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Speaker 1: This episode of the Chuck Podcast is brought to you

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Speaker 1: by Incognate. You know, one of the things we talk

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Speaker 1: taking control of your personal data today. Trust me, I'm

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Speaker 1: constantly working on this for years myself, and here's an

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Speaker 1: opportunity for you to take matters into your own hands

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Speaker 1: as well. Hello thereon, Welcome to the Thursday edition of

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Speaker 1: the Chuck Podcast. I have today's going to be a

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Speaker 1: bit more domestic, a bit moreocused on that obviously. Look

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Speaker 1: that the most important story impacting American politics is and

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Speaker 1: will continue to be the Iran War until it is

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Speaker 1: not right because of the impact it has on our economy,

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Speaker 1: the sort of symbolic impact it has on the economy

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Speaker 1: with gas prices, things like that, but the actual war itself,

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Speaker 1: the conduct of this war will we end up escalating

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Speaker 1: all these questions securing the straight of horn moves. It

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Speaker 1: is going to continue to be essentially and I think

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Speaker 1: if you're like I said, it's similar I said yesterday.

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Speaker 1: If you're a Republican running on the ballot in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty six, you just wish this war would end in

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Speaker 1: some form or another, that you could turn the page

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Speaker 1: on this. But it isn't going to happen very quickly,

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Speaker 1: very easily. This is going to continue to be I

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Speaker 1: think the biggest story that will impact the larger sort

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Speaker 1: of perception of the direction of the country, and it

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Speaker 1: will certainly impact what is campaigned on. But at the

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Speaker 1: end of the day, whether the war was happening or not,

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Speaker 1: the issue of the economy and democracy issues would be

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Speaker 1: in some ways front and center. And my sub stack

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Speaker 1: theme this week is about how the only primary and

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Speaker 1: I think there's some important political follout from that that

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Speaker 1: I'll share with you in a few minutes. A huge

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Speaker 1: win for Juliana Stratton number one, but number two, and

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Speaker 1: maybe in the near term the bigger winner might be JB. Pritzker,

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Speaker 1: the governor of Illinois. I think those of us I'm

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Speaker 1: somebody who's you know, I wasn't sure. I didn't have

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Speaker 1: him in my top tier of twenty twenty eight ers.

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Speaker 1: Let's just say, you know, I'm paying a lot more

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Speaker 1: respect than to him now, and I see him as

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Speaker 1: I think, you know, you're the governor you're able to

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Speaker 1: take on You're a billionaire governor, and you're able to

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Speaker 1: take on these huge super packs from the crypto industry

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Speaker 1: and from the tech and AI industries, and you're able

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Speaker 1: to win. Although in this case, I think it was

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Speaker 1: really more of the crypto folks that he was taking

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Speaker 1: on more than anybody else. It says something, and I

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Speaker 1: certainly have and I want to get to that in

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Speaker 1: a minute. But I want to tackle this issue of

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Speaker 1: money in politics because it's all kind of tied in

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Speaker 1: together a little bit. And let's just say, for years

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Speaker 1: I didn't spend a lot of time on the issue

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Speaker 1: of campaign finance and money and politics, not because I

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Speaker 1: didn't think it was a problem. I just never really

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Speaker 1: believed it would ever really become a big issue in

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Speaker 1: American politics. Even as you hear, as I'll hear plenty

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Speaker 1: of sort of you know, non professional in this space.

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Speaker 1: I E. Voters, I E. Those that pay attention going,

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Speaker 1: we've got to do something about money in politics, because

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Speaker 1: I was a skeptic when that there was any reform

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Speaker 1: that was even possible, that there was no curbing of money,

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Speaker 1: and it wasn't because I thought the system was healthy,

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Speaker 1: quite the opposite. I just assumed the problem was unbeatable.

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Speaker 1: It was too adaptive, it was too clever, if you will,

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Speaker 1: And I had this working assumption. I used to do

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Speaker 1: this all the time. I'd quote Jeff Goldbloom's character in

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Speaker 1: Jurassic Park when the old man reassures the scientists that

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Speaker 1: he brings to show off his dinosaurs. Oh no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: they're not going to pro create. I've been able to

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Speaker 1: manipulate their DNA so that they can't pro create. And

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Speaker 1: Goldblum's characters, you know, he's the guy who I guess

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Speaker 1: promotes chaos theory and mathematics, and he basically says life

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Speaker 1: finds a way and he turns out to be right. Well,

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Speaker 1: I've always felt that way about money in politics, right,

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Speaker 1: Money always finds a way. You try public financing, it

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Speaker 1: gets outgrown, you try to cap contribution. Well, then you

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Speaker 1: get bundling, which sort of a work around every reform

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Speaker 1: in in my adult lifetime, in franctly, my entire lifetime

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Speaker 1: has been has been turned against itself. Right, you ban

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Speaker 1: soft money from the major parties, then that money moves

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Speaker 1: outside the parties and you say, have less of an

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Speaker 1: opportunity to keep control of your of your party. Mcain

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Speaker 1: fine Gold was supposed to clean things up, and instead

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Speaker 1: it helped create the modern superPAC system that is absolutely

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Speaker 1: destructive to the political campaign system as we know it.

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Speaker 1: Every single reform I've seen tried created a workaround that

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Speaker 1: became made the problem worse. So you get to the

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Speaker 1: point you're like, well, just go find your you know.

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Speaker 1: And you saw there was no neither party would ever

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Speaker 1: have a permanent advantage on money, you know, because that's

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Speaker 1: the way markets work, right, When one one side's up,

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Speaker 1: the other side finds it finds disgruntled rich people to

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Speaker 1: help them, right, And and so there was an uneasy

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Speaker 1: balance that you would see in this, and so you thought, well,

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Speaker 1: at least it's fair, it's ugly, it's gross, but at

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Speaker 1: least it's balanced between the two parties over time. So

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Speaker 1: it was going to be messy, it was going to

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Speaker 1: be imperfect, but ultimately it was probably unfixable, especially once

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Speaker 1: the courts decided that money was speech, so then you

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Speaker 1: had to have a constitutional moment, and what the hell

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Speaker 1: would that constitutional moment look like? But I do think

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Speaker 1: we missed something along the way, because when we pushed

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Speaker 1: big donors out of the parties, this was a I

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Speaker 1: think this, you know, I have you know, McCain fine gold.

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Speaker 1: And there were plenty of detractors of McCain fine gold

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Speaker 1: because they just simply wanted more big money in politics.

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Speaker 1: But there were other detractors of McCain fine gold who

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Speaker 1: worried it would weaken them two political parties. And I

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Speaker 1: think those folks have proven to be right. And let

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Speaker 1: me explain, we didn't just move money when we got

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Speaker 1: rid of money big money checks being written to political

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Speaker 1: parties directly, he actually removed one of the only guard

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Speaker 1: rails in vetting candidates that we had. When you take

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Speaker 1: the parties out of the candidate vetting business, and you

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Speaker 1: do this when you no longer allow them to have

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Speaker 1: the financial resources to help candidates win, then you had

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Speaker 1: real consequences to what kinds of candidates would suddenly pop

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Speaker 1: up for all of their flaws, And there were plenty

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Speaker 1: with the party organizations. They did serve a kind as

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Speaker 1: kind of a filter. Wasn't a perfect filter and wasn't

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Speaker 1: always a fair filter, but they would ask basic questions

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Speaker 1: like is this person stable? Do they have good judgment?

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Speaker 1: Can they handle power? Can they handle stress? Sometimes just

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Speaker 1: the basic vetting process and an HR department would have

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Speaker 1: And because that's where you had to get your resources

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Speaker 1: and your money, you as the candidate sort of where

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Speaker 1: you kind of you had to apply to the parties,

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Speaker 1: if you will, unofficially, and the parties had a stake

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Speaker 1: in the long term health of the coalition and they

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Speaker 1: couldn't just get behind somebody that could win now if

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Speaker 1: they thought that person's reputation could end up harming the

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Speaker 1: overall reputation of the party itself. But now well, that

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Speaker 1: function has been entirely outsourced, and it's been outsourced to

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Speaker 1: donor networks, to ideological entrepreneurs, to outside groups, and those

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Speaker 1: actors aren't asking the same questions that leaders of the

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Speaker 1: two actual political parties used to ask of their candidates.

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Speaker 1: They don't ask is this person fit? They're asking can

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Speaker 1: this person win? And will this person be useful, useful

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Speaker 1: to fund, useful to protect useful to stop something. They

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Speaker 1: have their own incentive. They're looking for somebody that aligns

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Speaker 1: with them on a specific issue, specific topic of issue focus. Right,

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Speaker 1: So that then Trump's character it, Trump's ethics, Trump's morals,

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Speaker 1: and Trump branding. Right. It's a completely different screening mechanism

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Speaker 1: and it produces a completely different kind of politics. Then

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Speaker 1: you lay around Citizens United, and now the system isn't

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Speaker 1: just adaptive, it's protected. Political spending becomes speech, and suddenly

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Speaker 1: meaningful restrictions are almost impossible without a constitutional fight. So

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Speaker 1: for a long time I thought this is it, this

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Speaker 1: is the system, until recently that is because something has changed.

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Speaker 1: Are there's always a tipping point, right, there's always, you know,

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Speaker 1: everything in moderation, But eventually you're not moderating your habits.

