Good morning. I want everybody to get acs soon as possible and get started here up to six conference, the Fourth Annual six conference. Of applause. Round i am so happy to be here. So happy to see you all here. , theeminded of my time conference, and to see the rate that this organization has grown. Our growth is only due to u. N. Your commitment to moving the to you and your commitment to moving the progressive agenda. Give yourself a round of applause. Ater last years election, lot of people wrote off the progressives, that there was no way we could come back. If you look around the country and you see the state special elections, the people are on our side. Again, the ideas are on our side. The energy is with us. If we keep this moving, going forward, we will see a progressive resurgence like never before. [applause] as a former legislator has participated in every conference and a member of the six step, it is amazing to see the support growth from 13 to 30 staff members. People work so hard to put this, this conference together. I will forget names if i try to introduce everyone. With that said, are we ready for an exciting three days . [applause] we want to wait for the hotel [indiscernible] to arrive. It seems that most, if not all, or here. Westn enjoy the evenings indies, but we have a Wonderful Program set up for us. We will take this to the next level. When they say our state is under attack from the koch brothers, from robert mercer, they say what is your answer . Im here to tell you the answer is six. [applause] the answer is you. Our esteemedg up executive director, i want to do a few housekeeping items. Today is an open press day. I want to remind everyone to please keep your credentials on you. This is a higher security than normal event. Use our hashtags. We have a snapchat filter. Please tweet freely, post to facebook. We want to be sure to engage people. We dont want to keep the Progressive Movement hidden in darkness. We want people to know exactly what we are doing. We are open about our objectives, our agenda. We also want to make sure you have a good time. If you have any questions, dont hesitate to reach up to a staff member. If i can get you all to rise to your feet for the leader of our organization, someone i look up to, who has been helpful to to me, someone who you should all know, if you dont already know, someone who is making sure we take back power nicholasate, my boss, rathod. [applause] thank you so much. Thank you, mandela. Good morning. It is great to see so many familiar faces and so many new faces. I wanted to take a moment to welcome each of you to our Fourth Annual conference. Each year, we say it is a historic each year, you change that history. With nearly 600 state legislators and staff in the house, this will be the largest gathering of progressive legislators in the history of this country. Give yourselves a round of applause. [applause] back to lastking year and the last time we were together. It was on the heels of one of the most devastating elections in the history of the country. I recall still being in a haze, in a funk, shellshocked by the idea that donald trump was going to be the. States wased going to be the president of the. Of the United States. This will be a very different gathering. Donald trump and the Republican Congress has proven to be may be the worse than many of us thought. We are in a crisis and in a very delicate moment that i believe will define who and what america is and will be for generations to come. If you are a student of history, im sure you understand that this country has been in these important inflection moments throughout our existence. Think of the civil war. Think of the vietnam era and the civil rights movement. In each of these moments of struggle for what our country is and what our shared alleys are, we have in fact progressed, moving our country forward, bit by bit, to do what our founders described, to form a more perfect union. I obviously did not live during those times. I just know what i have read and learned. This time feels a little different. I feel anxious about it because there are challenges we face that are different. Right now, it seems like we cant agree on basic facts. And have a president who is driving this misinformation, by either claiming fake news or outright lying. We are part of a Reality Television culture, where instant gratification and selfcentered behavior is rewarded. Again, look at our president. We are in this moment, where the balance is tilted so heavily toward the right that a that each of you in this room are having to fight an onslaught of attacks and policies that are coming from both washington, d. C. , as well as conservatives in your state. You are defining what it means to resist. You are in fact ground zero for the resistance. In many ways, the state has been where we can get some wins, fight back, and hold the line. But we cant and have not been able to fight everything. Our country is in trouble. Take for example what just happened exactly a week ago in las vegas. We will hear in a few minutes from the nevada delegation. We will hold a moment of silence for the victims of that shooting. Nearly 60 people died. 530 were injured. But what will change . The same thing that always happens is happening. There is shock. There is outrage. And we are told this is not a time to politicize guns. Then slowly, things go back to the new normal. This time, even more so than other times. It feels so futile to hope for common sense gun reform. To me how wezing have allow this sort of thing to become now part of our daily lives. A few weeks ago, my children started school. I have twin boys. One is in first grade and my daughter is in fourth grade. I went to backtoschool night and spoke with my boys teachers. She told me how the kids have to go through a safety drill. Let me describe to you what a safety drill is. This is were children, our children, and their classroom though with their teacher to the back of the room or corner or a bathroom, depending on the classroom. And have to get down on their knees and cover their faces. The teacher locks the door, shuts off the lights, until they hear a knock or an all clear from an officer at that school. The teacher told me that these safety drills occur now just as frequently as fire drills. We have normalized murder to protect guns. Our children now have to bear the burden of our inability to do anything about gun violence in this country. My boys are six. Let me underscore this point. It has gotten so bad that sixyearolds are having to accommodate the gun lobby because our leaders dont have the courage to stand up to them. As i listen to my childrens teacher, i couldnt help but think that we have failed them. I see what is happening in puerto rico, texas, and florida over the past few weeks, and the failure of both the respond immediately a longterm to the effects of Climate Change. I look at all of our kids who worry about what type of world we are going to leave them. Right now, in this country, because of trump decision to end than there are more 800,000 immigrant lives hanging in the balance. Of aently read a story young pakistani woman who moved here with her family when she was 11 years old. She has since fallen out of status. Because of this program, she is now a phd candidate, a researcher and a professor at texas tech university. Fails to act on daca and it becomes repealed, she will have to leave this country. Think about that. This young woman, who is working to get her phd, she is a teacher and a researcher, she will be deported back to a country she barely knows. There are thousands of these stories. And that is just a drop in the bucket of examples why this moment is so critical and why the stakes are so high, and why it is no longer ok to just resist and hold the line. This moment requires all of us to move beyond resistance. Line,ny lives are on the especially the youngest and most vulnerable amongst us. The future of our country is literally hanging in the balance. What we do over the next several ands, especially with 2018 2020 looming, im afraid that we will seal our fate in the fate of our nation. So what is moving beyond resistance mean . Movemente progressive needs to clear space for new and more diverse leadership. [applause] there are currently too many people who think the same way. And frankly look the same way at the home of our ship. I respect and admire many of them. But at the same time, this group is just a wheel well state legislature, governorships and attorneys general have fallen into record control by conservatives, which i would argue also led to the election of donald trump. We need leaders who understand how power works in this country and how much of it is derived in the states. We need leaders who think differently about how to engage in the world and who are not willing to double down on the same old ways and we have tried those ways and they clearly do not work. Support and pave the way for new leadership that we see coming up in the states. Many of which are sitting in this room today. It is the states where this new class of leaders reside and work in where she where we should be looking to move this country forward. Next, as progressive leaders, we need to be able to connect politics and policy making with nonelectoral social movements. Far too long, elective elected officials