Jack Schlossberg on the Lessons We Can Take Away From This Election

Summary

The Run-Through with Vogue: Jack Schlossberg on the Lessons We Can Take Away From This Election

Release Date: November 6, 2024

In this insightful episode of The Run-Through with Vogue, hosts Chloe Mel and Taylor Antrim engage in a profound conversation with Vogue's political correspondent, Jack Schlossberg. The discussion delves into the recent U.S. presidential election where Donald Trump secured both the Electoral College and the popular vote, exploring the implications for the Democratic Party, the role of media, and the future of political campaigning.

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1. Election Night Reflections

Immediate Reactions and Personal Experience

Jack Schlossberg begins by recounting his personal experience on election night. Despite his efforts to watch the results with his family, the quickly unfolding events led him to leave early due to the mounting tension.

"[01:27] Jack Schlossberg: This morning I had a good time. I was by myself. I tried to watch with my sisters and dad, but I lasted about five minutes and went home."

He candidly shares his disappointment in the Democratic loss but remains inspired by the substantial base of support within the party.

"[02:24] Jack Schlossberg: I find it fascinating. I'm not sad. I mean, I'm disappointed my person that I voted for didn't win... I feel like maybe it didn't work out, but... it often goes back and forth."

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2. Analyzing the Election Results

Demographic Shifts and Voting Patterns

Jack provides a nuanced analysis of the election outcomes, highlighting unexpected voting behaviors among key demographics. Notably, Hispanic men and young men showed significant support for Trump, diverging from previous trends.

"[07:02] Jack Schlossberg: Kamala Harris did pretty well with white voters, but did not as well with non-white voters. Hispanic men, I think, voted for Trump in large numbers and young men as well."

Economic Factors and Messaging

A central theme in the discussion is the pivotal role of the economy. Jack attributes the Democratic loss to inadequate communication of their economic record amidst persistent headwinds like inflation. In contrast, Trump's clear and consistently communicated messages on lower taxes and anti-immigration resonated effectively with voters.

"[05:19] Jack Schlossberg: Democrats didn't do a great job selling the economic record over the last four years... Trump won because he's a really amazing omnipresent media figure."

He emphasizes that while issues such as democracy, freedom, and reproductive rights were championed by Democrats, they failed to translate these themes into compelling messages compared to Trump's straightforward approach.

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3. The Role of Media in Modern Campaigns

Traditional vs. Social Media

Jack critically examines the evolving landscape of political media. He notes that traditional media channels are losing their influence, with social media taking center stage in shaping political narratives and campaigns.

"[10:51] Jack Schlossberg: A story from this election that is undoubtedly true and gonna shape politics going forward is that social media is now central to political campaigns."

He observes that successful campaigns now rely heavily on digital content creation, often managed by young teams adept at engaging audiences through platforms like podcasts and streaming services.

"[11:35] Jack Schlossberg: They make social media videos or else they'll be watching something else."

Media Bubbles and Diverse Opinions

The conversation also touches upon the fragmentation of media consumption, creating echo chambers that reinforce existing beliefs and limit exposure to diverse perspectives.

"[09:39] Jack Schlossberg: Trump has become something other than what I thought of him as since he left office last time, and now he maintains mainstream."

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4. Reproductive Rights and Social Issues

Impact on Voting Behavior

While reproductive rights were a significant issue during the midterm elections, Jack notes a surprising decline in its influence during the presidential race. This shift suggests that economic concerns took precedence over social issues in voters' decision-making processes.

"[12:13] Jack Schlossberg: Reproductive rights were extremely motivating during the midterm elections, but during the presidential election, it seemed to be way less of a factor in people's voting preferences."

Strategic Shifts for Democrats

Jack posits that the Democratic Party may need to recalibrate its focus, emphasizing economic policies alongside their commitment to social issues to better resonate with a broader electorate.

"[06:28] Taylor Antrim: They focus too much on social media and all this, like, reproductive rights and stuff. They have to tweak it."

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5. Bright Spots and Future Leaders for Democrats

Key Wins and Inspirational Figures

Despite the overall loss, Jack highlights several victories that offer hope for the Democratic Party. Notable successes include:

• Tammy Baldwin’s Victory in Wisconsin: Maintaining her Senate seat underscores the party's resilience in traditionally contested states.

