A Big Announcement & A New Dem Candidate! (w/ Matt Little)

Summary

FYPod (The Bulwark) – Episode Summary

Episode: "A Big Announcement & A New Dem Candidate! (w/ Matt Little)"

Date: November 1, 2025
Hosts: Tim Miller & Cameron Kasky
Guest: Matt Little (MN Congressional candidate)

---

Episode Overview

In this episode of FYPod, Tim Miller and Cameron Kasky kick things off with a major announcement about a hiatus for the show, prompted by Cameron’s potential congressional run in NY-12. The discussion then shifts between personal motivations for running, Gen Z and TikTok political trends, and a candid, funny interview with Matt Little, a Minnesota Democrat running for Congress. The conversation blends sharp insight, humor, and generational self-awareness, while digging into the challenges facing young Democrats and progressives in 2025.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Show Hiatus & Cameron Kasky's Big Announcement

• Motivation to Run for Office (04:47–13:20)
  • Cameron is taking a break from the podcast to explore a congressional run in NY-12, with an FEC filing confirming an exploratory committee.
  • Deeply personal motivation: Cameron reflects on a desire to make a difference in a world veering toward authoritarianism, driven by family legacy, the trauma of gun violence, and wanting to be able to show his future children he “did everything [he] could” in this critical moment.
  • He emphasizes activist roots, not political ambition: “I have activist brain. I don’t have politics brain.” (12:04, Casky)
  • Core values for his potential campaign: radical empathy, anti-AI for both economic and social justice reasons, and a belief in the redemptive power of participation.
  • Tim endorses Cameron, saying, “I’m endorsing you. I cannot possibly hide my bias… if you’re fucking up on the campaign, I don’t want to argue with you about it publicly.” (05:47, Miller)
  • Cameron on personal and political priorities: “We all know, even those of us who have optimistic beliefs...things are going to be getting dramatically worse before they get even a little bit better. But I quoted this to you, I paraphrased this to you last night... I don’t think we can go quietly into this long, dark night. I think we need to enter the next phase...aggressively punching and biting.” (12:36, Casky)

2. Cameron’s Perspective on Youth, Burnout, and Politics

• Avoiding Burnout & Ego (15:14–19:23)
  • Cameron reflects on lessons from March for Our Lives and the danger of centering politics too much on ego: “The more you’re making it about yourself, the less fulfilling it’s going to be and the less good you can do.” (16:10, Casky)
  • He stresses prioritizing health and issues, not one’s own celebrity or image: “Make sure that you are not doing this at the expense of your physical or mental health.” (15:32, Casky)

3. Gen Z, AI, and “Woke DEI”

• Cameron defines a left-populist, “radically anti-AI” platform, citing job loss, environmental, and mental health reasons, and pledges to “win white boys back for Woke DEI.” (11:25, Casky)
• He underscores the need for Democrats to address issues like the post-college job crash and the exploitative nature of AI-driven data centers. (17:00+)

4. Interview: Matt Little, Minnesota Congressional Candidate

A. Personal Background & Political Style

• Matt’s “sleeper build” and viral gym-bro persona come up repeatedly, diffusing political conversation with humor and relatability. (21:00–22:00)
• He’s proud of his “vintage” car and taking time offline: “I just really enjoy that time without being plugged in whenever I can get to it.” (23:10, Little)
• Track record as mayor (of very real Lakeville, MN!): Used social media to get youth involved, revived local downtown, got Chipotle to town through a series of humorous tweets. (25:38–28:54)
• Matt reflects on generational identity, bro culture, and his viral shitposting approach to Twitter: “Take the logical extension of absurd positions and imaging as part of our argument.” (41:24, Little)

B. Political Priorities and Philosophy

• Core Issues (34:31–37:14):
  1. Democracy & Rule of Law: Outrage at abuses of power and threats to democratic norms: “There’s no way we can allow masked individuals and unmarked vans to be pulling anyone...off the street.” (34:31, Little)
  2. Healthcare: His mother’s serious illness, and the financial hurdles to her treatment, inform his conviction for universal health care: “I don’t give a shit how good your job is...you should have health care.” (36:15, Little)
  3. Bipartisanship: Matt defines bipartisanship as working through tough issues, not just road naming—he highlights his bipartisan work on insulin prices and limited Republican collaboration on gun legislation post-Parkland: “I was able to get two Republicans to sign onto a background check bill. That’s never happened in the state Senate before.” (30:32, Little)
  4. Farm Economy: Regarding rural outreach, Matt says direct, in-person communication is key, and blames “shit show” trade negotiations for Minnesota farmers’ struggles. (52:58–54:19, Little)
  5. Matt identifies himself as “2.5 out of 10” on the Democratic coalition scale (with Ilhan Omar being 1, Fetterman a 10, Klobuchar a 5). (37:44–38:04)
• On welcoming converts and redemption: “If the Democrats are the party of empathetic people...we should celebrate when people change.” (45:17, Little)

C. On Internet Culture and Democrats’ Messaging

• Matt and Cam joke about meme politics, the “frat bro” streak, and the temptation of algorithm-driven toxicity. “People are incentivized to tweet terrible stuff because they get reaffirmed.” (57:26, Little)
• Tim, Cam, and Matt all agree—regardless of meme culture and schadenfreude online—Democrats must retain real empathy to win back rural and white male voters.

D. Trash Talk, Humor, and Pop Relatability

• Matt’s proudest achievement as mayor? “I handed out like 50 free burritos and shirts at the opening. It was a ton of fun. Still, that’s what I’m known for. Just a month ago...some guy yells out his window, ‘Thanks for the Chipotle!’” (27:39, Little)
• Playful banter about political bro culture, shirtless campaign ads, gym mixtapes, and debating primary opponents.
• On Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent populist turn: “Politicians are people too. There’s a chance maybe she has thought about what she’s been doing and has seen some light. Sometimes that happens.” (44:49, Little)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Cameron's Vision for Running:

  “I want to be able to tell my children that I did whatever the fuck I could and I competed and I tried really fucking hard.” (08:51)

• Radical Empathy:

  “If the Democrats are the party of empathetic people...we should celebrate when people change.” (45:17, Matt Little)

• AI Skepticism & Youth Policy:

  “We need to be radically anti AI, a lot of different things. Also for the more abstract, like reminding white boys that that Woke DEI was actually great and that we need to bring Woke DEI back.” (11:25, Casky)

• Democracy Under Threat:

  “There’s no way we can allow masked individuals and unmarked vans to be pulling anyone...off the street without telling them why...That is incredibly scary and awful.” (34:31, Little)

• Bipartisan Achievements:

  “I was able to get two Republicans to sign onto a background check bill. That’s never happened in the state Senate before...It didn’t pass, but we got darn close.” (30:32, Little)

• Campaign Humor & Relatability:

  “I think the. The team sees it most at the parades. When it comes out, I’m just stapping people up. There’s this one kid that was just all charged up, and I started barking at him. He’s got the dog in him.” (24:07, Little)

• Trash Talk Finale:

  “Debate me. Don’t be afraid there. That’s my rant. That’s as random as I can get.” (60:59, Little)

• Advice for Modern Dating (Fan Q&A):

  “I would participate in a conversation with this individual and ask questions about the things they are interested in and then I would text them on an irregular basis. That’s what I would do.” (61:59, Little)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Show/hiatus announcement, and Cameron’s political ambitions: 04:32–13:20
• Health, burnout, keeping ego in check: 15:14–19:23
• Matt Little joins, bro culture & viral campaigning: 20:16–26:44
• Chipotle saga & small-town mayoral pride: 25:38–28:54
• Bipartisanship and local/state policy: 30:12–37:14
• Healthcare story & universal coverage: 35:48–37:14
• Dem Party spectrum, empathetic party, and converts: 37:44–46:24
• Populist outreach, farm/rural issues: 52:17–54:19
• Online culture, empathy vs. schadenfreude: 55:55–58:12
• Trash talk and “debate me, bro” challenge: 58:37–61:13
• Advice segment—crushes, trad culture, awkward dates: 61:21–69:47

---

Final Takeaways

• The episode is a microcosm of young, irreverent, and reform-minded Democratic politics in 2025, blending genuine concern about authoritarian backsliding with humor and fresh candidacy narratives.
• Both Cameron and Matt exemplify a new wave of authenticity-first, values-driven (but very online) candidates, eager to rally disconnected or skeptical younger voters.
• Slipping seamlessly between serious issues (AI, healthcare, family, and democracy) and playful ribbing about Chipotle and shirtless campaign ads, the hosts and guest keep the tone both sharp and relatable.

