1
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,080
Speaker 1: Well, joining me now is the chair of the Iowa

2
00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:12,160
Speaker 1: Democratic Party. It's Rita Heart. Some of you may remember

3
00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,880
Speaker 1: that name because she is, I think, at this point

4
00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,560
Speaker 1: to participant in what may have been the closest house

5
00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,200
Speaker 1: race in American history, and if not the closest, it's

6
00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:25,919
Speaker 1: certainly going to be the top five a house race

7
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:32,840
Speaker 1: that was decided by six votes a few years back.

8
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,360
Speaker 1: She said, this is arguably politics. As her second chapter.

9
00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,320
Speaker 1: She spent the first chapter of her professional life teaching

10
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,000
Speaker 1: in the public school system. Longtime Iowan native Iowan, and

11
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:44,800
Speaker 1: I appreciate her coming on, Rita Heart.

12
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,120
Speaker 2: Welcome to the podcast, Happy to be here, Thanks so much.

13
00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:49,559
Speaker 1: Did I hit the highlights? All right?

14
00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,320
Speaker 2: You know, it's not a great claim to fame that

15
00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,920
Speaker 2: I was looking for, you know, but it is certainly

16
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,400
Speaker 2: was certainly an experienced. Also mentioned that my husband and

17
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 2: I are farmers here in Iowa.

18
00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,479
Speaker 1: Well, that's tell me what you grow.

19
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,119
Speaker 2: So we're typical Iowa farmers. We growed corn and soybeans.

20
00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,520
Speaker 2: We used to raise cattle and hogs, but now are

21
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,959
Speaker 2: strictly green a little bit of hay ground.

22
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,960
Speaker 1: So any reason why you don't do hogs and cattle anymore?

23
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,040
Speaker 1: Is it just the room, the space, or is it

24
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:26,360
Speaker 1: financial or what is it?

25
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,039
Speaker 2: Well, I would tell you that, you know, there was

26
00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,640
Speaker 2: a time when a secretary of eggs said go big

27
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,600
Speaker 2: or go home, particularly for us when it was when

28
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,120
Speaker 2: it was when we were raising hogs and that wasn't

29
00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,600
Speaker 2: a possibility for us at that time. So that's when

30
00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,000
Speaker 2: we got out of hogs. And then you know, cattle.

31
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,040
Speaker 2: We had cattle until I went to the state legislature

32
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,800
Speaker 2: and my father in law was going to be home

33
00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,840
Speaker 2: raising those cattle, and it was there was some unsafe

34
00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,640
Speaker 2: situations there that caused us to make a decision to

35
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,840
Speaker 2: make that our last year with cattle. So you know,

36
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,720
Speaker 2: it's it's a it's an ebb and flow, right.

37
00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,000
Speaker 1: And how much of your corn is for consumption? And

38
00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,120
Speaker 1: how much of your corn is for things like feed

39
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,560
Speaker 1: and stuff? When I say consumption, human consumption things like

40
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,840
Speaker 1: that versus using the corn for other you know, you know,

41
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,360
Speaker 1: how much of your corn gets is for other than

42
00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,640
Speaker 1: human consumption, direct human consumption?

43
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:27,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know the way that works is, you know,

44
00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,000
Speaker 2: this is field corn. It's not sweet corn. We don't

45
00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,280
Speaker 2: eat the corn. We don't and and the and we

46
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,320
Speaker 2: you know, we raise the product and send it on,

47
00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,400
Speaker 2: so we don't have a lot of control over what

48
00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:40,880
Speaker 2: happens to it from there. But I would tell you that,

49
00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,760
Speaker 2: you know, we sell our corn to eight a M

50
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,280
Speaker 2: and and they converted into many different products. So it

51
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:55,600
Speaker 2: so you know it it's converted into ethanol, has been

52
00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:01,239
Speaker 2: given lots of consternation, but also to gees, which which

53
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,960
Speaker 2: feed animals, and so so it's a it's a product

54
00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,240
Speaker 2: that has I think eight a M. They I don't

55
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,960
Speaker 2: know the exact number, but you know there's like thirty

56
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,840
Speaker 2: seven different products that come out of any kernel of corn.

57
00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:17,359
Speaker 1: That's a great stat And I know that the more

58
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,560
Speaker 1: time I spend in Iowa, the more I learned some

59
00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,200
Speaker 1: of those nuggets. I mean, my grandfather got his start

60
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,119
Speaker 1: in mechanical engineering, designing popcorn plants in Iowa, oh wow,

61
00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,160
Speaker 1: back back in the in the fifties. What got them

62
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,639
Speaker 1: to Miami was he got a contract to build sugarcane

63
00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,320
Speaker 1: plants in Havana.

64
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:36,600
Speaker 2: Oh wow.

65
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,480
Speaker 1: So he moved his business from Waterloo to Miami. That

66
00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,160
Speaker 1: was quite the transition for my for my father and

67
00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,000
Speaker 1: his sister. But let me ask you about soybeans. I

68
00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,440
Speaker 1: figure that's Actually a nice transition, isn't it to our

69
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,720
Speaker 1: more political discussion, which is, what do you do with

70
00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,760
Speaker 1: your soybeans if you can't find a buyer.

71
00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,280
Speaker 2: Well, then you store them in a bin and or

72
00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,720
Speaker 2: you know, as as storage becomes less and less possible

73
00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,360
Speaker 2: because more and more people are not selling their grain directly,

74
00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,320
Speaker 2: then you know, we see things like we've seen in

75
00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,920
Speaker 2: the past where people are filling up various different places

76
00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,520
Speaker 2: with the grain. But it is a real problem right

77
00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,200
Speaker 2: now that we've seen, as we could have predicted, right

78
00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,680
Speaker 2: and you know, this is very predictable that when you

79
00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:31,159
Speaker 2: put the kinds of tariffs on China that and when

80
00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,400
Speaker 2: China is our largest consumer of soybeans, that that's going

81
00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,840
Speaker 2: to be a huge problem. You know, I was in

82
00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,040
Speaker 2: the state legislature the last time this happened in twenty

83
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:46,160
Speaker 2: sixteen when President Trump first started talking about putting on tariffs,

84
00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,839
Speaker 2: and I stood on the Senate floor and said then

85
00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,440
Speaker 2: that this has never worked out well for farmers, and

86
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,919
Speaker 2: to be very careful about this because not only is

87
00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,400
Speaker 2: that affecting individual farmers in the price that they receive

88
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,400
Speaker 2: and their ability to you know, you can only you

89
00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,480
Speaker 2: hang on to grain as long as you can till

90
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,839
Speaker 2: the price goes up and you make a decision to sell,

91
00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,279
Speaker 2: but the product deteriorates through that process.

92
00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,320
Speaker 1: I was just going to say, how long, you know,

93
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:16,839
Speaker 1: how long does a crop hold?

94
00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,640
Speaker 2: It depends upon your setup, It depends upon you know,

95
00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,719
Speaker 2: whether you have the ability to whether you have a

96
00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,560
Speaker 2: stir raid or in your bin, whether you're able to

97
00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 2: put air in there, et cetera. But because you've got

98
00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:34,200
Speaker 2: to keep that product as christine as possible, and and

99
00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,360
Speaker 2: Iowa farmers are really good at that. But also people have,

100
00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,080
Speaker 2: you know, financial needs. They can only hold on as

101
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,960
Speaker 2: long as they can hold on. So but we know

102
00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,120
Speaker 2: that historically it's never ended up well for farmers. And

103
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,480
Speaker 2: in a state like Iowa, where our very economy is

104
00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:59,800
Speaker 2: so egg dependent, that has you know, big ramifications as

105
00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:05,960
Speaker 2: people people's incomes are lowered, as as the process itself

106
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,200
Speaker 2: becomes a problem for for so many different people who

107
00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,560
Speaker 2: are trying to trying to keep this economy going.

108
00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,440
Speaker 1: So there's talk of trying to basically what would the

109
00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,560
Speaker 1: government intervention? What what? What? What is that? What did

110
00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,359
Speaker 1: it look like the last time, and what would you

111
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,240
Speaker 1: expect if there was some temporary way to sort of

112
00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,360
Speaker 1: make up for the loss in ability to sell your

113
00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,600
Speaker 1: soybeans to China. What does that look like? Is it

114
00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,560
Speaker 1: a government check? Do they buy the product? What is it?

115
00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,960
Speaker 1: What is the subsidy specifically? How does it work?

116
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you know, first of all, you know, we

117
00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:44,039
Speaker 2: recognize too, farmers recognize that that that we're losing these markets.

118
00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,760
Speaker 2: So we're we're worried about the fact that what does

119
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,560
Speaker 2: this do for the future. Right when China finds alternative markets,

120
00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,360
Speaker 2: as is clear that they have gone to Bolivia, They've

121
00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:59,680
Speaker 2: gone to Argentina teeny excuse me, Argentina. And this happened

122
00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,320
Speaker 2: again in the past. And so those brazil for example,

123
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,720
Speaker 2: they totally you know, really focused in on improving the

124
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,480
Speaker 2: amount that they can produce. And so now I believe

125
00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,600
Speaker 2: they're number one producer in the country in the.

