Nicholas Sones

Terrayne Myricks: Welcome to Keystones. I am joined this week by our guest, Nicholas Soones. He was the former vice chair of the Cumberland Democrat. Eddie Wrights, the Substack, Good Luck Republic. Thank you for joining us. Yes, thank you for having me. ⁓ so I wanted to first talk about the fact that you were the vice chair of the Cumberland County Democratic Party. So what what is what is the role of the vice chair? ⁓ what are the things that you did that you enjoyed? What are the hard things that you do? Like what what are the ro what's the role of the county party? Certainly. So, you know, the role of the county party is more or less to locally be, you know, there to ⁓ you know, support the candidates and ⁓ you know, really to build up the party infrastructure locally. ⁓ in my role as the ⁓ vice chair, you know, we ⁓ I assume that role ⁓ shortly after the previous vice chair had resigned. I was appointed by ⁓ the chair at the time. ⁓ and then, you know, my my role in ⁓ that position was to support the chairwoman and ensure that, you know, our party infrastructure was there. And what ⁓ what are the kinds of things that you enjoyed doing in that role? I I f I find that it must have really, really fun times and then really not fun times. Let's start with fun. What's some what's some cool things you got to do as the vice chair? You know, I think one of the more interesting things that I was able to do was, you know, really ⁓ You know, kind of show up for the candidates as well as also ⁓ you know, going to some of the party events. ⁓ Yeah, I I would I would really say that those were, you know, probably the highlights. ⁓ any anything sticks out of you? Or there was there any like ⁓ was there a specific candidate that made you like like, you know, you're doing work as a as a county or sorry, a party official. Is there any candidate that you like really like connected with that you were like, I really enjoy ⁓ working to help this person. Certainly. ⁓ you know, I think at that time, I I don't remember the exact ⁓ legislative district, so I'm sure, you know, ⁓ the the comments won't be too great on that one. But I Don't worry. This is this is too early for anybody to be that Yeah, you know, I think ⁓ you know at at the time ⁓ you know you had a race where it was ⁓ Heather McDonald And ⁓ you know, she she was a very exciting candidate at the time, ⁓ and I was, you know, very happy to support her when she ran. Mm-hmm. That's great. That's great. What were some of the things that are what are some difficult things about the job? I know that like ⁓ I I've seen people who work ⁓ within the party infrastructure and do things like, you know, phone banking and and ⁓ canvassing, door knocking, and they have some fantastic stories and some not so great stories. Have you ever had any sort of not great experiences doing this? Yeah, I mean I I think that for me, really what sticks out to me as, you know, really the a job that that no vice chair really is willing to admit, no chair is willing to admit, ⁓ is really trying to, you know, unite the factions. ⁓ and I think right now even, you know, we We have a very fractured democratic party. And as much as ⁓ we all want to pretend like, you know, it's a united front, really it's not. Can I let's let's let's get into that. I we are ⁓ getting through the primary season. By the time that this airs, I believe we will be out of ⁓ most, if not all, primaries. we are recording on like the eighth. Is it the seventh? August seventh, not to throw this throw this out. ⁓ but we're recording August seventh. We just had the ⁓ primary election in Michigan where Abdul Al-Sayed ⁓ defeated Haley Stevens by an incredibly close margin. ⁓ does this ⁓ we've also seen a bunch of different like progressive versus establishment or moderate or centrist ⁓ across the country we've seen it in this specific state. ⁓ does this primary season feel any different to you? Any more hard, brutal than than previous primary seasons or is this or are we all kind of seeing something that isn't there? We're we're doing a lot of infighting, but we do a lot of infighting. I I really think, you know, that there's a lot of ⁓ contention on around ⁓ you know, the primaries. ⁓ you know, for example with what we saw in Michigan, ⁓ You know, I might be one of the few people and you know, I I think that ⁓ you know, after election day maybe you can have me back on and we'll see if I was right. ⁓ I I think that it's gonna be much more difficult for the Democratic Party to win that Senate seat, ⁓ you know, after ⁓ you know, we saw who ⁓ you know was able to win that race. I would encourage Democrats to go out and vote for the Democratic candidates. However, I think it's going to be very difficult. Why do you think it's gonna be more difficult? ⁓ I just I feel that, you know, I think we're in such a moment where, you know, the stakes are so high that ⁓ I guess maybe it's just me wanting to more or less play it safe if you will. ⁓ and I and I feel that due to mistakes that we were we would have been better off playing it safe. Yeah. But okay. And that's and that's a fair I I do think that there are there is a large faction of ⁓ the Democratic Party that's like, hey, we're we wanna win, right? Like our focus is on winning. And I think I I think that that that is great. I think that the worry comes in where Disaffected voters are like, right, but if we win and don't do anything, then what's the point of winning? And I I I understand that like look like for example, I think that it would be I I think I think that it actually might have been harder for Haley Stevens to pull in the coalition that ⁓ Abdul al Sayyed put together, whereas the Haley Stevens coalition seems to be the vote blue no matter who coalition. And and again I I won't necessarily disagree with that, but I think I I think that it's gonna be much more difficult for if you just look at, you know, a battleground map of of Senate races. I think it's just gonna be much more difficult overall. Do you think it's gonna be more difficult because of who the candidate is? Like I I think I feel that, you know, at I I think that that certainly might play into the calculation for some voters. ⁓ I think it would be naive to believe that it won't, in all seriousness. ⁓ so I think that that's definitely gonna play into it. ⁓ you know, I would just like ⁓ many people ⁓ hope that it won't be something that would factor into somebody's calculus when they're voting, but I think it would be naive kinda to to claim that it won. Of course. I mean if you like look at the ad that ⁓ Mike Rogers came out with ⁓ instantly after Abdul Al-Sayad won, it was like his name did you know that his name is Abdul? Did you know that he hangs out with a guy named Hassan? Did you know that the former president was named Barak Hussein no but and it's like okay. And I and I I wonder how much how much traction that can hold. 