If youre awake clap three times. Surprising. Want to get everybody to get a seat as soon as possible. Want to get things starred on this lovely morning here at the Fourth Annual conference. Look for a round of applause for six. So happy to see you all here. And reminded of my time the very first six conference and the at the rate this organization has grown. Our growth is due only to you and your pregnancy. Your commitment to the movement, to moving a progressive agenda, your commitment to progressive ideas and commitment to progressive vision. So give yourselves a round of applause. We all know that after last years election, a lot of people were left wondering which way to go. A lot of us didnt know which way was up. A lot of us felt that everything had been lost. And a lot of people wrote off the Progressive Movement. A lot of people thought there was no way we could come back. If you look around this country and see some of the special state legislative elections people are on our side. And the people that are on our side because the ideas are on our side and the riggs is on our side. The energy is with us. And if we keep this movement, if we keep this going forward, we will see a progressive resurgence like never before. As we go into the Fourth Annual six conference, its hard to believe its the Fourth Annual six conference. As a former legislator, someone who has participated in every conference and now is a member of the six staff. Its exciting to see the growth going from 14 to over 30 staff members. And i think thats also worth a round of applause. Because people work so hard to put this conference together. And i would forget names if i tried to introduce everyone. So with that said, are we ready for an exciting three days . I tell you, we wanted to wait for the hotel bar caucus to arrive. And it seems that most if not all are here. We can enjoy the evening festivities but we do have a Wonderful Program set up for us because you know, we are going to take this to the next level. When they say you know, our state is under attack from alec, our state is under attack from the koch brothers. Whats your answer . The answer is six. Im here to tell you that the answer is you. And before i bring up our esteemed executive director, i just want to give a few housekeeping items. I want to remind you all today is an open press day. Want to remind everyone to please keep your credentials on you. This is a higher security than normal event. And we want to encourage you to use social media. Make sure you use our hash tags. We have a snap chap filter for those on snapchat. 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 were doing because were open about our objectives. Were open about our agenda. And we also want to make sure that you have a good time. So if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to reach out to a staff member. If i could get you to rise to your feet for the leader of our organization, someone i look up to, someone whos been very helpful for me and reached out to me, someone who you should all know if you dont already know, someone making sure we take back power in the states, my good friend, my boss, nicolas refoe. Give him a round of applause, everyone. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, mandela. Good morning. Its great, great to see so many familiar faces and so many new faces. I just wanted to take a moment to welcome each of you to our Fourth Annual conference. Each year, we say its a historic gathering. 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 yourself a round of applause here. So i was thinking back to last 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 and a funk shell shocked by the idea that donald trump was going to be the 45th president of the United States. I remember desperately looking forward to last years conference to be in the same room with all of you. But this year is very different. It is in some ways even a more critical moment and this will be a very different gathering. Donald trump and the Republican Congress has proved to be this was at all possible, maybe even worse than many of us thought. We are in a crisis. And an incredibly 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 understand that this country has been in these important inflection moments throughout our existence. There of the civil war. Think of the vietnam eraen at civil rights movement. In each of these moments of struggle for what our country is and what our shared values are, we have in fact progressed. Moving our country forward, bit which bit to do as our founders described to form a more perfect union. I obviously didnt live during those times. I just know what ive read and learned but this time feels a little different. I feel anxious about it. Because there are challenges we face that are different. Right now, it seeps like we cant agree on basic fantastics. And have a president who is driving this misinformation by either claiming fake news or just outright lying. We are part of a Reality Television culture where instant gratification and selfcentered behavior is rewarded. Again, look at our president. And we are in this moment where the balance is tilted so heavily towards the right that each of you in this room are having to fight an onslaught of attacks and policies that are coming now from both washington, d. C. As well as the conservatives in your states. You are defining what means to resist. You are in fact ground zero for the resistance. And many ways the states have been where we have been able to get some wins, fight back and hold the line despite historic levels of control by conservative legislatures, governships, attorneys general and, of course, control confident congress and presidency. 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. And well hold a moment of silence for the victims of that shooting. Nearly 60 people died. 530 were injured. But what is going to change . The same thing that always happens is happening. There is shock, there is outrage. And we are told its not a time to politicize guns. And 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 reforms. And its amazing to me how weve just allowed this sort of thing to become now part of our daily lives. A few weeks ago, my children starred school. I have twin boys. One is in first grade and my daughter is in fourth grade. I went to their back to school night. And spoke with one of my boys teachers. She was telling me about how the kids have to go through what they call a safety drill. Let me describe to you what a safety drill is. This is where children our children, in their classrooms go with their teacher to back of the room. Or a corner or a bathroom. Depending on classroom. And they 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 6. Let me underscore this point. It has gotten so bad that 6yearolds are having to accommodate the gun lobby because our leaders dont have the courage to stand up to