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Speaker 1: Welcome to Worst Year Ever, a production of I Heart

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Speaker 1: Radio Together Everything. So don't don't hello and welcome back

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Speaker 1: to Worst Year Ever. My name's Katie Stool. Okay, still

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Speaker 1: welcome back, Hey, Worst Year Ever. I'm Katie. Hi. Hi, Hello,

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Speaker 1: Robert Evans. I am podcast indeed, and I've decided to

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Speaker 1: experiment with disordering the words that I use. It's poetic

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Speaker 1: rave yeah, like you think. Uh, today we have a

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Speaker 1: very interesting interview with the former congresswoman from California's twenty district,

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Speaker 1: Katie Hill. Uh. We were really excited to talk to

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Speaker 1: Katie today. Um, just a heads up, we did not

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Speaker 1: address what happened to her when she resigned. Uh, I

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Speaker 1: mean we acknowledge. Let's just be straight up. So like

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Speaker 1: she had she had a relationship with a staffer that

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Speaker 1: was inappropriate, and she also had a spouse that she

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Speaker 1: was divorcing who put out a bunch of photos of her. Um.

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Speaker 1: That is, and that's like some of this is still

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Speaker 1: like ongoing court stuff. It's a very messy story. It's

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Speaker 1: also been exhaustively covered by like a billion different journalists

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Speaker 1: in places, so you can find multiple long interviews with Katie.

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Speaker 1: You can find journalists who went into the story talking

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Speaker 1: with other people like there's tons of that stuff, and uh,

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Speaker 1: it's it's it's there's plenty out there. That's not what

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Speaker 1: we're talking about today, because she has this experience that

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Speaker 1: we find valuable, um, that we're going to transmit to you.

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Speaker 1: And I thought it was a really interesting conversation. So

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Speaker 1: here that is. Well. Today, we are very grateful to

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Speaker 1: be joined by Katie Hill, the former congress and woman

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Speaker 1: from California's district. Hi, Katie, how's it going? Hello? Thanks

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Speaker 1: for having me. Uh, we're very grateful for you to

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Speaker 1: take the time out of your schedule to chat with us.

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Speaker 1: Um my very busy schedule of sitting in my apartment. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think we can all relate to that right now. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're all kind of on the same schedule, except for

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Speaker 1: those of us who are worried about how to get

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Speaker 1: through the hordes of sick people to get to their yachts.

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Speaker 1: Uh that's true. That Yeah, solidarity to those people and

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Speaker 1: their struggles that are very very real. Uh yeah, so

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Speaker 1: Katie there, you know, you wound up resigning very controversially

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Speaker 1: after details of your personal life. Where shall we say, um, um,

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Speaker 1: weaponized people can read any number of articles if they

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Speaker 1: want to form any number of opinions out there. There's

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Speaker 1: a quite quite a lot that's been written that not

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Speaker 1: what we're going to be talking about today. We might

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Speaker 1: return to that at a later interview. UM. Today, we

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Speaker 1: have some different topics we'd like to get into, because

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Speaker 1: you have this experience of not just sort of of

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Speaker 1: running for office in a more conservative district, but as

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Speaker 1: someone who holds a lot of progressive political stances, um,

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Speaker 1: as someone who had to work on Capitol Hill, um,

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Speaker 1: and as someone who is still kind of in that

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Speaker 1: world now but in a different context. So yeah, all

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Speaker 1: of that stuff, UM, those aren't experiences I have. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I don't think that anyone else can like hold that

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Speaker 1: particular slot in politics that I have at this very moment.

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Speaker 1: So a very unique perspective. UM. Today, I would love

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Speaker 1: to start by talking about the recent runoff election to

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Speaker 1: fill your old seat. Uh. You know, California has been

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Speaker 1: a Republican stronghold since the nineties, and your win in

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Speaker 1: twenty seventeen was seen as a very big victory and upset. Uh,

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Speaker 1: and which is why many people were just pointed when

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Speaker 1: Mike Garcia, uh, former Navy pilot and defense executive at

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Speaker 1: ray theon if I'm not mistakes sponsored sponsor UM not

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Speaker 1: really Katie, Yeah, I know, I know absolutely. We love

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Speaker 1: here one day hoping keep saying, yeah, I mean that

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Speaker 1: missile made out of knives pretty cool? Uh could you

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Speaker 1: could you tell us a little bit about Mike and

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Speaker 1: and walk us through what happened? Okay, So Mike was

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Speaker 1: actually the first and I guess pretty much the only

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Speaker 1: major opponent that I had going into, uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: for my re election, and UM, you know there was

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Speaker 1: there was never really you know, we weren't having debates

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Speaker 1: or anything like that. I was. I wasn't even at

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Speaker 1: that point really engaging with him or his campaign. UM.

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Speaker 1: We saw each other a few times at different events,

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Speaker 1: but that was it. But once I resigned, Steve Knight

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Speaker 1: jumped back in after I resigned UM, and so it

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Speaker 1: became a race really between Christie Smith and Shank you Gar.

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Speaker 1: And like those of us who were paying attention to

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Speaker 1: the race who knew the district in particular, knew that

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Speaker 1: it was never a race between Christie and Shake on

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Speaker 1: our side on the DEM side and UM. But on

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Speaker 1: the other side, it was a race between Steve Knight

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Speaker 1: and Mike Garcia, and so we you know, we knew

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Speaker 1: that two people were going to move forward, one dem in,

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Speaker 1: one Republican, and um, the I think a lot of

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Speaker 1: folks were hoping. A lot of folks on our side

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Speaker 1: were hoping that it would be Steve Knight because we've

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Speaker 1: already beaten him before to get him again, etcetera, etcetera.

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Speaker 1: But Mike has no record, He's got no nothing that

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Speaker 1: could be used against him. Whereas Christie had been elected

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Speaker 1: as an assemblywoman for California at the same time that

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Speaker 1: I got elected to Congress, and so she did have

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Speaker 1: a record and some pretty tough votes for you know,

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Speaker 1: especially for for assembly members in California. AB five, I

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Speaker 1: think in particular, was one that was being used against

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Speaker 1: her a lot. So, you know, I think there's an

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Speaker 1: a number of different things that we could get into,

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Speaker 1: but Mike Garcia is the probably the most important thing

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Speaker 1: is that he is all in on Trump. That's the

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Speaker 1: thing that people need to know. Is like one pent

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Speaker 1: In and um the district is a is a fascinating

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Speaker 1: one when you're looking at like how this can play

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Speaker 1: out in districts like my former one across the country

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Speaker 1: because you know, it's in a presidential year, the the

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Speaker 1: electorate is more democratic. But if we're looking at you

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Speaker 1: know what, I know that we're the ones who are

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Speaker 1: advocating for all male ballots and and or or at

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Speaker 1: least for everyone to have the option of voting by mail.

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Speaker 1: But if in California it's an all male only election

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Speaker 1: in November, I I definitely worry about this district and

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Speaker 1: others because, um so many of the people that we

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Speaker 1: rely on, especially in presidential years, well ever for to

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Speaker 1: get Democrats elected, they've they've many of them have never

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Speaker 1: voted by mail. They just there. They come out every

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Speaker 1: four years only on election years, and they go to

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Speaker 1: the same polling places many times, and when when those

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Speaker 1: polling places have been switched up, it causes all kinds

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Speaker 1: of problems. And um So, anyway, I guess that's my

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Speaker 1: rambling answer to to start before you ask other questions. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's interesting because mail in mail in ballots. I think

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Speaker 1: that everybody here agrees that people need to have that

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Speaker 1: as an option. But it is tricky and it's interesting

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Speaker 1: the way it gets framed as Democrats looking for a

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Speaker 1: way to cheat, when actually, if you think about it,

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Speaker 1: it stands to hurt us in many ways. No, people,

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Speaker 1: I don't I think that, you know. I actually posted

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Speaker 1: about this today on on Twitter, just like, why is

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Speaker 1: he going to stop? He knows that the last person

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about Trump, the last person that was elected,

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Speaker 1: the last Republican that was elected from a state a

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Speaker 1: seat that had been held previously by Democrat, was because

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Speaker 1: of an all male election, you know. So, And I

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Speaker 1: honestly think that, and again I think it was the

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Speaker 1: right call. I think that that's how it needed to happen.

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Speaker 1: But because of COVID and the fact that the Democrats

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Speaker 1: weren't able to have a field operation and the way

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Speaker 1: that they normally were able to, and the lack of

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Speaker 1: in person voting when you know that's how large communities are,

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Speaker 1: are you know, conditioned to vote, It was was the

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Speaker 1: biggest barrier because field is um you know. And and

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Speaker 1: that's not at all to take away from you know,

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Speaker 1: the disengagement or the the lack of enthusiasm that people

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Speaker 1: on our side would have had because of me losing

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Speaker 1: the seat or I mean me resigning and um, the

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Speaker 1: scanal all all kinds of stuff played into a lot

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Speaker 1: of different factors that contributed to But you're right. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I I campaigned for you myself a bunch of seventeen

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Speaker 1: but I I know, uh, it makes a big difference

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Speaker 1: being able to interact and talk to people and answer

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Speaker 1: their questions. And I gotten into a lot of fascinating

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Speaker 1: conversations with people. And again, your your district is pretty

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Speaker 1: conservative or you know, or moderate. You know, even the

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Speaker 1: Democrats that are there are a bit more moderate. Um.

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Speaker 1: But that's interesting because the way that this has been

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Speaker 1: framed a lot in news articles that you read about

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Speaker 1: this election, you know, they talk about how this is

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Speaker 1: the first time a Republican has won a seat held

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Speaker 1: by a Democrats, you know, and and conservatives are using

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Speaker 1: this as like, you know, this is a good sign

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Speaker 1: for But it does not sound from your answer to

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Speaker 1: be as clear cut as that I know. But I

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Speaker 1: do think it should be seen as a warning sign,

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Speaker 1: you know, especially in in. I think that COVID has

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Speaker 1: created a completely new environment, that is um, one that

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Speaker 1: we really need to be able to adapt quickly to

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Speaker 1: and um and that you know, if I were if

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Speaker 1: I were currently in let's just pretend that I hadn't resigned,

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Speaker 1: that I was currently in my seat, and that I

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Speaker 1: hadn't had a scam, that I was just going along

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Speaker 1: in the way that you know, I had been. UM.

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Speaker 1: I think that this would be the point at which

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Speaker 1: I was most concerned about and previously I had not

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Speaker 1: been at all concerned about my re election because it

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Speaker 1: was right now, three of the cities in the district,

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Speaker 1: Three of the major cities in the district have like

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Speaker 1: openly you know, uh done orders or motions to uh

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Speaker 1: to to protest the governor's actions or to you know,

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Speaker 1: to basically say that they should be opening in that

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Speaker 1: Santa Clary to Lancaster and Semi Valley and UM. And

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Speaker 1: I think those are the only ones. But I'm you know,

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Speaker 1: I haven't been paying as close attention obviously, but anyway,

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Speaker 1: so so the dynamic is is getting much more heated,

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Speaker 1: and especially when you're talking about these These are the

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Speaker 1: suburban communities, right, These are ones that are very spread

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Speaker 1: out there, not um and you know, it's not the

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Speaker 1: same setting as you have in l A where people

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Speaker 1: or or in any of the major cities where people

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Speaker 1: kind of get it right. But they're seeing these open

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Speaker 1: these open shopping centers and and just not not really

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Speaker 1: understanding it or or you know, they're following the keys

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Speaker 1: of the president and other Republicans who are just going on,

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Speaker 1: I don't whatever, it doesn't matter. All I'm saying is

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Speaker 1: that this is this is the time where it has

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Speaker 1: been the most directly polarized in where if I were

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Speaker 1: in the position in Congress, I would have I think

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Speaker 1: the hardest time trying to navigate that because the economic

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Speaker 1: realities are are very true, and when you're talking about

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Speaker 1: communities that haven't been as hard hit by you know,

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Speaker 1: the pandemic, it's a hard case to make. Yeah, well,

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Speaker 1: that brings me to the stuff that I also want

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Speaker 1: to talk to you about, coronavirus. I'm sure it's really

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Speaker 1: difficult for you right now to be watching all of

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Speaker 1: this unfold and not be able to weigh in on

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Speaker 1: the legislation that's happening. And you're right, it is really tricky.

