Pod Save America - Kamala Crushes It

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

In the biggest speech of her life, Kamala Harris gives a dazzling address making the case for herself and her vision, and absolutely torching Donald Trump and Project 2025. Jon, Lovett, Dan, and Tommy talk about why the speech was so effective and why it was so different than what we've seen at past conventions. Then, Gov. Gavin Newsom stops by the studio to talk about his years-long friendship with Harris, and who she is as a person.

This week we're going all out for the Democratic National Convention. Here at Crooked Media, we're giving Friends of the Pod subscribers access to a ton of behind-the-scenes content and community events, including a DNC subscriber live chat, a new subscriber exclusive segment featuring me, John, Tommy, and Dan, four, count them, four back-to-back ad-free episodes of Pod Save America recapping the biggest convention news of the night, and brand new episodes of Inside 2024 and Polar Coaster. It's going to be a hell of a week for content and as a bonus we'll have a Democratic Party nominee by the end. Pretty good deal. Get all of our exclusive DNC content and more when you

subscribe to Friends of the Pod. Head to kirkat.com slash friends to sign up now. Welcome to Pod Save America, I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Jon Lovett. I'm Dan Pfeiffer. Tom Evie Tour. All right, it's our final night here at the convention. Kamala Harris just gave her speech. We're going to talk all about it. We're also going to talk about what comes next. We also had a drop in by our friend and our governor, Gavin Newsom, fellow podcaster who's

known Kamala forever, so we're going to hear that afterwards. But you know what? Let's just get right into it guys this was obviously the biggest speech of Kamala Harris's life and she killed it let's listen and so on behalf of the people on behalf of every American regardless of party, race, gender, or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another. On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth.

greatest nation on earth. I accept your nomination guys to know we've all been blowing up balloons for an hour Yeah You know when it paid off. Yeah paid off. That was beautiful. How many balloons did you blow up? How many I blew up like three or four? I didn't blow up a single one. Daniel Dale over here fact-checking you What's going on with that? All right. What'd you guys think of the speech? So we were hands. That means he liked it First of all, I just Less than two months ago with Joe Biden debated Donald Trump 30 days ago Joe Biden steps aside

There was a lot of internal agita and angst about really about what would come if Joe Biden stepped aside. And it is, first of all, incredible what the campaign has done, but also the way in which everyone put their hopes in Kamala Harris. And Kamala Harris has not just performed as well as her most beloved fans have hoped she would, but I think it's fair to say she's exceeded everyone's expectations. Even the K-Hive's like, whoa. The amount of pressure on her shoulders,

the amount she was expected to do in such a short time, the stage, the pressure, the attention, the spotlight that fell on her, and to see someone deliver as well a speech as I think I've ever seen a candidate do at a convention is incredible. Yeah, we're all staffers at heart. Campaign staff, DMC staff. Oh my God.

I like how did they do this? How did you take a convention that was Joe Biden's convention 40 days ago and turn it into a co-sponsors convention? It's incredible. Yeah. Incredible. You asked about the speech though. Dan, you have something smart to say. She absolutely crushed it. She was under the most immense pressure possible. She is a largely unknown figure to the public. She has this one moment where she's gonna have tens of millions of people watching her and she delivered a great speech, she delivered a concise speech, she delivered it with

strength and power and charisma and with her laugh and her smile and it was just she knocked it out of the park both in terms of The speech itself how it was written the delivery of the speech and also the political strategy behind the speech, right? She knew like if you had asked me in the beginning like what are the five things she has to do? She did those five things right and did him effectively I could not have been more impressed and I cannot leave this speech being more fired up about her campaign and her as our next president Yeah, I mean I will say a lot of exuberance right now. It's not like we're saying she's definitely gonna win This is a fight. This is a very close race

but From where we were to where we are now and the chance that she has given the Democratic Party to win this election It's extraordinary like I have never seen anyone in political life step up in a way that she stepped up in this time frame under this pressure. And it's just, it's extraordinary to see. And I also think there's a moment, we've all seen candidates, we've all worked for candidates and they're running for president and you wonder like when do they go from being a candidate that you know and a senator, a governor, a house rep,

whoever they may be, to someone you can see being president. She looked maybe and sounded more presidential in this convention speech, in this nomination speech than almost any other candidate I've ever seen accept the nomination. And for all the like, will the country elect a woman president? Will the country elect the first black woman president?

Like, it's just, she sort of like pushed all of that aside in this speech and just like gave her presentation, her delivery, her confidence, was just, it was a sight to behold. Yeah, but both Kamala Harris and Tim Walz were so confident and comfortable in their delivery of the speech. Those speeches were beautifully written.