them. And as i listened to my childrens teacher describe this, i couldnt help but think that we have failed them. I see what is happening in puerto rico in texas and florida. Over the past few weeks. And the failure of both both to respond both immediately and longterm to the effects of Climate Change and i look at all of our kids and worry what type of world were going to leave them. Right now in this country because of trumps decision to end the deferred action for Childhood Arrivals Program or daca, there are more than 800,000 immigrant lives hanging in the balance. I recently read a story of a young pakistani woman named saba who moved to this country when she was just 22 years old with her family but since fallen out of status. Because of this program, shes now a p. H. D. Candidate, a researcher and professor at texas tech university. If Congress 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 ph. D. Shes a teacher and a researcher, shes going to 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 of why this moment is so critical and why the stakes are so high. And why it is no longer okay to just resist and hold the line. This moment requires all of us to move beyond resistance. Too many lives are on the line especially the youngest and most vulnerable amongst us. The future of our country is literally hanging in the balance and what we do over the next several years especially with 2018 and 2020 looming, i believe will seal our fate and the fate of our nation. So what does moving beyond resistance mean . First, the Progressive Movement needs to clear space for new and more diversity leadership. [ applause ] there are currently too many people who think the same way and frankly, look the same way at the helm of our ship. I respect and admire many of them. But at the same time, this group was at the wheel while state legislatures, governships 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 dedrived in the states. We need leader whos think differently how to engage in the world and not willing to double down on the same old ways. We have tried those ways and they clearly do not work. Its time to support and save the way for new leadership that we see coming up in the states. Many of which are sitting in this room today. Its the states where this new class of leaders resides and works and where we should be looking to help move this country forward. Next as progressive leaders we must be able to connect politics and policymaking with nonelectoral social u. Moos. For far too long elected officials have been wary of social movement and Movement Leaders wary of elected officials. Theres a long history for the reasons why. That could take all tay to dissect. But the truth is in fact both need one another. We have a number of important movements occurring almost simultaneously on the left. Think the movement for black lives, movements around Climate Change, the fight for 15, the womens march, and more. But unless we begin to connect e thooz important movements to actual policymaking and e lk to recall politics and politicians who are not afraid to harness the power of these movements in their communities, we are merely engaging in a kind of political theater that we may call resistance but achieves limited outcomes and fails to fully harness and realize our full power. We also need to flip how we think of politics and policymaking within the Progressive Movement. Its exciting that the left is finally waking up and realizing that these things called states exist. Its amazing to me the number of people who patted me on the head or rolled their eyes when i would talk about the states. Now are the same ones now run spoog the states and trying to shift their focus to do more state work. Donors are starting to give to state work, and we have a rush of groups who are now running into the states. But my fear is that this is fleeting. I am not sure people on the left realize just how much power emanates from the states. It is where policymaking actually occurs in this country and where lives are directly impa impacted. It is where federal policies are implemented. Its where congressional districts are drawn and power is established. Its where you can define for people what policymaking is and how they should think of their government, and its the legislatures where you can find a Young Barack Obama and our countrys next great leaders. We have always been talked about down the ballot. Its time to flip that on its head and start thinking of voting up the ballot. Conservatives did this for decades and created institutions just like six in the 1970s which has given them the command and control they now have in american politics. We need same level of investment and foe focus for a longterm strategy not cycle by cycle. We need the ability to think and act in terms of power, both building ours and undercutting theirs, and the donor class and others across the movement need to show the patience and the level of investment in institutions like six because the return on that investment is much more transformational than the billions we have spent on consultants and Television Ads cycle by cycle. [ applause ] finally, we need to be focused on our values as progressi progressives, think less in terms of being transactional or reacting in our policy making to one that is transformational. We need to root ourselves in 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 have attracted so many to this country and allowed us in the past to be the enemy of the world, the values of opportunity that no matter who you are, you can realize the american dream, the value of freedom that we believe everyone has a right to express who they are in their faith, in their speech, who they love, as well as the free tom dom to live you life, to have basic things Like Health Care and earn a living wage. My parents came to this country with basically nothing. They settled in central nebraska where i was born and raised. The town i call my hometown had a population of about 800 people. My father was a preacher, and my mother stayed home to raise my sister, brother, and i. My fathers income was meager. In fact, i began working in the corn and bean fields in nebraska before i was even a teenager. We qualified for things like the free lumpl program and other assistance. I was called the n word almost on a daily bays is and at times beaten up because of my culture and the color of my skin. It would have been easy for my brother, sister, and i to have given up. Kwlo when you grow up this way, what people expect you to do are pretty low, especially when they think you are less than them. But we didnt give up. Because in the face of all of that, we believe we can make ourselves into Something Different because we are given a little bit of help it allowed us to believe that this country cared about us. Because we were told by my parents that we could be whatever we wanted, we believed it 