have been wary of social movements. There is a long history for the reasons why. That could take all day to dissect. The truth is they both need one another. We have a number of movements happening simultaneously on the left. Movements onights, Climate Change, the fight for 15, the womens march and more. Unless we begin to connect to these important movements to actual policymaking and politicians who are not afraid to harness the power of these moments in the communities, we are merely engaging in the kind of political theater that we may call resistance but achieves limited outcomes and fails to fully harness and realized our full power. Flip how we to think of politics and policy making in the Progressive Movement. It is exciting that the left is finally waking up and realizing that these things called states exist. Number ofng to me the people who patted me on the head or rolled their eyes when i would type talk about the stakes. Now the same ones are trying to shift their focus to do more state work. Donors are starting to get to state work. We have groups running into the states. But my fear is that this is fleeting. Im not sure people on the left realized just how much power emanates from the states. It is where policymaking actually occurs in this country. Where lives are directly impacted. It is where federal policies are implemented. It is where congressional districts are drawn and power is established. It is where you can define for people what policymaking is and how they should think of their government. And its legislatures where you can find a Young Barack Obama and our countrys next great leaders. We always talk about down the ballot. It is time to flip that on it head and start thinking of voting of the ballot. [applause] conservatives have understood this for decades and created institutions beginning in the 1970s, which has allowed them the commandandcontrol that they now have to american politics. We need the same level of investment and focus and a longterm strategy, not just cycle by cycle as we have done forever. We need the ability to think and act in terms of power, both building hours and building ours and undercutting theirs. The return on that investment is much more transformational than the billions we have spent on consultants and Television Ads cycle by cycle. Finally, we need to be focusing our values as progressives. Beingd to think less in transactional or reactionary in policymaking to one that is transformational. We need to root ourselves in the values of freedom and opportunity. We are much more than being against trump or a list of demands. Our movement is rooted in the value that has attracted so many in this country and allowed us in the past to be the andy of the world. That no matter who you are, you can realize the american dream, the value of freedom we believe everyone has the right to express with a are in their faith, in their speech, who they love, as well as the freedom to live your life, basic things Like Health Care and earning a living wage. My parents came to this country with basically nothing. They settled in central nebraska thee i was born and raised town i call my home had a population of 800 people. My father was a preacher and my mother stayed home to raise my sister, brother and i. My fathers income was meager. Andgan working in the corn green fields in nebraska before i was even a teenager. We called for things like the preschool Lunch Program and other assistance. I was called the nword on a daily beast is daily basis and be enough because of the color of my skin. It would have been easy for my brother and sister and i to have given up. This way, whatp people expect you to do are pretty low, especially when they think you are less than them. But we did not give up. Because in the face of all of that, we believe we can make ourselves into something different. Because we were given a little bit of help to a lot that allows us to believe that this country cared about us here at because we were told by my parents that we could be whatever we wanted. Because it was reinforced by the values of this amazing country. And we did. My brother runs his own law firm here in d. C. Executiveis a Senior Service in a major intelligence agency. Iwill never forget the day walk through the gates of the white house for my first day working for president obama. [applause] from abject poverty in india to the cornfields of nebraska to the white house, working for the first africanamerican president. In no other country would that story be possible. Americas story. It is the story of what it means to be a progressive in this country. Without the opportunities my family and me were provided by paul by progressive policies, my story and the stories of so many people in this country would not be possible. Stories and these values that we should own and remind the country who is actually fighting for them. History is watching us. Lets use this moment and this conference to think differently, to root ourselves in the values we share as progressives and to be bold and strong in fighting for them. This is how we can move beyond resistance and how we can reset the direction of this country that we all care so deeply about. Thank you. [applause] thank you, thank you, thank you. I would like to call it the net the nevada delegation. Good morning. The assemblywoman from the great state of nevada and i stand here with my fellow legislators. A week ago today, we woke up to a senseless tragedy in our community, that not only affected the families of the dead, but families throughout this country. When you hurt one of us, you heard all of us. But as the large, Diverse Community that we are, we immediately stepped up like we always do, that only nevadans do, as the family that we are to start the healing process. So today, we stand before you united, because we are vegas strong. We are nevada strong. And we are stronger with you. So i ask you to join me in a moment of silence as we remember the 58 lives that we lost and the over 500 that are still suffering and their families. Thank you. I would like to thank the nevada delegation for the display of strength and bravery in this time that we deal with far too often in this country. To go into the program, for the next panel, we will talk about resistance, which is the theme that has been immediate since the election of our most recent president. Resistance has to come with an offensive strategy. We cannot only find ourselves playing defense. We have to be proactive in the way we approach governing. With that said, throughout this foundr news cycle, we ourselves in a 24hour resistance cycle. Part of that 24hour news cycle includes a good friend of mine who is with us today, who will be moderating this next panel. She needs no introduction, but i will give her one anyway ray anyway. She just pointed at me. There are things she wont want me to say and i wont say them because i am a good friend. However, the former National Press secretary for candidate bernie sanders, who is actually no relation, surprise surprise, to simone sanders. A roundou to give her of applause. You see her on cnn. You see her [cheers and applause] you see her carry the message effectively and in a way that we have not seen in some time, the way she reaches younger populations, the way she reaches communities of color. Its something we need to be very respectful and cognizant of cycle, go into any because we missed young people in the last election. We missed people of color in the last election. She will grab my arm and make meals into her. Anything is possible. [laughter] thank you. You all give mandela a round of applause. [applause] my name is simone sanders. I am excited to be here today. We will have a conversation and we will take route christians. Before ice we will take crowd questions. To startstart, i want here. President ofe the [indiscernible] a round of applause. We have senator mike mcguire of california. They will keep coming. The clapping. Woman millionlar euros net of new york. Last, we have careened corinne, a Senior Advisor for moveon. Org. Weay, we will talk about how move past resistance to active. Ie of the first questions would like folks to ask, as they tell us about themselves in two minutes, because i do have a timer and we will use it one, what does resistance me to you . Two, is the resistance effective . Some would argue that it is not necessarily the job of state legislators, for example, to the resistant you need to be working. Effective andce what does it mean to you . And tell us what it means to you. The president of prochoice america coming on five years. Can we turn the mics up, please . Way better. Not come people i did from reproductive rights. I came to reproductive rights from a long history of progressive politics and i did it for one simple reason. It was i came to realize that all those things that nick fored about, all promised women and families in this country were not possible unless we focused on womens sovereignty, being able to make our own choices in our lives that determine the rest of our lives. It has been a transformative experience. Im from texas. I am a fourth generation texan. We have been living in resistance a long time. Is my texas delegation out there somewhere . Yeah. Many of yous know what it means to live in resistance. Oh, no. Long before donald trump became president. The