Ferguson, missouri. There has been mass gun violence in lafayette, louisiana, and chattanooga, tennessee. Reports of gun violence continue daily in washington dc, chicago, and in other towns across america. The reverend dr. Martin luther king, who once spoke in this very room, right about where i am standing he said in a 19 things in a 1967 essay, he asked the question, where do we go from here . Chaos or community . Perhaps our guest today can try to answer that question. Please give a warm National Press club welcome to the senior bishop of the african methodist festival church, the right reverend john richard bryant. [applause] Bishop Bryant let me acknowledge the presence of my ministry oftner in 46 years. [applause] have the tree are of our family the york the patriach of our family here. He will turn 90 later this month. Here,to have my sister cynthia bryant. God bless you. [applause] jamaal bryant. [applause] godson. Gods on my [applause] sons andhost of daughters any ministry here. In the ministry here. They may have felt they wouldnt so an amen in this crowd, they came to give me some backup. Next 20hare in the usutes or so, what all of experience. June 17th, wednesday night. Floor of mother emanuel african methodist is about methodist episcopal church. A young stranger comes in. But he is greeted like a fellow program. Fellow pilgrim. Sits amongst the people who are studying the word of god and praying. A half hour later, gets up, and with a loaded gun, he begins to empty that gun to human flesh. Walls, ceilings. Then reloads. Empties it. Then reloads. It. Empties none of whomople, whose name he probably knows dead in a pool of their own blood. What a horrible night. Experience. Ble but after it, believe it or not, some good stuff happened. It is almost like easter that comes after good friday. Some good stuff. The Southern City comes and spends the night amongst the people. When i arrived the next day, this is how he was described to me by a layperson, he loves us. That is the mayor, he loves us. While reporters, tv anchors were searching for motives, he said clearly, this is a hate crime. Some good stuff happened. The governor showed up and both the governor and the mayor participated in what we as a church call the ministry of presence. When it is not so much what you say, it is what your presence communicates. So the governor of this Southern State comes and she stays. She says, we will bring the perpetrator to justice. Some good stuff. The nation was able to get a closer view of a real church and a description of a real pastor. They were murdered while studying the word of god. Pastored by a man who loved jesus, loved his family, loved his flock, loved his community. He was on the floor because he was a state representative and an important vote was coming up. His seatmate said, you are going to stay with this vote . He said, no, im going to a prayer meeting. I have been elected here, but i have been selected there, and i have made it clear that my First Priority is the church, so he rushed to death. Mother emmanuel demonstrated the christian gospel better than any theologian in any seminary. Love those who despitefully use you, and in the face of what real christianity looks like, it got the attention of the nation and so much of the world. Some good stuff happened. Mother emmanuel had security cameras, and on the security camera, captured the image of this young man. Law enforcement was there, and they announced they would use everything at their disposal to bring the perpetrator to justice , and in quick order, he was arrested. Some good stuff happened. I have received communication from around the world and from around the country. A mosque in oakland sent 10,000. Our lifelong soulmates, the who firstrch, befriended us when we started over 200 years ago sent word to me that we want to do something. We have a Retreat Center if there are those in the community who just need to get away or need to have someone to help them process, please, contact us. We would like to welcome those persons to the Retreat Center free of charge. The letters, the calls, and the various denominations from other nations all wishing to share our grief. Some good things happened. In the city of charleston, South Carolina, Services Held in the heart of the black community. White folks showed up and acted as if they were not afraid. Went to a restaurant, and while eating, the patrons kept coming to the table to share their condolences. The owner said, dont try to pay for this meal. We just feel so bad as a city that this has happened. They acted as if to them, black lives matter. The governor of a Southern State said it is time for the flag to come down. When pastor pinckney was elected, such a young man elected, friends said to him, you will finally be able to bring that flag off of that tax paid land. And he said it will not happen in my lifetime. And he was right, but it happened. That is some good stuff, isnt it . But what is the bad stuff . The bad stuff, for me, is the guns. The love affair this nation has with the gun. People thatwning a owning a pit bull that keeps biting people, and you keep defending it because you love it. That gun, the violence in their homes, when homicide takes place in the home, present is the gun. Increasing suicide, the instrument of choice is the gun. Since 2010, over 8000 people have been shot mistakenly in our National Parks by the gun. Each time we make emotional adjustment to hold on to the gun, and of late, it seems as if we have fallen madly in love with the gun. Legislative houses all across the country are making new arrangements that the gun will be present in new places. The president of nra said that pinckneys death was his fault. That if he had had a gun, he nor his members would have died. The facts do not bear that out. We keep saying the gun will protect us, and yet it seems to make us more violent. We sell more and we own more guns than any nation in the world, and we are the most violent nation in the world. It seems to increase it. I said in South Carolina that in my city, it looks like we were going to win of the stanley cup. We had to get the people together because if they win, they did not want them to tear the city up. When you win, emotions run high. So you put out of control emotions and liquor together, now add the guns is that insanity . Put it on your hip, you know . That is what we are returning to. Take it to school. Take it in a restaurant. Wear it on your hip. What is the fascination . What is the fascination with this instrument that can do so much damage, so much harm . That is a bad thing. The gun hasnt moved an inch in the aftermath. It is free. In the aftermath, we are still stuck with racism. Racism in this country has been plaguing us from the beginning. I was telling some people, i have churches in india, and i was reading an article about india, and in the next decade, they are supposed to surpass china in population. But the scholars say they will not pass china because india has system which takes a large group of people out of the mix. And china does a better job of integrating everybody. Racism, where a large proportion of your population is thinking, and it is a challenge. It is a challenge to our political system. The 2012 election, the republicans said repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly that they were standing on the side of the 1 . The democrats said repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly we are for the middle class. Nobody spoke for the poor. [applause] and africanamericans had made progress in that more of us have risen to the middle class, but the shame is that those at the bottom are increasing in great number, and nothing is being done about it. I have watched the republican debates. Would you believe that they could spend that many hours and nobody deal with racism . That is eating away at the fiber of this country. Racism, the need to look down on something, to not see somebody, to not see. To not see. To become invisible in the culture, to not see. To not see that half that over half of africanamericans are not graduating from high school. To not see it. To not see that there is a different set of laws for blacks than there are for whites, to not see it. To not see it. I was reading an article written in the new York Magazine about a week ago, and they were reporting on Research Just done that found that in the schools, white children who offended the rules were either given medication or sent to therapy, counseling. Blacks who offended the rules were expelled or to prison for the same infractions. A psychologist reported in the that in a study done by pew researchers, that in the eyes of whites, black children look older and larger than their white counterparts. So that when