INTRODUCING: Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams
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Hey, it's Lovett coming to you from the floor of the DNC where I am currently crowd surfing a mob of resistant lives over to the wine mom tent. The energy is electric, the pizza is deep, and I am thrilled to introduce a very special sneak peek of Crooked's newest weekly podcast. That's right. Instead of our normally scheduled What a Weekday episode, today I'm introducing you to Assembly Required, hosted by none other than author, voting rights advocate, friend of the pod, and genuine human nerd Stacey Abrams. When every week feels like a new episode of American Horror Story colon Hillbilly Elegy,

It's easy to fall into the trap of pessimism or even worse, nihilism. But if anyone knows something about not giving up, it's Stacey Abrams with Assembly Required. You'll get to meet incredible advocates fighting for a better future and discover alongside Stacey how ordinary people like you and me can help make that future a reality. We're so excited today to share the very first episode of Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. It's entertaining. You learn a lot. It gives you just a little bit of hope and steps that you can take every week. It's a sort of a dose of activism that everybody should have.

Do not forget to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcast to listen and to learn new ways to make a real difference. Now, without further ado, let's get into it. Welcome to Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams from Crooked Media. I'm your host, Stacey Abrams. Today, we're recording our podcast from the DNC. We're recording halfway through the convention, and we've already had some memorable moments, like Vice President Kamala Harris making a surprise appearance on Monday. Good evening, everybody!

We kicked off the week strong with some of the most influential Democratic voices of our time, including our president, of course. The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day. What shall our legacy be? What will our children say? Let me know in my heart when my days are through. America, I gave my best to you. In Kamala Harris'

We have a chance to elect a president who is for the middle class because she is from the middle class. I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment, that we were here, and that

We were with Kamala Harris every step of the way. This is our time, America. And no convention is complete without some celebrities, like country music star Mickey Guyton, award-winning actor Tony Goldwyn, and Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors, returning to Chicago to remind younger audiences about the Bulls' past glory. It is so fun to be back here in the United Center.

And as you guys know, a lot of good stuff has happened in this building, especially in the 90s. You young people, Google Michael Jordan and you can read all about it. The DNC is often an opportunity to highlight up-and-coming political stars, such as Barack Obama in the 2004 convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student.

born and raised in a small village in Kenya. At that time, Obama was a candidate for the U.S. Senate when presidential nominee John Kerry asked him to speak at the Democratic Party convention in Boston. This DNC speech catapulted him into the national spotlight. This year, an estimated 50,000 people will converge on Chicago for the quadrennial gathering, and millions more will watch at home.

I'm particularly interested, though, in how one group of potential Democratic voters might show up. And I'm not the only one. This is a prerecorded message that came out in July from a key voice at this year's convention. In this election, we know young voters will be key.

And we know your vote cannot be taken for granted. It must be earned. And that is exactly what we will do. That's right. I'm interested in the youth vote. These are the voters, if they vote en masse, who could determine the outcome of the election. And as history tells us, these are also the voters who are the most skeptical about whether voting will yield the changes needed to move our country forward.

Youth skepticism isn't a new phenomenon. Every generation faces its doubts and fears that our democracy isn't working for them. And every generation confronts a moment, or several, that reveal why politics is inescapable. For baby boomers, several issues converged. Voter suppression laws that denied Black voters full participation in American elections, and a military draft that could send young men to the Vietnam War at 18 years old.

but denied them the right to vote until they were 21 if they were allowed to vote at all. This generation became key stakeholders in the movement to ratify the 26th Amendment, the right to vote at 18. For Generation X, the first Gulf War and the fight to end apartheid awakened political awareness. And the Rock the Vote campaign with MTV galvanized us into thinking maybe politics was for us.

Millennials came of age with the energy of Obama's campaign in 2008 and its iconic chant. Today, the generation between the ages of 14 and 27, otherwise known as Generation Z, includes 41 million potential voters.

More than 8 million of them have turned 18 since the last election, meaning they're our most recently minted voters in the nation. They care about the cost of living and access to affordable housing, but they're also deeply concerned about the gun violence that has marked much of their early lives and climate change's impact on their present and future.

A Harvard poll found that 51% of young Americans support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. And this is the first generation since Reconstruction to lose civil rights, with the Dobbs decision eviscerating abortion access. Gen Z already turns out to vote at higher rates than previous generations when we were their age.

Researchers at Tufts University found a demonstrably strong relationship between high youth voting and policies that make it easier to register to vote and show up on Election Day. Voting rights laws like automatic and same-day registration, early voting, absentee ballots, and no-excuse absentee voting increase participation and trust in the system.

