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Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to willk F Daily with

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Speaker 1: me your Girl, Danielle Moody recording from the home Bunker. Folks,

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Speaker 1: what we've seen over the past couple of election cycles

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Speaker 1: since the fall of Roe v. Wade, are ballot initiatives

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Speaker 1: that have made their way to very red states, and

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Speaker 1: we've seen over the course of the last two years

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Speaker 1: now these ballad initiatives to enshrine abortion pass. We've seen

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Speaker 1: them really rally people to the polls. And the fact

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Speaker 1: is that there are so many issues right now that

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Speaker 1: we are all reeling from and dealing with that there

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Speaker 1: isn't I don't think one issue that is going to

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Speaker 1: get people to the polls. However, I do think that abortion,

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Speaker 1: reproductive freedom, the attacks on IVF and up next birth

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Speaker 1: control are going to be those issues that really get women,

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Speaker 1: regardless of their party, to recognize that Republicans right don't

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Speaker 1: give a fuck about women as people. They see us

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Speaker 1: as incubators period to be controlled right for the whole

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Speaker 1: desire of production, and that production really what they are

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Speaker 1: looking at is to produce more white babies, which links

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Speaker 1: up and tracks with their desire for a chrysto fascist nation.

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Speaker 1: Insert kitchen, Katie, right, and this desire for this soft looking,

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Speaker 1: soft spoken, creepy ass white woman sitting in her kitchen,

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Speaker 1: just waiting for her man to come home, with multiple

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Speaker 1: kids hanging off of her hips. And that's her pride

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Speaker 1: and joy in her head because there are no books

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Speaker 1: on the shelves, and soon maybe they won't even allow

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Speaker 1: women to go to school anymore. Right, this is the

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Speaker 1: future that Republicans want, and they're telling us. You know,

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Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton did late night television a couple of weeks

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Speaker 1: ago and she was just like, I don't see where

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Speaker 1: the decision is that people have to make. Republicans are

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Speaker 1: telling you exactly what it is that they are going

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Speaker 1: to do, how they are going to do it, and

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Speaker 1: when they are going to do it. So it shouldn't

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Speaker 1: be a fucking surprise. So for folks that think like, oh,

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Speaker 1: well we've made it through you know the first four years,

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Speaker 1: well that was as if saying in the first Jurassic Park,

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Speaker 1: which they did, ah, let us test the fences, see

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Speaker 1: how well this works. Oh, the dinosaurs figured it out,

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Speaker 1: and so they can break out and do more damage.

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Speaker 2: That's what the Republicans.

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Speaker 1: Are going to do in twenty twenty five if in

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Speaker 1: fact they get inside of the White House. So everyone

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Speaker 1: needs to pay attention just to the ballot initiatives, but

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Speaker 1: to everything that is being said and done, because there

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Speaker 1: is no quiet part anymore.

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Speaker 2: So.

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Speaker 1: Coming up next, folks, my conversation with a returning guest,

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Speaker 1: Chris Melody Fields Figureto from bisk who is she is

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Speaker 1: the executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, and

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Speaker 1: we get into it with regard to where we are

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Speaker 1: with these ballot initiatives, what she is doing to get

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Speaker 1: out the vote and more. Folks, I am very happy

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Speaker 1: to welcome back to WOKF Daily Chris Melody Fields Figuareto,

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Speaker 1: who leads Ballot Initiative Strategy Center as their executive director,

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Speaker 1: and Ballot Initiative Strategy Center does exactly what it is

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Speaker 1: that the name says, creates strategies around ballot initiatives that

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Speaker 1: can have incredible consequences on our lives. And I think

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Speaker 1: that Chris, you know, the last time that I had

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Speaker 1: you on, I think that we talked about the number

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Speaker 1: of abortion ballot initiatives that we're on. I think that

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Speaker 1: when we have seen abortion beyond the ballot, we have

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Speaker 1: won in surprising places like you know, Kansas, like Ohio.

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Speaker 1: So I think that that is a good thing. However,

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Speaker 1: I think that we have seen a lot of sneaky

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Speaker 1: business by Republicans with regard to putting up ballot initiatives

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Speaker 1: that are slowly but surely taking away people's rights. So

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Speaker 1: I want to give you just an opportunity to give

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Speaker 1: us a fifty thousand foot view on what you are

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Speaker 1: working on, what your organization is working on, and kind

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Speaker 1: of the trends that you have been seeing with ballot initiatives.

