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"content": "\u003cp>Two years ago, voters sent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/democrats\">Democrats\u003c/a> a message when they ousted them from power in Washington. At first glance, last week’s midterm results sent a new one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democrats will enter the next Congress with one of the largest majorities in a generation, flipping dozens of House districts and at least seven Senate seats in mainly Trump-won communities. The party now controls a majority of governorships, and gained control of several additional state legislative chambers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think one of the big surprises for me on Tuesday night was just how deep and wide our election results were,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in an interview with NPR. “This was the biggest election cycle for Democrats in the history of our party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12109119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12109119\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, speaks during an interview at DNC headquarters in Washington on Sunday, November 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Martin, who has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/21/nx-s1-5830008/democrats-autopsy-2024-election-dnc-ken-martin-biden-harris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">faced criticism\u003c/a> from some inside the party throughout his term as chairman, said that the stunning Democratic victories across the country were the result of his party’s focus on issues like affordability and ending the war in Iran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the midterms were bigger than politics and bigger than party, and acknowledged the results were just as much about serving as a “massive repudiation of Donald Trump and the MAGA Trumpers and the Republican Party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s an admonition for Democrats, for sure: Now that we’re in power, we have to deliver,” he said. “But it was a complete message to Republicans. You had the ability to help us and you did nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">Blue tsunami in the South\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With an expanded congressional majority and a lame duck president, one of the frontlines for figuring out if the Democratic Party’s power will hold will be in the South, Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Six of the 10 fastest-growing parts of the country right now are below the Mason-Dixon line, and 40% of the U.S. population is going to live in the South after the next census,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As we go into 2032 and there’s a realignment with the reapportionment, states like Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois and California are all going to lose electoral votes and congressional votes to the South.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12109124\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12109124\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks onstage during an election night watch party at Atlanta Marriott Marquis on November 3, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. \u003ccite>(Prince Williams/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week’s midterms brought the region’s power — especially with Black voters — more squarely into focus. Turbocharged Black voter turnout helped elect the country’s first Black female governor in Georgia and may elect the first Black U.S. senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slew of Republican-led states seeking to redraw House maps for partisan advantage backfired, as Democrats gained several seats across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said in an interview with NPR that Democratic victories in 2026 were a “proof of concept” that the South is central to the future of American politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[aside postID=news_12107038 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You saw a multiracial coalition of voters stand up on Tuesday night beyond anything I had even hoped for, and they offered a silent rebuke of where we are now,” he told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s now up to us to provide the leadership, even as we listen to people, and point the way forward into how we build an economy that works for everyday working families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warnock said Democrats’ direction in the next two years should aim to serve as a cure for the last decade of Trump-dominated politics that has been defined more as top versus bottom rather than left versus right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ordinary people have had their hopes dashed time and time again, cycle after cycle, across Republican and Democratic administrations,” he said. “They’ve seen the widening chasm between the haves and the have nots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He called the midterms a “moral moment” that will help determine what kind of nation America wants to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">Looking ahead to 2028\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early days after the 2026 elections, a look ahead to the 2028 presidential race finds both parties with the potential to see crowded fields of candidates in several new lanes reacting to signals sent by the electorate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes Warnock, who will be up for reelection in 2028 and is among names floated as a presidential contender, along with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Rep. Ro Khanna, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Vice President Kamala Harris and others who have spent significant time in the South campaigning for other Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As new members of Congress descend on Washington for their orientations, competing visions for Democratic governance are on display with postmortem event panels called “What Worked” and “What Just Happened?” and event names like “What’s Next” as party strategists argue online about which wing of the party was the most successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2026 victories also scramble the traditional map of swing states, Martin said, suggesting that Democrats would start off competitive in places like Florida and Texas and as favorites to win the White House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Texas is no longer a red state. It is a blue state. They didn’t even go from red to purple to blue, which is a normal sort of progression,” he said. “If Texas is now a blue state, and you look at Georgia and you look at other parts of the South, how do the Republicans get to 270 votes?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two years ago, voters sent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/democrats\">Democrats\u003c/a> a message when they ousted them from power in Washington. At first glance, last week’s midterm results sent a new one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democrats will enter the next Congress with one of the largest majorities in a generation, flipping dozens of House districts and at least seven Senate seats in mainly Trump-won communities. The party now controls a majority of governorships, and gained control of several additional state legislative chambers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think one of the big surprises for me on Tuesday night was just how deep and wide our election results were,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in an interview with NPR. “This was the biggest election cycle for Democrats in the history of our party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12109119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12109119\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2244200987-5596b59f-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, speaks during an interview at DNC headquarters in Washington on Sunday, November 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Martin, who has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/21/nx-s1-5830008/democrats-autopsy-2024-election-dnc-ken-martin-biden-harris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">faced criticism\u003c/a> from some inside the party throughout his term as chairman, said that the stunning Democratic victories across the country were the result of his party’s focus on issues like affordability and ending the war in Iran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the midterms were bigger than politics and bigger than party, and acknowledged the results were just as much about serving as a “massive repudiation of Donald Trump and the MAGA Trumpers and the Republican Party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s an admonition for Democrats, for sure: Now that we’re in power, we have to deliver,” he said. “But it was a complete message to Republicans. You had the ability to help us and you did nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">Blue tsunami in the South\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With an expanded congressional majority and a lame duck president, one of the frontlines for figuring out if the Democratic Party’s power will hold will be in the South, Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Six of the 10 fastest-growing parts of the country right now are below the Mason-Dixon line, and 40% of the U.S. population is going to live in the South after the next census,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As we go into 2032 and there’s a realignment with the reapportionment, states like Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois and California are all going to lose electoral votes and congressional votes to the South.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12109124\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12109124\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/GettyImages-2303490218-0af83048-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks onstage during an election night watch party at Atlanta Marriott Marquis on November 3, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. \u003ccite>(Prince Williams/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week’s midterms brought the region’s power — especially with Black voters — more squarely into focus. Turbocharged Black voter turnout helped elect the country’s first Black female governor in Georgia and may elect the first Black U.S. senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slew of Republican-led states seeking to redraw House maps for partisan advantage backfired, as Democrats gained several seats across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said in an interview with NPR that Democratic victories in 2026 were a “proof of concept” that the South is central to the future of American politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You saw a multiracial coalition of voters stand up on Tuesday night beyond anything I had even hoped for, and they offered a silent rebuke of where we are now,” he told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s now up to us to provide the leadership, even as we listen to people, and point the way forward into how we build an economy that works for everyday working families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warnock said Democrats’ direction in the next two years should aim to serve as a cure for the last decade of Trump-dominated politics that has been defined more as top versus bottom rather than left versus right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ordinary people have had their hopes dashed time and time again, cycle after cycle, across Republican and Democratic administrations,” he said. “They’ve seen the widening chasm between the haves and the have nots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He called the midterms a “moral moment” that will help determine what kind of nation America wants to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">Looking ahead to 2028\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early days after the 2026 elections, a look ahead to the 2028 presidential race finds both parties with the potential to see crowded fields of candidates in several new lanes reacting to signals sent by the electorate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes Warnock, who will be up for reelection in 2028 and is among names floated as a presidential contender, along with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Rep. Ro Khanna, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Vice President Kamala Harris and others who have spent significant time in the South campaigning for other Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As new members of Congress descend on Washington for their orientations, competing visions for Democratic governance are on display with postmortem event panels called “What Worked” and “What Just Happened?” and event names like “What’s Next” as party strategists argue online about which wing of the party was the most successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2026 victories also scramble the traditional map of swing states, Martin said, suggesting that Democrats would start off competitive in places like Florida and Texas and as favorites to win the White House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Texas is no longer a red state. It is a blue state. They didn’t even go from red to purple to blue, which is a normal sort of progression,” he said. “If Texas is now a blue state, and you look at Georgia and you look at other parts of the South, how do the Republicans get to 270 votes?”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "ca-democrats-look-to-flip-the-script-on-gas-prices",
"title": "CA Democrats Look to Flip the Script on Gas Prices",
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"headTitle": "CA Democrats Look to Flip the Script on Gas Prices | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, October 19, 2026\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Gas prices in California continue to be the highest in the nation. So it’s no surprise that prices at the pump are a hot topic in the state’s closest elections for Congress. But the war in Iran has given California Democrats a rare opportunity to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104393/california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices\">turn the tables on the issue. \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>A surge in immigration arrests is underway in the Central Valley. Advocates say detained immigrants are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104940/as-central-valley-immigration-arrests-continue-advocates-say-ice-is-blocking-access-to-legal-counsel\">being denied access to legal counsel\u003c/a>, and dozens are disappearing into the detention system.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104393/california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices\">California Democrats hope Iran war reverses views on gas prices\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After years of bearing the political blame for the nation’s highest gas prices, California Democrats are turning the nozzle on Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">midterm election\u003c/a> cycle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, Richard Pan is running ads blasting his opponent for supporting “the war that raised gas prices.” In Bakersfield, Randy Villegas stood outside a Shell station last week and pledged to suspend the federal gas tax. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">in San Diego\u003c/a>, an ad for Marni von Wilpert “shows her at a gas station, where she promises to “bring your tax dollars home, not spend them on foreign wars that cost you money.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s all part of a nationwide Democratic push to turn the tables on an issue that haunted the party in the last two elections by hounding Republicans over price increases at the pump fueled by the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide. The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. “When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104940/as-central-valley-immigration-arrests-continue-advocates-say-ice-is-blocking-access-to-legal-counsel\">As Central Valley immigration arrests continue, advocates say ICE is blocking access to legal counsel\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since federal immigration agents descended on California’s Central Valley over the last two weeks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103799/bay-area-officials-immigration-advocates-brace-for-ice-surge-after-central-valley-arrests\">arresting scores of people\u003c/a> at gas stations, supermarkets and near agricultural fields, immigration attorneys say those arrested have been persistently denied access to legal counsel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lawyers say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also failed to update the whereabouts of all those arrested in its \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://locator.ice.gov/odls/#/search\">“detainee locator” database\u003c/a>, meaning that dozens of individuals are essentially disappearing into ICE’s vast detention system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since the surge in arrests began on Oct. 5, pro bono immigration attorneys working with rapid response networks have spent hours each day at ICE’s Fresno — and later Bakersfield — short-term processing facilities, asking to be admitted to identify who was detained and advise them of their rights, according to María Sofía Corona Gómez, directing attorney at the UFW Foundation in Fresno. On some days, lawyers said they gained entrance at 4 or 5 p.m. to discover dozens of people inside but were only given time to meet with two or three. On other days, they were not allowed inside ICE’s holding area at all. Then, within a day or so, those arrested were moved to other detention facilities — in California or as far away as Texas, she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In some instances, Corona Gómez said, she’s been given a name by a family member of a person who was arrested, but has been unable to locate them. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>They’re back there, and I’m not getting access,” she said. “And after hours [of waiting], I’m then being told, ‘Oh, now they’re not here. Now they’re at this detention center.’ But then we show up at the detention center, and it’s ‘No, they’re not in my system.’ Well, this is day five. This is day nine. Where are they?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In response to a request for comment on the arrest operation and concerns that detainees are being denied access to attorneys, an ICE spokesperson who would not provide their name issued the following statement: “For operational security and the safety of our officers, ICE will not disclose or discuss law enforcement operations. Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country, including in California.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"Gas prices in California continue to be the highest in the nation. So it’s no surprise that prices at the pump are a hot topic in the state’s closest elections for Congress. But the war in Iran has given California Democrats a rare opportunity to turn the tables on the issue. ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Gas prices in California continue to be the highest in the nation. So it’s no surprise that prices at the pump are a hot topic in the state’s closest elections for Congress. But the war in Iran has given California Democrats a rare opportunity to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104393/california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices\">turn the tables on the issue. \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Gas prices in California continue to be the highest in the nation. So it’s no surprise that prices at the pump are a hot topic in the state’s closest elections for Congress. But the war in Iran has given California Democrats a rare opportunity to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104393/california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices\">turn the tables on the issue. \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>A surge in immigration arrests is underway in the Central Valley. Advocates say detained immigrants are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104940/as-central-valley-immigration-arrests-continue-advocates-say-ice-is-blocking-access-to-legal-counsel\">being denied access to legal counsel\u003c/a>, and dozens are disappearing into the detention system.\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>A surge in immigration arrests is underway in the Central Valley. Advocates say detained immigrants are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104940/as-central-valley-immigration-arrests-continue-advocates-say-ice-is-blocking-access-to-legal-counsel\">being denied access to legal counsel\u003c/a>, and dozens are disappearing into the detention system.\u003c/li>\n"
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"text": "California Democrats hope Iran war reverses views on gas prices",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After years of bearing the political blame for the nation’s highest gas prices, California Democrats are turning the nozzle on Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">midterm election\u003c/a> cycle. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After years of bearing the political blame for the nation’s highest gas prices, California Democrats are turning the nozzle on Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">midterm election\u003c/a> cycle. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, Richard Pan is running ads blasting his opponent for supporting “the war that raised gas prices.” In Bakersfield, Randy Villegas stood outside a Shell station last week and pledged to suspend the federal gas tax. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">in San Diego\u003c/a>, an ad for Marni von Wilpert “shows her at a gas station, where she promises to “bring your tax dollars home, not spend them on foreign wars that cost you money.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, Richard Pan is running ads blasting his opponent for supporting “the war that raised gas prices.” In Bakersfield, Randy Villegas stood outside a Shell station last week and pledged to suspend the federal gas tax. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">in San Diego\u003c/a>, an ad for Marni von Wilpert “shows her at a gas station, where she promises to “bring your tax dollars home, not spend them on foreign wars that cost you money.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s all part of a nationwide Democratic push to turn the tables on an issue that haunted the party in the last two elections by hounding Republicans over price increases at the pump fueled by the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s all part of a nationwide Democratic push to turn the tables on an issue that haunted the party in the last two elections by hounding Republicans over price increases at the pump fueled by the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide. The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide. The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. “When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. “When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "As Central Valley immigration arrests continue, advocates say ICE is blocking access to legal counsel",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since federal immigration agents descended on California’s Central Valley over the last two weeks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103799/bay-area-officials-immigration-advocates-brace-for-ice-surge-after-central-valley-arrests\">arresting scores of people\u003c/a> at gas stations, supermarkets and near agricultural fields, immigration attorneys say those arrested have been persistently denied access to legal counsel.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lawyers say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also failed to update the whereabouts of all those arrested in its \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://locator.ice.gov/odls/#/search\">“detainee locator” database\u003c/a>, meaning that dozens of individuals are essentially disappearing into ICE’s vast detention system.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since the surge in arrests began on Oct. 5, pro bono immigration attorneys working with rapid response networks have spent hours each day at ICE’s Fresno — and later Bakersfield — short-term processing facilities, asking to be admitted to identify who was detained and advise them of their rights, according to María Sofía Corona Gómez, directing attorney at the UFW Foundation in Fresno. On some days, lawyers said they gained entrance at 4 or 5 p.m. to discover dozens of people inside but were only given time to meet with two or three. On other days, they were not allowed inside ICE’s holding area at all. Then, within a day or so, those arrested were moved to other detention facilities — in California or as far away as Texas, she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In some instances, Corona Gómez said, she’s been given a name by a family member of a person who was arrested, but has been unable to locate them. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>They’re back there, and I’m not getting access,” she said. “And after hours [of waiting], I’m then being told, ‘Oh, now they’re not here. Now they’re at this detention center.’ But then we show up at the detention center, and it’s ‘No, they’re not in my system.’ Well, this is day five. This is day nine. Where are they?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, October 19, 2026\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Gas prices in California continue to be the highest in the nation. So it’s no surprise that prices at the pump are a hot topic in the state’s closest elections for Congress. But the war in Iran has given California Democrats a rare opportunity to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104393/california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices\">turn the tables on the issue. \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>A surge in immigration arrests is underway in the Central Valley. Advocates say detained immigrants are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104940/as-central-valley-immigration-arrests-continue-advocates-say-ice-is-blocking-access-to-legal-counsel\">being denied access to legal counsel\u003c/a>, and dozens are disappearing into the detention system.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104393/california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices\">California Democrats hope Iran war reverses views on gas prices\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After years of bearing the political blame for the nation’s highest gas prices, California Democrats are turning the nozzle on Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">midterm election\u003c/a> cycle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, Richard Pan is running ads blasting his opponent for supporting “the war that raised gas prices.” In Bakersfield, Randy Villegas stood outside a Shell station last week and pledged to suspend the federal gas tax. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">in San Diego\u003c/a>, an ad for Marni von Wilpert “shows her at a gas station, where she promises to “bring your tax dollars home, not spend them on foreign wars that cost you money.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s all part of a nationwide Democratic push to turn the tables on an issue that haunted the party in the last two elections by hounding Republicans over price increases at the pump fueled by the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide. The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. “When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104940/as-central-valley-immigration-arrests-continue-advocates-say-ice-is-blocking-access-to-legal-counsel\">As Central Valley immigration arrests continue, advocates say ICE is blocking access to legal counsel\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since federal immigration agents descended on California’s Central Valley over the last two weeks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103799/bay-area-officials-immigration-advocates-brace-for-ice-surge-after-central-valley-arrests\">arresting scores of people\u003c/a> at gas stations, supermarkets and near agricultural fields, immigration attorneys say those arrested have been persistently denied access to legal counsel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lawyers say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also failed to update the whereabouts of all those arrested in its \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://locator.ice.gov/odls/#/search\">“detainee locator” database\u003c/a>, meaning that dozens of individuals are essentially disappearing into ICE’s vast detention system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since the surge in arrests began on Oct. 5, pro bono immigration attorneys working with rapid response networks have spent hours each day at ICE’s Fresno — and later Bakersfield — short-term processing facilities, asking to be admitted to identify who was detained and advise them of their rights, according to María Sofía Corona Gómez, directing attorney at the UFW Foundation in Fresno. On some days, lawyers said they gained entrance at 4 or 5 p.m. to discover dozens of people inside but were only given time to meet with two or three. On other days, they were not allowed inside ICE’s holding area at all. Then, within a day or so, those arrested were moved to other detention facilities — in California or as far away as Texas, she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In some instances, Corona Gómez said, she’s been given a name by a family member of a person who was arrested, but has been unable to locate them. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>They’re back there, and I’m not getting access,” she said. “And after hours [of waiting], I’m then being told, ‘Oh, now they’re not here. Now they’re at this detention center.’ But then we show up at the detention center, and it’s ‘No, they’re not in my system.’ Well, this is day five. This is day nine. Where are they?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In response to a request for comment on the arrest operation and concerns that detainees are being denied access to attorneys, an ICE spokesperson who would not provide their name issued the following statement: “For operational security and the safety of our officers, ICE will not disclose or discuss law enforcement operations. Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country, including in California.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#transcript\">View full episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A local politician once called San Francisco politics a “knife fight in a phone booth” where centrist Democrats and progressives duke it out in close proximity. Out of that phone booth emerged Nancy Pelosi. In our series finale, we reckon with what her legacy will be – the fundraiser, the mentor, the fighter. In a moment when the Democratic Party is at a crossroads, how did Pelosi shape the destiny of the Democratic Party?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our team started working on this project in the lead up to the 2026 midterm election. Polls show that nationwide voters are ready to reject President Trump’s agenda and support Democrats again. But for the Democratic Party, things are shifting. Are we ready to change the party? This May, I went to a rally in San Francisco. The theme was change the Party. It was promoted by Saikat Chakrabarti, AOC’s former chief of staff. And at that time, one of the top three challengers in the race for the congressional seat, Nancy Pelosi, will be vacating. The venue was an event space in the city’s south of Market neighborhood. The room was packed, lots of energy, party atmosphere, a disco ball hung from the ceiling. The crowd skewed young and racially diverse. I wanted to hear what these attendees thought about the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And the theme has changed the party. Like, what does that mean to you? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Change the party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>How so?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Because the Democratic establishment is just as corrupt as the Republican establishment. They’re donor Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Democrats are currently very stagnant and uninspired and they’re fighting for the wrong thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I also wanted to hear what people thought about Pelosi’s role in everything. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And how does Nancy Pelosi fit into that?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>She was able to whip the votes for important issues, but at the end of the day, she was part of the problem and the corporate establishment Democratic Party. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>If we look at what happened in New York with Mayor Mamdani, he spoke to actual real life issues that people are really dealing with on a daily basis. And he used that as sort of his core. And I don’t think that’s what Pelosi and the establishment Democrats have historically done. They speak more to their corporate base, their donor base. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a politics reporter, I take in a lot of different perspectives. One day I’ll go to a rally and ask voters what they think. And then another, I’ll interview the most powerful man in California. Governor Gavin Newsom. I asked him the same question. What’s Pelosi’s legacy?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>People need to study effectiveness, and they need to celebrate it, and they to celebrate some pragmatism, not just idealism.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom’s had a front row seat to Pelosi’s work over the years. What does California, what does the Democratic Party lose in her retirement? And how do you get it back? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>Well, you lose, obviously, the wisdom, the temperance, the courage. I’m sorry everybody out there hates the establishment and incumbents. It kind of worked for us. Be careful what you wish for.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like Pelosi, I’m also retiring this year. Now, just to be clear of the similarities and the there, there won’t be any buildings named after me, but we’re both leaving at a time of change for the Democratic Party, the institution Pelosi has devoted her life to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>What do you make of the rise? We’re seeing a lot of turmoil in the Democratic party in terms of candidates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I disagree with your terminology. A lot of turmoil in the Democratic Party. There isn’t a lot of tumble in the party. There’s some people who’ve won their elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The way she sees it, there are places where more progressive candidates can win and others where they can’t. In the period of time I sat down with her the summer of 2026, she was laser focused on the midterm elections. How do you want people to remember your legacy? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Not so fast on the legacy. We have to win the house, which we will do. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As someone who watched Nancy Pelosi’s rise from that raucous first election in 1987 to the power broker that she is today, I wanted to really take this moment to examine Nancy Pelosi impact on the party she’s devoted her entire life to. Has her role as a fundraiser pushed the party away from its working class ideals? Or has Pelosi kicked down the doors for a more progressive crop of voices in Congress? I’m Scott Schaefer from KQED. This is The Speaker, today the question of Nancy Pelosi’s legacy in a moment of conflict.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Over the decades, Nancy Pelosi built tremendous influence in the Democratic party, leveraging trusting relationships and her history of success, political capital, as we sometimes call it. In 2024, something happened that would require her to spend some of that capital. President Biden took the stage that June to debate Republican candidate Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joe Biden: \u003c/strong>Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden’s performance in that debate caused a lot of Democrats to hit the panic button. Concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability and age inflamed already simmering tensions within the party around what its future should look like. And big donors were threatening to withhold their support as long as he was the nominee. And then Pelosi stepped in. She went on Morning Joe, the MSNBC show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>Does he have your support to be the head of the Democratic second? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>As long as the president has the president, it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden had already decided he was running. This is basically Pelosi giving Biden a vote of no confidence. As close as she’d come to saying he should drop out of the race without saying so directly. The weeks dragged on. President Biden was still in the race. So behind the scenes, Pelosi knew she had to make a critical phone call.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was not there to undo his decision, I just told him what I thought.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>This would not be easy for her. They had been friends for decades. They’d worked hard with a narrow majority in the House to pass legislation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Infrastructure Bill, CHIPS Act, CHIPs and Science Act, more for climate than any history of any country in the world, issues that related to our veterans, the PACT Act. He was really on roll.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But she knew the time had come to say something.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I never asked him not to run. All I said is, two things. One, presentation that is being made is not a winning one. The polls are not good on this. And you’ve accomplished so much. This is a winning agenda that you have. I don’t know. Let me talk to my polls, because they have the polls. I said, well, that’s interesting. But I’d like to have more pollsters around the table to compare. I don’t have any recommendations of who they should be. But just have some other points of view so that we can see where we are on this. Because too much is at stake. Donald Trump. Too much is a stake.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>How hard was that conversation? I mean, you say you didn’t ask him not to run, but it was interpreted that way. And ultimately, there were others calling on him not to run. How hard is that given the relationship you’ve had with him?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was not a good thing. I mean, it was hard. I mean I’ve known him for decades. We’ve been friends a very long time. I love him. I think he was a great patriot. He was a Great President. All we wanted to do was to see the reality of when you take polls, it’s not about where you are. It’s about where the public is on issues and how your message is coming across. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On July 21st, 2024, President Biden dropped out of the race. Pelosi endorsed his replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the only person who could legally use Biden’s remaining campaign funds. Pelosi threw her weight into the race, raising more money for the Harris campaign. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I give Kamala Harris great credit for getting out the vote. She got out a big vote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But even so.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>The votes for President of the United States are as follows.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In her role as vice president, Harris oversaw the certification of the election results.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Now, 2024 was a bit of an outlier in that, what we know on record, Kamala Harris far out-raised Donald Trump. She did not win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hilary Braseth is the executive director of Open Secrets. That’s a nonprofit dedicated to tracking money in U.S. Politics. She says 2024 was an outlier because \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>If you raise more money than your opponent, the likelihood that you will win is roughly 80%. So it’s quite high.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And Nancy Pelosi, well, she’s famous for raising a lot of money for Democrats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>She was the Speaker of the House for many years, and it’s no secret that she’s, with that title, also managed to raise a whole bunch of money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since 2000, she’s raised around $100 million directly and has helped the Democratic Party bring in around $1.25 billion total. To Brasif, Pelosi’s power comes in part from this fundraising ability. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Members of Congress who are able to raise large sums of money is often seen as a proxy for how successful they may be in an election or how powerful they might be able to be once they are elected by virtue of having a war chest, we refer to it as, to transfer to other lower-ranking Democrats, which again fuels and reinforces the system of power. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like in Nancy Pelosi’s case, she raises a ton of money, but she doesn’t need it for herself, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>And then she can transfer it to lower ranking members. So it’s powerful, right? She gets to decide who gets to receive this money that then produces a system of currying favor from lower ranking Democrats. And you have the party machinery here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s strength as a fundraiser is more important than ever. This is an extremely consequential midterm election at a time when voters aren’t particularly excited about Democrats. As of February, Pelosi had about $9 million in a personal war chest, ready to deploy for congressional races around the country. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>She’s built strong relationships with heavy hitters when it comes to political donors. It also means that she’s had largely the backing of her party as somebody who’s been able to bring in very large sums of money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that’s also contributed to image problems and the rise of what progressive critics call corporate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barack Obama: \u003c/strong>Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, money has poured into our political system. It allowed corporations, interest groups, and wealthy individuals to spend an unlimited amount of money funding political ads and other campaign activities. They often do this through political action committees, or PACs, and their supercharged cousins, super PACs. And this happens on both sides of the aisle. One of Pelosi’s political mantras is just win. She used the phrase in an interview once. She was asked about Democrats criticizing her to score political points in more conservative districts. Her answer, basically, go ahead, do whatever it takes to win the election. Times have changed in terms of political giving. Today, some of the largest contributors to PACs and campaigns have ties to Silicon Valley. Even today. As data centers and AI attract bipartisan criticism, Pelosi doesn’t discourage Democrats from taking tech contributions, insisting that support does not have to compromise their values. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I mean, candidates call me and say, tech is coming in for me. I don’t want it, but they’re coming in for me because they don’t like the opponent, and I’m afraid that other tech will come in for them. But tech money is different from fossil fuel money, and it’s different from gun money, because there are differences of opinion.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As California tech CEOs ingratiate themselves with Trump, Pelosi seems to draw a distinction between tech money and other corporate money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Now, the tech community is a relatively new phenomenon in terms of… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But it’s corporate money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Yeah, no, but the tech money is on both sides of the issues. Some of the tech-money that’s saying we should have a better, fairer immigration system and the rest of that. I’m not here to protect them, but all the businesses are the same. I mean, I don’t want to paint everybody with the same brush, but they all want lower their taxes and lower their regulation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But when I ask Pelosi if she thinks the Democratic Party is too reliant on corporate donations, she bristles.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I completely, totally disagree that the Democratic Party is dominated by corporate money. It isn’t. And certainly the Democrats vote for gun violence prevention. The Republicans do not. Their Democrats vote to protect the environment. The other people are in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry as well as the gun industry. So it is a big difference. But we haven’t made that clear. And every poll shows, oh, they think we’re both sort of the same. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Right now, Pelosi’s eye is firmly on taking back the House. She’s traveling the country to raise money for Democrats, trying to flip seats from red to blue. She’s weighing in on a few non-House seats as well. For example, the Senate race in Michigan. Pelosi endorsed Haley Stevens, a fellow House member, the more centrist establishment Democrat. Stevens lost the primary to Abdul Al Sayed, the candidate who supports Medicare for All. And opposes unconditional military aid for Israel. But Pelosi sees the field like a chessboard. There are some districts and states she thinks the party will struggle to win with a progressive agenda. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I don’t know about Michigan. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there in the Senate. But I’ll tell you, the more left the candidate, the harder to win the general in Michigan, in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But with the primaries over and the field of candidates set, Pelosi has hit the road to help Democrats win in November.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Will be a path to winning the White House. What’s happening right now is contrary to anything our founders had in mind for our country, contrary to the Constitution of the United States. And I just, well, we just win, baby. That’s just the whole thing. And win big. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On the night of October 28th, 2022, just before the midterm elections, someone broke into the Pelosi home in San Francisco. The intruder, David DePapp, found Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, in bed. He demanded to know, where’s Nancy? When Paul told him she wasn’t home, he said he’d wait for her. Paul managed to call the police from the bathroom. Police body cam footage from the officers who responded. Revealed DePapp and Paul Pelosi, wearing boxer shorts, struggling for a hammer. Police told DePap to put the hammer down. He said no and swung it at Paul, hitting him in the head, fracturing his skull. Later, authorities found zip ties at the scene and rope in DePaps backpack. According to a federal charging document, DePapa was planning on holding Nancy Pelosi hostage to break her kneecaps if she didn’t answer his questions honestly. Paul was 82 years old. He needed emergency surgery to repair his fractured skull and was in the hospital for several days. Nancy remembers sitting with her family in the ICU. In episode one, we talked about how many years earlier, as a teenager, Alexandra gave her mother permission to run for Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Then she said, get a life.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that night in the ICU, Alexandra had a very different take.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>After daddy got hurt, she said, if I knew this was at the end of the road, I would never have given you my permission. And that’s too big a price to pay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised that Alexandra said what she did?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised. No, this is our dad, our pop. Pop is what the grandchildren call him. No, that was terrible, terrible thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It was the cruelty after the attacks that really got to her.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It’s not only that, though. It’s all the things that people say along the way. I don’t even know how to refer to the person in the White House anymore. It’s just beyond. But he was making a joke of the whole thing. His kids were making a joke of the thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two days after the attack on Paul, Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted a meme, a hammer and white underwear that said, got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready. He wasn’t the only one. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>That Charlie Kirk or whatever his name was wasn’t there anybody who’s patriotic enough to spend to save to bail out this guy And what was that jerk’s name, Tesla. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Oh, Elon Musk.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi probably knows Elon Musk’s name, but in my experience, when she throws shade, she pretends she doesn’t know someone.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Elon Musk, he made terrible statements, too. They’re just very sick people, but that is trauma. I mean, physical is life or death. Trauma is with you for a long time to come, and that is very traumatizing to a family, to have that kind of assault.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our producer, Ariella, talked to another one of Pelosi’s daughters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised when your mother decided to run for reelection after the attack?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised because we had the political work that was going to be done. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Christine Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was really particular that they should go out and live their lives and not live in fear. What were they supposed to do? Stay home and stay inside their house and not go out and be with people, not be in the community that they built together for 50 years in San Francisco because of something like that? I think the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Christine thinks it’s bigger than that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I think a lot of women of her generation who were living the unlived lives of their mother. Her father was not supportive of her mother becoming a lawyer. There was a lot work that women tried to do but weren’t rewarded for. It was the men groomed for politics, not women. So I think for my mother, what she wanted for herself and for women of her generation, certainly of the next generation and the one after that, is for people to break through all of that and not be held back.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Less than two weeks after the attack on Paul, Republicans took back control of the House. Pelosi stepped down as leader of the house Democrats, but it wasn’t because of the attack on her husband. She was keeping a promise she made four years earlier, self-imposing a term limit response to the desire for new leadership among some in her caucus. In her speech after the election, she talked about how violence can undermine democracy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Indeed, American democracy is majestic, but it is fragile. Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand, tragically, in this chamber. And so democracy must be forever defended from forces that wish it harm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The political environment had gotten increasingly dangerous. Pelosi worries that the attacks on her and the events on January 6th, 2021 will discourage other women from entering politics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Over the years, the attacks that were made on me, the women were saying, I could never do that. But you don’t want other people not running for office because they saw something happen. When women succeed, America succeeds. I firmly believe that. And I speak to women, I say to them all the time, know your power in this, you are so needed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In our last episode, we heard from Ilhan Omar, the representative from Minnesota’s Fifth District, one of the squad of four progressive lawmakers elected in 2018. She and Pelosi sometimes disagree. For example, on Medicare for All, she supports it. Pelosi does not. But when Omar first got to Congress. I talked to her quite often. She called a lot. So often, her staff would joke that Auntie Nancy’s calling.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And I think she was mostly nervous for me and what I would be dealing with as someone who carried unique identities that were under attack in our country. I really thought that it was super kind of her to pay that much attention to me and what I might need, not just in terms of serving, but just mentally as well. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before Omar was sworn in in 2018, she was worried about one thing in particular. This ban that existed on head coverings. Omar wears religious head covering. Head coverings of any kind weren’t allowed on the house floor at the time she was elected. So she brought it up to Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>She did her… You know, mom assurance thing of like, no, that’s not gonna happen and we’re gonna fix it to my surprise. She worked with me to have the rule change have my name attached to it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Ariella asked her\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised she took care of it, or?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and that she was thoughtful, that she also wanted me to be the one who proposed the change\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was right to be worried. The vitriol has only escalated since Omar was first elected. Omar was born in Somalia, but became a U.S. Citizen when she was a teenager. She’s also Muslim. Omar is often attacked by President Trump. At a rally in 2019, you can hear the crowd yelling, send her back before he speaks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>So, Representative Omar blamed the United States. For the terrorist attacks on our country, saying that…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And the rhetoric has only intensified in President Trump’s second term. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two months after Trump made these comments, she was attacked at a town hall meeting during the ICE surge in Minneapolis. During protests against that surge, federal agents killed two U.S. Citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti. Omar was calling for the resignation of the head of DHS at that point. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference Archival: \u003c/strong>Whoa, whoa, whoa!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>A man lunged and sprayed her with a liquid that turned out to be a mixture of water and vinegar. Omar finished the town hall after the man was tackled and removed by security. In that sense, her toughness, she can relate to Nancy Pelosi. She grew up with brothers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Her dad was very much instrumental in her life and the way that she thinks about life and the ways that she think about strength and courage. And I grew up with brothers and my dad really is the reason I am who I am today. And I think we have a similar energy that shaped us.