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Sen. Michael Bennet: "We Can't Take Anything For Granted" | Pivot at the DNC

August 21, 2024 / 14:46

This episode features Senator Michael Bennett from Colorado discussing the current political landscape, particularly the Harris campaign and its potential for success. Key topics include the Democratic party's unity, foreign policy, and the impact of economic inequality on democracy.

Senator Bennett shares his insights on the Harris campaign, noting that the American public is eager for change from established politicians. He highlights the significance of Joe Biden's decision to step back from the race, allowing for a surge of support for Harris.

Foreign policy is also addressed, with Bennett emphasizing the need for a focus on a two-state solution in the Middle East and praising Biden's coalition-building efforts regarding Ukraine. He critiques Donald Trump's approach to foreign relations and the potential consequences of his policies.

Bennett expresses concerns about economic mobility and wealth inequality as threats to democracy, urging the need for action in swing states to secure a Democratic victory. He reflects on the excitement among voters and the importance of grassroots efforts.

Finally, Bennett discusses Colorado's collaborative political environment and the need for accountability in tech industries, advocating for stronger regulations to protect citizens' rights.

TL;DR

Senator Bennett discusses the Harris campaign, foreign policy, and economic inequality's impact on democracy.

Video

00:00:00
okay we're here with Senator Bennett
00:00:02
from Colorado who is Scott's favorite
00:00:04
Senator apparently is he your favorite
00:00:07
is he that's right so you need to start
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so full disclosure I was Allin on
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Senator Bennett's presidential campaign
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actually hosted a fundraiser not very
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well noticed event in the history of
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American not true huge influence well
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thank you for having me anyway and thank
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you for paying attention to that
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campaign my mom uh when I told her I was
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running said to me Michael do we really
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need a seventh candidate in this race
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yeah something she's never said to Cory
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or anybody else it was pretty rough W
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let's kick it off there so you you've
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you've run a presidential campaign what
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do you think is working about the Harris
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campaign if you identified one or two
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key things that seem to be resonating
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what's what are those things I think the
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most important thing is that the
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American people are so ready to turn the
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page on a a generation of American
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politicians frankly on both sides and
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she's been able to Capital I on that
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she's been able to capture that
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lightning in a bottle and um and that's
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so I'd say that one thing two it was an
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amazing moment to the for many reasons
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the moment that Joe Biden decided to
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Advocate the the the race something no
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politician would ever do but that day
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giving up power giving up power ultimate
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power and ultimate power and actually
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when his guys came over to the
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Democratic caucus to have a conversation
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about what should happen I said said
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among other things we're asking you to
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have a conversation with Joe Biden that
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nobody has ever had with the president
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we're asking Joe Biden to make a
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decision that no other president has
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ever made that in of itself was
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extraordinary but then to see on that
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day just this organic upwelling of
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support in the Democratic party for the
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vice president for a variety of reasons
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I think people thought you know we've
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taken long enough we don't have a lot of
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time we got to figure out who the right
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person is and just go with it um that's
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another thing I think she's done very
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very well is be there and and and and
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and taking on the the top of this T
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ticket with an elegance and with a Grace
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that has served her and the Democratic
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party extremely so you had had been
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somewhat outspoken you kind of hedged
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your your what you were saying you
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didn't Nancy Pelosi it you didn't full
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Nancy Pelosi it I got more credit for
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what I said from Scott that I did for
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you yes you did because you were you
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were you were being verying
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oh yeah you minced there there's a lot
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of mincing happening so talk about why
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you did it that way because you
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essentially encouraged him to leave and
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nany was more explicit where she's like
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we want him to make a decision and it
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essentially was just not that decision
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he's made well I think I I appreciate
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the position that she took look I was
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the first you got a lot of flack but
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yeah and I and I and I did say that I
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thought was the first CER to say that I
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thought we were going to lose in a
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landslide right and that we had a moral
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choice as Democrats and frankly As
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Americans to take seriously that that
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problem not not a contingency but the
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reality that we were at risk of losing
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the presidency the Senate and the house
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obviously it was up to Joe Biden to make
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the decision that he did it wasn't up to
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me to make that decision in any way any
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way for him or in my view to advise him
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about it but when I was asked what I had
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said privately in our Caucus meeting I
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on national TV
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I that's what I said and that's what I
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believed and now I think we have the
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chance to win the presidency win the
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Senate and win the house so when you
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think about how it happened the
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obviously Donald Trump's been thrown off
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by this by not just Joe Biden who he
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keeps talking about running and using
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words like coup and things like that
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that's funny yeah um but but also having
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a trouble getting her his I shouldn't
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say hands around her because he is a
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sexual harasser so getting um you know
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figuring out how to deal with her he she
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can't he doesn't seem to be able to
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Define her or respond to her in anything
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that's not offensive I mean he's made
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his whole political career for such as
