Cory Gardner

Building a Strong Future: CSU Alum Senator Cory Gardner on Bipartisanship, Political Engagement and the Power of Youth

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Publish Date: 9/23/2024

Description

Drawing on his career in public service, U.S. Senator Cory Gardner joins President Amy Parsons to discuss leadership and fostering collaboration in today’s political landscape. Cory offers practical advice to CSU students on navigating political discourse, stressing the need for students to be active in their communities, engage in meaningful conversations and strive to find common ground. Listen in to hear Cory’s optimism shine through for the next generation of leaders.

Transcript

Amy Parsons [00:00:04] Hi, I’m Amy Parsons, president of Colorado State University and host of “The Next 150” podcast. We have so many remarkable people in our community, and this is where we’re going to hear their stories. We’re going to get their perspectives on CSU’s next 150 years and gather their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Let’s get started. Rams. Today, we’re honored to have with us a U.S. Senator from Colorado, Cory Gardner. Welcome to “The Next 150” podcast. Thank you for being here.

Cory Gardner [00:00:33] Thanks for having me. Great to be back at CSU.

Amy Parsons [00:00:35] Absolutely. You know, Cory, I followed your career for a long time. First and foremost, I hope you did the math.

Cory Gardner [00:00:40] you didn’t look at my grades, did you?

Amy Parsons [00:00:41] Not yet.

Cory Gardner [00:00:42] Okay, good. Thanks.

Amy Parsons [00:00:43] But I have access to them, I think. So you are a CSU Ram Proud alum, as am I. I think that we overlapped in our years here at CSU, actually. In fact, I think we overlapped in our years also in law school. We don’t need to talk about that today.

Cory Gardner [00:00:57] And if I had to take a couple of years over again, we probably look like less, but. Or more. I’m not sure.

Amy Parsons [00:01:01] That’s exactly right. But we’re proud of you. We’re proud that you’re a CSU Ram and excited to have you back on campus today as a fifth-generation Coloradan from Yuma you’ve done so much to support Colorado over the course of your career and your life. You started in the Colorado State House of Representatives where you championed common sense fiscal policy, creative transportation solutions. Then you were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where your efforts focused on renewable and traditional energy, technology, cybersecurity, rural economics, health care, government reform and accountability, and protecting our nation’s resources. After two successful terms in the House, you were elected to the United States Senate, where you served on many committees and were consistently ranked the most effective member of the Colorado congressional delegation and were perennially in the top ten most bipartisan senators. That’s a major accomplishment. And now you’re working with a number of businesses, candidates, political organizations on important issues around the globe. So there’s so much ground for us to explore today. Excited to get started. Let’s start with something fun for our first question.

Cory Gardner [00:02:04] You bet.

Amy Parsons [00:02:04] Will you choose a chip from our little bowl here and tell me what number you have?

Cory Gardner [00:02:09] This is the chip right here. All right. Yeah, that’s a good one. Isn’t Chip the name of the the buffalo? Yeah. I was going to say we guess this is the Ram bowl. Okay. All right, here we go.

Amy Parsons [00:02:18] What number are you going for?

Cory Gardner [00:02:20] Number Five.

Amy Parsons [00:02:20] Okay, what was, or who was your favorite professor at CSU and what was your favorite class?

Cory Gardner [00:02:27] Oh man, this is a trick question. I mean, this is a tough one.

Amy Parsons [00:02:30] You can either go with your favorite professor or your favorite class, which ever way you want to go.