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. My sister is in the Senior Executive service in a section channel and one of our major intelligence agencies. And i have to tell you that i will never forget the day i walked 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 could that story be possible. My story is americas story. It is also a story of what it means to be a progressive in this country, because without the opportunities my family and i were provided by progressive policies, my story and so many stories of people from all over this country would not be possible. Its these stories and these values that we should own and remind the country who is actually fighting for them. History is watching us. So 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. Id like to call the nevada delegation up now. Good morning. Im from the great state of nevada, and i stand here with my fellow legislators. A week ago we woke up to a senseless tragedy in our community that not only affected the families of nef inform but affected families throughout this country. But when you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us. But as the large, Diverse Community that we are, we immediately stepped up like we always do not only nevadans do as the family that we are to start the healing process,. So today we stand before you because we are vegas strong, were nevada strong, and were strong we are you. So i ask you to join me in a moment of silence as we remember the 58 lives that weve lost, over 500 that are still suffering, and their families. Thank youp. I would like to thank the nevada delegation for your 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, were going to talk about resistance which is the theme that has been immediate since the election of our most recent president , and any great resistance has to come with an offensive strategy. We cannot always find ourselves playing defense. We need to be very proactive in the way that we approach governing. And with that said, throughout this 24hour news cycle, we find ourselves in a 24hour resistance cycle, and a part of that 24hour news cycle includes a good friend of mine, a good friend of mine whose with us today who will be moderating this next panel. She needs no introduction but im going to give her one any way. She just pointed at me and theres some things shes not going to want me to say and i wont say them because im a good friend, however, the former National Press secretary for candidate Bernie Sanders who is actually no relation, surprise, surprise, to simone sanders, and give her a round of applause. You see her on cnn and you see her you see her carry the message very effectively and she carries the message in a way that we have not seen in some time and the way that she reaches younger populations and the way that she reaches communities of color is something that we need to be very respectful and cognizant of when we go into any cycle because we miss the young people in the last election. We missed people of color in the last election. This is someone that i listened to because she will grab my arm and make me listen to her. And just want to know that anything is possible. Get out of here. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, my goodness. You all give mandela a round of applause. Hes all right. Hopefully nick will let him keep his job. My name is simone sanders. I am very excited to be here today. Well have a very fruitful conversation and yes were going to take crowd questions. So before i set up this panel, i want to tell you who the panelists are, is that okay . I like a room that talks back, is that okay . All right. As long as nobody tells me to shut up were good. So first up on the panel we have ms. Elise hoag. She is the president of narad. Give her a warm round of applause as she comes to the stage. Following elise we have senator mike mcguire of california. State nor mike mcguire. Theyre going to keep coming, keep clapping. Next we have assemblywoman nelly rosik from new york and last but certainly not least we have john pierre, Senior Adviser from moveon. Org. So you all see the program. It says were going to talk about states resisting trump and the federal conservative agenda. Thats what were going to talk about today. Were going to talk about how we move just as nick said in his opening remarks, how we move past resistance to action. As my panelists get seated one of the first questions i would like folks to ask as they tell us a little bit more about themselves with two minutes, because i do have a timer up here and were going to use it, one, what does resistance mean to you . And two, is the resistance effective . Because some would argue that its not necessarily the job of state legislators for example, to be resisting. They oulgt to be working. Is the resistance effective and what is the resistance mean to you and also tell us about yourself and well start with the illustrious president of nara. Im ilyse hogue. Ive been the president of naral coming up on five years. You cant hear me . Can we turn the mikes up please . Hows that . Oh, way better. Yeah. Ive been president of naral coming up on five years. I tell people that i did not come from reproductive rights i came to reproductive rugts from a long history in progressive politics, and i did it for one simple reason, and it was that i came to realize that all of those things that nick talked about, all of the promise for women and families in this country was not possible unless we focused on womens sovereignty about being able to make their own choices in our lives that determine the rest of our lives. And its been a transformative experience. We were im from texas. Im a fourth generation texan. Weve been living in the resistance for a long time. Right . Is my texas delegation out there somewhere . There you go. Yeah. I will mean, there are states and many of you yall in this room that actually know what its like to live in resistance long oh, no. Lost it again. There we go. Long before donald trump became president and through 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 the harshest of circumstances. So out of the resistance is born the promise, and when women get ahead and when women succeed its not just the individual that does its our families, our communities, and its our entire country. So thats what drew me to the work, but i will say one more thing which is that i woke up at 3 30 this morning in worchester, massachusetts, to drive to an airport to get on a plane to be here by 9 00 a. M. Which im thrilled because i love six and i love yall and i love the work that youre doing. The reason i was up there is because i had the honor and privilege to attend a wedding yesterday of two of my very close friends, jacob and steve. That we can celebrate the love of two men through legal marriage in this country is an astonishing thing that we should never take for granted and it is an astonishing thing