Hey everybody, last night was good for the Pro-Democracy Forces. And notice, I didn't say good for the Democrats. I say good for the Pro-Democracy Forces. Because the kind of results that occurred for the Democrats last night, absolutely could not have occurred, had not quite a few people who voted for Trump in that last presidential election said that for whatever reason, either the things are going too far, or that he was addressing issues that were not the ones he put him there for, whatever, have decided to go with the Democrats this time. So it was a big deal, a blue wave, many people are calling it, and my friend and colleague, Mark Van Landu, it is here with me, and we're going to discuss some of what it all means. Hey, Mark, how are you doing? Not too bad. that they say a blue wave it was like more of a blue blood mass.

Well, you know. That's interesting because until it hits the air, you are a self-described Berkeley. What is it? Berkeley lefty? The worst kind in the world, the most annoying. He certainly have your stances, so I know that the Zoy Momdani, a big big deal for you last night. I have my top smiling. No, and I understand why. We'll definitely discuss that, but I want to get some of the other things sort of out of the way first. We have two Democratic women, Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikey Sherrow in New. They both won. And Spanberger, of course, replaced a Republican governor and Cheryl held on to the New Jersey State House gubernatorial position for the Democrats. Everybody, I want to take just a moment to talk about why this is so important. You know, I think something that the Democrats have been slow to wake up to, that Republicans have been far more aware of for a long time, is how important local and state races are. I know a lot of Democrats who have this feeling like, oh, yeah, I vote for the midterms. I vote for the presidential elections. Whereas Republicans have been more disciplined, actually, in saying no, single position matters. Now some of the most nefarious things going on in this country are happening on the state level. It's a very big deal that yesterday they broke the GOP supermajority in Mississippi. Remember, once you have a supermajority, the other party is like completely helpless, cannot basically do anything. And in Virginia, of course, there is now, is it a super majority of Democratic delegates in Virginia? As a super majority, the Democrats swept 30 seats. They flipped 13 seats in Virginia. And also they had the lieutenant governor and the attorney general. So, probably didn't help that Virginia is home to so many federal employees. And the timing couldn't have been worse for Trump to do his Elon Musk doge era. So that was no help at the ballot box. Yeah, and I saw an interview with a lot of the federal workers and how many people in Virginia who voted said absolutely those those cuts had impacted their own

finance. And I saw an interview with a lot of the federal workers and how many people in Virginia who voted said absolutely those those cuts had impacted their own finances greatly. And of course the beat goes on even today with the government shutdown. There was something like 40 airports that will be having diminished flights and so forth. So I don't want to be in a gloating mode and it's simply really not me. I've seen enough of how both parties operate that I'm not like super partisan on what I think of now as a kind of an old-fashioned level. As I said at the beginning, this is about pro-democracy. This isn't about left-right Democrat versus Republican. That's the externality. But what's really happening here is that Americans are waking up to the demolition of our most treasure, constitutional, and democratic principles that are represented by this administration. Anything else you want to talk about in terms of the DAs that have been returned, what's going on in Pennsylvania, of course, the Democratic judges held on. Anything more you want to talk about before we get to the one I know you really want to talk about with his one mdani well well i'll just add to the list that you you uh... donated their Pennsylvania the the all the democratic supreme court justices were reelected also this is a delicious one in Cincinnati Ohio jade evancesance's brother lost his mayor race, and that's hilarious. I noticed that JD Vance kept that one a little quiet, so they must have had a sense that it was not probably going to go that way. But the big marquee item, of course, is what happened in New York City. And that's Zoraan Mondami. He winning over double-lea humiliated Andrew Cuomo, now going back to private life, thankfully. And even though Cuomo got billions of, you know, billionaires to donate to his campaign, he didn't seem to spend it very well. And he did a campaign where he basically went and hid. And in that silence, Zoran was heard louder than ever. And what's interesting to take away from this race, which is probably not important in the total electoral mechanics of our system, but about the focus on affordability. And this is what the promise of Zoran's win, that he's going to be able to deliver for working people. It's a huge test for the left that is now interested in electoral power. And it's a huge test for the Republicans who think they're going to be running against him you've got republicans across the country thinking they're going to be running against oran mandami i think that's going to backfire and the and i've been fascinated by some of the uh... some of the things i hear from people the the the the smart people they say don't worry don't worry everybody zoran won't be able to do anything good for working people. Capitalism won't allow anything good to happen

as if that's not an indictment on the system itself. I want to go back. I want to go back. You said it was delicious that JD Vance's brother, I think it was his half brother, I think, wasn't it? Half brother, yeah. Yeah, lost his race. and you were talking about the doubly humiliated Andrew Cuomo.

