Closed Primaries, Open Rebellion and The Supreme Court with Chad Peace

WEBVTT
00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.240
Speaker 0: So that is this not picking on the Democrats or the Republicans because
00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:07.280
Speaker 0: they both do it, both of them.
00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:11.280
Speaker 0: And what you're seeing on the Democratic side, the infighting is the exact same
00:00:11.440 --> 00:00:14.395
Speaker 0: thing you are seeing on the that's happening in the Republican party.
00:00:14.395 --> 00:00:15.435
Speaker 1: I imagine so.
00:00:15.435 --> 00:00:15.635
Speaker 1: Right.
00:00:15.595 --> 00:00:17.195
Speaker 1: I hope so for crying out loud.
00:00:17.195 --> 00:00:21.195
Speaker 1: To be honest, you
00:00:23.835 --> 00:00:25.675
Speaker 1: know.
00:00:25.675 --> 00:00:26.235
Speaker 1: Alright.
00:00:26.235 --> 00:00:27.035
Speaker 1: Welcome back.
00:00:27.035 --> 00:00:28.050
Speaker 1: Welcome back.
00:00:28.050 --> 00:00:29.890
Speaker 1: I am joined by Chad Peace.
00:00:29.890 --> 00:00:33.890
Speaker 1: He's an attorney, digital media executive, and one of the country's most persistent
00:00:34.450 --> 00:00:37.330
Speaker 1: advocates for nonpartisan election reform.
00:00:37.330 --> 00:00:41.330
Speaker 1: He's the founder of IVC Media, a San Diego based digital
00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:45.490
Speaker 1: media and public affairs firm that has won national awards for political
00:00:45.525 --> 00:00:49.525
Speaker 1: communications, helped raise over ten million for a third party presidential candidate,
00:00:50.165 --> 00:00:53.445
Speaker 1: and built a bi national team of more than fifty professionals.
00:00:53.445 --> 00:00:56.256
Speaker 1: On the legal side, Chad is a partner at Peace and Shea LLP, where
00:00:56.256 --> 00:01:00.256
Speaker 1: he fights for the constitutional rights of
00:01:01.390 --> 00:01:02.750
Speaker 1: Supreme Court of the United States.
00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:06.590
Speaker 1: He's a cohost of the Independent Voter Podcast, a founding board member of the
00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:10.590
Speaker 1: National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, and a San Diego native who
00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:14.590
Speaker 1: genuinely believes that chain that we can change how we elect our
00:01:14.675 --> 00:01:15.635
Speaker 1: next representatives.
00:01:15.635 --> 00:01:18.115
Speaker 1: So, Chad, please welcome to what do we do next?
00:01:18.115 --> 00:01:19.155
Speaker 1: Thanks for being here.
00:01:19.155 --> 00:01:19.475
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:01:19.475 --> 00:01:20.995
Speaker 0: Thanks for having me.
00:01:20.995 --> 00:01:21.795
Speaker 1: I'm excited, man.
00:01:21.795 --> 00:01:25.795
Speaker 1: You've been you have been in the fight for a long time, so I
00:01:25.795 --> 00:01:27.200
Speaker 1: I appreciate this.
00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:29.520
Speaker 1: So let's get right into I love San Diego by the way.
00:01:29.520 --> 00:01:30.400
Speaker 1: My brother lives there.
00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.000
Speaker 1: Maybe you guys know each other.
00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:32.480
Speaker 0: Just kidding.
00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:32.960
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:01:32.960 --> 00:01:34.800
Speaker 0: It's a tough place to leave.
00:01:34.800 --> 00:01:35.600
Speaker 1: You never know.
00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:36.880
Speaker 1: You never know.
00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:40.160
Speaker 1: So what was the moment that you were like, alright, enough is enough.
00:01:40.160 --> 00:01:43.865
Speaker 1: Like, after being a lawyer and a media exec, like, you know, that's a
00:01:43.865 --> 00:01:46.825
Speaker 1: pretty big swing to go from that to where you are now.
00:01:46.825 --> 00:01:48.505
Speaker 1: So what was that moment?
00:01:48.505 --> 00:01:48.825
Speaker 0: No.
00:01:48.825 --> 00:01:52.825
Speaker 0: Like, you know, like, everybody's story that, you know, you could identify probably,
00:01:52.905 --> 00:01:56.420
Speaker 0: you know, ten or ten or fifteen kinda seminal moments.
00:01:56.420 --> 00:02:00.260
Speaker 0: But I think where it really started when, you know, I was kind of
00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:02.500
Speaker 0: in digital because of my business partner.
00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:03.860
Speaker 0: I always say he's the brains.
00:02:03.860 --> 00:02:07.540
Speaker 0: And, I actually had was in my third year at law school.
00:02:07.540 --> 00:02:08.775
Speaker 0: We had done stuff before.
00:02:08.775 --> 00:02:12.295
Speaker 0: I took a I took three, four years off, did a bunch of digital
00:02:12.295 --> 00:02:14.535
Speaker 0: media work and went back to law school.
00:02:14.535 --> 00:02:18.215
Speaker 0: And it was in our my last year right before my last year of
00:02:18.215 --> 00:02:21.095
Speaker 0: law school, I was approached by the Independent Voter Project.
00:02:21.095 --> 00:02:23.690
Speaker 0: And they said, hey, you know that digital stuff?
00:02:23.690 --> 00:02:27.210
Speaker 0: And this is at a time nobody was spending serious political dollars online.
00:02:27.210 --> 00:02:31.210
Speaker 0: They're like, oh, you you on Facebook, here's five dollars for for advertising.
00:02:31.370 --> 00:02:32.170
Speaker 0: Right?
00:02:32.170 --> 00:02:36.170
Speaker 0: And they said, you know, we got this nonpartisan primary initiative that we
00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:40.330
Speaker 0: wanna run and we want you guys to tell independent
00:02:40.705 --> 00:02:44.705
Speaker 0: voters that there's a reason to vote in the closed
00:02:44.865 --> 00:02:48.865
Speaker 0: primary even though they can't vote for candidates if they should vote on this
00:02:48.945 --> 00:02:52.090
Speaker 0: because then the next time they can vote on candidates.
00:02:52.090 --> 00:02:54.090
Speaker 0: So, you know, I'm in my third year of law school.
00:02:54.090 --> 00:02:57.050
Speaker 0: I, you know, I was like this is cool, like, you know, but then
00:02:57.050 --> 00:02:59.930
Speaker 0: I started thinking about it and you know, we could take election.
00:02:59.930 --> 00:03:03.290
Speaker 0: There's no, there's no emphasis on election law.
00:03:03.290 --> 00:03:05.290
Speaker 0: Like you can't get any certificate or something.
00:03:05.290 --> 00:03:09.290
Speaker 0: But we had election law classes and there was a constitutional law
00:03:09.445 --> 00:03:12.005
Speaker 0: election law so I took them all.
00:03:12.005 --> 00:03:16.005
Speaker 0: And then it was really that period of time when I'm looking
00:03:16.165 --> 00:03:20.165
Speaker 0: at these cases in class and you realize how revolutionary
00:03:21.130 --> 00:03:23.210
Speaker 0: the nonpartisan primary is, right?
00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:26.650
Speaker 0: It just sounds like if you're not really you know, okay that's nice it's
00:03:26.650 --> 00:03:30.570
Speaker 0: nonpartisan primary, but you think about the principle and you look at the history
00:03:30.570 --> 00:03:32.825
Speaker 0: of case law in the United States.
00:03:32.825 --> 00:03:35.545
Speaker 0: It's always framed between
00:03:35.545 --> 00:03:38.265
Speaker 0: the political parties and the state.
00:03:38.265 --> 00:03:38.665
Speaker 0: Right?
00:03:38.665 --> 00:03:42.665
Speaker 0: So, if you take California's old open primary system,
00:03:43.465 --> 00:03:47.465
Speaker 0: both parties took that all the way to the courtroom and the decisions being
00:03:47.690 --> 00:03:50.810
Speaker 0: made based on the question asked to the court.
00:03:50.810 --> 00:03:54.810
Speaker 0: So it's the parties asking the question to the court, can you
00:03:54.890 --> 00:03:58.890
Speaker 0: allow nonmembers to participate in our primary elections?
00:03:59.130 --> 00:04:03.130
Speaker 0: And the court says no because you have a first Amendment right to exclude
00:04:03.385 --> 00:04:05.705
Speaker 0: people who are not a part of your party.
00:04:05.705 --> 00:04:06.825
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:04:06.825 --> 00:04:09.545
Speaker 0: So if you think about that, what does that mean?
00:04:09.545 --> 00:04:13.545
Speaker 0: It means the parties have claimed entitlement to the primary election
00:04:13.705 --> 00:04:14.930
Speaker 0: process.
00:04:14.930 --> 00:04:18.930
Speaker 0: So most simply, we're asking a question just because nobody ever goes and represents
00:04:19.410 --> 00:04:20.930
Speaker 0: the individual voters.
00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:24.050
Speaker 0: Of course, we've had defense of voters based on group rights.
00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:24.370
Speaker 0: Right?
00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:27.170
Speaker 0: Like African American voters, women voters.
00:04:27.170 --> 00:04:27.410
Speaker 0: Right?
00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:31.410
Speaker 0: And those are all progression of our understanding of voting rights.
00:04:31.505 --> 00:04:32.625
Speaker 0: So everybody deserves them.
00:04:32.625 --> 00:04:35.905
Speaker 0: Doesn't matter whether you're black or gay or woman or straight, whatever.
00:04:35.905 --> 00:04:36.145
Speaker 0: Right?
00:04:36.145 --> 00:04:38.305
Speaker 0: We get our rights as individuals.
00:04:38.305 --> 00:04:42.305
Speaker 0: So most simply, our whole
00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:46.400
Speaker 0: election reform is simply asking the courts and and frankly our elected
00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.280
Speaker 0: officials a question
00:04:49.280 --> 00:04:51.520
Speaker 0: on behalf of individual voters.
00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:55.520
Speaker 0: If primaries are an integral stage, they're important part of our election
00:04:55.520 --> 00:04:57.035
Speaker 0: process.
00:04:57.035 --> 00:05:01.035
Speaker 0: Can you exclude me or her or him or anybody else
00:05:01.515 --> 00:05:05.515
Speaker 0: from that process that we fund that determines
00:05:06.395 --> 00:05:10.395
Speaker 0: who our representatives are because we chose, just like the parties,
00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:15.050
Speaker 0: a First Amendment right not to join a private association
00:05:15.690 --> 00:05:18.490
Speaker 0: being the Republican or Democratic parties.
00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:20.890
Speaker 0: That's simply the question, right?
00:05:20.890 --> 00:05:24.890
Speaker 0: So, that's the question we've asked the Supreme Court really three times
00:05:24.970 --> 00:05:28.970
Speaker 0: now and you can say well, you know, you're just justifying that you're a
00:05:28.975 --> 00:05:29.535
Speaker 0: loser.
00:05:29.535 --> 00:05:30.895
Speaker 0: May maybe I am.
00:05:30.895 --> 00:05:34.335
Speaker 0: But, yes, we haven't been picked up by the Supreme Court.
00:05:34.335 --> 00:05:38.335
Speaker 0: But the last time we filed on behalf of actually is a
00:05:38.335 --> 00:05:42.335
Speaker 0: great another great story on behalf of a a retired attorney
00:05:42.450 --> 00:05:46.210
Speaker 0: in Florida filed a very similar case to ours that we filed in New
00:05:46.210 --> 00:05:48.530
Speaker 0: Jersey and California.
00:05:48.530 --> 00:05:51.250
Speaker 0: And so we filed what's called an amicus brief.
00:05:51.250 --> 00:05:54.690
Speaker 0: And the brief says, look, we have two cases asking the same question.
00:05:54.690 --> 00:05:57.855
Speaker 0: The Ford party, the Andrew Yang's party signed on board.
00:05:57.855 --> 00:06:00.975
Speaker 0: Actually, the Libertarian party wanted to sign on board but they're a little bit
00:06:00.975 --> 00:06:02.175
Speaker 0: too late to the game.
00:06:02.175 --> 00:06:06.175
Speaker 0: An organization open primaries but I say all that because what's important
00:06:06.335 --> 00:06:10.335
Speaker 0: is about one and maybe a thousand cases get picked up
00:06:10.335 --> 00:06:12.840
Speaker 0: by the Supreme Court when you knock on their door.
00:06:12.840 --> 00:06:14.520
Speaker 0: Right?
