Matt Connarton Unleashed 9-25-25 w/Todd Ayer

Matt Connarton

Watch Matt Connarton Unleashed 9-25-25 w/Todd Ayer - Matt Connarton on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00:00Hey, welcome everybody. Here we go. It is the podcast version AF, as we call it, MCU AF.

00:00:07Matt Connerton unleashed the online only edition of the show. Today is Thursday, September 25,

00:00:142025. And joining me, of course, is Todd Ayer. Hello, Todd.

00:00:18Hey, how are you today, Matt?

00:00:20I say, of course, because I'm used to saying, you know, welcome to hanging left. So of course,

00:00:23Todd is with me.

00:00:25Right, right.

00:00:25So if for anyone who's for the uninitiated, if you're not familiar, Todd and I do a podcast

00:00:31together called Hanging Left. But today we were going to do, Jenny and I were going to do Matt

00:00:38Connerton unleashed a live podcast edition with Sarah, Sarah Chudzinski, who I know is under the

00:00:44weather. But you and I, Todd, had a great conversation with Sarah on Hanging Left a number of weeks ago.

00:00:51And of course, you know, you're obviously involved in the campaign.

00:00:55Yeah.

00:00:55So it made sense for you to step in in her place today as her voice is not where it needs

00:01:02to be to do something like this.

00:01:04Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's the being out on the trail and really, you know, being that voice for

00:01:12people that don't have a voice. You know, sometimes you literally lose your voice. It takes a lot out of

00:01:17you. So, you know, we just we have her, you know, she's a little under the weather. So I said to her,

00:01:23hey, you know, take a step back, you know, get your get yourself up and ready to go again so we

00:01:28can be at 100 percent because she is a human after all.

00:01:32Yeah. Yeah. We're we're getting into that time of year, cold and flu season and all that goes with

00:01:38it. Absolutely. So so what can you tell us about how things are going with the campaign? Well,

00:01:44and of course, for people who don't know, we should also, of course, talk about the seat

00:01:49that Sarah is running for and, you know, kind of give people some background.

00:01:54Sure. So we are running for the what will be the open seat in Congress, which is District

00:02:031 and currently held by Christopher Pappas of, you know, of Manchester, who owns the Puritan.

00:02:14And we and he is going to be moving over to the Senate. And our goal is to actually, you

00:02:20know, partner with him and and be in that role as the congressman, as well as with Senator

00:02:25Maggie Goodlander, who handles District 2. OK. Yeah. So so why is why is Sarah running for

00:02:34this? What is what is the objective here? So I think, you know, the people really have

00:02:41spoken pretty loudly about the fact that they need some real humans in the race, you know,

00:02:49and just to add, you know, some reality and some sort of grounding effects to to Congress

00:02:57currently as it is. So, you know, Sarah's goal, she does have a strong background in

00:03:04international relations, specifically with the Ukraine. She even helped broker a sixty four

00:03:11billion dollar deal to get the Ukraine the necessary funding to defend themselves as a sovereign

00:03:17state. So, you know, her idea basically is that, you know, why not? I have all this ability.

00:03:24I have the ability to build bridges and certainly this is the time to build bridges and not burn

00:03:28them. And so why not work towards, you know, and use my connections and the respect I've got

00:03:35in Washington and internationally and and, you know, defend people really and defend this country

00:03:42because we, you know, democracy is definitely it's it's it's it's not so stable right now,

00:03:50you know, I mean, we still have it intact, but, you know, there are definitely challenges going on

00:03:54right now. So it's important that someone like Sarah comes out right from the start and says,

00:03:59look, you know, democracy is a is an experiment. You know, it's a it's a messy experiment at times,

00:04:06but it's something you have to work for. Yeah, you can't take it for granted. And so she's standing

00:04:12up and showing people that, you know, she's basically practicing what she she preaches and

00:04:17she's out there defending democracy. So really, we're we're in this election and she's in this

00:04:21election. It's really not about us. It's really about everyone. And it's about, you know, giving the

00:04:27people a voice again and and an authentic voice that's important and people that they can trust that

00:04:34truly have their back. I mean, I think people really want something they can trust that has

00:04:37their back. And Sarah, we like to call her Sarah C. It's a little easier. But yeah, Sarah, Sarah's

00:04:44that person. I do want to mention for people who are streaming the show live, obviously, most people

00:04:51will get this in the podcast and the podcast feed for Matt Connerton Unleashed, which you can find

00:04:56on all your major podcast platforms. But if you do happen to be streaming the show live on late

00:05:01Thursday afternoon, early evening on September 25th, feel free to comment in the chat room. We

00:05:07do have the chat room open on your wherever you're watching the show, whether it be on YouTube or

00:05:11Facebook or wherever. We're even on Rumble, believe it or not, Todd, actually stream the show to Rumble.

00:05:17I know that that's that might not be the most receptive audience, but but that's part of why I

00:05:22like to stream the show there and on LinkedIn as well. So yeah, yeah. So I try to try to make it as

00:05:29available as possible or perhaps unavoidable would be a better way of putting it. But

00:05:33well, Matt, what's great about you always that I really do appreciate and I'm sure Sarah would

00:05:39share these sentiments. You're really about equity and trying to keep a balance and letting everyone

00:05:45kind of have a voice. Yeah. So I you know, I think it's important. Like, look, we're not going to fix

00:05:50the things that are happening in this country just by remaining in an echo chamber and not listening to

00:05:55the other viable sides. Yeah. And not basically offering anybody that is pro-democracy a seat at

00:06:01the table. Yeah, I think it's important to to, you know, be very much open to that. So thank you for

00:06:09that. And Sarah is in the chat room and says, appreciate Todd speaking for me today. Well, my

00:06:15voice is MIA. I love my team. Thank you, Sarah. This is this is this is kind of reversal, right? My voice

00:06:23was the one that was challenged for God knows how long. So we should talk about two. And again,

00:06:27listeners of the Hanging Left podcast obviously are already very familiar with you, Todd. But for

00:06:33for people who are not familiar with that show, who might not know you, what is what is your role in

00:06:39the campaign? And and how did you how did this come about where where you're working with Sarah?

00:06:46Sure, Matt. No, that's a good question. So basically, I am her political director, not basically,

00:06:50I am her political director. So what that kind of means is, it's kind of taken on, you know,

00:06:55it's an organic position. So it kind of takes on things as they need it. But within the field area,

00:07:01anyway, I'm her right hand person. Also, I help manage the field team. Um, and ultimately will help

00:07:08her manage with the field team. As sorry, as a field team, we will all help manage the hopefully the

00:07:15army of volunteers that we acquire. Hopefully, though, I mean, a lot of people seem to already

00:07:19be interested. It's just a matter of getting that aspect of the campaign up and running.

00:07:25So as you do this, what are you seeing out there on the on the campaign trail? I mean, you know,

00:07:30when when you're able to obviously, you know, cold and flu season has already started. But but but

00:07:36that aside, I mean, what and by the way, this might this might contribute to people being sick,

00:07:41because obviously campaigning is hard work, right? For sure. Yeah, probably nobody nobody involved in

00:07:45this endeavor, including Sarah herself, I'm sure is is getting enough rest. And no, that's that just

00:07:51comes with it, right. But but it's also worth it, of course, to make that sacrifice. But but what's it

00:07:56been like so far? I mean, it's, it's, it's a lot of work. Absolutely. And why I, you know, am

00:08:05definitely focused on this is because I guess I feel like, you know, all of us have roles to play,

00:08:12really in the world in general. But I think that if you've been given a gift, whether that's a gift

00:08:19of the ability to speak the ability to create coalitions, and to help mobilize people, and

00:08:27you've been given and you have charisma, and you have the end also, you happen to have contacts,

00:08:33and the ears of people that very few people have the ears of, I almost think it's, it's imperative,

00:08:40and you're compelled to do what it takes in this moment, to do what you can to protect this country.

00:08:46I mean, I would almost feel guilty if I hadn't joined the campaign. And the thing about Sarah is

00:08:54that we have the same philosophy, right? And that's that basically, we understand the importance of

00:09:01having a, a universal vision, which sort of takes into account the people, as well as the establishment,

00:09:09as well as like the, you know, both the, the very left side of the establishment all the way to the

00:09:18more center side. And even, you know, some more pragmatic conservatives, and hold more of like,

00:09:26ideally, like, like a, the conversation circle, and, and, you know, gets, you know, sometimes literally,

00:09:34sometimes figuratively, but just be out there and open. And let people know that, you know, to me,

00:09:42I don't know, I couldn't really do anything else in the moment, honestly, I think that,

00:09:46like I do happen. Oh, and so to, I guess, take a deeper dive into that.