---

For future updates on the show, campaigns, or Gen Z political coverage, catch Tim and Cameron on Reddit, Instagram, and “the mean streets of Blue Sky.”

Transcript

[A]

Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and, well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell, oatmeal. So long, you strange soggy.

[B]

Break up with bland breakfast and taste.

[C]

AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit.

[B]

Made with K tree eggs, smoked bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit. AMPM Too much good stuff.

[A]

Hey, everybody, I'm Tim Miller.

[C]

And I'm Cam Kaskey. And this is FYpod, the young people show here at Bulwark. A lot of exciting things today. We're going to talk about some new developments in our programming. And of course, Kirsten Cinema working with Donald Trump to build AI data centers and China being China. But first, Tim, I wanted to premiere my Halloween costume. This is our Halloween costume.

[A]

I was going to say this is a Halloween costume. I thought it was a cute outfit. Um, you're looking good. I like the tank top underneath the unbuttoned Tim shirt. The pearls, though. Can we get a closer look at the camera? Can we get closer to the camera? Well, so, yeah, I'm not really. I don't really do a choker usually. It's usually. Usually the pearls come down around the clavicle. Kind of not really a choker vibe. That's a little sluttier. You're kind of look like gay. You kind of look like gay slut Tim. Go go boy Tim kind of.

[C]

I didn't know that Tim and gay slut Tim were different people. But for anyone who doesn't know, there is a classic Tim Miller headshot. It's up on screen right now. This is, I guess, what was this like? Bulwark was just like, hey, we need pictures of people to put on stuff. And I had seen this image so many times from promotional materials to, like, flyers for the live event and everything. And I knew I would go as Tim for Halloween because I almost moved in with a guy who looked like Tim's husband. And right when that became a thing, I was like, oh, well, I know what we're doing for Halloween.

[A]

And then I'm sure that people would have been really, at the parties that you go to would have been like, oh, obviously you're Tim Miller and his husband.

[C]

I'm sure they really would have figured that out. I'm going to like, a Zoomer Halloween party that a friend of mine is throwing tomorrow. Night. And I will be in this outfit. And if anybody asks, I'll be like, Tim Miller, obviously. Fucking idiot. But I went to my ex girlfriend Ellie's apartment. She was a guest on Fy Pod months ago, because I had ordered pearls on Amazon, accidentally ordered them to Parkland, and I needed emergency pearls. And Ellie's neck is the size of. Excuse me, my neck is the size of Ellie's waist. So these pearls ended up, yeah, looking more like a choker than anything else. But it's fucking Halloween. Not. Not everything's going to be perfect. I got a tank top close to, like, what my.

[A]

My costume is going to be, so you could also take this. At this point, it's still possible. Until I decided to be geese and multiple geese. And instead I was going to be hot podcaster. And so, like, my plan was to wear the outfit you're wearing, but with my real pearls, but then, like, cut off the shirt and the. And the wife beater at the belly button. And so. And then, like, wear, like, shorty shorts. And so like, from the. From the podcast thing up, I would look normal, but below the screen you would see my belly and, like, my butt. And that would be a podcaster. Well, I'm being geese instead. I'm happy with my choice with geese, but I'm keeping that as a backup option.

[C]

Well, I'm still thinking I got invited to something Saturday. Kind of don't really want to go. I have something else I want to do. My brother and his wife are in town. I want to hang out with them. But I was considering my sexy Bill Crystal outfit.

[A]

Okay, how would that go?

[C]

I am not entirely sure. I guess like a sweater, but.

[A]

So it would also be a sweater that you cut off at the belly button. That would be sexy and like a. I don't have.

[C]

I don't have that desirable belly button.

[A]

Neither do I. If I had that desirable of a belly button, I wouldn't be a fucking podcaster. I would be a thought. You know, I'd be a PR thought.

[C]

Two things can be true. We can hold space for two truths. Anyway, real quick, before we go on with the programming for the episode, I just want to let everybody know you can actually, in this tank top, see my tattoo. And it is not a Nazi tattoo. It is the date of the shooting at my high school in Roman numerals. I know that some Roman stuff is associated with the Third Reich. It is not that. This is 2:14, 20, 18. You got to remember where you came from. That is all I've got.

[A]

I love. So don't look for any more additional announcements after this. It feels like we're going to be going on a hiatus for a little while in this podcast because you are. You have other thing ambitions. You don't. You're tired of me, you don't want to hang out with me every week anymore. What's.

[C]

I. I want to hang out with you every week. So I'm considering. I've formed an exploratory committee to see if I should move to New Orleans. But, no, we're going to take a hiatus from the show, which breaks my heart and probably breaks Tim's heart, because that means I'm going to be texting him more about stuff that otherwise would have been just on the show. But, yeah, for anyone who is lucky enough to not know this, it was revealed via FEC filing that Cameron Caskey for New York had filed for the potential congressional run, New York's 12th congressional district. I will not be endorsing anybody because, you know, I don't want to show any bias, but I am considering certain political side projects, let's say, in that district. As for how in depth we go about this, I'm going to leave up to Tim, but we're going to be taking some time off. We'll let you know when we're coming back. But we'll be back, baby. Better than that.

[A]

Well, I am also. I mean, I'm endorsing you. I don't. I don't. I can. One of the reasons I have to take a hiatus is because I cannot possibly hide my bias. And it's critical, you know, that we give people authentic, radically candid views on here. And if you're fucking up on the campaign, I don't want to argue with you about it publicly on a podcast. And so I think this makes sense. I guess I'm just. Could you just. I'm a little curious, like, what your angle is. Like, why Cameron, if you decide to run. Like, why Cameron? What would be the pitch if I.

[C]

Decide to do that? If that's a decision that I make. I think a lot of the conversations we've honestly had on this show have inspired me in one way or another, especially we were talking to Amanda Lippman, who runs Run for Something, which is a great organization that helps a lot of people get involved with running when they haven't necessarily been spending their entire life just climbing up the political ladder. And we were talking about just a need for human beings in certain races who might not have had that time at Bayne or McKinsey or Fenway might not have the Harvard law degree, but do have a certain degree of human empathy that I think the cynical political machine kind of squeezes out of people. I think that there are plenty of politicians, political consultants, strategists, and everything who do really give a shit and are not like the political system does not bleed them out of the part of their human spirit that really cares. But I'm at a moment right now when I was asked what my goals are. Recently, somebody was talking to me about content and podcasting and everything. And they were like, what do you want? What is your goal? And my knee jerk response, and this wasn't some practiced political answer. This is me sitting on the couch with my friends. I was like, I want to be a father and I want to be a grandfather. Because my dad and my grandpa both had kids fairly young, and that gave me time with my grandfather. That was probably the most important thing I've gotten in my entire life. And we lost him far too soon. And the thought of having gotten even less time with him than I did is crushing to me. So I know that this is not a very easy economy to start a family. I know that at this moment and in the near future, this is. I live in New York City. It's not the easiest place to start a family, but I really want to start my family because of how lucky I've been to have the time with my parents and grandparents that I got. And I recognize that I'll be able to know my father a lot better by the time I lose him than a lot of people will. And I want that for me, too, because that's kind of what it's all about. So I thought about having kids and what that would mean. And one of the things I realized is we are at a moment in our society and in our democracy, whatever's left of it, where we're going to. We're going to be teaching our children and our grandchildren about this moment in time. However we come back, whatever it looks like, by the time I'm a parent, by the time my children are old enough to know what the fuck any of this even means. I got into politics when I was like 8 years old because I went to an Obama rally. And not to offend any bulwark Republicans, I was not very impressed by Sarah Palin. So I started. I was watching the Daily show and I was getting into it and everything. I think my kids are going to be politics pills fairly young. But I was like, there's Going to be a point at which I have to tell my children what I decided to do with myself in this moment. In this moment where authoritarianism has completely changed the course of a country, where even in recent years where there were so many troubles and so many issues, there were growth spaces where things looked like they could become more positive over time. There were things in the Biden administration where there was growth in directions that were very promising. And now you see everything getting torn apart. And I wanted to. I wanted to know, like what? What did I do? Because I have certain tools in my box that I can use to advocate for certain things. They're not the traditional tools, but I am not someone who is completely incapable of contributing to a meaningful opposition to what's happening right now. So I kind of want to be able to tell my children that I did whatever the fuck I could and I competed and I tried really fucking hard. And I think that right now we're at a moment in politics where we need people getting in there who can get under their skin and who can slug and who are ready for the fucking Thunderdome. This, you know, if this were a peace time, I don't see politics as the place where I could have the most positive impact. If things were normal, if the means by which the Democratic Party had to communicate with and engage people were a bit more traditional and like they used to be, I would not think that I'm a guy who should get involved. But right now, I think the rule book has been thrown out. I think that while people talk about qualifications and everything, the only person in the United States government right now who is effective is the least qualified person in the history of the United States government. So I kind of was just like, you know, we are at a time where in front of me, with Nadler's retirement, Nadler, who did many great things in office, of course there is an opportunity to at the very least fight for things I want to see. And it's whether that's specific policies, how.

