WEBVTT - Interview Only w/ Zach Wahls - Why Can Democrats Put Iowa Back On The Map 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.040 This episode of the Chuck Podcast is brought to you 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.440 by Ethos and what Ethos does is it helps you 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:06.880 find life insurance. Let me tell you why life insurance 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.360 bailed me out. My father died when I was sixteen. 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:11.680 We didn't have a lot of money when it happened, 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.640 and we were in a pretty tough financial spot after 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:18.520 it happened. I'm an only child. Suddenly my mother's single, 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.360 single mother. She had a job, suddenly lost a job, 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:23.799 looking for another job, and we were struggling. You know, 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.720 my dad didn't leave us in the best financial situation, 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.080 but he did make one purchase. 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Application times may 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:48.400 vary and rates may vary. Well. Joining me now, I 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:51.320 think the statewide candidate from Iowa that I've interviewed in 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:56.360 the last year, it is Zach Walls. He is a 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:58.920 Are you still a state Senator, Zach? Or you form 0:01:59.000 --> 0:01:59.600 state Sure? 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.560 We actually used star serving from the state House. Yeah, 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.320 this is my eighth and final year in the Iowa Senate. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.240 So this is, So would this be the year you'd 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:09.160 be running for reelection. 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:10.600 Yeah, that's exactly right. 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.280 So yeah, the state Senate seat and the US Senate 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.519 seed same cycle here in twenty twenty six. 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:19.360 So we're going to hold on to it. 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:22.280 We had a good Democratic candidate and actually don't believe 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:27.000 Republican has filed. But you're exciting things happening and say legislature. 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:27.600 Too happy to chat about that. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.960 Well, look, let me just quickly give the one episode 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.200 Zach Wall's running for the US Senate. This is the 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:38.840 open Senate seat that Jany Erntz decided not to seek 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.600 reelection in. It is a competitive primary. You've had Josh 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.320 Trurick on the podcast a few months ago. I've also 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:46.919 had the guy that's going to be leading the top 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:51.240 of the Democratic ticket, Rob sand on here as well. 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:55.040 Because a as people know who listened to me, you 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.160 know that i was one of my home states. I 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.880 was joke. I was not born and raised there, but 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.880 I was raised Iowa. My first savings account was with 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:08.640 the Waterloo Savings and Loan, yes when those existed. And 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:12.519 I also believe that Iowa is the is the test 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.600 is the Petrie dish for Wave or not Democrats win 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.520 multiple races in Iowa, we're in the middle of a wave. 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:23.880 If not, I think it's a different situation. So that's 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.880 another reason why I've spent some time with Iowa candidates. 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.959 Zach Walls, Welcome to the podcast. One sweek. 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:29.920 Good to be her. 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:32.560 Kind of already chimed in because I asked you to, 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.560 so anyway, it's all right, we don't form all around here. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:37.320 All good. 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:39.760 Well, look, I'm excited to be here. You're absolutely right. 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.280 We've got a lot cooking in Iowa. As you mentioned, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.640 my friend Rob sand running for governor. I think we've 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:50.000 got a real chance at flipping that race, which is 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:50.920 super exciting. 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.200 We've got two and I think maybe a third and. 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:58.040 Well I think it's three of the four waves territory. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.480 If we start seeing some good numbers out of Iowa 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.440 four on election night, people forget this. You know, obviously, 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:07.040 Steve King. 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.200 I'm not buying that opium that you're selling there. 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:10.040 I'm saying it is about step and it was a 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.160 unique case, but we came within a couple of points 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.640 back in twenty eighteen, and I think you know what 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:19.200 we always like to remind folks eighteen first Trump midterm. 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.320 I will won three of the four US House districts, 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.880 we won three of the five state wide offices, and 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.919 we came within spitting distance of flipping the governor's mansion 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.239 that year. And we just did not have a Senate 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.760 race on cycle in twenty eighteen, and so we got 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.080 a really unique opportunity here. You did, of course mention 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.880 Joan E. Earnstrapping out. You know, she had, of course 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.120 revealed her healthcare plan of waiting for people to die 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:44.960 in June, which it turns out was not a very 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:48.039 popular position with most Iowa voters. And then when she 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:50.960 dropped out in August, that was about a week after 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.599 a poll came out showing me actually leading her in 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:54.960 a general election matchup. 