1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Crash Course, a podcast about business, political, and 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,639 Speaker 1: social disruption and what we can learn from it. I'm 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: Tim O'Brien. Today's Crash Course Latinos versus the twenty twenty 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: four election. Consider the numbers. Latinos represent the US electorate's 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: second fastest growing voting group after Asian Americans. About thirty 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: six point two million Latinos are expected to vote in 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four presidential election, four million more voters 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: than in the twenty twenty election. According to the Pew 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: Research Center, Latino voters have tended to have low turnout 10 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: rates and elections, but this hefty increase in that electoral 11 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: pool is due to the mobilization of enthusiastic and engaged, 12 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: younger US born Latino voters, and you'll find that growth 13 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: concentrated in swing states in the Western US like Nevada 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: and Arizona. Forty five percent of all eligible voters in 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: New Mexico are Latina knows, and California is home to 16 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: about twenty five percent of all eligible Latino voters in 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: the entire US. Latino voters have strong regional differences in 18 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: their cultures and values, and this plays out around what 19 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: they care about entrepreneurial opportunities, abortion, voting rights, citizenship, immigration, 20 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: and other issues are front and center. Latino voters played 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: a pivotal role in Joe Biden's twenty twenty victory, and 22 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,559 Speaker 1: they will figure prominently in a twenty twenty four presidential 23 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: race in which Donald Trump can leverage strides he's made 24 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: courting them. The both work hard to woo Latinos, and 25 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: the race could be decided in part by who's the 26 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: most successful. I'm happy to tell you that Maria Teresa 27 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: Kumar joins me today to dig into all of this. 28 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: Maria Theresa is the CEO of Voto Latino, an influential 29 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: advocacy group that mobilizes Latino voters around a range of issues. 30 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: It's been so successful that is now the largest voter 31 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: registration group in the ipocket community and among youth voters. 32 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: Greetings Maria Theresa. 33 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 2: Tim, I'm thrilled to be here. 34 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: I just wanted to tee this off by asking you, 35 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: in the most general of ways, what's at stake for 36 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: Latino voters in the twenty twenty four election. 37 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 2: That is such an all encompassing question, because I would say, Tim, 38 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 2: that it is no different than that of our neighbors 39 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 2: as American citizens. And one of the things that we 40 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 2: saw under the Donald Trump reign was that he put 41 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 2: Latino's front and center as the experiment of what he'd 42 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 2: like to do with the rest of Americans. And I'd 43 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,079 Speaker 2: say this not lightly. We were absolutely the canaries in 44 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 2: the coal mine when he descended that escalator and basically 45 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 2: said that we were criminals and rapists. He tried to 46 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 2: be too smart by half saying that it was the 47 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 2: person crossing the border from Mexico. But there was not 48 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 2: a Latino in America who understood that he meant us. 49 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,519 Speaker 2: And then he denigrated every single institution. When he went 50 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 2: first after a Latino reporter of hore Ramos, that was 51 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 2: his indication that he was going to go after the 52 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 2: press as a whole, and we saw that when he 53 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 2: was in office. Then we saw him go after a 54 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 2: Mexican judge, and we saw his playbook that he was 55 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 2: intending to do that for all of the judicial branch. 56 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 2: And if we were to take his word of what 57 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 2: he has now claimed in the New York Times, he 58 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 2: intends to concentrate power and make America a democracy on 59 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 2: paper only, and so while we have absolutely the Latino 60 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 2: community been at his cross hairs. First, we are the 61 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: litmus test of what he intends to do with our 62 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 2: democratic institutions as a whole. And so when he speaks, 63 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 2: you and I both took him seriously. From the onset. 64 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 2: We saw many colleagues kind of shrike him off as 65 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,839 Speaker 2: a joke. But if someone tells you who you are, 66 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 2: you believe him the first time. And boy, has he 67 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 2: fulfilled everything he said he was. 68 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, there should be a little question in people's mind 69 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: about who Donald Trump is and what he intends to do. 70 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: There's enough evidence now. People might have skated on that 71 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen, if they didn't read or listen, they 72 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: might have gotten away with that. But you know no 73 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: longer and you know. And why should other voting groups 74 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: be concerned about all of this, whether they're Asian America 75 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: voters or black voters or white voters. What is the 76 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: common thread or the commonalty here that each group should 77 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: pay attention to. 78 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 2: I would say that one of the reasons that immigrants 79 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 2: fled and are here because they recognized that they had 80 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 2: a deep entrepreneurial spirit, but perhaps no connections. And in America, 81 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 2: if you have a good, fine idea, it has a shot. 82 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 2: In Latin America, you don't have a shot at all 83 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: at your big dreams because you are immediately born into 84 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 2: a class, whether you like it or not, and you're 85 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 2: immediately born into a corrupt system that you may have 86 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: a great idea, but you're going to have to grease 87 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 2: the hands of someone as little as the cable guy 88 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 2: to put in your internet connection so that you can 89 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 2: go ahead and found your company. And so when folks say, well, 90 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 2: what is Donald Trump? You know, why is he such 91 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 2: a threat to democracy? I also like to say we 92 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 2: often talk about the rights that he has said that 93 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 2: he's going to abdicate, whether it's a woman's rights and 94 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 2: agencies over her body through abortion, whether it's condoning book 95 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 2: banning so that we don't know our history. We can 96 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 2: talk about those rights as fundamentals, but then we should 97 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 2: also look at the rights of what makes America a 98 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 2: thriving democracy, and it is because we believe in a capitalist, 99 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 2: just system. Do we actually achieve that every day? No? 100 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 2: Are we aspirational? Absolutely? And when folks from business Tim 101 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 2: and I say this because you're with Bloomberg, often say, well, 102 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 2: Donald Trump or Biden doesn't really make a difference. I 103 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 2: always counteract. Is like the reason that we were able 104 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 2: to be the first people on the moon, the reason 105 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 2: that we were able to have an iPhone in our pocket, 106 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 2: the reason that we have been at the cutting edge 107 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 2: of research is that the government has been out of 108 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 2: our business to think big as an individual. But the 109 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 2: moment that you have in isocrasy that disrupts the ability 110 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 2: for the little person with big ideas to break through 111 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 2: because under the autocracy system, it depends on what favors 112 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 2: you will do to your local government and to the 113 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 2: top of the government and to part of the party. 