This is Gavin Newsom - And, This Is Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison On Fighting For What's Right

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00:00:36.500 December 29th, 1975. LaGuardia Airport.

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00:02:48.600 This is Gavin Newsom.

00:02:50.940 So we're talking a lot about the future of the Democratic Party, what the Democratic Party represents to people today,

00:02:56.780 the brand that is the Democratic Party.

00:02:59.380 No better guest than the former chair of the Democratic National Committee.

00:03:04.100 This is Jamie Harrison.

00:03:08.560 Yeah, we're jumping right in, brother.

00:03:10.940 At our table, what was the, I mean, was the idea was just to sort of create a relaxing environment

00:03:17.000 where people feel they can really engage around the table,

00:03:20.520 a tabletop conversations or conversations you'd have at the kitchen table?

00:03:24.540 Is that was the idea?

00:03:25.260 Yeah, the kitchen table, because for me growing up, you know, I was raised by my grandparents.

00:03:31.880 So at our table, all of the big decisions were made, but also all the real conversations were had.

00:03:39.520 And so when my grandfather said, OK, everybody sit down, let's sit down at the table.

00:03:45.200 That meant something in our house.

00:03:47.240 And sometimes, you know, at the end of each episode, I have this award I give.

00:03:54.200 I call it the sit your ass down award, because sometimes my grandfather would say, boy, you better sit your ass down.

00:04:01.360 That meant like a little too big for your britches.

00:04:05.640 You're feeling yourself a little bit.

00:04:07.420 And so every at the end of every episode, everybody gets to present who they would present their sit your ass down award to.

00:04:17.320 And it's been funny.

00:04:18.860 I love it.

00:04:19.880 So your grandfather was an outsized role in the role of my grandparents.

00:04:25.120 So so, Governor, my mom was 16 when she had.

00:04:28.640 Yeah.

00:04:28.900 And so literally, my grandparents were my pseudo parents.

00:04:33.960 My mom often says she got home from the hospital with me.

00:04:39.560 And, you know, in those days, you didn't have all those warnings that babies can't sleep in the bed with the parents.

00:04:44.220 No.

00:04:44.580 But she said I slept with my grandparents as soon as I got home.

00:04:48.160 And I was just, you know, their their seventh child, I guess.

00:04:53.580 And so when my mom left South Carolina to try to find work, she went to Georgia.

00:05:01.040 I stayed with my grandparents.

00:05:04.120 And eventually my mom got settled and she she wanted me to come with her.

00:05:09.920 And I just decided to stay in South Carolina because I created this.

00:05:14.960 My grandparents, I created this relationship.

00:05:17.400 They didn't have a whole lot of education.

00:05:18.940 But I was, you know, I was a gifted reader and I picked up stuff quickly.

00:05:24.880 So I would read their bills and all that other type stuff while they took care of me.

00:05:30.020 Right.

00:05:30.300 So it was it was that type of relationship.

00:05:33.680 And so they really were like my parents.

00:05:37.140 My grandma just passed away this right before Easter on Good Friday.

00:05:42.340 And man, that hit me hard.

00:05:44.460 It hit me hard because we were really, really close.

00:05:47.140 I love that.

00:05:47.980 Now, what I mean, did you ever were you were they I mean, the tutelage they gave you, was

00:05:52.680 it about social justice, racial justice, economic justice?

00:05:56.300 Was there sort of a prism of service that they instilled upon you?

00:06:00.880 I mean, what was the journey from there to becoming the head of the damn Democratic Party?

00:06:05.860 It was it was hard work.

00:06:07.880 Right.

00:06:08.440 My grandfather had a fourth grade education.

00:06:12.120 He paved roads and worked construction.

00:06:15.160 My grandmother had an eighth grade education.

00:06:17.560 She picked cotton, clean houses and then took care of the family.

00:06:22.260 And so, I mean, those they were two of the hardest working people I've ever met in my life.

00:06:29.880 I mean, they they were I mean, really fingers to the bone and very, very humble, very giving,

00:06:38.180 even though they didn't have a whole lot themselves.

00:06:40.200 If you ever came to the house, you left with a plate wrapped in tinfoil and, you know, that's just who they were.

00:06:52.360 They they love people and they love taking care of people and they would give their very last in order to do so.

00:06:58.620 And so that's how I picked up.

00:07:02.460 You know, I am who I am because of them.

00:07:05.360 And it is you never give up.

00:07:08.320 You have tremendous faith in God, as my grandma would say.

00:07:12.360 The Lord will never put more on you than you can bear.

00:07:16.360 And and so sometimes it may be hard.

00:07:19.620 Sometimes you may have a plan, but that that's not his plan.

00:07:23.480 And so you just kind of focus on what you can control and what you can what you can do.

00:07:29.560 And you always treat people right.

00:07:31.180 You treat them the way that you want to be treated.

00:07:32.860 And so, you know, they just encouraged me to just do better, right, do better than they did.

00:07:42.220 And they tried to do everything that they could to make sure that any opportunity that prevailed itself to me,

00:07:48.800 that I was able to take advantage of it.

00:07:51.080 And so, you know, and then and then, Governor, I'm blessed because I had some I call them sort of guiding angels

00:08:00.760 that popped into my life at the right moments.

00:08:05.560 You know, of course, my grandparents there and my mom was there.

00:08:09.060 But there was one man, Earl Middleton, Tuskegee Airmen.

00:08:15.760 He was the first black man to get a Colwell Banker Middleton real estate practice in the state of South Carolina in Orangeburg.

00:08:25.400 He was a state rep for a long time.

00:08:27.420 You see Mr. Earl, he's this 6'2", 6'3", distinguished, sort of lanky guy, distinguished, always had a cigar in his mouth,

00:08:38.260 either lit or not, or sometimes he would have a pipe.

00:08:41.820 And I met him my senior year in high school because I was elected mayor for a day in my high school.

00:08:50.660 And I got a chance to shadow the mayor of Orangeburg.

00:08:53.600 And so in shadowing the mayor, we went to a Kiwanis meeting.

00:08:58.900 And in the back, the mayor said he pointed to Mr. Middleton.

00:09:02.760 He said, Jamie, do you know Mr. Middleton?

00:09:05.860 I said, no, sir.

00:09:06.920 He said, I want you to meet him.

00:09:08.080 You need to meet him.

00:09:09.680 And so I went in the back.

00:09:10.940 I introduced myself.

00:09:13.020 Mr. Earl was there with a cigar, not lit, but it was in his mouth.

00:09:16.500 And he shook my hand and said, young man, you seem like you got your head on right.

00:09:22.100 He said, I'm going to give you my card.

00:09:23.940 And if ever anything I can do to be helpful to you, you called me.

00:09:30.280 So I kept it, put it on my dresser.

00:09:32.900 Fast forward, Governor.

00:09:34.800 I got in April 2nd, 1994.

00:09:37.380 I got into Yale.

00:09:39.300 First in my family to go to college, mind you, right?

00:09:42.040 Got into Yale.

00:09:43.900 They sent my financial aid package, almost a full ride with the exception of about $2,500.

00:09:52.520 And, you know, nobody, $2,500 in my family at that time was like $25,000 or $250,000.

00:10:00.500 I mean, it was, the thought that we would get that is unbelievable.

00:10:07.740 And so then they said, well, you can get a personal loan.

00:10:10.500 Your parents can get a personal loan.

00:10:11.780 Well, my grandparents, their credit wasn't good.

00:10:14.620 They couldn't go to the bank and get a loan.

00:10:17.340 And so it got to the point where I didn't know where to turn.

00:10:21.000 And I saw that card from Mr. Earl.

00:10:24.780 And I called him up and I said, Mr. Earl, I met you a few months ago.

00:10:29.460 Jamie Harris, I'm at OW.

00:10:31.580 I got into Yale, but I am $2,500 short and I don't know what to do.

00:10:36.860 And if I don't find it, I can't go.

00:10:38.620 So he said, I want you to bring your letter to my office tomorrow.

00:10:42.900 You come there, bring your letter, and let's talk about it.

00:10:46.320 I did that.

00:10:47.940 Come to Mr. Earl's office, cigar in his mouth, sitting back in his chair.

00:10:52.580 He read the letter.

00:10:53.380 He said, young man, I'm proud of you.

00:10:55.460 He said, this is what we're going to do.

00:10:56.920 You're going to work for me this summer.

00:11:00.880 You drive me around and you do whatever.

00:11:03.280 I'll make sure that you have the money to send there.

00:11:05.760 I'm also going to make sure you have a computer and whatever you need to start school.

00:11:10.760 So, Governor, again, this is partly why I believe what my grandma said, that the Lord has a plan for you and things will happen when they need to happen and all.

00:11:20.580 Because in every step of my life, there have been people like Mr. Earl that have stepped in.

00:11:24.960 It was Mr. Earl.

00:11:25.980 It was Jim Clyburn.

00:11:27.540 You know, I can come up with a number of folks along the road that have really, like, stepped in in those moments in which there have been nothing but despair or darkness.

00:11:36.740 And I had no clue what the next step was going to be.

00:11:40.720 But guess what?

00:11:42.260 There's a step forward.

00:11:43.540 And so I am blessed and highly favored.

00:11:46.920 And I am so grateful to have been on this journey and to try to do the good things that I've tried to do.

00:11:53.720 God bless Mr. Earl.

00:11:55.060 And for everyone listening, I imagine those people like a Mr. Earl that touch their lives and they're thinking about them right now.

00:12:02.620 I appreciate that.

00:12:03.380 When you got into, I mean, remarkable first in your family to go to college and here you are at Yale, which is next level.

00:12:12.140 I mean, when did you really start to feel the public service bug in particular?

00:12:18.920 Well, you know, my interest in politics actually started when I was 12 years old watching Jesse Jackson speak at the 1988 convention.

00:12:30.380 And it was not because I wanted to watch Jesse Jackson speak.

00:12:36.500 It's because in my grandfather's house, you watch whatever the hell he has on the television.

00:12:42.340 There was one TV and if he's watching, you're watching the same thing.

00:12:45.920 But I watched it and, you know, the Rev was talking that night.

00:12:51.520 He was specifically talking to young people about hope and making the world be what you wanted it to be.

