An Impassioned, Accomplished Patriot

Shastina Sandman is not a household name in California, but she should be. Ms. Sandman is a US Congressional candidate for the 48th District of California. She’s a refreshing candidate who offers an alternative to the Democrats, as well as the establishment GOP and Never-Trump crowd, that comprises the now infamous D.C. swamp. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ms. Sandman for more than an hour recently, and during that time, found her to be an impassioned, accomplished patriot who truly believes she can make a difference. If you are looking for a polished, experienced politician, then she probably will not get your vote. However, if you are looking for a focused, driven and passionate individual then you will want to find out what she has to say.

An excellent place to start is her presentation at the City of Costa Mesa against California Bill SB 54, which sought to limit and restrict state and local police cooperation with federal authorities regarding illegal immigration. Ms. Sandman cited a long list of very gruesome and alarming crime statistics as reasons not to allow the bill to pass.

#Magapreneur

Ms. Sandman is the owner of several businesses and has been for a long time. One of her newest product lines is the #Magapreneur T-shirts, which she uses to help fund her campaign. As a mother of two, it is refreshing to watch her videos in which she discusses issues while occasionally having to stop to get her son something to drink or answer a question that is important to him, like “Where’s my toy?” Not only does she make no apologies for it, but she also approaches her interaction with her kids as an illustration of what her life is about and why she is passionate about the political positions she takes.

We had an opportunity to talk about many things during the interview, not least of which was why she decided to run for Congress. Her answer was quick and decisive. It was Trump. She was a volunteer during his campaign and became inspired by his willingness to forge ahead and fix a great country that became a broken mess through the incompetence of the Democrats and the ineffectiveness of the GOP.

Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty

Shastina cites illegal immigration as a hot item from the Democrat legacy, and regarding her competition, she brought up that incumbent Dana Rohrabacher had not sponsored legislation since 2011, has voted against Trump’s tax cuts, and has served for 15 terms, despite claiming to be a proponent of term limits. These are a few of the reasons she wants to take a seat in Congress.

The Sandman campaign lists these issues as its core focus:

Environment

Securing Schools

Homelessness

Taxes

Pro-Life Issues

Social Issues

Term Limits

Foreign Policy

Treatment of Veterans

Freedom/Human Rights

Military Spending

K-12 Education

Healthcare

Impact of Liberal Indoctrination taking place in schools across the nation

Her top three, and what she feels are the most important for her constituents, are healthcare, homelessness, and the wall/ illegal immigration. She combines drugs with homelessness and cites statistics of the drug waste that was cleaned up after a recent dismantling of a homeless camp in Anaheim, CA. She is exploring several options that may show promise in addressing the physiology of why abusers use drugs. One, in particular, that could have a major impact in curtailing the desire to use drugs.

Draining the Swamp

We talked about how she, as a newcomer to Congress, could effect change within a firmly entrenched cabal of politicians. Her first answer was surprising, but comes from the heart. “There is no persuading the Democrats, so that would be a waste of time.” The context of her answer is something that most Trump voters had wanted Republicans to address for so many years.

Ever since Bill Clinton took office, Democrats have overtly displayed their unwillingness to work together. Instead of negotiating, they either shut the GOP out (Hillarycare) or simply took a GOP idea and called it their own (Welfare-to-Work). The GOP, scared to death of being called whatever names the Dems wanted to call them, simply sat back and let them do it. Ms. Sandman wants to change that by calling them out on their tactics.

Resistance Is Futile

President Trump continues to show the swamp that their tactics do not work on him, which underscores the advantage of having someone like Shastina Sandman watching his back. Her answer shows that she gets it. Ms. Sandman is also not afraid to show her beliefs. She is a Christian woman who lets her beliefs guide her when they are needed most.

An example of that is how she brushes off the death threats she gets from haters on almost a daily basis because of her positions, something an average person may have a difficult time dealing with. Her faith allows her a haven to counter the ugliness of those things in particular.

Voting for America, Regardless of Beliefs

I asked her how she would respond to voters who do not have faith or prefer to keep religion out of the picture, and here again her answer was quick and decisive. “I vote for America and for all Americans, regardless of their beliefs.” She was adamant that her beliefs are her own, and she uses them appropriately to guide her through tough times.

However, when it comes to business and political decisions, her vote is not impacted by anyone who shares her faith or not. That statement alone is refreshing when you consider how conservatives were demonized for not having the same positions as the ruling party for the eight years prior to Trump getting elected.

I asked Ms. Sandman point blank about how she would avoid following a path that too many candidates often fall into once they are elected. We often see people whose motives appear pure, and they sought to be elected because they truly wanted to make a difference for the average person. What ends up happening is a surrender to the intoxicating temptations that come with being a person of power on the taxpayers’ dime.

The Faith to Live Her Convictions

It was here that she cited how her faith would help not only guide her in her decisions to provide balance, i.e., voting for the right reasons vs. the most profitable ones, but it would help safeguard her against those temptations. As we wound down the interview, I asked her a question that was raised in one of her videos. “Why should I vote for you?” Her answer was interesting in that she did not have a clear-cut one. Under normal circumstances, the average Joe seeing this would likely see it as a huge negative, “If she cannot tell me why I should vote for her then I’m not going to vote for her.”

Then I posed this question: “Shastina, you are an accomplished businesswoman, clearly intelligent, and passionate about your faith and your family. So, with that in mind, why would you vote for you?” Her answer was hard to argue with, “Oh, well that’s easy. It boils down to this: I have true compassion for others, I’m strong, I am ethical to a fault, I find solutions to problems, and I’m willing to negotiate for the good of all stakeholders. I’m a brainstormer, which means I want a genuine exchange of ideas to ensure that we are coming up with the best solutions.”

Shastina Sandman is a candidate who is willing to let me make up my own mind and not presume to know what I want. She simply lets me see who she is and what she will do. With all that in mind, she unequivocally has my vote.

You can hear more of Shastina’s stances on policy here