Election Day (with co-host America Ferrera and special guests)

And she's someone who I first met on the campaign trail back in two thousand and eight, and I've been honored to have her support and friendship in the years since. I was so excited to be having this conversation with you because I have a number of text chains that started on election night and have persisted it for four years. And here we are, four years later at this presidential election, and what everyone around me is sensing is so much anxiety, so much fear. I mean, I feel it taking a

toll on me physically, mentally. I'm literally wearing bright colors just to stay hopeful. I'm like, I have to do everything in my power to like stay above this this, you know, and I don't use this term lightly because I know that it's serious. But I think we have collective PTSD. Yes, I know we do. I am so curious, what are you going to do on election Day? Like, how are you going to get through it? Because I

have no idea what I'm gonna do. You know, I'm anxious because this time four years ago, I thought I was going to win, and that's what, you know, it appeared to be. So when it comes to election day, for the longest time, I thought I would vote early. But then I've been wondering, well, what will I do on election How will I organize my time if I'm not like planning to go vote and standing in line and doing what you do when you go to vote.

So I don't know yet, America. I'm trying to be as calm and focused as I can, and right now I'm going to practice a lot of deep breathing. I think that would be the best way to get through the next few days. Reminder, so here's our game plan for today. You can get all the election related punditry you want. You can look at all the polls till your eyes cross. You can do that NonStop over the next or who knows how many hours this is not that let me let me be right up front with you. Yeah,

and thank God for that. Instead, America and I are introducing you to people across our country who are working their hearts out for this election, all in different ways. Yeah, we're talking to a candidate for the state House in Tennessee, and a first time voter in North Carolina, and a seventeen year old and Georgia who is too young to vote but has put everything she has into getting other people to participate in the elections, and a veteran organizer.

And we also get to check in with some of our favorite pals out there doing incredible work, Kalpenn, Zelina Maxwell and the fabulous gillin In Doyle. So we're gonna take a little time to breathe together. We helped to have a few laughs together and to be inspired together. Ready, America, I am so ready. Let's do this. First up, I want to introduce Mallory Rogers. Now. Malory is a seventeen year old high school student in Rome, Georgia, and even

though she can't vote yet, she is very involved in politics. Hey, Mallory, are you hi? Hi? I am so great, and it's a thrill to be talking with you today. You're doing what I wish every young person, everybody in high school would do, and that's getting involved in our elections and politics right now. I think it's so inspiring, and I would love for you to tell me, you know how you got involved and what you've been doing. I actually

got involved with our local League of Women Voters. They asked me to sign up to be a poor worker, and so I did. And then after that I kind of kept getting involved and went support of elections meetings and registered voters and doing everything I can to make democracy work. I love that you got involved through the League of Women Voters, a group that I am a huge supporter of, and you started your high school's first political club called the League of Young Voters. Tell me

about that. So we actually it's the first political club. Like you said, we're non partisan, so we we don't pick side either way. That way we can get more done. I feel like it's easier to get stuffed on human Yes, and so we um had a voter registration drive on National Voter Registration Day, which was difficult with COVID, but

we still we got thirty when people registered, which was exciting. Yes, and we've been doing community drives and I think we have eleven or twelve people who have signed up to work the polls from the club, and these are people most people in the club can't actually vote, but we're over sixteen so we can work the poles in Georgia.

You're doing something really important because, as you know, given COVID nineteen, there's a major shortage of poll workers since historically poll workers have been retired people you know, who could spend the whole day at the polls. We can't have free and fair elections without poll workers, and so you have really been on the front lines. How did you even know about this back in June and sign up to do it? I was sorry. I actually signed up when our primary is supposed to be in March.

So I was sixteen when I first signed up, and um, it was the League of Women Voters. But after I worked in June, I got my friends to work in August because they needed even more people because there was

a shortage, like you said, for COVID nineteen. So eight of us worked in August and that was a really rewarding experience to work with my friends and we actually pushed to get bilingual poll workers here in Floyd County because when I started, they had no bilingual po workers at all, and we have a large Spanish speaking population

here in Floyd County. So two of my friends who are bilingual signed up, and then I think we had two more of my friends who are bilingual sign up for November, so we'll have four bilingual poll workers, which is not a lot, but it's better than none. I think that is terrific that you you saw need. I love this about you, Malory. You saw need and you decided that you were going to help meet it. You're

going to solve the problem. So when you've been interacting with your community, have you had any memorable encounters or conversations as you're registering voters or checking in people as a poll worker. Yes. So we had one voter registration drive where we had a lady come up who was a felon, and so we asked her if she was off paper, because you can register TOBOT after you're off paper, and she said she was as of a few months ago.

So we started to sign her up and she registered, and it was such an exciting experience because she gets to vote again, and she didn't know that she could register again. She thought that she would never be able to vote again. So she was so excited, and we had all these people who were hoping to register her, like a league of women voters and some people from a Black Lives Matter protest, and we were just all there together celebrating her voting again. And that was That's

a really rememberable experience for me. So what are your plans for election day? You're gonna be at the polls? What time in the morning, Yes, ma'am, I will be there at six am with a cup of coffee. And are you signed up to be there the whole day? Yes. We actually worked for fifteen hours in August, so I'm hoping that it only goes till seven this time and we have no technical difficulties, but I'll be there the

whole day. Well, I am very grateful that you and and thousands of you know, young people like you are showing up to work at the polls because that's the only way we can run our elections. Now, let me ask you this, Malory. I'm really impressed by you. Also, you said a picture of yourself when you were five years old wearing a pin supporting me and the two eight presidential campaign. So you've been on the front lines of caring about politics literally your entire life. What are

you interested in doing after high school? That is a great question. I've always thought that I would do STEM because I'm really interested in math, But after getting involved with politics recently, I really am interested in public policy and possibly working on a campaign or maybe going into politics myself, I have but I have no idea at

