Skip to content
WATCH • CAMPAIGN VISION

People and Priorities First. Always.

By David Jolly Published: 2025-01-12 Last updated: 2025-01-12
David Jolly: People and Priorities First. Always.

Key moments

0:00

"I was never a good enough Republican. I supported marriage equality, climate science, gun control, campaign finance reform, all the things that Republicans didn't want me talking about."

0:32

"If you stand in the middle of the road, you get run over. That was about my congressional career."

1:10

"I don't think most people live their life that way and certainly don't practice their politics that way. We need more politicians willing to live like most people live their lives."

Context

David Jolly speaks candidly about the limits of party politics. For years, he found himself caught between ideologies that served the system better than they served people.

What's said

The question is not where on a spectrum a solution sits. The question is whether it solves the problem for the most number of people.

Transcript

Verified transcript of the video above.

0:00 I was never a good enough Republican. I supported marriage equality, climate science, gun control, campaign finance reform, all the things that Republicans didn't want me talking about. And Democrats would give me a pat on the back. But they didn't need me on their team either, because they had people more pure in their ideology.
0:32 So, you know, my political career became a bit of the axiom, if you stand in the middle of the road, you get run over that. That was about my congressional career. But, you know, there's also layers to this. I talk about the fact that I grew and I changed as I served. I think we limit ourselves by by adhering to, whether it's major party dogma that restricts us from thinking outside of the box or suggesting that somehow we have to pinpoint where on the left right spectrum our solutions are. I don't think most people live their life that way and certainly don't practice their politics that way.
1:45 I think we need more politicians willing to live like most people live their lives and practice their politics, which is how do we solve the most number of problems for the most number of people.

Related questions

Why does David Jolly say he was never a good enough Republican?

David Jolly supported positions on marriage equality, climate science, gun control, and campaign finance reform that didn't align with Republican orthodoxy. See the video at 0:00 for his full explanation.

What does it mean to stand in the middle of the road politically?

Refusing to toe a party line often means facing criticism from both sides. In his congressional career, David Jolly found that neither major party fully embraced someone unwilling to adopt their entire platform. He calls it the axiom: if you stand in the middle of the road, you get run over.

How do most people practice their politics differently from how parties operate?

Most people don't live their lives pinpointing where on the left-right spectrum their solutions fall. They ask whether something works for their family, their community. Politics should follow that same instinct: solve the most number of problems for the most number of people.

More on this topic

People and priorities first. Always.

Have a question for David? Visit the Town Hall and ask.