EDITORIAL
I have to say, I’m pretty impressed by August Pfluger. If he didn’t have to spend so much time being Donald Trump’s best friend in Congress, he might be an outstanding and effective congressman for Texas’ 11th District. Which, as always, remains underpaid and underloved.
August Pfluger is a great fundraiser (over 12 million dollars raised since 2020, with a lot of that going to other less pfortunate Republican campaigns) and a pretty effective campaigner.
He is well spoken, handsome (his face is relatively pleasing when compared to most other congressmen) and he has a nice smile. When you shake his hand, it is a firm and genuine grasp – not too firm though – and his hands are not too soft.
He stands tall above most people in the room, and stands tall on stage. He speaks with a firm conviction that is convincing in the moment.
It’s just that when you actually listen to what he’s saying, that’s when the problems emerge.
Indeed, what impresses me most about August Pfluger is how much media training he has recieved in the last six years. He has truly earned his doctorate in spin.
Dodging Questions
Going into any debate, the incumbent will have a natural disadvantage; as they have been in power, and therefore have a track record that they can be judged by.
The opposition, in this case Claire Reynolds, has an advantage. She can talk about what she wants to do, but Pfluger has to defend what he has done. Therefore, the opposition can play “Monday morning quarterback” and discuss what she would have done in his position. Already we see that Pfluger must arrive to any debate somewhat on the defensive.
That tact is pretty much the approach that he took in most of his answers. Allow me to print an example from the debate, this was the first question of the night:
Question from Debate
Moderator: Since we’re here in the middle of the oil country, we’re going to start with a question on that topic. During his most recent campaign and often since, the president has repeated the slogan “Drill, baby, drill.” But since his election, he and members of his cabinets have advocated driving the price of a barrel of oil to $50 or below. Many in the oil industry say that is a below break-even price.
Do you believe the federal government should take action to drive down the price of oil to $50 or below?
Rep. Pfluger: As I mentioned in my opening statement, I’m the champion of the Permian Basin. I’ve passed many pieces of legislation to defend the oil and gas industry. Because this is the heartbeat of our economy. We are sitting at the epicenter of the most important production area, the most important oil and gas area in the entire world, not just in the state of Texas or in the United States.
And a free market is so important here; but let’s rewind the clock just a couple of years ago when the Permian Basin was the target, the bullseye of the Biden administration, when they tried to overregulate this place out of business, where candidate Biden in 2019 said I am going to end fossil fuels and he meant it and I took that personally.
We should always unleash American energy. This makes our military stronger. This makes our country stronger and our economy is the most important thing that we have.
So when it comes to making sure that in Congress we can do the right thing, I have worked tirelessly to deregulate a disastrous approach from the Biden administration who banned LNG exports, who did things to put the Permian Basin out of business, and I have fought for the Permian Basin and will continue to do so.
Did you notice something?
Ah, yes, you see. Mr. Pfluger failed to answer the simply crafted question that was laid in front of him: should the Federal government take action to drive the price of oil down?
He should know the answer to that question, the answer is: NO – and everyone in West Texas knows that that price is below the break even point.
But you see, that answer would require doing something that August Pfluger is not really comfortable doing; that is disagreeing publicly with Donald Trump.
Disagreeing with Donald Trump is the one thing he can’t do, and he knows it. Any time he is approached by the question “do you agree with the president” we see Pfluger fall back on his programming solutions. I have made the following org chart to explain the reasoning.
Donald Trump Wasn’t In The Room
Despite the President being at home in D.C. during the debate, his presence was felt in the room; and in the composition of the moderators questions. Almost every question posed by the moderators in Midland was essentially asking the candidates how they felt about the decisions made by the President over the last many months.
Claire Reynolds, as one might imagine, disagreed with Donald Trump and her opponent on pretty much everything.
August Pfluger found ways to make Donald Trump’s policies actually sound almost intelligent. I was surprised listening to him, as it seemed that he understood the president’s policies better than the president does.