the moment, so we'll see. Well, one thing I would suggest is someone who is interested in STEM, and particularly someone who likes masks like you just said, don't lose that because we need people in public life where they're they're elected officials or working in government in some way who have those skills. So I hope that you'll be able to put to work the skills that you have

in STEM. But I just want to tell you how proud I am of you, and I hope more young people who hear this podcast or are told about it will think about being poll workers too. Thank you, yes, man, I hope said to you. Thank you so light. I love the fact America that Malory is going to be a poll watcher to make sure that our elections work

the way they should. Yeah, Malory is so incredibly impressive, And what I was thinking listening to your interview with her was just I feel passionate that young people across this country should, all of us, should have opportunities like Mallory early on to really get involved. And I just think it's so inspiring when young people have that opportunity, which brings us to, you know, our our next young person who is also really looking forward to this election.

Those of you listening, you may not know his name, but chances are you've heard his story. His name is Justin Blackman, and he became an activist two years ago after the tragic school shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. And a month after the shooting, survivors of that shooting organized a national walkout at schools across the country. And here was Justin in Wilson, North Carolina.

On the day of this national walkout, he walks out of his class and finds himself standing completely alone in his school's parking lot, and no one else walked out with him. He was on his own, and he recorded a short video and the video went viral, and this year, Justin is eighteen, so he gets to vote, so we really wanted to check get with him and see how he was feeling about this election. Hey Justin, Hello, Hi, I'm doing all right. How are you doing? I'm doing fine,

just hanging in there, you know. You know, before we jump into kind of this moment in this election, I would love to hear you talk a little bit about what happened back in eighteen when you were the only student in your school to join the National walkout Day in support of the many students who had experienced gun violence in their schools. Tell me the story about that day.

So I remember, like the start of that day, I came into school thinking, Okay, this is going to be a different day from anybody else because we have a walkout day because of the shooting that took place on Valentine's Day, I believe, and on that day seventeen people died, so we had to walk out for seventeen minutes of silence. So I did that at my school, and I was the only one to do it at my school, and then I made like a little but thirty second video.

I was expecting nobody to see it because at the time on Twitter only had like the hundred followers, and then literally did I know that that video grew to I think six points something million views, and ever since then, I've been on and off talking around activism for gun violence and other things. Did you think of yourself as a particularly engaged active citizen before that day or did

that day change something for you? I do feel like I'm pretty active in communities, but not necessarily on social media, like to help a lot. I like to do a lot of community work, but it wasn't never really two years ago, before this happened, I wasn't the person to say go vote because I wasn't allowed to vote myself, and to be quite frank, I wasn't necessarily thinking about that at that age. But now that I am at the age, I'm planning on going with a couple of

friends to help them vote for the first time. And is that is that? Like, what is the response you're getting from your friends, who your age, who you're talking to about voting. Do you feel like they are aware of what's happening in this moment and what's at stake in this moment. I feel like the majority is they understand that we need people to show up at the polls rather than just retweeting a tweet or reposting something on Instagram. There's a thirty percent that say, oh, my

vote doesn't count. Whoever wins is gonna win with screwty either way. But that's if you have that mindset. Then we were we were. We lost in the beginning before we even started. And do you think you've managed to change anybody's mind, any of your peers, any of your friends. I definitely did. I have a couple of friends that didn't want to vote at all, and they're now going to vote. Some that plan on voting for a candidate I don't necessarily believe in. But it's better than nothing

at all, in my opinion. And have you voted yet? Actually? Did I have my pen right here? If you voting, then that is a snazzy voting that What are your what are your plans for election day? So I would have I'd have one friend come pick me up and then we're going to be all meeting at the election spot and we're going to just go together. Obviously I can't go in because I already voted, but I'm going

to meet them on the other side. And after that, I'm pretty sure we said we're going to go and get some food, which is a reason why I feel like a couple of them are going to go. But I mean, as long as we're getting them to vote, that's all that matters. Yeah, And I guess my last question is this is your first year voting. Do you think that you're going to be a lifetime voter? Do

you think you'll always vote? Yes, as long as I'm able to vote, I will definitely use my rights because I'm voting for the people that look like me, like couldn't vote before me, and I don't know, I feel like it's just very disrespectful to not vote, So I'm going to be voting every time I can. Well, that's

great to hear. I'm glad and thank you for the work that you're doing to talk to your friends, because I really do think that there is so much power in that every single one of us has influenced with our friends, with our family, with the people we know, to make this process personal and to encourage the people we know to get out to vote. The fact show that you justin are going to be much more effective at getting your friends out to vote than any candidate,

than any celebrity, you know, than any campaign. You taking the time to speak to your friends about what's at stake and why it matters for them to vote is real power, and I thank you so much for using it, and I can't wait to see what your future holds. Thank you so much. You know, talking to Mallory and Justin really gives me hope. And someone who understands the power of young people in politics is our next guest,

