Jeff Weaver

JEFF WEAVER: THANK YOU, HAPPY TO BE HERE.

MARGARET HOOVER: WHAT IS YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT IN THE MIDTERMS OF 2018?

JEFF WEAVER: YEAH SO I JUST GOT BACK FROM A 9 DAY 8 STATE TOUR WITH SENATOR SANDERS AROUND THE COUNTRY CAMPAIGNING FOR DEMOCRATS AND… IT IS INCREDIBLE THE AMOUNT OF EXCITEMENT THERE IS ON THE GROUND AMONG PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS, ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I MEAN, WE WERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA, WE WERE IN MICHIGAN, WE WERE IN CALIFORNIA.  SO IT’S REALLY EVERYWHERE, AND YOU KNOW, THE 2016 RACE REALLY GAVE VOICE TO A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE.  BUT A LOT OF WORKING CLASS PEOPLE WHO HAD GIVEN UP ON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY GIVEN UP ON POLITICS, WHO NOW FEEL

REENGAGED.
>> MARGARET HOOVER:HOW DO YOU THINK PROGRESSIVES WILL FARE
>> JEFF WEAVER: WELL WE HAVE SOME PROGRESSIVES LEADING IN MARQUEE RACES, I MEAN  ANDREA GILLUM IN FLORIDA, OBVIOUSLY, STACY ABRAMS IN GEORGIA, A LOT OF THESE RACES ARE VERY CLOSE, AS YOU KNOW. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THE POLITICAL MOMENT WHEN IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. BUT IT COULD FLIP ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

>> MARGARET HOOVER: I KNOW IT COULD BE A WAVE OR DRIZZLE.
>> JEFF WEAVER: EXACTLY
>> MARGARET HOOVER: YOU KNOW IT SEEMS TO ME THAT ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF BERNIE SANDERS’ 2016 EFFORT IS THAT, MANY DEMOCRATS WHO ARE RUNNING ARE SELF-IDENTIFYING AS PROGRESSIVES WHO WOULDN’T HAVE BEFORE 

 SO WHY IS IT SO POPULAR TO BE A PROGRESSIVE? IS IT JUST BECAUSE OF BERNIE?

>> WEAVER: NO ITS POPULAR BECAUSE IT’S POPULAR WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. RECENT POLLS COME OUT, I MEAN MEDICARE FOR ALL IS A SIGNATURE ISSUE AMONG PROGRESSIVES.OVER HALF OF THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS IN THE HOUSE, CURRENT CAUCUS, SUPPORTS MEDICARE FOR ALL. YOU KNOW BERNIE INTRODUCED HIS BILL, VIRTUALLY ANYBODY

 IN THE SENATE WHO IS CONSIDERED A PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER IS A CO-SPONSOR OF THAT BILL. 70% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, ACCORDING TO TWO, NOW, POLLS, SUPPORT MEDICARE FOR ALL, INCLUDING OVER 50% OF  REPUBLICANS. SO I THINK PEOPLE ARE BECOMING PROGRESSIVE, BECAUSE I THINK WHAT BERNIE SHOWED IT COULD BE POPULAR, NOT JUST IN COBALT BLUE PLACES. IF YOU LOOK AT THE MAP WHERE BERNIE WON PRIMARIES, HE BASICALLY
WON RURAL AMERICA HE WON THE RURAL PRIMARY IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY, AND WITH INDEPENDENTS, NOT JUST WITH DEMOCRATS.

>> MARGARET HOOVER:BUT HE WON RURAL PRIMARIES IN PLACES THAT ARE ULTIMATELY RED. AND SO IF PROGRESSIVES WERE WINNING SO SERIOUSLY AT THE BALLOT BOX, WHY WOULDN’T THEY HAVE DONE BETTER IN THEIR PRIMARIES AGAINST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS?

>> JEFF WEAVER: I DON’T THINK THAT’S TRUE.
PROGRESSIVES HAVE WON IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.
AND THOSE PLACES COULD BE, YOU KNOW, THAT’S A BLUE STATE. YOU KNOW, SO THEY HAVE WON IN SOME RED PLACES; THEY’VE WON IN SOME BLUE PLACES. BUT WHAT I WOULD SAY TO YOU, PROGRESSIVE POLITICS, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE REAL ISSUES CONFRONTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE YOU REALLY TURN THE MAP UPSIDE DOWN.
MARGARET HOOVER: 

YOU SAY THAT, BUT TO PUSH BACK A BIT, BERNIE FAMOUSLY  WENT WITH ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ TO THE HEARTLAND DURING THE PRIMARIES. PRIMARY — BERNIE, FAMOUSLY, HAD A STRING OF LOSSES IN THE HEARTLAND FROM NEBRASKA, TO MONTANA, TO KANSAS, TO MICHIGAN. SO WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?
>> JEFF WEAVER: RIGHT. SO MICHIGAN, BUT MICHIGAN IS AN EXAMPLE OF,

 IN MANY WAYS, WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, IS BOTH CANDIDATES WERE PROGRESSIVE. ONE WAS QUOTE, UNQUOTE A LITTLE BIT MORE PROGRESSIVE. SOME PLACES WE HAD AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES, EVEN THE QUOTE, UNQUOTE ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE IS MUCH MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THAT CANDIDATE WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUR YEARS OR SIX OR EIGHT YEARS AGO.
AND ALOT OF THIS HAS TO DO WITH AS YOU KNOW, POLITICS HAS TO DO WITH RESOURCES ALLOCATED WHO HAS RESOURCES AND WHO DOESN’T.
YOU KNOW A CAMPAIGN IN IOWA, A VERY PROGRESSIVE GUY WHO HAD WORKED FOR  US, LOST HIS PRIMARY, BUT WAS OUTSPENT 10-1 IN TELEVISION.
WELL I GOTTA TELL YOU, NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOUR MESSAGE IS, OUTSPENT 

10-1 ON TELEVISION YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO FARE WELL, THAT’S JUST A REALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS.