00:06:14.520 --> 00:06:18.520
Speaker 0: About one and maybe five hundred go to what's
00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:20.520
Speaker 0: called a conference, right?
00:06:20.520 --> 00:06:24.520
Speaker 0: Where the where the justices say look let's go have a meeting about
00:06:24.760 --> 00:06:25.080
Speaker 0: this.
00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:27.560
Speaker 0: This might be something we should consider.
00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.515
Speaker 0: So we made that round.
00:06:30.515 --> 00:06:30.915
Speaker 0: Right?
00:06:30.915 --> 00:06:34.915
Speaker 0: So the last time they went to conference, we know the justices
00:06:35.315 --> 00:06:38.915
Speaker 0: sat down and said, hey, should we pick up this case?
00:06:38.915 --> 00:06:39.795
Speaker 0: Right?
00:06:39.795 --> 00:06:43.795
Speaker 0: So just like whether it's the the the gay rights
00:06:43.830 --> 00:06:47.830
Speaker 0: movement or or we're going back to segregation
00:06:48.070 --> 00:06:48.630
Speaker 0: and stuff.
00:06:48.630 --> 00:06:52.630
Speaker 0: Ultimately, those civil rights cases were one
00:06:52.630 --> 00:06:56.575
Speaker 0: when the Supreme Court made a decision, right?
00:06:56.575 --> 00:07:00.575
Speaker 0: So that's our legal case and then in the meantime, it's fighting for
00:07:00.575 --> 00:07:02.735
Speaker 0: and protecting
00:07:02.735 --> 00:07:06.735
Speaker 0: wins that we have had where in California for example, as is
00:07:06.735 --> 00:07:09.055
Speaker 0: in two other states,
00:07:09.055 --> 00:07:13.055
Speaker 0: there's the states have simply, well really it's the voters have simply said
00:07:13.280 --> 00:07:14.160
Speaker 0: no.
00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.840
Speaker 0: The first stage of the election process doesn't belong to you two parties, it
00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:21.840
Speaker 0: belongs to the voters and therefore everybody is gonna be treated
00:07:21.840 --> 00:07:22.775
Speaker 0: the same.
00:07:22.775 --> 00:07:26.775
Speaker 0: And so that's maybe a mouthful but but that's
00:07:26.775 --> 00:07:27.895
Speaker 0: what we're up to.
00:07:27.895 --> 00:07:29.015
Speaker 1: I mean, I love it.
00:07:29.015 --> 00:07:33.015
Speaker 1: Well, you know, the independent voter, right, the independent party, it's
00:07:33.175 --> 00:07:36.455
Speaker 1: it's one of those things where right now, like, if anybody's like, I'm voting
00:07:36.455 --> 00:07:39.910
Speaker 1: third party, people will like attack them on social media, like, don't weaken the
00:07:39.910 --> 00:07:40.230
Speaker 1: vote.
00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:44.230
Speaker 1: But, like, I think a lot of people are more identifying with independent
00:07:44.550 --> 00:07:47.110
Speaker 1: or maybe just, like, not those guys.
00:07:47.110 --> 00:07:47.310
Speaker 1: Right?
00:07:47.270 --> 00:07:49.510
Speaker 1: I don't like, does that make me an independent?
00:07:49.510 --> 00:07:50.150
Speaker 1: I don't know.
00:07:50.150 --> 00:07:50.390
Speaker 1: Right?
00:07:50.390 --> 00:07:53.605
Speaker 1: So what who what is who is the independent voter?
00:07:53.605 --> 00:07:57.605
Speaker 1: Is that a growing, faction of people, or has it always been there
00:07:57.605 --> 00:07:59.925
Speaker 1: just not given the attention it deserves?
00:07:59.925 --> 00:08:02.965
Speaker 0: Well well, one, I think it's grown a lot.
00:08:02.965 --> 00:08:06.390
Speaker 0: I mean, if you go to, like, my parents and stuff in the older
00:08:06.390 --> 00:08:09.830
Speaker 0: generations, really, that, you know, you define you have it was more defining.
00:08:09.830 --> 00:08:10.070
Speaker 0: Right?
00:08:10.070 --> 00:08:11.590
Speaker 0: This is a Republican family.
00:08:11.590 --> 00:08:13.030
Speaker 0: This is a Democrat family.
00:08:13.030 --> 00:08:16.710
Speaker 0: I think, you know, I'm in my forties now, and we're the folks in
00:08:16.710 --> 00:08:20.710
Speaker 0: the working world kinda, you know, running businesses and having kids and stuff.
00:08:20.710 --> 00:08:24.710
Speaker 0: And, like, I don't know any of my friends that define themselves
00:08:24.905 --> 00:08:28.905
Speaker 0: as, you know, even even my Republican friends, Democrat friends, it's it's
00:08:28.985 --> 00:08:31.305
Speaker 0: not by definition of who they are.
00:08:31.305 --> 00:08:31.705
Speaker 0: Right?
00:08:31.705 --> 00:08:32.025
Speaker 0: Right.
00:08:32.025 --> 00:08:35.065
Speaker 0: And we see that all the way down, and the younger generations are really
00:08:35.065 --> 00:08:35.625
Speaker 0: rejecting it.
00:08:35.625 --> 00:08:39.200
Speaker 0: They're like, we have five thousand choices of everything and you're telling me I
00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.720
Speaker 0: gotta pick that.
00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.760
Speaker 0: All of the things they agree with or all of the things they agree
00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:46.800
Speaker 0: with and that's what I get that's my political participation.
00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:47.440
Speaker 0: Right?
00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.775
Speaker 0: So you you see that represented in the in the polling that you know,
00:08:50.775 --> 00:08:54.615
Speaker 0: almost fifty percent of people now say I'm an independent voter.
00:08:54.615 --> 00:08:57.495
Speaker 0: But your question, you know, people always ask me what is an independent vote?
00:08:57.495 --> 00:08:58.935
Speaker 0: Like what are independent voters saying?
00:08:58.935 --> 00:08:59.735
Speaker 0: I go, I don't know.
00:08:59.735 --> 00:09:01.175
Speaker 0: Maybe you should ask them, right?
00:09:01.175 --> 00:09:02.375
Speaker 0: That's part of the problem.
00:09:02.375 --> 00:09:05.870
Speaker 0: These pollsters and the media, they never ask independent voters.
00:09:05.870 --> 00:09:09.870
Speaker 0: They only ask them within the with a loaded question
00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:10.910
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:09:10.910 --> 00:09:14.750
Speaker 0: In the context of the Republican and Democratic conversation.
00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:18.750
Speaker 0: But I always say, look, we're the small I Independent Voter Project.
00:09:18.775 --> 00:09:19.015
Speaker 0: Okay.
00:09:19.015 --> 00:09:23.015
Speaker 0: Which means there can be people that are left of the Democratic Party, right
00:09:23.015 --> 00:09:27.015
Speaker 0: of the Republican Party, people in the Republican Party, people in the Democratic
00:09:27.335 --> 00:09:28.055
Speaker 0: Party.
00:09:28.055 --> 00:09:31.920
Speaker 0: We define independent by thinking for yourself, Right?
00:09:31.920 --> 00:09:35.920
Speaker 0: Not saying all of my positions are represented by whatever
00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:40.080
Speaker 0: the party decides at their convention is the position I have
00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.760
Speaker 0: to take for everything.
00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:42.080
Speaker 0: Right?
00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.920
Speaker 0: And that's our definition independent voter.
00:09:43.920 --> 00:09:47.920
Speaker 0: And what it comes down to is every individual has different perspectives, has
00:09:48.095 --> 00:09:51.855
Speaker 0: different beliefs, has different reasons for why they do different things.
00:09:51.855 --> 00:09:55.855
Speaker 0: And we can only have a government that truly represents
00:09:55.935 --> 00:09:59.560
Speaker 0: us if you're allowed to hold different positions.
00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:01.320
Speaker 0: So that's that's all we're trying to do.
00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:05.320
Speaker 0: We're trying to realign the incentives which right now the election process
00:10:05.560 --> 00:10:09.560
Speaker 0: and frankly the whole political industry has incentivized people just to,
00:10:10.280 --> 00:10:12.280
Speaker 0: you know, be saluters.
00:10:12.280 --> 00:10:16.280
Speaker 0: And, you know, we reject that philosophy and, you know,
00:10:16.445 --> 00:10:20.445
Speaker 0: so we we bring on the ire of both sides.
00:10:20.685 --> 00:10:24.685
Speaker 0: Just like Donald Trump's been attacking the nonpartisan primary in
00:10:24.685 --> 00:10:28.685
Speaker 0: Alaska, it's it's Democrats and folks on the left that attack the nonpartisan
00:10:29.030 --> 00:10:30.390
Speaker 0: primary in California.
00:10:30.390 --> 00:10:33.990
Speaker 0: It's truly I mean, you see the similar thing with the gerrymandering.
00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:34.790
Speaker 0: Right?
00:10:34.790 --> 00:10:38.710
Speaker 0: They both grandstand when it's in a state they don't control saying, oh, look
00:10:38.710 --> 00:10:39.430
Speaker 0: at them.
00:10:39.430 --> 00:10:41.705
Speaker 0: They're abusing the political process.
00:10:41.705 --> 00:10:44.825
Speaker 0: And then they go well but we're gonna do it in states we control
00:10:44.825 --> 00:10:46.905
Speaker 0: because they're doing it in states they control.
00:10:46.905 --> 00:10:47.225
Speaker 0: Right?
00:10:47.225 --> 00:10:49.305
Speaker 0: And so and it's just a cyclical thing.
00:10:49.305 --> 00:10:51.945
Speaker 0: So who always loses in every single fight?
00:10:51.945 --> 00:10:53.385
Speaker 1: The voters.
00:10:53.385 --> 00:10:57.385
Speaker 0: The small I independent voter that says, I don't care about your
00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.520
Speaker 0: little bullshit game.
00:10:59.520 --> 00:11:00.560
Speaker 0: Sorry, but I'm sorry.
00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:01.440
Speaker 0: We're my friends.
00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:02.320
Speaker 0: Right?
00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.160
Speaker 0: So really, we're just saying, look.
00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:08.160
Speaker 0: You got a bunch of players out there playing a game and
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.000
Speaker 0: where are the umpires?
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:10.565
Speaker 0: Right?
00:11:10.565 --> 00:11:14.165
Speaker 0: Can't we just have a few umpires that are that are calling balls and
00:11:14.165 --> 00:11:15.285
Speaker 0: strikes fairly?
00:11:15.285 --> 00:11:16.325
Speaker 1: Real shots.
00:11:16.325 --> 00:11:16.725
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:11:16.725 --> 00:11:17.365
Speaker 0: Right?
00:11:17.365 --> 00:11:21.365
Speaker 1: Well and especially now when you know, I I don't really know
00:11:21.445 --> 00:11:24.325
Speaker 1: what's going on too much in the Republican party because I I I I
00:11:24.325 --> 00:11:25.870
Speaker 1: do everything I can to ignore that.
00:11:25.870 --> 00:11:28.910
Speaker 1: But I know in the Democratic side, it's like, we're you know, we don't
00:11:28.910 --> 00:11:29.470
Speaker 1: like Schumer.
00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:31.150
Speaker 1: We don't like we don't like Jeffries.
00:11:31.150 --> 00:11:32.030
Speaker 1: We don't like Booker.
00:11:32.030 --> 00:11:35.470
Speaker 1: Like, we want those guys out, and no matter what we say, they don't
00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:36.190
Speaker 1: listen.
00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:37.790
Speaker 1: We say we want Israel out.
00:11:37.790 --> 00:11:38.830
Speaker 1: We want APAC out.
00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:39.790
Speaker 1: What does Schumer do?
00:11:39.790 --> 00:11:43.445
Speaker 1: He goes and, like, goes to Israel the same week he's supposed to be
00:11:43.445 --> 00:11:47.445
Speaker 1: working and praises I mean, it's like it's bizarro world.
00:11:47.685 --> 00:11:47.925
Speaker 1: Right?
00:11:47.925 --> 00:11:51.445
Speaker 1: And I know inside the Democratic party, there's just a lot of splintering because
00:11:51.445 --> 00:11:53.100
Speaker 1: it doesn't represent us anymore.
00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:55.900
Speaker 1: It it I don't I don't know if it ever did, but it definitely
00:11:55.900 --> 00:11:56.540
Speaker 1: doesn't now.
00:11:56.540 --> 00:11:59.580
Speaker 1: And it doesn't matter how much we scream, nothing changes.