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Even though they disagree about how to fix America’s health care system and other policies too, Pelosi’s steeliness through it all is something Omar admires. It is important. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Make sure people who see you as an inspiration don’t see you backing down. Because it will inspire them to stand up to police as well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>While we were in D.C., Areola went to the annual California Congressional Transportation Reception. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it? I know. It was packed with politicians and workers from California public transportation projects. Pelosi was there, along with a freshman member of Congress.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area is very special because we throw down, we throw down hard. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Lateefah Simon represents California’s 12th District, right across the bay from Pelosi’s San Francisco seat. Like Representative Ilhan Omar, there are policies she disagrees with Pelosi on, but when Ariella asked her about Pelosi at the event, she lit up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>And I call her Ms Pelosi. I grew up in San Francisco and in Oakland. She spent so much time with freshmen and I gotta say, a lot of time with me really training me on how this place works. Now, she’s clear that I’m kind of like an ultra progressive. Like I’m a no war, anti-war organizer who grew up doing justice reform. What did that mentorship mean to you? Just like, how did, how do you think, what did she teach you? When I was running. She was very clear to me, I don’t want to talk politics with you, Latif, I want to talk about where you’re going to send your daughter to school. How are you going to be with family? You’re going leave your elderly mother. She’s so clear that our first obligation is to community and family. You know, I sit with her almost weekly and I ask her questions about particular bills and she gives me her her direct thoughts. And sometimes I’ll say, Miss Pelosi, I’m not going to vote that way. And yet… Yeah, she always says, vote your district. What are your hopes for the future of the Democratic Party as she’s stepping down? I remember how Nancy phrases the demand of the moment, and she always equates it with the children. So as a disabled woman, I’m always remembering that, that this is not about power. It must be about service. We’re up against Armageddon in some ways, I feel like, it’s David and Goliath. But I come from, you know, the Bay Area, where we’re ruthless in our own politic about what we believe, what is morally consequential. And I’m glad that I actually came into the Coliseum, not the Dome. Some people call it the DOME. It’s a Coliseium. We’re fighting for the lifeblood of our democracy. And I am so blessed that I have that lens to be able to say, well, no one’s going to push me around. I’ve seen the Nancy Pelosi’s. Hands. I’m stronger because of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>When Pelosi first got to Congress in 1987, there were 13 Democratic women in the House. Now, there are 95. Pelosi helped many of them win their seats. But in many ways, politics is still a man’s club. For women to survive and build a career, you have to be ready to fight. And now, many women in Congress have a template. Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many have pointed out that Pelosi’s political acumen came from Baltimore, her home city in Maryland. But, I really see San Francisco in her. A local politician once described San Francisco politics as a knife fight in a phone booth, a fierce battle that often becomes personal because the city is relatively small and the political spectrum runs from liberal to further left. Surviving the city’s political cauldron, often battles between progressives and centrists, forces politicians to learn how to navigate the many interests, labor, business, environmentalists, LGBTQ. Racial and ethnic groups, political clubs. California Governor Gavin Newsom sees Pelosi as a pure product of these dynamics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>There’s that cross-pollination that was old San Francisco, the Moscone’s and the Burton’s, the Brown’s, and, you know, the machine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom grew up in a well-connected family. Nancy Pelosi was basically his aunt through marriage. His uncle was Paul Pelosi’s brother. He grew up with her coming to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Newsom said he didn’t really know she was a political player when he was growing up in San Francisco, but as he entered politics, city supervisor, mayor of San Francisco and eventually governor, he got closer to Pelosi. And as Newsom sees the party change today,\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>I’m literally mesmerized by the punditry about this DSA. I’m like, have you guys ever been out west, never been in the Bay Area, never paid attention to San Francisco politics? This is like decades, this is what we do. This is the Harry Britt versus the Brown Pelosi machine. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That dynamic between centrist and progressive Democrats is still shaping the party. But to Pelosi, knowing each side of the party through and through, her body in both camps, as former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown put it, I see that as her strength. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Tomorrow’s another day. You know, that’s what I always say to them. When you have like a weaver at the loom and we would weave this and sometimes people couldn’t be in the design and we’d say, okay, if you’re not in the designed, don’t go criticize the design because this is the consensus of the democratic caucus. This is what everybody’s put in and this is a consensus, but don’t criticize it because tomorrow was another day\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s time in elected office is winding down, but the monuments to her legacy are starting to be built. Across the San Francisco Bay Area, you can find markers of Pelosi’s impact and influence. The AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, at the University of California at Berkeley, the new Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy. I’ve been reflecting a lot about how life will be different when I’m no longer covering politics. When people stop saying things like, oh, I heard you on the radio or on a podcast. Now that Pelosi’s time in office is almost up, I wanted to ask her, what are you gonna miss most about not being, when you leave Congress?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Nobody in San Francisco or California ever has Potomac fever. I don’t know. I’ll miss some of my friends, but I’ll see them. I’m excited about going to Berkeley and having the UC Berkeley Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You’re not gonna miss like just being in the mix all the time. No.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I didn’t go to stay that long. It’s just one thing led to another. You run for leadership, and then you’re leadership, then you become speaker, and it’s those. No, that’s being in the mix. I was in the mixed. Been that, done that. Yeah, I mean, I was first woman speaker of the House. This was a very big deal, and I won it back again. So no, I wouldn’t miss it at all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi says she won’t miss being in the mix, but she’s still active. In our last interview, she told me she was in five states in one weekend, campaigning for the midterms, raising money, doing everything she can to win, and she is confident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>What gives you hope? The fact that we’re gonna win this election gives me hope because we will.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But if there’s one thing I know as a journalist, it’s this. When someone claims to be certain, it’s our job to keep asking questions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I’ve often said the things Nancy Pelosi is best at are the things very few people see. Governor Gavin Newsom said something similar.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>It was constant blocking and tackling. Just the constant, so it was Nancy, blocking and tackle, blocking and tackling. Wasn’t just delivering more resources, was stopping those resources from being cut and building coalitions that wouldn’t have otherwise existed without her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That reminded me of one of Pelosi’s biggest local accomplishments. The Presidio is an old army base on the northern edge of San Francisco, with towering eucalyptus groves and sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a U.S. Military base from the mid-1800s to 1994. After Congress voted to decommission it, there was a big debate about what to do with it. Some in Congress wanted to sell the prime real estate to private developers. In the 90s, Pelosi got Congress on board to turn it into a thriving park with restaurants, businesses, and non-profits. And thanks to that public-private partnership structure Pelosi helped create, the park is now financially self-sufficient. We talked to Pelosi about it on Memorial Day this year when she spoke at an event honoring veterans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I did my legislation to turn it from a post into a park, our motto was one that existed from the start, from 250 years ago, no shot fired in anger. So we always did it in the most nonpartisan, unifying way. And that’s what will protect the procedures we go forward. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In the early 90s, Pelosi was still relatively new to Washington, but she convinced even some Republican members of Congress to support her plan to preserve the land for the public and to have it pay for itself. Today, that legacy is under attack.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival: \u003c/strong>President Trump’s latest executive order is aimed directly at one of his political rivals’ favorite achievements, the Presidio Trust, established nearly three decades ago, largely because of the work of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Earlier this year, President Trump fired all six board members of the Presidio. But at the Memorial Day event, Pelosi was confident. The Trump administration can attack the Affordable Care Act. They can cut government programs. They can dismantle laws she spent months, even years, trying to pass Congress. But when it comes to her public park, The Presidio\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When we passed this legislation, we did it in a very wise and strong way. I feel that this procedure was protected by the legislation because it anticipated any kind of assault that it might have. So I’ll just leave it at that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After she spoke, a crowd formed around Pelosi. The fog had broken by then, and the sun was shining in the cemetery. Kids with their parents, veterans, constituents, all came up to thank her for her work and her years as their representative.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Presidio Memorial Day Ambi: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Madam. You’re an inspiration. Thank you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At a time when people are very skeptical of political institutions or politicians, in San Francisco, Representative Nancy Pelosi is still pretty popular. I’m reflecting on my own career, decades following politics, and in many ways following the decline of our democracy. For Pelosi, the work is about building a better future, a better planet. Even though the results and legacy of her time in power will be studied and debated for years to come. This moment of gratitude, it reminded me that even now, when we’re so divided, government can still help people. The force that is Nancy Pelosi will soon be gone, and whatever comes next, well, that’s a tough act to follow.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The Speaker is a production of KQED in San Francisco and distributed by NPR. It’s hosted and reported by me, Scott Schaefer. Co-reported and produced by Ariella Markowitz. It’s edited by Padmini Raghunath. Final mix and sound designed by Christopher Beal. Additional mixing help from Brendan Willard. Fact-checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional editing from Anna Sussman and Jen Chien, KQED’s director of podcasts. Original theme music composed by Cedric Wilson. Additional music from APM. Maha Sanad is KQED’s podcast engagement producer. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s editor-in-chief. Special thanks to Paul Burnett, Nan Alamilla Boyd, and Todd Holmes, our partners from the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Special thanks Ana de Almeida Amaral, Armando Arteaga, Jim Bennett, Izzy Bloom, Robert Chehosky, Brian Douglas, Annie Fruit, Rebecca Hopkins, Becca Kao, Sasha Khokha, Paul Lancour, John Lawrence, Marisa Lagos, Derek Larteau, Guy Marzorati, Victoria Mauleon, Katherine Monahan, Susan Page, Suzie Racho, Nicole Rodas, Katrina Schwartz, Zaldy Serrano, Renzo Santos, Katie Sprenger, and Molly Solomon. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our team started working on this project in the lead up to the 2026 midterm election. Polls show that nationwide voters are ready to reject President Trump’s agenda and support Democrats again. But for the Democratic Party, things are shifting. Are we ready to change the party? This May, I went to a rally in San Francisco. The theme was change the Party. It was promoted by Saikat Chakrabarti, AOC’s former chief of staff. And at that time, one of the top three challengers in the race for the congressional seat, Nancy Pelosi, will be vacating. The venue was an event space in the city’s south of Market neighborhood. The room was packed, lots of energy, party atmosphere, a disco ball hung from the ceiling. The crowd skewed young and racially diverse. I wanted to hear what these attendees thought about the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our team started working on this project in the lead up to the 2026 midterm election. Polls show that nationwide voters are ready to reject President Trump’s agenda and support Democrats again. But for the Democratic Party, things are shifting. Are we ready to change the party? This May, I went to a rally in San Francisco. The theme was change the Party. It was promoted by Saikat Chakrabarti, AOC’s former chief of staff. And at that time, one of the top three challengers in the race for the congressional seat, Nancy Pelosi, will be vacating. The venue was an event space in the city’s south of Market neighborhood. The room was packed, lots of energy, party atmosphere, a disco ball hung from the ceiling. The crowd skewed young and racially diverse. I wanted to hear what these attendees thought about the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And the theme has changed the party. Like, what does that mean to you? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And the theme has changed the party. Like, what does that mean to you? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Change the party.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Change the party.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>How so?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>How so?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Because the Democratic establishment is just as corrupt as the Republican establishment. They’re donor Democrats.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Because the Democratic establishment is just as corrupt as the Republican establishment. They’re donor Democrats.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Democrats are currently very stagnant and uninspired and they’re fighting for the wrong thing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Democrats are currently very stagnant and uninspired and they’re fighting for the wrong thing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I also wanted to hear what people thought about Pelosi’s role in everything. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I also wanted to hear what people thought about Pelosi’s role in everything. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And how does Nancy Pelosi fit into that?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And how does Nancy Pelosi fit into that?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>She was able to whip the votes for important issues, but at the end of the day, she was part of the problem and the corporate establishment Democratic Party. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>She was able to whip the votes for important issues, but at the end of the day, she was part of the problem and the corporate establishment Democratic Party. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>If we look at what happened in New York with Mayor Mamdani, he spoke to actual real life issues that people are really dealing with on a daily basis. And he used that as sort of his core. And I don’t think that’s what Pelosi and the establishment Democrats have historically done. They speak more to their corporate base, their donor base. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>If we look at what happened in New York with Mayor Mamdani, he spoke to actual real life issues that people are really dealing with on a daily basis. And he used that as sort of his core. And I don’t think that’s what Pelosi and the establishment Democrats have historically done. They speak more to their corporate base, their donor base. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a politics reporter, I take in a lot of different perspectives. One day I’ll go to a rally and ask voters what they think. And then another, I’ll interview the most powerful man in California. Governor Gavin Newsom. I asked him the same question. What’s Pelosi’s legacy?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a politics reporter, I take in a lot of different perspectives. One day I’ll go to a rally and ask voters what they think. And then another, I’ll interview the most powerful man in California. Governor Gavin Newsom. I asked him the same question. What’s Pelosi’s legacy?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>People need to study effectiveness, and they need to celebrate it, and they to celebrate some pragmatism, not just idealism.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>People need to study effectiveness, and they need to celebrate it, and they to celebrate some pragmatism, not just idealism.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom’s had a front row seat to Pelosi’s work over the years. What does California, what does the Democratic Party lose in her retirement? And how do you get it back? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom’s had a front row seat to Pelosi’s work over the years. What does California, what does the Democratic Party lose in her retirement? And how do you get it back? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>Well, you lose, obviously, the wisdom, the temperance, the courage. I’m sorry everybody out there hates the establishment and incumbents. It kind of worked for us. Be careful what you wish for.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>Well, you lose, obviously, the wisdom, the temperance, the courage. I’m sorry everybody out there hates the establishment and incumbents. It kind of worked for us. Be careful what you wish for.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like Pelosi, I’m also retiring this year. Now, just to be clear of the similarities and the there, there won’t be any buildings named after me, but we’re both leaving at a time of change for the Democratic Party, the institution Pelosi has devoted her life to.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like Pelosi, I’m also retiring this year. Now, just to be clear of the similarities and the there, there won’t be any buildings named after me, but we’re both leaving at a time of change for the Democratic Party, the institution Pelosi has devoted her life to.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>What do you make of the rise? We’re seeing a lot of turmoil in the Democratic party in terms of candidates.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>What do you make of the rise? We’re seeing a lot of turmoil in the Democratic party in terms of candidates.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I disagree with your terminology. A lot of turmoil in the Democratic Party. There isn’t a lot of tumble in the party. There’s some people who’ve won their elections.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I disagree with your terminology. A lot of turmoil in the Democratic Party. There isn’t a lot of tumble in the party. There’s some people who’ve won their elections.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The way she sees it, there are places where more progressive candidates can win and others where they can’t. In the period of time I sat down with her the summer of 2026, she was laser focused on the midterm elections. How do you want people to remember your legacy? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The way she sees it, there are places where more progressive candidates can win and others where they can’t. In the period of time I sat down with her the summer of 2026, she was laser focused on the midterm elections. How do you want people to remember your legacy? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Not so fast on the legacy. We have to win the house, which we will do. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Not so fast on the legacy. We have to win the house, which we will do. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As someone who watched Nancy Pelosi’s rise from that raucous first election in 1987 to the power broker that she is today, I wanted to really take this moment to examine Nancy Pelosi impact on the party she’s devoted her entire life to. Has her role as a fundraiser pushed the party away from its working class ideals? Or has Pelosi kicked down the doors for a more progressive crop of voices in Congress? I’m Scott Schaefer from KQED. This is The Speaker, today the question of Nancy Pelosi’s legacy in a moment of conflict.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As someone who watched Nancy Pelosi’s rise from that raucous first election in 1987 to the power broker that she is today, I wanted to really take this moment to examine Nancy Pelosi impact on the party she’s devoted her entire life to. Has her role as a fundraiser pushed the party away from its working class ideals? Or has Pelosi kicked down the doors for a more progressive crop of voices in Congress? I’m Scott Schaefer from KQED. This is The Speaker, today the question of Nancy Pelosi’s legacy in a moment of conflict.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Over the decades, Nancy Pelosi built tremendous influence in the Democratic party, leveraging trusting relationships and her history of success, political capital, as we sometimes call it. In 2024, something happened that would require her to spend some of that capital. President Biden took the stage that June to debate Republican candidate Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joe Biden: \u003c/strong>Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joe Biden: \u003c/strong>Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden’s performance in that debate caused a lot of Democrats to hit the panic button. Concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability and age inflamed already simmering tensions within the party around what its future should look like. And big donors were threatening to withhold their support as long as he was the nominee. And then Pelosi stepped in. She went on Morning Joe, the MSNBC show.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden’s performance in that debate caused a lot of Democrats to hit the panic button. Concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability and age inflamed already simmering tensions within the party around what its future should look like. And big donors were threatening to withhold their support as long as he was the nominee. And then Pelosi stepped in. She went on Morning Joe, the MSNBC show.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>Does he have your support to be the head of the Democratic second? \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>As long as the president has the president, it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>As long as the president has the president, it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden had already decided he was running. This is basically Pelosi giving Biden a vote of no confidence. As close as she’d come to saying he should drop out of the race without saying so directly. The weeks dragged on. President Biden was still in the race. So behind the scenes, Pelosi knew she had to make a critical phone call.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden had already decided he was running. This is basically Pelosi giving Biden a vote of no confidence. As close as she’d come to saying he should drop out of the race without saying so directly. The weeks dragged on. President Biden was still in the race. So behind the scenes, Pelosi knew she had to make a critical phone call.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was not there to undo his decision, I just told him what I thought.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>This would not be easy for her. They had been friends for decades. They’d worked hard with a narrow majority in the House to pass legislation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>This would not be easy for her. They had been friends for decades. They’d worked hard with a narrow majority in the House to pass legislation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Infrastructure Bill, CHIPS Act, CHIPs and Science Act, more for climate than any history of any country in the world, issues that related to our veterans, the PACT Act. He was really on roll.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Infrastructure Bill, CHIPS Act, CHIPs and Science Act, more for climate than any history of any country in the world, issues that related to our veterans, the PACT Act. He was really on roll.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But she knew the time had come to say something.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I never asked him not to run. All I said is, two things. One, presentation that is being made is not a winning one. The polls are not good on this. And you’ve accomplished so much. This is a winning agenda that you have. I don’t know. Let me talk to my polls, because they have the polls. I said, well, that’s interesting. But I’d like to have more pollsters around the table to compare. I don’t have any recommendations of who they should be. But just have some other points of view so that we can see where we are on this. Because too much is at stake. Donald Trump. Too much is a stake.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I never asked him not to run. All I said is, two things. One, presentation that is being made is not a winning one. The polls are not good on this. And you’ve accomplished so much. This is a winning agenda that you have. I don’t know. Let me talk to my polls, because they have the polls. I said, well, that’s interesting. But I’d like to have more pollsters around the table to compare. I don’t have any recommendations of who they should be. But just have some other points of view so that we can see where we are on this. Because too much is at stake. Donald Trump. Too much is a stake.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>How hard was that conversation? I mean, you say you didn’t ask him not to run, but it was interpreted that way. And ultimately, there were others calling on him not to run. How hard is that given the relationship you’ve had with him?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was not a good thing. I mean, it was hard. I mean I’ve known him for decades. We’ve been friends a very long time. I love him. I think he was a great patriot. He was a Great President. All we wanted to do was to see the reality of when you take polls, it’s not about where you are. It’s about where the public is on issues and how your message is coming across. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was not a good thing. I mean, it was hard. I mean I’ve known him for decades. We’ve been friends a very long time. I love him. I think he was a great patriot. He was a Great President. All we wanted to do was to see the reality of when you take polls, it’s not about where you are. It’s about where the public is on issues and how your message is coming across. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On July 21st, 2024, President Biden dropped out of the race. Pelosi endorsed his replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the only person who could legally use Biden’s remaining campaign funds. Pelosi threw her weight into the race, raising more money for the Harris campaign. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On July 21st, 2024, President Biden dropped out of the race. Pelosi endorsed his replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the only person who could legally use Biden’s remaining campaign funds. Pelosi threw her weight into the race, raising more money for the Harris campaign. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I give Kamala Harris great credit for getting out the vote. She got out a big vote. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I give Kamala Harris great credit for getting out the vote. She got out a big vote. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But even so.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But even so.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>The votes for President of the United States are as follows.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>The votes for President of the United States are as follows.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In her role as vice president, Harris oversaw the certification of the election results.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Now, 2024 was a bit of an outlier in that, what we know on record, Kamala Harris far out-raised Donald Trump. She did not win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hilary Braseth is the executive director of Open Secrets. That’s a nonprofit dedicated to tracking money in U.S. Politics. She says 2024 was an outlier because \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>If you raise more money than your opponent, the likelihood that you will win is roughly 80%. So it’s quite high.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>If you raise more money than your opponent, the likelihood that you will win is roughly 80%. So it’s quite high.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And Nancy Pelosi, well, she’s famous for raising a lot of money for Democrats. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>She was the Speaker of the House for many years, and it’s no secret that she’s, with that title, also managed to raise a whole bunch of money.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since 2000, she’s raised around $100 million directly and has helped the Democratic Party bring in around $1.25 billion total. To Brasif, Pelosi’s power comes in part from this fundraising ability. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since 2000, she’s raised around $100 million directly and has helped the Democratic Party bring in around $1.25 billion total. To Brasif, Pelosi’s power comes in part from this fundraising ability. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Members of Congress who are able to raise large sums of money is often seen as a proxy for how successful they may be in an election or how powerful they might be able to be once they are elected by virtue of having a war chest, we refer to it as, to transfer to other lower-ranking Democrats, which again fuels and reinforces the system of power. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Members of Congress who are able to raise large sums of money is often seen as a proxy for how successful they may be in an election or how powerful they might be able to be once they are elected by virtue of having a war chest, we refer to it as, to transfer to other lower-ranking Democrats, which again fuels and reinforces the system of power. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like in Nancy Pelosi’s case, she raises a ton of money, but she doesn’t need it for herself, right?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like in Nancy Pelosi’s case, she raises a ton of money, but she doesn’t need it for herself, right?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>And then she can transfer it to lower ranking members. So it’s powerful, right? She gets to decide who gets to receive this money that then produces a system of currying favor from lower ranking Democrats. And you have the party machinery here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>And then she can transfer it to lower ranking members. So it’s powerful, right? She gets to decide who gets to receive this money that then produces a system of currying favor from lower ranking Democrats. And you have the party machinery here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s strength as a fundraiser is more important than ever. This is an extremely consequential midterm election at a time when voters aren’t particularly excited about Democrats. As of February, Pelosi had about $9 million in a personal war chest, ready to deploy for congressional races around the country. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s strength as a fundraiser is more important than ever. This is an extremely consequential midterm election at a time when voters aren’t particularly excited about Democrats. As of February, Pelosi had about $9 million in a personal war chest, ready to deploy for congressional races around the country. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>She’s built strong relationships with heavy hitters when it comes to political donors. It also means that she’s had largely the backing of her party as somebody who’s been able to bring in very large sums of money.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that’s also contributed to image problems and the rise of what progressive critics call corporate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barack Obama: \u003c/strong>Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, money has poured into our political system. It allowed corporations, interest groups, and wealthy individuals to spend an unlimited amount of money funding political ads and other campaign activities. They often do this through political action committees, or PACs, and their supercharged cousins, super PACs. And this happens on both sides of the aisle. One of Pelosi’s political mantras is just win. She used the phrase in an interview once. She was asked about Democrats criticizing her to score political points in more conservative districts. Her answer, basically, go ahead, do whatever it takes to win the election. Times have changed in terms of political giving. Today, some of the largest contributors to PACs and campaigns have ties to Silicon Valley. Even today. As data centers and AI attract bipartisan criticism, Pelosi doesn’t discourage Democrats from taking tech contributions, insisting that support does not have to compromise their values. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, money has poured into our political system. It allowed corporations, interest groups, and wealthy individuals to spend an unlimited amount of money funding political ads and other campaign activities. They often do this through political action committees, or PACs, and their supercharged cousins, super PACs. And this happens on both sides of the aisle. One of Pelosi’s political mantras is just win. She used the phrase in an interview once. She was asked about Democrats criticizing her to score political points in more conservative districts. Her answer, basically, go ahead, do whatever it takes to win the election. Times have changed in terms of political giving. Today, some of the largest contributors to PACs and campaigns have ties to Silicon Valley. Even today. As data centers and AI attract bipartisan criticism, Pelosi doesn’t discourage Democrats from taking tech contributions, insisting that support does not have to compromise their values. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I mean, candidates call me and say, tech is coming in for me. I don’t want it, but they’re coming in for me because they don’t like the opponent, and I’m afraid that other tech will come in for them. But tech money is different from fossil fuel money, and it’s different from gun money, because there are differences of opinion.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I mean, candidates call me and say, tech is coming in for me. I don’t want it, but they’re coming in for me because they don’t like the opponent, and I’m afraid that other tech will come in for them. But tech money is different from fossil fuel money, and it’s different from gun money, because there are differences of opinion.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As California tech CEOs ingratiate themselves with Trump, Pelosi seems to draw a distinction between tech money and other corporate money. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Now, the tech community is a relatively new phenomenon in terms of… \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But it’s corporate money.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Yeah, no, but the tech money is on both sides of the issues. Some of the tech-money that’s saying we should have a better, fairer immigration system and the rest of that. I’m not here to protect them, but all the businesses are the same. I mean, I don’t want to paint everybody with the same brush, but they all want lower their taxes and lower their regulation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But when I ask Pelosi if she thinks the Democratic Party is too reliant on corporate donations, she bristles.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I completely, totally disagree that the Democratic Party is dominated by corporate money. It isn’t. And certainly the Democrats vote for gun violence prevention. The Republicans do not. Their Democrats vote to protect the environment. The other people are in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry as well as the gun industry. So it is a big difference. But we haven’t made that clear. And every poll shows, oh, they think we’re both sort of the same. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I completely, totally disagree that the Democratic Party is dominated by corporate money. It isn’t. And certainly the Democrats vote for gun violence prevention. The Republicans do not. Their Democrats vote to protect the environment. The other people are in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry as well as the gun industry. So it is a big difference. But we haven’t made that clear. And every poll shows, oh, they think we’re both sort of the same. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Right now, Pelosi’s eye is firmly on taking back the House. She’s traveling the country to raise money for Democrats, trying to flip seats from red to blue. She’s weighing in on a few non-House seats as well. For example, the Senate race in Michigan. Pelosi endorsed Haley Stevens, a fellow House member, the more centrist establishment Democrat. Stevens lost the primary to Abdul Al Sayed, the candidate who supports Medicare for All. And opposes unconditional military aid for Israel. But Pelosi sees the field like a chessboard. There are some districts and states she thinks the party will struggle to win with a progressive agenda. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Right now, Pelosi’s eye is firmly on taking back the House. She’s traveling the country to raise money for Democrats, trying to flip seats from red to blue. She’s weighing in on a few non-House seats as well. For example, the Senate race in Michigan. Pelosi endorsed Haley Stevens, a fellow House member, the more centrist establishment Democrat. Stevens lost the primary to Abdul Al Sayed, the candidate who supports Medicare for All. And opposes unconditional military aid for Israel. But Pelosi sees the field like a chessboard. There are some districts and states she thinks the party will struggle to win with a progressive agenda. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I don’t know about Michigan. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there in the Senate. But I’ll tell you, the more left the candidate, the harder to win the general in Michigan, in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I don’t know about Michigan. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there in the Senate. But I’ll tell you, the more left the candidate, the harder to win the general in Michigan, in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But with the primaries over and the field of candidates set, Pelosi has hit the road to help Democrats win in November.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Will be a path to winning the White House. What’s happening right now is contrary to anything our founders had in mind for our country, contrary to the Constitution of the United States. And I just, well, we just win, baby. That’s just the whole thing. And win big. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Will be a path to winning the White House. What’s happening right now is contrary to anything our founders had in mind for our country, contrary to the Constitution of the United States. And I just, well, we just win, baby. That’s just the whole thing. And win big. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On the night of October 28th, 2022, just before the midterm elections, someone broke into the Pelosi home in San Francisco. The intruder, David DePapp, found Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, in bed. He demanded to know, where’s Nancy? When Paul told him she wasn’t home, he said he’d wait for her. Paul managed to call the police from the bathroom. Police body cam footage from the officers who responded. Revealed DePapp and Paul Pelosi, wearing boxer shorts, struggling for a hammer. Police told DePap to put the hammer down. He said no and swung it at Paul, hitting him in the head, fracturing his skull. Later, authorities found zip ties at the scene and rope in DePaps backpack. According to a federal charging document, DePapa was planning on holding Nancy Pelosi hostage to break her kneecaps if she didn’t answer his questions honestly. Paul was 82 years old. He needed emergency surgery to repair his fractured skull and was in the hospital for several days. Nancy remembers sitting with her family in the ICU. In episode one, we talked about how many years earlier, as a teenager, Alexandra gave her mother permission to run for Congress. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On the night of October 28th, 2022, just before the midterm elections, someone broke into the Pelosi home in San Francisco. The intruder, David DePapp, found Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, in bed. He demanded to know, where’s Nancy? When Paul told him she wasn’t home, he said he’d wait for her. Paul managed to call the police from the bathroom. Police body cam footage from the officers who responded. Revealed DePapp and Paul Pelosi, wearing boxer shorts, struggling for a hammer. Police told DePap to put the hammer down. He said no and swung it at Paul, hitting him in the head, fracturing his skull. Later, authorities found zip ties at the scene and rope in DePaps backpack. According to a federal charging document, DePapa was planning on holding Nancy Pelosi hostage to break her kneecaps if she didn’t answer his questions honestly. Paul was 82 years old. He needed emergency surgery to repair his fractured skull and was in the hospital for several days. Nancy remembers sitting with her family in the ICU. In episode one, we talked about how many years earlier, as a teenager, Alexandra gave her mother permission to run for Congress. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Then she said, get a life.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that night in the ICU, Alexandra had a very different take.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that night in the ICU, Alexandra had a very different take.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>After daddy got hurt, she said, if I knew this was at the end of the road, I would never have given you my permission. And that’s too big a price to pay. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>After daddy got hurt, she said, if I knew this was at the end of the road, I would never have given you my permission. And that’s too big a price to pay. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised that Alexandra said what she did?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised. No, this is our dad, our pop. Pop is what the grandchildren call him. No, that was terrible, terrible thing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised. No, this is our dad, our pop. Pop is what the grandchildren call him. No, that was terrible, terrible thing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It was the cruelty after the attacks that really got to her.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It was the cruelty after the attacks that really got to her.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It’s not only that, though. It’s all the things that people say along the way. I don’t even know how to refer to the person in the White House anymore. It’s just beyond. But he was making a joke of the whole thing. His kids were making a joke of the thing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It’s not only that, though. It’s all the things that people say along the way. I don’t even know how to refer to the person in the White House anymore. It’s just beyond. But he was making a joke of the whole thing. His kids were making a joke of the thing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two days after the attack on Paul, Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted a meme, a hammer and white underwear that said, got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready. He wasn’t the only one. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two days after the attack on Paul, Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted a meme, a hammer and white underwear that said, got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready. He wasn’t the only one. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>That Charlie Kirk or whatever his name was wasn’t there anybody who’s patriotic enough to spend to save to bail out this guy And what was that jerk’s name, Tesla. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>That Charlie Kirk or whatever his name was wasn’t there anybody who’s patriotic enough to spend to save to bail out this guy And what was that jerk’s name, Tesla. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Oh, Elon Musk.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi probably knows Elon Musk’s name, but in my experience, when she throws shade, she pretends she doesn’t know someone.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi probably knows Elon Musk’s name, but in my experience, when she throws shade, she pretends she doesn’t know someone.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Elon Musk, he made terrible statements, too. They’re just very sick people, but that is trauma. I mean, physical is life or death. Trauma is with you for a long time to come, and that is very traumatizing to a family, to have that kind of assault.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Elon Musk, he made terrible statements, too. They’re just very sick people, but that is trauma. I mean, physical is life or death. Trauma is with you for a long time to come, and that is very traumatizing to a family, to have that kind of assault.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our producer, Ariella, talked to another one of Pelosi’s daughters.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our producer, Ariella, talked to another one of Pelosi’s daughters.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised when your mother decided to run for reelection after the attack?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised because we had the political work that was going to be done. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Christine Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was really particular that they should go out and live their lives and not live in fear. What were they supposed to do? Stay home and stay inside their house and not go out and be with people, not be in the community that they built together for 50 years in San Francisco because of something like that? I think the opposite.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was really particular that they should go out and live their lives and not live in fear. What were they supposed to do? Stay home and stay inside their house and not go out and be with people, not be in the community that they built together for 50 years in San Francisco because of something like that? I think the opposite.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Christine thinks it’s bigger than that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Christine thinks it’s bigger than that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I think a lot of women of her generation who were living the unlived lives of their mother. Her father was not supportive of her mother becoming a lawyer. There was a lot work that women tried to do but weren’t rewarded for. It was the men groomed for politics, not women. So I think for my mother, what she wanted for herself and for women of her generation, certainly of the next generation and the one after that, is for people to break through all of that and not be held back.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I think a lot of women of her generation who were living the unlived lives of their mother. Her father was not supportive of her mother becoming a lawyer. There was a lot work that women tried to do but weren’t rewarded for. It was the men groomed for politics, not women. So I think for my mother, what she wanted for herself and for women of her generation, certainly of the next generation and the one after that, is for people to break through all of that and not be held back.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Less than two weeks after the attack on Paul, Republicans took back control of the House. Pelosi stepped down as leader of the house Democrats, but it wasn’t because of the attack on her husband. She was keeping a promise she made four years earlier, self-imposing a term limit response to the desire for new leadership among some in her caucus. In her speech after the election, she talked about how violence can undermine democracy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Less than two weeks after the attack on Paul, Republicans took back control of the House. Pelosi stepped down as leader of the house Democrats, but it wasn’t because of the attack on her husband. She was keeping a promise she made four years earlier, self-imposing a term limit response to the desire for new leadership among some in her caucus. In her speech after the election, she talked about how violence can undermine democracy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Indeed, American democracy is majestic, but it is fragile. Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand, tragically, in this chamber. And so democracy must be forever defended from forces that wish it harm.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Indeed, American democracy is majestic, but it is fragile. Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand, tragically, in this chamber. And so democracy must be forever defended from forces that wish it harm.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The political environment had gotten increasingly dangerous. Pelosi worries that the attacks on her and the events on January 6th, 2021 will discourage other women from entering politics.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The political environment had gotten increasingly dangerous. Pelosi worries that the attacks on her and the events on January 6th, 2021 will discourage other women from entering politics.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Over the years, the attacks that were made on me, the women were saying, I could never do that. But you don’t want other people not running for office because they saw something happen. When women succeed, America succeeds. I firmly believe that. And I speak to women, I say to them all the time, know your power in this, you are so needed. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Over the years, the attacks that were made on me, the women were saying, I could never do that. But you don’t want other people not running for office because they saw something happen. When women succeed, America succeeds. I firmly believe that. And I speak to women, I say to them all the time, know your power in this, you are so needed. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In our last episode, we heard from Ilhan Omar, the representative from Minnesota’s Fifth District, one of the squad of four progressive lawmakers elected in 2018. She and Pelosi sometimes disagree. For example, on Medicare for All, she supports it. Pelosi does not. But when Omar first got to Congress. I talked to her quite often. She called a lot. So often, her staff would joke that Auntie Nancy’s calling.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In our last episode, we heard from Ilhan Omar, the representative from Minnesota’s Fifth District, one of the squad of four progressive lawmakers elected in 2018. She and Pelosi sometimes disagree. For example, on Medicare for All, she supports it. Pelosi does not. But when Omar first got to Congress. I talked to her quite often. She called a lot. So often, her staff would joke that Auntie Nancy’s calling.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And I think she was mostly nervous for me and what I would be dealing with as someone who carried unique identities that were under attack in our country. I really thought that it was super kind of her to pay that much attention to me and what I might need, not just in terms of serving, but just mentally as well. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And I think she was mostly nervous for me and what I would be dealing with as someone who carried unique identities that were under attack in our country. I really thought that it was super kind of her to pay that much attention to me and what I might need, not just in terms of serving, but just mentally as well. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before Omar was sworn in in 2018, she was worried about one thing in particular. This ban that existed on head coverings. Omar wears religious head covering. Head coverings of any kind weren’t allowed on the house floor at the time she was elected. So she brought it up to Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before Omar was sworn in in 2018, she was worried about one thing in particular. This ban that existed on head coverings. Omar wears religious head covering. Head coverings of any kind weren’t allowed on the house floor at the time she was elected. So she brought it up to Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>She did her… You know, mom assurance thing of like, no, that’s not gonna happen and we’re gonna fix it to my surprise. She worked with me to have the rule change have my name attached to it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>She did her… You know, mom assurance thing of like, no, that’s not gonna happen and we’re gonna fix it to my surprise. She worked with me to have the rule change have my name attached to it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Ariella asked her\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised she took care of it, or?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised she took care of it, or?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and that she was thoughtful, that she also wanted me to be the one who proposed the change\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and that she was thoughtful, that she also wanted me to be the one who proposed the change\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was right to be worried. The vitriol has only escalated since Omar was first elected. Omar was born in Somalia, but became a U.S. Citizen when she was a teenager. She’s also Muslim. Omar is often attacked by President Trump. At a rally in 2019, you can hear the crowd yelling, send her back before he speaks.