Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the executive director of 2nd Vote, Amy Wilhite in studio to watch Leahy take a test to see where his dollars are being spent as a consumer.
Leahy: In-studio, our good friend, executive director of 2nd Vote. On the web at 2ndvote.com, Amy Wilhite. Good morning, Amy.
Wilhite: Hey, Michael, it’s always a pleasure to be here with you.
Leahy: Now you are going to put me to the test right now.
Wilhite: I am.
Leahy: You said, Leahy, are you going to put your money where your mouth is?
Wilhite: Are you walking the talk, right?
Leahy: Am I walking the talk? We’re going to find out right now. So I’m going to take this 2ndvote.com test. You can do it yourself at home. We’ll see if I’m walking to talk. See if I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
Wilhite: That’s right. Go the 2ndvote.com and on the home page it says, Score Yourself. Take the quiz.
Leahy: And then go score yourself. I’m about to answer these questions and we will see if I am putting my money where my mouth is. Answer these questions to see how you score.
You wake up and need your morning coffee. What are you drinking today? I’m drinking Peets coffee. I’m clicking Peets now. You just got a new phone.
Who is your cell phone provider? You can look at Verizon Voter Charity and in my case, it’s T-Mobile. Okay, so I clicked on T-Mobile. You sit down to watch some television who is your providing streaming service?
Is it Netflix, Dish Network, DirecTV? It’s Comcast. That’s what I’m thinking. You need to make a grocery run. Where will you shop? Food Lion, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, or Krogers? I’m picking Krogers. You want something to drink?
What will you have? Coca-Cola, Pepsi, LaCroix, Dr. Pepper. In my case, Snapple is what I pick from this list. You’re craving a hamburger, which I am often craving.
I’m craving hamburgers too much these days. But nonetheless, what would I pick? Where do I go to? I go to Culver’s, Burger King, Five Guys, Mcdonald’s, Sonic, In-N-Out Burger. Whataburger. It’s a toss-up. I like Sonic, but usually, I pick Five Guys.
Wilhite: Hey, I’m a In-N-Out fan.
Leahy: You like In-N-Out?
Wilhite: I like In-N-Out.
Leahy: Do we have an In-N-Out burger here?
Wilhite: No, but my son’s in Texas.
Leahy: So do you have In-N-Out burgers there?
Wilhite: Yes.
Leahy: You have some projects to do around the house. Where will you buy supplies? Ace Hardware, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Menards, or Ikea. Home Depot for me. I’m a Home Depot guy. You take your family out to dinner.
Where do you go? Applebees, Cheddars, Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, Buffalo, Wild Wings, Waffle House, The Cheesecake Factory. It’s between Cracker Barrel and the Cheesecake Factory. I’m picking Cracker Barrel. Because I’m a Tennessee guy.
Wilhite: Not Waffle House? I mean, come on.
Leahy: It says the family out for dinner.
Wilhite: Well, that’s true. Yeah, if it’s just me, I go to Waffle House.
Leahy: I love Waffle House. I have to admit. I love Waffle House. The people who are great there, by the way.
Wilhite: And you can go basically at any time.
Leahy: And they work hard.
Wilhite: They do.
Leahy: They work very, very hard. You want a new seasonal outfit because you know nothing says MPL like getting a new season outfit. (Laughter)
Where will you shop? Banana Republic, Authentically American Gap, Old Navy, Dillards, Champion. I don’t know anything about clothes, so I’m gonna say Dillards. I know where Dillards is.
Wilhite: Yes, that’s true. What about Champion, though? You are a former marathoner.
Leahy: Former jock.
Wilhite: So you can go to Champion and get some running clothes and do the half marathon in doing the half marathon.
Leahy: You are doing the half marathon. I’m waving as you do it.
Wilhite: I’m trying to talk you into it.
Leahy: I’m talkable, but I don’t know how my body is talkable. You need to stop for gas. Where will you fill-up? BP, Circle K, Citco. Shell, Loves, Exxon, Mobile, Speedway. The one that’s just most convenient for me is Shell.
Wilhite: Ooh, we’ll see on that.
Leahy:Â Alright. You’re taking a vacation overseas. Who do you book your flight with? Delta, American Airlines, Expedia, Allegiant Express, Frontier, or Southwest. I’m a Southwest guy typically. So Southwest.
Need some new shoes. Where will you go? Academy Sports, Bass Pro Shops, Cabellas, Dick Sporting Goods. No, I’m not going to Dick Sporting Goods.
Wilhite: No, you know that.
Leahy: Academy Sports is where I would go on that list. Now, this is interesting for everybody out there. You need to deposit a check. Which bank will you deposit with? We’ll talk about the banks here in a bit.
The options are Bank of America, Citibank, Third Bank Regions, Wells Fargo, US Ameri Bank, or SunTrust. I do a lot of money banking with Bank of America. Am I about to get busted?
Wilhite: Oooh.
Leahy: Am I getting busted?
Wilhite: Yes.
Leahy: Alright, so let’s see my average score for my home purchase. Well, it’s two-point 33 now. Three0 is neutral.
Wilhite: Three0 is neutral. That’s what we ask corporations to be. Stay out of the culture wars. Be neutral.
Leahy: So where I purchase, it leans a little bit left.
Wilhite: It does.
Leahy: Oh my goodness. I’m going to have to improve myself.
Wilhite: But isn’t that interesting that you probably haven’t put a lot of thought into where your money is going.
Leahy: You mean I’ve got to put my money where my mouth is.
Wilhite: You do. And people are really wanting to know what they can do right now. Conservatives are looking for a way to make a difference. Most Conservatives aren’t going to go march or obviously not riot and those kinds of things.
But they want to know what they can do. A lot of people don’t think their first vote counted at the ballot box, but their second vote can count every single day with how they align their dollars with their values.
Leahy: So we’re going to do the Michael Patrick Leahy put your money where your mouth is improvement.
Wilhite: The MPL.
Leahy: The MPL improvement plan. So on coffee, Peets is 3.0 but Folgers is 3.67 Phone. T Mobile 1.83. But Patriot Mobile is 5.0. Comcast is 1.33. Hmm. Roku is 3.00 Groceries. Kroger is 1.7! Safeway is 3.0 Snapple is 2.67 but LaCroix is 3.0. Five Guys, 3.0. That’s the most conservative hamburger provider.
Wilhite: You did well there.
Leahy: But the banks! Yikes! Bank of America 1.0? You can’t get worse than that. I can’t get worse than that. Yikes! US American Bank is 2.67. We’ll talk about that and more when we get back.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
I took the quiz and scored 2.67. Biggest problem I encountered was that at least half of the questions did not include selections that I typically use. But it was revealing anyway.