Cal Pen. Now you may remember Cal comedian and actor for his roles in Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle and the TV show House. Well you may not know, though, he went on to be actively involved in democratic politics and actually worked in the White House during the Obama administration. And in the last six weeks leading up to this election, Cal did an amazing thing. He put out a weekly

show called Cal Penn Approves This Message. We all know that line from candidates ads, but what he was doing was trying to educate and mobilize young people to vote. And each episode focused on a specific issue like climate change or human rights or education and looked at how we got where we are. So I wanted to talk to Cal about the years he has spent helping young voters make their voices heard, and that's where we started

our conversation. I am very happy to see you, Cal, and I'm particularly interested in what you're doing trying to mobilize young people. Do you think that there's a real hunger among young people to be more involved and to maybe work through for themselves where they stand on these shoes. I think so. I think it seems like young voters

today are are less party conscious, They're less affiliated. Um, I would imagine that that's gonna mean that changes that each major party is going through is probably going to continue for quite some time. But I also see that as an opportunity. Like I remember just thinking about when you know, I was at the White House when don't as Don't Tell got repealed, and I had a very small part. I was a very small part of the

outreach team. But I remember thinking that took so long, and the different iterations of what had to happen for this policy to first get enacted and then get repealed, and all along the way it was viewed as this is the right thing to do at the time. So those benchmarks over time are such an interesting thing that I think if you're young now, of course you look at that and you think, well, don't don't tell you that got repealed a long time ago, you know, and

it's it gives me hope. I I don't know how you. I would actually love to know your thoughts on this. It seems like younger voters sit there and they go, oh, Obama, Clinton, They're so moderate, And I'm like, are you kidding me? That? What a place of luxury? Actually, like, you know how hard people had to fight for you to think that Barack Obama and the Clinton's are moderate. Like, maybe they

are moderate by today's youth standards. That's a good thing, because that's a benchmark of progress to me, Like, how do you view because I assume you hear that all the time too, Well, yes, I I have heard that, and I've laughed about it with Barack because it is a matter of perspective. It's it's like what you just said about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. If you think about it, in the number of years that most young people have been alive, it seems like it

took forever. If you think about it, in the great sweep of historic change. It was lightning fast to move toward eliminating barriers to the LGBT community being fully participants in every aspect of American life, to gay marriage. I mean that was warp speed. But you're also very a student saying but people sort of take that for granted. Okay, fine,

thank you very much. What's next? Because part of the fight over Don't Ask, Don't Tell and gay marriage was to keep it alive and not let the opponents literally in shrine opposition in the constitution. So everything is a

trade off. And when you say, well, you know you're a moderate, I like to say I'm a progressive who likes to get things done, and very often it's supposed to be in a democracy that you push as hard as you can for the maximum outcome that you are seeking, but along the way you probably are going to have to,

you know, compromise. It's an ongoing debate, and it's a good debate because I think you want to push the system as far as possible, but don't get discouraged when the other side pushes back, because if you get discouraged, that just plays right into their hands. That is literally one of the undercurrents of our entire series is that you know, oftentimes the system is designed to make you feel powerless, to make you feel like, well, my vote

doesn't matter, so why bother. And then one of the things we're just trying to explain is just think about this for a second, that if your vote really didn't matter, why would they go through that much effort to prevent showing up. It's because they're scared of your power, and in particular young people. Wow, they really don't want young people to vote. This was a huge issue in the sixties.

And when you get that right and then people basically say, oh, thank you very much, but I'm not interested, you get a little bit agitated because you know what a difference it would make if you if you had the percentage of young people voting, say under twenty five, that you have a people over seventy are politics would look really different, and a lot of issues like climate change or free tuition for public colleges and universities, those would be accomplished

because people in public life listen to those voices that they think are going to either keep them in office or take them out. And one of my friends has often said, you know, we're always talking about the youth vote. And at the very end of every campaign, where does the attention go at tension goes to people over sixty. Why because despite our hopes, we really, really, really know

that those folks are going to turn out. I'm always fascinated by, you know, every demographic group except for young people. So African American vote, Irish American vote, South Asian vote, whatever you measure them in every four year period, and with the exception of expanding the electorate within those communities, they're generally the same humans were showing up. But youth vote, it's not the same human beings in those four year periods because you age out of the demo. We're talking

about a totally new set of people. So while it's amazing, like I'm very hopeful by the fact that mid terms of the highest you vote in decades, but two years worth of those people our first time voters, now they weren't even there. So it's it's this weird thing where I feel like we're chastising somebody who just turned eighteen

for the twenty year old two years ago. Um, And to your point, like any way to encourage that and set the stage of here's what progress looked like it took decades of young people to get the voting age to eighteen. It took decades of young people to get some sort of a recognition for Sudan and South Sudan. Imperfect solution, obviously, but it was faith groups coming together with college campuses over a period of years and years and years to draw attention to genocide. That's what what

fueled so much of that. It was slow, Yeah, it is. It's painfully, painfully slow, but you got to believe change is possible even if you get your heart broken because it takes so long. I mean, ten years ago, if you and I had been talking, I don't think either

one of us would have realistically expected. We might have hoped for having the daughter of two immigrants on the ticket as the next vice president of our country, and we would have been kind of probably kidding or saying, oh, yeah, I'll never happened, you know, given all the other problems.

But it is happening, So cal Pen, thank you so much for spending this time talking to me about a lot of the things that are really critically important to our democracy that you are determined to make accessible and entertaining an educational to your viewers, especially young people. Well, let me thank you also just for sharing all of your incredible experience and stories. We've looked up to you for quite some time, and I appreciate it very much.

Cal Pen approves. This message wrapped up last week, but you can still watch all of it on Hulu, and I recommend it as a timer for issues we need to think about all the time, not just during an election. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And I think what Cal's doing is so important and part of what we all should

be thinking about. I can't think of anything more important and more vital to the health of our democracy than us finding ways to make our system feel accessible and so the plainist language that we can find to engage people and help them understand, you know why the city comptroller, like you know, matters in you know, to you, that's the work that needs to be done right now. I

just I'm so inspired by what Cal's doing. And you know, I'm I'm a dork for these things, which is evident by the fact that I've spent twelve years, you know, on the trail for Canadas who I am inspired by and I love being on the campaign trail this year looks really different out there. Yes, so I wanted to hear from a seasoned organizer who I know. You know, Hillary, and I know because I met her in Nevada working

for you. And I wanted Emmy Louise, this incredible long time organizer, to talk to us about what it looks like on the ground this election season. Emmy is such an amazing human being. She is, as you said, a longtime organizer, but in my view, one of the best in the entire country. Yeah. Well, he lives in Austin, Texas with her wife and her two and a half year old son, Henry. She has been working tirelessly toward this election day for the past four years, working to

