Erin Brockovich, Stuart Stevens & Adam Frisch

derailment and how it should be handled. Then we'll talk to Adam Fresh, who lost to Lauren Boebert by five hundred and forty six votes and has just announced he'll be running against her in But first we have legendary campaign manager the Lincoln Projects Stewart Stevens. Welcome to Fast Politics. Stewart Stevens, thanks for asking me to the party. Yeah. We are very discerning here and I have to say I love your writing. I really think you're such a

talented writer, which you know, I don't think that about everybody. Welcome. I want to talk to you about Nicki Haley and the future of the Republican Party. So this is going to be depressing depressing. Well now, don't get me wrong, but I'm not. I'm all sold out of the Hope Store. Right. They're not going to ever nominate someone who's not an

authoritarian because the party has taken an authoritarian tact. Simple test of that is, will the Republican Party nominate someone who will assert positively that the President United States was elected in a legal, in fair election. That seems like a pretty low bar. And I can't imagine that's not the official position of the Republican Party, which I think it's just sort of a sign of how normalization has changed.

But the Republican Party's official position now is that America is not a democracy because if we don't have a legal, infair elected president, then we have an occupier, which for not a democracy. Yeah. I think that that's where we are, right, Yeah, that's where we all. I mean, people are not focused

on this. There's sort of a need, I think, which historical the teams to always happen when democracy side and deutocracy for the folks on the democracy side, which is a majority, to want to pretend that everything's okay and normal. But election, I can't imagine that they're going to nominate somebody who will say that Donald Trump lost. Uh. And so you're gonna have, for the first time, not an

election between two parties with different political views. You're gonna have one party to believe that they are in a democracy and one party that believes this campaign is about removing and a legal occupant of the White House right. I wrote this piece earlier last week about how to Santis is an Autocrat just like Trump, and how he's basically the same but much better at it. So right, because we've seen him do it in Florida and they're so mad and they're like everyone, we don't you don't

like as Hitler. But the truth is, that's not what it is. It really is the reason why he's so popular in the Republican Party is because he is. He is doing all of these things from the autocrap play bomb. I think it's fascinating to watch what Ron de Santus is doing and Donald Trump's doing that. Donald Trump is out there saying don't cut Medicare and social Security. Ron de Santus is saying all this crazy stuff aimed at a Republican primary audience. Boup breaks are going to win

a primary. Donald Trump, he's already running in the general. Listen. I am a great advocate, and I may take to walking up and down in a sandwich board of this that the Democratic Party should aggressively engage and seek out cultural awards because they're winning them. Think about your average suburban family or a fam whatever, we're that mythical family. Right. How many people move so they can send their kids

to better schools? Millions? How many script and safe so that they can pay for their kids to go to a private school so that they can study AP And he's banning a p I think that is absolutely insane. So look, how do than how how do all these cultural wars of late gone for the Republicans? So how did the Donald Trump versus Nike Colin Kaepernack workout? Well, Nike may nine billion, nine billion off of Colic Kaepernack to retire. You live in Florida. You know how the

cultural war? You know when they were mad at Nascar because they banned the Confederate flag. Well, I think Nascar won that one. They were in the cultural war with Walmart for a while because Walmart at mass mandates, right, Walmart seems to be doing okay to me. I don't know. They lost the cultural war on same sex marriage, lost the cultural war abortion. I mean, they lost the cultural war, but you can't get an abortion and huge swaps of

this country. Yeah, I think they won at the action level if it were, but there are more people today consider themselves pro choice for higher percentages and everfore in America, right right, right, that is certainly true. I knew once people saw how bad this is going to be that there would be blowback and you I mean, look, the I mean the thing about abortion, which I think is incredible, is that you have all these women who were not pro choice and they now have had miscarriages and they

can't get treated. Yeah. I just woke up in the middle of the night and said, look, what about a politician that gets in a fight with the Happiness Company? How's that working out? Be fighting Peter Pan I mean, really, you're going to get in a fight with Disney, So like, who won that fight? I kind of remember, like the guy who won the Super Bowl went to Disney the next day. They didn't go to Tallahassee to see iron It is a complete losing argument and they're doing it.

It's all aimed at white people. Yeah, I mean, it's it's all about race. That's because you know Trump's coalition was white. The country's sixty white, sixty Deoman. Now you count it, you know, since we're talking it's less white, we're headed to become a majority of an already country. Republicans can't do anything about except try to change your votes, and that's what they're about. It does feel like this is the last bastion of a kind of rage, you know. Yeah.

