Today's guest is near and dear to my heart. It's my dad, Diego Ruiz. We recorded this in person, and we both had the same cold, which you may be able to hear. At some point, you may also hear my son in the background, which makes three generations of Ruizes on the podcast.

Diego has helped win elections in the US and Central America, served as Executive Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was a senior advisor in the House of Representatives, and was Deputy Chief for Strategy and Policy at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), managing a multidisciplinary “in-house think tank.”

In this episode, we discuss:

* How to win a congressional election in Miami

* What “burrowing in” to the civil service means

* How to win a presidential election in communist Nicaragua

* How the Sandinistas used Michael Keaton and Mike Tyson to dampen voter turnout

* Why the Base Realignment and Closure Commission may be a model for DOGE

You can find the full transcript at www.statecraft.pub.

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