00:09:51Um, myself, um, my, my colleague, Jason, who's her scheduler, as well as a member of the field

00:09:57staff. And then Andrew, who is also field staff, and our photographer, as well as now myself and

00:10:05Andrew are now running the social media part of it. Um, you know, all of us, and even Sarah herself,

00:10:10we come from an activism world, we come from a activist world, we come from a nonprofit world,

00:10:17we come from, you know, amongst the people, but some of us, and specifically, myself and Sarah,

00:10:24we also have been lucky enough, um, and have the privilege of, of knowing some people that call the

00:10:31shots. So I think that what the people want right now is people that are fighting for them, and are

00:10:40having an honest conversation with the people in the establishment, and not shunning them and not

00:10:45beating them up. Cause I don't think that's going to get us anywhere, but definitely holding them to

00:10:49accountability and saying, you know, good enough, isn't good enough. And especially when, you know,

00:10:55the threats we're facing right now are internal and serious. And this is not time to like, you know,

00:11:02take your foot off the pedal. I mean, you really got to hit it hard.

00:11:04Well, how hard is that to navigate? I mean, maybe this is getting a little inside baseball, but,

00:11:10but like you, like you said, I mean, as far as, because yeah, you, you, you kind of have to fight.

00:11:16It's almost like in my mind. And again, I'm, I'm speaking from the perspective of I've only ever

00:11:22had a lot of opinions and done a lot of bloviating and commenting on politics. I've never worked for a

00:11:27campaign. I've certainly never run for office. So I'm, I'm very much asking this question from the

00:11:34outside because I am on the outside in that sense. But you're, you kind of, it's almost like if this

00:11:39were a war, you'd be fighting on two fronts, right? Because you've got ultimately, you know,

00:11:45you're, you're fighting for democracy, right? And you're, you're fighting against the fascism that

00:11:49we're seeing and all of that. Right. So, so you've got that fight, but before you even get to that

00:11:54fight, you've also got the fight of how do you break through when the establishment of the

00:11:59democratic party has such a hold on everything, you know, and they, you know, every, everyone loves

00:12:06an underdog except for those who are directly threatened by the underdog. Right. Although,

00:12:10you know, Matt, that's an interesting point you bring up. And I think that there's a little bit of

00:12:15a confusion there, you know, it's, it's, it's not the time for us to be divided. And so I think that

00:12:24because some of us are, I guess, lucky, or maybe unlucky, depending on your perspective,

00:12:29to have the ears of both the centrist establishment, as well as the very left progressive,

00:12:36you know, that allows us to rally the people. But honestly, we're not, I don't see it as like

00:12:43fighting two fronts. I see it as giving people permission to stand up. And Sarah sees it the same

00:12:50way. I mean, people are just afraid. They're not, they're not not wanting to fight. Yeah. I mean,

00:12:55there's people don't know how to, people don't know what works and what doesn't work. And if you're a

00:13:00member of the establishment, and I can only speak, I think, to the New Hampshire establishment. But if

00:13:07you're a member of that establishment, I think we all like no one in New Hampshire, as Pappas said very

00:13:12recently in a speech, we are not a pro dictator state. No, I mean, the whole live free or die is all

00:13:19about independence. Oh, it's our license plates and everything. Yeah. Right. So you can grab that

00:13:24fire for independence. And, and which just segues very nicely into democracy, and, and get everybody

00:13:31on the same page, because like, you know, yes, okay, there's the Democrats, the Republicans, but

00:13:38there's also the big D, which is democracy. And that's what we're all fighting for, against the other

00:13:43big D, which is dictatorship. You know, that's what we're fighting against. And most people that,

00:13:49you know, look, only about 30% of this population. And that's so 30% will follow him, I would say,

00:13:57once it's all said and done. And then within that 30%, conservatively 15%, but probably closer to like

00:14:035% would benefit from from this power grab. You know, a vast majority of even the people following

00:14:11him, he's just lying to them and feeding them their breads and circuses. But at the end of the day,

00:14:15his plan is, you know, they're disposable to to him. Oh, absolutely. So it's just important. You

00:14:21know, look, we can't flip everyone. Right. And, and it's really, it's, it's kind of like this. This

00:14:28is how I look at it. And I think it's how Sarah would probably say it too. Um, it just so happens

00:14:33the democratic party right now is the party that's standing up for people, but we support everyone

00:14:38that stands up for people. So at the end of the day, we, you know, we welcome, um, open dialogue

00:14:44and a little bit of, uh, you know, dissent amongst each other in a positive, healthy way.

00:14:51Yeah. And that's what democracy is about. Uh, Sarah did, uh, say in the chat room,

00:14:56it's not the time to be divided either. We are all in this together. Yeah. I mean, I think Matt,

00:15:01we're very lucky because new England and definitely new Hampshire. Um, it's one of those places that,

00:15:07you know, for the longest time prior to pre-MAGA, I grew up my whole life. Um, not knowing people

00:15:15as Democrat or Republican or independent. I mean, most people actually call themselves independent

00:15:19and it wasn't a dirty word either. Cause it didn't necessarily mean like this quasi like hiding of

00:15:25like libertarian, which was a quasi hiding of MAGA. It wasn't all about that at all.

00:15:30Especially, especially in New Hampshire, by the way, as an unusually high number of

00:15:34independents. I mean, people were generally independent and people were generally not

00:15:40wanting to get involved in, in, in people's personal business. You know, I mean, the arguments

00:15:45typically were just like some variations on fiscal responsibility and that kind of thing. And

00:15:50where do we spend the money? Where don't we spend the money? But, you know, I'd never met

00:15:54anyone prior to this current situation that wanted to tear everything down and burn it all

00:16:00down and have some sort of like, you know, sci-fi dictatorship going on.

00:16:05Right. Right. Uh, by the way, Jenny is also in the chat room and says, hello.

00:16:10Hi, Jenny. How are you?

00:16:11She wanted to be with us, but she's also taking a break. So, um, yeah, we all need, you know,

00:16:16we all need, uh, we all need to unplug sometimes. Right. You gotta think, think about, think about

00:16:21our health. Um, which I don't always, you know, I, I also am, am a victim to, uh, you know,

00:16:26thinking I'm Superman and myself included, you know, it's difficult right now because Sarah

00:16:32is basically asked to be in some respect, she's asked to kind of, um, it's like a human being

00:16:38asked to play wonder woman, just like maybe we're people trying to be Superman, but you're

00:16:42right. The realities were not superheroes. We don't have superpowers. And so we got to do what we got

00:16:48to do. Right. Right. Exactly. So what are you hearing? Uh, you know, out on the campaign trail,

00:16:54like, what are you, what are you hearing from people? It's actually pretty, um, pleasantly

00:16:59surprising. I mean, I think most people, so it's a good time to be outside the system and it's a good

00:17:05time to be, I would say a little more progressive of center, like, like center, like still under,

00:17:14I would call it a pragmatic progressive. Um, because you know, progress in the sense that a

00:17:21lowercase p progress, where you support change and you support moving forward and you support,

00:17:28so not a radicalized definition of progressive, like, you know, the alt-right has tried to, um,

00:17:36mark the democratic party with, but just progressive as a slur. Right. As in the, but it's not,

00:17:43it's about change. Right. So, you know, but at the end of the day, who really, it doesn't, again,

00:17:48it doesn't matter. And there will be some, some differences. Absolutely. But you know,

00:17:53the democratic party is a big tent party and, um, there is room for everyone. Uh, the only,

00:17:59I would say non-negotiable is democracy. I mean, it's just not negotiable. Well said. Uh,

00:18:06Sarah also said, can't save the world if you don't get any sleep. Uh, we're a team for a reason.

00:18:11Yeah, that's true. Although, very true. Although my, my caffeine addiction might disagree,

00:18:17but my, but my caffeine addiction might kill me eventually. I don't know. But, uh,

00:18:22sometimes you're just, you know, let me tell you from someone that knows,

00:18:25like, you know, look at, you know, the last time I was doing that whole voice thing.

00:18:30Yeah. I got my, if I'd got my button gear and gotten tested for, you know, strap and treated it

00:18:36right away. Yeah. I would have had a voice a lot sooner. Right. So sometimes you have to give in,

00:18:42you know, as much as you don't want to. That is, that, that is absolutely true. Absolutely.

00:18:46None of us are good at 50%, right? Like this is not a 50% level fight. So we're better to say,

00:18:53you know what? We can't give a hundred percent or even 75% right now. So we're going to have to

00:18:58unplug for a few, even for a few days because then we can come back in at a hundred percent again.