eyes of women and families, through the eyes of women and families who dont have means, who are struggling economically, that resistance has been powerful. Because women do what it takes to take care of our families, right . Even in harsh circumstances. Out of the resistance is born a promise. And when women get ahead and when women succeed, it is not just the individual that does. Its our families. It is our communities. Its our entire country. That is what drew me to the work. I will say one more thing. I woke up at three 30 this morning in worchester, massachusetts, to drive to an airport to get on a plane to be her at 9 00 a. M. And im thrilled and i love you all and i love the work you are doing. The honor and their privilege to attend a wedding yesterday of two of my very close friends, jacob and steve. Lovewe can celebrate the of two men through legal marriage in this country is an astonishing thing that we should never take for granted. It is an astonishing thing that was made possible by so many of you all and your counterparts in change,m who made that made that recognition happen at the state level long before it happened at the federal level. And that is the promise of dignity, justice, economics, security that comes out of the resistance. When we recognize the resistance as the engine of the car that is driving it forward. So thank you very much. [applause] state senator mcguire, tell us a little bit about yourself. May be you have been working on this morning. And what does the resistance mean to you . And do you think it is effective . Good morning, everyone. How are you doing . I hope you are all fired up to be here. I am excited to be with you. I want to let you know that i may have to leave a little early. I represent a large district in california, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the oregon border. Since last night, we have had 10 major fires, thousands of homes lost, and tens of thousands evacuated. I would like to be able to talk about the resistance. Candidly, i know that i am from california and there are some in this country, including my uncle, who i love and he lives in idaho and he thinks that everyone in california are communists. But its less about the resistance. I think what we are doing in california. What some may call resistance, to us, it is keep in on keeping on with the majority of americans believing. Number one, as progressives, we have to focus on job growth and making sure that we are hiring at a living wage. That is what we have done in california. We are now number one in the entire nation in job growth because we focused on our economy. When you take a look at time of change, the vast them vast majority of americans believe that Climate Change will impact the quality of life in a lifetime. California just move the strong this climate bill in america. We should be doing the same in every state. That is what the resistance is all about. [applause] the resistance is about infrastructure. Donald trump talks about this 1 trillion infrastructure plan that he wants to invest on tax credits, it will never happen. It has never happened in our history and it will never happen in our future. Investingserious in in a strong middle class in america, that we have to build our roads, bridges and highways. In california, we just passed a 50 billion infrastructure plan. Republican or democrat, you want good infrastructure. Am i right . When we talk about the resistance, the resistance is paying women equal to men and its about damn time. U. S. Republican women and democratic women, it is not about party. It is making sure we have equal pay across this nation. And it is ridiculous that we continue to talk like that. It is 2017. Health care. You take a look at the most rural parts of the state of california. They are the poorest areas of our state. They are the most vulnerable when it comes to repeal and replace. When it comes to the resistance, it is all of us in this room standing up to those dangerous policies and making sure that we aca be rolled back. By the way, we are at 17 uninsured in california in 2012, prior to the aca. Now we are at a record low 7 uninsured. It is because of the aca. We have to bring that conversation to a universal Health Care System here in the United States of america. [applause] , ms. Sanderslly will throw a fork at me and a second, but it is also about transparency. That is why we are working with republicans and democrats alike to get senate bill 149 passing california. That would mandate that every democrat and every republican president ial candidate has to release five years of the tax returns because sam 4 of americans believe President Trump should release his tax returns. [applause] and is about common sense doing the greatest good for the most amount of people here in america. And it is time to take a state legislatures back. Thank you for having me. [applause] all right. Assemblywoman, you have the floor. First and foremost, i want to us. K six for having all of and i want to give a shout out who are here. A shout out to the new york delegation holding it down. I am from flushing queens. Im a mets fan. Dont hold that against me. I am also a firstgeneration american who came to flushing at a very young age and really got involved in the local community because i didnt just want to be a cog in the system. I wanted to get involved. In 2012, almost five years ago, when i got elected, i was the youngest woman ever elected to the state legislature in new york. [applause] since then, we have done incredible work in getting more women and women of color theifically elected to state legislature because that is ultimately how we will create change from the grassroots up. [applause] resistance to me is all about not just focusing on the white house. Its all about our statehouse. If we will have an impact on 2020, we need to start today. Actually, we should have started yesterday. But that is why we are all here, right . It means that we will Work Together on everything that impacts people daytoday. Thats minimum wage, voter id control, violence collectivebargaining agreements that all happens at the state level. Thats why we are so excited in new york to be at the forefront of fighting on all of these issues together. Thank you. [applause] youve got the floor. I started off my career in new york. Im from new york. I grew up in queens village. I started off my 15year political career in the city council. Then i moved out to d. C. And did anional politics work for issuebased campaign and ended up in the obama administration, where i met nick. I thank you so much for putting this together. Ive known him for 10 years. We worked in the campaign in the administration. I went to the moveon. Org after the 2016 election. Ive been part of working with our allies, like mayor allen, and all of you in the states and trying to push for the resistance. For me, what does the resistance mean to me . I look at mymeans threeyearold every day and i think about, ok, what is this country going to look like for her . When she is 10 years old and she looks back and she is, like, mommy, what did you do when donald trump was doing these things . Because she is going to learn. He is the president. She will learn what happened. And i want to be able to tell her that i thought fearlessly for her, that i stood up, and that anytime i had a platform, i used it. So i think about my child a lot when i think about the resistance. I also think about myself. Im an immigrant. Im a woman. Im black. Im part of the of the bt q community. I think about the lgbtq community. I think about those things on a constant, daily every freaking second. In the someone who sits oval office signing things constantly to attack everything that i am. So it is important to me to continue to fight. And i am part of an organization that gives me the opportunity to do that. Working . Resistance i believe that it is. We stopped the repeal of the aca. That is important to have done. [applause] and i also think about all of you out there. You guys are part of the resistance. I think about the eight seats that we were able to flip, the state legislative seats that we were able to flip from red to blue. [applause] specialbeen 27 elections in red districts. Winning eight is not bad. S 30 . Thats 30 . Any time there has been a competitive democrat in these races, we have won them. You are all playing such an Important Role in what we are doing because it is not just about these seats. Its not about what is happening at 1600 pennsylvania and the hill. It is what is happening in the states. That is how we will stop a lot of these awful, bad bills that are coming out. So i thank you for being part of the resistance. I thank you for being here. And lets continue to fight. [applause] since the election this november, there has been this really intense increased focus on legislative races and what is happening in the states in general with a number of bills. I would like you all to speak to what Effective National and state partnerships look like. Alan,ve folks like mayor who all your organizations have done lots of work as of late in the states mobilizing. But what does an Effective Partnership really look like look like from your perspective . What are some things that maybe folks should know we are engaging and partnerships on the underground issues. It is great to come in and you