Shout out to them for the amount of time they put into these remarks and also their speech writers and all the people who worked on these speeches. But the way they both just kind of got into the speeches, got more comfortable as they went along, had the crowd wrapped. There were periods where she got enormous applause and the signs were waving and people were chanting, but there were periods of people just like listening with rapt attention. It was amazing. I mean

Democrats tend to do like one of three things, right? They do either do Kennedy karaoke, Clinton karaoke, or Obama karaoke. Yes. And both Walls and Kamala Harris deliver these speeches, like with strength and power and all of that, but with an authenticity, right? That was just like very them the whole way, which is such a hard thing to do when you, especially for Kamala Harris and Tim Walls

who are not fully formed candidates, right? They just got into the, Tim Walls has been in this for like 10 days, and she's been in it for 30 days. There's something, both with Walls and with Harris, that moment we played had it. There's a vulnerability in her voice, which talks about this is the greatest country on Earth.

There is something really beautiful about the fact that these aren't two people who set out years ago to get to this point today, that they were called upon, both of them were called upon. They were elevated by Kamala choosing Tim Walz and by the party having this big debate and deciding they wanted to make this change. And the fact that they were drafted in a way

and are rising to the moment, and it's not driven by their personal ambitions, but actually just a love of country, like really carries through. And the fact that they're willing to say like it was unlikely that I would be here that I'm I wasn't expecting to be here that like it makes them on our team as opposed to us being on their team in a way that I really like yeah so let's get into the as she said at the beginning when

everyone was just applauding and applauding and applying she's like all right we got some we got some stuff to do we got some business into it she had two big jobs. She had to make the case for herself and reintroduce herself to the American people. And she also had to make the case against Donald Trump. Let's start with the case she made for herself. And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it.

Do something about it. That was my mother. And she taught us, and she always, she also taught us, and she also taught us, and never do anything half-assed. It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on earth, the privilege and pride of being an American. So let's get out there, let's fight for it, let's get out there, let's vote for it and together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told. Thank you. God bless you and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you all. So she spent a lot of time at the beginning of the speech telling her story, talking about her upbringing, her parents. I thought that the speech was infused with values, again, in the best sense of the word,

not the consultant sense of the word, like talking about what actually drives her, what her family was like. And I thought that the way that she sort of transitioned into the policy section in terms of like domestic policy, talking about the economy, she sort of transitioned by talking about like, you know, how her parents raised her, how her mom raised her. What did you guys think about how she talked about herself,

her story at the beginning of the speech, Tommy? I just think it's such a better way to do it. I mean, you can't just say, this is my platform, these are my plans. You have to say this is who I am, this is who raised me, this is where I came from, and this is how that origin story informed my values and what I care about and therefore who I will fight for. And then you can talk through what your policy plank was. And what I loved about that clip there is we know that Donald Trump is going to try to say she's not American, that she's other, there's people doing the birther shit to her. And for her to say the greatest privilege on this earth is to be an American was just

such a, it's just nice to see Democrats taking back patriotism in that way. Yeah, I could not agree more. I think this is one of the most patriotic speeches ever delivered by a nominee. And it is, I mean, they're all of the Obama parallels are overly facile, right? Because of her race, because of her name. But one thing that is very similar in their approach to politics is telling, making their story a part of the American story. And because she is the daughter of two immigrants, which is the,

an Oprah appointed this out last night. And that is the that is the ultimate part American story right there. And the way her that her values are Americanized. And it's often it is often true that immigrants and the children of immigrants are some of the most patriotic Americans because they truly understand the power of this country of the American dream and the way she did that, because she knows you turn on TV right now in Arizona or Michigan or Pennsylvania or the other states, the entire goal of the Republican Party

is to define her outside of the American mainstream. And the way in which she told her story in the context of the American story today is the exact way in which you combat that. Yeah, I was thinking about it when she was talking about that how after her parents separated that she moved around a lot. And I was.

You know, Tim Walls, one of the places having to be Wisconsin. Yeah. Who knew? Smart, smart place for her to have had some time. Moved to swing states, kids. Yeah. Yeah. Good move. But but like Tim Walz, like he he isn't that polished. He just isn't. And Kamala Harris, to her great credit, like she has. She just is like she comes off as incredibly smart,

incredibly sharp, sophisticated, serious. And I think that you don't get from her, hey, I had hard times in my childhood. We moved around a lot. I had to make new friends. I had to go to new places. She talks about how her mom always had them on a budget. Yeah, and I just think like, that isn't what naturally,

you don't naturally get that from her in part because of I think how ferociously intelligent she is and how serious she is, and I think it's just a kind of really humanizing part of the speech. The voters who are undecided, who have heard good things about Kamala Harris or maybe like not sure, they are wondering, you see this in focus groups, you see this in polling, like, all right, well, what's her plan?