126
00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,920
Speaker 1: So they just a new competitor regardless of if these

127
00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,120
Speaker 1: barriers go down all of a sudden, let's say that

128
00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,360
Speaker 1: tariffs go away. The unfortunate, unintended consequence of this trade

129
00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,880
Speaker 1: war is that it is it is allowed Brazil to

130
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,680
Speaker 1: catch up as a competitor, right, correct.

131
00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,160
Speaker 2: Right, And and you know there's there's so many workarounds,

132
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,080
Speaker 2: right that cause problems for us. But in the what

133
00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,720
Speaker 2: we saw the last time was that this was truly

134
00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:45,040
Speaker 2: going to affect the popularity of this president. That people

135
00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,120
Speaker 2: are going to and nobody wants to repeat the horror

136
00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,160
Speaker 2: of the agg crisis of the eighties, right, And so

137
00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,800
Speaker 2: because again it doesn't just affect that people in agriculture,

138
00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:02,040
Speaker 2: it affects the entire Iowa economy. And so yeah, so

139
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,560
Speaker 2: that's why you know, we received payments government payments from

140
00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,440
Speaker 2: and again last time, you know, they have to figure

141
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,880
Speaker 2: out where those payments come from. And so you've already

142
00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:20,000
Speaker 2: heard this administration talking about utilizing the tariff money to

143
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,480
Speaker 2: pay it back to the farmers, which you know again

144
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:29,400
Speaker 2: is and the system tends to weigh out in favor

145
00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,679
Speaker 2: of the bigger farmers, right, and so there's going to

146
00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,080
Speaker 2: be casualties through a process like this.

147
00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: You know, it struck me as I was hearing you

148
00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,960
Speaker 1: talk about the impact of tariffs on farmers and the

149
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,480
Speaker 1: fact that there are essentially two sectors arguably politically pitted

150
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,800
Speaker 1: against each other within the state of Iowa, right, the manufacturers,

151
00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,319
Speaker 1: the manufacturing base. You know, there's so many counties, particularly

152
00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:59,200
Speaker 1: in eastern Iowa, whose towns were synonymous with the company

153
00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,880
Speaker 1: that manufactured a good out of that place, right, whether

154
00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,320
Speaker 1: it's Pellow Windows or Pella Iowa, whether it's you know

155
00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:11,600
Speaker 1: where may Tag once was. And in the manufacturing space,

156
00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,760
Speaker 1: there is a lot of support for tariffs across both

157
00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,160
Speaker 1: both parties in some cases, right, but it's almost universal

158
00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,520
Speaker 1: that it doesn't work in the agricultural space. How do

159
00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,000
Speaker 1: you deal with that political tension even in your own party.

160
00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that again, people recognize that.

161
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,199
Speaker 2: And this is the conversation I have, you know, with

162
00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,080
Speaker 2: with farmers, is that we all want to hold China accountable. Right,

163
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,600
Speaker 2: that's the that's the phrase that I hear a lot.

164
00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,160
Speaker 2: We want to hold China accountable. Well, it's pretty hard

165
00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:50,840
Speaker 2: to hold China accountable when we depend on them. They

166
00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:55,680
Speaker 2: are our partners in this, they're the consumers. And so

167
00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:02,439
Speaker 2: you know, again it's uh, the idea of tariffs again,

168
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,440
Speaker 2: when they are targeted and they make sense, and they

169
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,840
Speaker 2: they yield the kinds of results you want, I think

170
00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:13,679
Speaker 2: that that's that's good economic business. Right, But when you

171
00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,520
Speaker 2: can see what's happened historically and when you can see

172
00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:18,840
Speaker 2: the effects that it's going to have on the markets

173
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,000
Speaker 2: going forward. I think that makes a lot of farmers

174
00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:23,400
Speaker 2: really really nervous.

175
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:25,959
Speaker 1: Well, look, I didn't plan to spend this much time

176
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,400
Speaker 1: on that, but you know, I think it's important to

177
00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,000
Speaker 1: understand it from somebody who's you know, who's actually a farmer.

178
00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:33,559
Speaker 1: So the fact that you are I thought it was

179
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,360
Speaker 1: in some ways good education for some of my listeners

180
00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,200
Speaker 1: who may not be as familiar with with with how

181
00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,520
Speaker 1: how the world, how how some of the Iowa economy works.

182
00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,960
Speaker 1: So let's talk about I think what may why we

183
00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:49,520
Speaker 1: wanted to talk with you, why you may want to

184
00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,040
Speaker 1: talk with me, which is sort of I always placed

185
00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:57,839
Speaker 1: in in rebuilding the Democratic Party, and there seems to

186
00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:02,920
Speaker 1: be a debate. I think the debate is less left right,

187
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:08,160
Speaker 1: it's more about sort of progressive versus pragmatism a little

188
00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,240
Speaker 1: bit right, which is sort of what does it take

189
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,160
Speaker 1: to win and can you do so with your principles,

190
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,200
Speaker 1: et cetera. How do you think that fight's going inside

191
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,640
Speaker 1: the party these days? And do you accept the premise

192
00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:22,720
Speaker 1: that I frame there? And if you don't, please push back.

193
00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,760
Speaker 2: No, absolutely, Chuck, I think that is that is paramount

194
00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,880
Speaker 2: for us that we know that the Democratic Party as

195
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:36,240
Speaker 2: a whole in this country has a branding problem that

196
00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,439
Speaker 2: especially here in a state like Iowa, where the.

197
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,000
Speaker 1: National brand has really stained the Iowa brand.

198
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,520
Speaker 2: Is that fair to say that that is exactly right?

199
00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,840
Speaker 2: And that's what I you know, I have this conversation

200
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,120
Speaker 2: with folks. I do a lot of traveling across the state,

201
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:55,080
Speaker 2: talking to folks all across the state, and they recognize that,

202
00:11:55,559 --> 00:12:00,000
Speaker 2: you know, what, the national Democrats, what people believe about

203
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:04,360
Speaker 2: the Democratic Party is very much a national picture, which

204
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,319
Speaker 2: is not what Iowa Democrats are about at all. And

205
00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,800
Speaker 2: so the only way to fix that, I believe, and

206
00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:17,360
Speaker 2: I think it's clear, is to have conversations with folks

207
00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,200
Speaker 2: so that they recognize that the Democrats here in the

208
00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,439
Speaker 2: state of Iowa truly are concerned about the state of

209
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:30,320
Speaker 2: the condition of people being able to get ahead, to

210
00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,160
Speaker 2: be able to afford a good life for their kids

211
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,400
Speaker 2: and for their families and for a good future. And

212
00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:41,480
Speaker 2: right now that is a real struggle because Republicans have

213
00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,680
Speaker 2: been in control for almost ten years. And what we're

214
00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,440
Speaker 2: seeing is that we're forty ninth in the country for

215
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,320
Speaker 2: economic growth, it's forty eighth for personal income growth. That

216
00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:59,080
Speaker 2: our education system has slipped way down past the middle stroke,

217
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,720
Speaker 2: right and that and that right now as a result

218
00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,320
Speaker 2: of the this big what I call the big ugly

219
00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,120
Speaker 2: Lovesy Law, which you know is going to really affect

220
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:16,199
Speaker 2: our hospitals and you know, in general, the folks that

221
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,160
Speaker 2: that we are having these conversations with are rural people,

222
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,240
Speaker 2: people who live in and so much of Iowa is rural,

223
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,360
Speaker 2: right that these are folks that that want that are

224
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,200
Speaker 2: struggling with the grocery prices that I have not come down,

225
00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,200
Speaker 2: who are struggling with the fact that there that their

226
00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,360
Speaker 2: health care is getting more expensive. And again that's why

227
00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,439
Speaker 2: you know, right now with this shutdown, that the emphasis

228
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,960
Speaker 2: has to be to really understand this. How many people

229
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:53,040
Speaker 2: here in Iowa get their their their health care through

230
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,960
Speaker 2: the Affordable Care Act, and that November one, these premiums

231
00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:02,120
Speaker 2: are going up, and as a result, again childcare is

232
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:08,160
Speaker 2: more less affordable and less accessible. Our hospitals are being

233
00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,680
Speaker 2: threatened that maybe you know, maybe some of them will close,

234
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,640
Speaker 2: maybe a lot of them will have to have to

235
00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,680
Speaker 2: reduce their services. People are going to have to drive

236
00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,840
Speaker 2: farther to get the health care that they desperately need.