'Cause it it clearly works sometimes. And I I think that I think that that's true. But I mean if if we look at the inverse, and I would have been harder to pin ⁓ Haley Stevens as like a socialist, but yeah. the president of the United States was like I believe it was either the president or Mike Rogers like just recently were calling Haley Stevens a socialist when they thought it was possible that Haley Stevens was gonna win. So I kind of think that there's a there's a whole situation where they're gonna do this anyway. And I think that in that case, Abdul Al Sayyed, in my opinion, had a better ⁓ he has a better ability to make the case than I think Stevens did, because Stevens was going off of Y'all know me. I've been here. I know I know how to work across the aisle and get stuff done. And Abdul Al Saed's like, hey, people are really ruining like this people are taking advantage of this system like by sending money somewhere else rather than here. And we should stop that. And that seemed that resonated with enough people for for. Yeah, I mean clearly it resonated ⁓ to an extent where, you know, ⁓ Abdul El Sayyid is the nominee. ⁓ But I think I think the establishment, if we're going to refer to it as the establishment, ⁓ you know, has valid concerns going into if the stakes are as high as ⁓ you know, we've been told. Yeah. If if the stakes are as high as the Democratic Party has been saying for so long, which I believe they are, then you know, why I guess to me, why not play it safe? win back the Senate, win back the House, impeach, remove, and hopefully Right there. I I think it's right there. Because that would require the what you are saying would require the people that the playing it safe would do those things. And I don't know if the people who will who will choose to play it safe are the same people that are gonna go in there and go, all right, get his ass. Like they're There I I think that I think that that is a I think that that is a ⁓ is a great idea of we win and then we can do the things. But the problem is we win and then not everyone wants to do the things. And if not everyone wants to do the things, then we won and now we are all holding together trying to figure out what we're gonna do with the power, and then by the time we figure it out, or if we we sometimes we never figure it out, it's election time again and we haven't done it. I think, you know, that that's a valid concern. ⁓ but I would hope that ⁓ the establishment would also recognize that this is a moment where you have to impeach, remove and convict. Yeah. ⁓ and I think that overall I believe that the American people are more or less to that point. you know, Mr. Trump ⁓ You know, his his numbers continue to fall day after day. ⁓ you know, it's a fracturing coalition. And I think in ⁓ Michigan, Haley Stevens would have been able to attract crossover ⁓ appeal. Yes. In in terms of when you say crossover appeal, you mean in terms of like ⁓ sent ⁓ mo moderate Republicans, yeah, ⁓ like people that are yes, okay. Yes. I agree with that. I and I think Part of you know the challenge is certainly Democrats have to turn out their base. However, ⁓ we also have to recognize that if you're a teenager who, you know, you're maybe considering who you you know what party you to line to, for the most part, there's not many children who or you know, there's not many young adults who have not grown up where Mr. Trump has been. national politics. So I guess to me if if you're really gonna if if we're going to continue this this phrasing of Donald Trump is the greatest existential threat to the United States, which again I I firmly believe that he is. He's a greater threat really than ⁓ climate change. ⁓ he he is the greatest existential threat to this country. ⁓ I don't think that you'd find many Democrats who would disagree with me. And I think deep down Republicans believe that. ⁓ it is about finding someone who can convince them to vote, to impeach, remove, and ultimately to convict him. Mm-hmm. Yeah. ⁓ this ⁓ have you seen anything as you in your in your time as vice chair, ⁓ have you seen any sort of ⁓ primary season like this? Any sort of like really this side versus this side, this faction versus this faction within the Democratic Party, or has it has it been pretty normal, quote unquote, up until like recently? I I would argue it's been pretty, pretty normal, honestly. I mean, you know, I think even you know, in PA ten, I don't necessarily think that it was that ⁓ contentious as ⁓ you know what it could have been. ⁓ I I I will be honest. ⁓ you know, I voted for Justin Douglas. Supported Justin Douglas. ⁓ my advice to both of the candidates would have been the following if they had called me, which none of them have. Chanelle, if you're listening, by all means, please use what I'm about to say. Congressman Perry lied, cops died. That's the slogan. That's how you defeat Mr Perry. Because take a look at what he did involving the ⁓ January sixth attack on this country. The congressman lied, cops died. That should be any Democrat's slogan in PA ten. Because again, it's gonna have the moderate appeal and you're gonna be able to get Republicans to vote for you. Mm-hmm. And and you know, even even thinking about the the issue of public safety. We've been told for so long that Republicans are the party of the military, the Republicans are the party of the police, so on and so forth. At the end of the day, there's only one political party, to my knowledge, that supports an assault weapons ban. Don't tell me that you're for the police, but