00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:03.580
Speaker 1: And Schumer's still a representative, and he's not speaking
00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.500
Speaker 1: for his well, I don't know if he has constituents, but he's not speaking
00:12:07.500 --> 00:12:08.535
Speaker 1: for the party anymore.
00:12:08.535 --> 00:12:09.015
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:12:09.015 --> 00:12:13.015
Speaker 1: I think these next elections I just saw in,
00:12:13.895 --> 00:12:14.695
Speaker 1: where was it?
00:12:14.695 --> 00:12:15.575
Speaker 1: Some state.
00:12:15.575 --> 00:12:16.615
Speaker 1: Oh, I can't think of it.
00:12:16.615 --> 00:12:18.935
Speaker 1: I just saw it, but they had a bunch of elections, and they all
00:12:18.935 --> 00:12:20.455
Speaker 1: went progressive, all of them.
00:12:20.455 --> 00:12:23.895
Speaker 1: Like, it was no no like, it was all progressive.
00:12:23.895 --> 00:12:24.890
Speaker 1: One every single election.
00:12:24.890 --> 00:12:27.090
Speaker 1: It was, like, twelve elections in some state.
00:12:27.090 --> 00:12:28.610
Speaker 1: Every single one went progressive.
00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:31.010
Speaker 1: So I really feel like we're heading in that direction.
00:12:31.010 --> 00:12:33.890
Speaker 1: So let let's talk about who's pushing back on this.
00:12:33.890 --> 00:12:34.130
Speaker 1: Right?
00:12:34.130 --> 00:12:36.210
Speaker 1: Like, who wins,
00:12:36.210 --> 00:12:40.210
Speaker 1: you know, when election reform doesn't happen?
00:12:40.905 --> 00:12:43.385
Speaker 0: Party leadership, most simply.
00:12:43.385 --> 00:12:47.385
Speaker 0: Leadership party leadership and the people who fund who in the special interest.
00:12:47.705 --> 00:12:47.945
Speaker 0: Right?
00:12:47.945 --> 00:12:49.705
Speaker 0: And it's most it's it's real simple.
00:12:49.705 --> 00:12:51.545
Speaker 0: Take take New Jersey.
00:12:51.545 --> 00:12:53.305
Speaker 0: That's where we filed our first case.
00:12:53.305 --> 00:12:54.500
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:12:54.500 --> 00:12:58.500
Speaker 0: They have purely closed primaries which means you don't join a party, you can't
00:12:58.580 --> 00:12:59.780
Speaker 0: vote.
00:12:59.780 --> 00:13:03.220
Speaker 0: The decision there that we challenged at the Third Circuit, we said, you know,
00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:06.340
Speaker 0: right, we said look that's a violation of our First Amendment right.
00:13:06.340 --> 00:13:10.340
Speaker 0: Literally, the state of the law, they issued a one judge
00:13:10.375 --> 00:13:14.375
Speaker 0: signed on to the the unpublished opinion, which means, hey, nobody
00:13:14.615 --> 00:13:16.375
Speaker 0: else should be citing this case.
00:13:16.375 --> 00:13:20.375
Speaker 0: But we're and nevertheless, this is gonna be our decision is when
00:13:20.455 --> 00:13:24.455
Speaker 0: voters are confronted between a choice of whether depart whether to participate
00:13:24.880 --> 00:13:28.880
Speaker 0: in a primary election or whether not to join a party,
00:13:28.880 --> 00:13:32.800
Speaker 0: if voters want to participate, they should simply join the party.
00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:34.800
Speaker 0: That's the language from the court.
00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:36.505
Speaker 0: Simply join the party.
00:13:36.505 --> 00:13:38.185
Speaker 0: Which is what we're challenging.
00:13:38.185 --> 00:13:38.425
Speaker 0: Right?
00:13:38.425 --> 00:13:40.985
Speaker 0: We're saying are you serious?
00:13:40.985 --> 00:13:44.745
Speaker 0: This is America, you know, there's a First Amendment right not to join a
00:13:44.745 --> 00:13:45.545
Speaker 0: party.
00:13:45.545 --> 00:13:49.225
Speaker 0: And so, you know, it's that con that conflict and you say well why?
00:13:49.225 --> 00:13:50.265
Speaker 0: That seems pretty simple.
00:13:50.265 --> 00:13:53.140
Speaker 0: The common person, you don't have to have a law degree to understand that
00:13:53.140 --> 00:13:55.700
Speaker 0: that that seems like it's conflicting with a right of ours.
00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:59.220
Speaker 0: You say well what does a decision in our favor mean?
00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.780
Speaker 0: It upends the entire election process.
00:14:01.780 --> 00:14:05.215
Speaker 0: But getting back to your question, why do the folks who who control the
00:14:05.215 --> 00:14:06.895
Speaker 0: system wanna keep it that way?
00:14:06.895 --> 00:14:09.455
Speaker 0: Well, if you have closed primaries,
00:14:09.455 --> 00:14:11.135
Speaker 0: on top of that, you have gerrymandering.
00:14:11.135 --> 00:14:15.135
Speaker 0: In in New Jersey, there was not one single on a state basis.
00:14:15.375 --> 00:14:19.375
Speaker 0: Not one race was decided between within ten election points when
00:14:19.390 --> 00:14:20.750
Speaker 0: we filed the lawsuit.
00:14:20.750 --> 00:14:24.750
Speaker 0: Ten points, which means there's zero competition in the general.
00:14:25.390 --> 00:14:26.750
Speaker 0: Which means what's important?
00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:28.590
Speaker 0: The primary.
00:14:28.590 --> 00:14:32.590
Speaker 0: Now, I don't know some states you may have thirty, forty, fifty
00:14:32.985 --> 00:14:34.265
Speaker 0: percent turnout.
00:14:34.265 --> 00:14:37.945
Speaker 0: New Jersey's turnouts like ten percent in their primaries.
00:14:37.945 --> 00:14:39.305
Speaker 0: Ten.
00:14:39.305 --> 00:14:42.505
Speaker 0: So break that up say it's five and five.
00:14:42.505 --> 00:14:46.505
Speaker 0: Five in the Democrat, five in the Republican and then you have plurality elections.
00:14:46.745 --> 00:14:47.240
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:48.920
Speaker 0: Three four candidates.
00:14:48.920 --> 00:14:52.920
Speaker 0: You can you can win a race with three percent of the electorate because
00:14:52.920 --> 00:14:55.400
Speaker 0: there's no general, doesn't matter.
00:14:55.400 --> 00:14:58.280
Speaker 0: So if you have a lot of money,
00:14:58.280 --> 00:14:59.560
Speaker 0: what do you want to do?
00:14:59.560 --> 00:15:03.560
Speaker 0: I only have to convince these three percent,
00:15:03.615 --> 00:15:03.855
Speaker 0: Right?
00:15:03.855 --> 00:15:07.855
Speaker 0: Why would I want why would I want a process where more people can
00:15:07.855 --> 00:15:11.615
Speaker 0: vote who I don't know who how they're gonna vote because they're not so
00:15:11.615 --> 00:15:15.615
Speaker 0: devoutly partisan that they might think for themselves.
00:15:15.660 --> 00:15:15.980
Speaker 0: Right.
00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:19.020
Speaker 0: Why would I want why would I wanna have to go into the competition
00:15:19.020 --> 00:15:22.460
Speaker 0: of a general election where I don't know what's gonna be a outcome in
00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:23.900
Speaker 0: a competitive general election?
00:15:23.900 --> 00:15:27.900
Speaker 0: I wanna know who I gonna pick before the
00:15:27.900 --> 00:15:29.180
Speaker 0: election even starts.
00:15:29.180 --> 00:15:29.945
Speaker 0: Right?
00:15:29.945 --> 00:15:33.945
Speaker 0: So that is this not picking on the Democrats or the Republicans because
00:15:34.265 --> 00:15:36.185
Speaker 0: they both do it.
00:15:36.185 --> 00:15:37.065
Speaker 0: Both of them.
00:15:37.065 --> 00:15:41.065
Speaker 0: And what you're seeing on the Democratic side, the infighting is the exact same
00:15:41.225 --> 00:15:42.505
Speaker 0: thing you are seeing on there.
00:15:42.505 --> 00:15:44.400
Speaker 0: That's happening in the Republican
00:15:44.400 --> 00:15:45.120
Speaker 1: imagine so.
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.240
Speaker 1: I would hope so for crying out loud, to be honest,
00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:48.560
Speaker 0: you know.
00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:49.280
Speaker 0: Well, it is.
00:15:49.280 --> 00:15:53.280
Speaker 0: And and the problem is because of the way the system is constructed,
00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:58.720
Speaker 0: leadership has such a heavy hammer that, you know, you
00:15:59.015 --> 00:16:02.135
Speaker 0: people hear the term primaried.
00:16:02.135 --> 00:16:02.775
Speaker 0: Right?
00:16:02.775 --> 00:16:04.695
Speaker 0: I'm gonna primary them.
00:16:04.695 --> 00:16:06.695
Speaker 0: Well, what does that mean?
00:16:06.695 --> 00:16:07.095
Speaker 1: Right.
00:16:07.095 --> 00:16:11.095
Speaker 0: That means you can take away a representative in a slow turnout
00:16:11.335 --> 00:16:15.335
Speaker 0: primary when three percent of the electorate can take
00:16:15.370 --> 00:16:16.330
Speaker 0: them out.
00:16:16.330 --> 00:16:19.610
Speaker 0: Like maybe they deserve to be taken out, but let's take them out with
00:16:19.610 --> 00:16:22.730
Speaker 0: everybody not take them out with three percent of the electorate.
00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:23.050
Speaker 0: Right?
00:16:23.050 --> 00:16:27.050
Speaker 0: So that's all we're saying is that there's a very small
00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:31.035
Speaker 0: and vocal group that really controls,
00:16:31.035 --> 00:16:35.035
Speaker 0: the the the levers, and it's really the, you
00:16:35.115 --> 00:16:38.075
Speaker 0: know, that's really all that matters.
00:16:38.075 --> 00:16:40.795
Speaker 0: And you know, you go all the way to the presidential elections.
00:16:40.795 --> 00:16:44.730
Speaker 0: Why are we why why do eight states matter and nobody else does?
00:16:44.730 --> 00:16:45.370
Speaker 1: Right.
00:16:45.370 --> 00:16:45.570
Speaker 1: Right.
00:16:45.530 --> 00:16:48.010
Speaker 1: Well, I'm from DC, so don't get me started.
00:16:48.010 --> 00:16:50.890
Speaker 1: I'm like, we pay the highest taxes and have no representation.
00:16:50.890 --> 00:16:54.250
Speaker 1: So it's like, you know, we we've been talking about statehood and all that
00:16:54.250 --> 00:16:55.130
Speaker 1: for a long time.
00:16:55.130 --> 00:16:55.690
Speaker 1: So it's a
00:16:55.690 --> 00:16:56.074
Speaker 0: Right.
00:16:56.074 --> 00:16:56.274
Speaker 0: It's
00:16:56.266 --> 00:16:57.210
Speaker 1: a whole with
00:16:57.210 --> 00:16:58.170
Speaker 0: no representation.
00:16:58.170 --> 00:16:59.875
Speaker 1: We've been putting our license plates.
00:16:59.875 --> 00:17:03.875
Speaker 0: That's the nonpartisan primaries with ranked choice voting and that was pretty revolutionary.
00:17:04.835 --> 00:17:05.635
Speaker 0: Right?
00:17:05.635 --> 00:17:09.635
Speaker 0: And I point to that as one of the largest successes of the reform
00:17:09.715 --> 00:17:10.115
Speaker 0: space.
00:17:10.115 --> 00:17:10.995
Speaker 0: Why?
00:17:10.995 --> 00:17:13.890
Speaker 0: Because it is a one party city.
00:17:13.890 --> 00:17:14.450
Speaker 0: Right?
00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:16.210
Speaker 0: Defact.
00:17:16.210 --> 00:17:20.210
Speaker 0: Overwhelmingly Democrat where okay take take New
00:17:20.930 --> 00:17:21.650
Speaker 0: York.
00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:21.970
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:17:21.970 --> 00:17:25.970
Speaker 0: Everybody everybody tries to compare ranked choice like it's the same everywhere.
00:17:26.210 --> 00:17:30.210
Speaker 0: My view is, okay, do it anywhere and it's better
00:17:30.365 --> 00:17:31.965
Speaker 0: than what you had before.
