Live from Music Row Wednesday 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 newly announced 5th Congressional District Republican candidate Baxter Lee to the newsmaker line to talk about his background and answer questions about past business dealings, campaign money, and whether or not he’ll participate in a debate.
Leahy: We welcome to our microphones a new friend and recently announced candidate for the 5th Congressional District for the Republican primary, Baxter Lee. Good morning, Baxter.
Lee: Good morning, Michael. How are you doing?
Leahy: Good, good. Welcome. And first question for you: I guess you’re one of the few announced candidates for the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District who’s actually ever voted in a Tennessee Republican primary before. So that’s good news, right?
Lee: (Chuckles) I would say yes. I’m a lifelong Tennessean. Go ahead and ask me the question.
Leahy: But you also are, I think, the only announced candidate who voted in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. What’s up with that?
Lee: I voted with Rush Limbaugh. I assume you’re a talk radio guy.
Leahy:Â Yes, we are on a talk radio program right now. So you would be correct in that assertion.
Lee: (Chuckles) Sideline Rush Limbaugh. I am a lifelong Republican. I remember being a Republican back in the ’90s. Rush worked the talk radio airwaves and I’ve admired him my whole life.
I’m an eighth-generation Tennessean, and I was born here. My kids were born here. And for me, I was a Republican back when it wasn’t popular.
Leahy: So you followed Rush’s advice on that. Let me get to this question for you. Our records indicate that you did not vote in a 2016 Republican primary.
And by the standard of the bylaws, by our records, maybe we’re wrong, that you have not met the standard of having voted in three of the last four most recent statewide Republican primaries. Is that true, or do we have that wrong?
Lee: Well, for the 2016 one, if you look at my full record and I think you guys have it, I think we did email back and forth. I have voted in every primary. I’m a guy that believes in voting. I’m one of the nerds that carry around the pocket Constitution. For me, I’m pretty sure I voted in the 2016 election. I either made an accident and missed that one.
Leahy:Â That’s a matter of fact. We’ll check on it. But I think our record shows that you did not vote in the August 2016 primary, which would make it two out of four.
Now, if we’re right, and we’ll triple-check that, we’ll send you the documents. Does that mean … to get on the ballot you would have to be vouched for? Is that your plan?
Lee: Well, yes. I’m a lifelong Republican. I remember the election back in 1994. My parents had a fundraiser and I got to meet a guy named Fred Thompson who was in my living room, as a 16-year-old boy.
Leahy: But 1994 isn’t the standard for that. But let me go to another question if you don’t mind, Baxter. There have been reports that Chip Saltsman, the high-profile Republican consultant from Tennessee who’s worked on the Huckabee campaign and the Randy Boyd campaign, is your adviser in this campaign. Is that true?
Lee: That is true. I admired Chip. I got to watch him work in the 2008 Iowa caucus when I was working for Fred Thompson. And I was really amazed at what Chip pulled off. Mike Huckabee only had a million dollars in that.
And Mitt Romney came in and tried to buy that caucus election. And for me, I admired the Tea Party guys. I got to meet a lot of them that worked on Fred’s campaign up there. I flew up to Iowa.
I worked at the Iowa caucus. I cold-called people for Fred Thompson to try to get him elected president. And for me, I was just really impressed with what Chip Saltsman was able to pull off.
Leahy: He’s got a very lengthy record in Tennessee politics, a lot of high-profile customers, clients that he’s worked for. Let me ask you this: we have sources that tell us that you’ve said that you and your family are willing to spend up to $3 million to win the nomination.
Do we have that right? Is that true? Do you have the money? And is that how much you will personally spend on this campaign?
Lee: (Chuckles) The one thing I learned at that Iowa caucus is that Republicans don’t like to see somebody buy an election. Mitt Romney spent $12 million. And I sat in the caucus room and listened to somebody talking about how Mitt had bought him a swing set and had done all this stuff for them.
And it just doesn’t go well with Republican voters. For me, I plan on getting back to the basics. You need to go out. You need to talk to people. You need to focus on what’s important to folks.
Leahy: The question here, Baxter, is are you committing that you’re going to spend up to $3 million in the race? That’s really the question.
Lee: So I understand the question. For me, I think it goes back to the fact that I’m willing to put in the effort, energy, and resources to win this election.
I don’t know what the number is, but for me, that’s the secondary. For me, I really care about what the voters think. I’d love to let them have the chance.
Leahy: Let me ask you this: do you have $3 million to put into the race?
Lee: (Laughs) Yes.
Leahy: Okay, good. There you go. Now let me ask you about this Save Win Club thing and the cease and desist order you got from the state of Tennessee on that. I don’t understand what the Save Win Club is. What’s the story on the cease and desist order?
Lee: Absolutely. I’m a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. I love helping people. So I started Save Win Club to help people. We opened the wrong kind of bank account. Fixed it within minutes of receiving the letter.
And this is why people hate politics and politicians. This was resolved with a zero-dollar fine and me being thanked for my honesty and cooperation by the state of Tennessee.
Leahy: That’s a good response. I can’t figure out what the Save Win Club is. What is that business?
Lee:Â Absolutely. So it’s Save Win Club. And for me, I always laugh – my grandfather always made fun of the gymnasium. He didn’t understand why somebody would pay money to exercise. If you want to exercise, walk uphill or chop wood.
For me, we’re living through the greatest transformation in the human experience right now. And there’s a lot of people that don’t have $1,000 in savings. And when I did some research and looked around, I loved Dave Ramsey’s program, but I felt like he was missing a small kind of adjustment. In my mind, Save Win Club helps people focus on daily habits, and it starts with just a simple email response.
It takes five to 10 seconds of your time, and it reminds you that you’re not alone. There are other people rooting for you to improve your life and kind of work on it. Nothing happens overnight, right?
I mean, just look at your own career and think about how you make good choices. And a lot of people get trapped in this feeling that they’re alone and that no one’s helping.
Leahy: Let me read from the website of Save Win Club and see if you can explain to our audience what this exactly means. “Save Win Club runs daily marshmallow tests. We offer grown-ups money because everybody loves money. Money can become whatever you want. It’s a great store of value and a great way to show our members each week the right path.”
What does that mean? What’s a marshmallow test?
Lee: The marshmallow test, for me – ironically, they didn’t even use marshmallows – but the idea was a Stanford professor got some kids and offered them the option between two marshmallows tomorrow or later, and one marshmallow now.
And the idea was to test people’s ability to postpone gratification or delay gratification. And so that’s a part of the daily sweepstakes is the idea that, okay, you can have one marshmallow today or you can start building towards two marshmallows tomorrow.
Leahy: Gotcha. Okay, let me ask you this question because we’re about to run out of time. Come in the studio sometime. We’ll spend more time together. So here’s a question for you.
We’re going to be hosting a debate between all the contenders for the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District. Would you be willing to attend and participate in such a debate?
Lee: I’m open to it. Obviously, the format matters. There are all sorts of details, but definitely reach out. I would be interested to learn more about your plan.
Leahy: “Open to it” sounds like a non-commitment, but not a rejection.
Lee: I’m not rejecting it outright. This campaign is just starting. We don’t even know who else is in the race.
Leahy: Well, that’s a very good point. So we’ll have you in-studio, spend half an hour together, get to know each other a little bit better, and have our audience get to know you. That sounds like a good plan.
And we’ll arrange that sometime within the next three or four weeks to have you come in the studio. Baxter Lee, thanks so much for joining us.
Lee: Thanks, Michael.
Learn more about Baxter Lee for Congress at Baxterlee.com
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
