A (4:18)

We had some fun.

B (4:19)

A little worse for the wear, but it was all in service of celebration.

A (4:24)

Yes, yes, we jetted over to the Zoramdani speech last night. I mean, we made it by the skin of our teeth, basically. Sam did a lot of work plowing us through crowds I've never seen you with such determination before.

B (4:40)

I wanted to go see it. You know, you walk. We walked all the way over there.

A (4:44)

Well, that's how, you know, you're a longtime New Yorker. You have that, like, power walk down, getting through crowds. But we made it. We made it. And then some nice woman who I think manages the Paramount bought me some tequila shots. So, you know, a little bit of a headache today, but I am very happy overall.

B (5:01)

Yeah, it was a lot of fun when we got to see the speech, but of course, last night it is. It's hard to come up with a scenario where things could have gone better for Democrats. And there's a lot of actually, like I say, you know, we had said this last night, this. There are a lot of material implications from these races, but there's also a lot of implications both in terms of what it is predictive of in the midterms. But almost more importantly than it being predictive in the midterms, it does send a message to all political players, essentially ranging from Trump to Mike Johnson to Democrats in the Senate contemplating caving on the, the shutdown to Democrats across the country. They all will take messages from this and they will behave in ways that in some instances that we like and in other ways that may be, you know, difficult. We may see federal troops sooner than later, but we will get to that as the show progresses. Last night we trudged over after, after it was called, the race was called, the mayor race was called. I think by that point, we also, it was an early call for Virginia and New Jersey.

A (6:43)

Yeah.

B (6:43)

There were still some extant things. We had spoken about. Daniel Nikanian, about a seat up in the Bronx. I think it was a state Senate seat that had gone Republican, flipped back to Democrats. I mean, just across the board.

A (6:58)

Yeah, the only, the only maybe bad news from last night. It seems like Omar Fatah is set up to not end up, you know, pulling out that race. But he made it close. They're going to the second round in ranked choice voting here. So. But everything else in terms for the Democrats, just, just clean. Sweet.

B (7:15)

Republicans got wiped out.

A (7:16)

Wiped out. I mean, the Virginia. We'll talk about the Virginia House of Delegates at another point. But like, I mean, they went from 51 seats to 64. It's going to be an enormous benefit to, you know, Spamberger as the governor there.

B (7:33)

Here is a part of Zoran Mamdani's speech. It was probably the first speech, at least in my lifetime, that was covered by the news where it started. And Frank at any point, probably quoted Eugene Debs. In another part, he also quotes another political figure. We will talk about that later. But here is Mamdani talking about the nature of this wind in the context of immigrants. Zora Mandani, in the. I think it's in the history of New York City, is the first mayor to ever come from Queens, who lives in Queens.

D (8:27)

Good to you without condescension, we can usher in a new era of leadership. We will fight for you because we are you. Or as we say on Steinway, anaminkum wailekum. Thank you to those so often forgotten by the politics of our city, who made this movement their own. I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas, Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek.

C (9:09)

Nurses.

D (9:13)

Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties. Yes, aunties.

B (9:26)

The speech was, I have to say, this speech was pretty aggressive. It was interesting because he. A lot of times you'll see candidates come up and sort of project a certain conciliatory approach towards who they've run against. And Mamdani did a different thing. He was still very aggressive towards Andrew Cuomo and who he beat. And then he was very humble when it came to. When it came to talking about all the people that helped him. It was pretty impressive. Here is part two or another clip I should say, where he addresses and Andrew Cuomo closed out. His closing argument was, I'm the only one who can keep Donald Trump out of New York City. As you know, Donald Trump endorsed Cuomo in the last day. And I think it actually was effective because Curtis Lewa was. Mamdani got about the number that he was polled around. Curtis Lewa was projected anywhere from 15 to 21 points. He ended up with seven. And I think that difference went to Andrew Cuomo because maybe in part because of Trump's endorsement. So a lot of Cuomo votes came from Republicans in addition to some small or, I said mid sized percentage of Democrats. But here is Mamdani addressing Donald Trump.

D (11:26)

Together, we will usher in a generation of change. And if we embrace this brave new course rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it's how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you. Turn the volume up.

A (12:52)

I mean, seeing it like this is just different than what, how we were able to watch last night. Like, there's like, I'm like fighting back tears slightly. It's just incredible to see this, like this response to Donald Trump from the city, this courage.

B (13:06)

Well, it's also courage. But I mean, this is a really important. In addition to him basically saying to Trump, f you bring it, we're ready. Which I think, frankly, New Yorkers, I think when they bring the federal troops, and they will, and they may actually do it, you know, even sooner. Not just because Mamdani won, but because Democrats ran the board in the way that they did, they're going to have to sort of like juice whatever their plans were.

A (13:33)

Make an example.

B (13:34)

Make an example. But also they want to create chaos.

A (13:37)

Yeah.

B (13:38)

What they want is images of, you know, of fighting and this and that because they think that will in turn drive their voters out to maintain control. I mean, that's the sort of like old recipe. Whether that works or not is another question. But what's really interesting that Mamdani is talking about here that I think is, you know, to the extent that there's a contrast between his win and Spanberger and Cheryl's win, just because that's what, you know, the media is sort of setting up that, that, that issue. And there is, I mean, there's, you know, like there were wins last night for every part of the Democratic Party. But the, I think the differences in there is not just in him saying, you know, bring it, Donald Trump f you. Because I think on to some extent they're all saying that the difference is. Comes in when he says the conditions that allowed him to accumulate power, saying that the problem of Trump predates Trump.

A (14:45)

Right. The next to prevent the next one.

B (14:47)

To prevent the next one. And again, like on both sides of it, Trump is just the guy who's in that slot now. But there were conditions that were created prior to Trump being here that naturally led to Trump. And there could be those conditions need to be addressed.