114 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 2: We can say that it's one of the reasons why Russia, 115 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 2: being as large as it is, has not been able 116 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 2: to thrive because it is an oligarchy. The reason that 117 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 2: communist China every time there's a big idea look at 118 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 2: Ali Baba, it has dampened its ability to compete in 119 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 2: commerce in large part. And why you have so many 120 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 2: middle class Chinese fleeing right now is that they have 121 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 2: now hit a level of what they can and cannot 122 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 2: do in their country. And so in thriving democracy is 123 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 2: dependent on a thriving middle class with the ability to 124 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 2: think big as an entrepreneur. 125 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: I would add to the great point you made about 126 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: how the US can excel spanned opportunities and take on 127 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: challenges is because of our diversity. We have an innovative economy, 128 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: and innovation comes from new ideas, and it comes from 129 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: a plurality of ideas, and those ideas and that innovation 130 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: are only as strong as the diversity of the population 131 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: they represent, which is another reason why immigration is key 132 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: to both US democracy and US opportunity and US economic growth. 133 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: Which anyone who really digs into this nos and anyone 134 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: who denies it as in telling the truth. In the 135 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: same way that Donald Trump said he'll be dictator on 136 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: day one, and we know he might be dictator for 137 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: thousands and thousands of days. Speaking of opportunity, you know 138 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: your story I find inspiring and interesting. You were born 139 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: in Colombia, then your family moved to California. You went 140 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: to college at UC Davis and then graduate school at Harvard. 141 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: Along the way, you became a legislative aid before joining 142 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: Voto Latino. So tell me a little bit about how 143 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: do you think about all that looking back at it now? 144 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 2: So just to backup a few steps. My mother was 145 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 2: a single mom in Colombia. She was Afro Colombian and 146 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 2: had an eighth grade education. By all those metrics, tim 147 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 2: I shouldn't be where I am today because I was 148 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 2: born into a system that was already stacked against me 149 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 2: for all of the legacy of what it means to 150 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 2: be black in Colombia. My mother met my father, who 151 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 2: adopted me when I was one year old, shortly after 152 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 2: he met my mother, and they got married, though he 153 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 2: got really ill, and so my parents had to pack 154 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 2: their bags and move from a very solidly middle class 155 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 2: in Colombia to northern California, where I like to say 156 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 2: prepared me for the moment of Donald Trump. And I 157 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 2: say this because my grandparents did not have their wits 158 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 2: about them. That my father shows up with Latina and 159 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 2: her daughter and their only interaction, quite frankly, with Latinos 160 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 2: at the time were the migrant workers that worked their fields. 161 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 2: And so while my father convalesced, I was three at 162 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 2: the time, I navigated a household that was already trying 163 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 2: to define who I was, but who loved us nonetheless, 164 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 2: and set my mother to work in the field. You 165 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 2: can imagine how awkward that was for Thanksgiving, but it 166 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:28,599 Speaker 2: started informing me also of the possibility that America offered me. 167 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 2: I will never forget. My proudest moment was when I 168 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 2: was nine years old and I had just come back 169 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,079 Speaker 2: from city hall in San Francisco, and the teacher asked 170 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 2: what we were thankful for, and I raised my hand 171 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,719 Speaker 2: very proudly saying that I was thankful that today I 172 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 2: was an American citizen. I believe that it meant so 173 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 2: much for me to be able to unopen these possibilities 174 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 2: that I knew at a very young age in Colombia 175 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 2: were closed. My mother worked very hard to help make 176 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 2: THENDS me But then I went to UC Davis and 177 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 2: my world opened up. 178 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: And you took great advantage of those opportunities that came your. 179 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 2: Way, Oh Tim, I was hungry because I will tell 180 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 2: you that I knew that it was through education and 181 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 2: through access that I was going to be able to 182 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 2: have a different life, not for myself, but for the 183 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 2: family that I wanted in the future. 184 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: If that makes sense, it does make sense. And I 185 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: also love your use of the word hungry because it's 186 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: so evocative, right, It's you know, literal hunger for food. 187 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: It's intellectual hunger for new ideas, it's hungry for new opportunities. 188 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people can be hungry. 189 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: Not every one of them feeds themselves in the way 190 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: that you have and the other things that you talk 191 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: about about your direct experience as an immigrant. You know, 192 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: I'm an Irish American, many generations removed. I think my 193 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: relatives first came over in the eighteen thirties or the 194 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: eighteen forties. And I think recent waves of immigrant Americans, 195 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: because we are an immigrant country by definition, forget that 196 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 1: we have this commonality, because we've gotten ours, whether that's 197 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:08,599 Speaker 1: economic or cultural, or spiritual or political, the legacy migrants 198 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: have put their stakes in the ground, and I find 199 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: it troubling when they don't read their own history and 200 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: look at actually the important bonds they share with newer 201 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: generations of migrants. 