  "[15:55] Chloe Mel: Josh Stein beat Mark Robinson."

• Sarah McBride’s Historic Win: As the first transgender representative in U.S. history from Delaware, McBride's election represents a significant milestone in political diversity.

  "[16:12] Jack Schlossberg: Sarah McBride, first trance transgender rep in U.S. history, in Delaware."

Emerging Democratic Leaders

Jack expresses optimism about the next generation of Democratic leaders who are poised to rejuvenate the party with fresh perspectives and dynamic campaigning strategies.

"[16:39] Jack Schlossberg: Democrats have tons of super compelling, inspiring senators and governors from across the country... Lee did amazing. But Speaker Pelosi is no longer gonna be running the party."

He emphasizes the importance of adaptability and the ability to harness new media to engage voters effectively.

"[17:56] Jack Schlossberg: The next person has got to be really good on social media. I'm convinced of this."

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6. Coping with Election Outcomes

Maintaining Normalcy and Mental Health

As the electorate grapples with the election results, Jack and the hosts discuss strategies for emotional resilience. Jack shares his personal method of reading poetry to process his feelings, highlighting the importance of finding solace in cultural and artistic expressions.

"[23:15] Jack Schlossberg: Well, I started reading poetry last night... I found some good Robert Frost poems that I like."

Guidance for Families and Communities

The conversation also touches on the significance of providing reassurance, especially to younger family members, emphasizing the need to project stability and optimism in the face of political setbacks.

"[20:50] Jack Schlossberg: I feel like, even if she had won none of this, we would still have to keep working really hard."

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7. Lessons Learned and Moving Forward

Adapting Campaign Strategies

Jack underscores the necessity for the Democratic Party to evolve its campaign strategies, particularly in embracing digital media and crafting clear, impactful messages that address voters' immediate concerns.

"[18:14] Jack Schlossberg: Democrats have a problem with articulating a message. They need to clearly change what it's focusing on."

Optimism for Future Elections

Despite the recent loss, there is a shared sense of optimism that the Democratic Party can leverage its passionate base and emerging leaders to mount stronger campaigns in future elections.

"[19:54] Jack Schlossberg: We did do something to try to fix it and nominate a woman of color to be the President of the United States. That's a huge deal."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Run-Through with Vogue offers a comprehensive analysis of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, shedding light on the factors that influenced the outcome and outlining the path forward for the Democratic Party. Jack Schlossberg's candid reflections provide valuable insights into the evolving dynamics of political campaigning, the critical role of media, and the enduring resilience of democratic engagement. As the political landscape continues to shift, the lessons gleaned from this discussion will be instrumental in shaping future strategies and fostering a more engaged electorate.

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Notable Quotes:

• "[05:19] Jack Schlossberg: Democrats didn't do a great job selling the economic record over the last four years... Trump won because he's a really amazing omnipresent media figure."

• "[10:51] Jack Schlossberg: Social media is now central to political campaigns."

• "[16:39] Jack Schlossberg: Changing of the guard in a major way... the party needs to clearly change what it's focusing on."

• "[23:15] Jack Schlossberg: Reading poetry helps me process my feelings after the election."

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Produced by: Chelsea Daniel, Alex DePalma, and Joanne Solotarov
Engineered by: Jake Loomis and James Yost
Mixed by: Mike Kutchman
Executive Producer: Stephanie Kariuki
Head of Global Audio: Chris Bannon, Conde Nast

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For more episodes and updates, follow The Run-Through with Vogue wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Nomi Fry]

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[Chloe Mel]

This is the run through.

[Taylor Antrim]

I'm Taylor Antrim.

[Chloe Mel]

And I'm chloe Mel.

[Taylor Antrim]

It's 10am on Wednesday, November 6, and Trump has won the electoral college and.

[Chloe Mel]

He'S winning the popular vote.

[Taylor Antrim]

He's winning the popular vote.

[Chloe Mel]

Yeah.

[Taylor Antrim]

So to talk about all this, we're joined by Vogue's political correspondent, Jack Schlossberg.

