Speaker 1: Good morning, peepsend Welcome to OOKF Daily with me your
Speaker 1: girl Danielle Moody recording from the home Bunker. The first, folks,
Speaker 1: I want to start off today mentioning something that I
Speaker 1: actually did not really cover in depth last week at all,
Speaker 1: which is President Biden joining the picket line of the
Speaker 1: UAW in Michigan and the media's false equivalency that they
Speaker 1: were running with Donald Trump going to some auto body
Speaker 1: shop filled with people who were not actual auto workers
Speaker 1: in an attempt to do what he does really well,
Speaker 1: which is take away media attention and create a false equivalency.
Speaker 1: The fact that a sitting president of the United States
Speaker 1: stood with union workers and told them that they deserve
Speaker 1: their fair share after his administration, the Obama administration bailed
Speaker 1: out right the auto industry, right, our tax dollars bailed
Speaker 1: those motherfuckers out that now a decade later, they are
Speaker 1: making record profits and yet fail to pay their workers.
Speaker 1: And so what I want to make people aware of
Speaker 1: is that we are living at a time when workers
Speaker 1: actually have the power and recognize their power, regardless of
Speaker 1: the billionaires that are doing interviews and saying things to
Speaker 1: the effect of, well, we need unemployment to be at
Speaker 1: fifty percent so that they feel the pain and they
Speaker 1: remember who's in charge. Those are words that come out
Speaker 1: of the mouths of people who think that they are
Speaker 1: literally masters right, commanding their plantation, and not seeeos who
Speaker 1: are afforded the lifestyle that they've become accustomed to because
Speaker 1: of the people that they employ. That this idea of
Speaker 1: a trickle down has never has never happened, never, not
Speaker 1: one fucking time. There is no trickle down because when
Speaker 1: the money goes to the top, guess where it is
Speaker 1: forwarded at the fucking top. And then the attitude of
Speaker 1: those people and their callousness is like let them eat cake. Right,
Speaker 1: So the fact that Joe Biden would show up and
Speaker 1: support workers and support unions should show a stark contrast
Speaker 1: to the Republican Party that is about greed and is
Speaker 1: about cruelty. That is it. There is no large distinction
Speaker 1: between oh well, Republicans and Democrats. They do the same thing.
Speaker 1: They fucking don't, right, And Donald Trump's fraudulent you know,
Speaker 1: misstep that was uncovered by the Detroit News just shows
Speaker 1: you who the Republican Party is. They lie, and they
Speaker 1: cheat and they steal in order to make you believe
Speaker 1: that they give a shit, right, and they don't. Everything
Speaker 1: that they do is like play acting, and so it
Speaker 1: is important for us to make the distinction that when
Speaker 1: we see true acts of leadership, like what Joe Biden
Speaker 1: showed us last week, that those are the things that
Speaker 1: we should be holding on to. I don't give a
Speaker 1: fuck how old Joe Biden is. What matters to me
Speaker 1: is that he has dedicated his life to public service
Speaker 1: and that he has exceeded my expectations as being President
Speaker 1: of the United States during one of our most fractious
Speaker 1: times that this country has seen in fifty years. And
Speaker 1: so I don't care if Joe Biden is eighty, because
Speaker 1: what I do know is that he's not a criminal.
Speaker 1: What I do know is that he's not cruel. What
Speaker 1: I do know is that he's not a bigot. What
Speaker 1: I do know is that he's not a liar. And
Speaker 1: those are the qualities that we should be looking for
Speaker 1: in anyone that is going to lead this country. Everything
Speaker 1: else is fluff and bullshit. This isn't a horse race
Speaker 1: that we are watching. We are not betting, because if
Speaker 1: Trump were to win, or any Republican were to win,
Speaker 1: the American people and the world loses. The stakes are
Speaker 1: too high for the kind of bullshit that we are
Speaker 1: continuing to see in corporate media. Coming up next, dear friends,
Speaker 1: my conversation with Chris Scott, who is leading a really
Speaker 1: important organization which is the Advance the Electorate Pack. And
Speaker 1: this is what this pack is doing, Political Action Committee.
