1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,440 Hello, hello, hello, everybody. 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,100 Happy New Year and happy certification day. 3 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:14,520 Another January 6th is upon us. 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:19,300 It's the fourth anniversary of the January 6th insurrection. 5 00:00:19,300 --> 00:00:21,760 And well, not a whole lot's changed. 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:23,980 Unfortunately, here we are. 7 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:30,880 Four years later, 2025, no closer to equal democracy, no closer to tilting away from 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:32,080 fascism. 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,520 And today we're going to be talking a little bit about that certification. 10 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:40,320 We're also going to be talking about the Together We Rise rally, which happened yesterday in 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,360 the Halifax Mall in Raleigh. 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:43,960 Alison Riggs's win. 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,800 And yes, she did win, finally. 14 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:51,480 And the 2025 municipal elections and what to look forward to in the coming months. 15 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:53,140 So let's get right down to it. 16 00:00:53,140 --> 00:00:56,760 First off, you might realize that I'm going to be alone today. 17 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:03,080 Unfortunately, CJ fell under the weather during his holiday break. 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:10,040 There is a sickness sweeping through his house, as he said to me in my in our instant messages 19 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:11,320 between each other. 20 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:12,320 But that's OK. 21 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:17,120 You know, he's he's with me in spirit and we're going to roll right through this. 22 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:18,340 Get out and vote. 23 00:01:18,340 --> 00:01:21,740 And remember that there is an election every single year. 24 00:01:21,740 --> 00:01:23,680 And sometimes there are special elections. 25 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,760 There's never going to be a time where you do not need to be involved and informed and 26 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:28,880 activated. 27 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,440 So just putting that right up at the top of this, because it's going to kind of encompass 28 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,240 everything we're about to talk about. 29 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,720 Of course, today is the certification of Trump's victory. 30 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:44,520 January 6th, the House and Senate Congress is going to meet to open the sealed certificates 31 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,560 from each state that contain a record of their electoral votes. 32 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,980 And they're going to be brought into the chamber in these special little mahogany boxes. 33 00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:55,080 So they're going to read the results out loud. 34 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,480 And of course, the vice president is going to be the one presiding over the session and 35 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:04,800 declaring the winner, which really is kind of just an exercise in self emulation. 36 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,500 I really feel for Kamala Harris on this one. 37 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:13,520 You know, she she could absolutely do what Republicans wanted Mike Pence to do back in 38 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:19,640 2021 and just decide not to certify the election results because I don't know, fraud, quote 39 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:20,640 unquote. 40 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:22,560 But we know she's not going to do that. 41 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:23,920 And it's the right thing to do. 42 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:27,320 We joked about it a little bit last time in our last episode. 43 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:32,600 But you know, the right thing to do is just to accept defeat and to understand that, like, 44 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,040 maybe there's just something about the candidate or the policies. 45 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,080 We have our own personal opinions about why she lost. 46 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:44,480 I'm going to wait until I have CJ on and we're going to have a guest next week, possibly 47 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:49,120 next week, maybe the week after that, to talk a little bit more about why we think Democrats 48 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:54,960 lost in North Carolina for the presidential election, but not necessarily statewide. 49 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,160 What's the difference there? 50 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:02,360 And here's the broader implication for democracy in this certification that Trump does not 51 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,560 respect the certification. 52 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:05,560 He doesn't. 53 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,280 Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a January 6th, 2021. 54 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,800 There wouldn't have been violence that led to people's deaths back during that time. 55 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,200 And now that he won, it's business as usual. 56 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,720 This is just the same game. 57 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,320 This is the same play over and over and over again. 