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🔥 CPAC 2024: TCC’s Jim Pfaff Interview with @Lawyerdana on Grassroots Strategy & 2026 Elections

Published: March 04, 2025
Network: The Conservative Caucus
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff

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The victory in 2024 was just the beginning, warns Jim Pfaff, President of The Conservative Caucus, America’s oldest grassroots conservative organization. In a revealing interview at CPAC 2024, Pfaff outlined why conservatives have only 23 months to accomplish their agenda before the critical 2026 congressional elections—and why the type of candidates they recruit will determine whether they hold or lose ground. His insights on what makes effective legislators versus political performers offer a blueprint for conservative activists nationwide.

Topics Covered

• The Conservative Caucus: America’s Oldest Grassroots Conservative Organization
• The 2026 Election Urgency: Why Conservatives Can’t Rest
• The Trump Effect: Why Accomplishment Matters More Than Rhetoric
• The Candidate Selection Problem: Who Actually Delivers?
• The Corruption Dynamic: Why Wealth Matters in Politics
• Key Takeaways

The Conservative Caucus: America’s Oldest Grassroots Conservative Organization

Founded in 1974 by Howard Phillips, one of the architects of the post-Goldwater conservative movement, The Conservative Caucus has evolved from its origins into a sophisticated national operation. As Pfaff explained, the grassroots conservative organization is building a network “congressional district by congressional district” with the explicit goal of recruiting and supporting candidates who will actually follow through on their promises.

The organization conducted extensive independent expenditure work supporting President Trump in the 2024 election and is already preparing for an even larger effort in 2026. But Pfaff’s vision extends beyond campaign support—it’s about fundamentally changing the type of person who runs for and wins congressional seats.

The 2026 Election Urgency: Why Conservatives Can’t Rest

Pfaff delivered a sobering warning to conservatives celebrating the 2024 victory: the war is far from won. With congressional elections looming in 2026, the conservative movement faces a critical timeline challenge.

“It’s great that Trump has won but this is just the beginning and we can’t think that the war is won because otherwise what’s going to happen is the pendulum will swing because the Democrats are now real motivated and we’ll lose all the ground and press that we’ve got.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

The mathematics are stark: if conservatives lose ground in the 2026 midterms, President Trump will have only 23 months to implement his agenda. This compressed timeline makes the quality of congressional candidates elected in 2026 absolutely critical. A Congress filled with performative politicians rather than genuine reformers could stall the entire conservative agenda, regardless of who occupies the White House.

Pfaff’s experience as Chief of Staff to Congressmen Thomas Massie and Tim Huelskamp gave him an insider’s view of how Congress actually functions—and dysfunctions. His assessment is blunt: most members of Congress are more concerned with how they’re perceived than what they actually accomplish.

The Trump Effect: Why Accomplishment Matters More Than Rhetoric

One of Pfaff’s most striking observations concerns why so many establishment Republicans developed “Trump derangement syndrome.” The reason, he argues, isn’t primarily ideological—it’s that Trump exposed their ineffectiveness by actually getting things done.

“One of the reasons that so many Republican Trump derangement syndrome people became that way it’s not just because of some of the issues it’s because he’s effective it’s because he actually expects things to be done… He judges people by the accomplishment that they have. This is an essentially American ideal that politicians in Washington DC rarely exhibit.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

This focus on results over rhetoric represents a fundamental shift in Republican politics. For decades, conservative voters rewarded politicians who said the right things on cable news, even if those same politicians accomplished nothing in Congress. Trump changed the calculus by demonstrating that voters would reward actual policy victories—and punish those who merely talked a good game.

Pfaff warns grassroots activists to be skeptical of politicians who excel at media appearances but lack a track record of tangible accomplishments. “Your favorite person you’re watching on whatever national network that you’re like rah rah rah yeah that’s an amazing thing that they just said… nine times out of 10 that ain’t really they are they’re just telling you that because they want to be reelected,” he explained.

The Candidate Selection Problem: Who Actually Delivers?

Drawing on his Capitol Hill experience, Pfaff offered specific guidance on what types of candidates tend to succeed versus disappoint. His analysis challenges conventional wisdom about who makes effective legislators.

The Best Candidates: State Legislators and Entrepreneurs

The highest-quality congressional candidates, according to Pfaff, come from two backgrounds:

State Legislators with Conservative Records: Politicians who have already demonstrated their willingness to fight for conservative principles at the state level are most likely to continue that fight in Washington. Pfaff cited Jim Jordan as an exemplary case—a state legislator who brought his principled approach to Congress and maintained it despite enormous pressure.

Successful Entrepreneurs: Business builders who created companies from scratch and grew them to success understand how to accomplish goals, manage resources, and deliver results. Pfaff highlighted his former boss Thomas Massie, who built a successful technology company over 20 years before running for Congress, and Senator Ron Johnson as positive examples of this model.

The Disappointing Candidates: Pastors and Military Officers

In what may be his most controversial assessment, Pfaff identified two groups that consistently underperform in Congress: pastors and former military officers. His reasoning is nuanced and based on institutional incentives rather than individual character.

For military officers, the problem is that the very qualities that made them successful in uniform—following orders and working within command structures—make them ineffective at challenging the Washington establishment. “What was a good instinct in them when they were in the military follow orders follow directions does not work well in this town,” Pfaff explained. “You’ve got to be a maverick to be able to stop the crap that’s happening.”