00:19:04Right. Right. Um, do you, you know, do you want to talk about, uh, uh, specific, uh, oh, actually

00:19:11let me read this comment. Sarah made another comment and this, this might be a good jumping

00:19:15off point for what I was about to ask. As a matter of fact, she said, we're hearing a lot of people

00:19:19that want policy that actually makes sense. We want change, but not this change. People are concerned

00:19:24and ready to step into help how they can. Um, so I was, and I was about to ask you about, about policy

00:19:32as a matter of fact. Um, yeah, I think this is the one thing I think also that's helping bring

00:19:38us all together, whether you talk to Pappas, Goodlander, Sarah, even some of our opponents

00:19:44in this race. Um, you know, I would say the key word is affordability. Um, and then that

00:19:51is literally partnered in parallel to human rights. So even if you have a very socially conscious

00:20:00focus, or you have a very economically focused, the two cannot exist in, in a, in a vacuum.

00:20:08They both need each other. So lack of affordability means lack of human rights and lack of human

00:20:15rights means people don't get the same level of, of resources and access to resources.

00:20:22Well, there's the, the three basic needs, right? And then there's a hierarchy of needs,

00:20:26which is a little deeper, but the three basic needs, food, clothing, and shelter. So,

00:20:29you know, if people can't afford food and they can't afford clothing and they can't afford housing,

00:20:35then, um, yeah, then they don't have, they don't have rights and, and, you know, basic human rights

00:20:43and dignity and all of that. Right. And so here's our goal. Our goal is to basically at least meet that

00:20:48baseline and make sure they can have all of those things. Right. And they are rights, not privileges.

00:20:53And then once we do that, then we can go in and really start to like, you know, organically grow

00:21:01the United States and the democracy that we want. And there is going to be some exchange of ideas and

00:21:06there's going to be some arguments and there's going to be, you know, um, a level of, um, compromise,

00:21:15but compromise until this whole, um, situation was not necessarily dirty word. As a matter of fact,

00:21:21it's almost a necessity. Now in terms of, uh, in terms of policy and, you know, you use that,

00:21:29that word, a very important word, affordability, which is something that people are very concerned

00:21:33about. Um, I, I don't know, like, I, I don't know how into the weeds you want to get because I,

00:21:40I, I want to know, I want it. Well, I want to know more, but I also, I want to be conscious of,

00:21:44I'm sure you don't want to get out too far ahead of Sarah in terms of what she might say about

00:21:50anything. So I, I, I want to know more, but I also understand and respect that, you know,

00:21:55there's only so far you can go as far as specific policy, but whatever you can tell us.

00:22:00But the other interesting thing about this, Matt, is that like our policies,

00:22:03I don't know how the other campaigns are doing it, but even our policies we do in like a, you know,

00:22:09a forum type environment. So typically what we do, um, it's, it's primarily, I would say myself

00:22:15and Jason, and then also her consultant, Anthony, we kind of craft what we think are,

00:22:20are good policies for, um, you know, that makes sense that, um, and then also our winning policies,

00:22:28you know, and then she will go through it and she will make sure that it's, you know,

00:22:33Sarah-fied like it works for Sarah. Right. Um, which is important. I mean, authenticity is super

00:22:39important. So, um, I don't know, did that answer your question? So I guess back in the whole thing,

00:22:45what do you want to know exactly about the, like what policies or what would you?

00:22:49Well, so when we're talking about affordability, like what are, what are, what are some of the

00:22:53ideas? Because obviously afford, when we say affordability, you know, we, we mean we're talking

00:22:58about inflation, we're talking about housing, which, you know, is part of inflation, but obviously

00:23:02that there's also separate issues with housing. Um, I mean, are, are we talking about, uh,

00:23:07I heard an idea floated recently that I would support, you know, banning private equity,

00:23:12for example, from buying residential housing. I don't know. I mean, are, are there things like

00:23:16that? I mean, any, anything in that you can give us? So, yeah, yeah, absolutely. For sure. So,

00:23:23um, I don't know her, her stand exactly on the private equity equity side of things. Yeah. Um,

00:23:31I do know that we support, um, you know, a universal healthcare system. I do know,

00:23:37that we support, uh, fair and equitable housing. Um, the key word of equity versus equality,

00:23:45meaning everything is brought up to a baseline that works for everyone where they're at. So

00:23:51meeting people where they're at, as opposed to like this, um, no matter what the formula is,

00:23:56there isn't one size fits all. Right. So you have to be open to adaptive policies and policies

00:24:03that kind of, which is what makes doing policy so challenging. Um, yeah, that, that, that's one

00:24:09of the things that I, and again, speaking as an outsider, who's never been involved in a campaign,

00:24:12I would imagine that that's one of the most challenging parts because you're, you're, you,

00:24:18you have to, you have to craft policy that makes sense, that addresses the problems, but also that

00:24:23can be communicated and articulated to the, to the, uh, uh, voters or prospective voters. And then if

00:24:31you win policy that you can follow through on, because you'll be held accountable the next time

00:24:37you run. So I would imagine that that's one of the most, absolutely one of the most challenging parts

00:24:43of this. Yeah, I think so. Although I think that it's, there's an interesting, um, situation going on

00:24:51here. And that's that, um, what people don't realize, and I think we didn't realize this. I

00:24:57mean, I happen to have worked, um, for the directly for the Harris campaign. And I think,

00:25:03sorry, hold on. Yeah, no worries. One of the biggest mistakes that we made. And that's why I

00:25:10now work with a actual campaign and not for the DNC directly, because there's a lot more autonomy and a

00:25:16lot more ability to like be yourself. But anyway, um, so I'd rather work with establishment rather

00:25:23than be part of the establishment. Sure. Sure. But anyway, um, what was I saying? Oh, so I think

00:25:31it's kind of going back to your analogy of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right? I think it's unfair to

00:25:37ask people that haven't reached levels one and two, which is, you know, subsistence slash baseline

00:25:44survival and then just living to then sit and pontificate about these higher level things that

00:25:51myself and Sarah and Jason and all the rest of us politico junkies talk about. Right. And it's also

00:25:57sort of silly and kind of naive to think that we can convince people on these like abstract sort of

00:26:05like idealistic things to support us. But, but the, but the other side of that coin is that if you give

00:26:13people those things and you raise their baseline, Hey, they're more open to social progressive

00:26:20change and be, they're not threatened by it because you're not saying we're going to take this away to

00:26:25do this. Right. You're providing them a good baseline and we're, we're, we want more than basics. And that's the

00:26:32other problem too. Um, I mean, up to this point, I think a lot of people, um, certainly the current

00:26:40leadership, certain current administration, they're giving people just like baseline survival or a

00:26:47little bit better. It's like baseline survival with a package that looks a little nicer, but at the end

00:26:52of the day, it's just gilded and it really is just baseline survival. Um, you know, in that way, we like

00:26:59to look at like some European models and things like that, where people, you know, actually their,

00:27:03their basic needs are met and then even some of their wants, right? Like, you know, it's, it's not

00:27:09about, Oh my God, like we can get by. It's about, we all deserve a quality of living. Right. Right.

00:27:16Uh, Sarah, uh, commented in the chat room to, again, regarding policy. We are working with

00:27:20community leaders to put together policy. That's not pie in the sky. Things that actually make sense

00:27:26and can be put into action to make a difference. Yeah. That, that's a good point that she brings up.

00:27:31And I, I'm sorry, I should have remembered that too as well. Um, yeah, how we're formulating our

00:27:36policy is sitting down with the experts. So like, I'm not going to sit down and Sarah's not going to

00:27:41sit down, although she happens to be in education. So maybe that's not a great example. Well, let's

00:27:45say like the current health and human services, uh, secretary, we're not about to go tell doctors

00:27:51how they should be handling a pandemic. Right. Right. Or like, we're not going to write policies

00:27:59that ignore medical and scientific evidence. We're going to listen to the experts. We're going to

00:28:05look at the, the, the studies and then we're going to base policies on those things. Right.

00:28:12No, that, uh, that makes sense. You know, and if we're making policies about changing and,

00:28:17and getting police and policing in a better place, then we're going to talk to both sides. We're going

00:28:24to talk to the, to the people and the communities that feel over policed or whatever it is. And

00:28:29they feel like there's a police biased and the police activists, but we're also going to talk

00:28:32to the police themselves and ask them like, you know, how can we build a bridge? So it's really

00:28:37all about building bridges. It's not about like, like let's pick one side and really run hard at

00:28:44that one side. Right. Right. Um, does that make sense? No, it does. It does. What is, uh, is there

00:28:53anything that's really surprised you again, in terms of being out on the campaign trail and talking to

00:28:57people, anything that, that maybe, uh, people are concerned with that you didn't expect, or maybe

00:29:02that you didn't expect quite so much. Oh yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. I mean, I'll be honest. I mean,

00:29:09as far as Maslow's higher hierarchy of needs go, I've been very lucky and I've been around a lot

00:29:15of people that are very lucky and frankly, relatively privileged to live in that like

00:29:19third rung. So I can sit around and self-actualize and I can think about the big picture macro ways to

00:29:26make the world a better place. And what shocked me is that because I have come from the environment

00:29:34that I've come from, even young people around me live still relatively privileged,

00:29:39you know, life's lives. So they were able to sort of like, then you're able to sort of save the

00:29:45world when all your basic needs are met and then more than met, you know, like, right. So I think

00:29:52it's, it's really getting that pragmatism down that, um, even amongst the activists, there still is a,

00:30:00a root line and act in, in pragmatism. But then again, it's actually not shocking because then when

00:30:07you talk to the older, more established people, they tend to fall or not even necessarily older,

00:30:11but people that are just more established and more comfortable, then they do tend to go to the

00:30:15safe democracy side. So I think the thing that's very interesting is that, um, I think, uh, like a

00:30:23bilateral message or a multi lateral message, a multi, um, you know, directional message is so much

00:30:31more effective and, um, more realistic than certainly than a singular message. So, you know,

00:30:40it's looking at all those variables, but it's also what I love is there's this little game out there.

00:30:46It's like, you know, I like to say green is very green, you know, cause I'm very environmental,

00:30:50right. But rather than sit and argue, um, you know, till you're out of breath about saving the whales,

00:30:59which is important. There's actually arguments out there as to how saving the whales creates this

00:31:06whole, like, um, biodiversity and biosystem within the ocean that supports the food chains that

00:31:15supports like ag, like ocean agriculture, like all this amazing stuff. It's fragile. Yeah. We're so

00:31:21much more interconnected even with other species than we think we are. Right. Absolutely. And I think

00:31:27that's so important. So yeah, we can almost create the same ecosystem within politics. I mean,

00:31:34we can have a, like a multi ecosystem. And I think that that's something Sarah really seems to support

00:31:40too, is this idea. I mean, she works in defense and she works in international relations. Yeah. So

00:31:46you absolutely are going to be talking to some Republicans. And although the MAGA people would like

00:31:54us to feel like, you know, the, and when I mean the MAGA people, I mean, specifically the, the,

00:32:00the mad King and his, his, his nutty court jesters, um, you know, the, the administration itself,

00:32:06not that not even necessarily all the people that even voted for him. Cause of course that's not the

00:32:10case, but these, you know, they, they don't understand, um, that it's really not this, this voice

00:32:19that he's, it's not the narrative he's spinning. Like we're a lot more alike than we think. Most

00:32:25people want the same things and most people will actually go for it. If you tell them that's what

00:32:32you're going to fight for. Yeah. He, he spends it, uh, the mad King, as you refer to him as, uh,

00:32:39you know, from kind of bad. I mean, this is all, this is, this is nuts. Oh yeah. He, he puts

00:32:46everything, you know, from a, presents it from a position of division and, and, and fear. It's

00:32:51very fear-based, you know, the, the immigrants are taking, you know, the migrants are taking all

00:32:55your jobs and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, just, you know, it's also very verbose and

00:33:00it's very like, out of, like, like out of the world, out of worldliness. It's like, he wants to

00:33:08create this, like this echo chamber that is like, you know, the apocalypse almost like he's rescuing

00:33:15us from the apocalypse, which is not what he's doing at all. If anything, he's, but here's the

00:33:21good news. He's a lot more, and his administration is a lot more fragmented and a lot more, um,

00:33:29disjointed than people think. I mean, the, the most power people have and, or, or the most powerful

00:33:35people and their biggest weapon is convincing you they have a lot of power. So if you realize that

00:33:41they don't have as much power as we think they do, you're disarming them right there.

00:33:46Well, he did say only he can, uh, how did he put it? I don't know. Only he can do it or only he can

00:33:52say, well, here's the thing. The problem with that mindset is even people amongst his leadership

00:33:58don't agree with that now. Right. And they're starting to voice that. So he's got a power grab

00:34:03within his power structure. That's never good. Right. Well, so we can now win by actually unifying

00:34:13and then just like exposing and not even exposing them as individuals and their characters. Cause

00:34:20everybody knows it's buffoonery. Like we're going to not get anywhere by constantly saying,

00:34:24you know, Trump's a clown, Hex is a clown. They're all crazy. You know, that's not going to,

00:34:29how we're going to win votes. We're going to win votes by saying, look, you know, this is what he's

00:34:35doing to, um, you know, immigrant populations. This is how it's affecting red and blue States in

00:34:43the areas of agriculture and the building industry and housing and all of this. And PS, this is what

00:34:51the constitution says about due process and he's not following it. So it's unconstitutional.

00:34:57It's not pragmatic and it's economically not sound. So three points against it.

00:35:06So before though, before, before you're in a position or, or when Sarah's in a position to make

00:35:10those arguments, how do you win the nomination for this seat? What's the plan?

00:35:16I mean, I think the plan is that, that, that dual duality that I said, Sarah lives in.

00:35:22And even a lot of the campaign lives in, it's like, it's very unique to be able to talk to the

00:35:28establishment, be respected by the establishment and have them be okay with you holding them

00:35:33accountable because you know how to talk the talk and walk the walk. And Sarah already has inroads

00:35:39in this crowd. And none of our other competitors have inroads in this crowd. I mean, they either only

00:35:46have legislative experience at the state level, or they have no legislative experience and they happen

00:35:51to have famous parents, but that doesn't make them. It's not about being a politician. It's about

00:35:57being a good diplomat and being a good organizer and, and, and, you know, a mobilizer and being

00:36:04a good leader. People don't want politicians right now.

00:36:09Um, well, it's like, you know, people always say they, people say they don't, or they'll say

00:36:15throw the bums out. Right. You know, when it comes to Congress and every election, but then

00:36:19it turns out, but then they go, well, except for my bum, the one that I like to vote for.

00:36:23Um, I mean, I went into that on occasion. I did have a lady tell me, uh, at the, at the

00:36:28most recent function that we went to that, you know, she's so happy that someone's going

00:36:32to get rid of those 400, whatever in, in, in the state house, you know, and help get rid

00:36:38of these 400, you know, goons in the state or whatever she said. And I said, there are not

00:36:41400 goons in the state house. I'm like, I'm like, as a matter of fact, currently the Democrats

00:36:47in the state house are fighting like hell to try to keep New Hampshire, a sane state.

00:36:55Um, what, like, how important is it to like, I, I don't know Sarah's age and I'm not asking

00:37:02that would be impolite, but I wouldn't tell you anyway. Yeah. But, but she seems, you know,

00:37:07she seems to be a young woman. Um, how important is that? Because I feel like, you know, just

00:37:12from my perspective, again, speaking as an outsider, but as a registered Democrat, and you've

00:37:17heard me say it before, I've said it on, on our, our podcast hanging left part of the

00:37:21problem that I think the Democrats have in, in a broad sense is, uh, there are some, uh,

00:37:27not to be disrespectful, but there are some very old people who cling to power, by the way,

00:37:32this is true. This is true. Oh, sure. This is true on the Republican side as well. This

00:37:36is, this is, and then, and it always has been universally. It's true. Yeah. It's true across

00:37:41the world. I mean, absolutely. People, people get started to like be leaders and then die

00:37:45in power. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Nobody likes to give up power that, you know, somebody could

00:37:49be a hundred years old and, uh, you know, uh, uh, awake an hour a day and they'll, they'll

00:37:55still, if there's power to hold onto, they will hold onto it. But, uh, but I mean, is, is

00:38:00that, uh, it's sounds, uh, callous to put it this way, but is that a, is that kind of a

00:38:07selling point that you're, you're pushing with Sarah? She's, you know, she, she, because

00:38:11it's on one hand, she's got all this experience. She's got, as you said, you know, she's got

00:38:16these connections with the establishment. She can talk with them. Her, her background

00:38:19is very, very impressive, but at the same time, she's also, she seems very youthful.