What's she going to do for me? To do, to get that message across is more than just like giving out like a white paper and policy It's like talking about your values and why you fight for these things and I thought that you know She she's done this since she ran in in in 20 in 2020 She talks about like I've only had one client my entire life the people talked about Kamala Harris for the people I think it was really effective tonight where she talked about how she's always fought for people and then she talked about her record. And her record was very... The way that she talked about her record as attorney general, district attorney was very... It's almost very Liz Warren. Liz with Warren. It was like talking about taking on the banks,

talking about taking on people who've scammed veterans, who've scammed for-profit colleges, who've scammed students. And so I thought that was really effective. And then it was interesting that she also, there was a nod at the beginning. She said, I know there's a lot of people of different political persuasions listening to this, and I'll be a president who is realistic, practical, common sense, which I thought was very effective way of pushing back against the like, she's a radical commie. There's no way if you watch the speech, you think that she was a radical commie, right? And I think she did that with, and especially in the econ section too. And, you know, along with saying that her mom kept them on a budget, they were middle class, she taught us that opportunity

is not available to everyone and that you've got to fight for it. And then she gets into Trump wanting to give a big tax cut to the rich and raising taxes on people through tariffs with the Trump tax, and she wants to cut taxes for people, which got a huge applause line. It was a really great, effective way to do the econ section, I thought. I would make an educated guess that one of the central strategic priorities of this speech and this campaign

is to beat Trump on the measure of who fights for people like you. Yes. And in recent polling, that measure is close to tie, or behind by a couple points. And she has to win that by a few points, or maybe more to win. And that was throughout the speech. All of that policy, it was not a laundry list,

it was not trying to get some Brookings Institution stamp of approval at the end, it was to use the policy to show people that she will fight for them. Which takes discipline. Yeah, there's also a like the campaign has talked about like building wealth, building generational wealth. And she talked about entrepreneurs, talked about founders.

The one part that did feel like the most sort of, I don't know, message testy or like the least I don't know, was when she referred to the opportunity economy, which like I think it's probably the policies underneath it. The goal of it all makes sense. But it was the one part where I thought, oh, well, that feels like a sentence taken directly from a poll. You literally just didn't need that phrase. Yeah.

So she did contrast with Trump throughout the speech. There was one longer section in the middle where she just went full prosecutor and laid out the case against Trump. Let's listen. Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol where they assaulted law enforcement officers. When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did

the opposite. He fanned the flames. And now for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse. And consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol. His explicit intent to jail journalists, political opponents, and anyone he sees as the enemy. His explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military Consider, consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution. Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States.

Not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had, himself. We've talked about this all week. I personally am not too big on, like, going through all of the bad things Trump has ever done, because I think people have mostly made up their minds about Trump, especially the voters that we need to win. But I thought that was really effective, because she sort of brought the whole thing forward and said, calmly laid out what he had done in the past and then said, well, and consider what he'll do in the future with this power.

And she basically defined him as someone who has only cared about himself and was not gonna help you. So I thought that was pretty good. What did you guys think? Chelsea didn't make it a bunch of corny lines. Yes. She just laid it out simply. He sent a mob to the Capitol, he assaulted women, he was found guilty of fraud, he wants to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists

and jail opponents and jail journalists. Imagine what he'll do next. Simple, powerful, got through it fast. There was not a single corny line in this speech. And I thought there's a point earlier before the slipper, she says he's an unserious man but the consequence of his presidency is serious. Yeah. Which is exactly right when you do it and you know you we say all the time like

laying out all the bad stuff he does doesn't matter but there is a segment of voters they are Trump 20 voters who after January 6 walked away from him and we have struggled and struggled and struggled to get those people to come over to the Democrats and they were not coming for Biden. Some of them are interested in comma, but these are the exact voters you need. And that, like that recitation, that delivery is I think an effective way of doing it because she doesn't kill the lily.

She doesn't just does it straight like a prosecutor would. Yeah. I, I'm sort of done with the phrase everyday Americans. I am. It replaced ordinary Americans because we, because we decided that the phrase everyday Americans. I am. It replaced ordinary Americans because we decided that the word ordinary was pejorative. Was that seen as critical? Yeah, pejorative, yeah.

