Matt K. Lewis, author

In January 2016 Matt K. Lewis was author to one of politics most noted books for its content as well as its cover. In its hardback version and first printing,Too Dumb To Fail – How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (And How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots), the deep red of the cover frames a cartoon elephant wearing a yellow dunce hat balancing itself on a small stool as well as the “M-A-T-T” of the author’s name. At least…that was the hardcover publication…pre-election 2016.

Then came the second printing, along with a new president sworn in; and the cover saw the yellow dunce cap morph into a mop of unruly, yet recognizable, yellow hair. The bright red became white and a new title and book forward introduced, “Too Dumb To Fail – How the GOP Went from the Party of Reagan to the Party of Trump”.

Candidates.vote’s Clark H. Caras on March 1, 2019 had the opportunity to spend an hour with Lewis and discuss everything from the book’s cover, pickle juice, and a diet to keep him from becoming a fat Republican on television.

Candidates.vote –Explain to me please. Before the election there’s no hair on the elephant’s head, yet after Donald Trump is elected President a mop of yellow hair appears and the title changes. I have to ask the obvious. Who came up with the idea of poking fun at a new president with the hair?

Matt K. Lewis –Yes there are two versions on the elephant on the cover. Before President Trump won. No hair. When the book was originally being written and printed no one knew he was going to win! Adding the hair was my idea and my publisher graciously accepted it.

On Friday, March 1, 2019 with Michael Cohen testifying to Congress and President Donald Trump in Hanoi with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un; following brief introductions and quite a bit of chuckling concerning the elephant with the yellow hair, Lewis and Candidates.vote’s Caras got right to the meat of things – so to speak.

Candidates.vote –Okay, I promised taking only 30-minutes of your time so I’d better get a move on. I’m going to ask you a question that has become one of the favorites from Candidates.vote. Are you a hamburger or cheeseburger kind of person?

Lewis –Definitely cheeseburger. Except without the bun or ketchup. No French fries, maybe a side salad. With help from my wife we’ve been dabbling in this Keto thing. The low carbs, low sugar. No bread. No pasta, no pizza. It gets results.

Candidates.vote –No pizza! How can you survive?!

Lewis –My wife is an amazing cook. She will make spaghetti squash and even a bean pasta with meatballs. Chicken meatballs. I eat all the meat and eggs, not a lot of fruit except in the smoothies my wife makes.

My wife is a Foodie and she’s a great cook so we eat home a lot. In fact, most nights. We use a lot of things like Blue Apron and some of the others.

Candidates.vote –Okay. So no bun or ketchup, but what about pickles?

Lewis –Definitely pickles, but not the sweet ones. The sweet ones are sweet because of the sugar. So definitely not the sweet kind, but pickle juice is good for you. One of those remedies that works for sore muscles. Yes, pickle juice.

WIKIPEDIA describes Lewis as a political writer, conservative pundit, blogger, podcaster and columnist having written or appeared on Townhall.com, Human Events, The Daily Caller, CNN, The Daily Beast, and The Week. In 2002 Politics Magazine selected Lewis as a “Rising Star of Politics” and in 2012 the American Conservative Union named him “Blogger of the Year”.

Candidates.vote –You are the conservative voice a lot of times on CNN and other programing. And you’ve got your own program of podcasts going with “Matt Lewis & the News”.

Lewis –I’ve had to cut out a few other things as I’ve gotten older and added things too. The getting older is a certainty so in a lot of things you have to get stricter. It’s a fact I’m going to get older. And another, I’m not getting any taller. If you want to get in shape you don’t do beer and you don’t do wine. The last thing you want to be on TV is a fat Republican. You’ve got to look as good as you can!

I lost my dad in 2004. And now my wife and I have two boys. An eight year old and six. I have something in them I have to live up to, especially with the book dedicated to them, “To Burke & Becket”.

Candidates.vote –Your book has led to a lot of other things, especially when you talk about it being something that can happen again. What do you tell those who are at the point right now where the word “politics” is said a bit hushed – like it’s a dirty word?

Lewis – Great leaders sometimes pop up. There may be someone out there who can unite and inspire us. We don’t see this person on the horizon, but we have been blessed historically by having leaders emerge during crucial moments. So even though things may look dark right now, I am hopeful for America’s future.

Candidates.vote –I would suppose with the success of your book and appearances on television you are recognized. With the climate of things the way they are I’m thinking you have some interesting experiences?

Lewis – It’s not so much being recognized as it is I begin talking with them in the Uber and one thing moves to another and it eventually comes out I’m a writer…’Oh. So what do you write?’ That’s where the ride gets really interesting.

They of course want to start talking and it eventually comes out that I write about politics. And that’s when I sometimes wish I’d told them I was an architect.

Candidates.vote –Your moniker for your podcast is so very interesting, to ‘Cut through the noise of the modern news cycle’. Where does that come from?

Lewis –There are so many news outlets out there now. So much noise. A story of a week ago feels like it’s a decade ago.

It takes a village to get done for me what is. I have my wife who is honest enough to tell me that, ‘No, the red cowboy boots don’t work.’ And then there’s the other 20 people who make things with the podcasts sound good and me sound smart and look good.

If you want to see if Matt is telling the truth about that go to www.mattklewis.com