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Speaker 3: You so much for having me, and it's a good

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Speaker 3: place to start to from a place of like success,

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Speaker 3: right like we are being successful. We are winning on

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Speaker 3: reproductive rights and freedom issues on the ballot, and we've

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Speaker 3: also been winning on raising the minimum wage and paid

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Speaker 3: leave and redistricting and all these issues that people care

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Speaker 3: about that want to see direct action and have been

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Speaker 3: taking that power into their own hands to address. And

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Speaker 3: what we've seen over the last couple of years because

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Speaker 3: of that success, but really has been shown in the

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Speaker 3: last you know, year and a half. You know, if

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Speaker 3: you care about abortion rights, you got to care about democracy,

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Speaker 3: and you have to care about defending direct democracy, because

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Speaker 3: what we are seeing in state legislatures across the country

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Speaker 3: is either is an undermining of the will of the people,

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Speaker 3: we're voters, regardless of party of And I think that's

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Speaker 3: really something important to remember in states like Kansas, like Ohio,

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Speaker 3: like Kentucky, like Missouri, like in many of the states

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Speaker 3: that are moving towards collecting signatures to put abortion on

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Speaker 3: the ballot this year in twenty twenty, for states like

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Speaker 3: Arizona and Florida, right Montana, is we're winning across party

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Speaker 3: lines on this, on these issues, and now what we

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Speaker 3: are seeing is a disconnect by the people who are

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Speaker 3: supposed to represent us in governments, undermining and not listening

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Speaker 3: to the people. And we're either refusing to implement voter

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Speaker 3: approved initiatives or trying to prevent trying to put those

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Speaker 3: barriers that you mentioned to the citizen led process to

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Speaker 3: give us the power and the agency to bring these

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Speaker 3: issues before the ballot. And one of the things that

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Speaker 3: you know we did at the top of the year,

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Speaker 3: because you know we've seen this and we are working,

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Speaker 3: you know, collaboratively with our partners in so many states,

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Speaker 3: is try to see what public opinion is like, try

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Speaker 3: to understand where the voters are, the communities are on

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Speaker 3: these issues. And what we saw through our research, which

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Speaker 3: is so connected to what we're seeing on these issues,

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Speaker 3: is that regardless of party affiliation, voters overwhelmingly oppose state

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Speaker 3: legislatures limiting the citizen initiated process and they believe that

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Speaker 3: balle measures work, that they trust themselves, and they want

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Speaker 3: to have a direct say on the issues that matter

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Speaker 3: most to their day to day lives. Like you said, right,

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Speaker 3: these issues have consequences. It will impact on who we love,

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Speaker 3: if we have bodily autonomy, if we have wages, right,

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Speaker 3: you know, these people are acutely aware that there are

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Speaker 3: some things that are not working right now in their

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Speaker 3: lives and they want answers to it. And so, you know,

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Speaker 3: I think this is what's so important. And you know what,

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Speaker 3: our research showed that, like you know, ninety two percent

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Speaker 3: of the voters that we surveyed agree that the bout

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Speaker 3: initiative process is important. It's an important way for citizens

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Speaker 3: to pass the policies that they care about, and they

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Speaker 3: want legislators to respect the will of the people. Ninety

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Speaker 3: three percent of voters agree that legislators have an obligation

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Speaker 3: to carry out the will of the people.

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Speaker 1: I wonder here though, right because you mentioned it that

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Speaker 1: what we are seeing too is that when our issues

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Speaker 1: are brought before the voting public in the in the

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Speaker 1: framing of a ballot initiative, the issues win. And I

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Speaker 1: think that, well, I think, you know, I have an

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Speaker 1: idea of why I think that they win, right, And

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Speaker 1: I'd like to hear from you before I talk about

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Speaker 1: the initiatives that then are created to not allow people

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Speaker 1: to put things on about like the hurdles that are

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Speaker 1: put in place to discourage people from being able to

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Speaker 1: organize to bring ballot initiatives for it. But I almost

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Speaker 1: think that they work, Chris, because it's one thing that

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Speaker 1: people are very clear on, right as opposed to a

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Speaker 1: presidential election or you know, a midterm election or what

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Speaker 1: have you, where I'm voting on a person and I'm

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Speaker 1: going to assume that that person is going to do

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Speaker 1: what it is that they say that they're going to do.

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Speaker 1: But then they get into office and they do something

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Speaker 1: completely different. Right, So I'm rolling the dice on this person.

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Speaker 1: But however, when I see a ballot initiative that either

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Speaker 1: says we're for raising the minimum wage, or we're not.

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Speaker 2: We're for abortion or we're not.