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Speaker 1: It's you know, certain navigating the politics of it and

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Speaker 1: the different needs of different communities. From your perspective, what

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Speaker 1: do you think needs to be happening, What what do

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Speaker 1: we to see from Congress right now? Or you know,

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Speaker 1: and also conversely, what what have they gotten? Right? Yeah, Well,

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Speaker 1: so having been there. This is the part that I

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Speaker 1: like have a lot more sympathy towards than than I

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Speaker 1: would have otherwise. Ever, even imagine being able to have

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Speaker 1: we feel like since we got the majority in the House,

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Speaker 1: we should be able to, uh to exert you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of a lot more control on what happens. Um.

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Speaker 1: But I think what makes us different than Republicans is

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Speaker 1: that we're not willing to hold up any kind of

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Speaker 1: help because we don't get everything that we want or

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Speaker 1: even in some cases even close to everything that we want.

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Speaker 1: And um. And that's I think, like I don't know

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Speaker 1: that that's a failing at all of character, but I

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Speaker 1: think that it's that's what it amounted to every single

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Speaker 1: time when we were kind of putting those positions of

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Speaker 1: you know, do you vote for for reopening the government

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Speaker 1: if it means some kind of border barriers, do you

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Speaker 1: vote for you know, whatever it is because of the

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Speaker 1: Senate compromise that has to happen, um. And And I

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Speaker 1: think that it's is to it's an incredibly difficult situation.

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Speaker 1: And I have I've been watching this and I'm just

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Speaker 1: thinking about like the progressives who I know, you know,

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Speaker 1: have major issues with the bill who end up voting

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Speaker 1: for it anyway, because they how do you say that

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Speaker 1: you're not going to give any help when you know

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Speaker 1: that you're not going to get anything better from the Senate. Um.

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Speaker 1: But also, you know, this is a weird, weird time

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Speaker 1: where where the members, regular rank and file members don't

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Speaker 1: have much that they can do in terms of any

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Speaker 1: of the legislation. You know, they've got the calls back

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Speaker 1: and forth with leadership, you know, beyond hopefulness or saying

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Speaker 1: like would really like to see this in there, or

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Speaker 1: having your caucus or your committee or whatever advocate for

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Speaker 1: one thing or another. There are very few people who

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Speaker 1: are actually on the phone negotiating this, right. It's Mitch

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Speaker 1: McConnell and Nancy Pelosis, any Hoyer and um. You know,

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Speaker 1: a handful Minution has been a big part of it,

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Speaker 1: but it's it's not really going down to the members much.

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Speaker 1: So you're given this package and you have to decide

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Speaker 1: whether to vote for it with all of its flaws

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Speaker 1: and um. And ultimately I think that that's why you

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Speaker 1: saw only I think what was only AOC that voted

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Speaker 1: against it, And I understand, I fully understand why she did.

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Speaker 1: And I'm I'm kind of glad she did, because I

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Speaker 1: think someone needs to be raising those points with you know,

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Speaker 1: with the issues with the legislation. So now, and I'm sorry,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking please, That's why we they hear us talk

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Speaker 1: all the time. We're here to hear what you have

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Speaker 1: to say. Um. But so when you know this next

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Speaker 1: piece is coming up, the thing that I saw today

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Speaker 1: or heard or whatever Mitch McConnell say, was I mean

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Speaker 1: or I think it was Hoyer has said that. I mean, basically,

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Speaker 1: it sounds like they're signaling that there's going to be

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Speaker 1: some kind of employer protection. And at this point what

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Speaker 1: I would be the most concerned about and wanting to

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Speaker 1: be worked working, and I'm sure they are working with

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Speaker 1: labor on like labor unions on, is like, how on

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Speaker 1: earth you can minimize that damage of trying to protect

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Speaker 1: major employers from you know, lawsuits that result from them

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Speaker 1: mishandling how they're protecting workers as things are reopening, like

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Speaker 1: the meat packing plants for example, if you're providing unsafe

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Speaker 1: working conditions, how are you what's the accountability? And and and

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Speaker 1: that's the piece that I would be most concerned about. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's very it's frustrating not knowing very much about that,

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Speaker 1: just hearing this, you know it it is. It's so

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Speaker 1: tricky because it feels like, yes, there have been things

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Speaker 1: that have been done for the average American, for people

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Speaker 1: that are struggling, but it's not enough, right, and there

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Speaker 1: seems to be a lot of breaks, a lot of

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Speaker 1: things protecting employers and helping out big businesses. And it's meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: people can't almost no way to tell, like, what's actually

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Speaker 1: going to help these groups that I don't like, don't

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Speaker 1: I think most people would say, don't really need help,

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Speaker 1: Like when you you have you know, companies that none

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Speaker 1: of us would consider small businesses that are like tens

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Speaker 1: of millions of dollars getting huge amounts back from the

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Speaker 1: small business. Yeah, Like I would say, my sister is

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Speaker 1: a small business owner, and so she's she's in a partnership,

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Speaker 1: you know, like an LP or whatever, and um, there's

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Speaker 1: three people in it and it's her and two guys.

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Speaker 1: So she doesn't qualify for women owned small business stuff. Um,

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Speaker 1: and she is they haven't gotten anything, and they're you know,

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Speaker 1: they're pretty successful small business, but they've only would open

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Speaker 1: for two years, and um, it's a it's a tattoo

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Speaker 1: and piercing studio, and they haven't been able to get anything.

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Speaker 1: They said that I think that when they were going

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Speaker 1: with whoever it was, I don't remember. I think it's

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Speaker 1: s B a UM. They said that they were eligible

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Speaker 1: for like a thousand dollars. That happened to my mom

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Speaker 1: and dad, who have owned a small buildings where they're

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Speaker 1: the only people that work there for a for natural

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Speaker 1: company in Los Angeles for thirty years. They were offered

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Speaker 1: that as well. They didn't qualify for anything for P

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Speaker 1: p P. They weren't. They didn't get an SBA was

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Speaker 1: like a thousand dollars and they haven't been able to

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Speaker 1: get and and and the process with everything is so

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Speaker 1: fucking hard. It's so difficult, and the systems constantly crashing

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Speaker 1: and nobody really knows what's going on. Then you hear

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Speaker 1: things like the Los Angeles Lakers got millions of dollars,

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Speaker 1: um Shake Shack got millions of dollars, Ruth Chris got

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Speaker 1: twenty million dollars from the Small Business Program. And it's

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Speaker 1: just increasingly frustrating that these small businesses such as your

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Speaker 1: sisters and my parents are just getting reflected well together everything. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think the question is like how as

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Speaker 1: a like the the language in the legal ease kind

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Speaker 1: of surrounding all of these bills, Like the difference between

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Speaker 1: what you might think based on what's proposed or how

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Speaker 1: the bill is summarized and how it actually works is

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Speaker 1: often quite significant. And it's because these these aren't just

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Speaker 1: being written by like, like normal people. They're being written

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Speaker 1: by lobbyists and and by like teams of folks who

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Speaker 1: are attempting to like it's it's not like as a

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Speaker 1: as a legislator, how do you try to figure out

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Speaker 1: what you're actually voting for? Just in general? Are you

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Speaker 1: talking about situation this well, I mean in general and

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Speaker 1: in this because it's that way with everything, right, Like

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Speaker 1: there's almost no other than like the odd times when

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Speaker 1: there's like a bill to you know, honor the survivors

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Speaker 1: of whatever, like yes, it's yeah, no, it's it's actually

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Speaker 1: it's it's um. It was one of the most frustrating things,

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Speaker 1: I think for most of the new members coming in,

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Speaker 1: probably for for anybody who's coming in, if you're if

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Speaker 1: you're a new member, no matter what time, whether you're

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Speaker 1: part of this new wave or not. UM. But you yeah,

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Speaker 1: you often have zero opportunity like to like, these bills

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Speaker 1: come out at like a thousand pages, right, and let's

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Speaker 1: be real, the Congress people do not and never would

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Speaker 1: and you don't want them to have to spend the

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Speaker 1: time to read every bit of that, right, Like, so

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Speaker 1: you know, they shouldn't be criticized for not doing it.

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Speaker 1: But that does mean that that you're relying heavily on

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Speaker 1: staff and UM, and that cannot be you know, you

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Speaker 1: you're you as as the person who ultimately takes the

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Speaker 1: vote on it, aren't You are not going to know everything.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna have to trust that your staff flagged you

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Speaker 1: on these major issues. And so one perfect example is

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Speaker 1: that there was a U and and it it ended

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Speaker 1: up being you know, we worked it out, but there

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Speaker 1: was a there was a bill where it was a

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Speaker 1: it was a good bill otherwise it was actually a

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Speaker 1: John Lewis bill, and there was a provision in it

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Speaker 1: that had been an old provision that like he obviously

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Speaker 1: was not aware of, um, but it was snuck in

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Speaker 1: there by tax by the you know, the tax preparation

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Speaker 1: companies their lobbyists, and it basically would have made it

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Speaker 1: so that the I R S could never m create

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Speaker 1: a free file system that was that was its own

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Speaker 1: automatic you know version as opposed to the ones that

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Speaker 1: you get through you know, H and R blocker or whatever.

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Speaker 1: And um, so we we fixed it. Like it was

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Speaker 1: me and AOC and a few other people Katie Porter

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Speaker 1: that like put like a very like last minute effort

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Speaker 1: into um being able to a kind of like make

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Speaker 1: a provision that that would make at work. But um,

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Speaker 1: that kind of thing happened like it was just a

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Speaker 1: random text that I got from my l D who

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Speaker 1: had gotten a text from his friend because of a

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Speaker 1: pro publica article that we even knew that this was happening.

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Speaker 1: And I'm I was a person that was voting on it, right,

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Speaker 1: So it's just it's just weird how these kinds of

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Speaker 1: things happen. And you can see like why that's a

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Speaker 1: messed up form of governing. And I certainly did not

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Speaker 1: figure out the the ultimate solution to it, you know,

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Speaker 1: in the short time that I was there. I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's it's it's a huge problem that I don't know

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Speaker 1: how anybody figures out the solution to. I want to

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Speaker 1: talk a little bit about healthcare. Uh, you know, you

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Speaker 1: ran as a supporter of medicare for all. I believe, um.

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Speaker 1: But many people still think that this term endangers our

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Speaker 1: chances of holding the House. Uh. And Yet the majority

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Speaker 1: of Americans do support medicare for all in some form

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Speaker 1: of it, and that support his strength and since the

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Speaker 1: pandemic started, um and And I'm curious about your thoughts

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Speaker 1: on this. I'm curious also to know how your time

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Speaker 1: in Congress and working with Democrats who disagreed with you

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Speaker 1: affected your position on this. So I think it's a

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Speaker 1: couple of things. The first is that I think the

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Speaker 1: fear of of Medicare for all, the fear of talking

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Speaker 1: about medicare for all, is is overblown, um by you know,

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Speaker 1: moderate Democrats, or I guess by the pundits who are

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Speaker 1: saying that you can't win in these in these areas

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Speaker 1: if you talk about medicare for all. I don't. I don't.

