Speaker 1: I would like Katie to be president, but if she
Speaker 1: is not popular enough, I would settle for Michelangelo. It's
Speaker 1: one more thing. I'm one more thing, ranked choice voting.
Speaker 1: Whatever happened to that idea. We'll talk about that in
Speaker 1: a minute.
Speaker 2: So here we are.
Speaker 3: We're going to just play a funny clip from a
Speaker 3: different show because it eats up some time.
Speaker 2: That's the behind the scenes view of what we're doing here.
Speaker 1: What fruit Now, it's an amusing springboard for conversations. Why
Speaker 1: do you say things like that? What happened to you
Speaker 1: in your childhood that you would just seek to undermine
Speaker 1: your own primary occupation and a source of income.
Speaker 2: Anyway, this is from the Daily Show.
Speaker 4: In this freshman class alone, and I'm going to stop
Speaker 4: for cheers for each one of these because they're remarkable.
Speaker 4: We have our first trans member of Congress. We have
Speaker 4: an engineer from an immigrant community in the San Fernando Valley.
Speaker 4: We have the first Iranian American Democrat in Congress. We
Speaker 4: have the youngest member ever elected to the House from
Speaker 4: New Jersey.
Speaker 1: That's not a thing.
Speaker 5: How did you go from the reasonably impressive first Iranian
Speaker 5: Democrat to hold the sea to the I think somewhat
Speaker 5: reaching for youngest person ever from New Jersey. And then,
Speaker 5: by the way, to the audience, if you think that
Speaker 5: that framing is not that interesting, wait, will you hear
Speaker 5: that this record breaking young phenom from New Jersey is.
Speaker 2: Thirty eight years old? Thirty eight years old?
Speaker 4: Yeah? How come on?
Speaker 2: How far are we going with this?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 5: In Illinois we elected a ginger?
Speaker 2: Oh well, what was the one?
Speaker 1: An Asian engineer from the San Fernando Valley.
Speaker 3: I disagree with the whole premise, and I think, go ahead, Democrats,
Speaker 3: keep harping on that stuff and see if you win
Speaker 3: elections with that because most people don't care.
Speaker 1: Yeah, who cares about all that stuff? How about it?
Speaker 2: Are they good at their jobs? Right?
Speaker 1: Well, that's Rashida Talib though she and your Formila, Jaya
Speaker 1: Paul and the whole crew there. They still think identity
Speaker 1: politics is on the rise. It's not, no, thank you,
Speaker 1: and that might be needs to be knocked down.
Speaker 2: In Illinois we elected a ginger.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I remember when, well, the first time and
Speaker 1: then subsequently I was had rank choice voting described to me,
Speaker 1: I thought it sounded like a really good idea, The
Speaker 1: idea being in a primary, especially you got like six
Speaker 1: people running, and you've got a certain you got like
Speaker 1: the sane conservative vote spread over several people, and then
Speaker 1: there's one This is obviously a prejudicial way to put it,
Speaker 1: but like one wack could do, you know, communist, And
Speaker 1: it's possible that because of that splitting of the vote,
Speaker 1: the wackadoodle gets in. Even though if you said, if
Speaker 1: you rent it like ranked choice voting, where if nobody
Speaker 1: gets a clear majority, then the bottom couple are knocked out,
Speaker 1: and then you go to you ask those people, all right,
Speaker 1: you like Joe Conservative, Joe Conservative is not gonna win.
Speaker 1: Who's your second choice? And then you keep going in
Speaker 1: that way, you'd take the bottom couple, all right, your
Speaker 1: candidate's gone, Who do you prefer? Now, until you have
Speaker 1: a consensus of the best candidates, say you don't quote
Speaker 1: unquote waste your vote.
Speaker 2: They tried it in Alaska, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1: They've treatended in a handful of different places and initiatives
Speaker 1: relating to rank choice of voting and open primaries around
Speaker 1: the ballot in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Mountana, Nevada, Oregon,
Speaker 1: South Dakota. Last week, some of them varied, but now
Speaker 1: and again this has always struck me as a really
Speaker 1: good idea, and I think it is a really good idea.
Speaker 1: But the problem with a lot of good ideas is
Speaker 1: that they run into people. And the problem is you
Speaker 1: can't get people to understand.
Speaker 2: It, oh okay, and do it right, just can't because.
Speaker 3: Your description of it there was longer than most people
Speaker 3: want to spend thinking about.