i see listen the way a black is described who breaks the law. Never is the term used child. Nquent or thug. Because in their eyes, he looks so menacing, he looks larger, he looks older than his white counterpart. The man who killed Michael Brown said he looked like a monster. And the grand jury agreed. Racism, it is a challenge to the church, it is a challenge to the black church, because in the name of jesus of nazareth, our liberator and emancipator, we norot be silenced otherworldly. And watch our people or fail to see our people are suffering. Part of my district is detroit, where there is still amongst the black community 40 unemployment. And these unemployment rates, so high. And no job training. Act as if black lives dont matter. It when i say black lives matter, and people respond, all lives matter. I aint talking about your lives. [applause] its clear in america, that some matter. Ould im talking about bringing attention to the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed who are still human beings. Who still need to be rescued. Of still need the ministry presence. Whitea challenge to the church. How are you able to sing hymns and not mention what is going on right around us . Week after week after week . It is a challenge to law enforcement. Problem when the majority of good police dont put the bad police in check. [applause] it is a challenge to law enforcement. Two prosecutors, when they see a black differently than they see a white. Its a challenge to the prison industry, which has been called the new jim crow. I think my 20 minutes is about up. [laughter] finished, but im going to stop. And receive what questions you may have. [applause] i want to start with a question about the gun, which you talked about. Gun control, Gun Legislation it seems like in the aftermath of the shooting, there was no budging, as you mentioned. How optimistic are you about any kind of regulation forthcoming. Will it happen at the state level, federal level . Will Congress Take any action . What is your outlook on the gun policy . Pinckney said, not in my lifetime. Thank god for gods time. That the people will get enough. Dont see the but when we get enough of the violence, it is so alarming to look at Global Statistics and homicide rates globally in the developed world as compared to the u. S. 10, 20 times greater here. I read an article not long ago about the murders and the shootings to death by police of citizens. They were like in a certain country, that year, 3, 4, in our country, 370 something. When we get enough, and when good people start remaining silent alright. Mr. Bryant i am hopeful that then the change will calm. Ome. Mr. Hughes in the last two months, the ame church has experienced two tragedies. Andting, South Carolina sandra bland. That directly reflect the state of Race Relations in of after americans in the United States. In the short time, the ame church found itself in the religious spotlight usually consumed by black megachurches. What is the church doing with this opportunity to help civil rights movements like black lives matter and what are the local church is doing . Mr. Bryant glad you asked. [laughter] a lot of our churches are megachurches. A lot of our churches have been on the fighting line continuously. Without publication. I am now a bona fide senior citizen. [laughter] back in the 70s, you would call the News Conference and news would show up. Today, you can call the News Conference and nobody comes. So what happenned in charleston, emanuel. Lit up they have been that doing ministry for 200 years. I talked to a brother here who said he was at bible study in emmanuel last wednesday. And it was packed. Most of the people were white. They did not know it was there. I responded to a letter that said all of this marching and protesting does not mean anything, since the cameras you all have not done anything. Ive wrote them back. Some, i write back. I said, never confuse the presence of the camera as the presence of our activity. The cameras left charleston and are now following trump. [applause] go head mr. Bryant but last week, i had a tour. My son has opened up a center, a school, feeding 500 young people. They are in baltimore. [applause] i was able to walk around and see young people in large numbers, so quiet and orderly, behind new computers. With satellites hanging from the ceiling, learning about saving and investing from those who were experts. Being exposed to the arts. I wrote back to the person, just because you have not seen it on tv, doesnt mean it is a nonreality. It is real. I walked through it. Just the cameras have gone. And other things have taken place in baltimore but we do not have a mechanism to share it. So we are the church. So it means we can never do enough. Lords we are the representatives of the earth. Whatever we do, its not nearly enough. But so much is going on to try to make a difference and continue to make a difference. And then we have to learn to share through this medium, twitter, facebook, those are our new reporters. Because when the reporters do not come, we can reported it ourselves. A lot is going on and a lot more needs to go home. Mr. Hughes are the destructive tactics of the black lives Matter Movement that we have seen lately at campaign events, is that justified or distracting . Explain why. And another question on the black lives Matter Movement, is it as disorganized as the occupy movement . Do we need a clear goal like what we saw 50 years ago in alabama . Mr. Bryant i once passed in new england and it was a generation who basically came from the Anglican Church and now they were in the ame church, trying to get used to our noise. [laughter] and up in a board meeting, they these young people you have coming to the church, they do not know how to have church. You are preaching and their whistling. They shouting right on. That is not church talk. They should say amen, hallelujah, thank you, jesus. [laughter] i said to the brother, i said, now, suppose i got up from my seat and came where you are and hit you in the head with a hammer. Would it be proper for me to tell you how to say ouch . [laughter] [applause] it ought to be scary to us. That is what i tried to say this morning. There is a large group of people who are suffering. One in four in the criminal justice system. Outlandish numbers. Unemployed, cannot find a job. To add insult to injury, those who had jobs and are still poor, because the jobs pace a little, this is the crowd that has erected. Really we need to try to run in front of it and gives it shape, that we think we could take that movement further down the road. But right now, we are playing catch up. Streetse come to the out of frustration. And what they have said to us is we have heard what you have said and we have tried it. When we can see people going down and catch it on film, in living color you see it. And then to have that dismissed, we are still angry. Way they respond might not be the way we responded years ago when we were taken through workshops, we have got to catch up to that. But right now across the country, there is a deep feeling of frustration for people who feel that in this culture and in the society, there lies do not matter. And so they are saying, hey look at me. Im a man, im a woman. I have needs like you do. And we have got to run behind them, clean it up, calm them down. But it is the response of the human soul that has been ignored. Mr. Hughes mentioned racism and we got questions about racism. While the Confederate Flag in the rebel flag no longer flies in capitol grounds, what needs to be done to change the racist conditions that created an unapologetic killer like mr. Roof . And another question or along similar lines says it is very good and important thing to take down a symbol of racism such as the Confederate Flag at the statehouse. How do you take down the racism in peoples hearts and minds . Mr. Bryant that is why we need our brothers and sisters of good will. A lot has been said in our absence that can be corrected. I live in chicago when i was at a demonstration, and it was about 5050 black and white. And the white kids turnaround and start shouting at the police. Telling the police what they will do and telling the police where they can go. I never turned around. I kept [laughter] i kept my face front because they will not get killed. Another brave young man i saw on the news who saw the police with his foot on the neck and brutalizing an individual, he could not take it. And he tackled the police are the miracle, he did not die. Police, and he did not die. So i am praying that as brothers and sisters of goodwill see what is going on and speak out. And vote out. And a standup. It will help us. Because the kind of racism im about, as king said cannot be