Partly because I've been there but partly because I think we need an entirely different kind of politics. I don't think this is a moment to gloat. I don't think this is a moment for that kind of self- I mean I'm not judging you for it you can do it if you want but that to me is not the new politics mark. Democracy stood up for itself last night. This isn't about, oh, it's so, you know, it's just not. I think that this is a much more sober moment, and those are exactly the kind of games we can drop. Now, I think that what Zoran Mamdani represents is something much more than affordability. He represents, as you well know, a repudiation of the democratic machine. That's huge, number one, especially given all the billionaire and traditional political power that Cuomo had a raid. Now, we also know he didn't even get out there to basically even campaign until very late in the game when it was already sort of too late But this guy coming up behind him, but also it was a deep sense among people Yes, they're in New York, but those people are everywhere not just at what the Republicans have done But at what the Democrats have not done, you know many years ago There was a man and I can't remember his name right now He's a well-known sort of political thinker. And he used to talk about how the Republicans were like the critical father, and the Democrats were like the nurturing mother. And by the time I heard that stuff and everybody was into the concept, I was like, this is so much different than that. This is what it really is. The Republicans have become not just a critical father, but an abusive father, and the mother is standing in the hall. While the father is whipping the kids, she's not walking in, she's not stopping it, she's not calling the police, and then she's saying to the kids afterwards, we'll come on honey, I'll give you big hug and milk and cookies. And in that case, the child will grow up in therapy to be angry with the mother then at the father. And I think that Zorin Mamdani in his acceptance speech last night, and yes, I do think it was a brilliant historic speech. He actually spoke to that. He spoke to these, in his own words, to the spinelessness, to the republican light incrementalism that allowed the shadow element of the Republican Party. Now remember everybody, there's a shadow element to every group just as there's a shadow element to us as individuals. There's a shadow element in the Republican Party. There's a shadow element in the Democratic Party. The shadow element in the Democratic Party is the far, far, far right. The Shadow element in the Democratic Party have been the centrist who are really just this political, operative, industrial complex who went with this kind of Republican light, allowing the movement of the Overton window as opposed to the Democratic Party continuing to stand for its traditional principle of advocacy, unequivocal advocacy for the working people of the United States. To me, that was the point last night. Yes, it has to do with housing. Yes, it has to do with affordability. But it's a recognition that the only reason that this is so necessary is because the position not only Republicans, but also of Democrats has been to bake into the cake over the last few decades. It's extraordinary income inequality so that in cities, not just like New York, but in many big cities, if you're not rich enough, you don't even have a place to live there. You've been pushed out. And I'm down in his speech last night, gave a very good example of this, Mark, talking about, well, two examples. He talked about one moment who said, I used to love New York, now it's just a place where I live. And he also talked about someone who has to drive two hours every day from Pennsylvania just to get to work. So I think it was more than affordability. And it was more than New York. And I have to tell you, Mark, I think one of the most brilliant moments in American politics was when Zora Maldani in his speech said, Donald Trump, I know you're listening, and I have four words for you. Turn the volume up. And also he said, the city that gave rise to him is the one, is the city that will be able to repudiate the madness that is coming out of his administration. Well, Ben, I want to thank you for urging me to embrace the better angels of my conscience and not to be the my weak human nature takes over a lot. Mark, Actually, actually you're welcome, but there's something bigger at stake here. The opponent, we have a real opponent here. And it's called fascism. It's called white supremacy. It's called Christian nationalism. It's called this technological or right feudalistic surveillance culture that is trying to eat America and eat our democracy. And that's kind of where I'm coming from. You know me well enough to know I can swing like the best of them, but don't take the small shots because right now there are too many people we want to sort of acknowledge and even think for speaking to their angels of their better nature as opposed to only party loyalty. You know, they find that obnoxious enough, just like we find it obnoxious in them. Well I'll ask the forgiveness and I'll seize the moment to be a better man than I was previously. I do have to say that for what you said. What? What's that? You're a good enough man. Remember that debate several years ago? I think it was in your handshirt. It must have been in 2016, the Democratic primary, between, would that have been 2016? No, that would have been 2008, with Obama and Hillary. And they said people find you unlikable and she said that hurts my feelings. It was actually a tear in her eye.

And Obama said, you're likable enough.

Some people didn't like his saying that.

I thought it was kind of sugarous at the time. Yeah. Really? I mean, I really think the fight is between it's now billionaires versus human beings. And whoever wants to be on the side of human beings, I welcome them. I do not, I don't do purity tests or see who they voted for last time.

I don't mind that much.

And the thing. beings, I welcome them. And I do not, I don't do purity tests or see who they voted for

last time. I don't, I don't mind that much. And the thing that Zoran said last night, which was striking, and he said in so many words that it's not just about stopping Trump. It's about stopping the next Trump, stopping the next Trump. And that is where boy, Democrats have failed. They have failed to deliver for people, for voters, and the excuses that Democrats make all the time. And the sort of, you know, I mean, healthcare is a huge example. So healthcare is always a ticking time bomb. And it seems to be about to explode under Trump. Trump has accelerated the explosion.