yet you also support common ⁓ citizens walking on a round with long arm firearms. You're not for the police. Yeah. They're just not. Yeah. I I do think that that is a I think that's ⁓ r that's ripe territory for Democrats to to really play in that field. Because I firstly, I do think it is I think a an assault weapons ban is a no-brainer. I know that I've had I I've I've my my view on ⁓ guns i has has been starkly weird in ⁓ in in most situations, but in this I am firmly We no one needs one. We're done. It's fine. It's more harm than good. There's no use for it. But I do th I do think that ⁓ the I I let's let's actually I would like to ask you about that. I wonder how much salience January sixth still has. I I and I and I I wonder that not because it was a reprehensible moral failing of our country and the president, ⁓ 'cause it was. But I I also I I just feel as though the fact that that happened, we let a little bit of time pass, ⁓ sorry, a little bit time pass, and then he is elected again. I wonder how much salience January sixth really has in the ⁓ in the minds of the voters. Is and I'm not saying you don't bring it up at all, but do you not Bring it up in a way that's like, here's what he cares about and here's what's actually happening in your life that he doesn't care about. And I think that that's a fair, you know, a fair thing to mention, but I also would say from my vantage point, the party has never communicated in the way that it should. ⁓ you know, again, we we can go back to the gun issue. The party has never really communicated what I just said that The Republican Party is a bunch of hypocrites when it comes to their care for police, when it comes to their care for members of the military, so on and so forth. take a look right now, not to ⁓ you know, get off topic. You've got the president of the United States who somehow decided to launch an attack against Iran, and now most of our weaponry has been depleted. Yeah. So again Nobody's really out there as as far as the Democratic Party talks to right now, talking about military readiness. Yeah. ⁓ you have that issue. Then you you throw in again, going back to your thing, ⁓ your question about the salience of January sixth and you know, Mr. Trump's ⁓ role in a terrorist attack against this country. ⁓ I think that the voters need to be reminded of his role. And I think ⁓ I I think again he ran for a second time because he knew it was his one way out of prison. ⁓ and it will be a failure of the Democratic Party and moreover of history books if we do not continue to remind the American people of the role that he played in that terrorist attack. I absolutely agree. I also think that he partially ran to ⁓ avoid prison, but to be fair, when ⁓ the head of our Justice Department just didn't seem to want to move on the guy, ⁓ there's I don't know if the prison was really on the table for him. That's that's that's always something of just like I'm like the there is a there is a There is a combination of of things that really suck when you're a when you're a Democrat or when you are aligned with the Democratic Party. Having to sit and think about the fact that Merrick Garland sat on his ass and had everything, but was like, we just can't let it look political. It's like, bitch, he's he he incited a terrorist attack. He he incited a terrorist attack that multiple people died at. I'm like, what are we talking about? But okay, so so going back to that, and again I'm not gonna really defend Merrick Garland, but if if I dare you to defend Merrick Garland and if if we if we're going to maybe this will be a slight defense of him. If if we're going to place that much guilt at the hands of Merrick Garland. Our own attorney general at the time could have also done some things. He chose not to. Fair. ⁓ you know, the the you know, I I hate to brag it to people who are gonna be listening to this. The attorney general at the time was Governor Joshua Shapiro. ⁓ my stance at that time is still the same. He could have called up the state police, he could have frankly told them, You'll be outside of Doug Mastriano's house tonight. I've already alerted the press because yeah, I'm gonna have photos taken of the man in the handcuffs. He could have done the same with Mr. Perry. We know that with Scott, his ⁓ phone records were subpoenaed. ⁓ his phone full phone. Exactly. I mean, you know, so so come on, we we know that Scott was there, and I think the winning message going into the end of this election really should be it's about holding Scott Perry accountable for his involvement in that terrorist attack. ⁓ and so again, I I would encourage the Democratic Party in Cumberland County, more so Janelle Stelson, Perry lied, cops died. Yeah. I think that's I I mean You can put that on a bumper stick. I mean, exactly. You know, I mean that there's the message, you know. Let's ⁓ let's pivot back to the divide within the Democratic Party itself. ⁓ what do you think what do you think are is the reasoning behind the brewing of it? right now, in this very moment. and how do we navigate it and mend to become something because here's the thing. I wanna I wanna be honest with the audience about me. and and you know, whatever. I am a progressive, I am a Democrat mostly I think at this point, and I am being honest and up front. I am a Democrat because we do have we have closed primaries in my state. Pennsylvania has closed primaries, making it impossible for independents to weigh in on ⁓ anything except the general election. So we have no ⁓ ability to ⁓ be a part of ⁓ we have no ability to be a part of decision making when it comes to any party. ⁓ so that is that's where I'm at. That said, I am a progressive democrat and I do in Almost every aspect or in almost every case, see the Democrat in the race as a better option to the Republican in the race. But I too am at the point where I'm like, hey, I'm kind of annoyed with having to pick an option I don't like. So like I I feel like I feel like that's a fair that's a fair thing. So I wanna I want to make sure that the audience knows that is the ⁓ that is the vantage point that I come at this from. ⁓ I am a Democrat. By proximity and I've been I've been a Democrat the entirety of the time I've I've