work on a bill or something that is happening, but it can get a little sticky. You want to pop in first, police . Elise . This is an old organization. In 2019. E 50 years old we have brickandmortar folks. N the ground and those states we try to be really clear about what we have to offer when engaging in state partnerships. I want to back up for a second. I hear all the time do you do federal work . Do you do state work . We do both. But there is a category that gets passed over national work. Some of the states showed out to more than their parts. Right . You all are doing incredibly thertant work that promotes values of progressive and progressive democrats and that needs to be put together with your help. When we think about what state work we engage in, we have three questions with our partners in the states. Does it actually matter to women in those states . Does it list of new leaders . Very much like nick spoke, we we believe that new leadership has to come from the states. Third is does it change the National Conversation . This for us is really important . It means two things . It puts the opposition on record, right . And does it allow us to frame things in our own values rather than reacting to the oppositions values . My friend here on my right, weve been working with California State Legislature for some time and it is now on the governors desk, the nondiscrimination act. It is well known that women can be fired for their reproductive wasces, but this bill catalyzed because a woman was fired for having children out of wedlock. We are not only working with california. We work with our good friends at in st. Louis level. Thats in a red state. Our state leader is a powerhouse from st. Louis. Got soernor of missouri bent out of shape that he call the state legislature back into and to have a special prolife session to overturn this ordinance. This turned out to be a difficult thing to do. Were thenal headlines governor wants you to be fired for your birthcontrol. We had already done this in d. C. D. C. , st. Louis, and the Missouri Legislature who were prepared to go on offense and a red state, and are great friends in california, we are having a very Different National commerce asian National Conversation. This is not about abortion. Weve got a red state governor. State that isue actually leading the way in talking about our values. And we are changing the National Conversation while having an impact for women and families around the country, and acting protections at a time where the federal government certainly seems hellbent on removing them. About doingtalk state work, it is not necessarily federal versus state. For you, it is specifically about a National Conversation. You all are in the states. You are in the front lines of the resistance. What does that look like for you . , i will give a little background. We are one of the largest independent progressive organizations. We have 1. 8 million members across the country. We dont necessarily have chapters or offices based in different regions are states. We try to empower our members. We train our members. We empower them. We make sure they have the information they need to fight whatever is happening in their state or even nationally when it came to repealing aca. They made sure they had the phone numbers, that they went to the town halls that were located in their states. So it is elevating the conversation and empowering our members. Allies. , we help our that is one of the ways that this resistance is working. , helpinging naral other organizations that have organizations, that are working on daca, making sure we tap into our members to push for what it is our allies are trying to do. So all of this is important. One thing we did this summer is we had something called resistance summer, where we had more than a thousand of our members across the country. We had these conversations in neighborhoods about important issues we wanted to start this now as we go into 2018 and really training people in the tools and giving them the and mobilizing them and having the conversation to figure out what are the issues that people care about most in their themborhood we called moveon mobilizers. It is a way to really get folks embedded into the community. Thats what it looks like to us. Helping the different issues that different folks are working on, pushing that forward, tapping into millions of membership and raising money, too. It is a way to raise money for folks. With the hispanic federation. Moveon members raised more than 3 million. We really mobilized that community and that was for puerto rico. Those are the ways that we try to tap into what we do and what the tools and the folks and the power that we have. For state legislators, the job is about you going to work. How have you been able to leverage some of these National Partnerships . What does that look like in terms of the resistance . Bestf you can give two practices, what would they be . I think we all know that coalitions matter. We can do half of the work we do without a Strong Coalition behind us. To give you an example, a lot of the criminal justice work that ando in new york is driven done in partnership with amazing organizations. At the federal level, they are trying to roll back aca and get rid of Family Planning services. A Reproductive Health organization got together in new york to do a bill inserting Family Planning services into the state budget, if we can get that done at the federal level. , its a state legislator really nice in this new world, post november. We are no longer thought of as minor leagues. We are now the major leaks. I think major leagues. That,oner we embrace other organizations will be there to fight army in arm, shoulder to shoulder with us. So a few items. Number one, the bottom line, when it comes to resistance, particularly when building coalitions in the states, we are working oneonone. Toneed to be able to prove residents we work with every day that standing strong against trump means taking america stronger. We need to be able to prove that. Areask one of the biggest im concerned, with regards to resistance im going to be very critical for a moment the democrats really screwed up and i think we can use a term that President Trump use shellac. Because we do not have a focus on rule america. On Rural America. [applause] im really concerned. If we do not become Americas Party and not the perceived party of coastal elites in urban centers, we will continue to lose. 86 assemblies have gone to republicans. Over a thousand state legislative seats have been lost. Its because we are not focusing on those voters who, by the way, those issues they care about in Rural America are not as different as some may perceive in urban america. If you look at the el toro map after this november, it is so read because it was a bloodbath it is so red because it was a bloodbath. Lip servicegiving to Rural Americans, we need to be able to step up, to show up, to deliver. I say that because i am the only rural democrat in the california state senate. Between the Golden Gate Bridge and the oregon border. If you take a look at Rural America, along with rural california, the poorest counties in the state of california are cool. Two of the five poorest counties and my right . In the state are in my district. Highest numbers of homelessness, highest childhood party, highest opioid addiction. And democrats forget that rural voters are our voters, too. They want good schools. [laughter] they want jobs. They want Quality Health care. And they want to be able to logon and get onto the internet. By the way, i have a county where 40 of the households are not connecticut are not connected to the internet. What are democrats doing for Rural America . Ill be on the soapbox or for a second. I like the soapbox. We need to coordinate housing for homelessness. Endonly way we will homelessness is providing a Home Mental Health services. It was modeled after utah. Take your utah. When it comes to taxes and holding our president accountable, thank you so much. O six career training, 72 of , high school graduates, will not go to a Fouryear College degree. When it comes to dreamers, 800,000 dreamers, republicans and democrats alike agree that they need to stay in this country because it is the country they love and it is the country they are fighting for every day. So if democrats and us progressives dont get it together, we will continue to lose. We will with the house, when the senate and take that the presidency and take back our stay houses once we start focusing on rule america. On Rural America. [applause] i see you all. Lets talk about that. Most people would argue that the problem with the resistance is that it leaves some people out. Thats not necessarily my view. Thats just what some people say. That the problem with the resistance is that it leaves some people out, such as Rural America, but others would argue that, and i would like the panel to explore this yes, we have to do more for rule america Rural America. The problem is we talk about Rural America. We are not talking about people look like me. We talk about people look like you. So how do we bridge the gap in the conversation . The resistance we just established is about doing the work. But how can we bridge the gap in the conversation that we are actively putting forth an agenda that literally fits all