Joe Biden, Mastermind of America’s Destruction
During the debate in Midland, not only did he successfully avoid answering almost any question posed to him by the moderators directly; he instead reverted back to his programming, and found a way in ten seconds or less to make every problem caused by President Donald Trump actually the fault of former president Joe Biden.
Joe Biden, who during his administration was simultaneously suffering from dementia (no arguments from me on that point, I grew up with a grandmother that had dementia and I know the signs quite well) – and the greatest mastermind of Democratic politics ever.
In fact, he was such a scheming mastermind of America’s destruction, he dropped out due to party pressure and forced his Vice President to run an entire presidential campaign in 120 days.
It reminds me of that old SNL sketch: “Ronald Reagan, Mastermind” where the late Phil Hartman played President Ronald Reagan as the gregarious and suave Hollywood actor who behind the scenes is running covert drug smuggling operations to fund death squads in Central America.
A Very Important District
To get back to the matter at hand, August Pfluger, I must say as an observer of his entire political career that I am wholly impressed by what he has achieved.
As chair of the House Republican Study Committee, with a prominent seat on the Energy and Commerce committee; and as an absolute superstar fundraiser, Pfluger is well on his way to being one of the more important congressman to ever represent this part of the world.
Texas’ 11th Congressional District, though we all tend to be self depricating in our overall national importance, is actually one of the most important congressional districts in the nation. We are a district made up of small, regional cities.
But within the district, around the small regional cities, lies the single most productive oil field in the world. I was reminded of that as I drove up State Highway 158 towards Midland.
After Garden City, whose calm streets and groves are always a respite to the weary traveler, you descend into an ancient sea bed whose depths hold trillions of dollars in a frozen, geologic state.
Beginning about twenty miles out from Midland, the trash starts. And the rest of the highway leading into downtown Midland resembles a slum outside of Calcutta, in terms of the immense amounts of trash and debris which litter the roadway.
I watched a homeless man walking down the road, several in fact, along the split open tires and the Kimray valve packagings that were littered up and down the road. The chip bags and the styrofoam cups.
I thought to myself: “If you told me this location was one of the largest centers of wealth extraction in the nation, I wouldn’t believe you.”
But then I remembered the old classic rule of British Imperialism – you must keep the parts of the empire that extracts wealth absolutely dirt poor.
You have to keep them poor, or they might start to get unprofitable notions in their head – like the fact that one of the largest oil fields on Earth is lacking a Level 2 Trauma Center within 150 miles of it.
Or the fact that despite the immense wealth being pulled out of the ground each day, hometown operations like Basin PBS itself are perpetually on the verge of collapsing due to having their federal funding pulled.
Funding that August Pfluger himself voted to pull.
This is why the entry into the Permian Basin is more reminiscent of the road into Kandohar, or Bangladesh, than a normal Texas city. The “Keep Texas Beautiful Partner” sign on the first highway intersection into the city is just the cherry on the proverbial sundae.
The Spin
Pfluger has been a congressman for nearly 6 years now, and in that time he has only improved his skills in communication.
While other national republicans get flustered from the obvious shame of being best friends with Donald Trump, Pfluger does not pfalter.
August Pfluger’s friends tell me he is a good old boy. But after six years in congress he’s also something else: a seasoned and skilled politician. And like all politicians, he answers questions from both sides of his mouth.
He knows what crowd he’s talking to, and he knows how to answer a question in a way that will allow him to use all of his time.
Allow me now to do an impersonation of the way August Pfluger answers questions.
“Yes, thank you, first for that question. That is such a good question. That is such an important question. That question might be the most important question of them all. I am going to answer your question now! Here it comes, my answer. You’re probably waiting for it. It’s actually all Joe Biden’s fault. And when we get him out of office…(time expired).”
Watch the debate on Basin PBS, and decide for yourself.