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Speaker 1: You've tipped. So let me give you a moment where

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Speaker 1: I clicked for me. And I keep coming back to

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Speaker 1: this and I bring it up in a lot of

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Speaker 1: my appearances now and I'm going to continue to do so.

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Speaker 1: When Chuck Schumer reportedly told fellow Democratic senators to ease

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Speaker 1: up on their opposition to the crypto industry, not because

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Speaker 1: they changed their minds and they saw that crypto was

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Speaker 1: going to be this incredible. Maybe this would be a

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Speaker 1: helpful tool in the financial sector. But because of the

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Speaker 1: political firepower of a singular super called fair shake, these

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Speaker 1: were huge players in Illinois, and by the way, they

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Speaker 1: get their ass kecked in Illinois, they did not have

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Speaker 1: a good night. For what it's worth, But think about that,

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Speaker 1: elected officials being told to soften their positions on a

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Speaker 1: specific issue because an industry simply has too much money

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Speaker 1: to challenge them. That's not influence, that's not persuasion, that's coersion.

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Speaker 1: It's policy extortion. And once you see that clearly, then

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Speaker 1: all the stuff starts to look differently because what we're

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Speaker 1: dealing with now is not just a lot of money

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Speaker 1: in politics. It is something bigger. It's the shift from

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Speaker 1: candidate centered politics to donor centered politics. And this is

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Speaker 1: what was so crystal clear about all of the Illinois

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Speaker 1: primaries that happened earlier this week. And it wasn't just

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Speaker 1: in the Senate race. It was also in these house

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Speaker 1: races where every single candidate came with a descriptor that

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Speaker 1: said the fairshake back candidate, the AI back candidate, the

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Speaker 1: A packed back candidate, this back candidate. Right, it was

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Speaker 1: never just about the candidate, even in Juliana Stratton's case,

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Speaker 1: who didn't have one big industry behind her, she had

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Speaker 1: a big billionaire governor behind her. She was Governor Pritzker's candidate, right,

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Speaker 1: But it was not about the candidates. It was about

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Speaker 1: their supporters, about the donors. So now there was a

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Speaker 1: specific reason why Illinois became kind of ground zero for

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Speaker 1: this moment. Right. It's a very blue state, and they

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Speaker 1: had a bunch of elderly members of Congress who finally

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Speaker 1: decided to retire, the big one being Dick Durbin. Right,

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Speaker 1: you got elected in ninety six. You know, by the way,

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Speaker 1: for what it's worth, I think if you were elected

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Speaker 1: to office in the twentieth century, you probably shouldn't be

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Speaker 1: seeking reelection in twenty six. And if you do, don't

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Speaker 1: be surprised if you get primaried and you have a problem.

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Speaker 1: But I digress. So Dick Durbin retires, there's an open seat,

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Speaker 1: deep blue state, which means the primary becomes the election

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Speaker 1: and it's not just an election for six years. Dick

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Speaker 1: Derbin got elected in ninety six and was there for

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Speaker 1: thirty years, worked his way up in the leadership number

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Speaker 1: two in leadership. So this is a very I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's what you're investing in. You're not just investing in

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Speaker 1: one six year term. You're potentially investing in one of

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Speaker 1: the next leaders of the United States Senate over a generation.

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Speaker 1: So if you're you've got interest before Congress, this is

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Speaker 1: a valuable asset to acquire, i e. Having a senator

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Speaker 1: that may feel beholden to your industry. So if you're

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Speaker 1: that interest group and you think you can influence this primary,

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Speaker 1: you may be buying influence for a generation. So what

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Speaker 1: did voters get? Though? They didn't get a traditional campaign,

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Speaker 1: They didn't get a real debate between the candidates. You know,

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Speaker 1: in fact, if you didn't have one of these things yet,

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Speaker 1: it was really hard for the candidates. I never felt

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Speaker 1: like I got to know the candidates. I only knew

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Speaker 1: them through their donors and through who their supporters were.

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Speaker 1: And it turned into a proxy war. Right. You had

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Speaker 1: crypto money, AI money, a pack link money, billionaire money,

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Speaker 1: governor money front group, shell acts, you name it. By

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Speaker 1: the end of it, voters knew what these interests wanted, perhaps,

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Speaker 1: but that they really know what kind of candidate they

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Speaker 1: were getting. Now, I think in Stratton. She found a

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Speaker 1: way to break through, interestingly enough, because she went viral

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Speaker 1: with an ad that didn't air on mainstream television because

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Speaker 1: you'd had to bleep it out too much. But it

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Speaker 1: was the F Trump at and if you haven't seen it,

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Speaker 1: I encourage you to go see it. During our livestream,

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Speaker 1: we aired a vision of it, but it's just a

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Speaker 1: whole bunch of voters saying F Trump, and then Stratton says,

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying it, but it was her way of

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Speaker 1: basically virtue signaling, Hey, she's going to be a fighter.

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Speaker 1: She wants to punch the bully in the nose. And

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Speaker 1: I think it mattered. It also mattered that the governor,

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Speaker 1: I think is popular with rank and filed Democrats because

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Speaker 1: he's been fighting Trump and he's been you know what,

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Speaker 1: Gavin Newsom has gotten a lot more credit for arguably

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Speaker 1: Pritzker's been doing before. Newsom thought it was a cool

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Speaker 1: way to do. But we still had something odd take

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Speaker 1: place this week in Illinois in that voters again I think,

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Speaker 1: ended up having to to select candidates based on what

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Speaker 1: third party groups create. The character of third party groups

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Speaker 1: were created by them, So they were watching messages written

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Speaker 1: by people who may never actually have been on the

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Speaker 1: ballot and will never be on the ballot. And here's

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Speaker 1: the part that should bother everyone. These outside groups, they

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Speaker 1: often don't even campaign on the issue they actually care about.

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Speaker 1: A crypto group may never mention Crypto, an AI group

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Speaker 1: may never mention AI entirely. An Israel focused group may

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Speaker 1: decide that's too politically complicated to lead with. So what

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Speaker 1: do they do. They find another issue, immigration, crime, corruption, ideology,

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Speaker 1: and they use that as the delivery system. So voters

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Speaker 1: think they're watching one debate when they're actually being moved

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Speaker 1: onto another. And that's not persuasion. That becomes misdirection, right,

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Speaker 1: And the candidates don't really feel accountable to it because

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Speaker 1: in some ways they can't control these outside groups, and

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Speaker 1: the outside groups have no accountability because none of us

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Speaker 1: know who their donors are in time to cover it

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Speaker 1: before the election. Having good life insurance is incredibly important.

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Speaker 1: I know from personal experience. I was sixteen when my

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Speaker 1: father passed away. We didn't have any money. He didn't

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Speaker 1: leave us in the best shape. My mother, single mother,

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Speaker 1: now widow, myself sixteen trying to figure out how am

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Speaker 1: I going to pay for college? And lo and behold.

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Speaker 1: My dad had one life insurance policy that we found

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Speaker 1: wasn't a lot, but it was important at the time,

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Speaker 1: and it's why I was able to go to college.

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Speaker 1: Little did he know how important that would be in

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Speaker 1: that moment. Well guess what. That's why I am here

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Speaker 1: to tell you about Etho's life. They can provide you

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Speaker 1: with peace of mind knowing your family is protected even

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Speaker 1: if the worst comes to pass. Ethos is an online

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Speaker 1: platform that makes getting life insurance fast and easy, all

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Speaker 1: designed to protect your family's future in minutes, not months.

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Speaker 1: There's no complicated process, and it's one hundred percent online.

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Speaker 1: There's no medical exam require you just answer a few

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Speaker 1: health questions online. You can get a quote in as

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Speaker 1: little as ten minutes, and you can get same day

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Speaker 1: coverage without ever leaving your home. You can get up

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Speaker 1: to three million dollars in coverage, and some policies start

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Speaker 1: as low as two dollars a day that would be

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Speaker 1: billed monthly. As of March twenty twenty five, Business Insider

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Speaker 1: named Ethos the number one no medical exam instant life

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Speaker 1: insurance provider. So protect your family with life insurance from Ethos.

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Speaker 1: Get your free quotedt Ethos dot com slash chuck. So

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Speaker 1: again that's Ethos dot com slash chuck. Application times may

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Speaker 1: vary and the rates themselves may vary as well, but

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Speaker 1: trust me, life insurance is something you should really think

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Speaker 1: about it, especially if you've got a growing family. So

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Speaker 1: as a candidate, you weirdly kind of stuck because you

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Speaker 1: can't coordinate with the groups, and so they get pulled

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Speaker 1: into campaigns they didn't design. They just sort of participate

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Speaker 1: into a campaign that was created by an outside group

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Speaker 1: on terrain. They didn't choose answering for messages. They didn't right,

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Speaker 1: So the whole idea of independent spending becomes part of

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Speaker 1: the problem. And this is where the loss of party

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Speaker 1: control I think matters a lot, because parties used to

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Speaker 1: have to think about the entire electorate, the whole coalition,

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Speaker 1: long term consequences. Now we didn't just decentralize money, we

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Speaker 1: decentralized responsibility, and we hollowed out the institutions that had

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Speaker 1: to care about more than one donor's obsession, which brings

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Speaker 1: us to the core problem inanimity. If you want to

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Speaker 1: vote in secret, you should. The secret ballot is sacred.

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Speaker 1: That's a fundamental right. But if you want to spend

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Speaker 1: millions influencing everyone else's vote, sorry, you don't deserve secrecy.