202 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 2: Well, I think you spark something oftentimes people like to 203 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 2: And this was really very much unleashed by Donald Trump, 204 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 2: but I would say Sarah Palin had a hand in 205 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 2: it as well. This idea of how immigrants are the 206 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 2: challenge in America, and in fact, what we've been able 207 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 2: to demonstrate throughout history, whether we're talking about Irish Americans, 208 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 2: whether we're talking about Chinese Americans, and the list goes 209 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 2: on that, in fact, what we've been able to do 210 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 2: so differently than the rest of the world is bring 211 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 2: in the most innovative entrepreneurs. And they may not be 212 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 2: entrepreneurs in our sense, but they're entrepreneurs in that they've 213 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 2: recognized that they're fleeing something that is in just or 214 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 2: so stacked that they come to the United States because 215 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,199 Speaker 2: they think that here they could become the best versions 216 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 2: of themselves. And as a result, in a multicultural America, 217 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,959 Speaker 2: we all profit from it. And I often say Tim 218 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 2: that you don't have to take my word for it. 219 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 2: You don't have to take my word that multicultural America 220 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 2: is our superpower in an increasingly global world. You just 221 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 2: have to take nefarious activities of foreign actors who tried 222 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 2: to divide us in elections through race. There's well documented 223 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 2: that the Russians did massive interference in our twenty sixteen election, 224 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 2: and it was all around race. And it's because they 225 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 2: recognize that a divide in America is a weakened America, 226 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 2: but a collective, strong, multicultural America is the one that 227 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 2: we'll be able to actually map the next hundred years, 228 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 2: not just for the United States, but for the globe. 229 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 2: And while we may not be completely satisfied in attaining 230 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 2: what our founding fathers saw through the Constitution, we are 231 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 2: well ahead of everybody else, and a multicultural America will 232 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 2: demand collectively that we continue trying to achieve that perfect document. 233 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: So how did you come to vote Latino? How did 234 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: that happen for you? 235 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 2: So we're on the this is our twentieth year anniversary. 236 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 2: So I like to say we're twenty years young. And 237 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 2: if I were to be completely transparent, I was tragically 238 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 2: in New York when September eleventh happened, and I was 239 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 2: on the path of going into corporate America like so 240 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 2: many young people at the time, and I had this 241 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 2: realization that while I was the first person in my 242 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 2: family to graduate get my masters, and I was about 243 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 2: to engage in living the immigrant dream of every parent 244 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 2: for their child, that is different was that really my 245 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 2: dream was also acknowledging that my cousins who were younger 246 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 2: than I were not okay. And at the time tim 247 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 2: I did not have the language of institutional racism, but 248 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 2: there was something very clear that the women in my 249 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 2: family were thriving, and the young men in my family 250 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 2: were not. And we grew up in Sonoma, the liberal 251 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 2: bastion was as segregated as you could possibly imagine. And 252 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 2: I stepped back and I realized, I'm about to go 253 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 2: into corporate America to give people who have access in 254 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 2: information more access and information. And anyone can do that. 255 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 2: But at this point I had a set of values 256 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 2: that I felt that if we can enfranchise and start 257 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 2: talking to young people about the importance of their democracy 258 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 2: and how they fit into it and how they can 259 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 2: help self define themselves and their family by participating, that 260 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 2: we could have a revolution for good and it can 261 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 2: be transformative. And about a year later, I was talking 262 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 2: to a mentor of mine and he introduced me to 263 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 2: Rosario Dawson, who had just launched a campaign called Voda 264 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 2: Latino with MTV. And that's all it was supposed to be, 265 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 2: tim it wasn't supposed to be anything more. And I 266 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 2: saw this ad and granted I had worked in Congress, 267 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 2: I'd gone to the Kennedy School, I had been interning 268 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 2: the sacrament of State Legislature when I was in college. 269 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 2: I would consider myself highly political, but it wasn't until 270 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 2: I was twenty eight years old when I saw one 271 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 2: of the PSAs where one of the actors was looking 272 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 2: straight to the camera say registered to vote because I 273 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 2: can't that I finally felt seen that, I finally felt 274 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 2: someone say you are Latina and American and what a 275 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 2: beautiful thing, and what's the power. And it was that 276 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 2: advocacy that I realized that this is where I wanted 277 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 2: to spend my time, and so, believe it or not, 278 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 2: I quit my job. I moved back home to my 279 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 2: mom on the eve of my thirtieth birthday, and I 280 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 2: funded an underwrite vit Latino for the first three years 281 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 2: on my credit card. Whoever's hearing this, don't ever do 282 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 2: that this is a terrible idea. But it was this 283 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 2: deep understanding that I had navigated America for my mom 284 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 2: since I was nine years old, and there were millions 285 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 2: of other young people doing the same thing. And while 286 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 2: Latinos are the second fastest group of growing Americans, we're 287 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 2: also the second largest of Americans. And for the last 288 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 2: two census tim it's been because of the Latino growth. 289 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 2: Fifty two percent of the US population growth has been 290 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 2: attributed to Latinos, not immigration, but the birth of American Latinos. 291 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: If you can, in a kind of a direct and 292 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: succinct way, tell me a little bit about what your 293 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: involvement in Voda Latino meant to you as an activist 294 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: and someone who was deeply politicized. 