Station: KNUS, 710 AM

Show:     Craig Silverman Show

Guests:  Graham

Link:      http://craigsilverman.podbean.com/

Date:      March 12, 2016

Topics:

Click Here for Audio

 

[The following notes are paraphrasing and summaries of comments made during the remainder of this interview, which includes host Craig Silverman and guest Jack Graham]

HOST CRAIG SILVERMAN:  Where do you live
GOP CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE & FORMER ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, JACK GRAHAM:

• Fort Collins

SILVERMAN:  Where did you grow up?
GRAHAM:

• Palo Alto
• Mom was stay-at-home Mom
• Dad was in the insurance industry INA – now Cigna
  • Moved on to entrepreneurial things

SILVERMAN:  Current family

GRAHAM:

• Married to Ginger – best decision I ever made
• Children:
  • John in Illinois
  • Ferrier
  • firefighter
  • Jaime in Jackson hole
  • Kaley –Cheyenne
  • 2 grandkids
  • 2 of my kids were born in MN
• Moved back to bay area in 1982
  • For 15 years – insurance
  • Menlo park upbringing for kids
    • All three kids went to the University of Wyoming – youngest graduated from CSU
    • Other two kids are getting remedial instruction to hopefully one day achieve the goal of basic reading and writing

SILVERMAN:  You played QB for CSU

GRAHAM:

• [talks about memories from his football career – specifically Florida State gamE
• Doug Gearhardt – offensive coordinatoR
• West coast offense
• We led the nation in passing and total offense

SILVERMAN:  Class of ’75 – I really liked you as a player – then you went to NFL

GRAHAM:

• Drafted by the Dolphins
• Bounced around the league
  • Buffalo
  • Miami
  • Et al
• Tough time in the NFL – the WFL had just failed and NFL were licking their financial wounds
  • It was hard to find a spot on the roster
  • I got cut 4 times – hard life experience

SILVERMAN:  How did you get to be athletic director at CSU

GRAHAM:

• After 30 years in business – invaluable experience
• It’s a business [atletic director at a state university]
  • Accountable to top line
  • Selling tickets
  • Raising money
  • Taking care of student athletes
  • I loved that job
  • We hired 90 coaches while I was there
    • Successful teams
    • Most gratifying – changing the culture – [later, Graham says he’d like to bring the same changes to candidates]
      • Insisting that student athletes
        • People of character –Represent the university well
        • They had to win – be competitive, give it their all, produce results
        • Be great students – academics
    • We were the biggest winning sports program

SILVERMAN:  Why did they let you go
GRAHAM:

• It was a surprise to me…
• My boss Tony Frank didn’t see eye to eye on a few things
• He appreciated my work – acknowledged our accomplishments, but he gets to pick his team

SILVERMAN:  Was any of that a politically influenced decision
GRAHAM:

• We don’t go into partisan politics – that’s a third rail in State university system
• But yes, politics within any organization
• The dynamics, the bureaucracies  are very difficult to work with
• Collaboration is your goal, but very difficult – silos

SILVERMAN:  Where do you stand in the political spectrum
GRAHAM:

• Well, I ain’t Bernie Sanders, I’ll tell you that
• I don’t like boxes… every policy deserves a separate response
• National security, balancing budget, — I’m fiscally conservative, balanced thoughtful
• I’m insistent that we do it right, responsibly and deliver results
• BALANCE the BUDGET – jobs!!!!!

SILVERMAN:  Policy by policy – let’s talk about it.

[commercial break]

SILVERMAN:  ESPN or news channels?
GRAHAM:

• Up until 6 months ago I watched ESPN
• Today – I watch Fox CNN and MSNBC

SILVERMAN:  What about talk radio?
GRAHAM:

• KNUS doesn’t reach to Ft Collins

SILVERMAN:  Download the app – you can stream –

GRAHAM:

• I’m downloading it right now as we speak
• I humbly apologize

SILVERMAN:  What blogs or newspapers?
GRAHAM:

• Wall Street Journal
  • Editorial page – Brett Stevens
  • Paul Gigio
  • Multiple sources of news is important
    • Washington Post
    • LA times
    • I read anything that comes along

SILVERMAN:  Stevens said Trump is anti-Semitic – he conceded that he had said it wrong – we had an interesting email exchange

GRAHAM:

• I’m glad you did take him on… his analogy of Trump with mousillini was a stretch

SILVERMAN:  How do you feel about the Donald
GRAHAM:

• We’ve been in lots of forums and informal debates
• They ask me:  Will I support him if he is the nominee
  • Given short opportunities to respond
  • I’ll support whoever it is
    • In the landscape of HRC and Sanders
      • Her ethics are beyond belief
        • State department emails
        • Clinton Foundation conflict of interest

SILVERMAN:  Have you read Clinton Cash – documents the CGI conflicts of interest –

SILVERMAN:  Who is your guy for President?