It's another everyday Americans. Do you have an alternative? No. I'm just thinking about boring ass voters. What about just Americans? Just Americans, jury of peers. It's not a criticism of it. It's just that phrase that's been bouncing around.

What about mid-Americans? Yeah, sure. Like you're just kind of mid. Median Americans. Sure. Anyway, thanks for your edit. One of the big issues in this election, and also one that she had been talking about as vice president

for the last couple years, is abortion rights. She hit that hard in the speech. Here's the key part. And understand he is not done. As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress.

And get this, get this, he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions. Simply put, they are out of their minds. That's some creepy shit. Yeah, it's disgusting. And I'll just say, like, that's not only a case about how Trump would curtail abortion rights It's a case that should appeal to libertarians Because that is crazy. It is a crazy thing to do if you are worried about government intruding into your personal life Yeah, I also thought that just the line they're out of their minds. I love it

It's just great because it wasn't you know, we've heard a lot this convention other places You get like a line that's designed for an applause and it's a little cutesy and it's written as a sound bite and she was just, you just say what everyone's thinking which is like that's crazy. They're out of their minds. That I do think just to come back to the delivery, like throughout this speech there are ways in which like moments like that could have been cheesier. Yep. Think she could have hammed it up. She just didn't. Like, and their, like.

I had like a million corny lines in my head that I'm so glad that didn't come out of her mouth. Well, the lines didn't happen, but even the moments that I think she could have hammed up, she didn't, she delivered them straight. Yep. And she let the words speak for themselves. She didn't, she really didn't like,

she didn't linger on applause. She kept powering through the speech. She kept the speech moving. The, the, the kind of like, it was it's funny she was like danced around basically saying that Trump and JD Vance are gonna appoint an anti-abortion czar and I would like us to start calling it a czar anti-abortion coordinator coordinator czar yeah czar is scary border czar versus abortion czar I'll take that fight again I like thank you for the edit that's good it's not an edit no it's an idea for moving

forward we're not going back John right, so I just want to say Dan was wondering when he could go to the bathroom during the speech He was wondering when the foreign policy section began because that's when he was going to go to the bathroom But it's about the credit of the speech writers. It was so short. I couldn't go and it turns out And it turns out it was an incredibly powerful foreign policy section let's listen I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors they know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself. And as president, I will never waver in defense of America's security and ideals because in

the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs. I like almost stood up and cheered at that part here in our studio. Tommy? The foreign policy section sparkled on the red carpet tonight, John. I thought... No mention of AUKUS. It was really there was no AUKUS. What the fuck? I mean, look...

Where was AUKUS? Where's AUKUS? What was Pacific a specific rim Tommy no mention of the Pacific Rim. Sorry, not enough rims She looked and sounded tough as hell. She talked about Combating autocrats. She talked about rallying NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine She did something that frankly President Biden really struggled to do which was talk about the humanity and suffering of the Palestinian people in a way that I found moving. And I thought she just, it was good. Sometimes the foreign policy section drags. Okay. We know that. We know we are the redheaded stepchild of your little comms department, your little speech teams, but you know what? Tonight we, we shine. Well, let me say, here's what I'll say okay

I'm glad I didn't pee thanks. I have a long history of peeing during for impossible beaches effects I've never heard a word that Ben Rhodes has written And I'm glad I didn't go it was good. It's nice to see you guys. You did it. I will say Watching that foreign policy section again that was not like just performance. That is of that last clip that we heard. That is like the way that she delivered that is the delivery of someone who has been vice president, who has been around the world, who has dealt with foreign policy crises, who has sat in the situation.

I'm like, you can tell you could tell that she really felt that in a way that if she when she was a candidate in 2020 maybe would not have delivered it that authentically. Yeah several of the best moments throughout this convention have been people choosing not to process their disgust with sort of like vitriolic sentences but actually taking a step back Obama did this but AOC did this Walls did did this, Kamala does this, which is to step back and try to make it, figure out like, why is this so outrageous? Like, why is it so ridiculous that we're in this situation? And that, like, that was one of the most moving moments of the entire speech. And it was in the foreign policy section, which we normally think is junk, Tommy. I normally, I normally hate

myself. But to your point about the authenticity of it you're right like normally if you're a congressman or a governor or a senator and you're running for president you're faking it. You're your cosplaying president. She has been in the situation room, she's been in the PDB, she has represented Joe Biden in the United States at the Munich Security Summit. She's been to ASEAN. She's been to the PDB, everyone knows that. In the United States at the Munich Security Summit. She's been to the Munich. She's been to ASEAN. Yeah, ASEAN. She's been to these national summits representing the United States. How many G's has she been to?