I mean, I don't think the Santus. This is a guy with the HARVARDEO and talk what a Darlington's right. I mean, give me a break. It's just he doesn't believe any of this stuff, all right, the same as Nicki Haley. She believed Donald Trump as a person she said he was in two thousand and sixteen when she stood out there with Mark Rubio. I think they just they all collapsed. I don't think the Santis is a particularly good politician. I mean, look, I did all of

Charlie Chris. Charlie Chris is a guy he ran against last time. I did all of Charlie's races when he was a Republican running statewide, which he wants. So I did all Charlie Chris winning statewide races. So switchers have a terrible time. They do better if they've become independent. So like in Connecticut, you've had people who are Democrats

became independent. Yeah, his name shall not be mentioned on this podcast The Enemy, But yes, yes, you don't have many examples of someone who was governor in one party switching and getting re elected in another party. I don't know a single example that's been successful. Buddy Rohmer tried in Louisiana. We do research on I I don't know if it's ever worked. I wouldn't think it's a great indicator that. I mean no offense to him, but he's not an amazing candidate, at least now. But the point

is that you don't have to. I won't make you weigh in on that. But he did still eviscerate the Santis in the debate. He lost the debate to Charlie Crith, which is not like losing a pickup game with Michael Jordan's right, it's like losing a pickup game with me. So I think he has no idea what he's in for. Yeah. Look, if I was, you know, God forbid, But if I was advising around the Santis, I would tell him not to run because Donald Trump is going to run, and

one of two things is gonna happen. He's gonna win or he's gonna lose. If he wins, hopefully he'll only serve four years, and then Ronde Santis would be you know the ripple age of forty eight, all right, he's so young the time. And then if he loses, your your wealth positioned. Look, if somebody beats Donald Trump in the primary, the next day, Donald Trump is gonna wake up and the mission in his life seven will be to stop that person from getting elected president, whatever it takes.

And it's in his power completely, Yes, yes, yes, get d Jr. On the ballot in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. It's over. He gets carried. Like to run in Arizona, it's over. Margiotta run in Pennsylvania, it's over. So to lose the primary to Donald Trump, and to be that primary be worth something. You have to exist in the fantasy that Donald Trump will behave like a normative politician, which I like my chances in the next NFL draft better. It's just not go that. Yeah, all of which I

think is good news for Democrats. No, I think so too. The thing is, it's one of these terrible, dangerous games right where we find ourselves. Two things can be true. These things can be good for Democrats but bad for democracy. So I always have I always find myself like a little bit conflicted because you know, yes, I want Democrats to win, but I would rather just have a normal,

safe system where we don't like slide into an autocracy. Listen, you know I worked on five presidential campaigns for winning nominations or two generals that we want, Like in the Romney campaign, you know, we wanted to win with intensity, with thousand sons. Right. I didn't go to bed at night after Romney lost worried about the country, right, R

didn't the Romney Right. I think that's the thing about this Nicki Haley nomination, not nomination, but her jumping into the promary field is like she's like a charming throwback to the time when Republicans ran on like you know, ideas. Well. I find so kind of sad a lot of things about Niki Hilley, but if you look at that video, listen to what she's saying, it's like it will be forever, like like, oh, wouldn't it be amazing to have a woman, Well,

we have a woman vice president. Wouldn't it be amazing if someone of you know, Indian or South Asian origin was elected to high office. Yeah, what we have one, right, President. I mean, it's so kind of yesterday. There's nothing she's saying in a policy sense that any politician and the Republican Party couldn't have said for the last thirty five years, forty years, no new policy there, there's no I've got a plan, you know, here's an idea, um, there's nothing.

And this is the problem with Republicans have there there is Ultimately the failure to attract non white votes is a failure of policy, right, all right, no question, it's so embarrassing to remember. But so as an hour he gets forty four percent of the black vote and fifty six didn't drop to seven percent with gold Water. It never came back, and there was this while Molly and I'm just so ashamed to admit this, but in the you know, when I was Republican consultant, they're doing races.

In the late eighties and the nineties, Republican Party decided that the reason we weren't getting many black votes is that black voters just didn't understand what we were saying because we didn't know how to talk to black voters, right, so it sponsored this sort of cottage industry of Republican Party hiring black consultants to come down and talk to, you know, predominantly white candidates and campaign to tell how to talk to black people. It's pretty bad, and we

would all sit there. It's so humiliar. Do you think about, Well, it's also like you could just have run black people and hired black people and talk to black people. But yeah, well actually that you know, we should talk about that. But you know, they say things like you can't talk about good jobs, you have to talk about meeting jobs, and we were all not And the problem wasn't that black people didn't understand Republicans. The problem was Republicans. They

didn't understand them exactly what they were saying. It was the failure of policy anyway. And when you look at black Republicans who run, they don't do better with black than non black Republicans than white Republicans, which is kind of interesting. I want to ask you about this Fox News defamation dominion suit because last night there was a sort of incredible Was that a leaks document or was

it just the court finally? I think the court finally put out the document, but it was you know, it includes included text messages from Fox News host to each other. It included basically the I think the top line is Fox New and did it anyway? Of course they knew, but I mean we now know they knew, like the right, right, It's hold another conversation. But you know, when democracies slot