legislated. , the kind of deposits made in that young manlife, that birth ed that level of hatred. That is deep. We have our work to do. Im talking about the africanamerican community. Because if you are treated like you are nothing long enough, you will act like you are nothing. And in like manner, we have got to take care of that. We have got to do that job into the hearts and spirits of our people. Selfworth, even when everything around you tells you you are no good and you have no destiny. It is up to us to give them another message. But on september 2, back to your situation, we will be back in this facility. News conference, ame church, the cme church, and ame zion church. Where on that date, we are going to roll out an agenda of what we need to do to make these United States more humane and more united. And so, youre all invited back at 10 00 in the morning on september 2 for the National Press club. Mr. Hughes this questioner asks, on the scale of one to 10, how much progress have we made to realize dr. Martin luther kings dream . Mr. Bryant if you had asked me that six or seven years ago, i would have had a different answer. Our greatest blessing has turned out to be at the same time our greatest pain. The election of Barack Hussein obama has unearthed a fear hey mr. Bryant and that is what has triumphed so much right now. They fear in this country. Do not take it lightly when there are those who cry. We want our country back. Initially, i said, who has your country . [laughter] until we understood this is no longer a country of white, male privilege. This is a stew. I do not call us a melting pot anymore. Nothing is melting. It is a stew. I hear people saying we are all the same. No, im different. Love me anyway. Stew, i know where the carrots, potatoes, the greens are. When you eat it, it is good. It does not have to blend, but [laughter] mr. Hughes this year, gay marriage has become legal across the United States. On july 17, two were married in United Methodist church. Where does ame church stand on gay marriage . Can gay people get married in the ame church . If it does not accept it now, do you see that changing . Mr. Bryant the american atmosphere has been filled with gay rights. All the programming. All the tv shows. All the movies. School curriculums. Legislation on gay. But nothing on race. [applause] , in that view, you have given us this small window to talk about race and guns. I think i want to keep my hour to talk about what america refuses to talk about. [applause] mr. Hughes some of our nations Public Places such as government buildings and schools have found the need to secure this place with armed security. How can black churches better protect their congregations from hate crimes in a hostile south . Mr. Bryant north, east, south, and west. [laughter] [applause] that is a serious question. I do not want to see churches armed. Amen. I do not want to play in to that. Mr. Bryant and so there is no move afoot to arm the church. We have to trust god. It is a violent culture. And what happened in South Carolina can happen to anyone in our churches, mosques, or synagogues. But i would hate the church would follow suit on culture. And everyone armed to the teeth. As i have said before what it , has demonstrated is that it really does not work. We are armed to the teeth. And we are killing each other. Left and right. So i would hope the church would be a Violence Free zone. And if others who are demented and what have you come in with Something Else on their mind, we will not take their approach or their response. But we will continue to trust god. Mr. Hughes before i ask the last question, i have some housekeeping. The National Press club is the worlds leading professional organization for journalists and we fight for a free press worldwide. For more information on the club, visit our website and to donate to our nonprofit Journalism Institute, visit press. Org institute. I would also like to remind you about some upcoming events. 18, newsday, august orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu will address the club head of the 10th of the anniversary of hurricane katrina. September 2, South Carolina governor nikki haley will speak at a National Press club luncheon. And the press club will host its annual 5k for scholarships, journalism training, and press freedom. I would now like to present our guest with a National Press club mug. [laughter] [applause] i would now like to ask the last question and, believe it or not, somebody managed to [laughter] get us a donald trump question. If donald trump comes to you seeking pastoral guidance [laughter] what would you tell him . [laughter] mr. Bryant you must be born again. [laughter] [applause] mr. Hughes a followup question. What would dr. Martin luther king advise trump to do . Mr. Bryant i have absolutely no idea. [laughter] i have heard people ask king questions. These years later, and what would be in his heart and his mind, very seriously, and i know we laughed. But when you listen to the candidate, and you listen to what he is running on, it is money. And i really do believe that what we need in leadership are those who think deeper than the material. I believe that, and that is why when i talk about the people in South Carolina saying this mayor loves us, and we need in this country leadership that sees us, that our burden is their burden, that there are no easy fixes, but counsel, prayer, collaboration needs to take place. So anybody who says, i am worth so much, so i can be your leader, no. You must be born again. Of the spirit and of the soul, to be the father of the nation or a mother of a nation. [applause] mr. Hughes how about a round of applause for our speaker . [applause] i would also like to thank National Press club staff , including the Journalism Institute and Broadcast Center organizing todays event. , if you would like to wear more about the club, go to our website. Press. Org. Thank you, we we are adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] a couple of sessions from the net roots nation, including plans for democrats to re gain seats. And a look at the makeup of officials. And the bipartisan policy center. Then the reverend bryant, a bishop with the african methodist church, talks about guns and gun violence. President jimmy carter disclosed today that recent liver surgery revealed that he has cancer that has spread to other parts of his body. President obama released a statement saying, michelle and i send our thoughts and prayers to rosalynn and the entire call family, as they face the situation with the same courage they had before. Mmy, we are rooting for you. President ial candidates are heading to the iowa state fair. We have live coverage of the candidate soapbox, a tradition where hopefuls get 20 minutes to speak to voters. Former arkansas governor, republican mike huckabee, will am eastern. 1 30 jim webb is live at 2 00. Martin omalley speaks to the crowd at 5 p. M. Eastern. And after each of the candidates speak, we will get your reaction to what they said. All here on cspan. Over the next couple of hours, we get the progressive democrat perspective on the 2016 election. And how the party plans to regain seats in state legislatures, local elected awful, and the United States congress. Ts nationnetroo Conference Held in phoenix, this is one hour and 30 minutes. Thank you all for being here. For this panel, how we can reverse the decline of democrats and progressives in the states. Im excited to see a full room. This is one of the most important topics we can be talking about. It is equally important we are talking about it in a place where it needs to be discussed, a place like arizona. There are states like arizona all over the country where democrats could be doing more. But we are not. We have seen over the last five years, democrats have lost over 900 seats in both state legislatures and 900 seats across america. We have gone from having democratic trifectas, governor, house, legislature we have five now. There are five states in the union where democrats control all of the union. If we have any hope of drawing something progressive, my state washington is in fact one of them that is no longer the trifecta. Republicans control state senate. We have seen other states voter id laws. You know it well. Opportunity great to talk about why that happened. But i wanted to be a short part of the conversation. And then move quickly to how we fix it, what we do about it. That is really the ethos of us. We diagnose what is wrong, and we can immediately to fixing it. That is one reason im decided to have this discussion here. The first panelist is a programming change. I was very excited to have beretta gonzales from california, unfortunately the legislature is still in session. And i got a call