On this week’s episode of The Brief, hosts Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld discussed Republicans’ apparent willingness to burn bridges over an infrastructure bill supported by a majority of Americans and how this past week has seen further fracturing of the nation’s democracy. Meanwhile, GOTV efforts are well underway in Arizona, a key state for Democrats in next year’s elections. This week’s guest was Montserrat Arredondo, executive director of One Arizona, a coalition of 28 organizations active across the state. As their mission states, the organization is nonpartisan and is “focused on improving the lives of Arizonans, especially people of color and young people, by building a culture of civic participation.”
As Republicans continue trying to torch any legislation and attempts at progress from Democrats, it is becoming increasingly clear that they are willing to trade their constituents’ well-being for political gain. Eleveld censured the GOP’s behavior, noting its widespread harm:
“They’re literally [calling for] burning books [too],” Moulitsas said. “They [the Trump base] are not interested in conservative governance … they want to ruin everything for everybody.”
“And destroy the Democratic Party,” Eleveld added.
The gridlock that has resulted from the GOP’s approach is making effective governance difficult for President Biden and is also harming Democrats’ image.
“Can a single party save the republic when the other party is not invested in that republic anymore?” Eleveld mused. “I think that’s a part of [the reason why] we’re seeing with Joe Biden’s approval numbers going lower. I think people were like, ‘Gosh, can we just get back to normal.’ ... [But] there’s no way for Biden to really turn the ship around with a Republican Party that is so nihilistic, that is so bent on destroying things and not giving Democrats any wins and things like that.”
What’s more, 19 Senate Republicans and 13 House Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill, yet only five of them were willing to make an appearance at the bipartisan celebration of President Biden’s signing of the bill. Passage of the bill, to Eleveld, indicates that Democrats know they need to right the ship.
“Hopefully we’ll get Build Back Better. And once they stop having this debate among themselves to try and get this legislation through, which will hopefully be entirely sooner rather than later, then they can get to selling this stuff,” she added. “They can go back to their districts and say, ‘here’s what we’ve gotten for you. Here’s what we’ve done for you. We know you’re hurting … that could really start to turn things around.’”
Moulitsas and Eleveld then welcomed Arredondo onto the show, who shared her views on how Democrats can invest in communities of color and win in Arizona next year.
Moulitsas opened the conversation by asking Arredondo what motivated her to become a professional activist. Arredondo, whose mother is still undocumented, learned about the importance of getting involved in the political process when she and her friends began applying to colleges, as “many of my friends found out for the first time [through the college application process] that they were undocumented.”
OneArizona’s strategy for next year focuses heavily on getting more voters registered and to the polls. Moulitsas wondered, “Is there a lot of low-hanging fruit with the voter registration stuff?”
Arredondo believes that this is a worthwhile investment, elaborating that her organization has seen greater success speaking with potential voters in person and emphasizing the importance of giving people more than just something or someone to vote against:
Arizonans have also faced severe voter suppression efforts that may make getting to the polls more difficult for voters next year. Moulitsas asked Arredondo to expand on what Arizona has done to make it harder for voters to vote. As she explained,
Arredondo also highlighted the need for enough polling locations and more drop box locations, adequate translation services, and just making it easier to drop off your ballot is a big win. “Last year, not being able to knock on doors like we normally do was a big issue for us. We want to get ahead of that this year,” Arredondo said.
“Do you have a single policy or a few policies that you think would be heavy sellers, that would get people out [to vote]? For example, if Democrats were able to pass universal pre-K, would that be a big, big deal? Do you think you could get that across? Or what if Joe Biden got rid of $50,000 of student debt for people?” Eleveld asked. “I’m just wondering what you think the big motivators are for the communities that we need to get out as Democrats.”
Arredondo noted that regardless of party affiliation, people are focusing on what’s important in their daily lives, and that focusing on these issues will yield great results:
Communities remain concerned about the response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well, Arredondo noted.