into autocracy, there has to be five elements. There has to be financiers, there has to be supportive a major party, there has to be shock troops, there has to be a legal system that is evolving to justify it. And there have to be propagandists right right, right, So we have evolved with people are propaganders. Yeah, and look, I I would deport Rupert Murdoch, right. I hesitate to get involved in stuff like that, but I do understand it does seem to me like the man is doing quite

a bit of damage to our country. Yeah. Yeah, the impact of Fox News is much greater than its audience. It is more the web of what used to be conserned I now anti democratic elements. I mean, it's a true statement that at its most popular, Fox News was much less popular than Storage Wars, right right, a statistical fact. So it's was just like three times. It's popular. It's not the number of people, but it is the ability

that it has. In part, what Fox has done is normalized the really they're out there is the normal people and the really crazies of the Bannings and the other people, which always happens. Um But yeah, I mean, you know, I hope Dominion bankrupts them all individually and collectively. I have no mercy for any of them. Every person that works at Fox News is getting paid off of money Tucker Carson makes. So you want to get your salary from a white supremacist, that's fun. Maybe you could go

apply to KKK because it's the same goddamn thing. I have zero sympathy for any of those people. Where do you think this goes? Now? With this primary? Haley is in, Trump is in. I think it's gonna be two thousand fifteen. I think a bunch of people are gonna run. A lot of people run for president who previously would have gone on book tours, and it has the same function. I think a bunch of people are gonna run, and I think Donald Trump is going to be the nominee.

I mean, the one thing if you go back and you look at two thousand fifteen two thousand and sixteen debates. The only person who was the same right he kills people in the debate. The only person who was the same person when they walked on stage for the first debate and when he walked off stage at the last debate was Donald Trump. I've done five of these are

poking domities and all these debate prips. And the only way to take on a candidate like Donald Trump, if you're Nikki Hayley or anyone, if you're trying to win, you have to make the decision one of us is going to walk off that stage alive, and you have to be willing to say that's not gonna be me.

But you have to go out there with that. You can't have any other mentality than I am going to kill Donald Trump's political chances, and probably you won't, but that is the only way you have any chance of winning. There are people who were waiting for Donald Trump. If you first started to wait while Donald Trump to self destruct, your kids are now in the third grade. It ain't gonna happen. Baby. I don't think that she'll do that. She didn't have the courage to mention Donald Trump's name.

So you know who else is going to run? I think all these people are. I think John Bolton will probably run. But you know there is no I mean, Larry Hogan may run. That Look, Larry Hogan was a client amount. You know there is this other Republican party out there of these governors Skill Scott, Larry Hogan Maryland, Charlie Baker Massachusetts. I work for all those guys. I love those guys. If the party und any sense, they look at them and go, they're selling our product in

the harvest market. If we could carry these states and the presidents will run the world instead. These people can't even pick your own state party chairman. That's a lot of are at the party. So I would love to say that Larry Hogan, you know, can run and there is a enough of the Republican Party that he can win a nomination. But in a party that that drew this chain. Yeah, Stewart Stevens, I appreciate you so much. I hope you'll come back, all right, Be careful. I'm

like that uncle like nanksgiving dinner. You know, if you invite me, I come. So Aaron Brockovich is a consumer advocate and activist. Welcome to Fast Politics, Aaron Brockovich. I am so happy to be here. Thanks for having me on. Well, we're delighted. I mean, this is not a happy he gets. I guess you're used to not being called when the happy stories. Can you explain to our listeners a little bit about what is going on in Ohio? I'll do my best because I've watched this unfold into one of

the most mismanaged, confused environmental disasters I've ever seen. So yeah, to back up February three, Norfolk how To train that derailed near Palestine, Ohio. This rail car was carrying twenty rail cars full of liquid hazardous waste as matt materials,

and it caught fire and then derailed. And my understanding is that that they were concerned it was going to explode, which would have really been bad, and so they set out to do a controlled burn, if you will, and slowly, you know, like released the chemicals, and at that point, you know, a huge black, toxic cloud was released, and at this moment, everybody's going, what is going on? So they were put into a mandatory evacuation. And if you

couldn't evacuate or didn't want to, evacuate. You had the shelter in place, and this was about a mild containment zone. There was several days went on with that, and the state e p A Norfolk, who had been supposedly doing the testing and controlling the burn, said everything was safe and you could come back home. So as people go back home, several more days passed, and then the governor a couple of three or four days ago, announces, well, you're safe to go home, but don't drink the water.

