WEBVTT - And, This is Governor Tim Walz 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:14.280 This is Gavin Newsom and this is Governor Tim Walls. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.040 All right, Governor, it's great to have you on the podcast. 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:19.560 Thanks so much for being with us. 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:21.040 I am thanks for having me. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.759 Uh, I'm kind of wondering where I follow this list 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:25.040 of guests, but I'm excited. 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:29.600 You're not be friends for a while, so we're not appreciated. 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:32.280 But you and I have talked about this for a while, 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:36.680 trying to trying to understand, uh, during a Trump presidency, 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:39.800 how do we best serve our folks? How do we 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:41.920 get back there? And the Democratic Party? I mean, we 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.400 all need to be very candid. Is is not all 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:45.440 that popular right now? 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.199 Well, that's how I wanted to start, just right up top. 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.160 I mean, the timing of this couldn't be more opportunistic 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.160 for both of us as Democratic governors. It's look, we're 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:56.680 in the tank. I mean, it's not just a rough spot. 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:00.240 It's an historically low at least in modern polling. Back 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.840 to the nineteen nineties. CNN had the Democratic Party brand 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.120 now down about twenty nine percent, and it was even 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:11.240 worse in an NBC pull that showed twenty seven percent 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.800 of people supporting our party. You've been out on the road. 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:17.039 You were just in a couple of red states. You've 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.000 been doing town halls. We've talked about this in the 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:23.319 past privately. It's not just about what you say and 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.080 how you say, it's also about where you say it. 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:27.840 So I love the fact that you were out there, 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:29.920 so give us a sense. I mean, what you're over 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.520 under is about where the hell our party is right now? 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.040 Well, and I think that's what people are doing. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.600 Look, this is something hadn't been done, what you're doing, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:38.920 and people are, you know, and they're we're trying to 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.400 enter spaces and look, I don't know if all of 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:42.240 them are going to work. 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:43.400 I don't. 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.640 But the fact of the matter is we don't want 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.920 to win elections just to say Democrats want elections. We 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.240 want to win elections to improve people's lives. When we're 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:54.200 losing elections, chaos reigns, which we're seeing right now. I'm 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.440 out of town hall and these folks are standing up. 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.440 They're a VA nurse, you know, they're concerned what's happening 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:02.600 in the VA. They're a farmer that's concerned. They are 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.080 folks that are concerned about their personal reproductive rights and 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:09.639 their life choices and if we can't be a respected 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:16.160 opposition or alternative, that really worries me. And I say this, Kevin, 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.000 that that I didn't I didn't go to the Democrats. 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.080 They came to me with social Security, with gi Bill. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.280 You know, it was clear when at least my age 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.920 growing up, Democrats stood with working people, Republicans stood with 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.840 the wealthy, and there was nothing necessarily wrong with that 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.160 that you know, it was. It was at least an argument. 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:38.280 It feels much more polarized now, but people don't see 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:38.880 us as that. 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.560 It's they see exactly the opposite of that, that we're 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.320 the party of the elites, that we don't represent we 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.960 represent quote unquote others, we don't represent them. In this 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.359 notion that the working class now has been is embraced 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.200 Donald Trump is extraordinary and so and what do you 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.200 I mean, the million out on the camp you were 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:58.640 out on the campaign show. I mean, it's such an 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.480 interesting conversation for me to have with you and for 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.520 those listening, because no one has more sort of a 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.959 contemporary ear to the ground than you do. Just coming 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.359 off a few months ago the campaign trail, meeting people 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.800 all across this country. I mean, these new numbers that 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.600 came out as CNN and NBC. I mean even you 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.440 had to be shocked by how far we've fallen as 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:21.840 a brand. 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:22.440 Yeah. 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.280 Look, and I felt excitement out there, and our policies 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.639 are popular. By the way, when you pull our policies 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:33.640 like paid family, medical lead, support for the environment, reproductive rights, 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:34.880 they pulled very high. 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.320 We don't. So what I have to tell you, what 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:38.200 I take away. 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:39.960 From that, Gavin, is is that I think we got 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:41.800 to be very careful of drinking our own kool aid 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.120 or believing we're in our bubble, because I truly did 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.240 think we were going to win. And I say that 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.320 as someone who is run in traditionally red districts won 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.040 close races, and I felt like I had a feel, 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.400 and I think this is where we're going to have 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.720 to get out over our skis a bit, try new places. 