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Speaker 1: You need to put your name on it immediately, not

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Speaker 1: on some tax reform through a LLC six months later,

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Speaker 1: in real time, in plain English. No shell companies, no

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Speaker 1: front groups, no hiding three layers deep, stand by your money.

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Speaker 1: In fact, let me make it simple, take a page

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Speaker 1: from NASCAR. If you want to spend big money in politics,

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Speaker 1: but the donor on the hood every ad, every mail,

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Speaker 1: or every digital buy, because that's the tradeoff. Influence comes

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Speaker 1: with visibility. You want to have influence, everybody needs to

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Speaker 1: know it with her democracy. It's on the ballot and

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Speaker 1: it needs to be put on the ballot now. Even

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Speaker 1: if that doesn't solve the whole problem, because the deeper

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Speaker 1: issue is what this system does to candidates. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: just reward certain positions, it punishes others. So candidates learn,

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Speaker 1: They learn what fights are too expensive, like crypto apparently,

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Speaker 1: so they soften, they go quiet, they delay, or they

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Speaker 1: stand down entirely not because they've been persuaded, but because

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Speaker 1: they understand the cost that comes with dissent, which in

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Speaker 1: some ways is what they crypto. I mean, this is

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Speaker 1: what they've done. They've amassed such a financial juggernaut and

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Speaker 1: fair shape that they just want to intimidate politicians into

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Speaker 1: legalizing what is a questionable what many people find questionable

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Speaker 1: in its usefulness. But once that happens, the problem isn't

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Speaker 1: just money in politics. It's that money is defining the

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Speaker 1: boundaries of politics. What can be said, what can't be said,

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Speaker 1: what gets debated, what gets avoided. And here's the thing,

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Speaker 1: this is no longer just a left wing complaint. I'm

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Speaker 1: now hearing it from Republicans, free market conservatives, people with

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Speaker 1: their own scars from dark money, starting to say this

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Speaker 1: out loud. And that's new. And this is why I

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Speaker 1: think why we might have hit a tipping point where

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Speaker 1: maybe the public is ready to do something about it,

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Speaker 1: and maybe the politicians are going to grow a spine

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Speaker 1: and do something about it, because the scale here is undeniable.

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Speaker 1: Not that long ago, billionaire money was a rounding error.

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Speaker 1: I'm not kidding. I mean you've seen it. It was barely

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Speaker 1: one percent of campaign money came from billionaires pre Citizens United.

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Speaker 1: Now it's approaching one out of every five dollars spent

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Speaker 1: on federal campaigns comes from a billionaire. We are moving

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Speaker 1: towards something new, but it looks like institutionalized billionaire politics, right,

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Speaker 1: a political gilded age. Now, to be clear, this doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean every candidate backed by wealthy interest is corrupt. American

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Speaker 1: politics has always had patrons, but the structure of it matters, right,

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Speaker 1: And the structure we have now encourages voters to believe

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Speaker 1: candidates are simply stand ins for their donors, and that

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Speaker 1: perception alone is what is so corrosive, and it creates

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Speaker 1: a barrier to entry that should worry all of us.

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Speaker 1: We got rid of poll taxes for a reason. You

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Speaker 1: can't charge people for access to a constitutional right. But

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Speaker 1: we've built something similar on the candidate side. A system

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Speaker 1: we're running for office seriously requires access to wealth, patrons

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Speaker 1: or donor networks. That's a shadow tax on a candidacy. Now,

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Speaker 1: candidates will tell you fairly that they didn't write these rules,

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Speaker 1: and they're right, they didn't. Can be rational for the

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Speaker 1: participants and still be unacceptable for the public, and this

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Speaker 1: is where we're at. The reforms aren't mysterious, real time disclosure,

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Speaker 1: no anonymous money, clear donor identification. Maybe some structural fixes

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Speaker 1: like runoffs or ranked choice voting won't fix everything, but

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Speaker 1: it will store one basic idea that voters should know

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Speaker 1: who is trying to persuade them and why, because in

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Speaker 1: many cases it's not the candidates that are trying to

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Speaker 1: persuade voters anymore. It's some anonymous donor who's funding that candidate.

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Speaker 1: So the danger now isn't that money influences outcomes. It's

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Speaker 1: that it defines the menu of choices itself, like you

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Speaker 1: don't even know there's an alternative because it doesn't have

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Speaker 1: the funding to present itself on your menu of options before.

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Speaker 1: It's like what happens in Iran? Right? You know, yes,

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Speaker 1: it's a democracy, but the regime decides who gets to

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Speaker 1: be on the ballot. So is it really a choice

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Speaker 1: in anybody that is, you know, any presential candidate that's

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Speaker 1: calling for actual, small de democratic reform, they somehow don't

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Speaker 1: make the ballot. That's essentially what we're seeing here, donors

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Speaker 1: deciding who's viable, who's not, what's debated, and what gets dropped.

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Speaker 1: That's how democracy gets reshaped into a kleptocracy quietly before

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Speaker 1: a single vote has even cast. And that's why this

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Speaker 1: has finally potentially become a voting issue, not because reform

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Speaker 1: is easy, but because voters are starting to see the

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Speaker 1: system for what it is. In Illinois. It's not the exception.

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Speaker 1: It's just a warning. And it's interesting because Illinois features

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Speaker 1: a billionaire governor, a billionaire governor who's tried to fight

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Speaker 1: the some of these other billionaires. And you know, this

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Speaker 1: feeds into a notion. And this is why I think

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Speaker 1: that you know, hey, look we're going to look on

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Speaker 1: one primary does not make a presidential candidate, but it

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Speaker 1: is a data point that matters. And you know, the

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Speaker 1: f Trump at it's possible that you have a group

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Speaker 1: of Democrats who say, well, this system is so rigged

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Speaker 1: that maybe they've got to find their billionaire to fight

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Speaker 1: the other billionaires. And I'm not just making this up.

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Speaker 1: One of you was my substact reader, made a comment

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Speaker 1: on my substack column that was on the that was

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Speaker 1: similarly themed here, and I just want to read you

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Speaker 1: to hand in hand here because I think it. I

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Speaker 1: think it's a it's illustrative of where I think there

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Speaker 1: is a faction of the Democratic Party. And I've, like

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Speaker 1: I said, I've heard other at a progressive consultant tell

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Speaker 1: me I'm looking for my own Trump right anyway, let

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Speaker 1: me read you to what one of my commenters too

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Speaker 1: on substack said, this is the most terrifying thing I've

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Speaker 1: read in a while, and I read a lot of

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Speaker 1: AI doomsday articles. What do we do about it? Writing

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Speaker 1: or calling your congress person feels inadequate. I've known campaign

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00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 1: find answer was a problem for a long time, but

428
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,040
Speaker 1: it feels like the only way to change it is

429
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: to become a billionaire, win elections and then fight the

430
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,639
Speaker 1: other billionaires. What do normal citizens do short of pulling

431
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 1: out the guillotines? This was just a simple question to him,

432
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,800
Speaker 1: And what I want to say to Ryan asked who

433
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,360
Speaker 1: wrote this in is you may need to You may

434
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 1: need to show your guillotine. I'm not saying you use

435
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 1: the guillotine, but you almost need to, Like it's like

436
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: you walk t you walk quietly and carry a big

437
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:30,159
Speaker 1: stick like you're guillotine. You're your stick. Or maybe you

438
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 1: hire a billionaire to do this right, And that's I

439
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,439
Speaker 1: think the JB. Pritzker pitch. Hey, I'm a billionaire. I

440
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,480
Speaker 1: know how these guys work, and in some ways it's

441
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,879
Speaker 1: the mirror image of how Trump convinced a frustrated Republican

442
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 1: base that was tired of losing, tired of compromising, tired

443
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:47,679
Speaker 1: of the mccains and the Romneys of the world, and

444
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 1: they wanted somebody who made them feel better and expressed

445
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 1: what they thought they couldn't say anymore, right, and that

446
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 1: was Donald Trump. Well that's what the Juliana Stratton f

447
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:04,119
Speaker 1: Trump ad. I think there's a there's it's somewhat analogous, right,

448
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,880
Speaker 1: there's a group of Democrats who are tired of the shit, right,

449
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 1: and they're like, screw it, give me my own billionaire

450
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,159
Speaker 1: and let me punch this bully in the house. And

451
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,560
Speaker 1: Pritzker has been playing this role for quite some time.

452
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,080
Speaker 1: And you know, I've been skeptical that the answer to

453
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: the Trump eras for Democrats to go find their own billionaire. Right.

454
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:22,639
Speaker 1: This is why I've been a little skeptical of the

455
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,440
Speaker 1: Mark Cuban idea, a little skeptical of the Pritzker idea.

456
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 1: But watching it in action and you seeing how much

457
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 1: money and how big these entities are. You know, it

458
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,960
Speaker 1: took a rich guy named Teddy Roosevelt to take on

459
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,240
Speaker 1: the big rich guys, right, it took a rich guy

460
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 1: in FDR to build the social safety net for the

461
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: working class. It was a rich guy that working class

462
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,160
Speaker 1: America the last ten years has turned to or want

463
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 1: to be rich guy, depending on your point of view

464
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,119
Speaker 1: of when Trump actually acquired actual wealth. But it doesn't matter.