But there's still a big question mark about how young voters will turn out this November. Harnessing the youth vote is a perennial question, and each cycle raises new concerns and innovations. But the best way to gauge how to encourage youth voting hasn't changed. It's actually listening to young voters about why they show up and talking to young non-voters about why they're avoiding the polls. One part of the equation is who is on the ballot.

With a new Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, the potential for change feels real if young voters believe that their issues will be at the core of her campaign. In 2020, Biden and Harris won in huge part because of young voters. They turned out in record numbers in voting overwhelmingly to defeat Donald Trump and to elect Biden and Harris. There is no way that she will become President Harris without the youth vote.

It looks like it's trending that way. I think she's really bringing a breath of fresh air. Now it's the Republican candidate who's the oldest candidate that we've had in the history of our country as a nominee. Somebody who's running on old ideas about bringing us backwards. Comments like this one, and I'm not voting for Kamala because of her race or her gender. So let's look at the records.

As a generation that's grown up on gun violence, I'm voting for her because she's co-sponsored bills to enact a universal background check, ban assault weapons, and increase oversight of federally licensed gun dealers. That was Christina "Seen Soon" Ramirez, the head of NextGen America on MSNBC late July. And then two voices we're about to hear more from: Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost, speaking to a local TV news station, and Haley Lickstein, answering followers on her TikTok channel.

Whether it's winning the presidency, flipping the house, or engaging youth voters on more local issues and getting them to show up for local elections, the work begins with listening to what they have to say. Maxwell Frost made history in 2022 as the first member of Gen Z to be elected to Congress. He represents Orlando and parts of Central Florida in the House of Representatives.

He is a champion of gun violence prevention and environmental justice. And he's up for reelection this year. Haley Lickstein is a civic influencer. She works through social media and with national advocacy organizations to engage young people in politics and communicate about issues and candidates directly with Gen Z voters. My conversation with Representative Maxwell Frost and Haley Lickstein after the break.

Representative Max Frost, Haley Lickstein, thank you for joining me at Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. Yeah, thanks for having us. So we're sitting here at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. And for all of the folks who are listening to the podcast, I just want you to know the DNC convention is where we secretly, not so secretly, come together to publicly plot our plans for America and how we intend to win the November election.

But beyond elections, the convention is about where we're headed as a country. It's how we come together, convene and nicely debate what we think should happen next. And so before we save the country and before I send you two out to save democracy.

I believe in origin stories. I think one of the ways to figure out where we need to go is to understand where we've been. I'm going to start with you, Representative Frost. You are the youngest member of Congress. You are the first of your generation to enter the Augusta body. I want you to tell us about that moment that made you believe Congress was worth your time. Thank you. I appreciate the question. It's so good to be here. You know,

I got involved in politics when I was 15 years old because I didn't want to get shot in school. It was the Sandy Hook shooting that really pushed me to be involved. And that's where my organizing journey began. And we fast forward into 2021. And I honestly had some friends who casually said, Maxwell, you should think about running for Congress. And the first thing I said was, hell no. I was like, I'm not going to do that. And actually, a lot of the things that my opponents said about me, I said about myself first.

I'm too young. I'm not old enough. I don't have the experience. I maybe need to do something else. And it doesn't make sense. And that's crazy. But sometimes people plant a seed in your mind and then you start thinking about it months later. That's what happened. And so I started having conversations with organizers in the community, friends, teachers, mentors. And I found out that a lot of people had more confidence in me than I had in myself to run.

But my thing was that, and I always tell people this, I feel like if you're going to run for an office, you should be able to say why you're running and it not be to break a record or anything like that. Right. And honestly, when my friends first brought that up, I couldn't answer that question. And so I didn't want to do it. But as time passed, I kept thinking about it, kept seeing things going on in my community, the issues I had been fighting for and ended up

saying, you know what? I think I need to run for office. And for me, the tipping point was connecting with my biological mother. I was adopted at birth and I wanted to learn about my history. Truth be told, I usually say it's because I wanted to find inspiration. And I was telling this story and one of my mentors came up to me and said, you're a damn liar. And I was like, what do you mean? It was like, I told you to look into that

to see if there's anything sketchy in your past. But like doing oppo research on your family is not the coolest for an interview. So I wanted to feel inspired. And either way, my parents told me the story. My mom gave me my biological mother's Facebook. I look on her Facebook page. I see we have a mutual friend. It's my barber of 15 years. The guy's been cutting my hair most of my life. I text him. I'm like, do you know who this is? He calls me and he says we were best friends in high school. We lived together with another friend.

And I worked on Amendment 4, the ballot initiative to get people with previous felonies the right to vote. And one of my biggest inspirations during it was my barber. When he was 18, he made a mistake, and he has not been able to vote since then, and he's in his 40s. Now he can vote because of Amendment 4. He said, the mistake I made was because I wanted to help your biological mother pay her rent, her share of the rent. Oh, my goodness.