A (15:06)

And the conditions were the ones that, that were opposing him, the two front war against him that we'll play this clip of AOC later. But it was both the old guard Democratic establishment and the Republican Party. It is capital that was against him. And he won against enormous odds with like it wasn't. He did crack 50%, which was really important. Meaning if even if every Sliwa vote. Every Adams vote went to Cuomo. He still would have eked out a victory. But and in that context, think about that, the billions or the millions and millions of dollars that were spent against him and, and the establishment of both political parties that were opposing him for Islamophobic on Islamophobic grounds, but also because they wanted this not to be the first domino to fall in a class consciousness within the Democratic Party and the base here.

B (15:56)

We're going to take a get a couple folks, I'm working on three hours of sleep. Get a couple of sponsors to talk about. And then when we come back, we'll be talking to Osama Andrabi and then Adam Green. First, let me talk about this episode of Majority Party brought to you by Wild Grain. What is Wild Grain? It is the first baked from. It could be the only. But I know for a fact it's the first bake from frozen subscription box for things like artisanal bread, pastries, fresh pastas. All of the items that they have bake within 25 minutes or less. And unlike store bought wild grain uses a slow fermentation process that's easier on your belly, richer in nutrients and antioxidants and made with simple ingredients you can pronounce. Wild grain boxes are fully customizable. They're constantly adding seasonal and limited time products for you to enjoy. Like right now they have tear and share cranberry pecan rolls. Like if you could just hear the, in the, in the studio the moaning of like, oh God, I can't even think about those parmesan herb biscuits and apple pie bites. I had, I had a box that came with apple cider donuts that were amazing. Some cinnamon rolls, like a rustic bread. I don't know how else to describe that. Like rustic bread, like a round loaf. I had one of like a, with also like a French, not a French Italian bread and croissants which apparently they'll give you in every box. And they're amazing. It's so easy to make and they taste like you just fresh baked it. The, the first of all, having a hot apple cider donut is nuts.

A (18:10)

I know.

B (18:10)

I mean I serve those at my wedding. It's insane.

A (18:13)

I serve those at my wedding. Remember apple cider donuts?

B (18:16)

Yeah. And having them warm is crazy.

A (18:18)

I know. And those ones that, the wild grain, they're like just as good.

B (18:22)

Oh my God, they're amazing. And I would have to say the croissants, I've never been really much of a big croissant guy but they're, they're amazing and the bread was delicious. Honestly, everything I've eaten from them has been great. In addition to their classic box, they also have a gluten free box and a plant based box. Wild Grain would be amazing both I guess for Thanksgiving and you know, whatever folks do for Christmas. I don't know about that stuff, but getting order a wild grain for Thanksgiving will take a huge stress off of you. Easy, easy to make. Doesn't matter whether you're sending yourself a box or maybe sending it as a gift around holidays. Wild grain makes for the perfect gift for your loved ones or if you'd even bring as a host like or bring to a host, I should say for a limited time. Wild Grains offering our listeners $30 off your first box plus free croissant in every box when you go to wildgrain.com majority to start your subscription. You heard me. Free croissant in every box. $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com croissant majority fresh baked goods in your apartment without any of the mess. We'll put the information of that in the podcast and YouTube subscription. Okay, so here is. I've talked about this before. I did not want to start a merch shop and I, I don't think I did for the first like five years that we had this, maybe even 10 years that we had this show because I didn't want to deal with like, I didn't want it to be complicated. I didn't want to have like, you know, have to upgrade the store and blah blah blah and this and that. And I didn't want to. It just was too much work. And then we found Shopify, which is completely turnkey. Here's an example of our. At our store we have a new product. I was afraid it wasn't going to work. Look it, we have the Trump slump stickers.

A (20:44)

Hell yeah.

B (20:45)

Brian. Brian did the graphics on those and then we were able just to pop it up there. Easy peasy. And we got the Trump slump there and so you could buy these and.

E (20:59)

Can I ask for what the. Why is he pointing in different. It's funny. It's very funny.

B (21:03)

This is because you take it to your local supermarket or you take it to wherever it is and it points to different stuff to the price. I did that. I see.

A (21:15)

Yes. I like that. The, the bottom where he's doing the bottom left one. I know exactly what he's pointing at. That's when he looked up at the.

B (21:24)

Eclipse without glass, without glasses. Well, the point being, it was super easy for us to do this all because of Shopify. It made it super easy and now we got that on there and it's going to be hello.

F (21:42)

Actually we're selling them at cost.

B (21:43)

We're selling the stickers at cost because we want people just to use those and deploy them. Shopify makes it seem very easy. It is. The number is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world. Magic spoon on Shopify. Majority report on Shopify brands just getting started and they have hundreds of ready to use templates which will match the style of your site. In our, in ours. It's minimalist, as it were. It has AI tools if you want that. They help you put together product descriptions and page headlines and even enhance your product photography. And Shopify helps you manage your inventory. So if you have an online store and an in real life store, you do pop ups or you do shows where you sell merch. All of it gets integrated in addition to like on like YouTube. Our YouTube shop is now you can buy stuff on our YouTube channel. You can buy it on all the different social media platforms. Shopify makes it easy. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big idea into Cha Ching. With Shopify on your side. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com Majority. Go to shopify.com Majority. That's shopify.com Majority for a little bit of this. All right, descriptions in the, excuse me. The links and codes in the podcast and YouTube descriptions and @M majority FM. Quick break. When we come back, Osama Andrabi, communications director and spokesperson for Justice Democrats. It's. We are back, Sam Cedar, Emma Vigland, both at about 68%.

A (24:39)

Capacity.

B (24:40)

Yeah, combined. Combined. Joining us now, Osama Andrabi, communications director, spokesperson for Justice Democrats. Osama, before we came on air, you were talking about, you were watching the feed from the Mamdani, I guess election party or one of them. There was like a half a dozen, maybe more in the city because there were so many volunteers and you were noticing that you recognized or half recognized so many people in the, the crowd. And one of the things that's amazing about this win is that it's not just about Mamdani winning. It's about a whole cadre of new political people who have influence within the context of, you know, what people say is the second hardest job in the country. Mayor of New York City.

