you know what they said South Carolina should be more is more racially diverse we have a more diverse voting base they have barely 15 voter participation what's the point of diversity if you don't encourage people to get out and vote I have 50 plus percent voter participation Rich poor inner city rural black white doesn't matter what color everybody participates in New Hampshire so this idea that it's a more racially diverse state but we don't encourage them to vote in fact we're not even going to hold a primary that's nuts man that's hypocrisy at its worst right so yeah I kind of said a second letter I want to do Emojis my staff wouldn't let it do let me do that I wanted to do some funny emojis back to them but no that was basically it and by the way the Democrat delegation and New Hampshire is fully with me of course they made a terrible pitch it's a little bit I don't say their fault but they did not help the situation obviously so it'll be really interesting to see how it plays out but we're going first whether they like it or not sorry so come enjoy the show it's going to be a circus it's the funnest circus in town it's great before before Abby asked for her last question you can line up at four microphones if you'd like to ask a question two on the floor uh two in the load uh boxes up there remember to end your question with a question it's a 19 year old Republican sitting on this stage with you today are you you're 19. I am 19. I can't help but worry about the lack of uh constructive discourse across partisan lines in our government from name calling to open slander to outright refusal by politicians to engage in bipartisan discussion I often hear in my own peers question the efficacy of our government altogether in your opinion what will it take for the GOP to reconnect with younger voters especially in the 2024 election cycle and is there hope for Meaningful progress on the issues that matter to us yeah so great question because I'm incredibly passionate about this I spent a lot of my time the whole reason that people started worrying oh sununu going to run for president all that so about a year ago a little a little less than a year ago I started spending a lot of time doing more media and things like that because I think there's a lot of Independence that would we've got a great product I think Republicans have an awesome product I think we are just terrible at messaging we're terrible at selling our product and you could have the best pair of shoes in the world but if you don't advertise it no one wants to buy them right so what we've done is we've disenfranchised Independence voters that used to be with us we've disenfranchised younger voters yeah I talked to young Republicans that I'm like boy this this kid's probably really conservative and like he's barely a republican anymore or he's more independent-minded now they're way you know into the Democrat Party because they just don't feel like this is a team they want to get on board with so my message is I don't bore you with the math but mathematically the the Republicans have to go back and and really encourage Democrats from getting on board and I sell this Live Free or Die thing I sell this whole these core concept of of what I think good conservatives love to hear about limited government local control it's your money it's not our money you you need to come first you do you you should come first not the government and I'm telling that very strongly to all the young people in here stop believing that the government is there to create solutions for you they don't care right and you should be strong in voice and say look I'm an individual I should come first because you do come first and I think that's a very powerful message we just don't deliver it very well so I've been spending a lot of time doing that I tend to be more Smiley I don't know it's a simple way and yet I I try not to get overly agitated does anyone get inspired by getting yelled at that it drives me crazy I see my peers on on media screaming all right right I'm like well you didn't earn any votes there you didn't like let's be a team here so whether it's me or someone else I just I want the Republicans to win in November of 24. I believe that's that it's that important for our country so I think not just myself but there's other leaders out there that are trying to bring the the the the discourse down and the ability to kind of sell our product a little better I wish I was seeing it a little different out of uh some of the leading presidential candidates because it all starts with leadership if if the president and let's go there or the governor of the state or the president is doing right by it the system works the system is not broken the gerrymandering is a bit broken that that's a tough one but beyond that think of 435 members of Congress the vast majority want to get stuff done there's no question the vast majority of Democrats are really really good people the vast majority of Republicans are really really good people we hear the 20 or 30 on one side over here in the 20 or 30 on one side over here that we've again the media and we have as well handed our microphones to the extremes and they effectively effectively Define us but look 80 percent of us of Americans are in here right we disagree politically but we we just want to get stuff done we want to have good discourse but if there if it comes from the top it will work why did Biden win he didn't win because he was the best Democrat he did he won because of first he was the most moderate Democrat there was and what the Democrats were saying is we don't want this extreme socialist AOC extremism that that ain't us we're going to vote for this guy he has experience getting in the Senate he has experienced work he knows some of these Republicans so he'll be able to easily build relationships and then why did he win in November exact same thing Independence in America said we want the guy that has the best chance of not being bombastic and not being extreme unfortunately he's become obviously very very extreme much more extreme than he he catered himself in previous years and there's a reason for that that's more staff driven than anything and I think