237
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,080
Speaker 2: And as a result, people are going to Already, our

238
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,480
Speaker 2: rural areas are shelling out right. More and more people

239
00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,240
Speaker 2: are finding it harder and harder to live in really

240
00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,360
Speaker 2: really nice places in Iowa. You know, you know, you

241
00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,000
Speaker 2: know right now, I'm sitting here outside of this this

242
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,040
Speaker 2: little tiny town of Big Rock and a little bit

243
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,360
Speaker 2: bigger town of Wheatland, and this is a great place

244
00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,320
Speaker 2: to live. But you can't live here if you don't

245
00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,960
Speaker 2: have access to healthcare, if it if it's if you

246
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,120
Speaker 2: can't find childcare for your children, or if it's too expensive.

247
00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,160
Speaker 2: So and people are willing to drive, you know, to

248
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,960
Speaker 2: get these services, but they know that there's a limit

249
00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,960
Speaker 2: to where it doesn't make sense anymore. And that's why

250
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,520
Speaker 2: we're seeing so many more people leaving the rural areas

251
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:15,320
Speaker 2: and moving to the city. That's a loss for Iowa itself.

252
00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,160
Speaker 1: When I think about sort of what's happened to the

253
00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,560
Speaker 1: Democratic Party over the last decade basically post Obama, I

254
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,920
Speaker 1: do think Iowa is the is the best place to start,

255
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,560
Speaker 1: because there's no state that has more Obama to Trump

256
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,840
Speaker 1: counties than Iowa. So if you're going to really figure

257
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,360
Speaker 1: out the brand problem, you know, how did the Democratic Party,

258
00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,800
Speaker 1: who had a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, right, who

259
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,520
Speaker 1: people would have said, oh, there's no chance he's going

260
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,920
Speaker 1: to be able to do well in rural America. He

261
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,280
Speaker 1: did really well in rural America. He did really well.

262
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,720
Speaker 1: It carried Iowa twice, but it went just Iowa, carried

263
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,920
Speaker 1: Ohio twice, carried some states that the Democrats no longer

264
00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,240
Speaker 1: think is competitive and actually want to walk away from,

265
00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,720
Speaker 1: right Florida, Iowa, Ohio, all three. In some ways, you

266
00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,800
Speaker 1: hear major party leaders going, I don't bother those states

267
00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,160
Speaker 1: are gone. You lived it. You saw these counties go

268
00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 1: from Obama to Trump. Put it in your words, you

269
00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,400
Speaker 1: these are your neighbors. Why do you think they went

270
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,920
Speaker 1: from Obama to Trump? And couldn't you know like they

271
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,160
Speaker 1: were they were sort of had I don't did they

272
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:21,480
Speaker 1: give up on the Democrats?

273
00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:22,520
Speaker 2: Uh?

274
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,400
Speaker 1: Or was it they were just looking for something different?

275
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,320
Speaker 2: Well? I think there was lots of factors and and

276
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,960
Speaker 2: you know, the the lots and lots of smarter people

277
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,320
Speaker 2: than I have. Pundits have really you know, looked at.

278
00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,720
Speaker 1: But you live there. I don't think any pundit could

279
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,880
Speaker 1: do it. You live there, You have the personal stories.

280
00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:43,440
Speaker 1: You know, these are your friends and neighbors.

281
00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, you know, I think, for one thing, there

282
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,880
Speaker 2: used to be a time here in Iowa where we

283
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:57,000
Speaker 2: concentrated totally on local news and local candidates and talking

284
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,880
Speaker 2: about the things that actually, you know, directly affect people.

285
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:06,120
Speaker 2: And then somehow that switched and now it's really hard

286
00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,120
Speaker 2: for people to get the local news there.

287
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,719
Speaker 1: Because can you say it as a local information ecosystem problem?

288
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:14,920
Speaker 2: I think that's one big part of it. Right, They're

289
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,600
Speaker 2: getting the national message and all of a sudden that

290
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:19,840
Speaker 2: is trumping everything else.

291
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,480
Speaker 1: All politics has become all local politics is national now?

292
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:24,760
Speaker 1: Is that happening a lot more?

293
00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:29,200
Speaker 2: It's it's much more national oriented than it ever used

294
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:35,560
Speaker 2: to be. And so that disconnect between what Iowa Democrats

295
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,200
Speaker 2: are working for and understand as being important to the

296
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,480
Speaker 2: people who live in this state suddenly became, you know,

297
00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,159
Speaker 2: not what people came to believe about Iowa Democrats, and

298
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,040
Speaker 2: and that was difficult. That's difficult for us to you know,

299
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:56,320
Speaker 2: switch away. Also because so many people, you know, Fox

300
00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:01,440
Speaker 2: News is you know, a huge, huge, huge influence here

301
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:02,119
Speaker 2: in this state.

302
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,320
Speaker 1: There's a reason results matter more than promises, just like

303
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,520
Speaker 1: there's a reason Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury

304
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,360
Speaker 1: law firm. For the last thirty five years, they've recovered

305
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,600
Speaker 1: twenty five billion dollars for more than half a million clients.

306
00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 1: It includes cases where insurance companies offered next to nothing,

307
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,800
Speaker 1: just hoping to get away with paying as little as possible.

308
00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,960
Speaker 1: Morgan and Morgan fought back ended up winning millions. In fact,

309
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,159
Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania, one client was awarded twenty six million dollars,

310
00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,679
Speaker 1: which was a staggering forty times the amount that the

311
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,960
Speaker 1: insurance company originally offered. That original offer six hundred and

312
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,560
Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars twenty six million, six hundred fifty thousand dollars.

313
00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:45,760
Speaker 1: So with more than one thousand lawyers across the country,

314
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,520
Speaker 1: they know how to deliver for everyday people. If you're injured,

315
00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,200
Speaker 1: you need a lawyer, You need somebody to get your back.

316
00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:54,359
Speaker 1: Check out for the People dot com, Slash podcast, or

317
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,920
Speaker 1: dial pound Law Pound five to nine law on your

318
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,600
Speaker 1: cell phone. And remember all law firms are not the same,

319
00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,840
Speaker 1: So check out Morgan and Morgan. Their fee is free

320
00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:12,640
Speaker 1: unless they win. They replace local.

321
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:18,720
Speaker 2: News, Oh absolutely right, and our local newspapers, our local

322
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,520
Speaker 2: radio stations. They've been bought out by conservative entities. There's

323
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,639
Speaker 2: fewer newspapers. Newspapers are having a harder time surviving, so

324
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:33,439
Speaker 2: there's less actual political reporting going on. People have to

325
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,600
Speaker 2: subscribe to things that cost money, so they're not necessarily

326
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:39,160
Speaker 2: getting that kind of information.

327
00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:41,920
Speaker 1: I worry about these paywalls, that news junkies will always

328
00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:43,919
Speaker 1: find a way to be informed. The question is what

329
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:44,840
Speaker 1: about everybody else?

330
00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,919
Speaker 2: Right, right, So there's so many challenges here that I

331
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,199
Speaker 2: don't know that you know that that we were it

332
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,520
Speaker 2: was the ground was shifting underneath our feet. And I

333
00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,959
Speaker 2: think that's part of why we you know, we we

334
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,200
Speaker 2: just need to have these conversations so that people can

335
00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:11,080
Speaker 2: understand that, right, understand why it's really important to seek

336
00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:15,120
Speaker 2: out this local news, why it's important to have conversations.

337
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,080
Speaker 2: And the other thing is, you know, at the national level,

338
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,960
Speaker 2: things became so divided and that eked out to all

339
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,760
Speaker 2: of the states, and it's really affected people's ability to

340
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,479
Speaker 2: you know. In the end, I really think that most

341
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,800
Speaker 2: people have decided they don't want anything to do with

342
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,719
Speaker 2: either party. They don't like politics. It's nasty, they don't

343
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,640
Speaker 2: like it. But they all have an opinion, and they

344
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:44,359
Speaker 2: all and the vast majority, especially here in Iowa. Iowa

345
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 2: people really really take it their politics seriously, as in

346
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,800
Speaker 2: it's a civic responsibility. So they want to go to

347
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,240
Speaker 2: the polls, they want to vote, and they don't want

348
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,320
Speaker 2: to they want to be educated about that vote. And

349
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,600
Speaker 2: so it's it's so that division has caused them to

350
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,159
Speaker 2: stop talking to people and having a reasonable conversation and

351
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,679
Speaker 2: recognizing that, you know, maybe what I'm hearing or what

352
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,280
Speaker 2: I'm reading is not the exact and the exact truth.

353
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,399
Speaker 2: And I think that's really a big problem for folks.

354
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,239
Speaker 2: They're trying to figure out what the truth is and

355
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,879
Speaker 2: it's not so easy to find it's not so easy

356
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,879
Speaker 2: to be confident that you're that you're getting to the truth.

357
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 1: How do you think the National Party is doing right now?