00:12:59.520 And I really felt like he was talking to me.

00:13:01.440 One, to see a black man on that type of stage at that time was just, you know, it was mind blowing.

00:13:09.440 You know, particularly coming from where I came in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

00:13:13.380 And so that just planted a seed in me about exploring and learning more about politics.

00:13:19.780 And then roll around 92 and Bill Clinton, this man from the South, the man from Hope, Arkansas.

00:13:26.520 That same year, Jim Clobber is running for Congress.

00:13:29.100 The first black, he had the ability to become the first black man elected to Congress since Reconstruction.

00:13:36.180 The 1800s here in South Carolina.

00:13:39.960 And so I'm in high school and I'm just so interested.

00:13:45.120 I mean, I think I'm a soon I was a sophomore in high school at the time.

00:13:48.400 So I volunteered on the Clinton Gore campaign.

00:13:51.160 I volunteered to try to help Clyburn.

00:13:53.600 Then Clyburn wins, Bill Clinton wins.

00:13:56.400 And I'm just enthralled.

00:13:58.020 I mean, I'm really like I caught the bug at that time.

00:14:03.540 And then I just never stopped.

00:14:04.880 I invited Clyburn to come to my high school to speak.

00:14:09.480 He actually was crazy enough to come.

00:14:12.020 He said if a young man from Orangeburg Wilkinson High School who has the gall to invite his congressman to come and induct him as the president of National Honor Society, he said, I wanted to meet him.

00:14:26.060 And he did.

00:14:26.960 And and I guess I was he calls me the bad penny because he's just hadn't been able to get rid of me because I asked him, I want I said, Congressman, I want to work in your office one day.

00:14:37.600 And he said, well, you need to go to college first.

00:14:39.180 And then he gave me an internship and then, you know, you know, the rest is history.

00:14:45.640 I went to law school and worked in his office at the same time.

00:14:49.900 But I saw politics as the avenue to help people like my grandparents.

00:14:55.620 It really was when I thought about all of the people who were really fighting for folks like that, people who didn't have a big voice themselves, but worked hard every day and got screwed over by the system.

00:15:08.640 And I saw the political leaders in my community, Jim Clyburn and Earl Middleton and folks like that, who were the folks that were helping.

00:15:18.160 And I saw that as the avenue to do something very similar.

00:15:23.060 And so I was interested in it.

00:15:25.800 And then, you know, luckily, I found people like Clyburn who taught me along the way.

00:15:30.680 Well, you're and we're going to talk more about Clyburn in a moment.

00:15:34.580 But you brought me back to that moment in 1988.

00:15:37.160 I think it was a speech where Jackson, I mean, one of the one of the great speeches, because he talked about I mean, the campaign didn't work out the way he intended to.

00:15:48.580 But he talked about, you know, how this campaign had not been in vain.

00:15:51.780 And he said, if in my low moments where my grape has turned into a raisin, charge it to my head, not to my heart.

00:16:01.120 I remember that.

00:16:02.700 I'm like, oh, come on.

00:16:04.760 So good.

00:16:05.480 To paint a picture, so vivid.

00:16:09.280 And it was such a it was I love that you were inspired by that.

00:16:13.020 I was as I was as well in 88.

00:16:15.160 And of course, you know, Bill Clinton and that that 90 time 92 campaign.

00:16:19.260 So we're I think we're aging.

00:16:20.560 We're tracking similar times and state of mind.

00:16:24.900 And I would argue quality of imagination.

00:16:26.880 And I want to get to that in a moment.

00:16:28.680 But you you found yourself at those moments being inspired by these leaders, by their example and anchored by your grandparents and these mentors that came in your life at the right time.

00:16:41.440 And the pursuit in politics you took in a pretty profound way.

00:16:47.240 And I remember you coming on the national scene ubiquitously when you ran for the United States Senate.

00:16:54.360 I think at the time and correct me, please, if I'm wrong, but I think it was one of the most invested in campaigns in U.S. history.

00:17:03.160 It's like one hundred and thirty two million dollars or something.

00:17:05.960 Yeah.

00:17:06.280 Is that right?

00:17:07.260 That's it.

00:17:07.820 We've raised more than anybody else in a regular campaign.

00:17:11.340 I think Ossoff with his after the the special elections and the runoffs kind of topped that.

00:17:19.960 But we raised it in the normal campaign.

00:17:22.460 One hundred and thirty two million dollars.

00:17:24.040 And what was it?

00:17:25.080 And it's sinful.

00:17:26.520 It is actually sinful that, you know, you need that amount of money to run for all.

00:17:31.540 And we're going to talk about that in a moment because we're going to fast forward about, you know, what may, you know, reflecting on the last few months and years.

00:17:42.360 But in relationship to money and politics.

00:17:44.420 But I'm curious, just in that campaign, what was it?

00:17:48.700 Remind folks, you know, what was your why?

00:17:52.060 What was the you know, was was it what was the burning desire to be in the United States Senate?

00:17:56.320 But also, why do you think that race galvanized the country and became so nationalized?

00:18:04.400 Why you?

00:18:05.640 Why the moment?

00:18:06.920 What do you reflect upon in terms of that Senate race?

00:18:10.540 Well, it really is interesting because I.

00:18:13.700 You know, yes, I was interested in politics and running for office, but I had no idea that I would ever run for the Senate and let alone not run against Lindsey Graham.

00:18:25.100 I actually for a long time, I actually thought of Republicans.

00:18:29.140 Lindsey was pretty decent, right?

00:18:31.840 Like some of us.

00:18:32.840 I think there are plenty of us that.

00:18:35.460 Yeah, we consistently are disappointed in that respect.

00:18:38.400 Oh, yeah.

00:18:39.180 And so it really wasn't.

00:18:41.460 It really wasn't until the Kavanaugh hearings that the idea was planted.

00:18:47.600 And, you know, my wife and I were watching my wife, who I married up way, way, way up, but who's a law professor at University of South Carolina.

00:18:58.740 And she and I were watching the hearings.

00:19:00.960 And you remember that moment when Lindsey Graham does his Oscar performance, which, by God, if you Democrats want power, so blah, blah, blah, blah.

00:19:11.600 And I sat there and I was just disgusted by it all.

00:19:15.340 And I remember, you know, chatting with my wife and it was like, we got to find somebody to run against this guy.

00:19:23.300 And I remember the pause and it was like, well, aren't you somebody?

00:19:29.620 And I don't know if she was joking or whatever.

00:19:31.980 But it sort of planted a seed in my head.

00:19:36.160 And I just started toying with the idea.

00:19:38.040 Well, maybe, maybe, maybe.

00:19:40.880 And then eventually the exploratory committee came up because one of the things that I realized with Lindsey is that he had changed.

00:19:51.360 He was no longer the person who was focused on improving the lives of the people in South Carolina.

00:19:56.940 No longer the person who was focused on working across the aisle to try to get things done.

00:20:02.520 Because that's, you know, that's what Lindsey did.

00:20:05.940 I knew from working in Jim Clarkman's office.

00:20:08.620 That if any time we needed to work with a Republican in delegation, we could always work with Lindsey in order to get something done for South Carolina.

00:20:16.740 That was the magic that Strom Thurmond and Fritz Hollings, who were our two senators before, always had.

00:20:23.680 That, yes, they would fight to see who could do more for South Carolina.

00:20:29.060 Even though they were Democrat and Republican, they would fight to see who could get more done.

00:20:34.420 And so, but that Lindsey was no longer.

00:20:37.480 This was a Lindsey who was so focused on his own power and his own stuff that he had forgotten the fact that in this great state of ours, you know, we have 15 of 46 counties with OBGYNs.

00:20:51.460 That in this state, because Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid, five or six of our rural hospitals have closed.

00:20:59.060 That there's no broadband that was in many of our rural counties.

00:21:03.460 And the question is, well, who's actually going to go to Washington, D.C. and stay in the Senate and fight for those people?

00:21:09.780 Not fight to get in front of a damn TV camera, but actually fight for the people to improve the quality of lives that these folks have.

00:21:17.360 Because we got a governor, and you'll find this as you come to South Carolina more.

00:21:22.160 There's an area in South Carolina called the Court of Shame.

00:21:25.800 Think about that.

00:21:26.680 Think about having a whole area, a group of counties, mostly Black, majority Black counties, it's called the Court of Shame, where the schools are falling apart, where the water is not clean.

00:21:39.600 And so we needed somebody in D.C. who was going to fight for us.

00:21:44.920 And we weren't getting that from, we got it from Jim Clyburn in the House, but we were not getting that equivalent in the United States Senate.

00:21:52.080 And I decided, you know, if not me, you know, I just needed to step up.

00:21:59.420 And so that's what I did.

00:22:02.080 Did you take away anything, something indelible, lessons learned in that process?

00:22:07.560 What did you, what was, if you distilled sort of the essence of that experience?

00:22:12.580 Does it come down to a single sentence or does it come down to sort of a thought?

00:22:17.380 Well, well, Governor, there was, you know, I reflect on that race a lot.

00:22:24.580 I mean, there was so many curveballs, one COVID, which really upset how we did the campaign.

00:22:33.180 We wanted to put together the largest field operation in the history of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

00:22:38.680 And we had the resources to do it, but because of COVID, we didn't want to expose people, we weren't able to do that.

00:22:45.800 So we had to do all TV and all that.

00:22:47.660 And that's not the way I would run a campaign.

00:22:51.860 And then the October surprise when RBG passed away, Justice RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

00:22:59.540 that then gave Lindsey Graham the opportunity to chair the appointment.

00:23:05.160 So that was my October surprise.

00:23:06.900 We had him on the defensive.

00:23:09.260 You remember, he was crying on Fox News.

00:23:11.680 Oh, y'all, please send me a contribution because they're killing me down here.

00:23:15.820 We literally were.

00:23:16.920 And people listening, literally.

00:23:19.400 Yes.

00:23:19.900 Yes.

00:23:20.560 I mean, we were kicking his ass.

00:23:22.980 I mean, on the debate stage, on everything, every metric, we were outdoing this guy who had been in the U.S. Senate for a long time,

00:23:30.540 the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

00:23:32.040 But then when he got that opportunity to chair that hearing, it changed.

00:23:37.500 It put me on the defensive.