help grassroots organizations and candidates. She's a partner at New Coo Strategies, this political consulting firm she started, and she helps run Onward Together. Well, that's the group I started after the election to lift up groups and organizations to support candidates and causes. And of course I immediately asked Emmy to be involved. Well, she seems tireless and like she's out there, you know, fighting the good fight for

all of us. So I wanted to check in with her and see how she was feeling heading into these final hours before the election. I'll start with, how are you how how are you doing today? I'm great, you know, I'm really optimistic. I think people are out there organizing, people are out there voting, and that is good. Right. The art of a campaign is you really want to get to the morning after and say I did everything I could to turn out voters, to mobilize people, to

inspire people, to lay out our agenda. And I feel like that's being done. And you're in Texas and all eyes are on Texas right now. What does it feel like to be in Texas right now? What's the energy like? Well, the energy is interesting because you know, we're in a pandemic, so traditionally you might be able to be around a lot of people around the campaign bustle and hustle on the campaign office, and so it is a little different.

But I will tell you I think that the arc of Texas has been moving in the right direction for a few cycles. Now. I mean Hillary Clinton actually did better in Texas than in places like Ohio. Then you saw about the works race in uh and now I mean we're looking at double digits of congressional races that are toss ups that have never been toss ups before. Pile that on the work that's been done for more than a decade by organizations like Texas Organizing Project, Battleground Texas,

the Texas Democratic Party Annie's List. I mean, this work has really been a long time coming. The first three counties in the nation to surpass total turnout are in Texas, right one, just just south of Austin, in Hayes County, which is home to Texas State, where my few is actually a student. And you know, there were organizations like Move Texas who fought to the nail to make sure that there was voting sites on campus, and that was actually the first county in the nation to see this

record breaking turnout. And so there's a lot of activity out there, and it's a really exciting time. I want to talk to you about the Latin X vote because for me, you know, I got engaged in the same year you did, oh wait, and and in the exact same place. And Nevada was my first time on the ground, you know, volunteering for a campaign getting out the vote, and there were certainly experiences and interactions where I learned so much about Latin X voters and getting them to

engage and be mobilized. What have you seen change in the Latin X community with Latin X voters. You know, I think what I have seen RelA shipping evolved throughout the years is really the engagement of young people. Right in two thousand nine, ten, two thousand eleven, I think a lot of us will remember. I don't want to say the emergence because for me, they were in emergence of when the Dreamers really started pushing the Obama administration.

That's when you really saw off for example, United we dream really come to prominence. And I feel like there were many Dreamers across the country who took that lead. There were a lot of high school students in Nevada and across the board that we're beginning to get involved. And now I believe that you're seeing a lot of young Latin X voters that are really pushing our party, that are really pushing candidates toward a more progressive agenda. And so I think that that has been one of

the more beautiful things out there. I mean, you see AOC, you see Jessica Cisneo's on the Texas border. You see Astrid Silva and Nevada. I mean, there are so many young, incredible latin X leaders that are really showing us away. You know, A great onward together group that's doing this work in Arizona is Mooch Arizona led by at the Moss and Alex who again are just these very I think young visionary leaders right who are not taking no for an answer and really thinking through. You know, these

are the big challenges. How are we going to do this by mobilizing and building people's power. Yeah. Well, one of the things that is already being talked about is the record number of young voters who are already turning out in this election. And it gives you hope, almost gives me hope, and then makes me scared that I have any hope because we're also deeply draumatized. But have you voted yet? Yes? I voted last week. I voted last Friday. And what was that like? It was really awesome.

What are you voting for this year? You know? I voted for a few things. I voted, you know, number one for my son, who is a young boy. He's two and a half years old, and he was a premium. He was a Nickey for three weeks, and you know, we didn't really have to worry a whole lot because he had every privilege afforded to him. And I want to make sure that every kid out there has the

same opportunities. And you know, I think in and beyond, we've met a lot of stories out there, including this one little girl, Capita in Nevada, who many people might remember from the Brave Ad with Hillary Clinton, whose parents were undocumented. And there are a lot of people like her who have suffered greatly over the last four years.

And so I'm voting for them and also voting for Hillary because you know, in her most difficult moment and our most difficult moment as organizers, she told us to keep going. And I believe many people have kept going, many new people have joined in, and we wouldn't even be here. I think I certainly wouldn't be here. We're not for her. That's awesome, man. What's your plan for election Day? Um? Needle a lot of pizza. I think I'm going to volunteer all the that's what do we do.

I would find a good local campaign going open some doors in COVID responsible way and help turn out voters. There is nothing more important to do on election day than turning out voters up until the last moment, until the polls closed, until every vote is counted. We'll be right back. This is about a lot of different people. It's about organizers like Emmy, it's about voters like us. But let's pivot now to the person on the ballot.

I had a chance to talk to Brandon Thomas, who is running to represent District forty nine in Tennessee's State House of Representatives. We were introduced to him by a group that I really love that Onward Together support. It's called Run for Something, which helps young people like Brandon run for office, and so that's what he's doing. Brandon, it is so great talking with you. Um, I really appreciate you joining me as we're racing to the finish line of this election. It's um coming right on us.

