Kind of a part of Republican politics, a big part of the log cabin Republicans before deciding to jump into what I think is probably one of the most challenging races in Colorado for a Republican the first congressional district against the firmly entrenched Diana to Get. But Valdemar Argiletta was either crazy, maybe he was a little drunk, I don't know.
But he's been doing it and.
He's been doing a great job representing conservative opinions and Republican values during this race.
And on the blog today at mandy'sblog dot.
Com, I embedded his candidate debate with Diana to Get from last weekend.
So, first of all, it's a big get.
She doesn't really necessarily pay attention to her opponents.
Yeah, I was.
I give her credit for being willing to do the debate because, you know, honestly in her on her side and with her strategy. Maybe it's not I don't know what she gained from it, but she still was willing to do it and go on Channel eight and have the conversation and do the debate, and.
It was very good.
But I want to ask you this, we kind of been chatting off the air. You know, I'm not breaking any news here that if you were to win the first it would be a shock across the country.
It really would, really would.
I'd be making international news with what happened here in Denver, and that would be amazing.
So why did you do it?
I mean, why did you jump into this race that is going to be damn near impossible.
Yeah, well, I had been asked to do it back in twenty two and I was like, hell, no, I'm not doing that.
That's crazy.
But it started a lot of conversations at that point, right people within the Republican community and the Denver community as to how this race and my campaign could be used as a platform to have conversations with different different demographics through the city, and just a platform to speak about conservative policies and issues and solutions in the city of Denver, because we don't really have a voice there most of the time, and it's I found that it's really missing.
I've gone to a lot.
Of town halls meetings that the city puts on, and typically I am the only Republican or Conservative in the entire room, and you know, the conversation happens and it's a very one sided conversation, and everything they talk about has kind of the same ideas, the same solutions, and I just feel like you can sense in the room there's something missing, and the people in Denver want to
hear something else. I was at one meeting and they were talking about immigration, and I let everyone say their thing. I think most of the things people were talking about, well, we need more money, we need more money, we need more government to deal with this. And one man raised his hand and he said, you know, I want to be a good Democrat. But then he really said nothing. But it was like he was afraid. He wanted to
say more, but he's afraid to say it. And that feeling was around the room, and so I eventually raised my hand and I stood up and I was like, you know, this is all you know good, you know you want to help people, but.
This is unsustainable.
We have to stop the inflow of immigration at the border. And again there was this air in the room that like, I'm glad somebody finally said that. They go everyone was thinking it, but they don't want to say it.
And so the conservative gosh, you know what I mean, Valdemar, that is one of those things that I think to myself in my lifetime, I'm fifty five years old. Do you have any idea how many biparson conversations have happened around legal immigration?
Right?
And for until.
Until ten years ago, the thought of encouraging more illegal immigration would it would have been completely appalling to anyone. The issue has been so politicized that now you have people who are rational, reasonable, thoughtful people who feel like they're too scared to say, up, hey, maybe we should do this the legal way, which is I'm sure what.
They were all thinking.
And if that's just an example, but there are so many issues like that. I was in Cheeseman Park and I had a table set up. I just put my table there and put my signs up, and I was sitting there talking to people and a guy came up to me in a white dudes for Harris Hat and you know, he really hates Trump and he was not going to support me because at the federal level he doesn't want Republicans and blah blah whatever. But then we were talking about local politics and he said, I agree
that Democrats have ruined our state and our city. I'm like, well, you don't see that at the national level. How this ties in? Why didn't say that. I'm like, you know what, this is good. I'm gonna stop the argument.
Let's just talk about that.
And I think he's going to vote for our House district Republican candidate in that area who also has a major uphill battle. But still he was like, I'm willing to look at Republicans at a local level.
Now this is but Faltimore, what you're doing right now? I know you're you're trying to win the race, because nobody wants to lose a race, but the attitude that you're taking of like, Okay, you know what, even if I don't win this race, I'm going to lay the groundwork to make it so Republicans can have a conversation with people because this has been a frustration of mine
for a really long time, not just in Colorado. I have stood up at Republican meetings and said, why are we not actively working in communities of color, communities of poverty. Why are we not working in these areas where we've just given all the voters when.