Speaker 1: It, right, okay, yeah, yeah, And so sometimes it's called
Speaker 1: the instant runoff a system that's I like that that
Speaker 1: way describe it. Actually it's an instant runoff. So you
Speaker 1: don't have to reconvene everybody and say, all right, Jones
Speaker 1: and Smith are out. We got these last three people left.
Speaker 1: Who do you want to vote for? Now? You just
Speaker 1: do it all at once. But in most of the US,
Speaker 1: where does it get to the analysis? Until last week,
Speaker 1: the systems used have been expanding, particularly in liberal cities
Speaker 1: and towns. Washington, d C. Can be added to the list.
Speaker 1: But essentially it's like I said, people just screwed up.
Speaker 1: They don't understand how it works, no matter how thoroughly
Speaker 1: you try to explain it to them, which is a
Speaker 1: little discouraging. What no way yeah, I know.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 3: Why you think half the country doesn't vote, and it's
Speaker 3: been that way for a very long time.
Speaker 1: They're either busy doing other things, or they just don't
Speaker 1: pay any attention to politics. They don't get it, or
Speaker 1: they don't care because they're too busy.
Speaker 2: What's your guests, it is half the country not vote.
Speaker 6: I think it's the what Jojo said, that people don't
Speaker 6: pay attention. I had a friend on election day realized
Speaker 6: it was election day. She had no clue what was
Speaker 6: going on at all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I uh pooh.
Speaker 3: I don't want to say who this was, because they're
Speaker 3: a very very very nice person, but very low tier,
Speaker 3: working class, her and her husband. And she just said
Speaker 3: to me, I don't know anything about taxes and politics
Speaker 3: is all she said on election day. It's just like
Speaker 3: not a part of her life. And I wonder what
Speaker 3: my sense from her was she doesn't feel like she's
Speaker 3: smart enough for something to be involved in that, which
Speaker 3: is a terrible way to end up as an adult.
Speaker 3: You went through school and everything like that and you
Speaker 3: come out feeling like you're not capable of participating. I
Speaker 3: don't know how many people are like that. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I and and again, I would never be little
Speaker 1: that person. I would say, let's continue to send the
Speaker 1: message that hey, be part of it, you're a citizen,
Speaker 1: learn about the candidates and the issues, and then vote.
Speaker 1: The problem is that if it's if you're starting with
Speaker 1: somebody who's never really cared much, it doesn't pay much attention.
Speaker 1: If they do start to vote, they're probably going to
Speaker 1: vote the way I don't want.
Speaker 2: Because you're going to go, yeah, they lesson to the mainstream.
Speaker 3: They're gonna go with whoever Beyonce wants or whoever's going
Speaker 3: to give them the most stuff or whatever.
Speaker 1: And yeah, well right right, which is why the Democratic
Speaker 1: Party wants to register you know, any fool who can
Speaker 1: fog a mirror mentally handicapped children. They want children to vote. Please,
Speaker 1: could there be a more, you know, open and unvarnished
Speaker 1: attempt to do it exactly what we're talking about.
Speaker 3: I mean, come on, while the young, but the so
Speaker 3: but so. This just has always been hanging out there
Speaker 3: as a possibility, and so far this hasn't really happened.
Speaker 3: But I suppose it could happen someday if you could
Speaker 3: motivate half those people that never vote and then get
Speaker 3: a big chunk of the people that do vote, you
Speaker 3: could win every freaking election forever. Yeah, if you had
Speaker 3: some message it appealed to that crowd in whatever way.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you stuff. That's the message. And
Speaker 1: there are some people who that's not even enough. They're
Speaker 1: still like, I don't get it. I don't understand. But anyway,
Speaker 1: I only give you half of my thought. As a society,
Speaker 1: we ought to say, look, your citizen's part of your
Speaker 1: responsibility and it's power in your hands. So you ought
Speaker 1: to vote on a fairly steady basis. We ought to
Speaker 1: send out that message just culturally. But if you don't
Speaker 1: want to, don't don't. I don't want to rock the
Speaker 1: vote because I on a poll test. Those you have
Speaker 1: to drag kicking, screaming to the polls. They're not going
Speaker 1: to be good voters. They're just not.
Speaker 3: That's why I want to poll test. Who's the current president,
Speaker 3: vice president? Named three branches of government? Who's the governor
Speaker 3: of your state?
Speaker 2: Those?
Speaker 3: If those could be the only questions, I'd be fine
Speaker 3: with that. If you can answer those, I'll let you vote.