G unit? I don't know, many. There's also something about her being a prosecutor too. One of the things that's been striking just over the past couple of years is we saw this with some of the indictments and how they're written. There's nothing that has disgusted law enforcement officials more than actually confronting the detailed evidence of Donald Trump's behavior. Like, there is a kind of like righteous indignation

that comes with having been a law enforcement person seeing the way Donald Trump conducts himself and I appreciate that in this moment. Okay, so you all know what we thought of this speech. You're all thinking the Platt Save America guys slobbered all over this speech. It's embarrassing. Uh-huh. I'm fine with that.

If the election was tomorrow, it is still possible she could lose. Absolutely, sure. The way things are right now is very tight. We've had a whole convention. It's been a great week. Donald Trump has responded to this in a very Donald Trump way.

He was truthing during the whole thing. Just some really wild truths. Where's Hunter was one of them. He started yelling about how Coach Walls was just an assistant coach. This is what he was posting during her speech. The Hunter ship has sailed my friend. And then he called into Fox afterwards,

went on this tirade, and he was so exercised about the whole thing. You could hear the phone, he was hitting the numbers on the phone, and it was going beep, beep, beep while he was so exercised about the whole thing, you could hear like the phone, he was hitting the numbers on the phone and it was going beep, beep, beep while he was talking, he was out of his mind. Nonetheless, the race is still almost tied, it's too bad. Final thoughts on where we go from here?

Just on Trump for a second. Yeah. Just the split screen of her delivering that speech before that rapturous crowd and Donald Trump calling into Fox News, like he's some sort of disgruntled Yankees fan. It's just like, imagine what the split screen's gonna be like on the morning shows tomorrow, right?

Yeah, I know. Yeah, like a real campaign could've had waited till tomorrow and then he could've done an event and he could've responded. You forget what like a normal opposition campaign is like. Yeah, you would just, you would take the night off, you'd come back tomorrow and respond to it. Think about it. Yeah, in front normal opposition campaign is like. Yeah, you would take the night off. You'd come back tomorrow and respond to it. Think about it.

Yeah, in front of a crowd. Also, in truth, Walls was an assistant coach, not a coach. An assistant coach is a coach, you stupid asshole. Play one sport in your life. For the love of God, you call your assistant coach coach. Yeah, it's also a great week here at the TNC. Those are like an incredibly effective speech after a very effective convention with some of the best I think whatever primetime big speeches that we've seen if it works

It does everything it's supposed to do and it persuades 10 to 20 percent of the undecided voters to come along Thousand people of the of the small percentage of people that are undecided, it would show up as a point or two. It would show up as a point or two. So that's all I'm getting at. The most effective night we could ever hope for is one in which we would see modest improvement that would make us maybe feel a little bit more reassured in a race we could still very much lose.

All right, so just to bring everyone back down to earth. Good thing to do. When we get back from the break. You'll hear our interview with Governor Gavin Newsom. But before we get to that, conventions over and now it's time to get to work. OK, vote save America has set an ambitious goal to sign up 75,000 volunteers by National Voter Registration Day on September 17th. And they can't get there without you.

Vote Save America is a one stop shop for the the most high-impact ways to make a difference right now. They support candidates in critical races who know their communities inside and out and who champion the Harris-Walls ticket so you can feel good knowing your volunteer hours help Democrats up and down the ballot. Can I just say, a lot of you have said that when, that these, that what finally gets you to sign up is a moment where we say, hey, we've been asking you over and over again to sign up. Do us a favor.

Just do it. Just go on about saveamerica.com and sign up. Just as a favor to us, you've been listening for a long time. This is fucking free. Do it for Dan. What if we did it for Kamala? Sure, do it for her too. Listen, if you volunteer, if you donate, that's great.

The first step is just signing up. If you do nothing after that, you still signed up. VoteSaveAmerica.com slash 2024 sign up. This message has been paid for by Vote Save America. You can learn more at VoteSaveAmerica.com and this ad has not been authorized by any candidate or candidates committee. When we come back, Gavin Newsom.

We're here with Governor Gavin Newsom. Every state's got one. Every city. How the hell do you keep our names straight? There's a lot of us. A lot of us. How you doing? I'm good, man. It's I mean, this is fun, right? Yes. I know everyone says it just reminds me a lot of us, a lot of us. How you doing? I'm good man. I mean this is fun, right?