people. What people care about the economy. Lets talk about that white people care about the economy. Lets talk about that. Im happy to jump in. [laughter] then i want to hear from naral. I know you have feelings. I sometimes have feelings. I think that a successful strategy is not a strategy of one. Sometimes, we get wrapped up into Rural America. That is one of our biggest weaknesses. Africanamerican turnout, it was 10 , sometimes 15 when obama ran. There is a problem with that. Dont deal with that now, then shame on us in three and a half years. Sure what we are doing to be able to build their rose and get middleclass jobs. Whether it is a Call Community of color or in a caucasian community, we have to have a strategy to be able to take our state houses back. I also believe those bridges arent as long as we think. We can bridge some of these divisions we have by simply bringing the focus for many of us in this room. Karine pandoras box. Symone open. Karine i guess, Rural America, do you define that as white people . I am just trying to figure out. This is a conversation democrats have all of the time. At . Are we looking black people live in Rural America. There are people of color that live in Rural America. I just want to be clear who we are talking about. There is a different conversation for state legislatures, the country. Okay. Let me step back. If you look at 2016, we had a democrats had a lot of issues. It wasnt just Rural America, right . It was african americans, black folks, they were not reached out to. We clearly had a problem with women. But the reality is white women do vote republican. There were some things we just didnt address well enough. There are millennials. Millennials went and voted for the third party. So there is a lot of issues. It is hard to look at this and just say it was thing. One there were multiple things that happened that we need to address. So that is kind of like the thing that is going around in my head. And lets not forget one of the big problems we will have in 2018 and 2020 is russia. Like, that was a serious thing that happened. And its not being addressed. Its not. Not with this administration. There were a lot of things that happened we need to have a serious conversation about. It is not just Rural America. It is like how do we treat people of color . How do we go out and really reach out to millennials . There were things we did that just did not resonate. That is kind of the angst i feel when i hear about the primary focus of the conversation being about Rural America, because it was across the board. Symone so assemblywoman i do not think you represent Rural America, but in going forward, because we can have a lot of conversations about what didened and what folks wrong, but what is this everybody agenda . What does that even look like, particularly for the states . I think the states will have to lead on this issue. Theuse nationally, clearly, Democratic Party is having some issues. Rozic and the other big piece to all of this is the recruitment and running of state legislators. Is this better . Should i go into my npr voice . So the critical piece that is missing here that i think we have not addressed as a National Party and we are not doing effectively at the state level is the recruiting and running of candidates who will speak to voters. You have always heard the story i hate congress, but i love my congressperson. I hate the state legislature, but i love my local assemblywoman. That is really how we will ultimately see change at the see more people getting engaged and coming up to vote. If we are picking people who look like the voters. That there is power in that diversity and strength in that diversity. That is ultimately how, as a party, at the local level, we are really going to make a difference. Symone im going to come back to that point. Because i like it, but i think theres also something we need to impact there. Ilyse . Ilyse i think there are a lot of different conversations actually wrapped up in this, which is not surprising. We are still trying to process what happened and how to go forward. I think there is a real conversation to have about how resources get distributed through the Democratic Party. That conversation needs to be transparent, a needs to be loud, and it needs to be robust. The work of rebuilding is really difficult, and that is the way actually end up, from a nuts and bolts perspective, reaching people, regardless of population density. From a policy perspective, i will be controversial. I dont think we are losing because of policy. I dont think we are losing because of some false divide between identity politics and economic populism. I do not believe it. I believe we are experiencing a huge crisis in confidence in government generally. You read polls. It came out last week, and it said 78 of people disapprove of the gop congress. And you think it is a big number. And the is 68 disapprove of the democrats. That leads to under, lack of motivation to get to the polls. What i do not think this is a policy problem. An ability to values int collective a language thats tailored to two different cultures. That comes from states. That comes from localities. I think we are right on with our values. I think most people believe in progressive and democratic values. I think we need to motivate people, because we believe we are asked going to do something, and do something in their interest. When we talk about any issue, from jobs to schools that transportation, it actually has there be couched in an emphatic understanding of where people are coming from, as well as a confidence and i am going to fight for you. The policies are there. My issues are considered really controversial. Sometimes particularly with rural voters. The ones who suffer the most are rural voters. Vice president mike pence i do not know if anyone is here from the indiana delegation, but i do not need to tell you guys. Vice president mike pence, in his scorched earth approach to and abortion in his state when he was governor, closed down Reproductive Health clinics across the state. First of all, that doesnt actually end abortion. What we know is that when abortion is made illegal or in excess of oh, the number of abortions dont go down. Two women were sent to prison for abortion in indiana. But what did happen . Maternal Health Outcomes went down in rural indiana. Hiv rates went up in indiana. This is about values. This is about who cares for who. And in 2018, drop off women voters, we need to get to the polls in 2018 across this country. Their top two issues are health care and abortion rights. And that was priorities language. That was not our language. And the reason for that is particularly women who dont have access to Reproductive Health care acutely know that that is an attack on their families. Eightan attack on the midi. It is an attack on their future, because they cannot finish school, get jobs, yet out of it is an attack on their dignity. It is an attack on their future, because they cannot finish school, get jobs, get out of poverty. We have to be able to have a collective set of values that we are communicating. Yall know how to communicate best. That language may differ. But it is not giving up values. We dont have a policy problem. Symone so thats interesting. I think it is interesting for state legislators to hear we do not have a policy problem when it is literally yalls job to create policy. So we are good on the policy. If we do have the right values, why is it not essentially connecting for democratic voters and four democratic constituents . Way weave to rethink the are actually engaging our community . I will say this. In 2016, there is a whole swath of Republican Voters who said they voted for donald trump solely because they wanted a conservative Supreme Court justice. They got one. So they ignored the misogyny. They said they did not like that, the sexism, the racism, but they wanted this articular thing, and that is why they pulled the lever for donald trump. If you ask democratic voters all across the country. And we can talk about state legislative races, mayoral races democratic voters dont necessarily feel that way. So how do we connect with folks on the values . Do we have to train the people . Because i feel that is the only way the resistance actually becomes effective at home. Because yes, we won on the health care fight thus far. We beat that back. But in over 33 states, more than 90 pieces of legislation since 2016 has been introduced to russia access to the ballot box. Accessoduced to restrict to the ballot box. Are we really winning . Thats the question for the panel. Ilyse some of this is distribution. We have to be getting the resources. We neveraral works, ever, ever place organizers in a place we do not have an impact. Yall will help us determine where it is. We are never in a place that we think we can make a difference that we are not making a similar difference in a state house or state senate race. To us, that is the ball game. That is the long pathway back. So i do think that theres a huge conversation about how we think about resources resource , allocation. There is no doubt that the other side is way more sophisticated in terms of Voter Suppression. And that is absolutely true in the way that they have moved legislation through the statehouses. My home state of texas, it is awful. It is awful there. The disenfranchisement happening. But it is more than that. You know, all of the work cambridge analytics did, that they are talking about in the trump administration, all of the work of the russians and blah blahblah and karine is right, it is a real issue. But a lot of that was actually psychologically knowing how to depress people. It wasnt even how do i get my voters out. Its like how do i get you from going . How do i divide you from the folks are telling you that they actually want to fight from you . How do i diminish the confidence . Both symone and karine mentioned that white women have been voting republican for some time. They havet have, been keeping the Republican Party up. Ilyse im sorry, i think it lets white men off when you say it that way. And you know, i just cannot stand letting the men off that. Traditionally our base. We have reached into both rural and urban areas of white women. And a lot of that is psychological. Which the other side gets. I feel like sometimes we are working at 2. 