Then he gave me her information. He helped set up a call and I spoke with her for hours. And as an organizer coming up in the movement, I always had this caricature I've created myself of the type of person or person that I wanted to fight for. Someone who's been impacted by gun violence, criminal justice system, poverty, all these different issues. And then after this call, my biological mother realized she's that person.

And I hung up the phone and said, I think I need to do this. And then I quit my job at March for Our Lives and decided to run.

I guess it was the right decision because I'm here with you right now. This has been Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. We are done now. No, I'm like, how am I supposed to follow that up? Well, look, Haley, may I call you Haley? Absolutely. You have had an extraordinary impact. As you describe it, you're a civic influencer, which I think is a very short title for who you are and what you do. When did you realize that civic engagement was part of your calling? What brought you here?

Absolutely. For me, I can't really remember a time where activism wasn't part of my life because I grew up with a mom who...

believes in grassroots advocacy at the most local levels. As soon as I was able to read, she took us phone banking, door knocking. She would say that you're less likely to hang up on a five-year-old if they gave you a call to talk about voting, but for city council, for city commissioners and school board. And I really developed a love for leadership before I even understood what that was, but advocating for your community and had this very somewhat naive perspective. I was so young, but that

that you could organize and actually make a difference in your community and your neighborhood. And so that just got me going and I never looked back.

Okay, two questions. So where did you grow up? Yes, I grew up in South Florida in Palm Beach Gardens. And did anyone ever hang up on you as a five-year-old? I think so, but it helped me out because now I love filmmaking and door knocking, which is rare. And so I think it helped me develop that skin for it. Hang up on a five-year-old? My goodness. Floridians. Okay. Did he live in Mar-a-Lago? Yeah, that's probably the zip code. But polling shows that young Americans...

are concerned about the future and who's supposed to help get us here. In fact, a Harvard poll conducted this spring asked 18 to 29-year-olds about politics and the election. Apparently, your generation is having trust issues. Only 24% have faith in the Supreme Court. Barely 17% believe the federal government should hold the keys to power. Congress, present company excluded, sits at 12%.

And the Trustometer says that the only group that polls lower than the media at 10% is Wall Street at 9 Trust. And many of our institutions is just down. As a former organizer, as a current official, how do we regain this generation's trust? Well, I think the first thing, especially from an organizing perspective, is validating the root of people's concerns.

I understand why trust is so low in our institutions. To be honest, as I see what's going on in our Supreme Court, I have lost a lot of trust in the institution. But the problem here is no matter what party you are, when our core institutions lose the trust of the people, that is what a backsliding democracy can look like. In fact, our country has been placed on a list of

of democracies that are taking steps back. We have to take that very seriously. It's part of the reason I'm a fierce advocate for reform on the Supreme Court, ethics reform and ensuring that we have the reforms we need in Congress as well to regain the trust of the American people. The issue that pulls the highest for Democrats and Republicans, one of the most bipartisan issues, is rooting out corruption. And we really need to do that and get together. And I think we need to do that in a better way in Congress. That's our job is to legislate and hopefully bring back more trust in our institutions.

But what I always say is I understand why 50% of the country doesn't vote. People have been lied to for generations.

by politicians who say, vote for me and this will happen tomorrow. And that's not how our system works. And I think people for generations have cast their ballot for many times not feel represented or seen the tangible impacts of legislation and slowly have said, I don't trust the institution anymore. And then on top of that, we have the right wing and Christian nationalists, white supremacists in office,

who want to chip away at our institutions because they don't believe in them in the first place, right? It's part of what's going on in the state of Florida. 40% of the books banned last year happened in my state. Middle schoolers will read in text, in the textbooks, that black people that were enslaved received personal benefit from it. They want young people to not believe in our institutions so that way they don't vote.

And because they will happily step into our power if we don't step into our own power. That's part of the equation here. And so we have a lot of work to do on it. But I definitely think validating people's concerns are important because I don't know about you, but like when someone tells me that they're concerned about something, if I respond saying, no, you're not.

The rest of the conversation isn't going to go well. Even just from a strategic organizing point of view, sitting down with people and understanding and saying, I get it. Honestly, it feels sometimes the same way. But we can't step away from our power in this moment because it will get worse. And there will be communities that can't survive that. Part of the purpose of this show is to take these complicated issues that sometimes feel overwhelming and too big to solve and break it down into component pieces. So we're going to stick with you for a second. You've got a...

a 30-something mom who is talking to one of her colleagues at work who's 26, and he tells her, I'm not voting. It doesn't matter. I don't vote because I live in a state where they banned books, where my dad voted for Amendment 4, and then they changed the law to make it irrelevant and make it harder. Why should I vote? What's your answer? We see this happening in Florida. This is what's going on. I'm in Georgia. I see that. Oh, you happen to be in Georgia. What am I saying? I would say you should vote.

because I'm taking the answer I just gave. Mm-hmm.