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Speaker 1: I don't buy that. For the same reason you know

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Speaker 1: that that you're talking about is that public opinion shows

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Speaker 1: that people are not inherently opposed to the idea of

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Speaker 1: medicare for all. Now, when you have add after ad

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Speaker 1: after ad, that is talking about how that position is

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Speaker 1: a socialist position and tying you with you know, if

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Speaker 1: you're in a swing distrogent, tying you with UM, you know,

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Speaker 1: the squad or with whatever figure of the moment that

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Speaker 1: you know, Donald Trump is using as a as a

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Speaker 1: as a scapegoat. I think then that's or not an

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Speaker 1: as escape, but but as a villain. I think that

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Speaker 1: that's why you have the fear around medicare for all, right,

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Speaker 1: because it's such an easy term for people to grab

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Speaker 1: onto and in you know, in districts that are often

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Speaker 1: purple districts, you have people who are employed, UM in

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Speaker 1: union jobs or in UM in jobs that are like

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Speaker 1: uh there, they have decent or good employer health benefits

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Speaker 1: and UM, the thought of having to give that up

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Speaker 1: for something that they compare with the v A or

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Speaker 1: with UM. You know, even even people who are on

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Speaker 1: Medicare don't always I think that their Medicare isn't not

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Speaker 1: I think you know that. I don't know, I don't

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Speaker 1: know what the resistance is fully, but I know that,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think there's one answer. I think it's

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Speaker 1: different person but person. But yeah, but in my district,

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Speaker 1: the way that I would talk about it is that

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Speaker 1: like listen, you know, I never I didn't want to

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Speaker 1: get into the debate about what is Medicare for all

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Speaker 1: because if you ask ten different people, you're gonna get

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Speaker 1: tend to and answers on what Medicare for all is,

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Speaker 1: unless you like isolate that to a group of people

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Speaker 1: probably within this circle UM or you know, the Twitter sphere,

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Speaker 1: that would give you a pretty consistent answer. But among

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Speaker 1: the general public, there's no way that you get a general,

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Speaker 1: a real meaningful policy answer on what Medicare for all is.

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Speaker 1: So it's for me. It was more about the belief

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Speaker 1: that this is the kind of health care that everybody

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Speaker 1: should have universal access to, right and that UM, it

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Speaker 1: should not be attached to your employer. It should be

430
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,159
Speaker 1: you know, it shouldn't be something that you're dependent on

431
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 1: because of that. It should be it should be, you know,

432
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,439
Speaker 1: truly something that people can count on, UM and not

433
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,159
Speaker 1: a privilege. Shouldn't be something that you have to make

434
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,639
Speaker 1: an economic decision on, um, whether you're going to be

435
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,640
Speaker 1: able to pay your car insurance or your health insurance.

436
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,840
Speaker 1: And UM and that Obamacare just wasn't it was it

437
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 1: was important, and it was a huge step, especially when

438
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,880
Speaker 1: you consider that we're having this debate even now. UM,

439
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 1: but it was it wasn't enough, and we have to

440
00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 1: we have to do a lot more. Um So, But

441
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,480
Speaker 1: what the benefit is and I think that this is

442
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: the part that as a progressive UM, I see more

443
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 1: progress in UM than I think you might be able

444
00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 1: to see from the outside, is that I think every

445
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 1: single person, every single person that UM was coming from

446
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:17,159
Speaker 1: one of those swing districts, was all in on a

447
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 1: buy in or in a public option. And UM, that

448
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,960
Speaker 1: was impossible ten years ago when um, you know, the

449
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 1: a C it was was happening, that was not even

450
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: even a remote possibility. So UM, you know that that

451
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 1: is big progress. And I think if ultimately something can

452
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 1: come out of that this is that is a public option,

453
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,840
Speaker 1: then that's a huge win. So you know, I guess

454
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,760
Speaker 1: that's where the practicality part kind of meets the the

455
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,359
Speaker 1: part of where we want to be yea, UM, I

456
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,080
Speaker 1: think it's it's it's been a frustrating year for a

457
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 1: lot of progressive uh, you know, feeling the momentum and

458
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 1: the support of Medicare for all. And then you know,

459
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 1: and I think there's a lot of reasons why this happens,

460
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: but you start to see political figures hedge a little bit,

461
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 1: changing the language of it. And I think that a

462
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,600
Speaker 1: lot of it does factor into speaks to what you

463
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 1: were just saying. You know, there's different messaging for different districts,

464
00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,399
Speaker 1: you know, And and you know, there's a lot of

465
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 1: fear that people you know who say that, especially during

466
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 1: our presidential primary season, say that they are an advocate

467
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,640
Speaker 1: of medicare for all, but then maybe they kind of

468
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,679
Speaker 1: hedge their bets a little bit, and it starts to um,

469
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,440
Speaker 1: you know, and a lot of us have a hard

470
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: time trusting our politicians, so it's hard to trust that

471
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,879
Speaker 1: they mean what they're saying. And and now we have

472
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,680
Speaker 1: the probable nomination of Joe Biden as the nominee who

473
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,080
Speaker 1: is not an advocate of Medicare for all and has

474
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 1: actually stated that he would veto it. And I think

475
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 1: a lot of people are are frustrated by that. Um.

476
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,320
Speaker 1: And I'm not sure what the question is here with well,

477
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: I'll get I can give you just my general like

478
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,359
Speaker 1: opinion on all of that. That would be great, I have. So,

479
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 1: so what I would say is that, you know, I

480
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: don't remember the context in which Joe Biden said that

481
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,199
Speaker 1: he was going to veto it, because what I can

482
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,920
Speaker 1: tell you with utter certainty is that no matter which

483
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 1: president it is, there is an absolute zero chance that

484
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,359
Speaker 1: Medicare for All would make it to the president's desk

485
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,159
Speaker 1: in the next eight years. But four maybe maybe in

486
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,880
Speaker 1: the next day. I think it's possible within the next date,

487
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,680
Speaker 1: depending on how things go. But within the next four well, um,

488
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: and I think that the biggest reason for that is

489
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 1: that you know, and and let me I'll come back

490
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: to this this other point in a second, but um,

491
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 1: the biggest reason for that is that even if we

492
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,240
Speaker 1: get control of the Senate, even if even if we

493
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 1: get that, you do not have a we do not

494
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,560
Speaker 1: have big enough majorities of um of people, especially in

495
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,000
Speaker 1: the Senate, that are going to be willing to go

496
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,680
Speaker 1: along with even you know, even a very watered down

497
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,520
Speaker 1: version of Medicare for All. So, um, you know, I

498
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,919
Speaker 1: got really frustrated during the presidential debate that more of

499
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: the candidates weren't being honest about this. More the candidates

500
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:09,920
Speaker 1: weren't just saying like, Okay, well you can't We're not

501
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,879
Speaker 1: going to get this, Like I know, and and you know,

502
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: like you know, I've been a fan of Bernie' I'm

503
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 1: a huge fan of Elizabeth Warren's. Like, I get them all,

504
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: but and I get the problem like with needing to

505
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: inspire people, but I also think that you're you're setting

506
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,640
Speaker 1: people up for massive disappointment when the reality is that

507
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,119
Speaker 1: you were not going to be able not just disappointment,

508
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,360
Speaker 1: but distrust when you know, and I know that each

509
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,239
Speaker 1: of those candidates knows full well that you're not going

510
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 1: to be able to get it through the House in

511
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,200
Speaker 1: the center. And that's just how our freaking democracy is

512
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,440
Speaker 1: right now. So I always thought it was just very

513
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,360
Speaker 1: disingenuous to pretend, even for a moment, like like you were.

514
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:47,879
Speaker 1: I mean, if we were all like Donald Trump and

515
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 1: just could kind of get um, everyone to go along,

516
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,680
Speaker 1: I'll democrats to blindly go along with whatever we wanted,

517
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: and there were enough of them, then yeah, maybe it's possible.

518
00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,680
Speaker 1: But that's just not that's just not what it is.

519
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 1: So in staid, here's what we should do now, and

520
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,160
Speaker 1: here's what I think we can do now, And here's

521
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 1: what I can do from my position in the executive office.

522
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: Without congressional um, you know, legislation required, then then that

523
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 1: would be a much more compelling case that I would

524
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 1: have liked to see made. Yeah, I get that, I

525
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:21,600
Speaker 1: frequently was. I was frustrated similarly, uh in that like

526
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,120
Speaker 1: there's all this confusion circulating about it, and then people

527
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,359
Speaker 1: should be specific say like here are the steps, here's

528
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,760
Speaker 1: what we need, here's the realistic approach to it. Um.

529
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,400
Speaker 1: You know, I will speak for some people that listen

530
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 1: to us and colleagues as well, that the other side

531
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: of the coin is Medicare for all was not even

532
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 1: something that registered in our minds as a possibility until

533
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,760
Speaker 1: we started talking about it as a thing that we

534
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 1: can achieve. And and and like you were saying, stuff

535
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 1: that was not possible ten years ago is more possible now.

536
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,440
Speaker 1: And and so that's a huge win in my book,

537
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:06,320
Speaker 1: and totally tricky balance. And and I think that that

538
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,800
Speaker 1: is right. Like I don't. I'm not. I'm not somebody

539
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,840
Speaker 1: who says like we need to go for moderation or increminalism.

540
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: I didn't run like that. That's not my you know,

541
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 1: that's not my approach at all. I just think that, um,

542
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 1: you know, And maybe maybe my my position on that

543
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 1: was kind of heightened once I got to Congress, too,

544
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: because I did see how impossible, something like something like

545
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,240
Speaker 1: you know, how impossible the most basic things are let alone,

546
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,280
Speaker 1: when we have the majority in the House, Let alone,

547
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 1: when you know you're talking about something is massive and sweeping,

548
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 1: as you know, another round of healthcare reform that involves, um,

549
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: that involves something so sweeping to our entire system as

550
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 1: Medicare for all. So UM, I just think that like

551
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: the real conversation that needs to be had is and

552
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:52,720
Speaker 1: by the way, the elections that need to happen are

553
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: on on the congressional level anyway, like if you want

554
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,960
Speaker 1: to move, if you actually want to move the political

555
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 1: will to get to Medicare for all or any really

556
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 1: progressive policy, than than those primary elections in the very

557
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 1: blue districts are the ones that are going to move it.

558
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 1: It's it's having people who, um who who are able

559
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,160
Speaker 1: to take those risky, you know, supposedly risky votes. The

560
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 1: only people who can do it are the ones from

561
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: the very blue areas. And if you are electing a

562
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: moderate Democrat in those areas, then you're just not going

563
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: to get it. And the only way that those changeover

564
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 1: is if people show up and get involved. And um,

565
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 1: there's a very strong political powerhouse that is that supports it,

566
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 1: you know, an incumbent staying and that's not even that's

567
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 1: just a voter, you know, complacency as much as it

568
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 1: is money or anything else. So yeah, it's a combination. Um.

569
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 1: So you've mentioned a couple of times about things being

570
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: difficult in Congress and getting stuff done in the reality

571
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:54,600
Speaker 1: being different from from the expectations in many ways or

572
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,719
Speaker 1: from what we see as as outsiders. And I'm curious

573
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:02,520
Speaker 1: to know more about your ex ex experiences there. Um,

574
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: you know, I, I guess working with Republicans who well,

575
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 1: i'll say this, I'm not going to say the name

576
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 1: of a colleague, but I did once have an interaction

577
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,320
Speaker 1: with one of your Democratic colleagues, and they mentioned that

578
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 1: behind the curtains, many Republican representatives behaved very differently than

579
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: what we see publicly. You know, people would pass in

580
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,160
Speaker 1: the hallway and say thank you and that, and that

581
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 1: frustrated me in many ways, Oh my god, completely differently,

582
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,400
Speaker 1: like completely differently. Um. Now that's not to say that

583
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: their policy positions changed behind closed doors. I wouldn't say

584
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 1: that that happened, but you're certainly, Um, there's a there's

585
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: a level of civility and and you know, and certainly

586
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: not across the board, but within your committees. I think

587
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 1: that you you often get to know people across the

588
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,240
Speaker 1: other you know, across the aisle, like, but it totally

589
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 1: depends on the person. Right like they're they're probably well

590
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 1: over dred and fifty Republicans that I never I could

591
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 1: never identify who they were right like they were. They

592
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 1: were all old white men, I can tell you that much.