just before the panel started about her not being evil to make it. They were looking forward to introducing her to a national audience. Number that name, from san diego. She is an amazing rising progressive star. Have someone really fantastic who is agreed to join the panel. It is monica perez. I will let the panelists introduce themselves, she is from arizona. She ran for the legislature in arizona several years ago. She has a great experience about running campaigns. She currently works for democracy america, which is where i work. So it is great to have a local from arizona on the panel. Sitting next to her is the unequaled former state senator nina turner. [applause] who ran a great race for secretary of state in ohio last year. Unfortunately, she is not the current secretary state. But she has a lot of great insights to talk about, how democrats can win in a crucial swing state like ohio. Sitting next to her is elliott, the newly minted executive director of progressive majority Washington State. She is a great friend, a great organizer. Someone passionate about turning states blue, making sure everyone is able to take part in the democracy. The Government Works for all. Work for washing say. Im glad she is able to join the panel. [applause] and last but absolutely not least is michael sergeant, the director of the Democratic Campaign committee. They do amazing and important work to hold and again democratic seats and the legislature. Fix whate going to what we have. I am planning up to do much talking. We have an amazing panel appear. I want to dive right in. The first thing i want to ask, i will stop with monica and go straight down. What happened . Why is it that we went from states 10ocrats in years ago, to where we are now where republicans are running a riot in the state. What happened and why . I would just like to say that i think what happened, and im coming from a perspective of what happened here is we started focusing on congressional races. The sexy races. Governor and above, we have not focused on secretary of state races. We have not put enough emphasis on school board candidates. School boards are our base for building great states. In 10 years, they could be governor. And i think that is where we need to start. I think a lot of folks run for the state legislature not thatng what issue motivates them. If it is Immigration Reform, you can make a bigger impact there. But you have to start somewhere. You have to figure out how your issues lay into what you are running for. When iran, it was 2004. Long time ago. The district is redistricted. Was the chance for democrats to actually win back then. But we were not focused. The party folks not focused on legislations, it was a president ial year. I thought it was a great year to run, lots of money. But none of the money comes to us. None of it comes to the state races. I was fortunate enough to have emilys support, i see tori taylor over there. Roomcame into my living and helped me come up with a plan. And that is what i want to do, i want to do what groups like emilys list different me. I want to do that for state legislative races. I would just love that since i am from arizona, i will never forget my home state. Thank you. [applause] i have to agree with sister perez. The best way to build a house, you dont build the roof. This is coming from a woman who was never built a house. But it is my understanding [laughter] andhave to be a scientist, you dont have to be an architect to understand the best way to build a house you build the foundation. And so i do agree when she talks about the fact that one of the reasons we have lost lots of ground, they being the folks who dont believe in equality and justice for all, who happen to be in the majority in terms of the republican party. For selfs do not vote interest, that is starting with that school board member. Do mayor, city council, you not build the roof. You build the foundation. Locally elected people are the foundation. People who run for office in the state legislature, they are the foundation. The hands of time are being turned back in this country, the reversal of roe versus wade. The chipping away of Voting Rights, all of the things we care about are happening on the state level of government. So having a fantastic president , that is good. But we need it takes teamwork to make the dream work. The quarterback is only as good as the person they control the ball to. Mayors, to be thrown to progressive state house members, state senators. Winning back the statewide offices. I definitely speak from experience. Jim andi have to thank governor howard dean for making sure candidates like me have a fighting chance by making the investment and rising up the base. Nation goo a great through the ballot box. Because the cameras flash on the president ial candidate, when all of the work the things that happen to us happen on the local level. Way before any president has that kind of impact. We have lost our way. But we are going to find it, robert. We are going to find it. [applause] i really hate to follow that. Im fired up. I want to register. [laughter] , imnk the first thing speaking from the Washington State perspective. It was not a candidate problem. What happened in years past was a consulting problem. We as a party and progressive have conceded a lot of our values to contractors who do not live up to equity principles we talk about, the Racial Justice we talk about. When we give them our money, the candidates that are working hard and giving blood and tears for, theyre not talking the same language. Theyre telling those candidates to speak to the middle, speak to the old american majority. Not the rising american majority. Not the populations in need to hear it most, not those waiting in to theght electoral process. I think also that, you know, with those contracts, we need to look inward. And we need to examine how we spend that money on candidates, not just where they spend their money but as our organizations, who are giving our money to . If we are leaving out large sections emma the people that are standing with us and are most affected, were not doing our job. We have to take that hard look. Things a lot. This is a really interesting question. Just five years ago, going into 2010, democrats held 60 of the 98 cards and chambers. Now were at 30. A big part of what happened, what happened in the 2010 election with a National Republican wave that took down a lot of our legislatures. And we came back in 2012 and grabbed half of them back. In one cycle. So, were in the process now of how do we build a backup . Having it is a matter of both a shortterm strategy and a longterm strategy. That is going to take making consistent investments into things like candidate recruitment, training, message development, sustainable accountable programs. Networks ofilding supporters and people who actually care about the issues, about the candidate in the community. And having the ability to work on these issues cycle to cycle, and the hope that we have a sustained program. I will give you one small anecdote. The cycle, we had grassroots program, where we placed 311 field organizers in the district. And in one community, 311 folks. We did make a difference, even though the results were not where we wanted them to be. Knock on thousands of doors, actually that last week and loan, we had 1. 4 million contacts. That was critical. It allowed us in realtime where the trouble spots were, where we were struggling with turnout, enthusiasm. One of the things we did last cycle was, unlike some of the other committees, we wanted to look at this longterm. We made investments in the ohio senate, they were not in a position to win the majority in that one cycle, but we put 311 organizers, we put together a good plan. We wanted to fund a handful of field organizers that could organize a community. That is really critical. To be able to have the funding, strong plan to be able to fund it for 2016 and follow through in 2018 and 2020. Is ahing that i heard decline in how you motivate voters. How do you get people to the polls. Womanhaving lunch with a who ran for secretary of state and mexico. She pointed out that she lost a narrow race because turnout fell by 100,000. Not from the president ial left countryrnout across the where turnout had dropped across the country. What we think is behind that . Why is it we are having such a struggle turning people out in the years where theres not a president a candidate on the ballot. Start with michael and come this way. Michael i think there is a lot of different factors. Im curious actually at some point to get some of your opinions as well. I think that some of it is related to the fact that a lot of Democratic Candidates do not speak enough to the base. I think there