Speaker 3: But there's a whole bunch of people couldn't answer those questions.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, hit me with those again. Who's the current
Speaker 3: president and vice president? Name the three branches of government?
Speaker 3: And who's your current governor? Okay, thosen't just off the
Speaker 3: top of my head, But there's a lot of people
Speaker 3: that couldn't answer those questions.
Speaker 2: I don't want them to vote.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I got.
Speaker 6: A lot of joy this this weekend from two people
Speaker 6: who had already forgotten Tim Wall's name. So that was
Speaker 6: that was fun. They were just already they were so
Speaker 6: over it. I kicked his name out of their head.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Seriously, Now, it's not fair for Californians because Gavin Newsom
Speaker 1: is I mean in a boil on the backside of
Speaker 1: California for a long time. Boil you. He's been a
Speaker 1: presence in California. He's constantly discussed and then these shows
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. But what percent Americans would you guess
Speaker 1: can name their governor?
Speaker 3: Okay, take that one out now that I've thought about
Speaker 3: it for ten seconds. I would rather have a question
Speaker 3: in there, like where does government money come from?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: Okay one?
Speaker 1: Oh? But seriously, though, what percentage of Americans do you
Speaker 1: think could name their governor? Is it more than half.
Speaker 2: No, definitely not really. Yeah, no, I don't think so, Yes, Michael.
Speaker 1: No, I was just agreeing, that's a great question about
Speaker 1: taxpayer money.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because that's the thing I want people to understand,
Speaker 3: because there are a ton of people. Well, I'll ask
Speaker 3: you a question. What percentage of people don't know where
Speaker 3: government money comes from?
Speaker 1: A horrifyingly high percentage. Might be five percent, it might
Speaker 1: be more than half. Oh no, yes, hope not Oh
Speaker 1: that wouldn't shock me. I could teach my dog that stop.
Speaker 2: I don't think most people know where government money comes from.
Speaker 6: I don't think it's half though, Gosh, I hope you
Speaker 6: don't know that.
Speaker 2: People I know need to hang around my Oh kind
Speaker 2: dumb people?
Speaker 1: Are you hanging out to hang around the dumb more?
Speaker 2: Where do they gather under rocks?
Speaker 1: Wow? That No, that's brilliant. Though the government spends money,
Speaker 1: where do they get that money?
Speaker 2: I love that one?
Speaker 1: You get one f and chance? Wow? Wow.
Speaker 3: Half the country doesn't pay taxes, so they don't think
Speaker 3: about taxes at all.
Speaker 1: Right, right, Although everybody pays sales taxes, gas taxes, even
Speaker 1: if there's no income tax, nobody understands that they pay
Speaker 1: payroll taxes in effect, so I won't even bark up
Speaker 1: that tree. But okay, so let's all right, let's finalize
Speaker 1: our test. Who is the president? I don't even have
Speaker 1: the device president. That's not a low bar. That's laying
Speaker 1: a stick on the ground, is what that is? Who
Speaker 1: are branches of the government? And where does government get money
Speaker 1: to spend?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was pretty good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you you can't step over that stick on the ground,
Speaker 1: as you say, that's not even a bar, then yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't get to vote.
Speaker 3: H I'm all for that. And just every time I
Speaker 3: bring up poll test, people always you know, get into
Speaker 3: the South and racism and what they used to do,
Speaker 3: which is horrifying. Make sure you couldn't possibly vote if
Speaker 3: you were black.
Speaker 2: Horrifying. But you don't have to do it the same way,
Speaker 2: you morons.
Speaker 1: Well, no, it's all under the auspices of the Justice
Speaker 1: Department and you know whatever else. Course it ought to
Speaker 1: be staple statement anyway. Or for those who are illiterate,
Speaker 1: you say you can eat one of these, You hand
Speaker 1: them a hot biscuit and a rock, and if they
Speaker 1: put the rock in their mouths.
Speaker 3: You can't vote till next time you plant or the eggs,
Speaker 3: think about it over the next year. We'll ask the
Speaker 3: same question again next year, which of these do you eat?
Speaker 3: They grab the rock again.
Speaker 2: Urry biscuits or this rock. Dang, that rock looks tasty.
Speaker 2: Give me that rock.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna walk you out this store. It says exit,
Speaker 1: but you wouldn't know that, so just just walk that way.
Speaker 2: Here's my question, which is a better investment?
Speaker 1: Lot of scratchers are a four to one K plan.
Speaker 2: That's a pretty good one right there.
Speaker 1: That's advanced. No, that's too too advanced.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess that's it.