he's he doesn't completely get just how far left he's gone and and that's why even half of the Democrats are like you know we're moving on I say this you know you know what is what is the Democrat Elite in Washington D.C say behind Joe Biden's back exactly what they said to his face on the debate stage that it was an old out of touch white guy that did not represent the future of the Democrat Party right so the Democrat Elite there do have very little respect for him but we've We As Americans the 80 of us I didn't vote for him but America as a whole voted and gave him the the win because we thought he'd be a little more moderate and a little more temperate in the approach and it just really hasn't panned out but it can get there and I think most Americans get it so it doesn't always show itself in in the nomination process in the primaries we I think both sides tend to elect pretty bad candidates um you know I think the Democrats elected a terror nominated a horrible candidate in 2016 and Hillary Clinton nobody believed in Hillary Clinton it was you know even the Democrats that voted for were doing it oh did we really have to um and then the same thing happened in 2020 and in 2022 right in our Senate races Republicans should have 54 Senate seats right now but we nominated really bad candidates what scares me is that we seem to have already forgotten that we've talked about it for two months and then all of a sudden we're talking about more extreme candidates that just cater to the base again but leadership can get it done and Leadership that says hey you have the other side you guys have a voice what wins can I get you I'm gonna fight for my wins here but I'm more than happy to give your wins the big example is immigration reform that's the big missed step sorry we haven't talked too much policy and I'll go quick but you if you take the U.S Senate let's just focus on the Senate there are 10 Democrat and 10 Republican Senators that really agree on a lot of immigration reform but a lot of folks have said you know an immigration we're not going to look at um uh naturalization issues until you secure our wall and then after we do you know the immigration reform then we'll talk about DACA and after we do DACA then we'll do this no stop put it all on the table right I want a secure border I want a big open door so the best and the brightest can so can come into this country that would be great but you got to have a secure border to do that let's acknowledge that and then we can talk we're not going to export 20 million you know Deport 20 million people right so let's talk about DACA and how we get there from there from here to there because that has to happen put it all on the table at once I'll give you your wins you give me why my wins and America as a whole will say thank you for showing us you can get something done it's actually not that hard I do it all the time even though New Hampshire is a small state the politics are just as challenging and I have tighter numbers and I still get stuff done so there's a huge opportunity there and so the Senate can show some of that leadership too you're not quite there yet but you know hopefully they'll they'll come around great let's get started if you could say your name and affiliation that would be great we'll start over here hi Governor hi thanks so much for being here my name is Jack and I'm a sophomore at the college uh you seem to be advancing kind of an Audiology of voter participation increasing engagement with government whether it's in New Hampshire or at the national level in 2024 whether you or someone else is the Republican candidate for president how do you think they'll reconcile that with kind of the advancing Republican agenda the state level of prioritizing election security with measures that many would say decrease voter participation sure so I mean uh I mean let's just speak for New Hampshire we got a great system in New Hampshire it works amazingly well uh if you if you pull when you pull the New Hampshire citizens it's like 98 or 99 Integrity in the system in the electoral system they know that their vote counts and it works nationally I'll say this nationally every State's different right and it's okay that every State's a little bit different because those Dynamics are different you shouldn't you should never let the federal government tell your state how to run an election right that's that's really clear um I think ballot harvesting is unethical I think it's horrible but you can legally ballot harvest in certain States California for one right and so I see Republicans saying you know these guys are ballot harvesting in California yeah the law allows that I don't agree with it but you better play by those rules or you're going to keep getting your butt kicked right so I have my big message is look if you want to change the law in your state around elections and election integrity and all that sort of thing go for it you know you make the change but then understand those are the rules in play by them stop telling your voters I don't believe in voting early I think Pennsylvania is a good example of that right a lot of hundreds of thousands of ballots were cast in Pennsylvania before the debate even happened and then the debate happened and a lot of people went uh you know maybe fetterman's not the guy but it was too late they'd cast their vote way before a lot of the the real decision making a lot of the the back and forth was was really willing to happen they were casting their vote based on what they saw in television as opposed to two candidates really talking about issues so but that's the rules so when I hear people say well don't vote early to Republicans don't vote early well if the state allows voting early and you want to vote early tell people to go vote early if it gets people out right so you know nationally I think uh certain states have certain issues that they that they're working out I think Arizona has actually worked a lot of their issues out they're counting they count too slow for my liking and for a lot of people's liking but they counted really slow to ensure with people in the room to ensure they got that vote right in in November of 22. and of course