The ‘Most Moderate’ Republican in the Race

Can Republicans be fiscally responsible again?

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Allan Fung was the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island for over a decade. Now, he’s hoping to be the first Republican to represent the state in Congress in nearly 20 years. He joined Declan to talk about his “check in those party labels at the door” approach to politics, about the possible agenda of a Republican House, and whether Trump still sets the tone for the party.

Show Notes:

–Axios on Allan Fung 

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Comments (11)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Alex RC

    Appreciated the upfront warning about campaign mode - it was very obvious, but good to make it clear.
    I'm not sure I like these politician interview podcasts in general. The interviewees seem to focus on partisan talking points; lots of messaging, little informative value. Props to Declan for not letting Fung get away with every instance of it, but damn was it still frustrating. Ex: Fung's answer about Trump 2024 didn't mention Trump's name - but Fung made sure to mention (and trash) Biden.

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      JohnF

      I'm with you. Perhaps they should implement a moratorium on interviews with active politicians within a certain interval before an election. I didn't make it to the end of this podcast because I got so tired of just hearing a string of talking points.

      It might be interesting to hear a follow-up podcast six months from now if he gets elected. By that point, perhaps he'd have more interesting things to say about being a moderate in Congress.

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    Ben Connelly

    Gotta love the accent.

    Solid interview. Sarah and Steve have taught you well, Declan. Thanks for the heads up about the candidate being in campaign mode the whole time.

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    TheKingPrawn

    Time to upgrade Declan's audio gear. Pop shield at least.

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    Dtrayers

    It was a good interview, Declan, and you do well as an interviewer. I wish you would have asked him his take on the 2020 election and if he thinks it was stolen, or if he would have dodged the question.

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    Jason Godwin

    Definitely in campaign mode, but I definitely like him. I love the focus on policy instead of just doing pointless investigations in order to showboat on TV. He's right: most people really just care about the economic issues.

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  6. Chris

    isn't the reason for the demise of "rockefeller republicans" the fact that they have capitulated to the left on *every* social and cultural issue? I understand that new england is a liberal place and a conservative isnt likely to get elected there, but if republicans want to win there they still need to give social conservatives a reason to show up. From what it looks like to me, people like Charlie Baker, Phil Scott and Larry Hogan were successful because they were virtually winning the democrat vote and didnt bother with social conservatives as part of their coalition.

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      Dusty

      It's all about degree. I live in CT and we have a toss-up race in the 5th district between D Jahana Hayes and R George Logan. When it comes to an issue like abortion, Logan threads the needle by saying that he's pro-choice (and, based on his record, he is) but that he doesn't believe in federal legislation addressing it. So, Hayes would vote to codify Roe v Wade nationwide and Logan would vote to leave it up to the states. On an issue like guns, which for obvious reasons is a very sensitive issue in CT, the standard GOP response is that the restrictions we currently have are fine and that we don't need more.

      I'm a pro-life, pro-2A social conservative and Logan's stances on those issues are good enough for me. If I still lived in Texas or Virginia, I'd probably prefer a candidate more conservative on those issues. But, I live in Connecticut, and those answers are about as conservative as you can get and still be competitive.

      On the flip side, you also have the case where the CT GOP passed over a candidate who would have been competitive in the general (Themis Klarides) because she was too liberal and opted instead to endorse a far righter who stands no chance (Leora Levy). One can maybe rationalize that by arguing that Klarides would have had just a smaller margin of defeat and that she wouldn't have really had much of a chance anyways, so why not vote your beliefs in the primary? Logan also faced a far right challenger in the primary but it wasn't a real challenge and he waltzed into the general. I figure it's largely because, Trump endorsements aside, people think Logan has a good shot at winning and are therefore more willing to compromise.

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  7. Nordic_man

    Please point to a time when national republicans had a trifecta and were ever fiscally responsible?

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    Anya

    Good interview. To be honest, RI politicians are always in campaign mode. I've always found Allan Fung to be moderate and sensible; unfortunately I'm not in his district.

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    Joe Schueller

    He’s definitely in campaign mode! Hope this is useful to Rhode Islanders in the community.

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