358
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,800
Speaker 2: I think this is a really challenging time for Ken

359
00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 2: Martin and the National Party. I think that again they're

360
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 2: they're fighting against a real effort to frame the Democratic

361
00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,639
Speaker 2: Party in a way that is not indicative of the

362
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 2: of the average Democrat across the country. So I think

363
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 2: that that that they are, that they're in transition, and

364
00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,399
Speaker 2: this is what again I tell folks as we travel

365
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:04,080
Speaker 2: across this date, we're we have got to identify ourselves

366
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,760
Speaker 2: as Iowa Democrats and what our priorities are and talk

367
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,639
Speaker 2: about these kitchen table issues. We cannot wait for the

368
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,800
Speaker 2: Democratic Party to get their act together and lead us

369
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:18,080
Speaker 2: out of this this situation we're in. We've got to

370
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,160
Speaker 2: be our own leaders to do that. And I'm excited

371
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,000
Speaker 2: about that right now. I think we're in a good

372
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,040
Speaker 2: position to do that.

373
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,800
Speaker 1: Well. You know, sometimes when you're you're at a low point,

374
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,760
Speaker 1: it's almost more exciting to be a part of you know,

375
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 1: right because there's only what place to go.

376
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 2: Well, and I think that you know, when when President

377
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 2: Trump came in at the beginning of this, uh, this

378
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 2: this administrative go around, he really came in with this

379
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 2: shock and awe. And what happened then was Democrats got

380
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:51,160
Speaker 2: very alarmed, and they were scared, they were surprised, they

381
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:56,879
Speaker 2: were concerned, and so they got activated. And so like

382
00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 2: you know, right now, we've got so many good candidate

383
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 2: dates running for so many different things. We've got more

384
00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 2: volunteers signed up at this point than we've had for

385
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:11,080
Speaker 2: a long long time. And and people are they've been

386
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,920
Speaker 2: showing up, they've been speaking up, they've been standing up

387
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,840
Speaker 2: you know, we've they've gone to these they're still going

388
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 2: to rallies. There's rallies going on nearly every weekend all

389
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 2: across the state. And they've been demanding better representation from

390
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 2: their congressional representatives. They've been demanding the town halls they

391
00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 2: haven't been getting them, been directing them, and and they're

392
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,399
Speaker 2: very knowledgeable for that reason, they're they really want to know,

393
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 2: you know what, who's going to do something about this?

394
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 2: And as a result, now we've got terrific candidates. We've

395
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,960
Speaker 2: got a real shot at the governorship. I think that's

396
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,280
Speaker 2: that's going to be a huge, huge goal for us

397
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 2: here in Iowa this time. And we've got four congressional

398
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 2: districts and we've got primaries in all four.

399
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 1: Again, you think that's healthy the primary primary part. Does

400
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,639
Speaker 1: that a sign of health or a sign of of

401
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 1: of Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think.

402
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,240
Speaker 2: In this case. In this case, I think it's a

403
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,480
Speaker 2: real sign of health. These are really really good candidates.

404
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 1: So would you tell the d s CEC don't try

405
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: to pick somebody off here, don't push people out.

406
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think primaries are really important time for people

407
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,160
Speaker 2: to to really give a good idea of who can succeed.

408
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,879
Speaker 2: It's the same thing I think with you know, you know,

409
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,159
Speaker 2: presidential candidates have been coming in here already. You know,

410
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 2: I really think all eyes are on Iowa, partly because

411
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 2: we've done so well in our special elections, and people

412
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 2: the candidates know that that if they can win in

413
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,399
Speaker 2: a place like Iowa, that's the kind of candidate that

414
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 2: can win across the nation. And that's what I think

415
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 2: about about these congressional candidates as well.

416
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,200
Speaker 1: I had a viewer chime in with something, and it

417
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,160
Speaker 1: struck me that you might be familiar with this kind

418
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,960
Speaker 1: of strategy, which is how come the state parties don't

419
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:16,240
Speaker 1: independently rebrand was sort of was his, was this person's argument,

420
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:20,159
Speaker 1: And I said, well, actually, Minnesota. For a long time there,

421
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,159
Speaker 1: you know, they took pride in the fact that they

422
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,560
Speaker 1: weren't a Minnesota Democratic Party. They were the Democratic farm

423
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 1: Labor Party, your neighbor to the north there. And the

424
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 1: Republican Party wasn't the Minnesota Republican Party. They were the

425
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 1: independent Republican Party of Minnesota. And it was that was

426
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,439
Speaker 1: on purpose. It was a way to say, hey, no,

427
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: we're this is a Minnesota branded party. It is not

428
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:47,240
Speaker 1: just simply a local chapter of a national party. And

429
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,240
Speaker 1: I think about that when Rob sand was on my

430
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,480
Speaker 1: podcast right when he announced me, and I said, you know,

431
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 1: because he was really emphasizing his independent credentials, and I said,

432
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 1: why why didn't you run as an independent? He says, well, look,

433
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,520
Speaker 1: there's two parties and he says, so, you know there's

434
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,360
Speaker 1: you know, if I thought there was another way to run,

435
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: I might find any other way to run, But this

436
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,240
Speaker 1: is this is the way to go. Have you thought

437
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 1: about that? Is there is there a rebranding of the

438
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:13,840
Speaker 1: because you essentially are making the case that an Iowa

439
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 1: Democrat is different than a national Democrat. How do you

440
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,159
Speaker 1: convince how do you convince more islands of that? And

441
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 1: is it worth rebranding?

442
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,040
Speaker 2: I would say that an Iowa Democratic Democrat is different

443
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:30,920
Speaker 2: than what people believe to be true about national Democrats. Right,

444
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 2: And so you know, maybe I'm naive. You know, I've

445
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,440
Speaker 2: only been doing this job for two and a half years.

446
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,919
Speaker 2: I've been in politics for a while. I tend to

447
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 2: be half the glasses half full kind of person. But

448
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,000
Speaker 2: I really think I'm really, really, really strong that we

449
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 2: have got to strengthen this party completely and that and

450
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,480
Speaker 2: that the things that we stick up for, for working families,

451
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 2: for trying to help people get ahead, for healthcare as

452
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,600
Speaker 2: a human right, these are things that will make the

453
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 2: world a better place. And so that's why I'm all

454
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:17,040
Speaker 2: about strengthening the entire Democratic Party, but doing that through

455
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,199
Speaker 2: the lens of Iowa, because I think that this is

456
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 2: a place where you can do that with common sense,

457
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 2: with talking across the aisle, with working with people of

458
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 2: all stripes. That's why Dan, I'm thrilled that we have

459
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,200
Speaker 2: so many candidates up and down the tickets so far

460
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,439
Speaker 2: that will appeal to Democrats, but they will also appeal

461
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,399
Speaker 2: to independence and reasonable Republicans. That's how we build a

462
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 2: strong party, but it's also how we build a strong

463
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 2: state and a strong nation.

464
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 1: No, no, and that's how you can get a bench back.

465
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,639
Speaker 1: You know, there has been a conservative. You know, not

466
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,240
Speaker 1: everybody has the last name of ill Sac And I

467
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,400
Speaker 1: say this with all due respect to the vill Sack.

468
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: They've been I know they've been very good to the

469
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 1: Iowa Democratic Party. But she got a sort of right.

470
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: You know, you've got to be able to have a bench.

471
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 1: Let me ask this, give me what are the what

472
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,160
Speaker 1: are the issues to lean in on that you think

473
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,879
Speaker 1: brands an Iowa Democrat and what are the issues to

474
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 1: sort of lean lean out on and you know, be

475
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,320
Speaker 1: a bigger tent. You know, that shouldn't be a purity

476
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 1: test to be a Democrat, an Iowa Democrat.

477
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 2: No, I think that the issues are very clear. It's

478
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,679
Speaker 2: got it's it's totally the economy, right, It's it's people

479
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,640
Speaker 2: being able to It's the affordability of living anymore, right,

480
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 2: because costs are going up everywhere, you know, in addition

481
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 2: to the grocery store and the and the healthcare costs,

482
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 2: electricity costs are going up and are going to go

483
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 2: up further. These are things that really make life, day

484
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 2: to day life really tough for people. So yeah, we've

485
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 2: got to talk about talk about affordability and and how

486
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 2: working families can get ahead because the wages are not

487
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 2: rising at the same level as as the costs are

488
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 2: going up. That's a big disconnect. And so that's that's

489
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 2: in there, and there's so many issues. Other other issues.

490
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,640
Speaker 2: For instance, I think the other two issues that we

491
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,000
Speaker 2: have to be talking about a lot and listening to

492
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 2: folks for solutions are is in healthcare and is in

493
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 2: and in education. But each of those affect people's bottom

494
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 2: line as well. Right, when people understand how they can

495
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 2: get an education that gets them a better paycheck, that's

496
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,760
Speaker 2: that's the kinds of things that we've got to prioritize.

497
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,000
Speaker 2: And when the costs of health care continue to rise,

498
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 2: that makes things so tough for families. So we've got

499
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,959
Speaker 2: to be way leaning in on all of those those issues.