is an issue with that. When we take a look at the republican advertising through the cycle, we will scratch our heads and say why are they talking about a french issue. Something that does not come up to high as a salient issue in the poll. But what they are often doing is trying to send out those messages to their own base. To engage them so they vote. Quite frankly, a lot of those o theges are probably to worst people. That is what drives their base. And therefore, a large amount of their base will vote in the midterm. That is part of it. I also think it comes to a larger effort we as democrats and progressives need to do to emphasize the fact that local elections are critical. They really are important. Havenot tell you how i number stations with family friends, they will gravitate towards politics. They want to talk about hillary and president obama and so on. That is their touch point. There democrats. But they do not know who the elected officials are. We really need to work to train set. Because it takes a lot for us to change the approach in our community. I just want to second that. The focus on down ballot races is something i wish we would is a movements been more attention and money on. There is nothing more exciting to me than a Water Commission district. I dont know if you have those. [laughter] because it matters, right . If you know water and you are in the west, you are going to have a career in front of you. If you do not know water and you are running for a state legislative seat, you have to come up to speed and 23 months before you go in front of voters, you are going to struggle. We maintain a farm team in Washington State. We have 380 people we work with to get them ready to run. This year, what we did was say we want everybody willing to go step up for the specialpurpose districts. Like reclamation districts, school districts, they control in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars. Often time, they do not have a quorum because he will do not run for them. Or they have convoluted processes for election. We have some in our state that are not elected. There elected on their own two months later. And told everything one of them, 160 stepped up. 160 progressives had gone through the vetting process and are going to be on the ballot in august. I think that is againchanger. If we can get our folks in the small districts, there went to make substantial policy change and build expertise moving forward. What happened in the past and the reason this goes back to the original question, i do not think we have done the legwork to make sure we are valuing those as much as the ones in state senate. Amen. When i think about last year. Last year was the lowest voter turnout in the country in 70 years. Think about what was happening 70 years ago. We were a little busy with the war. 70 years. So people are opting out. Because they do not believe folks who hold an elected space really give about them. I will keep it pg. [laughter] 70 years, that is pretty sad. For me, running for secretary of state in the great state of ohio. One woman, one man, one vote, the vote is the great equalizer and how hard it was for me to even try to get traction because i was not running for governor everyone knows the most important race is the secretary of state race. I am not just saying that because my sister was running for saying that because if people cannot vote and they do not have access, if their voice cannot be heard through the power of their vote, you cannot vote for a mayor or a governor. The ballot box is the most important. What i think happened is i have got to quote my sister, Janet Jackson what have you done for me lately . [laughter] and citizens in this country are not feeling that those elected to office really are doing anything about their cares and concerns, their children and neighbors, what kind of future are they going to have . We really have to start to talk to folks are they live. We talk about issues. People are trying to solve problems. If i do not have a job, that is a problem. If i have to string together five jobs just to make ends meet, that is a problem. If my baby is not being educated, that is a problem. And progressives, we are real intellectual. But i have not met anybody that goes out the vote because you are an intellectual. They go out to vote because you make them feel some type of way about why you are running and what you will do to lift them. Part of it is our messaging. We have to speak to their hearts. We can do that. Titles are good. But purpose is better. We have a lot of folks running for office that want a fancy title, they are angling for the next position instead of angling to make the peoples lives better. I dont care what side of the aisle they are. I come from the mother jones school of thought. And mother jones used to say i will pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living. That is how a sister roles at all time. I am for the people. I like to think that those who have the privilege or the ones that have the aspiration to run, it is a ministry. If you do not care about people, you ought not to run. One of the things for progressives, it is about heart and soul agreement. We are right on all the issues, but how do we help to make sure that what we are right about on the issues permeates through peoples hearts. So they are motivated to vote and vote for their own self interest. That is part of the problem. Even the folks that do vote, they are not voting for selfinterest. Year isng will election important. We are programmed in this country, in the society to only come out every four years. Think about it. There is a person on the ballot every year. And when he to get as much fire power and energy to those elections every single year. Because we are building a house. And we get to the roof in the president ial election, we are building the house. And in the next four years, we are building a house. That is every election year. Robert, i am feeling this thing. [applause] now i feel what a. J. Dispel. I should pass it back. Can we just recruit this woman to run for anything . Is it too late . Dont start nothing. Nina turner for president. I am not really joking here. One of the biggest things that got me to run with someone asked me to run. I think we have to take a step back. When you are recruiting women, people of color, you have to ask them. You have to ask them at least 10 times. I was lucky that when i was working for howard deans president ial campaign, the campaign ended. Get the base to run profits. I felt that governor dean was talking to me. Monica, i want you to run. And im staring at rosie lopez as a lover. Rosie loves everybody. Like ior dean felt was organizing for him down and douglas prime from. And i felt like he personally had asked me to run. Were groups theyre forming this everyone you to run. There is an open seat in the legislature, i was 25. I had always wanted to run. I was crazy, at 18 i said i wanted to run. Just dont know when or where. That is a story. We got people to run for office, but we asked them. And we pledged to give them support and help. And those folks who were my volunteers as a field organizer then became my volunteers as a candidate. And that is the beauty of me working at dfa. It is a homecoming. They got me to run. They totally do not worry that you have not finished your degree. Dont worry that you are 25, youre a single hispanic female with a strong catholic background. And my mother is catholic. Let me tell you. [laughter] and dont worry the planned parenthood and emilys list have endorsed you. You can talk about it. It is ok. Your mom will not retreat. I got kicked out of my church. Got the endorsement from planned parenthood, they came up in my local paper. I got kicked out of my church, my mom got kicked out of our neighborhood church. But my mom stood up for me, and i stood up for my values. I said fine, i will find a church that welcomes me. Im still catholic, im a proud prochoice catholic. I will find a place. Need to find a place for all those candidates. We need to make sure were asking people to run, we are making sure teachers, nurses, community activist, veterans are being asked to run. When they tell you they are not ready, they are ready. We have to tell them you might not be ready now, but there are 10 groups waiting to help you. We are here ready to train, i want them to apply for endorsements. We want to help them. There are people like me that people look up to. What more do you need . Is asking people to run, it is making sure we hold them accountable, too. If i ever went back on my had had ann 2004, we were p initiative on the ballot. Rosie remember we had to show id. I was the only democrat who spoke out against that. I was running with two incumbents and a 