>> MARGARET HOOVER: BUT I JUST WANT TO GET BACK TO THIS POINT. BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE CONCLUSION MANY PEOPLE DRAW FROM THE STRING OF LOSSES BERNIE HAD IN THE HEARTLAND IS THAT THE HEARTLAND ISN’T READY FOR PROGRESSIVE POPULISM. 

>> WEAVER: WELL, LOOK, SO, WINNING IN MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA WE HAVE A VERY PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR IN MINNESOTA. WISCONSIN.
LIKE, I DON’T — LIKE, I DON’T THINK THAT THAT’S RIGHT.

MARGARET HOOVER: DO YOU THINK BERNIE’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MIDTERMS IN THE 2018 IS A 

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION OR A POLICY CONTRIBUTION?
>> JEFF WEAVER: I THINK IT’S BOTH. SO HE HAS BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE COUNTRY. AS YOU KNOW, HE’S WILDLY POPULAR WITH MILLENNIAL VOTERS, WHO ARE, NOTORIOUSLY QUOTE, UNQUOTE  UNRELIABLE IN TERMS OF ACTUALLY COMING OUT. AND SO HE BRINGS OUT YOUNG VOTERS. 

>> MARGARET HOOVER: WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ISSUES SUPPORTED IN 2018, THAT DEMOCRAT AND PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SUPPORTED IN 2016 THEY’RE BERNIE’S

 PLATFORM ISSUES FROM 2016, RIGHT? ITS MEDICARE FOR ALL, TUITION FREE, OR UH FREE COLLEGE, FEDERAL JOBS GUARANTEE. 15 DOLLAR MINIMUM WAGE.
>> JEFF WEAVER: $15 MINIMUM WAGE, YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
DEALING AGGRESSIVELY WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, MAKING SURE WEALTHY PAYS FAIR SHARE OF TAXES.
WHAT PASSES AS A DEMOCRATIC MODERATE NOW IS MUCH MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN WHAT IT USED TO BE. THE WHOLE PARTY IS SHIFTING BACK TO WHERE IT HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY.
>> MARGARET HOOVER: ON THE POLITICS OF 2018, I KNOW YOU’RE NOT INVOLVED IN IT ANYMORE, BUT OUR REVOLUTION WAS GOING TO BE THE ENTITY THAT WAS GOING TO CARRY FORWARD THE ENERGY, THE FUNDRAISING  MOMENTUM, THE GRASSROOTS GET OUT THE VOTE LISTS OF THE BERNIE SANDERS’ 2016 CAMPAIGN. AND THAT CAMPAIGN, AS YOU KNOW, RAISED $230 MILLION, 60% OF WHICH WAS DONATIONS OF $200 OR LESS. OUR REVOLUTION, THAT ENTITY, HAS BEEN ALMOST A NON FACTOR IN TERMS OF SUPPORTING PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES IN 2018. WHAT HAPPENED?

>> JEFF WEAVER: WELL LOOK PEOPLE PROVIDE SUPPORT IN DIFFERENT WAYS. SO SOME GROUPS DIFFERENT CANDIDATES MONEY OR SPEND MONEY ON  I.E. INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE ADS, I MEAN THAT’S THE SORT OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD, OR EMILY’S LIST, OR OTHERS WILL DO THAT, AND THERE ARE CONSERVATIVE GROUPS ON THE OTHER SIDE THAT DO IT AS WELL. WHAT OUR REVOLUTION HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON IS REALLY MUCH MORE ON THE DOWN BALLOT. THEY’VE ALSO BEEN HELPING PEOPLE GET ELECTED THROUGH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ITSELF. SO YOU KNOW, TO COUNTY COMMITTEES, TO STATE COMMITTEES. THE DEMOCRATIC 

PARTY, AS AN INSTITUTION IS MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN IT USED TO BE BECAUSE OUR REVOLUTION HELPED A BUNCH OF FOLKS GET ELECTED ALL ACROSS THIS COUNTRY.
>> MARGARET HOOVER: IT’S A DECENT EXPLANATION.
>> JEFF WEAVER: THEY’RE BUILDING A BENCH.
WHICH IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO DO.
REPUBLICANS SPEND A LOT OF TIME BUILDING A BENCH AND IT PAID OFF BIG DIVIDENDS FOR THEM. DEMOCRATS HAVE NOT PAID AS MUCH ATTENTION TO DOING THAT.

>> MARGARET HOOVER: THERE’S A REAL DELTA THOUGH BETWEEN THE  LIMITED ACTIVITIES OF OUR REVOLUTION AND THE HUGE AMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT BERNIE CAME OFF 2016 WITH.

AND YOU WOULD HAVE EXPECTED ALL OF THAT ENERGY TO, THEN, HARNESSED IN A MORE, I THINK, CONSTRUCTIVE AND IMPACTFUL WAY FOR 2018.
>> JEFF WEAVER: WELL THEY DO THINGS THAT YOU DON’T SEE. SO THEY HAVE PEOPLE ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, WHO CALL ON BEHALF OF CANDIDATES, WHO TEXT ON BEHALF OF CANDIDATES, ALL OF THAT YOU DON’T SEE, BUT THAT’S GOING ON.
>> MARGARET HOOVER:
LETS
TURN TO 2020, WHICH BEGINS ON NOVEMBER 7TH, THE DAY AFTER THE MIDTERM ELECTION.
>> JEFF WEAVER: I MEAN IF YOU READ THE NEWSPAPER ITS APPARENTLY ALREADY BEGUN.
>> MARGARET HOOVER: SO UH, YOU IN YOUR BOOK “HOW BERNIE WON” YOU END BY SAYING “RUN, BERNIE, RUN!” IS THERE ANY COMBINATION OF EVENTS THAT WOULD LEAVE HIM NOT TO SEEK THE NOMINATION?
>> JEFF WEAVER: YEAH. I THINK HE’S TALKED ABOUT IT, I’VE SORT OF TALKED ABOUT IT. LIKE HE IS LOOKING RIGHT NOW WHETHER HE SHOULD RUN OR NOT. THE BIG QUESTION IS, FOR HIM, IS, WHO IS 

