A Place of Optimism

while I'm gone up. Next, this week, we have our friend, Democratic contributor and DNC delegate Kaivon Schroff, who is here to talk to us about the VP's momentum, about where we see this campaign going, the pivots and pitfalls of the Trump dvance ticket, and you know where we think we're headed in less than one hundred days? Are we about to save democracy? The a meme? Can we gather and keep people interested with less than one hundred days to go? Kayvon and I get into this and more

on the next episode, Folks. I am so happy to welcome back to OKF Daily friend of the show Kivian Schroff, who is a Democratic contributor and a DNC delegate and the person that I go to whose tiktoks go off the charts when you are covering anything that has to do with politics and where we are since I last saw you, since we last spoke, there has been a seismic shift in this election cycle, with Joe Biden stepping aside, VP Kamala Harris stepping in. I want to get your

thoughts on, just like, how are you feeling? We are you know, less than one hundred days until the election, How are you feeling about the vibe shift?

I don't think Vice President Harris or the campaign are taking that approach, but I think certainly the people I'm seeing respond to this news don't necessarily know what's about to come, So I think we all have to be all hands on deck for this. You know, a lot of my friends are like, oh, Kaivon, aren't you so

excited by this new you know premise? And I think there's a lot of reason folks, myself included, really did feel that Biden had a strong chance, or as strong a chance as anyone for the last several years, to win this election because there's a lot of structural barriers in this country that don't change overnight.

a hard one. We are the underdogs. So talk to me about you know, the difference in terms of how the Harris campaign is kind of seeing themselves in this moment with less than one hundred days to go, and maybe how some folks in your orbit are kind of seeing this moment.

Harris's candidacy. You know, I'm hearing from classmates who really felt tired of the Biden Trump dynamic, felt like they weren't represented, felt like it was two old white guys, and it didn't resonate. And I think one of the most exciting things I'm seeing from folks now, especially in the digital space, is just that energy coming back and

the hope. And I think really the difference is that politics, as you know, has been digital for quite some time, and I think strategically the Biden campaign knew that, and they've elevated former digital folks to senior leadership in the campaign. All of that already happened. But the reality is Joe Biden was still, you know, an eighty year old dude.

And I think that Vice President Harris just lends herself to the digital moment much more easily, and I think, you know, much more easily than Donald Trump too, So it's a huge advantage. And of course she's always had that prosecutor skill set where I think a lot of voters were introduced to her for the first time when she was going viral at those state hearings, going after

Brett Kavanaugh, calling out you know, Bill Barr. So this is really her wheelhouse, and it happens to be a perfect fit for the realities of campaigning and social media and our information ecosystems today.

some odd days until the election. But yet I don't think that people understand that the virality that social media has and how we can gin up support is something that is important that, like you said, the Biden campaign didn't have. Now, while I didn't want I was one of the people that didn't want Biden to step aside if in fact we were going to have a chaotic open primary. I just thought it was going to be

a disaster that didn't happen. But I think that there is something to show the youthfulness and the freshness of this campaign versus what we've seen in the past. I mean, I'm old enough to remember Barack Obama being the first to come out and kind of show this connection between politics and culture, which I think is necessary in order to connect people to the moment that we're in.

they really understand that. So to take that energy and excitement and the youth engagement that is happening online and then have exciting people like Meg the Stallion, you know, not only show their talent and their cultural relevance, but connect it to the actual issues on the table, like obviously she spoke about reproductive rights and autonomy over your own boss, and obviously she has that song Body, you know,

like that's that's a great moment. So I think finding ways to make those touch points and understanding and obviously this campaign is sophisticated and they do understand this. It's just about executing it. Is that the excitement, the means. The internet's a touch point, it's an access point, but how do you actually get those people to then go volunteer to do something offline, to donate, to show up

and vote. And I think they've already done some things, like I know they've launched a youth the newsletter to keep people engaged and updated on the actual policy commitments and accomplishments of both the Biden Harris administration, but also what a Harris administration would look like. So those are the important ways to keep people engaged and make sure to manage that community in an actually effective way.

over the place. But you saw, like you said, Meg the Stalin, we saw Quevo, We see you know, politicians, we see the viral moment of the head of the Young Democrats dancing to not like us, right, Like, there are moments that we see long lines that were formed, you know, across a highway of people trying to get into the event. And so when you see these things,

what is it conjure for you? And what do you think it is doing to help write us understand like the importance and the impact of this moment and really what we're fighting for.