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.160 I know we've had this argument. It was out there, Governor. 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:05.760 We didn't see you on a lot of you know, 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:09.080 things that weren't mainstream media. We didn't see you on podcasts. 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.000 We didn't see doing that. Are you willing to go 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:13.680 into those We need to be willing to go into 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.080 those spaces now, between you and Ikevin I don't think 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.160 we're going to win over those seventy seven million that 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.240 voted for Donald Trump. I'm concerned with the ninety million 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.440 who stayed home. Now, I'm concerned that our policies positively 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.120 impact those seventy seven million, because you and I represent 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.760 a lot of independence, Republicans, Greens as well as Democrats, 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.240 and we have responsibility. I don't know if we can 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:35.560 necessarily win them over, but I think the thing that 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.719 we should really soul search on is when the choice 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:42.120 was Donald Trump and JD. Van's and Kamala Harrison myself 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:46.360 and policies that we were clearly articulating. It got pretty 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.479 close seventy seven to seventy five type of thing. But 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.920 it's the ninety million that stayed home. Why did they 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.240 think we were the same, Why did they think we 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:54.719 weren't there? 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:55.279 And I don't. 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:57.960 I think by going into these spaces to be candid 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.880 with you, it allows people to express their frustrations, It 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:05.000 allows people to articulate what's happening in their lives. It 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.440 better also be a place where we're hearing and learning, 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.720 because I'm guessing you're hearing some things that you don't 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:11.280 normally hear. 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.000 When you're going on with some of these folks, you're 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.440 on with the understanding. 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.680 Here, and that's Yeah. This notion of uncomfortable conversations not 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.000 just conversations. But let me let me, let me step back. 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.279 I love what you said because it's interesting this notion 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:27.280 of our policies are popular, but our party is not popular, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.520 and it begs the question some have asked me, and 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.120 I want to pose it to you. Do you think 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.440 one of the mistakes is we don't focus first on 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:40.240 what we stand for and then make the case the 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.520 policy that backs that up and reinforces it. That we 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.800 are not fundamentally meeting people where they are. They want 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:47.920 to know what we stand for. 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.000 Yeah, I think that's good. Yeah, And look, I and 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.200 I appreciate. I think we're going to be in hard places, 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:54.760 and I think we're going to get punched from both 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.680 sides doing some of this. But we're not in this too. 0:05:57.920 --> 0:05:59.920 Like I said, we're not banking political capital to win 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.800 another election. We're trying to improve people's lives. And let's 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.480 all be very candas nobody's lives being improved right now 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.520 except billionaires, and I don't see that changing. And so 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:10.839 I think we're going to have to ask those questions. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:12.560 I think a lot of times the simple answer is 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.640 it's the messenger, you know, which all acknowledged. Maybe the 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.080 messenger is not good at this. I approach this always, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.640 Kevin like a school teacher. I give a lesson and 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.720 then I do an assessment of that lesson, and half 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.080 the students didn't do very well on it. Well, I 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.719 don't assume that those half are terrible kids. I assume 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:31.880 that they have a different learning style, or they weren't 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.200 hearing the way I was teaching it. 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:34.760 Maybe these folks. 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.480 Were, you know, verbal learners, maybe they were kinesitic learners, 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:39.520 whatever it might be. I think we have to approach 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.880 the electorate like that, that we think we're telling them 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:42.600 where we're at. 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.479 But for whatever reason, you're right, and this pains me. 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:48.040 I tried to make the case. Look, I'm a public 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:52.200 school teacher, went to a public university, and according to 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.080 the Wall Street Journal, I'm the poorest person who ever 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.320 ran for vice president. That didn't matter to them. 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.320 And so the idea here that we were trying to 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.760 craft some one who, for whatever reason, there was a 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.840 number of people that didn't register with So I'm with 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.640 everybody else. And again when people ask me, I'm probably 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:10.440 the last person you should ask for answers because I 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.800 didn't get it done. But I do believe we were 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:14.920 making inroads, and I will have to tell you one 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:16.920 of the most powerful ones for me, Gavin. It's not 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.720 a great use of campaign time, but we were up 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.360 in Erie, Pennsylvania on Halloween before the election, and I 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.600 sat down with five undecided voters and we had a 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.920 forty five minute give and take on that. I think 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.600 I got three of them for sure. Maybe, but you 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:32.840 know that's how you view it. But the fact of 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.600 the matter was is it was really good for me too, 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.360 because it was coming back and forth and this guy says, well, 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:41.400 I didn't realize, you know, you understood farm policy like this, 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.119 because I'm not hearing that from you guys. 