been in voting age and I've liked the Democratic Party way more back in the day than I do now. But ⁓ and I I say that because when I was younger, I'm just like, Democrats, we cool as shit. Exactly. And now I'm like, hey, wait, what? What do you what do you mean we're not fighting for the things I want to fight for? But let me get back to the I apologize. I just wanted to I wanted to be honest with the audience about who I am, but I I go back to What do you think the reason of the of the Democratic divide brewing is right now? ⁓ and what do you think needs to be done for there to be mending able to take place? Certainly. So I think, you know, for me, I I feel like it's always kind of been there. You know, the the divide has always been there. It's kind of been an undercurrent, if you will. ⁓ I think, you know, during the Biden years, and maybe I'm completely wrong here. I don't really think that we heard a lot of the fighting. Or if we did, it was something where we were all content because guess what? Our guy was inside of the White House. ⁓ you know, I am someone who like you, I would describe myself I I wouldn't necessarily use the nomenclature of a progressive, I'd prefer the term liberal. ⁓ but even now I would argue that I am More so on the left of the Democratic Party. But I would also ⁓ remind Democrats that ⁓ no one no one has won the White House since 1996, unless there's been a Biden on the ticket. Now, I'm not I'm not here to to advocate for That's it. Hunter, have you did you hear that, Hunter? Did you hear that? I mean, you know, look, it's It's a fact. So as as much as I think that the nation needs to ⁓ progress I don't think the nation is there yet as as much as we both would like the nation to be there. It's just simply not. I think that's fair. I and I I'm not I'm not like I I think that there are some people that are there there are some people that are on the left that are disillusioned a little bit and think like and think no no no people want all of this. And I and I think if you explain to people the it's it's it's very similar to like when I see polls Where people say, this is the poll, but this is the informed poll. And in the informed poll, we told everybody the great information about what they needed to know. And when we tell them all of that, they like our shit. And it's like, yeah, that's true. That's not how people tend to work. Like, you would have to explain it every single time, and we just don't do that. Definitely. But yeah, I I do think that there's like, like, I think that I think that everyone having healthcare is a very popular thing when you say it. I think that Not going to war for no for for zero like terribly stupid reasons is a very popular thing when you say it. I think increasing the minimum wage is an incredibly popular thing when you say it. I think like there are so many things that are incredibly popular, but it just for some reason it doesn't it doesn't fit still and r people who are voting still don't see those those options as and I'm wondering if it's possible it's like, ⁓ well they don't see it as attainable because we're not doing it. Because Democrats get elected and we're not doing it. And I think We minimum wage increase would be awesome. We haven't ⁓ increased the minimum wage in since two thousand and nine. And Democrats have had powers in dur in the interim. I mean, and I and I also think, you know, that that's something too that, you know, again, we've lived through COVID. So I think, you know, look, there are certain levers that the next president of the United States can use. One of them would be declaring. Climate change is a global health emergency. And we all know what that will do. Everyone can obtain universal health care through ⁓ you know, a similar ⁓ a similar route as people were able to sign up through state exchanges during the COVID pandemic. So there are certain levers that the next president of the United States can use. One of those would be declaring global you know, climate change as a global health emergency. And by doing so, you have to frankly open up your ⁓ I typically I get these two confused. I want to say it's Medicare rules. ⁓ I think that that is what occurred during ⁓ the COVID pandemic. Medicaid, okay, I think sorry Medicaid. No, no, no, you're good. So that that's exactly what you would do. You you would declare climate change as a global health emergency. And guess what? You can get to universal coverage through Medicaid. Now yeah, it's gonna require frankly having a health secretary who ⁓ you know, we all like to pretend that these individuals are independent of the President of the United States. ⁓ I guess we can say they are, but in reality they also answer to the President of the United States. Yeah. So every sixty days or maybe it's ninety days, it's one of the two. They would have to continue reauthorizing that health emergency. Right. And if they would refuse to, well, the President of the United States can have them resign. Can I can we touching on that, do you think in ⁓ I I wanna expand on that a little bit. Do you think that it's important for the next if for for a if we God willing elected Democratic president. Do you think it's important that here's the here are the two schools of thought, right? There's the school of thought of the next Democratic president needs to turn things back to normal and bring things back to Earth. The current president has been run roughshot and done all sorts of corrupt shit, and we need to we need to bring the presidency back to normalcy. Or There is, hey, he showed us that there's another door where we can get a lot of shit done. Should we go through that door? I'm of the idea that we should go through the get a lot of shit done door. But I don't I but I understand that there are people that are like, well, if you guys do it and they did it, then it's just gonna keep getting yada yada yada yada yada. What what are you think about what do you think about the role of the power sorry, the role of the power of the the next Democratic president, should there be one, ⁓ in terms of should they Should they try to mitigate what has what has happened or expand on what those powers can be? I I really think it is time for the next president