500
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 2: And that seems like a whole lot to me. But

501
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 2: and then as far as anything else is concerned, I

502
00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 2: think again, we've got to have real conversation with people

503
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 2: and make that those conversations more about listening and less

504
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 2: about telling, and quit dividing people and making people and

505
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:17,520
Speaker 2: us versus them on issues that really matter to families, right,

506
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 2: you know, about having to do with inclusion, having to

507
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 2: do with with how to how to handle some issues

508
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 2: that have really divided us. We've got to we've got

509
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 2: to talk about that compassionately and and be a listener

510
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,280
Speaker 2: rather than so much of a teller.

511
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 1: Look, I think you're referring to some of the cultural issues,

512
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,479
Speaker 1: some of the school issues, uh, trans kids, things like this,

513
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 1: which are you know, one percent two percent of the population.

514
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 1: I get that at the same time, be come that

515
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 1: becomes definitional culturally right, and it doesn't. It's funny the

516
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: way these issues work in a community. Everybody there's there's

517
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 1: nuance and empathy. When people focus on, hey, did you

518
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 1: know the Jones family's situation, Well, everybody understands the Jones

519
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 1: family situation. When it gets weaponized as some sort of

520
00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 1: two dimensional thing on a national level, people sometimes go

521
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: to their partisan corners.

522
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,600
Speaker 2: Yes, it doesn't. It shouldn't be so black and white,

523
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 2: because you know, the Republican Party is always going to

524
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 2: stick up for people's rights. People have the right to

525
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,840
Speaker 2: live the lives that they choose to live.

526
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 1: Should the Democratic Party always stick up for people's rights too?

527
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:33,640
Speaker 1: I mean, it was interesting the way you just put that.

528
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:35,520
Speaker 2: I just is it say it again?

529
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,040
Speaker 1: What you said the Republican Party was sorry?

530
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,479
Speaker 2: Did I say no the Democrat I am sorry if

531
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,880
Speaker 2: I said okay, I that was not what I wanted

532
00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 2: to say, Jack, Okay. So the Democratic Party is always

533
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 2: going to stick up for people's rights, right, that is

534
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,120
Speaker 2: that is just something that we believe in and we

535
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 2: and I think that you know, reasonable people recognize that,

536
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 2: you know, what, people have the ability to live the

537
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 2: lives they want to live, and maybe you have a

538
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 2: strong opinion about that they're not doing it correctly or whatever.

539
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 2: But leave them alone, let them make their own decisions. Right.

540
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 1: Sounds like the Iowa upbringing that I always say I

541
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,600
Speaker 1: got while in Miami. It was sort of like you

542
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: mind your the Midwestern Methodist was, you know, didn't tell

543
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:23,920
Speaker 1: anybody else how to how to believe. They knew how

544
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:25,800
Speaker 1: to believe in God. What can I tell you how

545
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:27,080
Speaker 1: you should believe in God? You know?

546
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 2: Right? Yeah, I think we've lost a lot of that,

547
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:34,600
Speaker 2: and people have become, you know, again, trying to make

548
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 2: political points rather than really looking at what would make

549
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:40,360
Speaker 2: the world a better place.

550
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: Let me ask the most to me, the most complicated

551
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 1: one of these issues that do divide is immigration, because

552
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,400
Speaker 1: the labor is necessary for many of these many of

553
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,520
Speaker 1: the Iowa communities. Right, there's immigrant labor at these meat

554
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 1: packing plants and certainly in other parts of the agricultural business.

555
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: At the same time, there's concern about law and order

556
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: and security and all of those things. What's the best

557
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: way for Democrats to be talking about immigration in your.

558
00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 2: Opinion, Well, again, I think that we've been pigeonholed and

559
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 2: and uh, and I would tell you that a lot

560
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,920
Speaker 2: of people believe that Democrats are for open borders, and

561
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 2: that just is doesn't make any sense to me. Right,

562
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 2: in order to have a country that operates well, you

563
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 2: have to have you have to have border control that

564
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 2: that makes sense, that you know is in the country's

565
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 2: best interest. And so I think that again, we know

566
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 2: that that that border issues and immigration issues have have

567
00:33:54,640 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 2: been building up and not being addressed for many many administrations.

568
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 2: Right that this is not something that just happened over

569
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,320
Speaker 2: the last few years. It's been going on for a

570
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:11,400
Speaker 2: long time. And we've got to get to a place where,

571
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:16,400
Speaker 2: again across Aisle, across we've got to get Republicans and

572
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 2: Democrats to recognize that this country needs good border control,

573
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:29,120
Speaker 2: but it and in order to recognize the realities that

574
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 2: we are facing right now. You know that, you know,

575
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,480
Speaker 2: so much of our our labor here in the Midwest

576
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,959
Speaker 2: is done by immigrant labor. And I again, I think

577
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 2: most people Republican or Democrat, recognize and repreciate the value

578
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:50,400
Speaker 2: of hard work, and so when they see that immigrants

579
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,720
Speaker 2: are coming in and doing this work, that we definitely

580
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 2: that we need them to do that. There ought to

581
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 2: be a sensible way for them to get to citizenship.

582
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,000
Speaker 2: That's what not happening now that I think is causing

583
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:04,160
Speaker 2: us a lot of problems.

584
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,279
Speaker 1: I get a sense that there's some Midwestern Republicans that

585
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 1: even some elected leaders that are trying to say this

586
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,080
Speaker 1: without getting Trump's higher and they're they're not. You know.

587
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:16,600
Speaker 1: You see it sometimes in the Chuck Grassley twitter feed.

588
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,759
Speaker 1: You see it sometimes in John Thune's remarks. You see

589
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:23,319
Speaker 1: it sometimes in maybe certain senators who decide not to

590
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 1: seek reelection. I I you know, do you get that sense?

591
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 1: I mean, you know sort of Iowa has been an

592
00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 1: interesting state for trump Ism, and one hand, Trump has

593
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,080
Speaker 1: done very well there in general elections. But I also

594
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,319
Speaker 1: get that SAIDs that he's not every Republican's cup of

595
00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 1: tea in Iowa more so than other states.

596
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:46,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, they recognize that, you know that that that

597
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:51,520
Speaker 2: attitude that says that that this is all one party's

598
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,000
Speaker 2: fault is not true. It's not the reality and the

599
00:35:55,080 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 2: fact that that you know, people know that we've got

600
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,799
Speaker 2: uh you know again, take Iowa for example, that we're

601
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:07,560
Speaker 2: an elderly state that has got and that and that

602
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:12,479
Speaker 2: and we are not growing at a robust rate that's

603
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,760
Speaker 2: going to help us to fill these positions.

604
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 1: That younger labor in some formul Yeah.

605
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 2: And so you know, there's there's just uh, I'm sure

606
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:28,600
Speaker 2: that there's a lot of pressure on Republicans to toe

607
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,520
Speaker 2: the line on this issue, but the realities here beg

608
00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:36,279
Speaker 2: for a solution, and that's a much harder left.

609
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 1: Look. One of the things I've I'm obviously a huge

610
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,920
Speaker 1: advocate of I think Iowa is a unique state. It

611
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,880
Speaker 1: should it is a really good vetter in the presidential world.

612
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:48,759
Speaker 1: But I also believe that it isn't one state that

613
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,840
Speaker 1: should get the monopoly on these things. But there seems

614
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,520
Speaker 1: to be this sort of anti Iowa vibe inside the

615
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,359
Speaker 1: d n C. Fair, unfair. It exists. You know it,

616
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:03,360
Speaker 1: you hear it, you see it, and you know, do

617
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 1: you think it's more Do you think it's because the

618
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:09,040
Speaker 1: state is rural and white, or do you think it's

619
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:15,120
Speaker 1: because the last two caucus of the caucus results were

620
00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:18,560
Speaker 1: essentially unclear? How much what do you think has been

621
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,080
Speaker 1: the bigger contributor? Or is it hard to disaggregate?

622
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's hard for me to disaggregate. I mean,

623
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:27,160
Speaker 2: keep in mind, check I've only been in this job

624
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:28,320
Speaker 2: for two and a half years.

625
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,440
Speaker 1: You were not in charge of the last I got it.

626
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 1: I totally get it. I know it is it is,

627
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:35,680
Speaker 1: it is, you know.

628
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,359
Speaker 2: But I would tell you what I've seen, which is

629
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:43,759
Speaker 2: that you know, again, they might have that idea at

630
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 2: the DNC, but the candidates did not get that memo

631
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,000
Speaker 2: because they're still showing up. You know, they're coming and

632
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:54,160
Speaker 2: they're getting big crowds here, right, And again, I think

633
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,520
Speaker 2: they recognize that this is a great testing ground for

634
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 2: their campaigns, right because people do take it seriously, and

635
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 2: they do ask tough questions, and and and it's a

636
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:10,880
Speaker 2: cheaper media market, so people could come in and and

637
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:13,240
Speaker 2: do this without having to spend as much money.

638
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,920
Speaker 1: As the mayor of South Bend, Indiana could run for

639
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,280
Speaker 1: president and have a shot at getting heard in Iowa.

640
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:20,719
Speaker 1: Oh wait, did that happen? Yes? It did.