58 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:27,160 It's wrong if I lose, but if I win, everything worked exactly how it was supposed to. 59 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,160 And this time, unfortunately, he doesn't just have the Electoral College to think for it. 60 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:36,360 As we know, he did technically win a majority of the popular vote. 61 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,880 Now that doesn't mean that a majority of Americans actually voted for Donald Trump. 62 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,560 Remember, he didn't quite crack 50%, but it doesn't really matter. 63 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,160 They're still going to call it a mandate. 64 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:50,480 They're still going to act like there's a very clear win from Trump on this. 65 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,560 But the fact of the matter is that it really came down to seven states. 66 00:03:54,560 --> 00:04:01,680 And unfortunately, when the time came, Kamala could not quite win those seven states. 67 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:09,560 And there's been a litany of op-eds and analyses and studies that I'm sure are both published 68 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:15,520 and forthcoming that will be exhaustive on the subject of why Kamala Harris lost the 69 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:21,840 2024 election and why Trump managed to win even though he is a felon, even though he 70 00:04:21,840 --> 00:04:27,400 is a convicted rapist, even though he is just a con man in general. 71 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:28,620 Doesn't really matter, right? 72 00:04:28,620 --> 00:04:33,520 At the end of the day, voters made the decision and they wanted groceries to be cheaper. 73 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:34,620 So this is what they got. 74 00:04:34,620 --> 00:04:39,600 And then just a couple of weeks after he wins, he goes on live television and says, well, 75 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,400 in effect says, well, I don't actually know how to make groceries cheaper. 76 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,520 Actually this was the first time that I heard the term groceries. 77 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,800 I just started saying groceries and everybody loved it. 78 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,560 The man is a TV personality, first and foremost. 79 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,640 And I think everybody who paid attention in these elections, these last three elections, 80 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:00,160 truly did understand that. 81 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,320 I think a lot of Republicans woke up to it. 82 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:09,320 But at the end of the day, we had so many people that were so anxious about the economy 83 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:15,880 or that were so anxious about the situation in Gaza, that were so anxious about immigration. 84 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,280 There were a plethora of issues on the table this time. 85 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:26,840 And unfortunately, abortion for the Democrats just wasn't one that was motivating enough 86 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:31,920 to bring some of those median, middle of the road voters over to their side. 87 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,040 At least that's my Cliff Notes take on that. 88 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,800 The importance though, and what I want to tie this all back to, is that the biggest 89 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,880 problem in this election and why Trump was able to win the popular vote is because of 90 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:46,360 voter turnout. 91 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,840 While Democrats did make gains in a lot of different places throughout North Carolina, 92 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:56,160 part of the reason that Trump won was because there were gains in voter turnout in places 93 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,480 where there typically has not been very high Republican turnout. 94 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:00,640 And that is an issue. 95 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:01,840 This includes Wake County. 96 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:08,000 Wake County saw a larger majority of Democrats, of course, coming out to vote for Kamala Harris. 97 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,920 But they also saw an influx of Republicans that typically did not vote early or did not 98 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:14,040 vote at all. 99 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:19,360 And by Republicans, I hope that the listener understands that I mean unaffiliateds who 100 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,240 voted for Republicans as well. 101 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,460 This is not just people who register as Republicans. 102 00:06:24,460 --> 00:06:30,100 As you probably know, and as you should know, unaffiliateds actually outnumber both Democrats 103 00:06:30,100 --> 00:06:35,480 and Republicans as far as voter registration statistics goes. 104 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,320 So what is this all leading to? 105 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,660 We don't know yet. 106 00:06:39,660 --> 00:06:43,880 This is a huge, huge turn for the country as a whole. 107 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:49,480 We for the first time have a convicted felon as a president for the first time in almost 108 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:50,480 what? 109 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:57,120 140 years, 150 years, we have a president that that has lost reelection and then won 110 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,600 it non consecutively. 111 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,480 It's truly a new time for political history. 112 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,000 And I think that going forward, we need to analyze things a little bit differently. 113 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:13,960 I think that we need to look at social media and not just as a means to just make people 114 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,240 aware of stuff, but also as a means of organizing. 