The MeidasTouch Podcast - Top Democratic Political Strategist REVEALS ALL with less than one month until Midterms

Episode Date: October 10, 2022

On this episode of The Mighty, we speak with Antjuan Seawright. Seawright is a Democratic political strategist, founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC, a CBS News political contributor, and a senior visiting fellow at Third Way. He serves as Senior Advisor at the DCCC and DNC. He is also the political advisor to Majority Whip Clyburn and many others. On The Mighty, we feature some of the most impactful responses, reactions, narratives, musings, and rants of Meidas content creators. New episodes of the traditional MeidasTouch Podcast featuring all the brothers drop every Tuesday and Friday morning. Shop Meidas Merch at: https://store.meidastouch.com Join us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/meidastouch Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. And welcome to this edition of The Mighty. Ben Mycelis joined by my brothers Brett and Jordian. We have a treat for you today with less than 40 days. What is it? 36 days? 35 days now? 34. Until the midterm elections. There's no one else I'd rather speak to right now than Antoine Seawright, a Democratic political strategist, founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC, a CBS News political contributor, and a senior visiting fellow at Third Way. He also serves as a senior advisor at the DCCC and the DNC and is a political advisor to the Majority Whip, Jim Kleinberg, and many others. Welcome to the podcast. I am so honored to finally make my appearance on perhaps one of the most

transformational podcasts in the country. And I'm just so glad to be a part of this conversation today. So thanks for having me. So let's get right into it, Antoine. So a lot of news coming out from the radical right extremist side. If you think the depths of depravity can't go any lower, as you commented on and Bakari Sellers wrote, and you said, what a time. You have one candidate, Dr. Oz, literally killed puppies, and his campaign did not have the worst night in politics compared to Herschel Walker. I saw a comment, I think it was

from Aaron Rupert, who says, you know, the sad thing is if you have an R next to your name, you could literally be Satan and you'll probably still get 45% of the votes. What is going on here? Well, the bottom line is we have these right wing, extreme MAGA, election-denying insurrection supporters up and down the ballot running to put their hands on the power switch in less than 40 days. Compare that to some of the most qualified candidates to ever put their name on the ballot, cobbled with an extensive policy agenda that would touch every corner of the American square. This election for me is a no-brainer.

However, what I've learned of my experiences in politics, it's easier to be angry than informed. That's number one. And number two, it's easier to vote against something than it is to vote for something. That's why if Donald Duck was running today as a Republican, truth be told, the polls would indicate there's a strong need for more quacking in this country. And that's the scary part about this moment we're in in politics. So what does that mean for Democrats? That means that we have to do even more. One, to highlight who these people really are,

because they are a current and ongoing threat to democracy and to the progress in this country as we know it. But also highlight what they would do if they were to get their hands on the power switch. And then thirdly, we have to continue to talk about the things that we promised, the things we delivered, and the things we will continue to do as Democrats, because I think that is what is going to take to motivate folks to be even more engaged in a historical fashion than we've ever had in a midterm election in my lifetime.

So let's take all of those things you just said and let's go in reverse order with the things that Democrats did, the things that Democrats delivered. What does that message look like to you, Antoine, in terms of as we get to the final stretch of this race before the midterms, what are those deliverables that Democrats can speak to their base about and say, look, and just speak to the country abroad and just say, look, here's what we did. Well, let me preface this by saying what we oftentimes say in the South at the barbershop or at the car wash, different strokes for different folks. So although we've done a number of things that I'm going to lay out, that does not mean they're applicable or make

sense for everyone to use, depending on your demographics and your geographics of where folks are. So let's start with the obvious. The American Rescue Plan, historical investments in HBCUs, $5.8 billion, billions of dollars to help keep people in their homes and pay their utility bills, shots in arms, keeping our schools open, money for veterans, not to mention wiping out the capital debt of historical black colleges and universities. We all know that we cut child poverty in half oftentimes refer to as the Great American Update, because it's going to not only update lead pipes in this country over the next 10 years and remove them from communities, in particular those who look like mine, but thanks to the majority whip and my political father, Jim Clyburn, it's going to deploy broadband in every home in this country, not to mention updating ports, roads, and bridges. You add to that the Chips and Signs Act that's going to really, really make certain that we make these chips in the United States to bring these elements home so we can get cars moving again in this country. You add to that the first gun legislation to be passed and signed into law

into 30 years. And by the way, that bill is going to put money in communities for mental health. It's also going to deal with gun violence awareness in a real way, thanks to my dear friend Stephen Horsford out in Nevada, Congressman Stephen Horsford. You add that to the IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, billions of dollars going to fight in this climate crisis that we all are living through. Not to mention the fact that you have elements like capping prescription drugs at $2,000 for those who are on Medicare. You have capping insulin at $35 a month for those who are on Medicare.