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Speaker 1: It's very clear to the voter what it is that

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Speaker 1: they are voting on.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think that I think we know

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Speaker 3: you and I know very much coming from being a

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Speaker 3: black woman and a Latina immigrant woman, like we bet

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Speaker 3: on this and we've been on our people. Yeah, and

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Speaker 3: that has been I think what we've seen, especially in

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Speaker 3: the last decade of where we haven't seen action in

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Speaker 3: representative government, right. And there's a million reasons why, gerrymandering

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Speaker 3: the voting laws right, and people are to what you

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Speaker 3: just outlined, people are not seeing the action. Like people

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Speaker 3: understand when they don't have enough money in the bank

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Speaker 3: and they can't go buy groceries or you know, send

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Speaker 3: their kid to college. They understand that very acutely in

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Speaker 3: their lives. And so for them, it's a no brainer

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Speaker 3: to raise the minimum wage. Or for you know, communities

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Speaker 3: that are low income who don't have access to healthcare,

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Speaker 3: it's a no brainer for them to have Medicaid expansion

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Speaker 3: because they literally need health care. They need to be

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Speaker 3: able to go to the doctor, they need to be

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Speaker 3: able to get that surgery, they need able to get

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Speaker 3: that prescription drug. To live their lives. And so I

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Speaker 3: actually don't think that there is apathy right now and people,

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Speaker 3: I think what is happening and why we're seeing so

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Speaker 3: much excitement around these ballot measures and these issues as

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Speaker 3: people are saying, I get that, I want that, I

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Speaker 3: want a bodily autonomy, I want to have reproductive rights.

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Speaker 1: I see.

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Speaker 3: I mean the stories that are coming out of Louisiana

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Speaker 3: right now on their abortion band Wild Wild women forced

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Speaker 3: to have cesareans, which was incredibly dangerous, right people understand that,

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Speaker 3: And I think that is people want to see that

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Speaker 3: action in their being strawn so heavily towards these issues

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Speaker 3: on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation, and there's this

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Speaker 3: disconnect again to the people who are supposed to represent

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Speaker 3: us in government and deliver for us. And so I

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Speaker 3: don't think it's apathy. It's that something about the system

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Speaker 3: is not working, or maybe it is working as it

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Speaker 3: was designed, and they're wanting to see different type of results.

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Speaker 3: And they're saying, well, if you have the power and

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Speaker 3: you're not making these decisions in these choices and taking

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Speaker 3: this action, well then I'm going to take that power

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Speaker 3: into my hands. And I think that's why we are

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Speaker 3: where we are. It's so like more multi layered and

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Speaker 3: multifaceted to that. But I think ultimately people actually understand

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Speaker 3: the deep impact on what is happening in their communities

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Speaker 3: and they are so frustrated that things have not changed,

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Speaker 3: and so they're going to do it for them else.

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Speaker 1: I believe that Baalid initiatives are also empowering, right like

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Speaker 1: I can. I'm going to take this on for myself,

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Speaker 1: right like I hired write these legislatures to do what

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Speaker 1: it is that I hope that they would do because

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Speaker 1: I thought that our values were aligned. But I'm going

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Speaker 1: to take this on for myself. So I do think

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Speaker 1: that there is a sense of empowerment that does happen.

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Speaker 1: Talk to us about the obstacles that are being created

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Speaker 1: to Balid initiatives that because they have been so successful

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Speaker 1: that we're seeing opposition or you know, different things that

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Speaker 1: are put in place to deter people from being able

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Speaker 1: to take a valid initiative to the voting boots.

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Speaker 3: So it's happening in a couple of ways. One through

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Speaker 3: state legislatures. So play in states like a Missouri who

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Speaker 3: literally for probably now it's the sixth legislative session have

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Speaker 3: been fighting back in their state legislature a myriad of

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Speaker 3: bills that would make it harder for citizens to have

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Speaker 3: the citizen led process right anywhere, from raising the threshold

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Speaker 3: above fifty percent, like sixty percent, sixty four percent, sixty

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Speaker 3: five percent, to pass about measure, very strict requirements on

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Speaker 3: who and how signatures can be gathered. You know the

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Speaker 3: bill that's been going through Missouri right now. If you

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Speaker 3: don't have a certain amount from every congressional district with

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Speaker 3: the vote, then all that's null and void. We know

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Speaker 3: that that's not how it works in you know politics,

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Speaker 3: depending on like the population and turnout, and we just

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Speaker 3: know that that's not how people are elected. Right Name

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Speaker 3: a candidate that often wins every single county or every