of the United States to ⁓ decide that there has to be accountability for the things that the previous administration has done in not only Mr. Trump's first term, but also his current, you know, reign of terror upon the American people. and part of that would be. Yes, you know what, you've now shown us what we can do. So you're now going to have to watch. Yep. Yep. And and so absolutely, ⁓ you know, I I really think that's probably why, you know, I mentioned that no one since nineteen ninety six has gotten elected without having a Biden on the ticket. Because let me tell you, there's one person who would absolutely do the things that you and I are talking about, and they'd do it on day one. And that person is Hunter Biden. Okay. I but he would. I mean, come on. You're not r I I'm not wrong. I know how to say that this isn't I mean, I'm not look, I'm not here saying that, you know, Hunter Biden should run for president, but you know what? But you're not not exactly I mean Hunter, look, if you're listening ⁓ the the facts are in your favor. Hunter, come on the show. Yeah, I mean come on. You get a you have a you have a Pennsylvania pass because you're at Scranton Joe's. Exactly. Come on on the show and you know tell us about what you'll do. And I and I and I'm sure people, you know, who will listen to this, they will say, This is the same old Nick, you know, he's he's out there on, you know, the Biden apology tour. That's what they will say. You know, he he he backed Biden, he's on the Biden Apology tour. But I also think that it's important to note, in my opinion, had the Democratic Party never forced him off of the ticket, don't do this. He would be the president. Are you fuck- What are you I'm serious? He would be the president. You can't do this. I'm actually not even gonna ask the last question. What the fuck are you talking about? You think that the president just to be clear, the guy, the the former president, Joseph Biden, who in front of a crowd of people looked the microphone Sorry, look the camera dead in the face and said, We finally beat Medicare and then the time stopped. You think that guy was gonna be the president? You think the guy who Nancy Pelosi said, Hey, bud, we actually looked at polling and you would get absolutely f Kamala Harris saved us from being fucking embarrassed. We were gonna lose everything, respectfully. He I I I think that I respectfully, I think that Joe Biden made the gravest error by thinking that he was. holier than anything else and the only one who could stop him from running was God. Guess who stopped him from running? Joe Biden when he couldn't string a fucking sentence together at a debate that was against a guy who is an idiot. Sorry. Now you go at Certainly, we have again. Since 1996? No! I'm sorry, I go back to 1996, okay? Since 1996. I have a question. Let's go back to 1996. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Really quick question. 2008. 2008. If Joe Biden is if Joe Biden is not on the ticket, does Barack Obama still win? Yes! I mean, definitely. I think he does. I think he does. Okay. Yeah, certainly. Of course he does. But. But this amazing phrase would be nothing. Certainly. But again, you still have to look, we have to work in the political reality that we're in. Yeah. So the political reality would state since nineteen ninety six. No Democrat has won the White House without a Biden on the ticket. Okay? So certainly maybe maybe it was an error of him to have stayed in the race too long. But I think had he remained on on the ticket, he would have been re-elected. And we can discuss maybe he had resigned as I need you to expand on that how. Because because that happened, I wanna say, was that in June? I can't remember when that was, but it was so early. Kamala Harris had a hundred and a hundred and ten days to run or whatever. It was her book. I read it. love her. I don't think she learned a lot, but Sh that's like that's he would have had to ru keep running in the campaign that he just imploded. How does he do we do another debate? Does he have another debate? How does he and then what happens? And then what happens? What what happens? I I firmly believe that what happens in that debate is the American people get to see just how crazy Mr. Trump truly is. Yeah They did that well That's an argument, you know. I I guess that that's true. They they did and they chose to somehow elevate back to that officer. He said that immigrants were eating dogs and cats which we both know is just flat out a lie. And won that state handily. Exactly. ⁓ but I also think part of the way that he won that state was putting on, you know, Mr. Vance onto his ticket. I I I don't necessarily agree with the Vice President lifting up specific states. I don't think that that's bore fruit if we look at data. And and maybe that's I could be wrong. I want to be clear. I could be wrong. But I I still would argue that ⁓ you know the nation would be in a much better place had Biden remained in that race. Hey man. Because I believe he would have been reelected as the president. Respect. I I I I respect I respect that you believe that. I don't think that any number bears that out. That said, part of me, if we're gonna lose, part of me wants to be in the world where he stays on the ticket and we get to see exactly how bad of a fucking decision it was. I I think personally it is the it was it was his decision to continue, his decision to sorry, his decision to run for re-election at all, I think ⁓ solidified him in the lower half of presidencies. I and which which is so awful. Because part of because and it's his fault because He framed his run as, I'm here to stop this guy. I am here to stop this guy. And he did and went, I'm the only person who could beat him. And also couldn't say words. And I think that it is, it is, it was a profoundly selfish thing from a guy who I didn't see as profoundly selfish. That was the thing that like was tough for me. Because I'm just like, firstly, I wanted when he ran, I really wanted him to run on a one-term pledge. I wanted him to say, I am running for one term. He said he wanted to be the bridge. He had said, he said, his words, he wanted to be the fucking bridge. And I'm like, why aren't you the