This is what they want from us. They want us to see the horrible things they're doing and believe that we have no place in our government. And this democracy only works if we're a part of it. And we do not want things to get worse. We have an agenda to make sure that your kids, that you can live in a truly free Florida, in a truly free America. And that's why we need you to make your voice heard up and down the ballot in every office. The other thing I'll say...

not to this person, but us, is this is what happened last cycle in our state. We lost by 19 points statewide. And it wasn't because Republicans had some wild gains out of nowhere. Their turnout was actually low, too.

Ours was just dreadful. And it's because people are going online and their kids are coming home and saying, my teacher's library no longer exists and this and that is going on. And they've been voting and they feel like they have no say or place in this. And so they just want to exit the process. And unfortunately, it's part of the plan of these right wing Republicans. Which is why we have Haley. We've got you in Congress fighting. We have you doing your best to tell Republicans

and to show us what power can look like when it's in the hands of someone who wants to see good. We've got Haley, who is trying to counter the failing trust in the media. And given that about a third of young people get their news from TikTok, from social media, you have become this intercessor, this translator who's helping people, especially those who see what's happening and believe, I'm just going to check out. You do the work of helping them check back in. So,

You've gotten pretty good at it. I've caught you a few times. In fact, we have a clip of your series, Campaigns and Coffee. So let's play it. Good morning. Welcome back to Campaigns and Coffee Chats. I'm Haley. And today we're looking at 2023 gubernatorial elections because, say it with me, it is always election season. Which means you always need to be voting. A woman after my own heart. It is always election season. We should always be voting.

The way I think about it, if we stop, they don't. They keep going. They're at it. But can you explain to our listeners, the ones who have just been inspired by Maxwell, to have that conversation? Give them the next part of the conversation. How do we explain why this is the best strategy, why it is always election season, and especially for your peers, why they need to be in this fight with us? I always say to people who tell me they might not vote that

You might not do politics, but politics does you. And so it will impact your life. It's just a matter of time. So you don't want to regret not getting involved and look back and say, I wish I had voted. I wish I had used my voice. But the other component of it, I really think, is actually on our leadership and leadership

organizations. I talk to young people all the time. They are such a coveted vote this election season and every election season. They have the numbers to determine the election and people tune in to Gen Z and young people just around election season and then they go away and stop engaging youth and so they feel like

in a sense, in a capacity. And I think if you want to see young people constantly involved, constantly engaged, you need to constantly engage them and involve them beyond March to November of an election year. We're in a space where you've got a captive audience of thousands of political leaders, of elected officials. What does that look like for a number of us who, I'm in Gen X, have younger siblings who are Gen Y? We don't

understand social media, but it wasn't here when I was growing up. And it's again, you're a great translator. You're a great link between generations and between conversations. Link me. Tell me what I'm going to not pay you for this advice, but what should I be doing beyond a podcast? If I want to engage younger voters, younger listeners, if I want them to stay around and to know that I plan to stick around.

What's the conversation I should be having? Well, you said it yourself. Young people are getting their news on social media. 30% of young people say that's their number one news source. It surpassed Google as a search engine, TikTok for Gen Z. So we need to see leaders on social media. And even if you're not comfortable with it, get comfortable with it and use...

like myself, people like Maxwell, you're in office, but to do it with you. Like we're happy to help bridge that gap, bridge that narrative and bring you to our communities. Constantly be talking to us the way that you use the news and true

traditional news sources every single day. Is it a lecture or are we trying to match a trend and embarrass ourselves? What actually feels authentic? What feels like a good way to connect? Well, I think that's a question people need to be asking themselves. What feels authentic? If you're someone who feels comfortable doing a trend, then go for it. That's not my speed. I don't do those kind of trend videos, but I love to talk to people just organically about the issues that I care about.

like a muscle that you have to build and train and practice. So as you get into it, you'll find your rhythm. But I think making sure that you're meeting people where they're at. Like we talk about grassroots advocacy. We talk about door knocking and phone banking at the beginning. That's how you reach people

different communities, this community of people where they're at is online. So your version, anytime that you're spending phone banking, door knocking to reach voters, you also need to spend online to reach that youth voting population. So there are a couple of people who are hanging out around here who are, they've got an election coming up in November. And so I'm going to make sure they hear this. Back to you, Representative Frost. Same thing. We have young people who don't feel engaged.