641
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 2: Yeah. And you know, the other thing is that Iowans

642
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,880
Speaker 2: want to see that kind of a candidate come in

643
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 2: and win. Right, But they're going to test them hard.

644
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,440
Speaker 2: They're going to ask them the tough questions. They're going

645
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:41,080
Speaker 2: to they're going to truly be good vetters, And I'm

646
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,000
Speaker 2: glad that you recognize that. The other thing is the

647
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:46,359
Speaker 2: flip side of that, Chuck, is that what if that

648
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,840
Speaker 2: doesn't happen right like it didn't happen this last time,

649
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:53,480
Speaker 2: Right when the Republicans were able to come into a

650
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:57,280
Speaker 2: state like Iowa and do that very thing and spend

651
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,080
Speaker 2: millions of dollars cost your three House seats are ar

652
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 2: ghiblie right correct? And I would tell you that it

653
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,839
Speaker 2: didn't It hurt our presidency chances too, because they not

654
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,839
Speaker 2: only beat up on each other, they beat up on

655
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:16,760
Speaker 2: the present the President Biden administration, and we were never able.

656
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,319
Speaker 2: We didn't have the ability to push back on that,

657
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:25,040
Speaker 2: and those millions of dollars did their trick. And I

658
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:27,720
Speaker 2: think that that was really harmful to us as a

659
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,719
Speaker 2: as a party for the national nomination.

660
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:41,440
Speaker 1: Look, I want to give you a couple of chances

661
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,799
Speaker 1: to sort of make your public case frankly, or why

662
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 1: I think I should be first in the nation. So

663
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,279
Speaker 1: let's start with world voters. There is this debate, and

664
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:54,360
Speaker 1: I think it's oh, I know where I fall on it.

665
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:58,200
Speaker 1: But I understand the math debate, which is, hey, you

666
00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,160
Speaker 1: only have a finite amount of dollars and in some

667
00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,799
Speaker 1: ways there's you've got to sort of target urban and

668
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,759
Speaker 1: suburban areas and the rural vote is a nice to

669
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,640
Speaker 1: have but not a need to have. And you you

670
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,680
Speaker 1: sort of see it and how the Democrats have reoriented.

671
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:17,279
Speaker 1: They're focused on swing states. There're swing states with large

672
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:22,600
Speaker 1: metropolitan areas. See Georgia, Sea, Arizona, Sea, North Carolina. Right,

673
00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:26,480
Speaker 1: there is not an arguably, you know with New Hampshire

674
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:30,440
Speaker 1: is sort of an accidental exception, uh in some way

675
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,040
Speaker 1: of a of a semi rural state that is in

676
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:37,560
Speaker 1: the battleground that that that Democrats want to want to

677
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:43,080
Speaker 1: run and and and protect. So what what give me

678
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:49,040
Speaker 1: your best answer as to why improving the Democratic brand

679
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:53,759
Speaker 1: learning how to campaign in rural Iowa, uh matters to

680
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:56,040
Speaker 1: a future president.

681
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:02,479
Speaker 2: Yeah. So again, I think think that we have much

682
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,719
Speaker 2: more in common with people, no matter what our political

683
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:09,880
Speaker 2: stripes are, than we have against right. And so again,

684
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,080
Speaker 2: when you have a candidate who comes into a state

685
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,600
Speaker 2: like I went and can be up close and personal

686
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:20,120
Speaker 2: to them and they have those kinds back and forth,

687
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:26,040
Speaker 2: that that makes that strengthens that candidate and it really

688
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 2: does a good job of delineating the issues of where

689
00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 2: this person really stands and is that going to be

690
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,440
Speaker 2: good for a state like Iowa, but for the country itself.

691
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 2: And also I'm telling you also, Chuck, that I am

692
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,000
Speaker 2: not you know you said, I want you want to

693
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:45,440
Speaker 2: give me the opportunity to make the case for first

694
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,600
Speaker 2: to the nation. I'm having a conversation right now with

695
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 2: our fellow Democrats because that we're not we I need

696
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:57,359
Speaker 2: to hear from them exactly what they want to do.

697
00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 2: I think it's a time for a bit of a

698
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:05,279
Speaker 2: change here in strengthening, strengthening this whole process. And I

699
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,560
Speaker 2: think that that's what Iowa can do if we if

700
00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:11,880
Speaker 2: we continue to vet these candidates. But we're going to

701
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:14,920
Speaker 2: see what what what our Iowa Democrats.

702
00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:16,640
Speaker 1: Well, I guess I would argue that it needs to

703
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:18,480
Speaker 1: be a rural A rural state should be in the

704
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:21,879
Speaker 1: first four right, primarily rural state, whether it's Kansas, whether

705
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 1: it's Nebraska, whether it's the country right, somewhere in the

706
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,279
Speaker 1: center with an agricultural base that that sort of has

707
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 1: some roots, you know, that that in you know, and

708
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,600
Speaker 1: and when you look, you know sort of populist roots

709
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,080
Speaker 1: right and sometimes it's populous left. Sometimes populous. Right, but

710
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:41,880
Speaker 1: there's some you know, I could argue it doesn't have

711
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,600
Speaker 1: to be Iowa, could be Kansas, could be Nebraska. Right.

712
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 2: Well, again, I think that there's a uh, the Iowa

713
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:55,239
Speaker 2: folks here know how to do this and have been

714
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:59,279
Speaker 2: doing it a long time, and we have the infrastructure.

715
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,400
Speaker 2: And that's again but I'm trying to do with the

716
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,920
Speaker 2: Iowa Democratic Party. I think when you have a strong

717
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:10,360
Speaker 2: infrastructure in ninety nine counties of this state, then you

718
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 2: have a situation where again, a candidate who comes in

719
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,080
Speaker 2: and is successful here is going to be able to

720
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:22,560
Speaker 2: be successful in any kind of state across the country.

721
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:26,600
Speaker 2: And so and so that's what we're working is strengthening

722
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:28,480
Speaker 2: the party itself here in Iowa.

723
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 1: Right. Well, look, I mean one of the reasons why

724
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:33,319
Speaker 1: Iowa kept its status for so long is that it

725
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:36,319
Speaker 1: was such a bipartisan state. Yeah right, I mean in

726
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,239
Speaker 1: some ways the loss of you know, you had one

727
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:42,759
Speaker 1: senator from each party for such a long time that

728
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,520
Speaker 1: in some ways do you have a working relationship with

729
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,319
Speaker 1: the Iowa I mean, the Iowa Republicans, I'm sure are

730
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 1: nervous that someday they're first in the nation status goes away.

731
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:55,880
Speaker 1: If the Iowa Democrats aren't partnered with them. I mean,

732
00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:58,439
Speaker 1: I know we're so polarized these days that state parties

733
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,319
Speaker 1: aren't allowed to speak to each other. But are is

734
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:04,080
Speaker 1: there an opportunity at all that you see of working

735
00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:09,680
Speaker 1: with the Iowa Republicans to sort of make to essentially

736
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:12,400
Speaker 1: convinced that the national Democrats that, hey, the Republicans are

737
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:14,360
Speaker 1: going to stay here first in the nation. Do you

738
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:17,560
Speaker 1: really want to keep seating this turf exactly?

739
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:22,480
Speaker 2: And yeah, you know, I think that anybody who is

740
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,760
Speaker 2: involved in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party needs

741
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,160
Speaker 2: to be talking to the other side. This is you know,

742
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,360
Speaker 2: and I was when I was first elected to the

743
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:37,640
Speaker 2: legislature in twenty twelve. That was the mantra. Then, you know,

744
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,520
Speaker 2: you get under the dome and you put the campaigning

745
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:44,359
Speaker 2: behind you. You don't get to decide who shows up

746
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:47,840
Speaker 2: here to work on behalf of the Iowa people. You

747
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 2: get to work with all of them. That's what your

748
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:55,800
Speaker 2: job is. And that's how I look at democracy in general,

749
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,839
Speaker 2: that we're all in this together. And so if you're

750
00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:03,759
Speaker 2: a Republican leader, Democratic leader, it's incumbent upon you to

751
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:05,960
Speaker 2: talk to the other side and work with them and

752
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,280
Speaker 2: make this make this democracy work better for people.

753
00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:13,440
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk mechanical caucus versus primary.

754
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:18,399
Speaker 2: So the thing that you know, this is what we're

755
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,720
Speaker 2: going to find out in this survey, is what people

756
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:24,960
Speaker 2: really believe about that, right, because we have strong opinions,

757
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,120
Speaker 2: you know, and I've been going around the state with

758
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:31,360
Speaker 2: some regional events and having a uh one on you know,

759
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,560
Speaker 2: a personal conversation with folks as well as we're doing

760
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:35,760
Speaker 2: an online survey.

761
00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:38,920
Speaker 1: So you want this to be a decision that's that

762
00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:43,360
Speaker 1: the state Democratic Party collectively correct says Okay, we're going

763
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:46,640
Speaker 1: to move if you move to a primary, it's because

764
00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:51,440
Speaker 1: democratical leader. Well it wasn't it isn't you read Ahart

765
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:52,040
Speaker 1: is making this.