IN THE BEST POSITION TO BEAT TRUMP? BECAUSE TRUMP MUST BE BEATEN. UM, AND SO IF HE BELIEVES THAT HE IS NOT THE BEST CANDIDATE TO DO THAT, THAT SOMEBODY ELSE IS A BETTER CANDIDATE, HE WOULD NOT RUN.
>> MARGARET HOOVER: SO IS THE BATTLE FOR THE NOMINATION OF THE PARTY THIS TIME GOING TO BE A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THE WAY THAT ’16 WAS? OR IS IT GOING TO BE ABOUT WHICH CANDIDATE IS BEST SUITED TO PUTTING TOGETHER A COALITION THAT CAN BEAT TRUMP?
>> JEFF WEAVER: 2008 WAS A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. 1992 WAS A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE DEMOCRATIC

 PARTY. 1980, KENNEDY VERSUS CARTER WAS A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. THE PRESIDENTIAL PROCESS IS ALWAYS, WHOEVER BECOMES THE STANDARD BEARER, ALWAYS A CONTEST ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE SORT OF DOMINANT IDEOLOGY IN THIS GRAND COALITION. BOTH PARTIES ARE COALITIONS OF SORTS, RIGHT?
BUT WITHIN THAT COALITION, WHAT’S THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY?
MARGARET HOOVER: HAS BERNIE DONE HIS SERVICE TO THE DEMOCRATIC CAUSE OR TO THE PROGRESSIVE CAUSE BY RUNNING IN ’16, BY REALIGNING THE ISSUES, BY REALIGNING THE PARTY.AND NOW THAT NAMES LIKE ELIZABETH WARREN AND KAMALA HARRIS, AND SENATOR CORY BOOKER, AND SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND AND MANY WHO HAVE ADOPTED THE MANTLE OF PROGRESSIVISM, UM, FOLLOWING BERNIE’S LEAD, DOES IT MAKE HIM NOT THE BEST PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE ANYMORE?
JEFF WEAVER: THINK IN TERMS OF WHERE BERNIE WOULD START IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, HE OBVIOUSLY STARTS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE THAN LAST TIME, WHERE HE WAS AT  3% IN THE POLLS, NOBODY THOUGHT HE WAS SERIOUS, WHAT HAVE YOU. I THINK WE ALL KNOW HE’S SERIOUS NOW.
>> MARGARET HOOVER: BUT HE TOOK THE PROGRESSIVE LANE UP, THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR THE PROGRESSIVE ENERGY UNTIL BERNIE ENTERED THE RACE IN 2016.
>> JEFF WEAVER: BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE PRACTICAL RESULT, BERNIE WAS WINNING CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRATS, RURAL DEMOCRATS, MODERATE DEMOCRATS, THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE HE WAS WINNING RIGHT? BLUE COLLAR DEMOCRATS.
AND SOME OF THE OTHER CANDIDATES MAY HAVE TROUBLE PUTTING TOGETHER 

THAT COALITION. YOU LOOK AT RECENT POLLING, HE’S MOST POPULAR WITH  AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS, THATS HIS HIGHEST FAVORABLE. SECOND IS LATINO VOTERS. SO I THINK HE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT TOGETHER THE GRAND COALITION, LIKE THE FDR COALITION THAT CAN PUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ON A ROAD TO SUCCESS FOR DECADES TO COME. JUST LIKE FDR DID,RIGHT?
REPUBLICANS LOOK —
>> MARGARET HOOVER: HE HAD THE  HELP OF AN ECONOMIC CALAMITY THAT WAS UNPRECEDENTED UP TO THE TIME.

>> JEFF WEAVER: YEAH YEAH BUT LOOK REPUBLICANS HAVE SPENT ALMOST EVERY WAKING HOUR SINCE THE NEW DEAL TRYING TO DISMANTLE SOCIAL SECURITY RIGHT. HE INSTITUTIONALIZED CHANGES THAT HAVE BENEFITED AMERICANS FOR  DECADES.

>>MARGARET HOOVER: I JUST HAVE TO SAY, IN 1980, RONALD REAGAN SAVED SOCIAL SECURITY, AND I THINK SINCE 1980 RONALD REAGAN AND THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT HAS STOPPED TRYING DISMANTLING SOCIAL SECURITY. BUT, UH…

AS A SCHOLAR OF FRANKLIN–AS A SCHOLAR OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, YOU MAY KNOW THE NAME EDWARD PRICHARD, WHO WAS A ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, AND PART OF HIS NEW DEAL BRAIN TRUST. AND HE WAS ON FIRING LINE IN 1982. HERE HE IS.  