593
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,520
Speaker 1: And probably there were at least fifty fifty bills or

594
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,520
Speaker 1: something like that. But um, you know, they were you know,

595
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 1: I didn't get to know all of them by any

596
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: stretch of the imagination. But um, and frankly, like you,

597
00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 1: the more you're there, the less inclined you already even

598
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: want to try because this the stunts they pull are

599
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 1: just so ridiculous. Like I had it was actually almost

600
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 1: a year ago. Um, I was on Armed Services and

601
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 1: so we were negotiating and I know you guys probably

602
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,000
Speaker 1: have a lot to say about this, but the Defense Authorization,

603
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 1: and we just had like we had spent so much

604
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 1: effort on the Democratic side to get like some basic wins, right,

605
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: like some some mild winds uh that you know, Democrats

606
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 1: have been wanting for years, like basic changes to funding

607
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:02,200
Speaker 1: Guantanamo and like things it should not even even been controversial,

608
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 1: not increasing the nuclear supply, like like these are these

609
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 1: are things that are so obvious and basic and um

610
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:12,600
Speaker 1: and they did it in a way that, you know,

611
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 1: the leadership on the committee did it in a way

612
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 1: that should have made it possible for there to be

613
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 1: at least some bipartisan support. Um. And it was just

614
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,479
Speaker 1: like it was the only person, oddly who voted with

615
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 1: Democrats on it was at least Dephonic And that was

616
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,040
Speaker 1: before she took her hard turn towards Republicans. And but

617
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 1: I remember that night because you say it for like

618
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 1: twenty four hours doing this, like you literally in committee

619
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: all night and I the next day you have to

620
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:36,640
Speaker 1: come in to vote at the normal times, so it's

621
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,520
Speaker 1: like nine am, and I've gotten like literally an hour

622
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 1: of sleep, I think, And um, I was laying on

623
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 1: the couch in the in the back of the you know,

624
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,360
Speaker 1: cloak room where basically members hang out waiting to vote

625
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, and UM, I remember sitting and

626
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:56,120
Speaker 1: talking to Tony cardin Is and I'm just like this,

627
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,720
Speaker 1: this is it. You you just can't work with Republicans.

628
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 1: We just have to vote them all out. Like that's

629
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,600
Speaker 1: the only Like I'd run as somebody who was like,

630
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 1: we can you know, we should work together, and da

631
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 1: da da da, And I was like, We're not going

632
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 1: to be able to work with them, like they're just

633
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:10,880
Speaker 1: we We are going to have to outnumber them in

634
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:15,839
Speaker 1: such a way that you know, yeah, yeah, I mean

635
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:20,400
Speaker 1: that's sorry. That That's where I've been for a while,

636
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: just as like and and this is like there's so

637
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,880
Speaker 1: much anger on the left that I think feel is

638
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:28,960
Speaker 1: really understandable with how like there will be all of

639
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,960
Speaker 1: this this talk about how unacceptable the things the administration

640
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:34,160
Speaker 1: is doing and then stuff like, you know, we'll pass

641
00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:38,440
Speaker 1: another defense authorization bill UM that includes like the funding

642
00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 1: for our government to continue you know, things like it's

643
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:47,720
Speaker 1: massively escalated uh drone strike campaigns and that, Like I

644
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 1: I feel like there's this this frustration. I definitely feel

645
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:56,239
Speaker 1: this frustration that um, the Republicans are always willing to

646
00:34:56,280 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 1: play hardball UM and and really exercise our UM, which

647
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,800
Speaker 1: is why they get what they want most of the time.

648
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 1: And on the Democratic side, there is this love of

649
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 1: compromise and by partisanship that I feel like goes it

650
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,239
Speaker 1: doesn't work in the modern era. Yeah, yeah, well, I

651
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:17,960
Speaker 1: think I think it's that's part of it. I do

652
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,840
Speaker 1: think that Republicans are are willing to play hardball in

653
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,840
Speaker 1: a way that the Democrats aren't. Um And but I

654
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,000
Speaker 1: also think that it's easier for them because they are

655
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,239
Speaker 1: just the party of no, right, Like they don't want

656
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:32,560
Speaker 1: to give anyone anything. They don't want to you know

657
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:34,360
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like they don't want to raise taxes,

658
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 1: they don't want to make any reforms to anything unless

659
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:39,400
Speaker 1: it's reducing regulation. Like it's just no. It's very easy

660
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 1: to vote no, and you don't. I think what we're

661
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 1: trying to accomplish a Democrats is Speaker Pelosi always refers

662
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,759
Speaker 1: to us as the big tent party, like she just

663
00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:52,440
Speaker 1: it's something she says almost every single week, and it's true.

664
00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: It's like, if you're a Republican, you're in a very

665
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 1: you're representing a very narrow set of youths. But if

666
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,600
Speaker 1: you're a Democrat, you were you were representing a huge

667
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,359
Speaker 1: range and um and so it's hard to get like

668
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 1: a whole segment of people that can solidify around like

669
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:10,160
Speaker 1: this is the one thing that we're protesting and we're

670
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:12,239
Speaker 1: going to vote as a block around UM. Like the

671
00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,399
Speaker 1: Tea partyers like they just mark meadows and and UM,

672
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 1: you know, they like stayed solidly as a block because

673
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 1: they were just like, Nope, we're gonna we we don't

674
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:22,799
Speaker 1: want any of this stuff unless we get everything that

675
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,760
Speaker 1: we want. And it didn't matter because passing anything didn't

676
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,680
Speaker 1: really matter to them. So I just think it's a

677
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: it's a it's a difficult comparison, UM, because we actually

678
00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 1: care about getting things done and UM. And I think

679
00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:40,120
Speaker 1: also we're much more compassionate to the consequences of playing

680
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 1: hardball and the consequences on real people. Right Like the

681
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,720
Speaker 1: government shut down. You know, if that's what you're holding

682
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,879
Speaker 1: over the heads of UM, you know, that's your tool,

683
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,239
Speaker 1: right Like, that's that's the only tool when you're saying

684
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:55,399
Speaker 1: we're gonna hold up the defense authorization, is that you're

685
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,759
Speaker 1: you're saying you're gonna shut down the military. Um is

686
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,880
Speaker 1: that's uh, that's a very different proposition proposition when you're

687
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:07,240
Speaker 1: when you're there and you realize exactly how many people

688
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,160
Speaker 1: that's going to hurt and how and UM and the

689
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 1: implications of it that you know you wouldn't be as

690
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 1: tuned into otherwise. M pivot a little bit was proclaimed

691
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 1: the Year of the Women because historic number of women

692
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:30,319
Speaker 1: ran and one House elections. Uh and now and we're

693
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:34,640
Speaker 1: seeing even more women running, which is very exciting. Um.

694
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:36,520
Speaker 1: You know, and and I'm sure that a lot of

695
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 1: our listeners have also mold that decision whether run for office. Someday,

696
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,080
Speaker 1: I think that we would love to hear about your

697
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:46,919
Speaker 1: experiences campaigning as a first time candidate, how you made

698
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:52,120
Speaker 1: that decision to run. Um sure, Um, So, I was

699
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:54,319
Speaker 1: never planning on becoming a politician, and I think that

700
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,920
Speaker 1: that's why, you know, it's not this like the tragedy

701
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,239
Speaker 1: of the last year for me hasn't been the act

702
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,719
Speaker 1: that I'm no longer in power or in politics, because

703
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:05,719
Speaker 1: that was never my intention to begin with. What were

704
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:09,319
Speaker 1: you doing before you? So? I was running at the

705
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: largest homeless services organization in California, path and um and

706
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 1: so you know, their job has just expanded massively over

707
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,160
Speaker 1: the last even since I've left, in the last three

708
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 1: three got it. I can't even believe it's only three

709
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,160
Speaker 1: years ago. But I think that you know, my my

710
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,480
Speaker 1: reason for running came from you know, basically Trump winning

711
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 1: and me saying like, I know how working on homelessness

712
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,680
Speaker 1: for my almost my entire career was you see all

713
00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:38,000
Speaker 1: of the different systems, how broken they are and how

714
00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: much needs to be fixed and um, and how disastrous

715
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:46,279
Speaker 1: the consequences can be. You know, when particularly we had

716
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,440
Speaker 1: a Republican House and Senate and then Trump elected, when

717
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,360
Speaker 1: I was when we were seeing that the funding was

718
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 1: going to get slashed for all the programs that mattered

719
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 1: the most, when they wanted to kick you know, people

720
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:59,480
Speaker 1: off of benefits and undermine every single aspect of you know,

721
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:01,880
Speaker 1: people who were marginalized the most and the services that

722
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,319
Speaker 1: were able to provide for them. That was what That

723
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: was what kicked it off for me. That was why

724
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,719
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, I'm gonna get involved, um at

725
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:10,640
Speaker 1: least somehow on flipping the house, I have to that.

726
00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:12,279
Speaker 1: I found out that my district was one of the

727
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:14,920
Speaker 1: key districts, um, you know where Hillary had one and

728
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 1: and we needed to flip it to flip the house,

729
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,240
Speaker 1: and um, one thing, let do another. And I basically

730
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,759
Speaker 1: there was a guy running, a white guy running, who

731
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,359
Speaker 1: was the one who that had run and lost even

732
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,759
Speaker 1: when Hillary won and I just knowing my district, I

733
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,240
Speaker 1: just knew he couldn't win. And um, and I said,

734
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 1: you know, I was complaining to some other um people

735
00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:39,080
Speaker 1: who had been mobilized right or activated and this is

736
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 1: this is around February of and I was like, we

737
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,640
Speaker 1: need to find somebody who can you know, run and

738
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,760
Speaker 1: actually win. And then one of my friends and mentors

739
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,000
Speaker 1: said to me, She's like, Katie, like you just listed

740
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: off like a slew of characteristics and like why don't

741
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,200
Speaker 1: you know, why don't you run? And I mean my

742
00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:00,920
Speaker 1: initial reaction was like, dude, I have a life, I've

743
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,120
Speaker 1: got baggage, I've got like you know, I don't want

744
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,200
Speaker 1: to do this and you know, like this wasn't my

745
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,720
Speaker 1: plan and um. But then I was like, fucking Donald

746
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:12,440
Speaker 1: Trump as president, you know what, I'm gonna do it

747
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:16,320
Speaker 1: right and um, and we built this like crazy grassroots

748
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:19,520
Speaker 1: campaign and I don't regret it for a second. Um.

749
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:23,319
Speaker 1: I regret the outcome, and I regret the stuff that

750
00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:25,200
Speaker 1: you know I did that contributed to that, but I

751
00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:27,880
Speaker 1: don't regret it for a second. And I eat. I

752
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:33,080
Speaker 1: think that I'm I went from becoming from this rising

753
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,399
Speaker 1: star of the success story whatever you want to call

754
00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:39,480
Speaker 1: it to like a cautionary tale. And um, but I

755
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:42,680
Speaker 1: think what's important is that I'm still saying that even

756
00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:45,680
Speaker 1: knowing the outcome, even if it had been from the

757
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,600
Speaker 1: very beginning someone you know, whispered into my ear that

758
00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:54,000
Speaker 1: this is this is how it's all going to end. Um,

759
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:57,640
Speaker 1: I still would have done it. And um, and I

760
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:02,440
Speaker 1: think people women need to across that's my book. Yes, yes, uh,

761
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,760
Speaker 1: she has a book she's working on coming out later

762
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:10,239
Speaker 1: this summer. Um. Yeah. I actually want to circle back

763
00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:12,319
Speaker 1: to path in a minute. But I you said something

764
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,640
Speaker 1: that I want to touch on. You know, you say, like,

765
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,959
Speaker 1: you know, I have a past, and I think that

766
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,240
Speaker 1: is a fear for a lot of people, like, well,

767
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,040
Speaker 1: I've got stuff I'm not proud of. I'm not a

768
00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:27,200
Speaker 1: perfect person, and I don't know that means that I'm

769
00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:31,960
Speaker 1: disqualified from doing this. And and what happened to you

770
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:36,040
Speaker 1: is case some point a thing that people would be

771
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,160
Speaker 1: afraid of happening to them, Like who among us doesn't

772
00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:42,920
Speaker 1: have something that that you know, can be skewed in

773
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 1: some sort of a way. And and so that's why

774
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:48,640
Speaker 1: I think that what you're saying right now is so

775
00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 1: important and valuable to me anyway, Uh, you would have

776
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,600
Speaker 1: done it anyway. Yeah, I mean, I guess and I

777
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:57,919
Speaker 1: you know, I have young women who are thinking about

778
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:01,160
Speaker 1: I just last week gave a kind of keen zoom

779
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:05,360
Speaker 1: keynote um for a group of of women who yeah,

780
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:07,880
Speaker 1: like I'd given the in person keynote last year, and

781
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 1: they asked me to do it again this year. I

782
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,479
Speaker 1: was like, you guys, know what happened between like then

783
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,840
Speaker 1: and now right and um? And they said yeah, they

784
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: wanted me to anyway. And I was like, okay, but um,

785
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:21,640
Speaker 1: but what I say is that, like I wish I

786
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:24,480
Speaker 1: had something better to say about the solution, But the

787
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:28,279
Speaker 1: solution in the immediate is that, like, you have to

788
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 1: be willing to know that that's the worst that can

789
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:33,920
Speaker 1: happen and still be willing to do it. And that

790
00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:36,520
Speaker 1: takes that takes a hell of a lot of courage

791
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,920
Speaker 1: and um. And what it also means is that we

792
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 1: as voters, as human beings, I think I need to

793
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,360
Speaker 1: to start being much more compassionate to that and knowing

794
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:49,919
Speaker 1: that people and and and having a real dialogue about

795
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:53,000
Speaker 1: and God knows, I want to know the answer when

796
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,680
Speaker 1: people do my mistakes? What what is? What does redemption

797
00:42:56,719 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 1: look like? How do you come back from that? Um?