465
00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:02,119
Speaker 1: Perceive Perception is reality in this case. And so I

466
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,280
Speaker 1: know this, like you know, I always remind people I

467
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,400
Speaker 1: cover politics as as it is, not as I wish

468
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,640
Speaker 1: it were. I'm not sure this is a good long

469
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,000
Speaker 1: term solution for where we're headed as a country. But

470
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:16,640
Speaker 1: I also it's possible. This is a this is something,

471
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 1: this is something that has to be tried first before

472
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: the next thing gets tried, right, And if you you know,

473
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,879
Speaker 1: I always like to put my shove in the shoes

474
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,359
Speaker 1: of somebody fifty years from now looking back on this

475
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 1: era we're living through, and how will they see it,

476
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:34,679
Speaker 1: what will it look like? And you know, you know,

477
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: I have a theory that we're we're going to We're

478
00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 1: probably going to have two or three more one term

479
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: presidents before we have a president that's able to sort

480
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 1: of solidify the country enough to earn a second term.

481
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:47,359
Speaker 1: And that's when you know, we'll have turned the page

482
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,520
Speaker 1: on this era until we get there. So we've had

483
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,080
Speaker 1: three in a row. You know, we didn't. We went

484
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 1: through the entire twentieth century without three one term presidents

485
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 1: in a row. So I kind of think we're you

486
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,159
Speaker 1: got to go through these stages, right, and so you know,

487
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,640
Speaker 1: you could see this right if if down the road

488
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,880
Speaker 1: we get you know, the next Eisenhower becomes president, say

489
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,439
Speaker 1: in twenty thirty six, but we have a one term

490
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: president in twenty eight, a one term president in thirty two,

491
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 1: et cetera. Like okay, what you know, what what will

492
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,359
Speaker 1: the explanation be? And it will be something like, well,

493
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,919
Speaker 1: you know, the frustrated Americans they kept they kept voting,

494
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 1: you know, they kept looking for something different and they

495
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 1: didn't like it, and they voted out. You know, the Democrats,

496
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,880
Speaker 1: they tried the conciliator candidate in Biden and that didn't work.

497
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,119
Speaker 1: Then they tried you know, if they go with the

498
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 1: A Pritzker, let's say, then it was oh, they tried

499
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: the fighter, the billionaire fighter to fight back and that

500
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 1: didn't work in the Culture War, and then you know

501
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: who knows, So you know it is it's possible. We're

502
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: just in a this is the next step, you know,

503
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: before you get to whatever the whatever the solution is,

504
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 1: or maybe this turns out to be the solution, or

505
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,000
Speaker 1: maybe a leader sort of morphs into something bigger and

506
00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 1: is able to rise above in a moment. You know. Well,

507
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 1: that's that's what we do. We find out sometimes after

508
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 1: we elect these presidents whether they're actually up to the job.

509
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,479
Speaker 1: We never, let's be honest, we're never quite sure these

510
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,719
Speaker 1: folks are up to the job until after they take office.

511
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 1: There's a lot of skepticism about Bill Clinton, and then

512
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,239
Speaker 1: after a while you understood why he was there. Uh

513
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 1: did it with w did it with Obama? You know,

514
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 1: there's always a moment where these people fill the suit, right,

515
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 1: and you just sort of see it, you know. I

516
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 1: think Biden always struggled to fill the suit. I think Trump,

517
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 1: you know, is always acting. He's always playing a role,

518
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 1: so he struggles to fill the suit because it's never

519
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: a full it's never quite quite what he is. It's

520
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: always a performance of some sort. You just have to

521
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 1: figure out what that performance is at any given time.

522
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 1: So it's uh, I'm always careful. I don't want to

523
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: be definitive here. Right. We had one primary where the

524
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 1: candidate who was preaching love instead of a fighter one

525
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 1: in Texas. Now this one we got the fighter, the

526
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: F Trump candidate. Right. By the way, every time I

527
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: say F Trump, I'm channeling my old Chris Matthews. He'll

528
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 1: be saying, are you saying F troop? You know some

529
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 1: old TV show back in the sixties. So for some

530
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 1: of my older viewers and listeners, that was a shout

531
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 1: out for F troop. Now I'm not saying F troop

532
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 1: when I say the F Trump had. So you know,

533
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 1: two data points does not make a trend, but it's

534
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: an intriguing data point. It's something I'm not going to

535
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 1: dismiss about Pritzker. And I think that Pritzker's proven to

536
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 1: be politically savving his own state, so we should be

537
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 1: taking him seriously as a presidential candidate. I wouldn't put

538
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,920
Speaker 1: him at the bottom of the top tier anymore. I'd

539
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 1: be putting him smack dab in the in the contender

540
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 1: section of this. As we go forward, all right, Like

541
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 1: I said, coming up my conversation with somebody who leads

542
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 1: one of these super packs that I'm talking about, and

543
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,440
Speaker 1: we get into whether this is a healthy system and

544
00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,360
Speaker 1: what should be and Rad Carson, longtime Oklahoma Democrat, also

545
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:06,040
Speaker 1: gives his prescription of how Democrats could to could improve

546
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:12,000
Speaker 1: their brand in red states like Oklahoma and elsewhere. So

547
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:17,320
Speaker 1: I think you'll find the conversation interesting, provocative and enlightening.

548
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 1: And with that, let's sneak in a break and when

549
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:26,040
Speaker 1: we come back, my conversation with about AI influencer politics

550
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:35,480
Speaker 1: and the Democratic Party with Brad Carson. This episode of

551
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 1: the Chuck Todcast is brought to you by Quints. A

552
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555
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556
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561
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562
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563
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564
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566
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569
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00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 1: Quins slash Chuck, Ask Chuck. First question comes from Bill

578
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,760
Speaker 1: in Boston and he writes, Hey, Chuck, I started listening

579
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:11,760
Speaker 1: to your podcast after hearing you on Jim and Marjorie

580
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 1: Show and have not missed an episode since. Oh I'm

581
00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:17,400
Speaker 1: glad to hear that Jim and Marjorie are fantastic. They

582
00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:22,440
Speaker 1: have a terrific daily program on BPR. Up there, Boston

583
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,920
Speaker 1: Public Radio, and they're two of my favorite people. I

584
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 1: just adore them and it is probably my favorite guest

585
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 1: appearance I make on anything I do. It's just a

586
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 1: total joy with them, So thank you for giving them

587
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,600
Speaker 1: a shout out. You continue. I devour the commentaries as

588
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:46,120
Speaker 1: soon as they drop and then save the interviews for

589
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 1: the weekend. So excellent. My niece has just graduated from

590
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: journalism school and is moving to DC to start her

591
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 1: career in the world of political journalism. I was thinking

592
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,440
Speaker 1: of getting our membership at the National Press Club as

593
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 1: a graduation. Get is that still where the center of

594
00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 1: gravity is for the DC press these days? Thanks Bill,

595
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:03,520
Speaker 1: and Boston actually isn't a National Press Club? Is really

596
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:08,560
Speaker 1: it's really a PR mechanism. Now more public relations firms

597
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,400
Speaker 1: are members of the Press Club than actual journalists associations.

598
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 1: It's still an if you're an international journalist, the Press

599
00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,400
Speaker 1: Club is a helpful tool, but it does not play

600
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 1: the role it once did, and it's interesting I might suggest,

601
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 1: I know this sounds I might suggest just getting her

602
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:39,880
Speaker 1: a subscription to like punch Bowl, right, and some one

603
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 1: of these insider newsletters that you really need to know,

604
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,920
Speaker 1: you know, that can really help drive you know, on

605
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:50,080
Speaker 1: Congress that's punch Bowl, and that's not a cheap publication,

606
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: but you know, the DC publication world right, whether it's

607
00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 1: your subscription, and it really is punchable for Congress. You know,

608
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 1: this is what gets really expensive in the world of journalism,

609
00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:06,879
Speaker 1: is being able to keep track of everybody else's work,

610
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 1: whether it's the Punch Bowl, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Axios.

611
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,760
Speaker 1: None of this stuff is free, and in many cases

612
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:21,880
Speaker 1: it's exuberant, it's uber expensive. But I think back on

613
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,760
Speaker 1: what I needed as subscription to my old stomping grounds,

614
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 1: the Hotline. You know, if you did punch Bowl, Wall

615
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,319
Speaker 1: Street Journal, Politico in the Hotline, that's probably what a

616
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,279
Speaker 1: membership to the National Press Club would cost. And I

617
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: would dare say those publications if your niece doesn't end

618
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 1: up working at one of them, and she may end up,

619
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,080
Speaker 1: and yes, over time, if one of the not every

620
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:51,680
Speaker 1: news organization, we'll spring for some of these subscriptions. So

621
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,880
Speaker 1: anyway that I'm just thinking out loud, but that's probably

622
00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: you know, where I would begin to sort of engrace,

623
00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:02,439
Speaker 1: you know, to have help somebody sort of get used

624
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,160
Speaker 1: to the rhythms of this town, you know, from an

625
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:08,320
Speaker 1: internal cultural sense, and that's where punch Bowl and Politico

626
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,719
Speaker 1: Playbook in particular come come in. And then with this

627
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,160
Speaker 1: particular White House axios in the Wall Street Journal, I

628
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 1: think I have the best access to the to the

629
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 1: west wing and have the probably the more consistent scoopages.

