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[transcript] my Q&A from Pod Save America liveshow, October 6th
AS YOU MAY RECALL, I attended the Pod Save America live show in Madison, on October 6th.
I had prepared a question for the Q&A session, work-shopping it the night before via text message with a friend who's also obsessed with this podcast, but felt too shy to get in line. My boyfriend then pointed out to me that everyone else in line was a dude ("Don't worry, these bros have got it under control"), and I bolted, beating another approaching guy and making it ON TO THE SHOW WITH MY QUESTION!!!
Anyway, I've finally written up a transcript with bonus material from December 26th's pod, as it had some related content that I'd like to look back on.
JON FAVREAU AND JON LOVETT BOTH MADE DIRECT EYE CONTACT WHILE SPEAKING WITH ME. MY SOUL LEFT MY BODY.
The audio to this episode can be found here.
I come in at about 1:21:00, aka the last question of the podcast.
ME: I guess, we had the #wiunion protests here, and it was a similar vibe to what I see going on right now, in that a lot of people were really excited about politics for the first time, we had people live-tweeting Senate floor sessions who previously didn't know who their senator was. It was pretty awesome. And, Scott Walker is like, weak right now, he has low poll numbers, he kind of got pushed around during the budget fights that ended recently, and my question is basically, when the gubernatorial candidates are kind of, um, basic? for lack of a better word, or the campaigns are kind of shitty, like, what can you-- what can we as voters and citizens do to get other people excited, and like, hold on to that energy?
[applause; PS as soon as I said the word "shitty," Jon Favreau broke into a huge grin.]
JON LOVETT: So what you're saying is, how do you get people excited to vote in an election that's really important, but they're not excited about the candidate on their side? Is that what you're asking?
[laughter]
ME: Yes.
DAN PFEIFFER: It's a hypothetical we'll probably never experience.
[laughter]
JON FAVREAU: Let's say...
LOVETT: So, I know a few things that DON'T work.
[uproarious laughter]
TOMMY VIETOR (?): Starting a podcast...
LOVETT: It's really hard. But, I think...I mean, you guys have anything? [gestures to co-hosts]
[laughter]
ERIN GLORIA RYAN: I mean, I don't know, I think that we all have this fresh example of what happens when you don't vote, or when people don't vote. And I think a lot of people who didn't vote probably feel bad about the fact that they didn't vote. It literally just happened. Just be like, 'Hey, remember that? In November? When that happened? And how much you hated it? Let's make it not happen again.'
FAVREAU: We are a personality-obsessed when it comes to politics, so all the stories about the candidates and the presidents and the politicians, and all the drama's around them, and it is at the expense of talking about the issues. And I think what you'd find if you talk to people, and you talk to your friends, and you talk to voters, what they care about is not the drama between the players and the game, but the issues that are actually going to affect their lives? And so I think we need to figure out a way to have the issues break through in the conversation, and to talk about THAT. And if you can get someone excited about climate change, and affording college, and healthcare, THAT can get them to the polls.
[applause]
PFEIFFER: Also, Scott Walker is fucking terrible and we should get rid of him!
FAVREAU: That too, that too.
PFEIFFER: I'd lead with that!
LOVETT: Enthusiasm is also contagious. And if you care, and you can get someone near you to care, you can go and take that out there and make people passionate. So you have to stay invested in the fight, and you have to care a lot about how this fight ends.
The audio for this episode is here.
Transcript begins at 17:02.
FAVREAU: Jonathan asks, 'What's the best way to build ground game in red states where infrastructure isn't already well-established, like Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, etc.?'
LOVETT: I would say, one thing you could do, is, if there's no Indivisible chapter in your community, start one. Indivisible is a great group that is born out of the energy and excitement that we're seeing, and it's not about...It's going to ultimately be about helping us win the House and win the Senate, but we've got legislative fights and issues, and I think you can get a group of people to get in the habit of doing something, even if it's coming to somebody's house for one meeting and saying, let's talk about what we care about...Just get the ball rolling on Facebook and in your community, I think that's an incredibly valuable thing. One lesson of Doug Jones winning is that we need to compete EVERYWHERE. We need to start building the apparatus everywhere. This election, the elections coming up, we're going to win in some surprising places and we need people on the ground starting to do the work now. Not just for 2018, but for 2019, 2020.
FAVREAU: Yeah. Don't worry about the DNC, or the DCCC, or the state party. I think there's this idea that these are all magical forces that can come in and fix everything. They're just people that are getting hired. It's just like starting your own Indivisible group. You need money? SwingLeft's raising money for candidates all across the country. You need technology and expertise? There's all kinds of start-ups all across the country right now that are trying to figure out better technology for better campaigns and stuff like that. We are in a new era where you don't necessarily need to rely on on the infrastructure or the power or the resources of state parties and national parties. You can do it on your own. I think that's something for people to keep in mind as we debate for the millionth time the efficacy of the DNC.