And we've got a couple of folks from Gen X who are the first ones to run for president and vice president. If you had some advice, if they were overhearing, if they were during their campaigns and coffee listening to this podcast.

give them a non-traditional way to meet voters where they are, young voters? Well, first, I would give the VP and Governor Walz a lot of credit. I think, like, they've been running this campaign in a different way. And a lot of young people feel really engaged in it. And

One of the things that they did is there's the Kamala HQ account, which is going viral like every day, multiple times a day with just content of these candidates just going throughout their day or talking about the issues that young people care about. But the thing that the campaign did is they gave the keys to that account to a group of young people, minimal oversight, and said...

Go and help us reach out to this audience. And they're doing it. So sometimes just giving that ownership to people who can do that work, competent young people who know how to reach out to folks and know how to make sure that they could present the authentic self of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz online.

online. So hire a young person, hire someone who does this and do it yourself. So I was just saying, I think it's really important. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood has been doing great work on this in Congress. She's put together a whole toolkit for members to

to learn how to get on social media. She even has a toolkit on when you're doing interviews at home. Don't have the camera down here with your chin. Have good lighting. This is how you can have good lighting. Have it at eyesight, different things. We have a very diverse caucus. We have a lot of older members who they grew up not doing this. It doesn't mean that they should be presented...

in a different way when they're online. And so we want to make sure that they have the resources that they need to do that too. Seeking out information is okay. Hiring, paying young people to help you out with this is okay. It's the thing to do. And it's really how you can reach out to this new audience and get people engaged. So Haley, you ran a series earlier this year on your socials where you interviewed women running for office around the country. It was fantastic.

And you said you wanted to drive voter turnout by giving people hope and connection to their candidates.

Last night, we saw an extraordinary array of women. Secretary Clinton, Secretary Raimondo, Governor Hochul, Judge Lena Hidalgo, Representative Ocasio-Cortez, Representative Crockett, and so many more. When I look at you and watch your socials, what you are doing is not just about connecting with younger voters. It's also recognizing that women in power can change things. Talk a little bit about why the election of additional women to public office can help the people they serve.

And why should men be worried when we see Vice President Harris take the stage? I don't want men to be worried because they should be our allies in electing more women. But I think that we know women are great leaders statistically. And when

when you have right now, like I focus a lot on reproductive rights, reproductive justice, women's issues across the spectrum, and no one's going to advocate better for women than a woman. And no one can really relate to those issues in the same way. So I think that is a huge component right now. It's the first presidential election since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And it's really exciting to see a lot of women leaning in and running for office and representing communities across the country because the

that we're looking at that's impacting women most is from the local level. So we really need to be paying attention to the women on the local level. And for me, that campaign was about

getting you excited if you weren't feeling particularly excited a few months ago about the top of the ticket that there are so many people worth being energized about across the country running right now I think there's like a hundred thousand elections this year or something crazy and you need to care about your local community nurture it if you want to see it reflect the future that you're hoping for it

Back to you, Representative Frost. One of the challenges is not just getting women elected and showing that representation, but as someone who is from the black community and the Latino community, can you talk about the importance of racial and ethnic representation? We are in this moment where some people are questioning whether that's a valid and valuable construct to engage.

I think you're clear about which side I come down on, but would love to hear you talk about why, especially it makes sense for younger people in communities of color to stand for public office. Yeah. Well, I think it's important for just everyone to ground ourselves and knowing like what we do, right? Like,

My job, obviously, besides constituent services and the work we do at home in D.C., is to come legislate and vote on legislation to solve the known problems of today and the unknown problems of the future. Right. That's what we do.

When you do that, just think, wouldn't you want the most experiences represented at that table? So that way, when we craft legislation and laws that will impact all of us, we are all represented. We all come along for that journey. And so keeping that in mind, when we talk about diversity, we don't talk about it because we want people excluded. We talk about it because we want everyone included.

And that's what Congress is supposed to look like. It is supposed to represent our multiracial, multigenerational democracy in this country. And we want that diversity at the table. So that way, when we're writing that legislation and we're voting on it, every community is heard and represented and has someone who has that lived experience. You can represent a community that you're not directly a part of, but there's a difference when you have someone there

who is a part of that community. It's a different level of understanding. And I think it's important to have that there. And obviously we know Congress skews a lot older. Yeah, breaking news. And we still have a lot of work to do in ensuring that we have more Latinos, that we have more black people, but especially more young black people in office. And so...

the thing we have to get over here though is campaigns, the way our campaign finance laws are together, it's just not meant for us. And so we really have to overcome that. And there's ways that we do that outside the system, but I really do think Congress, we need to pass laws to make this easier. I don't think it should be easy to run for office. That is not an easy thing. It should not be easy to run for office, but,

It also shouldn't be damn near impossible. And something that we don't track that I'm interested in looking at these numbers is the number of people who drop out of races that they filed to run. And why did they drop out? A lot of people drop out because of personal finances or because they couldn't get it going because they didn't have the resources. Another number that we'll never know is the people who want to run but just never do. Okay.