How are you feeling anxious? Very anxious? Well, I would be very surprised if you were not. You know, Brandon, you're running in a traditionally Republican district, which makes for a hard campaign but also an impactful one. And I learned that this is your second time running in this district. You ran for this seat back in ran alongside remember that very well, So what made you decide to run the first time? And then what made you think, Hey,

I'm going to do this again? You know, Well, actually in year old at the time, and I had actually came back from working on an issue campaign in Iowa, and so we were trying to get folks to sign up get everything in the Democratic platform to have you know, fair wages and paid family leave and stuff that's kind of stuff. And when I came back home, there was a week before the filing deadline, and you know, I was like, why can't we just do that here? And

so that that's what made me run in sixteen. You know, I didn't think about it. It was just like an urge to do something to do good for my community. This cycle, I was very reluctant to do it again. Uh you know in seen we managed to get thirty eight percent of the first time, Yeah, exactly, exactly. Some people rounded up to forty So I'm not mad at him. But yeah, so we we ran that campaign the way we did, but this time it was very thought out. Um, you know, I have a two year old son. Now

makes a big difference, doesn't it. Yes, yeah, and to see how things have not changed in the past four years. Um. Even just this past session, our state legislature took money out of public schools to give the private schools, and they promised teachers a pay raise and that didn't happen. It's stuff like that, like this is going to be affected my son's life when I think about what it was like for my races for the Senate or for president. The last week was just frantic running around, going as

many places as possible. But you're campaigning in the middle of a pandemic, so you had to get a little creative to reach people. What have you been doing? Um? So you know, one thing I'll be doing a lot is on slack. It's like an organizing channel. And so we have a Slack channel. So that helps us kind of like filter out what we're gonna do since we always can't be doing webcams and we face to face,

it's the next best thing. Also, we got on TikTok, so we did the whole Okay, so we're doing that um and it actually became a really good tool because my the person I'm running against, he's a character and he tries to be like this folksy character. But when you ask him questions like was a Civil War thought over slavery, he doesn't know how to answer. He can't answer.

So we made that into a TikTok. We did a Sarah Cooper and you know it's me as the reporter asking the question and me being him holding up frocks and everything. So we used it that way. And also, you know this is a hot race, but you know it's a hot race when you get negative mail and so so we got negative mail on us, and so we used that as an opportunity to TikTok. So, yeah, there was a digital ad that had me and Bernie

together with the red filter. Basically, this black guy and this Jewish guy are going to take your money and raise taxes, right and um, we just heard We made it. We made fun of it. We put it on his head. People laugh sometimes that's the best way to make them think. Well, you know, you really have a shot at making history in this election, not only because you're a Democrat, which hasn't been the trend in these counties that you're seeking to represent, but you are African American. You'd be the

first African American representative for your county. You are gay, you'd be the first gay representative. How do you hope your county and state will look different as your two year old son, Ezra grows up there? You know, I hope it looks like the community. Hope elected officials look like the community and they understand the struggles people are going through. I think what we see right now that's

not happening even down to like the school board level. Uh, we start talking about this pandemic again, and they were talking about how to reopen schools and this and that, and there was nobody that looked like me or it looked like my family that understood it. If you reopen these schools and you know, if children are carriers or not, and they bring that back to their grandparents, does that mean, you know, do these schools have the resources they need?

We know they don't in the state of Tennessee. So I would like to see representation that looks more like the community. And that means folks gotta vote and they have to run like you have, you know, the guts to do. How are you feeling about the race and these final hours? I am anxious. We have just got some numbers that showed like, oh, you know that we may be behind by like three percent, but we could make it up. And um, so that that's just really

anxious inducing. Well but that but that's a great result. In the district that you're in. People are not used to voting for Democrats, so that's good news. How are you going to spend election day? Election day, I'm probably still want to be trying to get those straggler voters out to vote. And then because it's literally gonna come down to the wire where you know, we know that, and you know, after seven o'clock, I've been joking with people,

I'm gonna turn my phone off. It sounds like people are saying, no, you can't do that, that's not gonna happen. So well, let's let's cross our fingers. And so I have to end by asking you, Brandon, what are you gonna do if you wake up or you probably won't have gone to sleep, But if you if you get word that you have one and you're the new representative, what are you looking forward to do as the new representative? Well, you know I would probably cry it's a minute, a

year's work of just hard work. Um uh, you know I would want to get to work in ensuring we fund our schools and getting Medicaid expansion and paid familyly. Those are the things. But immediately right what we could do is expand Medicaid. That's just you know, that's a that's getting the votes. I think that's that's like number one. We gotta get people healthcare during the global tan slutely,

I just want to thank you Brandon Thomas. Thank you for running, thank you for being determined, getting back up and making sure that your voice was going to be heard. And I think your hope for your family and particularly for your two year old son, Ezra, is something that everybody can relate to. So I got my fingers and toes crossed for your branded good luck, Thank you, thank you.

Well to shift a little bit. You know, we've been talking about everyday voters, and we've been talking about candidates and what their days look like on election day, but such a huge component on election day are our journalists, the people who are you know, trying to help us get the information we need to understand what's going on.

And so I thought i'd check in with Zerlina Maxwell, who is a veteran of several presidential campaigns, including President Obama's and she worked for you, Hillary, and yes she did. Zerlina is just a force of nature. She served as director of Progressive Media for my campaign in She has an incredible amount of energy and commitment. I'm really proud of her. And now she's gone on to be in

the media herself. Yeah, that's right. She has a show with Just McIntosh called Signal Boost on Sirius X, and she recently launched a TV show called Zerlina on Peacock And this is her first presidential election at the news desk and I had an amazing time catching up with her. She's in Virginia where she's staying with family during this pandemic. Heiser, Lena, so nice too. How are you. I'm okay. I'm grateful that I'm healthy, my family healthy. I feel like it's

almost the Hillary Clinton anser after the election. You know, I'm okay, but I'm worried for the country. Where are you going to be an election day? I'm gonna be in the house because I can't go outside. Um, you know, we have Just McIntosh. You were sat next to me and worked with me on Hillary's campaign. She's my coast for my morning show on Serious Sex Them, so we'll be up doing signal boost and we'll probably give a like a rara even if you voted like go make