BUCKLEY: A GOVERNMENT OUGHT, AT THE MARGIN, TO USE ALL OF ITS POWERS TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM STARVING TO DEATH. I’M SURE THAT HERBERT HOOVER, WHO WAS PREPARED TO FEED ALL OF EUROPE BEFORE PERMITTING THEM TO STARVE TO DEATH 30 YEARS BEFORE ROOSEVELT WAS A FACTOR IN AMERICAN POLITICS, WOULD NOT HAVE DISAGREED WITH ME . I AM, HOWEVER, AS KING WHETHER THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF CERTAIN PROGRAMS WHICH OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN VIEWED AS EMERGENCY PROGRAMS ISN’T A PART OF THE ROOSEVELT LEGACY. SO THAT WE ARE IN FACT NOW DROWNED IN WASHINGTON WITH HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF AGENCIES WHOSE PRIMARY MOTIVE I S SIMPLY TO SATISFY THE PARTICULAR APPETITE OF A PARTICULAR POTENTIAL CONSTITUENT . 

EDWARD PRICHARD:
BUT I THINK THE CONCEPT OF ENTITLEMENT IS REALLY ONE OF THE FINEST LEGACIES OF THE NEW DEAL AND THE ROOSEVELT’S ADMINISTRATION.
AND LIKE ALL OF THE OTHERS, IT ENDED WITH TOO MUCH HYPOCRISY IT CAN GET THE SOCIETY IN TROUBLE.
I DON’T BELIEVE THE THING IS LIMITLESS. BUT THE CONCEPT OF ENTITLEMENTS, THERE’S CERTAIN BENEFITS TO WHICH 

A CITIZEN IS AT LEAST ARGUABLY ENTITLED AS A — AS A  PERSON IN THE SOCIETY, SEEMS TO ME TO BE A —  A BULWARK AGAINST THE TYRANNY OF THE ALL POWERFUL STATE AND AGAINST THE EXCESSES OF THE — OF THE — OF THE CORPORATE AND CAPITALIST SECTOR, BOTH.

MARGARET: ONE OF THE LEADING LUMINARIES OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S WHITE HOUSE DEFENDING ENTITLEMENTS AND NEW DEAL PROGRAMS.

JEFF WEAVER:  WELL THE POINT HE MAYBES IS RIGHT.
THERE’S CERTAIN THINGS IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO. THAT IS LAY OUT IN THAT 1944 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS. ONE OF THOSE IS THE, YOU KNOW, THE RIGHT TO HEALTH CARE, THE RIGHT TO BE ABLE TO RETIRE WITH SOME MEASURE OF SECURITY, THE RIGHT TO A DECENT JOB, THE RIGHT TO OPERATE YOUR BUSINESS IN AN ANTI-MONOPOLY 

SITUATION, SO ON AND SO FORTH. SO YES. I THINK MOST AMERICANS AGREE WITH THAT. SOCIAL SECURITY MOST SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY, PRIOR TO SOCIAL SECURITY HALF OF THE SENIORS WERE LIVING IN POVERTY, THAT’S A PHENOMENAL SUCCESS.

MARGARET HOOVER: IT’S A PHENOMENAL SUCCESS, BUT HE ALSO POINTS TO THE PROFLIGACY LEGACY OF — OF THE — THE GROWTH OF THESE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS AND, OF COURSE, THERE HAS TO BE THIS BALANCE. IN 1982,
BUT — BUT — BUT THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT REALLY ISN’T INTERESTED IN THAT BALANCE. YOU’RE INTERESTED IN PLANTING A FLAG.

JEFF WEAVER: NO, NO, LOOK. WE LIVE, AS BERNIE WOULD SAY, IN THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. WHY DON’T WE NOT HAVE A HEALTH CARE AS A RIGHT IN THIS COUNTRY WHEN ALL, EVERY OTHER WESTERN DEMOCRACY, INDUSTRIALIZED DEMOCRACY, HAS IT? WHY ARE THEY ABLE TO DO IT? AND THIS, YOU KNOW, YOU’RE A CONSERVATIVE. YOU BELIEVE IN AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM.

MARGARET HOOVER: THEY DON’T HAVE IT AS A RIGHT 

JEFF WEAVER: ALL —

MARGARET HOOVER: THEY PROVIDE IT THROUGH GOVERNMENT FUNDING AND SUBSIDIES.

JEFF WEAVER: YEAH RIGHT, WELL THE — YES, YOU HAVE — YOU HAVE, AS A — AS A PRESIDENT, 

MARGARET HOOVER: YEAH.

JEFF WEAVER: YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO IT.

BUT WHY ARE WE UNABLE TO DO WHAT EVERY OTHER WESTERN DEMOCRACY DOES? ARE WE NOT AS GOOD AS THEY ARE? OF COURSE WE ARE. ARE OUR PEOPLE NOT AS WORTHY AS THEIRS? I THINK THEY ARE. IF ANY OTHER FREE COUNTRY CAN DO IT, WE CAN DO IT. 

MARGARET HOOVER: UM MOVING FORWARD IN 2020 IT SEEMS TO ME AMONGST THE DEMOCRATIC SET IN 2020 THERE REALLY ARE, UM — THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SORT OF WHERE THE PROGRESSIVES ARE, SORT OF THE IDEAS YOU JUST OUTLINED, MEDICARE FOR ALL, AND SOME OF THE MORE MAINSTREAM ESTABLISHMENT NEO LIBERAL CANDIDATES UM ONE OF THE MOST GLARING ITEMS I SEE IS ON CITIZENS UNITED AND THE ROLE OF MONEY IN POLITICS.
PERHAPS IF THERE IS A BLUE WAVE, CREDIT WILL GO TO THE BILLIONAIRES LIKE MIKE BLOOMBERG WHO SPENT $125 MILLION TO HELP ELECT A BLUE WAVE, YOU KNOW, TOM STEYER WHO SPENT TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THIS ELECTION CYCLE, 

GEORGE SOROS, 100S OF MILLIONS OVER THE COURSE OF THE CYCLE– OF MANY CYCLES OF POLITICS. UM, SO

JEFF WEAVER: WELL, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE… LET’S BE CLEAR. THE AMOUNT OF MONEY BEING  SPENT ON THE OTHER SIDE, I THINK, DWARFS WHAT THEY’RE SPENDING. BUT
GO AHEAD.