you heard Carrie Lake and some people say oh well it must be that it's a rigged system no it's not there's actually no proof that you had people in those rooms too so there are ways to show transparency in that system and states are slowly getting there now every state is different so you got to play by those rules but I think our rules in New Hampshire are fantastic and we have some of the high we we have voter ID show me an ID to vote and people say well that's going to decrease voter participation well I have some of the I have like the highest voter participation in the country so obviously that's not true right so allowing the process to take place and letting the voters there decide what that system should be that's that's the way to do it does that help I don't know if I answered that clearly thank you uh how are you Governor thank you so much for speaking Governor both Governors Abby thank you uh my name is Michael oved I'm curious to hear about your thoughts on National Republicans clearly a lot of national Republicans haven't taken the same approach that you have that live for your diet mentality the same approach that our Founders did that of you know letting the states decide what to do so my first question is why is that and the second connected to that is how can we go back to that era of Republicans that believed in more in states rights over federal government uh so I'll throw a couple real things at you term limits I'm a huge believer in term limits right this idea that you have Senators that are there for four or five terms I mean not only is it just reduced turnover that should happen naturally if if you had term limits you would always have a good batch of senators on both sides of the aisle that really had no political gain in in in doing anything other than just getting stuff done right and so it takes money out of the equation and all that the system isn't corrupt and these people they're not corrupt but we've also allowed a system where headlines and being extreme and getting those headlines can raise you a lot of money that's it's not illegal that's just that's the system I think you need massive campaign Finance reform I have a little old New Hampshire right I hate that all of this dark money comes into a state like New Hampshire but nobody raises it much money in New Hampshire right a presidential candidate comes in New Hampshire they're not saying hey you should go to my website and give me money because we just laugh at them right no no you have to earn the right to come into my living room maybe I'll let you in Joe Biden right or maybe I'll let you in Donald Trump to talk to my friends and family and it ain't about money it's just about connection but campaign Finance reform I think would be huge McCain Feingold it it's really made the system worse it wasn't intended to do that but the unintended consequences of all this dark money and and I I personally maybe people disagree I don't buy the argument that look corporations can give as much money they want to this advocacy stuff um because of you know First Amendment rights and freedom of speech I get all that but there has to be some sort of limits so that the the massive amount of money that comes into play why were why were those folks holding up the election of Kevin McCarthy it wasn't because they disagreed with Kevin McCarthy they knew he was going to be speaker but every time they held up their vote they sent they literally sent fundraising emails right and they were making millions into their campaign accounts in their advocacy groups so they basically did that to be a show to raise a lot of money with an extreme base on it and the other side does it as well so campaign Finance term limits things like that can start bringing a little more um accountability into the system as opposed to this kind of rock solid thing where money is driving a lot of things and and that's just unfortunate you need money in campaigns there's nothing wrong with raising money in a campaign right so go ask folks to and meet your campaign limits and go earn it raising money raises votes when I go out and ask somebody to give me five dollars to my campaign if someone gives me five dollars that is huge because they probably don't have a ton of money and if they're making an investment in me and my campaign or my even my opponents then they're probably going to go to other friends and family you know that to back the investment oh be sure to vote for sununu right that's okay and you've connected with them and they've given you the five dollars you've earned that vote and hopefully some some as well when you just self-fund I mean I'm not saying you can make you should make that illegal but self-funding campaigns is the worst thing you can do how many millionaires sell fun things and they go nowhere because they don't feel like they have to earn it they don't have to go connect with people but getting somebody to give a couple bucks to your campaign is a powerful thing all the dark money and the hundred and the unlimited checks that come in that really skews things a little bit and it unfortunately drives a little more partisanship as needed but it can be fixed really can go up there governor oh hi hi hello my name is Ben Bolger I'm a teaching fellow at Harvard and we're in a great institution at Kennedy School of government and there's many great theoretical and practical Lessons Learned here but your father I'm sure with his Washington experience and experience as Governor had unusual insight and I'm sure he passed that down to you when he was mentoring you what are some key advices that you received from him that we might not get at a great institution like this what's some real world advice that you got as a young woman let's go back to the first word you used which was unusual unusual Insight so I become governor and obviously when your dad is governor in the 80s the first thing you think and you hear is you're just going to be in a shadow right my dad was a great Governor he was phenomenal in the 80s I'll explain what the 80s is later for those who aren't familiar with that term but uh but yeah so I'm like oh man but my dad gave me one piece of advice which was great he said