that was made possible by so many of you all and your counterparts in this room who made that change, made that dignity, made that recognition happen at the state level long before it happened at the federal level. And that is the promise, that is the promise of dignity, justice, Economic Security that comes out of the resistance, when we recognize the resistance as the engine of the car thats driving us forward. So thank you very much. All right. [ applause ] state senator mcguire, tell us a little bit about yourself and what youve been working on this morning. And what does the resistance mean to you, one, and two, and do you think its effective . Thank you so much, ms. Sanders. Its so good to see you. Good morning. How you doing . I hope you are all fired up to be here. I know im excited to be with you. Just want to let you know i may have to leave a little early. I represent a large district in california in the Golden Gate Bridge and the oregon boarder and since 10 00 p. M. Pacific time last night we of had ten major fires, thousands of hopes lost and tens of thousands evacuated. So i have to be on a flight early. But id like to be able to talk about the resistance. Candidly, i know im 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 were doing in california, but what some may call the resistance to us its keeping on keep on what the majority of americans believe in. And some examples. So, number one, as progressives we have to focus on job growth, on job growth and making sure that we are hiring at a living wage and thats what weve done in california. Were now number one in the entire nation in job growth because we focused on our economy. When you take a look at Climate Change, the vast majority of americans believe that Climate Change will impact their quality life in their lifetime. California just moved the strongest climate bill in america. We should be doing the same in every state. Thats what the resistance is all about. The resistance is about infrastructure. When President Trump talks about this 1 trillion infrastructure plan that he wants to vessel on tax credits, it will never happen. Its never happened and it wont happen in our future. If were serious about investing in a strong middle class in america, then we have to rebuild our roads, our bridges and our highways and california we just pass aid 50 billion infrastructure plan. Republican or democrat, you want good infrastructure, am i right . Yes. When we talk about the resistance, the resistance is paying women equal to men and its about damn time, and you can ask republican women and you ask Democratic Women its not about party, its about making sure that we have equal pay across this nation, and its also ridiculous that we continue to talk like that, right because its 2017. Health care. You take a look at the most rural parts of the state of california, theyre the poorest areas of our states. They are the most vulnerable when it comes to repeal and replace. When it comes to the resistance its all of us in this room standing up to those dangerous policies and making sure that we dont let the aca be rolled back. By the way, were at 17 . 17 uninsured in california in 2012. Prior to the aca. We are now at a record low 7 uninsured. It is because of the aca, and we have to bring that conversation to a universal Health Care System here in the United States of america. And finally, ms. Sanders is going to throw a fork at me in just a second. Its also about transparency and thats why were working with republicans and democrats alike to get senate bill 149 passed in california, and that would mandate that every democrat and every republican president ial candidate has to release five years of their tax returns because 74 of americans believe President Trump should release his tax returns. This is about common sense and doing the greatest good for the most amount of people here in america and it is time to take our state legislators back. Thanks for having me. All right. Assembly woman, you have the floor. First and foremost, i want to thank six for having all of us, and i want to give a shoutout to my new york colleagues who are here, both christine and gustavo right in the middle. To shoutout to the new york delegation holding it down. [ applause ] so im nily rozic. Im a mets fan. Dont hold that against me. Im also a firstgeneration american who came to flushing at a very young age and really got involved in the local community because i didnt want to just 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 legislator in new york. [ applause ] and since then weve done incredible work in getting more women and women of color specifically elected to the state legislature because that is ultimately how we are going to create change from the grassroots staff. Resistance to me is about me not just focusing on the white house, its all about our state house. If were going to have an impact in 2020 we need to started today. Actually we shouldve started yesterday. But thats why were all here, right . And it means that we are going to Work Together on everything that impacts people daytoday. Thats the minimum wage, voter i. D. Laws, gun violence control, collective bargaining agreements, that all happens at the state level and thats where were so excited in new york to be at the forefront of fighting on all of these issues together. Thank you. [ applause ] my name is kareem jean pierre. I started off my career in new york. Im from new york. Grew up in Queens Village and i started off my 15 year political career in a city council and then i moved out to d. C. And did national politics, worked for an issue based campaigns and ended up in the Obama Administration where i met nick, who i thank him so much for putting all of this together. Nick is a great guy. Ive known him for ten years and so we worked in the campaign and in the administration. I ended up at move. Org after the 2016 election, so just been part of working with our allies like naral and all of you in the states and really trying to push forward the resistance. For me, what does the resistance mean to me . As a mom it means i look at my 3yearold every day and i think about, okay, what is this country going to look like for her . And when shes 10 years old and she looks back and shes like, mommy, what did you do when donald trump was doing all these awful things as because shes going to learn about this president. Shes going to learn about what happened. And i want to be able to tell her that i fought. I fought fearlessly for her. That i stood up and that i, you know, any time 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 lgbtq community. So i think about all of those things that this administration attacks on a constant daily every freaking second they do that. We have someone who sits in the oval Office Behind the resolute desk signing things to attack everything that i am. It is it is important to me to continue to fight and im