In reality our ideas will make their lives better.
Yeah, I went to I met I met a man at a I think it was at the Colorado Black round Table, and I went to the Northeast Denver Islamic Center and met with their group and they had their their worship going on, and so I sat through and I pretty much just expected I'm going to sit here, listen to them and just you know, be in the background. But they ended up talking to me for like a half hour. It was almost like I was on a talk show, ye asking me questions and we had a conversation.
And their main issues are family. They are concerned about family values and what's happening to families in our country. And so by the end they were like, all right, how do we help you get elected?
Wow?
So I'm like, there a lot of these communities want to hear from us.
Need to be asked. Yeah.
And I was at the you know, John Fabricatory.
Nothing against all our.
Other candidates, but I think he's like the for what that we need right now. He is like the best candidate we have in the state. Again, nothing against our others, they're all wonderful. But we were at the Taste of Ethiopia. He had a booth there and I was hanging out with him because it was in Denver, but a lot
of the population live in Aurora. So the number of people we had come up to us who were Ethiopia and African immigrants who were like, all right, we're we're tired of what the Democrats are doing.
They don't rep present our values.
And I even told one man there's like, you know, I've never been to an African festival like this, but I've been to hundreds and hundreds of Latino Hispanic festivals, and like, you guys might have us beat on the Jesus T shirts.
I think we win when it comes to the Mary T shirts. But the Jesus T shirts, you guys.
They're more there than I've seen at any other People have strong faith, yeah, very strong faith. And I was talking to a man who owns a store in Aurora, and he was talking to me about how he's concerned about what's happening in schools, and he gave you a really sad statistic that he said in the Ethiopian community in the previous year, twenty two young people had committed and he's like, we left Africa to come here to build a better life, and now our young.
People are being put in this position.
So he was going to open his store longer and work harder so he could send his kids to a private school or a charter school where because he he kind of put it on a lot of things they're learning in public schools right that are hurting kids and hurting their mental health, and not promoting family values and not promoting faith.
And so I mean they're putting kids at odds with their parents' values. Yes they are, and that is a huge problem. And for kids who are already struggling, who don't fit in their support system should be their parents, and schools are literally saying your.
Parents are dangerous.
They're creating Yeah, you can't talk to your parents about this, it's too dangerous for you.
I said that working with the Colorado Parental Advocacy Network. I went and I don't remember where I was, but I basically said, you know, as a gay man, we have fought for years to build a better relationship with our families and bring our families into our lives. And now we're doing that, and now the schools are trying
to tear us apart again. Like we've worked so hard to get our families to accept us and to be part of their lives and all and I feel like we've done a great job at that, but now they are putting that little seed of thought into kids' minds that your parents are wrong, your parents are not looking out for your best interests. Don't tell your parents, don't talk to them.
They're wrong, dangerous. Yeah, and it's verrifying to me, it really is.
So there's so many communities within our cities that we don't think about, or maybe we we I don't know. We're not talking to them, but they are on our side.
We need to give.
Them the opportunity to understand who Republicans actually are, to even just go beyond the political party, but just what our conservative politics are, what are.
Whatever you want to label it as is they agree with us.
And there was something that I don't remember where it was, where the Christians and the Muslims got together and went to the school board and they were united and sticking up for family values.
And we need to do that.
We need to be making allies throughout our states. And and that's what this is I want to do. Like I understand, you know the realities of my campaign, but this is a step that's not going to end after this campaign. Reaching out to the people in the city and where it goes from here, I don't know yet.
I just want to get past November.
At this point, you're in the state of the race where I need the candidate's about this point, you got a few weeks left.
Every candidate, it's like weeks. I just need this to be over. I just need it to be done.
Let me ask you about the actual campaigning, the political aspect of it. And it might be too soon for us to tap into this, but I've had the opportunity to talk to many candidates after the fact, and they talk about things like the political class, consultant class, it wants to micromanage every aspect of the campaign. How challenging has it been for you? Because, in all honesty, like I don't we're not best friends. We don't braid each other's hair. But I've known you now for many years.