[Chloe Mel]

We were very happy to have Jack come in. He actually hadn't slept yet. And Jack joined the Vogue team in July and has been zigzagging across the country galvanizing the people in the Democratic party.

[Taylor Antrim]

He's really been out there for us.

[Chloe Mel]

Great boots on the ground.

[Taylor Antrim]

Very boots on the ground. Yeah. And talking to a lot of young voters, too.

[Chloe Mel]

Yeah. Which I was interested to hear about. So here is our Wednesday morning conversation with Jack. Jack, tell us about your night last night. Morning.

[Jack Schlossberg]

This morning I had a good time. I was by myself. I tried to watch with my sisters and dad, but I lasted about five minutes and went home. Right. But at that point, I was still, like, excited and I didn't know what was going on. Even though.

[Chloe Mel]

What did you eat?

[Jack Schlossberg]

Steak. Steak. I did.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

But that's just because I got so much steak earlier this week. I ordered steak for two for one.

[Taylor Antrim]

Okay.

[Jack Schlossberg]

And then I just kept eating it.

[Taylor Antrim]

I think leftover steak.

[Jack Schlossberg]

There's nothing wrong with it.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

And yeah, I made mayonnaise kind of my thing this year and I did put mayonnaise on it. So for everybody out there keeping track.

[Taylor Antrim]

God, I love mayonnaise.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I love it.

[Chloe Mel]

Yeah, you do.

[Taylor Antrim]

Actually, my daughter. I love mayonnaise. Oh, yeah.

[Chloe Mel]

Taylor does olive oil and mayonnaise together.

[Taylor Antrim]

No, no, no. What do you do when you combine? I do pesto.

[Chloe Mel]

Pesto and mayonnaise together.

[Taylor Antrim]

I'm just like two oils.

[Chloe Mel]

Two oils is your whole thing. I think it's a lot.

[Taylor Antrim]

And these are healthy oils.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Exactly. These are healthy oils.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Chloe Mel]

What time did you go to bed? And what was happening when you went to bed?

[Jack Schlossberg]

I did not Go to bed.

[Chloe Mel]

Oh, wow.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I just. I find it fascinating. I'm not sad. I mean, I'm disappointed my person that I voted for didn't win and that.

[Chloe Mel]

You worked, frankly, really hard for.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yeah. And I really. I really believed and still do in the Democratic Party. I have a unique perspective on that. I think that a lot of people my age maybe don't about, like, being really proud to be a Democrat. And I think that this election is very interestingly showing that that doesn't really resonate amongst people my age and that Democrats have some work to do there. So I feel like maybe it didn't work out, but you don't always win, and it often goes back and forth, and it's hardly a surprise. I mean, I think she ran a great campaign under the circumstances, but it wasn't like this was, like, everybody's idea of a perfect plan from the beginning. Yeah. I mean, it amazes me that anybody is a Democrat. And so the fact that there are millions of them, to me, is still inspiring.

[Chloe Mel]

I feel like you are very much one of the few people I know who's been with a lot of young people across the country over the last two months. So I am curious what you found and what you encountered with people, like.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Trying to think of a positive lining. This morning, I was like, I traveled to almost all the swing states, tons of events. I met thousands of, frankly, young women, not many young men, but really so many young women. So excited, so enthusiastic, so engaged, like, making friendship bracelets, completely committed, doing on the ground work. And I think that if Kamala Harris hadn't been the nominee and President Biden hadn't graciously stepped down, that none of those people would have gotten involved in this election. And so things could be way more bleak. And instead, we, like, even though we didn't win, we did get a lot of people who wouldn't have otherwise been excited about it involved.

[Chloe Mel]

It was a galvanizing campaign. There was electricity that wouldn't have been there otherwise.

[Taylor Antrim]

I think that's right. And I think back to those early first rallies Vice President Harris did and the convention. And it is hard not to feel a little bit of a disconnect between the results, which we should say. Right. Where are we right now? As of this morning, Donald Trump has won the Electoral College, and he's gonna.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Have a unified government.

[Taylor Antrim]

Most likely, the House is still out there. Right.

[Jack Schlossberg]

But it doesn't look good.

[Taylor Antrim]

Doesn't look great.

[Jack Schlossberg]

It looks great for the Republican Party.