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:57.600 And so we think there's a real opportunity here. 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.599 And I'm happy to chat about my likely report looking opponent, 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.080 Ashley Hens into I had a couple. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:06.359 Sure, I get that. Look, you won't say this. It 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.400 is not surprising to me that two people who were 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.960 not supportive of Donald Trump in twenty twenty four at 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.680 the start of the presidential cycle, Kim Reynoldson John Earns, 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.159 both somehow find their way not running again in twenty 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:22.480 twenty six. I maybe time will tell how connected those 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.279 two things were. But let me start with you. Look, 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:28.840 you you have you're you're pretty young, and yet you 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:33.320 have been in the public eye for some time. And 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:38.200 you went viral when you testified about your family when 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.719 it looked like there was a movement in the state 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:46.360 of Iowa to somehow make your family illegal for and 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.400 that did not happen. But you've been in the public 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.600 eye for some time. Did you always know you were 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:55.080 going to be in politics? Was there ever another lane 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.240 you thought about going into when you're at the University 0:05:59.240 --> 0:05:59.560 of Iowa. 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.800 So I was actually studying civil and environmental engineering. When 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:05.400 I was at the University of i was going to 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.919 go build bridges. Today we're at the Ironworkers Local sixty 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.200 seven hole here in Des Moines. I was really proud 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.360 to win not just their endorsement, but they actually made 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:18.560 me a member earlier this year, dues paying member. And 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.279 so even though the work that I've done as an 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.880 adult has definitely taken me in some different directions. Yeah, 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:26.960 you know, when I was a sophomore in the video 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.080 that speech went viral. You know, Look, no one ever 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:34.160 wants to find themselves in the position of having to 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.719 defend your family from you know, powerful people in the government. 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:39.760 But when that was what I had to do, that 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:41.840 was what I had to do. And I think part 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.599 of that for me. Check you asked about politics, You know, 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.720 I learned at pretty early age that politics was interested 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:50.680 in me. I will never forget the experience I was 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.279 in the eighth grade and I am going to date 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.440 myself a little bit here, but it was the two 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:58.080 thousand and four election cycle. In my first homework assignment 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.560 for my social studies class is to watch the speeches 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.080 at the on TV of the two thousand and four 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.640 Republican National Convention and then to go back to class 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.880 the next day and to talk about it. And I 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:14.000 will never forget what it was like watching some of 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:18.280 the most powerful people in our country address the nation 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.640 and talk about these raging wars in the Middle East, 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:25.600 in Iraq and Afghanistan, the global war on terror, and 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.760 then in the very next breath talk about the threat 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.160 to our way of life from this radical state Supreme 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:35.040 Court decision in Massachusetts and the so called gay marriage 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:39.440 and realizing as a thirteen year old that they are 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:44.400 talking about my family and going into class the next day, 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:49.200 wanting to speak up and set the record straight, but 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:53.800 being scared, being scared of being judged by my peers, 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:56.400 a target of our government. 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:56.920 Right. 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:01.520 And when my courage you know, failed me that day, 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.240 you know that shame has has stuck with me. And 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.840 that was exactly why in twenty eleven, when I had 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.440 the chance to do the thing that I did not 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.240 have the courage to do seven years earlier, to go 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.960 fight for my family, I knew I had to be there, 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.160 and so I had no idea that someone was going 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:19.600 to record it with the flipcam, or that the video 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.520 was going to go viral, or that it would. 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.040 We didn't. We didn't really planned when they go viral. 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.080 Back then, there wasn't There wasn't. 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.480 No, I mean, politically doesn't really go viral. At twenty eleven, 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:32.520 that not nearly the same same way. I mean, it 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:36.040 became remembering, right, it was the most watched political video 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.760 that year, and like the second place ad was like 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.720 a like a Rick Perry thing, like I don't remember 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:44.200 what exactly it was, but. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:44.719 That was the. 