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Speaker 3: congressional district. We're talking about us senator president, right, Like,

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Speaker 3: that's just not the reality. And so we're seeing these

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Speaker 3: like very distinct, very deliberate efforts to undermine the will

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Speaker 3: of the people by preventing these issues from getting onto

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Speaker 3: the ballot at all, or how the sort of scrutiny

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Speaker 3: in which they have to actually wanted the ballot. And

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Speaker 3: this really came to a head, and I think it

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Speaker 3: was so apparent to folks in Ohio last year when

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Speaker 3: they were trying to move forward reproductive rights about measure

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Speaker 3: the state legislature in committee, Hearing said nah, I don't

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Speaker 3: want that to happen and created a special election, which

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Speaker 3: for the record, they voted to not do anymore and

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Speaker 3: created a special election to change the initiative process in

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Speaker 3: that state. We know special elections, primary elections are usually

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Speaker 3: not as many people turn out for those elections. Right,

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Speaker 3: three million people turned out in that August special election

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Speaker 3: in Ohio to say, no, we want to protect majority

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Speaker 3: rule in this in this state. We want one person,

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Speaker 3: one vote, right, we want to protect that. And then

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Speaker 3: they turned around and they want they defeated that initiative,

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Speaker 3: and then they turned around three point thirty million in

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Speaker 3: a year in your elections, usually one million people turned

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Speaker 3: out in an Ohio election. Three point three million turned

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Speaker 3: out to vote for reproductive freedom and legalization of marijuana.

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Speaker 3: So you're seeing those obstacles very deliberate, are very initiated

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Speaker 3: by these issues. And then Ohio and we're seeing this happen,

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Speaker 3: you know, we're seeing it happen right now in Florida

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Speaker 3: or Nevada, you're seeing these legal challenges the course play

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Speaker 3: a really big role in what makes it to the ballot,

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Speaker 3: you know, so that was a huge impact around the

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Speaker 3: ballot language that ended up the ballot simmary ended up

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Speaker 3: being very confusing to voters, and the groups on the

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Speaker 3: ground had to do a ton of work to address

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Speaker 3: the disinformation in the confusion around that. We're seeing that,

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Speaker 3: like we're waiting whether the a ballot measure, in the

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Speaker 3: abortion ballot measure will be on the ballot in Florida

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Speaker 3: this year. You know, the courts are playing a huge

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Speaker 3: role of you know, kicking issues off the ballot, and

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Speaker 3: then you know, once we win, then we have say,

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Speaker 3: legislatures that are refusing to do implementation. So we're seeing

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Speaker 3: it at every level of government, at every part of

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Speaker 3: the interaction of our democracy, whether it's courts, whether it's

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Speaker 3: state legislatures, right or actually you know, the act of

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Speaker 3: voting itself. We're seeing these efforts to undermine the will

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Speaker 3: of the people.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's just extraordinary, right, And I think that

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Speaker 1: what makes this time so extraordinary is that it's everywhere right,

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Speaker 1: It's everywhere on every issue. Republicans are coming for right

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Speaker 1: and they are winning, and I wonder, like we are

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Speaker 1: winning right, like by tooth and nail, and then they

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Speaker 1: make another maneuver, right, and then they make another maneuver,

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Speaker 1: and so it becomes more work exhausting, more pivots, more

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Speaker 1: education on the ground. And I'm wondering if you think

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Speaker 1: that the people, the voters are beginning to recognize that

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Speaker 1: it isn't just enough for us to turn out for

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Speaker 1: these ballot initiatives, but we have to get rid of

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Speaker 1: these people, right, Like we have to get rid of

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Speaker 1: these people, and we have to get rid of this

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Speaker 1: party because they are an enemy of rights, of freedom

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Speaker 1: and of progress.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, there was a Pew study last fa that,

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Speaker 3: you know, that was like on the health of our democracy,

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Speaker 3: and like only four percent of US adults say that

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Speaker 3: the political system is working extremely well. Right, That's not

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Speaker 3: a great that's not a great number. And so I

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Speaker 3: do think people it's to why, I you know, I

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Speaker 3: don't think it's we need to frame this as an apathy.

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Speaker 3: It's that actually people are very acutely aware that the

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Speaker 3: system is not working that I think maybe it was

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Speaker 3: designed in that way, or there are people who are

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Speaker 3: actively denying elections and in creating these efforts to undermine

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Speaker 3: the will of the people. And so you know, for me,

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Speaker 3: voting is the starting point, not the finish line, right yeah.