If I were you, I drink bottled water. And the next day suddenly the testing has changed and oh it's safe to drink the water. So this community has been reaching out to me since actually figru Way fourth, and they are so frustrated. They are scared. They know something dangerous has happened. They have had all kinds of reports of you know, the nausea headaches, that labored breathing, the blue lips, the feeling that their throat is going to

close off. Their cat died, their chickens have died, their foxes die, Holy sh it, it's killing pets. Yes, videotapes coming in and I believe they now confirmed twelve different species of fish to the tunes of thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and died in the creeks and the rivers. So something's going on and getting any kind of answer other than this, well it's safe to return.

People don't know what's happening, and at this moment they're becoming unbelievably concerned about what their future health holds and who can they trust on Is the soil safe, is the water safe? And there's three chemicals of concern. The first one is vinyl chloride, and vinyl chloride is a liquid, and when it's you know, on fire and exposed to air and heat, it becomes a very dangerous gas. That might be why animals were just dyeing. And they're saying, well,

that's all clear now. And then there's another one that's pronounced beautifl, beautifl a krylling, And they have confirmed that that chemical has now left the containment zone and they're finding it and they're saying lower levels. Mind you, nobody's ever really seen in the actual physical hard test results what they're looking for and what detection limit they're at, and is that parts pervilion parts pervilion parts for trillion. Nobody's seen that, but this chemical has now gone out

of the containment zone into the creeks. And what worries me about this chemical and people wouldn't know unless you review the m s DS sheet. It has an additive as an ingredient, and that additive is ben zene. Can you explain to our listeners what benzine is and why that is scary? Ben Zine is clearly known cancer causing compounds. I mean, they're the links with leukemia and cancer is very very well established, and it is very detrimental to

the ecosystem. And it doesn't absorber evaporate in water. And I've heard that they're now putting booms out because the way this area is designed, these creeks and rivers, these tributaries run right into the Ohio River. We all know the importance of the Ohio River down in the Mississippi down to Louisiana, and if you get bituzine in those waterways, it's a ginormous ecological and health impact potentially for for decades.

So what we're dealing with right now is we obviously from common sense can tell you something's going really wrong. And uh, I just have this horrible feeling that somebody's not disclosing what's really going on, or thinking this will pass, people will forget about it, will be out of the woods on it. And now we're just kind of watching

in real time a real ship show happening. I don't know how else to say it, unfolding in front of all of us, with mishaps and mistruths and lack of information and nothing but total confusion, and a population a small village East Palestine, Ohio of about people, but neighboring communities spreading out from there are all having health implications, and nobody can seem to get any answers. I was curious.

Mike DeWine, who was known as a sort of less terrible Republican governor than the average, did a press conference where he talked about the possibility that he had sort of not talked to Pete Buddha dig that he hadn't called him back, and that he had called and said anything you need, but that he had said he hadn't

called him back yet. Besides the fact that the idea that this should be handled on local level when it's clearly going to be have large federal implications seems ridiculous, but I'm just curious, if you were governor of Ohio, what would you need. Okay, we've got a train derailment and you got hazardous chemicals. I definitely want to know about those hazardous chemicals. Secondly, I would definitely be who's doing the controlled burn? Is it going to be the

stated p A. Is it going to be Norfolk. I would be getting in every expert I could to begin to question them on what actions to take. And then the next thing I would do is, as he did, you need to have an established an evacuation zone to get people out of harm's way, right, But once they're out of harm's way, and once you think that this is under control, I would want to see and understand every test result regarding the air, the soil, and the

water before I ever deemed it's safe. And I would have had a press conference and said, I know you do not want to be evacuated, but I do not have all the answers. My questions aren't being answered. I do not have the personal assurance yet that satisfies me this area is safe, so please bear with us. This information can take a while, but to air on the side of caution before I jeopardize public health and welfare

with continual reports coming into dead animals. I better have every fact in hand, and if I don't know, at least let the people know. I don't know. These leaders think because you're this leader, you're supposed to know everything. And for me that some of the best leaders are the ones that say, well, hell have I know, But I'm gonna find out because that is my job to be your your elected official, in your leader, and I'm not letting you back into an area until I'm certain

it's safe. And I'm not sure he had all that information. And I feel that way because there's very inconsistent messaging coming from him that I think he's being fed from others, which is indicating to me he in fact doesn't know, and he might be being fed from the train company or people who have a vested interest in this going away.

Oh well, that I've seen way too often. I've dealt with that out here in California with Pacific Gas and Electric, and my gosh, boy, when they do something wrong and you get involved in any kind of litigation or media or trying to reach out to pr groups that can help manage all the inquiries and stuff, they practically own every one of them in the state. So somehow somebody gets into somebody's pocket, and I would expect that could

be very plausible in this scenario. And you know, I know, speaking of you know, Pete Buddha Judge, Department Secretary Transportation. Trains are federal and there's this is a conversation that's going to have to be had. But my focus is always the people and this community and a train derailment and some verry hazardous chemicals. They're gonna get caught up in the political bs, which I think is the biggest travesty of all. But we have infrastructure issues. We have