MARGARET HOOVER:SO ARE YOU SAYING THERE IS NO FAULT LINE ON THE LEFT ABOUT CITIZENS UNITED AND MONEY AND POLITICS?

JEFF WEAVER:LOOK, I THINK THERE’S TWO THINGS HERE.
THERE’S THE WORLD WE WANT TO CREATE; AND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. AS LONG AS THE REPUBLICANS ARE BOMBARDING US WITH, YOU KNOW, TRUCK LOADS OF MONEY THAT COME FROM THE KOCH BROTHERS AND THEIR ALLIED NETWORKS, DEMOCRATS HAVE TO FIGHT BACK.
I DO NOT BELIEVE IN FIGHTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH PITCHFORKS —

MARGARET HOOVER:  BUT THE MONEY AND ENERGY ON THIS SIZE, THE MONEY AND ENERGY IN THE  2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS IS DEFINITIVELY BEEN ON THE LEFT, MORE MONEY IN DEMOCRATS.

JEFF WEAVER: CERTAINLY SMALL MONEY.

MARGARET HOOVER: SMALL MONEY INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES AND BIG MONEY IS WINNING ON THE LEFT.
DEMOCRATS ARE OUTSPENDING REPUBLICANS IN THIS ELECTION  CYCLE. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE BIG MONEY ON THE LEFT?

JEFF WEAVER: LOOK, I WANT A SYSTEM WITHOUT BIG MONEY RIGHT? I DON’T BELIEVE FIGHTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH PITCHFORKS. NEVER HAVE, NEVER WILL.
I MEAN YOU TALK ABOUT BERNIE SANDERS’ 2016 RACE–  

WHAT A PHENOMENAL ACHIEVEMENT TO  RAISE $230 MILLION IN SMALL MONEY AND TO ALMOST WIN THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION, PHENOMENAL. BUT THAT’S — WHEN YOU’RE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, YOU HAVE A VERY BIG PROFILE.
WHEN YOU’RE A HOUSE CANDIDATE IN THE SECOND DISTRICT OF WHEREVER, MUCH HARDER TO RAISE THE KIND OF MONEY IN SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS WITHOUT A RADICAL REFORM OF OUR CAMPAIGN FINANCE SYSTEM THAN IT IS FOR A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. I THINK BY AND LARGE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ARE NOT TAKING CORPORATE PAC MONEY, I THINK THAT’S — I’M NOT SAYING EVERYBODY, I THINK THAT’S PRETTY COMMON ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE NOT TO TAKE CORPORATE PAC MONEY. BUT IF “IES” ARE BEING RUN FOR PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, IF PEOPLE ARE WORKING WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ORGANS, THE DCCC AND OTHER THINGS TO RAISE MONEY, I’M NOT GOING TO CRITICIZE FOLKS UNTIL WE HAVE A CHANGE IN THE SYSTEM. IT WOULD BE, WOULD BE 

AN ABROGATION OF ONE’S RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE VOTERS TO GO OUT THERE AND SPEND, YOU KNOW, $3,000, WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO GET POUNDED WITH $300,000 FROM THE OTHER SIDE. I THINK THAT’S — THAT ALL BEING SAID, LOOK, WE GOT TO GET RID OF CITIZENS UNITED, WE GOTTA HAVE REAL CAMPAIGN REFORM IN THIS COUNTRY, WE’VE GOT TO MOVE TO A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC AND SMALL-DOLLAR FINANCE.

MARGARET HOOVER: BERNIE WAS INCREDIBLY OUTSPOKEN 

IN 2015 AND 2016.ON TRADE. IN 2015 SAID WASN’T A SINGLE INTERNATIONAL TRADE DEAL THAT HE SUPPORTED. IN FACT, HE SUCCEEDED IN GETTING HILLARY CLINTON TO  DISASSOCIATE HERSELF FROM THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP.

JEFF WEAVER:RIGHT.

MARGARET HOOVER: AND AND REALLY PULLED THE PARTY TO THE LEFT AGAINST TRADE AND HE’S BEEN RELATIVELY SILENT.

JEFF WEAVER: SO LOOK IT’S NOT ABOUT BEING AGAINST TRADE.  IT IS— AND DONALD TRUMP LIKES TO 

PUT THIS, AS LIKE, IN A FRAME OF NATIONALISM, RIGHT?
LIKE OH, IT IS THE EVIL CHINESE OR EVIL MEXICANS OR THE EVIL CANADIANS VERSUS THE U.S. BUT REALLY, WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, AS YOU KNOW, IS THAT CAPITAL FROM AMERICA ITS AMERICAN COMPANIES MAKING THEIR PRODUCTS IN CHINA. RIGHT? THEY’RE USING CHINESE LABOR AND CHINESE INFRASTRUCTURE BUT ITS AN AMERICAN COMPANY.
SO IT’S NOT ABOUT CHINESE GOODS COMING TO THE U.S., 

CHINESE-OWNED GOODS, THEY’RE AMERICAN GOODS THAT USED TO BE MADE HERE.SO WHY AMERICAN COMPANIES WHO ARE HERE, WHO GET ALL  OF THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN AMERICAN COMPANY ALLOWED TO JUST MAKE THEIR PRODUCTS OVERSEAS AND BRING THEM BACK.

MARGARET HOOVER: RIGHT.HIS ARGUMENT IS THAT DISASTROUS TRADE DEALS HAD COLLAPSED THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING CLASS.

JEFF WEAVER: RIGHT.

MARGARET HOOVER: OVER DECADES.

JEFF WEAVER:  YES I THINK THAT’S FAIR.