[Taylor Antrim]

And notably, he won the Popular vote, which no Republican has done since George W. Bush.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yes.

[Taylor Antrim]

So that's sort of where we are. And what I was saying is, like, it's sort of hard for me to sort through the contradiction between that energy from the convention and those early rallies and sort of where we're sitting this morning with what seems to be a quite decisive, lopsided result. How do you square those?

[Jack Schlossberg]

I think both things can be true. I think people were really excited, and I think that the economy is the most important thing in every election. And so people can be really, really excited about a lot of different things. But if you're going up against the ultimate headwind of inflation, then it's going to be really, really tough to win for anybody at any time. And I think that Democrats, we didn't do a great job selling the economic record over the last four years. And so all of a sudden it was up to her to do that in a hundred days. That's like, not a criticism. I think they ran a great campaign, but clearly the electorate voted on the economy this time.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

And for a very clear message from Trump of, like, lower taxes and anti immigration.

[Taylor Antrim]

Seal the border. That's what he was saying, is seal the border.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Those aren't as exciting issues as maybe what we latched onto of democracy, freedom, reproductive rights, like, economic opportunity. Those are maybe more vague and maybe they didn't translate as well communications wise. But I still think there's a lot of value in those messages. But Democrats have to tweak it.

[Taylor Antrim]

Gosh, they seem to do better kind of everywhere. I mean, one of the thoughts that I've been having looking at the New York Times has these little maps this morning where they show these little arrows, you know, that are pointing red arrows show that, you know, he outperformed where he did in 2020, and blue arrows show that he, you know, did the opposite. And it's just like a sea of red arrows. It's very dramatic. You know, I wondered if we've oversold this idea that we're all living in these bubbles. You know, I actually wonder if there's more diversity of political opinion among us and where we live. Do you have any sense of that? I mean, you've traveled around more than I have.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I feel like he built a really diverse broad coalition. And Kamala Harris did pretty well. She performed almost as well as with white voters, but did not as well with non white voters. And so, like, Hispanic men, I think, voted for Trump in large numbers and young men as well. The lesson that I hope Democrats don't learn here is that we focus too much on social media and all this, like, reproductive rights and stuff. And, like, that didn't work, and it's gotta be, like, economics all the way. I don't think that that's why Trump. I think that Trump won because he's a really amazing omnipresent media figure, and there's much more media of him out there. And we didn't do a good job of making a ton of media till the very end. But I really hope that people don't think, like, oh, we like Brad Summer was not, like, fluff or hype that didn't pan out. I feel like my lesson from it was, no, that was a vein of energy that the Democrats tapped into and harnessed. But I think that it really did make a big difference for people.

[Taylor Antrim]

And we'll be back after the break.

[Chloe Mel]

Ready to add a touch of Vogue to your collection? Browse shop.vogue.com for exclusive merch, like limited edition mugs. And here's a treat. Get an exclusive 15% discount with code VOGUEPOD15 at checkout. Happy shopping. You spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania. What was your feeling on the ground in person? Where were you?

[Jack Schlossberg]

I was in Philadelphia. We went to Bucks county and places around Philadelphia. My broad impression of the whole time on the road was that the message from Democrats was resonating really well with a very specific person and that Trump had become something other than what I thought of him as since he left office last time, and now he maintains mainstream. Kind of like down the middle kind of option.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Which I didn't see coming.

[Taylor Antrim]

That's interesting.

[Jack Schlossberg]

And I think kind of happened pretty fast. And I think as much as we did really well with the Bratz stuff at the end, I think there's a lot more conservative media, especially social media, like, reinforcing his image as a masculine hero.

[Taylor Antrim]

Right.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Which I think did a lot to make that more mainstream.

[Taylor Antrim]

My whole comment about how there's more diversity among us than we think, I want to be clear that I think that the media world is extremely bubbled. Even if your neighbor is a Trump voter and you didn't know that, you and your neighbor are not looking at the same things online anymore. And I think that's a really profound change. And so I do think that if you look at your media appetite and you think about the election, you think that there's a whole side of things that you just never got, like this idea that Trump is down the middle. I mean, even just reading the New York Times the last few weeks, it seems like Trump was deranged and about to collapse on stage.