630
00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 1: You know, this is no disrespect to the times in

631
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:28,640
Speaker 1: the Post, but in this case, the times in the

632
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,960
Speaker 1: Post are a bit cheaper, and one could argue she could,

633
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 1: she could, she could pay for those. Those other ones

634
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:38,720
Speaker 1: are a little price here, So just a thought anyway.

635
00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:42,160
Speaker 1: I hope that helps, Bill, and congratulations and you know

636
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,880
Speaker 1: I at some point we're going to be hiring interns

637
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 1: here at the Check Podcast, but we haven't fully fully

638
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 1: expanded there for now. Next up is Howard W. From

639
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,520
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. Any rates, when the Declaration of Independence was signed,

640
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,520
Speaker 1: were we a country or thirteen colonies? Didn't we actually

641
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,200
Speaker 1: become a country when the articles of confederation right fight

642
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:04,359
Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty one. That is a fair point, right,

643
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:07,640
Speaker 1: We we declared our independence and then we didn't really

644
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,360
Speaker 1: and we sort of formed an army, and you know,

645
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 1: there was a coalition and it was I guess you

646
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 1: could call it a a you know, a coalition of

647
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:24,440
Speaker 1: the willing, but it's a it's man, why do you

648
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 1: want to mess up a good myth? Right? Are you

649
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:27,239
Speaker 1: telling us we have to put off the two hundred

650
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:31,520
Speaker 1: and fiftieth birthday for at least another six years? But

651
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,840
Speaker 1: it's a and we certainly have only been a constitutional republic,

652
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,759
Speaker 1: I guess is probably since since seventeen eighty one, so

653
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 1: the first time we attempted a constitution. But hey, that's

654
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,279
Speaker 1: a that's a that's a that's a fair it's a

655
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 1: fair argument. So I had a little fun. You'll appreciate this.

656
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,359
Speaker 1: So I decided to tap. I typed your question into

657
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,600
Speaker 1: chat gpt to see what our AI would say, When

658
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,440
Speaker 1: did America become an actual country? So here's the response

659
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 1: that chat ChiPT gave and he goes, well, that depends

660
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:09,360
Speaker 1: on what you mean by become a country, because the

661
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 1: United States didn't flip a switch over nine. It emerged

662
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,400
Speaker 1: in stages and each one answers your question a little differently.

663
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:19,000
Speaker 1: So the declaration of independence, chat chipet caused a symbolic

664
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:24,240
Speaker 1: birth the thirteen Colony simply declared themselves independent from Great Britain.

665
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,520
Speaker 1: So there's that. Seventeen eighty three the Treaty of Paris,

666
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 1: So this is when the international world recognized America as

667
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,520
Speaker 1: a country. The Treaty of Paris officially ended the war.

668
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,320
Speaker 1: Britain had to formally recognize the United States as a

669
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 1: sovereign nation, and then other countries would acknowledge the existence

670
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:48,360
Speaker 1: of the United States. So they argue that the legal

671
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:53,120
Speaker 1: recognition recognized moment then would be seventeen eighty three, seventeen

672
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:57,759
Speaker 1: eighty nine, our Constitution takes effect, so you know, and

673
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,400
Speaker 1: you can then make your argument about the articles iteration

674
00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:09,160
Speaker 1: and that that being so, there you go, And arguably

675
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:15,560
Speaker 1: we still have to wait until we may have to.

676
00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 1: The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Constitutional Republic

677
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,200
Speaker 1: would be the next decade, and so our two hundred

678
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 1: and fiftieth celebration for the Constitution I assume we'll all

679
00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:35,640
Speaker 1: be centered around Philadelphia in twenty thirty nine. So make

680
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,000
Speaker 1: your reservations now. All right, that was a fun little exercise,

681
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:43,920
Speaker 1: and I love the provocative question. See, how are these

682
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,000
Speaker 1: are my listeners? This is what I expect I expect

683
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,719
Speaker 1: this kind of this kind of nuance in details, So

684
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,879
Speaker 1: thank you. Next question comes from Brad Chuck. Greetings from

685
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,440
Speaker 1: Grand Rapids in Michigan's third District, and thanks for the

686
00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 1: great podcast. You often say citizens should reach out to

687
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,760
Speaker 1: their representatives, But what if you're a member of Congress

688
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,839
Speaker 1: like my representative Hillary Schulton and Michigan senators already share

689
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,640
Speaker 1: your concerns. Is it still worthwhile to contact them just

690
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:11,360
Speaker 1: to reinforce support, encourage them to push even harder in Washington?

691
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,240
Speaker 1: How much influence do constituents really have when they're asking

692
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,040
Speaker 1: leaders who already agree with them to do more. I

693
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,600
Speaker 1: think it's more of the tactical. You know, it's interesting.

694
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:23,560
Speaker 1: I am one of the fun pleasures I have in teaching.

695
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,319
Speaker 1: As many of you know, I teach a class called

696
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:31,080
Speaker 1: how Washington Works for USC and it's their DC program

697
00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 1: USC University of Southern California, and I to be confused

698
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,440
Speaker 1: with my friends in Columbia, South Carolina who believe the

699
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:42,719
Speaker 1: University of South Carolina is the original USC as I

700
00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:45,200
Speaker 1: like to say to them, have a more successful program

701
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 1: and you can reclaim USC is yours. Sorry couldn't help myself,

702
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:55,640
Speaker 1: but about half the class is interning on the hill.

703
00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:57,799
Speaker 1: And when you intern on the hill, what does that mean? Yeah,

704
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,920
Speaker 1: answer the phones. But answering the phones in a congressional

705
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 1: office is fascinating, especially when you're a young intern, because

706
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:11,400
Speaker 1: usually it's calls from constituents, not always, you know, sometimes

707
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:17,839
Speaker 1: they're planned campaign sometimes they're genuine locals. But here's what

708
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:21,279
Speaker 1: I can tell you I've learned from these conversations I've

709
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:23,520
Speaker 1: had with these with with people that answer phones over

710
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:25,520
Speaker 1: the years. It's all offices want to keep track. They

711
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,439
Speaker 1: want to know what issues are coming up, what's being

712
00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:30,799
Speaker 1: called in it because a lot of times it is

713
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 1: an early warning system. All of a sudden, you get

714
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,759
Speaker 1: some there might be some local thing that's happening that

715
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:38,600
Speaker 1: the congressional office is getting a lot of calls on.

716
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:40,880
Speaker 1: It actually is something that a local mayor ought to

717
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:42,640
Speaker 1: deal with. Maybe it's something the mayor of Grand Rapids

718
00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 1: has to deal with, and they're able to say, hey,

719
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,439
Speaker 1: we're getting calls about this, are you aware of this? Right?

720
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:51,440
Speaker 1: So it can be just sort of an early warning system, right,

721
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 1: But they but the members care and it's it's I

722
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:02,799
Speaker 1: think there's more power in numbers, right, But you don't

723
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:04,960
Speaker 1: want to look like you're manufacturing and you're reading from

724
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,439
Speaker 1: a script. So the point is is that sometimes it's

725
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,520
Speaker 1: not You may your representatives may support you generally, but

726
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,799
Speaker 1: are they doing something specifically? You know, you might you

727
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:18,960
Speaker 1: might want to say, how come you're not doing this?

728
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:21,840
Speaker 1: You know, I know you share the same concerns I

729
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,719
Speaker 1: do about X. So explain to me why you're not

730
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 1: doing why. You know. Maybe let's say you're you're skeptical

731
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: of this around war, Well, maybe you might want to

732
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,680
Speaker 1: encourage them. Look, don't just vote symbolically, know against funding

733
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 1: this war. What are you going to do to actually

734
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:41,640
Speaker 1: try to bring this to an end? You know, maybe

735
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,200
Speaker 1: force an answer out of them, force a response out

736
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,120
Speaker 1: of them. But I you know, or you can call

737
00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:58,440
Speaker 1: other you know, these these these members of Congress. You

738
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:00,759
Speaker 1: won't for some of them, you won't be is impactful,

739
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:05,480
Speaker 1: but they do log complaints that come in from constituents

740
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,040
Speaker 1: that don't live in their district or state and just say, look,

741
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 1: I'm and you should be honest about it, and I'm

742
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,319
Speaker 1: calling you. You know, my senator's already believe in this,

743
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: but I'm concerned, you know, and maybe find a way

744
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,120
Speaker 1: to connect with that senator. I you know, I thought

745
00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:20,879
Speaker 1: Senator X really was worried about why so why aren't

746
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 1: they also standing up on this issue? But there's all

747
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:32,600
Speaker 1: sorts of ways to I think, influence a senator that

748
00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:35,040
Speaker 1: you think already shares some of your values. Maybe it's

749
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 1: more in what are they doing about it? How are

750
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,439
Speaker 1: they expressing themselves? You know, it's one thing to share

751
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,440
Speaker 1: your concerns. It's another things to do some action. So

752
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:47,040
Speaker 1: that'd be another way to look at it. Next question

753
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:48,919
Speaker 1: comes from David and he writes, Chuck, I'm a twenty

754
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:51,080
Speaker 1: nine year old living in California now, but previously a

755
00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:53,479
Speaker 1: federal worker in DC before being cut during last year's

756
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,480
Speaker 1: doze terminations. You've often mentioned Mississippi as a state to watch,

757
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:58,680
Speaker 1: even though most analysts don't see it as viable for Democrats.