And then elements that we oftentimes do not talk about because there's not enough oxygen in the room. Updating your appliances, up to $14,000 to do that. Updating your windows and doors into your home. You add those things, and those are just a few things legislative that Democrats have done. You add the executive order that he did with policing, whether it's banning no not warrants, banning private prisons, investigating police departments that have a practice of really doing harm to communities that look like mine. You saw what the president did after this right wing extreme MAGA Supreme Court decided that women should not have a say-so in their

health care decisions and whether those decisions remain between a woman and their doctor. You look at the most diverse cabinet in our nation's history. You look at the commitment this president made to put a Black woman on the United States Supreme Court. He's done that. And you look at the fact that he's confirmed more black women to the courts than all of the presidents combined. And so when people say, what has Democrats done? I oftentimes remind people, what the hell else do you want Democrats to do? I live by this philosophy that I operate in this moment with Joe Biden having some of the slimmest majorities in our nation's history,

he has accomplished more than any other president since the Great Society. I think that says a lot about who he is and about what Democrats have promised to do and what they have actually delivered on. And truth be told, while Washington, D.C. Republicans may not be in tune and may not be dancing the two-step with the president and the Democrats in both the House and the Senate, back at home, Democrats, Republicans, and independents above 50% all have wrapped their arms around the legislative agenda that has come from Democrats. And so we have to sing loud and proud what we've done, because in any other moment in history, had we done one of those things, everyone would be

lifting their voice singing. I'm going to be honest with you, Antoine, that was the most incredible description of the accomplishments one by one of the Democratic Party and Biden that I have heard to date anywhere, period. That's not even an exhaustive list. That is just a pimple on a rhinoceros butt when you think about what we have accomplished with this majority. And it speaks to the need of why we have to come out and vote in historical record numbers in November.

I like to consider myself as a person who works out fairly as much as I can, although I may not look like it right now. But when voting is an exercise, when we all go to the gym or do whatever exercise we do, we can't just do it one time and expect change to happen overnight. It's a continued exercise that we have to do over and over and over. And for the folks who sit at the back of the room and say, my vote doesn't count, my vote doesn't matter, in particular those who look like me, they would not, they, meaning people who, a lot of them who do not look like me, and often those who do not have the shared experiences I have, they would not be fighting tooth and nail to suffocate and suppress our votes all around this country. 50 states, over 300 pieces of

legislation filed and or either passed to suffocate and suppress our votes. One of the things you commented on recently is the need to overemphasize those accomplishments in swing districts. But you stated that people in these swing districts don't necessarily even identify with a political party anymore. Are you seeing more of that right now than in times in the past where there's a lot of people who feel parties have abandoned them and they're just looking for policy? You know, people are so fed up with Washington, D.C. I call it dysfunctional city that they do not identify with Democrats or Republicans. They

hate the Congress, but they love their congressperson. And that's why in these swing districts, it is critically important to think from the mindset of an independent thinker, not an independent voter, not a Republican, not a Democrat, an independent thinker, not an independent voter, not a Republican, not a Democrat, an independent thinker. And so what you get with an independent thinker is people who do not pledge their allegiance to a party, but they pledge their allegiance to a person or a policy or sometimes both. And that's why when you look at the policy agenda that Democrats stand for and what we've been able to accomplish, I don't know a person in their right mind who cannot agree with me and say in some way, shape or form,

their lives have either changed or will change because of that policy agenda. That's why you see all these Republicans who continue to vote no, but yet they take the dough and they go to these districts and they go back home and they yell and scream and they lie. They misinform, they disinform as if they've done something, but they voted against these policies. Yet they want to take credit for because the people in their districts benefit from them. So, Antoine, how do we reach those voters who maybe, you know, aren't as involved? I mean, obviously, the people who are listening to this podcast are likely political junkies who live and breathe this stuff, are following every bit of every race, are seeing every story that comes out. But I think there's a whole host of people who