Speaker 1: They are working to build a more inclusive democracy by recruiting, training,
Speaker 1: and electing the next generation of progressive Democratic candidates and operatives.
Speaker 1: And the pack's focus, folks, this is why this is interesting,
Speaker 1: is that their focus is on statewide judicial and legislative races.
Speaker 1: For too long, I have said on this show and
Speaker 1: so many others that Democrats focus solely on the presidency,
Speaker 1: or they focus solely on Congress. And what we have
Speaker 1: seen over the past years is just how much power
Speaker 1: the states actually have and how much power the judiciary has.
Speaker 1: And so by focusing right the electoral measures on these places,
Speaker 1: we can ensure right that progress isn't just about who
Speaker 1: is inside of the White House or who is in
Speaker 1: the Congress or the Senate, but who is sitting on
Speaker 1: the bench and who is running for local office in
Speaker 1: statewide office, because that matters. So coming up next my
Speaker 1: conversation with Chris Scott. Folks, I am very happy to
Speaker 1: welcome to Woke a f daily Chris Scott, who is
Speaker 1: in charge of they head of a new progressive Democratic
Speaker 1: pack entitled Advance the Electorate. And Christopher, you are working
Speaker 1: on what many have talked about and referred to as
Speaker 1: the new American Majority right and getting the new American
Speaker 1: majority to have a stake in the shift in our
Speaker 1: shifting electorate, particularly at a time when we are seeing
Speaker 1: Republican forces try and rewrite will not try they have
Speaker 1: rewritten our judiciary that they have essentially tried to overturn
Speaker 1: free and fair elections. And your pack, this pack is
Speaker 1: specifically focused on statewide judicial and legislative races. Give us
Speaker 1: the reason behind this and just bring us up to
Speaker 1: speed on what it is folks need to understand about
Speaker 1: the work that Advanced the Electorate pack is doing well.
Speaker 2: I think, for one, and thank you for having me
Speaker 2: on today, Danielle. I think for one, when me and
Speaker 2: Christine created a pack, it was with the idea of
Speaker 2: a lot of the work that needs to be done
Speaker 2: to defend our depocrasy starts.
Speaker 3: At the state level. In the first place, I think
Speaker 3: when you look at what.
Speaker 2: Republicans have gone and done and always been ahead of
Speaker 2: the curve with us, it's with those judicial races, which
Speaker 2: is how they've now stacked the Supreme Court because they
Speaker 2: intentionally focused on building and bench. And then when you
Speaker 2: look at the state legislatures, you look at you know,
Speaker 2: where abortion rights, where voting rights are getting attacked. They're
Speaker 2: getting attacked in state legislatures, which is something that typically
Speaker 2: a lot of packs focus on just the congressional and
Speaker 2: as Democrats, we get decimated sometimes, especially in the South,
Speaker 2: when it comes to those state legislative races. And so
Speaker 2: both me and Christine have an extensive experience and winning
Speaker 2: those type of races. But they're also the races that
Speaker 2: we know are going to be the most important if
Speaker 2: we're actually going to be able to progress our democracy
Speaker 2: the way that America should be progressing at this point
Speaker 2: in its history.
Speaker 1: You know now, for we know that for decades, right
Speaker 1: the Republican Party has understood the importance of the judiciary.
