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Inside the thinking of a rich Republican donor
I listen to podcasts. One I enjoy is This American Life. I listened to one last night that was an interesting reveal on how a rich Texas Republican ended up contributing almost $1 million to the Trump campaign.
You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript. It's in 3 Acts. The 1st Act is the one I'm posting about. Act 1 starts at about 4:46 in the podcast.
Click on "listen to the audio" in the introduction to the transcript.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/591/transcript
Click on the play button, the the arrow on the left.
Here's the beginning of the transcript for Act 1.
Act One, The Final Countdown.
Zoe Chace
OK, so for the past six months, I've been covering the presidential election. I've been particularly interested in this group of people who are trying to get the biggest bang for their buck out of this election season-- Republican donors, people who are in a rare position to put enormous sums into campaigns and watch what the money can do, people like this.
Zoe Chace
So are you a billionaire?
Doug Deason
No I'm not. My father is.
Zoe Chace
This is Doug Deason. He's a millionaire. His dad Darwin Deason is the billionaire. Years ago his dad started a computer services company and made a ton of money in the years since, rolling up and selling off companies, just money making money. Five years ago he sold it to Xerox.
Now Doug, the son, manages their money and their political strategy. Doug is the one in charge of translating money into political power. He doesn't think of himself as a donor, exactly. There's much more thought and strategy than just throwing money at a campaign. He's more like an investor. He's looking around for the best place to put their money, the best Republican place.
Doug is a dedicated Republican, the kind who does not miss an opportunity to insult Democrats in any context. Take our first conversation. We're talking about his daily routine. He's 54. He's trim. He sees his trainer a few times a week. He just had a protein shake for breakfast. Same as every morning.
Zoe Chace
Every morning?
Doug Deason
Every morning.
Zoe Chace
I feel like this is like a common thread. Some of the other donors I talked to, they're always running off to meet with their trainer or whatever and eating almond milk and blueberries for breakfast.
Doug Deason
You're talking about Republicans who are winners and know how to run their lives, not Democrats who are losers and don't know how to run their life and want the government to give them a food pyramid to tell them how to eat, right?
Zoe Chace
How did you know?
I started talking to Doug at the beginning of the primaries, back in February.
More>>>>>>>
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/591/transcript
Zoe Chace
OK, so for the past six months, I've been covering the presidential election. I've been particularly interested in this group of people who are trying to get the biggest bang for their buck out of this election season-- Republican donors, people who are in a rare position to put enormous sums into campaigns and watch what the money can do, people like this.
Zoe Chace
So are you a billionaire?
Doug Deason
No I'm not. My father is.
Zoe Chace
This is Doug Deason. He's a millionaire. His dad Darwin Deason is the billionaire. Years ago his dad started a computer services company and made a ton of money in the years since, rolling up and selling off companies, just money making money. Five years ago he sold it to Xerox.
Now Doug, the son, manages their money and their political strategy. Doug is the one in charge of translating money into political power. He doesn't think of himself as a donor, exactly. There's much more thought and strategy than just throwing money at a campaign. He's more like an investor. He's looking around for the best place to put their money, the best Republican place.
Doug is a dedicated Republican, the kind who does not miss an opportunity to insult Democrats in any context. Take our first conversation. We're talking about his daily routine. He's 54. He's trim. He sees his trainer a few times a week. He just had a protein shake for breakfast. Same as every morning.
Zoe Chace
Every morning?
Doug Deason
Every morning.
Zoe Chace
I feel like this is like a common thread. Some of the other donors I talked to, they're always running off to meet with their trainer or whatever and eating almond milk and blueberries for breakfast.
Doug Deason
You're talking about Republicans who are winners and know how to run their lives, not Democrats who are losers and don't know how to run their life and want the government to give them a food pyramid to tell them how to eat, right?
Zoe Chace
How did you know?
I started talking to Doug at the beginning of the primaries, back in February.
More>>>>>>>
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/591/transcript
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