maintenance issues on our rail system. And when we have a rail system that is transporting hazardous chemicals, and by the way, we have another big spill in Louisiana in November that the Department of Transportation doesn't come in and

go work. We need what the hell is going on and where is infrastructure money If that's part of the problem, or is a company cutting corners that's now jeopardizing the entire ecosystem and public health and welfare, I think you better step in there so that conversation will be had regarding that the conversation is there about our failing infrastructures. I think we're all aware of that. But what I don't want to get lost in this is the community

and people in these agencies. You know, well, okay, they're once you have a little sore throat, so you threw up dismissive of what it is that's actually happening to them. But also, this is a job for the e p A here right, ideas I've read that the U S. E p A was going to be down there today. Did I see that? I know the stated p has been out there and was out there. Um wow, I would have been there. Well what is today the fifteen sixteen that's happened on the ward? So there seems to

be tensions between federal and state at this point. We're just definitely not getting the actual transparent information. I know you know that Dwine says it's all safe. He's done the test, show show me, show us, show us, show us, put that out, put that out there on a website so people could come in. It's it's like the like we were discussing with the Beautle of Act. We all know, you know, you may have something on the market shelf.

That's questionable, but sometimes the sister chemicals or the additives can be worse than the actual chemical. And that's what's happening here, that we've got an additive of ben zine? Are you even looking for it? Are you thinking we're also stupid that we won't know that and you could

get away with something. So that's why I think it's important any testing you're all needs to be in a format where we can go see were those that might have a question a legitimate one and I won't put it out there because you're probably gonna catch them at something. Why are you not looking for this? And that's a detection limit that means it's off site, so we haven't had the ability to do that, and that's adding to the frustration of this situation. Yeah, it sounds like it.

I also just wonder like the narratives around it seemed really destructive to write, like the right has said that it's white genocide, which I mean, I think that a lot of bad stuff has gone down, but I don't think that this was intentionally focused on that. No, unless we're talking about by DuPont, any chemical contamination, whether it was a mistake or somebody wants to think it was deliberate. These chemicals recognize no boarders right, no no economic status,

no race really true. What should people who are listening to this podcast do to support their people? At this point, they could probably clearly see that they can't assume or take it for granted or necessarily by you know, the line that all is safe, especially when they're questioning it. So what you have to do is trust your own instincts. In these communities, I've learned, nobody knows the land, the water, the creeks, the animals, or how they feel better than

themselves in the community. So instead of hoping and waiting for someone to give you the answers, you be the eyes. You be the ears, You are the one experiencing it, and believe you don't need anybody to verify for you,

right what it is you're experiencing it. You on that document what's happening, journal your health, if you're down out in the creeks and you're seeing the fish debt, We've got a great boone that we can all use and put it out there on social media that can be helpful because seeing is believing what is going on and start protecting yourself. Ask questions about the water. If your water looks funny, or you've noticed the smell of change, maybe you shouldn't drink it. If you're on well water,

nobody's coming to test that for you. After a train derailment, there's online places you can go to get testing kits, so you can test yourself to find out what's in the water. And be vigilant in your surroundings, your observations. If you don't feel good, if you think something strange happening with your child, and you know there's been a toxic spill, go to a doctor. So and believe that you you We actually hold the answers when disasters like

this happened, especially the victims. But we just don't want to trust ourselves. You have to trust yourself. No one knows better than you, So work with your community. Be vigilant, ask questions, demand answers. If something smells different, if something looks different, if something's changed, if you feel different, don't hesitate for one minute to leave, to go to a doctor, or to not drink the water. Yeah, definitely don't drink

the water. Thank you so much, Aaron. I hope that we will not have a reason to have you back, but I'm sure we well, well listen, I I thank you for everything that you do, and you know, maybe we can talk again about happier days. That's always happy to come on. But I I will leave with this, and I wrote, please, this is daunting. I know everyone feels it's apocalyptic. I know we all are feeling these things. And I've been thirty years down on the ground during COVID.

I released my book Superman is Not Coming. We are in a national water crisis. But what we can do about the people, And what I want to leave with is I have a great sense of hope sometimes of late, more than I've had historically, because I think we're more in tune. I think we're reconnecting. I think that we're waking up. And I'll tell you time after time again, what gives me hope is watching moms in communities rise up. This is my child. I will make it my business.