And I think that we just have a lot of work to do in making sure we have a true representative democracy. And part of that is making it easier to raise your hand and say, what about me? I was driving in yesterday and I saw someone on the sidewalk and barely restrained myself from jumping out of the car. His name is Wendell Pierce. He's an amazing actor. Wendell, if you're listening, I think you're awesome. We're here in Chicago and basically, apparently, according to the traffic we face, so is everyone else in America.

Who other than Vice President Harris and Tim Walz, Governor Walz, who do you want to meet? Is there someone who's hanging out here that you're like, if I come up to that person, I am going to ask for that selfie and I'm not going to be told no. Stacey Abrams. Yes. The South has something to say. Every vote matters. Nicely done. I did not pay for that advertising.

Haley, who you got? I would love to meet Governor Whitmer. I am such a huge fan. And then I think on the celebrity side, there's a lot of rumors about Beyonce performing. I'm fairly certain that Chicago would collapse. But let's hope and pray. I'm a big fan of Governor Whitmer. So yeah, just a lot of the women out here this week. Fantastic.

Okay, we're going to switch topics just a little bit. You speak for your entire generation, so I'm going to ask you the questions rapid fire because you clearly know all the answers. What messages are you hearing around the convention, around the campaign, and how does that align with younger Americans with their vision of the future? Are we getting it right? I think we are, and something that gives me a lot of hope is, to be honest, I think the

both parties have not done a good job of providing what the vision on solving the housing crisis should be. Until now, the vice president put forth one of the first policy platforms is on housing, one of the first times a Democratic candidate has prioritized it in that way. And I honestly believe the housing crisis...

It's one of the most important things to young voters across this country right now. And she put forth an aggressive platform. She'll obviously talk more about it on Thursday, but many speakers are talking about it. I think that's really going to hit home for a lot of young people at home who are turning on the TV or going online, seeing Donald Trump give a speech and rant about racist remarks about the vice president turning black or whatever the hell he's saying. I did that Thursday. And then they turn on the DNC.

And they see people have gone through similar experiences as them talking about the solutions that will bring us all out of this housing crisis right now. And I think that's important. And I think the messenger is important, too. Looking at all those speakers yesterday, that's America. I like to say, too, the right wing, like patriotism to them is just like a vibe. It's like bald eagle, beer and flag. But.

Our patriotism is about loving the people who live in this country and making sure that they're truly represented. And so I'm just really proud. I'm really proud to be here. And I think we're really reaching out to a whole new group of voters at home who are watching this on social media, online, and wanting to get involved. Fantastic.

Haley, what are we talking about? Yeah, I mean, I think that young people are excited. They feel like we're getting it right. But more than that, they feel like they have a seat at the table. I'm here as a content creator. It's the first time at the convention I've been credentialing young content creators to come and see behind the scenes and get to talk to people. And it makes...

people feel heard, that they are valued, their opinion's valued. And so even if it's not, if they might not feel like the campaign's getting it 100%, they feel like their voice matters. And I think that's half the battle is feeling like there's a purpose. It energizes them to vote and reminds them that there's a reason behind everything that we're doing. For both of you, and you referenced this a moment ago, so there is a bit of a reductive approach to patriotism

that we often hear from the Republican Party. And if you ask the Republicans to describe Democrats, I'm not allowed to use language like that on the radio or on a podcast. But for both of you, part of your job is speaking to people who don't already align with your values and already agree with you. Haley, on your channels, you recognize that you come from a very specific place of ideology, but

37% of young people do not affiliate with Republicans or Democrats. They consider themselves independents or just unaffiliated. How do you talk to voters who either won't or don't

say they share your values, but need the things you both have described? Start with you. - Yeah, that's a great question. I love talking to people who come from a different point of view as me, as long as it comes from a place of respect. But I think that a lot of young people are interested in learning more, understanding where the platform or the party's from, and I find a lot of people who are truly undecided or unaffiliated

just don't know what they don't know. And it's about someone taking the time to have a conversation to figure out what issue is it that matters to you? Because it might not be reproductive rights, it might be gun control or climate change or affordable housing or student debt. And people don't realize that some of those things are inherently so deeply political and where that aligns. The other thing I do think, though, when I hear numbers like that, that I find interesting is I think a lot of young people in our generation don't associate some of the

social issues with their party label because it feels so inherent to them to be pro-LGBTQ rights. Climate change exists. These kind of things. And

So you have to take a step back a little bit with some people and explain the connection there. Yeah, the interesting thing I find, and to talk about Florida again, is more people are registering to be NPAs, non-party affiliates, than Democrats or Republicans right now in our state. And I don't know, someone might push back here, but when I think about the first conversations I'm going to have with those folks...