C (25:43)

Yeah, I mean, absolutely. You know, I did not see James Carville or Adam Jenkelson in that crowd. And that was a sort of welcome reprieve to see, you know, the DSA folks I know, the UAW people I know, the, you know, various just canvassers I know who have no affiliation with any organization, who are just inspired by this campaign as well as so many other movement leaders. And I think that is really what this campaign was so much about, is this has been such a dark time for all of us and especially for folks in New York, and I think especially for young people who, you know, are coming off of myriad of crises from COVID onward that has left them feeling so isolated and alone. And why this campaign felt different is because it wasn't just a campaign. It was something to be a part of, something to do on a daily basis.

A (26:40)

That is such an important point because it was a sense of community when we are just so isolated and atomized. I was eventually my episode with I've had it will come out. But I spoke a little bit about my experience going to Trump rallies back in the day. And even though, of course, there were many disturbing elements about that experience, the overarching feeling you get is like, this is sort of a sense of community for the people that are going here where they feel like they're a part of something greater. And that is really important for any political movement. And that's what Zoron has really tapped into, is like bringing people together towards a common vision. And so when we were playing some of the CNN coverage last night, where they're trying to say, you know, overplay what's happening a little bit in Jersey and in Virginia, but they don't have that. That's not something that those campaigns have. What Zorin's campaign, what Bernie's campaign always has had, was the flip side of that horrible dark energy from the MAGA movement.

C (27:45)

Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think that is a difference. Like, I am very glad that the governor of Virginia is not a Republican. I'm glad that the governor of New Jersey is not a Republican. And those are big wins for the Democratic Party. And I also think that the campaign, the only campaign that sort of provided a tactical blueprint for how this party can move forward last night was Zoran's campaign. And I think everyone knows that. I think the folks on CNN who are downplaying that know that as well. I think, you know, the Chuck Schumers of the world know that as well. And it's a threat to their power. That's why they don't want to talk about it, that's why they don't want to see it happen, because they want to be the kingmakers of the Democratic Party. They want to be the people who decide which donors give to what candidates and what candidates become the nominees. And I think what we showed, you know, what that campaign showed is right, everyone talks about the assemblyman that no one knew a year ago. And it's never been just about Zoron, right. It's about everyone seeing themselves in what Zoron is doing across city and Zorin frankly meeting people where they're at. I saw Ken Klippenstein put something out earlier today talking about how Zorin literally met people where they're at. Be it at the bodegas, be it at the taxi cab stands outside of LaGuardia, wherever everyday working class people were, he was in the streets legitimately talking to them to understand what is the biggest crisis they're facing and how he could help build a solution for it.

B (29:08)

I have to say the, you know, in the, in the, in the thick of the campaign, I didn't necessarily pick up on this, but you know, it's a big difference when you have a candidate who is in their 30s, then the candidates, you know, because, you know, I don't watch, it's quite possible that Spanberger was going around everywhere. I, you know, I just happen to live in New York City and so I see this, but it just strikes me as like, wow, I haven't, you know, you watch a national campaign, but I haven't seen a candidate in who was campaigning so hard.

A (29:53)

His energy was insane, was insane.

B (29:56)

And on some level, like that's indicative of the nature of the candidates that we have had at least nationally in this, in the country for the past couple of years around. Like, you know, Obama was very energetic when he ran, but that was now. I mean, he ran his first campaign. That was almost 16 years ago, I guess, you know, 15 years ago, so 17 years ago. And it is, it is a difference. What else? Like, you know, from your perspective, what are the things from Justice Democrats whose who essentially are. This dynamic that we saw in New York mirrors the dynamic that you guys do in federal races, congressional races in particular. What, what lessons have you taken from this? Where, how does that set you guys up? What are the implications for your project?

C (31:06)

Yeah, I think a lot and a lot of implications and I think we learned a lot and saw a lot reflected back on us. You know, I think this is a turning point for this movement in the Democratic Party that we've all been working towards for years of trying to elect leaders with the moral courage to not unite voters not only against Republican authoritarianism, but also Democratic corporatism and billionaire greed all at once. And having the moral courage to understand that you can do all of those things and you need to do all of those things if you actually want to tackle the issues that working class communities demand. And, you know, moral courage. Our PAC director, Jeff Simpson, who also helped support Zoran's independent expenditure in his personal capacity, put out an op ed today in Zotelio that talks a lot about how, you know, moral courage is a tactical blueprint for what we should be looking for in candidates. And that's moral courage in a lot of things. It's moral courage to take on, you know, the billionaires and corporations raising our prices. It's the moral courage to stand up to and the Israel lobby, however they may appear when they are threatening us. And it's, you know, the moral courage to take on real estate corporations and Airbnb and the Democratic establishment who refuses to support even a Democratic nominee and still move forward with a smile on your face. And I think it proves sort of the theory of our case, which is Democratic primaries can be a battleground to decide the future of this party, and they should be. And for us, you know, we're very clear eyed on where I think at least the electoral wing, the progressive left, should be focused on now. And it's channeling the energy that, you know, Zoron created in Democratic primaries across the country because there's hundreds of more Andrew Cuomos in Congress to get rid of. Still.

B (32:53)

In terms of that strategy is to play in Democratic primaries. And what do you make of. Well, both in terms of how it fits in the context of your tactics, in terms of, like, which races you choose, which primary races you choose to engage in, and in terms of sort of like what it means in New York, what do you make of the criticism or the attempted criticism that, well, that's New York and what stays. What happens in New York stays in New York.

C (33:31)

Yeah, I mean, that's an interesting criticism when you look back at who the last, like four mayors of New York were. If we're gonna extract Mike Bloomberg, Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio to be the sort of only New York aspect of this, then I think we're failing.

B (33:50)

But I mean, Bloomberg spoke at the Democratic national convention in 2016 and I think in 2020.