bridge then? Why did you decide not to be the bridge? ⁓ and I I just think that I think that his decision to stay in that race. After he was seen as incredibly unpopular and super old, even though he's going against a guy who is super old. Like, that's how old he was. Yeah. The up the other guy was old as shit. And they're like, Can you believe how old Joe Biden is? But don't you think part of that is just simply the media narrative playing into it? I mean, go go back to, for example, your idea of you know, the nuances of public policy. I mean, I I truly think some of this rests on the American people. Some of it rests on we have today a society that loves its five minute attention span. So if if we love the society where it's a five minute attention span, I don't know how you can then fault your your politicians when you're expecting a solution tomorrow. Solutions don't take tomorrow. They take sometimes years as as we are still seeing. So, you know, I I I would really I I guess part of it is maybe what ⁓ I would ask Democrats, and this isn't really a great message to the party, but you know, nobody's really ever ⁓ said that, you know, I don't necessarily speak my mind. ⁓ I would ask Democrats to simply have some damn patience. you know, look, am I If the establishment won, ⁓ do I think that they'd go in there on day one and impeach, remove and convict? No, I don't. I wouldn't expect them to, frankly. ⁓ you need to have hearings, you need to present all the evidence, and ⁓ you know, one of the other things, you know, that ⁓ multiple people know about me within this ⁓ this this party and within this environment is I speak my mind. When it comes to Mr. Fetterman, let me be perfectly clear, I wrote the damn op ed. I wrote the op-ed, guys. I warned you all what John Fetterman was when he ran for lieutenant governor. Mm-hmm. Nobody wanted to pay me any damn attention. I have yet to hear an apology from anyone within the Democratic Party. I was right then, and I believe I'm right now. I wanna say I live for this level of petty. Every hey every other video No no seriously, every other video that I d I do short form, I do TikTok shit, and some ev for at one point every other video was like Hey guys, remember when I told you about how bad John Fetterman was and you should really vote for Malcolm Kenyatta in that primary? Every other video. So I live for this. I absolutely feel that. I what what were your what were your misgivings about him at the time? When when he was running for again, this year was back and I don't remember the year again, ⁓ but this was when 18 ish. I I really or was it twenty fourteen? Because Wolf had been elected with ⁓ Lieutenant Governor Stack. Mm-hmm. And then I th I feel like it was twenty fourteen. I believe you. I I want to say twenty fourteen. Again, I wrote the op ed it was published in Ben Live. I compared the man to Donald Trump. ⁓ he's he's a populist. ⁓ you know, he's what I would term a fake populist. ⁓ you know, I'm someone who I'm I don't really like the term populism. I think it has a negative right wing connotations. So I don't try to use those, you know, that that term. But going back to Mr. Fetterman, I mean, and I look, I know what was said about me when when that op-ed was published. I know what was said on on Facebook threads about me. ⁓ in all honesty, like I said, I was right then, I'm right now. Nobody has issued an apology, including not to name drop here, including the man's wife, who said that I was, I believe at the time it was a moron. It was either a moron or it was an idiot. ⁓ and and listen. You know, people will argue part of the reason that Op ed was published is because I supported Ray Sosa. Listen, folks, I'm still proud of the campaign that Ray and I ran. ⁓ let's be honest, he was the first ⁓ Hispanic on the ballot statewide. I'm proud of that fact. ⁓ and I think that the Democratic Party should be proud of that fact, that we were the first party in the state of Pennsylvania to do it. But it doesn't appear anyone is proud. any of those accomplishments today. Which really gets me back to another issue that I think is something that you know the party has forgotten about, which is diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we see this issue all the time. ⁓ we see it when ICE is rounding up ⁓ members of the immigrant community. ⁓ we don't see, for example, ⁓ strong leadership from our governor ⁓ on that issue in particular. We don't even see strong ⁓ leadership from The party chair, ⁓ who let's be clear, he could issue statements. He's silent. One of the one of the things that ⁓ I am again, and I'm gonna we're gonna go to the midterms in just a second. I just I know that we I I cause I know that there are people who may listen to this. Maybe I'm getting you off. No, no, no, no, no. You are good. No, you are good. ⁓ listen, anytime I can just scream about Joe Biden for a little bit, that's fine. ⁓ by the way, I want to be clear about something else. He would have won. I Would won. We're I'm moving on. I'm moving on. ⁓ before we before we move on to the 'cause I guess I and I there again, there'd be people who are screaming that like, There are midterms coming up. Why are you talking about something going past that? And I I agree. And I wanna I'm gonna talk we're gonna talk about the democratic ⁓ the pr the prospect of a democratic trifectet and what we wanna get done. ⁓ I wanna be clear about that. one of the things that we need to make sure ⁓ if we get control of the federal government is that ⁓ And this is a question, but more of a statement that I would love to hear your response to. ⁓ we need to make sure that we are prosecuting those who committed ⁓ those ⁓ just straight murders in the streets of ⁓ Minnesota and ⁓ Maine and various other states that I'm I don't wanna misname. So my question is what is the importance and I and I I link it to There's a group of there's a group of people that are dis that that were able to be disillusioned by the Democratic Party, partially because we saw a financial crisis in which a bunch of people really kind of like absolutely destroyed the the economy, committed financial crimes, and walked away either scot-free or with a golden parachute. And Obama did not