either don't vote at all or just vote what their family has voted in the past and don't really even think about it. So how do we reach those voters who aren't so tuned into the political ecosystem who may not be as vocal, but are definitely gettable voters? You know, we say oftentimes in South Carolina, there's no education in the second kick of the mule. As Democrats, we should have learned our lesson in 2010 when we passed perhaps one of the most transformational health care pieces of legislation in the history of this country. And that was a piece of legislation that caused us to lose the majority in record fact. You fast forward to take to 2018, that same piece of legislation or same concept around healthcare was the number one reason we regained the majority. So what do we have to do different? How do we reach those people? I'm glad we asked. We have to meet those people where they are. So many times as Democrats,

and we're all guilty of this, we speak to the folks on K Street instead of identifying with the folks on my street. People may not always understand what climate change is, but people can understand it rains when it's not supposed to rain. You have hurricanes that's causing damage like you never had before. Wildfires happening more frequent than they ever had before. It's hotter outside than it's ever been before. When you add those things up and you say, what does that equal? That equals the climate crisis. And so we have to start speaking the language to meet those folks that you talk about who don't always understand the way we do, meet them where they are. And then the second piece of that is to make certain that we give

other folks their political deployment papers. Sometimes Antoine Seawright is not the most effective messenger, although I do think I'm effective. Sometimes I'm not the most effective. Sometimes it's the local pastor. Sometimes it's the local school board member, the local mayor. Sometimes it's the local mom who runs the PTO club. Sometimes it's the retired teacher, the retired superintendent. Sometimes it's LeBron. Sometimes it's Michael Jordan. It's all these people who have bandwidth and have a platform that will reach folks in their own way that those of us who live and breathe politics that may not. And sometimes they can couch the language to meet the boys at the hole in the wall

or at the car wash or the barbershop or the ladies at the beauty salon in a way that we will never do it. And the other piece of that, the final element is we have to get off the interstate and start traveling down political dirt roads. And part of meeting people where they are is getting off the interstate

and identifying the folks who are always in our face and always around. But going down these political dirt roads with people who may not always get the TV message, may not always get the digital ad because before now they did not have broadband, may not get the text message, but they are voters, they can be voters.

They know what their challenges are and they know they just want those challenges met. And they know they want their children and grandchildren to have a better experiment in this country than they've had. And speaking of the differences between 2010 and today, as you hit on before, what are the differences? Are they that stark? or do the fundamentals in politics still apply despite all the changes in technology and reaching voters and all of that? Well, a lot is different. The MAGA, right wing, extreme election denied insurrection supporters have hijacked the Republican Party even more so than it was in 2010. And therefore, they are the most extreme group of folks that most of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. And

I say our lifetimes, I'm 37 years old. That's different. The country's different. The country's in a different move. It's easier to go to your political corner than it is to necessarily have a conversation and talk about where you disagree, but have a real hugging point where you do agree. I oftentimes say that we have to learn how to get back to a place of yelling about the places we agree and whispering about the places we disagree. That's different. We're living in the post-era of the first African-American president, Barack Obama, and we're living in an era of the most extreme, unqualified president, Donald Trump. So the extremes have been pulled out of the thread

of this country. And those folks have figured out that they have a voice and they have a say-so. And their voice and their vote matters. And so they're going to come out to work works like never before. The other difference is we have a president and a leader who actually went to Washington, D.C. to bring the country together and to bring policy ideas together. And he's done that. The problem with that concept compared to much like 2010 is that there's so much noise that the average person cannot necessarily hear the lyrics. And so while

there's some similarities to 2010, there's some real differences. And I would say that in 2010, although we had a real opportunity to continue to transform the country and do some magnificent things. The group of people who were running in 2020 do not look like the folks who were running in 2020. I would have happily taken a John Boehner in this moment compared to a Marjorie Taylor, truth be told. And so because of that, everything is different and the stakes are high. I'll say this to you, to my dear brothers from other political mothers. This election, we oftentimes say elections are important and they're consequential, but more so than 2010, more so than any other midterm in my lifetime, this election is more