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:50.160 Fence and like he's his jacket or I don't know, 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:51.080 it's a long time ago. 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.240 So I don't really remember, but yeah, you know, and 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.240 I learned a lot from that experience and I and 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.160 most importantly that when you are able to find that 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.160 courage to speak up and speak truth to it helps 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.360 a lot of other people find courage too. I heard 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:05.360 from so many people after that it made a difference 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:07.960 in their family and their lives, and just learning that 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:09.920 at an early age it was a big lesson. 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:15.800 How concerned are you that your parents' rights are at 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:16.920 stake again? 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:20.560 Yeah, look, I mean there's been a push by some 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.400 of these far right groups trying to reverse essentially the 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.560 Obergefell decision from twenty fifteen. And you know that's not 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.000 just about same sex marriage. I mean they're clearly coming 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.720 for reproductive rights. They see that as a piece of 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:40.640 further eroding protections around IVF and fertility treatments, and so yeah, 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.000 I look, I think it's absolutely a concern, and I 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.439 think it's a part of why so many Americans have 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:49.680 felt like, you know, they need someone who's willing to 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:53.520 fight for them and their families. And in this campaign, 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.120 you know, the issues that come up the most we're 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.200 on the campaign trail, definitely the economy, but also the 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.400 corruption that we see in Washington, the self dealing in 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.840 this administration, and I think frustration frankly with the establishment 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:08.640 of both parties that people have experienced for a long time, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.040 and it was part of why Donald Trump won in 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.520 Iowa and consecutive elections. But I think the other thing 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.480 that's a real concern is definitely, you know, fear for 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.000 the future of our country and or democracy. We hear 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.400 that all the time, and it's something that we need 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:23.320 to take really seriously. 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:25.199 I want to go back to. 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:27.040 You. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.280 I remember a friend of mine would describe Iowa as 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:34.160 the Oregon of the Midwest, and I said, what do 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.319 you mean by that? And I and this person said, well, 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:43.280 it's it's very Midwestern. You know, it's meaning that it is, 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.559 you know, as the President might say, it's central casting, right, 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:50.920 like you know, the bridges are correct, the landscape is correct. 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.480 It feels you know that Romney once said the trees 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:56.120 are all the right height when he went to Michigan, 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:58.240 you know, sort of like a but but I understood 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.920 what he meant. Right. You go to Iowa and you're like, yes, 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.120 this is what what Bridges of Madison County was based on. 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:07.559 I get it. I see it, but there was It's 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.240 not just Iowa nice that's there, but there really is 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.839 a you keep to your business, We'll keep to our 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.560 business type of mindset. Do you still think that exists? 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.520 It feels like in parts of rural Iowa, And maybe 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.360 this is an east west divide and that Eastern i 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.200 was in one place, Western I was in another, or 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.040 or maybe it's just the rhetoric that said, do you 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.440 still feel that? Or do you think this threat to 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:40.680 the rights of of your parents, for instance, really is 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.240 just more a bunch of activists, it's not actually what 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.520 the average Iowa things. 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.440 Yeah, it's a great question, Todd. I think there's two 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.800 sides of that coin. There's a there's one side of 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.600 the coin that is you take, you know, mind your 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.600 own business. The other side of the coin is that 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.400 you look out for each other. And I will tell 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.040 you you still see examples. I think of both of 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:06.079 those things quite a bit. You know, in twenty eleven, 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.959 far before marriage equality was a sentineled issue, that resolution, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.480 that amendment to war State Constitution that I was speaking 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.120 against it did not right. And this was you know, 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.240 four years still before the Oberga Felt decision at the 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.640 US Supreme Court, and today you look at the numbers 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.200 are super clear. Vast majority of islands are. 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:27.480 Still pro choice. 