prosecute those people. The Obama Justice Department didn't prosecute those people. and I maintain that. If the Democrats were would have rounded up the fucking bankers that ruined the economy, ⁓ there would be the Democratic Party would be a uniparty and we'd be fighting within the Democratic Party as to what version works ⁓ nationally, because there there's there's everyone loves when the people who ruined everything have to pay for it. Definitely. Accountability is incredibly important. So in this, in this regard, how important do you think accountability accountability is? In terms of the ICE ⁓ officials who have been masked on the streets committing assault, murder, this, that, and the other. So I think, you know, on the accountability thing, I mean, I might be one of the few Democrats who's willing to actually say this. I say you prosecute all of them. ⁓ again, ⁓ go back and read some history books, folks. ⁓ you don't just get out of the crime because I was following orders. So I say you prosecute all of them. Mm-hmm. ⁓ and let us let us also, you know, to expand on this prosecution. ⁓ when I say prosecution, I mean because if I'm correct, they're also now entitled to what federal benefits? Yeah. Federal retirement funds. Mm-hmm. Again, all of it should go away. Yeah. As, you know, to go to go back to here in PA ten with Mr. Perry. ⁓ I'm not sure why. ⁓ Scott Perry was not called back up to active duty to be court martialed for his role in the violent ⁓ terrorist attack which occurred against this country on January 6th. He should have been. Gotcha. All right. Last thing, ⁓ I wanted to talk about. ⁓ that's absolutely not the right question. I'm like, I'm literally like out here screaming and I'm just like, okay. Was it about Biden winning? Yes, it ⁓ yes, actually the last question is, ⁓ so should we run not Hunter, Joe Biden again, it says in two thousand twenty eight? No no no no no no no no no. ⁓ so moving back to the midterms. In the state of PA we have the potential for a trifectate in the state, state house, state senate, and the governor's mansion. what do you think it will take to get that done? What do you what do you think an issue what do you think that are ⁓ issues that are in there that are gonna be sticking points for voters that may be the things that tip the scales? And if you if you were in your previous role, what would someone in that role be doing to gear up for the midterms? Certainly. So in in my previous role, what I think someone should be doing now is definitely, you know, ensuring that they've got the volunteer network already established. ⁓ I think that one of the main sticking points, I know for myself anyway, ⁓ definitely will probably be what is ongoing and what candidates are willing to say or not say when it comes to immigration customs enforcement. ⁓ I I really think ⁓ you know, that we should be ⁓ more or less arguing that you know what they are currently doing is wrong and I can't honestly tell you that specific candidates here locally that they even have a stance. Or if they do, I have no clue what it is. ⁓ I've written about this if if you go you you know to nickstones.substack dot com, you can see where I wrote about a certain candidate having pretty much the same exact stance as the congressman. So going back to, you know, what I said about party infighting, look, at at times you have to have the infighting because that's the only way that you're gonna have progress. Yeah. ⁓ do I think that overall every single Democrat is better than a Republican? Yeah, I do. However I think that it's going to be very difficult for some Democrats to get to that point. ⁓ especially when, you know, if if you read the Carlisle Sentinel, ⁓ you know, you had someone whose husband was kidnapped by ICE. You don't see anyone in Cumberland County. To my knowledge, please, anyone who lives there, correct me if I'm wrong. You've seen no statement from anyone. Yeah. No statement from the governor. No statement from any of the local officials. And again, maybe that's an issue of how much do you realistically expect your governor to comment on something that that's hyper local. And I I I Which maybe that's fair. Maybe it's not. I don't know. To ⁓ to expand on that. ⁓ there was in in Harrisburg an ICE operation, someone driving away because they're crazy but scary people. And they they fired their gun at that person. Thankfully, no one was harmed. ⁓ but If you look at what happened in Maine, it's the exact same thing that happened in Maine, except someone died. And when we had ⁓ here, ⁓ when that happened, one of the commissioners put out a statement. You can go ahead and guess which one. I actually don't know if the others did, but I know one did. You can guess which. and but there was I don't think there was any statement from state reps, from the mayor, from ⁓ anyone, you know, about what happened. I do think ⁓ and I and I again, it's one of those. I understand the question of is it more important to highlight what happened and what is going on, or is it more important to not bring attention to it to potentially not infuriate the whichever group that could make things worse or whatever? And and I and I I imagine they're playing some sort of calculus like that. So that's why I'm going to I'm going to lead with grace on that and say that that's that makes sense as to why you wouldn't say something. Personally, I feel like you should be blasting that from the sky. And being like, hey, what the fuck are you doing in my city? What are you doing firing guns at out in the street? I mean, again, go going back to, you know, when ⁓ we had Governor Wolfe and Mr. Trump was first elected, you know, General Flynn decided, hey, ⁓ and I I I can't remember the individual's name, but they they had put together a plan to basically kidnap a resident of this state. And ⁓ hand him over to Turkish officials, I believe it was. I I can't remember if a statement was issued on that one either. ⁓ I know I I know what I believe this moment requires of a governor. And maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe it's something where it'll never ever happen. But I believe what it requires of ⁓ really the governor and even the attorney general's office working hand in