sure everybody did you know? Gr t V kinda lay in the land morning show. And then I have a show on Peacock as well, which is the streaming network from NBC and MSNBC, and so I'll be a part of that coverage at some point. I don't know exactly, but I think for me, I'm going to be in the house, which feels weird. All of this, this whole year is so different that it was supposed to you know,

supposed to be for everyone. So I don't get to do the thing that I normally would do on an election night, which is help whichever you know Canada, and I'm working for wins. That's really hard, but I'm gonna try to at least use my platforms to amplify the good stuffing. You're speaking all the time too, people from all kinds of different backgrounds and getting so many perspectives and and you know, so much information and so many different analyzes. What in all of that helps you find

hope and helps you stay positive? Is there a conversation that you've had recently that like you hold on to, like how do you stay positive. There's something that has happened in quarantine where I sort of like a It gave us all a moment to pause, and then I was like, Okay, was there anything that I was doing that was making me unhappy happy? You know, Like I did all of that processing, and then I was also able to sort of prioritize what I was really truly

grateful for as well. And one of the things I'm really grateful for is the time I'm getting with my mom, because you know, she got ill in and I was always like flying back, flying back, flying back, and now I just get to be here every day. So in the midst of like all the terrible I still get that I will never not have that, so that's super cool. But also my mom literally is the daughter of a civil rights activist who marched in Selma with my aunt.

And one of the things that happened recently is I was thinking about my grandfather because there's a photo of him in the house and it just so happens to be that it's right behind my head where I sit now to host the show I do every day, and so I can't but help the optimistic because I just think about like everything he did, then everything my aunt did. She was seventeen when she marched in Selma, you know, and to think about the people who truly sacrificed to

get us to this point. It would be a real shame for me to be like, oh, it's gonna be too hard. I don't think I can do it. I you know, I think we should all give up every nothing. There's no hope. Imagine how we sound saying that, you know, to somebody who sacrificed so much. So I just feel like I lead with the gratitude of like, Okay, this

moment does pretty much stuck. We could go outside, like, you know, like there obviously are very pressing reasons why people should be filled with sense of urgency, But to feel optimistic is a choice. It's like, I know the next moment is going to be better. It just has to be better, because if I think about what other people went through, like they obviously pushed through to the

next moment, otherwise none of us would be here. And you know, I'm in Virginia, which also makes me think about history a lot, because you know, literally, I can not that I go anywhere, but if I did, I could drive past a literal cotton field. And so I think about the fact that, like, I'm only here because you know, the people in my ancestry they survived, they survived a worst moment, So I'm going to survive this

one because it's definitely not as bad as that. So that's where I'm going to target any of like the cynical feelings that pop up, so that I can maintain that optimism that's so beautiful and so grounding and so empowering to use our connection to history to ground us and give us courage and moments that feel terrifying. So there's a high chance that on election day you're just going to be stuck in front of your laptop talking to people about what's happening and what's going on. How

does that work logistically? Like when do you plan your pee breaks, when do you remember to eat something like are your snacks at hand, you know, at at arm's length? How are you going to get through it? Well, I definitely look at what I do almost like an athlete. It's just sort of like making sure I have enough water, making sure I have you know, lemon and honey for my throat, you know, having all of those kinds of

things with the snacks things that's hard for me. I literally write down on my schedule because I write it out the night before. I write down, like where I'm going to eat, because if I don't put it there, it that happened. I actually don't eat, and then I'm like, I feel a white head. Oh right, So I write it down and I make sure, like I have a protein shake that has all my vegetables, so I'm not

going to eat them. But I think as far as snacks, like I'm definitely not like a healthy snacker, Like the last week has been of chocolate, Like I was like literally scouring the house for chocolate yesterday. So it'll be like my energy drink, my protein jake. But I recommend putting it on your schedule otherwise on an election day like this one, you might forget and do you have a mantra to get through election day? Like is there something you're going to keep coming back to? It's gonna

be fine. I mean honestly, like that one gets me through a lot, because I don't know I even in the most serious situations, like even when my mom was like in the hospital, I would just sit and I would stare at the sky and I'd like, it is going to be okay. She's going to be okay, Like she's going to be okay. This is she's gonna be And even if she's not, I'm going to be okay.

So you know, that's what kind of keeps me pushing, even if like I'm not okay for a little bit, which I think, you know, it's so you know, insane to think of the steaks, but they are that high. But it's going to be okay. I'm so glad I got to speak to you. I feel like I'm going to be thinking about your Madra. It's going to be okay.

I think that's a very good one. And I'm going to be thinking about this moment, this election as part of a much bigger history and that we're connected to people before us and those who are coming after us. And thank you for these amazing pearls of wisdom. You're awesome and I loved talking to you. We're taking a

quick break, stay with us. I gotta tell you, I teared up maybe like five times in this conversation with Zerlina and to be able to speak so frankly with her about how we stay above the darkness, you know, because it has been dark. There have been some really, really dark and terrifying moments in the last few years, and I think it's important that we be honest about that, honest about how hard it can be sometimes to wake up, get out of bed and put one foot in front

of the other. You know. I think we're all feeling excited about election Day, but I think we're all also feeling a little bit terrified, yes, and that is why I wanted to talk to glenn and Doyle. I have followed Glennon for several years. Many of you listening may also have followed her. She has a almost unique ability

to capture feelings. She's written several books, including her latest Untamed, which I thought was brilliant and moving and really provocative in making people think about, Okay, what are the tough moments in my life that I have to come to grips with. And she's the founder and president of Together Rising, which is a nonprofit and in the countdown to the election, Glennon has been posting daily updates about actions her followers can take to help elect Democrats. The series is called

and I love this. We can do hard things. I am just incredibly happy to have you here today. I guess I should start by asking how are you feeling as we head into this momentous election day? Feeling feeling um, well, I think for the last four years, and honestly maybe for the last forty years, I have felt like I am walking on a path, just trying to stay study on the path, and there's a cliff to the left of me, and it is a pit of despair and fear and rage and terror right and I'm just trying