part of an organization that gives me the opportunity to do that. So is the resistance working . I believe that it is. Look, we stopped the repeal of aca which i think is incredibly important to have done. [ applause ] 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, those state legislator seat that we were able to flip from red to blue. Theres been, what, 27 open special not open but special elections this year in red districts and winning eight is not bad. Its 30 . And anytime there is a competitive democrat in these races weve won them. I think all of you are playing such an Important Role in what were doing because its not about just d. C. , its not about whats happening at 1600 pennsylvania and also the hill. Its whats happening in these states. And thats how were going to stop a lot of these awful bad bills that are coming out from the state legislatures that are heavily rolled by republicans. So i thank you for being part of the resistance. I thank you for being here, and lets continue to fight. There we go. [ applause ] since the election, since november basically, there has been this really intense increased focus on state legislative races, on what is just happening in the states in general with a number of bills. And i would like you all to speak to what Effective National and state partnerships look like, because youve got groups like naral and move on who you all both of your organizations have done lots of work as of late in the states. What does it look like . What does an Effective Partnership really look like from you alls perspective and from my state legislators perspective . What are some things that maybe folks should know when engaging in a in National Partnerships, if you will, on the ground issues . It seems great to have a National Organization come in and do work on a bill and whats happening. But it can get a little sticky. You want to pop in first . Im looking at you. I know that there are enough of you in the audience that we do work with that will hold me accountable if i actually misspeak on this. I mean narals an old organization, well be 50 years old in 2019. We have members on the ground in every state. We have brick and mortar and staff on the ground from those states in the states in 23, about to be 24 states. So when we we try to actually be really clear about what we have to offer when engaging in state partnerships, but i want to back up for a second because i think we need to think i hear all the time, do you do state work or federal work, and the answer for us is we do both. I think theres a third category that gets passed over too frequently, and thats national work, which is that the sum of the states should add up to more than their parts, right . Yall are doing incredibly important work that promotes the values of progressives and progressive democrats and that needs to be put together with your help so when we think about what state work we engage in, we ask three questions with our partners in the states. Does it have substantive impact . Does it actually matter to women and families in those states . Does it lift up new leaders, because very much like nick spoke we believe that new leadership is coming from and needs to come from the states, right . And im seeing some of my favorite people right out there. And the third is does it change the National Conversation . This for us is really, really important and it means two things. Does it actually put the opposition on record, right . And does it actually 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 legislator for some time on a bill that is now on the governors desk. Its called the Reproductive Health nondiscrimination act. It is not wellknown that women can not only be fired for their Reproductive Health choices in terms of choosing contraception or choosing abortion but also this bill was a young woman was fired for being pregnant oust wedlock. I didnt even know we used that term anymore until this happened. And so weve been working with california on this. What we also are not only working with california, we worked with our good friends at the municipal level in st. Louis. One of the reddest red states, right . And we passed a municipal ordinance with the help of our amazing local folks but particularly our state leader alison dreight, who is a powerhouse from st. Louis and the governor of missouri, deep red state, remember, got so, so bent out of shape that he called the state legislature back into session and im watching stacy newman and cora faith walker who are my favorite leaders in the states and to have a special, his words, prolife session, right, to overturn the st. Louis ordinance. Well, this turned out to be a pretty difficult for him to do. The National Headline were like the missouri governor wants you to be able to be fired for your birth control. Right, all of a sudden between and we had already done this in d. C. , so between d. C. , st. Louis and our wonderful friends in the Missouri State legislator who were prepared to go on offense in a red state. Were having a really different National Conversation that gets out what we always say which is this is not and has never been about abortion. And the kinds of policies that support working moms and families in in country but they dont do that. Weve got a red state governor on defense, weve got blue state that is actually leading the way and talking about our values and were change gs the National Conversation while having substantive imfact for women and families around the country and acting protections at a time where the federal government certainly seems hell bent on removing. So for you, when when you talk about going beyond resistance, its not necessarily federal versus state, for you its specifically about a National Conversation . Is this the same thing with move on . You all are in the states. You all are on the front lines of the resistance. What does that look like for you . Move on we are one of just give a little bit about background and ill answer the question. We are one of the largest independent progressive organizations. We have 8 million members all across the country and we dont necessarily have chapters or people like staff kind of offices based in different regions or states but what we do is we try to empower or members. We train our members. We empower them. We really make sure they have the information that they need to fight whatevers happening in their state or even nationally when it came to repealing aca, we made sure they had the phone numbers. We made sure that they went to the town halls that were located in their states. Its really kind of elevating the conversation and empowering our members and also we help our allies. Thats one of the ways that this resistance i believe is working is helping naral, helping other National Organizations who have local chapters and feeding into them and helping all of the organizations thats working on daca, for example, and