hand ⁓ would be the following. ⁓ our state police can handle ⁓ immigration customs enforcement problems. Our state police can, if need be, respond and arrest individuals who are kidnapping people. Yeah. And ⁓ while I understand that we have a divided ⁓ system because our attorney general is a Republican, our Democrat is a or sorry, our governor's a Democrat, You can still pick up the phone, guys. Yeah. And if Mr. Sunday is going to seek reelection, which he probably is, I think it's a winning issue. Really I do. Whatever happened for Republicans, whatever happened to states' rights, they've all but disappeared. I mean Yeah. Yeah, they they like states' rights in very, very specific scenarios. Incredibly specific scenarios. ⁓ Let's say, let's say blue sky democrats win the trifecta. Now I I believe that it is going to take a lot of work and it is going to take a lot of clearly explaining your positions ⁓ specifically on data centers. There's I I do think that that is the salient issue that breaks through ⁓ to everyone. And I think that there is an issue that some are having where they don't necessarily know how to navigate it. And I I It's it's it's very hard for some to like really come to a position. ⁓ and then there's some that are like very strong on their positions. I I I wonder so that that's all to say that's the thing that I worry about in terms of ⁓ what policy thing that I think is gonna be a a a really salient point ⁓ on the campaign trail that I really hope all of the candidates are thinking about. Workshopping what your actual ideas are and delivering them in a way that is understandable and Not terrible. Anyway, what if we navigate all of this, we successfully do, and we win the three seats of power, what do you think the democratic priority should be in the in the state? I think really, you know, if if that occurs and hopefully it will, I think that there has to be three main priorities for really any ⁓ Democrat. It's healthcare, housing, and jobs. And at the end of the day. Maybe it's housing, then healthcare, maybe it's health care, you know, any any of those three really. That's gonna take a lot of work. It's also gonna take a lot of patience from people. ⁓ you know, even even if you had you know, let's just say that we wake up and it's ⁓ twenty twenty eight and we're to January and we've got, you know, a democratic president, a democratic house, and a democratic senate. It's gonna also take a lot of time for them to number one fix things and number two to implement the policy agenda. that I think you and I are aligned on ⁓ overall. Yeah. ⁓ I also think, you know, it's going to require ⁓ you know, ensuring that certain people like ⁓ John Fetterman are no longer in the United States Senate. Absolutely. ⁓ yeah, there's there's no question. And again, not trying to look too far past. I'm not trying to look past the midterms. For everyone who listens to this and is like terrain, there are midterms first, I know. I'm with you. I know. I'm not overlooking them. And I do I I I really think it is important that the Democrats get a trifecta in the state of Pennsylvania. I think that there are a host of ⁓ policies that they can enact and I I I just I I I I and I I think that it is very, very, very attainable. But it is going to take a lot of work and I think it is gonna take some nuance. I think it is gonna take some understanding. And I am I'm excited to I'm excited to to see this. I actually I used to like love primaries and I'm ca I'm like, I'm tired. I'm done. I'm so tired of primaries that I need the general because because genuinely, I am looking at the I am looking at the general in in these in these midterms and these in these state house races and these state senate races, and I'm like, hey man, the Democratic Party's gotta take this state. The Democratic Party's gotta take the state. We can let's also point out that the important thing about Democratic Party taking the state and having having con full control is when 2028 rolls around and we do have an election and the hilarious Trump administration tries all their little fun tricks, we do need to make sure that we are in control in the state and they cannot change anything. Yeah, definitely. You know, I I But I also think ⁓ you know, a part of that for certain ⁓ certain factions within the Democratic Party is going to definitely take. I mean, I think we're what, now a hundred days until the midterms. Less. Yeah, less than a hundred days. It's certainly going to take certain candidates who are now their party's nominee deciding to frankly change up their rhetoric. and I I guess I am more or less pointing towards More moderate candidates. ⁓ again, what are you going to frankly do about ICE agents in the streets of Pennsylvania? ⁓ and you know, to a candidate who because I'm sure some would argue, well, shouldn't the candidate only focus on their district? No. I'm sorry, they shouldn't. If you're if you're inside of the United States House, I disagree with that notion. ⁓ you know, do something, ⁓ and you know, I think now is the perfect opportunity. to speak out regarding again the immigration issue, regarding again military readiness, regarding again a certain congressman's ⁓ A certain congressman's involvement in a terrorist attack. And and I guess going back to is it a salient issue or not? I think for Republicans, for moderate Republicans, if you frame it in this right here was a terrorist attack against the country by a man who supposedly served or or sorry, did serve in the military, how is it that he is okay with that on his conscience? How is it that he is okay with at the end of a day lives of police officers on his conscience? I I don't I would assume the Congressman probably sleeps very well. I don't know how. I think that's a great place to leave it. Nick, thank you very, very much for being here. Where can people find you? So, you know, they can go and subscribe to, you know, my newsletter. It's ⁓ NickSones.substack.com. Perfect. ⁓ and that will be in the show notes as well. ⁓ Thank you very much for joining us. Yes, thank you. ⁓ this has been Keystones. We will be back at some point. I don't remember what I said the cadence of this was going to be. So until next time, friends. See ya.