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Speaker 3: And I think people, especially right now, see that that

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Speaker 3: part of their job right is to not just vote

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Speaker 3: on election day, but I have to be engaged through

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Speaker 3: the legislative process or my city council or my school board.

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Speaker 3: I have to go to those pta meetings, right Like,

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Speaker 3: I think people are are acutely aware right now that

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Speaker 3: they have to be active participants. Yes, yeah, and in democracy,

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Speaker 3: which is to me has always been my view of democracy,

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Speaker 3: it's it's us, it's for us, by us, right, and

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Speaker 3: so it's not a path. You know, I think just

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Speaker 3: voting or voting for candidate is a passive way of

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Speaker 3: looking at democracy. And for some people, if that's what

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Speaker 3: works for you, that's what works for you. But I

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Speaker 3: think we're living in in a time where I think

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Speaker 3: people are aware that that's no longer enough it is

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Speaker 3: voting for candidates. They have to vote for people that

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Speaker 3: actually are going to do the things that they say

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Speaker 3: they do, or is it an opportunity which I think

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Speaker 3: we have right now, is to reimagine what democracy looks like,

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Speaker 3: and what does it mean for us to be active,

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Speaker 3: you know, participants in the creation of our lives.

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Speaker 1: Let me ask you this with just a couple of

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Speaker 1: minutes that we have left, which is, you know, how

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Speaker 1: do you feel about people's understanding of the existential threat

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Speaker 1: that our democracy is under? Do you feel as if

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Speaker 1: folks are being truly educated about where the stakes are

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Speaker 1: in the presidential election in November?

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Speaker 3: I think it is imperative about us about to have

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Speaker 3: a conversation and connect the dots for people, because I

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Speaker 3: don't think it's that simple for folks. You know, most people.

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Speaker 3: I can think about my own you know, my father's,

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Speaker 3: you know, is visually impaired. You know, my mother is

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Speaker 3: trying to do the best to support the bost of

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Speaker 3: both of them. Right now. They're just living day to

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Speaker 3: day and so you know, they're not always aware of

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Speaker 3: all of the things that are happening and exactly what

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Speaker 3: it means. But when I talk to them and have

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Speaker 3: a conversation and connect the dots for them, they're like,

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Speaker 3: oh wait a minute, that doesn't that doesn't make it

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Speaker 3: make sense. So I think it's imperative for us to

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Speaker 3: just connect the dots and also listen, because I really

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Speaker 3: think that people are telling us right now what they want.

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Speaker 3: They are in Any politician should be listening to the

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Speaker 3: people right now because their message is very, very very

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Speaker 3: clear that they are unhappy and there is an expectation

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Speaker 3: for something to change. And what I don't want to happen,

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Speaker 3: whatever the results are after the November general election, is

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Speaker 3: that we sit back and say, cool, the work is done.

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Speaker 3: Whatever happens, right, that's somebody else's job. It's actually all

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Speaker 3: of our jobs, and we have to do a good

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Speaker 3: better job of connecting the dots for folks and listening

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Speaker 3: to them. Muslim people are hurting right now and are

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Speaker 3: sending a very clear message to the administration of hey,

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Speaker 3: my people are getting killed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, right, And at.

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Speaker 3: The same time we also are seeing a rise of

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Speaker 3: anti Semitism too, Like people are hurting in this country

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Speaker 3: and they're disappointed, and the people who are supposed to

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Speaker 3: do something about it are not doing it. So I

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Speaker 3: think there is a rising awareness. But the more we

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Speaker 3: tell these stories, like the stories coming out this week

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Speaker 3: about Louisiana, like we have to tell those stories about

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Speaker 3: the real impact of these laws that govern our lives,

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Speaker 3: and we have to we have to do it for folks.

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Speaker 3: Otherwise they're gonna live, They're just gonna go back and and.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Chris, I can't thank you enough for making

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Speaker 1: the time to join me again on WOK and I

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Speaker 1: hope that we can continue to call on you as

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Speaker 1: we get closer and closer to the election.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean, you know, I think there is such

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Speaker 3: an opportunity for us this year, and people are going

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Speaker 3: to turn out to show up for these issues, and

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Speaker 3: there's some really exciting work happening on the ground. I

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Speaker 3: just the question I'm always going to ask people to

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Speaker 3: the people in government is are you listening to us?

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Speaker 2: Yes, technically you work for us.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, technically technically I appreciate you. That is it for

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Speaker 1: me today, Dear friends on wok, A app as always

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Speaker 1: power to the people and to all the people.

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Speaker 2: Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.