Speaker 1: Just you know, this week there is reporting once again
Speaker 1: out of Politico about uh my favorite evil villain, UH
Speaker 1: Leonard Leo uh and the federal and the Federalist Society
Speaker 1: UH and his work with Supreme Court Justice's wife Ginny Thomas,
Speaker 1: Clarence Thomas's wife UH in order to essentially turn America
Speaker 1: into their Christo fascist Disneyland. This is what I refer
Speaker 1: to it as. And so the means that they have right,
Speaker 1: the Federalist Society is backed by billions of dollars. They
Speaker 1: have billion dollar benefactors, multiple Harlan Crowe being only one
Speaker 1: of them, my other favorite super villain on the on
Speaker 1: the right, only one of them. Talk to me about
Speaker 1: the kind of resources that your initiative and this initiative
Speaker 1: in general to try and come back, because this is
Speaker 1: not just a informational campaign. You're talking about working against
Speaker 1: multi billion dollar machines that have been in place for decades.
Speaker 2: Well, again, we were very intentional in how we even
Speaker 2: formed this pack in the first place. So we are
Speaker 2: a hybrid pack, which means immediately out the gate, we can.
Speaker 3: Both endorse and we can play with our superpack as well.
Speaker 2: When you talk about judicial and legislative races oftentime, Republicans
Speaker 2: have enormous superpacks to.
Speaker 3: Fund these races.
Speaker 2: Oftentimes Democrats do not invest the same I think every
Speaker 2: now and then you get a race like we had
Speaker 2: in Wisconsin.
Speaker 3: Are weer this here?
Speaker 2: But oftentimes that's not the case. Then when you talk
Speaker 2: about if it's a candidate of color that is running
Speaker 2: for one of these races, how much less money is
Speaker 2: invested to them, even on the hearts side of what
Speaker 2: their campaign can receive directly, it's just it's outrageous, but
Speaker 2: it's not surprising at this point. So again, for us,
Speaker 2: we have to be very intentional. We want to be authentic.
Speaker 2: We want to create something that feels and looks different
Speaker 2: than politics as usual, because you know, the run and
Speaker 2: the male line and the Democratic Party is oftentimes you
Speaker 2: want to engage black and brown and young voters two
Speaker 2: three months out from the election when you need to vote.
Speaker 3: But this work.
Speaker 2: If you really want to change the trajectory that we're going,
Speaker 2: you have to do that work all year round, and
Speaker 2: you have to invest not just in the voters, but
Speaker 2: be willing to invest in the candidates that look like
Speaker 2: the base of your party.
Speaker 1: What do you think is the biggest misconception that voters
Speaker 1: have about the judiciary, about what it is that they
Speaker 1: need to under stand and where their power lies. Right,
Speaker 1: Because you know. Again, I take case in point as
Speaker 1: to what is happening in Florida right with the governor's
Speaker 1: ability to just up and move a district attorney because
Speaker 1: he doesn't like them because they are a Democrat, a
Speaker 1: duly elected district attorney. You see that with the changes
Speaker 1: that were made in the Georgia Legislator, with a bill
Speaker 1: that was just signed by Governor Brian Kemp that also
Speaker 1: gave Republicans the ability in their supermajority to remove a
Speaker 1: district attorney. Now he has come out and said that, oh,
Speaker 1: this isn't about Fani and we're not going to remove
Speaker 1: her because of the case against Donald Trump and his
Speaker 1: eighteen other co defendants in the Rico case there. But
Speaker 1: talk to me about the misconception that voters have in
Speaker 1: terms of their power, and then how you can use
Speaker 1: the cases that I've just mentioned, these issues that I've
Speaker 1: just mentioned that people are now starting to connect the
Speaker 1: dots like, wait a minute, I voted for this person
Speaker 1: and now they can be boots it out and I
Speaker 1: got no say it though, and there's no recourse. So
Speaker 1: speak on that.
Speaker 3: Well, I want to start with I'm not sure if I.