295 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 2: So when I inherited Vota Latino, it was just an 296 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 2: idea in PSAs, and it was the first organization to 297 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 2: speak to me as an American, and I fell in 298 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 2: love with its possibility because I knew that when I 299 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 2: was underage, I was navigating this country for my mother, 300 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 2: for my grandmother by translating everywhere, and I knew that 301 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 2: millions of other Latino youths were doing the exact same thing, 302 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 2: and they didn't realize that at the time that when 303 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 2: they turned eighteen, all of a sudden, they would have 304 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 2: greater agency to impact their families than through simple translation, 305 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 2: by really navigating the country, by basically registering to vote, 306 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 2: registering their families and changing dynamics in this country. 307 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: And understanding the tools that they needed to use to 308 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: empower themselves. 309 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 2: That's exactly the vote. 310 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: Alone, although it's an important one, but you brought many 311 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: other organizing principles to bear on that effort. 312 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 2: That's exactly right. One of the things that if you 313 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 2: were to ask what makes us principally so different from 314 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 2: other voter registrations, I would define us more as a 315 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 2: civic education and advocacy organization, because not only do we 316 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 2: register you to vote, but then we inform you about 317 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 2: the issues that matter to you, and then we teach 318 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 2: you how to take action. We don't leave you the 319 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 2: next day, but we really create a community. And what's 320 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 2: neat is that if you were to go into Texas 321 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 2: and ask a seventeen year old if they know Little Latino, 322 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 2: almost seven out of ten will say that they do. 323 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 2: We've been able to say see how young people, once 324 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 2: they recognize that the levers of power really lie in 325 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 2: their hands, they participate and they start changing the direction 326 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 2: of their states. 327 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: So on that happy note of both brand recognition among 328 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: voters and your great organizing effort, I want to take 329 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,479 Speaker 1: a quick break so we can hear from a sponsor, 330 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: and then we'll come right back. I'm back with Maria 331 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: Theresa Kumar, CEO of vot Latino, and we're talking about 332 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: the power and promise of Latino voters in the US. 333 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,199 Speaker 1: You've just been regaling me with both your poignant and 334 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: powerful personal story of how you became a voter organizer 335 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: within the Latino community, and then Voto Latino's own strides 336 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,639 Speaker 1: in both the depth of its representation across a number 337 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: of states and the variety of issues that it embraces 338 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 1: and advocates for. On that note, can we talk a 339 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: little bit about demographic You know, I think many Americans, 340 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: particularly white Americans, think of Latinos as this big homogeneous 341 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: block of people doing something here there, And it's a 342 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:15,400 Speaker 1: richly diverse, geographically dispersed community. And that's important, I think 343 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: in understanding that communities interests as voters and its needs 344 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: as citizens. 345 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 2: Right absolutely. And I think one of the things is 346 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 2: tim that most fellow Americans don't know is how young 347 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 2: the population is. So according to a Peuce study that 348 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 2: came out a few years ago, the most common age 349 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 2: among whites is fifty eight, the most common age among 350 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,120 Speaker 2: African Americans is thirty three, But the most common age 351 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 2: among Latinos. I'll give you a guess. 352 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: Well, I'm well, since you've set me up, I'm going 353 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: to say twenty. 354 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 2: Two, eleven years old. 355 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I wasn't even close, and. 356 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 2: Most folks aren't, right. I mean, I asked the same 357 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,640 Speaker 2: question in Little Rock with a conversation we were having 358 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 2: with Hillary Clinton and her crowd, and I have to 359 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 2: tell you that when I said eleven years old, she 360 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 2: included gasped. But it also speaks to the moment we're in. 361 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 2: It speaks to the moment where you have voter suppression 362 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,439 Speaker 2: laws that are trying to beat back not the voter today, 363 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 2: but the voter that's coming. It wasn't until twenty eighteen 364 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 2: that Latinas became the second largest demographic of voters. We 365 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 2: have a Latino voter turning eighteen every thirty seconds in 366 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 2: this country. And they are not on the coasts, but 367 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:34,679 Speaker 2: they're in the eight states where we have focused on. 368 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 2: They are in Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Texas. 369 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 2: We can park Florida there for a second, but this 370 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 2: is what's really interesting. In a place like Arizona, where 371 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 2: the Latino vote is close to forty percent of the vote, 372 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 2: what's just as interesting is that thirty five percent of 373 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 2: them are young people under the age of twenty nine. 374 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,120 Speaker 2: In twenty twenty, vote Latino proudly registered and turned out 375 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 2: thirty two thousand Arizonans. Nineteen thousand were first time voters. 376 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 2: Biden won by less than twelve thousand votes. But guess 377 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,719 Speaker 2: what the opportunity is in Arizona alone. We're expecting one 378 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 2: hundred and sixty three thousand young people to have turned 379 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 2: eighteen in the last four years, so more than ten 380 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 2: times the margin of victory that Biden squeaked by. 381 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: And tell me, they also tend to be more engaged 382 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: with the process than their parents or their grandparents, right, Like, 383 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: they're less extisent about expressing themselves politically, about registering to vote, 384 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:45,399 Speaker 1: about actually voting, which is a huge cultural and democratic 385 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: change that's fundamental. 386 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 2: Right Well, and this is where people like to say, well, 387 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:53,239 Speaker 2: we see that Latinos are turning to the right, and 388 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 2: that's not the case, because the older Latinos, even they 389 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 2: sixty percent of them voted for Biden. They did. Seventy 390 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 2: percent of young people voted for Biden in the last election. 