25yearold young woman was the only one speaking out. The party told me i should not speak out. You to stay neutral. How the hell am i going to stay neutral when i am from a border town . Why parents are immigrants. There was no way i was going to stay neutral. I may have lost my race because ad it, but i kept my hel held high. We have to make those folks accountable. Theyre promising us a platform, progressive values, and once they get in a closeddoor run as, guess what . That is what primaries are made for. We have to do that. In arizona, we have to get a lot better at that. I have seen way too many folks running for the legislature with the aisle congress. They get the congress, and the home state might as well be washington, d. C. We have to get back to the days of this activism where we have folks who truly care about people. You cannot run a campaign on direct mail and facebook ads. Do have to knock on doors, i not care if youre primaries are in august and it is hot in arizona. You have to talk to people. If youre not for the people, you have no business running. [applause] amen. One of the things im hearing from this panel is the importance of asking people to do things. Asking them to run, for your vote. It is called to mind something that i remember very well from the spring of 2014. It was a facebook discussion that happen to be with one of the leading Political Consultants in Washington State. Someone posted an article about how single, young women are one of the key democratic demographics. I commented saying this is great. I hope that Anyone Running for state legislature is planning how they will reach out to single, young women. Reaching out to people of color, poor people. Why would we do that . That is not smart campaigning. They do not show up to vote in midterm election. They should focus on the people who are the voters, that are reliable. Is that a right strategy . Is it wrong . If it is right, how do we deal with it . Ill start with monica here. Female whoa single ran as a single female, i will tell you that i know i am not a targeted voter. I know that because ifo in every election, every little bond election, i will not get those pieces of mail. I will not get that door not. And people are not going to remind me, because they will rely on i am voting anyway. We are forgetting to talk to the base. It is so wrong for us not to talk to single women voters about family issues. We care about them. About economic issues, education issues, health care issues. They are the same issues. It doesnt matter if youre a nontraditional family, a family with no kids. Grandparents taking care of kids. Everyone has the same struggle. And we should not have direct messaging just a single women, saying that the for hillary because she is a woman. You want to see her. Although i am for hillary. But we want to make sure the messaging is not just erected at you because youre a single woman. You poor, single woman. Let me talk to you about some things that might keep you busy at night, if you are not on match. Com. You might have time to read the issues longer. Then if you had kids. We all have the same struggles. I think it is so wrong for us. We have been talking about it for 10 years now. People of color, single and unmarried women, it is the untapped group. I guarantee you on our issues, they are 100 with us. Were just not talking to them. Or we are talking to them as if group of some mystical voters. Theyre not. We are the same. I care about the same issues you care about. Guaranteed. Nina single women have to eat. [laughter] they have to work. Whole dollar. Ar. The whole dollar, whether we are single or married. [laughter] there is a book coming out called brown is the new white. Please visit and support it. And basically what mr. Phillips is talking about is that in terms of the rising electorate, that sister perez was talking about, that is black and brown and progressive white folks. We are the majority. Point blank. And if we put some extra on our ordinary, extraordinary things will happen. We have to do that. We can no longer leave any sister or brother behind. Consultant i had consultants and people trying to advise me. You are running a statewide candidate, you know about ohio . The great swing state. I had a consultant say, now senator, you happen to be black. [laughter] im serious. Had totook everything i keep it together. [laughter] he went on and he said, dont draw too much attention. I couldnt make this up. Dont draw too much attention to ethnicity. Im saying to myself, my name is not rachel. [laughter] i couldnt make this stuff up. This person was a progressive and he meant well. Another question how are you doing down south . Where . Uth im not running in mississippi, im running in ohio. But they what i know how im doing in the rural parts of ohio. Have to have a mindset when you are in the room with folks who think that way and this was a good person a woman of color, of africanamerican heritage, i was born that way. [laughter] it wasnt by accident. [laughter] i dont happen to be, i am. I say all that to say that consciousness, we are the majority, and we cant leave anybody behind. In 2012, africanamerican women were the largest voting bloc in the United States of america. You bring the mamas together, the latina sisters, the native american sisters, wherever we hail from, women make the world go round. We cant leave anybody behind. Women have this type of impacts on their families, especially if you are a single mama. You have this impact on society. When i say mama, i dont mean just birthing a child. When you have the spirit of a mama, someone who scolded protects and speaks truth to power, that is what we need more of in this country. Any consultant that advises you to leave any group of folks behind you have to get rid of them. Have you all know said thatisholm won tremendous amounts of talents are lost to the society because the talent wears a skirt. That was true then when she have the courage in 1972 to stand up and say i will run for the president and matter what folks have to say about my ethnicity or my gender, and all of us but particularly women stand on the shoulders of the old sister like that, when it wasnt popular. She said i am running for the poor, i am running for children. That is what we need. We cant leave anybody. We wont leave anybody behind. Mr. Juarez hell yeah to all of that. [applause] i mustve done Something Real bad in a past life. [laughter] you said a few things that really struck me. When we think about who was running the world, its women and people of color, people in this room. But we are running politics. We arent getting the contracts. We arent pushing back on people that are making the decision. We are telling candidates of color, your last name looks a little too latino, lets make it smaller, lets go with your first name. Says vicki. Signs as vick or consultants are creating views of you as hyper professional, buying into the idea of the respectability politics that we are already navigating. I can go days without a peer of color in a similar position, and that is really messed up. I am a white presenting latino and a very large state with the huge latino, black, and asian population and i have zero peers at work in my industry. It doesnt have to be that way it is that way because the art asking harder questions. Its that way because we arent training ourselves to tell people its ok to call our own folks out. You have to make sure that the back of the house is looking like the front of the house. Pamphlets,s of the put the commercial together. [laughter] [applause] and i think part of this really has to do with this idea of winning versus liberation. When we look at how people are voting, the parties interested in winning, so we fill in a market and we get another d in office. But when people vote they are looking for who will liberate their lives. People have problems, and they are voting for security. People need to know that when they are casting their vote it will protect their family. We are doing a good job talking about that, an part of that is because we dont have the right people running this campaign. What of the last things i will say one of the last things i will say is that this idea of voting for security what does that mean to you when i say that . This is a group of progressive all notu guys are normal people. [laughter] security, to many of us, looks very different to the people who need to be elected most. We have a washington, population, which is systematically being suppressed through election laws and the ways we elect people. That took a federal Voting Rights case for them to change the way we elect people. For the first time in one city, which had never elected a latino, which is a majority poc city, they got nine