moment have happened. And it's just I think the reality is that that did lead those voices, though those same unhelpful voices, the never Trumpers, the podcast grows that you know, a year ago, if you go look at July of twenty twenty three, the media class was calling for Joe Biden to replace Vice President Harris on the ticket. If you remember, I know memories can be short, but that

was very much the take. And now you look a year later, and suddenly, because they wanted to undermine Joe Biden, frankly, all those never trumpers, all those people that were underestimating her were forced to actually acknowledge that actually, she would be a great candidate, and she is a great candidate, and she does have the background and she is ready on day one. So that's been a huge shift in

the narrative around Vice President Harris. And then you look at just who she is, not only on a symbolic level, the history making potential of all of this, but the reality that that has been her whole life and the power of that, and how she has definitely handled that, and how the last few weeks have shown just how ready for this moment she is and nobody can take

that away from her. And I think that when you see those lines and you see the excitement for those rallies, she is reinventing what politics means to people, just like Obama did. To your point, it's something my generation, I think, I'm a very very end of millennials missed. We weren't part of that moment, so even folks my age are

having that moment. I'm thirty now, but certainly gen Z is having that moment, that opportunity to be part of something bigger and not feel like nothing can be done and nothing can be changed and we're trapped and limited. So it's an exciting time.

that went out, you still see the importance of what we're talking about of family, of the economy, of community, of connectedness, of racial diversity, of all of the values that we have that Biden and how A share, but the way that they're able to use imagery and messaging to convey that message. One came from a place of fear, I think, and rightfully so, but the other comes from

a place of optimism. And I think that for young people, especially when you tell folks that are just entering into the workforce, that are just entering into finding their footing in a place of the power structure, right that to tell them that the opportunities have come and gone is not what's going to galvanize them.

it's not acceptable. And now I know there's been change, and Sheldon Whitehouse and folks have really been pushing it. But Joe Biden himself has come out right and endorsed these reforms. Vice President Harris has endorsed these reforms. And I was just in DC and a bunch of focusing, well, why did they even do that? Everyone says it'll never pass, and how are we going to get a constitutional amendment?

we have, you know, so it can be done. So I think that's inspiring and it's worth taking those big swings because to your point, young people especially are coming up in a world where every institution seems to be failing. All the precedents and norms have been thrown out the window. You have a felon you know, who might be the president of the United States again. And at the same time, they're being told, well, you can't do it this way, this is not how it's done. That doesn't make any

sense to anyone who's paying attention. So let's try new things. Let's get new things done, a whole bunch of new stuff. A lot of it bad has been happening over the last several years. So let's try some new good things, and that's how you get people engaged.

is dropping out and Kamala is coming in. Since then, we have seen video after video after video of jd vance like dehumanizing women. The misogyny knows no bounds, the hatefulness knows no bounds. We are seeing Donald Trump drop out of the debate, as we said, calling a whole bunch of names. They don't seem to have found their footing. They don't seem to know where to pivot right now. What do you make of where the Trump dance ticket is in this current moment?

it's really born out because I knew right away. I've followed this guy for a long time since obviously Hillbilly elogy, and it was sort of this nonsense takeaway of quote unquote economic anxiety in twenty sixteen that really media used to silence discussions about sexism and racism that were really the reason a lot of people did support Trump. And I think you look at this moment, and he really

is Ron Desante's two point zero even worse. Perhaps he's a ivy leaguer costplaying maga, talking about how much he loves to drink mountain dew, clapping for himself, weird stories about the couch. None of it resonates, and he certainly doesn't have the charisma and the shamelessness and the money, frankly and the decades long reputation that Trump allows him to get away with it all. Sort of That's been Trump's gift, is that, you know, people really do buy

into the fact that he's an entertainer. Jade Vance is so fickle and frankly on the record, so hypocritical, and obviously really was telling the truth. A couple years ago about who Trump was and sort of called him right an opioid that these Maga folks were addicted to. And he just now has decided, well, it's his turn to get power. And you know how disgusting. I'm an Indian American and I'm very excited about the premise of Kamala Harris being our first South Asian president. But you look

at Usha Vance, the wife of JD. Vance. First of all, what kind of pathetic husband came then his wife against the disgusting racist attacks from the white supremacists and the Maga movement. Well that's because that's their voting base. So he's not going to stand up for his wife's talk about being alpha. They love to say that, right, like they're the definition of what a man should be. I think a man should be able to defend his wife's race as she's being smeared and attacked by the disgusting

people he hope supports him. So that's one thing. But I think the second thing is that JD. Vance is a hodgepodge of whatever Peter Thiel and Elon Musk and the sort of weird is the word. Yes, it is Ali Browse who were never probably socialized who surround themselves with yes men for forever who are weird and obviously, I mean we can just see that from from even you know, the more quote unquote progressive is one like Zuckerberg.