[Chloe Mel]

Well, let me tell you, my mother is a faithful New York Post reader and anytime I'm over there, I'm astounded at how mainstream, how normalizing it is of Trump.

[Taylor Antrim]

What is your thinking about a media appetite? What is the way to be an informed person now? Do you need to look at Fox News to educate yourself if you don't, or vice versa? Do you need to hang out on MSNBC if you're a Republican? Like, what's the responsible way forward?

[Jack Schlossberg]

I don't know that I'm the archetype of a responsible media consumer, but I will say that a story from this election that is undoubtedly true and gonna shape politics going forward, which is irrespective of the outcome, is that like, is how social media is now central to political campaigns. And I saw that firsthand whenever we would go to a governor in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania, senators too. They all little production companies now set up. And not really production companies, but like, you know, two 25 year olds and a 29 year old and they make, they just like crank out videos and they're as we saw with Vice President Harris, like they don't do traditional media as much anymore.

[Taylor Antrim]

Right.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Or they do podcast kind of thing. Or like Joe Rogan, which is like not how it used to be. Like a three hour interview. Can you imagine like anyone, any candidate from any other race in the past being like, yeah, I'll sit down for three hours and you can ask me anything you want. Like that would never have happened.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

So I don't know where traditional media goes from here. No one that I know watches cable news. Like I'm the only person I know who like watches all that stuff. It's just cause I like it. But nobody else does that. So you have to make videos, which is like terrifying, but you literally have to make social media videos or else they'll be watching something else and anyone.

[Chloe Mel]

Can make those videos and say whatever they want.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yes.

[Chloe Mel]

Abortion was a major issue going into this election, was very much top of ballot for a lot of people. How did abortion do on the ballot across the country?

[Jack Schlossberg]

Reproductive rights were extremely motivating during the midterm elections.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

But during the presidential election, it seemed to be way less of a factor in people's voting preferences.

[Taylor Antrim]

So that's a big surprise actually.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yeah. The Harris campaign, to their credit, they said, okay, like democracy and reproductive rights are the things that we're going to like Hammer. But I think obviously people resonate A different message resonated this time.

[Taylor Antrim]

I mean, I think the Florida one, which was a big victory for DeSantis, is the headline for me.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I guess people really feel differently about that, like, than the culture I'm a part of does. Like a lot of the country, I guess, like, just feels really differently about that issue, which is a surprise.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Interesting either way.

[Taylor Antrim]

And I think, I think that, I think Florida's really a changed state too. I mean, think back to George W. Bush, for instance, when Florida was like, that was the hanging chad election. Right. And it was like Florida was on a knife's edge.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yeah, right.

[Taylor Antrim]

No one thinks Florida's on a knife's edge anymore.

[Nomi Fry]

I'm Nomi Fry.

[Taylor Antrim]

I'm Vincent Cunningham.

[Alex Schwartz]

I'm Alex Schwartz. And we are Critics at Large, a podcast from the New Yorker. Guys, what do we do on the show every week?

[Taylor Antrim]

We look into the startling maw of our culture and try to figure something out.

[Alex Schwartz]

That's right. We take something that's going on in the culture now. Maybe it's a movie, maybe it's a book. Maybe it's just kind of a trend that we see floating in the ether.

[Nomi Fry]

And we expand it across culture as kind of a pattern or a template.

[Taylor Antrim]

We talked about the midlife crisis, starting with a new book by Miranda July, but then we kind of ended up talking about Dante's Inferno.

[Nomi Fry]

You know, we talked about Kate Middleton.

[Chloe Mel]

Her so called disappearance.

[Nomi Fry]

And from that we moved into right wing conspiracy theories.

[Taylor Antrim]

Alex basically promised to explain to me why everybody likes the Beatles.

[Alex Schwartz]

You know, we've also noticed that advice is everywhere. Advice columns, advice, giving advice. And we kind of want to look at why. Join us on Critics at Large from the New Yorker. New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nomi Fry]

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[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah, what were the bright spots for you? For Democrats? I mean, I think about North Carolina. We have a new governor in North Carolina.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yes. Tammy Baldwin. Senator Tammy Baldwin held onto her seat in Wisconsin.