making sure that we tap into our members to push what it is that our allies are trying to do so all of this is important. One thing that we did this summer is we had something called resistance summer where we we had about more than 1,000 of our members across the country and we had these conversations in neighborhoods about what are the important issues. We wanted to start this now as were going into 2018 and really training people in the states and giving them the tools and mobilizing them and having the conversation and figuring out what are the issues that people care about most in their neighborhood and what were thinking was we called them move on mobilizers is it is a way to really get folks embedded into their communities as we go into 2018. So thats what it looks like to us but working having that ally relationship and helping, you know, the different issues that different folks are working on, pushing that forward, tapping into our millions of membership and raising money too. Its a way to raise money for folks. We partnered up with the Hispanic Federation with lin manuel, and move on members raised more than 3 million and we sent an email. We really mobilized that community and that was for puerto rico. And so those are the ways that we try to really tap into what we do and what the tools and the folks that we have the power that we have. From our straight legislators, the resistance is about putting you all to work. Yes. So how have you been able to leverage some of these National Partnerships . What does that look like in terms of the resistance in your offices . And if you can give two best practices, what would they be . I think we all know coalitions matter, right. We cant do half of the work that we do without a Strong Coalition behind us. To give you an example, a lot of the criminal justice work that we do in new york is driven and done in partnership with amazing organization. When at the federal government at the federal level they are trying to roll back the aca and get rid of Family Planning services, a coalition of Reproductive Health organizations got together in new york and said we should do a bill inserting Family Planning services into the state budget if we cant get that done at the federal level. But what i think as a state legislator is really nice in this new world postnovember, were no longer thought of as the minor leagues. We are now the major leagues. And i think the sooner we start recognizing that and embracing that, other organizations will be there to fight arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder with us. So a few items. Number one, i think the bottom line, when it comes to the resistance particularly when were building coalitions at the state or were working oneonone, we need to be able to prove to the residents that we work with every day that standing strong against trump means making america stronger. And we have to be able to prove that. But, ms. Sanders, one of the biggest areas im concerned in regards to the resistance and im going to be very critical for a moment, the democrats really screwed up and i think we can use the term that president obama used shellacked, because we do not have a focus on Rural America and [ applause ] im really concerned. If we do not become Americas Party and not the perceived party of coastal elites and urban centers we will continue to lose. 86 assemblies, house and senates in the states have gone to republicans. Over 1,000 state legislatives seats have been lost and its because we are not focusing on those voters who, by the way, those issues that they care about in Rural America are not as different as some may perceive in urban america. I think that if you take a look at the electoral map after this november, its so red because it was a blood bath and heres what i believe. Rather than democrats continuing to give lip service to Rural Americans, we need to be able to step up, we need to be able to show up and we need to be able to deliver, and i say that because im the only rural democrat in the california state senate. And between the Golden Gate Bridge and the oregon border and if you take a look at Rural America as long as with rural california, the poorest counties in the state of california are rural. Two of the five poorest counties, am i right, in the state are in my district. Highest numbers of homelessness, highest childhood poverty, highest opioid addiction, and democrats forget that rural voters are our voters too and they want good schools. They want jobs. They want Quality Health care. And they want to be able to log on and get on to the internet and, by the way, i have a county that 40 of the households arent even connected to the internet. What are democrats doing for Rural America . And so what i say, ms. Sanders, and i apologize that im going on the soap box here i like a soap box. Is this, we need to coordinate. Californias homeless bill 2 billion permanent housing for homelessness, the only way were going to end homelessness in this country, particularly those that are chronic homeless is health and human services, drug addiction, counseling, it was modeled after utah. Thank you, utah. When it comes to taxes. And holding our president accountable. We were coordinating thank you so much to six with 25 different states across america. Career training, 72 of American Public High School Graduates will not go on to a Fouryear College degree. Democrats should be running with Career Training and job skills in our classrooms. Am i right . When it comes to d. R. E. A. M. Ers, 800,000, democrats and republicans agree they need to stay in this country because its the country they love and its the country that they are fighting for every day. If democrats and all of us progressives dont get our stuff together we are going to continue to lose and ms. Sanders i will say, we will win the house, we will win the senate, well take back the presidency and well take back our state houses once we start focusing on Rural America. [ applause ] i see all the Rural America people in the crowd. I see you all. Lets talk about that because some people would argue that the problem with the resistance is that it leaves some people out. Thats not necessarily my view. Im just talking about some people, donald trump, the problem with the resistance is that it leaves some people out such as Rural America as the state senator just noted but others would argue that when we talk and id like the panel to explore this. We have to do more for Rural America. West virginia are dealing with the same stuff as people in downtown st. Louis. But the problem is we talk about Rural America oftentimes were not talking about people that look like me, were only talking about people that look like you. So how do we bridge the gap in the conversation . Because 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 speaks to all people . Because the economy is everybodys issue, but you would think