Speaker 2: Would even call it a misconception as to I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people just aren't educating and they're not
Speaker 2: knowledgeable about it. I think for years in our politics
Speaker 2: and intentionally done course, especially from a Republican, we like
Speaker 2: to see electorate overall, our Republicans like to see an
Speaker 2: uneducated electorate. And so if you don't even know how
Speaker 2: that position could possibly impact you until it's too late,
Speaker 2: you can't really do anything to stop it. And so
Speaker 2: in the case of judicial races, I don't think people
Speaker 2: were really paying attention. You know, everybody knows the Supreme Court,
Speaker 2: but when you really start looking again over the last
Speaker 2: two years and people are waking up to see, oh
Speaker 2: my god, my rights are being taken away. And you know,
Speaker 2: I thought my congress member fought for this, and I
Speaker 2: thought this as a congressional bill. Why is the state
Speaker 2: able to rekill this right? Or why can the court
Speaker 2: say that we're not going to enforce the fact that
Speaker 2: we should have fair districts in the state. I mean,
Speaker 2: you look at Ohio and North Carolina right now, what
Speaker 2: Republicans have done there with redistrict and essentially telling the court, hey,
Speaker 2: we're not actually going to redraw these maps. And why
Speaker 2: because both of those states have court seats that are
Speaker 2: up in twenty twenty four that they're hoping to win,
Speaker 2: so then they don't actually have to do the thing
Speaker 2: that they're constitutionally bound to do.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, like one, Christopher, you do in
Speaker 1: the Lord's work here right, like because you know it
Speaker 1: is it is you right inside of this organization trying
Speaker 1: to work inside of the rule of law right and
Speaker 1: prepare and educate a constituency that has been purposefully lied
Speaker 1: to right and made to feel powerless. Yes at a
Speaker 1: time when their power and their vote is more important
Speaker 1: than ever. And so it's like, just speak, you speak
Speaker 1: to us about the the I guess the weight of
Speaker 1: what it is that you're combating against. Because the people,
Speaker 1: the opposition that we're talking about, they're pressing our constitution
Speaker 1: right to its breaking point. And it's it's kind of
Speaker 1: hard to continue to be on the up and up
Speaker 1: and follow the rules when the other side is like,
Speaker 1: what rules are you referring to?
Speaker 2: Well, I think, for one, from the outset me and Christine,
Speaker 2: this has really been our lifeblood work and our careers
Speaker 2: up to this point. I think from all the work
Speaker 2: she's done and electoral politics dedicated towards the Latino community.
Speaker 2: My history working unapologetically for black organizations and younger organizations.
Speaker 2: I think you have to be very intentional. You have
Speaker 2: to be very sturdy at this time. And it's the
Speaker 2: thing of when we created this is for the fact
Speaker 2: that this work always needs to be done. But oftentimes
Speaker 2: when it comes to funding this work, this is the
Speaker 2: first thing that gets cut from any type of national pack.
Speaker 2: It's the first thing that often gets underfunded at a
Speaker 2: state party as well. And so for us, we know
Speaker 2: it's a huge task, but also somebody still has.
Speaker 3: To do it. We are not getting a better place.
Speaker 2: We see Republicans more progressively after black men, after Latino men.
Speaker 2: We have to And I keep saying the word intentional,
Speaker 2: but I cannot stress enough. I think Democrats too often
Speaker 2: aren't intentional with our work. And I think particularly for
Speaker 2: progressive especially in the grassroots.
Speaker 3: We've always been very intentional on how we plan.
Speaker 2: I think it goes back to even old bombing campaign
Speaker 2: days when you saw how organizing revolutionized politics.
Speaker 3: So definitely immense, right, but it has to be done.
Speaker 2: And it's everything that I've given up in my career
Speaker 2: up to this point in the first place, do.