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:44.240 He was telling us. 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:46.800 He wasn't hearing that. I said, but I do know this, 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:48.840 I know the price of corn, I know all these 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.160 things work. So I think as Democrats, we're going to 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.800 have to push ourselves into uncomfortable spots and these town halls. Look, 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:59.360 I'll be the first technology of you. It's to highlight 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.480 that their members are Congress on the Republican side are 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:03.200 ashamed of Donald Trump's policies. 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.160 Is that? I mean, it was that fun foundationally, the 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.120 why was that the inspiration to go out and do it? 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.520 Yes, And I don't demonize these representatives. I honor their service. 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:14.280 I went out there, but I lived through this. I 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.280 went to the town halls during the ACA and I 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:20.720 made a full throated defense of President Obama's healthcare bill. 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.240 And I got reelected. Now it was a tough fight, 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.360 but I got reelected. These folks are not going out there, 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.640 and I'll tell you it's a huge mistake. Democrats did 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.240 this in twenty ten. Oh these are Republican operatives. They 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.839 were not Republican operatives. They were my neighbors who were 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.679 matter than hell. And we're getting misinformation. But I went 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.600 out and filled that void. I think we as Democrats 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.960 have left a void, and that Donald Trump is masterful. 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.040 Say what you will about this. I don't give him credit. 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.320 I don't think he's a genius. I don't think he 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.680 knows how stuff works. But I do think he knows 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.160 how media works. And I do think he knows that 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.840 if we're assuming people here are arguments, they're just so 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.400 SELFIH just like this teacher and me, I taught the 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.560 lesson this should be easy. Well, that's not how all 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.760 people learn. It's not all people's lives are at And again, 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.439 I don't if someone who doesn't believe a woman should 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.240 have the right to choose, if someone who doesn't believe 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.080 the president should be restrained by the constitution, I'm not 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.200 going to win them. But I don't believe that's a 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:22.320 very large percentage of the population. But why are they 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.120 not trusting us? What's your take? I mean, why are 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:26.360 what are you hearing when you hear this? Why are 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:29.000 people not trusting the message we were delivering? Because I 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:31.840 keep coming back to this. We needed to have immigration 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.520 reform to control our borders, and you can do that 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.120 with humanity. Donald Trump just said they're invading our country, 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.440 they're eating dogs and cats, and he got more votes. 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:42.440 Why is it so? 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.959 I mean, and I want to and I have strong 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:46.800 opinions on that, but I want to sort of stress 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:49.560 test yours again because I think it's interesting. Back to 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.360 my notion, and you say, you're the last person I'm 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.640 going to completely dismiss. I think you're the best position 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.600 to understand what's going on. But let me reflect on 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.040 this notion of you being teacher and reflecting on on 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:05.920 how your students did. Did you have an opportunity right 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.000 off the election to sit down over the course. I mean, 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.080 I hope you took time off with the family decompressed, 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.719 but you had to have had with your team these conversations. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.360 Did you have them with the Harris team as well? 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.160 Did you have them with the campaign team? Have you 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.600 organized anything more formally even internally? You got books coming 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.760 out they're going to shape those internal conversations. You got 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.240 one book coming out in a few weeks called Fight 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.839 that is already starting to frame what did or did 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.280 not occur. Have you started that process or has that 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.240 process been advanced? 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:39.880 Yeah? 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:41.920 No, you're right, and I've talked to my team about it. 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.920 Look as a high school teacher and a governor whatever, 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.000 I didn't think about writing a book, But being there, 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:47.319 I have. 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:47.920 You know, I think we. 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:49.680 Got to tell our story and I think there's lessons 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.360 learned to not go back and do you know, a 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:55.800 deep bever or hotwash of this is irresponsible in my opinion. 