391 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,199 Speaker 2: But what we find is that people don't talk to 392 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 2: young people because they don't recognize how engaged they are 393 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 2: on the issues of gun safety, the environment, student loans, abortion, abortion, 394 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 2: right abortion, and so when people say, well, Latinos don't 395 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 2: care about abortion, said, the majority of Latinos are thirty 396 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 2: year old women. They don't want the government deciding what 397 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 2: their trajectory should right. They care because that eleven year 398 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,159 Speaker 2: old is their kid, right, the one that I was 399 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 2: talking to you about. Right. And this is where I 400 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 2: think media and people in power really need to check 401 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 2: their biases at the door, because for so many years 402 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,160 Speaker 2: we keep hearing that Latinos are deeply Catholic and therefore 403 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 2: anti abortion. But even though we're deeply Catholic, we are 404 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,199 Speaker 2: Pope Francis Catholic who has been a leader and a 405 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 2: champion for social justice, for environmental movements, and yes for 406 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 2: recognizing that you should not shame a woman if they 407 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,359 Speaker 2: have an abortion. And so I think that that's oftentimes 408 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 2: the disconnect when it comes to how people perceive Latino's 409 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 2: in our Catholicism. And I say this because I think 410 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 2: it's very important for us to understand how Latinos view 411 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 2: themselves when it comes to their politics. 412 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: Well, and it's you know, it's also sorry to interrupt, 413 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: but I you know what you just said about the 414 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: church and then media biases. One step is for the 415 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: media to think about their biases. Of course, the other 416 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: thing is to do the hard work of not being 417 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: lazy in terms of who they're speaking to when they're 418 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,719 Speaker 1: drawing conclusions about what voters want. Because there is an 419 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: active group of older, more traditional Latinos who are more 420 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: accessible many times for the media, and it's the younger voters. 421 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: I think that it's harder for the media to access 422 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: and pay attention to in the Latino community, and it 423 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 1: takes a little bit of work, but I think you'd 424 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: see more of these diverse views reflected in the media 425 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: if the media did a better job of extending the 426 00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: range of the interviews it does. 427 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 2: That's absolutely right, and I think that unlike in the 428 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 2: older white community, where the majority of voters are older whites, 429 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 2: in the Latino community it's completely inverse. The biggest pool 430 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 2: of eligible voters are under the age of thirty three. 431 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 2: If you do not know how they're feeling, then you 432 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 2: actually don't know the course the country is going to take. 433 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 2: In a place like Florida, Florida is the only state 434 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 2: in America where young Latino voters will not eclipse older voters, 435 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 2: and so a lot of the media takes their clues 436 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 2: of what's happening in Florida, but they do not have 437 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 2: the pulse of what's happening in the rest of the country. 438 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 2: When you said that Latinos are of different backgrounds, it's 439 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 2: absolutely true. But what we have found at Vote Latino 440 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 2: is that the biggest commonality is not the country your 441 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,199 Speaker 2: family came from. It's the state that you grew up in. 442 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 2: So if you grew up under our Pio's watch, it 443 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 2: actually doesn't matter what country your family came from, because 444 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 2: the moment. 445 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 1: You see you're referencing the Maricopa County, Yes sheriff in 446 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: Arizona who led basically with the club. 447 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,920 Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And so the moment that young person 448 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 2: walked out of that house, they were subjected to terrifying 449 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 2: racial profiling, in some cases witnessing their parents being locked away. 450 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,959 Speaker 2: And so one of the things that we did at 451 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,399 Speaker 2: Bode Latino is that we identified the eight states, and 452 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 2: I'm proud to say that we have never left those states, 453 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,199 Speaker 2: and in that bandwidth of ten years in twenty twenty, 454 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 2: we have helped flip five of them. And if you 455 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,719 Speaker 2: were to look at the only organization that has been 456 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 2: consistently there. It has been Vote Latino because in some cases, 457 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,360 Speaker 2: some of these states don't have unions, in some cases 458 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 2: they don't have active plant Parenthood chapters, in some cases 459 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 2: they don't have a lot of national presence. But we 460 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 2: went into Georgia and we worked with Stacy Abrams long 461 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 2: before people told us it was a possibility. But it 462 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 2: was because while Latita's were only two percent of the populace, 463 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 2: when we started working there to vote, they were sixteen 464 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 2: percent of the classrooms. We knew that they were going 465 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 2: to eventually graduate to become voters. We took big bets 466 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,200 Speaker 2: tim they faded off. 467 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: At least I think seven of the eight states you 468 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: mentioned to our swing states, at least six. I guess 469 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: I would say, I don't think of Texas and Florida's 470 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: swing states. 471 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 2: Texas is the biggest possibility. Can I tell you Texas 472 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 2: is where California what. I'm bullish on Texas because Texas, actually, 473 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,239 Speaker 2: you don't even have to take my word for it. 474 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: I'll take your word. 475 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 2: Twenty eighteen. In twenty eighteen, Latino youth actually increased their 476 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,640 Speaker 2: participation by twenty three percent. In twenty twenty, they came 477 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 2: out by twenty one percent. 478 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: Well, now that you've convinced me that Texas is in play, 479 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: which I did not think it could be in play, 480 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: and maybe you're saying it's going to be in play 481 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: one day. We can come back to that. But on 482 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: that note, I want to take a break and hear 483 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: from one of our sponsors, and then we'll continue this 484 00:26:54,440 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 1: very interesting conversation. I'm back and having a great conversation 485 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: with Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino, and we 486 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,399 Speaker 1: are talking about the twenty twenty four presidential race. And 487 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: right before we took this break, Marie Theresa, we were 488 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: talking about activating the Latino vote in different states and 489 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,359 Speaker 1: what that might look like. We touched on Texas, and 490 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 1: I wanted to step back from that in a big 491 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:27,160 Speaker 1: picture way and hear you out about how you think 492 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 1: the Republicans slash Donald Trump and the Democrats slash Joe 493 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: Biden are positioning themselves around the vote, and why don't 494 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: we start with Trump and the GOP. 495 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 2: So the biggest opportunity for the Latino vote is going 496 