758
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:01,360
Speaker 1: What can we learn from the Sippy primaries past Tuesday

759
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:03,200
Speaker 1: in terms of turnout, in enthusiasm, and do you see

760
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:06,120
Speaker 1: the same potential for competitiveness there that we've seen in

761
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:08,279
Speaker 1: southern races like Alabama in twenty seventeen, in Georgia in

762
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:12,480
Speaker 1: twenty twenty. Well, look, I've had this Mississippi conversation with

763
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:17,040
Speaker 1: quite a few people, and I'm trying to remember recently.

764
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:18,560
Speaker 1: I feel like I can't remember if I did it

765
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,680
Speaker 1: in this podcast or it was a Newsfair episode, but

766
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:25,040
Speaker 1: when we talk about different states, or it may have been.

767
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:34,080
Speaker 1: It may have been a conversation I had with when

768
00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,280
Speaker 1: I was moderating a panel up at Harvard in Jamie Harrison,

769
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:39,640
Speaker 1: who was the former DNC chair and candidate for office

770
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:43,839
Speaker 1: in South Carolina, and it was in this you know,

771
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:47,480
Speaker 1: the whole point of pointing out of Mississippi, for one thing,

772
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:52,640
Speaker 1: is is looking at what the electoral map could look

773
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,200
Speaker 1: like in twenty thirty two. When we have reapportionment in

774
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:59,200
Speaker 1: the electoral college, numbers shift again and the power continues

775
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:00,880
Speaker 1: to grow in the sun Beat and in the South.

776
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,200
Speaker 1: So Democrats have to make inroads in the sun Belt, right,

777
00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:06,640
Speaker 1: You've got to make inroads where the people live. Texas

778
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:08,840
Speaker 1: and Florida are two obvious targets. They're big, they're huge,

779
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:13,120
Speaker 1: and they're very difficult. Georgia is a success story. It's

780
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 1: an organizational success story. And the point is when you

781
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:20,840
Speaker 1: look at the population in Mississippi and you look at

782
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:23,200
Speaker 1: look at go look at those general election results, they're

783
00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: always you know, Sydney Hyde Smith versus Mike Esipe in

784
00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen fifty four to forty six race, that's not

785
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,759
Speaker 1: a blowout. That does not mean Mississippi is not competitive.

786
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:47,880
Speaker 1: Tate Reeves and the Presley cousin was also somebody that

787
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,640
Speaker 1: was also one of the closest governor's races in thirty

788
00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:56,520
Speaker 1: years or in the last twenty years. Excuse me, but

789
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: what you have is an under investment in the state

790
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:03,400
Speaker 1: part and there's a there's an under voter, there's an

791
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:08,360
Speaker 1: under there's basically a lot of unregistered African American voters

792
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 1: in Mississippi who've kind of given up on the system.

793
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:15,880
Speaker 1: It was a similar phenomenon in Alabama, and you had

794
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:18,560
Speaker 1: Doug Jones will tell you it was black women in

795
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,840
Speaker 1: particular that you know, helped organize for his campaign and

796
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,160
Speaker 1: that upset over Roy Moore. Now, there's nothing like having

797
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 1: an opponent who's an accused pedophile in order to assist

798
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:32,040
Speaker 1: you in a in a very deeply religious state like Alabama.

799
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:36,239
Speaker 1: And I don't think we should we should overlook that

800
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:40,960
Speaker 1: factoid on that one success in Alabama. But Mississippi there's

801
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:44,520
Speaker 1: more consistent. You see it, right, there's a lower ceiling

802
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 1: for Republicans than there is in an Alabama or but

803
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:54,080
Speaker 1: it's it's not a one cycle investment, right, And I

804
00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:56,880
Speaker 1: think the problem, the difference between the Democrats and the

805
00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:01,200
Speaker 1: Republicans in my adult lifetime is that Republicans have always

806
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:03,920
Speaker 1: taken a longer view in trying to flip a state

807
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:08,040
Speaker 1: and Democrats are always looking for a shortcut, and they've

808
00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:10,360
Speaker 1: not take that longer. One of the few exceptions to

809
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,279
Speaker 1: the longer views has been Arizona in Georgia, and now

810
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,600
Speaker 1: that is paid necessary dividends, right, it's kept them in

811
00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:20,799
Speaker 1: the game. Without Georgie and Arizona, the downfall of the

812
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 1: Midwestern swing states and of Florida and Ohio in particular

813
00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:28,320
Speaker 1: would be catastrophic for the party. But it's not because

814
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:33,600
Speaker 1: of a concerted twenty year effort to essentially get competitive

815
00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:37,920
Speaker 1: in Georgia and Arizona. And you had look the losing

816
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:41,759
Speaker 1: Stacey Abrams campaigns did a lot, made a lot of

817
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:45,560
Speaker 1: progress for george Democrats, and that's what you need. You

818
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:51,080
Speaker 1: need somebody that sort of you know, makes progress in

819
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:54,960
Speaker 1: losing and sticks to it. And in Mississippi you've had

820
00:47:55,000 --> 00:48:00,520
Speaker 1: too many examples of well funded singular campaign that have

821
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:05,680
Speaker 1: never sort of stayed engaged after they've lost, and until

822
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:08,880
Speaker 1: you do, that's that's the moment. But it's if you

823
00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:10,800
Speaker 1: look at the population numbers and you look at the

824
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:14,080
Speaker 1: voter registration numbers, that's why you see. If you ever

825
00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:18,480
Speaker 1: could maximize African American voter registration in Mississippi, you suddenly

826
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:32,200
Speaker 1: are in a different place competitively in that day. Next

827
00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:36,160
Speaker 1: question comes from JR. JR. Rights. Hey, second time asker,

828
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,080
Speaker 1: Thanks again for taking questions. Virginia's led Governor Spamberger signature

829
00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:42,120
Speaker 1: bringing the electoral vote count for it's triggering up to

830
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:43,920
Speaker 1: two twenty two, still a ways off from the required

831
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:45,360
Speaker 1: two to seventy. But what do you think the odds

832
00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:47,320
Speaker 1: are that the MPV will gain momentum and get the

833
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:49,560
Speaker 1: requisite numbers to go into effect. Do you think Trump's

834
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:51,759
Speaker 1: popular vote win in twenty twenty four may jostle free

835
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:54,520
Speaker 1: some reticent red states to join. Thanks interesting in your

836
00:48:54,560 --> 00:48:57,560
Speaker 1: thoughts on the MPV compact as a whole as well. Well. Look,

837
00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:00,239
Speaker 1: I've i dug into the compact quite a bit about

838
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:02,160
Speaker 1: fifteen or twenty years ago when it first started up.

839
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:05,080
Speaker 1: The guy who founded the university of Phoenix was sort

840
00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:07,000
Speaker 1: of the initial brainchild of this, by the way, for

841
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:10,680
Speaker 1: what it's worth, and this goes back to two thousand

842
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:12,319
Speaker 1: and three, two thousand and four, two thousand and five,

843
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:16,200
Speaker 1: memory serves, I have this vision. I remember packing my

844
00:49:16,239 --> 00:49:18,160
Speaker 1: office at the Hotline to move to NBC, and I

845
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:23,440
Speaker 1: remember this guy's the voter Compact pamphlet wasn't a pamphlet.

846
00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:26,719
Speaker 1: It was this massive if you remember the remember the

847
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:29,560
Speaker 1: old chain Kinkos, It was like a Kinko's put together

848
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:37,480
Speaker 1: book if you will, and I you know, just to

849
00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:39,600
Speaker 1: if people are going to wonder how this works. So

850
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:42,400
Speaker 1: the idea is that states, would you know, which is

851
00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,640
Speaker 1: do the thanks to the commerce clause reveralily where states

852
00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:50,200
Speaker 1: will agree that if if there are that the minute

853
00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:53,680
Speaker 1: there's enough states that add up to two hundred and

854
00:49:53,680 --> 00:49:59,120
Speaker 1: seventy electoral votes, then the states agree that their lectoral

855
00:49:59,239 --> 00:50:04,440
Speaker 1: votes will go to the winner of the popular vote.

856
00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:09,680
Speaker 1: But it doesn't trigger until there are enough states that

857
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:14,080
Speaker 1: add up to two hundred and seventy electoral votes. And

858
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:17,480
Speaker 1: so it is, as you noted, we're up to two

859
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:21,160
Speaker 1: twenty two, so there's still there's still forty eight electoral

860
00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:25,520
Speaker 1: votes away. I haven't seen the latest list of states,

861
00:50:25,560 --> 00:50:27,200
Speaker 1: but I think a lot of the big states haven't

862
00:50:27,200 --> 00:50:39,319
Speaker 1: done it yet, if I'm not mistaken, So I'm a

863
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:44,680
Speaker 1: skeptic that it will be accepted by the public. I

864
00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:46,560
Speaker 1: think you would have. I mean, look at all of

865
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:51,839
Speaker 1: the rage you see among Nebraska Republicans Loan the loan

866
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:59,600
Speaker 1: electoral vote that continues to nag at Republicans right with

867
00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:05,279
Speaker 1: oma sort of almost no consistently voting voting against the

868
00:51:05,320 --> 00:51:12,160
Speaker 1: state's interest, and the calls and demands for change, And

869
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:16,320
Speaker 1: the minute this compact has agreed to, the second estate

870
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,440
Speaker 1: feels as if their votes cost their guy an election,

871
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:23,239
Speaker 1: then there's going to be right. So I'm skeptical that

872
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:26,360
Speaker 1: this will ever even when it hits the requisite number,

873
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:31,000
Speaker 1: that it will ever be implemented. That essentially, this is

874
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:33,520
Speaker 1: an easy thing to say you're willing to do before

875
00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:36,880
Speaker 1: you get to the number itself. Now on once you

876
00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:40,200
Speaker 1: catch the once you're the dog that catches the proverbial car,

877
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:42,759
Speaker 1: what actually happens here? What do you plan to do

878
00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:51,400
Speaker 1: with this? You know? I I'm I think we need

879
00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:53,640
Speaker 1: a constitutional amendment to change this if you want to

880
00:51:53,719 --> 00:51:57,520
Speaker 1: change it. My work around these days is doubling the

881
00:51:57,560 --> 00:51:59,200
Speaker 1: size of the house. If you did that, then you

882
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:03,080
Speaker 1: would write and the electoral college would follow the popular

883
00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:06,080
Speaker 1: vote in ninety eight percent of the circumstances, rather than

884
00:52:06,120 --> 00:52:08,360
Speaker 1: in the situation we're in now, which is only about

885
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:10,919
Speaker 1: something like eighty five to ninety percent of the time,

886
00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:14,200
Speaker 1: will the popular vote in the in the electoral vote

887
00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:20,279
Speaker 1: be the same winner, and that that GAP's a big deal.