For me, I really want it to be based on just sharing my truth, like what I believe in, what I'm fighting for, what Democrats are fighting for, and just putting that out there. And I think when we do that at scale with many different people, many different experiences, we have the ability to grow our party

But I'm not sure, like, going up to people and the first thing that we're saying is, you need to register as a Democrat. I'm not sure it's going to be effective. And I do believe that the way our country is moving, more and more people are not wanting to affiliate with the party. They're wanting to register as an independent, register as a non-party affiliate. And I think...

inserting that understanding in our strategy as Democrats will help us build a broad coalition. One example is we had a special election in a district that Joe Biden won by like 12 points, but there's a Republican in it and it was a state house race. That Republican resigned, we had a special election. Tom Keene was candidate running. We knocked a lot of doors with him and helped him out.

And more Republicans voted than Democrats in that race. But Tom Keene won. And how did he win? 65-70% of those non-party affiliates voted for Tom Keene. They felt represented by him and what he talked about.

He didn't really spend time trying to convince them to change their affiliation, even though we want them to. He just said, I get what you're going through. This is what I believe in. And I hope to have your support. And he did get that support. And now I think...

as he is proving to them what government can do for them. My hope is they see that and go, all right, that's the party for me. So sometimes you just got to walk the walk, right? And not talk it as much. One of those issues that you would assume would bring people together because of just how graphic and dramatic and tragic the issue is. Haley, we heard you earlier in a clip talking about gun violence issues.

Representative Frost, we know for you that it was a seismic moment, and yet we have not seen the kind of action we need to see. Where do you think this issue stands in the minds of not just young voters, but all voters

And how does the inaction stifle participation from younger voters? When we're talking about gun violence and young people, we do have to remember that this is a generation that's grown up never not knowing school shootings, never not knowing gun violence or going to the movies or going to the mall and looking around and thinking about where an exit is. It's a reality that a lot of our legislators don't understand. But when I talk to people about the lack of progress...

In part, you point out that we need progressive candidates down ballot who are going to fight for gun control and gun reform. But the other part is, I think, somewhat on our party's side for, in the narrative, making it feel like you can't be a gun owner and pro-gun control. I feel like we don't hear that a lot. And we need...

both people to help us accomplish this. So part of it for me is just an educational campaign I think is needed when we talk about it with Democrats and Democratic Party about how we can work across the aisle. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a good example of getting this done.

You mean maybe having a vice presidential nominee who has an A rating from the NRA and believes in gun safety laws. Exactly. He is a perfect example. One of you guys might want, you're on the Harris Advisory Committee, you might want to mention she should look for somebody like that. Yeah, yeah, right, right, right. See what you can do. The interesting thing about this issue is

is that 90% of Americans are for common sense gun reform. Most Republicans are for universal background checks. And most, and this one is my favorite one of all them, most NRA members are for universal background checks. There's consensus in society on this issue.

But that consensus is not translating into action in Congress. Obviously, the Biden administration has done a lot in terms of executive orders, right? They've really stretched the bounds of what they could do. They closed the online sales loophole through a room-making process. They got creative, created the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was based on a bill that Senator Chris Murphy and I wrote. And money is going across the country for community violence intervention. And gun violence is going down, not dramatically.

fast enough, but we're making progress. And I just want to tell people that because I've been in the gun violence movement since I was 15. So over 10 years now, and we're a movement that is riddled with trauma. And I think about this, the time when the most people care about our work

and donate the most money and talk about it the most is directly correlated to the most people dying. When more people are dying, more people are paying attention to our issue. When people are not dying, people are not paying attention to our issue. That's a hard movement to be a part of for a long time. So I'd like to really talk about the fact that this movement is stronger than the NRA right now, stronger than the gun lobby right now. When we elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House, we're

We're going to continue this progress. We've got to give them a Democratic House and Senate. We will pass universal background checks. We will do the things we need to do. Two thirds of this country is for banning assault weapons, right? The consensus is there. We just need to build the power in the institution, which is both a hard place to be, but also a good place to be.

I don't think we have to convince the general public as much as we think we do that this is an important thing that we need to do. We just need to vote some of these, I was going to say a word I shouldn't say, people out of office. It's going to be a long road to November. And I'm bullish about our capacity to get things done. But I believe very firmly in not taking every day so seriously that you can't face the next day. So I watch an inordinate amount of television. Like,

I keep all of the streaming services happy. What do you do? We'll start with you, Congressman, and then with you, Haley. What do you do? What's your decompression? What's the way that you let your brain just take a moment so you can figure out how to save the rest of us? I'm a musician, and so I go to a lot of concerts. I love going to concerts. I love playing music. So that's a big thing for me. And I love taking people to concerts. I have the unofficial congressional concert crew. D.C. has some really cool venues, and so does Orlando, of course. So I like to bring people to shows. I love to cook.

