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Democrats Are Not an American Party: Jim Pfaff on On Second Thought | Oct 30, 2026

Published: October 30, 2026
Network: WHKY 1290 AM / 102.3 FM Hickory
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff

Chuck Boozer opened with midterms a couple of days away and asked Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff for an update. Pfaff said the Caucus has been around since 1974. He called it the nation’s oldest conservative grassroots organization. In a week like this, he said, it helps people get information on candidates and the decisions in front of them.

He then set gas prices and the Iran war below a larger claim. Leaving Democrats any power, he said, brings “a world of hurt,” because “they’re not even an American party anymore.”

Topics Covered

• A Caucus Update With Midterms Days Away
• Gas, the Iran War, and Constitutional Order
• Mary Peltola and a Second Dan Sullivan
• Socialist Ideals, the Pump, and We the People
• Whatley, Roy Cooper, and Western North Carolina
• The 2010 Class, Boehner, and Federalist 51
• No Shortcuts, Christian Turnout, and the People as King
• Pray for Good Outcomes

A Caucus Update With Midterms Days Away

Boozer brought on the president of the Conservative Caucus, based in Fairfax, Virginia, and asked him to catch listeners up before the details. Pfaff answered with the organization’s age and its job in a week like this.

The Caucus has been around since 1974. He called it the nation’s oldest conservative grassroots organization. It works at the grassroots, he said, and at times like this week it gets involved in races so people can get information about candidates and the decisions they can make.

Gas, the Iran War, and Constitutional Order

Pfaff said one of the biggest things the Caucus is talking about this year is anger. For most people, he said, that anger is about gas. For some, it is the Iran war. He put both below what he says Democrats are doing.

they’re literally trying to take us out of our constitutional order.

He said they are trying to take away the ability to communicate and free speech rights. He said they want to limit the long-term ability to fill a car at decent prices. People may be upset about the effects of the Iran war on that, he said, but “Joe Biden tried to shut down oil, the oil industry in this country.”

Regulation, and “telling you you’ve gotta take a vaccine that’s experimental,” are things he said Democrats stand for. His ask was to elect Republicans and keep a Republican Congress that can help Donald Trump continue work Pfaff called good.

Mary Peltola and a Second Dan Sullivan

The talk turned to rule-manipulation and the Mary Peltola matter in Alaska. Pfaff said a second Dan Sullivan was put on the ticket to confuse people about the sitting Republican, Senator Dan Sullivan.

He spoke to conservatives and Republican voters worried about voting discrepancies and mail voting. They need to recognize, he said, that Democrats do these things because they cannot convince the American people on their policies.

Socialist Ideals, the Pump, and We the People

Pfaff said Democrats promote socialist and communist ideals that fail everywhere they have been tried. Economic freedom and personal liberty work, he said. That is why he called America the strongest economy in the world, a place for innovation, jobs, and starting a company.

Republicans still have to be reminded to stand with those principles, he said. When they have power, he said, they generally do. “Donald Trump has proven that there is a formula where you can make these things work.”

He said he sympathizes with people who hit the gas pump once or twice a week and hate the price. He still said the economy is booming, and that opportunity grows when Trump reduces regulation and focuses on what will work.

Democrats, he said, look for ways to take more money and direct how people live. Letting people run businesses and support their families is the American story. The country is we the people, the opening of the Constitution, and he said that line is more than an introduction.

Whatley, Roy Cooper, and Western North Carolina

After the break, Boozer turned to the North Carolina Senate race and Roy Cooper. Pfaff called it one of the biggest frustrations in Republican politics: finding a candidate who is not built into a Washington system he called corrupt at every level.

He said he worked 8 years on Capitol Hill as chief of staff for 2 different congressmen. “I always say it scares me who we elect to Congress,” he said, and he meant both sides of the aisle.

The current nominee, he said, has particularly frustrated people in Western North Carolina who did not sense that Michael Whatley would be for them. Pfaff said he has not seen a serious, honest effort in the campaign to bring those voters back. Whatley ran the Republican National Committee while he was state party chairman, Pfaff said, and there were kerfuffles with conservative activists.

“That said, as bad as one might think Michael Whatley is, Roy Cooper is 10x worse.” Pfaff said Cooper abandoned people in Western North Carolina when the hurricane came through, claimed he was working hard, and did nothing. He said the Biden administration refused to help Trump voters and focused effort away from anyone with a Trump sign in the yard.

Trump later came in and did good things that Western North Carolina appreciated, Pfaff said. Voters should still vote Republican, he said, because “the Democrat Party’s not an American party.” He said the party is standing with Democrat socialists and Islamofascists. Take the win now, he said, and use a future primary to get the people you want. That, he said, is how American politics works.

The 2010 Class, Boehner, and Federalist 51

Politics is tough and does not always give the desired result, he said, so take the better result now to get a better one later. Once a candidate is in, track record often cannot remove them. He is not convinced everyone starts corrupt. He said even people you think are good get corrupted in office.

He first worked on Capitol Hill after the 2010 elections, when 63 or 64 new Republican congressmen arrived. Within about a year, he said, only about 25 were still what he called American patriot heroes, and they formed the House Freedom Caucus. He said he sat in clandestine meetings of those 25, trying to advance something good with John Boehner being so bad.

After 30-plus years in politics, he tells people, “this politics thing would be easy if we didn’t have to deal with people.”

The Constitution exists, he said, because mankind is flawed, a fallen race that typically does bad. He pointed to 6,000 years of recorded history. Madison, he said, talked about this in Federalist 51: “If men were angels, we would have no need for government.” The system limits the problems if people stick with it, he said, and it takes courage. He pointed to Trump coming out of nowhere and transforming problems Trump had spoken against for decades.

No Shortcuts, Christian Turnout, and the People as King

Pfaff agreed that even reliable people can be seduced by shortcuts, and that shortcuts are forbidden. Voters, he said, can threaten representatives with losing an election unless they follow what the voters say.

He said maybe only 20 or 25 percent of evangelical Christians and people of other Christian faiths will actually go to the polls in this election. Changing that problem alone, he said, would radically transform the country.

Complaining is not enough. People have to vote, and vote consistently. The country is founded on popular sovereignty. “The people are king,” he said. They are the sovereign, but they have to assert it at the polls. Some, he said, have to stay involved in a messy system and endure messy people.

Pray for Good Outcomes

Pfaff closed by asking everyone to pray for good outcomes this election. To see how the Caucus is doing the work, he pointed listeners to theconservativecaucus.com.

Key Takeaways

• Not an American party: Pfaff said Democrats are trying to take the country out of its constitutional order and are not an American party anymore.
• Gas and a Republican Congress: He set pump-price anger and the Iran war below that claim, said Joe Biden tried to shut down the oil industry, and urged voters to keep a Republican Congress behind Trump.
• Alaska: He said a second Dan Sullivan was put on the Alaska ticket to confuse voters about Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
• North Carolina: Whatley has frustrated Western North Carolina, Pfaff said, but Roy Cooper is 10x worse.
• The 2010 class: Of 63 or 64 new Republican congressmen that year, he said about 25 remained the core that formed the House Freedom Caucus.
• The people are king: He said maybe only 20 or 25 percent of Christians will vote, and that popular sovereignty has to be asserted at the polls.

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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 Oct 30, 2026 on On Second Thought with Chuck Boozer.