Before closing out, Moulitsas asked Arredondo, “What can people do to help you do your work?”
She replied:
Moulitsas impressed upon the audience the importance of investing time, in addition to money, into the organizing work that happens on the ground in Arizona:
Watch this week’s full episode here:
YouTube Video
You can also listen to The Brief on the following platforms:
As Republicans continue trying to torch any legislation and attempts at progress from Democrats, it is becoming increasingly clear that they are willing to trade their constituents’ well-being for political gain. Eleveld censured the GOP’s behavior, noting its widespread harm:
“They’re literally [calling for] burning books [too],” Moulitsas said. “They [the Trump base] are not interested in conservative governance … they want to ruin everything for everybody.”
“And destroy the Democratic Party,” Eleveld added.
The gridlock that has resulted from the GOP’s approach is making effective governance difficult for President Biden and is also harming Democrats’ image.
“Can a single party save the republic when the other party is not invested in that republic anymore?” Eleveld mused. “I think that’s a part of [the reason why] we’re seeing with Joe Biden’s approval numbers going lower. I think people were like, ‘Gosh, can we just get back to normal.’ ... [But] there’s no way for Biden to really turn the ship around with a Republican Party that is so nihilistic, that is so bent on destroying things and not giving Democrats any wins and things like that.”
What’s more, 19 Senate Republicans and 13 House Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill, yet only five of them were willing to make an appearance at the bipartisan celebration of President Biden’s signing of the bill. Passage of the bill, to Eleveld, indicates that Democrats know they need to right the ship.
“Hopefully we’ll get Build Back Better. And once they stop having this debate among themselves to try and get this legislation through, which will hopefully be entirely sooner rather than later, then they can get to selling this stuff,” she added. “They can go back to their districts and say, ‘here’s what we’ve gotten for you. Here’s what we’ve done for you. We know you’re hurting … that could really start to turn things around.’”
Moulitsas and Eleveld then welcomed Arredondo onto the show, who shared her views on how Democrats can invest in communities of color and win in Arizona next year.
Moulitsas opened the conversation by asking Arredondo what motivated her to become a professional activist. Arredondo, whose mother is still undocumented, learned about the importance of getting involved in the political process when she and her friends began applying to colleges, as “many of my friends found out for the first time [through the college application process] that they were undocumented.”
OneArizona’s strategy for next year focuses heavily on getting more voters registered and to the polls. Moulitsas wondered, “Is there a lot of low-hanging fruit with the voter registration stuff?”
Arredondo believes that this is a worthwhile investment, elaborating that her organization has seen greater success speaking with potential voters in person and emphasizing the importance of giving people more than just something or someone to vote against:
Arizonans have also faced severe voter suppression efforts that may make getting to the polls more difficult for voters next year. Moulitsas asked Arredondo to expand on what Arizona has done to make it harder for voters to vote. As she explained,
Arredondo also highlighted the need for enough polling locations and more drop box locations, adequate translation services, and just making it easier to drop off your ballot is a big win. “Last year, not being able to knock on doors like we normally do was a big issue for us. We want to get ahead of that this year,” Arredondo said.
“Do you have a single policy or a few policies that you think would be heavy sellers, that would get people out [to vote]? For example, if Democrats were able to pass universal pre-K, would that be a big, big deal? Do you think you could get that across? Or what if Joe Biden got rid of $50,000 of student debt for people?” Eleveld asked. “I’m just wondering what you think the big motivators are for the communities that we need to get out as Democrats.”
Arredondo noted that regardless of party affiliation, people are focusing on what’s important in their daily lives, and that focusing on these issues will yield great results:
Communities remain concerned about the response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well, Arredondo noted.
Before closing out, Moulitsas asked Arredondo, “What can people do to help you do your work?”
She replied:
Moulitsas impressed upon the audience the importance of investing time, in addition to money, into the organizing work that happens on the ground in Arizona:
Watch this week’s full episode here:
YouTube Video
You can also listen to The Brief on the following platforms: