00:00I know folks hear me advocate all the time about international issues.
00:04It's not, you know, as I told my brothers from the Koji community yesterday,
00:10it's not just about the West Bank.
00:12That money is money that's being spent in the West Bank that should be spent on the West Side.
00:16Correct.
00:17And that is about advocacy for where we use dollars.
00:20And one of the things you'll hear me talk about all the time is,
00:22I don't want to fight stupid wars, I want to invest water,
00:25I want to invest in infrastructure, water infrastructure being one of those things.
00:27You know what I mean?
00:29The thing I'll also tell you is, I have my ideas.
00:32You hear them all the time.
00:35You've all interacted with the Wayne County.
00:37Many of you have interacted with the city of Detroit.
00:40They're not the easiest places to work sometimes.
00:43And anybody who's worked with me, I mean, I got immediately the Wayne County executive to support me.
00:47And he doesn't offer his endorsement immediately.
00:50You ask him why he supported, and he lost his health director over it.
00:54So it was in his worst interest for me to run.
00:56I mean, really, when I sat down, I was like, hey, what do you think about this?
00:59He was like, I don't want to lose my health director.
01:01I think you're pretty good at this job.
01:02I was like, I appreciate you saying that.
01:03But also, let's think about the big pictures that we're fighting.
01:07His point will always be like, Abdul has his ideas.
01:09But when you sit around the table, he's going to listen to what you have to say and try and
01:13come up with the best solution.
01:14That's the other side of, I'm not an ideologue as much as I'm a scientist and a doctor.
01:19As a doctor, it's first do no harm, and how do we fix the problem?
01:22As a scientist, it's let's understand the problem and figure out what the best solution is.
01:26You might see it one way, I might see it another.
01:28What can we do to actually get the thing done?
01:29And how can I think about all of our collective problems to start moving an argument?
01:34And then the thing I'll just tell you is this.
01:36Trump is messing around and making me the front page or the main character of the midterms.
01:42You know what that comes with?
01:44That comes with if I win, I now have a gigantic platform that they just gave me.
01:49And that allows me then to both move a conversation, but also maneuver inside because I can move a conversation
01:55across.
01:57And my job is to be able to take that, advocate, and then be able to come together and sit
02:02down with colleagues who are on the ground
02:05to think about how to solve problems.
02:06And I'll just tell you this.
02:08I've been at the city and county level.
02:11There are not many people who run for Congress or the Senate who start their careers as an appointed public
02:18servant
02:19at the city and the county level.
02:21So I understand, like, when you say I don't have the funding, I understand what that feels like inside of
02:26a department.
02:27There are not many people who do.
02:28See what I mean?
02:29It's not just, oh, this is a budget sheet and my request.
02:31It's, I actually understand what that feels like.
02:33How you're trying to get things to work and how I can maneuver it so I can deliver for you.
02:38So I really appreciate that point.
02:39I want you guys to see it just from my perspective because that's how I come to public service.
02:43As an appointee at the city and county levels.
02:46Thinking about how to make ends meet and solve problems at the place where I know you are,
02:50which is I know the resident down the street who needs this thing.
02:54And they're going to ask me again for it.
02:56I've been at that level.
02:57And I want you to know that that's how I operate when I think about the U.S. Senate.
03:00It's not just an interview that you do on TV.
03:03It's I'm advocating for Ms. Smith who keeps watching as the renovations are basement that she finally saved up to
03:09get done
03:09after it rained too hard three summers ago, just got destroyed again this summer.
03:13Right.