about life or death because the people who will make decisions and we have the decisions to the power to make decisions after November of 2022 will have a real determination of whether certain communities live or die. Which means that's going to determine whether certain constituencies live or die. And I don't think people realize how serious this election will be. Yeah. And when we're dealing with this extremism, we're dealing with a lot of disinformation that's being spread out there. A lot of just, frankly, lies, which, you know, like you said, it's hard to hear the lyrics when you have that much noise coming out. I love that phrase that you used. But I'm just trying to figure out now, like, what do you think is the best strategy? What are you advising the DNC, the DTRIP? Like, is it more a, and it could be both, is this more a persuasion race in the midterms? Is it more a turnout race in the midterms? Do you want to be firing up the Democratic base

and ensuring that they show up and then that will ensure a win? Or are you trying to get these voters who are, you know, maybe on the fringes, maybe voted Republican, maybe voted for Biden, but aren't so sure anymore? Like, what's your target audience, I guess, right now? All things on the table. We're at a point in the cycle where we're not, there's no way we can convince anybody. If you're not convinced at this point, you'll never be convinced. So what we have to do is implement a push and pull strategy, right? We have to push our message out to folks even more. We, actually starting in October, because in a lot of places, early voting will start. So we got to do the old push and pull strategy.

What I would tell the DNC, the DCCC, the DGA, and every other DC group in my party is that, you know, we can't cuddle and play footsie at this point in the cycle. The stakes are too high. We have to go and get folks and pull them out from the bushes, from their houses, from the barbershops, from the car wash, from the beauty salon, from the church, from the schools. We got to pull folks out and say, you must do this.

This is not an if. This is a must do. Because if you don't do, there are going to be a lot of things that they will undo. And I think that is our message. And then this idea of who we reach. Look, midterms have traditionally been about base elections. But because of this right-wing extreme mega Supreme Court and their decisions, because of these election-denied insurrection supporters up and down the ballot who identify as Republican nominees, we're going to have to do even more to speak to those independent thinkers that I mentioned, the folks who will vote for a

Warnock, the folks who will vote for a Mandela Barnes, the folks who will vote for a Kelly, and up and down the ballot. And oftentimes, we are so hyper-focused on what's going on upstream, but these downstream races are going to matter just as much. Who your sheriff may end up being, who's in your state legislator,

who's your governor, who's your AG, who's your secretary of state with all these folks who have campaigned on the idea they will not count folks, folks. Those things are going to matter even more. And if you're Black, you certainly know the importance of having a prosecutor

who understands your experiences the way that we've seen the videos of these cops killing and mishandling Black folks in ways that we've never seen before. So everything matters. There's no strategy that fits one, fits everything. We're going to have to try everything in order to get something. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, it's well said. As you say that, it reminds me of something that President Biden often says on the campaign trail, which is don't compare me to the almighty. Compare me to the alternative. And the alternative has never been more different, I guess, if you want to say it generously. Brett, let me tell you why that's important. I'm so glad you brought that up. In 2016, we had the most qualified person to ever run for the presidency, run against the most unqualified person to ever run for the presidency. Misinformation, disinformation, in my mother's house, we call

it lies, but we were not allowed to say that word out loud, was a factor. And then you had these Democrats who did not understand falling in line instead of falling in love. They voted third party. And a lot of folks in this country voted third party in a lot of states that determined the outcome of the election. When you fast forward to take post-2016, President Donald Trump, not only did he nominate unqualified folks to the lower courts, he was able to nominate and confirm three folks to the upper courts, lifetime appointments, and we are feeling the heat and the wave and the water from those appointments. And so if you have any disagreement or any differences with our Democratic candidates, use that in a comparison chart to the alternative, the right-wing, election-denied,

MAGA-extreme insurrection supporters who are on the ballot in November, and you will ultimately decide how your vote should shape out. Yeah, and I know you said different strokes for different folks earlier, but is there a specific issue that when you're going around and speaking with voters that you find particularly motivating, particularly energizing? And I guess on the flip side of that, is there an issue that maybe we might find important, but when you speak to voters, it actually ends up being a negative when you talk to them about it or, you know, a turnoff? I'll give you three answers to that. Number one is not just speaking to the voters, it's how we do it. And I think more than

ever, this cycle is going to have to be a combination of high tech and high touch. The high tech is good, the texting, the emails, the digital campaign, that's good. But my mother and my aunt may not be able to wrap their arms around those concepts. So we still got to go back indoors. We still got to make phone calls. We still got to send mail. We still got to go to churches and events. And so how we talk to them is important. When it comes to what resonates, I like to frame this thing as we have to stay consistent with bread and butter issues, barbershop and beauty salon issues, corner of the bed issues. When I say corner of the bed, meaning when you go to bed at night, those things that you know are on your mind before you say your nightly prayers and go to sleep. But when you wake up in the morning, you thank the good Lord if you're a Christian for giving you another opportunity to get today right. You sit on the corner of your bed and you figure out how can you solve those problems. Those are how we have to frame these issues. So I don't think it's one thing. Quality of life, bread and butter to me