C (33:57)

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think we try and pretend I don't really understand why. We look at where our base is at and say that should not be what we lead the party forward with, as if we should always be operating on the margins of our own Democratic Party. You know, I think our whole impetus behind what we do in targeting deep blue districts with Democratic primaries is that there's no excuse there. And we see so many excuses from these sort of corporate entrenched incumbents to be mealy mouth versions of corporate shills in Congress. When you are a D + 15, D + 20 district, there's no reason to pretend like this is a purple seat or a Virginia statewide or a New Jersey statewide or whatever. And so I think if, you know, deep Democratic districts are the place where we should show that moral courage and bravery first and foremost and then build on it from there.

A (34:55)

HAKEEM Jeffries, district.

C (34:57)

You know, I think we should look at every district in this.

B (35:02)

Sorry, I don't know where that came from.

C (35:05)

I think we should look at, you know, every district where Zoran overwhelmingly won even in the Democratic primary, and see what sort of leaders were with him at that point and what leaders chose to not move forward, the Democratic Party instead to put their head in the sand. And I think we should evaluate all the districts in that way.

B (35:26)

You know, it's interesting because I have said for years, probably, you know, before there was a Justice Democrats, that New York and California, particularly New York should be the. On the zeitgeist.

A (35:43)

Yes.

B (35:44)

Of what is possible for the country in terms of progressive politics, because, you know, that's what New York, New York wants. And they can create the model. And I don't mean just New York City, I mean New York state, they create the model and give a vision to the rest of the country as to what is possible and what is doable. The biggest impediment to that, frankly, at least in the, you know, the past 20 years, I would say in New York state has been Andrew Cuomo.

A (36:18)

I mean, Jay Jacobs too. Yeah.

B (36:21)

But Cuomo was the one who sort of like, who was literally there was the impetus to do a lot of these things. And he created a fake Democratic cocktail caucus that voted with Republicans. His job was in his mind to stop that from happening as a way of showing fealty to the national party, which was very Clintonesque at that time. And I think he was still stuck in that mode, frankly, you know, that we just saw. I want to remind people that the Obama not being born in America stuff came out of the Clinton campaign.

A (37:01)

Yes.

B (37:02)

And so, you know, there is a model for Andrew Cuomo's antisemitism and whatnot was, you know, sort of born out of tactics that came out of that, that same Clinton era mindset.

A (37:16)

They leaked that photo of Obama in Somali garb. I think he was wearing a turban but being respectful. That was Clinton that released that in the primary campaign.

B (37:28)

So we're anyway, so are there any races that you can announce that you guys are going to be rolling out or when will we know? Let's put it that way.

C (37:39)

That's a great question. And first, just on the last point you made about New York being this sort of where we can start from, I think Zoran made a great point that I think a lot of us have been saying for a long time in his speech last night, which is, you know, people are looking for a bold vision for what we will achieve rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt. And I think this Democratic Party has been too timid to attempt anything for so long. And that's always what we hear as a response when it's like, oh, this is just New York. Oh, it's just California. Oh, it's, you know, every, you know, every single place we can name. And we say that when obviously, one, we have reasons to disprove that in states across the country. And two, voters just want to see someone try and fight for it rather than just hear why it's not possible, even when we, I, you know, I've talked to a lot of folks asking me, you know, do you think Zoran is going to be successful in delivering this as a mayor, delivering all honest promises? And it's sort of like, you know, I would love to see someone actually try first. We haven't even seen that yet. And to have this sort of bold agenda and actually try and fight for it is, it's, you know, it's a baseline, but it's some, it's a baseline that I think all of us are craving so desperately across the country and so really want to see that. And to your other point, you know, we've launched for primaries so far. We have some more endorsements coming out. We can definitely count. You can look towards the end of this year. There will be a few more rolling out in the next two months, maybe some in New York, maybe some elsewhere. But I think, you know, this is a moment for all of us in this movement to really capture and take across the country because we can't let this be a victory that ends in New York. It needs to be a signal to candidates across the country that we can take on the wealthiest, most well connected and most entrenched incumbents and win if we have the moral courage and the coalition to do so.

B (39:33)

And where can people find more information if they want to help support those primary challenges that you've already launched?

C (39:39)

Yeah, you can go to justicedemocrats.com donate if you want to support our campaigns. Almost all of our money goes towards supporting our candidates outside of funding our staff, which is a small but mighty team. Or you can follow us on Social Justice Dems or Justice Democrats, depending on the different accounts. And you know, I encourage everyone to read the new op ed in Zatteo this afternoon talking about how we can build on this work in New York City to transfer and take out, like I said, the hundreds of more Andrew Cuomos we still have left to take out in Congress.

B (40:11)

Appreciate talking to you and congratulations to everybody.

C (40:17)

Thank you.

B (40:17)

And I mean that like literally everybody. Thanks so much. We'll see you soon. We've got to take a quick break. Let's see, Gerald from, Gerald from New Orleans says. Oh, Sam, no impediment. It's impediment. Just like pook I, I listen, I can't even read what your corrections.

E (40:41)

We don't need to.

B (40:42)

Are we really gonna, I mean, on.

A (40:45)

This day.

B (40:47)

Watch this show for more than like two episodes and you have an expectation that I'm going to pronounce things correctly. I got news for you, that's not what we do here.

F (40:57)

One of the tenets of Islam is no backbiting.

A (41:05)

Intifada.

G (41:06)

Intifada.

B (41:07)

Intifada. You know, it's interesting in terms of the promise thing. And then we'll go to, then we'll take a quick break and we'll talk to Adam Green. I'm pretty sure there was always a quote, I remember that was something to the effect of like, I promise more than I can do. Enabled to do what I promise. And the idea is that you gotta aim high. And you may not, you may not fulfill all those promises, but you're going to fulfill more than you would have if you've made no promises.

A (41:52)

But that's, but that is why people power is so important to a campaign that aims high. Right? Like that is where you get democracy actually working because those are activated people that can put pressure on politicians to get your agenda across. Like they act like the promises and the way that he campaigned are in some way disconnected. No, the way that he built his power and the way he was able to win is exactly why he's way more likely to achieve what he set out to do.

C (42:25)

Yep.