00:38:24She's a young woman. So, I mean, is that, is that kind of how part of how you approach this

00:38:29by saying here's someone young and fresh who also has the experience needed to understand

00:38:34the job and to get things done? Yes. And no. I mean, I think that, um, age is just one

00:38:40of the factors. Um, but age without experience doesn't matter. Right. And, and just experience,

00:38:48but not having, well, not experience, but just having like the knowledge of and being young

00:38:55and being able to idealistically understand what needs to happen, but not having the connections

00:39:00or understanding the pragmatism or understanding the, um, inroads that have to be made in order

00:39:07to make it happen in real life is also not helpful. So I think that, um, right now people

00:39:14are afraid, um, the, the, you know, especially on the more left side of things, they were afraid

00:39:21of the establishment and they think that, you know, everybody in the establishment just wants

00:39:26like terror, like just hold onto their power. Um, you know, but they should be careful not

00:39:33to a hundred percent. Um, you know, I think it depends on the individual. This is what I

00:39:39would say. It depends on the individual. It depends on their character and it depends on

00:39:43their connections. And, um, it is who, you know, it is, you know, for sure as much as it is what,

00:39:49you know, I mean, what, what, you know, does no good. If you get to Washington and you're like

00:39:56a brand new babe and you can't get into meet any of the people you need to meet because you're so,

00:40:02you're so junior, they're not interested in talking to you. True. And that can be a challenge

00:40:06too, if, if you are an outsider. So I suppose if you're, if you're a Democrat and you're, you're a

00:40:13progressive, well, I mean, you know, think about, no, I think that it's how you present it. So

00:40:18if you go in there guns a blazing, like this, like progressive revolutionary, even if that's

00:40:24what you think, like you're not going to get anywhere. Like we're not going to change the

00:40:28establishment by like shaming them and by like just constantly like disagreeing with them just

00:40:36to disagree, even when they do something good. Um, you know, and I think we need to all get on that

00:40:44page where like two things can be simultaneously true. I mean, you can think that we need a lot of

00:40:51change within the establishment, but still understand that that system is by the very name

00:40:58of it established and that some of the things within it work and that you need a foundation

00:41:03to build up from, as opposed to like, you know, just, I don't think a full on, you know, I think

00:41:10that if you go in right now and you were to just like, I mean, honestly, it's what Trump's trying to

00:41:15do in his own way, like literally tear everything down, rebuild everything. It's really easy to tear

00:41:21things down. It's super hard to rebuild in a, in a, in a sufficient way. So like you only want to

00:41:28take down the stuff you need to take down. Like if you've got some good, like solid, you know,

00:41:34support beams there, you don't want to tear them down. So the whole damn house falls.

00:41:39Right. And, um, I think that, you know, some people, especially some of your more junior ends

00:41:45of the establishment, um, I think if you mix that in with some new blood and some progressive blood,

00:41:51that's a great, um, mix where, um, you know, basically, um, we can learn from each other,

00:42:02right? I mean, the young, the younger, more green people, green isn't youth, you know, youthful,

00:42:08whether that's both an experience or age, whatever it is, can learn from the people that went before

00:42:14them and are in their positions and take on more of a mentorship role. And on the flip side,

00:42:19um, the older people could also stand to listen to some innovative and, and, um, new ways of

00:42:26thinking. And then the irony of it is both people become grow, both people grow. Like in our, our

00:42:33campaign, um, you know, Sarah and I learned very much from the 20 somethings as much as they learned

00:42:39from us. It's just, we teach each other different lessons. That makes sense. Uh, Sarah said in the chat,

00:42:45we can walk and chew gum. We are very skilled like that. We can be self-reflective and make

00:42:50change happen, but we need to do it all together. Um, I, I, yeah, I feel like, uh, you know, I was

00:42:58thinking as, as we were talking about this too, um, AOC came to mind. I feel like when, when AOC first

00:43:03got elected in New York, you know, as a, as a progressive and, and, you know, kind of an outsider.

00:43:07Um, she was not, I, I, I feel like from what I can recall early in her tenure there, uh, in Congress,

00:43:16she was kind of, they kind of froze her out. Yeah. That's what they do. So if you don't come

00:43:21across as a threat, which Sarah does not, I mean, they like her and even myself, I mean, they like,

00:43:26like Maggie Goodlander likes me. Like we're, we're pretty good friends. Yeah. Um, Pappas likes me,

00:43:31like, even though he knows I'm not as center as he probably is, they're not. And, and even Sarah

00:43:36is not as center as he probably is. They don't want to throw us out because A, we're listening

00:43:40to them and we're willing to compromise and B like, you know, we're supporting them and championing

00:43:47them when they deserve to be champions. Yeah. Like, I mean, it's like, to me, it's like,

00:43:52who doesn't want a friend that will tell you how to improve themselves? Like there's nothing wrong

00:43:57with that, but you don't want someone that scolds you and there's a difference. Well, that's the

00:44:00thing. Yeah. It, it, it's like, uh, people don't, um, I'll, I'll tell you, uh, one of my

00:44:06sort of, one of my rules, one of my, one of Matt's rules of life is, um, and, and obviously

00:44:12this would not, uh, you know, you know, this would not apply to what we're talking about

00:44:16here. The politics, everything's all the rules are a little bit different, but just generally

00:44:20speaking, like I don't offer people unsolicited advice. If somebody asks me my opinion, I give

00:44:26it to them, but in my personal experience, and I learned this at a very young age, I

00:44:30consider myself a student of human behavior and did from a very young age. If you offer

00:44:35someone unsolicited advice, uh, they, they are more likely to resent it than to take

00:44:40it. And, and I feel like, so I think that where that does relate to politics is if, if

00:44:46very often, and maybe this is, again, maybe this is part of where Sarah can shine, because

00:44:50like you said, you know, she, the establishment likes her, even though she's going to come in

00:44:56and not be the establishment herself if she wins. Um, but I, I feel like, you know, again,

00:45:03she's about, she's mid range. I mean, she's not like, she's a, she's a, I don't know, center

00:45:10progressive. I mean, she's reasonable. She's a pragmatic about her, her beliefs. Um, you

00:45:15know, she's consistently willing to bring in the team when we get a little bit overly

00:45:20progressive and overly idealistic. I mean, she keeps things not that she's, she's a lover and

00:45:25celebrator of idealism, but she also understands how the system works and therefore can kind of

00:45:30like, you know, cause all of us, except for her, we don't have, um, legislative experience.

00:45:37We all have activism experience. So it's a different world. It's like, as an activist,

00:45:41you go in and you're trying to like convince whatever side you're talking to, to listen and

00:45:45do what you want them to do. But as when you're doing diplomacy or you're doing legislation,

00:45:50you're trying to present your, um, your argument or whatever it is you're trying to achieve,

00:45:56but in a way that everybody wins. Yeah. Is it hard for you? I mean, it probably isn't because

00:46:03you have experience at this. You've been at this a long time, but I am curious, is it hard for you

00:46:07or was it ever, has it ever been hard for you to kind of think of it in that, you know, there's a

00:46:13duality there, right? Because as when you're an activist, you're concerned with making change and

00:46:19you know, you got to forgive the tired cliche, but you got to, you can't make an omelet without

00:46:23breaking a few eggs, et cetera. Right. But when they're, but when you're, when you're a part of

00:46:28a campaign, you can't think so much that way. You want to be thinking more of, like you said,

00:46:33because you, you got to be thinking about legislation. If you went, you want to do things

00:46:38where everybody wins. I mean, is it, is it hard to everyone that can win or everyone can win?

00:46:44Right. Right. Um, cause we don't necessarily want literally everyone to win like with the

00:46:48corporations and, you know, billionaires and all that, but, but is it, is it, is it hard? Is it

00:46:53challenging at all to kind of think of it from, from both perspectives or, or maybe, maybe it's not

00:46:59maybe, maybe, maybe I'm overthinking it. So there's a few things. Yeah. I do think we overthink it,

00:47:03but I've been guilty of overthinking it myself. Um, it's not a zero sum game.

00:47:08Like we think, and I think that's another benefit of getting older, right? Like you see everything

00:47:14more in grays and it really is a lot more gray than it is black and white. I mean, that's not

00:47:20what Trump wants it to be, or, you know, MAGA wants it to be because that's not the narrative

00:47:24that's, that's winning for them. Right. But, um, you know, people really need to win and want to win.

00:47:31So if you present people, people only really honestly give you pushback. If you're like,

00:47:37like you said, almost like if you're jamming something down somebody's throat, but you're

00:47:41not even presenting it in a way that makes people like even see any side that they're going to

00:47:48benefit from, you're just telling them it's the moral obligation for them to do it. Well,

00:47:53that doesn't work very well. Um, yeah, Sarah said in the chat room, the people need to win.