[A]

We'Re being anti clanker. Being anti clanker.

[C]

You're very anti clanker, radically anti AI, not just for the jobs crisis, but also for the environmental crisis, also for the mental health crisis. There's a lot of reasons we need to be radically anti AI, a lot of different things. Also for the more abstract, like reminding white boys that that Woke DEI was actually great and that we need to bring Woke DEI back and winning white boys back for Woke dei, we're going to do that too. And I was just like, there is an Opportunity here to advocate for what I believe in. And ultimately, like, my young adult life started when somebody came and shot up my high school, and I got a bunch of kids together at my house, and we started an organization that led to millions of people protesting in the street against Donald Trump. Like, I have activist brain. I don't have politics brain. And as somebody with activist brain, if there's an opportunity to promote things that I believe in, I'm gonna take it. I'm gonna try to compete and do everything I can to see those things through. And again, things are scary. And I just. I just don't want to feel like I was sitting on my ass while things were getting even worse. Because we all know, even those of us who have optimistic beliefs and believe that things can get better, we all know that things are going to be getting dramatically worse before they get even a little bit better. But I, I liked. I quoted this to you, I paraphrased this to you last night in a completely different context. I don't think we can go quietly into this long, dark night. I think we need to enter the next phase of trying to restore American democracy aggressively punching and biting. And that's something that I believe I have the temperament and the psychological skill set to do. So that's where we're at right now. But that's all boring.

[A]

That isn't boring. I love you, buddy. That's great. This is why I wanted to do this with you from the start, because you're fun and we can talk about gooning and, and joke around and jerk off. Not literally, but mess around.

[C]

That's for the U.S. jerking off is for subscribers only.

[A]

It's not an onlyfans show. I not. No, thank you. But also, you actually do care about the stuff and, and it impacts you and you have real human feelings. Not. You're not a politician Vulcan who has been like, dreaming since they were 12 about when the staffers were going to call them Mr. You know, the senator. You don't care about any of that shit.

[C]

No, Mr. The senator was my grandfather.

[A]

You care about people. And I love it. I'm supportive of all of it. And, man, we'll see how it all shakes out. We've been having fun. We're gonna go on a little hiatus while you work all this stuff out. But we'll be back. We're gonna keep doing stuff. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm like, ready. You have me ready to salute, ready to come into the fight. This is why I can't do A podcast with you if you decide to do this. Because I'll be a loyal soldier and I don't fucking stand politicians anymore. It's the nice thing about the other podcast is that like, I kind of hate most of the politicians, even the ones that I'm gonna support. And that makes for honest podcast. That's not true for you. So, you know, I guess I'll sort.

[C]

Of deal with your text messaging and that'll be okay. And yeah, it's. We still don't know what's going on. I'm awaiting some health results that will be very important in finding out what's next for me because I had a health scare.

[A]

You don't want to do this. This is gonna do you. Do you wanna talk about this now?

[C]

Yeah, I'll accidentally gaffe it to somebody else if we don't. I had a health scare recently and I have reason to believe from doctors I've consulted that it was just a one time issue and everything will be fine. But I think it's important to talk about this because I think that anybody else who's interested in politics ought to know, like, you always have to make sure that you are putting your health first. You need to make sure that you are not doing this at the expense of your physical or mental health. And if you are going to commit to trying to advocate for things you believe in, make sure that you could show up at your very best and make sure that you can fight in a way that is not going to make you lose. And I guess the last point I want to make about that is like I learned from March for Our Lives what it's like to get yourself wrapped up in the politics too much and to make it too much about you. And that was something that, because I was 17 and being told by Nancy Pelosi that I was going to save the entire world, whatever, like that was something that I really failed to understand. I let, I let myself get too into it and I made it too much about me. And there have been plenty of activists who get the same way and there's plenty of politicians who get the same way. They let their own ego get involved with the process. And that is going to set you up for failure even if you fucking win. No matter what. The more you're making it about yourself, the less fulfilling it's going to be and the less good you can do. And that's a conversation I had with a friend of ours, a mutual friend of ours, about this whole thing was like the experience of having been at the center of a nonprofit that was getting national attention focused on gun control. I was thinking about gun violence prevention every single day. But I was also thinking too much about the me of it all. And that led to an insane amount of disappointment and dejection and me giving up on things that I ultimately deep down, still believed in. So if I decide to progress forward in congressional direction at this point, it's a very big priority of me to wake up and fall asleep thinking about the issues that I believe in the most. Because while I cannot guarantee that I will be able to further myself very far in any direction, I can't guarantee that I can win an election that is a gentleman named Michael Asher's election to lose. I can't get. The more, the more I think about me here, the worse it's going to be. But I know for a fact my involvement will push the issues that I care about, issues that I think need to be talked about a lot more in races all across the country. Like AI just for example, I think that Democrats can talk to people about how their children are spending a lot of money to get degrees and growing, are graduating into a job market where there aren't jobs anymore that are going to offer them decent benefits. And when you don't have decent benefits and you turn 26, you aren't on your parents health care anymore. And if you get a terminal illness, you're going to go fucking broke. And all of this while we're building these data centers that are driving up power costs for people around the country and sucking fresh water out of the ground and sending it into lakes boiling hot, that's killing local wildlife, pouring, poisoning it in different, very often marginalized communities that don't have enough representation at a state and federal level. Like there are certain things Democrats can win on that I don't see enough people talking about. And I know with my platform and with the amount of tension that we've already gotten in this situation, I can introduce these things into the conversation and hopefully that has a ripple effect in other races that have their eyes on this one, where they say, okay, we can maybe reach people in a way that we didn't think we could before. And if that's what I'm thinking about, if that's what this is all about, I fall asleep just fucking fine. Because it's not me here, it's the issues. And that's called keeping your eye on the ball. And that's how you're gonna be successful, even if that doesn't mean victory at the polls.

[A]

I appreciate you, buddy. Mike, a victory. Let's stop. Let's just roll with it. Let's just roll with it. You keep focusing on that. Your head's in the right place. I appreciate it. We're talking to somebody up next who is also in the right place. He's a man who you may have seen from his Internet muscles, he's going to run. He's also running for Congress in Minnesota. That conversation is fun. And all of you all are to be seeing me in camera around here sometime soon. We'll be keeping you posted on how all that progresses.

[C]

I'm not leaving bulwark Reddit behind, okay, Just because I'm not on camera. Talent.

[A]

We'll see you on Reddit. We'll see you on the Gram, we'll see you on the X. Every once in a while, I go into the mean streets of blue Sky. We'll see y' all out there, and we'll keep you posted on what's coming next for us. All right, up next, Matt Little. Hey, everybody, I'm Tim Miller.

[C]

And I'm Kim Kaski. And this is FYpod, where we are joined today by a gentleman named Matt Little, who, as you can see by this picture right here, is not very little, But, Matt, you are running for Congress in Minnesota, and we wanted to talk to you about that. Tim, I've got a surprise for you. We have someone who seems to be a political moderate joining the show.

[A]

Oh, hey, that's great news. You know, Cameron's usually bringing on Marxist socialists who want to tear down the, you know, global economic system. That's not you, Matt.