people of Color Running in that city now. This is about making thsure we are changing the face of and changing the game. I hate to follow up so many great comments. It is really a seen throughout this entire discussion, that we have to expand our base. We cant just continue to talk to alabama folks and expect to be able to change the entire debate without actually changing the debate and talking to people we need to talk to. We have been trying that for too long. Grow howo actually many folks are voting in the midterms. It is critical. To continue the fight over the electorate toe get 51 of them, it hasnt been a winning mathematical problem for us. Ultimately, that when i hear about how narrowly we want to talk to people, i think we have to talk to more people and we have to gear our communications, are field programs to bring more people into the process. To ask them to support us. Meet them where they are, talk about their issues in their problems, of from their engagement we want their help, we want been involved. Them involved. We need everybody to pitch in. So theres been discussion about 2020 strategy 2020 being the next census, the legislation that is elected in 2020 draw the next state legislator districts. There has been a lot of discussion about do we aim for 2020 and try to take the legislatures back . What does that strategy look like . What do we need to be doing, concretely, specifically, over the next three election cycles to make sure that by the time the next set of districting comes around we have a lunch of democrats rather than gerrymandered districts . Mr. Sargeant i appreciate this question. In one of the things that we work on is we elect democrats to legislatures across the country. We started ayear, ich markr pac, wh schauer from michigan is directing, to put together a comprehensive redistricting strategy for legislatures focus on 2020. That as i said earlier, what does that mean . What that means is having a shortterm plan to be able to have success in 2016, which are critical. We cant wait till 2020 to actually do some good things for people and stop a lot of bad things. In state capitals at a local offices. We have to have a shortterm plan. But then from there, make consistent investments in the key states, in candidate recruitment, message development, training, to build and be able to make gains. A lot of the time, people focus happened with the republicans drawing the maps, and that put us in the whole. But the fact that the republicans drew maps in many of the critical states after the 2001 census they drew maps in ohio and michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania. Democrats had majorities in at least one if not two chambers in each of those states. Then we had the National Wave out. Ion that push thihed us we can get to the majority. These districts the republicans are scared, they know the electorate is changing, they know the conversation is changing, they know they can hold off change for a little bit of time and then redistrict, but by the end of that decade, those districts look a lot different. That is why we need to focus on having a program to address that. The one thing we have going for us this time that we did not last time is that in 2020 it will be a president ial year. We do have the opportunity to have higher turnout than we had in 2010. We can take advantage of that. I think there is a political strategy and then there is a movement strategy, and we need to push the party to be openminded with the democratic party. Around what it means to do a work around. Every person needs to be counted if we want these lines to be drawn fairly, that every person gets a vote. In Washington State we had some pretty abysmal census turnouts, especially in communities of color. That took large investments, folks who typically were not interested in what the census could do for them, to invest in going doortodoor, contact, education, getting people to fill it out. One, it could help hold the case for Voting Rights violations that were happening in different parts of the state. It also brought more people facetoface with folks who were already invested in the political outcome of their community. They were meeting people who could then intro them to policy commitment better sidewalks and street lights. Som the macro to the micro people could see that it affects their everyday life, my commute, my children, my wages. The census is the first part of that. At politico we tend to look at the census as a thing that doesnt impact us but its super important. We need to get out of that mindset and make sure our communities are counted. The second thing is that many of our states have a redistricting commission. In washington, those are appointed by legislator. Missed a huge opportunity were our democratic speaker of the house didnt listen to communities of color or advocates who wanted someone on the commission that will make sure redistricting represents our interests and values, and instead showed someone who did not represent that, and hurt us in a number of ways. We need to make sure he knows that. Ar those of you who have point of redistricting commissions, make sure you are reaching out to speakers of the house and tell them exactly who you want to miss commissions. Often those are decisions that are made in a back room, so we need to make sure they are public and they should be publicly vetted. I am a bit of a broken record on this the water district, the theol board, we cannot cede small ground because we will lose the war if we dont fill those positions with qualified people. Amen. Rner there is an african proverb that says one should never use a shield on the battlefield. Well, we have to have a cycle bicycle plan. The blue wave is coming how do we go from 2016 to 2018 to 2020 . Chairman, we the came up with an initiative w ell, two. Plan. The 1618 we understand that ohio we love you, ohio, but when it comes to midterm elections, some folks dont even know we exist. They are like ohio, who . We are going to let that happen. As we bring it for the nation as we did twice, as we have done historically, we are going to make sure we get some love to 2018, so we are building that blue wave coming. On thevery much focused local election who is running for mayor, running for school board, running for township trustee. As we ready ourselves for 2016, we are doing a same thing for 2017 for local elections, then in 2018 when all the statewide offices are up again, that we have a Strong Foundation to take back the constitutional offices. We have to build our shield. , the maine plan street initiative. For the first time in the Ohio Democratic partys history, we have created an initiative where we raise money for that mean street initiative. Is dollars go to candidates running on the local levels of government. We show the local candidates the love they deserve. And progressives we still control a lot of local offices. That is how we build strong bench of people who then can run for the state legislature, who can run for statewide office, who can run in the congress. We have to build it that way. We have to take it cycle by cycle. Elephant, to eat an the best way to eat it is one bite at a time. [laughter] [applause] i love it. Im going to start with what id like to see happen in arizona. I will tell you that i was gone for six years from arizona. When i left, the same people were in power. Left in 2007, went to nevada and washington, d. C. Someone told me your home state will appreciate you more when you come back. Not so true, let me tell you. Back, great leaders being built up in nevada. Nevada is what phoenix was 10 years ago when we opened our doors and really encouraged new leadership. In 2014, 2015 same people running stuff in arizona. Club, im tired of it. Im so tired of it. I want everyone to be involved. Ke rosie can learn li in the people that came before me. But i am represented by three guys and i dont like that. I love that they are all hispanic, but i hate that one of them is antichoice and hes a democrat. This is what we have to be doing, folks. Its not easy and its not pretty but we have to be calling those folks out. Part of our Party Platform is inclusion, equal rights for everyone. That includes our gay and lesbian friends, our veterans, womens reproductive rights. I dont consider you a democrat if you are representing me and you are antichoice. [applause] weve got to hold. Double. Weve got to hold folks accountable. We have to make sure that dsa is talking to labor, that we are working together, these great tables in circles. We have to make sure everyone is represented. I even had a conversation with someone about i have to join this table in arizona. Im dfa, im local, i Work National state races. Good aggressive in my home state, but if i