Speaker 1: I'm super excited today, folks, to be joined by California
Speaker 1: Governor gavenuesm Governor. Great to be here important day. Prop
Speaker 1: fifty Election Day. What are you seeing right now across
Speaker 1: your state?
Speaker 2: Just unbelievable energy And the turnout already has been extraordinary.
Speaker 2: What I mean by that is election Day has been
Speaker 2: going on for weeks and weeks and it ends at
Speaker 2: eight o'clock tonight, and we've just seen no remarkable number
Speaker 2: of ballots that have already been dropped off and dropboxes
Speaker 2: have been sent in mail and the registrar's office. So
Speaker 2: this is going to be we think it's going to
Speaker 2: be a big, big night. It's going a big, big
Speaker 2: statement about not only who we are in California, but
Speaker 2: a statement about who we are across the United States.
Speaker 2: Since this is really galvanized folks from all fifty states
Speaker 2: in a way that I never began it with, you
Speaker 2: never fully could have imagined.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I guess I got to ask you,
Speaker 1: Prop fifty, what's democratic turnout?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: I mean, are you seeing enough right now in early
Speaker 1: voting trends? Do you think we got this in the bag?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Look, I mean, you know, when I ever say
Speaker 2: that I don't want to fix that on election day.
Speaker 2: I'm not naive, but I also you know, it's not
Speaker 2: just feelings, not just intellectual I mean, it's we've we've
Speaker 2: really stress tested this and we kicked the tires. We
Speaker 2: don't screw around with these elections, and so we're looking
Speaker 2: at every angle where you know, if we see a
Speaker 2: good poll, we're like, no, what are we missing about this?
Speaker 2: And you know, so we've we've really you know, we've
Speaker 2: we've digested not only that anxiety, we've also organized them
Speaker 2: around it, with two hundred and fifty organizations that have
Speaker 2: been on the ground, one of the largest grassroots campaigns
Speaker 2: that I've ever been involved with, and this is only
Speaker 2: eleven twelve weeks old. The fact that we had to
Speaker 2: literally ask people to stop sending us money because we
Speaker 2: had one point two million contributions. We blew past our
Speaker 2: small dollar amount, and I was very sensitive at a
Speaker 2: time when we're cutting food stamps and healthcare premiums are
Speaker 2: going up, people are feeling the anxiety around a jobs
Speaker 2: market that's not obviously as robust as a well. I
Speaker 2: was six to eight months ago that ten dollars twenty
Speaker 2: dollars matters, but we're sort of we're dialing it up.
Speaker 2: Even though we dial back the fundraiser, we've dialed up
Speaker 2: our grassroots in our ground game, and it just it
Speaker 2: feels right and it feels good. But it is a
Speaker 2: special election, and anything could happen. To your point on
Speaker 2: a special election, Well.
Speaker 1: I got to ask you before I we talk about
Speaker 1: kind of what this means nationally and the kind of
Speaker 1: next steps for the party. I want to ask you
Speaker 1: about a report that I kind of put out over
Speaker 1: the past day or so, and that's the Trump administration
Speaker 1: was considering sending a deputy ag out to California to
Speaker 1: monitor elections. They were sending federal monitors. People messaged me,
Speaker 1: they said that they were worried, just generally hearing that
Speaker 1: the dj was sending folks out to California. Do you
Speaker 1: have a response? Are things going kind of smoothly right now?
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, we're flooding the zone. For every one person
Speaker 2: they put out there, we're gonna have ten people monitoring
Speaker 2: the monitors. We're not scoring around, Nor is Donald Trump
Speaker 2: screwing around. And you may have seen her what he
Speaker 2: just sent out this morning. Just a few hours ago,
Speaker 2: Donald Trump sent Social saying he's looking at criminal investigation
Speaker 2: because he already is alleging this election is rigged again.
Speaker 2: He knows he's going to lose. This is the Election
Speaker 2: Rigging Response Act, because he also knows he's going to
Speaker 2: lose the twenty twenty six midterms. And this is why
Speaker 2: I keep saying, everybody eyes wide open. This is not
Speaker 2: just about the maps here in California. He's mapping out
Speaker 2: a way of guaranteeing his victory in the midterms in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six and beyond, as you say, sending out
Speaker 2: election monitors that are not needed, that have no basis,
Speaker 2: has no business being out here in a state wide
Speaker 2: election for a statewide constitutional amendment. He has MASSI men
Speaker 2: like Greg Bovino that showed up at the campaign kickoff
Speaker 2: of Proposition fifty to intimidate folks. That is a preview
Speaker 2: of things to come at polling places all across the
Speaker 2: United States. If you thought we were overstating things in
Speaker 2: June around the federalization of the National Guard, where we
Speaker 2: set in June, this is a preview of things to
Speaker 2: come across the United States. We've seen it in DC,
Speaker 2: in Portland and Chicago, and you're going to see it
Speaker 2: now as he starts to put Trump personnel in military
Speaker 2: braces all across the United States, and he's organized that
Speaker 2: very openly come this January to have quick deployment. This
Speaker 2: is all around twenty twenty six. A leedging that Prop
Speaker 2: fifty is already rigged because there's mail in ballots and
Speaker 2: alleging criminal suggesting criminal activities occurring is chilling. But trust
Speaker 2: me to your question. Forgive the long winded response. We're
Speaker 2: not screwing around. We've set aside millions of dollars for
Speaker 2: our legal defense. We're there today making sure we're monitoring
Speaker 2: the monitors so there's nothing happening that is not going
Speaker 2: to be recorded. And I think that has to be
Speaker 2: our postures Democrats with that kind of vigilant going through
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to talk about twenty twenty six. What
Speaker 1: do you think tonight means for twenty twenty six? I
Speaker 1: guess nationally because all trends show not just Democrats winning
Speaker 1: potentially in Prop fifty in California, but also Virginia, New
Speaker 1: York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. I mean really across the board.