don't give unsolicited advice because it's rarely taken right and so he was actually quite brilliant it was a I don't know if you intentionally did this or not it was a great a psychological move he said I'm not going to call you I'm not going to bug you I'm not going to tell you what to do just you've earned this go do it you know the the Dynamics of the state you see what's out there you're a business guy you're an engineer you got the tools you know go earn it I'm not gonna and he didn't he didn't pick up the phone he wasn't giving me advice on a day-to-day basis but he knew that I'd come crawling and be like hey by the way and so I'd pick up the phone to him right so it had it kind of had a double effect but so I say all the time and it's really true I I uh my father is uh really brilliant obviously um and I don't I would never say he's a Mensa guy because he he's too smart for men says he reminds everybody but and he knows how to use a slide rule but he's we were just coming down here working on an op-ed I'm doing an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal and I got it he was he's brilliant at even though he's an engineer at saying hey you use six words here and they're way too big use three words keep it simple right just use three words get say what you need to say you don't need to impress anybody with your big vocabulary and I don't I don't have a big vocabulary by the way but he's great at simplifying things keeping it right to the point doing it in a cordial Manner and being able to talk to someone about an issue a very complex issue in a very simple way and that and I've taken I've tried my best to to learn from that and I try my best not to give unsolicited advice because nobody ever takes it um but so and sometimes I'll say hey Pop I got there's a new issue it's coming up it's X Y and Z what do you think and he'll give me an answer that was phenomenal in 1987. so I have to be like okay well we're not going to use those words they're not going to do that because that doesn't even exist anymore I won't tell them that so I kind of take that answer say oh I get what he was trying to do how do I turn that to 2023 right an opportunity for 2023. so um it's not quite well no I did that integrated sometimes um and sometimes he gives me advice and I'm like I can't do it I'm not there right we disagree politically on not I wouldn't say a lot I'm more socially moderate uh than my dad isn't and and that's okay so he gives me ah he shouldn't go here what do you think path there but at the end of the day I'm I got myself you know you know um but no he's great at allowing me and encouraging me and the value of my time that's the other thing he said there's nothing more valuable as a governor or a leader leader of your business when I ran a business I spent time with my customers and my employees when I was an engineer I spent well I probably spent time you know with my calculator a lot but out in the field trying to figure out what the problem was and as a governor spending time with my constituents just the quali the value of quality listening time and you have to find what's your thing my thing is the grocery store everyone knows come to Epping exit seven you're gonna find sununu at Market Basket like three times a week and I talk I make the joke about the serial law but it's really true the serial aisle is you guys anyone who shot for cereal I have kids I never know what they want to buy and it's the one eye on the store where they move stuff way too much so I'm always standing there like and sure enough someone will come up and be like hey gov I don't mean to bug you but I got a question sure what do you what do you can't really talk and chat and let them talk and then I can figure it out I take their phone number or maybe I give them my cell and and we try to figure it out we connect constituent service right constituent service and everything so there's my my two cents of his 10 cents of advice great uh thank you Governor sununu beautiful presentation I'm Gabriel Kelvin I'm a master's in public policy student here and also the uh chair of the Republican caucus one of the co-chairs for HKS so something you were talking about was limited government and as students of government oftentimes we are our default is to go to the more government more programs more regulation is the answer to address social problems can you give us an example or speak more to government by subtraction great avoid that is an awesome question uh and congratulations for having a republican caucus in Harvard um better government advice let me give you a real example uh no no um but the mental health week will be a little overly complicated education education so I could tell you I could sit in Concord and we could pass laws that say the curriculum must be X the curriculum must be y and z um but by again saying we're not going to do that here we'll let the locals Do It um do school districts do I agree with it what every school board does hell no very liberal towns in New Hampshire but is it my job to then go correct them if I start doing that guess what the next Democrat Governor is going to do the same thing to the conservative towns if I penalize um you know someone because I don't agree with a curriculum stance I don't agree with the teacher's contract those are all done locally too right so by saying we're going to have take hands off the the whole system works better we have some of the best schools in the country as do you best I mean Massachusetts is really probably the best public school system in the country over the last 10 years New Hampshire is probably the top four or five the money stays local the taxpayers the property taxes are what fund the schools locally and so they have all the power so that's the quick answer of you know the discipline of of not doing more even though you want to fix the problem I want to fix Lebanon right lebanon's GK from Lebanon New Hampshire valeoc right I mean I mean little town very town and I they drive me crazy sometimes with what they do but you know what if they're not doing a good job their citizens will fire them but the citizens obviously like what they're doing so is it my job to step all over that