The pastor problem is less clearly articulated in the interview, but Pfaff’s implication is that religious leaders often lack the combative instinct necessary to fight entrenched interests. The skills that make someone an effective spiritual shepherd don’t necessarily translate to the political battlefield.

Pfaff emphasized that his analysis is based on “batting averages” rather than absolutes—some pastors and military officers have been excellent legislators. But conservative voters and the grassroots conservative organization activists recruiting candidates should understand the statistical realities when evaluating potential candidates.

The Corruption Dynamic: Why Wealth Matters in Politics

Perhaps Pfaff’s most insightful analysis concerns the relationship between personal wealth and political corruption. His thesis challenges progressive assumptions about rich politicians while explaining why middle-class members of Congress so often become compromised.

The Financial Trap for Middle-Class Politicians

When someone in their 30s or 40s leaves a career to run for Congress, they sacrifice their peak earning years and career advancement. If they lose reelection, they must start over professionally, often with significant financial disadvantages. This creates what Pfaff calls “a corrupting influence.”

“One of the most corrupting influences is not so much that they were wealthy and they’re rigging the system for themselves it’s that they aren’t wealthy… if you’re in your 30s or 40s suddenly you better keep it or else you got to start literally from scratch again that’s a corrupting influence.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

This financial pressure creates two pathways to corruption for non-wealthy members of Congress:

Insider Trading: The Nancy Pelosi model, where members use non-public information to build wealth through stock trading. This practice, while technically legal in many forms, represents a clear abuse of position.

The Lobbying Pipeline: Members vote the “right way” to secure lucrative lobbying positions paying $300,000-400,000 annually after leaving office. This creates an obvious conflict of interest where current votes are cast with future employment in mind.

Why Wealthy Candidates May Be More Honest

Pfaff’s counterintuitive argument is that independently wealthy candidates may actually be more resistant to corruption because they don’t face the same financial pressures. His analysis of Donald Trump illustrates this dynamic.

Before Trump’s political career, Pfaff admits he had reservations about Trump’s business ethics, given the nature of New York City real estate development. However, Trump’s record has proven surprisingly clean: “What we have found out about this guy amazingly even me is that the guy’s pretty pristine in his approach to his business practices. I would judge his moral character in his entire career as a businessman as much higher than average for the type of work he does.”

More significantly, Trump has shown no signs of political corruption—he’s not enriching himself through office or positioning himself for post-political paydays. Nancy Pelosi, by contrast, entered politics without significant wealth and has become extraordinarily rich through her position.

The Golden Rule Theory of Wealth Creation

Pfaff offered a philosophical defense of entrepreneurs in politics based on how legitimate wealth is created. To become a billionaire through business, he argues, requires:

• Creating products or services people want to buy
• Maintaining high quality to retain customers
• Listening to customer feedback and continuously improving
• Treating employees well enough that they stay and contribute

“Even if you’re the greediest jerk in the world what is it that you ended up having to do at the end of the day even if you remain greedy you have to follow the Golden Rule,” Pfaff explained. “To become really wealthy you have to follow some form of goodness even if you’re faking it.”

This stands in stark contrast to political wealth accumulation, which typically involves taking value from the marketplace through privileged access to information, regulatory favoritism, or influence peddling.

Key Takeaways

1. The 2026 Urgency Is Real – Conservatives have approximately 23 months to accomplish their agenda if they lose congressional seats in 2026. The quality of candidates recruited now will determine whether the conservative movement maintains momentum or loses ground.
2. Accomplishment Trumps Rhetoric – The Trump presidency has shifted conservative politics from rewarding good talking points to demanding actual results. Grassroots conservative organization activists must apply this standard when evaluating and recruiting candidates.
3. State Legislators and Entrepreneurs Make Better Candidates – Politicians who have already demonstrated conservative principles at the state level, and business builders who have created value in the marketplace, statistically outperform other candidate types in Congress.
4. Military Officers and Pastors Have Lower Success Rates – While not universal, the institutional training that makes military officers and pastors effective in their original roles often works against them in the combative environment of congressional politics.
5. Financial Independence Reduces Corruption Risk – Wealthy candidates who don’t need the job for financial security are statistically less likely to engage in insider trading or vote with future lobbying jobs in mind. Middle-class politicians face corrupting financial pressures that compromise their independence.
6. Business Success Requires Ethical Behavior – Legitimate wealth creation through entrepreneurship requires following something approximating the Golden Rule—creating value, serving customers, and treating employees well. This experience translates better to public service than the value-extraction model of career politicians.
7. Congressional District-by-District Organization Is Key – The Conservative Caucus is building grassroots infrastructure at the congressional district level to identify, recruit, and support the right candidates. This granular approach is necessary to compete with established political machines.
8. The War Isn’t Won – Despite the 2024 victory, Democrats are highly motivated and will fight to regain ground in 2026. Conservatives who assume the battle is over will find themselves outworked and outmaneuvered by an energized opposition.

For conservatives looking to get involved in candidate recruitment and grassroots organizing for 2026, The Conservative Caucus offers resources and coordination at ConservativeCaucus.org. As Pfaff emphasized, the next two years will determine whether the conservative movement consolidates its gains or squanders its opportunity through poor candidate selection and grassroots complacency.

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About The Conservative Caucus:
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 March 04, 2025 on The Conservative Caucus.