I mean, these are odd kids, and so they have all of these personal vendettas and you know, opinions that really don't add up and don't really reflect the larger electorate.

And now they've hand selected Jade Vance is Donald Trump's running me, and it's a mismatch, and of course Donald Trump has no self control, so it's becoming so apparent that he's pissed and that you know, he regrets the choice, and they're not going to have the chemistry that you do need those folks to have to run on a successful ticket and all of that so a huge disaster and mistake, and luckily the media has acknowledged it now. But my concern is that obviously media has a short

attention span, and I do think an agenda. You know, I saw a pretty peace that was saying media and reporters are feeling rejuvenated and energized over the swap out of Biden for Harris. Well, first of all, that's totally inappropriate. They're supposed to report the news, not create exciting things for them to cover by interfering and pushing narratives so aggressively and strongly. But yes, Kamala is new to them.

I mean she shouldn't because they should have been covering her as the important impact vil vice president she's been for the last four years. But they suddenly started paying attention. And they'll get over that, though, and they'll want to take her down and they'll want to criticize you know, I guarantee that, you know, as the campaign develops, they will find the issues that they can criticize her on, whether or not they're real or manufactured, and some of

them will be legitimate. But you know, certainly my concern is that right now Kamala is going viral for all the right reasons, and Janieans is going viral for all

the wrong reasons. That's a gift, but of course there's going to be ups and downs in that, and I think one of the things that the virality of Harris right now does is it creates a reset moment and a permission structure, particularly for young folks who felt ailing and needed from the process, or maybe felt like you know, the cool kids on campus had one set of political

views and they should align with those. Because Harris has made politics more fun and engagement engaging, and also because they've all seen their friends and folks post on social media about it, they feel probably more empowered to be voting Democrat, to say they're voting Democrat, to show up and actually do that, because at the end of the day, these folks understand that their rights are on the line, that our future is on the line, and so I

do think that reset and exhale moment is important no matter what happens down the road.

we've seen through as we saw through the deepstakes. You know, I think one of the again silver linings of all of this for Democrats has been showing the deep bench that we of leadership, making those cable heads and communicating

in a bunch of different ways. But you know, I think a lot of people sort of typecast how Democrats message, and it's really not true when you go look at all these governors that we're speaking out about what the party's done and what they stand for, and how do we do represent the working class and the middle class and what the deliverables have been economically in an engaging way,

in an honest, regular way. It's not like all these folks, you know, have been over consulted in our spewing talking points. They're speaking from the heart and it's resonating. So keep doing that, but also show the diversity and the excitement and the energy that to your point, right, Democrats do have the culture on our side, as we always have, but particularly in this moment, all they have is a bunch of random wrestlers and kid rock at the RNC.

somebody exciting. So I think definitely that what I'm looking to not see, honestly is I do think the opportunity with young voters for this campaign is now a different opportunity.

And no shade to anyone doing the organizing work for Biden, but I do feel like the youth support that was touted and spoken about, and I know the campaign was really engaged on sort of did feel a little top down, and it did feel a little like sort of the nerds from like model un in high school understanding that Democrats needed youth voices and youth support and so they could be the one on CNN or the one writing the op ed or going viral on Twitter among a

bunch of six year olds who wish that young voters thought that way, and that's not to be knocked and it does have an impact, and good for those people. I think they believe what they're saying. But the reality is they didn't represent the energy or the voice of gen Z accurately. That's not true and the poll showed that and everybody knows that. So when you look and you see the excitement at the Georgia reality, when you look at the means online and TikTok, it really is

much more grassroots, much more genuine and real. It's not folks thinking, oh, if I make this thing go viral, maybe a producer will reach out to me and I'll get to do a hit, or maybe I'll get a job with some campaign. It's just like, oh, my friends are now excited about this new thing happened the news. It is a cultural moment and I want to be part of it. And so I would suggest tapping much

more into that energy. And then you know, having David Hogg, who again maybe he should speak, but he can't be the only young speaker and only young voice for gen Z. Again, not a knock on him. He's done great work. He's been a great leader. I just think a lot of folks who haven't felt represented so far that are now engaged in this process are not going to respond to what feels like more of an institutionalist voice now at this point, despite being young. So how do they tap

into that? It's very easy. There's all sorts of voices and Christ there's.

know that are coming up. And so I'm excited because I feel like in some ways that this shift has kind of taken the shackles off of the Democratic Party and there is really a torch passing that has happened. And I think that if we can continue to galvanize that energy and continue with all of these amazing calls that are raising millions and millions of dollars and engaging people in every corner you know, of the demographics that

we need to hit that we will win. And you know, I hope Kivon, that we get to talk to you again when either when you're at convention or right when you return, because I think it would be really great to hear from you again.