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 2: to be among young people, because that's really where the 497 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 2: vote is growing. And if you see where the vote 498 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 2: is growing, where they will make significant impact, whether we're 499 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 2: talking about Georgia or North Carolina or Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, 500 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 2: even Texas. The thing that makes me pause about the 501 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 2: Republican's commitment to courting this increasingly powerful cohort in increasingly 502 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 2: important swing states is that every chance they get, they 503 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 2: try to put a hurdle to their participation at the 504 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 2: voting booth. And I think that's all we really kind 505 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 2: of need to know about what their priorities are. And 506 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 2: then you have in these same states very Strongmann type 507 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:32,360 Speaker 2: of leadership that tries to escape the responsibility of legislating 508 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 2: for the whole of their population by trying to put 509 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 2: the onus on the boogheman of the immigrant communities. And 510 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 2: one thing that I've been able to learn from experience 511 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 2: is that when you do that, whether it is a 512 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 2: shriff our PIO, a shared at Angle, Thompton Crado back 513 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 2: in Colorado, when we help flip that state, what you do, 514 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 2: in fact is actually activate a community that's been a 515 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 2: political up to that moment, and they start participate aggressively 516 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 2: in elections because that voting booth becomes an SOS and 517 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 2: it becomes their pathway to sovereignty from people who are 518 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 2: being so cruel to their families and the pressures of disenfranchisement. 519 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 2: And so when people talk about the Latino vote and 520 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 2: they try to say, well, Latinos are going Republican, while 521 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 2: the pulling may say that, their actions at the voting 522 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 2: booth say something else. And I pointed most recently in 523 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 2: the special election in Ohio around abortion access, where in fact, 524 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 2: if you were to dust off of who voted for 525 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 2: that bill, overwhelmingly it was the black and Latino vote, 526 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 2: and the vote that was evenly split among men and 527 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 2: women were white voters. And so when folks again tried 528 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 2: to believe that Latinos are going right, I would like 529 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 2: to say, well, just like there was never a red 530 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 2: wave during the mid term, there is not a Latino 531 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 2: defection from the Democratic Party. If anything, it might be 532 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 2: disillusionment because change isn't happening fast enough, but it doesn't 533 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 2: mean that they're actually being right leading because the Party 534 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:17,720 Speaker 2: of Trump has vocally demonstrated through rhetoric and action that 535 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 2: they don't believe in a multicultural America. 536 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: And on the GOP positioning towards DHACA, the dreamers and 537 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 1: citizenship for migrants who are born here and grew up here, 538 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,719 Speaker 1: and now our adults they have been tone deaf and 539 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: heartless around that issue as well, in lots of ways, 540 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: in addition to the voting booth issues you've brought up. 541 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: When you say you know that the vote isn't fraying, 542 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: what do you make of in twenty twenty? You know 543 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: this phenomenon where it was repeatedly run up the flag 544 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: that cultural conservatism and sort of a pro business positioning 545 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: within certain segments of the Latin vote made Trump an 546 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: appealing candidate, and that in fact, a lot of sensationalism 547 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: around socialism and creeping socialism, et cetera, et cetera was 548 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: used effectively to change the cohort and provide Trump with 549 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: inroads he hadn't enjoyed before in the party, hadn't enjoyed before. 550 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: Do you think that's just a false narrative or isn't 551 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: statistically significant? 552 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,880 Speaker 2: Yeah? So I think that is. It's learning where that 553 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 2: socialism message played well and where the Democrats ignored, and 554 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 2: that was Florida. And that is because the Democrats were saying, well, 555 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 2: how can possibly anyone believe that we're going in a 556 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 2: socialist direction? That doesn't make any sense where America. What 557 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 2: they failed were having cultural sensitivities that there were people 558 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 2: in Florida who fled socialism and we're. 559 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: Having particularly Cuban particularly. 560 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 2: Cubans right and now the new wave of Venezuelans, and 561 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 2: so we along with others, were flagging that this was 562 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 2: going to be a particular issue in Florida. When the 563 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 2: Republicans tried to take that message to Texas and to 564 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 2: other states, it didn't bode well because most of the 565 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 2: folks that their families fled Latin America was not for 566 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 2: socialists regimes. They were here for economic reasons. So it 567 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 2: didn't mash up, it didn't align. And when we did 568 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 2: a lot of our polling post the election, we found 569 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 2: that the folks that did vote for Trump, outside of 570 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 2: the socialist message, the number one reason was because he 571 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 2: was a businessman and number two because he signed their 572 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 2: COVID checks. And so you can say what you want, 573 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 2: but they could say, well, I don't know what the 574 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 2: Democrats are going to offer me, but this person can 575 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 2: be a racist, but at least he provided me some 576 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,440 Speaker 2: sort of relief. Right. There is a lot of learning 577 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 2: that needs to happen in the Latino community. Is there 578 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,720 Speaker 2: mostly first generation that a president's name on a check 579 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 2: is actually not his cash but their cash. 580 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: Right, Which is actually the story of Thenald Trump's life 581 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 1: as a businessman too, is every check he signed has 582 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: been someone else's money. 583 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 2: Who else is money? At least he's consistent. I mean, 584 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 2: I don't know what you heard. That's good. So anyway, 585 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 2: So one of the things that we learned in twenty 586 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 2: twenty two, if you were to see what happened, for example, 587 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 2: because everybody kept outing Southern Texas, if you saw what 588 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 2: happened in Southern Texas was that everybody that voted for 589 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 2: a Democrat in twenty sixteen was back aligned with Beto Urke. 590 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 2: So there was one district that flipped, but that was 591 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 2: the only district in Texas that became Republican gerrymandered. So 592 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 2: anything that was a Republican stripe was meant to win 593 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 2: that seat District fifteen. What they did well was that 594 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 2: they identified Magalatina to communicate what they do so well 595 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 2: of using her as an example that they were making 596 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 2: in roads. But what our data shows, and again what 597 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 2: Pew Charitable Trust recently was able to demonstrate too that 598 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,080 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, the lack of investment in Latino 599 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 2: turnout by the Democratic Party had the Latino's participating by 600 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 2: thirty seven percent less than they did in twenty eighteen. 