115 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,740 And that's why so many people were anxious about like the TikTok ban bill and X being 116 00:07:21,740 --> 00:07:28,340 taken over by a far right idiot in the form of Elon Musk, somebody who wasn't even born 117 00:07:28,340 --> 00:07:31,000 here who might still not be allowed to be here. 118 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,520 But we'll get to that in our Elon episode, which is forthcoming. 119 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:34,780 So stay tuned. 120 00:07:34,780 --> 00:07:35,960 Where am I going with all this? 121 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:36,960 Right? 122 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,560 So the Democrats decided to hold a rally the day before the certification of the election 123 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:43,520 in Raleigh on Sunday. 124 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:49,200 They wanted to highlight their key messages and outline the goals of different candidates 125 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,960 that had won and candidates that would be up for reelection in 2026. 126 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,080 And I think that what stood out to me because and when when I was there, I thought what 127 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,520 was interesting was that it was a pretty decent turnout. 128 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:03,520 Right. 129 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:04,520 It was about 500 people. 130 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,520 There were some notable moments from some notable candidate. 131 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,600 It was blisteringly cold. 132 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:15,920 Of course, this was this was right before the massive cold front came in into North 133 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,000 Carolina. 134 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,200 We've had snow in Greensboro for the first time in I don't know how many years, but there 135 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:23,320 were some notable speeches. 136 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:28,960 First we started with Anderson Clayton, who kind of got everybody riled up as she is very 137 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:29,960 good at doing. 138 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:36,360 Every single vote in this election cycle has been counted and recounted. 139 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:45,920 Justice Allison Riggs has won her seat rightfully on the North Carolina state Supreme Court 140 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,920 by seven hundred and thirty four votes, everybody. 141 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,000 A little less than probably what's sitting out here in front of me right now, right? 142 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,960 In so many ways. 143 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,800 And I thought that that was interesting because it really did set the tone for everything 144 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,280 that was kind of going to be talked about at this rally. 145 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,680 It was mostly a Riggs victory rally. 146 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:10,920 I think that a lot of people were decidedly out there because they wanted to see Anderson 147 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,320 and they wanted to see Allison Riggs because they knew they were going to be there. 148 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,520 But also Justice Anita Earls was there. 149 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,880 And this is the Supreme Court justice that's going to be up for reelection in twenty twenty 150 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:22,880 six. 151 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:28,080 And her reelection in twenty twenty six is going to be extremely important because right 152 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:33,720 of the seven Supreme Court justice positions, five of them are Republicans. 153 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:38,840 Only two are Democrats, and that is both Anita Earls and Allison Riggs. 154 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:44,200 And with her reelection coming up in twenty twenty six, we need to also keep in mind that 155 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,880 in the state of North Carolina, there is a mandatory retirement age. 156 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:52,320 If she wins in twenty twenty six, right? 157 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,800 They serve on the board or they serve on the Supreme Court for eight years in twenty thirty 158 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:57,800 six. 159 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,040 She will meet the mandatory retirement age. 160 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:07,840 So we are facing ten years from now the possibility of another very contentious election in the 161 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:08,840 Supreme Court. 162 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,760 If Anita Earls is able to hold on to her seat now, again, that is not a guarantee. 163 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:18,040 Allison Riggs won her one reelection by only seven hundred thirty four votes, as you just 164 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,200 heard Anderson Clayton say. 165 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:26,160 And that is such that is such an incredible margin. 166 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,960 It is almost unfathomable to think about, especially when you consider that each of 167 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,460 them had about a two and a half million vote share. 168 00:10:33,460 --> 00:10:39,880 So the work that people did to cure ballots at these polling locations and to make sure 169 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,120 that every single vote was counted and then the subsequent effort by Jefferson Griffin 170 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:50,440 to try and kick, try and get sixty thousand ballots removed from various different precincts 171 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:57,520 and counties is it's it's it's one of those once in an election cycle stories that even 172 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,020 caught national attention. 