798
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,719
Speaker 1: How does and and maybe it means that all right,

799
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,160
Speaker 1: you you screwed up enough that you don't belong in

800
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:08,320
Speaker 1: a position of of of government or a lessed office anymore.

801
00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:10,399
Speaker 1: And then and and and if so, that's then that's

802
00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:13,279
Speaker 1: that's what it is. But UM, I think that that

803
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,839
Speaker 1: question is one that we're going to have to grapple with,

804
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:19,080
Speaker 1: not just for politicians, but for um, you know, for

805
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:23,600
Speaker 1: people across the board. And I've listened to your podcasts

806
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:26,279
Speaker 1: a lot with the tearrit Read Story and you know,

807
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:28,799
Speaker 1: with me too, issues in general, and I just think

808
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:30,880
Speaker 1: it's something that we, um, we're going to have to

809
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,880
Speaker 1: have some serious questions conversations about. You know, there's a

810
00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,400
Speaker 1: and there's there's a level of this that just due

811
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,080
Speaker 1: to how much information is out there, and it's the

812
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,320
Speaker 1: same kind of thing you see every time, like every

813
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,719
Speaker 1: time a black man is killed by the police or

814
00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:47,200
Speaker 1: or by like what happened with almad Our, very where

815
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:50,520
Speaker 1: a lot of people have things in their life that

816
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:54,200
Speaker 1: don't look great and they're still fine people. But if

817
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:56,759
Speaker 1: you dig through for like the worst moments or the

818
00:43:56,760 --> 00:44:00,399
Speaker 1: lowest moments or the biggest mistakes in someone's life, and

819
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:05,479
Speaker 1: all anyone is getting is either like like you, there's

820
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:09,000
Speaker 1: no context. I guess, like you just get a selection

821
00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,279
Speaker 1: of like the worst things in someone's life, if that's

822
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:12,880
Speaker 1: what you want to present to the best things in

823
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,319
Speaker 1: someone's life, if that's what you want to present. And um,

824
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:20,200
Speaker 1: I I do think that there's kind of a real problem.

825
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:23,080
Speaker 1: I don't know it's completed. There's definitely a problem Democrats

826
00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:26,400
Speaker 1: have as being the only one of the two parties

827
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:30,640
Speaker 1: that's actually uh beholden to any of that liken for

828
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,520
Speaker 1: moral failings of their pasts, because it's not a thing

829
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:40,440
Speaker 1: that Republicans have to know, like like openly do not

830
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:46,239
Speaker 1: give you know what I mean, like proudly yeah. And

831
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:48,120
Speaker 1: it's one of those things where I'm not I don't

832
00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:49,239
Speaker 1: want to be the one to say I don't want

833
00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 1: to be suggesting like, well, then we shouldn't have standards

834
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:55,319
Speaker 1: moral standards either, because that's not the right way to

835
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,920
Speaker 1: do it. But also being the only one fighting with

836
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:02,239
Speaker 1: a hand behind your back isn't like well, I mean

837
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:07,359
Speaker 1: out and and I mean mine, mine is the example, right,

838
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,120
Speaker 1: I resigned because of the moral standards that we have

839
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:12,520
Speaker 1: because and I believe in them. Right, I'm like, Okay,

840
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,040
Speaker 1: I I funked up, and like, this is this is

841
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,640
Speaker 1: what it means. I'm going to step aside and somebody else,

842
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,759
Speaker 1: you know. I'm like, I'm gonna that's the right thing

843
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:23,600
Speaker 1: to do. If this is the standard that we're holding

844
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,520
Speaker 1: ourselves to, that's the right thing to do. And um,

845
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 1: and then this is what happened, So you know what

846
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:33,560
Speaker 1: does that mean? And I heard and I heard you

847
00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:37,080
Speaker 1: guys talking about like, um, uh, what if what if

848
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:40,879
Speaker 1: Biden would step aside? Right and um? And I kind

849
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,200
Speaker 1: of chuckled to myself and my wall I did. I

850
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:46,279
Speaker 1: don't know how that worked out for us, but um,

851
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:51,239
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know. So UM. Yeah, it's it's

852
00:45:51,239 --> 00:45:55,200
Speaker 1: a fascinating conversation that we clearly don't have the answer to,

853
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 1: but we'll continue to have and in You're right, there's

854
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:04,120
Speaker 1: gonna be there has to be some way for us

855
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:09,839
Speaker 1: to to to grapple with this. Um. I mentioned wanting

856
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:13,319
Speaker 1: to circle back to path uh just briefly, because I'm

857
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:16,359
Speaker 1: curious if if you've continued to do any work uh

858
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:20,800
Speaker 1: with with homeless advocacy or what they're doing if if

859
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:24,759
Speaker 1: there's stuff has changed because of coronavirus, and what kind

860
00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:28,120
Speaker 1: of things they're doing to to counteract the effect on

861
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 1: the Yeah, I mean the homeless services community, and I'm

862
00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:34,640
Speaker 1: still in touch with a lot of them, and especially

863
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:36,879
Speaker 1: with PATH and UH and a couple of the other

864
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:39,800
Speaker 1: agencies UM and I got in touch with them early

865
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,239
Speaker 1: on during the you know, as as things were really

866
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:45,680
Speaker 1: starting to kind of heighten during the pandemic, and um

867
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,400
Speaker 1: uh they're really on the front lines because if this,

868
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:51,800
Speaker 1: if this pandemic had swept through the homelessness, through the

869
00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:56,280
Speaker 1: homeless population, like everything could have just gotten massively escalated

870
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:59,359
Speaker 1: in California. And the fact that that the governor took

871
00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,920
Speaker 1: the precautions that he did and put the measures in place,

872
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:04,000
Speaker 1: and you know that the City of l a did

873
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:08,240
Speaker 1: specifically within the homeless you know, services community, like that

874
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:12,040
Speaker 1: was hugely important. And um the providers have had to

875
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:15,600
Speaker 1: pick up a lot of you know of extra costs,

876
00:47:15,640 --> 00:47:19,600
Speaker 1: including you know, I mean PPE and and UM and

877
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:23,040
Speaker 1: paying people like literally having to pay people tons of

878
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,040
Speaker 1: extra money to to continue working through it, because you know,

879
00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:28,880
Speaker 1: that's the right thing to do. And it's it's about

880
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,640
Speaker 1: as as dangerous of a frontline position as working in

881
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,840
Speaker 1: a hospital. Um. Not I shouldn't say that, but it's

882
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 1: it's very high risk and um and so it's just

883
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:41,440
Speaker 1: it's it's a ton of extra you know, incurred costs

884
00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:45,200
Speaker 1: and for the organizations that are frontloaded and these are nonprofits,

885
00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:50,320
Speaker 1: and and philanthropy has diminished massively, right because people who

886
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:54,920
Speaker 1: are normally the biggest philanthropists, including corporations, are cutting all

887
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:58,280
Speaker 1: of that off. Um. Now, maybe we're seeing this uptick

888
00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:01,879
Speaker 1: in the you know, the out and perhaps that'll start

889
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:05,560
Speaker 1: to to trend nepwards again. But um what Yeah, I

890
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:07,480
Speaker 1: think the biggest thing is that there's a lot of

891
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:10,000
Speaker 1: great stuff that's being done and if it hadn't have

892
00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:13,320
Speaker 1: been if it hadn't been done that you know, California

893
00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:15,720
Speaker 1: has done among the best of all of the states

894
00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:20,920
Speaker 1: in terms of how um mitigated the disease has been.

895
00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:23,799
Speaker 1: And um, I really think that that a lot of

896
00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:28,920
Speaker 1: that started at you know, at the efforts the homelessness levels,

897
00:48:29,080 --> 00:48:34,080
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Yeah, I'm I'm comparatively proud

898
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:36,560
Speaker 1: of the West Coast in general. We just in Portland

899
00:48:36,719 --> 00:48:38,839
Speaker 1: became we were the very first and I think still

900
00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:42,479
Speaker 1: are the only um US city to vote about whether

901
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:45,040
Speaker 1: or not to institute a wealth tax in order to

902
00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:48,799
Speaker 1: pay for more homeless shelters and services. UM. And it

903
00:48:48,840 --> 00:48:51,360
Speaker 1: was a bill. The bill was proposed prior to COVID

904
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:53,680
Speaker 1: nineteen hitting, but we we voted on it just like

905
00:48:53,719 --> 00:48:56,879
Speaker 1: a week ago, UM and it passed. It passed pretty overwhelmingly,

906
00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:00,600
Speaker 1: like a one percent wealth tax on businesses over I

907
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:03,600
Speaker 1: think a certain size and people making more than dollars

908
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,400
Speaker 1: a year two to pay for more homeless services. And

909
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:07,960
Speaker 1: it it passed. And I hope that that's like a

910
00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:11,880
Speaker 1: sign of where things are going in the future, like

911
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:14,040
Speaker 1: that that One of the things that's so frustrating about

912
00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:16,359
Speaker 1: this exact moment is that we can look at things

913
00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:19,400
Speaker 1: like UM, like your seat being won back by a

914
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,680
Speaker 1: Republican UM, which Republicans are obviously seeing is like evidence

915
00:49:22,719 --> 00:49:24,160
Speaker 1: that now we're going to have us a red wave

916
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:27,000
Speaker 1: UM or you can look at you know, there's just

917
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:29,239
Speaker 1: as many things that you can look at that suggests that, like, no,

918
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:32,560
Speaker 1: we're in for like a pretty a pretty significant Democratic

919
00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:34,880
Speaker 1: sweep at least in UM you know, the House and

920
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,440
Speaker 1: Senate in this next election. Nobody really knows what's going

921
00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:44,120
Speaker 1: to happen, so we're stuck in this period of like helplessness,

922
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:47,279
Speaker 1: Like it feels helpless. Um. The only thing I can

923
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:49,560
Speaker 1: think to suggest to people in this period is to

924
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:53,080
Speaker 1: try to do you know, get in and and change

925
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:55,200
Speaker 1: things like that's really the long term. So like what

926
00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:57,880
Speaker 1: regardless of what you think of of the system or

927
00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:00,440
Speaker 1: think of the Democratic Party, UM, the only way to

928
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:03,279
Speaker 1: actually make things better is to get into positions where

929
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:06,520
Speaker 1: you're able to exercise power and then exercise power effectively,

930
00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:08,680
Speaker 1: because that's your system we live in. And if you

931
00:50:08,719 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: don't accept that, then you're yeah, I mean and and

932
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:14,440
Speaker 1: and most of the time that's going to happen locally

933
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,200
Speaker 1: for you, right like the federal the federal government gets

934
00:50:17,239 --> 00:50:21,120
Speaker 1: all of the attention, UM, but most often the biggest

935
00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:24,120
Speaker 1: impact you see is from local governments and UM and

936
00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:26,319
Speaker 1: state governments. So you know, I think I think that

937
00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:29,640
Speaker 1: that hopefully the civic's lesson that starts to happen from

938
00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:32,840
Speaker 1: this is that, you know, if you want systemic change, UM,

939
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,360
Speaker 1: it has to build upwards. It's not going to start

940
00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:38,640
Speaker 1: from the top down, right like, and that's from local

941
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:44,440
Speaker 1: you know, district by district, neighborhood councils to city councils

942
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:48,360
Speaker 1: to UM, you know, county supervisors, state elections, water boards

943
00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:51,160
Speaker 1: even and then UM and then congressional districts. And the

944
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:54,640
Speaker 1: congressional districts are what's going to rebuild Congress to look

945
00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:56,319
Speaker 1: like what we wanted to look like so that we

946
00:50:56,360 --> 00:50:58,840
Speaker 1: can do things like pass Medicare for all. UM. You know,

947
00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:03,440
Speaker 1: getting people like aoc and Ianna Pressley elected, UM and

948
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:06,680
Speaker 1: people who who are in that more progressive wave is

949
00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:09,319
Speaker 1: that's what That's what's got to happen. Whether it's through

950
00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:13,080
Speaker 1: you know, people retiring and an attrition just generally are

951
00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:17,120
Speaker 1: flipping seats, it doesn't really matter, Like that's that's how

952
00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:18,640
Speaker 1: it has to happen. It's not going to happen from

953
00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:21,840
Speaker 1: electing any president, even if it was the most progressive

954
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:25,240
Speaker 1: president that we could have gotten. Yeah, it's the same.