00:17:31.965 --> 00:17:32.525
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:17:32.525 --> 00:17:36.045
Speaker 0: Because you're giving some folks more choice, but there's fundamentally different ways to do
00:17:36.045 --> 00:17:36.525
Speaker 0: it.
00:17:36.525 --> 00:17:40.445
Speaker 0: The reason why you have ranked choice voting in a closed primary in New
00:17:40.445 --> 00:17:44.445
Speaker 0: Jersey is that was a deal struck between the reformers
00:17:44.780 --> 00:17:48.780
Speaker 0: and the establishment that said look the Democratic
00:17:49.020 --> 00:17:51.100
Speaker 0: establishment controls New York.
00:17:51.100 --> 00:17:52.140
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:52.780
Speaker 0: I get it.
00:17:52.780 --> 00:17:54.220
Speaker 0: You want more competition.
00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:55.820
Speaker 0: You guys want to reform it.
00:17:55.820 --> 00:17:59.795
Speaker 0: We'll do it, But just do it in the primary because if you do
00:17:59.795 --> 00:18:03.795
Speaker 0: it in the general, we we worry that maybe a third party or
00:18:03.955 --> 00:18:07.955
Speaker 0: for god forbid a a Republican might actually win because that would introduce
00:18:08.035 --> 00:18:08.995
Speaker 0: competition.
00:18:08.995 --> 00:18:12.600
Speaker 0: So let's limit that competition into our own primary.
00:18:12.600 --> 00:18:15.960
Speaker 0: And that way at least we're gonna have somebody that's that's our guy or
00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:17.640
Speaker 0: girl win.
00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:17.880
Speaker 0: Right?
00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:21.880
Speaker 0: What what DC did was fundamentally different.
00:18:22.360 --> 00:18:26.360
Speaker 0: They said, let's have nonpartisan primaries.
00:18:27.315 --> 00:18:31.315
Speaker 0: So everybody competes on the same terms on the primary
00:18:31.315 --> 00:18:35.315
Speaker 0: and let's allow us to rank in the general election.
00:18:35.955 --> 00:18:39.955
Speaker 0: So the party and the voters is truly agnostic.
00:18:40.910 --> 00:18:44.910
Speaker 0: It's a it's a level playing field for everybody and, you know, whether they
00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:48.350
Speaker 0: get to the final implementation of that and they actually do it, I don't
00:18:48.350 --> 00:18:51.070
Speaker 0: know I actually don't know where exactly where you're at right now on a
00:18:51.070 --> 00:18:55.070
Speaker 0: municipal level, but the implementation can obviously, hang things
00:18:55.125 --> 00:18:56.405
Speaker 0: up for a while.
00:18:56.405 --> 00:18:59.125
Speaker 0: But that's a revolutionary
00:18:59.125 --> 00:19:01.685
Speaker 0: version of ranked choice voting.
00:19:01.685 --> 00:19:05.685
Speaker 0: Not that others aren't don't have some component of revolutionary nature but
00:19:05.845 --> 00:19:09.450
Speaker 0: you know it's much more similar to what they did in Alaska.
00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:09.690
Speaker 0: Right?
00:19:09.690 --> 00:19:13.050
Speaker 0: And Alaska has what they call top four primaries.
00:19:13.050 --> 00:19:17.050
Speaker 0: So you take it's Alaska and California are similar in that everybody's treated the
00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:21.130
Speaker 0: same in the primary and then in California
00:19:21.210 --> 00:19:25.210
Speaker 0: to advance to the general election to compete regardless of party and Alaska
00:19:25.545 --> 00:19:26.585
Speaker 0: four advance.
00:19:26.585 --> 00:19:27.225
Speaker 0: Right?
00:19:27.225 --> 00:19:31.225
Speaker 0: Now why does Trump go on one of his Twitter Twitter rages,
00:19:31.945 --> 00:19:35.945
Speaker 0: a couple weeks ago against Alaska, a Republican
00:19:36.100 --> 00:19:40.100
Speaker 0: state where they have a Murkowski is a Republican senator.
00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:41.700
Speaker 0: Right?
00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:45.300
Speaker 0: Well, because Murkowski doesn't do everything Trump says.
00:19:45.300 --> 00:19:45.860
Speaker 0: Right?
00:19:45.860 --> 00:19:48.675
Speaker 0: And he's frustrated because, well, how does she survive?
00:19:48.675 --> 00:19:51.155
Speaker 0: This is a Republican state.
00:19:51.155 --> 00:19:53.155
Speaker 0: I should be picking the senators in this state.
00:19:53.155 --> 00:19:54.435
Speaker 0: She's right?
00:19:54.435 --> 00:19:58.435
Speaker 0: Well, she survives because you have a nonpartisan primary with ranked choice
00:19:58.675 --> 00:20:02.675
Speaker 0: voting and her incentives are not to represent
00:20:03.250 --> 00:20:07.250
Speaker 0: the small faction of the the relatively small faction of the Republican
00:20:07.650 --> 00:20:11.090
Speaker 0: Party that will do everything the leadership says.
00:20:11.090 --> 00:20:14.690
Speaker 0: Her incentives are to represent a broader electorate of people.
00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:17.505
Speaker 0: And so that's how she survives.
00:20:17.505 --> 00:20:17.985
Speaker 0: Right?
00:20:17.985 --> 00:20:21.985
Speaker 0: And so it's this but I'm not picking on Donald Trump.
00:20:22.545 --> 00:20:26.385
Speaker 0: Because the Democratic leadership does the exact same thing.
00:20:26.385 --> 00:20:30.305
Speaker 0: So in terms of what's next, right, we have not announced this to the
00:20:30.305 --> 00:20:31.990
Speaker 0: world yet.
00:20:31.990 --> 00:20:34.070
Speaker 0: But I represent Independent Voter Project.
00:20:34.070 --> 00:20:35.830
Speaker 0: We authored the top two primary.
00:20:35.830 --> 00:20:39.590
Speaker 0: I took bullets from the rank choice voting community, the third parties, all that.
00:20:39.590 --> 00:20:40.870
Speaker 0: Why are you doing top two?
00:20:40.870 --> 00:20:42.950
Speaker 0: Because that just insulates the two parties.
00:20:42.950 --> 00:20:43.750
Speaker 0: Right?
00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:47.085
Speaker 0: Our primary purpose was to take out the one fundamental thing.
00:20:47.085 --> 00:20:47.885
Speaker 0: Right?
00:20:47.885 --> 00:20:50.125
Speaker 0: Parties don't belong to the parties.
00:20:50.125 --> 00:20:53.165
Speaker 0: I mean primaries don't belong to the parties, they belong to the voters.
00:20:53.165 --> 00:20:56.445
Speaker 0: That was the nonpartisan primary with top two.
00:20:56.445 --> 00:20:59.165
Speaker 0: We are now, what's next, saying you know what?
00:20:59.165 --> 00:20:59.725
Speaker 0: You're right.
00:20:59.725 --> 00:21:02.060
Speaker 0: Alaska's even better.
00:21:02.060 --> 00:21:02.700
Speaker 0: Right?
00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:06.700
Speaker 0: And we are going to author and introduce a top four primary
00:21:06.860 --> 00:21:08.380
Speaker 0: for California.
00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:09.020
Speaker 0: Right?
00:21:09.020 --> 00:21:11.900
Speaker 0: And so why is that next?
00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:15.900
Speaker 0: Well, you see all the media and everybody from Steve
00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:19.900
Speaker 0: Hilton on the right who's, you know, got Trump's endorsement
00:21:20.525 --> 00:21:24.525
Speaker 0: to the folks the the voices on the left are saying look at this
00:21:24.605 --> 00:21:26.525
Speaker 0: crazy situation in California.
00:21:26.525 --> 00:21:28.925
Speaker 0: Blame it on the top two primary.
00:21:28.925 --> 00:21:29.325
Speaker 0: Right?
00:21:29.325 --> 00:21:31.720
Speaker 0: Well, what are they really doing?
00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.080
Speaker 0: They're saying look at this unusual circumstances.
00:21:35.080 --> 00:21:38.760
Speaker 0: Look what somebody might get elected that you might fear is not who you
00:21:38.760 --> 00:21:39.720
Speaker 0: want.
00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:42.120
Speaker 0: Therefore, we should get rid of the top two primary.
00:21:42.120 --> 00:21:43.080
Speaker 0: And what will they do?
00:21:43.080 --> 00:21:44.680
Speaker 0: They'll go back to closed primaries.
00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:45.805
Speaker 1: Mhmm.
00:21:45.805 --> 00:21:47.005
Speaker 0: K?
00:21:47.005 --> 00:21:48.925
Speaker 0: All we're saying is, okay.
00:21:48.925 --> 00:21:51.805
Speaker 0: Justified, it could be better.
00:21:51.805 --> 00:21:54.525
Speaker 0: Well, then why don't we just do what Alaska did and go to top
00:21:54.525 --> 00:21:56.205
Speaker 0: four instead of top two?
00:21:56.205 --> 00:21:58.125
Speaker 0: So that's what we're doing.
00:21:58.125 --> 00:22:02.125
Speaker 0: We have a, a core campaign with some,
00:22:02.760 --> 00:22:06.760
Speaker 0: I don't know how else to describe it, but folks that usually aren't on
00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.920
Speaker 0: committees together because they come from different parts of the political sphere who are
00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:13.735
Speaker 0: very excited about, you know what?
00:22:13.735 --> 00:22:17.255
Speaker 0: Let's this is a time to come together and do something that's gonna, you
00:22:17.255 --> 00:22:21.255
Speaker 0: know, frankly upset people on our own side, the factions
00:22:21.495 --> 00:22:24.935
Speaker 0: on our own side that want the status quo.
00:22:24.935 --> 00:22:25.255
Speaker 0: Right?
00:22:25.255 --> 00:22:28.080
Speaker 0: So that's what's next for us.
00:22:28.080 --> 00:22:31.440
Speaker 0: It's probably the biggest fight we'll ever go into.
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:33.600
Speaker 0: We're way out resourced, but you know what?
00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:36.560
Speaker 0: We were way out resourced when we did the top two primary.
00:22:36.560 --> 00:22:40.000
Speaker 0: Both political parties were against us.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:43.685
Speaker 0: We were a combination of being lucky,
00:22:43.685 --> 00:22:47.685
Speaker 0: having things in place at the right time and we snuck it
00:22:47.685 --> 00:22:48.405
Speaker 0: through.
00:22:48.405 --> 00:22:52.005
Speaker 0: And they didn't they didn't know we were doing remember when I was I
00:22:52.005 --> 00:22:56.005
Speaker 0: said I was hired to to turn out independent voters to vote for
00:22:56.050 --> 00:22:59.970
Speaker 0: this initiative, which ironically was on a primary election ballot.
00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:02.530
Speaker 0: They never expected the level of turnout
00:23:02.530 --> 00:23:03.010
Speaker 1: Right.
00:23:03.010 --> 00:23:07.010
Speaker 0: That came, which is why they woke up, it passed,
00:23:07.170 --> 00:23:09.015
Speaker 0: and they said crap.
00:23:09.015 --> 00:23:09.815
Speaker 0: Right?
00:23:09.815 --> 00:23:12.935
Speaker 0: So we're not gonna be able to be that stealth about it this time,
00:23:12.935 --> 00:23:16.535
Speaker 0: but the good news is when we pull this stuff, I mean, we're in
00:23:16.535 --> 00:23:20.535
Speaker 0: a democratic state, when we pull this stuff, believe it or not,
00:23:20.535 --> 00:23:22.460
Speaker 0: democrats support it.
00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:26.460
Speaker 0: Just that your your small d, you know, Democrat that's not
00:23:26.780 --> 00:23:30.220
Speaker 0: it doesn't have any vested interest in the, you know, not trying to climb
00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:31.820
Speaker 0: the party ladder.
00:23:31.820 --> 00:23:34.220
Speaker 0: They're like ninety percent support it.
00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:35.175
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:23:35.175 --> 00:23:35.815
Speaker 0: Right?
00:23:35.815 --> 00:23:39.015
Speaker 0: So now all we're doing is gonna go out there and say, alright, if
00:23:39.015 --> 00:23:42.375
Speaker 0: you're really against this, tell your voters that you're against it.
00:23:42.375 --> 00:23:46.215
Speaker 0: Let them know where you really stand because you go out there talking about
00:23:46.215 --> 00:23:50.215
Speaker 0: how you're the great protectors
00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:56.660
Speaker 0: voter rights initiative and if you oppose it, you ought to be public about
00:23:56.660 --> 00:24:00.660
Speaker 0: it and let people know you do not support the equal right
00:24:00.675 --> 00:24:04.675
Speaker 0: to vote and you do not support more choice mostly.