173 00:10:59,020 --> 00:11:02,840 And when I first met Allison Riggs a few months ago, I say a few months ago, this was back 174 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,160 in February, I met her at an NAACP meeting. 175 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:11,280 If you had told me that she would be in one of the most contentious elections of twenty 176 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:16,200 twenty four, I would have been shocked and I still am shocked. 177 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,040 It's incredible to me how close this election was. 178 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,520 But that is just a that is just a glimpse into the future. 179 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:24,520 Right. 180 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,440 We have several more coming up. 181 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:32,480 We have a mandatory retirement in twenty thirty one from Justice Chief Justice Paul Newby. 182 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,320 But his term ends in twenty twenty eight. 183 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,080 So that will coincide with the presidential election year. 184 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,680 In fact, we have three justice election. 185 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:45,320 We have three Supreme Court elections that will coincide with the presidential election 186 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:46,440 of twenty twenty eight. 187 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:51,800 So Democrats need to start now and already have to their credit need to start laying 188 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:56,880 the groundwork now for their strength coming into twenty twenty eight. 189 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,400 This is going to be extremely important for NC Democrats. 190 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,500 And to their credit, I think that this rally was pretty successful in all honesty. 191 00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:10,520 I think that they managed to do exactly what they set out to do in getting people out and 192 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,400 excited and wanting to get involved. 193 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,640 I did see a lot of familiar faces out there. 194 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,320 But I mean, that's not necessarily a bad thing. 195 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:24,840 I think that this was a moment of solidarity for the North Carolina Democratic Party. 196 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,800 We actually heard from a voter who received a notice that her ballot was being disputed. 197 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:35,680 Of course, this was in conjunction with the Alison Riggs versus Jefferson Griffin race. 198 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:38,500 They were trying to cure her ballot out to. 199 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:43,400 When she reached out to the NCGOP and the NCDP to get it resolved, what I thought was 200 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,520 really interesting was they told the story when she told the story, she mentioned at 201 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:52,840 the end of it as if it was like a footnote that only the NCDP responded no less than 202 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,560 seven times, I think was her exact quote. 203 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,440 But that really does show the level of involvement. 204 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:04,680 And I think the level of or rather not the level of but the trajectory and the attention 205 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:10,020 that is being paid to the kind of elections that the Democrats want to run, the kinds 206 00:13:10,020 --> 00:13:12,020 of races that they want to run here. 207 00:13:12,020 --> 00:13:17,280 They're trying to do it very by the book, by the rules, but not so much playing the 208 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:24,420 margins lawyers that the NCGOP does and trying to connect on a personal level with voters. 209 00:13:24,420 --> 00:13:28,560 What I think will be interesting to see going forward, especially with the municipal elections 210 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:33,560 and the twenty twenty six midterms is how litigious they're going to be going forward. 211 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:40,920 I think that if anything, the Democrats need to start showing up some funds to be very 212 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:48,760 litigious and to challenge every single election, especially the ones where they don't win. 213 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,120 State Senator Sidney Batch also got up to speak. 214 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:57,800 She was recently elected as the Senate majority or excuse me, the Senate minority leader. 215 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:02,080 The Democrats do not have a majority in the Senate, much like they do not have in the 216 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:03,360 House. 217 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:08,680 She rose to encourage Democrats to continue resisting the North Carolina GOP's power 218 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:15,520 grabs again refer to our SB 382 episode and all the coverage there for what I'm talking 219 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:16,520 about. 220 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:22,240 And she also spoke about implementing progress, quote, we're building a movement based on 221 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:25,240 unity, justice and democracy. 222 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:26,240 End quote. 223 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:33,920 And these kinds of quotes, these kinds of this this rhetoric is great in trying to establish 224 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:34,920 party unity. 