[B]

I guess we'll find out during the show. We'll leave the labels to you at the end. I've been called everything in the book, from a moderate to a socialist to a radical to, you know, we got all the labels, so you'll have to decide at the end.

[A]

Okay, well, I have. I have one main question. Why are you wearing a shirt?

[B]

An actual shirt? Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Why are you in a shirt? I thought we were kind of. I thought the whole point of inviting you on was that, like, you were kind of, like, doing the Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign. I thought this was, like, gonna be a shirtless muscle campaign.

[B]

Yeah. I've been begging my campaign manager to let me take my shirt off this campaign. If Graham Platner gets to do it a couple times, like, why can't I do it at least once?

[C]

Well, do you have any surprises, like Graham Platner, shirtless surprise, or is your Shirtless bill. Pretty clean.

[B]

I think if the. If the voters of Congressional District 2 need me to prove that I don't have any offensive tattoos, I'm willing and I'm able. But I got to get permission from my campaign manager first.

[A]

Is your campaign manager there? Can we just do this right now?

[B]

No, no, no, no, no, no. But look, you're just gonna have. You're just gonna have to sit here and appreciate my sleeper build. Know that's what you're going to have to do.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

One thing that you do have, and this is for sure, is a car that you're very proud of. We're going to throw up a couple pictures of this car as it appears, I believe, at least twice on your campaign website. It seems like it's an important part of your aesthetic. I kind of want to let you talk about that for just a moment.

[B]

Yeah, 100%. I am of the firm belief I was born in the wrong decade. I should have come of age in the 70s. I'm a big CCR fan. I love Neil Young, certainly plenty to protest back then as well. And so I was actually looking the. The lore of this is I was actually looking for a van. I do some, like, trail running, so I kind of wanted a van that I could sleep in overnight when I do those runs and. But my wife was looking on Facebook for a van and came across this. We went out and we met. It was just this young couple, this guy that was working on it. He wasn't driving it much. And I sat in that thing and I just. I just knew I was home. I love that car so much. It doesn't have a radio. The AC doesn't work. It's just you and your thoughts in the road, you know?

[A]

Love it. Well, so, like, what are you thinking about? Like, there's nothing. Are you, like, not watching TikTok while you're driving or something? Like, you're just. It's just. You're just raw dogging.

[B]

Yeah, I'm just raw dogging life as much as I can. I've. I've been in politics since, you know, I've been in politics half my life. And. And that's even if you exclude just learning about politics. So I was kind of like, it was injected into my veins. I was tapped in for, you know, the. The 12 years prior. I mean, I was online, so online. But now as I get a little older, I like, I just really enjoy that time without being plugged in whenever I can get. Get to it.

[C]

So you're. You're driving around in stoicism cars, you're hitting the gym. You opened a Chipotle in your hometown. We're going to talk about. Seems like you're the guy we've been looking for to go on these bro podcasts and chop it up with the dudes. Are we going to. Are we going to get you on other than this bro podcast? Is that something you're ready to do? Are you ready to do a meeting of the minds with Joe Rogan?

[B]

Any bros out there listening to this, I would love to be on your show. We kind of. We kind of joke. You know, we all have the parts of our personality and. And certainly I have the extreme nerd nerdiness as well. But there's this frat bro that lives inside me, and I think the. The team sees it most at the parades. When it comes out, I'm just stapping people up. I. There's this one kid that was just all charged up, and I started barking at him. He's got the dog in him. And I just. I don't know. I get really. I really have a frat pro streak. So I.

[A]

You started barking at a child at a.

[B]

He loved it, dude. He loved it. And I said, you got that do in you? He looked like a wrestler, so I was just hyping him up and I was running away to shake the next hand, and I could just hear. I could hear his mom say, did he just tell you you have the dog in you? I just was. I just thought it was hilarious. And he loved it, so it was great.

[A]

I love that I have the dog in me. I don't think Cameron has that dog in him, though.

[C]

No, I got a. I got a kitty cat in me.

[B]

No way, dude. If you're. If you're watching for Congress, you got some dog in you.

[C]

Well, we don't know anything about that yet, but I want to. Before we get into some more dog like questions, get into your politics a little bit. I saw that you ran for and were elected mayor of Lakeville, which sounds like a hypothetical Minnesota town. And you were unopposed for reelection back in 2014. And you said your proudest achievement as mayor was bringing Chipotle to your hometown. It seems like you did this via Twitter.

[B]

Yeah. And Lakeville's not fictional, I think. I think Tim will remember this moment. So it was during the John McCain campaign. A woman stood up and accused Barack Obama of being an Arab. And that happened in.

[A]

Oh, yeah, that was in Lakeville.

[B]

That was in Lakeville. So that's that's where I was born and raised. And Lakeville does not claim that individual. She lived in one of the townships, so she just came to the rally. But, yeah, it was one of these things where I certainly did a whole bunch of stuff I'm very proud of as mayor. This is. Has become the thing I'm most remembered for. But I would go around and I would ask people, you know, what do you think our city is missing? When I was door knocking and just talking to people at events, and legitimately, the number one thing people had said is that we want a Chipotle. They would say, we don't have a Chipotle here. We want one. Apple Valley is the city north. And so this. So I heard this so many times. I was like, how do we feel about swearing on the show? There's some swearing on the show, right?

[A]

I was like, oh, we fucking swear.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, eff it.

[C]

We got really bad.

[B]

And I. And so I just started tweeting at Chipotle and to do something about it, and they started responding. And so I had this whole series of. I envisioned Chipotle as someone that I was pursuing romantically. And so I set up, like, video dinners, like, inviting Chipotle to have Valentine's Day dinner with me, and just acted like AAA was playing hard to get. And so I did, like, a series of those. And then just after I got elected to the state senate, they decided to come to Lakeville. And I handed out like 50 free burritos and shirts and T shirts at the opening. It was. It was a ton of fun. But still, to this day, that's what I'm known for. Just a month ago, I was dropping my kid off at school and this guy yells out his window. He goes, thanks for the Chipotle. And so I still hear about it, like, every. And it's great. It's a nice thing.

[C]

I was just gonna say, you know, I'm in New York City right now where the mayoral race is talking about communist grocery stores and free buses and whether or not Donald Trump is going to deliberately target New York City, regardless of who the mayor is. Unless it's Curtis Lewa, the guy who wears a red beret everywhere. And I feel like it would be nice and a little refreshing if we just got a new poll saying that the primary issues New York City voters were focused on was just getting a fucking Chipotle here.

[A]

Give me a Chipotle. I do wonder, as you think, have you heard any backlash? I've been there's been a lot of. There's been a lot of commentary on the Internet about how people are upset that Chipotle is kind of scrimping on their, on the spillings now. You know that they used to. You used to get these big fucking thick ass burritos and now people are getting like pencil dick burritos from Chipotle. Is that happening in Lakeville? Have you heard any, any, any concern?

[B]

I haven't heard that. It is, it is very hard staff fast food restaurants. So I have heard some of, of that. Just the service is getting tougher and tougher, but I think at this point in my career, people have let me off the hook on actually changing fast food, fast casual policy. So.

[A]

Yeah, got it. You're not, you're not. They're not kind of like complaining to you if, if there's a hair in there?

[B]

They're not asking me to inspect the guac. No, they're not.

[A]

Got it. Okay. What were some other things you were proud of, I guess as mayor? What were like your key initiatives or.

[C]

That could be it. You. You don't need to make anything else up if it's just Chipotle.

[B]

No, I, I'm very proud. This seems very simple, but I am very proud of. When I first came on my. My neighborhood was like in the northeast corner of Lakeville and it has a Rosemount address. And so it wasn't always associated with the city and their roads and had not been fixed in like decades. And it's where I grew up. And so in the first four years I was on there, we were able to repair every single road in that neighborhood. I am proud of that just because that's where I came from. The other thing is getting youth involved. We were able to use social media to get people paying attention to what was going on and participate in what kind of parks they wanted to see. And I think that actually was a big driver in the Chipotle thing too, is because they started opining on what kind of restaurants they would want. Also revitalize the downtown. Spent a lot of money to clean it up. After the housing crash, that era, there just wasn't a lot going on down there. And we were able to bring it back with new ordinances and some funding.

[C]

Well, so you mentioned some time in state senate, and that brings me to the part of your platform where you're talking about proven bipartisan experience. And that makes me wonder, like, from your experience, are Minnesota Republicans chill or are they like the screaming moms at the school board meetings? Talking about how the vaccine scenes are going to give you the mark of the beast.

