Mitch Perry
Among those in attendance at the Republican Party of Florida’s summer quarterly meeting in Tampa was former Congressman and FBI special agent Mike Rogers, who spoke at a luncheon that featured Senate candidate Todd Wilcox.
Rogers, who served in the 14 years in the House representing Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, was a regular on the Sunday morning public affairs circuit in his last years in Congress when he served as the chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
He stunned some in Washington when he announced his retirement a couple of years ago to go into radio, where he now produces daily commentaries on 150 radio stations, appears on CNN as a “national security contributor,” and formed a group called “Americans for Peace, Prosperity, and Security.”
“I miss the clowns, but not the circus,” he quips about his departure from Washington.
His group has hosted 14 forums with the GOP presidential candidates in to date on discussions on national security in early voting states like New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa.
He says questions like – How are you going to deal with ISIS? require much more expansive responses than 60-second soundbites which lawmakers often offer when asked in television interviews.
“We’ve had Bush, Rubio, Fiorina, Perry, Jindal, all down the line – do these forums,” he said. Ohio Governor John Kasich will participate in another such forum on Monday in Michigan. “It is really enlightening. And we think in those early voting states, we’re making an impact.”
When asked if he agrees with what seems to be the consensus from the GOP presidential candidates that Vladimir Putin has been so daring in annexing Crimea and invading eastern Ukraine because he perceives President Obama to be weak, Rogers refers to a meeting he had in Moscow in 2010 with a Russian General.
“He said, ‘It’s great to see that America is admitting that she’s a nation in decline. We’ve been through it. We’ll give you all the advice and counsel you need.'”
Rogers said, “It’s not where we see ourselves. It’s where the rest of the world sees ourselves. Russia sees us as a nation in decline. Like it or not, that’s what they believe….and think of the decisions they’ve made since,” referring to what they’ve done in Georgia, Ukraine, and launching a nuclear submarine .
“Russia is a huge problem for us,” he says, adding that they maintain pointing nuclear weapons towards the U.S. “You want Russia to make better decisions?” he asks. “Than we need to re-engage in the strength of America.”
When asked if he concurs with the consensus heard on the Republican campaign trail that President Obama has faltered poorly in dealing on foreign policy, Rogers is unabashedly critical.
“I think it’s been an unmitigated disaster,” he declared, adding that the next president is going to have “one heavy lift” to reposition America and it strength in the world.
“You want to see what the world looks like without U.S. leadership? Turn on your TV. ISIS expanding, China building out in the South China Sea being pretty aggressive towards the U.S. Russia being aggressive to the U.S. All of those problems for lack of U.S. leadership abroad. We’re paying a price.”
Rogers said he hasn’t yet officially endorsed Wilcox for Senate, but he’s “getting close.”