601 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 2: So the headlines that Latino's were turning right did exactly 602 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,640 Speaker 2: what it was meant to do. It cost investment in 603 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 2: the Latino community that could have favored the Democrats in 604 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:27,279 Speaker 2: Central California, in Upstate New York, in certain places where 605 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:28,800 Speaker 2: racist should not have been this close. 606 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: And so you would argue that there is no defection 607 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:35,280 Speaker 1: taking place. It's on the edges. And what's really happening 608 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,879 Speaker 1: is that the Democrats aren't committing as fully as they 609 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: should to actually grow this beautiful pie sitting right in 610 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: front of them, right. 611 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 2: It is the most let's say, you know, oftentimes if 612 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,400 Speaker 2: you people ask what is it that you do, Maria Tresa, 613 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:54,359 Speaker 2: I say, I market democracy every single day. So if 614 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:58,359 Speaker 2: you take the best practices of Nike, Nike understands that 615 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 2: the way they grow their market share is by talking 616 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:05,239 Speaker 2: and advertising and explaining why Nikes are better than Adidas 617 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:08,919 Speaker 2: and they're winning. If you talk to any corporate head 618 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 2: that does direct to consumer, if you ask them what's 619 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 2: your number one market that you're trying to attract. It's 620 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:19,840 Speaker 2: going to be Latino youth because they have the youngest, fastest, 621 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 2: great demographic of disposable in full stop. The fact that 622 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:30,839 Speaker 2: the Democrats don't seem to completely own this opportunity is 623 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 2: really beside myself. I mean there are places like I 624 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 2: mentioned earlier, Arizona, where Biden won that state by less 625 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 2: than twelve thousand votes, but waiting in the wings are 626 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty three thousand Latino youth to be 627 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 2: registered to vote, who when you pull them, are seventy 628 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:51,799 Speaker 2: percent aligned with progressive values. That's a marketplace miscalculation of 629 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:53,040 Speaker 2: wasted opportunity. 630 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:54,480 Speaker 1: The Rio Grande Valley. 631 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 2: Yeah in Texas, Yeah, No, it's no, and it really is. 632 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 2: And it's not just the population in waiting on the 633 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 2: sidelines trying to learn a system, but it's also they 634 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 2: have incredible leadership in Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. The Nevada 635 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,720 Speaker 2: State House for a while the leadership was all Latina women. 636 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 2: That's powerful. That should signal to the Democrats that people 637 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 2: are eager for leadership and eager to be talked to. 638 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 2: And oftentimes ten people say we why do Latinos need 639 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:25,239 Speaker 2: to be talked to. One is, oftentimes they come from 640 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:29,240 Speaker 2: families who have fled governments that democracy can get you hurt, 641 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,439 Speaker 2: so you don't participate in those countries' governments. So there's 642 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,800 Speaker 2: not a history of participation in this country. Number one. 643 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 2: But then number two, if you look at the school 644 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:44,239 Speaker 2: systems in the US, only eight states require a year 645 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:47,279 Speaker 2: of civic education out of fifty states to graduate from 646 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 2: high school, only eight out of fifty. If we know 647 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 2: in certain states like Texas, we're fifty two percent of 648 00:36:54,960 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 2: your kids K through twelve are Latino, seventy five percent 649 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,240 Speaker 2: of them are close to being people of color. Where 650 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 2: is this new generation of Americans learning how democracy works. 651 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,440 Speaker 1: Well in that context? How do we educate people properly? 652 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 1: And how do we get good information to people that 653 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,960 Speaker 1: they can act upon. And one of the other things 654 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 1: I've been curious and concerned about is young Latinos, like 655 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,000 Speaker 1: many young people everywhere, rely on social media as a 656 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,240 Speaker 1: primary conduit for engagement with the world around them and 657 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 1: for acquiring and digesting information. And disinformation and misinformation are 658 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:40,360 Speaker 1: long standing problems now on social and I was wondering 659 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,480 Speaker 1: how you felt about the role it might play in 660 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: this election in terms of being a factor that people 661 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:50,440 Speaker 1: need to be aware of within the Latino community. 662 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,839 Speaker 2: I think as a whole, my biggest concern going into 663 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:57,600 Speaker 2: this election is that we are not ready, whether we're 664 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 2: talking about through government regulation, through politicians, through the media, 665 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 2: through organizations, we are not ready to prepare our country 666 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 2: and its citizens for the deep fakes that are going 667 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:11,880 Speaker 2: to be waiting in line. And we do need a 668 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 2: quick way of teaching literacy on media consumption. And one 669 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,120 Speaker 2: of the ways that people are going to trust more 670 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:24,920 Speaker 2: than governments and more than traditional institutions and even media, sadly, 671 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:30,439 Speaker 2: are the people they know and influencers and corporations. When 672 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 2: you look at where people lay their trust, even though 673 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:36,400 Speaker 2: people like to browbeat corporations, there's also a level of 674 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:41,400 Speaker 2: trust in them that government entities sadly are not enjoying 675 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,200 Speaker 2: because of the erosion of trust that disinformation has led to. 676 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,000 Speaker 2: And so one of the things that vote works on 677 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,279 Speaker 2: every year. We're one of the co founders of National 678 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 2: Voter Registration Day, and during that time we were actively 679 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:57,200 Speaker 2: work with Walmart and Steve Madden, Zoomies and dozens of 680 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:01,319 Speaker 2: organizations Universal music and such, and we provide them with 681 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 2: toolkits that they could share with their employees and with 682 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,520 Speaker 2: their customers on basic information on where to vote, how 683 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:10,759 Speaker 2: to vote. If they need a ride, we partner with 684 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:12,840 Speaker 2: Uber so Uber can give them a ride to the polls. 