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was right to be worried. The vitriol has only escalated since Omar was first elected. Omar was born in Somalia, but became a U.S. Citizen when she was a teenager. She’s also Muslim. Omar is often attacked by President Trump. At a rally in 2019, you can hear the crowd yelling, send her back before he speaks.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>So, Representative Omar blamed the United States. For the terrorist attacks on our country, saying that…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>So, Representative Omar blamed the United States. For the terrorist attacks on our country, saying that…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And the rhetoric has only intensified in President Trump’s second term. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And the rhetoric has only intensified in President Trump’s second term. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two months after Trump made these comments, she was attacked at a town hall meeting during the ICE surge in Minneapolis. During protests against that surge, federal agents killed two U.S. Citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti. Omar was calling for the resignation of the head of DHS at that point. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two months after Trump made these comments, she was attacked at a town hall meeting during the ICE surge in Minneapolis. During protests against that surge, federal agents killed two U.S. Citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti. Omar was calling for the resignation of the head of DHS at that point. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference Archival: \u003c/strong>Whoa, whoa, whoa!\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference Archival: \u003c/strong>Whoa, whoa, whoa!\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>A man lunged and sprayed her with a liquid that turned out to be a mixture of water and vinegar. Omar finished the town hall after the man was tackled and removed by security. In that sense, her toughness, she can relate to Nancy Pelosi. She grew up with brothers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>A man lunged and sprayed her with a liquid that turned out to be a mixture of water and vinegar. Omar finished the town hall after the man was tackled and removed by security. In that sense, her toughness, she can relate to Nancy Pelosi. She grew up with brothers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Her dad was very much instrumental in her life and the way that she thinks about life and the ways that she think about strength and courage. And I grew up with brothers and my dad really is the reason I am who I am today. And I think we have a similar energy that shaped us.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Her dad was very much instrumental in her life and the way that she thinks about life and the ways that she think about strength and courage. And I grew up with brothers and my dad really is the reason I am who I am today. And I think we have a similar energy that shaped us.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Even though they disagree about how to fix America’s health care system and other policies too, Pelosi’s steeliness through it all is something Omar admires. It is important. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Even though they disagree about how to fix America’s health care system and other policies too, Pelosi’s steeliness through it all is something Omar admires. It is important. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Make sure people who see you as an inspiration don’t see you backing down. Because it will inspire them to stand up to police as well.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Make sure people who see you as an inspiration don’t see you backing down. Because it will inspire them to stand up to police as well.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>While we were in D.C., Areola went to the annual California Congressional Transportation Reception. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it? I know. It was packed with politicians and workers from California public transportation projects. Pelosi was there, along with a freshman member of Congress.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>While we were in D.C., Areola went to the annual California Congressional Transportation Reception. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it? I know. It was packed with politicians and workers from California public transportation projects. Pelosi was there, along with a freshman member of Congress.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area is very special because we throw down, we throw down hard. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area is very special because we throw down, we throw down hard. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Lateefah Simon represents California’s 12th District, right across the bay from Pelosi’s San Francisco seat. Like Representative Ilhan Omar, there are policies she disagrees with Pelosi on, but when Ariella asked her about Pelosi at the event, she lit up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Lateefah Simon represents California’s 12th District, right across the bay from Pelosi’s San Francisco seat. Like Representative Ilhan Omar, there are policies she disagrees with Pelosi on, but when Ariella asked her about Pelosi at the event, she lit up.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>And I call her Ms Pelosi. I grew up in San Francisco and in Oakland. She spent so much time with freshmen and I gotta say, a lot of time with me really training me on how this place works. Now, she’s clear that I’m kind of like an ultra progressive. Like I’m a no war, anti-war organizer who grew up doing justice reform. What did that mentorship mean to you? Just like, how did, how do you think, what did she teach you? When I was running. She was very clear to me, I don’t want to talk politics with you, Latif, I want to talk about where you’re going to send your daughter to school. How are you going to be with family? You’re going leave your elderly mother. She’s so clear that our first obligation is to community and family. You know, I sit with her almost weekly and I ask her questions about particular bills and she gives me her her direct thoughts. And sometimes I’ll say, Miss Pelosi, I’m not going to vote that way. And yet… Yeah, she always says, vote your district. What are your hopes for the future of the Democratic Party as she’s stepping down? I remember how Nancy phrases the demand of the moment, and she always equates it with the children. So as a disabled woman, I’m always remembering that, that this is not about power. It must be about service. We’re up against Armageddon in some ways, I feel like, it’s David and Goliath. But I come from, you know, the Bay Area, where we’re ruthless in our own politic about what we believe, what is morally consequential. And I’m glad that I actually came into the Coliseum, not the Dome. Some people call it the DOME. It’s a Coliseium. We’re fighting for the lifeblood of our democracy. And I am so blessed that I have that lens to be able to say, well, no one’s going to push me around. I’ve seen the Nancy Pelosi’s. Hands. I’m stronger because of it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>And I call her Ms Pelosi. I grew up in San Francisco and in Oakland. She spent so much time with freshmen and I gotta say, a lot of time with me really training me on how this place works. Now, she’s clear that I’m kind of like an ultra progressive. Like I’m a no war, anti-war organizer who grew up doing justice reform. What did that mentorship mean to you? Just like, how did, how do you think, what did she teach you? When I was running. She was very clear to me, I don’t want to talk politics with you, Latif, I want to talk about where you’re going to send your daughter to school. How are you going to be with family? You’re going leave your elderly mother. She’s so clear that our first obligation is to community and family. You know, I sit with her almost weekly and I ask her questions about particular bills and she gives me her her direct thoughts. And sometimes I’ll say, Miss Pelosi, I’m not going to vote that way. And yet… Yeah, she always says, vote your district. What are your hopes for the future of the Democratic Party as she’s stepping down? I remember how Nancy phrases the demand of the moment, and she always equates it with the children. So as a disabled woman, I’m always remembering that, that this is not about power. It must be about service. We’re up against Armageddon in some ways, I feel like, it’s David and Goliath. But I come from, you know, the Bay Area, where we’re ruthless in our own politic about what we believe, what is morally consequential. And I’m glad that I actually came into the Coliseum, not the Dome. Some people call it the DOME. It’s a Coliseium. We’re fighting for the lifeblood of our democracy. And I am so blessed that I have that lens to be able to say, well, no one’s going to push me around. I’ve seen the Nancy Pelosi’s. Hands. I’m stronger because of it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>When Pelosi first got to Congress in 1987, there were 13 Democratic women in the House. Now, there are 95. Pelosi helped many of them win their seats. But in many ways, politics is still a man’s club. For women to survive and build a career, you have to be ready to fight. And now, many women in Congress have a template. Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many have pointed out that Pelosi’s political acumen came from Baltimore, her home city in Maryland. But, I really see San Francisco in her. A local politician once described San Francisco politics as a knife fight in a phone booth, a fierce battle that often becomes personal because the city is relatively small and the political spectrum runs from liberal to further left. Surviving the city’s political cauldron, often battles between progressives and centrists, forces politicians to learn how to navigate the many interests, labor, business, environmentalists, LGBTQ. Racial and ethnic groups, political clubs. California Governor Gavin Newsom sees Pelosi as a pure product of these dynamics.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many have pointed out that Pelosi’s political acumen came from Baltimore, her home city in Maryland. But, I really see San Francisco in her. A local politician once described San Francisco politics as a knife fight in a phone booth, a fierce battle that often becomes personal because the city is relatively small and the political spectrum runs from liberal to further left. Surviving the city’s political cauldron, often battles between progressives and centrists, forces politicians to learn how to navigate the many interests, labor, business, environmentalists, LGBTQ. Racial and ethnic groups, political clubs. California Governor Gavin Newsom sees Pelosi as a pure product of these dynamics.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>There’s that cross-pollination that was old San Francisco, the Moscone’s and the Burton’s, the Brown’s, and, you know, the machine.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>There’s that cross-pollination that was old San Francisco, the Moscone’s and the Burton’s, the Brown’s, and, you know, the machine.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom grew up in a well-connected family. Nancy Pelosi was basically his aunt through marriage. His uncle was Paul Pelosi’s brother. He grew up with her coming to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Newsom said he didn’t really know she was a political player when he was growing up in San Francisco, but as he entered politics, city supervisor, mayor of San Francisco and eventually governor, he got closer to Pelosi. And as Newsom sees the party change today,\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom grew up in a well-connected family. Nancy Pelosi was basically his aunt through marriage. His uncle was Paul Pelosi’s brother. He grew up with her coming to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Newsom said he didn’t really know she was a political player when he was growing up in San Francisco, but as he entered politics, city supervisor, mayor of San Francisco and eventually governor, he got closer to Pelosi. And as Newsom sees the party change today,\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>I’m literally mesmerized by the punditry about this DSA. I’m like, have you guys ever been out west, never been in the Bay Area, never paid attention to San Francisco politics? This is like decades, this is what we do. This is the Harry Britt versus the Brown Pelosi machine. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>I’m literally mesmerized by the punditry about this DSA. I’m like, have you guys ever been out west, never been in the Bay Area, never paid attention to San Francisco politics? This is like decades, this is what we do. This is the Harry Britt versus the Brown Pelosi machine. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That dynamic between centrist and progressive Democrats is still shaping the party. But to Pelosi, knowing each side of the party through and through, her body in both camps, as former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown put it, I see that as her strength. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That dynamic between centrist and progressive Democrats is still shaping the party. But to Pelosi, knowing each side of the party through and through, her body in both camps, as former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown put it, I see that as her strength. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Tomorrow’s another day. You know, that’s what I always say to them. When you have like a weaver at the loom and we would weave this and sometimes people couldn’t be in the design and we’d say, okay, if you’re not in the designed, don’t go criticize the design because this is the consensus of the democratic caucus. This is what everybody’s put in and this is a consensus, but don’t criticize it because tomorrow was another day\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Tomorrow’s another day. You know, that’s what I always say to them. When you have like a weaver at the loom and we would weave this and sometimes people couldn’t be in the design and we’d say, okay, if you’re not in the designed, don’t go criticize the design because this is the consensus of the democratic caucus. This is what everybody’s put in and this is a consensus, but don’t criticize it because tomorrow was another day\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s time in elected office is winding down, but the monuments to her legacy are starting to be built. Across the San Francisco Bay Area, you can find markers of Pelosi’s impact and influence. The AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, at the University of California at Berkeley, the new Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy. I’ve been reflecting a lot about how life will be different when I’m no longer covering politics. When people stop saying things like, oh, I heard you on the radio or on a podcast. Now that Pelosi’s time in office is almost up, I wanted to ask her, what are you gonna miss most about not being, when you leave Congress?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Nobody in San Francisco or California ever has Potomac fever. I don’t know. I’ll miss some of my friends, but I’ll see them. I’m excited about going to Berkeley and having the UC Berkeley Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Nobody in San Francisco or California ever has Potomac fever. I don’t know. I’ll miss some of my friends, but I’ll see them. I’m excited about going to Berkeley and having the UC Berkeley Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You’re not gonna miss like just being in the mix all the time. No.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I didn’t go to stay that long. It’s just one thing led to another. You run for leadership, and then you’re leadership, then you become speaker, and it’s those. No, that’s being in the mix. I was in the mixed. Been that, done that. Yeah, I mean, I was first woman speaker of the House. This was a very big deal, and I won it back again. So no, I wouldn’t miss it at all.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I didn’t go to stay that long. It’s just one thing led to another. You run for leadership, and then you’re leadership, then you become speaker, and it’s those. No, that’s being in the mix. I was in the mixed. Been that, done that. Yeah, I mean, I was first woman speaker of the House. This was a very big deal, and I won it back again. So no, I wouldn’t miss it at all.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi says she won’t miss being in the mix, but she’s still active. In our last interview, she told me she was in five states in one weekend, campaigning for the midterms, raising money, doing everything she can to win, and she is confident.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi says she won’t miss being in the mix, but she’s still active. In our last interview, she told me she was in five states in one weekend, campaigning for the midterms, raising money, doing everything she can to win, and she is confident.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>What gives you hope? The fact that we’re gonna win this election gives me hope because we will.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>What gives you hope? The fact that we’re gonna win this election gives me hope because we will.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But if there’s one thing I know as a journalist, it’s this. When someone claims to be certain, it’s our job to keep asking questions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But if there’s one thing I know as a journalist, it’s this. When someone claims to be certain, it’s our job to keep asking questions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I’ve often said the things Nancy Pelosi is best at are the things very few people see. Governor Gavin Newsom said something similar.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I’ve often said the things Nancy Pelosi is best at are the things very few people see. Governor Gavin Newsom said something similar.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>It was constant blocking and tackling. Just the constant, so it was Nancy, blocking and tackle, blocking and tackling. Wasn’t just delivering more resources, was stopping those resources from being cut and building coalitions that wouldn’t have otherwise existed without her. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>It was constant blocking and tackling. Just the constant, so it was Nancy, blocking and tackle, blocking and tackling. Wasn’t just delivering more resources, was stopping those resources from being cut and building coalitions that wouldn’t have otherwise existed without her. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That reminded me of one of Pelosi’s biggest local accomplishments. The Presidio is an old army base on the northern edge of San Francisco, with towering eucalyptus groves and sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a U.S. Military base from the mid-1800s to 1994. After Congress voted to decommission it, there was a big debate about what to do with it. Some in Congress wanted to sell the prime real estate to private developers. In the 90s, Pelosi got Congress on board to turn it into a thriving park with restaurants, businesses, and non-profits. And thanks to that public-private partnership structure Pelosi helped create, the park is now financially self-sufficient. We talked to Pelosi about it on Memorial Day this year when she spoke at an event honoring veterans. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That reminded me of one of Pelosi’s biggest local accomplishments. The Presidio is an old army base on the northern edge of San Francisco, with towering eucalyptus groves and sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a U.S. Military base from the mid-1800s to 1994. After Congress voted to decommission it, there was a big debate about what to do with it. Some in Congress wanted to sell the prime real estate to private developers. In the 90s, Pelosi got Congress on board to turn it into a thriving park with restaurants, businesses, and non-profits. And thanks to that public-private partnership structure Pelosi helped create, the park is now financially self-sufficient. We talked to Pelosi about it on Memorial Day this year when she spoke at an event honoring veterans. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I did my legislation to turn it from a post into a park, our motto was one that existed from the start, from 250 years ago, no shot fired in anger. So we always did it in the most nonpartisan, unifying way. And that’s what will protect the procedures we go forward. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I did my legislation to turn it from a post into a park, our motto was one that existed from the start, from 250 years ago, no shot fired in anger. So we always did it in the most nonpartisan, unifying way. And that’s what will protect the procedures we go forward. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In the early 90s, Pelosi was still relatively new to Washington, but she convinced even some Republican members of Congress to support her plan to preserve the land for the public and to have it pay for itself. Today, that legacy is under attack.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In the early 90s, Pelosi was still relatively new to Washington, but she convinced even some Republican members of Congress to support her plan to preserve the land for the public and to have it pay for itself. Today, that legacy is under attack.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival: \u003c/strong>President Trump’s latest executive order is aimed directly at one of his political rivals’ favorite achievements, the Presidio Trust, established nearly three decades ago, largely because of the work of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival: \u003c/strong>President Trump’s latest executive order is aimed directly at one of his political rivals’ favorite achievements, the Presidio Trust, established nearly three decades ago, largely because of the work of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Earlier this year, President Trump fired all six board members of the Presidio. But at the Memorial Day event, Pelosi was confident. The Trump administration can attack the Affordable Care Act. They can cut government programs. They can dismantle laws she spent months, even years, trying to pass Congress. But when it comes to her public park, The Presidio\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When we passed this legislation, we did it in a very wise and strong way. I feel that this procedure was protected by the legislation because it anticipated any kind of assault that it might have. So I’ll just leave it at that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When we passed this legislation, we did it in a very wise and strong way. I feel that this procedure was protected by the legislation because it anticipated any kind of assault that it might have. So I’ll just leave it at that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After she spoke, a crowd formed around Pelosi. The fog had broken by then, and the sun was shining in the cemetery. Kids with their parents, veterans, constituents, all came up to thank her for her work and her years as their representative.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After she spoke, a crowd formed around Pelosi. The fog had broken by then, and the sun was shining in the cemetery. Kids with their parents, veterans, constituents, all came up to thank her for her work and her years as their representative.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Presidio Memorial Day Ambi: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Madam. You’re an inspiration. Thank you. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Presidio Memorial Day Ambi: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Madam. You’re an inspiration. Thank you. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At a time when people are very skeptical of political institutions or politicians, in San Francisco, Representative Nancy Pelosi is still pretty popular. I’m reflecting on my own career, decades following politics, and in many ways following the decline of our democracy. For Pelosi, the work is about building a better future, a better planet. Even though the results and legacy of her time in power will be studied and debated for years to come. This moment of gratitude, it reminded me that even now, when we’re so divided, government can still help people. The force that is Nancy Pelosi will soon be gone, and whatever comes next, well, that’s a tough act to follow.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At a time when people are very skeptical of political institutions or politicians, in San Francisco, Representative Nancy Pelosi is still pretty popular. I’m reflecting on my own career, decades following politics, and in many ways following the decline of our democracy. For Pelosi, the work is about building a better future, a better planet. Even though the results and legacy of her time in power will be studied and debated for years to come. This moment of gratitude, it reminded me that even now, when we’re so divided, government can still help people. The force that is Nancy Pelosi will soon be gone, and whatever comes next, well, that’s a tough act to follow.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The Speaker is a production of KQED in San Francisco and distributed by NPR. It’s hosted and reported by me, Scott Schaefer. Co-reported and produced by Ariella Markowitz. It’s edited by Padmini Raghunath. Final mix and sound designed by Christopher Beal. Additional mixing help from Brendan Willard. Fact-checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional editing from Anna Sussman and Jen Chien, KQED’s director of podcasts. Original theme music composed by Cedric Wilson. Additional music from APM. Maha Sanad is KQED’s podcast engagement producer. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s editor-in-chief. Special thanks to Paul Burnett, Nan Alamilla Boyd, and Todd Holmes, our partners from the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Special thanks Ana de Almeida Amaral, Armando Arteaga, Jim Bennett, Izzy Bloom, Robert Chehosky, Brian Douglas, Annie Fruit, Rebecca Hopkins, Becca Kao, Sasha Khokha, Paul Lancour, John Lawrence, Marisa Lagos, Derek Larteau, Guy Marzorati, Victoria Mauleon, Katherine Monahan, Susan Page, Suzie Racho, Nicole Rodas, Katrina Schwartz, Zaldy Serrano, Renzo Santos, Katie Sprenger, and Molly Solomon. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#transcript\">View full episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A local politician once called San Francisco politics a “knife fight in a phone booth” where centrist Democrats and progressives duke it out in close proximity. Out of that phone booth emerged Nancy Pelosi. In our series finale, we reckon with what her legacy will be – the fundraiser, the mentor, the fighter. In a moment when the Democratic Party is at a crossroads, how did Pelosi shape the destiny of the Democratic Party?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our team started working on this project in the lead up to the 2026 midterm election. Polls show that nationwide voters are ready to reject President Trump’s agenda and support Democrats again. But for the Democratic Party, things are shifting. Are we ready to change the party? This May, I went to a rally in San Francisco. The theme was change the Party. It was promoted by Saikat Chakrabarti, AOC’s former chief of staff. And at that time, one of the top three challengers in the race for the congressional seat, Nancy Pelosi, will be vacating. The venue was an event space in the city’s south of Market neighborhood. The room was packed, lots of energy, party atmosphere, a disco ball hung from the ceiling. The crowd skewed young and racially diverse. I wanted to hear what these attendees thought about the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And the theme has changed the party. Like, what does that mean to you? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Change the party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>How so?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Because the Democratic establishment is just as corrupt as the Republican establishment. They’re donor Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>Democrats are currently very stagnant and uninspired and they’re fighting for the wrong thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I also wanted to hear what people thought about Pelosi’s role in everything. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>And how does Nancy Pelosi fit into that?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>She was able to whip the votes for important issues, but at the end of the day, she was part of the problem and the corporate establishment Democratic Party. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change the Party Vox: \u003c/strong>If we look at what happened in New York with Mayor Mamdani, he spoke to actual real life issues that people are really dealing with on a daily basis. And he used that as sort of his core. And I don’t think that’s what Pelosi and the establishment Democrats have historically done. They speak more to their corporate base, their donor base. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a politics reporter, I take in a lot of different perspectives. One day I’ll go to a rally and ask voters what they think. And then another, I’ll interview the most powerful man in California. Governor Gavin Newsom. I asked him the same question. What’s Pelosi’s legacy?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>People need to study effectiveness, and they need to celebrate it, and they to celebrate some pragmatism, not just idealism.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom’s had a front row seat to Pelosi’s work over the years. What does California, what does the Democratic Party lose in her retirement? And how do you get it back? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>Well, you lose, obviously, the wisdom, the temperance, the courage. I’m sorry everybody out there hates the establishment and incumbents. It kind of worked for us. Be careful what you wish for.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like Pelosi, I’m also retiring this year. Now, just to be clear of the similarities and the there, there won’t be any buildings named after me, but we’re both leaving at a time of change for the Democratic Party, the institution Pelosi has devoted her life to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>What do you make of the rise? We’re seeing a lot of turmoil in the Democratic party in terms of candidates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I disagree with your terminology. A lot of turmoil in the Democratic Party. There isn’t a lot of tumble in the party. There’s some people who’ve won their elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The way she sees it, there are places where more progressive candidates can win and others where they can’t. In the period of time I sat down with her the summer of 2026, she was laser focused on the midterm elections. How do you want people to remember your legacy? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Not so fast on the legacy. We have to win the house, which we will do. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As someone who watched Nancy Pelosi’s rise from that raucous first election in 1987 to the power broker that she is today, I wanted to really take this moment to examine Nancy Pelosi impact on the party she’s devoted her entire life to. Has her role as a fundraiser pushed the party away from its working class ideals? Or has Pelosi kicked down the doors for a more progressive crop of voices in Congress? I’m Scott Schaefer from KQED. This is The Speaker, today the question of Nancy Pelosi’s legacy in a moment of conflict.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Over the decades, Nancy Pelosi built tremendous influence in the Democratic party, leveraging trusting relationships and her history of success, political capital, as we sometimes call it. In 2024, something happened that would require her to spend some of that capital. President Biden took the stage that June to debate Republican candidate Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joe Biden: \u003c/strong>Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden’s performance in that debate caused a lot of Democrats to hit the panic button. Concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability and age inflamed already simmering tensions within the party around what its future should look like. And big donors were threatening to withhold their support as long as he was the nominee. And then Pelosi stepped in. She went on Morning Joe, the MSNBC show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>Does he have your support to be the head of the Democratic second? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morning Joe: \u003c/strong>As long as the president has the president, it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biden had already decided he was running. This is basically Pelosi giving Biden a vote of no confidence. As close as she’d come to saying he should drop out of the race without saying so directly. The weeks dragged on. President Biden was still in the race. So behind the scenes, Pelosi knew she had to make a critical phone call.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was not there to undo his decision, I just told him what I thought.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>This would not be easy for her. They had been friends for decades. They’d worked hard with a narrow majority in the House to pass legislation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Infrastructure Bill, CHIPS Act, CHIPs and Science Act, more for climate than any history of any country in the world, issues that related to our veterans, the PACT Act. He was really on roll.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But she knew the time had come to say something.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I never asked him not to run. All I said is, two things. One, presentation that is being made is not a winning one. The polls are not good on this. And you’ve accomplished so much. This is a winning agenda that you have. I don’t know. Let me talk to my polls, because they have the polls. I said, well, that’s interesting. But I’d like to have more pollsters around the table to compare. I don’t have any recommendations of who they should be. But just have some other points of view so that we can see where we are on this. Because too much is at stake. Donald Trump. Too much is a stake.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>How hard was that conversation? I mean, you say you didn’t ask him not to run, but it was interpreted that way. And ultimately, there were others calling on him not to run. How hard is that given the relationship you’ve had with him?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was not a good thing. I mean, it was hard. I mean I’ve known him for decades. We’ve been friends a very long time. I love him. I think he was a great patriot. He was a Great President. All we wanted to do was to see the reality of when you take polls, it’s not about where you are. It’s about where the public is on issues and how your message is coming across. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On July 21st, 2024, President Biden dropped out of the race. Pelosi endorsed his replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the only person who could legally use Biden’s remaining campaign funds. Pelosi threw her weight into the race, raising more money for the Harris campaign. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I give Kamala Harris great credit for getting out the vote. She got out a big vote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But even so.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>The votes for President of the United States are as follows.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In her role as vice president, Harris oversaw the certification of the election results.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kamala Harris: \u003c/strong>Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Now, 2024 was a bit of an outlier in that, what we know on record, Kamala Harris far out-raised Donald Trump. She did not win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hilary Braseth is the executive director of Open Secrets. That’s a nonprofit dedicated to tracking money in U.S. Politics. She says 2024 was an outlier because \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>If you raise more money than your opponent, the likelihood that you will win is roughly 80%. So it’s quite high.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And Nancy Pelosi, well, she’s famous for raising a lot of money for Democrats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>She was the Speaker of the House for many years, and it’s no secret that she’s, with that title, also managed to raise a whole bunch of money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since 2000, she’s raised around $100 million directly and has helped the Democratic Party bring in around $1.25 billion total. To Brasif, Pelosi’s power comes in part from this fundraising ability. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>Members of Congress who are able to raise large sums of money is often seen as a proxy for how successful they may be in an election or how powerful they might be able to be once they are elected by virtue of having a war chest, we refer to it as, to transfer to other lower-ranking Democrats, which again fuels and reinforces the system of power. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Like in Nancy Pelosi’s case, she raises a ton of money, but she doesn’t need it for herself, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>And then she can transfer it to lower ranking members. So it’s powerful, right? She gets to decide who gets to receive this money that then produces a system of currying favor from lower ranking Democrats. And you have the party machinery here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s strength as a fundraiser is more important than ever. This is an extremely consequential midterm election at a time when voters aren’t particularly excited about Democrats. As of February, Pelosi had about $9 million in a personal war chest, ready to deploy for congressional races around the country. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hilary Braseth: \u003c/strong>She’s built strong relationships with heavy hitters when it comes to political donors. It also means that she’s had largely the backing of her party as somebody who’s been able to bring in very large sums of money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that’s also contributed to image problems and the rise of what progressive critics call corporate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barack Obama: \u003c/strong>Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, money has poured into our political system. It allowed corporations, interest groups, and wealthy individuals to spend an unlimited amount of money funding political ads and other campaign activities. They often do this through political action committees, or PACs, and their supercharged cousins, super PACs. And this happens on both sides of the aisle. One of Pelosi’s political mantras is just win. She used the phrase in an interview once. She was asked about Democrats criticizing her to score political points in more conservative districts. Her answer, basically, go ahead, do whatever it takes to win the election. Times have changed in terms of political giving. Today, some of the largest contributors to PACs and campaigns have ties to Silicon Valley. Even today. As data centers and AI attract bipartisan criticism, Pelosi doesn’t discourage Democrats from taking tech contributions, insisting that support does not have to compromise their values. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I mean, candidates call me and say, tech is coming in for me. I don’t want it, but they’re coming in for me because they don’t like the opponent, and I’m afraid that other tech will come in for them. But tech money is different from fossil fuel money, and it’s different from gun money, because there are differences of opinion.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As California tech CEOs ingratiate themselves with Trump, Pelosi seems to draw a distinction between tech money and other corporate money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Now, the tech community is a relatively new phenomenon in terms of… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But it’s corporate money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Yeah, no, but the tech money is on both sides of the issues. Some of the tech-money that’s saying we should have a better, fairer immigration system and the rest of that. I’m not here to protect them, but all the businesses are the same. I mean, I don’t want to paint everybody with the same brush, but they all want lower their taxes and lower their regulation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But when I ask Pelosi if she thinks the Democratic Party is too reliant on corporate donations, she bristles.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I completely, totally disagree that the Democratic Party is dominated by corporate money. It isn’t. And certainly the Democrats vote for gun violence prevention. The Republicans do not. Their Democrats vote to protect the environment. The other people are in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry as well as the gun industry. So it is a big difference. But we haven’t made that clear. And every poll shows, oh, they think we’re both sort of the same. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Right now, Pelosi’s eye is firmly on taking back the House. She’s traveling the country to raise money for Democrats, trying to flip seats from red to blue. She’s weighing in on a few non-House seats as well. For example, the Senate race in Michigan. Pelosi endorsed Haley Stevens, a fellow House member, the more centrist establishment Democrat. Stevens lost the primary to Abdul Al Sayed, the candidate who supports Medicare for All. And opposes unconditional military aid for Israel. But Pelosi sees the field like a chessboard. There are some districts and states she thinks the party will struggle to win with a progressive agenda. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I don’t know about Michigan. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there in the Senate. But I’ll tell you, the more left the candidate, the harder to win the general in Michigan, in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But with the primaries over and the field of candidates set, Pelosi has hit the road to help Democrats win in November.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Will be a path to winning the White House. What’s happening right now is contrary to anything our founders had in mind for our country, contrary to the Constitution of the United States. And I just, well, we just win, baby. That’s just the whole thing. And win big. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On the night of October 28th, 2022, just before the midterm elections, someone broke into the Pelosi home in San Francisco. The intruder, David DePapp, found Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, in bed. He demanded to know, where’s Nancy? When Paul told him she wasn’t home, he said he’d wait for her. Paul managed to call the police from the bathroom. Police body cam footage from the officers who responded. Revealed DePapp and Paul Pelosi, wearing boxer shorts, struggling for a hammer. Police told DePap to put the hammer down. He said no and swung it at Paul, hitting him in the head, fracturing his skull. Later, authorities found zip ties at the scene and rope in DePaps backpack. According to a federal charging document, DePapa was planning on holding Nancy Pelosi hostage to break her kneecaps if she didn’t answer his questions honestly. Paul was 82 years old. He needed emergency surgery to repair his fractured skull and was in the hospital for several days. Nancy remembers sitting with her family in the ICU. In episode one, we talked about how many years earlier, as a teenager, Alexandra gave her mother permission to run for Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Then she said, get a life.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But that night in the ICU, Alexandra had a very different take.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>After daddy got hurt, she said, if I knew this was at the end of the road, I would never have given you my permission. And that’s too big a price to pay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised that Alexandra said what she did?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised. No, this is our dad, our pop. Pop is what the grandchildren call him. No, that was terrible, terrible thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It was the cruelty after the attacks that really got to her.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It’s not only that, though. It’s all the things that people say along the way. I don’t even know how to refer to the person in the White House anymore. It’s just beyond. But he was making a joke of the whole thing. His kids were making a joke of the thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two days after the attack on Paul, Donald Trump Jr. Retweeted a meme, a hammer and white underwear that said, got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready. He wasn’t the only one. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>That Charlie Kirk or whatever his name was wasn’t there anybody who’s patriotic enough to spend to save to bail out this guy And what was that jerk’s name, Tesla. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Oh, Elon Musk.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi probably knows Elon Musk’s name, but in my experience, when she throws shade, she pretends she doesn’t know someone.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Elon Musk, he made terrible statements, too. They’re just very sick people, but that is trauma. I mean, physical is life or death. Trauma is with you for a long time to come, and that is very traumatizing to a family, to have that kind of assault.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our producer, Ariella, talked to another one of Pelosi’s daughters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised when your mother decided to run for reelection after the attack?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>No, I wasn’t surprised because we had the political work that was going to be done. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Christine Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was really particular that they should go out and live their lives and not live in fear. What were they supposed to do? Stay home and stay inside their house and not go out and be with people, not be in the community that they built together for 50 years in San Francisco because of something like that? I think the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Christine thinks it’s bigger than that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christine Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I think a lot of women of her generation who were living the unlived lives of their mother. Her father was not supportive of her mother becoming a lawyer. There was a lot work that women tried to do but weren’t rewarded for. It was the men groomed for politics, not women. So I think for my mother, what she wanted for herself and for women of her generation, certainly of the next generation and the one after that, is for people to break through all of that and not be held back.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Less than two weeks after the attack on Paul, Republicans took back control of the House. Pelosi stepped down as leader of the house Democrats, but it wasn’t because of the attack on her husband. She was keeping a promise she made four years earlier, self-imposing a term limit response to the desire for new leadership among some in her caucus. In her speech after the election, she talked about how violence can undermine democracy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Indeed, American democracy is majestic, but it is fragile. Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand, tragically, in this chamber. And so democracy must be forever defended from forces that wish it harm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The political environment had gotten increasingly dangerous. Pelosi worries that the attacks on her and the events on January 6th, 2021 will discourage other women from entering politics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Over the years, the attacks that were made on me, the women were saying, I could never do that. But you don’t want other people not running for office because they saw something happen. When women succeed, America succeeds. I firmly believe that. And I speak to women, I say to them all the time, know your power in this, you are so needed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In our last episode, we heard from Ilhan Omar, the representative from Minnesota’s Fifth District, one of the squad of four progressive lawmakers elected in 2018. She and Pelosi sometimes disagree. For example, on Medicare for All, she supports it. Pelosi does not. But when Omar first got to Congress. I talked to her quite often. She called a lot. So often, her staff would joke that Auntie Nancy’s calling.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And I think she was mostly nervous for me and what I would be dealing with as someone who carried unique identities that were under attack in our country. I really thought that it was super kind of her to pay that much attention to me and what I might need, not just in terms of serving, but just mentally as well. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before Omar was sworn in in 2018, she was worried about one thing in particular. This ban that existed on head coverings. Omar wears religious head covering. Head coverings of any kind weren’t allowed on the house floor at the time she was elected. So she brought it up to Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>She did her… You know, mom assurance thing of like, no, that’s not gonna happen and we’re gonna fix it to my surprise. She worked with me to have the rule change have my name attached to it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Ariella asked her\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>Were you surprised she took care of it, or?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and that she was thoughtful, that she also wanted me to be the one who proposed the change\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was right to be worried. The vitriol has only escalated since Omar was first elected. Omar was born in Somalia, but became a U.S. Citizen when she was a teenager. She’s also Muslim. Omar is often attacked by President Trump. At a rally in 2019, you can hear the crowd yelling, send her back before he speaks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>So, Representative Omar blamed the United States. For the terrorist attacks on our country, saying that…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And the rhetoric has only intensified in President Trump’s second term. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Donald Trump: \u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Two months after Trump made these comments, she was attacked at a town hall meeting during the ICE surge in Minneapolis. During protests against that surge, federal agents killed two U.S. Citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti. Omar was calling for the resignation of the head of DHS at that point. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference Archival: \u003c/strong>Whoa, whoa, whoa!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>A man lunged and sprayed her with a liquid that turned out to be a mixture of water and vinegar. Omar finished the town hall after the man was tackled and removed by security. In that sense, her toughness, she can relate to Nancy Pelosi. She grew up with brothers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Her dad was very much instrumental in her life and the way that she thinks about life and the ways that she think about strength and courage. And I grew up with brothers and my dad really is the reason I am who I am today. And I think we have a similar energy that shaped us.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Even though they disagree about how to fix America’s health care system and other policies too, Pelosi’s steeliness through it all is something Omar admires. It is important. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ilhan Omar: \u003c/strong>Make sure people who see you as an inspiration don’t see you backing down. Because it will inspire them to stand up to police as well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>While we were in D.C., Areola went to the annual California Congressional Transportation Reception. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it? I know. It was packed with politicians and workers from California public transportation projects. Pelosi was there, along with a freshman member of Congress.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area is very special because we throw down, we throw down hard. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Lateefah Simon represents California’s 12th District, right across the bay from Pelosi’s San Francisco seat. Like Representative Ilhan Omar, there are policies she disagrees with Pelosi on, but when Ariella asked her about Pelosi at the event, she lit up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lateefah Simon: \u003c/strong>And I call her Ms Pelosi. I grew up in San Francisco and in Oakland. She spent so much time with freshmen and I gotta say, a lot of time with me really training me on how this place works. Now, she’s clear that I’m kind of like an ultra progressive. Like I’m a no war, anti-war organizer who grew up doing justice reform. What did that mentorship mean to you? Just like, how did, how do you think, what did she teach you? When I was running. She was very clear to me, I don’t want to talk politics with you, Latif, I want to talk about where you’re going to send your daughter to school. How are you going to be with family? You’re going leave your elderly mother. She’s so clear that our first obligation is to community and family. You know, I sit with her almost weekly and I ask her questions about particular bills and she gives me her her direct thoughts. And sometimes I’ll say, Miss Pelosi, I’m not going to vote that way. And yet… Yeah, she always says, vote your district. What are your hopes for the future of the Democratic Party as she’s stepping down? I remember how Nancy phrases the demand of the moment, and she always equates it with the children. So as a disabled woman, I’m always remembering that, that this is not about power. It must be about service. We’re up against Armageddon in some ways, I feel like, it’s David and Goliath. But I come from, you know, the Bay Area, where we’re ruthless in our own politic about what we believe, what is morally consequential. And I’m glad that I actually came into the Coliseum, not the Dome. Some people call it the DOME. It’s a Coliseium. We’re fighting for the lifeblood of our democracy. And I am so blessed that I have that lens to be able to say, well, no one’s going to push me around. I’ve seen the Nancy Pelosi’s. Hands. I’m stronger because of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>When Pelosi first got to Congress in 1987, there were 13 Democratic women in the House. Now, there are 95. Pelosi helped many of them win their seats. But in many ways, politics is still a man’s club. For women to survive and build a career, you have to be ready to fight. And now, many women in Congress have a template. Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many have pointed out that Pelosi’s political acumen came from Baltimore, her home city in Maryland. But, I really see San Francisco in her. A local politician once described San Francisco politics as a knife fight in a phone booth, a fierce battle that often becomes personal because the city is relatively small and the political spectrum runs from liberal to further left. Surviving the city’s political cauldron, often battles between progressives and centrists, forces politicians to learn how to navigate the many interests, labor, business, environmentalists, LGBTQ. Racial and ethnic groups, political clubs. California Governor Gavin Newsom sees Pelosi as a pure product of these dynamics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>There’s that cross-pollination that was old San Francisco, the Moscone’s and the Burton’s, the Brown’s, and, you know, the machine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Newsom grew up in a well-connected family. Nancy Pelosi was basically his aunt through marriage. His uncle was Paul Pelosi’s brother. He grew up with her coming to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Newsom said he didn’t really know she was a political player when he was growing up in San Francisco, but as he entered politics, city supervisor, mayor of San Francisco and eventually governor, he got closer to Pelosi. And as Newsom sees the party change today,\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>I’m literally mesmerized by the punditry about this DSA. I’m like, have you guys ever been out west, never been in the Bay Area, never paid attention to San Francisco politics? This is like decades, this is what we do. This is the Harry Britt versus the Brown Pelosi machine. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That dynamic between centrist and progressive Democrats is still shaping the party. But to Pelosi, knowing each side of the party through and through, her body in both camps, as former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown put it, I see that as her strength. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Tomorrow’s another day. You know, that’s what I always say to them. When you have like a weaver at the loom and we would weave this and sometimes people couldn’t be in the design and we’d say, okay, if you’re not in the designed, don’t go criticize the design because this is the consensus of the democratic caucus. This is what everybody’s put in and this is a consensus, but don’t criticize it because tomorrow was another day\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi’s time in elected office is winding down, but the monuments to her legacy are starting to be built. Across the San Francisco Bay Area, you can find markers of Pelosi’s impact and influence. The AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, at the University of California at Berkeley, the new Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy. I’ve been reflecting a lot about how life will be different when I’m no longer covering politics. When people stop saying things like, oh, I heard you on the radio or on a podcast. Now that Pelosi’s time in office is almost up, I wanted to ask her, what are you gonna miss most about not being, when you leave Congress?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Nobody in San Francisco or California ever has Potomac fever. I don’t know. I’ll miss some of my friends, but I’ll see them. I’m excited about going to Berkeley and having the UC Berkeley Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You’re not gonna miss like just being in the mix all the time. No.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I didn’t go to stay that long. It’s just one thing led to another. You run for leadership, and then you’re leadership, then you become speaker, and it’s those. No, that’s being in the mix. I was in the mixed. Been that, done that. Yeah, I mean, I was first woman speaker of the House. This was a very big deal, and I won it back again. So no, I wouldn’t miss it at all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi says she won’t miss being in the mix, but she’s still active. In our last interview, she told me she was in five states in one weekend, campaigning for the midterms, raising money, doing everything she can to win, and she is confident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>What gives you hope? The fact that we’re gonna win this election gives me hope because we will.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But if there’s one thing I know as a journalist, it’s this. When someone claims to be certain, it’s our job to keep asking questions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>I’ve often said the things Nancy Pelosi is best at are the things very few people see. Governor Gavin Newsom said something similar.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Gavin Newsom: \u003c/strong>It was constant blocking and tackling. Just the constant, so it was Nancy, blocking and tackle, blocking and tackling. Wasn’t just delivering more resources, was stopping those resources from being cut and building coalitions that wouldn’t have otherwise existed without her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That reminded me of one of Pelosi’s biggest local accomplishments. The Presidio is an old army base on the northern edge of San Francisco, with towering eucalyptus groves and sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a U.S. Military base from the mid-1800s to 1994. After Congress voted to decommission it, there was a big debate about what to do with it. Some in Congress wanted to sell the prime real estate to private developers. In the 90s, Pelosi got Congress on board to turn it into a thriving park with restaurants, businesses, and non-profits. And thanks to that public-private partnership structure Pelosi helped create, the park is now financially self-sufficient. We talked to Pelosi about it on Memorial Day this year when she spoke at an event honoring veterans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I did my legislation to turn it from a post into a park, our motto was one that existed from the start, from 250 years ago, no shot fired in anger. So we always did it in the most nonpartisan, unifying way. And that’s what will protect the procedures we go forward. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In the early 90s, Pelosi was still relatively new to Washington, but she convinced even some Republican members of Congress to support her plan to preserve the land for the public and to have it pay for itself. Today, that legacy is under attack.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival: \u003c/strong>President Trump’s latest executive order is aimed directly at one of his political rivals’ favorite achievements, the Presidio Trust, established nearly three decades ago, largely because of the work of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Earlier this year, President Trump fired all six board members of the Presidio. But at the Memorial Day event, Pelosi was confident. The Trump administration can attack the Affordable Care Act. They can cut government programs. They can dismantle laws she spent months, even years, trying to pass Congress. But when it comes to her public park, The Presidio\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When we passed this legislation, we did it in a very wise and strong way. I feel that this procedure was protected by the legislation because it anticipated any kind of assault that it might have. So I’ll just leave it at that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After she spoke, a crowd formed around Pelosi. The fog had broken by then, and the sun was shining in the cemetery. Kids with their parents, veterans, constituents, all came up to thank her for her work and her years as their representative.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Presidio Memorial Day Ambi: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Madam. You’re an inspiration. Thank you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At a time when people are very skeptical of political institutions or politicians, in San Francisco, Representative Nancy Pelosi is still pretty popular. I’m reflecting on my own career, decades following politics, and in many ways following the decline of our democracy. For Pelosi, the work is about building a better future, a better planet. Even though the results and legacy of her time in power will be studied and debated for years to come. This moment of gratitude, it reminded me that even now, when we’re so divided, government can still help people. The force that is Nancy Pelosi will soon be gone, and whatever comes next, well, that’s a tough act to follow.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The Speaker is a production of KQED in San Francisco and distributed by NPR. It’s hosted and reported by me, Scott Schaefer. Co-reported and produced by Ariella Markowitz. It’s edited by Padmini Raghunath. Final mix and sound designed by Christopher Beal. Additional mixing help from Brendan Willard. Fact-checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional editing from Anna Sussman and Jen Chien, KQED’s director of podcasts. Original theme music composed by Cedric Wilson. Additional music from APM. Maha Sanad is KQED’s podcast engagement producer. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s editor-in-chief. Special thanks to Paul Burnett, Nan Alamilla Boyd, and Todd Holmes, our partners from the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Special thanks Ana de Almeida Amaral, Armando Arteaga, Jim Bennett, Izzy Bloom, Robert Chehosky, Brian Douglas, Annie Fruit, Rebecca Hopkins, Becca Kao, Sasha Khokha, Paul Lancour, John Lawrence, Marisa Lagos, Derek Larteau, Guy Marzorati, Victoria Mauleon, Katherine Monahan, Susan Page, Suzie Racho, Nicole Rodas, Katrina Schwartz, Zaldy Serrano, Renzo Santos, Katie Sprenger, and Molly Solomon. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> Democratic Party is officially rescinding its endorsement of Manny Yekutiel for District 8 Supervisor, throwing its support instead behind Gary McCoy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city’s Democratic Party held a virtual emergency meeting on Sunday, where it voted 29-0 to officially rescind its endorsement of Yekutiel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pick-up in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In August, the local party faced backlash for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097058/san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">voting to endorse\u003c/a> Yekutiel — on the same day that it also announced the investigation into Chapin’s allegations had concluded. An ombudsperson who reviewed the complaint against Yekutiel said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But many of Yekutiel’s supporters, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, pulled their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">endorsements when the additional allegations surfaced earlier this month, \u003c/a>which prompted calls from members of the Democratic Party for Chair Nancy Tung to resign immediately. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After nearly two hours of public comment, Tung addressed those calling for her resignation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102904/san-francisco-democratic-party-chair-apologizes-after-sexual-assault-policy-broke-down\">apologizing\u003c/a> to Chapin, Tung declared she would not resign.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung said she will continue to improve the organization’s policy on addressing sexual assault allegations and work with survivors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy will face off against Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pick-up in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In August, the local party faced backlash for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097058/san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">voting to endorse\u003c/a> Yekutiel — on the same day that it also announced the investigation into Chapin’s allegations had concluded. An ombudsperson who reviewed the complaint against Yekutiel said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But many of Yekutiel’s supporters, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, pulled their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">endorsements when the additional allegations surfaced earlier this month, \u003c/a>which prompted calls from members of the Democratic Party for Chair Nancy Tung to resign immediately. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After nearly two hours of public comment, Tung addressed those calling for her resignation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102904/san-francisco-democratic-party-chair-apologizes-after-sexual-assault-policy-broke-down\">apologizing\u003c/a> to Chapin, Tung declared she would not resign.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tung said she will continue to improve the organization’s policy on addressing sexual assault allegations and work with survivors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>McCoy will face off against Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "McCoy clinched the endorsement in a 20-0 vote after the party formally rescinded its support of Manny Yekutiel.\n",
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"title": "SF Democrats Move to Endorse Gary McCoy for District 8 Supervisor | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> Democratic Party is officially rescinding its endorsement of Manny Yekutiel for District 8 Supervisor, throwing its support instead behind Gary McCoy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city’s Democratic Party held a virtual emergency meeting on Sunday, where it voted 29-0 to officially rescind its endorsement of Yekutiel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pick-up in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In August, the local party faced backlash for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097058/san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">voting to endorse\u003c/a> Yekutiel — on the same day that it also announced the investigation into Chapin’s allegations had concluded. An ombudsperson who reviewed the complaint against Yekutiel said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But many of Yekutiel’s supporters, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, pulled their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">endorsements when the additional allegations surfaced earlier this month, \u003c/a>which prompted calls from members of the Democratic Party for Chair Nancy Tung to resign immediately. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After nearly two hours of public comment, Tung addressed those calling for her resignation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102904/san-francisco-democratic-party-chair-apologizes-after-sexual-assault-policy-broke-down\">apologizing\u003c/a> to Chapin, Tung declared she would not resign.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung said she will continue to improve the organization’s policy on addressing sexual assault allegations and work with survivors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy will face off against Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "tech-is-spending-big-on-california-races-this-bay-area-group-wants-you-to-know",
"title": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know",
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"headTitle": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>As voters grow increasingly concerned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">artificial intelligence and data centers\u003c/a>, a progressive Bay Area nonprofit is spending $1 million to spotlight the influence of Big Tech in California’s legislative elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech interests are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077445/how-ai-and-tech-are-changing-the-campaign-finance-game\">becoming a bigger force\u003c/a> in down-ballot races. So far this year, two tech-backed super PACs have already spent more than $24 million boosting mostly moderate Democrats across the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2292\" height=\"2021\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2292px) 100vw, 2292px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee holds a sign before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lucan condemned the outside spending in the race on both sides. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the things that always gets my goat is dark money,” Raful said. “People ought to be willing to stand up and call it out for what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As voters grow increasingly concerned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">artificial intelligence and data centers\u003c/a>, a progressive Bay Area nonprofit is spending $1 million to spotlight the influence of Big Tech in California’s legislative elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech interests are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077445/how-ai-and-tech-are-changing-the-campaign-finance-game\">becoming a bigger force\u003c/a> in down-ballot races. So far this year, two tech-backed super PACs have already spent more than $24 million boosting mostly moderate Democrats across the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2292\" height=\"2021\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2292px) 100vw, 2292px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee holds a sign before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lucan condemned the outside spending in the race on both sides. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the things that always gets my goat is dark money,” Raful said. “People ought to be willing to stand up and call it out for what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Progressive Star, Rallies With Nurses in SF",
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"headTitle": "Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Progressive Star, Rallies With Nurses in SF | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Michigan Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094274/what-abdul-el-sayeds-michigan-primary-win-means-for-california-democrats\">Abdul El-Sayed\u003c/a> arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday with a message for California’s largest nurses union:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When they say we can’t have guaranteed healthcare through Medicare for All, we won’t back down,” El-Sayed shouted from the stage at a convention of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The up-and-coming progressive icon is locked in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, one that will help determine which party controls the chamber following the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/2026-midterms\">midterm elections\u003c/a>. El-Sayed is also tapping into his rising political profile to rally for progressive causes in California.\u003csup> \u003c/sup> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both El-Sayed and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who appeared at the convention virtually, made the case for Medicare for All in a packed ballroom of unionized nurses. Attendees jumped to their feet when Sanders appeared on screen and again to cheer for El-Sayed, who wore a denim jacket embroidered with the nurses union’s red logos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks at the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee convention at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12102170\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102170\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bernie Sanders speaks via video at the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee convention at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12102172\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102172\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attendees listen to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speak at the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee convention at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Bernie Sanders and our union, our organization, go way back,” said Cathy Kennedy, a retired nurse and president of National Nurses United. “So, the values that we have as nurses, our vision for a healthy society, Sen. Sanders has been in the forefront of that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official, is also pushing for a single-payer healthcare system as a main pillar of his political platform.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They are the values of this organization … Medicare for All, because it is a human right, not just for the privileged,” Kennedy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Nurses Association has long pushed for a single-payer healthcare system in California, though multiple legislative attempts in Sacramento have fallen short. The organization is backing candidates for federal office who share their vision as healthcare providers grapple with increased workloads and a rapidly growing cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The union is also calling for stronger regulations around the use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912867/ucsfs-dr-bob-wachter-on-ais-healthcare-transformation\">artificial intelligence tools\u003c/a> for staffing, scheduling and data collection in the healthcare delivery system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a goal El-Sayed shares — throughout his campaign, he has joined the chorus of progressives calling for stricter AI regulations. He repeated his call to action during his visit to the global tech capital.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re going to take on Big Tech,” El-Sayed told the nurses in San Francisco. “Your AI should not be able to deny somebody their healthcare. Your AI shouldn’t be automating out critical care workers in our hospitals and our clinics.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>El-Sayed declined to weigh in on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12099825/california-billionaires-tax-has-a-slim-lead-in-new-poll-but-still-a-lot-of-work-to-do\">Proposition 40\u003c/a>, the one-time wealth tax on billionaires that Californians will vote on this fall, with much of the revenue earmarked for healthcare. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I think it’s important for folks across states to be thinking about how they solve the problem locally, but I’m running for federal office. At the federal level, we need a wealth tax,” El-Sayed told reporters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Sanders has thrown his progressive stardom behind the controversial wealth tax that’s divided the state’s Democrats and organized labor groups. The Vermont senator embarks on a California tour this week where he’s scheduled to rally in support of Proposition 40 in San Francisco and Los Angeles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He’ll also appear alongside Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097751/voters-in-this-competitive-california-district-say-healthcare-is-the-key-issue\">Randy Villegas\u003c/a>, who is running to flip a U.S. House district in Bakersfield; Democratic Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096141/progressive-aisha-wahab-wins-east-bay-special-election-for-congress\">Aisha Wahab\u003c/a> of the East Bay, who is running for a full term in the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell; and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100390/jane-kims-bold-plan-to-protect-you-when-disaster-strikes\">Jane Kim\u003c/a>, who’s running for California insurance commissioner against a fellow Democrat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 1: An earlier version of this story included a transcription error in a quote from El-Sayed. He said “When they say we can’t have guaranteed healthcare …” not “When they say we can have guaranteed healthcare ….”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The up-and-coming progressive icon is locked in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, one that will help determine which party controls the chamber following the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/2026-midterms\">midterm elections\u003c/a>. El-Sayed is also tapping into his rising political profile to rally for progressive causes in California.\u003csup> \u003c/sup> \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Bernie Sanders and our union, our organization, go way back,” said Cathy Kennedy, a retired nurse and president of National Nurses United. “So, the values that we have as nurses, our vision for a healthy society, Sen. Sanders has been in the forefront of that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official, is also pushing for a single-payer healthcare system as a main pillar of his political platform.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They are the values of this organization … Medicare for All, because it is a human right, not just for the privileged,” Kennedy said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The California Nurses Association has long pushed for a single-payer healthcare system in California, though multiple legislative attempts in Sacramento have fallen short. The organization is backing candidates for federal office who share their vision as healthcare providers grapple with increased workloads and a rapidly growing cost of living.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The union is also calling for stronger regulations around the use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912867/ucsfs-dr-bob-wachter-on-ais-healthcare-transformation\">artificial intelligence tools\u003c/a> for staffing, scheduling and data collection in the healthcare delivery system.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a goal El-Sayed shares — throughout his campaign, he has joined the chorus of progressives calling for stricter AI regulations. He repeated his call to action during his visit to the global tech capital.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re going to take on Big Tech,” El-Sayed told the nurses in San Francisco. “Your AI should not be able to deny somebody their healthcare. Your AI shouldn’t be automating out critical care workers in our hospitals and our clinics.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>El-Sayed declined to weigh in on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12099825/california-billionaires-tax-has-a-slim-lead-in-new-poll-but-still-a-lot-of-work-to-do\">Proposition 40\u003c/a>, the one-time wealth tax on billionaires that Californians will vote on this fall, with much of the revenue earmarked for healthcare. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>El-Sayed declined to weigh in on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12099825/california-billionaires-tax-has-a-slim-lead-in-new-poll-but-still-a-lot-of-work-to-do\">Proposition 40\u003c/a>, the one-time wealth tax on billionaires that Californians will vote on this fall, with much of the revenue earmarked for healthcare. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I think it’s important for folks across states to be thinking about how they solve the problem locally, but I’m running for federal office. At the federal level, we need a wealth tax,” El-Sayed told reporters.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Sanders has thrown his progressive stardom behind the controversial wealth tax that’s divided the state’s Democrats and organized labor groups. The Vermont senator embarks on a California tour this week where he’s scheduled to rally in support of Proposition 40 in San Francisco and Los Angeles. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He’ll also appear alongside Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097751/voters-in-this-competitive-california-district-say-healthcare-is-the-key-issue\">Randy Villegas\u003c/a>, who is running to flip a U.S. House district in Bakersfield; Democratic Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096141/progressive-aisha-wahab-wins-east-bay-special-election-for-congress\">Aisha Wahab\u003c/a> of the East Bay, who is running for a full term in the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell; and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100390/jane-kims-bold-plan-to-protect-you-when-disaster-strikes\">Jane Kim\u003c/a>, who’s running for California insurance commissioner against a fellow Democrat.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 1: An earlier version of this story included a transcription error in a quote from El-Sayed. He said “When they say we can’t have guaranteed healthcare …” not “When they say we can have guaranteed healthcare ….”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Medicare for All and stronger AI regulations are among the priorities for the U.S. Senate hopeful, who declined to weigh in on California’s proposed billionaire tax.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Michigan Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094274/what-abdul-el-sayeds-michigan-primary-win-means-for-california-democrats\">Abdul El-Sayed\u003c/a> arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday with a message for California’s largest nurses union:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When they say we can’t have guaranteed healthcare through Medicare for All, we won’t back down,” El-Sayed shouted from the stage at a convention of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The up-and-coming progressive icon is locked in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, one that will help determine which party controls the chamber following the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/2026-midterms\">midterm elections\u003c/a>. El-Sayed is also tapping into his rising political profile to rally for progressive causes in California.\u003csup> \u003c/sup> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both El-Sayed and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who appeared at the convention virtually, made the case for Medicare for All in a packed ballroom of unionized nurses. Attendees jumped to their feet when Sanders appeared on screen and again to cheer for El-Sayed, who wore a denim jacket embroidered with the nurses union’s red logos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00909_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks at the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee convention at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12102170\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102170\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00214_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bernie Sanders speaks via video at the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee convention at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12102172\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102172\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-ELSAYEDINSF-00323_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attendees listen to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speak at the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee convention at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Bernie Sanders and our union, our organization, go way back,” said Cathy Kennedy, a retired nurse and president of National Nurses United. “So, the values that we have as nurses, our vision for a healthy society, Sen. Sanders has been in the forefront of that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official, is also pushing for a single-payer healthcare system as a main pillar of his political platform.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They are the values of this organization … Medicare for All, because it is a human right, not just for the privileged,” Kennedy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Nurses Association has long pushed for a single-payer healthcare system in California, though multiple legislative attempts in Sacramento have fallen short. The organization is backing candidates for federal office who share their vision as healthcare providers grapple with increased workloads and a rapidly growing cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The union is also calling for stronger regulations around the use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912867/ucsfs-dr-bob-wachter-on-ais-healthcare-transformation\">artificial intelligence tools\u003c/a> for staffing, scheduling and data collection in the healthcare delivery system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a goal El-Sayed shares — throughout his campaign, he has joined the chorus of progressives calling for stricter AI regulations. He repeated his call to action during his visit to the global tech capital.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re going to take on Big Tech,” El-Sayed told the nurses in San Francisco. “Your AI should not be able to deny somebody their healthcare. Your AI shouldn’t be automating out critical care workers in our hospitals and our clinics.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>El-Sayed declined to weigh in on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12099825/california-billionaires-tax-has-a-slim-lead-in-new-poll-but-still-a-lot-of-work-to-do\">Proposition 40\u003c/a>, the one-time wealth tax on billionaires that Californians will vote on this fall, with much of the revenue earmarked for healthcare. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I think it’s important for folks across states to be thinking about how they solve the problem locally, but I’m running for federal office. At the federal level, we need a wealth tax,” El-Sayed told reporters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Sanders has thrown his progressive stardom behind the controversial wealth tax that’s divided the state’s Democrats and organized labor groups. The Vermont senator embarks on a California tour this week where he’s scheduled to rally in support of Proposition 40 in San Francisco and Los Angeles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He’ll also appear alongside Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097751/voters-in-this-competitive-california-district-say-healthcare-is-the-key-issue\">Randy Villegas\u003c/a>, who is running to flip a U.S. House district in Bakersfield; Democratic Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096141/progressive-aisha-wahab-wins-east-bay-special-election-for-congress\">Aisha Wahab\u003c/a> of the East Bay, who is running for a full term in the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell; and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100390/jane-kims-bold-plan-to-protect-you-when-disaster-strikes\">Jane Kim\u003c/a>, who’s running for California insurance commissioner against a fellow Democrat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 1: An earlier version of this story included a transcription error in a quote from El-Sayed. He said “When they say we can’t have guaranteed healthcare …” not “When they say we can have guaranteed healthcare ….”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#Transcript\">View the full episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Long before she became Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi was “Little Nancy” D’Alesandro. Raised in Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland, she learned the lessons of power from her larger-than-life parents: “Tommy the Elder,” a Congressman and mayor of Baltimore, and “Big Nancy,” a master political organizer. Decades later, those lessons served her well. In 1994, when Republicans took control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, Pelosi wanted to win it back – and win big. But first: she’d have to wage a war against the men standing in her way, including within her own party. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>If you had a phrase or a few words to describe Nancy Pelosi, what would they be?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Well, I’ll just tell you what I told President Obama when he was first kind of meeting her. He goes, just tell me a little. I mean, he knew her, but didn’t know her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Rahm Emanuel. He was President Obama’s chief of staff. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>And I said, Nancy Pelosi is 99% D’Alesandro and 1% Pelosi. And what did that mean to you? She was her father’s daughter. And I says, if you understand that, you understand Nancy Pelosi. Do not forget that you’re dealing with a D’Alesandro.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1947 to 1959. Before that, he served five terms in Congress, representing Maryland’s third district. For Emanuel, that Italian-American political family is the key to understanding Pelosi. Or, as she was known in Baltimore, Little Nancy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott In the Field: \u003c/strong>So we’re in Little Italy in Baltimore on Albermarle Street hoping to get some background on little Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>I just keep thinking of hairspray. Good morning Baltimore.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s our producer Ariella Markowitz. To learn more about the neighborhood and Nancy’s family, we met up with one of Nancy Pelosi’s childhood playmates. Sorry to make you come out in the rain.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s all right. I’m only a block away. I live on the corner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Mary Ann Campanella is 84 years old. She grew up here in Baltimore, little Italy, just across the street from Nancy. She’s lived in the neighborhood all of her life. Her deep voice, strong opinions, quaffed silver hair and warm embrace, they all reminded me of my mother. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, come on. Whoops. Careful. I’m all right, babe. I just got needles in my knees. Old age sucks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our plan was to check out one of the neighborhood’s best known restaurants, Chipparelli’s. It opened in 1940, that’s the same year little Nancy was born.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi, sweetie.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Chiaparelli’s is a classic Italian restaurant. White tablecloths, waitresses that call you babe and honey. I order a cup of Italian wedding soup and lasagna while Marianne holds court in the dining room.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>How you doing today, baby doll? You okay?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It’s the kind of neighborhood where everyone knows everyone else’s business.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi Mike, what are you doing in here today? It’s his birthday. Oh it’s your birthday? Oh Mike, I didn’t know it was your birthday. Happy birthday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>He’s a neighborhood guy. I knew Maryann all my life. She lives right across the street.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Mike Turocchi. He and Campanella grew up with Nancy D’Alesandro. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>She was queen princess. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>She was just the princess and the father. Tommy was what you call the consummate neighborhood mayor. I mean, he knew everybody. If you had a problem, you went to Tom. I mean my father was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Senior, Tommy, senior.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>My father was an immigrant. He couldn’t hardly speak English and couldn’t read or write. If he had a problem, go see Mr. Thomas. I think Nancy learned from her father by watching and listening and seeing the way he ran the city and the way people looked up to him and the way he run his daily business.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s dad, Mayor Tommy, was the out-front, back-slapping, charismatic politician. But his wife ran the operation behind the scenes. Her name was Annunziata, but everyone called her Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Her mother was a very, very powerful person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Powerful how like what do you?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Just her demeanor and her presence, the way she carried herself, she was just, she was not a Little Italy mom. Let’s just put it that way. I mean, my mother was a mother of 12 and wore housecoats. Nancy was always dressed to the nines, looked great all the time. It was just the antithesis of what we were.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy had dreams of going to law school, never fulfilled. But her political instincts and raw talent for organizing, campaigning, and bringing order to chaos all rubbed off on the Nancy Pelosi we know today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>I thought that that’s the product of her environment. Her mother had aspiration for her to be something special, and she was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As I sat with these old timers, a picture of Nancy Pelosi came into sharper focus. A child watching her parents run the family business. Big city politics. I’m Scott Shafer from KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. This is The Speaker. Today, how Nancy Pelosi used those lessons to seize power. Baltimore style. Last episode, Nancy Pelosi beat out Harry Britt in a special election for San Francisco’s congressional seat. She told us about that day, in 1987, when she got sworn in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Just the D’Alessandro family is big enough to be a crowd.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy the Elder got to see his daughter take the oath of office, along with the rest of the family.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was born, my father was in Congress. When I in first grade, he became mayor of Baltimore. When I went to college, he was still mayor of Baltimore, so I did grow up in a political atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>How are you? You sound a lot better. How are YOU? That’s all the Italian I know, Mr. Mayor. That’s pretty good. You did pretty good! You get A for effort.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was a smart-talking politician with a pencil mustache. And in this PBS footage from 1980, he’s retired from politics but still formally dressed in a brown three-piece suit and what looks like a large checkered bowtie. Tommy was one of 13 kids born in Little Italy, Baltimore. In 8th grade, he was kicked out of school by a no-nonsense nun. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>She was a great, she was a saint. She was the two-fisted sister. She used to slug us every time. Literally? Oh yeah. She knocked him less than two times. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Host: \u003c/strong>Did you deserve it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>Sometimes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a kid, Tommy was often seen around the neighborhood hustling. He peddled newspapers on the street, sold chewing gum to sex workers. He spoke some Yiddish, would run errands for Jewish neighbors. He was the neighborhood Shabbos Goy. The non-Jew who helped Jews observed the Sabbath. Later, he sold insurance. In his early 20s, he decided to run for local office, the Maryland House of Delegates. He sought the endorsement of the local political bosses. Who would hang out in the smoke-filled Rennert Hotel, playing pinocle and eating oysters. They told Tommy to come back with 500 voter signatures.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>So I went around and got a petition. On this petition I had written, we, the undersigned registered Democratic voters of the 3rd Ward, 1st Legislative District recommend for your favorable consideration the candidacy of Tommy D’Alessandro, Jr. For the House of Delegates. He was born and raised in the district, knows the people and their needs, and would be a credit to both city and state if elected, signed by 500 people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He won that election, his first of many. Two years later, Tommy D’Alessandro married Annunciata Lombardi, a local girl, six years his junior, Big Nancy. They had six boys, including one, Nicholas, who died as a young child. In 1938, Tommy was elected to Congress. Tommy and Big Nancy were dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. They even named one of their sons after the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt D’Alessandro. After bringing six boys into the world, the D’alessandros finally had a girl. Little Nancy D’ Alessandro was born March 26th, 1940, and it made local headlines. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was born, our whole thing was, we were born devoutly Catholic, proud of our Italian-American heritage, fiercely patriotic, and in our case staunchly democratic. That was our neighborhood, Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For little Nancy, the family business was politics, local politics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We were taught that we had responsibility to help other people, and politics was one way to do that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And to help other people, they had to win. Winning opened doors, and Tommy relished the victories.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>I carried Little Italy by 69 votes. Palmisano again, I beat him by 2800. At Janetsky again, I beat them by 11,000.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alessandro Jr. Taught his daughter her most legendary, if underappreciated, skill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You have to have the votes, so you have to know how to count.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before she even graduated from high school, little Nancy got a sound education on the nuts and bolts of running a political operation, including the importance of a good ground game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I could just remember seeing these people come to the house at night and have their community meetings and you’re going to be responsible for this area, this area this area this area. This is how many votes you need to get. How many do you think you’re gonna get and that was it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandros, they love to win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>And I won, I won again, again, then.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>And he won, again and again\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong> At a young age, Pelosi learned that power isn’t simply inherited and it certainly isn’t handed over by those who have it. Nope. If you want power, you have to go out and seize it. Once she got to Congress, Nancy Pelosi saw that her fellow Democrats had a big problem. In 1994, the Democrats lost the House for the first time in 40 years. This moment is sometimes called the Republican Revolution. Change was the message, tax cuts, term limits, and smaller government. It was led by a firebrand congressman from Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>This is a contract with Americans for America.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Having won the House for his party, Newt Gingrich became the first Republican speaker in forty years. A thorn in the side of Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>Our proposals, which will come out in May to shrink the federal government, to shrink the bureaucracy, to eliminate some departments, to save the taxpayers’ money, to move to a balanced budget, that’s what the voters want.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>They were in a deep depression.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Anna Eshoo, one of Nancy Pelosi’s closest friends in Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>I mean, they were so stunned. Well, they had been the majority in the house for 40 years and then to drop off into nothingness. Oh my God.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many of the junior Democratic congress members would get together to commiserate over dinner at an Italian restaurant or someone’s house.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>That, the gang. It was a raucous, great group. Nancy always would talk about winning, though, and how to win. She made up her mind that we needed to win\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She had strong opinions about how things should be run, thought that House Democratic leadership did a lousy job managing a banking scandal, and hadn’t done enough to modernize the way they ran campaigns. But to change things, Pelosi would have to overcome a huge obstacle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>Congress is still a man’s club.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Leon Panetta, once a member of the gang from California, who became Obama’s head of the CIA.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>You’ve got to fight your way, and Nancy was willing to fight her way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>When Pelosi got to Congress, women made up about 5% of the House. Anna Eshoo relayed this one story. She wasn’t there at the time, but she heard about it later. Nancy and some other Congresswomen were listening to the men talk about childbirth. Apparently the men were complaining about how hard childbirth was. For them\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>and she tries to get into the conversation. Now she had five babies in six years, you know? She was just so shocked that what the women were trying to say, the guys were. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Dominating.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>She would do an awful lot of listening, and she would listen, but then she would have something to say that was a lot more at the point of what we were concerned about. It wasn’t just complaining, it was like, what are we going to do about it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was getting tired of listening. She wanted to get stuff done. And as election after election passed, she saw something that the men in charge wouldn’t acknowledge. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>94, 96, 98, I was like, there’s no plan to win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Leadership thought that the Republican revolution was just a blip, that things would go back to the way they were, with Democrats in charge. It was just matter of time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was more of an attitude thing, like the pendulum will swing, but I didn’t see really a decision to have it be a wrecking ball, not a pendulum, a wreckin’ ball. You decide to win, and then you make every decision in favor of winning. Quite frankly, I’m really tired of losing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She came into Congress wanting to make life better, for people who are often forgotten\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>This is not for the faint of heart. This is rough. But if you know why you’re doing it, that makes everything okay. My why was one in five children in America goes to sleep hungry at night. One in five Children in America, it lives in poverty. That’s my why, is to ask, go there for the children, for the Children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We don’t know exactly when Nancy Pelosi decided to run for leadership. When I asked Pelosi why she wanted to be leader, her line is, other people wanted me to run. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I got here, after a few years, members came to me and said, you should run for leadership. In fact, you should for speaker. I said, well, I absolutely positively would not do that. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Barbara Boxer, the former senator from California, remembers a different Pelosi. They would commute back and forth from D.C. Together, chatting the whole time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>We could just yak yak about everything. One of those days on the plane, we were talking about, what is your dream in politics? What do you really want to do? And she asked me that, and I said, I want to be U.S. Senator. This is when I was in the House, which was a pipe dream, trust me. Now, I’m telling you, Nancy says, that never happened. So maybe I dreamed it. And she said, I want be Speaker of the House.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You had to have some chutzpah at that point in her career to say, I wanna be speaker.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>Chutzpah doesn’t begin to describe it. It was impossible.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Walking in the street, I ain’t foam with these sidewalks. Okay. They’ll stop for us. Believe me, they will.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After eating at Chiparelli’s in Baltimore with Nancy’s childhood friend, Mary Ann, we jaywalk across the street to Nancy’s Childhood Home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandro Mansion. This is where young Nancy was born, right here in this home. You’ll see the plaques. Mercy Little Italy Health Center in memory of Nancy and Tommy D’Alesandro Jr.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big house. It’s a three-story brick row house on the corner of Albert Marl and Fawn streets.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, and good bricklayer. The Talons are noted for that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Back in the 40s, when Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was mayor, the House was essentially a political headquarters, often buzzing with activity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Her father’s office was here when he was mayor, so he was right in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But everybody knew that if they couldn’t reach the mayor, next best was talk to his political partner and wife, Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>My mom was spectacular. If she were living now, I don’t know if she might be president of the United States. She was so capable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy was glamorous and smart. She loved betting on horses at the local track. She even invented a beauty product, had a patent registered for a facial steaming device. It was called Beautifier Vaporizer for treatment of the skin. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>And basically, it’s just boiling water, but it looks pretty dramatic.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Susan Page. She wrote a biography about Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>Her mother kept what was called the favor file, which was basically a recording of the favors that constituents would come in and want to get from the mayor, whether it was better housing or help with a kid who had gotten in trouble with the law or whatever. And she would help figure out how they might be able to help this person and also keep a record so that they could go back to them when the next campaign came around and they needed some election help. And who was sitting on her right side during these sessions when people would file through their home looking for favors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Little Nancy, that’s who. She would take handwritten notes, later typed onto index cards and filed away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>It is perfect training for being a congressional leader where your members have favors they need done and you keep track of them so that you can cash them in when you need them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was a girl, I could hear what my mother would say when somebody would come to the door if they wanted a place to live in the projects, a bed in a city hospital, somebody going to jail or getting out of jail or whatever it happened to be.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy would help her neighbors with all kinds of problems, but they were also her husband’s constituents. So when election time came around, she’d open up the favor file to, in a sense, balance the books. She’d send women volunteers out to collect the votes. It’s been a key part of machine politics since the beginning. The ground game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Women have always been the strength of the Democratic Party because you have to own the ground.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Speakers of the House wield enormous power. If the President and Vice President die, the Speaker becomes President. They dictate the agenda, appoint members to committees. In effect, Speakers decide which legislation lives or dies, or gets amended, and how. But Speaker of the house isn’t a job that just falls into your lap. Here’s what you need to do. Build alliances. Show that you have a vision. Raise funds for the party. So they’ll elect you to party leadership. That’s your stepping stone to speakership. One of the highest positions is whip. The term whip comes from England. The whipper in was the assistant to the huntsman, the person who keeps the hounds in line. The job requires deep trust as you’re herding votes. Hounds have to know you’ll use the whip. Early on, Pelosi learned a hard lesson about counting on the support of colleagues. She remembers thinking she had convinced a senior member of Congress to support her campaign to join the powerful Appropriations Committee, a coveted position. But when the time came, he voted for her opponent, so she cornered him. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You said that when even knowing, no, even knowing on the race, I’m for you. He said, yeah, that’s what I said. Well, knowing who’s in the race I’m, for you, so I say to people if they say you’d be so great, that’s a no. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi started studying what motivated her members. What were the carrots? And what were the sticks? Here’s Anna Eshoo again, Pelosi’s close friend in Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>She came to know members better than they knew themselves. I always thought that. I thought, oh, that poor deer over there. He doesn’t know that she knows him backward and forward. She had her own internal study of people. She understood them. She made it her business to know them, to know their families, to know their children, to their districts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whip is an internal party position, so there’s no regular election schedule. You have to wait for someone to retire or decide to run for Senate or go back to state politics. Pelosi announced her bid ahead of time anyway to send a signal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Said, you know, you’re breaking into the line. I said, what are we talking about? Because they had it. You’re gonna be next. You’ll be with, and you’ll move up to leader, and you will be with. And they had all guys. They had all the guys. And I said no, we’ve been waiting over 200 years, and that’s it. That’s it, and I know I can win. I’m not asking anybody to take a risk. I know, I’m gonna win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Clearly Pelosi had counted the votes, but she still had one big obstacle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Well, I was disappointed that she was going to run and not support me. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Steny Hoyer, a longtime Democratic congressman from Maryland. A reporter describes Steny as the textbook politician, gregarious, smooth, and a moderate to the core. Hoyer knew Nancy well. He’d also grown up in Maryland. Actually, they’d worked together back in the 60s when Pelosi was a receptionist for a Maryland senator. When Pelosi joined Congress two decades later, Hoyer was…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Tickled Pink to see her, welcomed her with open arms. She was a great addition to the Congress.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We might say today they were frenemies, friends, but also rivals, eyeing the same position and leadership. Based on those wait your turn rules, he was expected to become whip when the job opened up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>And then when I ran, they were like, well, who said she could run? Poor babies. When you think I’m waiting for you, lost all these elections that say I can run. And secondly, they said, because I had a lot of support from the women, they said why don’t you all write on a piece of paper the things you would like to see us do and we’ll do them for you. This is in this century. In this century! I’m not talking about 1958, I’m talking about in this century.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Pelosi knew how to deal with tough old politicians. Her dad had been one. She knew she’d have to get some of them on her side to win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a member from Pennsylvania.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Anna Eshoo again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to the Congress. He really looked like he was out of central casting, beautiful gray hair, impeccably dressed, his collars, his ties, very Irish and very serious about his work. And his work was all about the military. He sat on the floor in the very last seat. If you’re looking at the front of the chamber, the far left corner, it’s dark there. It’s so far away from everything else, but that’s where Jack sat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi kept a small statue of a coal miner on her desk. It was a gift from her father, who’d gotten it from a former West Virginia Congressman.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So Jack Murtha walks down the hall, comes in my office, and he sees that, and was like, oh my gosh. So then we became really good friends. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a representative from coal country, so that made an impression on him. She may have represented San Francisco, but he saw the Baltimore in her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>We need her in the leadership. And that was, you know, I mean, the most members weren’t noticing how the relationship grew and deepened. So they were shocked. Jack, Murtha supporting Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Murtha would actually go on to lead her campaign for Whip.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>To Hoyer’s disappointment. I was surprised because Jack Murtha, I thought, had indicated to me that he would be helpful to me. That did not turn out to be the case. Pelosi was coming for Hoyer spot.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I maybe thought it was his turn, but I didn’t know what dues he paid. I mean, that is to say, I paid all the dues in the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2000, Democrats were still hoping they could win back the House. They needed to flip around seven seats. Pelosi said she could pick up four seats in California, the party would have to do the rest. She kept her word, four more notes for the favor file. She remembers assuming they’d won back the majority.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So I’m on my way to a press conference to meet the press. My staff is like holding me back like this on my coat. They said, wait a minute, we did not win the house. I said, how could they? They needed seven to win the House. They lost every other place. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She couldn’t stand it anymore. Even after delivering what she promised, they still lost. And she was still on the outside looking in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was doing all this stuff, resources and all that stuff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Fundraising.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>But I had never, until I became Speaker of the House, been in the Democratic Speaker’s office. Never. Until I walked into my own office. They never invited me to anything, nothing, because they had it all lined up for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2001, the sitting whip decided not to run for re-election. It was time for Democrats to elect a new whip. To start locking down votes, Nancy Pelosi first turned to her own California delegation. Several of them actually owed their seat to her. She had a running start. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Maryland is a small state and California is a huge state, so it made it very difficult. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Steny Hoyer again. Pelosi also raised more than twice as much money for candidates as Hoyer. Showing that you can raise money is important. It helps solidify your role as a strong party leader and it gives you leverage. Some members who didn’t support Pelosi, well, she never forgot. Washington legend has it she punished the longtime congressman from Michigan, John Dingell, helping ensure he was deposed from his high power committee chairmanship. Because he didn’t support her for whip. And even Steny Hoyer had to appreciate how meticulous she was. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s a very, very hard worker. She’s very tenacious. She’s a thorough, she’s very smart. She is a wonderful counter of votes. When it was time for the vote, Pelosi was confident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I tried to tell them that I’m going to win this. But they, to the end, which I was on the floor, I could hear them, you gotta be for standing tomorrow. This is a one vote race for babies. They didn’t know how to count.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi predicted she’d get 120 votes, she got 118. Steny Hoyer got 95. So, on October 10th, 2001, just a few weeks after 9-11,\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>And a woman has broken new ground in the nation’s capital, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi becomes Democratic whip, the number two House leader right behind the Democratic leader, Richard Gephardt, the highest ranking woman in Congress ever. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Given 9/11, Pelosi’s groundbreaking election was easy to miss. But it was unmistakable. Pelosi was on her way to becoming Speaker.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>What’s remarkable about the campaign that she ran was that she didn’t run it like a girl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biographer Susan Page again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>You know, a lot of the women in Congress had accepted kind of secondary roles in leadership, like being the caucus secretary, or doing what it was the men were willing to let them to do because no woman had been in a real leadership position before, in a really leadership position that had power. And she just thought that was nonsense and plowed ahead. And I think to the dismay of these men who were in charge, she won.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>If there were not many more women in Congress, I might not have won. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hmm, speaker image.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>A speaker, you know, or a whip at that time. Because whip was the first step. They knew, boom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You just heard about Nancy Pelosi’s secret sauce, her recipe for taking over Congress. Her father taught her to bring the wrecking ball. Her mother taught her to bring a carrot with the favor file. Pelosi wasn’t whipped for long. In 2002, the party leader position opened up and she took it. Pelosi was now head of Democrats. But one thing standing in her way to being speaker, Republicans losing again wasn’t an option. It would be total war. Pelosi went on the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes, right before the 2006 election. Dressed in bright red, she sat across from correspondent Leslie Stahl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leslie Stahl: \u003c/strong>You have called your Republican colleagues, these are quotes, immoral, corrupt, you say they’re running a criminal enterprise.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>Well, actually, when I called them those names, I was being gentle. There are much worse things I could have said about them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The segment is titled, Two Heartbeats Away. Message, if the Democrats win, this woman will likely become the next Speaker of the House. It was a reference to the presidential line of succession. Speaker of House is third in line after the President and Vice President. For many Americans, this was probably the first real glimpse they got of Pelosi. She lays into the President, George W. Bush, often with a radiant smile. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>This isn’t personal. He’s incompetent. Well, I think he is. That’s personal. Well, then I’m sorry. That’s his problem. I have very thick skin. I don’t care what they say about me. This election is about them. This is a referendum on them. Making them lame ducks is good enough for me. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Of course, Republicans fought tooth and nail to avoid becoming lame ducks. They flooded the airwaves with ads, warning that unless Republicans prevailed, the top leader in Congress would be an ultra-liberal from wacky San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival – Ad: \u003c/strong>You’ll reward illegal aliens with welfare, food stamps, and free education. And I had the privilege because of a woman being very defined by the Republicans coming after me. Hundreds of thousands of ads. Imagine how much money that cost.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At this time, the US was over three years into the war in Iraq. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi had access to information about the 9-11 attacks. She voted for intervention in Afghanistan as retaliation for the attacks, but she never supported Bush starting the Iraq War, voting against it with 132 of her colleagues. As the war intensified, casualties mounting, the search for weapons of mass destruction coming up empty. Pelosi kept her eyes on the prize, winning back the House in the 2006 midterm elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Nancy is, and I say this as a compliment, she is comfortable with power and exercising it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Rahm Emanuel came in to help. He’s somewhat intense, known for shouting at donors for more money, stabbing a steak knife into the table to make a point.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Understands winning gives you that. If you win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>You get to set the table.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>To win back the House, Democrats had to pick up 15 seats. So Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid launched their answer to Newt Gingrich’s contract with America. Six for 06, a plan that promised more funding for national security, a minimum wage hike, and affordable healthcare. Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel was busy recruiting candidates he thought could win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna find people that open the door to a group of voters because we gotta swing a district. You can’t win it on Democratic voters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And they started bringing in money. Federal fundraising tallies show that, compared to the previous election cycle, Democrats raised about 50% more for House candidates in 2006. Republicans still outspent Democrats, but Pelosi and Emanuel put a dent in their financial advantage. Some Democrats, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, others, criticize taking money from corporations and PACs. How do you, and how does Nancy Pelosi, how do you see that criticism?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>You don’t tie one hand behind your back, okay? We can’t just put people on the field and then leave them out there to self-defend themselves. I hate what the court did. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He’s referring to the Supreme Court case Citizens United decided in 2010. It reversed older restrictions on campaign spending and allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>But that’s the world we live in. Again, she’s comfortable with power. Nancy exists in the arena.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whichever party controls the White House usually loses seats in Congress in the midterms. But Pelosi was never content to just let the pendulum swing or it naturally would. Winning is never inevitable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It isn’t that the tide goes in and out. That’s probably what they thought in the nineties that the Tide went out and now come back in. So I’m not really wedded to that concept. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For the first time in 12 years, Democrats seized back control of the House. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>Washington turned upside down.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival – President Bush: \u003c/strong>It was a thumping.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>Power switch in the House. Democrats now firmly in control there. The Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, set to become the first woman Speaker of the House in American history. Pelosi was finally on top.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On January 4, 2007, holding one grandchild and surrounded by others, Pelosi was officially elected speaker. Republican leader John Boehner graciously handed Pelosi the gavel and history\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Mr. Speaker, I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship. Before we move forward, because there’s so many children here and so many of them asked me if they could touch the gavel, I wanted to invite as many of them who wanted to come forward to come join me up here. I know my own grandchildren will. There it is.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We’re here for the children, we’re here \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For the children would be Nancy Pelosi’s mantra.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I know that sometimes I have to take a punch and sometimes I have to throw a punch for the children, for the children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The stars had finally aligned for Baltimore’s favorite daughter. Both her parents lived long enough to see Pelosi elected to Congress. They died before she became the most powerful woman in U.S. Politics ever. But their influence was undeniable. Little Nancy D’Alessandro had become the speaker.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Well, the power of the speaker is awesome. There’s nothing to compare to that. It’s the second highest president, vice president. Let me feel your pulse.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats had seized power, but she’d soon find out the difference between winning \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We’ll climb the fence. If that doesn’t work, we’ll pole vault in. If that does not work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re not letting anything stand in our way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Did you believe it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Yes, I was determined we were going to get this done.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And govern it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zeke Emanuel: \u003c/strong>The system is falling apart, costs are going up, people are getting pissed off. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mick Mulvaney: \u003c/strong>If you think your healthcare is great now, just wait until the government runs it for you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>A lot going on. Thank you. You’re giving me PTSD right now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s coming up next on The speaker. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The Speaker is a production of KQED in San Francisco and distributed by NPR. It’s hosted and reported by me, Scott Shafer. It’s reported and produced by Ariella Markowitz. It’s edited by Padmini Raghunath. Final mix and sound design by Christopher Beale. Fat-checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional editing from Anna Susman and Jen Chien, KQED’s director of podcasts. Original theme song composed by Cedric Wilson. Additional music from APM. Maha Sanad is KQED’s podcast engagement producer. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s editor in chief. Special thanks to our partners from the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television, and radio artists, San Francisco, Northern California, local.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Long before she became Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi was “Little Nancy” D’Alesandro. Raised in Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland, she learned the lessons of power from her larger-than-life parents: “Tommy the Elder,” a Congressman and mayor of Baltimore, and “Big Nancy,” a master political organizer. Decades later, those lessons served her well. In 1994, when Republicans took control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, Pelosi wanted to win it back – and win big. But first: she’d have to wage a war against the men standing in her way, including within her own party. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Long before she became Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi was “Little Nancy” D’Alesandro. Raised in Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland, she learned the lessons of power from her larger-than-life parents: “Tommy the Elder,” a Congressman and mayor of Baltimore, and “Big Nancy,” a master political organizer. Decades later, those lessons served her well. In 1994, when Republicans took control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, Pelosi wanted to win it back – and win big. But first: she’d have to wage a war against the men standing in her way, including within her own party. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>If you had a phrase or a few words to describe Nancy Pelosi, what would they be?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Well, I’ll just tell you what I told President Obama when he was first kind of meeting her. He goes, just tell me a little. I mean, he knew her, but didn’t know her. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Well, I’ll just tell you what I told President Obama when he was first kind of meeting her. He goes, just tell me a little. I mean, he knew her, but didn’t know her. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Rahm Emanuel. He was President Obama’s chief of staff. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>And I said, Nancy Pelosi is 99% D’Alesandro and 1% Pelosi. And what did that mean to you? She was her father’s daughter. And I says, if you understand that, you understand Nancy Pelosi. Do not forget that you’re dealing with a D’Alesandro.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>And I said, Nancy Pelosi is 99% D’Alesandro and 1% Pelosi. And what did that mean to you? She was her father’s daughter. And I says, if you understand that, you understand Nancy Pelosi. Do not forget that you’re dealing with a D’Alesandro.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1947 to 1959. Before that, he served five terms in Congress, representing Maryland’s third district. For Emanuel, that Italian-American political family is the key to understanding Pelosi. Or, as she was known in Baltimore, Little Nancy. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1947 to 1959. Before that, he served five terms in Congress, representing Maryland’s third district. For Emanuel, that Italian-American political family is the key to understanding Pelosi. Or, as she was known in Baltimore, Little Nancy. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott In the Field: \u003c/strong>So we’re in Little Italy in Baltimore on Albermarle Street hoping to get some background on little Nancy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott In the Field: \u003c/strong>So we’re in Little Italy in Baltimore on Albermarle Street hoping to get some background on little Nancy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>I just keep thinking of hairspray. Good morning Baltimore.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s our producer Ariella Markowitz. To learn more about the neighborhood and Nancy’s family, we met up with one of Nancy Pelosi’s childhood playmates. Sorry to make you come out in the rain.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s our producer Ariella Markowitz. To learn more about the neighborhood and Nancy’s family, we met up with one of Nancy Pelosi’s childhood playmates. Sorry to make you come out in the rain.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s all right. I’m only a block away. I live on the corner. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s all right. I’m only a block away. I live on the corner. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Mary Ann Campanella is 84 years old. She grew up here in Baltimore, little Italy, just across the street from Nancy. She’s lived in the neighborhood all of her life. Her deep voice, strong opinions, quaffed silver hair and warm embrace, they all reminded me of my mother. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Mary Ann Campanella is 84 years old. She grew up here in Baltimore, little Italy, just across the street from Nancy. She’s lived in the neighborhood all of her life. Her deep voice, strong opinions, quaffed silver hair and warm embrace, they all reminded me of my mother. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, come on. Whoops. Careful. I’m all right, babe. I just got needles in my knees. Old age sucks.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, come on. Whoops. Careful. I’m all right, babe. I just got needles in my knees. Old age sucks.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our plan was to check out one of the neighborhood’s best known restaurants, Chipparelli’s. It opened in 1940, that’s the same year little Nancy was born.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our plan was to check out one of the neighborhood’s best known restaurants, Chipparelli’s. It opened in 1940, that’s the same year little Nancy was born.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi, sweetie.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Chiaparelli’s is a classic Italian restaurant. White tablecloths, waitresses that call you babe and honey. I order a cup of Italian wedding soup and lasagna while Marianne holds court in the dining room.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Chiaparelli’s is a classic Italian restaurant. White tablecloths, waitresses that call you babe and honey. I order a cup of Italian wedding soup and lasagna while Marianne holds court in the dining room.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>How you doing today, baby doll? You okay?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>How you doing today, baby doll? You okay?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It’s the kind of neighborhood where everyone knows everyone else’s business.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi Mike, what are you doing in here today? It’s his birthday. Oh it’s your birthday? Oh Mike, I didn’t know it was your birthday. Happy birthday.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi Mike, what are you doing in here today? It’s his birthday. Oh it’s your birthday? Oh Mike, I didn’t know it was your birthday. Happy birthday.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>He’s a neighborhood guy. I knew Maryann all my life. She lives right across the street.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Mike Turocchi. He and Campanella grew up with Nancy D’Alesandro. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Mike Turocchi. He and Campanella grew up with Nancy D’Alesandro. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>She was queen princess. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>She was queen princess. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>She was just the princess and the father. Tommy was what you call the consummate neighborhood mayor. I mean, he knew everybody. If you had a problem, you went to Tom. I mean my father was.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>She was just the princess and the father. Tommy was what you call the consummate neighborhood mayor. I mean, he knew everybody. If you had a problem, you went to Tom. I mean my father was.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Senior, Tommy, senior.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>My father was an immigrant. He couldn’t hardly speak English and couldn’t read or write. If he had a problem, go see Mr. Thomas. I think Nancy learned from her father by watching and listening and seeing the way he ran the city and the way people looked up to him and the way he run his daily business.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>My father was an immigrant. He couldn’t hardly speak English and couldn’t read or write. If he had a problem, go see Mr. Thomas. I think Nancy learned from her father by watching and listening and seeing the way he ran the city and the way people looked up to him and the way he run his daily business.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s dad, Mayor Tommy, was the out-front, back-slapping, charismatic politician. But his wife ran the operation behind the scenes. Her name was Annunziata, but everyone called her Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s dad, Mayor Tommy, was the out-front, back-slapping, charismatic politician. But his wife ran the operation behind the scenes. Her name was Annunziata, but everyone called her Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Her mother was a very, very powerful person.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Her mother was a very, very powerful person.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Powerful how like what do you?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Powerful how like what do you?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Just her demeanor and her presence, the way she carried herself, she was just, she was not a Little Italy mom. Let’s just put it that way. I mean, my mother was a mother of 12 and wore housecoats. Nancy was always dressed to the nines, looked great all the time. It was just the antithesis of what we were.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Just her demeanor and her presence, the way she carried herself, she was just, she was not a Little Italy mom. Let’s just put it that way. I mean, my mother was a mother of 12 and wore housecoats. Nancy was always dressed to the nines, looked great all the time. It was just the antithesis of what we were.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy had dreams of going to law school, never fulfilled. But her political instincts and raw talent for organizing, campaigning, and bringing order to chaos all rubbed off on the Nancy Pelosi we know today.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy had dreams of going to law school, never fulfilled. But her political instincts and raw talent for organizing, campaigning, and bringing order to chaos all rubbed off on the Nancy Pelosi we know today.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>I thought that that’s the product of her environment. Her mother had aspiration for her to be something special, and she was.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>I thought that that’s the product of her environment. Her mother had aspiration for her to be something special, and she was.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As I sat with these old timers, a picture of Nancy Pelosi came into sharper focus. A child watching her parents run the family business. Big city politics. I’m Scott Shafer from KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. This is The Speaker. Today, how Nancy Pelosi used those lessons to seize power. Baltimore style. Last episode, Nancy Pelosi beat out Harry Britt in a special election for San Francisco’s congressional seat. She told us about that day, in 1987, when she got sworn in.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As I sat with these old timers, a picture of Nancy Pelosi came into sharper focus. A child watching her parents run the family business. Big city politics. I’m Scott Shafer from KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. This is The Speaker. Today, how Nancy Pelosi used those lessons to seize power. Baltimore style. Last episode, Nancy Pelosi beat out Harry Britt in a special election for San Francisco’s congressional seat. She told us about that day, in 1987, when she got sworn in.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Just the D’Alessandro family is big enough to be a crowd.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy the Elder got to see his daughter take the oath of office, along with the rest of the family.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was born, my father was in Congress. When I in first grade, he became mayor of Baltimore. When I went to college, he was still mayor of Baltimore, so I did grow up in a political atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>How are you? You sound a lot better. How are YOU? That’s all the Italian I know, Mr. Mayor. That’s pretty good. You did pretty good! You get A for effort.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>How are you? You sound a lot better. How are YOU? That’s all the Italian I know, Mr. Mayor. That’s pretty good. You did pretty good! You get A for effort.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was a smart-talking politician with a pencil mustache. And in this PBS footage from 1980, he’s retired from politics but still formally dressed in a brown three-piece suit and what looks like a large checkered bowtie. Tommy was one of 13 kids born in Little Italy, Baltimore. In 8th grade, he was kicked out of school by a no-nonsense nun. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was a smart-talking politician with a pencil mustache. And in this PBS footage from 1980, he’s retired from politics but still formally dressed in a brown three-piece suit and what looks like a large checkered bowtie. Tommy was one of 13 kids born in Little Italy, Baltimore. In 8th grade, he was kicked out of school by a no-nonsense nun. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>She was a great, she was a saint. She was the two-fisted sister. She used to slug us every time. Literally? Oh yeah. She knocked him less than two times. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Host: \u003c/strong>Did you deserve it?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>Sometimes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a kid, Tommy was often seen around the neighborhood hustling. He peddled newspapers on the street, sold chewing gum to sex workers. He spoke some Yiddish, would run errands for Jewish neighbors. He was the neighborhood Shabbos Goy. The non-Jew who helped Jews observed the Sabbath. Later, he sold insurance. In his early 20s, he decided to run for local office, the Maryland House of Delegates. He sought the endorsement of the local political bosses. Who would hang out in the smoke-filled Rennert Hotel, playing pinocle and eating oysters. They told Tommy to come back with 500 voter signatures.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>So I went around and got a petition. On this petition I had written, we, the undersigned registered Democratic voters of the 3rd Ward, 1st Legislative District recommend for your favorable consideration the candidacy of Tommy D’Alessandro, Jr. For the House of Delegates. He was born and raised in the district, knows the people and their needs, and would be a credit to both city and state if elected, signed by 500 people. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He won that election, his first of many. Two years later, Tommy D’Alessandro married Annunciata Lombardi, a local girl, six years his junior, Big Nancy. They had six boys, including one, Nicholas, who died as a young child. In 1938, Tommy was elected to Congress. Tommy and Big Nancy were dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. They even named one of their sons after the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt D’Alessandro. After bringing six boys into the world, the D’alessandros finally had a girl. Little Nancy D’ Alessandro was born March 26th, 1940, and it made local headlines. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He won that election, his first of many. Two years later, Tommy D’Alessandro married Annunciata Lombardi, a local girl, six years his junior, Big Nancy. They had six boys, including one, Nicholas, who died as a young child. In 1938, Tommy was elected to Congress. Tommy and Big Nancy were dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. They even named one of their sons after the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt D’Alessandro. After bringing six boys into the world, the D’alessandros finally had a girl. Little Nancy D’ Alessandro was born March 26th, 1940, and it made local headlines. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was born, our whole thing was, we were born devoutly Catholic, proud of our Italian-American heritage, fiercely patriotic, and in our case staunchly democratic. That was our neighborhood, Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For little Nancy, the family business was politics, local politics.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We were taught that we had responsibility to help other people, and politics was one way to do that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And to help other people, they had to win. Winning opened doors, and Tommy relished the victories.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>I carried Little Italy by 69 votes. Palmisano again, I beat him by 2800. At Janetsky again, I beat them by 11,000.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>I carried Little Italy by 69 votes. Palmisano again, I beat him by 2800. At Janetsky again, I beat them by 11,000.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alessandro Jr. Taught his daughter her most legendary, if underappreciated, skill.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You have to have the votes, so you have to know how to count.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before she even graduated from high school, little Nancy got a sound education on the nuts and bolts of running a political operation, including the importance of a good ground game.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before she even graduated from high school, little Nancy got a sound education on the nuts and bolts of running a political operation, including the importance of a good ground game.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I could just remember seeing these people come to the house at night and have their community meetings and you’re going to be responsible for this area, this area this area this area. This is how many votes you need to get. How many do you think you’re gonna get and that was it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I could just remember seeing these people come to the house at night and have their community meetings and you’re going to be responsible for this area, this area this area this area. This is how many votes you need to get. How many do you think you’re gonna get and that was it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandros, they love to win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>And I won, I won again, again, then.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>And I won, I won again, again, then.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>And he won, again and again\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong> At a young age, Pelosi learned that power isn’t simply inherited and it certainly isn’t handed over by those who have it. Nope. If you want power, you have to go out and seize it. Once she got to Congress, Nancy Pelosi saw that her fellow Democrats had a big problem. In 1994, the Democrats lost the House for the first time in 40 years. This moment is sometimes called the Republican Revolution. Change was the message, tax cuts, term limits, and smaller government. It was led by a firebrand congressman from Georgia.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong> At a young age, Pelosi learned that power isn’t simply inherited and it certainly isn’t handed over by those who have it. Nope. If you want power, you have to go out and seize it. Once she got to Congress, Nancy Pelosi saw that her fellow Democrats had a big problem. In 1994, the Democrats lost the House for the first time in 40 years. This moment is sometimes called the Republican Revolution. Change was the message, tax cuts, term limits, and smaller government. It was led by a firebrand congressman from Georgia.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>This is a contract with Americans for America.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Having won the House for his party, Newt Gingrich became the first Republican speaker in forty years. A thorn in the side of Democrats.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Having won the House for his party, Newt Gingrich became the first Republican speaker in forty years. A thorn in the side of Democrats.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>Our proposals, which will come out in May to shrink the federal government, to shrink the bureaucracy, to eliminate some departments, to save the taxpayers’ money, to move to a balanced budget, that’s what the voters want.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>Our proposals, which will come out in May to shrink the federal government, to shrink the bureaucracy, to eliminate some departments, to save the taxpayers’ money, to move to a balanced budget, that’s what the voters want.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>They were in a deep depression.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Anna Eshoo, one of Nancy Pelosi’s closest friends in Congress. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>I mean, they were so stunned. Well, they had been the majority in the house for 40 years and then to drop off into nothingness. Oh my God.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>I mean, they were so stunned. Well, they had been the majority in the house for 40 years and then to drop off into nothingness. Oh my God.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many of the junior Democratic congress members would get together to commiserate over dinner at an Italian restaurant or someone’s house.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>That, the gang. It was a raucous, great group. Nancy always would talk about winning, though, and how to win. She made up her mind that we needed to win\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>That, the gang. It was a raucous, great group. Nancy always would talk about winning, though, and how to win. She made up her mind that we needed to win\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She had strong opinions about how things should be run, thought that House Democratic leadership did a lousy job managing a banking scandal, and hadn’t done enough to modernize the way they ran campaigns. But to change things, Pelosi would have to overcome a huge obstacle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She had strong opinions about how things should be run, thought that House Democratic leadership did a lousy job managing a banking scandal, and hadn’t done enough to modernize the way they ran campaigns. But to change things, Pelosi would have to overcome a huge obstacle.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>Congress is still a man’s club.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Leon Panetta, once a member of the gang from California, who became Obama’s head of the CIA.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>You’ve got to fight your way, and Nancy was willing to fight her way. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>When Pelosi got to Congress, women made up about 5% of the House. Anna Eshoo relayed this one story. She wasn’t there at the time, but she heard about it later. Nancy and some other Congresswomen were listening to the men talk about childbirth. Apparently the men were complaining about how hard childbirth was. For them\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>and she tries to get into the conversation. Now she had five babies in six years, you know? She was just so shocked that what the women were trying to say, the guys were. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>and she tries to get into the conversation. Now she had five babies in six years, you know? She was just so shocked that what the women were trying to say, the guys were. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Dominating.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>She would do an awful lot of listening, and she would listen, but then she would have something to say that was a lot more at the point of what we were concerned about. It wasn’t just complaining, it was like, what are we going to do about it?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>She would do an awful lot of listening, and she would listen, but then she would have something to say that was a lot more at the point of what we were concerned about. It wasn’t just complaining, it was like, what are we going to do about it?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was getting tired of listening. She wanted to get stuff done. And as election after election passed, she saw something that the men in charge wouldn’t acknowledge. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>94, 96, 98, I was like, there’s no plan to win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Leadership thought that the Republican revolution was just a blip, that things would go back to the way they were, with Democrats in charge. It was just matter of time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was more of an attitude thing, like the pendulum will swing, but I didn’t see really a decision to have it be a wrecking ball, not a pendulum, a wreckin’ ball. You decide to win, and then you make every decision in favor of winning. Quite frankly, I’m really tired of losing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was more of an attitude thing, like the pendulum will swing, but I didn’t see really a decision to have it be a wrecking ball, not a pendulum, a wreckin’ ball. You decide to win, and then you make every decision in favor of winning. Quite frankly, I’m really tired of losing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She came into Congress wanting to make life better, for people who are often forgotten\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>This is not for the faint of heart. This is rough. But if you know why you’re doing it, that makes everything okay. My why was one in five children in America goes to sleep hungry at night. One in five Children in America, it lives in poverty. That’s my why, is to ask, go there for the children, for the Children.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>This is not for the faint of heart. This is rough. But if you know why you’re doing it, that makes everything okay. My why was one in five children in America goes to sleep hungry at night. One in five Children in America, it lives in poverty. That’s my why, is to ask, go there for the children, for the Children.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We don’t know exactly when Nancy Pelosi decided to run for leadership. When I asked Pelosi why she wanted to be leader, her line is, other people wanted me to run. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We don’t know exactly when Nancy Pelosi decided to run for leadership. When I asked Pelosi why she wanted to be leader, her line is, other people wanted me to run. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I got here, after a few years, members came to me and said, you should run for leadership. In fact, you should for speaker. I said, well, I absolutely positively would not do that. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I got here, after a few years, members came to me and said, you should run for leadership. In fact, you should for speaker. I said, well, I absolutely positively would not do that. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Barbara Boxer, the former senator from California, remembers a different Pelosi. They would commute back and forth from D.C. Together, chatting the whole time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Barbara Boxer, the former senator from California, remembers a different Pelosi. They would commute back and forth from D.C. Together, chatting the whole time.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>We could just yak yak about everything. One of those days on the plane, we were talking about, what is your dream in politics? What do you really want to do? And she asked me that, and I said, I want to be U.S. Senator. This is when I was in the House, which was a pipe dream, trust me. Now, I’m telling you, Nancy says, that never happened. So maybe I dreamed it. And she said, I want be Speaker of the House.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>We could just yak yak about everything. One of those days on the plane, we were talking about, what is your dream in politics? What do you really want to do? And she asked me that, and I said, I want to be U.S. Senator. This is when I was in the House, which was a pipe dream, trust me. Now, I’m telling you, Nancy says, that never happened. So maybe I dreamed it. And she said, I want be Speaker of the House.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You had to have some chutzpah at that point in her career to say, I wanna be speaker.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You had to have some chutzpah at that point in her career to say, I wanna be speaker.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>Chutzpah doesn’t begin to describe it. It was impossible.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Walking in the street, I ain’t foam with these sidewalks. Okay. They’ll stop for us. Believe me, they will.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Walking in the street, I ain’t foam with these sidewalks. Okay. They’ll stop for us. Believe me, they will.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After eating at Chiparelli’s in Baltimore with Nancy’s childhood friend, Mary Ann, we jaywalk across the street to Nancy’s Childhood Home.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After eating at Chiparelli’s in Baltimore with Nancy’s childhood friend, Mary Ann, we jaywalk across the street to Nancy’s Childhood Home.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandro Mansion. This is where young Nancy was born, right here in this home. You’ll see the plaques. Mercy Little Italy Health Center in memory of Nancy and Tommy D’Alesandro Jr.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandro Mansion. This is where young Nancy was born, right here in this home. You’ll see the plaques. Mercy Little Italy Health Center in memory of Nancy and Tommy D’Alesandro Jr.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big house. It’s a three-story brick row house on the corner of Albert Marl and Fawn streets.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big house. It’s a three-story brick row house on the corner of Albert Marl and Fawn streets.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, and good bricklayer. The Talons are noted for that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, and good bricklayer. The Talons are noted for that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Back in the 40s, when Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was mayor, the House was essentially a political headquarters, often buzzing with activity. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Back in the 40s, when Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was mayor, the House was essentially a political headquarters, often buzzing with activity. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Her father’s office was here when he was mayor, so he was right in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Her father’s office was here when he was mayor, so he was right in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But everybody knew that if they couldn’t reach the mayor, next best was talk to his political partner and wife, Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But everybody knew that if they couldn’t reach the mayor, next best was talk to his political partner and wife, Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>My mom was spectacular. If she were living now, I don’t know if she might be president of the United States. She was so capable. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>My mom was spectacular. If she were living now, I don’t know if she might be president of the United States. She was so capable. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy was glamorous and smart. She loved betting on horses at the local track. She even invented a beauty product, had a patent registered for a facial steaming device. It was called Beautifier Vaporizer for treatment of the skin. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy was glamorous and smart. She loved betting on horses at the local track. She even invented a beauty product, had a patent registered for a facial steaming device. It was called Beautifier Vaporizer for treatment of the skin. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>And basically, it’s just boiling water, but it looks pretty dramatic.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>And basically, it’s just boiling water, but it looks pretty dramatic.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Susan Page. She wrote a biography about Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>Her mother kept what was called the favor file, which was basically a recording of the favors that constituents would come in and want to get from the mayor, whether it was better housing or help with a kid who had gotten in trouble with the law or whatever. And she would help figure out how they might be able to help this person and also keep a record so that they could go back to them when the next campaign came around and they needed some election help. And who was sitting on her right side during these sessions when people would file through their home looking for favors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>Her mother kept what was called the favor file, which was basically a recording of the favors that constituents would come in and want to get from the mayor, whether it was better housing or help with a kid who had gotten in trouble with the law or whatever. And she would help figure out how they might be able to help this person and also keep a record so that they could go back to them when the next campaign came around and they needed some election help. And who was sitting on her right side during these sessions when people would file through their home looking for favors.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Little Nancy, that’s who. She would take handwritten notes, later typed onto index cards and filed away.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Little Nancy, that’s who. She would take handwritten notes, later typed onto index cards and filed away.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>It is perfect training for being a congressional leader where your members have favors they need done and you keep track of them so that you can cash them in when you need them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>It is perfect training for being a congressional leader where your members have favors they need done and you keep track of them so that you can cash them in when you need them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was a girl, I could hear what my mother would say when somebody would come to the door if they wanted a place to live in the projects, a bed in a city hospital, somebody going to jail or getting out of jail or whatever it happened to be.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was a girl, I could hear what my mother would say when somebody would come to the door if they wanted a place to live in the projects, a bed in a city hospital, somebody going to jail or getting out of jail or whatever it happened to be.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy would help her neighbors with all kinds of problems, but they were also her husband’s constituents. So when election time came around, she’d open up the favor file to, in a sense, balance the books. She’d send women volunteers out to collect the votes. It’s been a key part of machine politics since the beginning. The ground game.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy would help her neighbors with all kinds of problems, but they were also her husband’s constituents. So when election time came around, she’d open up the favor file to, in a sense, balance the books. She’d send women volunteers out to collect the votes. It’s been a key part of machine politics since the beginning. The ground game.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Women have always been the strength of the Democratic Party because you have to own the ground.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Women have always been the strength of the Democratic Party because you have to own the ground.