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:32.840 Are people who again marriage equality no longer a controversial 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.000 issue at all in the state of Iowa. In those 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.000 things on the other side of the coin, you know, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.360 I had certainly seen our share of natural disasters. I 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.880 remember in two thousand and eight going down to sandbag 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:48.000 along the Iowa River as those floodwaters were rising. In 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:52.400 twenty twenty, grabbing my chainsaw after a straight line windstorm 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.040 decimated the community of Cedar Rapids and getting debris off 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.640 the ground there. Flooding that continue used to be a 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.719 persistent challenge in other parts of the state. It is 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:05.760 my first year in the legislature twenty nineteen. There were 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.800 some really bad floods in western i over that year, 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.360 and I will never forget going to the state House 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.920 when I drive in one morning and there was a 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.600 convoy And now these are from Ohio, but it's that 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.600 same Midwestern ethic you're talking about. Convoy of pickup trucks 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.920 basically bringing hey to farmers who needed to feed their 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.080 live stock and who had basically been wiped out, and 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:29.880 just taking care of each other. And looking out for 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.920 each other. And so when people sometimes ask, you know, like, well, 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.480 why has Donald Trump had success? And I for me, 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.880 this is not theoretical. So when I won in twenty 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.480 eighteen for my state Senate district, I had three counties, 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.760 Johnson County, which is where I live, all of Cedar County, 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.040 and then a slice of Musketine County. What Cedar and 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.040 Musketine County have in common is they voted for Barack 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.000 Obama in twenty twelve and Donald Trump in twenty sixteen. 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.559 And I won all of Cedar County in twenty eighteen. 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.360 So there are a lot of Obama Trump walls voters. Well, 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.560 I knock on doors and talk to these folks, you know, 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.360 to learn about, you know, issues that they were worried about, 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.000 concerns that they had. And then also if this came up, 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:07.960 you know, you votter for Donald Trump two years ago, 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.480 you're voting for me, Like what's going on? What people 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.480 would usually say to me is basically, I don't agree 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.000 with Donald Trump on every issue, but I believe that 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.640 he cares about me in my community. I don't agree 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.280 with you, Zach on every issue, but I believe that 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.560 you care about me in my community, and I think 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.239 that that is a thing that I would still really value. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.080 And I think that is something where you look at 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.520 what is happening in the state right now, that is 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:34.840 a very clear contrast with Ashley Hinson, who has been 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.080 a rubber stamp for an agenda out of this White 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.400 House that is almost uniquely bad for a state like Iowa. Well, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:43.640 so I think that's that's something that's worth worth itting. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.240 I want to dig in there a little bit because 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:47.720 I spent a lot of time in eastern Iowa in 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:52.880 twenty one, in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, I 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:55.960 think it was twenty twenty three into this because I mean, look, 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.120 there is no state home to more Obama to Trump 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.800 counties than Iowa. You know, it's something I think half 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:03.440 of all the counties in the. 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.760 Country, it's only about a third. It's only a third. 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:08.600 Only a third, still a lot for one state, you know, 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.840 one state with four congressional districts, right, A big chunk 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.680 is in Eastern Iowa. Now, Eastern Iowa has always been 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.480 the more labor union heavy part of the state. So 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.080 this really is labor union members. You're you're with the 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.080 Iron workers, and the leadership of many of these labor 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:26.520 unions are Democrats, and you know this full well, but 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:30.680 the rank and file much more independent, right, some some 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:34.600 some Republicans, some Democrat. But they're frankly, I think, very 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.560 skeptically the same reason why they're in a union, because 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.160 they're skeptical of corporations. I think they're a bit skeptical 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.200 of politicians for the same way. And Trump, in some way, 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.680 I think was more seemed to be more on the skeptic, 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.080 you know, viewed, viewed some of these people the same 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.960 way they did, right, versus a Hillary Clinton who felt 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:59.720 like part of the establishment. Mhm. But it's you know, 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.840 this is persistent. How do you get that voter back? 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:06.760 Well, so you get the nail on the head. So, 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:08.600 I mean, I think there's a few things about Iowa 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.760 that we always are trying to remind people of. Number One, 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.600 when you look at those swing counties, those pivot counties, 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:17.920 if I'm remembering correctly, there's thirty one of them, and 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.880 twenty three are in eastern Iowa and a slice of 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:23.680 the other ones that are not Eastern Iowa, kind like 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:27.560 North Iowa and North Central Iowa area. And so if 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.320 you think about where are the place is where we 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.200 have lost ground, where we need to win people back. 