I've seen no change in you, which is a compliment. I've seen no change from the guy who said we can do a better job when you first started to the person you are now. You're still out there having conversations with people and just trying to find commonality and areas where you can grow, you know, bridges to.
These other people. Has that been well received?
Have you been micromanager of they looking over you because they're like, it's the first congressional district, it's.
Going to be impossible. I'm That's one thing.
I think I've been fairly lucky that most people have left me alone and just let me do whatever I want. And I have pretty much been myself, and I feel like that's kind of why I fit this campaign, is that I don't have to make things up. I don't have to lie, I don't have to pretend I believe things I don't.
I can just go be myself all the time.
And it works and it is a very unique district and a unique campaign. We I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but sometimes I guess I'm the type of person if someone tells me I can't do something.
Correct, I want to do it. It just inspires you.
A few weeks ago, we were at an event and you know, there doing campaign pictures and I was with other candidates. There were a bunch there and I had a beer and they're like, all right, let's take a picture, and like, no, you got to put that down because you can't be seen holding a.
Beer you're a grown ass man. You do whatever you want.
It led to talking to my team and this past weekend we did a campaign pub crawl in down.
I was like, all right, because we talked about in Denver.
I'm like, I think in some areas, maybe that's true, Like if I were in ultra conservative district.
Maybe if you're in a southern Baptist neighborhood, they're not taking pictures with beer because it's hidden in the back of their fridge, you know.
But otherwise I just don't.
I mean, don't get me wrong, if you were like sloppy with your tie tied around your head like it was.
We didn't make sure everyone behaved themselves. We don't need negative pictures coming yeah this event.
But we had a great time.
We went downtown, we talked to people and we all had on the same hat, my campaign hat, and people would be like, what are those hats? Who are you guys, And we would talk to them. We handed out cards and we just we just had fun. We talked about real stuff. A lot of the conversations weren't even about politics. Press were meeting people and we met people from all over and it was a great time.
So it is it is a unique district where I think we could do.
Something like that and it comes across, well, maybe some other districts. You shouldn't have a pub crawl as part of your campaign.
I'm just gonna say it. I had fun. I think that's a genius move.
It is a little bit reminiscent in a way of Donald Trump's McDonald's experience yesterday. Yeah, that was great, and I wanted to compliment you on the way you handled represented Caravello's attacks or they were they weren't really attacks.
They were just kind of lobs across the mountain where she was trying to you. What did I say? You said, I'm sorry. I was like, wait, she said something talk negative, Diana Togain.
She said something to the effect of, well, you're a Trump supporter and basically implying that you were just going to be another lockstep Republican, which is hilarious.
Considering her record. I mean, I'm like, come on, But you.
Handled it very well by saying, look, I'm not afraid to stand up to the Republican Party. And that was about the unfortunate you know, Pride mailer that Dave Williams loves so much that he keeps sending out.
Yeah, one of my volunteers earlier that literally just hours before that debate, kind of gave me that talking point. She's like, I've been researching her. She has never pushed back against her party ever.
Yep. She walks in lockstep with them one hundred percent of the time. And you did a really really good show. It was in my head. So when she said that, I was like, well, here's an opening.
There you go.
I pushed back on my party. You never pushed back on yours, yeap.
Valdemar Argeletta is my guest. He is running for the first congressional district seat currently head by Diana to get not a anyone named Caravale. But I'd really love for you guys to support Valdemar. He is not only a really good person, his outsider perspective would be very welcome for Colorado in Congress. And this is such a long shot and we know it, but I am just so incredibly.
Proud of you for taking this.
Excuse me, I got to hear all hang on those things happen.
Yeah, I'm Marco Rubio now, No, I'm just so proud of.
I got some for doing what you're doing, because I do think that the only way forward is to talk to people that aren't normally talked to explain the commonalities, talk about their value system, talk about the value system of the Democrats. Sprinkly, I mean, for someone of faith, it's it's a tough lift right now with the current candidate for a president anyway.