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Speakers of the House wield enormous power. If the President and Vice President die, the Speaker becomes President. They dictate the agenda, appoint members to committees. In effect, Speakers decide which legislation lives or dies, or gets amended, and how. But Speaker of the house isn’t a job that just falls into your lap. Here’s what you need to do. Build alliances. Show that you have a vision. Raise funds for the party. So they’ll elect you to party leadership. That’s your stepping stone to speakership. One of the highest positions is whip. The term whip comes from England. The whipper in was the assistant to the huntsman, the person who keeps the hounds in line. The job requires deep trust as you’re herding votes. Hounds have to know you’ll use the whip. Early on, Pelosi learned a hard lesson about counting on the support of colleagues. She remembers thinking she had convinced a senior member of Congress to support her campaign to join the powerful Appropriations Committee, a coveted position. But when the time came, he voted for her opponent, so she cornered him. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Speakers of the House wield enormous power. If the President and Vice President die, the Speaker becomes President. They dictate the agenda, appoint members to committees. In effect, Speakers decide which legislation lives or dies, or gets amended, and how. But Speaker of the house isn’t a job that just falls into your lap. Here’s what you need to do. Build alliances. Show that you have a vision. Raise funds for the party. So they’ll elect you to party leadership. That’s your stepping stone to speakership. One of the highest positions is whip. The term whip comes from England. The whipper in was the assistant to the huntsman, the person who keeps the hounds in line. The job requires deep trust as you’re herding votes. Hounds have to know you’ll use the whip. Early on, Pelosi learned a hard lesson about counting on the support of colleagues. She remembers thinking she had convinced a senior member of Congress to support her campaign to join the powerful Appropriations Committee, a coveted position. But when the time came, he voted for her opponent, so she cornered him. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You said that when even knowing, no, even knowing on the race, I’m for you. He said, yeah, that’s what I said. Well, knowing who’s in the race I’m, for you, so I say to people if they say you’d be so great, that’s a no. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You said that when even knowing, no, even knowing on the race, I’m for you. He said, yeah, that’s what I said. Well, knowing who’s in the race I’m, for you, so I say to people if they say you’d be so great, that’s a no. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi started studying what motivated her members. What were the carrots? And what were the sticks? Here’s Anna Eshoo again, Pelosi’s close friend in Congress. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi started studying what motivated her members. What were the carrots? And what were the sticks? Here’s Anna Eshoo again, Pelosi’s close friend in Congress. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>She came to know members better than they knew themselves. I always thought that. I thought, oh, that poor deer over there. He doesn’t know that she knows him backward and forward. She had her own internal study of people. She understood them. She made it her business to know them, to know their families, to know their children, to their districts. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>She came to know members better than they knew themselves. I always thought that. I thought, oh, that poor deer over there. He doesn’t know that she knows him backward and forward. She had her own internal study of people. She understood them. She made it her business to know them, to know their families, to know their children, to their districts. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whip is an internal party position, so there’s no regular election schedule. You have to wait for someone to retire or decide to run for Senate or go back to state politics. Pelosi announced her bid ahead of time anyway to send a signal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whip is an internal party position, so there’s no regular election schedule. You have to wait for someone to retire or decide to run for Senate or go back to state politics. Pelosi announced her bid ahead of time anyway to send a signal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Said, you know, you’re breaking into the line. I said, what are we talking about? Because they had it. You’re gonna be next. You’ll be with, and you’ll move up to leader, and you will be with. And they had all guys. They had all the guys. And I said no, we’ve been waiting over 200 years, and that’s it. That’s it, and I know I can win. I’m not asking anybody to take a risk. I know, I’m gonna win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Said, you know, you’re breaking into the line. I said, what are we talking about? Because they had it. You’re gonna be next. You’ll be with, and you’ll move up to leader, and you will be with. And they had all guys. They had all the guys. And I said no, we’ve been waiting over 200 years, and that’s it. That’s it, and I know I can win. I’m not asking anybody to take a risk. I know, I’m gonna win.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Clearly Pelosi had counted the votes, but she still had one big obstacle. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Clearly Pelosi had counted the votes, but she still had one big obstacle. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Well, I was disappointed that she was going to run and not support me. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Well, I was disappointed that she was going to run and not support me. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Steny Hoyer, a longtime Democratic congressman from Maryland. A reporter describes Steny as the textbook politician, gregarious, smooth, and a moderate to the core. Hoyer knew Nancy well. He’d also grown up in Maryland. Actually, they’d worked together back in the 60s when Pelosi was a receptionist for a Maryland senator. When Pelosi joined Congress two decades later, Hoyer was…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Steny Hoyer, a longtime Democratic congressman from Maryland. A reporter describes Steny as the textbook politician, gregarious, smooth, and a moderate to the core. Hoyer knew Nancy well. He’d also grown up in Maryland. Actually, they’d worked together back in the 60s when Pelosi was a receptionist for a Maryland senator. When Pelosi joined Congress two decades later, Hoyer was…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Tickled Pink to see her, welcomed her with open arms. She was a great addition to the Congress.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Tickled Pink to see her, welcomed her with open arms. She was a great addition to the Congress.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We might say today they were frenemies, friends, but also rivals, eyeing the same position and leadership. Based on those wait your turn rules, he was expected to become whip when the job opened up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We might say today they were frenemies, friends, but also rivals, eyeing the same position and leadership. Based on those wait your turn rules, he was expected to become whip when the job opened up.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>And then when I ran, they were like, well, who said she could run? Poor babies. When you think I’m waiting for you, lost all these elections that say I can run. And secondly, they said, because I had a lot of support from the women, they said why don’t you all write on a piece of paper the things you would like to see us do and we’ll do them for you. This is in this century. In this century! I’m not talking about 1958, I’m talking about in this century.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Pelosi knew how to deal with tough old politicians. Her dad had been one. She knew she’d have to get some of them on her side to win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a member from Pennsylvania.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a member from Pennsylvania.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Anna Eshoo again.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to the Congress. He really looked like he was out of central casting, beautiful gray hair, impeccably dressed, his collars, his ties, very Irish and very serious about his work. And his work was all about the military. He sat on the floor in the very last seat. If you’re looking at the front of the chamber, the far left corner, it’s dark there. It’s so far away from everything else, but that’s where Jack sat.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to the Congress. He really looked like he was out of central casting, beautiful gray hair, impeccably dressed, his collars, his ties, very Irish and very serious about his work. And his work was all about the military. He sat on the floor in the very last seat. If you’re looking at the front of the chamber, the far left corner, it’s dark there. It’s so far away from everything else, but that’s where Jack sat.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi kept a small statue of a coal miner on her desk. It was a gift from her father, who’d gotten it from a former West Virginia Congressman.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So Jack Murtha walks down the hall, comes in my office, and he sees that, and was like, oh my gosh. So then we became really good friends. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So Jack Murtha walks down the hall, comes in my office, and he sees that, and was like, oh my gosh. So then we became really good friends. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a representative from coal country, so that made an impression on him. She may have represented San Francisco, but he saw the Baltimore in her. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a representative from coal country, so that made an impression on him. She may have represented San Francisco, but he saw the Baltimore in her. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>We need her in the leadership. And that was, you know, I mean, the most members weren’t noticing how the relationship grew and deepened. So they were shocked. Jack, Murtha supporting Nancy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>We need her in the leadership. And that was, you know, I mean, the most members weren’t noticing how the relationship grew and deepened. So they were shocked. Jack, Murtha supporting Nancy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Murtha would actually go on to lead her campaign for Whip.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>To Hoyer’s disappointment. I was surprised because Jack Murtha, I thought, had indicated to me that he would be helpful to me. That did not turn out to be the case. Pelosi was coming for Hoyer spot.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>To Hoyer’s disappointment. I was surprised because Jack Murtha, I thought, had indicated to me that he would be helpful to me. That did not turn out to be the case. Pelosi was coming for Hoyer spot.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I maybe thought it was his turn, but I didn’t know what dues he paid. I mean, that is to say, I paid all the dues in the world.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I maybe thought it was his turn, but I didn’t know what dues he paid. I mean, that is to say, I paid all the dues in the world.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2000, Democrats were still hoping they could win back the House. They needed to flip around seven seats. Pelosi said she could pick up four seats in California, the party would have to do the rest. She kept her word, four more notes for the favor file. She remembers assuming they’d won back the majority.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2000, Democrats were still hoping they could win back the House. They needed to flip around seven seats. Pelosi said she could pick up four seats in California, the party would have to do the rest. She kept her word, four more notes for the favor file. She remembers assuming they’d won back the majority.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So I’m on my way to a press conference to meet the press. My staff is like holding me back like this on my coat. They said, wait a minute, we did not win the house. I said, how could they? They needed seven to win the House. They lost every other place. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So I’m on my way to a press conference to meet the press. My staff is like holding me back like this on my coat. They said, wait a minute, we did not win the house. I said, how could they? They needed seven to win the House. They lost every other place. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She couldn’t stand it anymore. Even after delivering what she promised, they still lost. And she was still on the outside looking in.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She couldn’t stand it anymore. Even after delivering what she promised, they still lost. And she was still on the outside looking in.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was doing all this stuff, resources and all that stuff.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Fundraising.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>But I had never, until I became Speaker of the House, been in the Democratic Speaker’s office. Never. Until I walked into my own office. They never invited me to anything, nothing, because they had it all lined up for themselves.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>But I had never, until I became Speaker of the House, been in the Democratic Speaker’s office. Never. Until I walked into my own office. They never invited me to anything, nothing, because they had it all lined up for themselves.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2001, the sitting whip decided not to run for re-election. It was time for Democrats to elect a new whip. To start locking down votes, Nancy Pelosi first turned to her own California delegation. Several of them actually owed their seat to her. She had a running start. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2001, the sitting whip decided not to run for re-election. It was time for Democrats to elect a new whip. To start locking down votes, Nancy Pelosi first turned to her own California delegation. Several of them actually owed their seat to her. She had a running start. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Maryland is a small state and California is a huge state, so it made it very difficult. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Steny Hoyer again. Pelosi also raised more than twice as much money for candidates as Hoyer. Showing that you can raise money is important. It helps solidify your role as a strong party leader and it gives you leverage. Some members who didn’t support Pelosi, well, she never forgot. Washington legend has it she punished the longtime congressman from Michigan, John Dingell, helping ensure he was deposed from his high power committee chairmanship. Because he didn’t support her for whip. And even Steny Hoyer had to appreciate how meticulous she was. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Steny Hoyer again. Pelosi also raised more than twice as much money for candidates as Hoyer. Showing that you can raise money is important. It helps solidify your role as a strong party leader and it gives you leverage. Some members who didn’t support Pelosi, well, she never forgot. Washington legend has it she punished the longtime congressman from Michigan, John Dingell, helping ensure he was deposed from his high power committee chairmanship. Because he didn’t support her for whip. And even Steny Hoyer had to appreciate how meticulous she was. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s a very, very hard worker. She’s very tenacious. She’s a thorough, she’s very smart. She is a wonderful counter of votes. When it was time for the vote, Pelosi was confident.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s a very, very hard worker. She’s very tenacious. She’s a thorough, she’s very smart. She is a wonderful counter of votes. When it was time for the vote, Pelosi was confident.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I tried to tell them that I’m going to win this. But they, to the end, which I was on the floor, I could hear them, you gotta be for standing tomorrow. This is a one vote race for babies. They didn’t know how to count.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I tried to tell them that I’m going to win this. But they, to the end, which I was on the floor, I could hear them, you gotta be for standing tomorrow. This is a one vote race for babies. They didn’t know how to count.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi predicted she’d get 120 votes, she got 118. Steny Hoyer got 95. So, on October 10th, 2001, just a few weeks after 9-11,\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi predicted she’d get 120 votes, she got 118. Steny Hoyer got 95. So, on October 10th, 2001, just a few weeks after 9-11,\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>And a woman has broken new ground in the nation’s capital, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi becomes Democratic whip, the number two House leader right behind the Democratic leader, Richard Gephardt, the highest ranking woman in Congress ever. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>And a woman has broken new ground in the nation’s capital, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi becomes Democratic whip, the number two House leader right behind the Democratic leader, Richard Gephardt, the highest ranking woman in Congress ever. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Given 9/11, Pelosi’s groundbreaking election was easy to miss. But it was unmistakable. Pelosi was on her way to becoming Speaker.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Given 9/11, Pelosi’s groundbreaking election was easy to miss. But it was unmistakable. Pelosi was on her way to becoming Speaker.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>What’s remarkable about the campaign that she ran was that she didn’t run it like a girl.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>What’s remarkable about the campaign that she ran was that she didn’t run it like a girl.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biographer Susan Page again.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biographer Susan Page again.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>You know, a lot of the women in Congress had accepted kind of secondary roles in leadership, like being the caucus secretary, or doing what it was the men were willing to let them to do because no woman had been in a real leadership position before, in a really leadership position that had power. And she just thought that was nonsense and plowed ahead. And I think to the dismay of these men who were in charge, she won.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>You know, a lot of the women in Congress had accepted kind of secondary roles in leadership, like being the caucus secretary, or doing what it was the men were willing to let them to do because no woman had been in a real leadership position before, in a really leadership position that had power. And she just thought that was nonsense and plowed ahead. And I think to the dismay of these men who were in charge, she won.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>If there were not many more women in Congress, I might not have won. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>If there were not many more women in Congress, I might not have won. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hmm, speaker image.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hmm, speaker image.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>A speaker, you know, or a whip at that time. Because whip was the first step. They knew, boom.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>A speaker, you know, or a whip at that time. Because whip was the first step. They knew, boom.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You just heard about Nancy Pelosi’s secret sauce, her recipe for taking over Congress. Her father taught her to bring the wrecking ball. Her mother taught her to bring a carrot with the favor file. Pelosi wasn’t whipped for long. In 2002, the party leader position opened up and she took it. Pelosi was now head of Democrats. But one thing standing in her way to being speaker, Republicans losing again wasn’t an option. It would be total war. Pelosi went on the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes, right before the 2006 election. Dressed in bright red, she sat across from correspondent Leslie Stahl.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You just heard about Nancy Pelosi’s secret sauce, her recipe for taking over Congress. Her father taught her to bring the wrecking ball. Her mother taught her to bring a carrot with the favor file. Pelosi wasn’t whipped for long. In 2002, the party leader position opened up and she took it. Pelosi was now head of Democrats. But one thing standing in her way to being speaker, Republicans losing again wasn’t an option. It would be total war. Pelosi went on the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes, right before the 2006 election. Dressed in bright red, she sat across from correspondent Leslie Stahl.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leslie Stahl: \u003c/strong>You have called your Republican colleagues, these are quotes, immoral, corrupt, you say they’re running a criminal enterprise.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leslie Stahl: \u003c/strong>You have called your Republican colleagues, these are quotes, immoral, corrupt, you say they’re running a criminal enterprise.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>Well, actually, when I called them those names, I was being gentle. There are much worse things I could have said about them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>Well, actually, when I called them those names, I was being gentle. There are much worse things I could have said about them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The segment is titled, Two Heartbeats Away. Message, if the Democrats win, this woman will likely become the next Speaker of the House. It was a reference to the presidential line of succession. Speaker of House is third in line after the President and Vice President. For many Americans, this was probably the first real glimpse they got of Pelosi. She lays into the President, George W. Bush, often with a radiant smile. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The segment is titled, Two Heartbeats Away. Message, if the Democrats win, this woman will likely become the next Speaker of the House. It was a reference to the presidential line of succession. Speaker of House is third in line after the President and Vice President. For many Americans, this was probably the first real glimpse they got of Pelosi. She lays into the President, George W. Bush, often with a radiant smile. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>This isn’t personal. He’s incompetent. Well, I think he is. That’s personal. Well, then I’m sorry. That’s his problem. I have very thick skin. I don’t care what they say about me. This election is about them. This is a referendum on them. Making them lame ducks is good enough for me. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>This isn’t personal. He’s incompetent. Well, I think he is. That’s personal. Well, then I’m sorry. That’s his problem. I have very thick skin. I don’t care what they say about me. This election is about them. This is a referendum on them. Making them lame ducks is good enough for me. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Of course, Republicans fought tooth and nail to avoid becoming lame ducks. They flooded the airwaves with ads, warning that unless Republicans prevailed, the top leader in Congress would be an ultra-liberal from wacky San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival – Ad: \u003c/strong>You’ll reward illegal aliens with welfare, food stamps, and free education. And I had the privilege because of a woman being very defined by the Republicans coming after me. Hundreds of thousands of ads. Imagine how much money that cost.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At this time, the US was over three years into the war in Iraq. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi had access to information about the 9-11 attacks. She voted for intervention in Afghanistan as retaliation for the attacks, but she never supported Bush starting the Iraq War, voting against it with 132 of her colleagues. As the war intensified, casualties mounting, the search for weapons of mass destruction coming up empty. Pelosi kept her eyes on the prize, winning back the House in the 2006 midterm elections.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Nancy is, and I say this as a compliment, she is comfortable with power and exercising it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Rahm Emanuel came in to help. He’s somewhat intense, known for shouting at donors for more money, stabbing a steak knife into the table to make a point.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Rahm Emanuel came in to help. He’s somewhat intense, known for shouting at donors for more money, stabbing a steak knife into the table to make a point.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Understands winning gives you that. If you win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>You get to set the table.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>To win back the House, Democrats had to pick up 15 seats. So Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid launched their answer to Newt Gingrich’s contract with America. Six for 06, a plan that promised more funding for national security, a minimum wage hike, and affordable healthcare. Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel was busy recruiting candidates he thought could win.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>To win back the House, Democrats had to pick up 15 seats. So Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid launched their answer to Newt Gingrich’s contract with America. Six for 06, a plan that promised more funding for national security, a minimum wage hike, and affordable healthcare. Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel was busy recruiting candidates he thought could win.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna find people that open the door to a group of voters because we gotta swing a district. You can’t win it on Democratic voters.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And they started bringing in money. Federal fundraising tallies show that, compared to the previous election cycle, Democrats raised about 50% more for House candidates in 2006. Republicans still outspent Democrats, but Pelosi and Emanuel put a dent in their financial advantage. Some Democrats, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, others, criticize taking money from corporations and PACs. How do you, and how does Nancy Pelosi, how do you see that criticism?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And they started bringing in money. Federal fundraising tallies show that, compared to the previous election cycle, Democrats raised about 50% more for House candidates in 2006. Republicans still outspent Democrats, but Pelosi and Emanuel put a dent in their financial advantage. Some Democrats, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, others, criticize taking money from corporations and PACs. How do you, and how does Nancy Pelosi, how do you see that criticism?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>You don’t tie one hand behind your back, okay? We can’t just put people on the field and then leave them out there to self-defend themselves. I hate what the court did. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He’s referring to the Supreme Court case Citizens United decided in 2010. It reversed older restrictions on campaign spending and allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He’s referring to the Supreme Court case Citizens United decided in 2010. It reversed older restrictions on campaign spending and allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>But that’s the world we live in. Again, she’s comfortable with power. Nancy exists in the arena.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whichever party controls the White House usually loses seats in Congress in the midterms. But Pelosi was never content to just let the pendulum swing or it naturally would. Winning is never inevitable.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It isn’t that the tide goes in and out. That’s probably what they thought in the nineties that the Tide went out and now come back in. So I’m not really wedded to that concept. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For the first time in 12 years, Democrats seized back control of the House. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>Washington turned upside down.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival – President Bush: \u003c/strong>It was a thumping.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>Power switch in the House. Democrats now firmly in control there. The Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, set to become the first woman Speaker of the House in American history. Pelosi was finally on top.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On January 4, 2007, holding one grandchild and surrounded by others, Pelosi was officially elected speaker. Republican leader John Boehner graciously handed Pelosi the gavel and history\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Mr. Speaker, I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship. Before we move forward, because there’s so many children here and so many of them asked me if they could touch the gavel, I wanted to invite as many of them who wanted to come forward to come join me up here. I know my own grandchildren will. There it is.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Mr. Speaker, I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship. Before we move forward, because there’s so many children here and so many of them asked me if they could touch the gavel, I wanted to invite as many of them who wanted to come forward to come join me up here. I know my own grandchildren will. There it is.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We’re here for the children, we’re here \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For the children would be Nancy Pelosi’s mantra.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I know that sometimes I have to take a punch and sometimes I have to throw a punch for the children, for the children.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The stars had finally aligned for Baltimore’s favorite daughter. Both her parents lived long enough to see Pelosi elected to Congress. They died before she became the most powerful woman in U.S. Politics ever. But their influence was undeniable. Little Nancy D’Alessandro had become the speaker.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Well, the power of the speaker is awesome. There’s nothing to compare to that. It’s the second highest president, vice president. Let me feel your pulse.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats had seized power, but she’d soon find out the difference between winning \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We’ll climb the fence. If that doesn’t work, we’ll pole vault in. If that does not work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re not letting anything stand in our way. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Did you believe it?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Yes, I was determined we were going to get this done.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And govern it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And govern it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zeke Emanuel: \u003c/strong>The system is falling apart, costs are going up, people are getting pissed off. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mick Mulvaney: \u003c/strong>If you think your healthcare is great now, just wait until the government runs it for you. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>A lot going on. Thank you. You’re giving me PTSD right now.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s coming up next on The speaker. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The Speaker is a production of KQED in San Francisco and distributed by NPR. It’s hosted and reported by me, Scott Shafer. It’s reported and produced by Ariella Markowitz. It’s edited by Padmini Raghunath. Final mix and sound design by Christopher Beale. Fat-checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional editing from Anna Susman and Jen Chien, KQED’s director of podcasts. Original theme song composed by Cedric Wilson. Additional music from APM. Maha Sanad is KQED’s podcast engagement producer. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s editor in chief. Special thanks to our partners from the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television, and radio artists, San Francisco, Northern California, local.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#Transcript\">View the full episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Long before she became Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi was “Little Nancy” D’Alesandro. Raised in Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland, she learned the lessons of power from her larger-than-life parents: “Tommy the Elder,” a Congressman and mayor of Baltimore, and “Big Nancy,” a master political organizer. Decades later, those lessons served her well. In 1994, when Republicans took control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, Pelosi wanted to win it back – and win big. But first: she’d have to wage a war against the men standing in her way, including within her own party. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>If you had a phrase or a few words to describe Nancy Pelosi, what would they be?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Well, I’ll just tell you what I told President Obama when he was first kind of meeting her. He goes, just tell me a little. I mean, he knew her, but didn’t know her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Rahm Emanuel. He was President Obama’s chief of staff. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>And I said, Nancy Pelosi is 99% D’Alesandro and 1% Pelosi. And what did that mean to you? She was her father’s daughter. And I says, if you understand that, you understand Nancy Pelosi. Do not forget that you’re dealing with a D’Alesandro.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1947 to 1959. Before that, he served five terms in Congress, representing Maryland’s third district. For Emanuel, that Italian-American political family is the key to understanding Pelosi. Or, as she was known in Baltimore, Little Nancy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott In the Field: \u003c/strong>So we’re in Little Italy in Baltimore on Albermarle Street hoping to get some background on little Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariella Markowitz: \u003c/strong>I just keep thinking of hairspray. Good morning Baltimore.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s our producer Ariella Markowitz. To learn more about the neighborhood and Nancy’s family, we met up with one of Nancy Pelosi’s childhood playmates. Sorry to make you come out in the rain.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s all right. I’m only a block away. I live on the corner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Mary Ann Campanella is 84 years old. She grew up here in Baltimore, little Italy, just across the street from Nancy. She’s lived in the neighborhood all of her life. Her deep voice, strong opinions, quaffed silver hair and warm embrace, they all reminded me of my mother. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, come on. Whoops. Careful. I’m all right, babe. I just got needles in my knees. Old age sucks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Our plan was to check out one of the neighborhood’s best known restaurants, Chipparelli’s. It opened in 1940, that’s the same year little Nancy was born.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi, sweetie.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Chiaparelli’s is a classic Italian restaurant. White tablecloths, waitresses that call you babe and honey. I order a cup of Italian wedding soup and lasagna while Marianne holds court in the dining room.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>How you doing today, baby doll? You okay?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>It’s the kind of neighborhood where everyone knows everyone else’s business.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Hi Mike, what are you doing in here today? It’s his birthday. Oh it’s your birthday? Oh Mike, I didn’t know it was your birthday. Happy birthday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>He’s a neighborhood guy. I knew Maryann all my life. She lives right across the street.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Mike Turocchi. He and Campanella grew up with Nancy D’Alesandro. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>She was queen princess. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>She was just the princess and the father. Tommy was what you call the consummate neighborhood mayor. I mean, he knew everybody. If you had a problem, you went to Tom. I mean my father was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Senior, Tommy, senior.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>My father was an immigrant. He couldn’t hardly speak English and couldn’t read or write. If he had a problem, go see Mr. Thomas. I think Nancy learned from her father by watching and listening and seeing the way he ran the city and the way people looked up to him and the way he run his daily business.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s dad, Mayor Tommy, was the out-front, back-slapping, charismatic politician. But his wife ran the operation behind the scenes. Her name was Annunziata, but everyone called her Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Her mother was a very, very powerful person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Powerful how like what do you?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>Just her demeanor and her presence, the way she carried herself, she was just, she was not a Little Italy mom. Let’s just put it that way. I mean, my mother was a mother of 12 and wore housecoats. Nancy was always dressed to the nines, looked great all the time. It was just the antithesis of what we were.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy had dreams of going to law school, never fulfilled. But her political instincts and raw talent for organizing, campaigning, and bringing order to chaos all rubbed off on the Nancy Pelosi we know today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Tirocchi: \u003c/strong>I thought that that’s the product of her environment. Her mother had aspiration for her to be something special, and she was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As I sat with these old timers, a picture of Nancy Pelosi came into sharper focus. A child watching her parents run the family business. Big city politics. I’m Scott Shafer from KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. This is The Speaker. Today, how Nancy Pelosi used those lessons to seize power. Baltimore style. Last episode, Nancy Pelosi beat out Harry Britt in a special election for San Francisco’s congressional seat. She told us about that day, in 1987, when she got sworn in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Just the D’Alessandro family is big enough to be a crowd.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy the Elder got to see his daughter take the oath of office, along with the rest of the family.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was born, my father was in Congress. When I in first grade, he became mayor of Baltimore. When I went to college, he was still mayor of Baltimore, so I did grow up in a political atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>How are you? You sound a lot better. How are YOU? That’s all the Italian I know, Mr. Mayor. That’s pretty good. You did pretty good! You get A for effort.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was a smart-talking politician with a pencil mustache. And in this PBS footage from 1980, he’s retired from politics but still formally dressed in a brown three-piece suit and what looks like a large checkered bowtie. Tommy was one of 13 kids born in Little Italy, Baltimore. In 8th grade, he was kicked out of school by a no-nonsense nun. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>She was a great, she was a saint. She was the two-fisted sister. She used to slug us every time. Literally? Oh yeah. She knocked him less than two times. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Host: \u003c/strong>Did you deserve it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>Sometimes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>As a kid, Tommy was often seen around the neighborhood hustling. He peddled newspapers on the street, sold chewing gum to sex workers. He spoke some Yiddish, would run errands for Jewish neighbors. He was the neighborhood Shabbos Goy. The non-Jew who helped Jews observed the Sabbath. Later, he sold insurance. In his early 20s, he decided to run for local office, the Maryland House of Delegates. He sought the endorsement of the local political bosses. Who would hang out in the smoke-filled Rennert Hotel, playing pinocle and eating oysters. They told Tommy to come back with 500 voter signatures.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>So I went around and got a petition. On this petition I had written, we, the undersigned registered Democratic voters of the 3rd Ward, 1st Legislative District recommend for your favorable consideration the candidacy of Tommy D’Alessandro, Jr. For the House of Delegates. He was born and raised in the district, knows the people and their needs, and would be a credit to both city and state if elected, signed by 500 people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He won that election, his first of many. Two years later, Tommy D’Alessandro married Annunciata Lombardi, a local girl, six years his junior, Big Nancy. They had six boys, including one, Nicholas, who died as a young child. In 1938, Tommy was elected to Congress. Tommy and Big Nancy were dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. They even named one of their sons after the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt D’Alessandro. After bringing six boys into the world, the D’alessandros finally had a girl. Little Nancy D’ Alessandro was born March 26th, 1940, and it made local headlines. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was born, our whole thing was, we were born devoutly Catholic, proud of our Italian-American heritage, fiercely patriotic, and in our case staunchly democratic. That was our neighborhood, Little Italy in Baltimore, Maryland.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For little Nancy, the family business was politics, local politics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We were taught that we had responsibility to help other people, and politics was one way to do that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And to help other people, they had to win. Winning opened doors, and Tommy relished the victories.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>I carried Little Italy by 69 votes. Palmisano again, I beat him by 2800. At Janetsky again, I beat them by 11,000.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Tommy D’Alessandro Jr. Taught his daughter her most legendary, if underappreciated, skill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You have to have the votes, so you have to know how to count.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Before she even graduated from high school, little Nancy got a sound education on the nuts and bolts of running a political operation, including the importance of a good ground game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I could just remember seeing these people come to the house at night and have their community meetings and you’re going to be responsible for this area, this area this area this area. This is how many votes you need to get. How many do you think you’re gonna get and that was it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandros, they love to win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tommy D’Alesandro the Elder: \u003c/strong>And I won, I won again, again, then.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>And he won, again and again\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong> At a young age, Pelosi learned that power isn’t simply inherited and it certainly isn’t handed over by those who have it. Nope. If you want power, you have to go out and seize it. Once she got to Congress, Nancy Pelosi saw that her fellow Democrats had a big problem. In 1994, the Democrats lost the House for the first time in 40 years. This moment is sometimes called the Republican Revolution. Change was the message, tax cuts, term limits, and smaller government. It was led by a firebrand congressman from Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>This is a contract with Americans for America.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Having won the House for his party, Newt Gingrich became the first Republican speaker in forty years. A thorn in the side of Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Newt Gingrich: \u003c/strong>Our proposals, which will come out in May to shrink the federal government, to shrink the bureaucracy, to eliminate some departments, to save the taxpayers’ money, to move to a balanced budget, that’s what the voters want.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>They were in a deep depression.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Anna Eshoo, one of Nancy Pelosi’s closest friends in Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>I mean, they were so stunned. Well, they had been the majority in the house for 40 years and then to drop off into nothingness. Oh my God.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Many of the junior Democratic congress members would get together to commiserate over dinner at an Italian restaurant or someone’s house.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>That, the gang. It was a raucous, great group. Nancy always would talk about winning, though, and how to win. She made up her mind that we needed to win\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She had strong opinions about how things should be run, thought that House Democratic leadership did a lousy job managing a banking scandal, and hadn’t done enough to modernize the way they ran campaigns. But to change things, Pelosi would have to overcome a huge obstacle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>Congress is still a man’s club.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Leon Panetta, once a member of the gang from California, who became Obama’s head of the CIA.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>You’ve got to fight your way, and Nancy was willing to fight her way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>When Pelosi got to Congress, women made up about 5% of the House. Anna Eshoo relayed this one story. She wasn’t there at the time, but she heard about it later. Nancy and some other Congresswomen were listening to the men talk about childbirth. Apparently the men were complaining about how hard childbirth was. For them\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>and she tries to get into the conversation. Now she had five babies in six years, you know? She was just so shocked that what the women were trying to say, the guys were. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Dominating.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leon Panetta: \u003c/strong>She would do an awful lot of listening, and she would listen, but then she would have something to say that was a lot more at the point of what we were concerned about. It wasn’t just complaining, it was like, what are we going to do about it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi was getting tired of listening. She wanted to get stuff done. And as election after election passed, she saw something that the men in charge wouldn’t acknowledge. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>94, 96, 98, I was like, there’s no plan to win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Leadership thought that the Republican revolution was just a blip, that things would go back to the way they were, with Democrats in charge. It was just matter of time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It was more of an attitude thing, like the pendulum will swing, but I didn’t see really a decision to have it be a wrecking ball, not a pendulum, a wreckin’ ball. You decide to win, and then you make every decision in favor of winning. Quite frankly, I’m really tired of losing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She came into Congress wanting to make life better, for people who are often forgotten\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>This is not for the faint of heart. This is rough. But if you know why you’re doing it, that makes everything okay. My why was one in five children in America goes to sleep hungry at night. One in five Children in America, it lives in poverty. That’s my why, is to ask, go there for the children, for the Children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We don’t know exactly when Nancy Pelosi decided to run for leadership. When I asked Pelosi why she wanted to be leader, her line is, other people wanted me to run. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I got here, after a few years, members came to me and said, you should run for leadership. In fact, you should for speaker. I said, well, I absolutely positively would not do that. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Barbara Boxer, the former senator from California, remembers a different Pelosi. They would commute back and forth from D.C. Together, chatting the whole time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>We could just yak yak about everything. One of those days on the plane, we were talking about, what is your dream in politics? What do you really want to do? And she asked me that, and I said, I want to be U.S. Senator. This is when I was in the House, which was a pipe dream, trust me. Now, I’m telling you, Nancy says, that never happened. So maybe I dreamed it. And she said, I want be Speaker of the House.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You had to have some chutzpah at that point in her career to say, I wanna be speaker.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Boxer: \u003c/strong>Chutzpah doesn’t begin to describe it. It was impossible.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Walking in the street, I ain’t foam with these sidewalks. Okay. They’ll stop for us. Believe me, they will.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>After eating at Chiparelli’s in Baltimore with Nancy’s childhood friend, Mary Ann, we jaywalk across the street to Nancy’s Childhood Home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>The D’Alesandro Mansion. This is where young Nancy was born, right here in this home. You’ll see the plaques. Mercy Little Italy Health Center in memory of Nancy and Tommy D’Alesandro Jr.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big house. It’s a three-story brick row house on the corner of Albert Marl and Fawn streets.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Oh, and good bricklayer. The Talons are noted for that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Back in the 40s, when Tommy D’Alesandro Jr. Was mayor, the House was essentially a political headquarters, often buzzing with activity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mary Ann Campanella: \u003c/strong>Her father’s office was here when he was mayor, so he was right in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But everybody knew that if they couldn’t reach the mayor, next best was talk to his political partner and wife, Big Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>My mom was spectacular. If she were living now, I don’t know if she might be president of the United States. She was so capable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy was glamorous and smart. She loved betting on horses at the local track. She even invented a beauty product, had a patent registered for a facial steaming device. It was called Beautifier Vaporizer for treatment of the skin. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>And basically, it’s just boiling water, but it looks pretty dramatic.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Susan Page. She wrote a biography about Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>Her mother kept what was called the favor file, which was basically a recording of the favors that constituents would come in and want to get from the mayor, whether it was better housing or help with a kid who had gotten in trouble with the law or whatever. And she would help figure out how they might be able to help this person and also keep a record so that they could go back to them when the next campaign came around and they needed some election help. And who was sitting on her right side during these sessions when people would file through their home looking for favors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Little Nancy, that’s who. She would take handwritten notes, later typed onto index cards and filed away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>It is perfect training for being a congressional leader where your members have favors they need done and you keep track of them so that you can cash them in when you need them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>When I was a girl, I could hear what my mother would say when somebody would come to the door if they wanted a place to live in the projects, a bed in a city hospital, somebody going to jail or getting out of jail or whatever it happened to be.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Big Nancy would help her neighbors with all kinds of problems, but they were also her husband’s constituents. So when election time came around, she’d open up the favor file to, in a sense, balance the books. She’d send women volunteers out to collect the votes. It’s been a key part of machine politics since the beginning. The ground game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Women have always been the strength of the Democratic Party because you have to own the ground.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Speakers of the House wield enormous power. If the President and Vice President die, the Speaker becomes President. They dictate the agenda, appoint members to committees. In effect, Speakers decide which legislation lives or dies, or gets amended, and how. But Speaker of the house isn’t a job that just falls into your lap. Here’s what you need to do. Build alliances. Show that you have a vision. Raise funds for the party. So they’ll elect you to party leadership. That’s your stepping stone to speakership. One of the highest positions is whip. The term whip comes from England. The whipper in was the assistant to the huntsman, the person who keeps the hounds in line. The job requires deep trust as you’re herding votes. Hounds have to know you’ll use the whip. Early on, Pelosi learned a hard lesson about counting on the support of colleagues. She remembers thinking she had convinced a senior member of Congress to support her campaign to join the powerful Appropriations Committee, a coveted position. But when the time came, he voted for her opponent, so she cornered him. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>You said that when even knowing, no, even knowing on the race, I’m for you. He said, yeah, that’s what I said. Well, knowing who’s in the race I’m, for you, so I say to people if they say you’d be so great, that’s a no. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi started studying what motivated her members. What were the carrots? And what were the sticks? Here’s Anna Eshoo again, Pelosi’s close friend in Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>She came to know members better than they knew themselves. I always thought that. I thought, oh, that poor deer over there. He doesn’t know that she knows him backward and forward. She had her own internal study of people. She understood them. She made it her business to know them, to know their families, to know their children, to their districts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whip is an internal party position, so there’s no regular election schedule. You have to wait for someone to retire or decide to run for Senate or go back to state politics. Pelosi announced her bid ahead of time anyway to send a signal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Said, you know, you’re breaking into the line. I said, what are we talking about? Because they had it. You’re gonna be next. You’ll be with, and you’ll move up to leader, and you will be with. And they had all guys. They had all the guys. And I said no, we’ve been waiting over 200 years, and that’s it. That’s it, and I know I can win. I’m not asking anybody to take a risk. I know, I’m gonna win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Clearly Pelosi had counted the votes, but she still had one big obstacle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Well, I was disappointed that she was going to run and not support me. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s Steny Hoyer, a longtime Democratic congressman from Maryland. A reporter describes Steny as the textbook politician, gregarious, smooth, and a moderate to the core. Hoyer knew Nancy well. He’d also grown up in Maryland. Actually, they’d worked together back in the 60s when Pelosi was a receptionist for a Maryland senator. When Pelosi joined Congress two decades later, Hoyer was…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Tickled Pink to see her, welcomed her with open arms. She was a great addition to the Congress.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>We might say today they were frenemies, friends, but also rivals, eyeing the same position and leadership. Based on those wait your turn rules, he was expected to become whip when the job opened up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>And then when I ran, they were like, well, who said she could run? Poor babies. When you think I’m waiting for you, lost all these elections that say I can run. And secondly, they said, because I had a lot of support from the women, they said why don’t you all write on a piece of paper the things you would like to see us do and we’ll do them for you. This is in this century. In this century! I’m not talking about 1958, I’m talking about in this century.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>But Pelosi knew how to deal with tough old politicians. Her dad had been one. She knew she’d have to get some of them on her side to win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a member from Pennsylvania.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Anna Eshoo again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>Jack was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to the Congress. He really looked like he was out of central casting, beautiful gray hair, impeccably dressed, his collars, his ties, very Irish and very serious about his work. And his work was all about the military. He sat on the floor in the very last seat. If you’re looking at the front of the chamber, the far left corner, it’s dark there. It’s so far away from everything else, but that’s where Jack sat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi kept a small statue of a coal miner on her desk. It was a gift from her father, who’d gotten it from a former West Virginia Congressman.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So Jack Murtha walks down the hall, comes in my office, and he sees that, and was like, oh my gosh. So then we became really good friends. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Jack Murtha was a representative from coal country, so that made an impression on him. She may have represented San Francisco, but he saw the Baltimore in her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Anna Eshoo: \u003c/strong>We need her in the leadership. And that was, you know, I mean, the most members weren’t noticing how the relationship grew and deepened. So they were shocked. Jack, Murtha supporting Nancy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Murtha would actually go on to lead her campaign for Whip.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>To Hoyer’s disappointment. I was surprised because Jack Murtha, I thought, had indicated to me that he would be helpful to me. That did not turn out to be the case. Pelosi was coming for Hoyer spot.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I maybe thought it was his turn, but I didn’t know what dues he paid. I mean, that is to say, I paid all the dues in the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2000, Democrats were still hoping they could win back the House. They needed to flip around seven seats. Pelosi said she could pick up four seats in California, the party would have to do the rest. She kept her word, four more notes for the favor file. She remembers assuming they’d won back the majority.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>So I’m on my way to a press conference to meet the press. My staff is like holding me back like this on my coat. They said, wait a minute, we did not win the house. I said, how could they? They needed seven to win the House. They lost every other place. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>She couldn’t stand it anymore. Even after delivering what she promised, they still lost. And she was still on the outside looking in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I was doing all this stuff, resources and all that stuff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Fundraising.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>But I had never, until I became Speaker of the House, been in the Democratic Speaker’s office. Never. Until I walked into my own office. They never invited me to anything, nothing, because they had it all lined up for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>In 2001, the sitting whip decided not to run for re-election. It was time for Democrats to elect a new whip. To start locking down votes, Nancy Pelosi first turned to her own California delegation. Several of them actually owed their seat to her. She had a running start. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Maryland is a small state and California is a huge state, so it made it very difficult. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Steny Hoyer again. Pelosi also raised more than twice as much money for candidates as Hoyer. Showing that you can raise money is important. It helps solidify your role as a strong party leader and it gives you leverage. Some members who didn’t support Pelosi, well, she never forgot. Washington legend has it she punished the longtime congressman from Michigan, John Dingell, helping ensure he was deposed from his high power committee chairmanship. Because he didn’t support her for whip. And even Steny Hoyer had to appreciate how meticulous she was. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steny Hoyer: \u003c/strong>Nancy’s a very, very hard worker. She’s very tenacious. She’s a thorough, she’s very smart. She is a wonderful counter of votes. When it was time for the vote, Pelosi was confident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I tried to tell them that I’m going to win this. But they, to the end, which I was on the floor, I could hear them, you gotta be for standing tomorrow. This is a one vote race for babies. They didn’t know how to count.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Pelosi predicted she’d get 120 votes, she got 118. Steny Hoyer got 95. So, on October 10th, 2001, just a few weeks after 9-11,\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>And a woman has broken new ground in the nation’s capital, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi becomes Democratic whip, the number two House leader right behind the Democratic leader, Richard Gephardt, the highest ranking woman in Congress ever. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Given 9/11, Pelosi’s groundbreaking election was easy to miss. But it was unmistakable. Pelosi was on her way to becoming Speaker.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>What’s remarkable about the campaign that she ran was that she didn’t run it like a girl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Biographer Susan Page again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Page: \u003c/strong>You know, a lot of the women in Congress had accepted kind of secondary roles in leadership, like being the caucus secretary, or doing what it was the men were willing to let them to do because no woman had been in a real leadership position before, in a really leadership position that had power. And she just thought that was nonsense and plowed ahead. And I think to the dismay of these men who were in charge, she won.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>If there were not many more women in Congress, I might not have won. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Hmm, speaker image.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>A speaker, you know, or a whip at that time. Because whip was the first step. They knew, boom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>You just heard about Nancy Pelosi’s secret sauce, her recipe for taking over Congress. Her father taught her to bring the wrecking ball. Her mother taught her to bring a carrot with the favor file. Pelosi wasn’t whipped for long. In 2002, the party leader position opened up and she took it. Pelosi was now head of Democrats. But one thing standing in her way to being speaker, Republicans losing again wasn’t an option. It would be total war. Pelosi went on the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes, right before the 2006 election. Dressed in bright red, she sat across from correspondent Leslie Stahl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Leslie Stahl: \u003c/strong>You have called your Republican colleagues, these are quotes, immoral, corrupt, you say they’re running a criminal enterprise.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>Well, actually, when I called them those names, I was being gentle. There are much worse things I could have said about them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The segment is titled, Two Heartbeats Away. Message, if the Democrats win, this woman will likely become the next Speaker of the House. It was a reference to the presidential line of succession. Speaker of House is third in line after the President and Vice President. For many Americans, this was probably the first real glimpse they got of Pelosi. She lays into the President, George W. Bush, often with a radiant smile. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi – 60 Minutes: \u003c/strong>This isn’t personal. He’s incompetent. Well, I think he is. That’s personal. Well, then I’m sorry. That’s his problem. I have very thick skin. I don’t care what they say about me. This election is about them. This is a referendum on them. Making them lame ducks is good enough for me. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Of course, Republicans fought tooth and nail to avoid becoming lame ducks. They flooded the airwaves with ads, warning that unless Republicans prevailed, the top leader in Congress would be an ultra-liberal from wacky San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival – Ad: \u003c/strong>You’ll reward illegal aliens with welfare, food stamps, and free education. And I had the privilege because of a woman being very defined by the Republicans coming after me. Hundreds of thousands of ads. Imagine how much money that cost.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>At this time, the US was over three years into the war in Iraq. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi had access to information about the 9-11 attacks. She voted for intervention in Afghanistan as retaliation for the attacks, but she never supported Bush starting the Iraq War, voting against it with 132 of her colleagues. As the war intensified, casualties mounting, the search for weapons of mass destruction coming up empty. Pelosi kept her eyes on the prize, winning back the House in the 2006 midterm elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Nancy is, and I say this as a compliment, she is comfortable with power and exercising it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Rahm Emanuel came in to help. He’s somewhat intense, known for shouting at donors for more money, stabbing a steak knife into the table to make a point.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>Understands winning gives you that. If you win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>You get to set the table.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> \u003c/em>To win back the House, Democrats had to pick up 15 seats. So Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid launched their answer to Newt Gingrich’s contract with America. Six for 06, a plan that promised more funding for national security, a minimum wage hike, and affordable healthcare. Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel was busy recruiting candidates he thought could win.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna find people that open the door to a group of voters because we gotta swing a district. You can’t win it on Democratic voters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And they started bringing in money. Federal fundraising tallies show that, compared to the previous election cycle, Democrats raised about 50% more for House candidates in 2006. Republicans still outspent Democrats, but Pelosi and Emanuel put a dent in their financial advantage. Some Democrats, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, others, criticize taking money from corporations and PACs. How do you, and how does Nancy Pelosi, how do you see that criticism?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>You don’t tie one hand behind your back, okay? We can’t just put people on the field and then leave them out there to self-defend themselves. I hate what the court did. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>He’s referring to the Supreme Court case Citizens United decided in 2010. It reversed older restrictions on campaign spending and allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>But that’s the world we live in. Again, she’s comfortable with power. Nancy exists in the arena.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Whichever party controls the White House usually loses seats in Congress in the midterms. But Pelosi was never content to just let the pendulum swing or it naturally would. Winning is never inevitable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>It isn’t that the tide goes in and out. That’s probably what they thought in the nineties that the Tide went out and now come back in. So I’m not really wedded to that concept. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For the first time in 12 years, Democrats seized back control of the House. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>Washington turned upside down.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival – President Bush: \u003c/strong>It was a thumping.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival News Clip: \u003c/strong>Power switch in the House. Democrats now firmly in control there. The Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, set to become the first woman Speaker of the House in American history. Pelosi was finally on top.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>On January 4, 2007, holding one grandchild and surrounded by others, Pelosi was officially elected speaker. Republican leader John Boehner graciously handed Pelosi the gavel and history\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Mr. Speaker, I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship. Before we move forward, because there’s so many children here and so many of them asked me if they could touch the gavel, I wanted to invite as many of them who wanted to come forward to come join me up here. I know my own grandchildren will. There it is.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We’re here for the children, we’re here \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>For the children would be Nancy Pelosi’s mantra.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>I know that sometimes I have to take a punch and sometimes I have to throw a punch for the children, for the children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The stars had finally aligned for Baltimore’s favorite daughter. Both her parents lived long enough to see Pelosi elected to Congress. They died before she became the most powerful woman in U.S. Politics ever. But their influence was undeniable. Little Nancy D’Alessandro had become the speaker.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Well, the power of the speaker is awesome. There’s nothing to compare to that. It’s the second highest president, vice president. Let me feel your pulse.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats had seized power, but she’d soon find out the difference between winning \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>We’ll climb the fence. If that doesn’t work, we’ll pole vault in. If that does not work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re not letting anything stand in our way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>Did you believe it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nancy Pelosi: \u003c/strong>Yes, I was determined we were going to get this done.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>And govern it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zeke Emanuel: \u003c/strong>The system is falling apart, costs are going up, people are getting pissed off. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mick Mulvaney: \u003c/strong>If you think your healthcare is great now, just wait until the government runs it for you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rahm Emanuel: \u003c/strong>A lot going on. Thank you. You’re giving me PTSD right now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>That’s coming up next on The speaker. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Scott Shafer: \u003c/strong>The Speaker is a production of KQED in San Francisco and distributed by NPR. It’s hosted and reported by me, Scott Shafer. It’s reported and produced by Ariella Markowitz. It’s edited by Padmini Raghunath. Final mix and sound design by Christopher Beale. Fat-checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional editing from Anna Susman and Jen Chien, KQED’s director of podcasts. Original theme song composed by Cedric Wilson. Additional music from APM. Maha Sanad is KQED’s podcast engagement producer. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s editor in chief. Special thanks to our partners from the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television, and radio artists, San Francisco, Northern California, local.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-democratic-party-endorses-billionaire-tax-splitting-with-newsom",
"title": "California Democratic Party Endorses Billionaire Tax, Splitting with Newsom",
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"headTitle": "California Democratic Party Endorses Billionaire Tax, Splitting with Newsom | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California Democrats’ internal conflict over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a> measure on November’s ballot ramped up Sunday with an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, pitting party activists against the state’s Democratic governor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12077053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070782\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses. But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that Gov. Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said. “They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California Democrats’ internal conflict over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a> measure on November’s ballot ramped up Sunday with an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, pitting party activists against the state’s Democratic governor. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12077053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070782\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses. But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The fact that Gov. Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said. “They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The party narrowly endorsed the billionaire tax measure, which still faces high-profile opposition. How much will it help the Proposition 40 campaign?",
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"title": "California Democratic Party Endorses Billionaire Tax, Splitting with Newsom | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California Democrats’ internal conflict over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a> measure on November’s ballot ramped up Sunday with an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, pitting party activists against the state’s Democratic governor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12077053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070782\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses. But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that Gov. Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said. “They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "latino-winemakers-bring-new-life-to-sonoma-county-industry",
"title": "Latino Winemakers Bring New Life to Sonoma County Industry",
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"headTitle": "Latino Winemakers Bring New Life to Sonoma County Industry | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, June 17, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been a tough time for the California wine industry because alcohol sales are dropping. But a growing number of \u003ca href=\"https://norcalpublicmedia.org/20260515101034/news-feed/in-a-shifting-wine-market-latino-representation-emerges-as-a-powerful-force\">Latino winemakers in Sonoma County\u003c/a> hope to turn that tide. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California lawmakers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-budget-legislature-deal/\">adopted a state budget on Monday.\u003c/a> The legislature’s spending plan pushes back on some of Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shasta County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-06-16/shasta-county-wont-defend-voter-approved-measure-b-in-court\">not to defend a voter-approved measure\u003c/a> against a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://norcalpublicmedia.org/20260515101034/news-feed/in-a-shifting-wine-market-latino-representation-emerges-as-a-powerful-force\">\u003cstrong>In a shifting wine market, Latino representation emerges as a powerful force\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Overlooking the fields of Sonoma County vineyards in Kenwood, winemaker Salvador de La Cruz pours flavors from his new collection of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ludorwines.com/\">Ludor Wines\u003c/a>. Each glass is paired with a different food, yet these aren’t the typical crackers and cheese. Laid out in front of the glasses are refried beans, tortilla chips, pico de gallo and other tastes from his Mexican culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Este, the Merlot, we’re doing it with refried beans,” De La Cruz tells Marinez and Mauricio Rosales, a couple who drove up from Hayward for a DIY tour of Latino-owned wineries. De La Cruz speaks to the couple in their 30s in both English and Spanish as he leads them through the tasting — the three of them all second-generation Latinos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sonoma County winemaker wears a cowboy hat adorned with red, white and green feathers, showcasing the country of Mexico, where his inspiration for the cultural tasting experience comes from. “This is like the basics of what we already would have at our home and to see that with the wine pairing like that’s so new to me,” says Marinez as she bites into a chip topped with pico de gallo. “I’ve not seen this anywhere else. Ever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, Latino workers have worked in Sonoma County’s vineyards, but rarely been the ones enjoying the wines. Even as a new generation of Latino professionals gains the income and curiosity to explore wine, many still feel unwelcome or intimidated by the culture around it. Winemakers like De La Cruz are trying to change that narrative by building a tasting experience rooted in cultural connection. And with a struggling wine market, industry experts say this could be the boost the wine industry needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>De La Cruz explains that he grew up surrounded by wine culture. His father worked in the fields, and as a kid, De La Cruz would sometimes join him. He remembers hating the hauling and pruning. “I remember one day I even dreamed of weeds,” he says. “I was like this is horrible I’m never going to do this again.” He realized there was a disconnect between Latinos and wine — not because Latinos didn’t like wine, but because the industry wasn’t speaking their language, literally or culturally. So he began to try to bridge the gap with the people closest to him: his friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, he noticed a shift. “Now they set up the wine tastings and then they invite me,” he says. “You see the confidence when they show up to a tasting room.” He says now when they order something and a winemaker is explaining terminology they’re like “‘Oh yeah, I get that or yeah, I know that.’” For De La Cruz, that shift — from intimidation to representation — is what he says Ludor is built around. He calls his tasting a “door opener,” a way to give second-generation Latinos the tools and comfort to enter a space that has historically overlooked them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christian Miller, research director at the \u003ca href=\"https://winemarketcouncil.com/\">Wine Market Council\u003c/a>, says De La Cruz’s experiment goes much deeper than him and his growing brand. The wine industry is facing falling sales volumes, excess supply, and a generational challenge as younger consumers drink less wine. Miller thinks winemakers like De La Cruz can bring new life. “Hispanic Americans are important and are going to become a lot more important,” he says. Latino consumers are one of the most important, and overlooked, opportunities for the wine industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"entry-title \">\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-budget-legislature-deal/\">\u003cstrong>California Democrats approve budget deal, opening negotiations with Newsom\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California lawmakers adopted a $356 billion state budget late Monday that would largely avoid or delay billions of dollars in social service cuts Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then, the (real) budget negotiations can begin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vote was only a formality, because lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget by June 15 each year to continue collecting their pay. They have until the end of the month to strike a deal with Newsom before the new fiscal year starts July 1. State lawmakers agreed with Newsom’s plans to raise taxes on computer software, reduce tax credits to businesses and extend a tax on health care providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the next two weeks, legislators will also have to settle their differences with Newsom on healthcare cuts, funding for schools and homelessness and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democratic leaders on Monday deemed their legislative spending plan a fiscally sound proposal that would reduce future budget deficits while maintaining some services for low-income Californians. “We have talked in previous years and again this year about the balance between compassion and fiscal responsibility,” said Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/jesse-gabriel-160858\">Jesse Gabriel\u003c/a>, an Encino Democrat who chairs the Assembly budget committee, during a budget hearing Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Faced with federal funding cuts under the tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed last year, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/gavin-newsom-final-budget-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed several measures\u003c/a> to limit healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants as well as refugees, asylees and human trafficking survivors. Top legislative Democrats want to delay those cuts by a year while looking for alternatives to soften the impact. Newsom also wants to raise the monthly Medi-Cal premium undocumented immigrants pay from $30 to $50. But lawmakers prefer waiting him out, proposing to leave the decision to the next governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-06-16/shasta-county-wont-defend-voter-approved-measure-b-in-court\">\u003cstrong>Shasta County won’t defend voter-approved Measure B in court\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shasta County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday not to defend Measure B against a lawsuit filed by the California attorney general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charter amendment, approved by voters in the June primary, would make sweeping changes to the county’s elections system. \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-files-legal-action-over-proposed-ballot-measure-to-reform-elections/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> sued shortly after the election, arguing several provisions violate California law, including requiring hand-counting of ballots and restricting voting by mail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters urged the board to defend the measure during Tuesday’s meeting. “Your disagreement with the tenets of the measure, which has been voted into law, should not affect or diminish your overarching role of supporting the electorate’s will to implement Measure B,” supporter Deirdre Holliday told supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County Counsel Joseph Larmour \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-files-legal-action-over-proposed-ballot-measure-to-reform-elections/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asked the courts\u003c/a> in March 2025 for permission to stop processing the ballot measure, arguing it was unconstitutional and would be misleading to the public. But \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-drops-lawsuit-over-proposed-election-reform-ballot-measure/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a judge denied the request\u003c/a>, and the county later dropped the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county also declined to defend Measure B in \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-03-26/shasta-county-election-measure-june-ballot-ruling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">another lawsuit\u003c/a>, which was filed by Redding resident Jennifer Kastke in an effort to keep it off the ballot. Instead, the measure’s proponents intervened and defended it themselves. A judge allowed the measure to remain on the ballot but did not rule on whether its provisions were legal.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, June 17, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been a tough time for the California wine industry because alcohol sales are dropping. But a growing number of \u003ca href=\"https://norcalpublicmedia.org/20260515101034/news-feed/in-a-shifting-wine-market-latino-representation-emerges-as-a-powerful-force\">Latino winemakers in Sonoma County\u003c/a> hope to turn that tide. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California lawmakers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-budget-legislature-deal/\">adopted a state budget on Monday.\u003c/a> The legislature’s spending plan pushes back on some of Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shasta County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-06-16/shasta-county-wont-defend-voter-approved-measure-b-in-court\">not to defend a voter-approved measure\u003c/a> against a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://norcalpublicmedia.org/20260515101034/news-feed/in-a-shifting-wine-market-latino-representation-emerges-as-a-powerful-force\">\u003cstrong>In a shifting wine market, Latino representation emerges as a powerful force\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Overlooking the fields of Sonoma County vineyards in Kenwood, winemaker Salvador de La Cruz pours flavors from his new collection of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ludorwines.com/\">Ludor Wines\u003c/a>. Each glass is paired with a different food, yet these aren’t the typical crackers and cheese. Laid out in front of the glasses are refried beans, tortilla chips, pico de gallo and other tastes from his Mexican culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Este, the Merlot, we’re doing it with refried beans,” De La Cruz tells Marinez and Mauricio Rosales, a couple who drove up from Hayward for a DIY tour of Latino-owned wineries. De La Cruz speaks to the couple in their 30s in both English and Spanish as he leads them through the tasting — the three of them all second-generation Latinos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sonoma County winemaker wears a cowboy hat adorned with red, white and green feathers, showcasing the country of Mexico, where his inspiration for the cultural tasting experience comes from. “This is like the basics of what we already would have at our home and to see that with the wine pairing like that’s so new to me,” says Marinez as she bites into a chip topped with pico de gallo. “I’ve not seen this anywhere else. Ever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, Latino workers have worked in Sonoma County’s vineyards, but rarely been the ones enjoying the wines. Even as a new generation of Latino professionals gains the income and curiosity to explore wine, many still feel unwelcome or intimidated by the culture around it. Winemakers like De La Cruz are trying to change that narrative by building a tasting experience rooted in cultural connection. And with a struggling wine market, industry experts say this could be the boost the wine industry needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>De La Cruz explains that he grew up surrounded by wine culture. His father worked in the fields, and as a kid, De La Cruz would sometimes join him. He remembers hating the hauling and pruning. “I remember one day I even dreamed of weeds,” he says. “I was like this is horrible I’m never going to do this again.” He realized there was a disconnect between Latinos and wine — not because Latinos didn’t like wine, but because the industry wasn’t speaking their language, literally or culturally. So he began to try to bridge the gap with the people closest to him: his friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, he noticed a shift. “Now they set up the wine tastings and then they invite me,” he says. “You see the confidence when they show up to a tasting room.” He says now when they order something and a winemaker is explaining terminology they’re like “‘Oh yeah, I get that or yeah, I know that.’” For De La Cruz, that shift — from intimidation to representation — is what he says Ludor is built around. He calls his tasting a “door opener,” a way to give second-generation Latinos the tools and comfort to enter a space that has historically overlooked them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christian Miller, research director at the \u003ca href=\"https://winemarketcouncil.com/\">Wine Market Council\u003c/a>, says De La Cruz’s experiment goes much deeper than him and his growing brand. The wine industry is facing falling sales volumes, excess supply, and a generational challenge as younger consumers drink less wine. Miller thinks winemakers like De La Cruz can bring new life. “Hispanic Americans are important and are going to become a lot more important,” he says. Latino consumers are one of the most important, and overlooked, opportunities for the wine industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"entry-title \">\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-budget-legislature-deal/\">\u003cstrong>California Democrats approve budget deal, opening negotiations with Newsom\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California lawmakers adopted a $356 billion state budget late Monday that would largely avoid or delay billions of dollars in social service cuts Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then, the (real) budget negotiations can begin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vote was only a formality, because lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget by June 15 each year to continue collecting their pay. They have until the end of the month to strike a deal with Newsom before the new fiscal year starts July 1. State lawmakers agreed with Newsom’s plans to raise taxes on computer software, reduce tax credits to businesses and extend a tax on health care providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the next two weeks, legislators will also have to settle their differences with Newsom on healthcare cuts, funding for schools and homelessness and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democratic leaders on Monday deemed their legislative spending plan a fiscally sound proposal that would reduce future budget deficits while maintaining some services for low-income Californians. “We have talked in previous years and again this year about the balance between compassion and fiscal responsibility,” said Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/jesse-gabriel-160858\">Jesse Gabriel\u003c/a>, an Encino Democrat who chairs the Assembly budget committee, during a budget hearing Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Faced with federal funding cuts under the tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed last year, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/gavin-newsom-final-budget-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed several measures\u003c/a> to limit healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants as well as refugees, asylees and human trafficking survivors. Top legislative Democrats want to delay those cuts by a year while looking for alternatives to soften the impact. Newsom also wants to raise the monthly Medi-Cal premium undocumented immigrants pay from $30 to $50. But lawmakers prefer waiting him out, proposing to leave the decision to the next governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-06-16/shasta-county-wont-defend-voter-approved-measure-b-in-court\">\u003cstrong>Shasta County won’t defend voter-approved Measure B in court\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shasta County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday not to defend Measure B against a lawsuit filed by the California attorney general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charter amendment, approved by voters in the June primary, would make sweeping changes to the county’s elections system. \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-files-legal-action-over-proposed-ballot-measure-to-reform-elections/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> sued shortly after the election, arguing several provisions violate California law, including requiring hand-counting of ballots and restricting voting by mail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters urged the board to defend the measure during Tuesday’s meeting. “Your disagreement with the tenets of the measure, which has been voted into law, should not affect or diminish your overarching role of supporting the electorate’s will to implement Measure B,” supporter Deirdre Holliday told supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County Counsel Joseph Larmour \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-files-legal-action-over-proposed-ballot-measure-to-reform-elections/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asked the courts\u003c/a> in March 2025 for permission to stop processing the ballot measure, arguing it was unconstitutional and would be misleading to the public. But \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-drops-lawsuit-over-proposed-election-reform-ballot-measure/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a judge denied the request\u003c/a>, and the county later dropped the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county also declined to defend Measure B in \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2026-03-26/shasta-county-election-measure-june-ballot-ruling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">another lawsuit\u003c/a>, which was filed by Redding resident Jennifer Kastke in an effort to keep it off the ballot. Instead, the measure’s proponents intervened and defended it themselves. A judge allowed the measure to remain on the ballot but did not rule on whether its provisions were legal.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "new-california-governor-poll-shows-a-slim-but-growing-chance-of-2-democrats-advancing",
"title": "New California Governor Poll Shows a Slim but Growing Chance of 2 Democrats Advancing",
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"headTitle": "New California Governor Poll Shows a Slim but Growing Chance of 2 Democrats Advancing | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After months of Democratic fears over the possibility that two Republicans could advance out of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor\">California’s top-two primary for governor\u003c/a>, a new poll released Friday suggests an all-Democrat general election is a more likely, if still remote, outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like most recent polls, the latest survey f\u003ca href=\"https://igs.berkeley.edu/research/berkeley-igs-poll\">rom the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies\u003c/a> shows Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/xavier-becerra\">Xavier Becerra\u003c/a>, former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, leading the field with the support of 25% of likely voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest of the top three remains consistent as well: Republican commentator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/steve-hilton\">Steve Hilton\u003c/a> had the backing of 21% of voters in the Berkeley IGS poll, narrowly leading Democratic investor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tom-steyer\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a>, at 19%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Three of the candidates — Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer — are now separating themselves from the very crowded field of candidates that we’ve had all campaign season,” said Mark DiCamillo, the poll director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey is the latest data point marking Becerra’s consolidation of Democratic support in the weeks after former Rep. Eric Swalwell \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079583/eric-swalwell-ends-california-governor-campaign-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">ended his campaign\u003c/a> — as well as Hilton’s growing backing from Republicans after winning the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078793/trump-endorses-steve-hilton-for-california-governor-giving-gop-a-front-runner\">endorsement of President Donald Trump\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Berkeley poll finds Steyer remains within striking distance of making the general election, with an even smaller gap than other recent surveys. A poll \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085276/becerra-hilton-lead-in-california-governors-race-poll-ahead-of-june-primary\">released Wednesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a>, for example, had Steyer trailing Hilton by 5 points and Becerra by 8 — though the PPIC polled from May 14–18, while the Berkeley IGS surveyed voters from May 19–24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084203\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084203\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco speaks with KQED politics reporter Marisa Lagos during a town hall at KQED in San Francisco on May 18, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, support for Riverside County Sheriff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chad-bianco\">Chad Bianco\u003c/a>, a Republican, (11%) and former Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/katie-porter\">Katie Porter\u003c/a>, a Democrat, (7%) declined from previous Berkeley IGS surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard to bounce back once your numbers start going down, especially this late in the campaign,” DiCamillo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unsettled race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom has led to a fracturing of support among Democratic elected officials and interest groups and an avalanche of spending. Steyer, who made billions as a hedge fund manager, has given a record $213 million to his own campaign, while a s\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083747/pge-spends-millions-against-tom-steyer-whats-behind-clash\">uper PAC backed by PG&E and business groups\u003c/a> has spent $34 million to oppose Steyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The field of notable candidates also includes Democrats Matt Mahan, the mayor of San José, who garnered 4% support, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who each received the support of 1% of voters.[aside label=\"From the 2026 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor,Learn about the California Governor Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Governor-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]This spring, Democratic leaders publicly worried that a splintered field could allow both Hilton and Bianco to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083839/what-is-californias-jungle-primary-and-why-does-it-matter-so-much-for-the-governors-race\">advance to the general election\u003c/a>. But those fears have largely dissipated after Trump’s endorsement drove GOP voters toward Hilton and as Democrats began to consolidate behind Becerra and Steyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the latest survey, 37% of likely GOP voters told the IGS pollsters that the Trump endorsement made them more likely to back Hilton, compared with just 6% who said it made their support of Hilton less likely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Becerra and Steyer have solidified themselves as the Democratic frontrunners, Democrats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084978/california-democrats-anxious-about-wasted-votes-are-clinging-to-their-ballots\">returned ballots at lower rates\u003c/a> than in the state’s last midterm election in 2022, possibly reflecting an uncertainty over the options at the top of the ticket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to data from Political Data Inc., 44% of the ballots returned through Wednesday have come from registered Democrats, compared with 53% at the same point in 2022. Republicans have accounted for 35% of ballots returned, up from their 26% share four years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Berkeley IGS poll reflected those turnout dynamics, finding that among voters who had already cast their ballot, Hilton received 29% support, followed by Becerra at 20% and Steyer at 17%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey found 7% of voters remain undecided. But a further consolidation of voter preferences could boost Hilton in the election’s closing days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked for their second choice in the governor’s race, 7 in 10 Bianco supporters named Hilton. On the Democratic side, Porter supporters were more evenly split between backing Becerra (37%) and Steyer (31%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bianco’s supporters clearly choose Hilton as their second choice … so that’s a pretty good benefit for Hilton as the final week approaches,” DiCamillo said. “It’s not a clear picture of what might happen if [Porter] supporters should decide to leave her candidacy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After months of Democratic fears over the possibility that two Republicans could advance out of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor\">California’s top-two primary for governor\u003c/a>, a new poll released Friday suggests an all-Democrat general election is a more likely, if still remote, outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like most recent polls, the latest survey f\u003ca href=\"https://igs.berkeley.edu/research/berkeley-igs-poll\">rom the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies\u003c/a> shows Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/xavier-becerra\">Xavier Becerra\u003c/a>, former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, leading the field with the support of 25% of likely voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest of the top three remains consistent as well: Republican commentator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/steve-hilton\">Steve Hilton\u003c/a> had the backing of 21% of voters in the Berkeley IGS poll, narrowly leading Democratic investor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tom-steyer\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a>, at 19%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Three of the candidates — Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer — are now separating themselves from the very crowded field of candidates that we’ve had all campaign season,” said Mark DiCamillo, the poll director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey is the latest data point marking Becerra’s consolidation of Democratic support in the weeks after former Rep. Eric Swalwell \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079583/eric-swalwell-ends-california-governor-campaign-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">ended his campaign\u003c/a> — as well as Hilton’s growing backing from Republicans after winning the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078793/trump-endorses-steve-hilton-for-california-governor-giving-gop-a-front-runner\">endorsement of President Donald Trump\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Berkeley poll finds Steyer remains within striking distance of making the general election, with an even smaller gap than other recent surveys. A poll \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085276/becerra-hilton-lead-in-california-governors-race-poll-ahead-of-june-primary\">released Wednesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a>, for example, had Steyer trailing Hilton by 5 points and Becerra by 8 — though the PPIC polled from May 14–18, while the Berkeley IGS surveyed voters from May 19–24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084203\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084203\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260518-ChadBiancoTownHall-11-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco speaks with KQED politics reporter Marisa Lagos during a town hall at KQED in San Francisco on May 18, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, support for Riverside County Sheriff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chad-bianco\">Chad Bianco\u003c/a>, a Republican, (11%) and former Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/katie-porter\">Katie Porter\u003c/a>, a Democrat, (7%) declined from previous Berkeley IGS surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard to bounce back once your numbers start going down, especially this late in the campaign,” DiCamillo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unsettled race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom has led to a fracturing of support among Democratic elected officials and interest groups and an avalanche of spending. Steyer, who made billions as a hedge fund manager, has given a record $213 million to his own campaign, while a s\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083747/pge-spends-millions-against-tom-steyer-whats-behind-clash\">uper PAC backed by PG&E and business groups\u003c/a> has spent $34 million to oppose Steyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The field of notable candidates also includes Democrats Matt Mahan, the mayor of San José, who garnered 4% support, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who each received the support of 1% of voters.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This spring, Democratic leaders publicly worried that a splintered field could allow both Hilton and Bianco to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083839/what-is-californias-jungle-primary-and-why-does-it-matter-so-much-for-the-governors-race\">advance to the general election\u003c/a>. But those fears have largely dissipated after Trump’s endorsement drove GOP voters toward Hilton and as Democrats began to consolidate behind Becerra and Steyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the latest survey, 37% of likely GOP voters told the IGS pollsters that the Trump endorsement made them more likely to back Hilton, compared with just 6% who said it made their support of Hilton less likely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Becerra and Steyer have solidified themselves as the Democratic frontrunners, Democrats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084978/california-democrats-anxious-about-wasted-votes-are-clinging-to-their-ballots\">returned ballots at lower rates\u003c/a> than in the state’s last midterm election in 2022, possibly reflecting an uncertainty over the options at the top of the ticket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to data from Political Data Inc., 44% of the ballots returned through Wednesday have come from registered Democrats, compared with 53% at the same point in 2022. Republicans have accounted for 35% of ballots returned, up from their 26% share four years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Berkeley IGS poll reflected those turnout dynamics, finding that among voters who had already cast their ballot, Hilton received 29% support, followed by Becerra at 20% and Steyer at 17%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey found 7% of voters remain undecided. But a further consolidation of voter preferences could boost Hilton in the election’s closing days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked for their second choice in the governor’s race, 7 in 10 Bianco supporters named Hilton. On the Democratic side, Porter supporters were more evenly split between backing Becerra (37%) and Steyer (31%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bianco’s supporters clearly choose Hilton as their second choice … so that’s a pretty good benefit for Hilton as the final week approaches,” DiCamillo said. “It’s not a clear picture of what might happen if [Porter] supporters should decide to leave her candidacy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Nearly every member of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> congressional delegation said they will be voting yes on Wednesday on a resolution authored by South Bay Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/ro-khanna\">Ro Khanna\u003c/a> that calls for President Donald Trump to end \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075251/iranian-americans-react-to-us-israel-war-on-iran\">military action against Iran\u003c/a> unless he seeks authorization from Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The House vote comes one day after the U.S. Senate failed to pass a similar \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/98/cosponsors\">resolution \u003c/a>cosponsored by California’s Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The House \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/38/text\">resolution \u003c/a>coauthored by Khanna and Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie also calls for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iran. While unlikely to pass —and almost certainly be vetoed by the president if it did — the resolution asserts Congress’s power to declare war under the Constitution and calls for an end to military action “unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if it fails, the resolution will symbolically force lawmakers to go on the record and take a position on the war in Iran ahead of what’s expected to be a competitive midterm election to decide the control of Congress for the second half of Trump’s term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In remarks on the House floor on Wednesday, Khanna — a longtime opponent of foreign military intervention — framed the decision before lawmakers as not a procedural vote, but a “profoundly moral” one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world needs a new moral vision. America needs a new vision. We are seeing militarism erode the soul of our nation, leading to a regime change war in Iran and utter human devastation in Gaza. Simply put, we have lost our way. We’re back to the law of the jungle, where might makes right and where the Middle East descends into a Hobbesian war of all against all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12075140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12075140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A prayer is held during a rally in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco on March 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Six American soldiers have died since military strikes began last weekend, according to the Pentagon, and nearly 800 people are believed to have been killed in Iran, including 160 children and staff at a school. Scores more have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-many-people-have-been-killed-us-israel-war-iran-2026-03-03/\">killed \u003c/a>across the region as the conflict spreads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In comments on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Schiff slammed the Trump administration for not making the case for war to the American public or to Congress before it began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are at war, having had no national debate over whether we should enter into war. We are at war, having no authorization by Congress, a power explicitly given by our founders to the Congress to declare war,” he said. “This resolution is about stopping that war, but it is also about reasserting Congress’s vital role as a check on the executive and the abuse of the authority to bring a nation to war.”