955
00:51:25,320 --> 00:51:28,280
Speaker 1: Like there's all this focus on national politics, but also

956
00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:32,040
Speaker 1: like if you elect, if you elect a sheriff, if

957
00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:34,200
Speaker 1: you elect a mayor, who can you know change to

958
00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:37,160
Speaker 1: the chief of polices and a lot of American cities. UM.

959
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:40,480
Speaker 1: Because just because everybody's especially today given the news that's

960
00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:43,479
Speaker 1: burkely this week, everybody's really focused on police violence again,

961
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:45,840
Speaker 1: which we always should be. If you want to change

962
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:48,880
Speaker 1: those things, you can change them very like there is

963
00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:51,400
Speaker 1: like like when you're at the national level in Congress,

964
00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:54,239
Speaker 1: there's so much, it's so complicated, it's so hard to

965
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:57,520
Speaker 1: make real changes. But at that level, if you get

966
00:51:57,560 --> 00:51:59,360
Speaker 1: in a new sheriff, if you get in a new mayor,

967
00:51:59,440 --> 00:52:03,279
Speaker 1: there's immediate ways you can change everyone who lives around you.

968
00:52:03,520 --> 00:52:06,520
Speaker 1: Um yeah, you're not going to get you're not going

969
00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:09,719
Speaker 1: to get a federal policy that makes you can get

970
00:52:09,719 --> 00:52:12,080
Speaker 1: some executive orders on police brutality that it could actually

971
00:52:12,080 --> 00:52:14,960
Speaker 1: make a big difference pretty quickly, I think, Um, but

972
00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:18,600
Speaker 1: legislation on it, man, that'll be, that'll be, that'll be tough.

973
00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:22,040
Speaker 1: But yeah, at the local level, that could happen overnight virtually,

974
00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:25,160
Speaker 1: so you know, um like literally with the change that

975
00:52:25,239 --> 00:52:27,360
Speaker 1: happens with an election or you know, action of a

976
00:52:27,400 --> 00:52:30,680
Speaker 1: city council. Um uh. And I think that that's that

977
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:34,479
Speaker 1: is something that people really need to be focused on. Yeah.

978
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:38,440
Speaker 1: Also in the in this lull these next few months, um,

979
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:40,960
Speaker 1: you know, in which we're trying to figure out what

980
00:52:40,960 --> 00:52:44,120
Speaker 1: what life during a pandemic looks like because we might

981
00:52:44,160 --> 00:52:47,000
Speaker 1: have a period now, but as we're coming into November

982
00:52:47,040 --> 00:52:48,640
Speaker 1: when people are gonna be voting again, that could be

983
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:53,600
Speaker 1: very well the next major surge. Um. We as Democrats

984
00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:56,239
Speaker 1: in particular, have to figure out what we're going to

985
00:52:56,320 --> 00:52:58,799
Speaker 1: do as far as field goes. I do not think

986
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:00,000
Speaker 1: we're going to be able to win if we dont

987
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:03,360
Speaker 1: have an adapted field strategy in pretty much anywhere. And

988
00:53:03,640 --> 00:53:05,839
Speaker 1: I know people, lots of smart people are working on that,

989
00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:08,440
Speaker 1: but there's going to have to be something that is

990
00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:13,279
Speaker 1: that is like well, um implemented kind of across the

991
00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:16,560
Speaker 1: board for us to have, you know, not necessarily even

992
00:53:16,560 --> 00:53:19,879
Speaker 1: persuasive conversations, but just getting people, you know, to know

993
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:22,040
Speaker 1: what's going on and to be able to vote, um

994
00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:24,960
Speaker 1: and and and and even know how to vote right.

995
00:53:25,080 --> 00:53:27,320
Speaker 1: Like it may not even be a matter of of

996
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,759
Speaker 1: telling them, gee, there's this really important election, but it's

997
00:53:30,840 --> 00:53:33,000
Speaker 1: it's telling them, like, here's what has to happen for

998
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,080
Speaker 1: you to be able to vote, because it's different, it's

999
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:38,040
Speaker 1: more difficult now, right and we don't have much time

1000
00:53:38,239 --> 00:53:41,040
Speaker 1: between them exactly, it's like it's over, It's it's just

1001
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:44,799
Speaker 1: months away. So that's my like nerves around it is.

1002
00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:48,200
Speaker 1: You know, we can't just sit here behind our computer

1003
00:53:48,239 --> 00:53:51,520
Speaker 1: screens and expect to be able to solve all that.

1004
00:53:51,719 --> 00:53:56,520
Speaker 1: UM And, I don't know, you know, I think people

1005
00:53:56,560 --> 00:53:58,960
Speaker 1: really need to be mobilizing and getting ready to go

1006
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:02,360
Speaker 1: um And And I just I think each campaign is

1007
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,480
Speaker 1: going to have to figure that out differently. But yeah, yeah,

1008
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:07,120
Speaker 1: it's gonna be much like everything else about this, it's

1009
00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:11,400
Speaker 1: going to be very specific to the region. We're campaigning

1010
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:24,319
Speaker 1: well together everything. So don't don't don't before we like,

1011
00:54:24,400 --> 00:54:27,600
Speaker 1: you know, I wanted to talk a little bit about

1012
00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:32,040
Speaker 1: what's next for you, um and and the different projects

1013
00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:36,000
Speaker 1: that you are working on. UM. I know you had

1014
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:39,080
Speaker 1: mentioned Her Time If you wanted to explain a little

1015
00:54:39,080 --> 00:54:42,839
Speaker 1: bit about that, sure, So Her Time is the pack

1016
00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:47,360
Speaker 1: that I started. UM when I resigned, I had money

1017
00:54:47,440 --> 00:54:50,080
Speaker 1: that was in my re election campaign that you are

1018
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:55,040
Speaker 1: basically you have to do something with and UM I

1019
00:54:55,120 --> 00:54:56,759
Speaker 1: was able to convert it into a pack and then

1020
00:54:56,800 --> 00:55:01,600
Speaker 1: start raising UM money into that pack to support specifically

1021
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:06,480
Speaker 1: women and young women, UM more of the progressive and

1022
00:55:06,520 --> 00:55:09,319
Speaker 1: longer shot candidates, the ones that you know, my I

1023
00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:12,600
Speaker 1: think my endorsement in Her Time would come in before

1024
00:55:12,719 --> 00:55:15,520
Speaker 1: often before Emily's List, or before some of the more

1025
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:21,320
Speaker 1: kind of the bigger endorsers, the more established organizations, um

1026
00:55:21,520 --> 00:55:24,399
Speaker 1: to to just give that extra boost, um to try

1027
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:27,760
Speaker 1: and help. I mean it is, it is really really

1028
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:31,360
Speaker 1: hard if you look at the number of women candidates

1029
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:33,440
Speaker 1: who ran versus the number of women candidates who won,

1030
00:55:33,520 --> 00:55:36,719
Speaker 1: and especially one in primaries. Um, it's you know, the

1031
00:55:36,800 --> 00:55:39,480
Speaker 1: numbers aren't great. They still have we we still have

1032
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:42,520
Speaker 1: a long way to go. And um, in my in

1033
00:55:42,600 --> 00:55:44,560
Speaker 1: my book, I like I'm one of those people I

1034
00:55:44,719 --> 00:55:46,840
Speaker 1: say that we should vote for a woman just because

1035
00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:49,640
Speaker 1: she's a woman. And I know that that's a that's

1036
00:55:49,640 --> 00:55:52,880
Speaker 1: a controversial perspective even among even among liberals, But I

1037
00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:54,759
Speaker 1: think we really should be voting for a woman because

1038
00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:57,040
Speaker 1: because they're women. Now that that doesn't that doesn't mean

1039
00:55:57,080 --> 00:56:00,520
Speaker 1: like you have a totally unqualified, like crazy person as

1040
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:04,879
Speaker 1: you know, versus a competent but but it does mean

1041
00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:07,239
Speaker 1: that like if you have too equally competent people, I

1042
00:56:07,280 --> 00:56:08,799
Speaker 1: think you should pick a woman because we have to

1043
00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:13,359
Speaker 1: balance out power and in a major way. UM So

1044
00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:16,400
Speaker 1: I actually just talked to myself off of what I

1045
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:22,400
Speaker 1: was even supposed to be answering you're talking I was

1046
00:56:22,560 --> 00:56:27,200
Speaker 1: curious about her her time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean

1047
00:56:27,200 --> 00:56:30,440
Speaker 1: what I'm what I'm curious about is is and I

1048
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:32,720
Speaker 1: the I know the actual answer to this is longer

1049
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:35,040
Speaker 1: than you can give here. But for people who are

1050
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:38,680
Speaker 1: thinking about getting involved in politics and starting a campaign,

1051
00:56:38,719 --> 00:56:41,000
Speaker 1: at some point in the next couple of years, you've

1052
00:56:41,040 --> 00:56:44,040
Speaker 1: done that. You've gotten from no no political background to

1053
00:56:44,200 --> 00:56:48,440
Speaker 1: creating a really successful fundraising camp machine and also a

1054
00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:52,480
Speaker 1: really successful campaign that got you elected. How do you

1055
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:54,319
Speaker 1: how do you do that? Because I think there's a

1056
00:56:54,320 --> 00:56:56,520
Speaker 1: lot of people who are just like sitting at home

1057
00:56:56,520 --> 00:56:58,800
Speaker 1: and thinking like, Okay, well I think maybe I could

1058
00:56:59,120 --> 00:57:01,480
Speaker 1: I could get involved, or I could try to run

1059
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:04,040
Speaker 1: for something. But it's it's it feels like kind of

1060
00:57:04,040 --> 00:57:08,560
Speaker 1: an insurmountable obstacle. Um, it isn't. But yeah, like what

1061
00:57:08,719 --> 00:57:11,480
Speaker 1: is like, what is the advice you can give, you know,

1062
00:57:11,560 --> 00:57:14,400
Speaker 1: without teaching like a six hour class on how to

1063
00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:17,439
Speaker 1: what forms you have to file and stuff? Yeah? Yeah,

1064
00:57:17,480 --> 00:57:19,920
Speaker 1: the first the first pieces of advice. And and I'm

1065
00:57:19,960 --> 00:57:22,440
Speaker 1: assuming that anybody who's listening to your podcast is is

1066
00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:25,080
Speaker 1: either a Democrat or so progressive they don't even consider

1067
00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:30,200
Speaker 1: themselves democrats. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, that I think that

1068
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:33,000
Speaker 1: they that you know, the one place that I would

1069
00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:36,120
Speaker 1: say that you could probably have the biggest impact and

1070
00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:40,680
Speaker 1: and ability to um to start your uh, I don't know,

1071
00:57:41,120 --> 00:57:43,040
Speaker 1: start even figuring out if you want to run for something,

1072
00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:45,480
Speaker 1: starting to learn how to campaign, starting to learn like

1073
00:57:45,520 --> 00:57:48,439
Speaker 1: what that political world or um, you know, the even

1074
00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:52,360
Speaker 1: the just like what you would have to do, um

1075
00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:54,720
Speaker 1: is to get involved with your local Democratic party. And

1076
00:57:54,840 --> 00:57:57,840
Speaker 1: that sounds like have any of you guys been involved

1077
00:57:57,840 --> 00:58:01,520
Speaker 1: with local Democratic parties? No? Like DEM clubs? Okay, well

1078
00:58:01,520 --> 00:58:04,400
Speaker 1: that like I feel like everyone needs to have that assignment. UM.

