The Paul Truesdell Podcast
Voice One:
Well, you know, I just finished listening to something, and I have to tell you—it reminded me of the kind of conversation we used to have back when people still believed in taking the time to understand things. This fellow Paul Truesdell and a young lady named Carol sat down and talked about Florida politics, the Republican Party, and where this whole country is headed. And let me tell you, it's the real deal.
Voice Two:
I listened to it too. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. This Truesdell—very smart guy, by the way, very smart—he knows Florida like nobody else. He's been watching it for forty years. Forty years! And he connects everything. The history, the money, the politics. This is not your usual boring political talk. This is the real story.
Voice One:
That's exactly right. He starts way back—1986, when Bob Martinez won the governorship. Now, most folks today don't remember what a big deal that was. Florida had been a one-party Democratic state for over a century. A century! And Truesdell explains how it all changed, step by step. The victories, the setbacks, the scandals. There was a party chairman who went to prison, a Ponzi schemer who was buying fifty-thousand-dollar birthday cakes with stolen money. You can't make this stuff up.
Voice Two:
The scandals were unbelievable. Unbelievable. But here's what I liked—he doesn't just complain about it. He explains why it happened and what you do about it. You purge the bad ones. You clean house. That's how you win. And he talks about winners and losers. The 'next in line' guys who thought it was their turn? Destroyed. Every time. McCollum, Putnam—gone. Because voters don't care whose turn it is. They care about results.
Voice One:
And he brings it right up to today—the twenty, twenty-six governor's race. All the players. Byron Donalds, who's got that important endorsement. The new Lieutenant Governor, Jay Collins—a Green Beret who lost his leg serving this country. Wilton Simpson sitting on thirty million dollars. And of course, Casey DeSantis, who everybody's wondering about. It's all there, laid out clearly, so you can understand what's really happening.
Voice Two:
And the Democrats—total disaster, by the way—but he's fair about it. He explains their problems. They've got a former Republican running as a Democrat now. Another guy quit the party completely, said it was dead. Dead! Can you believe that? Their own guy said that. Truesdell doesn't sugarcoat anything. He tells it like it is. That's what I respect.
Voice One:
But here's what really got me—he goes beyond Florida. He talks about the cycles of history. How after Watergate, everyone said our party was finished. Going the way of the Whigs, they said. And you know what? They didn't even understand what they were saying. The Whigs became us. Abraham Lincoln was a Whig. The Republican Party didn't come from nowhere—it evolved from something.
Voice Two:
And then he talks about the comeback. The big comeback. After Carter—who was a disaster, total disaster, attacked by a rabbit, can you believe it?—the party came roaring back. Forty-nine states. The biggest electoral victory ever. Maybe ever. That's what's possible when you have the right leadership and the right message. History proves it.
Voice One:
He also draws these wonderful parallels to business. Kodak, Sears, General Electric—giants who got comfortable and collapsed. The lesson being that success can breed complacency, and complacency is the enemy. Whether you're running a company or running a party, the minute you think you've got it made, you're in trouble.
Voice Two:
So true. So true. And he finishes with this incredible explanation of his sign-off—'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.' Most people have no idea what that means. But it's about the Whigs, it's about history, it's about his father's service in World War II. There's a clicking sound he makes—friend or foe, like the soldiers used. Very powerful. Very meaningful. Not just words.
Voice One:
Well, I think what we're trying to say is—if you care about the Republican Party, if you care about Florida, if you care about understanding where we've been so you can help decide where we're going—you need to listen to this. All five parts. It's an investment of your time, but it's worth it. This is the kind of thoughtful, informed discussion we don't get enough of anymore.
Voice Two:
Absolutely. The best. One of the best things I've heard. And I've heard a lot, believe me. So sit back, pay attention, and listen to Paul Truesdell and Carol. You're going to learn things. Tremendous things. Things that will make you smarter about politics than ninety-nine percent of the people out there. That I can tell you.
Voice One:
So here it is, folks. Five parts. A journey through Florida's political transformation, the national lessons that apply everywhere, and a reminder that history isn't just about the past—it's the key to the future. Enjoy.
Voice Two:
Enjoy. You're going to love it. Yes, love it. Really. You’ll get a kick out of this podcast series. Yes. Love it.
Paul, you've been watching Florida politics for over four decades now. I want to start with something that might surprise people who think of Florida as permanently red. When Bob Martinez won the governorship in 1986, just how big of a deal was that for Republicans in this state?
001 Paul:
Carol, let me tell you, if you weren't there, you really can't appreciate what that moment meant. You have to understand, Florida had been a one-party state—and I mean truly a one-party state—for over a century. From the end of Reconstruction until 1966, not a single Republican had sat in the governor's mansion. Not one. Democrats owned this state the way your grandmother owns her Sunday pot roast recipe. It wasn't even competitive. The primary was the election. If you won the Democratic primary, you might as well measure the drapes.
Now, Claude Kirk broke through in '66, and that was shocking enough. But here's the thing—Kirk was a one-term wonder. Colorful fellow, lots of drama, but the Democrats came roaring back with Reubin Askew in 1970, and then they held it for another sixteen years straight. So when Bob Martinez won in '86, it wasn't just a Republican winning. It was proof that Kirk wasn't a fluke. It meant maybe, just maybe, the political landscape of Florida was fundamentally changing.
And remember, Martinez wasn't even a lifelong Republican. The man had been a Democrat, served as mayor of Tampa as a Democrat, and then switched parties in 1983. So you had this converted Democrat beating the Democratic establishment at their own game. That sent shockwaves through Tallahassee that people are still feeling today.
002 Carol:
That's fascinating context. But Martinez didn't get a second term. What happened there? Because if Republicans had this breakthrough, you'd think they would have built on it.
002 Paul:
Oh, Carol, this is a classic case of overreach meeting political reality. Martinez decided to push through a services tax—a sales tax on professional services. Now, on paper, you can make an argument for it. The economy was changing, more service-based, less goods-based. But here's the problem: when you start taxing lawyers, accountants, advertising agencies, and every other professional service under the sun, you've just made enemies of some of the most politically active and well-funded people in the state.
The backlash was immediate and ferocious. They repealed the thing within six months. But the damage was done. Martinez looked like he didn't know what he was doing, like he was experimenting with people's livelihoods. And when 1990 rolled around, here comes Lawton Chiles—'Walkin' Lawton,' they called him because he'd famously walked across the entire state during his Senate cam...