00:24:04.995 --> 00:24:06.115
Speaker 1: I mean, that's fair.
00:24:06.115 --> 00:24:09.795
Speaker 1: You know, it really got me thinking about, you know, that three percent number
00:24:09.795 --> 00:24:13.155
Speaker 1: and when it's closed primary, how easy it is, like, with money.
00:24:13.155 --> 00:24:13.355
Speaker 1: Right?
00:24:13.315 --> 00:24:16.270
Speaker 1: Like, we talk about getting money out of politics when we think about APAC.
00:24:16.270 --> 00:24:20.270
Speaker 1: We think about these big things, but it can really boil down to something
00:24:20.430 --> 00:24:24.430
Speaker 1: such small little elections like this or big elections to small groups of
00:24:24.510 --> 00:24:26.830
Speaker 1: people, not that much money.
00:24:26.830 --> 00:24:29.870
Speaker 1: I've been in digital media for, you know, multimedia for twenty five years.
00:24:29.870 --> 00:24:33.645
Speaker 1: Like, you know, well crafted campaigns and viral content.
00:24:33.645 --> 00:24:33.885
Speaker 1: Right?
00:24:33.885 --> 00:24:36.125
Speaker 1: I mean, we can look at Becerra right now.
00:24:36.125 --> 00:24:36.445
Speaker 1: Right?
00:24:36.445 --> 00:24:38.045
Speaker 1: Like, he is killing it.
00:24:38.045 --> 00:24:38.285
Speaker 1: Right?
00:24:38.285 --> 00:24:40.365
Speaker 1: Like, he popped up on threads a week.
00:24:40.365 --> 00:24:42.285
Speaker 1: I've watched this entire thing happen.
00:24:42.285 --> 00:24:45.210
Speaker 1: He popped up on threads with eighteen hundred followers.
00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:47.370
Speaker 1: He's now at forty five thousand.
00:24:47.370 --> 00:24:49.370
Speaker 1: People are rallying around him.
00:24:49.370 --> 00:24:53.370
Speaker 1: He just hired the same team that I think did, like, Newsom or Mamdani.
00:24:53.370 --> 00:24:54.010
Speaker 1: I don't know.
00:24:54.010 --> 00:24:55.690
Speaker 1: So all his graphics are great.
00:24:55.690 --> 00:24:56.010
Speaker 1: You know?
00:24:56.010 --> 00:24:57.930
Speaker 1: He's, like, really coming out.
00:24:57.930 --> 00:25:01.695
Speaker 1: And because it shows you the power of a little social media, like, goes
00:25:01.695 --> 00:25:03.615
Speaker 1: a very, very long way.
00:25:03.615 --> 00:25:06.975
Speaker 1: And when you get the people behind you, it can go a really long
00:25:06.975 --> 00:25:07.535
Speaker 1: way.
00:25:07.535 --> 00:25:11.535
Speaker 1: So even in a very basic level, like, getting the money out of politics
00:25:11.855 --> 00:25:13.470
Speaker 1: starts
00:25:13.470 --> 00:25:14.270
Speaker 1: there.
00:25:14.270 --> 00:25:14.590
Speaker 1: Right?
00:25:14.590 --> 00:25:16.830
Speaker 1: Because if you only had to get three percent I could get three percent
00:25:16.830 --> 00:25:17.310
Speaker 1: of the people.
00:25:17.310 --> 00:25:19.950
Speaker 1: I got three percent of people in DC to vote for me one time.
00:25:19.950 --> 00:25:20.270
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:25:20.270 --> 00:25:20.750
Speaker 0: Exactly.
00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:22.190
Speaker 0: You know what I mean?
00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:22.670
Speaker 0: You're right.
00:25:22.670 --> 00:25:26.670
Speaker 0: And when you know, okay, I here's the folks and I know how they
00:25:26.750 --> 00:25:30.645
Speaker 0: think and I know, like, what kind of voters they are than to go
00:25:30.645 --> 00:25:31.445
Speaker 0: and manipulate.
00:25:31.445 --> 00:25:31.765
Speaker 0: Alright?
00:25:31.765 --> 00:25:32.245
Speaker 0: We do.
00:25:32.245 --> 00:25:35.445
Speaker 0: We talk a lot about getting money out of politics, which is an important
00:25:35.445 --> 00:25:36.005
Speaker 0: issue.
00:25:36.005 --> 00:25:38.805
Speaker 0: It's it's not what we are hyper focused on.
00:25:38.805 --> 00:25:42.610
Speaker 0: There's some birth like I, you know, go look at groups like American Promise,
00:25:42.610 --> 00:25:46.610
Speaker 0: fantastic organization and that's their their real focus.
00:25:46.610 --> 00:25:49.570
Speaker 0: But we talk about getting money out of politics.
00:25:49.570 --> 00:25:53.570
Speaker 0: What we don't talk about is, you know, I think actually, our
00:25:53.605 --> 00:25:55.605
Speaker 0: initiative is a money in politics initiative.
00:25:55.605 --> 00:25:59.605
Speaker 0: You say, well, what about diffusing the the the,
00:25:59.685 --> 00:26:02.405
Speaker 0: right, the effectiveness of every dollar in politics.
00:26:02.405 --> 00:26:02.645
Speaker 0: Right?
00:26:02.645 --> 00:26:03.285
Speaker 1: Right.
00:26:03.285 --> 00:26:06.565
Speaker 0: When you when you say, hey, I know these are my you're saying, you
00:26:06.565 --> 00:26:08.030
Speaker 0: know, put it in economic terms.
00:26:08.030 --> 00:26:11.150
Speaker 0: I know these are the customers who are gonna buy our product.
00:26:11.150 --> 00:26:11.550
Speaker 0: Right?
00:26:11.550 --> 00:26:14.910
Speaker 0: And those are the ones I can spend money on and turn them out.
00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:15.630
Speaker 0: Right?
00:26:15.630 --> 00:26:17.870
Speaker 0: It's a lot easier to deploy your money.
00:26:17.870 --> 00:26:21.150
Speaker 0: But when you say, oh, I gotta go and I gotta convince all these
00:26:21.150 --> 00:26:23.665
Speaker 0: people that they should be customers.
00:26:23.665 --> 00:26:24.545
Speaker 1: Right.
00:26:24.545 --> 00:26:25.025
Speaker 0: Right?
00:26:25.025 --> 00:26:26.785
Speaker 0: That takes a lot more money.
00:26:26.785 --> 00:26:30.785
Speaker 0: And so you can you can effectively reduce the influence of politics
00:26:30.945 --> 00:26:33.985
Speaker 0: simply by creating competition.
00:26:33.985 --> 00:26:36.705
Speaker 1: Well and, you know, I I interviewed, Paige Loud.
00:26:36.705 --> 00:26:38.920
Speaker 1: She's running in Maine for some position.
00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:41.560
Speaker 1: I can't remember what, but she tried to get, like, the list from the
00:26:41.560 --> 00:26:44.760
Speaker 1: Democratic party of, like, people to reach out to, and, like, you have to
00:26:44.760 --> 00:26:46.360
Speaker 1: pay sixty five hundred dollars for that.
00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:47.080
Speaker 1: And I'm like, woah.
00:26:47.080 --> 00:26:47.280
Speaker 1: Woah.
00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:47.440
Speaker 1: Woah.
00:26:47.293 --> 00:26:47.493
Speaker 1: Woah.
00:26:47.347 --> 00:26:47.547
Speaker 1: Woah.
00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:48.200
Speaker 1: Woah.
00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:49.000
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.560
Speaker 1: Like, the money in politics trickles all the way down.
00:26:51.560 --> 00:26:55.560
Speaker 1: So, like, before even people get to a primary, they're already having to pay
00:26:55.685 --> 00:26:58.805
Speaker 1: a bunch of money from their own party to get names of voters that
00:26:58.805 --> 00:27:01.845
Speaker 1: they can solicit to, which is just mind boggling to me.
00:27:01.845 --> 00:27:05.845
Speaker 1: Like, shouldn't the democratic party want to give that information to the democratic
00:27:06.165 --> 00:27:07.445
Speaker 1: candidates, like, running?
00:27:07.445 --> 00:27:08.280
Speaker 1: Like, nope.
00:27:08.280 --> 00:27:09.640
Speaker 1: There's money in that too.
00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:09.880
Speaker 1: Right?
00:27:09.880 --> 00:27:12.120
Speaker 1: So it's like, it's all the way
00:27:12.120 --> 00:27:12.360
Speaker 0: down.
00:27:12.360 --> 00:27:16.360
Speaker 0: What people don't understand is that it within the that political and the stuff,
00:27:16.520 --> 00:27:20.120
Speaker 0: the frustrations we have, you go and look at the industry of politics.
00:27:20.120 --> 00:27:24.120
Speaker 0: Look, I'm I'm in I'm in the industry and I'm gonna, you know, in
00:27:24.225 --> 00:27:27.025
Speaker 0: the people in the industry consider me an outsider.
00:27:27.025 --> 00:27:30.705
Speaker 0: People who are on the outside consider me an insider because I've I've refused
00:27:30.705 --> 00:27:34.705
Speaker 0: to become a Republican or a Democratic firm and that's frankly
00:27:34.710 --> 00:27:36.150
Speaker 0: there aren't any others.
00:27:36.150 --> 00:27:36.630
Speaker 0: Right?
00:27:36.630 --> 00:27:37.030
Speaker 1: Right.
00:27:37.030 --> 00:27:41.030
Speaker 0: And you go everywhere from the data vendors to the consultants
00:27:41.990 --> 00:27:42.950
Speaker 0: to everybody else.
00:27:42.950 --> 00:27:45.110
Speaker 0: They have exclusive deals with each other.
00:27:45.110 --> 00:27:46.070
Speaker 0: They have okay.
00:27:46.070 --> 00:27:48.310
Speaker 0: You can work for us but you can't work for them.
00:27:48.310 --> 00:27:48.905
Speaker 0: Right?
00:27:48.905 --> 00:27:52.905
Speaker 0: I have been told many times by candidates that
00:27:52.985 --> 00:27:56.905
Speaker 0: said, Chad, I really want to work with you but they won't let me.
00:27:56.905 --> 00:27:58.105
Speaker 0: They won't let me.
00:27:58.105 --> 00:28:01.160
Speaker 0: And that happens all the and I, you know, I don't hold it against
00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:04.120
Speaker 0: that's what I mean it's really hard to stay out of the waltz, you
00:28:04.120 --> 00:28:07.720
Speaker 0: know, that they did this and they they're all, you know, there's different shades
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.920
Speaker 0: of, you know, people trying to make a living and working with the system
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:12.600
Speaker 0: that exists, right?
00:28:12.600 --> 00:28:14.305
Speaker 0: And
00:28:14.305 --> 00:28:16.625
Speaker 0: we're just hyper focused on the system.
00:28:16.625 --> 00:28:16.865
Speaker 0: Right?
00:28:16.865 --> 00:28:20.865
Speaker 0: I don't consider, you know, frankly, I don't I don't blame
00:28:20.865 --> 00:28:24.865
Speaker 0: Donald Trump and I don't blame the the leaders in California for
00:28:24.945 --> 00:28:26.145
Speaker 0: opposing what we're doing.
00:28:26.145 --> 00:28:29.550
Speaker 0: They're working in a system that's how they think, you know, here's the system
00:28:29.550 --> 00:28:30.030
Speaker 0: that exists.
00:28:30.030 --> 00:28:31.790
Speaker 0: Here's how I increase my influence.
00:28:31.790 --> 00:28:32.350
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:28:32.350 --> 00:28:33.710
Speaker 1: Right.
00:28:33.710 --> 00:28:35.390
Speaker 0: So
00:28:35.390 --> 00:28:37.230
Speaker 0: can I say I disagree with them?
00:28:37.230 --> 00:28:38.190
Speaker 0: Yes.
00:28:38.190 --> 00:28:42.005
Speaker 0: But can I say I actually understand why they're doing that?
00:28:42.005 --> 00:28:46.005
Speaker 0: All I'm trying to do is is have folks that aren't vested in this
00:28:46.085 --> 00:28:49.605
Speaker 0: hyper partisan kind of vitriolic
00:28:49.605 --> 00:28:53.605
Speaker 0: part discussion to say, hey we don't have to take that position.