888
00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:23,120
Speaker 1: That's a big you know, as I like to say,

889
00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:26,080
Speaker 1: you know, would you get on a plane that had

890
00:52:26,120 --> 00:52:31,279
Speaker 1: a ninety percent chance of landing safely? Would you get

891
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:33,080
Speaker 1: on a plane that had a ninety nine percent chance

892
00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,880
Speaker 1: of landing safely? Right? You do that all the time.

893
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:40,040
Speaker 1: Nothing's one hundred percent, But once you hear that it's

894
00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:44,680
Speaker 1: ninety how about eighty five? Right? Right? Then it's suddenly

895
00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:46,600
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, I know, plenty of one in fifteen

896
00:52:46,600 --> 00:52:49,200
Speaker 1: you know, I'm fifteen percent chance things happen. There's a

897
00:52:49,239 --> 00:52:51,200
Speaker 1: ten percent chance of something happened. And wait a minute,

898
00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:58,360
Speaker 1: that's that that could actually happen. So you know, I'm

899
00:52:58,600 --> 00:53:03,560
Speaker 1: I'm so, I'm I'm skeptical that this would ever successfully

900
00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:06,160
Speaker 1: be implemented because I think there's states that have agreed

901
00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:08,880
Speaker 1: to do it. You'll see, especially since we've become so

902
00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:10,840
Speaker 1: one party. I mean, look at a state like Virginia

903
00:53:11,600 --> 00:53:15,080
Speaker 1: suddenly as a one party controlled state. It's still kind

904
00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:16,840
Speaker 1: of a I would argue, it's a fifty five to

905
00:53:16,920 --> 00:53:20,440
Speaker 1: forty five dem lean overall, right, but it behaves like

906
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:24,040
Speaker 1: it's an eighty twenty state these days with its legislature

907
00:53:24,040 --> 00:53:27,160
Speaker 1: and its democratic governance. Right, It's just like Mississippi's really

908
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:28,680
Speaker 1: like a fifty five to forty five state, but it

909
00:53:28,719 --> 00:53:31,879
Speaker 1: behaves in governance if it's an eighty twenty Republican state.

910
00:53:33,239 --> 00:53:38,720
Speaker 1: And so that's where I you know, So I'm I needed,

911
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:40,480
Speaker 1: like I said, I needed a better analysis of how

912
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:42,200
Speaker 1: many which states in there. But I just have a

913
00:53:42,239 --> 00:53:45,200
Speaker 1: feeling a bunch of them will chicken out when this starts,

914
00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:47,760
Speaker 1: and just when it looks like they're getting to somebody,

915
00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:51,040
Speaker 1: somebody will, you know, it'll be it'll be like Lucy

916
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:53,160
Speaker 1: in the football. You know, she'll pull it away. Some

917
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:55,440
Speaker 1: state will withdraw from the compact, and all of a

918
00:53:55,440 --> 00:54:00,840
Speaker 1: sudden they're short again. So you know that it's my guess,

919
00:54:00,920 --> 00:54:04,239
Speaker 1: And again I go back to the the easiest way

920
00:54:04,280 --> 00:54:08,440
Speaker 1: to fix this is just expanding the House, then you

921
00:54:08,440 --> 00:54:11,480
Speaker 1: don't even need a constitutional amendment after that a constitutional amendment.

922
00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:16,120
Speaker 1: But I do think you're not going to be able

923
00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:20,400
Speaker 1: to get the constitutional amendment until you convince both parties

924
00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:23,919
Speaker 1: that this will be helpful to that. And I think

925
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:27,760
Speaker 1: repealing the electoral college won't get you there, but expanding

926
00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:30,480
Speaker 1: the House in theory benefits. You can make a case

927
00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:34,000
Speaker 1: that it can strengthen both parties depending on how you

928
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:37,200
Speaker 1: look at it. You know, shouldn't you have more voting

929
00:54:37,239 --> 00:54:40,120
Speaker 1: power in Congress than Wyoming has? Right? Shouldn't you have

930
00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:43,239
Speaker 1: more voting power in Congress than Delaware has? Right? You

931
00:54:43,239 --> 00:54:44,880
Speaker 1: can make that case to a Republican state or a

932
00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:50,080
Speaker 1: democratic state. So that's why I sort of lean more

933
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:54,440
Speaker 1: in that territory. But thanks for asking about that. The

934
00:54:54,520 --> 00:54:58,120
Speaker 1: MPV is always I got into it until I didn't.

935
00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:03,279
Speaker 1: Next question comes from Kenny from Massapequa. Thank you for

936
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:05,960
Speaker 1: letting me say massive pequod approve that I can say it. Hey, Chuck,

937
00:55:05,960 --> 00:55:07,640
Speaker 1: I share your dad's love of coin collecting, and while

938
00:55:07,640 --> 00:55:10,200
Speaker 1: the bi centennial coins may not be worth much more

939
00:55:10,320 --> 00:55:13,280
Speaker 1: than face value, sometimes the memories attached to them are priceless.

940
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:15,000
Speaker 1: My wife and I also have a question, what's the

941
00:55:15,040 --> 00:55:18,040
Speaker 1: deal with daylight saving time? With Senator Rubio no longer

942
00:55:18,120 --> 00:55:20,319
Speaker 1: championing the issue in the Senate, is there anyone likely

943
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:22,560
Speaker 1: to take up the push to either keep it permanent

944
00:55:22,640 --> 00:55:24,520
Speaker 1: or in the clock changes together twice a year of

945
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:27,160
Speaker 1: the timeship disrupts sleep, commuting, and families. So is there

946
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:30,560
Speaker 1: any real chance Congress funally fixes it? Kenny from Massapequa Kenny,

947
00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:33,719
Speaker 1: I hope you heard my time Machine segment earlier this

948
00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:37,760
Speaker 1: week on this very issue, the initial creation of time zones,

949
00:55:38,440 --> 00:55:41,960
Speaker 1: daylight saving and how often we've the problem is there

950
00:55:42,080 --> 00:55:46,080
Speaker 1: is no solution because the solution for you becomes a

951
00:55:46,120 --> 00:55:50,280
Speaker 1: problem for somebody else. And I went through three different

952
00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:53,400
Speaker 1: periods of time where we had sort of permanent versions

953
00:55:53,440 --> 00:55:57,040
Speaker 1: of you know, temporary permanent versions of our time and

954
00:55:57,120 --> 00:55:59,160
Speaker 1: the big the most recent attempt that we did this

955
00:55:59,239 --> 00:56:01,920
Speaker 1: in seventy four to conserve energy during the energy crisis,

956
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:04,960
Speaker 1: where a year long daylight saving time is you basically

957
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:07,360
Speaker 1: had a hope. You know, there's a bunch of we

958
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:13,600
Speaker 1: had actual accidents, Kids were killed at bus stops because

959
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:18,360
Speaker 1: of traffic accidents before the sun came up, So you know,

960
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:21,040
Speaker 1: I think this is one of those cases where. And

961
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:22,880
Speaker 1: this is why I enjoyed that time machine. You know,

962
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:28,600
Speaker 1: before the Railroad's you know, every town noon was slightly

963
00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:31,480
Speaker 1: different and everybody used the sun to decide while it's

964
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:34,560
Speaker 1: noon in Massapequa, which means it's eleven fifty nine some

965
00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:37,160
Speaker 1: in the next town over, and it's eleven fifty eight

966
00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:41,600
Speaker 1: two towns from there. Right. So anyway, I encourage you

967
00:56:41,640 --> 00:56:47,000
Speaker 1: go check my last time Machine episode from the Monday episode.