00:47:59Um, I, I also, uh, I, I think that part of, uh, part of the problem, and this is obviously,

00:48:06and I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but part of what you have to

00:48:09try to overcome in this process too, right. Is, is like, how do you get people to understand

00:48:15that you're trying to help them when, when they think, because so much of what we see on the right

00:48:22is about division. And you used a phrase that I love you, you know, it's not as you, you know,

00:48:26sometimes we think of these things as a zero sum game and it's not. And that is something that is

00:48:31so hard to, because I've always believed that nothing about success and life is a zero sum game

00:48:38just because someone else has more of something doesn't mean I automatically have less. So for

00:48:44example, just because immigrants say immigrants are coming into the country and thriving, that

00:48:49doesn't mean that I now am at some sort of disadvantage because in reality, if you look at it

00:48:55from a broader perspective, the, if some of us are doing better than we're all doing better,

00:48:59right. Again, and again, no, I don't mean the billionaire, absolutely. And it really is,

00:49:05you have to kind of look at this from like a, a social democracy perspective. And if you look at,

00:49:12um, a lot of your parliamentary countries and a lot of countries that do practice social democracy,

00:49:18and it's not socialism, it's social democracy. It is, there is a big difference. Um, then you

00:49:24basically, um, you know, everybody can potentially win now, except for those trying to stop everybody

00:49:31from winning. That's the caveat. And so, right. Good. Yeah. Here's the deal. We're not shy and we're

00:49:40not pretending that we want the people that want to win at the expense of other people to win at all.

00:49:47We don't, we want them to fail miserably, but most people are only in that world. The vast majority of

00:49:55them, because they've been brainwashed or they've been lied to, or they're embarrassed and don't want

00:50:03to admit they made a mistake. I mean, there's all kinds of reasons for it, or they're scared. Um, but

00:50:08if you sit down with people and you, especially if you have like examples and you show them like,

00:50:15look like you do understand that, like we can, we could basically, for instance, end homelessness,

00:50:21and it doesn't mean suddenly, you know, your homes are 10 times more expensive or you're homeless.

00:50:28It's not a flip flop. Like, like people don't understand that the big deal here is that

00:50:34resources have been mismanaged, but when we manage our resources better, we have enough. This country is

00:50:42so freaking rich. Oh yeah. Yeah. That everyone could live in my assessment, at least a middle-class

00:50:49lifestyle, like live comfortably. Yes. Um, you know, not even have a lot of wants, like you're not

00:50:56all going to walk around with Rolex watches, but you know, have a comfortable life. Right. Access to

00:51:02healthcare. No one should be starving. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, even the fun stuff like vacations

00:51:08and a good car and those types of things, like having some extras too, like, cause, cause you know,

00:51:15we're not anti, um, free enterprise and we're not anti like people having achievements, even the

00:51:21billionaires, like we're only asking for, for like, you know, a larger percentage of their wealth.

00:51:26We're not trying to like make them, you know, put their mansions up at a, um, on a yard sale for like,

00:51:33you know, what? 10 cents on the dollar. This is saying, pay your fair share.

00:51:39This is something we should, we should be clear about. So you're not, so you are, or Sarah or the

00:51:43campaign. You're not, you're not anti-capitalist, correct? No, absolutely not. That's something we

00:51:48should make clear to people. I mean, honestly, look at it. I wouldn't be honestly, I need like,

00:51:53or I don't know about capitalism. I mean, anti-capitalism, maybe, maybe with a capital C because

00:52:00like pure capitalism means, and I can't speak for Sarah. We've never actually gotten into this.

00:52:04Okay. But for me personally, um, I'm anti-capitalism as it means stepping on the backs of others to get

00:52:10ahead. Right. So, so that's sort of Anne Rand type mentality. Yeah. I don't subscribe to,

00:52:17as a matter of fact, I think it makes us inhuman. I do. I, I, I, my philosophy is raise everybody's

00:52:26standards up rather than bring people down to meet the lower, you know what I'm saying?

00:52:31Or at the very least, uh, you know, try to build it. I'm not talking about the super rich,

00:52:36but I'm saying like, no, no, right. Make it so that, and also make more equity. Like,

00:52:41yeah, there doesn't have to be the disparagement of wealth that exists.

00:52:44Or I would say, I would say at the very least, you want to build an economy where people have the

00:52:49opportunity, correct? You know, because what you'll hear from the other side is, well, I don't want to

00:52:53give people handouts. I don't, you know, I, I worked hard for what I have. I earned it. Why

00:52:57shouldn't they earn it? At least, at least they haven't earned anything. They haven't earned

00:53:01anything. The vast majority of them are crooks. Like they, they steal from other people. They

00:53:06manipulate the laws. They try to block, um, you know, when you say the other side, I mean like

00:53:13the current administration. Right, right, right, right. That's what I mean. Like, yeah, well,

00:53:18but they're stealing everything, but just speaking more broadly, you know, from the conservative

00:53:22perspective, they'll say, well, I don't want to give people handouts. I don't want, you know,

00:53:26and it's like, we don't either. Right. And that's important to clarify. I mean, I certainly don't,

00:53:31I want people to have to, you know, I've had to fight and scratch and claw for everything.

00:53:35But, but I've also at least had, you know, I was lucky enough to grow up in a time and place and,

00:53:42and under circumstances where I've at least had the opportunity, you know, I didn't grow up in some

00:53:47poor inner city neighborhood where there's nothing to do to, to get out except sell drugs and

00:53:52hope you don't end up in prison, you know, and, and there are a lot of people who are in, I mean,

00:53:56that's, you know, I, I, that's just an example, but that is a real life example. That's not sure

00:54:00hyperbole either. So, you know, so people need to, at least, you know, you have to have an

00:54:04opportunity. I forget who coined the phrase opportunity economy. That might've, that might've

00:54:08been Biden, but Biden also tried to give us Bidenomics, which was a terrible idea, but in terms

00:54:14of that phrase, but I don't want to go off on a tangent, but, but you know what I'm saying.

00:54:18I don't, I'm not Trump. We don't just go on discussing Biden 24 seven.

00:54:21Right. Right. Uh, now Sarah said she made another really interesting comment to, uh, in the chat

00:54:26room. Um, and this might get us close to a third rail. I don't know, but she said, you stop the

00:54:31culture wars. You bring it back to basics. This, this is interesting because this to me was part of

00:54:38the, after the election, part of the hand wringing among Democrats was, you know, did we talk too much

00:54:45about trans issues? For example, even though, even though I don't remember Kamala Harris saying

00:54:50anything about it, but, but, but this became a part of the, the worry, right? Have we gone too

00:54:56far to the left with that? And have we alienated people?

00:54:59So again, that's, that goes back to where you are in life, right? I believe, and I really believe

00:55:05this full heartedly. I believe that people that have accumulated a certain level of wealth

00:55:12in a certain level of experience and, and, um, you know, comfort and connections and coalitions

00:55:22and all of that. It's actually, you're compelled and it's stewardship like to, to help others.

00:55:29I really do believe this. It's how I was raised too. So I don't, I don't a hundred percent agree.

00:55:35Like for instance, as an LGBTQ man, certainly the lesbians and the gays have come, you know,

00:55:41tenfold in where we're at. I mean, I think it's the very reason why Trump isn't going after us

00:55:46because he knows it's going to be a hell of a battle, but so he, so if you notice,

00:55:50he purposely doesn't go directly at the L's and the G's.

00:55:53You're right. You're right. Cause he doesn't want to fight us. He doesn't want to fight a real fight.

00:55:59None of them do.

00:56:00I also don't know. Also his heart just might not be in it because if, if you remember one,

00:56:04one odd thing, and this is a little bit random, but it's just, I always think of this when,

00:56:07when, when this, because this subject, we might've talked about this before,

00:56:10because I feel like this came up once before when, when Trump initially announced in 2015,

00:56:16he actually had an event. I don't know if it was connected to GLAAD or something,

00:56:22but he had a campaign event very early in his campaign with, with rainbow flags and everything.

00:56:27And he said, I'll be the best friend, the LGBTQ plus community ever had in all this.

00:56:31And then of course that all went away very quickly. Obviously somebody got in his ear and said,

00:56:36dude, you're running for the Republican nomination. You can't do that.

00:56:38If he met enough Peter Thiel's out there. Right. And I think there's one other guy,

00:56:46but if he met enough LGBTQ, but probably not the T part because they probably don't exist as much,

00:56:51but sure. If he met enough, like lesbians and gays that had positions of power and influence.

00:56:56And other than the fact that they were fighting for gay rights, because it was self-serving,

00:57:00didn't care about anybody else's rights and was all about his philosophies, he probably would welcome

00:57:07them. Right. Yeah. It's really all about him. It's not, I don't think the man has any moral

00:57:12integrity. I don't think it's about morality. I think it's about money and it's about power.

00:57:17Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent, a hundred percent.

00:57:19And he's filled his whole cabinet with people that are incredibly insecure. The vast majority of them

00:57:25are delusional and, or like, and they're all narcissistic. These are not healthy people.

00:57:31Like they, they should barely be running families. Nevermind the country.

00:57:37Well, nobody from his first term was going to come back anyway.

00:57:39Right. All those people, any of the people with like, yeah, anybody that understood reality

00:57:44were in a way. Yeah. They, their whole thing is magical thinking. This is like a cult.