white people only care about the economy so lets talk about that. Im happy to jump in. Come on. You go and i want to hear from move on and i would like to hear from the assemblywoman and i want to hear from naral because i know you have feelings. I sometimes have feelings. I think that a successful strategy is not a strategy of one. I think sometimes we get wrapped up into maybe its just Rural America. I think thats one of our biggest weaknesses. When you take a look at africanamerican turnout in this past election, it was 10 sometimes 15 less when president obama ran and there is a problem with that and if were not dealing with that now and shame on us in 3 1 2 years. What i will say is, im going to continue to come back to this. The majority of americans want to keep their health insurance. Theres a county on the oregon border, 26,000 people, one of the most rural in the state of california, over 8,000 are on the Affordable Care act. Nearly a third of the entire county population. They voted for President Trump. We have to be able to go into that county, communicate with them, take a county in alabama and be able to show what democrats are doing to be able to keep their health care, show what democrats are doing to be able to provide quality education, show what were doing to be able to improve their roads and build middle class jobs. But i think for us, whether it is in a community of color or a Caucasian Community like you have up and down counties, we have to be able to have a multipronged strategy to be able to take our state houses back. I also believe those bridges arent as long as we think. I think we can bridge some of these divisions that we have by simply bringing the focus for many of us in this room. Okay. Pandoras box. Open. I guess Rural America, do you define that as white people, Rural America . No. I guess im just trying to figure out because this is a conversation that the democrats have all the time, who do we who are we looking at . Rural america there are black people that live in Rural America. People of color live in Rural America. I want to be clear about who were talking about because if you look at the theres a different conversation for the state legislators, really, okay. Let me step back. If you look at 2016, we had democrats had a lot of issues. It wasnt just Rural America, right . It was like you said africanamericans, 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 facts some things that we just didnt address well enough. There is millennials. Millennials went and voted for the third party. Theres a lot of issues its hard to look at this and just say it was one thing. There were multiple things that happened that we need to address and so thats thats kind of like the thing thats going around in my head. And lets not forget, one of the big problem that well have in 2018 and 2020 is russia. That was that was a serious thing that happened and were not its not being addressed. And its not, not with this administration. There are a lot of things that happened that we need to have a serious conversation about and its not just Rural America, its like how do we treat people of color, how do we go out and really reach out to millennials. What is it there were things that we did that just did not resonate, and thats kind of the angst that i feel when i hear about the primary focus or the conversation being about Rural America because it was it was across the board. So, assemblywoman, i dont think you represent Rural America, but going forward, and we can have conversations about what folks did wrong, but what is this quote unquote agenda . Particularly for the states because i think the states are going to have to lead on this issue because nationally i mean clearly the Democratic Party is having some issues. Yeah, and look, the other big piece to all of this is the local recruitment and running of candidates might need to come a little closer. Ill say that again. The recruitment and the running of state legislators is this better . Should i go into my npr voice . So the critical piece thats missing here that i think we havent addressed as a National Party and were not doing effectively at the state level yet, is recruiting and running of candidates who will speak to voters. Youve always heard the story of, i hate congress but i love my congress person. I hate the state legislature but i love my local assemblywoman and thats really ultimately how were going to start to see change at the state houses and well see more people getting engaged and coming out to vote is if were picking people who look like their voters. And that there is power in that diversity and theres strength in that diversity, and thats ultimately how as a party at the local level were really going to make a difference. Ill come back to that point. I like it but i think theres something we need to also impact there. Elise. So i think there are a lot of different conversations actually wrapped up in this, which is not that surprising because were still processing a lot of what happened and a lot of how were going forward. I think theres a real conversation to have about how resources get distributed through the Democratic Party, and that conversation needs to be transparent and it needs to be loud and it needs to be robust. The work is really, really difficult and it is the way that we actually end up from a nuts and bolts perspective reaching people regardless of population density, and i think thats a real thing. From a policy perspective, i dont actually think im going im going to be controversial. I dont think were losing because of policy. I dont think were losing because of some false divide between identity politics and economic populism. I just dont believe it. I believe that people are not i believe were experiencing a huge crisis in confidence in government, generally. You read polls that came out last week and it said 78 of people disapprove of the gop congress and youre like, wow thats a really big number and the next line is 68 disapprove of the democrats. That leads to underperformance and lack of motivation to get to the polls. I dont think this is a policy problem. I think it is ability to speak about collected values in a language thats tailored to different cultures and, that best comes from the states, that best comes from the localities. I think were right on with our values. I think most people believe in progressives and democratic values. I dont think we need to concede one witd on values to reach urban voters or rural voters. I think we need to motivate people because they believe were actually going to do something and that were going to do something in their interests. And so when we talk about any issue, from jobs or schools or transportation, it always has to be couched in an actual empathetic understanding of where people are coming from as well as a confidence that im going to fight for you. I get it. Im going to fight for you. The policies