Yeah, I mean, Paul, it is a game of numbers, and we need to do everything we can to increase our numbers. And you know, in Colorado we don't have the luxury of being able to push anyone away, and so I don't I don't get some of these individuals in our state who feel like they want to.
Burn it down so they can rule over the ashes. That's what it is. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I makes much sense as anything else.
Your power base over nine people is more important than them than winning races.
That's what it is, all right now.
Valdemar has reluctantly agreed to play of the Day because he says he's terrible. It's fine, no one is gonna, no one is listening. Why it's time for the most exciting segment all the radio.
It's kind in the world. Ye in the world.
Is so in the world, Like, guys, I did push my cough button. But Valdemar's mic is on as well, so you were hearing me cough in his mic.
Sorry about that. Valdemar. What a breath of fresh air. Great interview. Vote for him.
Get all your friends in the district one to vote for. What is our dad joke?
Did you see? I have a list of one hundred Halloween jokes. Well, I have a three for Halloween. All right, here we go.
My house is haunted by a chicken. It's a poultry, guys, Oh my god, haunted by a foul spirit. I plan to call an exorcist. That'll help it cross the other side.
Wow, there was a lot going on in that entire joke situation there.
So all right, what is our word of the day? Please? Is a what is this adjective? Hey? O lid O L I D? What old lid I O L I D adjective? Here's a hint.
Something stinky, maybe valdimar, maybe old factory.
Yeah, so it's a scented.
I'm gonna do it smells good like candle, something foul smelling. Oh, I was right the first time that I guessed basically, well, if you ever need to pass gas, yanked candle in them all, that's.
Your jam right now indoors though apparently bad candles, remember on the blog, Yeah, that's right.
Don't burn candles anymore. They're gonna kill you, all right? What is our trivia question?
That is?
What does the internet slang acronym TBT mean Thursday?
Correct?
It was popularized on Instagram, where users post old photos on Thursdays and tag them hashtag tvt Okay, what is our jeopardy category? You know you have to yell out, just yell out? Volved, okay, vault because.
That's sort of the Valdemar. What is it?
Oh?
I thought you said my full name was too long and your parents hated you. What is going on?
How generous is feeling today? Do you want to give them a little, a little I'll give them the edge.
I can wait until the end of the question.
Yes, okay, all right, we're going to oh sorry, the category is let it roll?
Okay, roll r O L L okay r O L L.
We're going to roll out this cylindrical wooden container.
Manny, what is the barrel?
That is?
Correct?
Sixty four million pieces of this chewy candy bearing the nickname of its inventor's daughter.
Val Val. I don't know Ti roll correct oay, I was saying ers, and then I was like that can't be right?
All right again, Valdemar, you can answer it anytimes like you just did, because it's gonna be helpful here, Alexa play never gonna give you up by this individual. He sang it with food Fighters in twenty seventeen, and you've been him.
Roll Mandy, what is rick?
Roll?
Correct? This siny, This.
Mighty omnivore can roll into a ball and float on its back. It's porcupine like signs val Edge correct?
Hey what we too? I used to have tied did so cute? This last? This one is terrible?
Permission to skip to go ahead one mark sixteen to three asks who shall roll us away? The stone from the door of this a synonym for tomb t o NB.
I told you, I warned you, I warned you. Wait wait, permission to still pass. I'm telling you it's terrible. Just neither be that joke so pulture, Yeah, okay.
Yeah, let's go with new category three syllable words to decide it all time to do this recite to verbs inflected forms.
I am, you are, she is we are? You are needing to blake? What?
What is the category where we're still told you three solo words in the answer?
Whole sales that conjugate? Straight up, my friend, you don't conjugate one.
I know you, Valdemar. Do I let people win a rod?
I do.
I do accept some limiting rules like I did today, But you won that fair and square.
I don't. I used to beat my six year old daughter at.
Candyland because I didn't want her to think that we were you gonna let her grow.
Up to I mean, you need to learn how to lose. Yeah, you did a great jobs a child