cant do that there, im sure as hell going to do it all over the country. But we have to make sure that in our state all of you are advocating for new leadership. Rosie placed the path for people like me. Everyone has a rosie. I want rosie to stand up. Rosie lopez, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] if you are from arizona you know who im talking about, and her granddaughter is my best friend. In every state, weve got those activists who want to see their state they want to retire, they want to garden. She wants people to take on the as the Younger Generation we have to fight to be at that table, and i will fight for it in arizona. We have to keep doing it and we have to keep those people elected now in office. If they are fighting now we have to get them out. [applause] because thisnk panel is being live streamed he will take audience questions in a moment. We have been asked to have people who wanted to ask questions do so at the microphone in the middle of the aisle. After one more round of questions, we can get to some audience questions. The question i want after the related tois something that was discussed. I have heard it discussed earlier today as well. 1070. Ntioned sb we talked about voter id laws and redistricting. We can talk here and we should and we are about we as democrats can do to fix this problem. But we also have to keep in mind that republicans are actively trying to push back and make it harder for us to do our job, especially with voter suppression. What are some of the things we need to do its a chicken and egg problem. We need to have control of state legislatures to stop these nasty attacks on Voting Rights, and in order to get control of state legislatures you have to win elections. How do we untangle that knot . Ms. Perez i am a Firm Believer that it starts with the candidate. I come from that world where i was a candidate i think it starts with candidates, but it also starts with all of us. I think arizona got a lot of attention with sb 1070 but we have been dealing with that for 15 years. It wasnt as horrific as sb 1070. And we havent done a good job in arizona talking about voter suppression. We talk about it really well here in our own state but we dont have we arent pushing our National Leaders to talk about it. We have got great people in congress, but weve got to make sure they are sharing our state the nationaln media, making sure folks know that this is really happening. There are a lot of crappy things happening in our state that we have to make sure that it is coming out. And we have got to make sure that we find those full two are apart of that movement. Whoe is a great attorney has been defending voter rights their entire career he would make a great state legislator, i think. Got to get the folks at the top of their game to run for office. I think that is the chicken before the egg, making sure we get good people in office and making sure they are protecting it all the way down. We have to build coalitions. We are building coalitions in arizona around Immigration Reform and the Dreamer Movement is so active and so amazing here. But that also has to include voter rights. Just because you are a dream activist doesnt mean you cant be advocating for your brothers and sisters who cant vote. We are voting for them my vote counts five times for dreamers who cant vote. We are making sure that we are building those coalitions, and i do think it starts at the candidate level. [applause] it is really repetition there is no magic to this, we have to continue to tell the story every single year, even if we are nauseous from saying it over and over again, we have to make sure people understand that all paths lead through the valley. It is the great equalizer. Balltot box. It is the great equalizer. Christina losey says if you dont respect me, dont expect me. For a lot of communities of color, for a lot of communities they dont feel like elected officers dont care about them, so people have opted out. In order to get people back into the process we have to energize and remind them that it is important and if they care about education, you have a vote. If you need your snow plowed, you have to vote. For your garbage, you have to vote. If you want women to have a right to control their own dagblasted bodies, we have to vote. All of those things, whatever matters to people, we have to make sure to remind them to vote. The Congress Needs to take care of that its high time, past time [applause] to me, it is an emotional thing. How to we get people to be emotionally invested in their future . Since most folks wont run for office, that has to be done through the people who do run. I dont know if it was perez t hat said once folks get running we have to be behind them. But once we get there we have to find out if they are working for us. Say thatenough just to you are democrat what you do once you get there to make the lives of People Better . If keeping people energized and being authentic. I used to work for a mayor in cleveland and he came into the something terrible had happened in cleveland. You would have thought that it had just started writing. The mayor said if your hair is on fire, act like your hair is on fire. Our hair should be on fire every single election cycle. We need to make sure that we act as though our hair is on fire. Issues are important but we can tackle them unless people feel a part of this representative democracy, and they have to get out there and exercise their right to vote. Repetition, over and over and over again. When we are acting like our hair is on fire, we need to tell those democrats Voting Rights is your hair on fire. Where the can pass it congress is not acting and that needs to be expedited and that has to be a priority. There is no reason why any state that has the majority of either house should not be advancing legislation that increases access to the ballot. In Washington State this is a real issue where we have weak democrats not pushing hard enough. We have relegated the Voting Rights issues to a person of color issue and that is why democracy is working for everyone right now. [applause] when we tell people of color that their liberation and their experience in democracy is there stern, we have already lost the game. They need to be fighting with us, not behind us, not sometimes, but every day of that session. We need to be fighting and sponsoring legislation. Thats great. One of the things i want to echo, particularly something nina talked about, was authenticity. I think a lot of our power, the ability for our candidates to not feel like to not just talk about problems, but solutions, is that we have to be authentic and talk about these things in a way that actually kenexa people. I know that is easy to say, but so often i think when we are in these campaigns we find ourselves in the position where we want to make sure we arent just making a mistake, or we want to make sure that the campaign is as riskfree as possible. Running a National Party committee we want to run the best program possible. But you often see i see it with certain republicans. We see opposition, and there is is a horrific record. They are generally unpleasant to be around. Yet Everybody Knows where they stand and they are authentic and they only they are. They own who they are. Even people who dont agree with them will vote for them because they know who this person is and they have the courage to say what they believe, even though how can they keep on electing this person . You look at these folks, you can have a tv movie about these folks. N,t in the end, they wi because they come across as authentic, and i think that is what people are hungry for. They have real problems and they want someone that they can count on. Someone who can come at this from a human voice. Mr. Cruickshank voters often distrust politicians, and voters dont know who to trust. Thank you guys for being patient in line. Thank you. Hello. Hello . Ok. I want to thank you all this has been a fantastic panel. Minnesota, which up until recently had the trifecta. Something that addresses campaign statewide, one thing ive seen not only in minnesota but in other states, more traditional red states, is the thvast difference between rural areas and what people are talking about their versus metropolitan areas, the economic drivers of states. Structures that ive had the opportunity to work in have oftentimes failed to find a way to get that voice at the table in the war room. If you agree or disagree with that statement, and what is being done to bridge that gap . Ms. Turner i do agree with that statement, but we have more in common than not. When we look at poverty, we an urban it through iss, but the rural poverty for me, it starting at that place based on what we have in common