The Daily Signal Sits Down With Bert Mizusawa

The midterm race that no one is talking about. By nobody, I mean the Virginia senator whose term is up in January.

Sen. Mark Warner has dodged two debates, which isn’t unusual for a long-term incumbent. What is unusual is that the debates were going to be hosted by AARP and the League of Women Voters, two of the most Democrat/incumbent-friendly organizations that don’t have the words “planned” or “parenthood” on the masthead.

Warner’s office said that he was too busy in Washington to commit. Then he appeared in back-to-back events for Beth Macy and Tom Perriello in the 6th and 5th Congressional Districts, respectively.

Me? I have a more flexible schedule, so I was able to find time to talk to Warner’s Republican opponent (who was committed to the AARP and League of Women Voters debates, by the way), Gen. Bert Mizusawa.

He had just visited the Hampton Roads area, where Glenn Youngkin, Winsome Sears, and Jason Miyares were notably strong in their 2021 victory for the executive branch. Certainly, theirs is the template by which any statewide GOP race will be judged (until the next victorious one). Flipping the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area in a great military community would certainly move this race closer to a headline-grabbing upset.

Mizusawa told me that he’s from Hampton Roads; he grew up there.

“My family first moved there in 1966. They settled there after my dad retired in the mid-70s. And my brothers are still down there. And so, I’ve been down there a lot. They know me fairly well. And I know that area well.”

He pointed out its high concentration of operational military.

“Highest of anywhere in the nation,” he added. He warned that a rogue state like Iran with a ballistic missile capability would certainly target eastern Virginia.

With that in mind, our conversation turned to his reaction to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s “State of the Force” address, specifically regarding autonomous warfare.

“I know he’s looking at new innovative ways of going about business. I’ve been advocating for a very long time about starting to shift to unmanned platforms, because manned platforms cost about three and a half times more on average than unmanned platforms when you add in all the safety features and ergonomics and things like that.”

He used the case of the F-15E lost over Iran to drive home his point.

“When you include the cost of that airplane, it was like $100 million. And then the cost of the rescue was about $500 million that we had to spend in order to extract the pilots. And, you know, what did Iran spend? These drones might cost maybe only $100,000.”

He went on to add, “I think the writing is on the wall, we need to really look at how we can go and man the air, land, and sea. And I think we just need to look very closely at what’s going on right now and learn some lessons from it.”

Mizusawa is no stranger to advising President Donald Trump, either. After appearing on the cover of The Washington Times for criticizing the Obama administration for its conduct of operations in Afghanistan, he found himself advising candidate Trump.

“I wrote a foreign policy doctrine for him that he personally read in front of me and approved. And the main thesis was any use of U.S. taxpayer dollars, whether it’s at home or abroad, should have a positive return for the U.S. taxpayer.”

I know what you are saying: “But what about the price of gas!?”

I specifically asked him if, after “drill, baby, drill,” we needed a new campaign to “refine, baby, refine,” as we have shut down so many refineries in the U.S. that we have to send our own oil to the Middle East to be refined.

This isn’t just about gasoline and diesel prices at the pump. It’s a broad environmental policy that nearly caused unilateral economic surrender. What would he shepherd? He echoed the policy Gov. Youngkin popularized in 2023: “All of the Above.”

“I think we need to bring all sources of energy online. I think that we can do more oil production. And you’re right, our refining capability, we have some of the best in the world, but it may not be enough right now. But number one, I am behind getting nuclear power deployed as much as possible.”

And finally, of all the Virginians I know, the number one thing they ask me is, “Why can’t we get the SAVE Act passed?”

Especially as Congress has passed the “Protect College Football from Itself” bill (Protect College Sports Act) and is now working on ending daylight saving time, or is it permanent daylight saving time?

Does Bert Mizusawa get the Save America Act moving if he’s in the Senate from Virginia?

“I’ve been four-square behind Save America Act since I got into this race.”

But he says that he’ll go one better.

“You know, my dad benefited from birthright citizenship and I’m saying, but it’s anachronistic. It’s outdated. And we need to basically update the clause in the Constitution that creates a loophole for all the birthright born, you know, citizen babies.”

All well and good, but regarding the roadblock that seems to be GOP leadership, Mizusawa told me:

“I would tell the majority leader, John Thune, that he needs to change the Senate rules to allow a simple majority vote to get that through. And then he can change the rules back. It’s as simple as that.”

Maybe that’s why Mark Warner doesn’t want to debate him.

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