Peter thanks for the introduction. It is great to be with you. Mostly i am looking forward to the q a. You asked for a brief overview of my life so we will be here three days. Just a few minutes of my political journaling my political journey and some thoughts about the Republican Party in the age of trump. I would love to engage with you all. I was born in Washington State and developed an interest in politics at a very early age. We had a cabin in the Cascade Mountains on the east side of the state. I still remember as a kid driving with my parents to my cabin every weekend. We talked about Public Policy. We listened to the news at the top of the hour and i was a question asker. I would ask my dad why did the israelis and the arab world not get along. What about president nixon and Henry Kissinger . Those issues really fascinated me, along with sports. When i got to high school, i got into debates with my social studies teachers. They were liberal. I was conservative. Not because i thought through political theory but mostly because my parents were conservative. It was always a passion. I went to the university of washington. My undergrad was political science. Undergrad was political science. A big deal to me that was critical to my career was internships. A big deal to me that was critical to my career was internships. I interned in the Washington State senate. I went to d. C. When i was a senior and interned at the center for strategic studies. That was one of the big breaks i got. Seattleould return to and not knowing what i was going to do. I assumed i would go to law school, but i do not want to be a lawyer. Interest in getting involved in politics. At the university of washington are used to go to the library and listen to john kennedy speeches on my own time, to the point where i memorize them, not for credit but because i listen to them so often. I fell in love with language. The power of words. I thought kennedys words were very powerful. I read biographies and autobiographies, people who had worked in various administrations and i thought one of that be great to work in a white house . To one. Up making my way that internship at csi, i got some jobs in the think tank world. Eventually i was hired as a speechwriter for william bennett, who was secretary for Ronald Reagan at the time. I was intimidated. I remember telling my colleagues at the ethics and Public Policy center that if i crash and burn will you take me back . I felt like i was dropped in the deep end. I did not know how to swim. It worked out. I developed a Good Relationship with bill. I then worked in the george h. W. Bush administration as a speechwriter for bill when he was the socalled drug czar. Then in the 1990s i was policy director at a think tank called power of america, which is jack kemp, a very large figure in the conservative movement in the 1980s and the 1990s. Jack tragically died years ago. I was there through the 1990s. Then i was hired as a speechwriter for george w. Bush. When he became president after the florida recount was taken care of. Michael person was the chief speechwriter. He hired me as deputy of speechwriting. I did that job for two years. There is an anecdote on the speechwriting side of things. Mike would normally go to the senior staff meetings, which were held at 7 30 in the roosevelt room. When he was not there, i would go in his stead. I remember the morning of september 11. I remember being struck that this is one of the most uneventful days of the bush presidency. The big topic of conversation was supposed to be the congressional barbecue on the south lawn of the white house. Tuesday, Late Afternoon on the 11th. When i got back to my office, i mike,at i always did with wrote him and email summarizing what had happened in the senior staff meeting. The first line of my email was nothing much is going on today. That was sent precisely five minutes before the first trade tower was hit. Mike was at home working on a communities and character speech because we had gotten a number of our main initiatives passed by that time and we were thinking through what is the fall agenda going to look like for the white house. Mike was working on a communities and character speech. The plane hit the first tower. Like most people i thought this was a tragic accident. I went down and got some coffee. I went back up to my office. A few minutes after 9 00 the second plane hit and i immediately knew Something Else was going on. We were under attack. 395,led mike and he was on one of the main arteries in the d. C. Area, and he was like it was a parking lot. Im not moving. He commented on how low a plane had flown. It turned out that was the plane that hit the pentagon. At a moment like that you find out where you rank on the totem pole of importance. If your significant figure, when they evacuated the white house because of all of these reports about attacks, it was said the capital was being hit, the state department was being hit. If you are important, they took you to a bunker. If you are me you ended up on the corner of 17th and pennsylvania avenue alone looking up at the sky wondering what is going on. I remember distinctly having this feeling, it was a beautiful day, a crystal blue sky. Im looking up thinking, i feel like i feel like im in a movie. Except in a movie it has a script. You know how it ends. I thought this one does not have a script. I dont know how this is going to end. You can imagine it was an eventful time as a speechwriter. The words of a president always matter, they particularly mattered after september 11. After a couple of years i was recommended to become director of the office of strategic initiatives, white house think tank. That job was perfectly aligned for my interests. In policy, involved politics, communications. It