[aside postID=news_12075199 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2263689274-2000x1367.jpg']Among the coauthors of Khanna’s House resolution are eight Democratic members of Congress from the Bay Area: Pelosi, Oakland Rep. Lateefah Simon, Napa Rep. Mike Thompson, East Bay Reps. Mark DeSaulnier, John Garamendi and Eric Swalwell, North Bay Rep. Jared Huffman, and South Bay Rep. Zoe Lofgren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045408/im-furious-bay-area-leaders-criticize-trump-for-foregoing-congress-on-iran-strikes\">Many of those same lawmakers\u003c/a> cosponsoring the resolution also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074989/bay-area-lawmakers-rebuke-trump-over-iran-strikes-war-authority\">spoke out against the war \u003c/a>over the weekend, in the immediate aftermath of the first American strikes\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are two debates going on here,” Pelosi said on the House floor on Wednesday. “One is a debate as to the Constitution of the United States. The other is whether Iran should have a nuclear weapon, which we all agree they should not. But that doesn’t mean the Constitution of the United States should be a casualty of that because you want to take a shortcut to the war.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conservatives have attacked Pelosi’s position in recent days, noting that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosis-war-powers-flip-flop-exposed-resurfaced-obama-era-clip-contradicts-trump-criticism\">defended\u003c/a> former President Barack Obama’s unilateral decision to bomb Libya in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her spokesman, Ian Krager, said there’s a difference between those limited operations in Libya and “a broader, escalating war” with Iran, and that she’s been consistent in her position that Congress should weigh in when there is the prospect of “expansive or prolonged hostilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12063500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12063500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/GettyImages-2244433247-scaled-e1762811972609.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a campaign event in support of Proposition 50 in San Francisco, on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And on Wednesday, Pelosi said on the House floor that there should be a debate about the merits of the actions in Iran — after Congress asserts its power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José Rep. Sam Liccardo said he was troubled that the Trump administration has not clearly articulated the objectives of the war, calling such an explanation necessary both under the Constitution and morally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citing Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069211/after-maduros-capture-venezuela-faces-old-u-s-shadows-and-uncertain-future\">U.S. military operations in Venezuela\u003c/a>, he said in a written statement that the American public doesn’t have the appetite for “more protracted engagement,” and called for “immediate action” from Congress on the war powers resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065389\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065389\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a press conference in San José about changes to a federal housing program’s funding by the Trump administration on Nov. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Trump justified last year’s attacks on Iran by claiming that he ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear capabilities; if true, he wouldn’t need this year’s war to do so,” Liccardo wrote. “Trump urges regime change, yet no mere bombing campaign — no matter how horrific or brutal — can deliver that outcome. Americans deserve the truth, and Congress cannot continue to acquiesce to the unconstitutional expansion of presidential war powers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, 21 California members of Congress are cosponsoring Khanna’s resolution, all Democrats. Cosponsors outside the Bay Area include: Reps. Sara Jacobs, Lou Correa, Doris Matsui, Laura Friedman, Nannette Barragan, Maxine Waters, Judy Chu, Robert Garcia, Ami Bera, Dave Min, Scott Peters and Mike Levin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Josh Harder, whose district includes parts of the far East Bay, didn’t respond to an inquiry about his position on the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "All 13 Bay Area members of Congress, all Democrats, said they’ll vote for South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna’s resolution calling for an end to hostilities unless Congress authorizes a war.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Nearly every member of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> congressional delegation said they will be voting yes on Wednesday on a resolution authored by South Bay Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/ro-khanna\">Ro Khanna\u003c/a> that calls for President Donald Trump to end \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075251/iranian-americans-react-to-us-israel-war-on-iran\">military action against Iran\u003c/a> unless he seeks authorization from Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The House vote comes one day after the U.S. Senate failed to pass a similar \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/98/cosponsors\">resolution \u003c/a>cosponsored by California’s Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The House \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/38/text\">resolution \u003c/a>coauthored by Khanna and Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie also calls for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iran. While unlikely to pass —and almost certainly be vetoed by the president if it did — the resolution asserts Congress’s power to declare war under the Constitution and calls for an end to military action “unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if it fails, the resolution will symbolically force lawmakers to go on the record and take a position on the war in Iran ahead of what’s expected to be a competitive midterm election to decide the control of Congress for the second half of Trump’s term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In remarks on the House floor on Wednesday, Khanna — a longtime opponent of foreign military intervention — framed the decision before lawmakers as not a procedural vote, but a “profoundly moral” one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world needs a new moral vision. America needs a new vision. We are seeing militarism erode the soul of our nation, leading to a regime change war in Iran and utter human devastation in Gaza. Simply put, we have lost our way. We’re back to the law of the jungle, where might makes right and where the Middle East descends into a Hobbesian war of all against all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12075140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12075140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20260302_IRANWARPROTEST_GC-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A prayer is held during a rally in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco on March 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Six American soldiers have died since military strikes began last weekend, according to the Pentagon, and nearly 800 people are believed to have been killed in Iran, including 160 children and staff at a school. Scores more have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-many-people-have-been-killed-us-israel-war-iran-2026-03-03/\">killed \u003c/a>across the region as the conflict spreads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In comments on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Schiff slammed the Trump administration for not making the case for war to the American public or to Congress before it began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are at war, having had no national debate over whether we should enter into war. We are at war, having no authorization by Congress, a power explicitly given by our founders to the Congress to declare war,” he said. “This resolution is about stopping that war, but it is also about reasserting Congress’s vital role as a check on the executive and the abuse of the authority to bring a nation to war.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Among the coauthors of Khanna’s House resolution are eight Democratic members of Congress from the Bay Area: Pelosi, Oakland Rep. Lateefah Simon, Napa Rep. Mike Thompson, East Bay Reps. Mark DeSaulnier, John Garamendi and Eric Swalwell, North Bay Rep. Jared Huffman, and South Bay Rep. Zoe Lofgren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045408/im-furious-bay-area-leaders-criticize-trump-for-foregoing-congress-on-iran-strikes\">Many of those same lawmakers\u003c/a> cosponsoring the resolution also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074989/bay-area-lawmakers-rebuke-trump-over-iran-strikes-war-authority\">spoke out against the war \u003c/a>over the weekend, in the immediate aftermath of the first American strikes\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are two debates going on here,” Pelosi said on the House floor on Wednesday. “One is a debate as to the Constitution of the United States. The other is whether Iran should have a nuclear weapon, which we all agree they should not. But that doesn’t mean the Constitution of the United States should be a casualty of that because you want to take a shortcut to the war.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conservatives have attacked Pelosi’s position in recent days, noting that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosis-war-powers-flip-flop-exposed-resurfaced-obama-era-clip-contradicts-trump-criticism\">defended\u003c/a> former President Barack Obama’s unilateral decision to bomb Libya in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her spokesman, Ian Krager, said there’s a difference between those limited operations in Libya and “a broader, escalating war” with Iran, and that she’s been consistent in her position that Congress should weigh in when there is the prospect of “expansive or prolonged hostilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12063500\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12063500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/GettyImages-2244433247-scaled-e1762811972609.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a campaign event in support of Proposition 50 in San Francisco, on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And on Wednesday, Pelosi said on the House floor that there should be a debate about the merits of the actions in Iran — after Congress asserts its power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José Rep. Sam Liccardo said he was troubled that the Trump administration has not clearly articulated the objectives of the war, calling such an explanation necessary both under the Constitution and morally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citing Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069211/after-maduros-capture-venezuela-faces-old-u-s-shadows-and-uncertain-future\">U.S. military operations in Venezuela\u003c/a>, he said in a written statement that the American public doesn’t have the appetite for “more protracted engagement,” and called for “immediate action” from Congress on the war powers resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065389\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065389\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a press conference in San José about changes to a federal housing program’s funding by the Trump administration on Nov. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Trump justified last year’s attacks on Iran by claiming that he ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear capabilities; if true, he wouldn’t need this year’s war to do so,” Liccardo wrote. “Trump urges regime change, yet no mere bombing campaign — no matter how horrific or brutal — can deliver that outcome. Americans deserve the truth, and Congress cannot continue to acquiesce to the unconstitutional expansion of presidential war powers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, 21 California members of Congress are cosponsoring Khanna’s resolution, all Democrats. Cosponsors outside the Bay Area include: Reps. Sara Jacobs, Lou Correa, Doris Matsui, Laura Friedman, Nannette Barragan, Maxine Waters, Judy Chu, Robert Garcia, Ami Bera, Dave Min, Scott Peters and Mike Levin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rep. Josh Harder, whose district includes parts of the far East Bay, didn’t respond to an inquiry about his position on the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "the-payphone-that-lets-san-franciscans-call-a-republican",
"title": "The Pay Phone That Lets San Franciscans ‘Call a Republican’",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For several weeks, a red pay phone sat outside a tattoo parlor in San Francisco’s Mission District — with a sign reading ‘Call a Republican.’ If you picked it up, a blue pay phone with the sign ‘Call a Democrat’ in the conservative city of Abilene, Texas would ring.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This project, created by a company called Matter Neuroscience, aimed to connect Americans from vastly different backgrounds via the old-fashioned phone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Links:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073446/what-happens-when-democrats-in-san-francisco-call-up-republicans-in-texas-its-pretty-cordial\">What Happens When Democrats in San Francisco Call Up Republicans in Texas? It’s Pretty Cordial | KQED\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5345988675\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. For weeks outside of a tattoo shop in San Francisco’s Mission District, an old school payphone painted red could be heard ringing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello? Hey, this is Chris calling from San Francisco. Who am I speaking with?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On top of the payphone was a sign inviting people walking by to ‘Call a Republican.’ The phone connected to a nearly identical phone booth in Abilene, Texas, except for the sign that read ‘Call a Democrat.’ And it’s all part of a social experiment called The Party Line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so it was sort of a social experiment to see what would people choose, common ground or conflict. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Studies show that most American voters are pretty pessimistic that we can overcome our country’s deep political divides. So today, we’re gonna talk with KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman about this social experiment and listen in on conversations between residents of San Francisco and Abilene, Texas. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the payphone is a project of Matter Neuroscience. That’s a tech startup in Boulder, Colorado.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman is a reporter for KQED. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And their mission is basically just to try to help people live more emotionally balanced lives. One example of that is that they’re in clinical trials at Stanford right now, trying to help people with depression who aren’t responding to traditional treatments. But they also do these sort of like side quest projects. For instance, one was they prototype this six pound phone case to prevent people from doom scrolling. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So basically the phone case was so heavy that it was just physically impossible to sit there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, to do the infinite scroll on your phone. But the common thread here with the payphone is that they’re trying to get people away from habits that are bad for our emotional health. So the idea with this payphone is how can we get people to connect in a way that’s emotionally positive and healthy for our brains?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How does the payphone work exactly? So there’s one in San Francisco and then another elsewhere in the country?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Basically, Matter Neuroscience bought two payphones on Facebook Marketplace, ripped out their guts, and outfitted them with SIM cards that basically turned them into cell phones. And they put one in San Francisco, and they put another in Abilene, Texas. So the idea was to connect two very politically different parts of our country. So San Francisco voted heavily for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Abilene, Texas voted heavily for Donald Trump. Both cities are over 100,000 residents, so that was sort of the thinking of connecting America’s most, you know, I’m saying this in air quotes, most conservative city and most liberal city. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Audio from outside the payphone:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Is anybody picking up? No. Oh, darn. That’s too bad. It might take a while. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so what happens is if you pick up the phone in San Francisco, it rings the phone in Texas. And the phone in Texas is located outside a bookstore in Abilene. Same thing, if you pick up the phone in Texas, it’ll ring the payphone in San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you just wait basically for someone to pick up on the other side.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, you pick it up, it calls, and then it rings on the other side. And I was standing outside the payphone for a while and there were times when it was ringing and nobody picked up. There were other times when people walked by and they decided to pick it up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m so curious about the conversations that you heard folks having and also who was interested and engaging with this payphone. I know you met a woman named Maria out there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, so Maria Gonzalez is a lifelong San Franciscan, lives pretty close to the payphone, and she was walking by, heard a ring, and decided to pick it up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my gosh, really? Where? Where are you at? Oh, you just told me where you’re at. Yeah. You need to get out here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She ended up finding a Democrat in Texas or the person who called was a Democrat wanting to sort of commiserate about you know politics and say oh you know I want to be where you are essentially.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was nice to speak to somebody and we had similar ways of looking at life and so, you know, I mean every time you pick up the phone it’s going to be a different experience. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She told me that the conversation that she had reminded her of sort of her own difficulties in her family speaking with the family members who are supporters of President Trump. She said her uncle is a quote Trumpster and that she tries to maintain a relationship with him but it’s hard. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we have these discussions every time we speak, you know, and I love my uncle, I just don’t, we just don’t agree in our political views. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is something that I think a lot of people feel is that it can be difficult to talk about politics when people have different views.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that we need something like this for sure. I was born and raised in San Francisco, so I grew up around a lot of different people with different ethnicities, going to different people’s houses and having food with them and experiencing their life. And I think that’s the best way that you can open up your mind if you live amongst people that are different from you. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another man named Stephen Albert said that his twin sister is a Trump supporter and that he was put on this earth to cancel out her vote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we’re gonna play and listen to a snippet from a phone call between a 46 year old man in San Francisco and it turns out a 46-year-old woman in Abilene, Texas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello, I’m Steve. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Hi, Steve.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s up? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nothing much. Just looking for books. Classic books.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well this says ‘Call a Republican.’ Are you a Republican? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, I am.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yes, probably an independent I would say as I’ve got older independent Are you, what are you? Are you a Republican? Are you a Democrat? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh god, I don’t, I don’t I mean I live in San Francisco, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So yeah, so you’re liberal, that’s fine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m pretty liberal. Okay. Yeah Yeah, I… do you see the world as crazy as I do? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I do, worse and worse every day. It’s getting worse every day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">See we have so much in common.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know, we do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I love this clip so much because I feel like it’s so awkward in the beginning. They’re like, are you a liberal? I am a liberal. And then you feel this like sigh of relief when they both agree that the world is crazy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, they’re sort of tiptoeing around each other at the beginning, like being like, is this okay? And then they both like say like, yeah, I’m willing to have a conversation with you. And I thought it was interesting that the woman was like, you know, I am kind of Republican, but I’m kind of an independent. You know, there’s some of that nuance that you might not get in an online conversation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like I’m out here in the middle of the day and I’m about to have a delicious tuna salad sandwich and you’re shopping for books and neither of us are at work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I’m a stay-at-home mom, so I don’t work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re a stay at home mom? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, with four kids. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Four kids?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my God, how old are you? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m 46. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m also 46. I have no kids. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have no kids… Hey, you’re living the life then, let me tell you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am living the live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m tied down forever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, but you love it, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do love it. I do. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re also having the AI here, did you know that? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>I did not know that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, so they’re building a huge AI center here. It’s one of the biggest in the, I guess in the world is coming, or they’ve already been building it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A data center?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, that’s right. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is that a positive impact? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I would say there’s a lot more traffic. There’s a lotta more traffic\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it probably, what, takes a lot of energy and water to run a place like that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh yeah, it’s going to be very interesting when it’s all done, what happens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, it’s probably not being done for our benefit, is it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, probably not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I love that they’re like learning from each other in this conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, and having, finding a commonality again, like San Francisco, we sort of live in the shadow of AI, and then right down there on Main Street, Texas, you’ve also got AI’s influence coming. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you can hear her bringing it up because she knows that. She knows that him living in San Francisco is like, yeah, you live in AI capital of the world and it’s here too. Okay, and here’s another conversation between, as it turns out, two progressives. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my gosh, Texas, and hell yeah. What’s it like over there? I’m a little scared for you guys. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it’s OK. You’re in California? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my god, I always wanted to go there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, it’s amazing. What can I say, queer? Quite queer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, okay, so I have to tell you, I’m not a Republican.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, okay, okay. I was testing. That was a test. The queer thing was a task. I knew instantly when you said you wanted to go to San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, well, I have a trans, I have a trans child, so, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, of course. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have to say it quietly. I have say it really quietly.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, yeah, I’d imagine, I would imagine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my god, I just love their energy. They’re just like, they just sound like two girls on the phone.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s all gonna be okay, it’s all going to be okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, it’s all going to be okay. There’s so many amazing people in the world all across, no matter what state you’re in. The people of Texas, there’s some great hard-working people in Texas that you are ready to do the work to really turn some stuff around. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s right. We’re going to get there. We are going to go there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, and I believe in you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s like, it’s very fun. It’s a very odd situation when you’re put on the phone with a stranger and tasked with having a conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s like that element of surprise that’s kind of fun. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like mystery box.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah right. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think another thing that you’re hearing is like, not everyone in Abilene is a Republican and not everyone in San Francisco is a Democrat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m glad I got to hear you. This is so beautiful. I don’t even know exactly what this phone thing is, but I, I, this is awesome. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s awesome. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I talked to the bookstore owner in Texas and she said, yeah, a lot of the Democrats and Abilene have been like coming out of the woodwork and seeking out this payphone trying to find like-minded people, which could be sort of a little more challenging there. And in the same way, she said she’s picked up calls where San Francisco Republicans are calling looking to talk to like-minded folk. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, did you pick up the phone and try to talk to anyone? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I did. And you know, I have my journalist hat on, so people are like, well, are you a Republican or a Democrat? I’m like, I’m sort of a journalist. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a journalist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m not really supposed to have a political view when I’m working, but I did experience that same feeling of like, you’re a person in Texas and I grew up in San Francisco, I’ve lived here almost my whole life. I’ve never been to Texas. What’s that like? Like we’re part of the same country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do wonder, Azul, just like after hearing some of these phone calls, I’m sure there were many, many more that we haven’t listened to, but do the folks who put this payphone out there, do they think that it did what it was supposed to do? Like, did it work? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the payphones were up for a month and they recorded around 200 conversations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What ended up happening was quite beautiful and quite affirming. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I spoke to Ben Goldhirsh, he’s a co-founder of Matter Neuroscience, and he said listening to these conversations has been incredibly meaningful for him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whatever the human topic is that allows us to actually connect, that’s what people gravitate towards. And people also gravitated away from kind of broad brushstrokes, like, oh, I’m a Republican, but don’t think that all of my positions are all on the right. I also believe in X and Y on the left side. I think people really pronounced the nuanced reality of their existence. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, small sample size. Can we draw major conclusions from these conversations? I can’t say, but to him, I think it is proof that when people take the time to connect in a healthier way, there can be positive benefits. So when we get offline, we get on the phone or talk to somebody in person, it can be beneficial for us as humans and we can sort of break down some of these barriers that we might construct that prevent us from relating to each other. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think if you pulled an alien that was looking at America from, you know, a million miles away who was just digesting our news and our social media, and you said, hey, like, evaluate how far apart these people are, I think it would be reasonable to set a pretty wide delta. And I think when that alien listens to these conversations, they’ll be like, a lot of these are buds. These folks are all buds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So they took the payphones down on Wednesday, right? Wednesday of last week. Do they plan to do this again? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matter Neuroscience told me that they’re looking at other applications for the payphones that could have similar benefits for different populations. One idea is a senior center and a college campus to sort of unite people across generations. And the other idea is to go international with it. Unite people from different countries.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you feel like it worked on you? I mean, like the purpose of this payphone. Are you convinced? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One question I have about this project is that, you know, there were around 200 conversations. This is a drop in the bucket compared to how many billions of people use social media every day. And this project was literally based on a payphone, like a piece of tech that does not exist anymore largely. It’s definitely going against the prevailing headwinds of how we’re communicating and how we are. The methods we’re increasingly turning to to get information out. But there is a lot of research to say that like social connection is good for us. And I did feel, I felt good when I talked to the payphone and it felt good to listen to people talking and it feel good to listened to these conversations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah and especially I feel like in this like world where we’re presumably more connected than ever with social media and stuff but actually like sometimes you just need to pick up the phone and talk to someone. Well Azul, this was such a fun story, thank you so much for sharing it with us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, happy to be here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Payphone sound: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You are now being connected to the party line in Abilene, Texas. Participants must be 18 or older. This call may be recorded for use in a public project. By staying on the line, you consent…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, a reporter for KQED. This conversation was cut down and edited by senior editor Alan Montecillo. Gabriela Glueck produced this episode, scored it, and added all the tape, music courtesy of Audio Network. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild. American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. And I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra, thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For several weeks, a red pay phone sat outside a tattoo parlor in San Francisco’s Mission District — with a sign reading ‘Call a Republican.’ If you picked it up, a blue pay phone with the sign ‘Call a Democrat’ in the conservative city of Abilene, Texas would ring.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This project, created by a company called Matter Neuroscience, aimed to connect Americans from vastly different backgrounds via the old-fashioned phone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Links:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073446/what-happens-when-democrats-in-san-francisco-call-up-republicans-in-texas-its-pretty-cordial\">What Happens When Democrats in San Francisco Call Up Republicans in Texas? It’s Pretty Cordial | KQED\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5345988675\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. For weeks outside of a tattoo shop in San Francisco’s Mission District, an old school payphone painted red could be heard ringing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello? Hey, this is Chris calling from San Francisco. Who am I speaking with?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On top of the payphone was a sign inviting people walking by to ‘Call a Republican.’ The phone connected to a nearly identical phone booth in Abilene, Texas, except for the sign that read ‘Call a Democrat.’ And it’s all part of a social experiment called The Party Line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so it was sort of a social experiment to see what would people choose, common ground or conflict. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Studies show that most American voters are pretty pessimistic that we can overcome our country’s deep political divides. So today, we’re gonna talk with KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman about this social experiment and listen in on conversations between residents of San Francisco and Abilene, Texas. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the payphone is a project of Matter Neuroscience. That’s a tech startup in Boulder, Colorado.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman is a reporter for KQED. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And their mission is basically just to try to help people live more emotionally balanced lives. One example of that is that they’re in clinical trials at Stanford right now, trying to help people with depression who aren’t responding to traditional treatments. But they also do these sort of like side quest projects. For instance, one was they prototype this six pound phone case to prevent people from doom scrolling. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So basically the phone case was so heavy that it was just physically impossible to sit there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, to do the infinite scroll on your phone. But the common thread here with the payphone is that they’re trying to get people away from habits that are bad for our emotional health. So the idea with this payphone is how can we get people to connect in a way that’s emotionally positive and healthy for our brains?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How does the payphone work exactly? So there’s one in San Francisco and then another elsewhere in the country?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Basically, Matter Neuroscience bought two payphones on Facebook Marketplace, ripped out their guts, and outfitted them with SIM cards that basically turned them into cell phones. And they put one in San Francisco, and they put another in Abilene, Texas. So the idea was to connect two very politically different parts of our country. So San Francisco voted heavily for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Abilene, Texas voted heavily for Donald Trump. Both cities are over 100,000 residents, so that was sort of the thinking of connecting America’s most, you know, I’m saying this in air quotes, most conservative city and most liberal city. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Audio from outside the payphone:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Is anybody picking up? No. Oh, darn. That’s too bad. It might take a while. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so what happens is if you pick up the phone in San Francisco, it rings the phone in Texas. And the phone in Texas is located outside a bookstore in Abilene. Same thing, if you pick up the phone in Texas, it’ll ring the payphone in San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you just wait basically for someone to pick up on the other side.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, you pick it up, it calls, and then it rings on the other side. And I was standing outside the payphone for a while and there were times when it was ringing and nobody picked up. There were other times when people walked by and they decided to pick it up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m so curious about the conversations that you heard folks having and also who was interested and engaging with this payphone. I know you met a woman named Maria out there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, so Maria Gonzalez is a lifelong San Franciscan, lives pretty close to the payphone, and she was walking by, heard a ring, and decided to pick it up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my gosh, really? Where? Where are you at? Oh, you just told me where you’re at. Yeah. You need to get out here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She ended up finding a Democrat in Texas or the person who called was a Democrat wanting to sort of commiserate about you know politics and say oh you know I want to be where you are essentially.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was nice to speak to somebody and we had similar ways of looking at life and so, you know, I mean every time you pick up the phone it’s going to be a different experience. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She told me that the conversation that she had reminded her of sort of her own difficulties in her family speaking with the family members who are supporters of President Trump. She said her uncle is a quote Trumpster and that she tries to maintain a relationship with him but it’s hard. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we have these discussions every time we speak, you know, and I love my uncle, I just don’t, we just don’t agree in our political views. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is something that I think a lot of people feel is that it can be difficult to talk about politics when people have different views.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maria Gonzalez: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that we need something like this for sure. I was born and raised in San Francisco, so I grew up around a lot of different people with different ethnicities, going to different people’s houses and having food with them and experiencing their life. And I think that’s the best way that you can open up your mind if you live amongst people that are different from you. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another man named Stephen Albert said that his twin sister is a Trump supporter and that he was put on this earth to cancel out her vote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we’re gonna play and listen to a snippet from a phone call between a 46 year old man in San Francisco and it turns out a 46-year-old woman in Abilene, Texas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello, I’m Steve. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Hi, Steve.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s up? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nothing much. Just looking for books. Classic books.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well this says ‘Call a Republican.’ Are you a Republican? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, I am.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yes, probably an independent I would say as I’ve got older independent Are you, what are you? Are you a Republican? Are you a Democrat? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh god, I don’t, I don’t I mean I live in San Francisco, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So yeah, so you’re liberal, that’s fine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m pretty liberal. Okay. Yeah Yeah, I… do you see the world as crazy as I do? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I do, worse and worse every day. It’s getting worse every day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">See we have so much in common.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know, we do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I love this clip so much because I feel like it’s so awkward in the beginning. They’re like, are you a liberal? I am a liberal. And then you feel this like sigh of relief when they both agree that the world is crazy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, they’re sort of tiptoeing around each other at the beginning, like being like, is this okay? And then they both like say like, yeah, I’m willing to have a conversation with you. And I thought it was interesting that the woman was like, you know, I am kind of Republican, but I’m kind of an independent. You know, there’s some of that nuance that you might not get in an online conversation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like I’m out here in the middle of the day and I’m about to have a delicious tuna salad sandwich and you’re shopping for books and neither of us are at work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I’m a stay-at-home mom, so I don’t work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re a stay at home mom? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, with four kids. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Four kids?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my God, how old are you? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m 46. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m also 46. I have no kids. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have no kids… Hey, you’re living the life then, let me tell you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am living the live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m tied down forever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, but you love it, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do love it. I do. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re also having the AI here, did you know that? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>I did not know that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, so they’re building a huge AI center here. It’s one of the biggest in the, I guess in the world is coming, or they’ve already been building it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A data center?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, that’s right. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is that a positive impact? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I would say there’s a lot more traffic. There’s a lotta more traffic\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it probably, what, takes a lot of energy and water to run a place like that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh yeah, it’s going to be very interesting when it’s all done, what happens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steve: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, it’s probably not being done for our benefit, is it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, probably not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I love that they’re like learning from each other in this conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, and having, finding a commonality again, like San Francisco, we sort of live in the shadow of AI, and then right down there on Main Street, Texas, you’ve also got AI’s influence coming. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you can hear her bringing it up because she knows that. She knows that him living in San Francisco is like, yeah, you live in AI capital of the world and it’s here too. Okay, and here’s another conversation between, as it turns out, two progressives. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my gosh, Texas, and hell yeah. What’s it like over there? I’m a little scared for you guys. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it’s OK. You’re in California? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my god, I always wanted to go there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, it’s amazing. What can I say, queer? Quite queer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, okay, so I have to tell you, I’m not a Republican.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, okay, okay. I was testing. That was a test. The queer thing was a task. I knew instantly when you said you wanted to go to San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, well, I have a trans, I have a trans child, so, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, of course. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have to say it quietly. I have say it really quietly.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, yeah, I’d imagine, I would imagine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my god, I just love their energy. They’re just like, they just sound like two girls on the phone.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s all gonna be okay, it’s all going to be okay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, it’s all going to be okay. There’s so many amazing people in the world all across, no matter what state you’re in. The people of Texas, there’s some great hard-working people in Texas that you are ready to do the work to really turn some stuff around. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s right. We’re going to get there. We are going to go there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, and I believe in you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s like, it’s very fun. It’s a very odd situation when you’re put on the phone with a stranger and tasked with having a conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s like that element of surprise that’s kind of fun. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like mystery box.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah right. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think another thing that you’re hearing is like, not everyone in Abilene is a Republican and not everyone in San Francisco is a Democrat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 2: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m glad I got to hear you. This is so beautiful. I don’t even know exactly what this phone thing is, but I, I, this is awesome. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Unidentified Caller 3: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s awesome. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I talked to the bookstore owner in Texas and she said, yeah, a lot of the Democrats and Abilene have been like coming out of the woodwork and seeking out this payphone trying to find like-minded people, which could be sort of a little more challenging there. And in the same way, she said she’s picked up calls where San Francisco Republicans are calling looking to talk to like-minded folk. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, did you pick up the phone and try to talk to anyone? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I did. And you know, I have my journalist hat on, so people are like, well, are you a Republican or a Democrat? I’m like, I’m sort of a journalist. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a journalist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m not really supposed to have a political view when I’m working, but I did experience that same feeling of like, you’re a person in Texas and I grew up in San Francisco, I’ve lived here almost my whole life. I’ve never been to Texas. What’s that like? Like we’re part of the same country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do wonder, Azul, just like after hearing some of these phone calls, I’m sure there were many, many more that we haven’t listened to, but do the folks who put this payphone out there, do they think that it did what it was supposed to do? Like, did it work? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the payphones were up for a month and they recorded around 200 conversations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What ended up happening was quite beautiful and quite affirming. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I spoke to Ben Goldhirsh, he’s a co-founder of Matter Neuroscience, and he said listening to these conversations has been incredibly meaningful for him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whatever the human topic is that allows us to actually connect, that’s what people gravitate towards. And people also gravitated away from kind of broad brushstrokes, like, oh, I’m a Republican, but don’t think that all of my positions are all on the right. I also believe in X and Y on the left side. I think people really pronounced the nuanced reality of their existence. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, small sample size. Can we draw major conclusions from these conversations? I can’t say, but to him, I think it is proof that when people take the time to connect in a healthier way, there can be positive benefits. So when we get offline, we get on the phone or talk to somebody in person, it can be beneficial for us as humans and we can sort of break down some of these barriers that we might construct that prevent us from relating to each other. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Goldhirsh: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think if you pulled an alien that was looking at America from, you know, a million miles away who was just digesting our news and our social media, and you said, hey, like, evaluate how far apart these people are, I think it would be reasonable to set a pretty wide delta. And I think when that alien listens to these conversations, they’ll be like, a lot of these are buds. These folks are all buds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So they took the payphones down on Wednesday, right? Wednesday of last week. Do they plan to do this again? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matter Neuroscience told me that they’re looking at other applications for the payphones that could have similar benefits for different populations. One idea is a senior center and a college campus to sort of unite people across generations. And the other idea is to go international with it. Unite people from different countries.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you feel like it worked on you? I mean, like the purpose of this payphone. Are you convinced? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One question I have about this project is that, you know, there were around 200 conversations. This is a drop in the bucket compared to how many billions of people use social media every day. And this project was literally based on a payphone, like a piece of tech that does not exist anymore largely. It’s definitely going against the prevailing headwinds of how we’re communicating and how we are. The methods we’re increasingly turning to to get information out. But there is a lot of research to say that like social connection is good for us. And I did feel, I felt good when I talked to the payphone and it felt good to listen to people talking and it feel good to listened to these conversations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah and especially I feel like in this like world where we’re presumably more connected than ever with social media and stuff but actually like sometimes you just need to pick up the phone and talk to someone. Well Azul, this was such a fun story, thank you so much for sharing it with us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, happy to be here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Payphone sound: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You are now being connected to the party line in Abilene, Texas. Participants must be 18 or older. This call may be recorded for use in a public project. By staying on the line, you consent…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, a reporter for KQED. This conversation was cut down and edited by senior editor Alan Montecillo. Gabriela Glueck produced this episode, scored it, and added all the tape, music courtesy of Audio Network. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild. American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. And I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra, thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"radiolab": {
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},
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"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
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"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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