225 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,360 I think it's a little bit understated in how they need to be running the party as if it 226 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:45,760 is an apparatus that has one cohesive and one goal in mind. 227 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:51,840 Right now, there is a small race within the Democratic Party. 228 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,840 There are a few challengers for first vice chair. 229 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,200 Right now, the first vice chair is Jonah Garson. 230 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,420 I think he's done all right. 231 00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:01,600 But there are definitely some challengers there. 232 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:06,800 At this point, I don't I've heard some whispers of people trying to trying to challenge Anderson 233 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,440 Clayton for the state party chair position, but I don't think it's really going to happen. 234 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:16,480 She's somebody who has really been able to bring the NCDP to the forefront and get herself 235 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:22,880 out there in terms of marketing herself and marketing the party as a whole. 236 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:29,120 And the the new South, her appearances on like CNN, MSNBC and some other stations and 237 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,580 things like that, I think brings her to the forefront, kind of like a Ben Wickler, somebody 238 00:15:33,580 --> 00:15:38,360 who is clearly trying to establish themselves as a very influential party chair rather than 239 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,640 somebody who's just like a bureaucrat that kind of makes sure that the party continues 240 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:43,640 running. 241 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,080 She's definitely been a great spokeswoman for the NCDP. 242 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,540 So I'll be interested to see how she if she wins reelection, which I'm sure certainly 243 00:15:51,540 --> 00:15:56,680 sure that she will, how she's going to continue that going into the midterms, going to the 244 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,480 municipal elections, maybe even going into twenty twenty eight. 245 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:06,640 We'll see, because there have already been calls online for her to run for DNC chair 246 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,640 at some point personally. 247 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,140 And again, she knows I love her. 248 00:16:12,140 --> 00:16:16,700 We need her here because if there is going to be anybody that can energize the Democratic 249 00:16:16,700 --> 00:16:19,800 Party here in North Carolina, it's going to be Anderson Clayton. 250 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,680 And to move her into a position again, she's 26 years old. 251 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:29,900 To move her into position on a national scale at such a young age, I think runs the risk 252 00:16:29,900 --> 00:16:32,680 of people not taking it seriously. 253 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,140 This is I mean, I'm only 31. 254 00:16:35,140 --> 00:16:40,880 This is not being I'm not being ageist here, but we have to understand that there is a 255 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:47,260 whole apparatus in Washington, D.C. that is not it's not like it is here in North Carolina. 256 00:16:47,260 --> 00:16:48,260 She knows that, too. 257 00:16:48,260 --> 00:16:51,200 She's she's very I'm sure she's well aware. 258 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,100 It'd be great to have somebody so young personally. 259 00:16:54,100 --> 00:16:59,040 I would love it to have somebody so young and so driven and so energetic and so goal 260 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:01,560 focused as DNC chair. 261 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,320 But I also think that there is a lot of politics that are at play here. 262 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:11,040 You don't get to be DNC chair just because you're energetic and young. 263 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,240 There's there's a lot more to it. 264 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:19,120 Maybe further down the line, she will have enough traction and enough of a status to 265 00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:20,240 be able to do that. 266 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:21,860 I would not put it past her. 267 00:17:21,860 --> 00:17:23,220 And I think she'd be great at it. 268 00:17:23,220 --> 00:17:26,000 So we'll just have to see what happens over the next few years. 269 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:31,340 Let's not everybody jump the gun on this and get rid of one of the best assets we have 270 00:17:31,340 --> 00:17:34,400 in the state in building party power out. 271 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:35,400 Right. 272 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:40,920 We we don't want to immediately send her off to do more at the national level when she's 273 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:42,720 doing so much here at the state level. 274 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:44,000 But that's just my opinion. 275 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:49,900 So again, like I said at the top of this, this was this was very much a rigs victory 276 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:51,380 rally in a way. 277 00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:56,520 Like I think that it was good to establish a sense of unity, to establish a sense of 278 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:57,520 togetherness. 279 00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:58,520 Right. 280 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:05,500 In such a word at this Together We Rise rally in Raleigh that gives that gives Democrats 281 00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:13,720 a much needed foundation and focus going into 2025, but also rigs winning by such a thin 282 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:20,480 margin is both a blessing and a curse because because it was such a thin margin, it makes 283 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,280 it pretty amazing that it was so close. 