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.080 I spoke to the Vice president last week. We talked 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:00.720 a little bit about this, of coming to it but 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.200 we haven't done like a formal debrief, and you know, 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.120 when you're part of it, you've done this that. When 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.040 you're part of a team on this, you know you 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.120 work together. And I stand by that. I signed up 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.359 and I say this, Gavin, you'd appreciate not the cliches 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.800 of coaching or whatever, but I feel like I'm the 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:19.040 constant team player. If you are truly a team player, 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.440 you have a responsibility to make your team better. And 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.800 that means a responsibility to say, look, we're not making 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:25.640 this block here, we need to do this or whatever 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.960 it is, and we need to be honest that Again, 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:30.920 I keep coming back to that number of the folks 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:33.680 who stayed home. How in God's name could you stay 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.440 home during this election? It's pretty hard to blame that 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:39.120 on Donald Trump? You know what I mean that you've 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.800 got a responsibility. They weren't going to vote for him, 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.200 his people were, But you had a whole bunch of 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.200 these folks that just said, what difference does it make? 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:49.880 And how did we as a party get into that? 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.880 How did we lose the narrative? How much are we 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:57.560 seeding ground to the Fox News and the right wing 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.560 talking heads? How much are we seeding to them, which 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.040 we don't have a pushback on it. And that's fascinating 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.480 to me. I see that with me, people who have 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.360 a clearly defined vision who I am by what they 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:09.840 listen to. 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.520 And I'm like, well, that's not true. None of that 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:14.680 is true. But they have it. 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.120 They have it, and I mean, and it's so interesting. 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:18.960 I think about you, and you know, we've talked about 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.240 this before, this notion of you know you were there 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.480 was an effort to swift boat you in terms of 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.480 your military service, and it's interesting and Tim, we've also 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.439 talked about the fact you were part of Carrie's campaign 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:33.800 as a veteran promore watching Carrie by these same folks 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:35.080 get swift in and did it. 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:36.840 And I'm telling you, this is one of the most 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:38.880 painful ones for me, Gavin, not because I don't go 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.320 down and throw this in people's faces, but my dad 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:42.560 was koreat war, aor veteran. 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:44.240 He took me. I did it. 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:46.319 I don't go out there and say, you know, I'm 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.480 better than you, because I did twenty four years. But 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:52.000 how quickly these guys dismissed twenty four years of honorable service. 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.400 I rose and served as a highest ranking enlisted soldier 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.560 where you can get and they find a way to 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.880 damn it. And my argument on that has always been 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.400 it damages all veterans. But I bet if you went 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.839 and polled, we see this. Veterans voted for Donald Trump 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.480 where they voted for us. We as Democrats, how do 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.440 you write this off? How do you do or this one? 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.000 Republicans are more fiscally conservative? You know that's not true. 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.640 Republican governors of California have not been fiscally conservative. 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.559 No, And I'll remind everyone eight point four trillion dollars 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.600 added to the debt during the four years of the 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:30.920 Trump administration. And if you want to dismiss that, say 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.119 it was COVID. It was three trillion before the pandemic. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.959 He ran deficits every single year. So I stand by 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:39.280 what you just said, Tim. 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:40.960 I mean, what do you think happening? Look, you're taking 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.040 a different approach, You're doing other things. And I said, 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.719 I think we as Democrats have to give whether it's 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:51.080 Bernie Sanders, whether it's Jasmine Crockett, AOC, Gavin Newsom, JB. 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:53.800 Pritzker, all of the folks out there, because look. 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:56.559 What we have in common is we believe in working people, 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:58.800 we believe in fairness, we believe in healthcare, we believe 0:13:58.800 --> 0:13:59.559 in the environment. 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.520 We're on the same team as the American public. But 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.320 how do you see it? I mean, did it feel 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:05.800 like we were. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.679 Going to win? No, I mean we had that conversation. 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.280 I felt like that up until election day for whatever reason. 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.520 And look, but it's you know, it's interesting. I had 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.840 the same false sense that I think we all fall 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.600 prey to, and that is I was on those campaign buses. 