B (42:28)

All right, quick break. And then Adam Green from the Progressive Change campaign. Sam, we are back. Sam Cedar, Emma Vigland on the Majority report. Joining us now, Adam Green with a great founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. And we should say, Adam, just before we start, just so that we can update people on this news, Frey has beaten Omar Fateh in Minneapolis in the final round of the ranked choice voting tabulations 53 to 47. So very close, relatively speaking. And but Fateh not there, didn't, didn't quite cross the finish line. There was a lot of obviously headwinds for him. But be that as it may, let's talk about what lessons you took from last night. Obviously, Mom, Donnie wins big, but we do see big wins for Spanberger and Mickey Mikey Sherrill in New Jersey. Spanberger won, I think, you know, relative to past elections, she won like by the biggest margin in 40 years. Cheryl underperformed Phil Murphy. Phil Murphy from the same time in 2017, which I think is the most comparable, you know, when we had Trump there, but not she didn't underperform by much, but, but a little bit. And, but what's your takeaway from the way they won that is different from each other?

G (45:08)

Yeah. Well, first just acknowledging that it was a good day for Democrats overall and a really bad day for Trump and his agenda of really hurting people economically, I think that came home to roost. But there's a choice ahead for Democrats about whether we want to kind of coast on this anti Trump backlash in a way that was quite successful for Spamberger and Cheryl and assumed that that would go on forever. Or do we want to make the investments now to build a durable coalition which includes having an inspiring agenda which really only Zoram Hamdani had. Of all the big winners last night, I mean, all of us were there actually in that room. The enthusiasm was contagious. It wasn't just people breathing a sigh of relief because the bad guys lost. It was genuine enthusiasm around a vision. And I saw the same thing when I was knocking doors yesterday talking to people who just really needed help with their rent and with their daily cost of living. And we have to spend this time painting a picture for people of why the Zoran approach of actually having a vision that people can recite and name and get inspired by is much different from merely coasting off the anti Trump backlash.

B (46:17)

Yeah. You know, Mamdani himself, we just played this clip earlier. He spoke of in that speech the conditions that allowed Trump to accumulate power, which of course predate Trump. I mean, so he's talking about the problems that exist that are distinct from Trump, but allow a Trump to rise. And this I found interesting from Mickey Sherrill. Let's play this clip. Do we have it? What number clip is this? The. This. Oh, it's number six. This is, this is how she closed her race. And I was really surprised to see this.

A (47:02)

It's a good surprise.

B (47:04)

It's a good surprise. And you know, I think there was, you know, some polling towards the end there where people are getting, not necessarily worried, but thinking she's going to underperform quite a bit. She underperformed a little bit against Murphy. You know, like I say, but, but, you know, a 13 point win is a significant win. But this is how she closed out. And I thought this was interesting.

H (47:25)

I am fighting for you. I'm fighting for affordability. I'm fighting to get your costs down. I'm declaring a state of emergency on day one, freezing utility rate hikes. I said last night, I said, you know what, I'm not playing, right. I'm not doing a 10 year study, I'm not writing a strongly worded letter. I'm not going to convene a group. I'm declaring a state of emergency to drive your costs down. And that's just where it starts. Because as I'm looking to the budget, I'm increasing that first time home buyers program so you can get your foot in the door, try to build your family's generational wealth. I'm taking on those landlords who are colluding to drive up your rental prices. Will my opponent do that? No. His biggest donor is one of those guys that's being investigated right now. So this is the fight. And at every single level, I have been willing to take on this fight and I will fight anyone when it comes to fighting for the people of New Jersey.

B (48:34)

That's my, I mean, she's freezing the electrical rates, she's going after the rents, she's looking for affordability. It seems like by the end she was adopting at the very least the rhetoric of Mamdani. Maybe, maybe not necessarily the policies, but the rhetoric, the way that people hear it, it sounds very similar, it seems to me.

A (49:01)

And just a little something to add to that. There was a write up of some of the data by, I think, G. Elliot Morris that pointed this out that Union City, which is, I think over 80% Latino, and that's important because Trump made gains with Latino voters on the question of affordability. And in the last election, basically she flipped it, swung it by 53 points. Union City versus Kamala Harris, who won it by 17 points. Just showing how much has changed in the past year on the question of affordability, the buzzword that the Democrats are talking about.

G (49:41)

Yeah, well, I'm a couple minds on this one. You know, I think show, not tell is the ultimate mantra that we should have. And if she's actually going to declare a state of emergency, AKA using power, not just having rhetoric, that's a good thing. And if it works, it can hopefully have ripple effects for all Democrats. And to your point before, the conditions that led to where we are now really fundamentally came from Democrats not using their power. Right. Barack Obama got elected, brought the entire health care debate inside the beltway, didn't leverage this massive army. He had a mistake that I don't think Zoran's going to make when it comes to governing. And the net result was deals with big pharma, subsidies to big insurance, not really challenging the fundamental structure of how insurance runs in America. And drip, drip, drip, there's a little progress and now we have to have subsidies here and there, but we haven't fundamentally made health care more affordable for Americans. Right. And there's so many examples of Joe Biden just kind of waiting for Joe Manchin to do the right thing, not wanting to challenge him, let alone the corporate donors that contribute to Joe Manchin or to other Democrats. So yada, yada, yada, we need people to actually use power and challenge powerful interests. Now, the reason I say I'm of two minds, I'm not sure that I associate Mikey Sherrill with that line of thought. If she wants to be a Mikey, come lately and actually do it, I'll be fine with that. But one of the things that I've just been learning over and over again is even when politicians that don't share our worldview say our words, that's not enough. We need people to actually mean it, can defend it, live it, breathe it, ooze it, and be believed by voters and also be believed by their opponents as a source of leverage. So I wish her luck in that, if she actually does it. But I do think that we need people to actually have a worldview, a way of seeing power, a way of challenging power. And Zoran, to me, and obviously to you, is the high water mark right now.