MARGARET HOOVER: AND THAT WAS BERNIE’S ARGUMENT, AND BY THE WAY, DONALD TRUMP’S ARGUMENT. WHEN
DONALD TRUMP, FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE, UH, TOOK THE UNITED STATES OUT OF THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP BERNIE ISSUED A STATEMENT, SAYING YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MIGHT BE ONE PLACE 

I COULD WORK WITH DONALD TRUMP.

JEFF WEAVER:  RIGHT, WELL BERNIE WOULD HAVE DONE IT, HILLARY, BASED ON WHAT SHE SAID WOULD HAVE DONE IT, YOU KNOW, THE PROBLEM WITH TRUMP IS, HE’S — HE’S VERY GOOD AT OFFERING A NARRATIVE THAT’S UH CRITIQUE. BUT THEN, WHEN HE HAS TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING, HE RUNS INTO SOME PROBLEMS.
SO YOU KNOW HOW YOU SOLVE THE TRADE PROBLEM IS NOT TO THROW A HAND GRENADE INTO AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL 

POLICY, RIGHT? SO, YOU KNOW, HE’S A LITTLE BIT OF A BULL IN THE CHINA SHOP, RIGHT?

MARGARET HOOVER:SO HOW DO YOU ARGUE WITH THE RESULTS, THOUGH? ‘CAUSE NOW THERE’S A RENEGOTIATED NAFTA WHICH BERNIE WAS ALWAYS IN FAVOR OF, WHICH FRANKLY COMES BACK IN FAVOR OF DAIRY FARMERS, ONE OF THE CONSTITUENCIES THAT BERNIE HAS LONG ADVOCATED FOR.
UM HE’S — HE’S RENEGOTIATED THE NAFTA TO THE USMCA.
HE RENEGOTIATED THE KOREAN FREE — FREE TRADE DEAL. HE’S PULLED  OUT OF TPP.HOW IS DONALD TRUMP NOT UH SORT OF BERNIE SANDERS’ BIGGEST  ALLY WHEN IT COMES TO –?

 JEFF WEAVER: YOU THINK DONALD TRUMP IS — IS A 

LEFTIST?

MARGARET HOOVER:TRADE.

JEFF WEAVER:  SOCIALIST?

MARGARET HOOVER: HOW — HOW DO YOU THINK THAT —

 JEFF WEAVER: DONALD TRUMP SOCIALIST TRADE POLICY, IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO CALL IT?

MARGARET HOOVER: HERE’S WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY. THERE SEEMS TO BE LESS LIGHT BETWEEN DONALD TRUMP AND BERNIE SANDERS ON THESE ISSUES THAN THERE IS BETWEEN THE ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATES AND THEIR PARTIES. BETWEEN MAINSTREAM REPUBLICANS AND MAINSTREAM DEMOCRATS, THERE IS MORE DAYLIGHT ON THESE TRADE ISSUES.

JEFF WEAVER: WELL, LOOK, DURING THESE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS, LITERALLY, CORPORATE INTERESTS ARE HANDING TRADE PEOPLE PIECES OF PAPER —

MARGARET HOOVER: SO YOU’RE SAYING THAT CORPORATIONS OWN THE CENTERS OF EACH PARTY?

 JEFF WEAVER:  I — I — I WOULD SAY THAT THE UH — THE  SORT OF MIDDLE HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY DOMINATED BY CORPORATE INTERESTS. AND LOOK, AND THE RIGHT — LET’S TALK ABOUT DONALD TRUMP. LET’S NOT MAKE HIM OUT TO BE SOME GREAT FRIEND OF THE WORKING PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY, BECAUSE HIS TAX BILL LOOTED THE TREASURY, RIGHT, GAVE TRILLION 

DOLLARS TO RICH PEOPLE.

MARGARET HOOVER: WAIT, HOLD ON, MEDICARE FOR ALL IS GONNA COST $32.6 TRILLION — THAT’S BREAKING THE TREASURY, TOO.

[OVERLAPPING SPEAKERS ]

JEFF WEAVER: BUT THEN HE AND PAUL RYAN WANT TO PAY FOR IT BY CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICAID, AND MEDICARE, SOMETHING THAT TRUMP SAID WHEN HE WAS RUNNING FOR OFFICE.

MARGARET HOOVER: THEY DON’T WANT TO CUT IT. THEY WANT TO REORGANIZE IT.

JEFF WEAVER:HE WOULD NEVER, HE WOULD NEVER DO IT.
HIS BUDGET CUT IT. I MEAN HE — YOU KNOW, HE —

MARGARET HOOVER: AGAIN, SO YOU ARE MAKING THE CASE THAT YOU — THAT BERNIE SANDERS AND TRUMP HAVE ACTUALLY MORE IN COMMON THAN THE —

JEFF WEAVER: NO, TRUMP, LOOK, LOOK. THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT TRUMP SAYS AND WHAT HE DOES.

MARGARET HOOVER: IT’S HARD TO ARGUE WITH 3.8% UNEMPLOYMENT.

JEFF WEAVER: LOOK, PEOPLE IN AMERICA ARE HURTING, RIGHT? THERE’S LOW UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS. IF YOU GO OUT AND TALK TO PEOPLE, LIKE I DID WITH BERNIE SANDERS THIS PAST WEEK, PEOPLE HAVE A JOB, SURE THEY HAVE A JOB, BUT THEY’RE MAKING $7.25 AN HOUR, RIGHT?