are there, and im going to take my issues are considered really, really controversial and sometimes particularly with rural voters, right . The ones who suffer the most are rural voters. Vice president mike pence, i dont know if anyone is here from the indiana delegation, but i dont need to tell you guys, Vice President mike pence in his scorchedearth approach to end 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 inaccessible, the number of abortio abortions dont go down. The number of deaths to injuries go up. Two women sent to prison but what did happen . Maternal Health Outcomes went down in rural indiana and hiv rates went up in indiana. This is about values. This is about who cares for who. And in 2018 dropoff women voters, simones organization put out this poll, dropoff 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, it is an attack on their dignity, it is an attack on their future because they cant finish school, get jobs, hold jobs, get out of poverty. So for me, weve got to be able to have a collective set of values that were communicating and then yall know how to communicate best with your communities, and that language may differ, that outreach may differ, but its not giving up values, and we dont have a policy problem. Thats interesting. So if we dont have i think its interesting for state legislators to hear that we dont have a policy problem when its literally yalls job to create policy. So were good on the policy, okay. Were good on the policy. And if we do have the right values, why is it not essentially connecting for democratic voters . And for democratic constituents . And do we have to rethink the way we are actually engaging in our communities . Ill say this. In 2016 theres a whole swath of republican voters, conservative christians, who said they voted for donald trump solely because they wanted a conservative Supreme Court justice. They got one. Mmhmm. Thats right. And so they ignored the misogyny, they didnt like the racism, the sexism, but they wanted this particular thing and thats why they pulled the lever for donald trump. If you asked democratic voters in places all across the country and were we can talk about state legislative races, we can talk about mayoral races, democratic voters dont necessarily feel that way. So how do we connect with folks on the values . I feel thats 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 have been introduced since 2016 to restrict access to the ballot box. Are we really winning . Thats the question for the panel. I mean some of this some of this is delivery system. We talked about distribution of resources. We have to be getting the resource where is you all know it needs to g. The way naral thinking about that, we never place organizers in a place we cant have an impact from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket. You all help determine where that is. Were never going to place an organizer in a place where we think we can make a difference in a federal senate race where we dont think were making a difference in a state house or state senate race. That is the ballgame. That is the long pathway back. So i do think that theres a huge conversation to have about how we think about resources, resource allocation. Theres no doubt that the other side is way more sophisticated in terms of Voter Suppression, and thats absolutely true in the way that they have moved legislation through the state houses, my home state of texas. Its just awful. Its awful there. And the disenfranchisement thats happening. Its more than that and, you know, all of the work that cambridge analytics did that theyre talking about in the trump administration, all of the work of the russians and the election blah, blah, blah, which is not blah, blah, blah, its like a real issue, but a lot of that was actually psychology knowing how to depress people. It wasnt how do i get my voters out. It was how do i get you from going . How do i divide you from the folks that are telling you that they actually want to fight for you . How do i diminish the confidence . And both simone and careen have mentioned that white women have been voting republican for some time. Not just have. They have literally been keeping the Republican Party afloat. I think that lets white men off when you say it that way because white men vote for republicans in a much higher number than white women, but that doesnt mean that white women dont bear responsibility. I just cant stand letting the men off of that. But we do actually we have taken out seriously. That is traditionally our base. We have reached into both rural and urban areas of white women, and a lot of that is is psychological which the other side actually gets. I feel like sometimes were working at 2. 0 and theyre working at 5. 0. Again, its not a policies thing, its a values thing but also a psychology thing. Its like actually understanding the human condition and what makes people vote, and im not going to tell you we have the answers, im going to tell you we have some ideas and hypothesis that we feel like we can test in 2018, and thats what we all have to be doing is 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. Careen, you want to pop in . So theres not an easy answer here. I think thats probably part of the problem. Theres so many theres so many facets to this and some of it goes real, real deep. I want to say this real quick. I worked in the Obama Administration. I was there the first two years. And what i saw from my perch republicans were so angry that there was a black man in the white house, so angry that 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 right here in d. C. , all of the bigwigs from the Republican Party, and said they were going to resist from day one. And what they did, and im sure a lot of you saw this, is they raised, what, 60 million over the ten years and made sure that they flipped legislative seats, made sure that they flipped governor seats, and they worked and pounded on that. And its not a sexy thing to talk about. But they invested and they did that. And so what happens is, Voter Suppression laws pop up. All these bad bills on womens reproductive rights pop up. Against womens reproductive rights. All of these things starting creeping up because republicans strategized and they invested and they 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 were in a place where, are we winning . Its a really good question that simone asked, and its a very complicated answer, because if you look at across the country, yep, its very red, but i just as i mentioned when i started talking, we had 27 special election seats. We flipped eight. Thats 30 . Now its small, but its a start. And one thing that donald trump has done is hes unified us and, you know, theres the argument of we cant just be against him, we got to be for something, but i think theres a lot of things that were for
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