But what have Democrats done since the Affordable Care

Act, which hung the insurance industries

around everyone's neck and subsidized them?

So the time has come for Democrats to be bold

or else they're not going to justify their existence.

And Zoran is showing that.

Zoran is showing that, that you know, being

cautious and not upsetting the donors, it's not worth it. Democrats need to be great or go, mm-hmm. Go ahead. Let's go back to the first thing you said. First of all, I don't think it's billionaires versus human beings. And I think we want to be really careful. They will then say we're waging class warfare when really it's been a war against the poor by the rich in America for quite a long time. However, I'll give you an example. I read today that there's a Swedish billionaire who bought 400,000 acres of the Amazon forest just to make sure that the foresting industry could not get to it, could not de-force that area. That's what we need. We need conscious, if they're going to be billionaires, and I agree it's far too easy to become a billionaire in our country today because the system makes it so easy for the rich to accumulate wealth and so difficult for everybody else. But I don't think that there are no conscious billionaires and when I saw what that man did today, I applaud that on such a level. I guess because I was just there. That's number one. Number two, I think for me, it's even worse than what you said. I think you were, I won't say uncharacteristically, but I do think you were a little kind. See, in that play, in that play, I see you actually pointed to the Democratic Party that I would have been. I agree with Roosevelt that we would not have to worry about a fascist takeover as long as democracy delivered on its promises. And the inverse is, if democracy is not delivering on its promises, expect a fascist takeover. We have had years and years and years. We were the only advanced democracy that did not have universal health care. We have 70 to 90 million people, uninsured, underinsured over a million Americans who are rationing their insulin. Now, what you just said was very interesting. Obama had said when he first ran that he wanted universal healthcare. As soon as he got into the White House, clearly the health insurance industry said, this is as far as we will let you go. And he even said, because I remember, I even remember Max Boccas of Montana, when he was doing a hearing on it, and they threw out that young man who kept just screaming public option in the House of Representatives. And at that point in 2010, Obama said, any Democrat who is running, who is going to talk about universal health care, I will not campaign for you. So let's go back to all the many ways that the Democrats failed to even slow down. Or I think that's what they did. They slowed down the march to this moment.

They didn't prevent it. They didn't get tough enough. And when you said just now, oh, the time has come. The time has long passed. We're in emergency mode now. But last night, and I think once again about Zoran, he called it the emergency that it is last night. And he was bold and reputed. Repudiated the spinelessness and the incrementalism. And in effect, the neoliberalism in the Democratic Party.

So I have my issues, as you know, we'll get to that, but I think this is a moment to really celebrate a profound swing against a corrupt system that he took in that space last night. Truly. And you know, Zoran is to what you said, Zoran has to bring the city together. That means every community, every neighborhood, every burrow. And I think he has the youth, tenacity, and charm to do it. But there's going to be a lot of challenges. And I worry about the challenges ahead that inevitably happen in a big city like New York. And the incredible amount of attention and expectation on what he says and does is going to be overwhelming for any mayor but particularly for him. He's going to be he's going to be the lightning rod. My hope is that in terms of the substance of how he makes people's lives better, makes conditions better for working people, that all of that attention will be positive. Okay so I want to take on a couple things you just said. You bring the city together. Have you ever lived in New York City? Yes I have. Well you don't bring her cats together. I mean that's the full part of new afroki you fuck you. Hi hey you wonder what you're gonna say. You know, I say, you don't try to bring New York the creativity of that city, the genius of that city. This person's different than that person. You don't really wanna be together, you just wanna be, let's not hate each other. But I think the genius of America is obviously the fact that we can be different religions, different cultures, different ethnicities, different genders, and so forth. But we have a field to a certain common set of principles, that are democratic principles, and hopefully humanitarian ones. But that phrase, bring everybody together. I think we mind everybody, for me, it's we mind everybody of the point of all this, and of a free society, and of a creative city. But you have to have a certain level, in fact a profound level of dedication to dignity for all which he mentioned last night I think. And just the ability of everybody who lives in the city to work hard and make a decent living and be able to thrive. And that's what I believe we have to be together on. The idea that it is the right or should be the right of every citizen, to should they be willing to work hard, to have an opportunity to do so, with dignity and with enough abundance that they don't live and their families do not live in survival, grasping for economic error around every corner. Yeah, I also want to thank you. Hello, 70 year old me here. What does he has to youth in the charm of the tenacity? What about Bernie Sanders? He doesn't have enough tenacity for you. Beware ageism. I think that the older you are, the more you know certain things. And younger you are, the more you know certain other things. The gestalt of this moment is to me intergenerational Yes, you know it's everything so separate and so this group that generation this color You talk about bringing us together. Let's stop separating us even in our language. That's how I see that In that but I don't want to be deemed in my life.

It's not about politics.

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