WELL THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT DOING WELL, RIGHT?
TRUMP MAY COUNT THOSE NUMBERS, BUT THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT SO HAPPY ABOUT IT.THEIR DEDUCTIBLES ARE GOING UP,  THEIR COPAYMENTS ARE GOING UP, THEIR INSURANCE PREMIUMS ARE GOING UP,RIGHT,  MANY PEOPLE ARE WORKING MULTIPLE JOBS TO GET BY, PARTICULARLY PEOPLE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN THEY CAN’T FIND CHILDCARE.  THERE ARE REAL PROBLEMS IN THIS COUNTRY AND THEY NEED BOLD SOLUTIONS. 

MARGARET HOOVER: YOU KNOW, RONALD REAGAN WAS KNOWN FOR HAVING THE REAGAN REVOLUTION BRINGING AN ENTIRE NEW GENERATION OF YOUTH INTO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. AND, YOU KNOW, I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT MILLENNIALS ALMOST A DECADE AGO ARGUING THAT IF REPUBLICANS DIDN’T LOOK OUT AHEAD THERE WAS AN ICEBERG, A BIG ONE.  MILLENNIALS NOW ARE OVERWHELMINGLY UH — THEY DON’T SELF-IDENTIFY AS REPUBLICANS. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS COMPLETELY BESMIRCHED TO THEM. 

UH AND INCREASINGLY THE SECOND HALF OF THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION ARE FOR ALL OF YOUR POLICIES, MEDICARE FOR ALL, FREE COLLEGE TUITION, $15 MINIMUM WAGE. UM YOU’VE WON THEM UH FOR A GENERATION AND — AND HILLARY CLINTON DIDN’T. UH IS THAT THE LASTING LEGACY OR CONTRIBUTION OF BERNIE SANDERS — THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT?

JEFF WEAVER: WELL, IT IS ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH BERNIE WON. UM AND IF — YOU KNOW IF — IF YOU LOOK AT, I MEAN, WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT THAT — WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT INDEPENDENT VOTERS, YOU KNOW, OVER, AS YOU KNOW, LIKE OVER 50% OF MILLENNIAL VOTERS ARE NOW REGISTERED

AS INDEPENDENTS, RIGHT?
THEY VOTE DEMOCRATIC RELIABLY, BUT THEY ARE NOT — THEY DON’T SELF-IDENTIFY WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
UM AND YOU KNOW WITHIN DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS IT’S DIFFERENT — BUT EVEN AMONG, YOU KNOW, UH —

MARGARET HOOVER: HM.

JEFF WEAVER: AFRICAN-AMERICANS, THERE’S NOW A LARGE, NUM — — AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS MILLENNIALS YOU’RE SEEING LARGER AND LARGER NUMBERS OF MILLENNIALS REGISTERING AS INDEPENDENTS. SO THERE’S BEEN A SEA CHANGE IN HOW, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AND HOW THEY’RE VOTING.  THEY’RE VOTING DEMOCRATIC–THEY’RE NOT QUITE IDENTIFYING WITH THE

DEMOCRATIC PARTY, THEY CERTAINLY DON’T LIKE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THAT’S FOR SURE.  UM BUT THIS IS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE GENERATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY.

MARGARET HOOVER:
DOES IT CONCERN — WHAT — THE PART THAT CONCERNS ME THE MOST ABOUT IT, RIGHT? IS THE QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER IT’S ESSENTIAL TO LIVE IN A DEMOCRATIC REPUB — REPUBLIC OR WHETHER IT’S ESSENTIAL TO LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY. AND WHEN YOU ASK MILLENNIALS WHETHER THEY BELIEVE IT’S ESSENTIAL TO LIVE IN A  DEMOCRACY, SOMETHING LIKE 30% OF THEM WILL AGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT, DOES THAT TROUBLE YOU?

JEFF WEAVER: WELL, LOOK, I’M — I’M ALL FOR — I’M FOR DEMOCRACY. STRAIGHT UP. UM BUT YOU KNOW, AND IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I’M CONCERNED ABOUT TRUMP.
HE’S INCREASINGLY MOVING US IN A MORE AUTHORITARIAN DIRECTION, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO DIVIDE THE COUNTRY UP, LIKE PICK AT THE SORT OF INTERNAL FRACTURES IN OUR CULTURE AND OUR SOCIETY, SO, I THINK THAT’S VERY DANGEROUS. LOOK, I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT YOUNG PEOPLE, UH, YOUNG PEOPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, ISSUES OF RACISM AND SEXISM AND HOMOPHOBIA AND OTHER THINGS MUCH LESS AMONG UH — THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT THAN THEY ARE — I THINK THAT’S A VERY POSITIVE THING AND I THINK BODES WELL FOR OUR DEMOCRACY. 

MARGARET HOOVER: I WANT TO GO TO SUPER DELEGATES.

JEFF WEAVER: SURE.

MARGARET HOOVER:UM THE SUPER DELEGATES WHO ARE SPECIAL DELEGATES TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UM, TRADITIONALLY IN PREVIOUS  YEARS, UH VOTE FOR WHICHEVER CANDIDATE THEY WANT. BUT THIS TIME BECAUSE OF REFORMS

 BROUGHT ON BY THE BERNIE SANDERS’ 2016 CAMPAIGN, UH SUPERDELEGATES IN 2020 WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE IN THE FIRST ROUND OF BALLOTING 

JEFF WEAVER: RIGHT —

MARGARET HOOVER: IN THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. AND THIS HAD TO HAPPEN, ACCORDING TO YOU, IN ORDER TO MAKE THE PROCESS MORE TRANSPARENT.

JEFF WEAVER: AND DEMOCRATIC.

MARGARET HOOVER: AND DEMOCRATIC. WHAT REPUBLICANS WONDER IS, HAVE YOU SET YOURSELVES UP TO SELECT A CANDIDATE WHO IS NECESSARILY MORE MAYBE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DEMOCRATIC BASE AND LESS ELECTABLE IN A GENERAL ELECTION?