Speaker 1: You think you know that people are more conscious to
Speaker 1: and woke to the ways that this Republican Party is
Speaker 1: trying to dissuade their power and trying to abuse the
Speaker 1: judicial system. Because I asked this because you know, we
Speaker 1: just a couple of what is it last month celebrated
Speaker 1: or acknowledged the sixty year anniversary of the March on Washington, Right,
Speaker 1: And we know that if you're really truly thinking about
Speaker 1: what it means to live inside of a democratic society,
Speaker 1: America has only been a democracy for the last sixty years, right,
Speaker 1: Like that, that's very real. We don't say that enough. Right,
Speaker 1: the mainstream definitely doesn't say it. He talks to, Oh,
Speaker 1: America's been this great democracy. We're about to celebrate two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years. And I'm like, first of all,
Speaker 1: we may not make it. And second, the two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty years for who? And so when we think
Speaker 1: about the last sixty years and really understand that it
Speaker 1: was not just the vote that got you know, Black
Speaker 1: Americans their rights as citizens of this country, that it
Speaker 1: was the judiciary system. When we're looking at the integration
Speaker 1: of schools, when we're looking at the voting Rights Bill.
Speaker 1: When we're looking at all of these things, it went
Speaker 1: through the courts, Republicans knew that. So in your opinion, right, like,
Speaker 1: if Republicans knew that, oh my goodness, the judiciaries actually
Speaker 1: working equitably right in terms of hearing these cases and
Speaker 1: changing changing America suit by suit over the last sixty years.
Speaker 1: What would in Democrats have then doubled down sixty years ago,
Speaker 1: Christopher and been like, voting alone in presidential elections in
Speaker 1: off cycle elections is not what is bringing America to
Speaker 1: a more just place?
Speaker 2: Well, I think it starts with again, Republicans plan long term.
Speaker 2: Democrats oftentimes in the past sixty years planned short term.
Speaker 2: We plan for the presidential We don't do a good
Speaker 2: job of Advessican in the midterm or even in the
Speaker 2: more local year.
Speaker 3: That makes a difference when you're talking about voters, when or.
Speaker 2: Not they're walking, they're paying attention to what the Republican Party.
Speaker 3: Is doing right now?
Speaker 2: How many voters really can even afford to take a
Speaker 2: right from their everyday life to worry about whether or
Speaker 2: not this impacts them. And so when we're talking about
Speaker 2: how we're trying to change the trajectory of how people
Speaker 2: vote and how they engage overall.
Speaker 3: After that they've.
Speaker 2: Been intentionally marginalized and systematically removed over time. That takes
Speaker 2: a lot of money, That takes a lot of resources
Speaker 2: to one rebuild that trust for people to have faith
Speaker 2: in the political system in itself. And then it takes authenticity,
Speaker 2: and then that means coming around when it's not just
Speaker 2: election time, that means you know, if we're looking at
Speaker 2: the presidential I got to applaud VP heras that she's
Speaker 2: doing this college tour right now. That's what the administration
Speaker 2: should be doing more of. Oftentimes, when Democrats lose, it's
Speaker 2: not because they haven't done anything at all, it's that
Speaker 2: we haven't messaged to our base what we've actually done.
Speaker 2: Republicans always do that well. I think when we do
Speaker 2: that well, we get results like Michigan and Pennsylvania in
Speaker 2: last year's midterm. When we don't, we get Virginia in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. That's literally how clearly it looks at
Speaker 2: this point, and our politics are just getting more and
Speaker 2: more polarized. There's not decorum, especially on the other side anymore.
Speaker 2: And you know, we're really in the fight for our lives,
Speaker 2: and it's not just going to be this cycle. I
Speaker 2: think we're going to have a couple more cycles where
Speaker 2: we're really battling out this ideology of whether or not
Speaker 2: we're going to make this constitution actually look and represent
Speaker 2: everybody who it should represent.
Speaker 1: What do you hear from candidates right from folks that
Speaker 1: you are endorsing about their desires in this time to
Speaker 1: kind of enter into this really dangerous political environment. Because
Speaker 1: let's be clear, you know, uh it was it was
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago on MSNBC and I forgive
Speaker 1: me because I can't remember the name of the judge
Speaker 1: who lost her son, right, Her son was murdered by
Speaker 1: a man that came looking for her, and she warned
Speaker 1: on the show that, like this is just the beginning,
Speaker 1: right that the way that we've just been notified that
Speaker 1: Fanie willis her entire family and staff have been docked
Speaker 1: by a Russian intel site and there's no way for
Speaker 1: the Justice Department to bring that information down her private information,
Speaker 1: and so it is becoming increasingly more dangerous to enter
Speaker 1: into this field. So what are you hearing from folks
Speaker 1: that are showing the courage and the temerity to continue
Speaker 1: to run.