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it is by threatening to drag us back
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deep into the past that he is a he is a
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reactionary force in American politics
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and I think he cannot confront uh the a
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politics that's oriented toward the
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future both in in who KLA Harris is but
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also in the policies that she's pursuing
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and now in one second he finds himself
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being the lone octogenarian in this race
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and that's not sitting very well for him
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I think uh among the he feels like the
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incumbent and even though she is the in
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does he definitely
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does what message do you think that over
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the next two nights if you were advising
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the Harris campaign what message do you
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think they need to get out to voters I
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think that um that we need to express
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the unity in the Democratic party and
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the excitement in the Democratic party
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that's on clear display I've been to a
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number of these events and it's rare to
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see this uh and so I think that's very
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exciting and I think it's really
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important for us to express that this is
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about America not about the Democratic
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party that we want people to be involved
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in this unifying vision for what the
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future looks like that we can put this
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politics of Division behind us and that
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we can put a freaking stake in it and
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put it behind us and then we can move
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off into the future not because we have
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a monopoly on wisdom but because you
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know we are we are convinced that we can
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build a better future for our kids and
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for our grandkids I think if she's
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focused on the future oriented to toward
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the future um that's what the American
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people desperately want to see out of
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this desper want more details because
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it's such a short which we think is a
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good thing the short campaign is not I
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don't think she they want more details I
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think they want to understand her values
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I think they want to understand values
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versus polic values versus policy
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absolutely and you're right this is a
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blessing for America I mean it we we
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have
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2-year presidential and Senate campaigns
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that serve no purpose at all there are
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countries around the world where they
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get their elections done in 45 or 60
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days I think we're going to see the
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virtue of that in this election Scot so
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let's talk a little bit just about
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foreign policy because that we have so
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far it's been pretty so far the
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messaging has been really strong and
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aspirational but it's been a bit short
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on details what are your views on what
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do you think the campaign there's been
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some question about um uh vice president
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Harris's support or lack thereof of
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Israel what do you think the complexion
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should be around the Middle East uh for
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the Harris walls campaign I think in
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terms of the Middle East the complexion
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should be around you know how do we get
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to a day after where there's a chance
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for a two-state solution how do we get
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focused on that and get past the the the
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the horrendous period of America of of
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of world history hist that we're in
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today so that's where I think she needs
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to be there I'd say more broadly on
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foreign policy you know the the Biden
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Biden deserves huge credit I think for
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building the Coalition around Ukraine
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you know you and I have talked about
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this before Ukraine is not a fight for
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Ukraine it's a fight for democracy it's
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the purest expression of that fight
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that's happening in the world today Joe
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Biden showed up for that fight and
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mobilized allies in Europe and
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throughout uh Asia
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to continue in that fight he
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strengthened y NATO as result and she's
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going to pick up right where he left off
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whereas Donald Trump what's he going to
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do like go to the Kremlin on his hands
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and knees and say to Vladimir Putin you
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can have what you want uh in Ukraine and
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to say to leader in North Korea you can
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have what you want there I mean it is
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ridiculous and TR and Trump's positions
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are so absurd they are completely
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outside the mainstream of what used to
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be before the repan party became a
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culted personality what used to be
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Republican may not have any real values
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right in that regard in that regard and
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I think the minute he leaves the stage
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we're going to discover that um that we
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might actually have a coherent foreign
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policy As Americans that's not partisan
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anymore like the one we've got today
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that said he could still win it's very
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definitely caught up you know I talked
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to David axod this morning and he was
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one of the first to call for Joe Biden
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and I know Joe Biden him a prick but he
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did it and also was among those people
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who thought we needed to move faster um
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and he said look we can't and the the
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head of the future forward thing said
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this is not as the polls aren't as good
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as you think they are there's a
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honeymoon period here that keeps going
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actually this is going to shoot that up
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more because it's going to be you know
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an exciting convention but are what are
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you worri most worried about I'm most