284 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,240 It was like by the skin of your teeth. 285 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,180 It's very attention grabbing. 286 00:18:28,180 --> 00:18:32,180 It's very exciting and such a huge win for Democrats. 287 00:18:32,180 --> 00:18:33,840 Not going to take that away at all. 288 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,080 But I also think it spells a little bit of trouble further down the line. 289 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:44,120 If you get somebody who is maybe a little less of a good campaigner, who has not as 290 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:49,840 good of a campaign team as Alison Riggs did, I just spoke with her campaign manager at 291 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:56,560 the rally today and I fully think that there there is a lot to this campaign that we did 292 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:04,600 not see that was incredibly important in securing those that 734 vote margin because there there 293 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:09,520 were three other judicial branch elections that were going on. 294 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,900 We have Ed Eldred, we have Martin Moore. 295 00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:16,120 There were other people that were running and they did not win election. 296 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:17,480 They did not win their election. 297 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:22,440 So for this to be such a close election and for Alison Riggs to have this moment of finally 298 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:28,480 being able to breathe and get on with her work for the next eight years, Democrats are 299 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:30,640 of course going to do a victory lap. 300 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,840 Nobody's going to nobody should take that away from them. 301 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,240 It's definitely a warning sign. 302 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:35,240 That's all I'm saying. 303 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:40,640 So let's listen to how she started her speech here at the Together We Rise rally. 304 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:47,640 I didn't know about these signs but it should say we won! 305 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:48,640 We won! 306 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:49,640 North Carolina Democrats! 307 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:56,640 I am Justice Alison Riggs and I am so honored to be here with you today. 308 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:03,160 And guess what North Carolina Democrats and democracy advocates? 309 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,480 I am standing here today because of you. 310 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:15,800 I am here to thank you for what you did this past November, two months ago today. 311 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:23,040 You changed the course of this state, the way that people will enjoy their rights down 312 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,400 the road or because of the work you did this cycle. 313 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:28,880 So pretty great opening. 314 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,560 I do think it was a pretty great opening. 315 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:37,520 I do think it was a good way to bring the message of unity, the message of Together 316 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,200 We Rise back into the fold. 317 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,440 Just having this sense of well, yes, I am the candidate but you guys are the ones that 318 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:45,840 got out and did the work. 319 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,680 As somebody who ran a campaign this cycle, I can definitely say that it is not easy to 320 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:57,840 get people to come out and canvas or phone bank or do anything for a campaign without 321 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,320 there being some kind of incentive, right? 322 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:07,640 There were plenty of campaigns that had to run full on paid canvassing, paid phone banking. 323 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:12,140 There was a massive amount of money being moved through this state. 324 00:21:12,140 --> 00:21:17,680 What I can say for sure is that a lot of people did come together for Alice in Rigs. 325 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:22,360 I can't say the same thing for a lot of the other Democrats that were focused on during 326 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,800 this election cycle. 327 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:29,280 I do have a bit of a chip on my shoulder because of that. 328 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:34,760 Running out in Eastern North Carolina is not easy but there are so many ways that people 329 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,600 can get involved, especially if you are on the left end of the spectrum. 330 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,680 Maybe you don't consider yourself a Democrat. 331 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,020 Maybe you're unaffiliated. 332 00:21:42,020 --> 00:21:43,880 Maybe you're part of the Green Party. 333 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,800 Maybe you're a Communist, Socialist, DSA member, what have you. 334 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,400 What I encourage everybody to do is to look at the candidates themselves and look at who 335 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:56,880 they're up against and then make a decision on how you're going to use your ability for 336 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:02,920 activism to further the goal of keeping certain people out of office while knowing the ones 337 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,780 that you put in office are accountable to you. 338 00:22:05,780 --> 00:22:10,060 Because if candidates really believe this, that you made it happen, then it is incumbent 339 00:22:10,060 --> 00:22:12,120 upon you to make it happen. 