Supermajority: A Common-Sense Caucus

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4.8 • 11.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

Melissa Alexander came to the Tennessee statehouse to convince members of the Republican party – her party – to adopt gun control measures after a mass shooting at her son's school. A year later, she doesn't feel like she's gotten through to many lawmakers. But there's at least one Republican senator who's made Melissa and the other Covenant moms feel welcome: Richard Briggs. Briggs has been in office for about a decade. He's a doctor and an army veteran. And recently, he's had to navigate a statehouse in transition. Briggs represents a faction of the Republican majority that isn't often visible: those who are concerned about the GOP's shift further to the right. They feel that they are a minority within the majority – stewards of what the party used to be. As Melissa contemplates a big decision, we turn to Briggs' story. What can more moderate Republicans achieve in the Tennessee legislature? And will Melissa decide to follow the path that Briggs has already been down? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	On the inheriting podcast if you ask a Filipino American or Asian American who is Patrick
0:05.4	Salver they have no clue Pat Salver was a Filipino civil rights hero but his activism
0:12.1	came at a cost.
0:13.4	The FBI labeled me as a troublemaker.
0:16.6	Now his niece unearth's his legacy.
0:19.3	Listen to inheriting from LAS studios and the NPR Network, wherever you get your podcast.
0:25.0	Hey, it's Kelly McEvers, and this is the third episode of Supermajority.
0:31.0	If you haven't listened to the first two episodes, go back and start there.
0:37.0	I just want to say before we get started, there is some coarse language in this episode.
0:41.5	Okay, here's Maribbon Knight.
0:45.4	Mary Joyce and Melissa Alexander were exhausted after dealing with all the stress of the State
0:51.0	House.
0:52.0	So they gathered some girl... the stress of the state house.
0:53.8	So they gathered some girlfriends to spend the weekend at a swanky wellness retreat just outside
0:59.5	of Nashville, offering farm to table dining, rolling vineyards, massages, the works.
1:06.7	It was supposed to be a moment to get away, to recharge, but after a couple glasses of
1:12.4	wine, the conversation soon turned to something decidedly less
1:17.7	Zen.
1:18.7	The house is so dysfunctional.
1:20.9	I'm not sure.
1:21.9	The Covenant Women had hit a brick wall in their dealings at the Capitol.
1:25.6	Nothing they were doing so far had gotten them the kind of progress they'd hoped.
	...

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