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:35.320 It is counties like Cedar County, which I represented for 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.320 my first four years in the legislature. Went to a 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.560 lot of town hall meetings. I was often the only 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.800 Democrat on the panel right, you know, for legislative forums 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.760 or updates. You know, knocked a ton of doors, been 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.560 to cattleman's meetings and farm bureau meetings and. 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.560 Board of supervisors and school boards. And again, what I hear. 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.360 In these communities is a sense of they feel like 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.520 they've been forgotten, that the establishment has not been there 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:03.840 to fight for them, even though they work hard, they 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.000 played by the rules, and they just want a better 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.040 future for their kids and their grandkids and not have 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.160 to lose those kids, not usually to Miami in your case, 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:17.000 but to places like Colorado or Minnesota or Illinois sometimes. 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.040 And so that is something that I hear, and that 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:24.200 really goes across the political spectrum. What Donald Trump did 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:28.600 really effectively in twenty sixteen was talk about the failures 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.159 of the establishment to build an economy that worked, especially 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.680 in the Midwest. A lot of folks on the coasts 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.240 did not realize that in twenty sixteen, we were in 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.960 the middle of a regional recession and the most of 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.760 twenty sixteen, right, And so I think the message that 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.320 then Secretary Clinton had just did not feel like it 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:49.960 really resonated with a lot of people here. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:51.360 And if you look at the people who. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.880 Have one in Iowa, including her husband, Bill Clinton, who 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.440 ran on an anti establishment message in the nineteen nineties, 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:58.920 you look at Barack Obama's success in two thousand and 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.080 eight and twenty twelve, and of course Donald Trump in 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:05.280 some respects epitomizes this anti establishment message because he was 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.880 running not just against the Democratic establishment, he was also 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.000 running against the Republican establishment. I mean, you remember him 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.040 being on that debate stage attacking the other Republicans who 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:15.359 were there, attacking George W. 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:16.560 Bush and others. 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:20.560 And I think in John McCain famously, I think that 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.800 that you approach that mentality from Trump spoke to a 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.720 lot of those same kind of swing anti establishment minded voters. 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:29.000 And as we have been. 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.359 Traveling across the state, I will tell you there are 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.080 still a lot of real frustration with the establishment. You 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:36.520 see what's currently happening in our economy. You see the 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.800 lack of progress and things like campaign finance reform, and 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:41.960 those are things that voters. You may not be able 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.480 to explain all the ins and outs of exactly the 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.480 problems with a super pac or a C four or whatever, 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.320 but they know that the system has been rigged against them. 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.440 And that's actually why today we did our first major 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.399 policy roll out, and it was all about ending that 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.080 rig system, taking on the corruption, and speaking directly to 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:01.480 the concerns the voter have because they understand there's a 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.919 connection to what has happened in our politics and what 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:05.280 is happening in our economy right now. 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:06.600 And ask you this, So, why are you doing this 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:08.960 as a Democrat? Why not do what Dan Osborne's doing 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.440 in your neighbors in neighboring state and Nebraska run as 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.560 an independent? I mean I asked this question of Rob 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:19.920 Sam early on and he basically said the only reason 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.879 he wasn't running is an independent is ballot access and 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:26.560 that maybe he would be more comfortable a being able 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.639 as an independent, not because you get put in a 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:32.080 partisan box and no matter what you say here, it's 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.600 vote counting once you get into a legislature. You know this, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.040 you were in leadership, you know what you'd like to 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.119 do and what you can do are two different things. 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.159 And you know it is that the old saying you 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.440 campaign in poetry and govern in pros, right, it is 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:51.639 it ain't it ain't easy translating a change message to 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:52.520 a change agenda. 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:55.119 Well, Chuck, here's what I would tell you. I've been 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.040 a Democrat my whole life. You know, in two thousand 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:02.359