I'm going to find out what's happening, and they do. We are still so lovely as humans and people in times of tragedy. That always comes out. My hope is and what I want to share and say to you and my observation of thirty years on the ground that hope is alive and it is well, yeah, really true. Thank you so much, Aaron, Thank you. I know you, our dear listeners are very busy and you don't have time to sort through the hundreds of pieces of pundentry

each week. And this is why every week I put together a newsletter of my five favorite articles on politics. If you enjoy the podcast, you will love having this in your inbox every Friday. So sign up at Fast Politics pod dot com and click the tab to join our mailing list. That's fast politics pod dot com. Adam Fresh is running against Congresswoman Lauren Boubert in Colorado's third

congressional district. Welcome to Fast Politics. Great to be here, But into Molly first, I need to caveat this interview with I had you on this podcast before your race against Lauren Boubert in Colorado's third district. I had you on this podcast and everyone said, you're crazy, You're crazy. You lost by how many votes? So let's talk about what happened. Some people thought we were gonna lose by

forty to forty five thousand votes. From politics to the Democratic Party to the Republican Party to everybody in between. But you know, a year and a half ago, Molly I had this a little bit of epiphany that of all the extremists on the right, representing Bobart was the only one that any chance of losing Margutilla Green, Jim Jordan's Matt Gates, that whole caucus of Chaos has ten to fifteen to twenty wins every year, representing Bobart only one by five, and she did not even win her

home county. Those in her best don't care for her. A lot more people knew her than and now her now than before, and not for good reason. So I thought that we had a Redistry team in CD three Western and Southern Colorado. So it kind of became an our ten to R twelve to R fourteen or nine district. But I just put my head down and said, you know, of the Republican Party wants their party back, we need

to get ten percent of our prior voters. And I think if a moderate Democrat can get by the primary, which I did not by much, I would just drive around the district almost seven which we did four thousand mile road trip. Just I was on the road and we we built a coalition. My mom calls it the pro normal party coalition, and we came you know, we executed about ninety nine eight five of our plan. Okay,

so you're back for the other seven votes. Yeah, we got a flip two hundred seventy five or find another five or six hundred. You know, I think we have had the race done. A week later, amount of superliberals they came up to me and said, Adam, I didn't think you have a chance and you're too moderate for me. I left a blank, but they voted up and down the Democratic ticket for the rest of the race. And a bunch of moderate Republicans came up to me and

said the same thing. They're like, Adam, you seem to be a nice person, but I just I've never voted for Democrat and you're not gonna win, so it's not gonna matter. There was a lot of those as well, and so you know, a number one message democracy, your vote matters. Make sure people fill out every bubble that they can. We are excited to get going again. We think we have a longer runway, and we're getting the support from a wide variety of people right off the bat.

And you know, we're going to be working very, very hard and listening and connecting with people and the same reasons I ran before. People want the circus to stop. They don't like this entertainment aspect of politics, and that just resonates with a lot of people. I like that word angertainment, and I think it's true. I mean, if we saw anything from these mid terms, it's that people

hate this. They don't like being governed by reality stars. Yeah, you know, so, I need to make a hats off to my high school and middle school buddy Deean Phillips, who is a congressman out of Minnesota. We grew up together and he used that term once entertainment, and like Dean, that is a brilliant summation of what's going on in the country, especially in western and southern Colorado with our current representative. And I just use it all the time

and everyone realizes it is senses exactly. People want the circus to stop, and I've heard that from much is from moderate Republicans, even conserved Republicans. They want people to focus on the job, not in themselves. And people are not saying that there's any change one iota from the current incumbent now as she he cocked her way around that first week of Congress, and she thought she was doing a great service for herself, raising money um every time she was poking the bear at soon to be

Speaker McCarthy. But the ranchers and farmers and a lot of people in Colorado that I spoke to who've voted for her in the past, they just put their head down and said, you know, I wish she would have learned her lesson about having, you know, the closest race in the country. She almost had the most surprising result in twenty five years across the country. You know, she was supposed to win by again twelve or fifteen points,

and she won by point one five or something. Yeah, it seems like that you're race in Colorado is actually really meaningful, not just because it's yet another annoying example of pollsters being wrong and fucking up candidates who really could have won, which is really the I feel like the headline of your race, right, just like Mandela Barnes, just like you know a lot of other candidates who

got killed by just really inaccurate polling. But the other thing is that I feel like the state of Colorado, it's not a blue state. It's the purple state. But Republicans have run lunatics and Democrats have run, you know, saying candidates twenty years ago or thirty years ago, it was read it's now summer purple, and it's gone pretty blue in some places for sure. And again I think a lot of that has to do with the Democratics out here have been running just people that are trying

to get the job. John b pragmatic work across party lines, solve problems that are facing the issues of the day for a lot of people, whether it's urban or rule. The Republican Party has run some real extremists. Having said that, you know, it's interesting. Joe day was is a pretty normal person, uh and and a thoughtful businessman, and he lost to Michael Bennett by fifteen points. So it was

there was definitely a bit of a blue wave. And so people have gone back and forth whether we helped the Democrats in c D three or they helped us. It was probably a little bit of both. But again, when you're running against people who are part of the chaos caucus, it makes life much easier. And the Republican Party in Colorado which I'm not going to spend too much time focus on, is an uproars. One of the biggest counties in the district is there's a splinter group

that's suing each other. They're during their during their reassembly and blah blah blah, blah blah. So again, I just think it's a matter of you know, you focus on the job at hand and you go forward, and you know that resonates with you know, the vast majority of people that want both parties to be played play ball between the two forty yard lines. Yeah, yeah, no exactly, But I do think, like I mean, you're not running against someone who's normal. You're running and someone who is

taking quite a lot of the air out of the room. Yeah, and not for a good reason. I try to make the case that of all these extremists were the only ones that can defeat somebody, and no one believed us, And sadly, there aren't any other Republicans that are that kind of brand known nationally that have any chance of losing. In so, with all due respect to those Democrats that are going to be running against Marge Taylor Green and Jim Jordan and Macada, the numbers and it's not there.