not to fall off that cliff. And then now going into the election, it feels like there's another cliff on the right, and that cliff is hope. And this is new to me, this absolute refusal to even allow hope near my me right now. I don't know what it is. It's like every time I hear someone speaking hopefully, it makes me angry. Yeah, it's just this vulnerability. If I will not open myself up to hope again right now, I will not allow myself to get crushed again. And

also we don't have time for it. We have a lot of work to do. Yeah, So I'm trying to stay on the path, Secretary Clinton, and that path, you know, that path leads right to your voting. You know, you know this discuss and we're having is going to drop on November two, the day before election day. So I'd love knowing what your plan is and how you intend to, you know, spend election day. Well, my plan for election day is to be able to look at myself in

the mirror. You know, I will never ever forget the night of the two thousand sixteen election. You might remember it, yes, I do, yes, yes, And I will never forget the feeling of knowing that I did not do everything that I could do, that I took for granted your win. First of all, the amount of women that I have talked to who had that feeling that's sinking despair on that night, our legion, and I deeply apologize to you for that. And the memory of that feeling has become

the resolve that I have going into this election. Forty days ago, my sister and I just looked at each other and thought, well, we will not have that feeling again. We cannot control the outcome, but we can control our input, and we are going to use every bit of our voices, of our platform, of our privilege, every bit of it, to make sure that every single person that we know

and that we don't know is voting. So that's what we've been doing these forty days of outraged to action, just trying to get people to, you know, just demystify this purposefully confusing. Yes, yes, I'm so glad you said that, because I have to underscore that point. The other side wants to make this confusing and overwhelming and create this cognitive dissonance inside people's heads. There's just, you know, so much at stake, and I love what you said about

you and your sister being absolutely committed. I've heard that from countless women who feel exactly the same way, and I think listeners would love to have a peek inside your day. Okay, so it's election day. What happens in your household? All my household? Usually I wake up much earlier than Abby and by the time she's gotten up, I've had much too much coffee already. I'm actually Secretary Quinton woken Abbey up with an easel and the ten steps that day we're taking to crush the patriarchy. So

it's a lot, it's a lot to wake up. In our home. We call it Coffee and Revolution. I love that that's the next book, Glenn and Revolution. I love that they go together. They go together because by noon, Secretary Clinton, it's just I'm my hope is just dreamed. So I have to get it all done in the morning. So on election day, what I plan to do is when I start to think of myself and how I will feel that day, I start to short circuit. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to continue

to lead this community. I think of leadership as this kind of balance between a challenge and comfort and knowing when to do both and when to do each one. And you know, during this forty days, we have been challenging and challenging and challenging. And so what I see as my space on election day will all be in different places. Will be probably in a corner with a candle praying for me, Chase, my son is working at

the polls. My daughters will be watching me carefully. So I have to be I don't know, I have to pretend that everything's gonna be okay either way. I don't know. So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to be present, and I'm going to be reminding my community that what democracy looks like will be making sure that every damn vote is counted, and that anyone who calls this election before every vote is counted is doing that strategically in order to steal the election once again. So I think

I'll be comforting, I'll be educating. I will be trying, secretary and to keep a lot of people on that narrow path between clifs. Well, now, how are you actually going to physically vote? Are you mailing it in? You've already voted? Okay, so you're affirmations And I love your Instagram series called we Can Do Hard Things. You're gonna be keeping people motivated tuned into how they can make sure Joe Biden wins. You know, I love that we can do hard things? Where did that come from? That mantra?

So I got sober when I was twenty six years old. I've been lost to addiction for a very long time, and I was teaching. I started as a teacher. I really think of myself as still and their great teacher on hiatus. That is my happy plays. And I used to I had such a painful time getting sober and each day I would make my kids walk the long way to lunch because my my friend Josie, who taught second grade, had a big sign above her window that said, we can do hard things, And so every day I

would walk by that classroom just as a reminder. It was something about the idea that, oh, life isn't hard because I'm doing it wrong. It's it's hard often for people who are doing it right, who are exactly showing up and risking and being vulnerable and trying and and failing and trying again. And I guess holding onto this

hope that's so scary and right. And then this we part was so important to me, This idea that the existential drama of being human is that we have to do it alone, but that we're doing the hard thing of being human alongside everybody else. Right, this idea that we're totally alone but together. So listen, it's all over my house. My children. I mean, they don't even want anyone to say we can do hard things in their

vicinity because we not got it enough with that. But I mean, when I was trying to listen figure out democracy real quick, I couldn't use some help from you. But a team kept saying that be the idea that this is purposefully confusing, that we are smart women. We can do this, we can figure this out. If we can put together Ikea bookshelves, we can think you're out voting that's right. We can be determined that you know, the other side is not gonna, you know, discourage us

and send us screaming because it's so hard. And you know, when I think about your audience, I mean I discovered you originally when you were speaking to not primarily but a lot of women, moms who really identified as Christians, who had a sense of their faith which motivated them, guided them, but often was not enough. I mean it

was hard. Now your community is so much bigger, Glennon, I mean, you have this amazing reach of young people LGBT q UH and a lot of them are what you know posters call white suburban women who get up early and drink a lot of coffee, who have to figure out how they're going to manage all of the

incoming that everybody's life is filled with. Based on what you're hearing in this big community that you now helped to lead and motivate, what's on the minds of people in that community as they're thinking about voting, or if they already have voted like you did, what's on their minds. I mean, I think COVID has brought to the surface, or just exacerbated, all of the trauma that is a part of a woman's life every day. I mean, we were already taking care of our older parents, but now