I had prepared a question for the Q&A session, work-shopping it the night before via text message with a friend who's also obsessed with this podcast, but felt too shy to get in line. My boyfriend then pointed out to me that everyone else in line was a dude ("Don't worry, these bros have got it under control"), and I bolted, beating another approaching guy and making it ON TO THE SHOW WITH MY QUESTION!!!
Anyway, I've finally written up a transcript with bonus material from December 26th's pod, as it had some related content that I'd like to look back on.
JON FAVREAU AND JON LOVETT BOTH MADE DIRECT EYE CONTACT WHILE SPEAKING WITH ME. MY SOUL LEFT MY BODY.
The audio to this episode can be found here.
I come in at about 1:21:00, aka the last question of the podcast.
ME: I guess, we had the #wiunion protests here, and it was a similar vibe to what I see going on right now, in that a lot of people were really excited about politics for the first time, we had people live-tweeting Senate floor sessions who previously didn't know who their senator was. It was pretty awesome. And, Scott Walker is like, weak right now, he has low poll numbers, he kind of got pushed around during the budget fights that ended recently, and my question is basically, when the gubernatorial candidates are kind of, um, basic? for lack of a better word, or the campaigns are kind of shitty, like, what can you-- what can we as voters and citizens do to get other people excited, and like, hold on to that energy?
[applause; PS as soon as I said the word "shitty," Jon Favreau broke into a huge grin.]
JON LOVETT: So what you're saying is, how do you get people excited to vote in an election that's really important, but they're not excited about the candidate on their side? Is that what you're asking?
[laughter]
ME: Yes.
DAN PFEIFFER: It's a hypothetical we'll probably never experience.
[laughter]
JON FAVREAU: Let's say...
LOVETT: So, I know a few things that DON'T work.
[uproarious laughter]
TOMMY VIETOR (?): Starting a podcast...
LOVETT: It's really hard. But, I think...I mean, you guys have anything? [gestures to co-hosts]
[laughter]
ERIN GLORIA RYAN: I mean, I don't know, I think that we all have this fresh example of what happens when you don't vote, or when people don't vote. And I think a lot of people who didn't vote probably feel bad about the fact that they didn't vote. It literally just happened. Just be like, 'Hey, remember that? In November? When that happened? And how much you hated it? Let's make it not happen again.'
FAVREAU: We are a personality-obsessed when it comes to politics, so all the stories about the candidates and the presidents and the politicians, and all the drama's around them, and it is at the expense of talking about the issues. And I think what you'd find if you talk to people, and you talk to your friends, and you talk to voters, what they care about is not the drama between the players and the game, but the issues that are actually going to affect their lives? And so I think we need to figure out a way to have the issues break through in the conversation, and to talk about THAT. And if you can get someone excited about climate change, and affording college, and healthcare, THAT can get them to the polls.
[applause]
PFEIFFER: Also, Scott Walker is fucking terrible and we should get rid of him!
FAVREAU: That too, that too.
PFEIFFER: I'd lead with that!
LOVETT: Enthusiasm is also contagious. And if you care, and you can get someone near you to care, you can go and take that out there and make people passionate. So you have to stay invested in the fight, and you have to care a lot about how this fight ends.
The audio for this episode is here.
Transcript begins at 17:02.
FAVREAU: Jonathan asks, 'What's the best way to build ground game in red states where infrastructure isn't already well-established, like Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, etc.?'
LOVETT: I would say, one thing you could do, is, if there's no Indivisible chapter in your community, start one. Indivisible is a great group that is born out of the energy and excitement that we're seeing, and it's not about...It's going to ultimately be about helping us win the House and win the Senate, but we've got legislative fights and issues, and I think you can get a group of people to get in the habit of doing something, even if it's coming to somebody's house for one meeting and saying, let's talk about what we care about...Just get the ball rolling on Facebook and in your community, I think that's an incredibly valuable thing. One lesson of Doug Jones winning is that we need to compete EVERYWHERE. We need to start building the apparatus everywhere. This election, the elections coming up, we're going to win in some surprising places and we need people on the ground starting to do the work now. Not just for 2018, but for 2019, 2020.
FAVREAU: Yeah. Don't worry about the DNC, or the DCCC, or the state party. I think there's this idea that these are all magical forces that can come in and fix everything. They're just people that are getting hired. It's just like starting your own Indivisible group. You need money? SwingLeft's raising money for candidates all across the country. You need technology and expertise? There's all kinds of start-ups all across the country right now that are trying to figure out better technology for better campaigns and stuff like that. We are in a new era where you don't necessarily need to rely on on the infrastructure or the power or the resources of state parties and national parties. You can do it on your own. I think that's something for people to keep in mind as we debate for the millionth time the efficacy of the DNC.