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worried that we could lose and we can't
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take anything for granted we can't take
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anything for granted we have learned
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with the election of Donald Trump that
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our democracy is much more vulnerable
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than we thought I'm not one of these
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people who walks around all day long
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saying Donald Trump's a threat to our
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democracy he a threat to our democracy I
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think he is but I think he's a symptom
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of our problems you and I have talked
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about this before the problem we are
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facing and the real threat to our
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democracy is our lack of economic
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Mobility the massive income and wealth
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inequality that we have in this country
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the fact that we've got a K12 education
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system that the quality of which is
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defined en highly by the the income of
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the parents of students that is a
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freaking threat to our democracy and we
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have to find ways of addressing that you
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know so our winning is not in any way
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assured here so I think what we have to
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do is get out over the next 70 days and
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make sure we do win and how then to win
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if that's the case now it's a good
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chance a little better than 5050 which
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by the way is extraordinary given where
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we were six weeks ago and what we've got
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to do is just do the work in the swing
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states that um of of getting out our
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base in those states which is going to
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be energized by what she's doing and who
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she is and uh and getting a few of the
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unpersuaded people uh to come over on
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our side and I don't think this country
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wants to go back to Donald Trump when
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you look at the poll the latest polling
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in this race you know there's a lot of
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reason to see that it's close I think
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that it's nuts that there are people
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that want to give him the benefit of
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that out on economics cuz he's just a
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big trickle down economics guy but
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that's a debate we have to have between
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now and the election I think it's going
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to be very hard for him to overcome his
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unfavorables but we're going to have to
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show up and do the work and people are
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excited energized my daughter's been
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knocking on doors and she I could not
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get her to do a single thing for my
00:10:50
reelection campaign you know in 2020
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it's called teenager you know what it's
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called exactly teenager high school Co
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you know she she said to me you used you
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used you know you exploited me when I
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was a little kid because you made those
00:11:06
tv ads that to show that I you were a
00:11:08
good family guy and I'm on strike for
00:11:10
that reason she's been knocking on doors
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in Michigan um even before even before
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the switch in the race because she knows
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what's at stake and I think the American
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people now I think they believe that we
00:11:23
have a chance to put Donald Trump in the
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rearview mirror forever
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as long as we do the work so that's what
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we have to do Scott last question so is
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my official softball question so
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Colorado has the economic mind of tiand
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with one 12th of population it feels
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fairly reasonable like the people work
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together not a lot of it feels like you
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and the governor and the junior Senator
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get along like what can the nation learn
00:11:50
from Colorado and Colorado politics when
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you think about what Donald Trump
00:11:55
represents in terms of the corruption of
00:11:57
our democracy you think about all the
00:11:58
place in the world that you guys know
00:12:01
much better than I where corruption is
00:12:03
the norm and where Trump is saying you
00:12:06
know you're a basically a sucker if you
00:12:09
don't believe that our private sector
00:12:10
and our public sector are hopelessly
00:12:12
corrupt I say come to Colorado a place
00:12:15
where you know we believe in our
00:12:18
democracy the rule of law and the the
00:12:20
fact that we can drive economic
00:12:22
innovation in ways that the rest of the
00:12:25
world isn't doing I mean you know in the
00:12:27
end given it even with all the income
00:12:30
inequality that I talked about and all
00:12:32
the one of our biggest assets is the
00:12:36
capitalist system that we have we just
00:12:37
have to have it work right for the
00:12:39
American people it can't just Heap all
00:12:42
its benefits to people at the very top
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we have to harvest the benefits of
00:12:47
innovation all that stuff that's what
00:12:48
we're trying to do one quick final
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question speaking of at the top a lot of
00:12:52
tech Bros we've talked you and I had
00:12:54
been at your office talking about this
00:12:56
how some of them of course are on the
00:12:57
blue team a lot of them right how do you
00:12:59
feel about this rightward shift with
00:13:02
some of them obviously I'm not surprised
00:13:04
at all look there's some people over
00:13:06
there who think they should succeed
00:13:08
secede suede from the United States of
00:13:11
America that that the valley is so smart
00:13:14
that somehow you know they they can't be
00:13:17
imposed upon in any way and they should
00:13:19
just have their own fantasy land or not
00:13:22
surprised at all by that what I believe
00:13:24
and this is CH you know I think changed
00:13:26
since you and I talked about this in my
00:13:28
office we have a mental health epidemic
00:13:31
in America as a result of the algorithms
00:13:33
these guys have Unleashed on the
00:13:35
American people and we need to have uh
00:13:39
voices in Washington that are willing to
00:13:40
stand up to them and have a negotiation
00:13:43
behalf the American people no one has
00:13:45
had a negotiation with Mark Zuckerberg
00:13:48
on our economics or on our privacy or on
00:13:51
our data and he is basically strip
00:13:54
mining uh our kids bedrooms and that's
00:13:57
what's that that's got to come to in
00:14:00
well elon's being the villain now so
00:14:02
that's why Mark's getting out of getting
00:14:03
out well it's not just Mark and not just
00:14:06
Elon there are other people that are
00:14:07
hiding behind them and I think we've got
00:14:09
to take this on I mean I have argued for
00:14:11
a long time in fact since you and I were
00:14:14
in the office together that we need a
00:14:16
new agency in Washington just like Teddy
00:14:18
Roosevelt had when he was dealing with
00:14:21
the oil and gas trust we need one that's
00:14:23
dealing with these guys well Scott and I
00:14:25
will run it for you if that's okay
00:14:27
you're HED you are go out into a large
00:14:30
Scandal large ugly Scandal anyway thank
00:14:32
you so I doubt oh do not doubt that come
00:14:35
to color we will I all right thank you
00:14:38
thanks thank you thanks thanks thank you

Episode Highlights

  • Turning the Page on Politicians
    The American people are ready to move on from a generation of politicians.
    “The American people are so ready to turn the page on a generation of American politicians.”
    @ 00m 50s
    August 21, 2024
  • Extraordinary Political Moments
    Joe Biden's decision to advocate for the race was unprecedented and impactful.
    “That in of itself was extraordinary.”
    @ 01m 39s
    August 21, 2024
  • Unity in the Democratic Party
    Expressing unity and excitement within the Democratic party is crucial for the upcoming election.
    “We need to express the unity in the Democratic party and the excitement.”
    @ 05m 00s
    August 21, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Campaign Fundraiser00:11
  • Mom's Concern00:27
  • Turning Point01:50
  • Future Focused05:40
  • Mental Health Epidemic13:31

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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