00:57:51Yeah. Not like it is a cult. It is a cult. It is a cult. Uh, Sarah also said in the chat,

00:57:55we need to fix policies that hurt the working class and put policy in place that supports the

00:58:00development of a healthy economy. Absolutely. And, and I think that, um, back to what you were

00:58:04saying. So the culture wars only exist because, um, you know, the other side, the MAGA side,

00:58:11well, not only because of that, it's because the MAGA side threw the bait out there and the

00:58:17establishment jumped on it. Right. Because they thought that was what was going to get them the

00:58:22progressive vote. But what they didn't understand is that at the end of the day, you only, again,

00:58:31it's what I've gone back to, it is a luxury to vote on social issues only. Right. Like it is a

00:58:39luxury for me to stand out here and spend my life. I mean, yeah, I could be doing other things,

00:58:44getting wealthy, whatever, but like I'm in a position, not everyone has the position to be

00:58:49able to get out there and fight every day. Like I do, like, I understand this is a privilege and I,

00:58:53you know, and it's a privilege for Sarah too. And we're very thankful that people are letting us

00:58:58have that privilege. You know, we respect that. So, um, but at the same time, it would be unfair

00:59:04for me. And I, and I hate it when my side does this, you know, for us to like, look, if someone's

00:59:09struggling to like make ends meet and work two jobs and whatever, like it's no wonder they, they

00:59:15don't have time to sit around and like, you know, sip cappuccinos with me and talk about, you know,

00:59:21the nuances of whatever. Sure. Sure. A hundred percent. Um, I think it's all about like,

00:59:30like I said, it's creating a, it's, it's Sarah's goal is to create, we create a healthy baseline.

00:59:34We save democracy because it's good for the economy and it's good for the world.

00:59:39And in a true democracy, everybody wins except for dictators and dictators really don't win

00:59:47anyway, ultimately because they end up self imploding. So, you know, it's just realism,

00:59:54right? And by the way, that to me is a, and, and this is something that I think Democrats need to

01:00:00start saying what, what you've laid out there in my mind is a, is a pro is a pro capitalist message in

01:00:09a lot of ways, because in, in order for capitalism to function, you have to have a healthy working class

01:00:17that can actually spend the money that goes into the economy to, to have a, to continue to have a

01:00:23functioning economy. And it's a, it's a loop. It's a feedback loop. I mean, yes and no, yes and no,

01:00:28but like pure capitalism is almost based on like a feudalistic sort of system. Oh, you have to have,

01:00:34yeah, it has to be regulated lower class. Yeah. And I'm making the argument and I think Sarah makes

01:00:40the argument too. You actually don't have to have a lower class now. It's all relative, but like if the

01:00:45lower class is living like a middle to upper middle class person would live equivalent now,

01:00:50who cares? Like, I agree. Well that, but that see to me though, that too, I just look at it a

01:00:56little differently that I see that what you just said to me, that's pro capitalism. Because if you

01:01:02have no, if you have no lower class, because who would be the lower class is actually also middle

01:01:07class or maybe lower middle class or whatever you want to say. The more people who have some degree

01:01:11of hopefully disposable income, the better off the economy.

01:01:15No, absolutely. That's what I'm saying. This is not. So I guess, yeah. I mean,

01:01:20so I guess if pro success makes us pro capitalism, then we're pro capitalism. But I just want to

01:01:25caution that away because, um, you know, I think that capitalism at this point has been so warped,

01:01:32you know, that it's important. Like capitalism to me, like, I don't respect capitalism. Like currently

01:01:39right now, like with the tech oligarchs who are literally just like kissing the ring of Trump.

01:01:44Yes. These are the ones like Peter Cook who don't even, who don't even like him. I mean,

01:01:48Tim Cook, who doesn't even like him. Tim Apple, as Trump once called him. Yeah. Yeah. Like what is,

01:01:54what good is your power? Trump doesn't even bother to learn the guy's correct name. Right. Right.

01:01:58But, but, but, but Tim Cook has to go. And where's your pride? Where's your pride and where's

01:02:03your self-respect? Oh, I know. I know they have none. They have zero.

01:02:07So it's a joke. It is. It's your grovelers. You're just, you're, you're grovelers. It's

01:02:15pathetic. It's really pathetic. It's just if you're a billionaire, how are you letting this fool

01:02:19dictate you? Right. Right. Uh, Sarah says, uh, this comes with guardrails to protect our most

01:02:26vulnerable. That's key to the whole system. Absolutely. 100%. Absolutely. Yeah. And it's

01:02:31like, I just said with that whole stewardship thing, like, look, there are, there are some people

01:02:35that unfortunately through life circumstances and, and physical limitations and mental and

01:02:41emotional limitations, they can't do what I do every day. Like they physically and emotionally

01:02:47and psychologically can't do it because they have some kind of condition, some kind of health

01:02:54condition, something. And it's so it, so in that way, I would never want to promote a society that

01:03:01was like some of the people's throw away. Right. Right. 100%. Um, Todd, I don't want to keep

01:03:07you too much longer. I know you're, I know you're under the weather and whatnot, but we're just over

01:03:12an hour, but I do want to something I want to make sure we get in, uh, before, before we wrap this up,

01:03:17because I'm, I'm really, uh, interested in learning more. And I know some from, from when Sarah was with

01:03:22us on the, um, on the, uh, the, the hanging left podcast, but can you just on her foreign policy,

01:03:30uh, credentials and so forth and, and her work with, in terms of Ukraine. Absolutely. Can you go

01:03:36she was one of the co-founders of AOC or, um, ACO, I think it's called. So basically it's the,

01:03:43she might have to bump up on that one. I forget the exact acronym, but basically it's the largest,

01:03:49um, Ukrainian organized, it's the largest American organization or to help, um, the Ukraine

01:03:56in their various efforts to remain a sovereign state, um, you know, and defend themselves

01:04:03against tyranny. Um, and then she also a very interesting project that she worked on

01:04:09was called battalion, which is basically it, it helped it and it was women and, um, it was both

01:04:16women owned and managed. And what was happening is as these, as the men, you know, typically we're

01:04:23going, Oh, ACU. Yeah. The ACU is what it's called. So that was, that's the current one that she works

01:04:29with and things like that. But the battalion organization is fascinating because what they

01:04:33did was again, it's like, it's important that people do whatever they can. And these women like

01:04:39embodied that. So they didn't feel capable or maybe they weren't capable of going out and fighting.

01:04:44Right. But they fought in other ways. They documented the war crimes and they documented

01:04:50the injustice. Oh, d'Italian. Um, so yeah. Um, see now you don't have to, uh, fact check me.

01:05:00Perfect. That's easy. But, um, yeah. So anyway, they, you know, and they, and they made sure that,

01:05:07that, you know, Putin or anybody else can't, you know, any negative power can't bury this history.

01:05:15Right. Okay.

01:05:17Which is so important. So she did that. Um, and like I said, 64 billion, um, in, in the negotiation,

01:05:24helping with that negotiation for 64 billion in aid to the Ukraine, um, across party lines,

01:05:30um, just consistently working with, she works with the group of individuals at Harvard who are all

01:05:38about sort of keeping the Ukraine story alive to, to non-Ukrainians and also Ukrainian Americans

01:05:44and just sort of keeping people educated, but also talk to people about the culture and how it is a

01:05:50vibrant culture that, that existed prior to this horrible and injustice invasion and will exist

01:05:57after. So, you know, that's so important too. So she's done that. And then sort of her mindset.

01:06:04And one of the things that, you know, I think is that people need to realize is that, look,

01:06:09none of her opponents for the most part have that, um, have the ability to have these kinds of

01:06:17connections where they can basically take those same skillset and use them domestically to help with,

01:06:25for instance, all of the, um, horrific things that ice is doing to immigrants and things like that.

01:06:31And like defend us against this, you know, this paramilitary militia he's trying to create.

01:06:37Right. Right. Um, also, uh, our friend, uh, Miriam banishes, uh, is in here and, uh, she's a long time,

01:06:45uh, supporter of the show and a great person. Uh, Miriam says, uh, Todd has said some really good

01:06:50things about the extreme left. I'm having a problem with one progressive Democrats group

01:06:55that call me and text me and email me, uh, most days during my work hours.

01:07:01Yeah. I mean, that's not, that's not helpful, Miriam. I agree. And honestly, like I said, um,

01:07:08you know, absolutely. You can definitely come on and do things with us. Like we are a, um,

01:07:13the Sarah campaign is a truly big tent. Like we're all about, you know, look, I'm not here to,

01:07:17and honestly, and I'll say this and I'll say this, here's a public forum to say it. Look,

01:07:23if you voted for Trump, so be it. Right. But if you have seen that this is not working for you

01:07:30and you have seen how it's not working for democracy and you've pulled the curtain aside

01:07:37and you see that man, you know, like the wizard of Oz, the little man running, running the screen.