0, and they are working at 5. 0. So again, its not a policy thing, it is a value thing, and it is also a psychology thing. Actually understanding the human condition and what makes people vote. I wont tell you we have the answer. I will tell you have some ideas and hypotheses that we feel like we can test in 2018. And that is what we all have to be doing. Trying new stuff, testing new things, learning from those tests, sharing with each other what we learned from those tests, so they can be replicated and keeping our eye on the long game. Symone you want to jump in . Karine yeah. Theres not an easy answer here. I think its probably part of the problem. There are so many facets to this. Some of it goes real, real deep. But i want to say this real quick. I worked in the obama administration. I was there the two years. Isstwhat i saw from my perch that republicans were so angry that there was a black man in the white house, so angry there was a black man in the oval office, that they strategized, they got themselves together, on day one, when he was inaugurated, they met in d. C. , all the bigwigs from the Republican Party, and said they would resist from day one. What they did is im sure a lot of you saw this they raised 60 million over the ten years and made sure they flipped legislative seats, made sure they flipped governor seats, and they worked and pounded on that. Its not a sexy thing to talk about. But they invested and did that. So what happens is, Voter Suppression laws pop up. All of these bad bills on womens reproductive rights pop up, against womens reproductively. All of these things started creeping up because republicans strategized and invested and raised tens of millions of dollars because they felt like they were losing their country they felt like they were losing , their identity. And so now, we are in a place where are we winning . , thats a really good question, and its a complicated answer. If you look across the country, yes, its very red. But as i mentioned, we had 27 special election seats. Flipped 8. Thats 30 . It is small, but it is a start. One thing donald trump has done is he has unified us. And there is the argument of week cannot just be against him, we have to be for something, but i think there are a lot of things we are for. We do have a lot of values. We know who we are. So it is just trying to we are in a tough spot as democrats. We really are, as progressives. 2018 is going to be a huge test case. It doesnt stop there. Lets not forget about november. We have two important races in november. We got to win those. And all of the other special elections that are coming up from now until then. So, it is a hard conversation, clearly, and there is no one answer. But we have to win. We have to win in the states, and we have to win in 2020. Symone so we are going to take some crowd questions. I want to get the mikes ready. I will go to the state legislator, and then if it can get the mikes ready for questions i am ready for questions, not soliloquies. Got to be clear. , when i say are we winning it is more than just getting more folks elected. What about folks, people like yourself, who are elected . Like you are currently sitting. N the seats, doing the work in some places, it is working well. We can see it here but in other places, it is not. So how can we be better as state legislators, and how can state legislators change the conversation and leave the charge . Assemblywoman. Rozic i want to enter that, but also taking a step back to your last question, i think that at the end of the day, we do still have a lot of work to do on the policy front. Im from new york. I am very lucky. I have my own dedicated staff to work on legislative ideas and to put that out into the world. Not many other state legislators can do that, right . [applause] i hear about it all the time from colleagues across the country. Youre sharing in l. A. , sharing staff. Or you are trying to write it on your own. You are parttime, like me. That is a struggle. S. I. X. Iss also why so important. You have, now, a resource and people who will connect each other legislators across the country who are working on similar ideas. To give a small example of that, i have a bill that i introduced that would do best state divest state contracts from any company that is interested or word contract to build the border wall with mexico. [applause] that has now been replicated across multiple states arizona, california, illinois i. X. , someone took an interest in it, spread the knowledge, spread the actual bill draft, and got other legislators interested. And that is the only way we are really going to ultimately lift up the entire party. Is that if we are working together on common policy ideas and helping each other out. Symone senator mcguire. St. Sen. Mcguire thank you, maam. I agree. When we take a look at the issues that many of us, if not all of us, are championing in this room, jobs, climate, infrastructure, war on poverty it is issues that republicans agree with, too. I think we have some challenges. I will give you an example in california. California will be a majority minority state by 2050. We have state Assembly Districts and state Senate Districts that we simply cant win. We have eight or nine point advantages in voter registration. The reason being is we are not turning out latino voters. And where i feel frustrated, at times, is just because we have ll of a voter registers and campaign, we forget that they want to know what we are doing for them am i right . , and so where i feel frustrated is that we have to keep going back. We have to make it a mission, not just for months, but for years. We have to embed ourselves into the communities, and yes, it will take dollars. But imagine, if we started this five years ago, where we would be at as a party and Progressive Movement. And the other piece we need to focus in on is the court system. If we are seeing dangerous actions taken by this president , this party, state legislatures have to step up and take this president to court and fight him. Because majority of the time, this president will lose in court, whether it his his personal side or his professional, the law is on our side. We have to get serious about this resistance. I will end it here political strategy and money. Republicans are great with strategy, and then focusing that strategy with significant money. We have to be more organized. And i think that is going to mean those states that can help organize, like maybe in new york or california, can start organizing in southwest states or in middle america, to be able to help targeting certain races, particularly when it comes to the state legislature. I think thats the other area we need to be able to go. Symone love it. Love it. Yall can clap for that. Go ahead. [applause] okay. We are going to take some crowd questions. We have hands. Where are the microphones . We got one on each side. Ok, i got a question right here in the blue sweater. Yes, maam. You know what . Hold on a second. I am going to do my oprah thing. We will take it to the crowd. What is your name and what is your question . My name is teresa. I am from oregon. State representative. [applause] i am the first immigrant latina representative in the history of oregon. [applause] thank you. So my question to the panel are what are each of you doing to lead the resistance to folks who dont speak english . Our country is diversifying more. What are we all going to make sure everybody feels included, that everybody feels that they are part of the whole process . It is just imperative that we start thinking about everybody, not just our regular populations. Symone great question. As you guys think about your answer, let me give you numbers. A ordering to rejections by the u. S. Census bureau, america, by 2032, the working class will be majority, minority. And by 2040, america will be majority people of color. So what are you all doing to lead the resistance to folks that dont speak english . St. Sen. Mcguire thank you for all of your work. It is good to see you. So california has just invested 75 million in Legal Protection and Naturalization Services and in College Scholarships for our 200,000 dreamers. That is number number two, we one. Just passed the toughest law in the land to be able to protect those who are part of our immigrant community. Those who are undocumented. Sb54. Where it no longer allows for cooperation of local Law Enforcement with i. C. E. And it has been controversial, but what i will tell you we to 12 millionn undocumented residents who call this country home, right now. The vast majority are paying their taxes and abiding by the law. When you narrow it down, you have about 300,000 to 400,000 who have some type of criminal charge. 