Midterm Priorities: Jim Pfaff on The Russ Clark Show | Sep 2, 2026
Published: September 2, 2026
Network: The Russ Clark Show
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff
On The Russ Clark Show (September 2, 2026), Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff sat for a long-form midterm priorities interview — Texas Senate and Ken Paxton, John Thune’s Save America Act equivocation, red-flag due process, the DSA lane inside the Democrat Party, and the Dallas midterm convention as the test of whether 2024 energy can be rebuilt before November.
Topics Covered
- Ken Paxton, the NRSC, and Thune’s Cornyn Hangover
- Red Flag Laws vs. Due Process
- DSA, National Feeling, and Tools to Win
- Thune’s 60-Vote Lie and December Spending Games
- Dallas: Rebuild the 2024 Coalition
- Key Takeaways
Ken Paxton, the NRSC, and Thune’s Cornyn Hangover
Clark opened on Texas: will Ken Paxton win the Senate seat? Pfaff said yes — unless the National Republican Senatorial Committee gets its wish and lets him die on the vine. He read NRSC money excuses as standard equivocation for being angry that Paxton beat John Cornyn, and put John Thune in the same McConnell-style box: stay low, avoid controversy, treat Paxton as too much trouble while soft-pedaling fights like the Save America Act.
“Unless, as is their desire, the National Republican Senatorial Committee allows him to die on the vine — I mean, if they get their hope, I should say.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
“What he’s saying — this is a standard equivocation — what he’s actually saying is, no, we’re pissed off that Ken Paxton beat John Cornyn in the primary.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
Pfaff separated personal loyalty fights from the strategic point: primary voters chose Paxton, and committee slow-walking is how institutional Republicans protect a stay-low theory of the majority. Related Senate-map coverage: November Senate and House targets.
Red Flag Laws vs. Due Process
The conversation turned to national red-flag proposals Pfaff said Paxton had pushed against, drawing on Pfaff’s Colorado House staff experience. A red-flag process, as he described it, lets someone who feels threatened go to court and have another person’s firearms taken — often before the gun owner knows. He agreed the underlying safety problem is real and still rejected the mechanism as an end-run around due process already written into the Bill of Rights.
“Who needs due process? By the way, yes, you’re right, there is a process we have. It’s what’s called due process.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
Process Before Panic
Pfaff’s standard: deal with threats through existing due-process tools — do not invent a political shortcut that seizes guns first and notifies later.
He tied the cultural logic to post–Charlie Kirk discourse: disagreement is not violence, feeling annoyed is not proof of harm, and flipping that ethic legitimizes evil behavior. Continuity with Caucus Kirk coverage lives in the August archive posts on rhetoric and violence.
DSA, National Feeling, and Tools to Win
On the Democrat Socialist lane and James Carville-style intra-party fights, Pfaff warned against assuming a Democrat civil war automatically delivers Republican wins. His bet: a solid majority of Americans still love the country — even people he disagrees with, from JFK-family patriotism to Bill Maher — and that feeling can be tapped if Republicans make clear, actionable commitments the way Trump did in 2024.
“If Republicans are willing to tap into that, and speak to it and make clear actionable commitments to it, then they will have the result that Donald Trump had in 2024.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
His worry was not abstract electability. The tools to win in November exist. The concern is what Republicans actually do with power — campaigning without governing fights that voters can feel. See also Gen Z socialism and holding Congress and DSA rise inside the Democrat Party.
Thune’s 60-Vote Lie and December Spending Games
Pfaff returned to a charge he has made across the week’s shows: John Thune (and Mike Johnson in parallel messaging) keep saying you need 60 votes to do anything in the Senate. Pfaff calls that a lie. Cloture can shorten debate; majority votes still pass bills. Choosing not to grind out extended debate is a leadership preference, not a carved rule.
“Actually, it’s still a majority vote that passes things in the Senate. It’s a supermajority vote to work to shorten your work to get to that vote. That’s a lie that he is saying.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
He also flagged December spending timing — locking decisions with the outgoing cast before a new Congress seats on January 3 — and a large bipartisan CR-style vote he read as political cover rather than courage. For the Save America Act procedural fight in the same week, see Save America Act, Iran, and Canada.
Dallas: Rebuild the 2024 Coalition
Late in the hour Pfaff brought it back to the midterm convention. The question is whether Republicans can coalesce 2024 energy again. The Caucus bought a suite, will spend heavily on media, and will be on site to find out. He also mapped Hasan Piker / DSA-adjacent media as central to Democrat energy — not a sideshow — and said violent revolutionary rhetoric in that lane is a death-cult pattern the party keeps incubating.
“The question is, are we going to be able to coalesce it back together the way it was in 2024? And we’re going to find that out next week, and we’re going to be there.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
Priorities Stack
Pfaff’s Russ Clark stack for September: stop sandbagging Paxton, reject red-flag shortcuts, force real Senate fights instead of 60-vote mythology, and use Dallas to reassemble a winning coalition — not a polite retreat.
That is the same crescendo-not-finish-line argument running through Lindell TV’s Dallas hour and McKenna on GOP turnout.
Key Takeaways
- Paxton wins unless the committee sandbags him – Pfaff reads NRSC/Thune hesitation as Cornyn hangover, not math.
- Red-flag shortcuts fail due process – Safety problems are real; Bill of Rights process is the lawful tool.
- DSA disgust is usable — if Republicans govern – National feeling still exists; actionable commitments beat vibes.
- 60 votes is a leadership story – Majority passage remains the rule; cloture is optional shortening.
- Dallas is the coalition test – Caucus suite and media are there to see whether 2024 energy returns before November.
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The Conservative Caucus is a grassroots public policy action organization, formed in 1974. Headed by President Jim Pfaff, the Caucus is committed to advancing free enterprise, limited government, and traditional values.
Originally broadcast Sep 2, 2026 on The Russ Clark Show.
Peter J. Thomas is a veteran conservative political strategist and seasoned policy expert dedicated to upholding the principles of the Constitution and democracy. As a founder and the chairman of the Conservative Caucus, he has played a pivotal role in promoting and shaping the conservative agenda across the nation for over half a century.