means health care, it means education, it means infrastructure. It means just having the opportunity to allow this thing called the American experiment to be better for you than it was for your parents and your grandparents. And Antoine, you and I, I had the pleasure of meeting you when I was covering the DNC convention about a month and change ago. And it was my first convention. I don't know how many conventions you've been to, but it was my first convention. I was covering it. We talked about here in the podcast. And my big takeaway from that convention was, wow, the Democrats are really moving with the united front. You know, for this big time party that has all these beliefs, that's very strong and accomplishing a lot of great things. You know, they know what's at stake. What was your what was your big takeaway, I guess, from the DNC convention? And did you sort of feel the same way that we're moving with this united front as we head into these midterms?

Well, I'll say, as the young folks say on Twitter, Dems in array and Republicans in disarray. Yes. You see what you saw at the DNC summer meeting a few weeks ago. You saw a group of folks who understand that this business is more about addition and multiplication than subtraction or division. We've seen what happened when we are not united going against the opposition party. We fail. We've also seen what results we yield when we are united. And so you see the united front. And I think you also see people find strong value and appreciation in what that modern day New York hip hop philosopher, Jay-Z says when he says nobody wins when the family feuds. And when we're not fighting each other and when we are one band, one sound with our message

and with our mobilization and with our money raising efforts, there is unlimited possibility to what we can do collectively as a party. And I'm thankful for my chairman, Jamie Harrison, my friend and my leader, because in this role, he is making certain that the DNC and the same with our sister and brother committees are investing in the heart and soul of this party, black and brown voters in record fashion before. I look at the investments the DNC are making. We're investing more into black and brown voters than we ever have in any other midterm election in the history of the DNC. Same thing with the DSCC. Same thing with the DCCC. Same thing with our friends in the AG space and other committees. We are taking this serious. But it takes two to make the thing go right, as Rob Bass says in the 1980s in that famous song. And so while the committees and those of us in the business are doing our part, the voters are going to have to do their part because

we settle our differences and our disputes in this country at the ballot box. Our chance to do that is November of 2022. I love it. We have a lot of folks who listen to this podcast that they have resources to help, but they also want to roll up their sleeves and figure out what's the best way that they can help this late in the game as we're almost less than a month away at this point until the midterms. What would you tell them? What's the best use of their resources? How could they help out if they want to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty? What do you think? Antoine Seawright is officially giving you your political deployment papers on this podcast. You go out and meet every single person you can and give them a true comparison of what they will offer Republicans and what we will offer

as Democrats. I think we have an obligation to do just that in this election, every single person listening. And if you don't, I'm going to raise hell with you the next time I'm on this podcast, because we oftentimes say in Sunday school and Amy Church, where I grew up, if it is to be, it's up to me. I'm going to do my part. You all are doing your part every chance that this podcast comes on the air. You're reaching people where they are. Now it's other folks that have to do their part. And if we do this, each one reach one effort. I'm convinced there's not a right-wing MAGA extremist in this country that can keep up with the firepower we have collectively. Antoine Seawright, thank you so much for joining us on the Midas Touch podcast. We appreciate it.

Glad to do it. I'm not going to give you the question that I really want to. Well, one day you're going to run for office and I don't know when that's going to be, but I'm not putting you on the spot and you're going to crush it. And I look forward to that day,

but I'm not going to, I'm not going to ask it here. I'm going to save it for my next. We can see it on your face. We see it on your face, Antoine. You don't even have to. Only office I'm running for is for my special ladies office in the United States Capitol.

And that's to go visit Congresswoman Chantel Brown in her office. That's the only office I'm running for. I love it. Thank you, Antoine, for your incredible insight. And thank you for listening to this episode of The Mighty. Remember to tell a friend about The Mightiest Touch podcast and make sure you're subscribed to the show on all your favorite podcast apps. Also, we just started a Patreon account. We have no outside investors. We aren't funded by billionaires or millionaires. So if you want to support our work, head on over to patreon.com slash Midas Touch and

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