was an inhouse white house think tank. To the extent i had influence in the white house, it was not because of the flowchart, it was based on my relationships with people in the white house. I got along well with everybody. It was a good experience. I was there until 2007. That is when i went to ethics and Public Policy center where i have been since then. That is a think tank in washington. Primarilyow is writing for the New York Times and do atlantic commentary on television and so forth. Got involved in politics i was not cynical. I am still not. I do not think i am naive about politics. Downsidesnd there are and are people involved in embodimentse not virtue and nobility and high mindedness. That is true in every profession. I do think politics matters. I think politics is about justice. That is not all that it is about , but at the key moments in American History and the life of nations, politics can have a big bearing on justice and Human Flourishing and the human good. It matters. The truth is most of the people ive come across in politics, including people i disagree with philosophically and in terms of party politics, are generally good people. , in myople get involved experience, for the right reasons. Some of it is mixed. Motivations are mixed. Personal ambitions are there. But that is true in every profession. It is the nature of the human condition. Most people i know get into politics because they have some ideas that they care about. Causes they want to pursue. My attitude is, good for you. It matters. Stay involved. Keep fighting. Very quickly, i have been a lifelong republican. My first vote was for Ronald Reagan in 1980. I have worked in three administrations. I am philosophically a conservative. I have been my entire life. I am, however, a pretty sharp critic of donald trump. Im not particularly aligned with the Republican Party right now. There are group of us, the conservative critics of trump who at this point could fit in a phone booth. It is not a large group. We are making the arguments we can. It is slightly complicated. I am happy to go into it during the q a. I do not disagree with all of Donald Trumps policies. I disagree with some of them. I think the danger he poses is in a whole realm of other areas. I think he is a threat to the country, to the conservative cause, and to the Republican Party. And i say that as someone who is still a conservative. I am not one of those who became so disaffected by what has happened that i changed my political philosophy. Im a critic of the president in part because i am a conservative. It has made life interesting, as you can imagine. I have a lot of friends over my lifetime who see things very differently. I am a person of christian faith. I have been associated with mostly evangelical churches my throughout my life. White evangelicals are overwhelmingly supportive of donald trump. There is a spectrum about how enthusiastic they are. I am out of step there as well. Part of my life these days is trying to make sure that intact, even stay why we have disagreements. I think friendships are more important than politics. It is extremely important to have relationships and friendships with people who do not see the world the same way you do. Politically, theologically, and in every way. That is part of the way we learn. It is important to be able to see other peoples perspectives, even if you do not agree with them. I dont have a clue what will happen in 2020. I am happy if you want to have a conversation about what might unfold. Writer on i may contemporary affairs. I write in politics, primarily. Also on faith. Sometimes on sports and other things. As a writer, you try to put these things in perspective. You call them as you see them. You have an obligation to tell the truth and to speak the truth as well as you can, to be open to being wrong and hopefully amending your views along the way. As for me, there are not many jobs i can imagine. One i can do particularly well, but also ones that would be satisfying for me as ive been involved with. These conversation and debates are important. It is a chance to learn and a chance to talk about things that matter. There are worse things in life than that. That is my life. , we will open up to q a and you can ask anything you want. Experience, politics, theology, or anything else. Lets start over here. My name is kristen and im from the harvard extension school. We have done some readings on how the tea party has affected the Republican Party as well as a few conversations about donald trump not necessarily being a very conservative republican. I was curious, since you have been a lifelong republican, if challenges toese the republican line, if they result in a strengthening of the Republican Party down the line where it is something you feel causes too much disruption to the party and takes away from its overall value . Peter good question. Let me take both of you. Both of them. The tea party first. It is a fascinating journey of the Republican Party. , theea Party Movement genesis of the tea Party Movement was the veil of the banks after the 2008 financial crisis the bailout of the banks after the 2008 financial crisis, which i think was almost an unmitigated success. There is a really good documentary called panic the untold story of the 2008 financial crisis. Vice puts it on. I do not think it is hbo. They interviewed the key protagonists during the 2008 crisis. Paulson, geithner or, bernanke, bush, obama, others. It is a fascinating account of what happens. Happened, theyt had to bail out the banks. The financial crisis did not become a depression, but that bailout of the banks caused a tremendous anger. Why are the banks getting bailed out when we as the individuals do not . That was a fair question to