[B]

There's both. There's definitely both in the legislature. When I was there, it's. It's gotten a little worse since I left, but I use the term bipartisan in a little different way. I think a lot of politicians use bipartisan when they're, you know, naming a road or building a road. To me, that's nonpartisan stuff. That's easy stuff. There's no disagreements. It makes sense. I think bipartisanship is working, working through some of the toughest issues that we have and finding a way. And so I put together, when I was there, before it became a national kind of fad or trend politically, we were working on insulin prices, and I had a bipartisan, bicameral task force that. We spent a few months studying the issue and putting together a bill, and our bill actually passed. So I'm pretty proud of that. And, you know, not to be too on point in this podcast, but after Parkland happened, we had that big rally. We had that big rally in Minnesota, and I know some of your fellow students came and spoke, and I spoke at that as well. And I was able to get two Republicans to sign onto a background check bill. That's never happened in the state Senate before and probably never happened again. It didn't pass, but we got darn close, and I'm proud of that bipartisan word.

[A]

Where were you on Tim Walls tampon abundance bill? You know, I'm big. I'm an abundance Democrat. I like. I think we need more houses. You know, I think we need to be more roads, more tampons also everywhere. I want tampon in every possible location. I'm wondering if you are involved.

[B]

I think Tim Walls. I think you'd like Tim Walls if you've had him on the show. I'm not sure. I haven't gone that far back.

[A]

I haven't.

[B]

You know, I just think, you know, one side wants to focus on these things, and I don't care what gender people are, but I want people to have access to the things they need. I think that's a pretty simple one in my mind.

[A]

Like many. Like, Minnesota is just like. It's like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where it's like, you got a chocolate river. You know, the houses are made of chocolate. And it's kind of like. That's kind of what Minnesota is like with tampons, is my understanding. Like, just. Just like tampons everywhere. Like, you have tampon trees just walking down the street. You can pick one up if you want. That's not the case. I haven't been to Minnesota in a minute.

[B]

It's certainly not not the case, but I. I think Minnesota is. Is a bit of a utopia in the sense that we are willing to provide what people need and I'm very proud of that for our state.

[C]

And people are. Minnesota nice, baby. I learned what that was when I was watching Fargo.

[B]

Fargo is not in Minnesota.

[C]

So Fargo is not in Minnesota.

[A]

Nope, of course.

[C]

But season one of Fargo takes place in Bemidji.

[B]

That's the show. I mean, that's not the movie.

[C]

Okay, well, I was talking about the show. I love the movie. But anyway, point is, we were both right. While we're. While Tim and I are trying to make our.

[A]

No, Matt was right.

[C]

No, I made the statement that I figured out what Minnesota Nice was while I was watching Fargo. At no point in that statement am I suggesting that Fargo is in Minnesota. I'm saying I learned a specific term while watching a TV show. I could tell you that I learned what Minnesota Knights was when I was watching Bridgerton. And you would have no real way to challenge that because you don't know what my experience was watching Bridgerton. I didn't fucking watch it. But, you know, whatever. Speak your truth in the face of authoritarianism. While we're dealing with a race that is going to bring you to Washington D.C. i want to talk about politics. Tim and I are going to try to figure out our political compass test for you on an anarcho communist to basically MAGA level. And I'm wondering, in terms of issues that concerned people in Minnesota, what would you say are your top three that you're running on? If somebody asked you to explain in the elevator what your primary agenda is? What are the big ones?

[B]

Yeah, the number one is the very existence of our democracy as we have known it. This is absurd. There's no way we can allow masked individuals and unmarked vans to be pulling anyone, any person off the street without telling them why, without notifying anybody as to what's going on. That is incredibly scary and awful. So not only that, but just not following the law. And any sort of administration of funds authorized by Congress, even flirting with the idea of a third term is just horrendous to me. So I think we need to bring back decency and due process in this country. Number two is emphatically healthcare. And I'll just tell the story if I can, which is When I was 14, my mom got very sick and she had severe Vertigo, had trouble walking, working, driving, everything. We'd go out and we'd have to hold her very close because she couldn't remain stable. And I just remember all the time the judgmental looks we got, thinking my mom was drunk, you know, at 8am at a Perkins. I'll never forget that.

[A]

Nothing wrong with that, by the way, if you are drunk at a Perkins, Nothing wrong with that.

[B]

But I, I hear, I appreciate that, Tim. I appreciate that. I've certainly been there as well. But for my mom, who never drank and never smoked, one of the healthiest people out there, it was, it was hard for me to watch as a kid and see that took a year and a half to figure out what it was. And she ended up having a rare genetic birth defect where there was a blood vessel putting pressure on a nerve near her ear and so signals didn't get there on time. And so she had to have a very expensive surgery over $150,000. And that was 25 years ago. And if we didn't have, if she didn't have a good job and we didn't have good insurance, she never would have gotten that care. And I don't know where my mom would be today. So for me, I don't, I don't give a shit how good your job is. I don't give a. How lucky you are in life. You should have health care. And so I believe that anybody should have Medicare if they want it. I think Democrats love to squabble about what the best policy would be when they're out of power. But the truth of the matter is anything would be, insert a swear word, anything would be better than what we have now. And so I don't care if it's opt in, opt out, or single payer, people should be able to have Medicare if they get it, if they want. So I think those are my top two. And so I'll stop there if you want a third, but those are good.

[A]

We'Ll get to a third. I, I want to, while we're doing the test though, you know, on the. I want to maybe frame it differently instead of from anarcho communism to maga, how about like if, if Elon Omar is a one and Fetterman is a ten and Amy Klobuchar is a five, where, where are you? Where would you be in that spectrum?

[B]

You know, typically I don't, I don't choose that, but where the hell would I be? You're saying fetterman is a 10?

[A]

Yeah, we're talking within the Democratic Coalition. I mean, the post stroke Fetterman, you know, we're like, now, whatever. Joe Manchin.

[B]

Two and a half. Two and a half. Two one a half. Threes.

[A]

Two and a half.

[B]

Yeah, got it.

[A]

So you're more lib pills than Amy Klobuchar. You look at Amy Klobuchar sometimes and you're like, man, I don't know. She was throwing that comb. She's my feel.

[C]

Well, the comb is a bipartisan thing. Throwing the comb at this. Okay? There are leftists and moderates and far right magas, all who can shake hands and agree on treating their staffers like. Okay, that's not necessarily partisan issue, whether inside or outside of the Democratic Party.

[A]

Or the opposite for me, because I treat you so well, Cameron.

[C]

You do in fact, treat me well.

[A]

So that's why I'm kind of the anti.

[B]

Yeah, he did. He did kind of go after you on that Fargo thing, though. So you guys should talk about that after.

[C]

We're just talking. We're just. It's called respectful disagreement, but okay. That's surprising. I didn't think you were that close to Ilhan on that scale based on your website. Read your website. I was like, oh, look, it's, you know.

[B]

You know, it's a one. It's a one to ten scale. I'm guessing. You know, I don't know, like, you just threw up a completely made up scale, and I'm guessing, so. But I know I'm to the right.

[A]

So now. Now you're gonna have to rank. Okay, now you're. Now we're ranking. We've got Bernie, Pete. Tim Walls says the Democratic white male.

[B]

I'm gonna home this one. I'm choosing Tim Walls. You know, he helped me in a number of my campaigns. I'll go number two. Bernie. My wife is the biggest Bernie bro out there. She sent him $28 about a thousand times. And then I'll go. I'll go, Pete, no offense.

[A]

Homophobia. Okay, I see how it is.

[B]

Oh, clear. Yeah, clearly I'm. Clearly, that's me. You got me. You got me.

[C]

Yeah. Interesting on all of this, especially since I. Turns out I didn't get let in to the Maoist Communists against Zoran event that I was really excited to go to. I'll put the flyer up right here.

[A]

Why didn't they let you in?