766
00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:55,120
Speaker 2: Discrect right, Yeah, I want it. I want these people

767
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,160
Speaker 2: to weigh in on this and so that I can

768
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:01,439
Speaker 2: see if there's a consensus on what we can agree on.

769
00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:04,719
Speaker 2: And I would tell you that, you know, there's there's

770
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:09,120
Speaker 2: obvious things that are that are a priority for me

771
00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:13,520
Speaker 2: that might not be a priority for the majority of Democrats.

772
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:16,120
Speaker 2: So that's what we're going to find out, you know,

773
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:21,160
Speaker 2: whether people prefer caucus to primary. I know that what

774
00:46:21,239 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 2: I can tell you is that there's a lot of

775
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:26,279
Speaker 2: people that think, simplify it, just dug on it, simplify it.

776
00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:29,000
Speaker 2: They don't want to do the math at a caucus.

777
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,360
Speaker 2: They don't want to stand in a corner and be counted.

778
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:34,040
Speaker 2: But then there are other people who are saying, but yeah,

779
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,480
Speaker 2: but this is how we make democracy better because we

780
00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 2: talk to our fellow Democrats. We have these conversations. So

781
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:44,319
Speaker 2: we're going to find out, you know, what people think,

782
00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:48,120
Speaker 2: and then what's possible, how we can how we can

783
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 2: all get together on what it should look like going forward.

784
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:56,080
Speaker 1: So it sounds like you're, well, now I'm not going

785
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 1: to eat, but it sounds like what you're hearing is

786
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 1: that people would like to keep some form of the caucus,

787
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:04,640
Speaker 1: just make it simpler. Is that going to be there?

788
00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:07,920
Speaker 1: If that, if that was, if that's possible, that's the

789
00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:12,880
Speaker 1: preference over a primary? Is it just a primary seems

790
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:14,960
Speaker 1: a little too impersonal? Is that the concern?

791
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:19,480
Speaker 2: I think that that concern has been expressed. Now I'm

792
00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:23,719
Speaker 2: I'm reserving my you know, judgment here on what people

793
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:24,880
Speaker 2: think until we know.

794
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:27,120
Speaker 1: You're trying not to put your thumb on the scale.

795
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:29,840
Speaker 2: Is what you're saying absolutely not putting my thumb on

796
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:32,080
Speaker 2: the scale. And I don't have all the input, right,

797
00:47:32,239 --> 00:47:35,239
Speaker 2: We're still we're going to be collecting these online surveys

798
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:38,920
Speaker 2: into November and I've got some more events where I'm

799
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:44,279
Speaker 2: going to have these conversations. But I'm encouraged by the

800
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:48,600
Speaker 2: conversation so far because again, I think that people are

801
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 2: seeing that that maybe there's there's ways to do this

802
00:47:53,239 --> 00:47:55,879
Speaker 2: that could be that could improve the process. And that's

803
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:59,600
Speaker 2: what I'm about. We want to have more participation. We

804
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 2: want to have the ability to show up and get

805
00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:07,319
Speaker 2: your voice heard in the easiest way possible. And if

806
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:10,800
Speaker 2: we can do that, you know, I'll be really happy

807
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:11,520
Speaker 2: with the results.

808
00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:14,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's funny. I've heard, you know, one

809
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:16,520
Speaker 1: of the criticisms as well, if you you know, if

810
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:18,440
Speaker 1: you can't make it to that three hour window, then

811
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:22,560
Speaker 1: you don't get to participate. And yet it is the

812
00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:26,719
Speaker 1: in person. You know, this isn't a final decision. This

813
00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:29,440
Speaker 1: is in some ways a vetting decision, right like you know,

814
00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:33,880
Speaker 1: I sort of I don't think that's a bug. I

815
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,960
Speaker 1: think that's a feature. But how do you navigate that correct?

816
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,440
Speaker 2: It's a it's a conversation that you know that we

817
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:48,520
Speaker 2: have about precing primaries in general, right that you have

818
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:51,439
Speaker 2: to be a Democrat or a Republican to participate. There's

819
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:54,840
Speaker 2: there's that aspect too, So it's all part of the animal.

820
00:48:55,719 --> 00:49:00,279
Speaker 2: But I do think that when you have barriers that

821
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:04,640
Speaker 2: cause people who want to have their voices heard simply

822
00:49:04,719 --> 00:49:08,080
Speaker 2: be unable to do that, then that's a problem and

823
00:49:08,120 --> 00:49:10,840
Speaker 2: if we could find a solution for that, we definitely should.

824
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:16,400
Speaker 1: What success look like for Iowa Democrats in twenty twenty six.

825
00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:22,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, so again, we have so many opportunities and in

826
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:24,719
Speaker 2: the bottom line for me is that we just have

827
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:29,440
Speaker 2: to start winning again. And so you know, we've got

828
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:34,920
Speaker 2: a terrific competitive governor's race ahead of us. We've got

829
00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:40,000
Speaker 2: four congressional districts, two of which have already been targeted.

830
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:42,960
Speaker 2: We know that that we have a real shot and

831
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:46,799
Speaker 2: at least two of them, but we've got great candidates

832
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:52,879
Speaker 2: in all four, and there's growth that's possible, So two

833
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:53,520
Speaker 2: not three.

834
00:49:53,719 --> 00:49:55,759
Speaker 1: I've always thought three of the four competitive.

835
00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:58,080
Speaker 2: Right now, I would say three of the four are

836
00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:01,840
Speaker 2: competitive for sure, two of them are targeted, and the

837
00:50:02,239 --> 00:50:05,560
Speaker 2: third is definitely competitive. And we've got great candidates in

838
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:09,160
Speaker 2: the fourth. So you know, you know, we've got real

839
00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:10,320
Speaker 2: opportunities here.

840
00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:13,640
Speaker 1: Just to put the two that are officially targeted, is

841
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:16,480
Speaker 1: it one in two or is it one in three?

842
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,799
Speaker 1: One in three? I was going to ask, Yeah, so

843
00:50:18,920 --> 00:50:20,080
Speaker 1: not the second right now?

844
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:23,960
Speaker 2: Correct, but that could change, right. You know, again, we've

845
00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:28,160
Speaker 2: got terrific candidates and they're working hard. You know, they

846
00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 2: are canvassing the state, they are collecting volunteers, they are

847
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:35,919
Speaker 2: raising money, they're doing all the things that is going

848
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:40,520
Speaker 2: to really make this an exciting opportunity for us in

849
00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:43,760
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. And then that you know, the Senate

850
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:47,600
Speaker 2: race is I could not be thrilled with the number

851
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:50,360
Speaker 2: of the quality of candidates that are running for that

852
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:53,279
Speaker 2: open Senate seed. And I would never have guessed that

853
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:56,759
Speaker 2: we'd be in this position, right, yeah, And again I

854
00:50:56,760 --> 00:50:59,520
Speaker 2: would tell you that one of the reasons why we're

855
00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:04,160
Speaker 2: in this is because Democrats showed up, spoke up, put

856
00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:07,480
Speaker 2: some pressure on other things, got in there too. But

857
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,319
Speaker 2: there's a reason why both Jony Ernst and Kim Reynolds

858
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,239
Speaker 2: dropped out of these races. And again, it's been I

859
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:18,840
Speaker 2: think since nineteen sixty eight since Iowa's had an open

860
00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:21,960
Speaker 2: governor seat and an open Senate seat. So this is

861
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:24,440
Speaker 2: this is yeah, nineteen sixty eight.

862
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:25,880
Speaker 1: It's a good nugget.

863
00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:26,600
Speaker 2: Yeah.

864
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,440
Speaker 1: Well that means all the all the legacy media crowd

865
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:30,360
Speaker 1: is going to be very happy.

866
00:51:30,800 --> 00:51:32,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lot.

867
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:37,279
Speaker 1: It's a crowded some crowded airwaves. Those Iowa and Iowa

868
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:39,000
Speaker 1: state football games are going to have their share of

869
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:41,479
Speaker 1: political ads next fall, that's for sure.

870
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:44,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, lots of excitement here in Iowa.

871
00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:47,040
Speaker 1: And again, let me get get you out of here

872
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:52,920
Speaker 1: on this question just about how would you describe the

873
00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:55,799
Speaker 1: job of a party of a state party chair. And

874
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:59,160
Speaker 1: I say this, you were a candidate for office, you've

875
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:04,680
Speaker 1: served in off party chair is unique and different. But

876
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:07,400
Speaker 1: what what is tell me some of the differences, and

877
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:10,360
Speaker 1: what do you think the ideal skill set is and

878
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:13,720
Speaker 1: what has surprised you so far about the job itself?