[Taylor Antrim]

That's great.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I'm very excited about that. Hopefully Laura Gillen in New York in Nassau county will win.

[Chloe Mel]

Josh Stein. Yeah. In North Carolina, Josh Stein beat Mark Robinson.

[Taylor Antrim]

I mean, probably the most flawed governor candidate in the election, but nevertheless, yes, good for Josh Stein.

[Chloe Mel]

Sarah McBride, first trance transgender rep in U.S. history, one in Delaware.

[Taylor Antrim]

I'm curious. I mean, I think those are sort of the bright spots. I think there aren't a ton of bright spots. Maybe more will come clear in the days that follow for Democrats. But I think when I look ahead, I'm sort of curious about who is this going to make space for in the Democratic Party. And you travel widely within the Democratic Party and I wonder if there are any people that have really impressed you and that you'll be paying attention to in the years to come.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I think that is maybe the brightest spot is that their Democratic Party has tons of super compelling, inspiring senators and governors from across the country. I mean, Governor Shapiro, Pennsylvania Governor Whitmer, Michigan Governor Newsom, California. I mean, there's a lot of very exciting people. I think that hidden behind all of this is like a changing of the guard in a major way. Like the old guard kind of held on a pretty long time. Yeah, amazing. Lee did amazing. But like, Speaker Pelosi is no longer gonna be running the party. President Biden won't be either.

[Taylor Antrim]

That's right.

[Jack Schlossberg]

And the party needs to clearly change what it's focusing on. At the same time.

[Taylor Antrim]

That'll be fascinating to watch. And as you say, they're compelling people to start pushing that message. I mean, I think also Maryland Governor Wes Moore is worth mentioning.

[Chloe Mel]

Like, oh, we love this.

[Taylor Antrim]

He's a superstar.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Exact.

[Taylor Antrim]

To spend 10 minutes with him is to feel like, oh, okay, Democratic Party's got some interesting people in it. Right.

[Jack Schlossberg]

The next person has got to be really good on social media. I'm convinced of this. That's now paramount to any campaign. It's like you have such an advantage if the candidate is like a content machine. If not, then you're struggling to do this thing that you have to do every day.

[Taylor Antrim]

What did you make of the kind of word salad criticism of her? The fact that she wasn't able to kind of marshal herself rhetorically to speak in a way that was clear and direct? That was a criticism. I'm not saying that's true. I'm saying that was a criticism that was leveled at her. And I wonder what you make of that.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I think, without being critical of her, because I think she did an outstanding job in a lot of ways. I think it speaks to another problem that Democrats have, which is articulating a message. And I feel like maybe that's a metaphor for the struggle of she's inheriting a presidency. And there's all these different parts of the party that, like, kind of didn't, like, just came together to stop Trump in 2020, but didn't really figure it out. And there's, like, Israel and Gaza. There's, like, all of these kind of, like, factions that have held tight against Trump. But maybe when you're now gonna articulate, like, what we all believe in, I can imagine that that's like, well, I'm tied because I can't talk about this or that.

[Taylor Antrim]

Like, no one could do that.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Well, I also think part of running a successful presidential campaign is getting to win a primary and then adapt. Figure it out as you go. That's the only and best training to run a successful campaign. And they didn't get to do that, and they didn't get to test anything or have the legitimacy of bouncing off each other.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

So I think that was also. Everyone was kind of guessing, like, okay, I think it's reproductive rights and democracy, you know? But then obviously, we found out that, like, that people were more like economy.

[Taylor Antrim]

And the excitement again in those early weeks after President Biden dropped out, it was so overwhelming that there was no one across the political spectrum saying, you know, this is not the way this should be going down.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Totally. And I feel like that is the thing that we can all, like, latch onto and remember as not a failure, but it's like, it could have been way worse.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

And, like, we did do something to try to fix it and nominate a woman of color to be the President of the United States. I feel like we're forgetting that that's, like, a huge deal.

[Chloe Mel]

Do we think that Vice President Harris proximity to Biden affected.

[Taylor Antrim]

Well, there's a criticism that she wasn't able to break sufficiently with him. But I mean, for her to say, yeah, actually this has been a failure of an administration, that's not an argument she could have made.