[C]

Well, it turns out. So they didn't put this on the flyer, but it turns out you have to apply or like, I guess rsvp, and then they'll send you an email Letting you know if you're going to be joining them. And I fucked up because I didn't want to put my name as Cameron Caskey, because you could, like, look it up and see that I'm probably not, like, throwing any Molotov cocktails anytime soon. But. So I put my name as Jimmy McMillan. The guy from the Rent is Too Damn High party.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And I figured that nobody at the Maoist Communist Against Zoran event, because he's too capitalist, by the way, would be politically literate enough to know who Jimmy McMillan was. But then for my email, I did put my own personal email that does have my name in it. So maybe the vetting people were like, okay, this guy who says he's Jimmy McMillan, whose email says Cameron Caskey in it might not be serious, but it's like, nobody at that event is serious.

[A]

I thought you. I thought you would have picked Jimmy McGill.

[C]

Jimmy McGill. That's another good one. No, I feel like more of them might have known Jimmy McGill because there's. I would say there's some left wing politics and Better Call Saul. I would say that it's a scathing condemnation of the capitalist system. Anyway, moving on. I. When we were talking in the green room, before we started recording this, Matt, you asked me if we were going to discuss shitposting, and you compared your Twitter to that of a sophomore in high school. And God damn it, I just want to let you cook and talk about that.

[B]

Yeah, thanks. My Twitter account is 15 years old, so it would have its driver's permit at this point. I think I've been doing that. Kind of like the shitposting, as it were, was a real pioneer. I think it's important that we take the. The logical extension of absurd positions and imaging as part of our argument. And so that is. That was the main impetus. But behind the photo, the very real photo of me just completely jacked and kind of going after the. What was it? The Hegseth JFK Jr. You know, muscle Workout fest, whatever they were calling that.

[C]

Definitely RFK Jr. I don't know which one one you're talking about specifically, but it was definitely RFK Jr. Yeah.

[B]

So they went. I mean, they went to this gym and did this military test and said, we did this many and this many minutes. And you saw them doing these, like, really bullshit pull ups, you know, which I could do a thousand of the JFK junior pull ups where it was just like two inches and their push ups looked pretty rough. And so I was. Yeah, I guess the idea was just to make fun of that. And go, go, go. The extreme, which is, you know, I can, you know, bench press 400 pounds and I do what was 100 pull ups in 10 seconds. And the. The amount of people that took that seriously was insane. And so I had a ton of fun with that.

[A]

You also posted recently that you're close to donating to Marjorie Taylor Greene. She had. She was on the Tim Dillon podcast, front of the show, and she said prices have not come down at all. The job market is difficult, Health insurance is going up, home insurance goes up, rent goes up, young people have no hope of buying a home. And basically, I don't know what the we're doing with the shutdown. And you're like fully MTG pilled now. You guys could crossfit together.

[B]

Yeah. Is she a crossfitter? I didn't know that.

[A]

Oh, yeah. She had her own gym. She had a CrossFit gym. That was her.

[C]

Wasn't she cheating on her husband with one of the CrossFit trainers?

[A]

Yeah. And she was cheating on her husband with a person that looked like in real life, the AI image of yourself that you posted of you as a muscle man, like, that was like what the man was. But he. And he was like a guru. He was like a tantric. Yeah. So she might be into you.

[B]

Well, I just want. Yeah, I was gonna say, I just want to let you know, mgt, not to let you down, but I am. I'm happily married. I'm not interested. And I just think, I mean, we. We all remember Joe Manchin, and every time he took a position opposite the Democrats, Republicans elevated everything he was saying. And I think as a party, we should be doing that too. I just think when MGT is. Is speaking truth based in reality, we should be highlighting that every day of the week. So am I going to donate to her? Hell no. But do I think we should. We should be elevating her right now in this moment when she's taking real positions that I think are actually true. Heck yeah.

[C]

What do we think this is about? Like, do you think that she just got hit really hard on the head and was like, I'm gonna become a resistance hero? Or do you think that she saw an opportunity zone for her to grift and move away from the Jewish space lasers theories and into like, liberal left wing populism?

[B]

I'm gonna hit you with this. And maybe this is more empathetic than I should be on this podcast, but politicians are people too. And I think there's. There's a chance that maybe she has thought about what she has been doing and has seen some light. And sometimes that happens. So that's my hope. Is she. She saw some light and is speaking some truth and. And has decided to actually care about people.

[A]

You think that Marjorie Taylor Greene has decided to start caring about people? That's your. That's your theory of the case?

[B]

I'm hopeful. I'm hoping.

[A]

I love that. That's great. I don't know. I mean, sure, why the hell not? You know, it could happen. We're all redeemable, you know, that's why Hillary got in trouble. Everybody got mad at Hillary for calling the magazine deplorables. That didn't bother me, actually, because there are a lot of deplorables out there. There's the next sentence that actually bothered me when she said, they're deplorable and they're irredeemable. And I think that everybody's redeemable.

[B]

Yeah, I think that's a great segue to the Platner stuff that's happening. Right. I. If. If the Democrats are. If we are the party of. Of empathetic people and compassionate people, we should celebrate when people change. And we should not. We shouldn't just skewer them for past wrongs. Obviously, we need. We need to check that they don't still believe some of the things they believe or wrote or did. That's an important part of any vetting process. But when people decide that we're right, how do we not celebrate that? That's what we need to be doing.

[A]

Yeah. On the Platner thing. So the. The tote and comp. You're not toten cops. That doesn't. It's not. That's not raising the eyebrows for you?

[B]

Oh, I think it certainly does. And he's got a lot to answer for. And I think that's. You know, some of my recent tweeting is kind of is poking fun at this idea. Right. We prop up these people that have had no political experience whatsoever with almost no vetting. We send them $5 million, and then we discover there are problems. That is. That is an infrastructure issue. I think it's also another issue that the Democrats are going to. We have to actually figure out is why are people willing to give a pass to some pretty awful things in relation to where our party is. Right. People are just tired of milquetoast nothingness, and I think Graham Platner gives them an option that is something way different.

[C]

Well, I think that it's. I think it's maybe an overcorrection in some ways of the problem that a lot of people have, which is like, you know, we have someone with virtually no experience, very little vetting. I think people respond to that because they're sick of the people who have been over vetted, have too much experience, and their actual experience is very often where their weaknesses lie. I said this, I was talking about it on MSNBC one morning. They were asking me like, do you think that there's room for somebody like Platner in the party? Mind you, me going to bat for Platner here was about two hours before the Nazi tattoo came out.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And I was like, oh my God, that's such a different story than the fucking Reddit comments. But what I said was like, listen, you've got Mike, Bloomberg and other people who are very welcomed parts of the Democratic establishment openly supporting someone who was ousted as governor of New York for a dozen credible sexual harassment allegations. It's like, yeah, Platner has not been vetted and doesn't have very much experience. And yet people who do have the experience, the things that they did with that experience, are getting a pass, even if they are even more reprehensible. But I don't know, my biggest thing with the platinum tattoo was like, that was the ugliest design I've ever seen. Is like, who could see that and be like, oh, this looks cool. Like, I don't think this guy thinks a drunk Marine.

[A]

I don't know. I mean, if, I don't know if his story is true. He's 19 in Croatia.

[C]

Get the Punisher logo. The Punisher logo. I don't like that it's been used by crazy MAGA people to justify police violence, but it's badass. Are you saying it's not badass, Tim?

[A]

I don't know. I just hate the Punisher people so much.

[B]

Yeah. I just think our, I think it, I think it is a, is, it's a test case for the Democrats, our party, that we are so wanting this, this kind of, I don't know, archetype candidate to win back the demographic of middle aged white men. And we're just so wanting in that that it seems like people are willing to overlook things or not. Not that it is a problem. He's going to have to prove himself. But like I said at the beginning, and like Tim said, I don't think anybody is irredeemable. You know, he. So I, I think we have to celebrate that. There were all the Dateline specials, you know, when I was a kid, Tim, you probably saw him too, where, you know, people are leaving, you know, the kkk. And that was something to be celebrated. And. And we should allow people that had terrible positions to agree with us that were. Right.

[A]

Yeah, dude. Except. Except converts, man. This is the thing that. About Trump, that you got to give it to him on it. It's like, if. If right now I just said, matt Little, I tricked you. You. This is a maga podcast. And, like, pull. I did it, like, wrestling style and pulled a red hat out from under here. And I was like, Mr. Trump is the greatest. Like, he would. He would invite me to Mar A Lago tomorrow. Like, he wouldn't care that I spent 10 years on him. Like, it's just like, accept converts is smart politics in addition to, like, what you should do as a good person.