Cory Gardner [00:02:34] All right. So I mean, obviously John Straayer was an incredible professor and influence. And every Tuesday, Thursday, we’d go down to the State Capitol when I was in the legislature, you know, and John, I, I there’s an interesting story here because, Doctor Straayer, I actually didn’t get, I did not get assigned to the state representative that I initially wanted. And Doctor Straayer assigned me to this Western Slope legislator that I didn’t know. And I’m an Eastern Plains guy. And so I’m like, well, “What does this have in common with, with what I was trying to do?” And he and you know what? It was amazing because who he ended up putting me with was a guy named Russell George, who went on to become Speaker of the House. A mentor of mine. And I think he just thought the person that I had originally wanted to be with wasn’t going to be as dynamic and sort of forward-moving as Russell George ended up being. And he saw that. And so, credit to Doctor Straayer for that. You know, Doctor Lawrence was a, was a professor of mine. The security class was incredible. Yeah, I loved it. There was a Professor Lamborn who,

Amy Parsons [00:03:39] Yes, Alan Lamborn.

[00:03:39] Alan Lamborn, I took national security foreign policy from.

Amy Parsons [00:03:42] Yeah.

Cory Gardner [00:03:43] And then, we, I took a lot of my favorite courses, though, believe it or not, was a it was a U.S. space policy class. I think Doctor Lester, took that class, and, it it was so, so, you know, a lot of those things that I worked on over the last 20 years, got my very first start at CSU.

Amy Parsons [00:04:00] That’s amazing. Yeah, those are great stories. And just to keep it the theme of Doctor Straayer. But that’s kind of what we’re talking about right now, is, is what type of experiences can we offer to our current CSU students that will spark that idea in their minds about perhaps running for office somewhere sometime in their future, but also just thinking about things in different ways, working with representatives, senators that they might not otherwise work with and learn from them.

Cory Gardner [00:04:24] Well, and it’s so fun too, because, you know, not only was it an experience with Russell George and Doctor Straayer, and the class, but so many of the people that we worked with at the State Capitol from other schools are people that I am very good friends with today, served as a staff member in the Senate with people like Frank McNulty, Josh Penry, and others that, that we were all down at the State Capitol at the same time. Little did we know, 20 years later we’d still be working in the same public policy areas as we are today.

Amy Parsons [00:04:51] Did you know coming into CSU that you wanted to run for office some day?

Cory Gardner [00:04:54] I thought I was going to be a tractor salesman. You know, I wanted to go back and take, you know, you you may not you may not remember this because I’m kind of old now. But, you know, this whole this, whole. I’m trying to. So. So remember that movie? It was a TV show about Ed, and he was a lawyer, and he owned a bowling alley, and he’d, like, practice law out of the bowling alley. I think it was Ed. It could have been Jerry, I don’t know, or something like that. I thought I would be the Ed of tractor dealerships or I would have my law degree. I’d go home. I’d work at the implement dealership and help somebody out with contracts or, in eastern Colorado, a lot of will’s in the States, that kind of thing. And, you know, just be able to, to, to do that and be a part of the family business. And it went drastically wrong.

Amy Parsons [00:05:35] Well, there’s still, though! There’s there’s still time.

Cory Gardner [00:05:37] We sold the businesses, though. We sold the dealership. I could maybe go back, find a new one. That’s right.

Amy Parsons [00:05:41] What, what drew you to come to CSU in the first place?

Cory Gardner [00:05:44] You know, it’s funny, I didn’t go to CSU in the first place. I told you the story, I think, that I actually went to CU my first year undergrad. And, and I ended up not having a good experience. And maybe it was just me and a little kid that, you know, this little town kid go to the big city, ended up transferring to CSU after that first year and loved it here. Ended up in farmhouse, was a ram handler, got involved in anything and everything I could here, and just had just a incredible experience.

Amy Parsons [00:06:12] I love that you are a Ram handler, and I, I recently was at a farmhouse breakfast during the National Western Stock Show where they brought in their alums, and..

Cory Gardner [00:06:20] I am not qualified to be a Ram handler today. I think you have like required grades. You got to interview. No, I don’t think I could have made the cut back then.

Amy Parsons [00:06:27] Yeah, It’s serious business, I love it. I love that you did that.

Cory Gardner [00:06:30] But my parents went here too. And so, you know, part of the reason I didn’t come here is like, I don’t want to follow them, I want to be my own and realize that, “No, I think CSU’s a better fit.”