[Chloe Mel]

Yeah. As you've noted, I'm having a little bit of difficulty articulating myself this morning. And I'm wondering what would you say to people who are sort of struggling this week and getting through it? I mean, we had some, I thought, nice pieces that Chloe Sharma wrote a nice piece about how to talk to your kids about the election. I really struggled this morning. I was sort of being very quick and sort of sharp with my four year old. And how do you guys plan to speak to people? If people are listening and they're wondering sort of what's our next step?

[Jack Schlossberg]

I feel like, I mean there's midterms in two years. Trump is a one term president. Like this is, even if she had won none of this, we would still have to keep, like that wouldn't have been, it wouldn't have been over either. We would have had to keep working really hard. And that's the unfortunate but fun thing about politics is that like it's a pain in the ass and it's never done. And I think Democrats lost for like a really long time. My parents always say that, but then I grew up with like Bill Clinton and Obama so it seemed like we could win. But I think there was like a really long time of Democrats not winning. I don't think that's the future, but I think that these things happen and it's like around the world. Like we're fighting this thing that's happening around the world. Incumbent governments are getting displaced because of inflation.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah, I mean I would say I was on a. I got my kids out the door this morning too. My kids are a little older than Chloe's 12 and 10. Yeah.

[Chloe Mel]

What do you say to them?

[Taylor Antrim]

They really, I just said very, I was very straightforward. I was like, Trump won the first time I saw them. William, my 10 year old comes down down at like 5:30. It's so early and so I'm unloading the dishwasher and I was like, hey, how'd you sleep? Trump won. And then I was like, it's totally going to be fine. I just think that feels like the message that I want to send as a parent which is like, we got you, life goes on. And my daughter who's 12 in seventh grade, I mean her group chat was already blowing up with people being like, oh my God, life is over. So she's more sophisticated in the way that we talk about things like politics, but my wife and I have said to her, you know, no matter what happens, like, everything's going to be okay, you know, for you. Yeah. Yes. And I want to be thoughtful about that. It is a choice that we make to message normalcy, even if you're not feeling it inside, because I think that's sort of. This has really become Parenting 101. Anyway, the thing I wanted to say was after I got my kids off to school, I took the subway into work. And the G train and the A train were so crowded. There were so many people. And the normalcy of that, everyone being on the subway together and just heading in your earbuds in and doing whatever, that to me felt quite sustaining. So I thought to myself, the days and weeks to come, if I want to feel normal, what I'm going to do is go about my daily life with the rest of the city. What are you planning to do in the days and weeks?

[Jack Schlossberg]

Well, I started reading poetry last night, which is.

[Chloe Mel]

What do you mean?

[Jack Schlossberg]

It shows you my mental state.

[Taylor Antrim]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Okay. I googled super tragic poems famous. And I found some good Robert Frost poems that I like. I remember liking. And like some. Yes. Like Civil War, Follow the Light Brigade. Thinking about how bad people had in the past, what it could be, like, how lucky we are. I also think, like, maybe we've tried being outraged by Trump at everything he does. Maybe this is the next phase of being, like, not reacting like that, like what you're saying. Trying to take it more in stride and, like, respond more effectively. Maybe that's.

[Taylor Antrim]

And practically and positively, you know, I would love to see that. And more poetry. That's good, too.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Yeah, exactly.

[Chloe Mel]

More poetry is actually a very good note. I support that.

[Taylor Antrim]

What are your poetry search terms? Actually, let's save that for another pod.

[Chloe Mel]

It's like all Christina Rossetti.

[Taylor Antrim]

Dirty limerick.

[Chloe Mel]

Okay. Well, Jack, thank you so much. I know it was a tough ask after coming in, being up all night.

[Jack Schlossberg]

I really love it. Thank you, guys. It's good to collect your thoughts after something like this. Thank you.

[Chloe Mel]

The Run through is produced by Chelsea Daniel, Alex DePalma and Joanne Solotarov. It's engineered by Jake Loomis and James Yost.

[Nomi Fry]

It is mixed by Mike Kutchman.

[Chloe Mel]

Stephanie Kariuki is our executive producer and Chris Bannon is Conde Nast's head of Global Audio.

[Jack Schlossberg]

From prx.