[B]

Well, not only accept them, but, you know, bring them into the fold and. And celebrate them and give people that positive affirmation. Because if you. If you bring them in and then scold them, they're going to leave again and they're going to think that the things we've been saying and how we've been representing ourselves as a party are not true. If we're not welcoming.

[C]

This is why I think that one of the, like, one of the types of nonprofit space that people can be in, where I almost immediately go, okay, this is a good person, is like, criminal justice reform and recidivism especially. You know, I've met pieces of shit in the gun violence prevention space and in the climate change space and in these different issues that I think someone who doesn't actually really think and reflect on the nature of the human spirit and what it means and what it means to care. Like, they could just kind of latch onto these things and be like, oh, yeah, this is something I support because it's something that will make me look liberal and, like, I have socially positive values. I feel like to get into something like recidivism and to actually put your time, energy, and resources into the literal action of the redemptive power of the human spirit, that's when I'm like, okay, this is probably a good person. Like, I feel like there's a lot of really good human beings doing that type of shit. There's not a lot of people talking about it either. Like, clemency is so important. We need to have governors. Actually, I don't need to go on my soapbox about this.

[A]

I want to ask you about what's happening out there in rural America. You're A little Minnesota too, that you're running for. You're in Lakeville, which is kind of, as best I can tell, kind of like an exurb of Minneapolis. Like you could live in Lakeville and still get into town, but. But the district goes out more into farm country. Is that, is that right? Do I got that right?

[B]

Yeah, I think geographically it's got, I'm this ballparking, but probably about 70% is, is rural.

[A]

Of the district.

[B]

Yeah, of the district, yeah.

[A]

So, I mean, things that aren't going that great. Minnesota, it's this, it's Iowa, it's not Minnesota, but it's neighboring. There's this New York Times piece earlier this week about Iowa's economy. It like it declined like 1% a quarter GDP wise this year just because the farm economy is getting so fucked by this administration. I'm wondering if you're seeing that and speaking of converts, like, what is, like, what can the Democrats do to like, gain back some ground in, you know, in the outer parts of your district, like Waterville, like out that way?

[B]

I'm. Again, some of the stuff I say sounds trite, but I've put a lot of thought into this, which is our communications have to be face to face as much as humanly possible at scale in a, in a, in a race like this and across the country. You're not gonna win back over any farmers by, by tweeting or even phone calls. You're gonna have to get in person, face to face with folks. And it's really, no, it's not complex as to why things aren't going well for them. And I think they know that. And they've been asking this administration to reopen trade markets. And I, I did see your tweet maybe yesterday or the other day about the Nico esque negotiations that we're doing. And it's, and it's, it's not wrong. I mean, we sold, we sold $27 million or 27 million metric tons of soybeans to China in 2024. And now we've negotiated ourselves to selling 25 million metric tons after all that hardship and all that work. And we got a one year repri on the rare manuals and just an absolute shit show in my opinion of negotiations. And so to build these things back.

[A]

Do you think people get that? Like, do you think that the folks that are out there, you know, just living their lives, listen to AM radio? You know, either, you know, either either they have a farm or they work in a farm community. Like, are they hearing that are they connecting the struggles of that community to the bad policies of Trump or not really. Is there a way to help, like, talk about that?

[B]

Yeah, I think there will always be a level of denialism with Trump and that's going to be inescapable. But I also think it's very clear that some people are getting it and some people are getting that this has happened again. And so I think, you know, my message would be to any farmer out there is like, I'm not asking you to be woke, but. But don't fall asleep either. I think give Democrats a chance to fix this and then you can go back vote in Republican. But we need to smooth these things out and get the farm economy more predictable, because that's essential to staying in business. My grandparents built a farm in western Wisconsin over the course of 50 years, and now they're one of the biggest. They raise calves for dairy farms. And it's hard when the inputs get so high, it's hard to make a profit. And farmers, I really believe that farmers don't want to hand out. They're doing that work because they enjoy the work. My grandpa intel, he passed away this June. He wanted to be in that combine until the end of time. They want to work. They don't want a bailout.

[C]

This brings me to something that is also kind of tied to what we were saying about the big tent and welcoming converts and everything. I really need people to stop, like, publicly signaling their shot in Freuda to people who voted for Trump dealing with the disastrous consequences of their vote. I am not asking you to put people up on a pedestal who believe that you should have your bodily autonomy taken away or believe that migrants should be treated in human ways and everything. But when you have people in an area that faces some sort of climate disaster and Trump getting in the way of there being any weather tracking or disaster response leads to people dying, don't fucking celebrate. Like, you can acknowledge the fact that it's this administration and its policies that are preventing a lot of the measures that could make these things better. But like, I see so many people online seeing certain communities facing real harm that has real human consequences and being like, haha, lol. Like, take that fo. Yeah, like, that's not how it works, guys, okay? There's, there's a degree to which you have to have human empathy and you're not going to be able to convince these people to change their perspectives if they, you know, log into the Internet and all of the pro democr people who are supportive of Democracy are making fun of them. Like, it's not funny when people get hurt. It's not funny when people suffer. It's just not funny.

[B]

I would let you say that all day because I think Democrats need to hear that. I think it's partly an algorithm issue which has, you know, been building for many years now. Right. I, you know, when I tweet something and I tweeted this, I said, you know, retain your empathy for those without, you know, that will get 10 likes. But then, you know, I post a muscle photo and I get 500,000 views. There's, there's a real algorithm problem. And so people are have an incentive to tweet terrible stuff because they get reaffirmed. But I'm with you. There's no cause for celebration when someone's been tricked. When someone's been sold snake oil, you don't get mad at the purchaser.

[A]

What just what I do like to do a little bit of trash talk, though.

[C]

Let's do it.

[A]

So we're not going to get mad at the people that got sold snake oil? I'm with you on that, but I've got two trash talk questions for you and then Cameron can take us home. Number one, I want to hear your least favorite member of the Trump administration and a One minute hate on them. And number two, do you have a primary candidate? And if so, do you want to trash them at all? Open table for both of those. Fire away.

[B]

A primary candidate in my race?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No, I'm not going to trash them. The only thing I will say is, you know, they, they made it up the chain in this party through the Minnesota DFL endorsement process, which is still a strong process here. And now that they're running against me, they don't want to adhere to the DFL endorsement and they want to run to the primary and not abide by the endorsement.

[C]

It's dfl. The Democrat Football League.

[B]

Yeah, definitely. It's the Democratic Farmer Labor Party. It's unique to Minnesota. It was created by Hubert Humphrey back in the earlier 1900s. So we're kind of a one off in the nation.

[A]

And he's got a buzz cut. I see that. All right, there you go. So that's your opponent. Now, what about your least favorite Trump administration official? One Minute Hate Go. I don't know.

[B]

It's the it for me. It is the. The Hegseth JFK Jr. Bro duo. I just can't.

[C]

Yeah, called RFK Jr. JFK Jr. Twice.

[A]

Oh, what. What's JFK Jr's dead.

[B]

Okay. Sorry, what? What's.

[C]

It's RFK Jr. He's not dead.

[B]

And sounds.

[C]

And seems dead.

[B]

Look, I'm. I'm very nervous. I'm very nervous on this podcast, so. Yeah, JFK, RFK Jr. Either one, you know, we got it.

[A]

Well, you don't want to speak ill of the dead.

[B]

No.

[A]

JFK Jr. Died in that car. In that plane crash.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Wait, so wait. Sorry. You asking this, Tim, made me think of my least favorite member of the administration. What's Stephen Miller's position?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Homeland Security Advisor. Got it.

[A]

Isn't he Deputy Chief of Staff? Technically as well, I think.

[C]

American advisors.

[A]

Deputy Chief of Staff.

[C]

Deputy Chief of Staff.

[A]

Okay, so Hegseth. Let's focus on Hegseth. One minute of hate on Hegseth. Go, Matt Little.

[B]

I just think it's so absurd to bring in all the military leaders to one room and. And tell them to. To shave and don't be fat. I. I just. I don't understand it. And then you followed up with what I consider the worst gym mixtape I have ever seen. It's absolutely absurd. But let me talk a little more.

[A]

Should.