Yes. I know everyone says it just reminds me a lot of Obama in 08, but it does, right? That sense of spirit and pride. There's an intangible, it's different. How you feeling about the Switch? I mean, now we went through a very open process, a very inclusive process. It was bottom up, I don't know if you know that. Yes, that's what I. It was bottom up. I don't know if you know that.

Yes, that's what I've been told to say. Yes, it was a blitz primary, I believe that's what they called it. It was a very, very fast blitz. It was a blitz primary, so we call that. A 30-minute convention between a tweet and another tweet. It's amazing how it happened. Yeah, it's been amazing. But what is amazing is how unified everybody is. I mean, it's next level. So Kamala Harris is our nominee. You have known her for many years.

Crazy. 20, 20, almost 25 years before, before we were both in politics. I know everyone said we're friends, you know, like you roll your eyes, politicians being friends. Right. But literally before we were either both of us politicians, none of us knew what we were going to do in the future. I was running a little restaurant and had a wine store down the road

and she was an assistant district attorney in Alameda County. We had some mutual friends, some guy named Willie Brown and some other guys that fell in helicopters with Donald Trump. Right, yeah. Maybe it was the other Brown, whatever.

But yeah, and here we are. It was a hell of a thing then. Like how is this, this was never on a bingo card, man. This is next level surreal. So it's pretty exciting. What's something about Kamala Harris that most people don't know that they should know?

I think most people, I mean, it is a good point. I mean, no one even knew. I swear to you, the one thing that's universal, I didn't know she worked at McDonald's. That's like the most interesting and relevant thing. But it is interesting. I mean, it is a reminder how you think you know somebody and you don't. And so I think that's her opportunity, obviously, to introduce herself, not just reintroduce

herself, but fill out that bio a little bit more. And obviously she's doing that with some of the paid media. But that bio is so multifaceted, again, just in terms of the relationship, the personal relationship, her advocacy, her causes, social justice, racial justice, economic justice. There's so much focus on her criminal justice frame as district attorney and AG prosecuting the case, but there's a whole other side of her about inclusion.

And that's something I hope she talks more about. And look, she's prepared, she's tough, she's tenacious, she doesn't suffer fools. Yeah. Why'd you point at John? Well, I don't know why. Do you want to say something? We got a little history here we need to discuss.

Let's air it out. He's been foolish. Let's air it out. Did you all know that McDonald's apparently put out some data where they found that one of every eight Americans has worked at a McDonald's? Is that true? Wow.

This was all hearsay from the hallway an hour ago with Dunphy, but this is what my lead told me. one of every eight Americans has worked at a McDonald's? Is that true? Wow. This is all hearsay from the hallway an hour ago with Dunphy, but this is about a little. I mean, you can't trust what you hear in the hallway at the Democratic convention, what can you trust? I mean, you know what, I just want you to know you can trust me because I have raised the minimum wage for fast food workers in my great state to $20.

Nicely done. And we've created more jobs since we've done that. Sorry, Wall Street Journal, eat your heart out. They're wrong. Created more jobs. Now I'm just saying, if Kamala worked under our administration, she would be much better off today

than she was back in the day. That's all I'm saying. That is a professional pivot. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. But no, so look, it's exciting and so it's fun. So many of our mutual old friends are here and now all our new friends that are old friends. I went to grammar school with Kamala.

She's my close, you know. Yeah, no. It's going to be a lot of that. Jesus. I did SoulCycle with Doug, I guess. There was a lot of people who did SoulCycle with Doug. By the way, probably a lot of people did do SoulCycle. I apparently was in.

Doug was in SoulCycle. I've been to that one many times. California Love was the music playing when you put Kamlo over the top. Why was everyone upset we didn't have like Kendrick Lamar or someone show up? We thought you'd do it like they wanted. They're like, oh, that Newsome guy.

You could have had Dr. Dre. Where's Snoop? I'm like, Snoop, he cost a half a million dollars to get there. Probably. Oh yeah, yeah. That's what he may have. I think that's his daily NBC rate. He wouldn't have done this for free?

That was amazing. Anyway, that's a whole nother unbelievable, I mean that guy was, I mean that's the best Olympics I've enjoyed. But no, I know, that was, everyone brought it. The DJ, the whole thing. This was a different thing. Was that your choice, California?