00:23:39.160 And it changed the dynamics of the race.

00:23:42.100 Because now here, he's being a champion of conservatives.

00:23:45.580 He's getting this conservative woman on the court.

00:23:47.900 And it literally, we saw it in our polling.

00:23:50.900 Like, it swapped.

00:23:53.140 So, but the thing that I took from that is that, yes, we ended up losing.

00:24:00.000 But, Governor, we ended up getting 1.1 million people to turn out and vote for a Democrat.

00:24:08.480 That has never happened in the history of South Carolina.

00:24:11.480 The most before was Barack Obama, and he got about 800 and some thousand folks to vote.

00:24:17.480 We came 50,000 short of the vote total that Donald Trump got four years prior when he beat Hillary Clinton by 13 points.

00:24:25.940 And so, you know, we put some cracks in that wall, and we gave people hope.

00:24:33.680 And particularly, I think if the kids in South Carolina could vote, I would be the senator right now.

00:24:41.040 Because most kids, parents come up to me in the airport, and they say,

00:24:44.600 my son or my daughter absolutely loved you because they saw all your ads on YouTube.

00:24:50.360 But we gave people a hope that we could actually send somebody to Washington to fight for them.

00:24:58.880 And so much so now that some folks are calling me now and saying, well, why aren't you running against Lindsay?

00:25:04.000 Or why don't you run for governor?

00:25:06.280 But, you know, one of the things that I have also learned is that you also have to put your family first.

00:25:11.940 And for six years, I have been running hard to help a lot of folks, you know, two years running for the Senate, four years as DNC chair.

00:25:21.880 And then sometimes you realize that you also need to spend some time at home.

00:25:26.620 And raising two black boys in this type of atmosphere, it's really, really important.

00:25:34.100 My dad was not there in my life.

00:25:36.260 And so it's just really important for me that I'm there for my boys.

00:25:39.760 I love that.

00:25:41.340 And I want to talk about your family in a moment.

00:25:45.020 But let's talk about this larger family, the Democratic Party.

00:25:47.660 Yes.

00:25:50.580 December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport.

00:25:56.540 The holiday rush.

00:25:58.100 Parents hauling luggage.

00:25:59.740 Kids gripping their new Christmas toys.

00:26:02.240 Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed.

00:26:06.300 There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal.

00:26:10.840 Apparently, the explosion actually impelled metal glass.

00:26:16.320 The injured were being loaded into ambulances.

00:26:19.140 Just a chaotic, chaotic scene.

00:26:21.560 In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged.

00:26:24.540 And it was here to stay.

00:26:26.500 Terrorism.

00:26:27.060 Law & Order Criminal Justice System is back.

00:26:32.020 In Season 2, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight.

00:26:37.220 That's harder to predict and even harder to stop.

00:26:40.800 Listen to the new season of Law & Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:26:49.260 Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and I'm the host of the On Purpose Podcast.

00:26:56.960 And today, I'm joined by one of the greatest athletes of all time, Novak Djokovic.

00:27:02.920 The world's number one male tennis player.

00:27:05.160 He's won 14 grand slams in a glittering career.

00:27:08.260 Novak Djokovic.

00:27:09.600 You've been through so many injuries, losses.

00:27:12.620 Oh, he showed himself.

00:27:14.160 What has Novak Djokovic done?

00:27:16.580 What goes through your mind when you lose?

00:27:18.860 I just want to be left alone.

00:27:20.820 What has it taken to become Novak Djokovic?

00:27:24.800 It's a consistent practice.

00:27:26.300 It's prayer work, mindfulness, meditation, conscious breathing.

00:27:30.580 It requires more responsibility from you on a daily basis to prepare yourself for the biggest battle.

00:27:35.940 When you reach your 30, you start counting your days to your retirement.

00:27:40.020 I'm 38 this year.

00:27:41.640 How far can I go?

00:27:42.700 How long can I push my own limits?

00:27:45.060 Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:27:53.180 Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free.

00:28:01.140 I'm Ebony, and every Tuesday, I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you.

00:28:10.360 On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all, childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more, and found the shrimp to make it to the other side.

00:28:27.040 My dad was shot and killed in his house.

00:28:30.240 Yes, he was a drug dealer.

00:28:31.500 Yes, he was a confidential informant, but he wasn't shot on a street corner.

00:28:35.320 He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal.

00:28:37.340 He was shot in his house, unarmed.

00:28:41.140 Pretty Private isn't just a podcast.

00:28:43.540 It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines.

00:28:47.940 Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network.

00:28:52.680 Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

00:28:59.960 What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth?

00:29:09.480 Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.

00:29:13.520 He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you.

00:29:17.960 Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training.

00:29:27.980 These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs.

00:29:38.360 Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months.

00:29:44.600 The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you.

00:29:49.060 And we didn't know what to expect in the morning.

00:29:51.080 Nobody tells you anything.

00:29:52.420 Listen to Shock Incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:30:00.540 Hola, it's Honey German, and my podcast, Gracias Come Again, is back.

00:30:04.900 This season, we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment,

00:30:08.460 with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities.

00:30:12.660 You didn't have to audition?

00:30:13.460 No, I didn't audition.

00:30:14.820 I haven't auditioned in, like, over 25 years.

00:30:17.440 Oh, wow.

00:30:18.220 That's a real G-talk right there.

00:30:19.760 Oh, yeah.

00:30:20.700 We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators, and culture shifters sharing their real stories of failure and success.

00:30:28.640 Yo siento como que esto este mi destino.

00:30:31.300 You were destined to be a star.

00:30:32.460 Sí, eso es lo que yo quería hacer.

00:30:33.960 We talk all about what's viral and trending with a little bit of chisme, a lot of laughs, and those amazing vibras you've come to expect.

00:30:41.100 And, of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity, struggles, and all the issues affecting our Latin community.

00:30:47.680 You feel like you get a little whitewashed because you have to do the code switching?

00:30:50.780 I won't say whitewashed because, at the end of the day, you know, I'm me.

00:30:53.920 Yeah.

00:30:54.140 But the whole pretending and cult, you know, it takes a toll on you.

00:30:57.660 Listen to the new season of Gracias Come Again as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:31:04.900 You know, so you referenced, you went from the Senate, and that opened up, so all of a sudden, once a mind's a stretch, never goes back to its original form, you've nationalized your name ID, you're ubiquitous on TV.

00:31:18.420 I remember every damn night, you were on some, I mean, literally, when I say every night, forgive me, on every cable network, there's that Harrison guy again.

00:31:26.680 A big round head.

00:31:28.040 Unbelievable.

00:31:28.720 Really?

00:31:29.040 Another $3 I got to send this guy?

00:31:31.120 Unbelievable.

00:31:31.780 It wasn't even $3.

00:31:32.660 I think you were calling for real some more significant numbers from folks like me.

00:31:38.500 But you decide to jump, put your hat in.

00:31:41.400 Was this, again, your inspiration?

00:31:42.920 Was it your family?

00:31:44.020 Was it your wife again saying, come on, Jamie, let's not give up.

00:31:47.180 Let's get to D.C. by another route.

00:31:49.580 Let's run for the DNC.

00:31:51.280 How the hell that happened?

00:31:52.340 Well, it actually happened the night of my election.

00:31:55.920 President Biden called me, and, you know, they had called our race probably about eight something or whatever.

00:32:01.480 And I give this call, undisclosed, and I'm getting ready to move, to go to concede to Lindsey.

00:32:09.360 And I'm driving over to the place where we're having our, after the election party.

00:32:16.640 And there's this number, and I pick up, and it's Joe Biden.

00:32:20.760 And he says to me, he said, Jamie, we don't know what tonight will end up on the presidential level, but I wanted to call you about your race.

00:32:31.840 And I just want to say, one, I am proud of you.

00:32:34.720 I'm grateful that you ran.

00:32:36.460 And I want you to know, when we pull this off, I need you to be a part of my team.

00:32:44.600 He said, I don't know what it is, but I need you to be a part of my team.

00:32:47.980 And I was so heartened by that.

00:32:49.980 You know, my heart was broken because of losing my race.

00:32:53.980 But I was so heartened.

00:32:55.100 And, again, that's classic Joe Biden and why I love Joe Biden as much as I do.

00:32:59.100 Because here's this man who is focused on, he doesn't know whether or not he's going to win or not, right?

00:33:04.340 He's still waiting to see the results.

00:33:07.020 But he is so focused on seeing other folks and saying, you know, I'm not going to leave you behind.

00:33:13.820 I want you to be a part of my team.

00:33:15.900 If I'm there, you're going to be there with me.

00:33:18.880 And it's part of the love that I have for Joe Biden because he's a very special person.

00:33:24.840 And so, really, it was that.

00:33:27.060 You know, that was the seed.

00:33:30.140 And then, you know, Clyburn asked me, he said, you know, the president told me he called you and this and that.

00:33:36.360 What do you want to do?

00:33:37.340 I said, well, whatever he wants me to do.

00:33:40.300 And so, you know, I had run for DNC chair back in 2016 after the Hillary loss.

00:33:49.320 And I didn't, of course, I didn't win, but I helped Tom Perez prevail.

00:33:53.100 So, I had already been the associate chair of the DNC for four years.

00:33:57.680 And so, you know, I said, well, you know, I can do the DNC.

00:34:03.340 I know how to do party building.

00:34:05.080 And so, that just became sort of the avenue.

00:34:09.740 And the president and his team asked me to do it.

00:34:13.140 I think it was that December or early January.

00:34:15.700 And, you know, when the president calls, as you know, the only answer is yes.

00:34:23.100 And so, you know, it's a hell of a journey to be on, to be the head of the Democratic Party.

00:34:30.700 And for those that are wondering, I mean, the DNC, the National Democratic Committee, what is it?

00:34:35.500 I mean, are you de facto?

00:34:37.220 Because I get this question all the time.

00:34:38.640 Who leads the Democratic Party?

00:34:41.240 And people say, was it the DNC?

00:34:43.180 Well, you know, is it Jeffries?

00:34:44.240 Is it, you know, is it the ex-presidents?

00:34:46.880 What do you, I mean, what did you, your position at the time, positioned with the support of the president, the incoming president of the United States?

00:34:54.640 Is he the head of the party?