[B]

Am I on the primary opponents? Which is they're afraid to debate me. I've asked them to debate me for the last two weeks and I know you're listening to this PO Guest right now. And so debate me. Don't be afraid there. That's my rant. That's as random as I can get.

[A]

Yeah, debate me, bro. Okay, Cameron, what did you have to close us down with?

[C]

3 speed round questions. This is going to be for both of you.

[A]

Okay, great.

[C]

These are from either Bulwark subscribers or R. Askmen. Advice on Reddit. Real quick. What screams I have a crush on you without actually saying it? I want to make my interest clear, but not put her on the spot with a direct confession. What actions or behaviors actually communicate I'm into you without being too obvious or awkward. Like, is there a way to flirt? That's clear, but still gives her an out if she's not interested. What's worked for you guys?

[B]

Matt, how old is this? That's what I need to know.

[C]

I'm not entirely sure. But regardless, what's a good way to signal your interest without necessarily being like, hey, I have a crush on you.

[B]

I would participate in a conversation with this individual and ask questions about the things they are interested in and then I would text them on an irregular basis. That's what I would do.

[A]

That is great. About the things that they're interested in by the way text someone in irregularities about the things you've learned about them to show you're listening. That's great advice. Much better than what came to my mind. But what came to mind is something you could also do. It's just. It's a little bit less, you know, if you're a little more nervous of a person. You don't have the self confidence of Matt Little to get to go up to the. You could just go to their Instagram page and start liking a bunch of old photos. Yeah. So you just like engage them and like a hey, what's up? Like just like no, you should not do that. Take a bunch of their old photos. Then they know you have a crush on them. I thought that was the only goal. The only goal not to show them they have a crush.

[B]

You could be a little more subtle and just watch their videos. They could see you watch them then. So.

[C]

Oh my God. I accidentally showed the Instagram of somebody I was crushing on to a friend of mine and my friend pressed like on a picture that was maybe two years old and I had a heart attack. Here's my. I think Matt's advice. I think Matt's advice is great. Tim's advice is terrible. I'm gonna build off of Matt's real quick. Also compliment this person. Compliment them on something where you mean it because trust me, meaning it goes a long way. And don't do it too regularly that it seems like you are spamming it and being aggro about it. But you know, say nice things, mean them. And. And don't be afraid to point out that your hair looks great today.

[B]

I'm never afraid to point that out.

[C]

You don't need to say your hair looks sexy today.

[A]

Fingernails, nails. If they get their nails done, you could compliment those. That's easy. It's not. That's not a pressure point either.

[C]

Just like notice the things that people put effort into that you know, something where somebody was clearly trying. Next question. There's two more soft dash principle 1455 wants to talk about populist economic questions. Most American men your age in your in reference to me Cam, including the lib types, still see themselves as taking the primary breadwinner role. But with the way things are right now, can the right wing trad dream survive contact with the modern economy?

[A]

I'll field that first because I had to suffer through Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson. I did that for two hours. So I need to at least use it for content purposes. The maga. Right. Trad view of women is so offensive and pathetic and painful and just like sad that I don't, I just don't. I think that there's going to be a good percentage of them that won't be able to procreate because the way they talk about women is just so embarrassing. And, and women are doing better in school right now. And so I just, I don't. I think that like, sure, there are going to be certain types of women that want to have a trad marriage and good on them. We live in a pluralistic society. People should be able to do what they want. But I do think that, that the like extreme version of the, of the Nick Fuentes Vol. Sell type, I think is really going to struggle out there in the real world.

[B]

So, you know, I haven't been chronically online for like the last three years. This Nick Fuentes guy, he's a grown man, right? Is this a grown adult man?

[A]

Well, I mean, he's grown. I wouldn't say he's a man. He's a boy. He's very boyish.

[C]

He hasn't grown very tall.

[B]

He's like. To me, he's like an ultimate deep fake. He. He feels like if that was satire, it would make sense. Just a grown man denying the Holocaust a name. With Fuentes doing the white nationalist, anti immigration stuff, it's just wild to me. So I'm learning about him. I think it will exist. The trad lifestyle will continue to exist on Instagram in the same way that Van Life existed for a while. And everybody thought that was great and fun until they actually tried it. The fact of the matter is, as soon as you have a kid, you can't afford child care and you're going to have to work or, you know, you're going to have to do something if you, if you want to get your kid into Pre K. That's why I believe in Universal Pre K. Segue to actual policy.

[A]

Good policy. That's a good policy. I'm also. My man, Jared Polis did Universal Pre K in Colorado. Great. It's very important. That's the kind of policy that could unite everybody from the shitposting libs all the way to us centrist technocrats. We love that policy. All right, final question, Cam.

[C]

Final question. How to get over awkward silences on dates. I recently got rejected on the second date for not speaking enough. She told me she just had to carry the whole conversation. I'm generally introverted, but I like asking questions about people and I also answer back when I'm asked. I'm just not good at coming up with new topics of discussion. What do I do?

[B]

I, I mean, I think it's pretty simple. You got, you gotta fill at least 40% of the time, that's gonna be your job. Otherwise it's just too burdensome for the person on the other side. So you can get away 60% of the time asking questions, but the other 40% of the time, talk about the stuff that you actually enjoy talking about because then you'll figure out if you're compatible in any sort of way. Because if they'll talk about your 40% with you and engage in the, the conversation, you found someone. And if they're not engaging with that and there's a lot of awkward silence, you don't have to go on a second date.

[A]

I've got a lot of thoughts on this. I'm an extrovert, so it's not a problem for me. But I'll tell you this, number one, women do love to talk about what's happening with them. So you might think that you're good at asking questions, but like you got to even turn up that game even more. Just keep ask, you know what I mean? Keep pumping for more information. That's often going to work. Number two, as a podcast host, you know, I've got a little notepad here. So like if this conversation went south, I have some backup topics. You might want to do a little prep. You might want to do a little pre date prep. You know, think about a couple of topics that you have a couple of. A funny thing that happened to you that day that you might want to bring up. You know, take and make some notes. Don't take out the notes at the dinner, but you know, just kind of, it helps.

[C]

Dinner?

[A]

Yeah, before the dinner, just so I'm.

[B]

Getting this correct, you had a backup to the abundance tampon conversation. That was the lead.

[A]

Yeah, actually when I thought about what I wanted to talk to you about, asking you to take your shirt off and tampon abundance were the top two topics. And then yes, everything else was, was after that, I'll let you know off air what we didn't get to. And finally, awkward silence. If you make it to that third date, awkward silence is useful because that's a good time for kissing.

[C]

Yeah, but like if you're at a dinner table or something, like if you're at a restaurant.

[A]

Well, not at the fucking dinner table, Cameron. But it's just a general point. If you have awkward silence in your life, all you gotta do is get past the dinner you get past the dinner to the car or to the doorstep, at which point your awkward silence becomes an asset, not a liability.

[C]

I suppose. Yeah, I was framing this through the we're at that we're sitting across from each other at a restaurant thing. My piece of advice is I don't. I can't speak to what kind of questions this person is asking, but very great way to engage someone in a conversation is to. Yes. And them. When you ask them a certain question and they start talking about something in their life, hear what they have to say, hear their story, find part of the story where you think you can learn even more and ask about that. You know, you don't need to take their answer and say, okay, what's the next topic? What can the next topic be? You can hear the answer and go, oh, she mentioned her sister in this answer. What does your sister do out here? What's she all about?

[B]

Is she single? Yeah, just throw that into it.

[C]

There's always an opportunity to find new questions to ask. And also, like Matt said, talk about your own stuff, too. It's very attractive to give a shit about certain things and to be into things and care, you know, even if those things are not the traditionally cool or badass things. I think that there's something charming to people about hearing someone talk about something and being like, oh, you know, they have passionate feelings. In this world of dispassion and disconnection.

[A]

That's beautiful, Cameron. I don't. I do have one more thing. Matt. Last chance, buddy. Just. Let's just. Let's just see the nipples. Let's just see. Let's just do a quick tap chat. All right?

[B]

Yeah, you got it. You got it.

[A]

Is this real?

[B]

No, it's not real. I was pretending to be frozen.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You gotta play hard to get.

[A]

Good work, man. I appreciate you very much.

[C]

Hey, if you win the primary, we'll do a follow up and then you have to do it.

[B]

This was an honor. Yep.

[A]

All right, we'll see y'.

[C]

All.