And I love roller coasters. Fantastic. Okay, Haley. My family, my sisters. I love to travel. But then this one's a little maybe cliche, but I love to spend some time actually digesting good news. I feel like we don't talk about it nearly enough, so I'm very intentional on the weekends to try to actually research some good news that happened in the last week that will keep me going a little bit.

Well, the good news is we have Haley Lickstein and we have Maxwell Frost saving America. And that assembly required is what I got for you today. Thank you, Rob. Appreciate it.

Each week we want to leave the audience with something. An opportunity to make a difference, a way to get involved, or just to get started on working on a solution in a segment we like to call our toolkit. At Assembly Required, we try to encourage people to be curious, to solve problems, and to do good. And so your job is to help us get there.

First, there's a fantastic guide for young people who are engaging in elections for the first time or the second time. And the book is called Votes of Confidence, A Young Person's Guide to American Elections by Jeff Fleischer. Second, for those looking to do good, we are going to turn to our experts. Haley, calling on you first. What would be one tip you'd give our listeners on how to engage with young people in their lives on political issues?

I think follow some of the organizations that you care about. They are constantly looking for volunteers, telling you ways to get involved and sharing information. Follow them on social media. I think you'll see their social media is maybe targeted towards young people and you can learn the messaging and also just ways to volunteer with them. Awesome. Congressman Frost, what would be one action item you can give a Gen Z or millennial listener who wants to make their opinion heard by their elected officials or the candidates who are asking for their vote?

I would tell them to organize your friends. I remember the first time I ever organized, I came home from that Sandy Hook vigil in D.C. I did a petition drive at my high school, and it was the first time I identified a problem and looked at the people around me as part of the solution. Do that. Bring your friends.

bring your friends together, advocate together. And I would really encourage people actually to really engage with your local politicians. A lot of these folks are at home more and they're there to hear from you. Set a meeting or send them a tweet, send them a message, give them a call, have all your friends are on the phone, put it on speakerphone. Just talk about the things that you care about in the community and exercise that muscle of feeling comfortable with having those conversations with the people that are meant to represent you. That makes sense.

So speaking of talking to the people, Haley and I know each other. We met a few years ago when I had the honor of giving the commencement speech at Haley's graduation from American University in 2019. And here's a clip that feels relevant to our conversation today. Public service is a passion player.

It's the drama of how we shape the lives of those around us, how we allocate resources and raise hopes and ground our dreams in robust reality. You stand as the architects of our better lives, those who don't fret and worry, who don't just stand on the sidelines and watch but get into the scrum and make it work.

I still have goosebumps. I was seated behind you on stage at that. And so it is so crazy to me and Full Circle to be sitting at a table with you right now. You are incredibly sweet. You both are extraordinarily kind. Thank you, Haley. Thank you, Maxwell. Thank you all of the young people who are not waiting to act.

Here at Assembly Required, we are getting into the scrum and you can join us. We want to hear from our listeners. What are you hearing in your circles about the November election? What aren't you hearing politicians say? We know Maxwell has got it right, but who isn't saying the right thing? Or what are you hearing that you need to understand more?

Send us an email at assemblyrequired at crooked.com or leave us a voicemail and you and your questions and comments might be featured on the pod. Our number is 213-293-9509. Finally, the last part. So we try to be curious. We try to solve problems and we try to do good.

And the good we can do is make certain we are registered to vote in November, that we are finding friends and family and asking them, how can we help? What do you need? Who do you need to know? Here at Assembly Required, we are ready to win in November. And that's all from us today. Talk to you next week. Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams is a Crooked Media production.

Our lead show producer is Stephen Roberts, and our associate producer is Paulina Velasco. Kiril Pahlaviv is our video producer. Our theme song is by Vasilis Fotopoulos. Thank you to Matt DeGroat, Kyle Seglin, Tyler Boozer, and Samantha Schlossberg for production support. Our executive producers are Katie Long, Madeline Herringer, and me, Stacey Abrams. I don't know about you, but I'm crying a little, and this time is with optimism. What a nice change of pace. What a breath of fresh...

Great. I hope you enjoyed Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or on YouTube for the video version. And be sure to join Stacey next week as she continues to break down the issues and build up the solutions because you guys, I think we might be able to actually do this. Succeed, you know, have a future. And thanks, Stacey, for being part of this network. We love you.