00:34:57.720 Is Jamie Harrison the head of the party?

00:34:59.420 What is the DNC?

00:35:00.960 Explain it to people, what it means, and what it's not, perhaps, too.

00:35:05.520 Well, Governor, the DNC is different.

00:35:07.820 And the role of the DNC chair is different when you have the White House and when you don't have the White House.

00:35:11.940 It is almost like two different organizations.

00:35:15.180 And the responsibilities for the chair are also very different.

00:35:18.680 When you have the White House, the president is the head of the party.

00:35:21.640 I mean, and you are an able lieutenant.

00:35:24.840 It's almost, you are, the DNC is seen.

00:35:28.140 Now, the question is, should it be seen like that?

00:35:30.680 And that's for another discussion.

00:35:33.200 Well, we're going to talk about it today, Jamie, because I want to discuss that.

00:35:36.740 Yes.

00:35:37.180 Because I think it's an interesting question.

00:35:38.560 But keep going, because this is really important.

00:35:41.120 Really important.

00:35:42.140 Well, the DNC traditionally has been, when you have the White House, is the extension of the White House.

00:35:47.420 It is a political arm of the White House.

00:35:49.780 Because the president is seen as the head of the party.

00:35:54.280 And so you really, as the chair, you get your mark.

00:35:57.720 And it's very similar to the cabinet secretaries, right?

00:36:00.540 Where the folks in the White House make decisions, and then they call, and they pick up the phone, and they tell the secretary, well, we're going to do this.

00:36:07.380 And so that means for the secretary, you got to do this.

00:36:11.100 It's also the same thing at the DNC.

00:36:12.880 You know, the folks at the White House make the call on terms of where the major expenditures go, what we're doing in terms of party philosophy.

00:36:21.940 That is not to say that you don't have any input.

00:36:24.360 And depending on the White House, how much input you have changes, right?

00:36:29.600 There are some White Houses that lean very heavily on their DNC and the DNC chair and weigh the input.

00:36:37.640 And there's some who don't, right?

00:36:40.160 Who don't see the DNC as much to invest in, and they do other things.

00:36:45.500 And so, you know, my role was to make sure that the trains keep running in terms of all the things that the DNC really is responsible for.

00:36:57.180 And that gives folks a sense.

00:37:00.140 You know, the DNC is one slice of a pie in the Democratic Party ecosystem.

00:37:05.780 Just one slice of the pie.

00:37:07.660 We don't control all things that are Democratic Party.

00:37:10.820 We only control that sliver of the pie that we have, and that is influenced by the White House in terms of what we do with that sliver that we have.

00:37:20.340 So the DCCC, which is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, focuses on the House.

00:37:26.380 The DSCC, Senate Campaign Committee, focuses on the Senate, and they all have chairs.

00:37:31.980 The DGA, which you are a part of, is the Governors Association.

00:37:35.440 They have their own chair.

00:37:36.620 And so all of those, and every other little position, mayors, lieutenant governors, attorneys generals, secretaries of state, they all have their organizations.

00:37:45.380 And we try to work together as a collective.

00:37:48.760 I used to try to convene a meeting of what I call the sister committees, and that's the big DGA, the DTRIP, and the DS.

00:37:58.760 And then the cousin committees, which are the more junior ones, right?

00:38:02.860 So that we could align ourselves in terms of message and direction and to let each other know where we're going on certain things to try to iron out any things that happen.

00:38:13.100 That is not something that is mandated, but it's something that I wanted to do as DNC chair, so I got a sense of where the ecosystem and what the pie looked like.

00:38:22.240 So we had, in our four years, the Biden administration was, the president was probably one of the most pro-party presidents that we've had in a long time.

00:38:35.500 Interesting.

00:38:35.940 We believe fundamentally in investing in the parties, and that's why we invested probably, not probably, at that time, we invested more than any other DNC had in terms of state parties and trying to rebuild the organization.

00:38:49.260 And that's because of Joe Biden, and I give him full credit for that.

00:38:53.020 Now, some of the people in his universe at the White House did not always make it easy in terms of doing the things that I thought we should have been doing in order to strengthen the party, to rebuild the party's brand, to really engage in the social media aspect.

00:39:10.800 There are a lot of plans that I had early on, Governor, for, you know, I wanted to create a YouTube channel that I call DTV that would have been focused on the Democratic Party and having us tell our own story, highlighting our successes, getting different people that showcase the diversity of the party out there on social media where people are getting their information from.

00:39:38.640 But I was told, that's not a big priority right now, right?

00:39:43.080 I had a study on rebuilding the brand of the Democratic Party, because as somebody ran for office myself, I saw that our brand was broken, right?

00:39:52.240 But they tarred me as somebody who believed in defunding the police when my grandfather was, my grandfather on my stepdad's side was a police, was in the police department for 30 plus years in Detroit.

00:40:05.900 I'm the last damn person that would defund the police, right?

00:40:08.960 Because I understand the importance of policing in our communities and good policing, right?

00:40:15.060 But that, I was tarred with that, even though that was not my position.

00:40:20.300 That's Picard.

00:40:21.300 Basically, when your brand's broken, they can put whatever the hell they want on you, right?

00:40:25.080 And so I wanted a study, and I did not want political people to do the branding study.

00:40:32.000 I actually tried to get people who, from the nonprofit and the corporate space, who understand brands, because their livelihood and their money is built on a good, positive brand, to come in and look at the political brand and give a different set of eyes on it.

00:40:47.700 I was told, no, we're not going to spend time on that.

00:40:50.280 So, and it wasn't from the president, it's some of the people sometimes in the president's bubble who think they know better, but in essence, probably should just listen to some of us that are on the ground.

00:41:00.840 But I'll leave that for another day.

00:41:05.980 December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport.

00:41:10.500 The holiday rush, parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys.

00:41:17.540 Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed.

00:41:23.000 There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal.

00:41:26.140 Apparently, the explosion actually impelled metal glass.

00:41:31.640 The injured were being loaded into ambulances.

00:41:34.420 Just a chaotic, chaotic scene.

00:41:36.320 In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged, and it was here to stay.

00:41:41.800 Terrorism.

00:41:43.960 Law & Order Criminal Justice System is back.

00:41:47.780 In Season 2, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight,

00:41:52.340 that's harder to predict and even harder to stop.

00:41:56.100 Listen to the new season of Law & Order Criminal Justice System

00:42:00.080 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:42:06.320 Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and I'm the host of the On Purpose Podcast.

00:42:12.280 And today, I'm joined by one of the greatest athletes of all time, Novak Djokovic.

00:42:18.300 The world's number one male tennis player.

00:42:20.460 He's won 14 grand slams in a glittering career.

00:42:23.560 Novak Djokovic.

00:42:24.900 You've been through so many injuries, losses.

00:42:27.920 Oh, he's hurt himself.

00:42:29.440 What has Novak Djokovic done?

00:42:31.900 What goes through your mind when you lose?

00:42:34.160 I just want to be left alone.

00:42:36.120 What has it taken to become Novak Djokovic?

00:42:40.120 It's a consistent practice.

00:42:41.620 It's prayer work, mindfulness, meditation, conscious breathing.

00:42:45.880 It requires more responsibility from you on a daily basis

00:42:48.980 to prepare yourself for the biggest battle.

00:42:51.240 When you reach your 30, you start counting your days to your retirement.

00:42:55.340 I'm 38 this year.

00:42:56.940 How far can I go?

00:42:58.120 How long can I push my own limits?

00:43:00.340 Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

00:43:07.180 you get your podcasts.

00:43:09.380 Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebene, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set

00:43:15.700 free.

00:43:16.300 I'm Ebene, and every Tuesday, I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge

00:43:21.640 your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you.

00:43:25.660 On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it

00:43:31.800 all, childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more, and

00:43:40.180 found the shrimp to make it to the other side.

00:43:42.380 My dad was shot and killed in his house.

00:43:45.600 Yes, he was a drug dealer.

00:43:46.820 Yes, he was a confidential informant, but he wasn't shot on a street corner.

00:43:50.640 He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal.

00:43:52.640 He was shot in his house, unarmed.

00:43:56.440 Pretty Private isn't just a podcast.

00:43:58.860 It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines.

00:44:03.260 Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network.

00:44:08.000 Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

00:44:15.060 Your entire identity has been fabricated.

00:44:18.780 Your beloved brother goes missing without a trace.

00:44:22.120 You discover the depths of your mother's illness, the way it has echoed and reverberated throughout

00:44:26.840 your life, impacting your very legacy.

00:44:30.620 Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro.

00:44:32.140 And these are just a few of the profound and powerful stories I'll be mining on our 12th

00:44:38.820 season of Family Secrets.

00:44:41.120 With over 37 million downloads, we continue to be moved and inspired by our guests and their

00:44:47.800 courageously told stories.

00:44:49.920 I can't wait to share 10 powerful new episodes with you.

00:44:54.300 Stories of tangled up identities, concealed truths, and the way in which Family Secrets almost always

00:45:00.200 need to be told.

00:45:02.360 I hope you'll join me and my extraordinary guests for this new season of Family Secrets.

00:45:07.480 Listen to Family Secrets Season 12 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

00:45:13.240 podcasts.

00:45:15.260 Sometimes it's hard to remember, but...

00:45:17.280 Going through something like that is a traumatic experience, but it's also not the end of their

00:45:23.180 life.

00:45:23.680 That was my dad, reminding me and so many others who need to hear it, that our trauma is not

00:45:28.220 our shame to carry, and that we have big, bold, and beautiful lives to live after what happened

00:45:33.300 to us.

00:45:34.120 I'm your host and co-president of this organization, Dr. Lea Tratate.

00:45:38.200 On my new podcast, The Unwanted Sorority, we wade through transformation to peel back healing

00:45:43.080 and reveal what it actually looks like, and sounds like, in real time.

00:45:47.360 Each week, I sit down with people who've lived through harm, carried silence, and are now reshaping

00:45:52.360 the systems that failed us.

00:45:53.580 We're going to talk about the adultification of Black girls, mothering as resistance, and

00:45:58.240 the tools we use for healing.

00:46:00.420 The Unwanted Sorority is a safe space, not a quiet space.

00:46:03.800 So, let's lock in.