JEFF WEAVER: OH.

MARGARET HOOVER: I’M LOOKING AT 1972 GEORGE MCGOVERN.

JEFF WEAVER: HOW ABOUT 2016?

MARGARET HOOVER: AND 1984 — WELL, IN 2016 — SO, YOU THINK IF THE SUPER DELEGATES HADN’T EXISTED, BERNIE SANDERS WOULD’VE HAD THE NOMINATION, WOULD’VE BEEN ABLE TO BEAT DONALD TRUMP, WHICH IS A TOTAL COUNTER-FACTUAL. 

JEFF WEAVER: TRUMP’S VULTURE SAID BACK IN FEBRUARY THAT WE WOULD’VE BEAT HIM, BUT, ANYWAY, NO, BUT THIS IS THE TRUTH. 

MARGARET HOOVER: YOU’VE HAD NO POLL SOURCE.

JEFF WEAVER: IF YOU LOOK AT THE — LIKE, EMPIRICALLY,  DONALD TRUMP WAS THE ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE — I THINK WE CAN AGREE ON THAT, RIGHT? THERE — AND THERE WERE VARIOUS POINTS IN WHICH THE REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT TRIED TO KILL HIS CAMPAIGN. THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO DO THAT BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE SUPERDELEGATES. SO HE — THE — THE PEOPLE ON THE — ON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY —

THEY WERE JUMPING FOR JOY, OH, DONALD TRUMP HAS BEEN NOMINATED. WE’RE GOING TO CRUSH HIM.
HE IS UNELECTABLE, HE IS THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER THING. SOME OF US WERE LIKE, , HUH, HUH, HUH, DON’T — CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR IN LIFE.
AND SO THAT PROCESS PRODUCED AN ANTI ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE WHO ENDED UP BEING, AS A FACTUAL MATTER, MORE ELECTABLE THAN THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS, WHICH WAS MORE OF AN INSIDER PROCESS.
I MEAN, I DON’T LIKE THE OUTCOME, BUT THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED. SO IF YOU HAD A PROCESS ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE WHICH WAS MORE  DEMOCRATIC, LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE WHO THEY 

WANT THE NOMINEE TO BE. THEY — IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE WANT? LET THEM VOTE. RIGHT? 

MARGARET HOOVER: ONE MORE PIECE ON THE POLITICS OF 2018, WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF THERE IS NOT A BLUE WAVE?

JEFF WEAVER: WELL, I, YOU KNOW, BERNIE HAS BEEN OUT, AGAIN, AROUND THE COUNTRY AND YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAYS IS THERE WON’T BE A BLUE WAVE UNLESS PEOPLE COME OUT. YOU KNOW, ALL THIS TALK ABOUT THE INEVITABILITY OF THE BLUE WAVE. WELL, IT’S NOT INEVITABLE IF PEOPLE DON’T COME OUT, PARTICULARLY YOUNG PEOPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, YOUNG PEOPLE OF COLOR, UH DON’T COME OUT, IN THIS ELECTION. SO, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? IT — WHAT IT’LL MEAN IS IS THAT DEMOCRATS HAVE NOT DONE A GOOD ENOUGH JOB ENERGIZING THE PEOPLE YOU NEED TO COME OUT. LOOK, I NEVER BLAME THE VOTERS. IT — IF THERE IS A FAULT, IT’S ON THE MESSENGERS. RIGHT? AND SO —

MARGARET HOOVER: SO, WHAT’S YOUR SENSE? WHAT’S YOUR GUT?

JEFF WEAVER: WELL, LOOK, YOU KNOW, AND I TALK ABOUT THIS IN MY BOOK, WHICH IS, I THINK THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS NOT PAID ENOUGH ATTENTION YEAH IN AND YEAR OUT TO BUILDING ITS ORGANIZATION AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL. I MEAN, YOU HEAR THIS IN MANY COMMUNITIES, RIGHT? OH, THEY PARACHUTE IN TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION AND THEY WANT OUR VOTES. BUT THEN THE ELECTION HAPPENS, WE NEVER SEE ANYBODY AGAIN. AND OVER TIME, IT HAS — THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE HAS ESSENTIALLY BECOME A FUNDRAISING VEHICLE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. YOU KNOW, WE’VE GOT TO GET BACK TO OUR ROOTS. AGAIN, THE RIGHT IS DOING THIS QUITE EFFECTIVELY. YOU KNOW, THEY MAY  HAVE —

MARGARET HOOVER: SOUNDS LIKE YOU’RE HEDGING. 

JEFF WEAVER: I’M — I’M NOT HEDGING AT ALL.

MARGARET HOOVER: BUT DO YOU — I MEAN — IS — IS YOUR —

JEFF WEAVER: THAT’S — THAT’S WHAT POLITICS IS ALL ABOUT.

MARGARET HOOVER: GUT TELLING YOU YOU DON’T THINK THE GET OUT AND VOTE EFFORT IS GOING TO BE SUFFICIENT ENOUGH FOR THE BLUE WAVE?

JEFF WEAVER: I — I — NO, LOOK. YOU’VE SEEN THE POLLING IN ALL THESE RACES. ALL THESE COMPETITIVE RACES ARE ALL, LIKE, ONE PERCENT OR TWO PERCENT EITHER WAY. AS YOU KNOW, IN POLITICS, IF THEY ALL LOSE BY ONE PERCENT, YOU’RE LIKE, OH, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS BEEN DESTROYED. SO, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THAT — THAT’S THE WAY POLITICS GOES.

MARGARET HOOVER: JEFF WEAVER, THANK YOU FOR COMING TO “FIRING LINE.”

JEFF WEAVER: TAKE CARE. THANK YOU.