1079
00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:07,320
Speaker 1: Not just say guys, but I'm just saying, like everybody

1080
00:58:07,360 --> 00:58:10,080
Speaker 1: who wants, like, if you're complaining about the Democratic Party,

1081
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:12,520
Speaker 1: if you have ever once said I wish the Democratic

1082
00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:15,960
Speaker 1: Party did X, you're you are the Democratic Party. We

1083
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:18,680
Speaker 1: are the Democratic Party. There's no there, we don't have

1084
00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:22,080
Speaker 1: a person in charge, there's not there. There is nothing

1085
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:25,360
Speaker 1: except for us. And so every single person is just

1086
00:58:25,440 --> 00:58:28,880
Speaker 1: disable to go and get involved. It's operated by these clubs,

1087
00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:33,280
Speaker 1: these Democratic clubs, which are like a very odd institution. UM.

1088
00:58:33,360 --> 00:58:36,280
Speaker 1: And I like the only way that the Democratic Party

1089
00:58:36,360 --> 00:58:39,080
Speaker 1: changes is if you know, it changes through these clubs

1090
00:58:39,120 --> 00:58:42,800
Speaker 1: and UM, they're very progressive, but they're they're not always

1091
00:58:42,840 --> 00:58:46,080
Speaker 1: well managed or well run or very effective. And UM,

1092
00:58:46,960 --> 00:58:48,760
Speaker 1: I think that you know, I don't know who's going

1093
00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:53,200
Speaker 1: to do this book, but how how you can actually

1094
00:58:53,200 --> 00:58:57,960
Speaker 1: transform that existing apparatus into one where you know, this

1095
00:58:58,040 --> 00:59:01,640
Speaker 1: new this new activist s base can can plug into

1096
00:59:01,880 --> 00:59:05,080
Speaker 1: and what that means for the National Democratic Party. So, UM,

1097
00:59:05,160 --> 00:59:07,040
Speaker 1: that's where I would say start. And then and then

1098
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:09,280
Speaker 1: that is where you kind of start finding like, Okay,

1099
00:59:09,760 --> 00:59:12,920
Speaker 1: you're democratic. Your Democratic club will know, um, you know

1100
00:59:12,960 --> 00:59:15,280
Speaker 1: what the local positions are that are going to be

1101
00:59:15,320 --> 00:59:17,880
Speaker 1: coming up in who's in play and like what the

1102
00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:21,640
Speaker 1: the very you know specific there are always local politics

1103
00:59:21,680 --> 00:59:24,120
Speaker 1: and UM, and I think that that's like the number

1104
00:59:24,160 --> 00:59:26,840
Speaker 1: one place to start, but but it's it is not

1105
00:59:27,560 --> 00:59:34,080
Speaker 1: necessarily a um an appealing place to start. And yeah,

1106
00:59:34,160 --> 00:59:38,840
Speaker 1: because I I feel such frustration over I'm stuck in

1107
00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:41,760
Speaker 1: two ways because I don't identify as a Democrat. UM.

1108
00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:43,760
Speaker 1: I have I voted for them in the past because

1109
00:59:43,760 --> 00:59:46,880
Speaker 1: it's as close as I can get usually, UM, but

1110
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:49,480
Speaker 1: I I'm I'm very frustrated and I have a lot

1111
00:59:49,520 --> 00:59:51,560
Speaker 1: of ethical issues actually with a number of of of

1112
00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:55,240
Speaker 1: Democratic Party UM points or taught like a number of

1113
00:59:55,280 --> 00:59:59,160
Speaker 1: like kind of mainline Democratic Party um beliefs. But I

1114
00:59:59,200 --> 01:00:01,720
Speaker 1: also had the aarens of growing up um in the

1115
01:00:01,760 --> 01:00:04,400
Speaker 1: South as the child of a very conservative family and

1116
01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:07,080
Speaker 1: watching all this stuff that when I was twelve thirteen,

1117
01:00:07,160 --> 01:00:08,840
Speaker 1: my parents would be like, Oh, these people are just

1118
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:11,360
Speaker 1: on the fringe, their nuts. Uh, they're never going to

1119
01:00:11,400 --> 01:00:14,160
Speaker 1: be a major factor in the Republican Party, Like this

1120
01:00:14,200 --> 01:00:17,520
Speaker 1: doesn't actually represent us. And I watched those people very

1121
01:00:17,560 --> 01:00:21,680
Speaker 1: methodically take over the Republican Party in an extremely effective way,

1122
01:00:21,960 --> 01:00:27,080
Speaker 1: and now they're getting everything they want. So it is like, yeah,

1123
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:29,600
Speaker 1: I I I there's the part of me that is

1124
01:00:29,640 --> 01:00:32,440
Speaker 1: just like angry about politics all the time, wants to

1125
01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:35,040
Speaker 1: say to hell with the Democratic Party and point out

1126
01:00:35,080 --> 01:00:38,160
Speaker 1: all these lists of failures. But I do think like

1127
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:41,760
Speaker 1: I watched it happen on the right, and I the

1128
01:00:42,240 --> 01:00:43,840
Speaker 1: only reason, the only thing that would stop it from

1129
01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:47,040
Speaker 1: happening on the left is a lack of willingness to

1130
01:00:47,360 --> 01:00:51,120
Speaker 1: put in the decades of of frustration and compromise that

1131
01:00:51,120 --> 01:00:52,760
Speaker 1: it would take. And obviously there's an argument to me

1132
01:00:52,920 --> 01:00:54,440
Speaker 1: that we don't have that time anymore. I don't know,

1133
01:00:54,760 --> 01:00:56,840
Speaker 1: that's not I don't think you can give an answer

1134
01:00:56,840 --> 01:01:00,080
Speaker 1: to that. And I do think so that like it

1135
01:01:00,160 --> 01:01:03,600
Speaker 1: is worth comparing UM. And I think Bernie Sanders and

1136
01:01:03,600 --> 01:01:07,160
Speaker 1: the enthusiasm that his campaign started in sixteen has a

1137
01:01:07,160 --> 01:01:09,960
Speaker 1: tremendous amount to do with this. Is that the party

1138
01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:14,120
Speaker 1: itself and the party platform, like if you compare ten

1139
01:01:14,520 --> 01:01:21,600
Speaker 1: or the twenty you know, the successively the party platforms

1140
01:01:21,640 --> 01:01:26,000
Speaker 1: like they are massively more progressive and UM. And even

1141
01:01:26,080 --> 01:01:28,880
Speaker 1: what let's just take Joe Biden for example, has had

1142
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:32,000
Speaker 1: to kind of commit to or promise to throughout the

1143
01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:35,800
Speaker 1: course of this campaign has pushed it far further to

1144
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:38,160
Speaker 1: the left than than I think most people would have

1145
01:01:38,160 --> 01:01:41,640
Speaker 1: ever expected him to go or for the you know,

1146
01:01:42,400 --> 01:01:47,240
Speaker 1: the Democratic establishment moderate to go and UM. And I

1147
01:01:47,240 --> 01:01:50,280
Speaker 1: think that you know, it is because people Bernie activists

1148
01:01:50,320 --> 01:01:53,160
Speaker 1: got involved in the Democratic Party UM, and hopefully I

1149
01:01:53,160 --> 01:01:55,360
Speaker 1: think a lot of them are staying involved in UM.

1150
01:01:55,400 --> 01:01:58,760
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, but yeah, it really does

1151
01:01:58,880 --> 01:02:01,160
Speaker 1: have to start at that level, and it it's changing. UM.

1152
01:02:01,160 --> 01:02:04,200
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that it's UM. But I actually would

1153
01:02:04,200 --> 01:02:06,400
Speaker 1: say that the successes that have been had there in

1154
01:02:06,400 --> 01:02:09,600
Speaker 1: the last few years on the Democratic Party platform especially

1155
01:02:10,280 --> 01:02:14,920
Speaker 1: are are massive and and should there should be they

1156
01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:17,640
Speaker 1: should they We really should credit that to the standards

1157
01:02:18,200 --> 01:02:22,960
Speaker 1: UM you know, mobilization and UM. And that's a lesson

1158
01:02:22,960 --> 01:02:24,440
Speaker 1: that can be learned and if we want to continue

1159
01:02:24,440 --> 01:02:26,480
Speaker 1: that progress then that's that's what it means. But it

1160
01:02:26,480 --> 01:02:28,400
Speaker 1: also means like, Okay, you can take over the Democratic

1161
01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:32,160
Speaker 1: Party UM apparatus with the local clubs and the DNC

1162
01:02:32,280 --> 01:02:35,000
Speaker 1: and everything like that, but UM it only it only

1163
01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:37,560
Speaker 1: matters if you can also make it effective. So that's

1164
01:02:37,600 --> 01:02:39,520
Speaker 1: what we need an infusion of as well. Is not

1165
01:02:39,560 --> 01:02:42,640
Speaker 1: just people who are angry about things, um, but people

1166
01:02:42,680 --> 01:02:45,200
Speaker 1: who who are committed to figuring out how to actually

1167
01:02:45,440 --> 01:02:49,800
Speaker 1: get people elected. I actually find that. I that's both

1168
01:02:49,840 --> 01:02:54,200
Speaker 1: frustrating and inspiring to me. Um, you know, the same

1169
01:02:54,800 --> 01:02:57,400
Speaker 1: way we just talked about, you know, getting involved in

1170
01:02:57,440 --> 01:03:00,800
Speaker 1: local levels, Like you have to start that way and

1171
01:03:01,520 --> 01:03:05,960
Speaker 1: you know, address the things that are in your community. UM.

1172
01:03:06,840 --> 01:03:09,920
Speaker 1: I that is demystifying to me in a way in

1173
01:03:10,000 --> 01:03:12,880
Speaker 1: terms of the Democratic Party saying like, yeah, you can,

1174
01:03:13,040 --> 01:03:15,280
Speaker 1: even if it is impalatable for some of us, and

1175
01:03:15,320 --> 01:03:17,880
Speaker 1: that is something for us to consider. But if you

1176
01:03:18,240 --> 01:03:23,320
Speaker 1: if we can, yeah, infuse some of our beliefs into

1177
01:03:23,360 --> 01:03:25,360
Speaker 1: it at the local level and start to climb our

1178
01:03:25,360 --> 01:03:29,919
Speaker 1: way up that way. Again. It feels daunting because there's

1179
01:03:29,920 --> 01:03:33,400
Speaker 1: so much work to be done, but it also that

1180
01:03:33,480 --> 01:03:36,920
Speaker 1: feels like something I can go do and that and

1181
01:03:37,040 --> 01:03:41,360
Speaker 1: if you bring enough friends who are also would consider

1182
01:03:41,400 --> 01:03:43,240
Speaker 1: themselves ones who want to change the party or who

1183
01:03:43,240 --> 01:03:46,720
Speaker 1: want to change you know, things in general, then like

1184
01:03:47,200 --> 01:03:51,000
Speaker 1: suddenly the democratic clubs, don't they They've actually become something

1185
01:03:51,040 --> 01:03:54,160
Speaker 1: better than they are now. And um, but it takes

1186
01:03:54,280 --> 01:03:56,840
Speaker 1: it takes numbers of people being willing to do it.