00:46:05.420 We're moving towards liberation, together.

00:46:08.360 Listen to The Unwanted Sorority, new episodes every Thursday, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

00:46:13.640 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:46:16.000 It's interesting.

00:46:18.220 So, I mean, because we can fast forward and talk about the brand, the Democratic brand

00:46:23.460 today is more, some have argued, and people don't like the word toxic, but when you see

00:46:28.840 27% approval in early this year, in an NBC poll, 29%, which was a high watermark at the

00:46:35.920 time in a CNN poll, and people feeling we're out of touch, we're weak, we're not, quote

00:46:40.420 unquote, focusing on their priorities.

00:46:42.200 We're focusing on the elites, or we're focusing on being more, quote unquote, politically correct.

00:46:48.440 It's interesting to hear you reflect on aspects of that that you were battling prior.

00:46:54.800 But again, as sort of an incumbent party with an incumbent president, your role in relationship

00:47:00.940 to the White House is radically different than being out of power.

00:47:06.060 Because the expectation is for you to focus on the president, on the White House, and everything

00:47:13.360 else sort of falls by the wayside.

00:47:17.600 But luckily, again, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they really wanted to extend that bubble

00:47:23.520 out some.

00:47:24.520 But sometimes the people in the universes that you are dealing with, because you're not always

00:47:30.580 dealing with the president and vice president, because they got much bigger fish to deal with.

00:47:34.900 But the people who are that layer between you and them, sometimes they're constantly getting

00:47:42.000 you back to focus on just that and not on the greater universe.

00:47:45.920 And what I believe needs to happen in terms of reforms is that the DNC can't just focus on

00:47:51.860 the White House, has to focus on the entirety of the party, and it has to be all the time,

00:47:58.300 not just, and that's not to say that you do less for the White House.

00:48:01.820 No, I'm not saying that whatsoever.

00:48:03.900 But what I'm saying is you can't put everything you've got on just the White House.

00:48:07.980 Because if you lose state houses, if you lose government mansions, if you lose attorney

00:48:12.740 generals, we all see how important those roles are now when you don't have the White House,

00:48:18.060 when you don't control Congress, right?

00:48:20.000 That is the front line in terms of the defense for democracy and the livelihood of so many

00:48:27.180 Americans right now.

00:48:28.800 And if we had not spent some time and energy and resources on that right now, we really

00:48:34.700 would be up Schitt's Creek, right?

00:48:36.800 But I'm grateful to the president and the vice president for pouring the resources in so

00:48:43.280 that we could be helpful to the other entities, the other parts of our party.

00:48:47.420 But I think we could even be in a much stronger situation had we done even a little more.

00:48:54.660 And I think, you know, going forward, there needs to be some buffer between the White House

00:49:00.460 and the DNC to allow the DNC to really flex that muscle fully and to invest across the ecosystem

00:49:11.540 and not just focus on 1600 Pennsylvania.

00:49:14.400 I appreciate it.

00:49:15.000 So you reflect, I mean, you inherited an incumbent, I mean, in this case, you were tapped by a

00:49:21.640 president-elect.

00:49:23.260 You inherited that mantle of sort of incumbency, different mindset, different relationship to

00:49:28.940 the White House, different relationship in terms of the expectations, particularly staff

00:49:32.800 had in terms of how their agenda was being reflected in your agenda at the DNC.

00:49:38.360 I reflect, you know, Howard Dean, a 50-state strategy under President Obama.

00:49:43.780 The OFA sort of played a role.

00:49:47.100 And, you know, you just, for those that are watching, you said thumbs down.

00:49:53.560 The OFA is, and I think President Obama would tell you this.

00:49:57.560 That was one of the worst decisions that administration made, because what it did was it crippled our

00:50:04.440 state parties.

00:50:06.640 You know, when I became, under Howard Dean, and I sort of see myself as a Dean acolyte,

00:50:11.500 the 50-state strategy was brilliant.

00:50:13.540 And it was not an idea of Howard Dean.

00:50:15.920 It was actually created by the state parties who forced Howard Dean to adopt it when he was

00:50:21.620 approved for the DNC.

00:50:22.780 Bottom up.

00:50:23.300 Bottom up.

00:50:23.980 Bottom up.

00:50:24.640 And so, but it was brilliant, because what it did was it invested resources in state parties.

00:50:30.380 It invested in organizers on the ground in these places, people who could disseminate

00:50:35.680 the message and connect with the grassroots operations across the country.

00:50:39.200 And as a result of doing that, we won, and we won big.

00:50:42.840 In 2006, I was the ED of the House Dem Caucus in the House of Representatives.

00:50:48.700 And Jim Clyburn was one of the few members of leadership that supported Howard Dean and 50-state

00:50:53.820 strategy.

00:50:54.600 That year, Dean and Rahm Emanuel went at it.

00:50:58.120 Rahm Emanuel, you know, cursed Howard Dean out, told him to cut the fucking check, you

00:51:03.540 know, write the damn check, and this and that.

00:51:05.860 Like, he wanted $5 million from the DNC.

00:51:08.720 But Dean stuck to his guns and kept that money flowing into the state parties.

00:51:12.920 That year, we picked up seats in the House that was not on the DCCC target list, but what

00:51:20.200 were seats in Kansas and other places that we never thought we would have won, but we

00:51:25.540 did because we had the money on the ground and invested.

00:51:28.260 And I thank you, Governor, because you understand that.

00:51:31.000 You have been investing in red states across the country, and that is so key for the next

00:51:36.940 phase in the battle.

00:51:38.680 We have to stop ceding territory to the Republicans, and we got to start growing the pie.

00:51:45.380 And the only way you do that is in investing places.

00:51:47.600 Even if you don't win right now, it's about a long-term investment.

00:51:51.260 And you see that, and I want to applaud you for that because it has been so helpful.

00:51:56.860 I go to some of these states, and they tell me, Governor Newsom, my party here in South Carolina,

00:52:02.160 we want to thank Governor Newsom for his investment.

00:52:04.800 He sent out an email that raised them X amount of money.

00:52:08.940 Arkansas, they're thankful for you.

00:52:11.200 I mean, I can go down the red states.

00:52:13.660 The old Confederacy, thanks you, Governor, because you have been investing in those states.

00:52:19.140 And that's what we need more of in this party for people to see the long-term value of doing

00:52:23.920 that.

00:52:24.580 But that's what Howard Dean did.

00:52:27.240 That is not what happened during the Obama administration.

00:52:30.020 I give Tom Perez credit because he tried to go back to that once he became DNC chair.

00:52:35.300 But you see, the difference is Tom, well, going even before, Ron Brown, Howard Dean, Tom Perez

00:52:44.620 were all DNC chairs without the White House.

00:52:48.160 Yeah.

00:52:49.020 Right?

00:52:49.340 But when you have the White House, it's very different.

00:52:53.440 And so part of the reason why we were able to beat back the red wave was because we did

00:52:58.080 something that traditionally does not happen when you have the White House.

00:53:01.760 We invested significant resources on the ground a year ahead of time in many of these states.

00:53:09.420 Over a hundred million dollars.

00:53:09.620 And you're talking about just so people understand, you wildly outperformed as DNC chair,

00:53:16.680 the Biden administration, as an incumbent president in that midterm, you broke with all, I mean,

00:53:22.720 historical trends.

00:53:24.620 And you're saying that was not just a fluke.

00:53:28.720 That was not just happenstance.

00:53:30.480 That was because you did what again?

00:53:33.480 That's because we invested unprecedented resources on building ground operations.

00:53:38.800 We had the largest voter protection program in the history of the DNC in that midterm election.

00:53:45.520 We, I mean, we literally had lawyers all across the country being prepared because we knew the hijinks

00:53:54.860 that were going to happen with Republicans.

00:53:57.400 We had, we did voter registration for the first time in 20 years.

00:54:02.560 The voter registration had been outsourced out to C3, C4s instead of being in-house at the DNC.

00:54:09.240 Right?

00:54:09.460 So we did that.

00:54:11.560 We put boots on the ground in all of the battleground states a year ahead of time.

00:54:17.420 North Carolina and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada.

00:54:23.560 And as you saw, we won almost, I think we won almost all of those governor's races.

00:54:28.880 I think we won all of those governor's races that year in all of those battleground states.

00:54:32.380 Katie Hobbs in Arizona.

00:54:33.760 Yeah, we just said we struggled in Nevada.

00:54:36.960 Nevada was the exception.

00:54:38.140 Yeah, Nevada was the exception.

00:54:40.060 Yeah.

00:54:41.080 And so we just outperformed.

00:54:43.940 And it was the best midterms election for a Democratic incumbent, I think, since the 1930s,

00:54:49.060 when you take a look at it.

00:54:50.460 And we worked hand in glove with our friends at the DGA, at the DCCC, at the DSCC.

00:54:56.440 And I think I would even go on to say that part of the reason, fast forward to 2024, that

00:55:05.920 we didn't get wiped out in some of those other, in those same battleground states, right?

00:55:11.480 Even though the vice president lost the presidential race in Arizona, in Nevada, in Michigan, in North

00:55:20.020 Carolina, we still won Senate races there.

00:55:24.860 We still won down-ballot races there.

00:55:27.560 And you know, normally, if the top of the ticket loses, everybody loses.

00:55:32.120 But the question is, why did we, yeah, North Carolina's a perfect example.

00:55:36.260 Why did we lose the presidential in North Carolina, but we won the governor's race?

00:55:40.560 We won the lieutenant governor's race.

00:55:41.860 We won attorney general.

00:55:42.860 We won superintendent of public instruction.

00:55:44.660 We won a Supreme Court race.

00:55:45.920 It is partly because of the resources and the infrastructure and a great state party chair,

00:55:51.640 Anderson Clayton, that we were able to invest in those areas so that it's not so much just

00:55:58.780 reliant on that presidential race, but Democrats can have their message.

00:56:04.080 We can organize.

00:56:05.060 We can disseminate.

00:56:07.200 And so we saw that across the board.

00:56:09.300 And I think part of that is build infrastructure, Democrats.

00:56:12.960 If you build infrastructure, it can outlast whatever you have, the dynamics you have on

00:56:18.540 the presidential level.