ask. The answer was of the banks went belly up, so with the rest of the economy. There would be huge collateral damage. They ended up paying back the tarp loans. That catalyzed a populist revolt. The tea party was very strongly limited government. Populist. Antiestablishment. That really drove the 2010 midterm elections, which were very damaging for the democratic party. President or to that, obama had control of the senate and the house and he lost control after the 2010 midterms. The tea party has really kind of petered out. What is interesting is donald trump is in many ways the antithesis of the tea Party Movement. Is not by any standard a limited government conservative. He was the one person who ran in said he gop primary and would not touch entitlement reform. He has no interest in cutting government spending. He never articulated a case for limited government. He has views that are contrary government. M and but he is wildly popular within the tea Party Movement. The tea Party Movement as an intellectual movement does not exist anymore. The tea party embodied a which trumper masterfully tapped into inso thn between the Republican Base, trump, at least as he speaks, to the tea party which is not policy driven, but is a much more affective, psychological and cultural, and a kind of connection on the level of, they frankly revel in the style of his politics. The tea partynk is a force in the republican now. Right in terms of trump not being a conservative and whether he is going to strengthen or weaken the Republican Party, it is a mixed bag. If you are talking about judges, the judiciary, deregulation, prolife policies. The tax bill that was passed in 2017. Those fall generally under the canopy of the Republican Party, traditional policies, conservative policies. But in a lot of ways, he is not a conservative. Basically, he is america first, those quasiisolationist instincts are not conservative at least understood in the modern era he is a fierce protectionist refers to himself as a tariff man as long as i have been alive, conservative has stood for free trade. And the issue of free government. Understood as a conservative, i think he has to be understood as a populist. Himself, i dont think he is anything other than a narcissist, but [laughter] but i think he tapped into this populist movement. Will it strengthen or weaken the Republican Party . I dont know. I am worried about the Republican Party because, one of my warnings to republicans of, whene nomination trump was running and then since he has become president , that he would redefine it in his own image, and he has. I have had plenty of conversations with republicans in congress who know better, who have views of trump that are , who are unable to speak publicly about that, for a variety of reasons. But it is a mistake. But i understand, it is easier for me than it is for them. I really dont know. The Republican Party right now is in a fairly precarious position. One of the reasons is the trajectory of the message is not good. Trump is toxic, with a rising number of voters, whether they are people of color, younger voters, women, suburbs, and i think if you look at the results of the 2018 midterms, you can see the coming catastrophe longerterm. I live out in virginia, the 10th district. Our representative house number was barbara comstock. 2016, this is slightly democratic a purpleish district. It went by about four or five points, and barbara ran and she comfortably iny 2016. In 2018, she got obliterated and lost by 12 points. And that is the classic suburb, republicanleaning suburb. If you look at what happened in 2020, every republican got mowed down. Whether tha trump leaves in 20, 2021, it will be a big fight for the future of the Republican Party. Thank you. Hi, i go to suffolk university. My question is referring to your anecdote on the day of the unfortunate events of the september 11. Thee that day, did you see evolution of nationalism and politics, specifically within the Republican Party . And if so, do you see it getting worse in the coming election . Peter i certainly did not see it in the aftermath of 9 11. The Republican Party was a very different party. The country was different. The Republican Party was a very different party. The country was generally united after 9 11. When i began to see the changes within the Republican Party and how it was changing toward sort of an ethnic, nationalist flavor, i would say probably read around the mid 2000s you were pushing a cover has immigration bill. Thed up after the reelection of president bush in 2004, so in 2005, our Big Initiative was efforts to reform social security, which went nowhere. We tried Immigration Reform later in 2006 and almost got that Immigration Reform bill through, but it in and up failing. It ended up failing. We missed the sequencing. In retrospect, we should have led with immigration rather than social security. But as far as your question, what is interesting is you could antiimmigrantf , some sense of hostility, cultural displacement beginning to build in the party. That just a did not exist in the 1990s or early 2000. I was never able to locate exactly what catalyzed that. There was no event, like if an undocumented worker had a massacre at tysons corner, or a mall in minneapolis, or st. Paul, something emotionally catalyzed a response, i would understand that. There were factors going on that i really did not fully understand. Honestly, president bush understood what was beginning to happen within the base of the Republican Party. Because i remember talking to him and others in these conversations, and he would talk about nativism, protectionism and isolationism beginning to rise. Another thing which was interesting, kind of like a canary in the coal mine, was the conservative tal