B (51:35)

Yeah, I mean, I think the bottom line is we keep having these series of change elections every single time. And I'm looking at the data in Terms of, like, in terms of. Of. We know that 85% of the people who voted for Mamdani did so because they were pro. They were pro Mandani. They were not, like, voting against anything other than for Mamdani.

A (52:07)

Yep.

B (52:09)

In Virginia, half the voters said they viewed the democratic party unfavorably. 18% of those unhappy voters backed her. Anyway, that's. In Virginia. You have 22%, or I should say the president's unpopularity is Part of mix is from Dave Weigel. His disapproval rating in both New Jersey and Virginia exit polls was higher than the vote for Kamala Harris last year. And that translated into votes for Spanberger and Mikey Sheryl, which is great. In terms of, like, we need to stop the Republicans in every place we can. But when we look down the line, we want Democrats to replace those. You know, we want them either to win reelection or we want Democrats to, To, to hold those seats and to hold the, the Virginia assembly, et cetera, et cetera, which means now they actually have to address those conditions. They have to use their power to do something. And the biggest indication, I think, of a, Of a politician who's going to do something last night, like, I don't think there's anybody who is in New York City who doesn't know, like, the four or five things that Mamdani has promised he's going to do and can judge him on that. And I suspect that unless he gets three or four of those, he's done after this, you know, like, he's. He's got to get hopefully all five, but he's got to deliver on that. And he just laid it right out there. I'm going to do X, Y, Z, and then A and B, I guess. I don't know. I read that. But that seems to be the big sort of like, rub on some level.

G (54:11)

Yeah, I think that's. That's right. I mean, there was certainly clarity of message. I was on a panel in the UK a couple months ago. It was impressed upon me that numerous panelists were like, we have no idea what our rudderless labor prime minister stands for, but we can name all three of the top priorities of Zoran Mamdani from across the pond.

C (54:28)

Right.

G (54:29)

Rent childcare buses. So the clarity got through. Your point is absolutely correct that he has to deliver or at least try really hard and deliver most of it. I think I actually heard on the doors yesterday people saying, you know, I don't know if he's going to get everything he wants accomplished, but I believe he's going to try and he's for us. He's not in the pocket of other people. And again, I don't think fighting enough is enough. But you know, if you win two and a half out of three, I think you'll get a lot of credit with voters for that. But just take one more big picture step back. The analogy that I have been thinking about today is about the Democratic Party as a car that's been sputtering on the side of the road for a long time.

B (55:13)

Right.

G (55:13)

Our brand is bad, our popularity is bad. And I think we can just grant the fact that at least last night being anti Trump was sufficient to win a lot of elections, or at least the anti Trump backlash was sufficient. I don't know if that'll be true in a year, but it won't be true forever. And the Democratic Party has a choice to make as Donald Trump has just given us a quarter tank of gas to fill the car, to move the car, and we moved it really fast last night. Do we just kind of take it as long as it goes and then sputter out again and then lose to JD Vance and have worse fascism, or do we refill our popularity? Do we refuel our agenda and actually build that durable coalition that will be there for the good times and the bad times? If we're teetering around a 51% majority in good days and every time we lose an election, we're back to fascism and it gets worse and worse each time. I don't think any of us want to live in that country. So we need something bigger. And the only way to do that is to have what we saw in that room last night, which was a coalition that spanned race and income geography within New York, people that voted for Bloomberg, who voted for Zoran. And we just need to build that as a Democratic coalition. So that's why I think that even as we choose our candidates this cycle, we should have in the back of our mind is this somebody who actually believes in an agenda and will inspire voters to the polls so we're not just dragging them to the polls against their will down the road.

A (56:34)

I think that what you're saying is so on point and also why you see the national, the Democrats that are in federally elected office are so lagging behind what we're seeing. Even when, like, I don't love what Gavin, Gavin Newsom's politics, I don't like them at all, actually. Right. And even some of the trolling stuff, I'm not crazy about it, but at the very least, like he's governing and standing up to Trump in that way. J.B. pritzker, I think, is a great example as well in terms of, like, you know, taking the fight to Trump in that way and telling people directly what he's going to do on that front. It feels like the Democrats that are making the most gains are distancing themselves a bit or have distance from the leadership in Washington, and they're so much more comfortable just being stewards. Right. Like, they want to basically maintain a system or have a government functioning. That's like, primarily how they approach their politics, as opposed to saying, like, I have an agenda that I'm going to deliver on. And I think when the system is so broken and people are so immiserated right now, they can't make our basic needs aren't being met, that the stewardship of a broken system is actually, like, deeply toxic to the party's brand. So the people that are elevating it are the ones that are saying, we're going to be proactive and do a different kind of politics and deliver on a proactive agenda that speaks to your needs. Like the people that are still saying that a system should just be kind of maintained or worked with. They're the ones that are the threats to the Democrats electorally not. Zoramdani.

G (58:25)

Amen. Yeah. I mean, these institutionalists who are trapped in the past will be the death knell of possibly our democracy if they're allowed to lead the party for much longer. I mean, we're getting tea leaves and hints today from Washington that in the wake of gigantic anti Trump victories last night, Democrats might be on the verge of caving on the shutdown. Right. And that's ridiculous. Like, by definition, it's like you just proved like, whatever the plan was a month ago to get leverage and rally public support has been, you know, it's come to fruition. The plan is going according to plan. Why cave now? But there's some people who are like, we just need to re, we made our point. Let's reopen the government. Those people are a problem.

B (59:07)

Do you think because we were getting those hints that there was a deal two days ago and yesterday? How do you think this win? It seems to me it makes it much harder for Ossif, I think, is on that list from Arizona. Mark, what's his name?

A (59:30)

Kelly.

B (59:30)

My brain's not working this morning. Kelly, obviously like Shaheen, I think. Mike Raw. Who else do we have on the list of the list escapes me, but 2026. No, I'm talking about the Gang of Eight or the eight Democratic senators who are in the mix of like King, there's a couple others, Maggie King and probably Nevada. They gotta look at these numbers. We just saw Democrats win. Two Democrats win the first statewide elections in Georgia that they have won, that Democrats have won in 20 years. 20 years. And you know, for on off year elections obviously Ossif and I can't remember well exactly one, but how did, how they can't come out today or tomorrow or the next day and say we've caved because like Democrats just ran the board. I mean they won everywhere. I don't, I can't come up with a thing that Democrats lost across the country. I'm sure there's some races somewhere, but I don't understand how they could then cave to Trump in the wake of this. They have to wait at least another week until like people forget or something.