Speaker 2: They want support, and they want support early. They want
Speaker 2: to feel like they have a community. I think when
Speaker 2: you talk about why we focus on the type of
Speaker 2: candidates that we focus on, both me and Christine have
Speaker 2: seen through our years that candidates having a cohort of
Speaker 2: other candidates running in races like them, it does help
Speaker 2: them feel better. They're able to share ideas, They're able
Speaker 2: to share a strategy. I think about particularly DA races,
Speaker 2: and I've worked for a couple in my career. Those
Speaker 2: are probably some of the most vicious.
Speaker 3: Races I've ever seen, where they.
Speaker 2: Get really personal nasty, even in democratic primary, particularly against
Speaker 2: candidates of color and women of color when they're running
Speaker 2: for seats, and so if we're asking them to be
Speaker 2: vigilant and stand and keep running for.
Speaker 3: These seats because the community meets to.
Speaker 2: See more of unapologetic into candidates running, and we also
Speaker 2: have to be prepared to support them early and often
Speaker 2: throughout the entire process and make sure that they know
Speaker 2: that they're not going at it.
Speaker 1: A long well. My last a question for you is
Speaker 1: how do you well, it's a two parter one, how
Speaker 1: do you stay hopeful during this time? During you know,
Speaker 1: the launch of this really important pack. And then two,
Speaker 1: please tell people who are listening how they can get involved,
Speaker 1: because that is a question that I get asked all
Speaker 1: the time. What can I do? So I want to
Speaker 1: give you the opportunity to speak on that.
Speaker 3: Well, for me, everything starts with my faith.
Speaker 2: I'm a firm believer that keeps me grande even when
Speaker 2: times are rough out here. But also again, the work
Speaker 2: has to be done, and I would rather be the
Speaker 2: one handling it than leave it up to chance. That's
Speaker 2: how I was raised. You know, you want and you
Speaker 2: hope for support, but also you have to be prepared
Speaker 2: to carry it away until extra support comes along or
Speaker 2: it doesn't come at all. And so it's bigger than me,
Speaker 2: and that makes it a lot easier to do this
Speaker 2: work when you can always keep in mind that it's
Speaker 2: bigger than you and you're doing it for the right reasons.
Speaker 2: For anybody that wants to support and help this work,
Speaker 2: they can go to www dot eight ataction dot org.
Speaker 2: You can sign up to get involved and whether or
Speaker 2: not you want to sign up for volunteer opportunities. But
Speaker 2: of course, early on, being a progressive org, we largely
Speaker 2: rely on grassroots support as well, So we definitely those
Speaker 2: five to twenty five dollars donations really make a difference
Speaker 2: early on, especially being a business founded by two people
Speaker 2: of color, when I don't have to explain that oftentimes
Speaker 2: we have to do two and three times over and
Speaker 2: know every the writing is on the wall for this work, we.
Speaker 3: Still have to prove ourselves even more even with the
Speaker 3: record that we have.
Speaker 1: Well, Christopher, I appreciate you making the time for wok
Speaker 1: F and for the work that you're doing, and I
Speaker 1: hope that you will come back and join us again. Folks,
Speaker 1: a organization is advance the electorate pack and do do
Speaker 1: absolutely check it out and lend your support any way
Speaker 1: that you can appreciate you. That is it for me today,
Speaker 1: dear friends on wok F as always power to the
Speaker 1: people and to all the people. Power, get woke and
Speaker 1: stay woke as fuck.