GRAHAM:

• I’ll support and work hard for whomever
• Trump – I couldn’t be more supportive of “making America great again”
  • But he doesn’t come close to representing me
  • I expect a representation as people of character
  • Dignity
  • Class
  • Representation of all americans
    • Rubio doesn’t do that either  —
  • I want trump to make America great again AND be a person of character
    • I’ll coach him up
    • And I’ll tell him… I expect more of you

SILVERMAN:  The riots in St. Louis and Chicago

GRAHAM:

• We can’t allow people blocking Trump’s right to free speech
• Pundits say he’s polarizing  — as we see in Sanders/trump popularity it polls
  • I say that Obama polarized us
  • He’s created the Haves and the Have nots
  • The pro-business and the hate business
  • Not fair to pin the polarization on Trump
• So important that we win this election

SILVERMAN:  Lighting round:

SILVERMAN:  Favorite CO politicians – current or former

GRAHAM:

• Ken Buck
• Mike Coffman

SILVERMAN:  Amendment 64 – legalizing recreational marijuana

GRAHAM:

• Um, I’m sorry, give me some insight…
• I’m very very concerned about it
• CO= standing out like sore thumb
  • Adding vagrants
  • Higher crime issues
  • Mj is not a consequence free drug
  • I recognize the national movement, grassroots movement to legalize
  • I just don’t like CO sticking out the way it is sticking out.

SILVERMAN:  Would you repeal 64 –

GRAHAM:

• You have to respect the will of the people
• At the same time, the people of CO need to take a look at repealing it
• I’m not going to stand in the way
• Not a senatorial issue

SILVERMAN:  Pro-choice or pro-life

GRAHAM:

• I say I’m both – I mean that in all sincerity
  • The sanctity of life is essential to me and my family
  • At the same time, I don’t feel entitled to impose my will on other people
  • I think women have the right to manage their lives and healthcare
  • Republican is the Party of:
    • Individual freedoms and liberties
    • Government doesn’t belong in our lives
    • And that extends to this issue

• And I think there are some practical limitations around this
• We have to defund the Gov’s participation in:
  •  funding abortion
  • Counseling
  • Even morning after pills
  • (in the context of Planned parenthood, obviously)
  • We need to restrict late-term abortions—very practical and sound limitations needed

SILVERMAN:  But in first trimester – you support a woman’s right to choose?
GRAHAM:

• I do

SILVERMAN:  Guns – are you a gun owner?  What do you think about CO’s gun safety laws of 2013
GRAHAM:

• I believe in the 2^nd amendment – I’m a staunch advocate
• 2^nd amendment is fundamental to us as Americans  —  constitutional
• It should be as unimpeded as it can possibly be
• I am a gun owner
  • I have 6 rifles
  • We have a horse farm and ranch
  • The need for those weapons is an important part of running this place
  • CO gun laws
    • Unnecessary overreach

SILVERMAN:  What do feel about Muslims and Islam?

GRAHAM:

• You know
• 1.6 billion muslims in the world – the largest
  • 75% are peace loving
  • 15-25% have been radicalized
    • They do awful horrible things
    • They are the radical Islamic terrorist, between:
      • Boots on the ground
      • And supporters
• Freedom of religion is fundamental to being American – I’m not talking about exercising religious choices
  • But the radical Islamist terrorists are not exercising religious choices when they behave that way
  • We have to defeat radical Islkam

SILVERMAN:  Are you a religious person

GRAHAM:

• Very
• Profoundly

SILVERMAN:  What religion

GRAHAM:

• I was raised Episcopalian
• My wife is Church of Christ
• We’ve melded those two views together
• We’re …. We’re…. we’re… we’re very devout Christians
• And we seek to do the will of God every time we have a decision to make
• Religion is a very important part of our lives, it is the center of our lives

SILVERMAN:  Will you self-fund

GRAHAM:

• I’m not self-funding
• I did deposit $1M into my campaign when we launched
  • That’s not enough
  • We’re raising more money
    • Looking for small donors,– small individual donations

SILVERMAN:  I saw the donation button on your website  — but it’s interesting you put up $1M of you own money – that’s serious money in my world.

SILVERMAN:  What do you think of the Iran Nuclear Deal?

GRAHAM:

• That was the tipping point – that’s what got me into this race
• In Dec 2014, I was asked to consider running,
  • By the time the deal was proposed (summer 2015)
  • And it was approached as “a deal at any cost”
  • And it passed Congress with Bennet’s support – that’s when I decided to get involved
  • Disastrous agreement that will have long term effects for us
    • $100-150 B released back to Iran
    • They’re buying weapons from Russia ($10b)
    • I’ve heard they’re funneling money into N. Korea – for their nuke program.

SILVERMAN:  Funneling money into Hamas
SILVERMAN:  I’m with you….
SILVERMAN:  I’m dedicated to defeating Bennet because of his vote on the Iran Nuke Deal
SILVERMAN:  Thanks and hope to see you soon.