340 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:13,900 But that's my little soapbox. 341 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:17,880 The energy of the crowd was pretty great, to be honest. 342 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:22,600 I know it was a little lackluster in that one clip but as the speech went on, it actually 343 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,540 picked up quite a bit. 344 00:22:24,540 --> 00:22:30,320 This is also interesting because Alison Riggs is one of only two Democrats on the Supreme 345 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:35,800 Court as mentioned before and also one of only two women on the Supreme Court. 346 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,920 I bet you can guess that the other woman is a Democrat. 347 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,780 And if you did guess that, you know, brownie points to you. 348 00:22:44,780 --> 00:22:50,960 While Justice Riggs and her re-election might not make a huge difference in the decisions 349 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:55,600 of the Supreme Court, again, let's keep in mind, let's keep a clear head here that this 350 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,120 was only to retain a seat. 351 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,860 Now dissension in the courts is important, right? 352 00:23:01,860 --> 00:23:05,360 Especially if it's something that goes up to the Supreme Court or if it goes to appellate 353 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:06,620 courts and things like that. 354 00:23:06,620 --> 00:23:07,620 It is important. 355 00:23:07,620 --> 00:23:10,460 It is important to have dissenting voices in the Supreme Court. 356 00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:16,100 However, we can't get ahead of ourselves and assume, as Anita Earls very deftly pointed 357 00:23:16,100 --> 00:23:21,600 out later on in the rally, that just because somebody fills a vacancy in the court does 358 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,060 not necessarily mean that anything's going to change. 359 00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:29,060 I bet your feet and hands are as cold as mine, so I'm going to be brief. 360 00:23:29,060 --> 00:23:35,540 My name is Anita Earls and for the past six years, I have fought for your rights and freedoms 361 00:23:35,540 --> 00:23:39,660 as an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. 362 00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:46,980 I was part of the majority in 2022 that said that extreme partisan gerrymandering violates 363 00:23:46,980 --> 00:23:47,980 our state constitution. 364 00:23:47,980 --> 00:23:50,980 That decision was overturned in 2023. 365 00:23:50,980 --> 00:24:01,060 I was part of the majority that in 2022 said that a voter ID requirement that was passed 366 00:24:01,060 --> 00:24:08,820 explicitly to discriminate against black voters is against the state constitution. 367 00:24:08,820 --> 00:24:11,620 That decision was overturned in 2023. 368 00:24:11,620 --> 00:24:13,580 You gotta love the comedic timing of that. 369 00:24:13,580 --> 00:24:18,900 There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of man hours needed down the road that are 370 00:24:18,900 --> 00:24:24,900 going to shift power away from the GOP, away from the conservative and right-wing majority 371 00:24:24,900 --> 00:24:29,780 in this state because we already know just from looking at the results of this election 372 00:24:29,780 --> 00:24:35,820 that it is not a majority conservative, republican, right-wing ideology. 373 00:24:35,820 --> 00:24:39,860 Setting the stage for 2025 in the municipal elections is going to be extremely important 374 00:24:39,860 --> 00:24:45,180 because county commissioners are up for election, mayors are up for election, local school boards 375 00:24:45,180 --> 00:24:46,580 are going to be up for election. 376 00:24:46,580 --> 00:24:50,260 These are the people that are going to define your everyday local life. 377 00:24:50,260 --> 00:24:54,580 You need to be involved and you need to get people in your neighborhoods involved. 378 00:24:54,580 --> 00:24:55,860 These elections matter. 379 00:24:55,860 --> 00:24:56,860 They do. 380 00:24:56,860 --> 00:25:02,460 As we see, they are very close in this state, sometimes down to the wire, sometimes down 381 00:25:02,460 --> 00:25:05,540 to a minuscule percentage. 382 00:25:05,540 --> 00:25:09,740 So going into 2025, what are the issues that I'm looking at that are probably going to 383 00:25:09,740 --> 00:25:10,740 be pretty important? 384 00:25:10,740 --> 00:25:13,000 Housing, 100%. 385 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,680 Not just because there is a significant lack of housing in the state but also because of 386 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,500 Hurricane Helene, there are still people in Western North Carolina without housing, without 387 00:25:22,500 --> 00:25:23,500 infrastructure. 388 00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:25,620 These are going to be important issues. 389 00:25:25,620 --> 00:25:28,400 These are going to be important issues that Republicans run on. 390 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,360 Of course, they're not going to run on them the way that they need to be run on. 391 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,060 As in, here are the issues, here are ways to fix them. 392 00:25:35,060 --> 00:25:40,300 No, they're going to take it at a pick yourself up by your bootstraps method. 393 00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:41,380 Mark my words. 394 00:25:41,380 --> 00:25:43,800 We have an issue of housing inequality in this state. 395 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,620 Have the Republicans put forward anything in the last 14 years to help alleviate that? 396 00:25:47,620 --> 00:25:48,620 No. 397 00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:54,620 Will they take money from the builders' organizations and lobbying firms that keep the prices high? 398 00:25:54,620 --> 00:25:55,940 Well, absolutely. 399 00:25:55,940 --> 00:26:01,140 And as far as infrastructure goes, are there any projects in place coming up in 2025 that 400 00:26:01,140 --> 00:26:03,780 have been talked about in terms of public transit? 401 00:26:03,780 --> 00:26:06,140 Nope, I'm willing to guess not. 402 00:26:06,140 --> 00:26:10,140 I think I would speak for a lot of people, especially in the Triangle area, that would 403 00:26:10,140 --> 00:26:14,500 prefer to have some form of public transportation going from... 404 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:15,660 I mean, shoot. 