00:56:19.600 And you can still have Democrats win and be successful on a local level.

00:56:23.720 And you also had Democratic values on the ballot that were successful.

00:56:27.300 I think one of the most interesting to me is Missouri, where I think it was plus 20 Trump.

00:56:31.720 Don't quote me, but I think it was plus 20.

00:56:33.620 But we won Amendment 3 on abortion.

00:56:36.000 We won the $15 minimum wage.

00:56:37.920 That same ballot that went plus 20 for Trump, one abortion, one on $15 minimum wage, and

00:56:44.700 one on paid sick leave, which begs the question around the party's challenge with positions

00:56:51.680 versus messaging.

00:56:53.760 There's this notion that, well, the reason they're so unsuccessful from the swing state

00:56:58.040 and national perspective is that we're not aligned on the issues.

00:57:01.800 Do you reject that?

00:57:03.160 Was Missouri an anomalous where these down ballot issues just because of your successful

00:57:09.040 infrastructure investments, but one off at one time?

00:57:12.440 Or do you think the party's positions are still majoritarian positions?

00:57:17.920 Or do you think we need to reflect on what just occurred and begin to truly have a forensic

00:57:24.980 on where we stand on a majority or even if it's a minority of key issues facing the American

00:57:34.300 people?

00:57:34.580 Well, Governor, I think part of it is on the issues, and I think we've always been there.

00:57:40.960 I think the American people are where the Democratic Party is as it relates to issues, as it relates

00:57:46.180 to education and health care, equality for all.

00:57:50.060 I think our values are mainstream values as it relates to that.

00:57:57.440 I think the disconnect is that people are not always associating those issues with us

00:58:04.640 or our candidates, right?

00:58:06.200 And I think that's part of the party brand.

00:58:08.480 I think what you have been hitting on and what you have done so well on is to show that

00:58:14.900 because what people are looking for, they're looking for somebody who's going to fight for

00:58:19.120 them, they're looking for somebody who's going to fight for them and their family and their

00:58:22.740 community, somebody who is not scared to roll up their sleeves and get a little dirty,

00:58:28.560 right?

00:58:28.820 Somebody who is not afraid to give as good as we get, right?

00:58:34.860 And this is part of the brand issue, particularly, and I saw it with, you know, people say, well,

00:58:41.780 you didn't see the Black men and the Latino men.

00:58:44.000 I've been ringing that damn bell for four years, four plus years, because as I went to

00:58:49.220 barbershops, as I crisscrossed this country and I sat down with Latino men in Florida or

00:58:54.720 Black men in Milwaukee, like the things that they don't like about our party right now is

00:59:01.960 they see us as soft.

00:59:04.140 They see us as weak.

00:59:05.580 They see us as not standing up.

00:59:08.900 And they, even though they disagree with Donald Trump on the issues, they see him as strong

00:59:15.860 in that sense, willing to fight and to roll up his sleeves.

00:59:19.940 And I've been saying this for now four years, and you can talk to some of my staff and they

00:59:24.840 be like, yep, the chair's been talking about that.

00:59:26.720 But governor, that is what we have to change.

00:59:29.600 Nobody is going to give you their vote if they think you are just going to lay over and

00:59:34.400 allow somebody to run over you any time.

00:59:38.240 They'd rather just stay home, right?

00:59:39.940 They'd rather not.

00:59:41.140 And it wasn't so much that people were going out and voting for Trump.

00:59:44.940 Sometimes they're just like, shit, I'm not going to vote for either one of you because

00:59:48.140 I don't like where Trump is.

00:59:50.080 Like, he's an ass and y'all are weak as hell.

00:59:52.880 So why am I going to stand up and vote for you, right?

00:59:57.880 We got to get out of this academic cerebral thing that we get into in our party.

01:00:04.060 And understand that most people, when they go and they go vote, they are not thinking,

01:00:08.780 what is the policy?

01:00:10.080 I didn't read the policy paper from the Democratic Party or the Republican.

01:00:13.760 People don't give a shit about that.

01:00:15.480 It's about people vote with this and this.

01:00:18.380 It is the heart and the gut, right?

01:00:20.660 It is, do I feel like you actually have heart enough to fight?

01:00:25.100 Do I feel in gut that I trust you to fight, right?

01:00:28.700 It is not, I'm doing this policy analysis and this chart to see which one is the best

01:00:36.780 one and which is rational and all that.

01:00:39.580 People don't, average people aren't doing that.

01:00:42.520 And so what we have to do as a party is to find our spine again and to fight, to fight

01:00:50.400 for folks.

01:00:50.860 So you pushing back against Donald Trump, that is, that is a demonstration to so many

01:00:56.400 people like on this redistricting, like, hell, if you're going to go this way, I'm going

01:01:00.740 this way.

01:01:01.200 If you want this to be a street fight, well, damn it, I'm going to pick up my shoe or brick

01:01:06.220 or whatever I have to do because I'm going to street fight.

01:01:08.940 This is going to be a street fight.

01:01:10.400 And yeah, I might get my ass kicked, but guess what?

01:01:13.380 People are going to look at you and say, well, you got yours kicked too, right?

01:01:16.640 Like, we got, we got to get into that because that's what people want right now.

01:01:21.280 And I think when we give people that, man, we're going to blow out all of these elections

01:01:25.500 because we're right on the issues.

01:01:27.300 We just got to be tough enough to fight for them.

01:01:31.040 I love it.

01:01:31.940 And, and it just, I, by the way, just full disclosure, could not agree with you more.

01:01:36.780 I mean, this notion of weakness goes to trust, goes to character, goes to our conviction.

01:01:43.300 Uh, it, it's foundational and it's so it's a, you know, you remember the old, uh, yeah,

01:01:48.400 I thought Bill Clinton summed it up beautifully when we got shellacked in one of those midterm

01:01:51.480 elections.

01:01:52.100 I can't remember which one he said, given the choice, given the choice, the American people

01:01:57.620 always support strong and wrong versus weak and right.

01:02:01.700 Yes.

01:02:02.260 Um, and this notion of strength is so important.

01:02:05.060 And you see that reflected in the democratic brand appearing to be weak.

01:02:09.680 And so I could not agree with you more, the importance, the imperative of, of, of demonstrating

01:02:14.240 strength, showing it strength, the conviction, having the courage of our convictions.

01:02:18.260 Um, and, and no longer to your right, just the cerebral, here's our 10 point plan as opposed

01:02:23.420 to where the hell do we stand on these issues?

01:02:26.260 It's Archimedes.

01:02:27.160 Give me a place to stand and I'll move the world.

01:02:29.580 Yeah.

01:02:29.800 And I think the democratic party, and I appreciate you had the dirt road Democrats.

01:02:33.700 You were focusing on that framework around rural votes.

01:02:37.260 Uh, you've been out there.

01:02:38.400 It's interesting.

01:02:38.960 People don't know that about your tenure, uh, as, in, as chair of the party.

01:02:44.860 Uh, but I think picking up that mantle right now is essential.

01:02:47.740 So it begs the question, Ken Martin's in there.

01:02:50.340 You've probably given him a lot of advice, given public advice, but probably sparingly,

01:02:54.440 but you've certainly given him private advice.

01:02:57.260 Tell our listeners what it was.

01:02:58.920 The holiday rush, parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys.

01:03:13.840 Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed.

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01:03:38.100 Terrorism.

01:03:40.300 Law & Order Criminal Justice System is back.

01:03:44.080 In Season 2, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight.

01:03:48.840 That's harder to predict and even harder to stop.

01:03:51.960 Listen to the new season of Law & Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:04:00.880 Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and I'm the host of the On Purpose Podcast.

01:04:08.580 And today I'm joined by one of the greatest athletes of all time, Novak Djokovic.

01:04:14.520 The world's number one male tennis player.

01:04:16.780 He's won 14 grand slams in a glittering career.

01:04:19.860 Novak Djokovic.

01:04:21.220 You've been through so many injuries, losses.

01:04:24.240 I always showed himself.

01:04:25.760 What has Novak Djokovic done?

01:04:27.860 What goes through your mind when you lose?

01:04:30.660 I just want to be left alone.

01:04:32.380 What has it taken to become Novak Djokovic?

01:04:36.440 It's a consistent practice.

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01:04:42.200 It requires more responsibility from you on a daily basis to prepare yourself for the biggest battle.

01:04:47.560 When you reach your 30, you start counting your days to your retirement.

01:04:51.640 I'm 38 this year.

01:04:53.260 How far can I go?

01:04:54.440 How long can I push my own limits?

01:04:57.860 Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:05:05.620 Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebene, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free.

01:05:12.700 I'm Ebene and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that will challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you.

01:05:21.980 On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all.

01:05:28.900 Childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more.

01:05:36.100 And found the shrimp to make it to the other side.

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01:05:41.900 Yes, he was a drug dealer.

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01:05:52.760 Pretty Private isn't just a podcast.

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01:05:59.560 Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network.

01:06:04.300 Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

01:06:11.460 A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it.

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01:06:44.380 He never thought he was going to get caught, and I just looked at my computer screen.

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01:06:50.680 On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors.

01:06:54.660 And you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othram,

01:06:57.380 the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases,

01:07:00.680 to finally solve the unsolvable.

01:07:03.620 Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

01:07:08.260 or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:07:12.000 Hola, it's Honey German, and my podcast, Gracias Come Again, is back.

01:07:16.320 This season, we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment

01:07:19.660 with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities.

01:07:23.640 You didn't have to audition?

01:07:25.160 No, I didn't audition.

01:07:26.280 I haven't auditioned in like over 25 years.

01:07:28.880 Oh, wow.

01:07:29.660 That's a real G-talk right there.

01:07:31.200 Oh, yeah.

01:07:32.300 We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators, and culture shifters

01:07:36.540 sharing their real stories of failure and success.

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01:07:49.260 a lot of laughs, and those amazing vibras you've come to expect.

01:07:52.520 And of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity,

01:07:55.760 struggles, and all the issues affecting our Latin community.

01:07:59.120 You feel like you get a little whitewashed because you have to do the code switching?

01:08:02.600 I won't say whitewashed because at the end of the day, you know, I'm me.

01:08:05.340 But the whole pretending and, you know, it takes a toll on you.