no it's not so overall the system is maintains its Integrity by the discipline of doing less out of conquered good evening sir my name is Matt Kennedy and I'm a former National Security fellow here at the Kennedy School and a long time army officer and I'm also from Londonderry New Hampshire and we're having a challenge in the Army right now in terms of recruiting young people into the military and I was wondering what your thoughts were to inspire young people to join the service as well as join government in the day in the current day sure so uh well let's start with joining government public service is great uh anyone who wants to run for office I always kind of tease political science Majors probably not the right room to do that in but um the best the best you will make a better elected official if you have a real job first to be blunt about it you have to learn teamwork you have to be in the private sector I had to learn how to sweat out I I ran my own business I had shareholders that expected a return I had 800 employees that needed I needed to make payroll for and I ran a ski resort which is again Wicked hot and and that was hard and I had to go through some really tough times but I learned so much in that and just those soft skills of team building and all that and it isn't just my policy my way every time you have to learn how to do that in a private sector setting so I'm a strong encourage anybody who's really interested in politics and service to find your thing first get those skills before you jump in and run for office in service so a couple things there's no doubt a really hard recruiting my son is right now considering joining the Marines which I'm very excited about um uh you know I get frustrated when I see political leaders uh not understand that America is the world leader and we provide peace through strength and there's something amazing about that and there's something inspiring and I don't think we we do the inspiring talk of what's it's not just what service is and just to your country but what services in terms of the responsibility to creating peace in the world I believe very strongly in that now I will say this I think the military system of recruitment is screwed up and I'll explain why if you took Adderall at 12 years old because you had ADHD or whatever maybe you took it for a couple months that is actually grounds for not serving the slightest thing can be grounds for you not serving there are so many disqualifiers that that knock kids out of service where now they won't even think about participating because well it's a mental health issue a couple things first off understand that young people are dealing with a bigger bigger Mental Health crisis than we ever have before and if and young people that I'm not saying if you take Adderall it should be nothing but I'm saying young people that have seen a doctor that have gone through Mental Health Services that have learned how to cope with issues I would challenge you that they are even more have more tools in the toolbox to be great with service to handle stressful situations to know how to cope with the mental health issues the fact that we only take people into service that have never dealt with mental health issues and then we we have all these folks that come out of service with you know the high suicide rates they don't have the tools to know how to do that so I just think some I'm not saying it's an absolute but a lot of those metrics that are traditionally used in military service to disqualify folks need to be reassessed and readjusted I know a lot of great kids that I've written recommendation letters for to go to academies or whatever that I have come back to me and say I can't serve and I'm like why and they tell me why it's the most ridic I think the most ridiculous reason in the world so I think it has to happen on both then but America's service members create peace in this planet there's no doubt about it it's why I'm so adamant that we back Ukraine right we don't need to even put troops on the ground but showing our strength creates peace showing weakness or leading from behind or being tepid about what we're going to do we are the world leaders act like it and with our with our service members isn't just this you know dictatorial Army that goes through in a nation builds that's not what this is about it's about providing peace and security making sure our enemies know that we have resolved and making sure our our coalitions and our allies know they can count on us and that provides world peace and stability in itself it doesn't mean there won't be conflicts here and there but they're more likely to to Spur up yes that was a piece of advice my father gave me on the way down but that's that's really I believe that very strongly and hopefully we can Inspire service is amazing yeah I was never yeah I never I never served them we're not really from a military family but um I'm now the head of the National Guard I have guard troops that I have to deploy I uh it's it's a hard decision at telling my guard 150 of you are going to go away for a year and serve in in the Middle East on in this deployment that's hard it's time away from their families and a huge sacrifice I see it but man those families they're so sad to see their loved ones go but they're so proud they are so none of them regret it at all they're so proud to do it and they understand the value of what what comes to the table with it so well we've come to the top of the hour Governor thank you so much for being with us this evening that was quick it goes by fast I talk too much I know it goes by fast I think it was fun for your moderation I don't know if we made any headlines though I promised some headlines I I didn't use any bad words I tend to do that a little bit and I'm trying to get better uh well look this was a heck of a lot of fun I hope you guys enjoyed as much as I did I appreciate it this is great thank you thank you so much thank you foreign

Channel: Institute of Politics Harvard Kennedy School

Views: 1,891

Keywords: Harvard Institute of Politics, Harvard University

Id: RIqmN0_528M

Length: 72min 55sec (4375 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 21 2023