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- I think it's so exciting
to see the number of

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women, non-white women,
gender nonconforming people,

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gaining office this election.

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That was just incredible to see.

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(gentle music)

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- [Interviewer] Midterms are
over, how are you feeling?

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- I mean it was less
scathing than two years ago.

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- I don't know, I did not go to sleep

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feeling especially great.

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- I mean good, a mixed
government is a good thing.

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- I'm feeling mixed.

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- [Interviewer] What is your key takeaway

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from this week's midterm elections?

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- Obviously disappointed about

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the Beto O'Rourke loss in Texas.

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White women what is wrong with you?

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He's so hot, I'm sorry, like,

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he's also a great
politician, but oh my God.

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- In my mind the voter turnout thing

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was probably the most interesting.

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The way that people on both sides

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were able to motivate their voters.

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- People are now waking up.

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The last two years they've realized

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where democracy is going.

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- The country is more polarized than ever.

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I mean literally, it already
was extremely polarized

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and now you have the
senate got even more red,

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and more Trump, and the house
obviously got more liberal.

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- [Interviewer] A swath
of diverse candidates,

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many of them women, minorities,

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non-career politicians, won their races.

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What do you think this says

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about the state of politics
in the US, right now?

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- I think the candidates are
starting to reflect the voters.

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Traditionally it's been overwhelmingly

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white, male, and older and
I think that's changing.

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- The fact that we have a Native American,

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the fact that we have more
than a hundred women now.

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- We're seeing all these
amazing young women,

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like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

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The youngest woman elected to congress,

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she is going to be amazing.

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And Ilhan Omar and
Rashida Tlaib in Michigan,

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what an amazing coalition.

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And they're like, actually
people that you would

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see if you live in communities

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that aren't just like retirement homes.

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- But there were also
some people of color,

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including Stacey Abrams in Georgia,

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and Andrew Gillum in Florida,

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who seemed to have to lost to traditional

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kinda, white candidates,
although obviously Stacey Abrams

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is contesting that election
and that could go on for days.

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- [Interviewer] Both
democrats and republicans

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have reasons to celebrate the midterms,

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how do you think these results

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are going to set up
the landscape for 2020?

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- 2020 is gonna be a shit show.

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Although I do have a theory,
wanna hear my theory?

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- [Interviewer] What's your theory?

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- In my theory, is that because Trump

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doesn't really have a core ideology,

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he's very much of an opportunist,

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I can totally see him trying to make deals

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with the new democratic house.

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Basically saying, look, we'll
give you infrastructure,

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maybe even a boost to the minimum wage,

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these things that you want so badly.

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In return no impeachment,

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chill on some of the investigations,

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and then that could help
Trump get reelected.

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- [Interviewer] Voter turnout
appears to soared this year.

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How do we keep this
apparent voting momentum

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going in future elections?

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- Apparently in other
countries they make it a party.

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So that people don't think
it's just their civic duty.

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They wanna be part of it and they all have

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fomo if they don't vote.

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- Personally I think we should have more

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voter protection laws to force employers

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to give people time off.

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And when I say time off to vote,

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I don't mean an hour or two hours,

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I mean like giving them the whole day.

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- You know obviously we
had the bill in Florida

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that gave the vote to
1.4 million ex-felons,

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that's a great piece of legislation.

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Should have happened long
ago, but there's that,

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but there's also these
sneakier ways that people

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are not really given access
to an easy voting experience

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or not really permitted to vote at all.

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- [Interviewer] Do you think
the midterm elections have

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highlighted a deeper divide
in America in the Trump era?

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- I mean they definitely have.

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There were some vicious
fights between people

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who were really opposites.

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So a lot of old, negative,
tactics came back.

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That only comes back
when elections are heated

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and super competitive and
there's a lot of anger.

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- Now that we know that
there is this division

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because you can see the maps,

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you can see the color division.

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Maybe it is now obvious.

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Maybe it is in peoples faces and

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then maybe people will
do something about it.

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- I think the deeper
divide has been there.

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I think it certainly
reflected that divide,

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it amplified it, in a sense
that more people turned out

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and more people had a stake
in what was happening.

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- Seeing all these stories
of people at the poles,

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there's a woman, I think in Oklahoma City,

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who was a registered
republican and voted democrat

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for the first time because
of the Kavanaugh hearings.

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I think it will be exciting
to continue to watch

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people re-examine their priorities

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and also their own political voice

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and how they exercise it.