We have proved our point and I think we've earned the trust. We've seen a tremendous amount of money come in, not just within the district, in the state, but around the country because they realize that, you know, she is the one person in the country with that type of brand name nationally that has any not just a chance of losing, but are really done the chance to losing. And that's what we're going to focus on. This is all good point, but just remind our listeners why you're

the right person for this, Candida say, for this job. Yeah, no, I mean so, there's a couple of things. You know, it's a it's a very rural district. We have asked an entire ride in quest to be at three resorts towns that a lot of people know in your listenership. And you have Carbondel to right. Yeah, you have Carbondale and Basalt and Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, ten of twenty miles away from the Utah border. Is kind of the hub of Trump country in the Colorado not just

in our district. But it is changing over over time. As you know, there's a brewery indecks I use the more breweries, and she the less conservative the areas, and we just started making connections. And again, I just I was very, very focused on working on that thirty to forty percent of the Republican Party that wants their party back, and I just pitched my self is a very safe alternative that the issues that face out here, water and rural healthcare, rural education. The water is not flowing red

or blue. It's just not flowing. And they want somebody that's going to focus on that job. And I'm very good about that. And in my first five years. I was born on an Indian reservation for Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana. My dad was in the public Health Service. He went on to becoming ob n for fifty years. I grew up in Minnesota. My great grandfather was a cattleman and Esco Minnesota outside of Duluth, and so I have some rural roots in addition to living in the

mountain town now. But I'm a good listener and I worked really hard and we connected with a lot of people. And the phones are ringing off the hook because I left a lot of messages last year and now it's not taking nine months for people to return my phone call anymore. Yeah, well, I do think that there really is a real problem with rural representation. There's a caveat to that, right, because there are a lot of rural places attend red senators and congressman to Congress and the Senate.

But the thing is those people don't necessarily look out for rural voters, and they're more tied to special interests. So I do think, like, we've seen rural hospitals closed at alarming rates, We've seen rural maternal fetal health rate, you know, deaths rise. I mean, we do need people looking out for rural people. The problem is these Republicans don't do that. You lead into my number one statistics I share. There's about thirty one counties in the country,

about thirty one and fifty counties in the country. Of that, two thousand of them are deemed ruled by the Department of Agriculture, two thousand and rural counties. In Bill Clinton won more than fifty percent of the rural counties two thousand and twelve. Barack Obama one of the rural counties from President Biden one fewer than ten percent of the rural counties in the country, and so the Democratic Party is twenty big cities Aspen and Tucket. Like that's kind

of what's left of the Democratic Party. And so I'm spending a lot of time trying to not just focus on CD three, but a little bit of time just making the case that monopolies are bad and rule America has a big monopoly issue with the Republican Party. And so you know, we are in John Tester Joe Mansion country, which not every Democrat wants to hear, but that's just

kind of the makeup of our district. It is an ur ten district that that is egg in ranching and farming and domestic energy production from solar and wind to also gas and coal which starts to wind down as it should and it needs to be done and everything else like that. But we need to make sure it's realistic about how we treat people and this rural aspect of making sure that every zip code and rule America has fought over by both parties. That's part of my

little mission as well. Yeah, and that's a really good mission. And actually one of the things that happened during these mid terms is that in North Dakota, especially Democrats didn't run candidates in some of these races because they thought they wouldn't lose, would lose, which of course they would. But that is really a problem a for this idea of getting elected in these rural areas, but also because also because it's just so incredibly self defeating, it is hard.

But listen, I know it's hard to run. I can vouch for that, especially in the district that's half the state of Colorado geographically. But you know, the main messages. I just think that the policies that the Democratic Party have are very beneficial to a lot of working class Americans and that but Fox News has done a brilliant job, quote unquote brilliant of taking a couple of sentences over the past generation and really amplifying them and skewing them.