01:08:09.080 Listen to the new season of Gracias Come Again as part of My Cultura Podcast Network

01:08:12.780 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:08:18.380 Yeah.

01:08:18.780 You know, Ken has been a dear friend for a long time.

01:08:22.700 He and I became state party chairs around the same time.

01:08:25.380 He got in, I think, a year before me.

01:08:27.700 So he understands what state parties need right now in order to move forward.

01:08:34.440 You know, my advice to Ken really is this.

01:08:38.180 It is, you know, stick to your guns in terms of investing in state party infrastructure

01:08:44.260 because that, it is how we won in 06.

01:08:47.840 And I believe 06 is echoing 20, 2026 will be an echo of 06.

01:08:54.740 I really do believe.

01:08:56.160 I believe that you remember in 2004, we got our teeth kicked in.

01:09:01.100 They won the-

01:09:02.240 John Kerry lost?

01:09:03.460 Lost the popular vote.

01:09:05.060 We lost both houses.

01:09:06.660 Yep.

01:09:06.880 We were toast.

01:09:07.980 Everyone was talking about going to Applebee's or something.

01:09:10.760 It was over.

01:09:12.120 It was, you know, we all needed it.

01:09:13.560 Yeah.

01:09:13.940 I mean, it was that we were too elite.

01:09:15.580 We were too this, too that, 100%.

01:09:17.240 That's exactly right.

01:09:18.420 And what happened then is you got Republican overreach, and you see that right now.

01:09:23.620 George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security.

01:09:26.360 You saw backlash in terms of the Iraq war.

01:09:29.800 People did not feel good about the direction that Republicans were taking us.

01:09:34.060 I think you see reflections, again, an echo right now.

01:09:37.880 Republican overreach on the redistricting.

01:09:39.720 Republican overreach in terms of the big bastardized bill that he just passed.

01:09:44.560 Like, you see moving forward in a way that American people don't like.

01:09:49.080 I think the other leg of that stool was an investment in state parties that we never saw before with Howard Dean's 50-state strategy.

01:09:57.320 Canada just announced what I believe is taking what I did and putting on steroids.

01:10:02.440 I mean, small states like South Dakota will get $22,500 a month from the DNC starting this fall.

01:10:09.580 That's a game changer for a state like that.

01:10:10.900 I love that.

01:10:11.600 That's great to hear.

01:10:12.340 And then the last component of that leg is a massive focusing, or two other legs, focusing on the culture of corruption.

01:10:21.440 We see that culture of corruption right now.

01:10:23.820 Nancy Pelosi talked in 06.

01:10:25.540 I got tired of hearing that phrase, culture of corruption.

01:10:29.940 She hit that bell.

01:10:33.240 And by the way, we thought it was bad in 06.

01:10:35.940 Give me a damn break.

01:10:37.600 This is next level corruption.

01:10:39.480 I mean, it's unprecedented in U.S. history.

01:10:42.900 The graft, the corruption of this president, his family, what's going on is jaw-dropping.

01:10:48.980 It's jaw-dropping.

01:10:50.500 So again, it's another echo of 06.

01:10:53.620 And the last component is, if there is a blue wave to be built, you can't win a big wave if you don't have somebody to ride it.

01:11:04.380 You got to recruit people in every seat.

01:11:08.540 And I don't care.

01:11:09.980 All 435 districts in Congress should have a Democrat running for it.

01:11:15.460 I don't care how hard it is.

01:11:17.160 Every single one.

01:11:18.260 Every governor's race should have a Democrat running for it.

01:11:21.180 I don't care if it's a state that we haven't won in 25 years.

01:11:24.900 We need to have somebody.

01:11:26.400 We need to give people an option.

01:11:28.400 And then we got to recruit candidates that are fighters.

01:11:30.680 We got to recruit people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and say, yes, you know, this is David versus Goliath.

01:11:37.340 But guess what?

01:11:38.360 David won.

01:11:39.620 Right?

01:11:40.060 So let's do that.

01:11:41.520 And if we do that, Governor, I believe we will take back the House.

01:11:45.380 We will have a shot at the Senate.

01:11:47.020 We'll win some governor's races that people are like, oh, shit, what the hell happened?

01:11:51.040 Because it will be too much for them to try to play.

01:11:55.400 They're going to be playing whack-a-mole because all of a sudden the American people are going to explode and say, we want change.

01:12:00.960 We want something different.

01:12:02.320 We are tired of the Republicans.

01:12:04.360 And so I've told Ken, focus on those things.

01:12:08.040 Make sure you invest in state parties.

01:12:09.860 Make sure you really get the state parties to recruit up and down the ballot.

01:12:16.140 Don't leave anything open because even the down ballots can help the top of the ticket, right?

01:12:21.940 Now you've got somebody running locally.

01:12:24.620 You add a few thousand votes here, a few thousand votes there.

01:12:28.840 You close the margin on a statewide basis, and you give the top of your ticket a shot.

01:12:33.660 So, you know, if we follow the recipe and we look back to our history in 06,

01:12:39.260 I think it really could give us a roadmap for winning in 2026.

01:12:44.660 It's really interesting.

01:12:45.380 So let me unpack this a little bit, and I want to stress test it,

01:12:49.000 and then I want to challenge you on a couple of small but significant issues.

01:12:55.460 It's really interesting.

01:12:56.500 We're about to pick up the Virginia's governor's race.

01:12:59.480 So we're going to have net one there.

01:13:01.420 We're going to hold with great, by the way, two extraordinary Democratic candidates in not just Virginia,

01:13:08.740 but also New Jersey, which I think is a proof point to this moment.

01:13:12.180 I think about 04 a lot because I couldn't agree.

01:13:16.000 I love that you brought it up, and you said it in the context of 06.

01:13:20.320 But it's what happened in 04 that you may have omitted but not intentionally because you laid out brilliantly everything that was done from the DNC and from the Democratic Party infrastructure.

01:13:29.100 But there was a lot of also civic infrastructure.

01:13:31.500 You had Democracy Alliance that emerged.

01:13:33.640 You had Center for American Progress that really started to get more muscular and emerged.

01:13:37.740 You had media matters holding folks to account that were also principled and part of this.

01:13:42.980 And all of a sudden, someone by the name, because we forget at the time, she was potent.

01:13:47.100 She was precious to all of us out here.

01:13:49.280 She was in my district, Nancy Pelosi, but she became Speaker Pelosi in 06.

01:13:54.020 And out of nowhere, some guy named Obama wins the presidency in 08 with 53% of the vote,

01:14:00.620 more than any other presidential majority since 1964.

01:14:04.540 That all happened after 04.

01:14:08.160 And instead of rolling over, instead of giving in to fear, cynicism, and anxiety, we started that rebuilding, all of us,

01:14:15.140 not just the party, but we the people and these civic organizations started organizing.

01:14:20.340 So I say all that because I love what you just said.

01:14:23.080 It reminds me that we should maintain our optimism and our discipline at the same time.

01:14:28.680 But part of the discipline is also, Mr. Chair, reflecting on some lessons that we may not have learned.

01:14:36.320 And I think you talk about, I love that you talk about the barbershop and what you were hearing about young men.

01:14:42.060 You reflected not in terms of young men, but you talked to men in terms of men of color, African-American men.

01:14:49.520 You talked about losing a little bit, Latino men.

01:14:52.760 Young men, generally, we lost.

01:14:55.060 And we lost badly.

01:14:55.880 I want to talk about that.

01:14:56.840 Two, we lost people on immigration.

01:14:59.640 We may have taken from the midterms the wrong lesson on immigration and border.

01:15:04.620 And I'll tell you, a lot of Democrats, including Democratic Board of State Governor, like myself, there was a lot of frustration.

01:15:10.580 And that was expressed very pointedly to the White House.

01:15:14.980 And we paid a price for that.

01:15:16.920 Dare I say, there were some cultural issues.

01:15:19.540 And I'm going to stand tall.

01:15:22.760 When they talk about anti-woke, they're talking about being anti-Black.

01:15:25.560 I'm sick and tired.

01:15:26.840 These guys rewriting history, censoring historical facts.

01:15:29.940 The rote racism sickens me to my core.

01:15:32.240 That's exactly right.

01:15:33.500 But there were issues that were tougher.

01:15:35.640 And I've, look, I've, you know, I've gotten a lot of criticism on this.

01:15:39.620 And I don't want to emphasize this because it's playing into their frame.

01:15:42.600 But the tougher issues, you know, on just sports and fairness, you know, on trans sports.

01:15:48.060 And it's not a lack of love for the trans community, quite the contrary.

01:15:53.160 And I have a record that can prove that.

01:15:55.380 But there were some issues there that I also think we talked about where we're right on issues like minimum wage and sick leave and child care and issues that I think define the best of our party and health care, etc.

01:16:07.840 But there are some issues where we're not necessarily where the American people are.

01:16:12.120 In fact, we may be way off in terms of where the American people are.

01:16:16.780 So unpack that a little bit.

01:16:19.620 Your own reflection on that.

01:16:20.980 No.

01:16:21.660 Young men.

01:16:22.720 Where do we start to lose our way on some of these issues?

01:16:26.300 Did you see them as DNC chair?

01:16:28.120 Did you raise them with the Biden administration?

01:16:31.340 Are they legitimate issues?

01:16:33.100 Am I off?

01:16:34.160 Do we have to give voice to those concerns?

01:16:36.500 No, Governor, I think, you know, one, I did raise it often tried because I was out there on the ground.

01:16:44.600 And, you know, people in D.C. are in the bubble.

01:16:47.140 Right.

01:16:47.540 And all they're doing is reading Politico and seeing what MSNBC and CNN is talking about.

01:16:53.220 But I'm actually like in the union halls or in the churches or in the barbershops and talking with real people.

01:16:58.860 And you're ringing the bells like, folks, I am telling you, this is what we're this is what I'm hearing.

01:17:04.920 This is what I'm seeing from folks on the ground.

01:17:06.840 And I think what we have to do as a party is get less in the polling stuff.

01:17:11.680 Well, the polling says blah, blah, blah, blah.

01:17:13.920 Actually go out and talk to folks.

01:17:16.180 Right.

01:17:16.400 Right. Because pollsters can ask questions in different ways and get whatever they want to get to to support the theory that they already have.

