Rick & Bubba: Conservatives have to start demanding better candidates

(Above: Rick & Bubba talk politics)

When Yellowhammer News CEO Cliff Sims sat down with Alabama-based, nationally syndicated talk radio giants Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey earlier this week, the guys had a lot on their minds. From laughing about the early years of their wildly successful radio show, to remembering the tragic death of Rick’s 2-year-old son, the wide-ranging discussion touched on just about every topic imaginable, including politics.

Bussey recalled late-night talk show hosts latching on to a comment he made on the Sean Hannity show in 2009 during a Tea Party rally.

“We actually hosted one of the first tea parties ever done,” he explained. “I’d made a comment that it was time for a change, it was time for a revolution. The late-night talk shows picked all that up and they loved it that we were calling for an armed overthrow of the government. And I said, ‘not yet!’”

Bussey said he’s looking for “leaders, Godly men, business people — some of the people who might could actually solve some of our problems” to step up and run for office and “be part of the solution.”

“That’s the type of revolution we were talking about,” he said.

Burgess has gotten much more politically engaged this election cycle by endorsing several candidates. But he said candidates who seek their endorsement should know going in that they’re going to hold their feet to the fire.

“If you bring us into it — either one of us — I’m going to hold you accountable,” said Burgess. “If you don’t do what you said you were going to do, it won’t embarrass me because I’m going to get on the air and say ‘that’s not what he said he was going to do and I totally disagree with it.’

He also had some advice for the Republican Party — get better candidates.

“I know they want the evangelical right to just be quiet and go vote and don’t have anything to say in [selecting] the candidate… There just seems to be a lack of wisdom from the Republican Party,” Burgess said. “So the conservatives in the Republican Party are… going to have to start demanding better candidates. Until we do, it’s going to be the same deal. I mean, when you can’t beat Barack Obama in his second term, you’re putting up weak candidates.”

The Rick & Bubba interview is part of Yellowhammer’s weekly series, The Exchange. To see past episodes of The Exchange, check out the brand new Yellowhammer TV page. The full Rick & Bubba interview will be posted on Sunday.

Do you agree that conservatives have to start demanding better Republican candidates? Let us know in the comment section below or by tweeting @YHPolitics.