879
00:52:15,000 --> 00:52:17,200
Speaker 2: Well, I would tell you that I wasn't looking to

880
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:21,520
Speaker 2: take this job. I uh, but what I what I

881
00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:26,000
Speaker 2: was interested in is being a part of figuring out

882
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:28,600
Speaker 2: how we can turn things around, how we can get

883
00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:33,040
Speaker 2: Democrats elected in this state. And and so I started

884
00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:35,960
Speaker 2: asking a lot of questions and I got I didn't

885
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:38,239
Speaker 2: get very many answers. Instead, I just got a lot

886
00:52:38,280 --> 00:52:42,319
Speaker 2: of encouragement to run for this for the and so

887
00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:44,600
Speaker 2: I didn't I knew that this was going to be

888
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:48,560
Speaker 2: a in these circumstances that I picked it up in

889
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:52,360
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, and all there was there was a

890
00:52:52,360 --> 00:52:56,919
Speaker 2: lot of pressure. There was this party was down and out.

891
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,840
Speaker 2: We didn't have there was there was much any problems.

892
00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:08,480
Speaker 2: There was a dispiritedness, you know. Yeah, so and there

893
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:11,960
Speaker 2: was a lot of uh, you know in people not happy,

894
00:53:12,239 --> 00:53:16,640
Speaker 2: you know, trying to do something but not knowing exactly

895
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:18,960
Speaker 2: how to move forward. And so that caused a lot

896
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:23,080
Speaker 2: of strife. So I knew that there was gonna it

897
00:53:23,160 --> 00:53:25,520
Speaker 2: was gonna be a lot of hard work and I

898
00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:28,959
Speaker 2: needed a lot of help. And so before I said

899
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:31,400
Speaker 2: yes to the job, I said, Okay, if I consider

900
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:34,920
Speaker 2: doing this, will you help me in this regard because

901
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:37,040
Speaker 2: we've got this problem and I think you have this

902
00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:39,719
Speaker 2: skill set to help me, right, And a lot of

903
00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 2: people said yes to that, and then once I said

904
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:44,799
Speaker 2: yes and we were on our way, then then I

905
00:53:45,040 --> 00:53:47,799
Speaker 2: then they stepped up and did those things. It's a

906
00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:51,719
Speaker 2: it's very much a job where you need to work

907
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:55,120
Speaker 2: with a lot of people successfully, right, So I think

908
00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,960
Speaker 2: I go back to teacher skills.

909
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:01,840
Speaker 1: Right. There's just say it sounds like, you know, you

910
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:05,359
Speaker 1: identifying the students and giving them a job. And if

911
00:54:05,360 --> 00:54:08,520
Speaker 1: they have one job, and you have twenty nine students,

912
00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:10,160
Speaker 1: they all do their one job. Maybe you get a.

913
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:14,520
Speaker 2: Lot done right, exactly right, And you have to be

914
00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:18,680
Speaker 2: an encourager along the way, right, and and you have

915
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:21,799
Speaker 2: to be a listener. You know. Sometimes it's a thing

916
00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:24,719
Speaker 2: of you want to be involved, but talk to me

917
00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:27,880
Speaker 2: about who you are and what's your background and how

918
00:54:27,960 --> 00:54:31,160
Speaker 2: you might be involved. That would really be satisfying to you.

919
00:54:31,719 --> 00:54:35,120
Speaker 2: That skill set, if we put it in there appropriately,

920
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:39,359
Speaker 2: is really going to pay off. So yeah, it's that

921
00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:44,840
Speaker 2: kind of a job where I certainly have a have

922
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:48,640
Speaker 2: to develop a big team in order to get this

923
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:52,400
Speaker 2: done and be successful at it. And I've been really

924
00:54:52,480 --> 00:54:54,880
Speaker 2: pleased with the number of people who have stepped up,

925
00:54:54,920 --> 00:55:00,200
Speaker 2: the people who have been very helpful to me. They

926
00:55:00,239 --> 00:55:03,960
Speaker 2: may have been at odds, but they didn't want to

927
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:07,520
Speaker 2: be They wanted to get these things resolved so that

928
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,799
Speaker 2: they could work together as a team. And we have

929
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:13,200
Speaker 2: come a long long ways in that, and so I'm

930
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:15,319
Speaker 2: pleased with what we've been able to accomplish in two

931
00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:16,320
Speaker 2: and a half years.

932
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,640
Speaker 1: And you haven't you're not burned out on fundraising, because that,

933
00:55:18,680 --> 00:55:20,520
Speaker 1: to me seems like the hardest part of the job,

934
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:21,239
Speaker 1: is it?

935
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:26,200
Speaker 2: You know, this is how I look at fundraisings. It's

936
00:55:26,239 --> 00:55:29,359
Speaker 2: a job just like any you know, when I was,

937
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:31,120
Speaker 2: when I grew up on the farm.

938
00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:35,160
Speaker 3: I tell this story a lot, and folks across the

939
00:55:35,239 --> 00:55:38,560
Speaker 3: state know this story that how I compare this to

940
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,359
Speaker 3: one job that we've always done on the farm, which

941
00:55:41,480 --> 00:55:45,080
Speaker 3: especially here up in northern Iowa where I grew up, you.

942
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:46,920
Speaker 2: Have to pick up a lot of rocks. You have

943
00:55:46,960 --> 00:55:50,560
Speaker 2: to go out every year and clear the field so

944
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:54,480
Speaker 2: that you don't you know, ruin your machinery and and

945
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:58,239
Speaker 2: and it's you know, the process works better. So you

946
00:55:58,360 --> 00:55:59,840
Speaker 2: got to pick up all those rocks.

947
00:56:00,160 --> 00:56:01,200
Speaker 1: Pretty tedious. Yeah.

948
00:56:01,320 --> 00:56:04,319
Speaker 2: So we had a big family. We had nine there

949
00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:06,520
Speaker 2: was I had eight brothers and sisters, and I'm smack

950
00:56:06,600 --> 00:56:08,960
Speaker 2: dab in the middle. So Dad would get us out

951
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:11,359
Speaker 2: on the edge of the field. And I have four

952
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:14,200
Speaker 2: older brothers and sisters and four younger brothers and sisters.

953
00:56:14,360 --> 00:56:17,280
Speaker 2: And I soon figured out that you got to pick

954
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:20,280
Speaker 2: the rock that suits you. Right, leave the bigger ones

955
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:22,640
Speaker 2: for the bigger kids, leave the smaller ones for the

956
00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:25,560
Speaker 2: smaller kids. Everybody has their job, and your job is

957
00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:27,960
Speaker 2: to pick up as many rocks as you can, get

958
00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:30,520
Speaker 2: it up on the on the rack, and move along

959
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:34,360
Speaker 2: that field as a team. That's what we have to

960
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:38,040
Speaker 2: do as a party, right. Everybody has to pick their

961
00:56:38,080 --> 00:56:41,560
Speaker 2: pick their rock and do a and and do it

962
00:56:41,600 --> 00:56:45,120
Speaker 2: as quickly and efficiently as possible. But work as a team,

963
00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:47,880
Speaker 2: because sometimes there's a great, big rock and it takes

964
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:49,680
Speaker 2: four or five of you to take that up and

965
00:56:49,719 --> 00:56:53,160
Speaker 2: get it out of the way, and so and then

966
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:55,200
Speaker 2: you have a sense of accomplishment at the end because

967
00:56:55,239 --> 00:56:57,239
Speaker 2: you look back across the field and you see that

968
00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:00,680
Speaker 2: maybe you didn't get every rock, and it's very likely

969
00:57:00,760 --> 00:57:02,719
Speaker 2: that you're going to have a lot more rocks come

970
00:57:02,800 --> 00:57:04,560
Speaker 2: up again next spring, and you're going to have to

971
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:07,880
Speaker 2: do this again. But you've accomplished something for this season,

972
00:57:08,239 --> 00:57:10,719
Speaker 2: and you've been helpful to the to the effort of

973
00:57:10,800 --> 00:57:13,880
Speaker 2: the farm itself. You know, your dad or whoever's going

974
00:57:13,960 --> 00:57:16,200
Speaker 2: to be planting or harvesting doesn't have to get off

975
00:57:16,240 --> 00:57:18,880
Speaker 2: the tractor to pick up a rock because you've already

976
00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:21,840
Speaker 2: done it for them and you and everybody, no matter

977
00:57:21,840 --> 00:57:25,840
Speaker 2: how old they were, were able to be a part

978
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:27,520
Speaker 2: of that team that got that done.

979
00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:30,240
Speaker 1: So I have to tell you I expected something else

980
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:32,720
Speaker 1: other than rock when you began your story about picking

981
00:57:32,800 --> 00:57:37,640
Speaker 1: up that's that's sometimes another part of farm life, right.

982
00:57:37,600 --> 00:57:40,080
Speaker 2: You know, Yeah, that's right. You've got to avoid that

983
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:42,320
Speaker 2: while you're picking up those runs, right, Yeah.

984
00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:44,040
Speaker 1: That's for sure. Hey, read a heart. This is great.

985
00:57:44,040 --> 00:57:44,880
Speaker 1: I appreciate the time.

986
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:47,959
Speaker 2: Great to be here, Jack, Thank you so much.