200,000 have a felony. Those who have a felony probably should not be in this country. But for trump to be of the say there are 2 million with a felony, going against what department of Homeland Security statistics are, thats fake news. And if we are not standing strong for the most vulnerable in our country right now, then who the hell are we as americans . That is why california just passed sb54, and we also are providing over 100,000 kids who are undocumented Health Insurance via covered california, which is our Affordable Care act alternative. We would love to work with you on that as well. And go ducks. [laughter] right here in the back. Symone there we go. Senatorian, a state from michigan. Symone and he is a millennial. Shout out to the millennials. [applause] thank you to the panel today. I have a question about removing barriers within our own party. Often, we say we want young people involved. But when you look at the laws for running for his, in many states, they are different. State, yout, in our need to be 30 to run for lieutenant governor, secretary of state. What is your approach to internal barriers, such as age voting . R single ticket instead of people in direct primaries . Symone excellent question. Who would like to hop on that . So the question is let me sum it up for yall. What are we how can we open up the party really, for young people. In michigan, you have to be 30 to run for basically anything, except for state senator and state representative. So what can we do, one, to open up the party at the state level to younger people . But also, i think we need to have courageous conversations as democrats, but we say we want young people at the table, but a lot of times, that means you want me to sit at a table, you do not want me to say anything. Lets talk about that. [applause] i totally agree. I mean im with you 100 . When i ran at people looked at 26, me like i had three heads. Like why would you want to go work in the State Capitol . Or i got you look so young or you look like a teenager. Like you could not possibly be substantive or have the experience to be a slate state legislator. Ultimately, you cannot be what you cannot see. I feel like a law of the work that i do, day in and day out, otherding this network of millennial, other women, other woman of color, other young women who want to run for office, who do not know where to go, who do not have the resources. Recently, we have seen a lot of organizations popping up who will start to turn the tide on some of that work. But oftentimes, yeah, it can feel like youre the only one out there doing that work. Does symone does the Democratic Party need a Pipeline Program . Absolutely need a Pipeline Program. It is interesting what you are seeing now is a lot of young people who want to get involved, who are looking around them and saying, ok, it is my turn, or i want to step in. We do have a problem, as a party. We do not train our young people. There are people who stay in office 30 years, 40 years who , have not left. And they are not looking behind them. There are some people who are. I do not want to say all of them. But they are not looking behind them to say who is behind me that i can lift up, elevate, bring into the fold, so they can step in when im no longer around. I think the Democratic Party needs a pipeline. We need to reach out to people, tell people there is an opportunity here. We need your voice. Its recruiting and creating a pipeline, so you need both so young people know that, hey, they can do this as well. Ilyse can i i do not disagree with that, but i will go back to something nick said, because i think it is important. I am on the board of a new organization, one of those that has cropped which is the only organization in the country that focuses on high school and college age women. Who want to prepare to run for office. It is a fabulous organization, there are tons of women supporting it. Some of you are involved in the program. To the gentlemans question, what we are finding is that a lot of young women are focused on structural barriers. That is part of their training. Yes, the Democratic Party can do a lot better, but i think we need to let people and organizations do the work, and have the Democratic Party recognized the work. I think that is a really important pathway because part of this is rebuilding confidence. Howwe rebuild confidence is a recognized work whether they are part of the Democratic Party are not. We have to and the distrust of advocacy groups and advocates, the trust of the party of outside groups. We do that is when we recognize each others work. Young peoples work is critically important. I just got back from minnesota and i talked to a lot of young people on campus. If i start with you should join the Democratic Party, they are not going to listen to another word i say. That does not mean we cant pull them closer to recognize the Democratic Party as a party of their interest. Senator, did you want to Say Something . I was about to say what you said, so i want to say thank you. To my localelected school board and it was a hell of a fight. I did it from grassroots. We need to be able to learn from that lesson, exactly what you said. Having individuals of their age to lead the effort. To be able to organize and change communities. I just want to say i apologize about leaving early, due to the fires i have to run. Give the senator around of applause. Question . E next good morning everyone i am state senator from arizona. We are a border community. Last sunday i wrote the recommendation letter for a latino who i hope will succeed me. I agree, we have the values, we have the message, but where we i dont think we what many connected in the country are facing. Better connect the things that we say we are about with the policies that we are actually fighting or . For . Ghting in a way that helps us win and effective . I heard a different question. Angry, sad, and frustrated. If we do not start by acknowledging that anger, fear, and frustration, then we are never going to start from a place of people thinking we recognize that they are going to. Collectivetly a malaise that has gripped our country. The fear that our children are going to have worse lives than , and it very real crosses ethnicity and party lines right now. I have a tendency, which really value, of framing things to the positive and saying the future is better. That, buttinue to do if we do not connect with people , theylidate their fear are not going to see us as an ally. Some of that gets into challenges we do not have time to discuss, but a lot of that fear, anger, and frustration was coming from a sense of social dislocation. Challenge. Eally all of the data since the election has shown that. This is the collective challenge for us moving forward. Out doing what the simple, stupid answer is which is winning back middleclass white voters. How do we offer solutions that make folks feel like we are not they are not feeling left this is hopefully what we are going to be talking about over the next couple of days, because that is the real challenge. I have another question here. What is your name . The resistance looks a lot different in the south. Betweento tow the line being effective in our statehouses and speaking out for our constituents. The national organizations, what are you all doing to help lift up the south . We are struggling, and a lot of times the democratic strategy does not include southern states. It is almost like we are written off. [applause] national these organizations, what are you doing . We need your help. Tried to be very mindful that we are a national , we tried to be sensitive to areas like the south so if there is something going on he dont hover in and try to fix things. We do Strategic Partnerships with organizations on the ground. We would love to partner with you, and let us know how we can be helpful. That is how we deal with things without looking like we are coming from up here, when you have to be on the ground to understand what is happening. That is the most important way we deal with things. I would love to Exchange Information after this. If there are ways we can be helpful, use our membership to help you in any way, that is how we do it. We do strategic partnership. We let you guys do the work, but we give resources as much as we can. That is how we try to be helpful. Cap i answer the question before . Can i answer the question before . Suffering,ple are and that is so real in 2017, especially in vulnerable communities. We have to own the conversation. We have to take it over. The other side of the aisle, they do such a great job of taking the lie, something that is not true, and just bang it in over and over again. They are in such unison that it is almost like the lie becomes true. Progressives we have to make sure we are owning the conversation, and really knowing how to communicate. That is one of the biggest problems that i saw when i go back and look at the last 