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.960 I was out there campaigning for you guys. And it's 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.840 make believe in many respects. When they say, you know, 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:28.720 when you want to go right, they say, oh no, sir, 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:30.960 we got to go left because that's where the crowds 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.040 are and we've been working hard to assemble them. And 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.000 I wonder just in terms of that, And I want 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.080 to get back to answering your question, but I want 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.600 to just applaudge you for doing these red state tours. 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.000 But do you fear and I'm curious of your experiences 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.360 like this when you go into those crowds, which were huge. 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.240 You were in Omaha, you were in Ohio and Iowa 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.440 excuse me as well, and you had huge crowds. But 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:54.080 do you fear they're just you were talking to our 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.640 same folks or do you feel like there's a bunch 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.320 of Republicans that were there to listen to you? 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.200 Now see, I don't fear it, but I I think 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.200 we need to be honest with ourselves. The folks who 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:04.640 took a beautiful Friday afternoon in de Mooinne to come 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.200 listen to Tim Walls speak probably have a pretty good 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.560 opinion of me in the first place. But that's probably 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.400 too That's okay because they're screaming what are you guys 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:14.320 going to do about it? But I do tell you 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.040 there were some independence there. I doubt if there were 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:19.280 a whole lot of Republicans. But I'll tell you what 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.600 those Republicans were watching. And I think what I would 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.960 say if I was them, is, look, our representative can 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.120 do better than Walls. He should do it. He should 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:29.680 get out there and do it. This is to put 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.480 pressure on them to come forward, because then it really 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.720 does become a debate about the critical issues. And like 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.320 I said this, I you know they can just come 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.560 and why did you cut the VA? Just tell us, 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:42.960 tell us why you think that's a good idea because 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.720 I would argue once again, eighty percent of Americans don't 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:47.520 want to cut the VA, and you have to give 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.320 them statistics and facts. And I think my purpose of 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.400 this is is to force the hand of these folks, 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:55.760 because I got to be honest with you. I think 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:57.960 if they try and defend this stuff, they're going to lose. 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.080 I believe strongly in that this isn't just us versus them, 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.320 This is good policy versus bad policy. 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:04.920 And so that's the purpose. 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:06.680 But no, I want to be clear to folks who 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.800 see that the folks showing up are excited. 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.320 But here's my thing. Four months after. 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:17.560 Losing this critical election, our base is still engaged. So 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.720 I think that polling is interesting Gavin that it doesn't 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.040 mean that there's less Democrats. And the reason that number 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.440 is so low is if you pull every single year, 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.560 if you ask the Republican Party their opinion of the 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.680 Democratic Party, it's very low. The reason our numbers are 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:33.320 so low is those are Democrats. 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:37.720 Yep, sixty three percent feel and I was grateful with. 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.920 Sixty three percent. Still, here's what I say. I'm not 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:44.240 a Democrat, I'm Democratic farmer labor. I'm the one person 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:44.760 in the country. 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.840 We're dfl so and I actually think, Gavin, this is 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.840 an interesting point. While I won't cry and tell you 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.080 we've kept the farmers all with us or whatever, we 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.960 have kept some of them like Farmers Union in Minnesota 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.120 and these issues around water quality and different things, and 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:01.800 we're labor and. 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:02.960 In Minnesota we really do. 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.560 This was a marriage between the Farmer Labor Party, which 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.359 quite honestly was more progressive and leaning into the issues 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.800 of the working class and Democrats. And so I think 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.600 on a national level, we're going to have the conversation 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:18.400 of who we are because, like you said it. 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:22.919 People don't believe we're with them. They think we're a leaders. 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.920 What I love about what you did is you're meeting 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:30.760 people where they are going into red states, but you're 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:33.160 also not just meetium where they are. You're showing respect, 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.600 you're not turning your back because you're looking an electoral 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.480 map and recent experience say it's just seven swing states 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:41.960 and that's all our need to focus on. And I 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.600 think one of the things the Democratic Party absolutely needs 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.120 to do is we need to respect the fact that 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:50.200 we have to represent the American people, and that means 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:54.080 all fifty states, and so keeping going back, showing up matters. 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.240 Howard Dean was right fifty strategy and just to be 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:01.080 candid as one of the fringe, you know, kind of 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:03.440 washed in with the wave in two thousand and six 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:07.439 when there was the big Democratic wave, it was because 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:09.440