G (61:01)

I encourage you to have more faith in Democrats ability to cave.

C (61:06)

It's high.

G (61:07)

The force is strong. Of all the people you mentioned, the one I have the most hope for is Jon Ossoff because I do think he has his finger on the pulse. Most among those folks though, again we have a Capitol Hill lobbying team. I engaged in these meetings and I'm constantly reminded of how much a lot of these folks live in a bubble. These people who have been kind of cloistered talking to Republicans for the last couple weeks kind of thank some Democratic socialist one in New York, like I don't know they are properly reading the tea leaves. We'll see, we'll find out. I really hope that for the benefit of everybody, you know, the smarter heads prevail in this situation.

B (61:41)

We just saw Spanberger win. Like if you wanted a bigger, like what's the biggest pressure point for Democrats here? It seems to me it's federal workers.

C (61:50)

Right.

B (61:51)

And we just saw the Democrat win in an overwhelming fashion in Virginia.

G (61:59)

Yeah.

B (61:59)

I just don't understand like, like where.

A (62:01)

All the federal, all these fired federal workers are. Right. Yeah. I mean like how do you feel.

B (62:05)

The pressure at this point? If you are a Democratic senator, you literally have to like keep your hand behind your back and bang yourself in the head with a bat to sort of feel like they're beating down the door on me. Like.

A (62:18)

Right.

B (62:19)

Excuse me, it's. I can see your hand. You're the one who's doing that.

G (62:25)

Yeah. And as I'm sure you saw, you know, Donald Trump tweeted late last night that there's two reasons Republicans lost. One, he's not on the ballot, but the other is the government shutdown. So he's pretty much telling them that's why we lost. Every once in a while, Republicans save Democrats from themselves. So we'll see if that has any influence at all in getting Republicans to, you know, cut a deal that concedes some points to our side, but we'll see. We'll see where that goes.

A (62:47)

Well, Trump wants to end the filibuster. That's what his argument is like. You know, let's. We don't. He doesn't want them negotiating with Democrats, just wants them to nuke the filibuster.

G (62:57)

Yeah, fair point.

A (62:58)

Yeah.

G (62:58)

But if you're a Democrat reading the tea leaves, him saying that should. Should inspire you to not cave, right?

B (63:06)

Reading the tea leaves, it's reading this like a sign. It's not.

D (63:11)

There's.

B (63:11)

You don't have to have. You don't have to decode it. He's. He's saying we lost. We. We are losing because of the shutdown. Is. I mean, he's saying the shutdown's hurting us. The Democrats have us over a barrel.

G (63:27)

So we'll see what happens. I do want to address one thing Emma said about. About Gavin Newsom, and I, I share, you know, he's probably bottom of my list, if not even on my list of people that would ever be plausible for President in 2028, purely on authenticity grounds, before getting to any policy. But I grant the point that he's been, you know, last night was a success for his gambit. And I think there's a tension that we as progressives feel and need to address about what do we do when people that we don't really feel as keepers of the flame are doing the right thing or agree with us on something? And Mikey Sherrill is saying that thing about utilities is another example. And I guess the metaphor I would put out there is just talking about the ceiling and the floor within the Democratic Party and what I would say about Gavin Newsom doing what he did, using power to fight back, fight fire with fire with the referendum that we got the results of last night is that represents the floor going up on Democrats willingness to fight. Some of us were feeling alone in the trenches six months ago, back during the Doge days, and people like Chris Van Hollen got on board and Maxwell Frost got on board, and Chris Murphy has been there the whole time, and it's been kind of a. A growing crew. And now it's like, okay, the floor within the Democratic Party has risen. That's the bare Minimum. And that's good. Similarly with economics, you know, those of us who are economic populists have been fighting with a lot of people over the years about how central fighting corporate power should be. And I think we're at a place where the floor has risen, where there's a rough consensus that appealing to working people has to be the centerpiece of what Democrats do. There's different theories and different willingnesses to challenge power and actually name villains, but at least we're all rowing in somewhat of the same direction. And the blue dogs of yesteryear who wanted to, you know, cut social programs are not advocating for that these days. So we can grant those points, but then point to the ceiling, point to Bernie, point to aoc, point to Zoran, point to the many, many volunteers and voters, record number of volunteers and voters that showed up in New York and say, you know what? Wouldn't it be nice for all Democrats to aspire to that ceiling even as we grant that the floor is rising? So I just wanted to put that out there as a way of thinking about things, because I don't think that we need to complain when Democrats do the right thing, and nobody here did, but I think we can acknowledge and then encourage, you know, aspirations towards the ceiling. Does that make.

A (65:45)

Kathy Hochul is a good example of somebody who is in real time responding to pressure. We'll see how durable that is. You know, and she has a primary challenge with Delgado, and that's he's nipping on her heels, and he hasn't really, I feel like, gotten a ton of national attention right now because she's kind of boxing him out by endorsing Zoran and staying close to him. But. But if she doesn't go along with his agenda, that's leverage he has over her, and he has a national spotlight on him now.

G (66:11)

Totally.

B (66:12)

Yeah. Adam Green, I imagine you have also had very little sleep over the past 24 hours. Co founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Thanks so much for your time today.

G (66:24)

Really appreciate it. Thank you both. Good to see you.

B (66:26)

Thank you. All right, folks, we're going to take a quick break, head into the fun half of the program, and see how long we can last.

F (66:37)

Yeah, it is so funny just going to the cafes and stuff, and everybody is so miserable and happy, like they're hungover, but they're like, this is the best day.