1187
01:03:56,920 --> 01:03:59,960
Speaker 1: And what I have learned over the course of camp

1188
01:04:00,040 --> 01:04:05,160
Speaker 1: painting is that getting people to to actually do something

1189
01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,320
Speaker 1: um as opposed to just talk about doing something is

1190
01:04:08,520 --> 01:04:10,680
Speaker 1: like that's the that's the catalyst that you need to

1191
01:04:10,680 --> 01:04:14,520
Speaker 1: figure out. And UM, you know, I think that we

1192
01:04:14,520 --> 01:04:17,440
Speaker 1: were we were really fortunate with the time, with it

1193
01:04:17,520 --> 01:04:21,480
Speaker 1: with it beingen and how you know, the the fact

1194
01:04:21,520 --> 01:04:25,440
Speaker 1: that people were so frustrated over the results, um mobilized people,

1195
01:04:25,560 --> 01:04:27,720
Speaker 1: and the proximity of the district and and the kind

1196
01:04:27,720 --> 01:04:30,560
Speaker 1: of candidate I was, like, all of those things added

1197
01:04:30,640 --> 01:04:33,480
Speaker 1: up to make it so that people were actually showing up,

1198
01:04:33,520 --> 01:04:36,080
Speaker 1: like we had five thousand different volunteers show up just

1199
01:04:36,160 --> 01:04:38,920
Speaker 1: forget out the vote, UM. And that was you know,

1200
01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:41,240
Speaker 1: a lot of people in swing districts had the same

1201
01:04:41,280 --> 01:04:44,720
Speaker 1: thing because of how energized people were. But but what

1202
01:04:44,760 --> 01:04:46,800
Speaker 1: Republicans have been able to do that we have not

1203
01:04:47,520 --> 01:04:53,240
Speaker 1: is sustain their track record with voting, sustain their um

1204
01:04:53,480 --> 01:04:56,400
Speaker 1: you know, they're organizing. I mean Republicans even though my

1205
01:04:56,520 --> 01:05:00,360
Speaker 1: district is my former district is um D plus five

1206
01:05:00,480 --> 01:05:03,360
Speaker 1: at this point in a in a in a general

1207
01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:06,120
Speaker 1: election year, even maybe higher at this point because of

1208
01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:09,919
Speaker 1: new registrations. It's all of the local cities except for one,

1209
01:05:10,080 --> 01:05:15,120
Speaker 1: are entirely run by Republicans, entirely UM. And that's because

1210
01:05:15,120 --> 01:05:17,120
Speaker 1: they're good at local elections. They do it, they put

1211
01:05:17,120 --> 01:05:19,960
Speaker 1: in they put in the you know, the time and

1212
01:05:21,840 --> 01:05:23,920
Speaker 1: I don't even know what it is, but it's it's

1213
01:05:23,960 --> 01:05:26,280
Speaker 1: just something that we have not been as good at.

1214
01:05:26,320 --> 01:05:28,680
Speaker 1: And it might be because of of you know, what

1215
01:05:28,840 --> 01:05:32,600
Speaker 1: comprises our electorate, including people who have, like you know,

1216
01:05:32,800 --> 01:05:35,920
Speaker 1: time constraints and can't afford child care and have to

1217
01:05:35,960 --> 01:05:39,480
Speaker 1: work multiple jobs and um, you know, things like that.

1218
01:05:39,560 --> 01:05:42,640
Speaker 1: And also we're young, and when you're older, you can

1219
01:05:43,360 --> 01:05:45,400
Speaker 1: you can be very much more involved in local politics.

1220
01:05:45,480 --> 01:05:47,240
Speaker 1: But it's something we're gonna have to figure out, is

1221
01:05:47,720 --> 01:05:53,440
Speaker 1: how to change over this kind of control too generationally. Yeah, totally.

1222
01:05:53,680 --> 01:05:55,840
Speaker 1: I think it does have to do with what you

1223
01:05:55,880 --> 01:05:59,360
Speaker 1: were saying before. The Democrats are a big tent party

1224
01:05:59,520 --> 01:06:03,680
Speaker 1: and we have a lot of different people here who

1225
01:06:03,720 --> 01:06:07,840
Speaker 1: are there for different reasons, and Republican messaging is a

1226
01:06:07,840 --> 01:06:13,360
Speaker 1: bit more straightforward perhaps. Um. Well that's what I have.

1227
01:06:13,560 --> 01:06:16,040
Speaker 1: Those are all the questions I have. UM. Do you

1228
01:06:16,040 --> 01:06:17,800
Speaker 1: guys have anything else you you want to chime in?

1229
01:06:18,360 --> 01:06:27,520
Speaker 1: I don't know, um, or anything else that you you

1230
01:06:27,560 --> 01:06:32,080
Speaker 1: would like to to touch on Katie today. Um, I

1231
01:06:32,120 --> 01:06:34,840
Speaker 1: think that's I think that's it. I didn't really have

1232
01:06:34,840 --> 01:06:38,479
Speaker 1: an agenda necessarily, so no, but you know, I guess

1233
01:06:38,480 --> 01:06:42,120
Speaker 1: those are the biggest things. They are, just like I

1234
01:06:42,160 --> 01:06:48,040
Speaker 1: hope that my the special election for was um can

1235
01:06:48,080 --> 01:06:51,320
Speaker 1: be used as I hope that there's a case study

1236
01:06:51,600 --> 01:06:55,360
Speaker 1: that comes from it soon, um, and that it can

1237
01:06:55,440 --> 01:06:58,320
Speaker 1: be used as a as a lesson for November, not

1238
01:06:58,400 --> 01:07:01,280
Speaker 1: even I mean just because we have to figure out

1239
01:07:01,320 --> 01:07:04,360
Speaker 1: this new reality, um and what what elections are going

1240
01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:08,800
Speaker 1: to look like? Uh in November? Yeah, absolutely, well, we

1241
01:07:09,280 --> 01:07:12,920
Speaker 1: would love to have you back uh later on when

1242
01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:15,000
Speaker 1: when your your book comes out and we can talk

1243
01:07:15,040 --> 01:07:18,040
Speaker 1: more about that stuff and and more about how the

1244
01:07:18,120 --> 01:07:21,560
Speaker 1: election is shaping up at that point. Um, yeah, but

1245
01:07:21,800 --> 01:07:27,080
Speaker 1: many of our list for your time today specifically yeah,

1246
01:07:27,160 --> 01:07:31,440
Speaker 1: well we'll follow, We'll let me know or how many

1247
01:07:31,520 --> 01:07:36,840
Speaker 1: are like, uh no, hard pass. Yes. Yes. If there's

1248
01:07:36,880 --> 01:07:39,680
Speaker 1: anything about your story that people should take away, it's

1249
01:07:39,680 --> 01:07:43,560
Speaker 1: that running for office is a simple decision with no consequences,

1250
01:07:45,400 --> 01:07:48,160
Speaker 1: and it's easy and not frustrating once you're totally yeah,

1251
01:07:48,240 --> 01:07:52,160
Speaker 1: totally yeah. I guess that was perhaps not the most

1252
01:07:52,200 --> 01:07:56,960
Speaker 1: persuasive little podcast on why you should run province. But

1253
01:07:57,000 --> 01:08:00,919
Speaker 1: I mean, running for office sucks, but please do it.

1254
01:08:01,480 --> 01:08:05,440
Speaker 1: Be a be a you know, a good American citizen

1255
01:08:05,480 --> 01:08:09,400
Speaker 1: and run for office. I guess all right, thanks Katie,

1256
01:08:09,440 --> 01:08:13,120
Speaker 1: have a great day. Thank you have a good one. Boy,

1257
01:08:13,160 --> 01:08:17,400
Speaker 1: howdy me want to run for office? The thing that

1258
01:08:17,439 --> 01:08:21,520
Speaker 1: has no consequences to your personal life? A double standard

1259
01:08:21,560 --> 01:08:26,360
Speaker 1: at all? Running now at least four or five standards. Yeah,

1260
01:08:26,400 --> 01:08:31,080
Speaker 1: there's a quadra. I really appreciated that conversation. And despite

1261
01:08:31,160 --> 01:08:36,080
Speaker 1: all of those uh, cautionary tales that we just heard,

1262
01:08:36,240 --> 01:08:41,400
Speaker 1: I I think it's it's it's energizing for me personally. Yeah,

1263
01:08:41,479 --> 01:08:47,560
Speaker 1: let's go to those clubs. Yeah, let's let's go. Uh.

1264
01:08:47,720 --> 01:08:50,599
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know what to do, but

1265
01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:55,519
Speaker 1: I'm grateful to Katie for a time. Yeah. You don't

1266
01:08:55,560 --> 01:08:57,559
Speaker 1: have to decide right away what to do with your time,

1267
01:08:57,960 --> 01:09:03,760
Speaker 1: but you absorbed information and let it percolate. You know, Well,

1268
01:09:03,840 --> 01:09:06,920
Speaker 1: if you can, you can run for political office, you

1269
01:09:06,960 --> 01:09:09,120
Speaker 1: can burn down the mayor's house. There's no way to

1270
01:09:09,120 --> 01:09:11,720
Speaker 1: know which of those will wind up having worse consequences.

1271
01:09:11,720 --> 01:09:13,559
Speaker 1: That's actually what I got out of the interview too,

1272
01:09:13,880 --> 01:09:18,160
Speaker 1: that she's of course burning down the mayor's house. I

1273
01:09:18,160 --> 01:09:20,559
Speaker 1: hope she stopped listening to the episode at this point.

1274
01:09:21,040 --> 01:09:23,040
Speaker 1: All Right, you have to listen between you have to

1275
01:09:23,080 --> 01:09:25,360
Speaker 1: listen to the word she doesn't say. It's like jazz

1276
01:09:25,600 --> 01:09:32,080
Speaker 1: burn down the mayor exactly. That's what you should take

1277
01:09:32,120 --> 01:09:34,880
Speaker 1: out of this episode. Thank you. You know, I was

1278
01:09:34,920 --> 01:09:36,880
Speaker 1: really proud of us for keeping this all on the

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Speaker 1: rails today and I'm glad to see that right at

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Speaker 1: the end we still manage to go off of them.

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Speaker 1: That's what the years for Katie. I'm sorry. Yeah, go

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01:09:49,520 --> 01:09:51,920
Speaker 1: out there and be the Miles Davis of burning down

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01:09:51,960 --> 01:09:57,000
Speaker 1: the mayor's house. That's our call to action today. You

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01:09:57,000 --> 01:10:01,160
Speaker 1: guys can follow Katie Hill on Twitter Katie the Number

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01:10:01,160 --> 01:10:04,240
Speaker 1: four c A. You can follow us on Twitter Instagram

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01:10:04,240 --> 01:10:06,639
Speaker 1: at Worst Your Pod. You can follow Katie Stoole at

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01:10:06,640 --> 01:10:10,320
Speaker 1: at Katie Stoole. You can follow Cody at Doctor Mr Cody.

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01:10:10,680 --> 01:10:13,080
Speaker 1: You can follow Robert Only on Twitter at I Right, okay,

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Speaker 1: just okay, not anything else. And you can find your

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Speaker 1: mayor's house in the center of town. Whatever building is

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Speaker 1: in the center of town, that's the mayor's house. Legally,

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Speaker 1: it has no matter what it says on an mailbox

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01:10:27,560 --> 01:10:30,599
Speaker 1: or you know, if someone comes out and like wait wait,

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01:10:30,640 --> 01:10:36,240
Speaker 1: I'm not the mayor. No, this is the Walgreens. Yeah, Like,

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Speaker 1: what is happening? Everything? So everything I tried? Worst Year

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Speaker 1: Ever is a production of I Heart Radio. For more

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Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.