Come on. I love California. Thank you. We're elder millennials. There's nothing wrong with Green Day. I know, we talked about this. Trae Cole's a bloody guy. Lars, I just checked in two nights ago. How's he doing? It's the best. They're still filling out damn stadiums. No one does that. But yeah,

no look, it was California cool. Come on. That makes sense. Makes sense. All right, young, so we're in our slack. There was a running debate. Everyone's waiting for California. What song is gonna'm like, young people, it's California love, there's no question, there's only one option. By the way, it was interesting, just being with my delegation, how everybody, we had four of us that were supposed to be in the camera, our good centers, and everybody's.

I saw that, I saw that. We'll talk, that's on our conversation. It was like college dame day out there. It is. So obviously California's getting a lot of love at this convention. The last president from California was Ronald Reagan, a Republican. Kamala Harris wins. Are there some statues of him we can melt down and turn into something Kamala related?

How are we going to play this? This is hard. I got it as my witness right before I walked in here, someone said, grabbed me and whispered, said, you need to name the Golden Gate Bridge after Nancy Pelosi. And I'm like, Jesus. Well, the Bay Bridge was named after the former mayor, Willie Brown.

Feinstein, I think, is gonna get the name of the airport. I mean, we're not gonna run out of things to name. This is a problem, right? You should not say that on microphone because Nancy Pelosi will hear it. I mean, we're not run out of things to name. So this is a problem, right? I mean, with Kamala and Nancy. You should not say that on microphone. Because Nancy Pelosi will hear it. No, I know. We know how that goes.

We do it up. That's a lot of pressure on us to come up with something. We need to figure that out for Nancy. But it is, I mean, that is another part of, I think, just the California love that I'm enjoying is just the appreciation for some of the talent that's coming out of the state and that next level talent obviously and Nancy Pelosi and Kamala and and so much that history and it's interesting in that Bay Area history in particular and for those that follow California politics the Brown-Burton-Pelosi machine I mean old-school

politics loyalty I mean just the principles of leadership and loyalty with you when it's tough tough on you when things are going too well yeah I mean just the principles of leadership and loyalty with you when it's tough, tough on you when things are going too well. Yeah. I mean these guys are mentors and they're extraordinarily, I mean the cohesiveness in the Bay Area, the competitiveness sure, but the cohesiveness of support is next level and I think that's demonstrable with Kamala's rise and success, obviously Nancy's persistence and her dominance in American politics.

You play a lot of sports in your day. Tim Walz was a football coach, the high school teacher. What do you think it means for a politician to have been a coach of a team, to a leader of young men? What does that say about him? No BS. I mean, I told Tim when I saw him yesterday I said Wyman you publicly thanked me for your job like I'm the biggest Tim Waltz fan anyone

that's ever met him has to be. He's the most decent he's what I love for me the scorecard of what makes it great politicians is a great person as a human being this guy is the real deal he's coach in every shape or form. He really gives a damn about other people. It's the reason he became the head of the DGA. There was no debate. I remember sitting there when we voted for him, everyone looked like Tim, obviously. And we don't know what to do without him as the head of the DGA.

So he's just a decent, honorable guy. He's the same guy in private that you see in public. And so there's an authenticity. And the reason I'm not surprised about this pick, knowing Kamala as long as I've known, she's gotta have that trust. There was no doubt when she is talented, all the other considerations were,

and they were all extraordinarily next level talented. There was no doubt in my mind she would pick Tim on the basis of that interpersonal relationship. And just knowing that she would have this guy's trust and he would always have her back 24-7 and and so it's I just think it's an inspired ticket for her as a situational partner short-term and as a sustainable partner long-term because we all know some people regret their vice presidential choices after the election because

they just did it for the situational short-term benefit of political. And then they try to kill them, you know. Yeah. It's tough. So you gotta watch for that. Or they do a reality show like Sarah Palin's Alaska is all over their faces. Last question for you. Yes, sir.

You've been in elected office for 20 years. You now have one of the most challenging jobs in my opinion so I got to ask what lessons have you learned being a podcast host what the hell that went I had my stump speech response to the gubernatorial thing and you literally went there you told us you were launching last time you were on the show you guys know about giving me advice. You guys were bringing me counsel. You guys know about podcasts, but I mean I wanted to be nice. The advice was don't do it.

By the way, literally you son of a bitch, that was your advice. The worst goddamn advice. That's a fact. I appreciate your honesty. Yeah, no, I know you did that. I mean, that is not a guy worried about our competition. He's like, he was serious about it. Do I come to your office and start issuing proclamations and executive orders?

Stay out of our shit. That's all we're saying. Oh, geez. I mean, I'm like literally- We don't like competition. It's unbelievable. So look, hey, just saying, okay, with all due respect, like Marshawn Lynch, that's just different. Yeah, that's good.