685 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, it's going to 686 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,800 Speaker 2: be everyday citizens, because you have flagged my deepest concern 687 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 2: for this election. Are people going to be able to 688 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 2: properly cast a ballot on the day that they're supposed 689 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 2: to in the form that they're supposed to do with 690 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 2: the idea that they need because someone else has not 691 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,880 Speaker 2: gotten into their ear and told them otherwise. One of 692 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 2: the things that we just saw in New Hampshire, for example, 693 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,000 Speaker 2: was the fact that there was a deep fake robocall 694 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,160 Speaker 2: telling Biden supporters not to go vote. 695 00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:41,680 Speaker 1: It was actually even a little worse than that. It 696 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,880 Speaker 1: was an artificial Joe Biden voice exactly right, that was 697 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:48,920 Speaker 1: well developed enough that recipients of the call believed it 698 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,040 Speaker 1: was Biden on the line. And I think this is 699 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,839 Speaker 1: probably like the first inning of all of this, because 700 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,840 Speaker 1: it will get combined with video and deep faked videos, 701 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: and it's going to be a whole new era of propagame. 702 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,400 Speaker 1: I know we've talked a lot about a lot of 703 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 1: things today, but I always like to ask guests what 704 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:11,160 Speaker 1: they've learned as they've struggled through, or adapted or solved 705 00:40:11,239 --> 00:40:15,880 Speaker 1: problems along the way. Watching the Biden administration coming on 706 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,240 Speaker 1: top of the Trump administration and now both of these 707 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: men are going to be butting heads to try to 708 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:25,320 Speaker 1: take the White House back. What have you learned watching 709 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:29,160 Speaker 1: that dynamic and how it will affect the Latino community 710 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:32,080 Speaker 1: that you didn't know several years ago. 711 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,839 Speaker 2: So for a long time tim when I started this 712 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:38,480 Speaker 2: journey of Litte Latino twenty years ago, I had to 713 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:41,200 Speaker 2: tell people that they had to trust that when they voted, 714 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:44,880 Speaker 2: that their vote would work. With very little to show 715 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:49,400 Speaker 2: for the transition of the House in twenty eighteen, with 716 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:53,279 Speaker 2: the most diverse group of Americans occupying the US House 717 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,160 Speaker 2: of Representatives, they collectively passed over four hundred pieces of 718 00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:01,040 Speaker 2: legislation that was really a blueprint of how America should 719 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,720 Speaker 2: lead in the twenty first century, everything from gun reform 720 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:09,160 Speaker 2: to investing in the environment, to Women's Agency, to immigration 721 00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:12,279 Speaker 2: and a whole host of stuff. And so I was 722 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,759 Speaker 2: able to tell folks look your vote works. Now we 723 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:17,480 Speaker 2: have to finish the job in twenty twenty. And if 724 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:20,360 Speaker 2: you were to tell me that Joe Biden was going 725 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:24,799 Speaker 2: to be such a consequential president when it comes to 726 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:30,719 Speaker 2: policy that I think is going to eclipse even FDR. 727 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,720 Speaker 2: I was not ready for that. But it was because 728 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,720 Speaker 2: of the collective power of a multicultural America, a multicultural 729 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:42,200 Speaker 2: group of coalitions coming together and putting pressure with the 730 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 2: White House, the Senate, and the House of how they 731 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:49,880 Speaker 2: expect their government to function and work. And so before 732 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,560 Speaker 2: I had nothing. Now I have so much to show 733 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:55,400 Speaker 2: that voting does work. And you know a lot of 734 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:57,560 Speaker 2: folks are going to try to say that Biden is 735 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 2: too old for the job, but I would go back 736 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,319 Speaker 2: and it's like, it's what makes him a statesman. He 737 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:07,879 Speaker 2: actually understands the machinations that are needed to have Congress 738 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:11,000 Speaker 2: work for the American people. And it's an understanding of 739 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:14,840 Speaker 2: how our systems work that oftentimes the public does not see, 740 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,319 Speaker 2: that goes behind closed doors and makes people do the 741 00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:21,759 Speaker 2: right thing, even during I would say, such a difficult 742 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,480 Speaker 2: time that our democracy is facing. And so going into 743 00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,960 Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, my hope is is that that multicultural America. 744 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:31,200 Speaker 2: While many of us are tired, we've been doing this 745 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:34,120 Speaker 2: a long time. We trust that the reason we're tired 746 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,200 Speaker 2: is that we actually have material results, and the last 747 00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:38,960 Speaker 2: thing we need to do is figure out how we 748 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,680 Speaker 2: can collectively put the threat of a MAGA Republican base 749 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:47,760 Speaker 2: to rest by rising up once again in record number 750 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four. 751 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:52,200 Speaker 1: We are out of time today, Maria Theresa, I so 752 00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,680 Speaker 1: appreciate you coming on in educating me and spending time 753 00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:55,320 Speaker 1: with our audience. 754 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:57,240 Speaker 2: Thank you so much to Tim, It's always been a pleasure. 755 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:02,200 Speaker 1: Maria Teresa Kumar is the CEO Voto Latino, an influential 756 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:06,239 Speaker 1: advocacy group that mobilizes Latino voters. You can also find 757 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:10,880 Speaker 1: her on Twitter at Maria Teresa Here. At crash Course, 758 00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:14,759 Speaker 1: we believe the collisions can be messy, impressive, challenging, surprising, 759 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:19,239 Speaker 1: and always instructive. In today's Crash Course, I learned that 760 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:23,160 Speaker 1: Latino voters are going to pose a huge problem for 761 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:26,279 Speaker 1: both Joe Biden and Donald Trump as they fight it 762 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,080 Speaker 1: out to win the twenty twenty four election. What did 763 00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:31,440 Speaker 1: you learn? We'd love to hear from you. You can 764 00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:34,600 Speaker 1: tweet at the Bloomberg Opinion, handle at Opinion or me 765 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:38,880 Speaker 1: at Tim O'Brien using the hashtag Bloomberg Crash Course. You 766 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,600 Speaker 1: can also subscribe to our show wherever you're listening right 767 00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 1: now and leave us a review. It helps more people 768 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:48,360 Speaker 1: find the show. This episode was produced by the indispensable 769 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:53,000 Speaker 1: Anamasarakis and me. Our supervising producer is Magus Hendrickson, and 770 00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:56,520 Speaker 1: we get editing help from Sage Bauman, Jeff Grocott, Mike 771 00:43:56,640 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: Nizza and Christine Vanden Bilart Blake Maple's as our sound 772 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:04,680 Speaker 1: engineering and our original theme song was composed by Luis Gara. 773 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:08,040 Speaker 1: I'm Tim O'Brien. We'll be back next week with another 774 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:08,680 Speaker 1: Crash Course.