00:28:53.685 --> 00:28:57.685
Speaker 0: We can go and say, you know what, let's just let's just change
00:28:57.840 --> 00:29:01.840
Speaker 0: the incentives of the entire election process, and we might have those same
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.200
Speaker 0: special interests.
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:07.200
Speaker 0: We might end up with those same representatives, but they will act
00:29:07.280 --> 00:29:11.280
Speaker 0: fundamentally differently because we've realigned the incentives.
00:29:11.795 --> 00:29:12.195
Speaker 0: Right?
00:29:12.195 --> 00:29:16.195
Speaker 0: There's a lot more good representatives in government today
00:29:16.515 --> 00:29:20.515
Speaker 0: that might even they may even oppose what we're doing
00:29:20.755 --> 00:29:22.530
Speaker 0: publicly,
00:29:22.530 --> 00:29:26.530
Speaker 0: but they understand it and they know they can be better representatives
00:29:27.170 --> 00:29:31.170
Speaker 0: with it because there's all kinds of times representatives make decisions they
00:29:31.250 --> 00:29:35.250
Speaker 0: don't really want to make, but they worried about getting primaried.
00:29:35.295 --> 00:29:39.295
Speaker 0: They're worried about their their, you know, a special interest
00:29:39.295 --> 00:29:43.295
Speaker 0: being upset with them and knowing, you know what, that special interest controls,
00:29:43.535 --> 00:29:46.175
Speaker 0: you know, x thousand votes.
00:29:46.175 --> 00:29:49.055
Speaker 0: And if I don't vote with them, I'm out.
00:29:49.055 --> 00:29:50.240
Speaker 0: Right?
00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:54.240
Speaker 0: So that so, you know, that's that's how the game works.
00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:56.000
Speaker 1: Indeed.
00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.600
Speaker 1: Well, for everybody who's listening and is feeling, like, really overwhelmed with all of
00:29:59.600 --> 00:30:00.320
Speaker 1: it, because it is.
00:30:00.320 --> 00:30:04.000
Speaker 1: It's like we're we're all paying more attention than we've ever paid before.
00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:04.320
Speaker 1: Right?
00:30:04.320 --> 00:30:05.440
Speaker 1: Because we have to.
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.315
Speaker 1: You know?
00:30:06.315 --> 00:30:07.275
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm fifty.
00:30:07.275 --> 00:30:10.715
Speaker 1: So and I'm from DC, so I probably paid attention more to politics than
00:30:10.715 --> 00:30:14.635
Speaker 1: most, but still did not consider myself a political person.
00:30:14.635 --> 00:30:17.915
Speaker 1: But you really you have to pay attention, but it's overwhelming.
00:30:17.915 --> 00:30:19.675
Speaker 1: And a lot of it doesn't make sense.
00:30:19.675 --> 00:30:19.915
Speaker 1: Right?
00:30:19.915 --> 00:30:23.915
Speaker 1: A lot of people are learning about basic government first time, myself
00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:25.434
Speaker 1: included in a lot of ways.
00:30:25.434 --> 00:30:25.634
Speaker 1: Right?
00:30:25.571 --> 00:30:26.640
Speaker 1: Like, I I left home at seventeen.
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:28.280
Speaker 1: I didn't go to college.
00:30:28.280 --> 00:30:32.280
Speaker 1: Like, I'm I'm I'm, you know, I'm a very, intelligent and experienced woman,
00:30:32.280 --> 00:30:33.400
Speaker 1: but I am not a book smart.
00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:33.880
Speaker 1: Right?
00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:35.560
Speaker 1: I actively did not pay attention.
00:30:35.560 --> 00:30:39.055
Speaker 1: And so a lot and I think that represents a lot of Americans, right,
00:30:39.055 --> 00:30:42.815
Speaker 1: who have no idea how elections work, how parties work, how primaries work.
00:30:42.815 --> 00:30:46.415
Speaker 1: They really they're really kind of, like, being overwhelmed by it right now.
00:30:46.415 --> 00:30:49.455
Speaker 1: So why should they care about election reform?
00:30:49.455 --> 00:30:52.095
Speaker 1: Because from where I'm seeing, it's like the core of everything.
00:30:52.095 --> 00:30:56.095
Speaker 1: Like, you turn that that knob and then it changes the whole trajectory
00:30:56.410 --> 00:30:57.130
Speaker 1: of everything else.
00:30:57.130 --> 00:30:58.730
Speaker 1: It's to me, it's like the first domino.
00:30:58.730 --> 00:30:59.050
Speaker 1: Right?
00:30:59.050 --> 00:31:00.650
Speaker 1: And the things that'll happen next.
00:31:00.650 --> 00:31:03.690
Speaker 1: We start with the election reform and then it gets to the bigger stuff
00:31:03.690 --> 00:31:04.810
Speaker 1: because it has to.
00:31:04.810 --> 00:31:05.370
Speaker 1: Right?
00:31:05.370 --> 00:31:09.370
Speaker 1: So why why from your opinion, why should people care?
00:31:09.745 --> 00:31:13.745
Speaker 0: Because for the re the same reason it's so difficult, right,
00:31:14.065 --> 00:31:18.065
Speaker 0: is that you can say I don't like that political stuff.
00:31:18.065 --> 00:31:19.105
Speaker 0: It's all nonsense.
00:31:19.105 --> 00:31:20.225
Speaker 0: It's all that stuff.
00:31:20.225 --> 00:31:20.625
Speaker 0: Right?
00:31:20.625 --> 00:31:24.625
Speaker 0: And the moment you disengage and don't do anything,
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:27.200
Speaker 0: that just then they benefit.
00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:28.480
Speaker 0: That's what they want, right?
00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:30.800
Speaker 0: Because then you have less people you need to convince.
00:31:30.800 --> 00:31:31.920
Speaker 0: Great, they don't vote.
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:33.600
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:31:33.600 --> 00:31:37.025
Speaker 0: The only way to say, you know what?
00:31:37.025 --> 00:31:41.025
Speaker 0: I trust my representatives again that are representing me
00:31:41.505 --> 00:31:45.505
Speaker 0: is to go at the core of the problem and force them to represent
00:31:45.505 --> 00:31:45.825
Speaker 0: you.
00:31:45.825 --> 00:31:49.825
Speaker 0: Because right now they've devised a system that that literally is designed
00:31:49.905 --> 00:31:53.610
Speaker 0: not to represent you And that's part of the system.
00:31:53.610 --> 00:31:56.970
Speaker 0: And if you play I always show and I take it back and here's
00:31:56.970 --> 00:31:57.690
Speaker 0: an analogy.
00:31:57.690 --> 00:32:01.530
Speaker 0: If you say, you know, they're like the Republican Democratic parties are like mom
00:32:01.530 --> 00:32:05.530
Speaker 0: and dad right now and they say, hey kids, you can have whatever
00:32:05.930 --> 00:32:09.930
Speaker 0: you want for dinner as long as it's from Burger King or McDonald's.
00:32:10.745 --> 00:32:11.545
Speaker 0: Right?
00:32:11.545 --> 00:32:14.265
Speaker 0: And some kids will just, you know, throw up their arms and say, oh,
00:32:14.265 --> 00:32:16.585
Speaker 0: hello, and say, well, you're not gonna eat.
00:32:16.585 --> 00:32:20.265
Speaker 0: And then we, you know, both parties right now today are saying, oh, everybody
00:32:20.265 --> 00:32:20.825
Speaker 0: has choice.
00:32:20.825 --> 00:32:21.710
Speaker 0: We have democracy.
00:32:21.710 --> 00:32:24.590
Speaker 0: We have the freedom to choose whatever we want.
00:32:24.590 --> 00:32:28.350
Speaker 0: Except we're only gonna put Burger King and McDonald's on the ballot.
00:32:28.350 --> 00:32:29.310
Speaker 0: Right?
00:32:29.310 --> 00:32:32.830
Speaker 0: So you say, Look, if you wanna eat somewhere else, you gotta get involved
00:32:32.830 --> 00:32:35.055
Speaker 0: in election reform.
00:32:35.055 --> 00:32:38.335
Speaker 0: And the good news is there's a lot more people waking up to it.
00:32:38.335 --> 00:32:42.335
Speaker 0: There's a lot more people willing to say, what they really believe
00:32:42.415 --> 00:32:46.415
Speaker 0: and believe it or not, there's there's legislators in the California legislature
00:32:46.815 --> 00:32:49.290
Speaker 0: right now that we've met with that has said, yep.
00:32:49.290 --> 00:32:52.490
Speaker 0: I will carry the bill, and I'm ready to do this, and I will
00:32:52.490 --> 00:32:55.210
Speaker 0: take the bullets.
00:32:55.210 --> 00:32:59.210
Speaker 1: If there was one one thing that like, one structural you change
00:32:59.290 --> 00:33:03.210
Speaker 1: that you can make about how we run elections in this country, what what
00:33:03.210 --> 00:33:04.755
Speaker 1: would it be?
00:33:04.755 --> 00:33:07.955
Speaker 0: Eliminate closed primaries, period.
00:33:07.955 --> 00:33:11.955
Speaker 1: I love a I love a simple, clear response.
00:33:11.955 --> 00:33:13.715
Speaker 1: Eliminate closed primaries.
00:33:13.715 --> 00:33:17.715
Speaker 0: It's a it's a it's a clear monopoly where we've handed over the
00:33:18.270 --> 00:33:22.270
Speaker 0: most important stage of the election process to two private organizations.
00:33:22.910 --> 00:33:25.790
Speaker 0: Political parties are not public organizations.
00:33:25.790 --> 00:33:26.030
Speaker 0: Right?
00:33:26.030 --> 00:33:29.630
Speaker 0: They they they argue they have this quasi public status and stuff and their
00:33:29.630 --> 00:33:31.055
Speaker 0: attorneys are very good.
00:33:31.055 --> 00:33:31.295
Speaker 0: Okay?
00:33:31.295 --> 00:33:34.815
Speaker 0: And I'm actually believe it or not, I'm not anti party.
00:33:34.815 --> 00:33:38.335
Speaker 0: I actually think our reforms will strengthen the party.
00:33:38.335 --> 00:33:42.335
Speaker 0: That the parties are really weak and divided and having all this stuff because
00:33:42.975 --> 00:33:44.415
Speaker 0: because they're not in set right?
00:33:44.415 --> 00:33:48.415
Speaker 0: They're they're they're very focused on protecting leadership and
00:33:49.260 --> 00:33:53.100
Speaker 0: you know people who want to control the outcome rather than trying to find
00:33:53.100 --> 00:33:55.580
Speaker 0: a competition of ideas, right?
00:33:55.580 --> 00:33:59.580
Speaker 0: So close primaries I think are are definitely at the
00:33:59.725 --> 00:34:03.725
Speaker 0: core of the partisanship because that's the source of control.
00:34:03.805 --> 00:34:07.805
Speaker 0: And as long as most states on a national level engage in
00:34:08.205 --> 00:34:12.205
Speaker 0: primaries that serve these private parties and not the voters,
00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:17.800
Speaker 0: then they're gonna be the ones that determine what are the issues, what are
00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:21.480
Speaker 0: the things that we're gonna rile people up against, what are the things that
00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:25.480
Speaker 0: we're gonna go and spend that special interest money to turn people out on,
00:34:26.145 --> 00:34:30.145
Speaker 0: And everybody else who has ideas or different ways of doing
00:34:30.385 --> 00:34:34.385
Speaker 0: things that doesn't fit within those binary boxes just get
00:34:34.465 --> 00:34:36.145
Speaker 0: sidelined.
00:34:36.145 --> 00:34:38.945
Speaker 1: You know, when you said something about the people that don't vote and just,
00:34:38.945 --> 00:34:42.140
Speaker 1: like, get disengaged and how it's like, a win for them, and it reminded
00:34:42.140 --> 00:34:45.500
Speaker 1: me, like, as a business owner about, like, subscription based income.
00:34:45.500 --> 00:34:49.260
Speaker 1: And you see this all like, this is where everybody's dealing this with in
00:34:49.260 --> 00:34:49.740
Speaker 1: your life.
00:34:49.740 --> 00:34:50.060
Speaker 1: Right?
00:34:50.060 --> 00:34:53.900
Speaker 1: But as a business owner, you want the people that sign up and never
00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:54.220
Speaker 1: use it.
00:34:54.220 --> 00:34:58.220
Speaker 1: It's like the gym membership, and they never cancel because it fattens your bank
00:34:58.405 --> 00:35:00.085
Speaker 1: account, and you don't have to give them anything.