810 years. The affordablet care act, the first six years republicans owned the conversation. It was easy for them. They controlled it, and they spread lies across the country. I am not saying Affordable Care act is perfect, but what they said about it was not true and they sold it as truth. We were never able to counter that. Howeally have to figure out do we communicate, not from d. C. Or what is happening in the help inbut how it will a real way. Because people are indeed suffering. At daca andng thinking about these young people. They may have to leave this country, probably will, and that is going to hurt millions of people. How do we take that message and knocked it in . D you want to pop in on that . I have three answers. The first is oldfashioned democratic redistribution. In some cases that is building and innfrastructure, some cases it is working with partners on the ground. The second is doing the municipal work that we have been able to do in missouri, and we have done a little of that in tennessee. To see what was possible and start the conversation about women and families. Do our values work even when you have a hostile government . The third is listen. Maybe that is the first, really. Staying open and coming to places like this so you can tell us what you need more of, and we can be responsive to that. That is the way we approach it. Is there a mic out there . Yes, right here. I am chris from wisconsin. Aen are we going to have conversation about building a progressive infrastructure just like the right has . They have been building this machine for 45 years. We do not even have a way to communicate a message in a lot of parts of rural was constant. Wisconsin. They are grassroots organizing in so many communities. Theo not even have structure to communicate the great policies we are working on. When are we going to start focusing on holding that network like the right does have . Add would also like to where are we going to get that money like the right has . The reason the right has been able to have such an effective strategy is because they have a few small wealthy families that bankroll the idea. If we do not have that on the left, how can we mirror that effort or compete . The milliondollar question. That is a great question. I talked about this earlier. When it came to taking back some ,f these statehouses republicans raised tens of millions of dollars to do that. And they did it effectively. I can only speak to what move on is doing right now. We thought about that. We thought about what can we do somethingrt and build with members that we have across the country. And talk to people about these different issues. That is what we did this summer with our move on mobilizers, and we had over a thousand people across the country. That is not enough, but it starts a process. We want to see how successful we can be. We try this experiment and it did really well, now we are going to continue to build. The andiving them having a real conversation. They were doing neighborhood talks and hearing from people about what was important to them , what did they want to see. It, is one way to go about that it is a larger question that we have to continue to try to answer. Do i want to diminish the challenge of resources and getting these messages out to all corners of all states in this country. Compete ongoing to money. We have phenomenal answers of where the person with the most one he does not win. Where we are going to compete, and this also takes money but is model, they need money because they do not have people. We have people. When we spend our resources on making sure all of those people can participate, want to theicipate, and have capacity to participate, that is when we win. I used to work in campaign is importantm, it to compete, but i am going to take the people over the money any day and put my bets there. I think we have a question over there . Yes, maam. Johnny from tennessee. If you would talk a little bit more about fear, because that what is the Republican Party is doing. They are promoting fear. Laste heard this over the 78 years or even longer. People will buy whatever you sell them. I live in a rural area and i hear this every day. People say that i just could not vote for hillary, so i voted for trump. If you think about it for a moment, how do you choose one crook over another crook. Look at, with no offense to anyone in this room, washington it is made up of a lot of old white men. They are thinking for everyone in america promoting fear every day. Newstell another lie, fake , they moved from one point to another to keep people wondering what is going to happen the next day. I wish you would discuss strategies of how we overcome that. Panel, what do you have . How do we overcome . Racism,evel of bigotry, antisemitism that is out there, is astounding. I face it not just going through twitter, but to hate mail sent to offices, there is a rhetoric that we are seeing from people who have been influenced by fear. Earlier,k to a point we need to ultimately give them Something Else to believe in, to focus on, to organize around. We have not done that effectively over the course of many years. I think today is step one in that process. Awful we are saying will take some time. Donald trump has cap into the worst parts of this country. Fear, all of the horrible isms that we hear about and have to face every day. That i would at least like to give some hope, is that of supporters5 who will probably never leave him. Who truly believe everything he says. That means there is a big chunk of this country, i like to hope and think, do not believe in dont believe in all of those awful isms. I would like to think there is still more of us than him and his people. Communicatingp and have to have a message that hits home. I think it is starting local and working our way up. We could talk forever about the 2016 election at a president ial level. If we take a page out of the as confidence has collapsed in the government and fear has became a tool, we have to start to men those relationships at a local and state level. I think that matters very much. It goes back to one of the first questions the woman from oregon said, which is breaking down barriers of our constituents. One of the things i felt was important to do was make sure the organization adopted a position on immigration and a pathway to citizenship. Asng able to Stay Together families is very much a reproductive issue. For women and families to have policies that matter. At a Community Level if we break and start barriers, to admit the community together, and invest that faith in you all , we are legislatures going to see the National Impact of that. I would like to add we need to call out racism and bigotry every time we see it. I amod morning, gannon. Tative i was elected to the house at age 24. Many young people want to know partys strategy is on impeachment. This is a timely way to get young people involved in the political pipeline sooner. How do you think states can support our Congress People on impeaching donald trump . The millennials did not come to play this morning. Answer that question. I think another question to pose is our our our Congress People even in the mindset of impeachment . There are young voters across who say we need to get trump out of office. What are our state elected officials doing about impeachment . There are some people who do not want to use the word, who do not want to go anywhere near impeachment at all. We cannot talk about a strategy for impeachment if the folks who are in charge of it are not even getting there. Answer some of these questions. This is why 2018 is so important. Republicans are not going to be impeaching trump anytime soon, and they have the power to do that on both sides. They are clearly in lock step with trump and all of his awful bigotry. So that is not going to happen. Side, it isratic being talked about every moment that it can. Our members are in the lock step with it. Why therenswer as to are leaders in our party who run away from the word. I am not really sure why that is. There cannot be any clearer list of things as to why he should be impeached, from russia to just him as a president. Does anybody else want to touch this . I will say we are out of time. This has been amazing. This panel a round of applause. This has been absolutely amazing. You have a little bit of wiggle room before your next session. If you liked what you heard please treat about us. Please come up and connect with these great folks afterwards. Thank you for allowing me to be your moderator. We will see you next time. [applause] cspans washington journal, live every day with issues that impact you. Coming up this morning, Jenny Beth Martin discusses her groups call for Mitch Mcconnell to resign. Holden onorter emily the epa decision to roll back the clean power plan. Kalb talks about his new book on russia and communism. Be sure to watch washington journal live at 7 a. M. Eastern this morning. Join the discussion. Tonight on afterwards, Craig Shirley on the life and career of nude gingrich with his book. Newt gingrich with his book. It was Little Pockets of cable here and there, mostly reruns of i love lucy and things like that. No talk radio to speak of. He quickly realizes the potency orders everycial afternoon. It was being carried all over cable to 100,000 homes around the country