968
00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:50,560
Speaker 1: I'd like to think that after you listen to that,

969
00:56:50,600 --> 00:56:53,799
Speaker 1: you'll be like, oh, this is why it'll never change,

970
00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:59,920
Speaker 1: because it's too complicated. There's no good answer because every

971
00:57:00,840 --> 00:57:04,400
Speaker 1: every you know, now, when we were in a grarian economy,

972
00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:07,080
Speaker 1: we just adjust it, you know. When living in this

973
00:57:07,160 --> 00:57:09,600
Speaker 1: fixed time zone, this is going to be this is

974
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:14,000
Speaker 1: going to be the challenge here. And I think everybody

975
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:18,479
Speaker 1: has different interests, right if you're you know, I remember

976
00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:20,520
Speaker 1: as a little kid, I couldn't wait for daylight saving time,

977
00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:23,880
Speaker 1: and the older I've gotten, I resent daylight saving time, right,

978
00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:27,560
Speaker 1: So I think that's another issue here, is that there's

979
00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:31,440
Speaker 1: just not a there's no clean there's no clean answer,

980
00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:35,040
Speaker 1: and in some ways, going through the motions of trying

981
00:57:35,040 --> 00:57:37,720
Speaker 1: to figure out how we took control of time as

982
00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:41,880
Speaker 1: it is as a country and as a government. I

983
00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:47,480
Speaker 1: now feel I feel satisfied with my unsat with this unsatisfactory,

984
00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:51,800
Speaker 1: uncomfortable way that we've done this. Now, I do wish

985
00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:56,360
Speaker 1: we would at least, you know, we keep we keep

986
00:57:56,400 --> 00:57:58,680
Speaker 1: moving when we do daylight saving time more than the

987
00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:00,920
Speaker 1: rest of the world does. I wish we would synchronize

988
00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:03,880
Speaker 1: a little bit better with other countries so that it went,

989
00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:06,040
Speaker 1: all right, we're all going to move our we're all

990
00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:08,160
Speaker 1: going to move up an hour early here, but we

991
00:58:08,880 --> 00:58:12,120
Speaker 1: keep doing the mission creep and I think it also

992
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:16,360
Speaker 1: kind of messes things up there. All right, take one

993
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:19,560
Speaker 1: more question. No, Actually, I got to end it there.

994
00:58:20,080 --> 00:58:22,200
Speaker 1: I'm going to wrap things up here. Though. It is

995
00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:26,080
Speaker 1: the best weekend of one of the best sports weekends

996
00:58:26,080 --> 00:58:28,200
Speaker 1: of the year. It's the first and second round of

997
00:58:28,200 --> 00:58:31,120
Speaker 1: the NCAA Tournament. I will tell you I'm such an

998
00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:34,640
Speaker 1: addict about the NCAA Tournament that I instituted no hotline

999
00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:39,080
Speaker 1: Fridays for in celebration of the NCAA Tournament. We would

1000
00:58:39,080 --> 00:58:44,680
Speaker 1: literally put everybody we stop. We made Friday a holiday.

1001
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:48,000
Speaker 1: We published right before noon the twelve fifteen tip off

1002
00:58:48,000 --> 00:58:52,520
Speaker 1: on Thursday and everybody scattered. It was one of my

1003
00:58:52,640 --> 00:58:58,480
Speaker 1: prouder managerial decisions that I made. And that's how much

1004
00:58:58,520 --> 00:59:03,080
Speaker 1: I love the NCAA tournament. I have a couple of

1005
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:05,600
Speaker 1: fun pools that I do want my favorite, and I've

1006
00:59:05,640 --> 00:59:08,760
Speaker 1: been doing it with a group of friends probably almost

1007
00:59:08,800 --> 00:59:10,840
Speaker 1: thirty years now, where there's eight of us and we

1008
00:59:11,520 --> 00:59:14,200
Speaker 1: do a draft. You know, we all throw two hundred

1009
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:15,760
Speaker 1: bucks in and we do a draft, and we'd do

1010
00:59:15,880 --> 00:59:19,000
Speaker 1: eight teams and randomized pick. So then you go through

1011
00:59:19,040 --> 00:59:22,840
Speaker 1: and you know you you basically have. So I thought

1012
00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:25,560
Speaker 1: i'd have some fun and share with you quickly what

1013
00:59:25,640 --> 00:59:33,040
Speaker 1: those what those picks are. It is so I and

1014
00:59:33,240 --> 00:59:36,480
Speaker 1: the draft, I had the fourth pick, so I got Florida.

1015
00:59:36,920 --> 00:59:39,520
Speaker 1: They were the remaining number one seed, and I came

1016
00:59:39,640 --> 00:59:42,760
Speaker 1: really close to drafting Houston, but I didn't want to

1017
00:59:42,840 --> 00:59:44,560
Speaker 1: leave a one seed on board, said Florida. And then

1018
00:59:44,560 --> 00:59:46,040
Speaker 1: when it came back to me in the Snake draft,

1019
00:59:46,080 --> 00:59:50,360
Speaker 1: I got Arkansas. Then I have Wisconsin, Miami, Saint Louis,

1020
00:59:50,800 --> 00:59:55,880
Speaker 1: South Florida, Wright State, and Howard you get for every

1021
00:59:55,960 --> 00:59:59,200
Speaker 1: win your team gets, you you get and everybody throws

1022
00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:02,200
Speaker 1: a pile of money into the pool. So you know,

1023
01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:04,720
Speaker 1: there have been years where people have gotten two Final

1024
01:00:04,720 --> 01:00:06,960
Speaker 1: four teams with their team, and there are years they

1025
01:00:06,960 --> 01:00:12,240
Speaker 1: are limited after the first weekend. Sometimes it's a bit random,

1026
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:14,320
Speaker 1: but it's one of my favorite pools that I do.

1027
01:00:14,680 --> 01:00:17,320
Speaker 1: But like, you end up with teams you don't necessarily

1028
01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:20,400
Speaker 1: want to root for, Like I'm like, really Florida, but

1029
01:00:20,560 --> 01:00:22,200
Speaker 1: and I wasn't gonna leave them on the board. I

1030
01:00:22,200 --> 01:00:23,800
Speaker 1: don't enjoy rooting for them, but at least now if

1031
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:27,160
Speaker 1: they win, I might win something. But I do. I

1032
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:29,400
Speaker 1: am happy, Like I went out of my way to

1033
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:30,920
Speaker 1: draft Miami, and I went out of my way to

1034
01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:34,720
Speaker 1: draft Saint Louis An A ten team for Chocolate up

1035
01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:38,919
Speaker 1: GW SO. But my in case you're wondering the final

1036
01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:41,440
Speaker 1: four that I read to Tony Kornheiser, my participation in

1037
01:00:41,480 --> 01:00:48,520
Speaker 1: their bracket challenge Arizona Duke Houston, and I have Houston

1038
01:00:48,560 --> 01:00:54,560
Speaker 1: beating Florida there in Arizona, I have Houston winning the

1039
01:00:54,600 --> 01:01:02,640
Speaker 1: whole thing over I think I've Houston beating Michigan in

1040
01:01:02,680 --> 01:01:04,720
Speaker 1: the final game. I believe that's what I ended up doing.

1041
01:01:05,320 --> 01:01:08,480
Speaker 1: So and if you're wondering what my first early round

1042
01:01:09,080 --> 01:01:12,520
Speaker 1: upsets are. I will say the only twelve seeds that

1043
01:01:12,600 --> 01:01:17,320
Speaker 1: intrigued me Akron Akron is one that I put in

1044
01:01:17,360 --> 01:01:21,760
Speaker 1: my pool to go a couple of rounds. I want

1045
01:01:21,760 --> 01:01:26,440
Speaker 1: to believe that one of the eleven seeds will do

1046
01:01:26,480 --> 01:01:29,280
Speaker 1: a little something for me. That's South Florida. I have

1047
01:01:29,400 --> 01:01:33,720
Speaker 1: them going around or too on that front. But mostly

1048
01:01:33,760 --> 01:01:36,920
Speaker 1: I think this is going to be chalky, chalky, chalky chalky,

1049
01:01:37,040 --> 01:01:40,200
Speaker 1: lots of ones and twos in the Elite eight, with

1050
01:01:40,560 --> 01:01:44,760
Speaker 1: maybe only Saint John's blowing up that party and being

1051
01:01:44,800 --> 01:01:50,360
Speaker 1: the highest seed remaining in come the Elite eight. I

1052
01:01:50,400 --> 01:01:54,000
Speaker 1: guess is the johnnies at five. If anybody over a

1053
01:01:54,080 --> 01:01:58,480
Speaker 1: five seed gets to the Elite eight, my guess is

1054
01:01:58,520 --> 01:02:05,800
Speaker 1: that it would be boy I struggle. You know two

1055
01:02:05,840 --> 01:02:07,920
Speaker 1: A month ago, I might have said Saint Louis, I

1056
01:02:07,920 --> 01:02:10,400
Speaker 1: don't buy it now. And a month ago I might

1057
01:02:10,400 --> 01:02:15,120
Speaker 1: have said Miami, but I don't think we're deep enough

1058
01:02:15,160 --> 01:02:18,280
Speaker 1: to make that type of run. But I like Miami's path.

1059
01:02:18,560 --> 01:02:21,440
Speaker 1: I don't hate Miami's path. I think they can knock

1060
01:02:21,480 --> 01:02:24,040
Speaker 1: Purdue off in the second round, and obviously they pull

1061
01:02:24,120 --> 01:02:29,400
Speaker 1: that off, then hey, then anything is possible. So there

1062
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:34,480
Speaker 1: you go. Enjoy the weekend, enjoy college basketball. It's a

1063
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Speaker 1: good way to distract yourself from the craziness that is

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Speaker 1: the world and this country in politics. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and I'll see them on that