Amy Parsons [00:06:39] Well, we’re grateful that you made that decision and ultimately graduated from CSU. And and now today, fast forward, you and I are sitting in here having this conversation about CSU. And part of what you’re doing here today is helping us with our thematic year of democracy. We are focused on democracy at CSU right now. And part of that Cory, I think, as a land grant institution, that is our, that’s our roots, that’s our mission to really focus on democracy and how we can be an incubator for a strong democracy, bringing students in from all different backgrounds, walks of life, helping them to really have strong democratic muscles when they graduate from CSU, ready to engage, ready to be great citizens, to vote, maybe to run for office like, like you are someday. And you’re a Republican who’s really earned a reputation for working productively with people of all different backgrounds working across the aisle. Share with us some strategies that you’ve developed over the years, or that you deploy when you’re working with somebody who comes at an issue from a very different place.

Cory Gardner [00:07:35] Yeah. You know, there’s a couple of ways that I think you could address this question, but I’m always reminded of something that Lamar Alexander said. Senator Alexander is sort of a crown jewel of public service in this country from the state of Tennessee. He once said about serving in the Senate, he said, “It’s awful hard to get here. It’s awful hard to stay here. So while we’re here, we might as well get some good things done.” And if you take that and you apply it to anything you’re doing in your life, maybe it’s your work, maybe it’s your, your home, maybe it’s your passion, whatever your passion is. That same philosophy ought to apply because it’s not easy running a business. It’s not easy running a family. And if you say, “Hey, it’s hard to do this. It’s hard to stay in the game. But if I’m going to do it, then let’s do it the best that I can.” And I think that’s the fundamental approach that I take to everything. I remember as a, as a freshman House of Representatives member in Congress, in the U.S. Congress and I, I’m on the Energy and Commerce Committee. There’s this guy named Ed Markey from Massachusetts who is, very high-ranking senior member of the Democrat side of the aisle. And this guy, I thought was just out of his mind. I disagreed with him on almost everything he said. I was annoyed when he would get to ask questions because he would take all five minutes doing something that I completely disagreed with. And then he gets appointed to the Senate, series of vacancies, now elected outright. And then I end up in the Senate and we ended up serving together. He was my ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee. And I tell you to this day, I adore and love Ed Markey. I disagree with him on a lot. He disagrees with me on a lot. But on those areas where we agree and where we work to find that agreement, we have done amazing things. The Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, other legislation that we have been able to find common ground on to enact, implement and empower the United States from a global leadership perspective, that happened because we built a relationship of trust, of respect. And you know that, that example goes from something that I heard somebody else say in politics that it’s hard to hate up close when you get to know somebody, when you get to hear them talk, maybe you’re still going to disagree with them. Maybe there’s not a lot that you actually will share in common, but you also respect their, their desire to serve because they’re coming at it from that same principle of: “It’s hard to get here, it’s hard to stay here. Let’s do some good work while we’re here.” And if you come at every relationship with that same sort of attitude, good things are going to happen because you’re not trying to put your will in their place. You’re actually trying to have the will to have the place work.

Amy Parsons [00:10:12] That’s amazing perspective. It takes two.

Cory Gardner [00:10:14] Yeah.

Amy Parsons [00:10:14] Right? It takes you both coming in with that, that goal of having that trust and those open ears of listening to each other. I think, especially the U.S. Senate has always supposed to be seen as this place where that can happen. Where we’re electing the country’s best and brightest to have those difficult conversations and make progress. Do you feel like it is functioning that way today or, or is it, is it more functioning to exacerbate the polarization?