Speaker 1: So what does a Democrat win tonight across the board,
Speaker 1: tell you heading into twenty twenty six, Well.
Speaker 2: The people showed up at the people watching, they had
Speaker 2: our backs and they gave us a spine to the
Speaker 2: folks watching. You showed up not just for yourselves, but
Speaker 2: for each other, seven million of me. You showed up,
Speaker 2: you know, talking about the fact there are no crowns,
Speaker 2: there's no thrones, there's no kicks in this country. And
Speaker 2: you're going to show up in extraordinary numbers in New Jersey,
Speaker 2: in Virginia, that set the Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania
Speaker 2: obviously with this, you know, remarkably gifted young man who
Speaker 2: believe the next mayor in New York City, and the
Speaker 2: energy and the clarity, the message that you will send
Speaker 2: is powerful and that the Democratic Party, to your question,
Speaker 2: is back on its toes. We're not on our heels.
Speaker 2: We're winning again, and we're finding our confidence, we're finding
Speaker 2: our sea legs. We're winning the message nationwide on healthcare
Speaker 2: to universal because we're connecting to universal values. It's not
Speaker 2: a Republican or democratic framework. It's about all of us
Speaker 2: all being better off. We're all better off, focusing on hunger,
Speaker 2: focusing on food. These are universal frameworks that I think
Speaker 2: just are going to create some remarkable momentum. This is
Speaker 2: a big do not understate this. This is a big
Speaker 2: knight for this country. It's a big knife for democracy.
Speaker 2: It's a big knife for the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1: Did you feel like the tide is kind of shifting?
Speaker 1: I mean I have messages every day of folks telling
Speaker 1: me I feel the energy shifting. I write for the
Speaker 1: first time in nine months. I kind of feel hope,
Speaker 1: I feel positivity, I feel something different. His approval rating
Speaker 1: is out of all low disapproval on an all time high.
Speaker 1: Do feel like things are changing a little bit?
Speaker 2: Look across the spectrum and you saw that numerically. To
Speaker 2: your point about the fact that he's historically unpopular, even
Speaker 2: more unpopular than he was after January sixth, higher disapproval rate,
Speaker 2: He's hit every category at every issue, name an issue
Speaker 2: on crime, the border, immigration, name an issue he's under
Speaker 2: I mean, it's extraordinary. So he is a weak president.
Speaker 2: He's failing. The fact is I think coming crystal clear.
Speaker 2: I think he's absorbing that fact again. Is what was
Speaker 2: the election bringing Response Act all about. It was about
Speaker 2: the fact that he knows he's going to lose the
Speaker 2: midterm elections unless he breaks the election. That's why he
Speaker 2: needs not just Texas, but that's why he's going to
Speaker 2: need their help in the special session up there in
Speaker 2: Indiana and Missouri. What he just was able to do
Speaker 2: in North Carolina, and obviously what he's going to try
Speaker 2: to do in Florida. But again, that's weakness. And I'm
Speaker 2: not even sure he's mass gating Hiss strength anymore. It's
Speaker 2: just weakness across the board. So and you can see this,
Speaker 2: you can read between the lines. The last few weeks,
Speaker 2: I just feel like there's he's he's one click behind.
Speaker 2: He's nowhere to be found. There's no clicks. No one
Speaker 2: wants to be associated with him in Virginia, in New Jersey,
Speaker 2: certainly in California. I mean, he's this guy is on
Speaker 2: on an island. Honestly, I felt like he was away
Speaker 2: last week and he didn't he didn't even really matter.
Speaker 2: I mean, there was no deal that it was, it
Speaker 2: didn't matter. So something I sense. I'm not I don't
Speaker 2: want to overstate this. You saw him today trying to
Speaker 2: get in the game. Hey what about me with Cuoma?
Speaker 2: What about me out here? And you know, saying he's
Speaker 2: gonna sort of investigate us for criminal activity in California.