00:35:00.085 --> 00:35:03.365
Speaker 1: And you kinda want those people, and, like, right in there is how the
00:35:03.365 --> 00:35:05.285
Speaker 1: whole thing is intrinsically flawed.
00:35:05.285 --> 00:35:05.525
Speaker 1: Right?
00:35:05.525 --> 00:35:08.725
Speaker 1: Because that's not how that's not how any of this should work, and this
00:35:08.725 --> 00:35:09.765
Speaker 1: is it's the same thing.
00:35:09.765 --> 00:35:13.140
Speaker 1: It's like when we don't vote, when we don't get involved, not only are
00:35:13.140 --> 00:35:16.660
Speaker 1: we not putting our voice in, but we're strengthening
00:35:16.660 --> 00:35:17.540
Speaker 1: the opposition.
00:35:17.540 --> 00:35:18.260
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:35:18.260 --> 00:35:21.940
Speaker 1: Now I'm the greedy business owner getting twenty nine dollars a year you know,
00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:25.940
Speaker 1: twenty nine dollars from you every month and not giving you nothing in return,
00:35:26.645 --> 00:35:27.685
Speaker 1: I'm getting richer.
00:35:27.685 --> 00:35:28.965
Speaker 1: I'm getting bigger.
00:35:28.965 --> 00:35:32.965
Speaker 1: I'm being more successful, and you're losing money twenty nine bucks
00:35:32.965 --> 00:35:35.285
Speaker 1: a month, and you have you've gained nothing.
00:35:35.285 --> 00:35:39.285
Speaker 1: And so it's a lot it's a big analogy for politics and kinda where
00:35:39.445 --> 00:35:40.380
Speaker 1: we're at right now.
00:35:40.380 --> 00:35:43.740
Speaker 1: Like, the you know, I have a lot of friends that didn't vote because
00:35:43.740 --> 00:35:47.020
Speaker 1: they just said, well, you know, the elections you know, who's president never changed
00:35:47.020 --> 00:35:50.460
Speaker 1: anything in my life, and now their businesses are crumbling and their business plans
00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:51.980
Speaker 1: and their investors have fallen out.
00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:53.335
Speaker 1: I'm like,
00:35:53.335 --> 00:35:55.495
Speaker 0: well Yep.
00:35:55.495 --> 00:35:57.655
Speaker 0: And that but I also say, okay.
00:35:57.655 --> 00:36:00.375
Speaker 0: We do focus a lot on president.
00:36:00.375 --> 00:36:04.135
Speaker 0: I mean, it does it still does start local and it's hard because the
00:36:04.135 --> 00:36:08.135
Speaker 0: national influence and the national debate has become
00:36:08.250 --> 00:36:11.930
Speaker 0: so strong that it's hard to even have a local discussion.
00:36:11.930 --> 00:36:15.930
Speaker 0: But getting involved, being effective at the local level
00:36:15.930 --> 00:36:18.730
Speaker 0: is still the most powerful thing you do because believe it or not, it
00:36:18.730 --> 00:36:20.645
Speaker 0: does actually matriculate up.
00:36:20.645 --> 00:36:23.285
Speaker 0: And you can find those people who are willing to stick their neck out.
00:36:23.285 --> 00:36:25.845
Speaker 0: And, you know, some of them will get in the office and then they'll
00:36:25.845 --> 00:36:28.485
Speaker 0: go and they'll they'll go start playing the game or whatever.
00:36:28.485 --> 00:36:31.205
Speaker 0: But, you know, that that is what it is.
00:36:31.205 --> 00:36:34.830
Speaker 0: But you can start by getting involved and understand The people at the local
00:36:34.830 --> 00:36:38.830
Speaker 0: level make decisions that are gonna affect your daily life way more than any
00:36:38.830 --> 00:36:39.630
Speaker 0: president will.
00:36:39.630 --> 00:36:40.510
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:36:40.510 --> 00:36:41.870
Speaker 1: Don't don't be a Fetterman.
00:36:41.870 --> 00:36:42.070
Speaker 1: Right?
00:36:42.030 --> 00:36:43.150
Speaker 1: That should be a verb.
00:36:43.150 --> 00:36:46.625
Speaker 1: Like, don't don't don't get Fetterman, do you know?
00:36:46.625 --> 00:36:49.505
Speaker 1: Well, that's a great point because I don't I think peep more and more
00:36:49.505 --> 00:36:52.305
Speaker 1: people are realizing, like, the sheriff is elected.
00:36:52.305 --> 00:36:53.025
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:36:53.025 --> 00:36:54.385
Speaker 1: These people are elected.
00:36:54.385 --> 00:36:58.225
Speaker 1: They're not, like, hired, and so you can control what's happening.
00:36:58.225 --> 00:37:01.530
Speaker 1: You can have a better handle on it by getting involved locally.
00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:05.530
Speaker 1: And I think for people that aren't, politically inclined, like, are you a good
00:37:05.530 --> 00:37:06.330
Speaker 1: graphic designer?
00:37:06.330 --> 00:37:07.450
Speaker 1: Are you good at building websites?
00:37:07.450 --> 00:37:11.290
Speaker 1: Like, everybody's got a skill, man, that you could you could contribute to whoever
00:37:11.290 --> 00:37:14.170
Speaker 1: it is that you believe in, and boy would they be grateful.
00:37:14.170 --> 00:37:18.015
Speaker 1: Because especially in the smaller elections, a lot of time like the woman I
00:37:18.015 --> 00:37:21.375
Speaker 1: mentioned, Paige Loud, she's a, you know, social worker.
00:37:21.375 --> 00:37:22.095
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:37:22.095 --> 00:37:24.495
Speaker 1: But she's grown up there, and she's lived in poverty.
00:37:24.495 --> 00:37:25.215
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:37:25.215 --> 00:37:28.975
Speaker 1: So she's like, she she speaks for the people, but it's not easy for
00:37:28.975 --> 00:37:32.175
Speaker 1: a social worker to quit her very low paying job to go run for
00:37:32.175 --> 00:37:32.580
Speaker 1: office.
00:37:32.580 --> 00:37:36.020
Speaker 1: And so people who are really stepping up really need that help.
00:37:36.020 --> 00:37:40.020
Speaker 1: And she's one of thousands and thousands and thousands of people across the
00:37:40.020 --> 00:37:40.420
Speaker 1: country.
00:37:40.420 --> 00:37:40.660
Speaker 1: Right?
00:37:40.660 --> 00:37:42.580
Speaker 1: She's not unique in that,
00:37:42.580 --> 00:37:45.860
Speaker 0: I mean, all the people all the time, you know, they're actually people that'll
00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:49.860
Speaker 0: come to me, right, because they're they're doctors or they're attorneys or
00:37:49.885 --> 00:37:53.885
Speaker 0: they're actually, they have very well, you know, they have well established careers and
00:37:53.885 --> 00:37:57.245
Speaker 0: stuff and they go and say I don't like this, I'm just gonna run
00:37:57.245 --> 00:38:01.245
Speaker 0: myself and then they, I get calls going I had no idea.
00:38:01.805 --> 00:38:05.805
Speaker 0: Like they don't care about any of having good ideas in
00:38:05.830 --> 00:38:06.950
Speaker 0: my qualifications.
00:38:06.950 --> 00:38:09.590
Speaker 0: I get I'm not allowed I won't get the voter list.
00:38:09.590 --> 00:38:10.790
Speaker 0: They won't give me the voter list.
00:38:10.790 --> 00:38:11.830
Speaker 0: They won't build a website.
00:38:11.830 --> 00:38:15.830
Speaker 0: They won't do anything because I haven't been a part of their party.
00:38:15.995 --> 00:38:18.955
Speaker 0: Know, I haven't been going to their party events for the last ten years,
00:38:18.955 --> 00:38:20.555
Speaker 0: and I haven't right?
00:38:20.555 --> 00:38:24.555
Speaker 0: And I go, well, welcome to politics.
00:38:25.115 --> 00:38:25.995
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:38:25.995 --> 00:38:27.995
Speaker 1: Here's a sport jacket.
00:38:27.995 --> 00:38:28.720
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:38:28.720 --> 00:38:30.480
Speaker 1: I mean, well, that's what it is.
00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:34.320
Speaker 1: Well, I do I am I am hopeful that there's, like, a a bubbling
00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.040
Speaker 1: up right now.
00:38:35.040 --> 00:38:35.360
Speaker 1: Right?
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:35.600
Speaker 1: You know?
00:38:35.600 --> 00:38:38.080
Speaker 1: And there's definitely, like, a blue wave, and that's cool and all.
00:38:38.080 --> 00:38:41.120
Speaker 1: But I think it's a progressive wave is kinda what we need, to be
00:38:41.120 --> 00:38:45.120
Speaker 1: honest, and more people allowed to think independently and vote that
00:38:45.195 --> 00:38:45.435
Speaker 1: way.
00:38:45.435 --> 00:38:48.715
Speaker 1: And, I I think this has been a really great conversation.
00:38:48.715 --> 00:38:50.395
Speaker 1: I appreciate the information.
00:38:50.395 --> 00:38:51.835
Speaker 0: I appreciate full disclosure.
00:38:51.835 --> 00:38:54.795
Speaker 0: You know, I don't see it as a red wave or a or a
00:38:54.795 --> 00:38:57.035
Speaker 0: blue wave or a or a progressive wave.
00:38:57.035 --> 00:39:01.035
Speaker 0: I believe that this is truly non ideological, and I actually think there's there's
00:39:01.490 --> 00:39:05.490
Speaker 0: I I bet you that at the core of a lot of people
00:39:05.490 --> 00:39:09.410
Speaker 0: who are consider themselves MAGA and the core of a lot of people who
00:39:09.410 --> 00:39:12.025
Speaker 0: considers themselves progressive
00:39:12.025 --> 00:39:13.625
Speaker 0: are the same frustrations.
00:39:13.625 --> 00:39:13.945
Speaker 0: Right?
00:39:13.945 --> 00:39:17.945
Speaker 0: But they just get on different they've they've they've decided that this is the
00:39:18.105 --> 00:39:22.105
Speaker 0: this is the the the the movement that's going to best,
00:39:22.105 --> 00:39:23.785
Speaker 0: you know, catalyze, you know, my thing.
00:39:23.785 --> 00:39:27.785
Speaker 0: And, you know, I think but the change really only occurs
00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:31.900
Speaker 0: when we come together and say, look, I actually am
00:39:31.980 --> 00:39:35.980
Speaker 0: as frustrated with you about things in my own party that
00:39:36.140 --> 00:39:37.660
Speaker 0: I can't change.
00:39:37.660 --> 00:39:41.020
Speaker 0: And the reason we can't change them is because we haven't realized we have
00:39:41.020 --> 00:39:44.435
Speaker 0: more in common together than we do with the leadership of both of our
00:39:44.435 --> 00:39:48.435
Speaker 0: parties who are just trying to rearrange deck chairs so that, they stay in
00:39:48.515 --> 00:39:49.555
Speaker 0: control.
00:39:49.555 --> 00:39:52.515
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's interesting you say that because I I've said that to
00:39:52.515 --> 00:39:55.160
Speaker 1: my dad numerous times and I've said that for years.
00:39:55.160 --> 00:39:57.800
Speaker 1: And I think if you really sat people down and put core issues, we'd
00:39:57.800 --> 00:39:58.680
Speaker 1: probably agree.
00:39:58.680 --> 00:40:00.040
Speaker 1: But I will push back.
00:40:00.040 --> 00:40:02.280
Speaker 1: I don't think MAGA is the same as anybody.
00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:03.480
Speaker 1: I think there's Republicans.
00:40:03.480 --> 00:40:06.040
Speaker 1: I think there's conservatives, and then I think there's MAGA.
00:40:06.040 --> 00:40:10.040
Speaker 1: And I think, that, like, I could I would never align any belief
00:40:10.225 --> 00:40:14.145
Speaker 1: system with MAGA because I feel that those people are,
00:40:14.145 --> 00:40:17.025
Speaker 1: a fringe of you know what I mean?
00:40:17.025 --> 00:40:19.025
Speaker 1: Like,
00:40:19.025 --> 00:40:21.585
Speaker 1: a fringe of absolute trash, to be honest.
00:40:21.585 --> 00:40:25.585
Speaker 1: Like, I can't really get down with people who are screaming for hurting other
00:40:25.720 --> 00:40:29.720
Speaker 1: people, and it's, you know, that but I don't think that all Republicans and
00:40:29.720 --> 00:40:31.320
Speaker 1: all conservatives are MAGA either.