And it's turned into a very dimissive and demeaning brand of Democrats to a lot of people in rural America. And that's something I'm just trying to get over. Miles by miles, I drive around in a pickup truck, right, and the coffee houses and the breweries, and the beer

halls and and the barbecue joints. It's not Authinian exercise to run for Congress in a place that has so many good restaurants, but you know, the Democracy calls so here I am, but you know, and that's the message I've been having with people in Washington at the highest levels, just to say, hey, listen, we've got to figure out how to expand the base. And all these zip codes are being left in the wind, and the messages there,

the policies are there. You just have to make sure you get the right candidates that are willing to go and really meet the people and hit the road, meet them where they are physically as emotionally, and just be a good listener because a lot of people just feel like they've been left behind by a lot of people. And that's what former President Trump, you know again quote unquote brilliantly tapped into just that they just didn't feel like no one who was speaking to them. The Democratic

Party used to be bad and it's left. My buddy Dean Phillips again in Minnesota. Minnesota Democratic Party is called the DFL the Democratic Farm Labor and said the Dems have lost the fs, and they've left the elves and they're left with the Dems and we need to do a much better job of building back the farmers and the working class labor movement, which is really important for

our right. And I don't think that that necessarily means like sometimes you'll see people on the right saying, well, that's why Democrats have to abandon being pro lgbt Q or pro you know, choice, And I don't think it's binary. I think that you can be I mean, Colorado is a great example. You can be pro lgbt Q and believe that people have the right to their own lives and bodily autonomy and still want to build hospitals in

rural areas. So you know, it's interesting. Our district has some of the highest support for Second Amendment in the country, and it has a really high pro choice support. And it goes back to whether you want to call it the libertarian view or more of a kind of the UB Party, which is just leave us alone. And I met a lot of Republicans, a lot of Christian Evangelic Evangelicas who are like, listen, I don't like abortion, but the only thing worse than that is having the government

involved in it. And so it is a little bit of just leave us alone out here. We live out in rule and Western and southern Colorado. We're not in the big city for a reason, and we just don't want to government. You know, government should be there to

support when needed, but the less regulation the better. And you see that on things that are more traditionally left from our traditionally right and as you know, as the son of Gioana fifty years that had bomb threats from his father's office growing up in the seventies and eighties in Minneapolis, I can attest to how important it is important for the government to just be at a women's healthcare decisions, and that resonates with some of the most

rule read yes in the country. It's different if you're down in the South and Alabama, Mississippi, but out west it is the you do you party and it's something that resonates with a lot of people well. And I would also say in the South there are a lot of different voters in the South too, and and a lot of them are pro choice. It's a very interesting coalition.

But I would say, um, I think that's right. And I think the rural hospital stuff is just unconscionable that we have places where you you know, it's hours and hours to at a hospital and there, and and also you know, we are seeing we need to take better care of our trains and our infrastructure. And if that's not clear from this week, I don't know what it is. That's exactly what we're trying to work on, and that infrastructure bill is really important. And you know, you know

represented Bobart. One of the things we talked about is she's one of the few people that probably decides that she does not want to try to have some of that taxpayer based at Western and Southern Colorado pay in DC, and she doesn't fight to try to bring that stuff back. And if that money is not coming back to c D three, it's showing up in Denver or Detroit, or

Newark or rural Kansas or rural Florida. And I made it very very clear that it's really really important how to figure out how to bring those resources back here. It's a lot healthcare has a lot of moving parts.

But when you're an hour and a half away from an urgent care center or two hours away, if you have any type of pregnancy that's not just more of a traditional normal pregnancy, those are real issues that are facing to know people, and I'd love to see kind of that money be returned to the taxpayers pay and show up in the county health departments mental and physical, and again block grants. Let the county officials decide where that money should go. They're going to know better than

people in Denver, you see. But the money needs to come because we just you know, we have some of the poorest counties. We have some of the wealthiest and the porest counties in the country. And I'm very focused on you know, with all respect to my friends and my neighbors up in Picking County where I live, I'm really focused on those counties that are going to need the help and have see huge transitions with energy and agriculture and are dealing with a really big drought that

needs some focus. Adam, I hope you will come back multiple times before you're a congress person. Always great to chat with you, Molly Hope of a great week going ahead. Jesse Cannon, Molly John Fast. You know, when those Fox News emails come out, you see who they really are. What was your favorite part where you see him? The dominion filing was released on Friday night, and in it we learned that Tucker, Shawn and Laura Ingram all knew

exactly what they were doing. They knew that there was no election fraud and that they were just lying liars who lie, And they texted each other and they were very clear that they knew the truth and we're not following it. And for that, they then poisoned the well of many Americans. And there are still people in this country who believe that the election was rigged? Was they rigged?

Did you enjoy more when it was ridiculous things like them threatening to get fact checkers fired, or when they said that Bruty Giuliani and City Power were insane but kept having them on their shows. There were so many moments that we had suspected were likely what was happening backstage at Fox News, but it was still a bit strange to actually see it firsthand. And a good lesson here is that if you think that there's some real corruption going on behind the scenes, sometimes there really is.

That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to her the best minds and politics makes sense of all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard, please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. And again, thanks for listening,