Cory Gardner [00:10:39] Right. You know, it’s always easy to look back and say, “Man, it was a lot better when I was there,” or “It was a lot better 20 years ago or 30 years ago.” You know, we used to tar and feather people for their political views. We had duels in our, real-life duels in our politics. We used to think that other humans could own other humans. These are all things that, that we have realized were wrong, terrifically wrong. And we have overcome them. And so, so when it comes to the Senate, our founders did a very brilliant thing. They said, “Only through coming together are you going to be able to get something done in the Senate.” You know, maybe it wasn’t in the lens of a Republican or a Democrat back in 1789, but it certainly is today. It’s going to take somebody who’s on the left and the right to get something done. And, you know, there’s ups and downs, ebbs and flows to how our legislative bodies respond. They are a reflection of the American people. And when the American people take it into their own hands, that enough is enough, that’s when the change will occur. And so I think that’s where we have to realize that, that, Congress can do a better job. Our citizens engagement can be more resolved to get the results that they’re hoping for. But certainly, it is not things aren’t, you turn on the TV today and it’s not exactly rosy what we see, but I am confident this country will get through it.

Amy Parsons [00:12:00] And I think that to turn that tide, it takes today’s young people and takes those young adults being committed. If you’re playing the long game, like no big movement ever happens without the engagement of the youth. One thing that I worry about as our students here today at CSU see how polarized it is and how ugly it can get in politics, and they’ll be turned away from politics in general. They’ll be turned away from those discussions, turned away from running to, running for office. So I’m interested in your advice to students today who might think, “I would love to be in that profession. I’d love to run for office, but I don’t know if I want to be a part of that right now.”

Cory Gardner [00:12:33] You know, there’s this sort of generational look back and look forward, right? I guess when you’re young, you have this generation to look forward and say, “Man, these people are ruining everything. Why would I want to be a part of that?” And you have this look back from older generations who are saying, “Man, look at these kids today. They’re, you know, it’s nothing but TikTok and whatever.” And, and they’re both wrong about this. And how do I know this? I had this incredible opportunity in the Senate to be a part of the Academy nomination forums where I would pick community members, leaders in business, leaders in the community to help nominate students coming out of high school to the service academies. And to a person, every single one of them would come back to me after they interview these high school kids and say, “Cory, no matter what happens our country is in great hands. These people are brilliant.” And so I think that gives me confidence that the older generation knows that the backfilling by the next generation is going to be okay. The kids are okay.

Amy Parsons [00:13:28] Yeah.

Cory Gardner [00:13:29] And that the people who are looking at the older generation, you know, what? They’re, they’re going to find ways to make it work with them, as well. What I hope people will do is know that the only way we move forward in this country is by people of goodwill who will step in and say, “You know what? It’s my turn.” I remember I live in a very small town to this day, grew up in a small town, live there today, and there are certain families that you could always depend on who were going to get the job done, who’d raised the money for the local, you know, baseball team, or raised the money for the local high school to build a new building or the hospital for a new facility. And it wasn’t too long ago that I realized that that older person is now my generation, that we can’t look to somebody else and say, “Well, you know, the Smiths will take care of it, or the Joneses will take care of it.” Guess what? We’re we’re them now, right? And so, so we have to make sure that, that this, the students who graduate this year from Colorado State University know their country needs them, their community needs them, their families need them. And they’re going to be amazing leaders. But don’t be afraid to do it.

Amy Parsons [00:14:29] I think you’re absolutely right on that. And you’re being very generous with your time with us today. You’ll be with some of our students later today, some of our students who have already run for office, who are ASCSU leaders. And I think that’s another great thing about being at a big public university like this, there’s so many opportunities to try it out, whether you’re trying out running for office in your fraternity.

Cory Gardner [00:14:49] And I’m proof that you can lose an ASCSU election and then go on and win before you lose. But it’s all right.

Amy Parsons [00:14:54] You’re just exercising it, right?

Cory Gardner [00:14:55] That’s right, that’s right.

Amy Parsons [00:14:57] You’re just warming it up. And so to see all the students sort of, you know, testing out their leadership capabilities here at CSU, I think is really valuable. And, and I think when you see our student leaders today you’ll also feel like we are in really good shape, when you see them because they are very engaged and, and what’s interesting too, and one of the reasons that we’re so focused on democracy right now, we’re coming into a presidential election cycle will have, you know, this next November a major election. And what we sometimes forget is that for thousands and thousands and thousands of our students it’s their first election ever.