B (66:46)

I know. All right, just a reminder, it's your support that makes this show possible. You can become a member@jointhemajoreport.com when you do, you not only get the free show free of commercials, you also get the fun half. And don't forget to check out our new merch shop. Majority Report radio.com you will find the Trump Slump stickers we're now selling. Take those not saying to vandalize anything.

E (67:17)

We're going to raise tariffs on those stickers.

B (67:20)

The I think we are well situated for what is coming down the pike in terms of the economy. Check those out. Trump Slump tickers now stickers now available sold at cost. First sticker bundle sold at cost ladies and gentlemen.

E (67:42)

They hide these Snickers stickers from you at Walgreens.

F (67:47)

I prefer gold personally.

B (67:50)

Also, just a reminder, it is time to send in your nominations for best of 2025 which includes, as you know, in our best of fiscal year actually starts in November of 2024 and ends in November 2025. So that is the 12 month period from which you can choose best of segments or best of clips or best of interviews. And what you do is you send an email to majorityreportersmail.com and you write best of of all things in the subject couple.

F (68:33)

Emma drunk for the primary and high for the for the main election.

B (68:38)

Exactly.

E (68:40)

Do some tripping.

A (68:41)

Oh my God, my parents must be so proud.

B (68:47)

Emma, you made the best of multiple times. You were one was when you were completely trashed and the other was when you were trashed.

A (69:01)

My mom is probably like when I got arrested for pod when I was 19, she told me I, you know.

B (69:07)

Well, I won't repeat.

A (69:08)

Maybe she was like very hard on me about it and now I'm just getting stoned on air in front of everybody. She thought it would hurt me professionally.

B (69:16)

Little did she know it's actually good for engagement on YouTube.

F (69:21)

There was a place near the industrially ravaged canal.

A (69:25)

I found my niche.

B (69:26)

How did your arrest for pot get by our vetting?

A (69:32)

I got it expunged. I got it expunged.

B (69:35)

But classic expungement strings over there.

F (69:38)

Yeah, I had things expunged and it comes up when you get into Canada. So there's no real expunging.

B (69:43)

Is that right on my record? Ever heard that?

A (69:46)

Actually, yeah, I knew they were. I knew they were messing with me.

B (69:51)

Oh, and folks are already saying, can you clip together Emma's drunk phone calls?

G (69:57)

Clip.

F (69:58)

That was what I was saying.

A (69:59)

Yes, yes.

B (70:01)

Matt.

E (70:02)

Yeah, Left rickety. We had a show last night, a quick show with a DSA member talking about real page algorithm price fixing in Texas and Sandeep Fahis and talking about the Naka Beats Also, David Griscom had a fun stream over here and I pulled this still up. Zoran Mamdani was plus 40 with young men. And I would just like to announce David Griscom and I will be doing work with Jacobin. And here is David with Will Menaker and Matt Karp. And I do just want to point out a comment saying, why are they all wearing the same jacket?

F (70:34)

I was gonna say big day for guys that I dress like.

B (70:38)

Yeah, exactly.

E (70:39)

But I go. Go subscribe to the Jacobin channel now and check out David. He's walking around as a few other people showed up there. Pretty fun. Well, there's Bronco March and some other folks milling around at one of the the parties there last night. So I check that out. Go subscribe to Jacobin's channel and you'll see more of David and I over there in the future. So check that.

B (71:00)

Awesome.

A (71:01)

So cool.

B (71:02)

Quick break. Fun. Half left is fast. Jamie and I may have a disagreement.

A (71:14)

Yeah, you can't just say whatever you want about people just because you're rich.

B (71:17)

I have an absolute right to mock them on YouTube. He's up there buggy whipping like he's the boss. I am not your employer.

F (71:24)

You know, I'm tired of the negativity.

G (71:25)

I'm sorry.

B (71:26)

I didn't mean to upset you. You're nervous. You're a little bit upset. You're riled up.

F (71:31)

Yeah, maybe you should rethink your defense of that. You idiots.

B (71:34)

We're just going to get rid of you.

F (71:36)

All right, but dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude.

B (71:40)

You want to smoke this joint?

G (71:42)

Yes.

B (71:45)

Do you feel like you are a dinosaur? Good. Exactly. I'm happy now. It's a win, win. It's a win, win, win.

A (71:56)

Hell yeah.

B (71:57)

Now listen to me. 2, 3, 3. 45 times. 8479-065014-57238, 56, 27. 1 half. 5, 8. 3.9 billion.

G (72:13)

Wow.

B (72:13)

He's the ultimate math nerd. Don't you see? Why don't you get a real job instead of stealing vitriol and hatred? You left wing Limbaugh. Everybody's taking their dumb juice today.

D (72:21)

Come on, Sammy.

B (72:22)

Dance, dance, dance. Grandpa, I had my first post coital scene with a woman. I'm hoping to add more moves to my repertoire. All I have is the dip and the swirl.

G (72:38)

Fine, we can double dip.

B (72:39)

Yes. This is a perfect moment.

G (72:42)

No, wait. What?

B (72:44)

You make under a million dollars a year. You're scum. You're nothing. Excuse me? Fuck you, you fucking liberal elite. I think you belong in jail. Thank you for saying that, Sam. You're a horrible, despicable person. All right, gonna take quick break. Break. I want to take a moment to talk to some of the libertarians out there. Take whatever vehicle you want to drive to the library. What you're talking about is jibber jab.

A (73:09)

Classic. I'm feeling more chill already.

B (73:11)

Good. Donald Trump can kiss all of our asses. Hey, Sam. Hey, Andy. You guys ready to do some evil? Huge. Hitler was such an idiot.

E (73:24)

That guy might be a Nazi.

C (73:26)

Agreed. No.

G (73:28)

Death to America.

E (73:31)

You.

B (73:33)

Yes. Wow.

G (73:37)

Wow.

B (73:37)

That's weird. No way. Unbelievable. This guy's got a really good hook. No worries. I want to just flesh this out a little bit. I mean, look, it's a free speech issue. If you don't like me. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Shut up. Thank you for calling into the majority report. Sam will be with you shortly.