00:40:31.320 --> 00:40:32.760
Speaker 1: I can distinguish the two.
00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:35.880
Speaker 1: But I I would say that most Americans, when you when you get out
00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:37.000
Speaker 1: of the pendulum swing.
00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:37.200
Speaker 1: Right?
00:40:37.160 --> 00:40:40.975
Speaker 1: Because, you know, there's a pendulum swing in both directions, I think, far more
00:40:40.975 --> 00:40:43.935
Speaker 1: to the right than the left or whatever that we can argue about that
00:40:43.935 --> 00:40:44.735
Speaker 1: another time.
00:40:44.735 --> 00:40:47.615
Speaker 1: But I think in the middle is where most Americans and I think that
00:40:47.615 --> 00:40:50.415
Speaker 1: if you really sat us down on core issues, we feel the same, but
00:40:50.415 --> 00:40:54.415
Speaker 1: we've been highly manipulated by a lot of messaging, by these closed
00:40:54.520 --> 00:40:57.000
Speaker 1: primaries, by money and right?
00:40:57.000 --> 00:40:59.880
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things, but I think really as a core, we all
00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:01.160
Speaker 1: want the same thing.
00:41:01.160 --> 00:41:03.800
Speaker 1: It's just different messaging and manipulation.
00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:05.545
Speaker 1: So,
00:41:05.545 --> 00:41:09.545
Speaker 1: you know, getting rid of closed primary seems like a great, place to start.
00:41:09.785 --> 00:41:11.625
Speaker 1: You know, let's let's have a full deck.
00:41:11.625 --> 00:41:14.505
Speaker 1: Let's get the whole deck, not just what the dealer wants to give us.
00:41:14.505 --> 00:41:14.825
Speaker 1: Right?
00:41:14.825 --> 00:41:18.410
Speaker 0: Just have some competition of ideas.
00:41:18.410 --> 00:41:22.410
Speaker 1: So before we head out, Chad, what is the one final,
00:41:22.410 --> 00:41:26.410
Speaker 1: message that you would like to share with our listeners today?
00:41:27.050 --> 00:41:30.330
Speaker 0: Is that, you know, one thing you can learn more, you can look around,
00:41:30.330 --> 00:41:31.825
Speaker 0: you may have a group in your state.
00:41:31.825 --> 00:41:34.865
Speaker 0: I mean, there's groups in Iowa that are pushing for open primaries.
00:41:34.865 --> 00:41:37.585
Speaker 0: There's groups in Florida, South Dakota, everywhere you go.
00:41:37.585 --> 00:41:39.265
Speaker 0: If you wanna get involved, join them.
00:41:39.265 --> 00:41:43.265
Speaker 0: If you wanna learn more, we have a news website, ivn dot us.
00:41:43.585 --> 00:41:46.500
Speaker 0: And, you know, I think to the best of my knowledge we're the only
00:41:46.500 --> 00:41:50.500
Speaker 0: one covering these types of election reform issues which are
00:41:50.500 --> 00:41:53.060
Speaker 0: becoming less wonky because more people are paying attention.
00:41:53.060 --> 00:41:53.540
Speaker 0: Exactly.
00:41:53.540 --> 00:41:57.540
Speaker 0: Don't underestimate the what is what a simple
00:41:57.545 --> 00:42:01.545
Speaker 0: phone call to or email or however you feel most comfortable to a
00:42:01.545 --> 00:42:05.545
Speaker 0: representative of being polite and saying, you know, and understanding
00:42:06.025 --> 00:42:08.185
Speaker 0: don't get upset with the folks in the system.
00:42:08.185 --> 00:42:10.260
Speaker 0: Focus on the system you're trying to change.
00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:10.740
Speaker 0: Just say, hey.
00:42:10.740 --> 00:42:14.100
Speaker 0: I just wanted you to know that I thought open primaries is a is
00:42:14.100 --> 00:42:16.900
Speaker 0: a is a really good idea, and there's a lot of us out here
00:42:16.900 --> 00:42:19.220
Speaker 0: that you might not hear from regularly.
00:42:19.220 --> 00:42:23.220
Speaker 0: That can go a long way because these people hear from the same tribal
00:42:23.460 --> 00:42:27.460
Speaker 0: groups over and over again, and they have leadership, but they don't hear from
00:42:27.635 --> 00:42:28.355
Speaker 0: you.
00:42:28.355 --> 00:42:32.115
Speaker 0: In a simple phone call, staying polite, just say that's all I wanted to
00:42:32.115 --> 00:42:35.955
Speaker 0: let you know, and is can go a really long way.
00:42:35.955 --> 00:42:37.315
Speaker 1: Well, that's a good reminder.
00:42:37.315 --> 00:42:40.880
Speaker 1: I'm a DC girl, and I if I call Eleanor Holmes Norton one more
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:44.480
Speaker 1: time, they're probably gonna have me arrested because you can only call that office
00:42:44.480 --> 00:42:45.440
Speaker 1: so many times.
00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:49.440
Speaker 1: But I think it's a good reminder that it does go a long way.
00:42:49.520 --> 00:42:52.960
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel like it when you're making those phone calls, I'll admit, because
00:42:52.960 --> 00:42:55.395
Speaker 1: a lot of times they just,
00:42:55.395 --> 00:42:58.195
Speaker 1: you know, don't answer the phone or you know what I mean?
00:42:58.195 --> 00:43:02.195
Speaker 1: They're but it is a good reminder to do something.
00:43:02.515 --> 00:43:03.955
Speaker 1: So thank you for your time, Chad.
00:43:03.955 --> 00:43:04.995
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it.
00:43:04.995 --> 00:43:08.995
Speaker 1: I this I learned a lot today about, primaries and elections
00:43:09.250 --> 00:43:12.930
Speaker 1: and everything else, and I appreciate, you know, I've always been a bit of
00:43:12.930 --> 00:43:16.930
Speaker 1: a rebel, so I always appreciate the outlier opinion on things, you know, as
00:43:16.930 --> 00:43:18.770
Speaker 1: long as it's respectful and you're not trying to
00:43:18.770 --> 00:43:21.235
Speaker 0: Well, we're not actually outliers for everything.
00:43:21.235 --> 00:43:21.435
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:43:21.395 --> 00:43:24.595
Speaker 1: Well, you know, well, and I think more Americans are interested in, like, well,
00:43:24.595 --> 00:43:26.355
Speaker 1: there's gotta be other options.
00:43:26.355 --> 00:43:26.835
Speaker 1: Right?
00:43:26.835 --> 00:43:28.275
Speaker 1: And I mean, even like Bernie.
00:43:28.275 --> 00:43:28.515
Speaker 1: Right?
00:43:28.515 --> 00:43:30.675
Speaker 1: Like, a lot of people are like, why didn't we get to vote for
00:43:30.675 --> 00:43:30.915
Speaker 1: Bernie?
00:43:30.915 --> 00:43:33.155
Speaker 1: And so I think a lot of people are just waking up like, well,
00:43:33.155 --> 00:43:34.595
Speaker 1: how come we don't get the decisions?
00:43:34.595 --> 00:43:37.400
Speaker 1: How come we're not how does this even work?
00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:37.600
Speaker 1: Right?
00:43:37.560 --> 00:43:40.760
Speaker 1: Because the system is designed to make sure that we don't know.
00:43:40.760 --> 00:43:41.880
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:43:41.880 --> 00:43:45.720
Speaker 0: Bernie won delegates in Virginia when he ran, and what did the party the
00:43:45.720 --> 00:43:47.640
Speaker 0: party gave them to Hillary Clinton?
00:43:47.640 --> 00:43:49.320
Speaker 0: And then so Bernie sued.
00:43:49.320 --> 00:43:53.225
Speaker 0: And the parties went into the Virginia court, and what did they say?
00:43:53.225 --> 00:43:54.665
Speaker 0: We're a private organization.
00:43:54.665 --> 00:43:58.505
Speaker 0: We can change our rules and change who gets our delegates anytime we want.
00:43:58.505 --> 00:44:00.425
Speaker 0: That's literally what happened.
00:44:00.425 --> 00:44:00.665
Speaker 0: Right?
00:44:00.665 --> 00:44:03.705
Speaker 1: And and I think that was a big fracture in the Democratic party because
00:44:03.705 --> 00:44:04.740
Speaker 1: we wanted Bernie.
00:44:04.740 --> 00:44:05.380
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
00:44:05.380 --> 00:44:07.700
Speaker 1: And it still pisses people off because he shows up.
00:44:07.700 --> 00:44:09.300
Speaker 1: He's like the smartest guy in the room.
00:44:09.300 --> 00:44:12.020
Speaker 1: And we're like, we coulda had him.
00:44:12.020 --> 00:44:12.580
Speaker 1: You know?
00:44:12.580 --> 00:44:13.780
Speaker 1: We coulda had him.
00:44:13.780 --> 00:44:16.500
Speaker 1: I'm not saying I'm the biggest Bernie fan, but it just feels like a
00:44:16.500 --> 00:44:20.020
Speaker 1: really good example of like, well, wait wait wait wait wait hold on.
00:44:20.020 --> 00:44:20.865
Speaker 1: Who?
00:44:20.865 --> 00:44:22.145
Speaker 1: How does this thing work?
00:44:22.145 --> 00:44:22.865
Speaker 1: You know?
00:44:22.865 --> 00:44:23.825
Speaker 1: What's going on here?
00:44:23.825 --> 00:44:26.705
Speaker 1: So, thank you again, Chad, for your time.
00:44:26.705 --> 00:44:28.865
Speaker 1: I I really enjoyed, chatting with you.
00:44:28.865 --> 00:44:32.785
Speaker 1: And, you know, on that note, if you have, you know, colleagues or peers
00:44:32.785 --> 00:44:35.800
Speaker 1: in different groups that are doing good work, please send them my way, and
00:44:35.800 --> 00:44:36.840
Speaker 1: I'll have them on the podcast.
00:44:36.840 --> 00:44:40.280
Speaker 1: Because I think the more that people learn, the better we can go out
00:44:40.280 --> 00:44:44.120
Speaker 1: and make better decisions and help people and turn this ship around because we're
00:44:44.120 --> 00:44:45.560
Speaker 1: certainly gonna need it.
00:44:45.560 --> 00:44:47.885
Speaker 1: So, so thank you for your time.
00:44:47.885 --> 00:44:48.085
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:44:48.045 --> 00:44:49.085
Speaker 0: Thanks for having me.
00:44:49.085 --> 00:44:49.805
Speaker 0: This is great.
00:44:49.805 --> 00:44:50.685
Speaker 0: Appreciate it.
00:44:50.685 --> 00:44:51.005
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:44:51.005 --> 00:44:53.405
Speaker 1: Well, thank you for tuning in to What Do We Do Next.
00:44:53.405 --> 00:44:54.445
Speaker 1: We appreciate your time.
00:44:54.445 --> 00:44:55.645
Speaker 1: I hope you learned something today.
00:44:55.645 --> 00:44:56.845
Speaker 1: I definitely did.
00:44:56.845 --> 00:44:59.085
Speaker 1: Please follow Chad and the work he's doing.
00:44:59.085 --> 00:45:03.085
Speaker 1: Check out closed primaries, and please consider sharing this content,
00:45:03.330 --> 00:45:04.770
Speaker 1: subscribing to the Substack.
00:45:04.770 --> 00:45:08.770
Speaker 1: Every dollar we get from memberships goes towards paid advertising to get
00:45:08.850 --> 00:45:11.010
Speaker 1: the podcast in front of more people.
00:45:11.010 --> 00:45:15.010
Speaker 1: We actually celebrated thirty eight thousand downloads this week, so that's pretty exciting.
00:45:15.265 --> 00:45:15.745
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:45:15.745 --> 00:45:16.705
Speaker 1: Which is hard to do.
00:45:16.705 --> 00:45:17.185
Speaker 1: I yeah.
00:45:17.185 --> 00:45:19.825
Speaker 1: I know because I produce podcasts for a living, and it is not easy
00:45:19.825 --> 00:45:21.025
Speaker 1: to get people to listen to you.
00:45:21.025 --> 00:45:23.753
Speaker 1: So thank you for listening to us.
00:45:23.753 --> 00:45:26.794
Speaker 1: And, until next time, please be excellent to each other.
00:45:26.794 --> 00:45:28.794
Speaker 1: Thank you.