It is different. It's the beast. And it's fun. And by the way, we had a fun little episode. We went into San Quentin, Death Row, which I did a moratorium on the death penalty in California. And then we cleaned out San Quentin. We're turning into an honor yard. Oh, wow. And we were able to do an episode there. I met a guy, you talk about sports, God is my witness. I met a kid that I played Little League baseball with. Really?

25 to life. He just got rejected on a five-year parole because of some in-prison violations. And Marshawn met a guy I grew up with in Oakland walking through the yard. And that's the kind I think for us that's the sort of intersection of what we're trying to do differently because we sure as hell can't compete with you guys in any day, anyway. And so that's what it's not about. But I'm a politician. I think you basically hosted this whole segment.

And in just a moment we'll be back. But first, a word from our sponsor. California Hemp Association. Tommy John Underwear. Tommy John Underwear. That's the one thing you know you've made it. Tommy John Underwear. Two for one.

Oh yeah. Do you have any, we have, so made it. Tommy John Underwear, two for one. Oh yeah. Do you have any, we have, so we have this organization Vote Save America. We're having people sign up to get involved, volunteers. Do you have any marching orders for everyone in this election? What do you mean, to vote? Are we seriously having this? To register, volunteer, or? You think to register?

Are we really having this conversation? To write the importance of registering to vote? I mean, you think people really? Yeah, a lot of people out there, no we don't want them to just register. I'm not so sure. We want them them to like go volunteer, knock on doors, make calls, all this stuff. Yeah, no, it's about active, not inert citizenship. And citizenship is not just voting every two years

or four years in an election. It's everything that happens in between. It's everything that happens after this convention that will be determinative in terms of fate and future of our country and the planet and the world we're trying to build. And so everybody needs to step up and step in in a much more deep and meaningful way.

Get other people activated and involved. Get rid of this cynicism, all the negativity, all that stress and anxiety. I know we've all been through in the last three plus years and recognize that we've got to reconcile the world we're living in. And we have this unique opportunity in American history to do that

and do our, dare dare I say turn the page there you go Donald Trump and Trumpism and put that in the damn dustbin of history and in the rearview mirror Gavin Newsom thank you for stopping by thank you for being our governor good to be with you guys we'll see you all three or not four of you on the podcast when I invite you on my podcast. We'll see you on the Apple Charts. This is the new host. This is Pod Save America right here. I'm politicking. Three, two, one.

Guys, we made it. We survived the Democratic Convention. This is our last DNC show. But as usual, we've got a bonus segment for our Friends of the Pod subscribers, even though the heroic Elijah Cohn got sick and had to go home. And of course, if you aren't a subscriber, head to crooked.com slash friends

or sign up through the Apple Podcasts app. And while Tommy and Dan and I are flying home tomorrow, Love It is staying. Oh, no. Write for Love It or Leave It Friday night at the Vic. Sold out show at the Vic. Wish I could go. Thank you to our amazing crew here in Chicago.

Shout out to the team. Just a lot of people working. The best 20 hour crew. You never turn the camera around. The crew can't hear you. They have barely slept. Charlotte, Ben, Haley, Sophie, Reid, Milo, Sol, Austin, Madeline, Lucinda, everyone was here.

Shaniqua, Ari. Elijah. Elijah. Well, I already mentioned Elijah. He had to go. He's gonna be a blessing. Dumpy. Dumpy.

Caroline Dumpy. Oh, yeah, real shrinking violet never gets any spotlight. I was just saying the people I could see here. And the crew working very late hours in LA. We'll be back in your feed with a new show on Tuesday morning. If you want to get ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and more, consider joining our Friends of the Pod subscription community at Cricut.com slash Friends. And if you're already doom-scrolling, don't forget to follow us at PodSaveAmerica on Instagram,

Twitter, and YouTube for access to full episodes, bonus content, and more. Plus, if you're as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review to help boost this episode or spice up the group chat By sharing it with friends family or randos you want in on this conversation Pod save America is a crooked media production our producer is David Toledo our associate producers are Saul Rubin and Farah Safaree Reid Cherlin is our executive editor and Adrian Hill is our executive producer The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick Jordan Cantor is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seguin and Charlotte Landis. Writing support by Hallie Kiefer. Madeline Herringer is our head of news

and programming. Matt DeGroote is our head of production. Andy Taft is our executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team Elijah Cohn, Hayley Jones, Phoebe Bradford, Joseph Dutra, Ben Hefccoat, Mia Kelman, Molly Lobel, Kirill Pellavive and David Tolz.