Cory Gardner [00:15:29] Right. Yeah.

Amy Parsons [00:15:29] It’s the first time they’re registering to vote. It’s their first time that their voting. It’s their first time they’re seeing candidates on campus, so, talk to me a little bit about that, what, what we can do, what I can do to foster that environment on campus in the fall around the election so that students feel energized to engage and that it’s okay to debate and dialog with one another.

Cory Gardner [00:15:48] I think, you know, making it fun, making it about the future of this country. Our politics is about the future, right? And I think that’s what those people who can find success in, in public service know that everything they do is about the future. And so engaging the students in that future conversation is, is exciting. And, you know, maybe it is about having a debate here on campus. Maybe it’s student organizations holding their own debates where they’ll choose an issue and they’ll debate from that candidate, or that positions side and hear each other out. Look, it’s there’s a, there’s a great podcast that Governor Bill Haslam in Tennessee is, is hosting with a former Democrat governor in Tennessee. And I think it’s, it’s, it’s called something like, you might you just might be right or something like that. “You Might Be Right.” And it’s about finding ways to engage politically about that excitement of the future, knowing that, “Hey, maybe, maybe I’ve got it wrong, or maybe you’ve got it wrong, but together we can talk. We can argue. We can debate civilly and find the best way forward. And that’s what is here. So, you know, get engaged, you know, plenty time for candidates to come in and around, whether it’s local office, state office, federal office. And I encourage students to get out there to do it, to see it, be a part of it. I remember 1994, I think it was Hillary Clinton who came to Colorado when I was a student. And I remember going to, to see Hillary Clinton, at a, at a campus event.

Amy Parsons [00:17:09] You know, what I encourage the students to, to do is to go to the event where the speaker you think you’re going to disagree with don’t just go to the one where you know that you’re going to, that you’re going to agree with.

Cory Gardner [00:17:17] Yeah.

Amy Parsons [00:17:17] Choose the one that you’re pretty sure you don’t agree.

Cory Gardner [00:17:19] Yeah.

Amy Parsons [00:17:20] Go to those. Not necessarily to change your mind, although it’s okay to change your mind.

Cory Gardner [00:17:24] Right.

Amy Parsons [00:17:24] Right?

Cory Gardner [00:17:24] It is you know and confirmation bias that we have today where I just want to read, see, hang out with people that I know think treat issues exactly the same as me. We got to make sure that we’re hearing all points of view to from others who may disagree.

Amy Parsons [00:17:41] Yeah, and that’s another value, I think, of being at a campus like this is that they are living with people who come from different backgrounds, they are sitting in the classroom with different people, listening to different perspectives, hopefully going to see speakers that they disagree with, so they grow in their own understanding. Right? But I think we also have to model for them that it is okay to change your mind.

Cory Gardner [00:17:59] It is. That’s right. It’s just like I changed my mind on Ed Markey and I am better for it. And I think the country has been better for it because of that, that relationship that we’re able to build. And maybe it’s an issue, maybe it’s a personality, but we have to be able to change our minds to learn more things, to be okay with it and to know that it’s not something that’s a point of weakness, but is actually is that it shows the resolve and the strength of our nation.

Cory Gardner [00:18:23] Yeah. We had political scientist Robert Putnam on campus recently, and he showed these graphs about just how polarized the country is today, not just politically, but socially in terms of people not going out to dinner with people of the opposing party, of not having interesting conversations with people.

Cory Gardner [00:18:39] It’s become a real dating problem for Republicans, I’ve heard.

Cory Gardner [00:18:42] It has, it is, he actually brought that up of, of people who will not, who will not date the other party and, and we’ve got gotta, we’ve got to correct that trend. right? And bring people back together. And, and I really feel like places like this are, are fundamental to be able to curve that, that polarization back to a more manageable place because the majority of Americans, I think, are worried about the polarization that we see today, and worry that we are not capable of making the best decisions and progress for the country given the state of polarization.