405 00:26:15,660 --> 00:26:22,340 Let's just take Winston-Salem to Greensboro to Durham to Raleigh and then maybe in and 406 00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:27,100 around the Triangle, maybe help alleviate some traffic on 70 and 40 and I-95. 407 00:26:27,100 --> 00:26:29,380 I-95 is not too bad. 408 00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:36,100 But my point is that these are the kinds of things that people ask for and instead the 409 00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:42,020 focus has largely been on immigration as far as the rhetoric goes and private versus public 410 00:26:42,020 --> 00:26:43,020 education. 411 00:26:43,020 --> 00:26:45,980 And don't get me wrong, public education is extremely important and we need to keep the 412 00:26:45,980 --> 00:26:51,700 pressure up to make sure that public education remains affordable and accessible to everybody. 413 00:26:51,700 --> 00:26:53,860 There's no but on the end of that sentence. 414 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:55,300 We just do need to do that. 415 00:26:55,300 --> 00:27:01,300 So when Democrats go into 2025 running for some of these local election offices or running 416 00:27:01,300 --> 00:27:06,340 for some of these local offices and Democrats go into the midterms and start announcing 417 00:27:06,340 --> 00:27:10,620 that they're going to be running, I mean, take for example, 2026, Tom Tillis is going 418 00:27:10,620 --> 00:27:13,520 to be up for reelection, the senior senator. 419 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:19,620 There are whispers that Wiley-Nickel, the representative from House District 13 is going 420 00:27:19,620 --> 00:27:20,620 to run. 421 00:27:20,620 --> 00:27:27,820 There are whispers that Roy Cooper, our outgoing, well, our now retired governor is going to 422 00:27:27,820 --> 00:27:31,940 be running, which I think would be a pretty strong contender. 423 00:27:31,940 --> 00:27:34,180 But there's no sure. 424 00:27:34,180 --> 00:27:36,380 There's no sure thing anywhere right now. 425 00:27:36,380 --> 00:27:42,260 What they need to be focusing on going into 2026 is how to best put populist policies 426 00:27:42,260 --> 00:27:45,260 into practice across North Carolina. 427 00:27:45,260 --> 00:27:49,780 What people actually care about is housing and education and health care. 428 00:27:49,780 --> 00:27:56,580 If you can capture those three things in this state, you will have an incredibly strong 429 00:27:56,580 --> 00:28:01,340 position going into 2026 because the people who are going to vote in the midterm elections 430 00:28:01,340 --> 00:28:04,700 are the ones that typically pay attention to policy. 431 00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:08,940 Presidential elections are typically seen as a great time for people to campaign because 432 00:28:08,940 --> 00:28:14,940 you have the chance to gather some of those voters from the presidential campaign, right? 433 00:28:14,940 --> 00:28:16,380 You get some of the coattails. 434 00:28:16,380 --> 00:28:18,500 But here's the problem. 435 00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:23,220 When Donald Trump is on the ballot, it throws a wrench in everything. 436 00:28:23,220 --> 00:28:29,020 And in 2028, hoping and assuming that Trump is not going to try to pull some crap with 437 00:28:29,020 --> 00:28:33,820 the Constitution, we will likely see somebody like JD Vance running for president. 438 00:28:33,820 --> 00:28:39,620 The main focus of the Democrats in North Carolina should be combating every single policy that 439 00:28:39,620 --> 00:28:43,420 he could possibly bring up in a populist framework. 440 00:28:43,420 --> 00:28:49,540 Time is the name of the game right now, and if Democrats can start trying to push a little 441 00:28:49,540 --> 00:28:54,180 bit more of a populist agenda, something that is a little bit more something that I, of 442 00:28:54,180 --> 00:29:01,440 course, would advocate for being more left wing, more labor focused, more equitable housing 443 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:07,440 and infrastructure and education focused, we could see some real change in this state. 444 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:14,860 Of course, I'm not a lobbyist or a professional pundit or somebody who works in a consulting 445 00:29:14,860 --> 00:29:18,540 firm talking about these races every single minute of every single day. 446 00:29:18,540 --> 00:29:19,980 So what do I know? 447 00:29:19,980 --> 00:29:23,900 But you let me know, you know, let me know in the comments, let us let me know in the 448 00:29:23,900 --> 00:29:27,060 socials what you think of that premise. 449 00:29:27,060 --> 00:29:33,180 Because if you get involved now and then come 2026, we can start making some real populist 450 00:29:33,180 --> 00:29:38,980 change in this country and we can start making some real populist change in this state, where 451 00:29:38,980 --> 00:29:44,380 instead of the super majority of the GOP in the state house making all the decisions, 452 00:29:44,380 --> 00:29:47,540 the people and the things that they want, the things that they care about can start 453 00:29:47,540 --> 00:29:49,260 making some headway here. 454 00:29:49,260 --> 00:29:50,260 Maybe we have a shot. 455 00:29:50,260 --> 00:29:51,260 Who knows? 456 00:29:51,260 --> 00:29:52,260 Maybe. 457 00:29:52,260 --> 00:29:56,140 Well, unfortunately, without my co-hosts here, this is going to be a little bit of shorter 458 00:29:56,140 --> 00:29:57,140 episode. 459 00:29:57,140 --> 00:30:00,440 Thank you for everybody tuning in and listening. 460 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:07,100 And you can of course follow us on Blue Sky, Twitter, Facebook, all the things at Left 461 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:08,100 of Old North. 462 00:30:08,100 --> 00:30:12,180 And of course, subscribe to us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, wherever you get your 463 00:30:12,180 --> 00:30:13,180 podcasts. 464 00:30:13,180 --> 00:30:15,820 We are on TikTok for as long as that's going to last. 465 00:30:15,820 --> 00:30:19,180 We don't know quite yet, of course, but stay tuned. 466 00:30:19,180 --> 00:30:21,580 We're going to have some guests coming down the pipeline this year. 467 00:30:21,580 --> 00:30:25,980 We're also going to be looking a lot at municipal elections and putting some focus on rural 468 00:30:25,980 --> 00:30:31,220 North Carolina, especially in the western half of the state, so stay tuned and stay 469 00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:32,580 on the Left of Old North. 470 00:30:32,580 --> 00:30:56,460 Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.