01:17:24.740 Right.

01:17:25.480 But there is nothing like getting the real raw sense of where folks are and how they feel about certain things.

01:17:33.980 And one of the things that we have to understand as a party is that we have to go to where people are, not where we want them to be, but where they are.

01:17:41.840 Right. And then that's not to say that we can't lead and help get people to a certain space.

01:17:48.060 I mean, look at the issue of marriage equality.

01:17:51.060 Right. Eventually, folks got what we know during when Bill Clinton, you know, the most we got to at that point was don't ask, don't tell.

01:17:59.020 But think about how quickly things evolve over time.

01:18:02.200 There was an evolution in terms of thought.

01:18:05.380 And now it is the mainstream where most folks believe that marriage equality, that everybody should be married.

01:18:12.040 And full disclosure, despite the fact the Supreme Court may revisit it, which is the concern we have about America in reverse and the regression that's going on with Trump and Trumpism.

01:18:22.380 But suffice to say, you're 100 percent right.

01:18:24.540 That's a proof point of progress and remarkable progress across party lines.

01:18:28.960 And we have to celebrate progress. Right. Because, again, I had this wonderful conversation this week.

01:18:34.880 It's Aaron at our table, our podcast with Sarah McBride.

01:18:39.980 And we talked about and told Sarah, I said, part of I think the difficulty and we saw that trans ad that the Republicans ran against the vice president Harris.

01:18:49.000 I said, part of the problem is that a lot of folks don't want to be offensive.

01:18:55.260 The Democrats don't want to be offensive, but don't know how to talk about it. Right.

01:18:58.980 So either they don't talk about it at all or they talk about it in a way to be less offensive.

01:19:04.780 But then it is so it is so like lab tested that it's not authentic. Right.

01:19:14.260 And so one of the things that if we're a diverse coalition, one of the things that we have to understand is that people are in different places on different things.

01:19:22.100 But it's incumbent upon us who know better or know more to educate folks and to help create a space where people learn and evolve.

01:19:33.860 And and but it's also important for you to other folks to hear where we are and to understand that.

01:19:41.360 Right. I just think part of our problem in our party is that we've gotten to the point where we don't want to offend so much or that we automatically are offended every single time.

01:19:52.080 That somebody isn't 100 percent on the dial where we are and we won't be a party if we continue down that road.

01:20:00.580 Could not agree more. I mean, what I grew up, my dad's party, my grandfather's Democratic Party was a broad coalition, conservative Democrats, liberal Democrats, you know, hardworking folks.

01:20:12.520 And, you know, we can talk about, you know, and I love, you know, and I mean, we'll close on a few of these points because I you've not been you you you get into it.

01:20:23.180 I mean, you got into it a little bit. You clap back. I mean, because Bernie talked a lot.

01:20:27.320 We lost we weren't focused on working folks. And you you you disagree with that.

01:20:32.360 You you called him out on that. Well, it's more.

01:20:34.620 Well, it's because. Listen, government, I don't believe, you know, I told one reporter the other day, I said, you know, it's like having a shiny brand new car and every day you throw mud on your car.

01:20:47.980 Right. And then after three months, you're like, well, why is my car as shiny as it used to be?

01:20:52.600 And I sort of feel like that's what happens to the Democratic Party.

01:20:55.300 I feel like people throw shit on the on the car all the time and then they wonder why the brand so bad.

01:21:00.440 Right. But this party is when we talk about walls and brick walls, we are the only brick wall.

01:21:08.240 We are the brick wall that is holding back the flames of chaos.

01:21:12.540 We are the brick wall that's holding back fascism.

01:21:15.320 We are the brick wall that is saving American democracy as we know it.

01:21:19.280 And if we falter, the whole damn thing goes.

01:21:22.920 And so we can't afford for them, the other side, to be taking away bricks off of our wall.

01:21:27.880 And at the same time, on our side of the wall, we're taking things away, too.

01:21:31.680 In the end, that wall is going to falter and chaos is going to reign and there's going to be nobody there in order to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

01:21:40.500 And so that is not to say that we can't criticize our party, but there are moments where critique is important.

01:21:47.100 And then there are moments in which we have to rally together and say, yeah, we have not done the best that we can here.

01:21:52.820 But here are ways that we can get better and let's rally together.

01:21:56.860 You know, as my grandma said, you attract more bees with honey than you do vinegar.

01:22:01.580 Right. And so, you know, I don't I don't like folks to say, well, Democrats haven't done anything for working people.

01:22:10.900 That's bullshit. That is literally bullshit.

01:22:13.700 When you look at the fact that we save pensions for the Teamsters, that happened because of Democrats.

01:22:19.700 A president that actually crossed the I mean, that supported, got on a picket line.

01:22:24.940 When has that ever happened in history?

01:22:27.260 Every major bill, Joe Biden, every single time he got up, he talked about how every bill from the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill was a good bill for union workers.

01:22:42.020 Right. Unprecedented. So that is bullshit when you say that it is bullshit when you said that Kamala Harris wasn't fighting for working people.

01:22:50.280 It is literally bullshit. Twenty five thousand dollars for first time homebuyers, fifty thousand dollars in order to start a business.

01:22:58.020 Right. Helping people in that sandwich population right now who have families in nursing homes.

01:23:04.780 So it's crazy. Do you want her? Would you have wanted her to do more?

01:23:09.120 Say that. Yes, it would have been nice to add these aspects.

01:23:12.440 But don't go in the gate. The good work that has been done in this last administration and say it didn't work.

01:23:18.540 You know, I'm about to call my good friend Ro Khanna also who who I saw something online just the other day.

01:23:25.820 He talked about the teamsters. The problem isn't with the teamsters. It's with the Democratic Party.

01:23:30.160 Come on now. Come on now.

01:23:33.220 It's like let's stop beating up on our party like this, because there are a lot of good Democrats who work hard for this party every single day.

01:23:41.640 And when they hear our leaders just shit on us all the time, it's disheartening.

01:23:47.120 Why the hell am I fighting so hard if all you're going to do is tell me the things that I do to fight this hard for this party and for the people in my party is worthless.

01:23:55.420 But I'm not doing a good enough job to do it. Right.

01:23:58.540 That is not how you rally the troops. And the one thing that I want folks to know, particularly who are running for president,

01:24:04.860 if you are running for president, you're not going to be just the head of this party of the nation.

01:24:10.160 You're going to be head of this party. And to be the head of the party means that you have to rally us.

01:24:15.540 You have to give us hope. You have to give us faith. You can't shit on us all the time.

01:24:20.380 You can't tell us how bad we are. And that's a that's a problem that Bernie had.

01:24:24.720 People weren't going to rally the Bernie Sanders. You want to be the head of our party, but you can't.

01:24:29.660 You're not. The party isn't even good enough for you to say that you're a Democrat. Come on now.

01:24:34.660 Right. Come on. You. It's not good enough for you to join. Come on.

01:24:42.420 So, I mean, that's a problem that I have. And as you can see, I no longer have a White House, so I'm unfiltered.

01:24:48.040 I'm going to say whatever the hell is on my mind.

01:24:51.260 Jamie Harrison, former head of the Democratic National Committee Future.

01:24:56.960 Of. Well, I mean, I'm that was a campaign speech, brother. I'm trying to figure out where you're what you're running for.

01:25:04.420 Well, just tell people to go to at our table so they can subscribe.

01:25:07.680 Well, I know you're right now. You're you're you're running back to your podcast booth at our table podcast host, Jamie Harrison.

01:25:16.120 Jamie, we didn't get to RFK Jr. Marion Williamson. We didn't even get to Dean Phillips.

01:25:21.140 We didn't get to information. We have so much more.

01:25:24.280 Why don't we do this, Governor? You can come on at our table podcast and we'll do part two of this.

01:25:30.420 I love it. Thank you, brother. That was a lot of fun.

01:25:33.280 Thank you, Governor. Take care.

01:25:43.280 December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport.

01:25:48.460 The holiday rush. Parents hauling luggage. Kids gripping their new Christmas toys.

01:25:53.220 Then everything changed.

01:25:56.500 There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal.

01:25:59.560 Just a chaotic, chaotic scene.

01:26:01.980 In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged. Terrorism.

01:26:06.420 Listen to the new season of Law & Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app,

01:26:12.200 Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:26:14.860 Hey, I'm Jay Shetty and I'm the host of the On Purpose podcast.

01:26:20.940 And today I'm joined by one of the greatest athletes of all time, Novak Djokovic.

01:26:26.760 He's won 14 grand slams in a glittering career.

01:26:29.920 Novak Djokovic.

01:26:31.280 When you reach your 30, you start counting your days to your retirement.

01:26:35.480 I'm 38 this year.

01:26:37.060 How long can I push my own limits?

01:26:39.360 Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:26:47.520 I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different.

01:26:51.020 What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

01:26:55.200 Answer.

01:26:55.780 A new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the centre of a chilling true crime story.

01:27:02.180 Does anyone know what show they've come to see?

01:27:05.100 It's a story.

01:27:05.820 It's about the scariest night of my life.

01:27:08.400 This is Wisecrack, available now.

01:27:11.760 Listen to Wisecrack on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:27:17.560 If you're looking for another heavy podcast about trauma, this ain't it.

01:27:22.400 This is for the ones who had to survive and still show up as brilliant, loud, soft and whole.

01:27:28.020 The Unwanted Sorority is where black women, fems and gender expansive survivors of sexual violence

01:27:32.940 rewrite the rules on healing, support and what happens after.

01:27:36.760 And I'm your host and co-president of this organization, Dr. Leitra Tate.

01:27:41.080 Listen to The Unwanted Sorority new episodes every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:27:48.600 I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast.

01:27:55.820 You, the listener, ask the questions.

01:27:58.780 Did George Washington really cut down a cherry tree?

01:28:01.060 Were JFK and Marilyn Monroe having an affair?

01:28:03.380 And I find the answers.

01:28:05.080 I'm so glad you asked me this question.

01:28:07.060 This is such a ridiculous story.

01:28:08.640 You can listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:28:19.280 This is an iHeart Podcast.

This is Gavin Newsom - August 27, 2025

And, This Is Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison On Fighting For What's Right

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