01:07:42And you realize it's all just a big dog and pony show and there's no substance to it. Then you're

01:07:48welcomed to join us in this fight. Like it literally is people not joining us in defending

01:07:55democracy. It's their choice, not ours. Anyone who wants to join is welcome. Okay. This isn't,

01:08:01this isn't about red or blue Democrat or Republican independent, whatever. I don't care if you're like

01:08:08a flying unicorn. If like you understand what's at stake here and you have a skill or connections

01:08:15or talent, and ultimately you care about your future and want to do whatever you can to help it

01:08:21build a future together that works for all of us, then you're welcome.

01:08:26I think it's important that you said that too, only because there are, there are people on the left.

01:08:31I think they're, I think they're in a minority, but there are Democrats who, who kind of take a

01:08:36different attitude that if you ever supported Trump or whoever, or if you were ever a Republican,

01:08:40like, like some Democrats will actually even reject never Trumpers, you know, who by definition

01:08:46are Republicans who just never liked Trump or never again, Trumpers Republicans who have since

01:08:52rejected Trump. It's like, they want to keep them at arm's length. And it's like, no, if they want to

01:08:56come join us, welcome them in, you know, if they, if they, if they have regrets and, and they realize

01:09:02they made a mistake with their vote and their support and they want to come join us. Yeah.

01:09:06Welcome. You know, like you said, arms open. Not to prolong this, but I will say, I think that

01:09:12comes from the whole, um, banking of like the Cheney situation. Like maybe it was turned up a little

01:09:20bit too much. Yeah. Oh yeah. Of course you're talking about, I mean, I can see that side of the

01:09:25argument. I'm not saying I even had Liz Cheney at, at events and some people, here's what we should have

01:09:31done. And again, this is more our philosophy and this is the Sarah campaign philosophy rather than

01:09:37say, maybe we gave, um, you know, Cheney and, um, Oh, what's his name? Adam. Oh, Adam, Adam Kinzinger.

01:09:47Yes. Right. Kinzinger too much attention. I would say that we didn't give the progressive side enough

01:09:55attention. So rather than take attention from one group, we should have given just more attention

01:10:01to more groups. And so not a zero sum game, right? Cause everybody has something valid to say. And

01:10:08I'll tell you this, it's been progressives that had, that have taught me and opened my eyes to what's

01:10:14going on in Palestine. And for that, I thank them because I absolutely had been spun, especially being

01:10:21like a gay activist for so long. Um, you know, the Netanyahu administration has done a great job

01:10:27of like, like publicly championing like LGBTQ rights. Cause he knows it's a win for his people.

01:10:35Right. And he knows we have a lot of money and he knows if we, if we see in a press group,

01:10:39we'll like, we gravitate to them because we understand what it's like. And also we can relate

01:10:45to the Jewish community, right? Because LGBTQ, especially if you're talking about gay men and lesbians,

01:10:51the vast majority of our persecution was in spite of having positions of education and wealth,

01:10:57not because we didn't. So we understand there's all kinds of oppression out there and there's all

01:11:02kinds of people trying to take your power. But I think what that did was it put blinders on us,

01:11:09you know? And back in the day when they could control the media more, it's like, and I'm sure

01:11:14you know this, you're old enough to know this. I'm old enough to know this. All we saw were the

01:11:17terrorist attacks. All we saw was this. So of course, and then we saw 9-11 and

01:11:21all this other stuff. Right. So of course, this is the narrative we believe. Like if my only

01:11:26exposure for the most part to the, to the Middle East outside of Israel was like hyper negative and

01:11:33they were constantly blowing my brothers and sisters out of the air. And this is the only people

01:11:37I saw. I only saw their bad actors. Of course, I'm going to start villainizing them. Right.

01:11:43It's not an excuse. It's more just a matter of understanding where that mentality came from.

01:11:48Yeah. But I think that when you're in a position like myself and you're lucky enough to be in a

01:11:54safe position where you can start again, it's all about that accountability. Right. Yeah. I think

01:11:58it's important for me to say, you know what? That wasn't cool. And I, I now reject what I used to

01:12:05think. And I'm open because, you know, I guess for lack of a better word, you've seen the light and

01:12:10I've seen, you know, and it's moving that way too. That's the thing. Like even amongst young

01:12:17Republicans, they're, they're appalled at what is happening to the Palestinian population.

01:12:24Well, even Charlie Kirk, you know, I mean, uh, I, I certainly hadn't planned to bring him up during

01:12:30this conversation, but it is since, you know, it, it seems worth mentioning. Even he was,

01:12:36was beginning to question, uh, in the weeks, uh, leading up to his murder. Uh, he was beginning

01:12:42to question, you know, his own sort of, sort of, uh, Zionism and, and, and whether, whether maybe

01:12:49he was wrong. I mean, you know, I, I don't think he, I don't necessarily buy the narrative that he was

01:12:55starting to swing completely the other way, but he was starting to ask questions.

01:12:59Interesting. I, since I'm on here as Sarah's political director, I'm not going to go on that

01:13:06one. I, her and I definitely have different views on that. Um, but yeah, listen, I mean,

01:13:11if anyone is willing to assess their misperceptions or the error of their ways or whatever it is,

01:13:19yeah. Um, you know, I'll certainly at least listen. Yeah. You know, absolutely. Um, it's,

01:13:27it, I guess the difference is, and I do think this is maybe we're compromised. Compromise is not

01:13:32complacency. It's one of my favorite phrases I've come up with. And so I don't believe that, um,

01:13:39compromise is, um, you know, accepting hate. Right. So people that preach hate,

01:13:46I can't really compromise with that. Right. Right. No, I, I agree. By the way,

01:13:52Miriam says I'm quite liberal and probably more so now thanks to Trump. Uh, but there was only so

01:13:58much bounding on the phone that, Oh, hounding on the phone that I can take. Yeah. Yeah. That's

01:14:03that's understandable, Miriam. Um, so yeah, go ahead, Todd. I do have to, um, my team is like,

01:14:12which is true. Um, there's the technical aspect of things. So in order to get this to be viable

01:14:17for us to put up on our social medias, I'm going to have to cut us off. I probably should have cut

01:14:21it off earlier. Yeah. Yeah. No, we, we can begin to wrap up. Um, but, uh, no, I appreciate you

01:14:26joining us. And obviously I know you've been under the weather and Sarah, Sarah, obviously a much more

01:14:31under the weather. So before we wrap this up, uh, give us a website, anything else you want us to know

01:14:36about Sarah's campaign, how people can help whatever it is you want to make sure we know before we let

01:14:41you go. So, um, Sarah C, um, 603.com is her website. It is in the midst of a, um, overhaul.

01:14:51Okay. I don't, I don't know the specifics on that, but I know we now have a new team together to work

01:14:56on that. Okay. Which with that one, um, but you can follow us on Instagram. You can follow us on,

01:15:01uh, Facebook, you know, the Sarah Traczynski, um, you could, you can go to her link and then you

01:15:09could also find the political link. Um, but yeah, we're on all of them. We're on, we are on YouTube,

01:15:14which is probably what this is going to have to go on because I've talked to you long. Um,

01:15:19that's all right. You know, but we're on all of them. Blue sky LinkedIn. Yeah. X because you have

01:15:25to be. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. 100%. You name it. We're on it. All right. Well, Todd, thank you so

01:15:31much. And, uh, what about people who want to find you any particular place they should go?

01:15:35Um, I'm on all those same links. Some of them, um, you know, like you can find me on Facebook

01:15:41under my name, but some of the other ones I have like various different names, but yeah. And also,

01:15:49um, hanging left, um, you know, YouTube on hanging left as well as the posts that we share on our

01:15:56Facebook pages. Um, where else are we, I don't know where else are we, I'm awful with this.

01:16:00We're everywhere. We're everywhere too. Everywhere you can find content. There we are. All right.

01:16:04All right. Very good. Well, Todd, thank you so much. And of course I look forward to the next,

01:16:09uh, uh, hanging left that we do. Thank you for joining us on, on Matt Connerton unleashed and,

01:16:14uh, for having us on. I really appreciate this. Absolutely. Thank you to everyone who streamed us

01:16:18live. And of course, everyone else who's getting this in the podcast feed of choice. And don't forget,

01:16:22I'll be live Saturday morning, 9am to noon, go to mattconnerton.com slash live. You can stream the

01:16:27show from anywhere. We've got some great guests and, uh, Todd, we'll let you go. And, uh, thank you so

01:16:32much. Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Bye everybody. Bye.

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