Cory Gardner [00:19:13] No, I completely agree. And I think, you know, it’s something that I call the pillar in the paint. And, maybe I’ve gotten into this with you before or not, but, you know, if it’s a pillar, if it’s a pillar that’s necessary for the architectural strength of the building, you can’t move that pillar. But if it’s a paint problem, you disagree with somebody on this or that or the other. Can we paint a green? Can we paint it yellow? Can we paint it gold? We’d never paint it black and gold. But I think, you know, that’s something that we can, for those of you who don’t know, that’s that’s that’s my University of Colorado dig for the day. I’ll just make one, that’s it. But, but, you know, I think the, the opportunity is to say, “Hey, look, I’m never going to ask you to be a different person, to fundamentally change the things, but maybe there’s ways that we can get around what you and I are disagreeing with, and that’s the color of the paint.” Figure out how to say, “Look, I’m not gonna ask you to tear down the building, but let’s figure out how we can make it something that we all enjoy. In spite of that.”

Amy Parsons [00:20:02] That’s a good analogy. I think it was Ronald Reagan who said, “If somebody agrees with you 80% of the time, it doesn’t make him 20% a traitor.”.

Cory Gardner [00:20:08] Right.

Amy Parsons [00:20:09] Right?

Cory Gardner [00:20:09] Right.

Amy Parsons [00:20:09] Work with that 80% of where you disagree. And I think that there’s a lot more agreement and disagreement.

Cory Gardner [00:20:14] There is. And that’s where it goes back to we have to have an electorate who appreciates that, right? And we, and I think they do. We just need to make sure that they show it.

Amy Parsons [00:20:21] Yeah. Well, you know, students are our top priority at Colorado State University. Getting students into CSU, getting them through, graduated, successful, going on to have fabulous careers such that, such that you’ve had. I just want to end with you maybe talking about advice for CSU students, whether politics or not, as, as they’re starting their journey here at Colorado State University.

Cory Gardner [00:20:44] You know, I think. Say, figure out how to get to “Yes,” right? You know, on the wall in my office, so you will find a mission statement, you know, It was in the Senate, it was in every office. And it basically said something like this that we need to start from a position of, of yes and then work like heck to find the right solution when somebody comes to you with a major issue. Now, maybe you’re going to completely disagree with them, maybe it’s something that’s impossible to achieve. But if you start from that position of by gosh, we’re going to get it done, then you can, right? And then you’ll find a way. And even if you don’t actually get exactly what they wanted you to do, you’ve come a long ways to try to solve at least the biggest part of it. And so my advice is this: if there’s an opportunity, take it. I had no idea that I’d end up at that internship with the Ag Trade Association in Washington, DC. I thought I’d be at the implement dealership practicing law, and that changed everything. And why did it change everything? Because I said “yes.” And so let’s figure out how to take an opportunity, pursue it, and then figure out how to work with our relationships so that we can actually say, “Hey, you know what? There’s something there that if I pursue it, who knows what comes next?” But I want people to know that this truly is, and it remains, despite all the difficulties and clouds that we may see, the land of opportunity that we have to continue to empower to be that for the next generation.

Amy Parsons [00:22:08] Yeah, I fully agree. That’s great advice. Rams, hopefully, you all listen to that. Rams are people who get it done.

Cory Gardner [00:22:14] That’s right.

Amy Parsons [00:22:14] And I think we’ll create that land of opportunity going forward. So, Senator Cory Gardner, thank you so much.

Cory Gardner [00:22:20] Thanks for having me.

Amy Parsons [00:22:20] For being on the podcast today. It’s great to have you back at CSU. Yep. Go Rams. Thank you for listening. I’m Amy Parsons, president of Colorado State University. And you’re listening to CSU’s “The Next 150,” where we explore what comes next for CSU by chatting with changemakers who are already leading the charge and shaping our next 150 years. I’m gathering their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Stay tuned to wherever you get podcasts for our next outstanding conversation. Go Rams!