Speaker 2: Something's happening. So I think those folks that are saying
Speaker 2: that to you are absolutely right and spot on. But
Speaker 2: we have a lot of work to do going into
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six because of those dark clouds, and this
Speaker 2: guy will get more desperate, and again the rules do
Speaker 2: not apply to him. It's the rule of down and
Speaker 2: we have to I think be mindful of that.
Speaker 1: Listen. I tend to agree with you. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think the fact that an incumbent president is in campaigning
Speaker 1: in New Jersey, is in campaigning in Virginia. Why isn't
Speaker 1: he holding a rally? You would think if he was popular,
Speaker 1: if the voter supported what he was doing, he'd be
Speaker 1: out on the ground for Seers or for Chiarelli in
Speaker 1: New Jersey. But that's not happening right now.
Speaker 2: It's a little no association. Look this guy, and you're
Speaker 2: seeing it. You're seeing it in the inflation numbers and
Speaker 2: the job numbers. I mean, he said we were going
Speaker 2: to be richer and healthier. We're poor and sicker in
Speaker 2: this country. And it's dawnie on everybody that this guy
Speaker 2: is wreckingness. He's a wrecking ball. I mean, it's not
Speaker 2: just the symbolism the East Wing, it's the substance. And
Speaker 2: I think it's really starting to Honestly, I really believe this.
Speaker 2: I think even as supporters have to start feeling some
Speaker 2: real deep anxiety about this moment and this presidency. And
Speaker 2: so that's why we have to dial things up. This
Speaker 2: is the beginning of I think our rebirth and renewal
Speaker 2: as a party. And what I also love about this
Speaker 2: is I hope we don't get in this all binary,
Speaker 2: this notion that it's either or is MONI in the
Speaker 2: future of the party, or is it these two remarkably
Speaker 2: gifted governors in these two more moderate states. I think
Speaker 2: it's both and And I think that's the bigger picture
Speaker 2: of this opportunity that we're building a bigger tent as
Speaker 2: a party, that we need to bring more people into
Speaker 2: this party, many parts, one body, And I think if
Speaker 2: we can stay there as a party and be a
Speaker 2: little bit judgmental around which direction we need to go.
Speaker 2: We know that the obstacle is the way we've got
Speaker 2: to address Trump and trump Ism. But as we find
Speaker 2: our way back, we also know the message that matters,
Speaker 2: and that's this economy is broken for too many people.
Speaker 2: The economy is not nourishing for enough people. We've got
Speaker 2: a generation thirty and younger that are not doing better
Speaker 2: than their parents' generation. For the first time in US history,
Speaker 2: we've got ten percent of people that own two thirds
Speaker 2: of wealth in this country. We have to democratize our
Speaker 2: economy to save our democracy.
Speaker 1: Now, though, before I let you go, you talk about
Speaker 1: we have a lot of work to do. Give people
Speaker 1: a call to action. What are people watching this need
Speaker 1: to know heading after tonight into twenty twenty six, into
Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight, just beyond give them a called action.
Speaker 2: Well, I think they're doing it. You know, it's sharing
Speaker 2: our passion with action. It's showing up, it's actually being present,
Speaker 2: it's continuing to organize. It's about citizenship. At the end
Speaker 2: of the day, Justice Brandi said this beautifully setting. In
Speaker 2: a democracy, the most important office is office of citizen,
Speaker 2: active non inert citizenship. And so this notion of self
Speaker 2: organizing community, people coming together across their differences. You're seeing
Speaker 2: it not just in terms of the large rallies, but
Speaker 2: you're seeing in these organizational constructs. People going online getting offline,
Speaker 2: standing in line for one another, lifting other people up,
Speaker 2: and continuing to call folks like me to a higher
Speaker 2: level of responsibility and accountability, to be more clear and
Speaker 2: more focused on messaging, flooding the zone, winning arguments, setting
Speaker 2: the agenda, and being more forceful moving forward. So again,
Speaker 2: I just think, continue to do what we've done because
Speaker 2: people have been given up. This guy thrives on one thing, exhaustion.
Speaker 2: He wants to exhaust us stock in awe just become overwhelmed.
Speaker 2: And I think it's becoming overwhelming the obvious to Donald
Speaker 2: Trump that he's losing and we're winning. And so we
Speaker 2: have to keep this momentum. Eyes on the balls, folks
Speaker 2: on the ball. It's twenty twenty six. Please I pray
Speaker 2: that we don't get ahead in that twenty twenty eight race.
Speaker 2: Please don't. It's all about twenty twenty six. It's all
Speaker 2: about restoring a coequal branch of government. It's all about
Speaker 2: the rule of love so that we can maintain this
Speaker 2: framework a popular sovereignty. So we'll have a free affair
Speaker 2: election in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Call Frank, Governor Gavin has some great to be here.
Speaker 1: Good luck tonight. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 1: Really appreciate it. Thank you, great to be with you, Tatism,
Speaker 1: thank you