we're scared for their lives and their safety. We were already trying to do our best to educate our children, but now we're trying to do it in our freaking houses with no I mean we you know, just all of those We were already stressed out about work, but now so many of us have had to drop out of careers that we love. You know, we were already stressed out about health care, we were. My hope, my hope is that women are just really, really angry. I hope so too. I hope so too, because in this case,

it didn't have to be this bad, did not. And so we have an opportunity, I believe, to not only reclaim our country, but for those of us who you know, are Christians, to reclaim our religious faith as well. You know, we're going to have I'm sure some uncertainty about the results come Tuesday. I think we're all going to have to just get prepared to stick it out. What's your

advice to the rest of us as people? Either I have friends who say they're going to bed at seven o'clock on election night and hopefully not waking up until it's done, and I keep saying it may not be done for days. You're gonna have to get out of bed at some point. And then I have friends who are so obsessed they're gonna be screaming and tweeting and crying about every report that they get. How are you going to get through this? Do you think? Well? I

think I don't know. First of all, I never know till the day of. I think that one of the things I'm gonna do is try to avoid this purposeful idea of uncertainty that I think is mostly coming from the Trump's side, right, that actually, actually there is no

uncertainty here. There is a very very reliable system for mail in ballots that Trump has started discrediting months and months ago as a purposeful strategy, knowing that most of the mail and ballots would be democratic right, and has over and over again disparaged that even though he and his entire administration votes by mail and ballot, and we

know that, right. So I do think that some of the uncertainty is just sown and that we need to reject that and say, actually, this is just what democracy looks like in two thousand twenty. That we might have to wait. And I like that a lot, Right, That's not uncertainty, that's just the process. That's just not cheating, right, waiting and being patient so that every vote counts. So we're gonna have to be bold and strong in that waiting, right, But I don't think that we have to call that

waiting uncertainty. We are certain. I like that a lot. It is a process. It is a process. And then once we know and I am actually quite geared up for good news both from are you are you? Am? I am? So I'm just going to fight till the

very end. I'm I'm absolutely totally committed to that. And when you said a few minutes ago that you know, you wake up in your house and it's coffee and revolution, I thought about the only time I personally heard Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Speak And I was a young teenager and my church took me to hear him speak

in downtown Chicago. So we all go down there, go to Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and we hear Dr King speak, And the name of his speech, which he gave more times than just that once, was called staying awake during the revolution, and I've always thought about that. Stay awake, don't pull the covers over your head, drink a lot of coffee, but be ready to stay awake fighting speaking out during the revolution because regardless of what happens, there's

a lot we have to do. But I also think we're going to have to try to figure out how do we heal our country. I mean, there's so much pain and fear and anger. How should we go about doing that on a person to person level and nationally? Yeah, I think about that too, although that feels a little bit too much like hope, So I feel scared about it, like when my brain goes to that, like, but I have allowed myself to think, Okay, what if we win?

Then as a leader of my community, my family, my my job will immediately be to decide how we win. And that feels very important to me in this moment, because there is a way to win that we have been seeing that is so infantile and so braggadocious and so mean spirited, and so that all it does is deepen the divide. That all this does is cause more

pain and anger. And then I feel like I just want I want to win the selection, and I want to win with dignity and class, and I want to celebrate in a way that invites people who think differently than I do, that invites, you know, the two sides together a little bit over time, right, I want to leave room for reduction. I want to leave room for coming together. And so I'm glad you brought that up because it just feels like if I allow myself to

go there, I know that I want to win differently. Yes, I like that a lot onned Blow did that resumeate? Oh my goodness, listening to Glenned and really listening to all of these incredible people who are out there doing the work is helping me today. It's helping me get through today. You know, when you talk to people like the people we were able to speak with, it does

give you grounds for optimism. We've got amazing people in this country, and you know we need to be lifting up the positive ent g not getting dragged down by the negative. So we need to keep reminding ourselves there is something that every one of us can do, and right now, the most important thing we can do is vote. And also, you know, we are going to have to stay focused and breathe just to make sure that every vote is counted, right, it's not like a valid and

go back to scrolling on Instagram. We got to stay awake and alert and know that no one person, no one candidate is going to come make everything better. That's our job, that's our amen, amen, And that is at the core of the American spirit. We are people who are supposed to be involved and participate and make a difference, and you've done that. And I'm so grateful to you for joining me today to talk to these amazing guests and to reflect a little bit about what America. The

country needs from people like you and me. America. Yeah, well, Hilary, I mean you know, every single time I get to speak to you, I have to pinch myself. I couldn't be more thankful to you for who you have been in the world and what an inspiration you've been to me.

So thank you. Last week I had an amazing conversation with Share a wonderful friend, someone I adore and you know, someone whose music has really meant a lot to me over the years, and as she often does, I think Share put it best, think of it as life and yad this is the most important thing to do for men, for women, for LGBT people, for people of color. I mean, you think it's gonna get better if he gets a

second term? Get his ass out? Well, that's yeah. For this week's show, You and Me Both is brought to you by I Heart Radio. We're produced by Julie Subran and Kathleen Russo, with help from Whoma Aberdeen, Nikki e Tour, Oscar Flores, Brianna Johnson, Nick Merrill, Lauren Peterson, Rob Russo and Lona Valmorrow. Our engineer is Zack McNeice and the

original music is by Forest Gray. Our podcast is recorded on the Riverside platform and a big thanks to the Riverside team for they're helping make a podcast during a pandemic. If you like this episode, how about telling someone else about it or tweet about it or posted on Instagram. That would be a big help in getting the word out. And you can subscribe to you and Me both on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts, and while you're there, please leave us

a review. We'd love to hear from you, unders your questions, your comments, or your best fashion advice. Do You and Me both pod at gmail dot com and come back next week when we'll be on the other side of this election with Ari Berman and Jennifer Cone. Happy voting everybody,