Latest / FROM THE INSIDE OUT by BETH ARNOLD / INTERVIEW: DR. ANNIE ANDREWS - WE CAN END THE MADNESS NOW

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INTERVIEW: DR. ANNIE ANDREWS - WE CAN END THE MADNESS NOW · FROM THE INSIDE OUT by BETH ARNOLD

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Beth Arnold from The Inside Out, and my guest today is Dr.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and Democratic candidate for the United States Senate from South Carolina.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: She's running in a state national observers routinely right off, and in a race that has become much more interesting than a lot of them expected.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Annie, thank you for joining me.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me, Beth.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy to be here.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: One of the ironies of national politics is that the people who think the South is provincial are often the ones who are actually provincial, although that never think of themselves that way.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: They look at a state like South Carolina, write it off as red, and don't bother to see what's actually happening here.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: What are they not seeing?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's been such a privilege to be on the campaign trail for 18 months because I get to see every corner of the state of South Carolina.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I get to talk to voters from all walks of life and really listen to the problems that folks are facing and what they want to see in a leader.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: And they're really getting, you know, the national folks, the Washington, D.C.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: folks are missing a lot about what's happening in South Carolina.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: That, and especially this election cycle and this particular campaign, me versus Darlene Graham, they're missing that so many people in the center, those independents and center right Republicans, understand that this is not about party anymore.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's about the type of person you want representing you.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also about who's going to actually solve those problems.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the problems I hear most about are about affordability and how folks are going to pay their bills, whether it's their utility bill, their grocery bill, fill up their gas tank, their health care premium.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, what I've been talking to voters, and I know it's resonating because our polling reflects it, is that this is not about party.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is about who's going to pay your bills, how we're going to pay your bills, and what kind of person you want.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, Darlene's just reading the scripts from Washington, D.C.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm an independent voice for South Carolinians, and that's how I'll govern.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Terrific.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: What is the most re completely ridiculous thing about running for office that nobody tells you?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm going to say this to you.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like this is a safe space.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: The number of rest stops and gas stations across the state of South Carolina that I have had to use the restroom in over the past 18 months, like we've started a rating scale for bathrooms when we're on our on the road.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like that part and the fact that you're mostly eating protein bars in the back of a moving vehicle, and you very rarely get to see your own bed.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's it's it's quite an eye-opening experience.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: There is really nothing glamorous about running for office.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: People see the the news hits and they see the big rallies, but like what's really happening is happening in rest stops and restrooms all across the state.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's life, isn't it?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's the true the true candidacy.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um you've talked to people all over South Carolina.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Who have you met that you can't quit thinking about?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: This one gentleman I met in Ory County, he came to an event in Myrtle Beach and he walked up to me beforehand and he told me he was a 26-year Marine veteran.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And after I thanked him for his service, he then said, and also I'm a lifelong Republican.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then he told me, I think he told me his neighbor had encouraged him to come to my event.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so he came and he heard me give my speech and answer questions.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then afterwards, he came back up to me and I was eager to hear his feedback because I want to know what people like that think of what they hear when they meet me.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And what he did was he leaned over into my ear and he said, I just made my first ever political donation to you.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so not only had I like brought him over to, you know, feel comfortable enough to vote for me or consider voting for me or at least not writing me off, he actually like believed so much in who I am and what I was saying that he opened up his wallet and donated to my campaign.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that happened months ago, and that has really, really stuck with me.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I could I could tell story after story, but I'll tell one more story.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: We went to a daycare center in Rock Hill right after so many young families lost their daycare vouchers.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I met this young woman, mom, single mom, who lost her daycare voucher, but really couldn't fathom any way she could move forward in life by quitting her job.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So she kept her kid in daycare without the voucher so that she wouldn't have to quit her job.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, how are you paying for daycare?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, I'm just putting it on my credit card.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Man.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: That was my response.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, how are these folks ever gonna have any hope of upward economic mobility, any hope of even financial stability when we're continuing to throw these barriers in front of them?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, she wants to contribute to the workforce.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: She's a hard-working woman, she wants to raise her children and do what's best by them.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And there's just, we live in a society where there's just so few options for young, especially single moms like that.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just so heartbreaking to hear.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and especially when people are losing so much of services that the government had provided.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: What are you actually going to do for South Carolinians that they will feel in their lives?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: First thing I'm going to do is do everything in my power to stop the Medicaid budget cuts.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these budget cuts will devastate our already very broken and fractured healthcare system here in South Carolina.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I am optimistic, mostly because I've heard it from sitting members of the U.S.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Senate, that if we do, in fact, take the House and the Senate, we will have the political power to delay, to pause, or to outright stop the Medicaid budget cuts.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if you talk to people who work in the C-suites at these hospital systems, or if you talk to people who know anything about, you know, financial, um, the financial aspect of our healthcare system, they know that hospitals are not going to be able to survive if these Medicaid budget cuts come through, which will happen in January if we don't win.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, that worries me because of the people who will outright lose their health insurance, but it also worries me because I know people still get sick even when they lose their health insurance.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: What they're gonna do is stay home until they're just so sick they can't take it anymore.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then they'll eventually show up in our emergency departments because that'll be the only place that we'll see them without insurance.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then the hospitals are gonna have to figure out how to compensate for that care that they provide.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And what they're gonna do is number one, they're already rolling back on staffing plans, fewer nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, custodial workers, doctors.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: But then they're also gonna start charging our private insurance companies more.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna see that reflected in our health insurance premium.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just gonna be a vicious cycle.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know who thinks that our system can survive this.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just so sad because they did these Medicaid budget cuts, which Darlene Graham supports, so that they could deliver tax cuts to billionaires, period.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, absolutely.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, why do they think people being sick is gonna help any of us or our economy?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's just so irresponsible.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I have hope that we can stop it if we win.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I hope so.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: I lived in France for 10 years, and healthcare there was a completely different experience.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Going to the doctor, having a mammogram, all of it.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: When Americans were protesting health care reform, our French friends would ask us, why don't Americans want health care?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: We'd say, we don't know.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Americans have been told for generations that universal health care means socialized medicine, even communism, and at the same time that ours is the best healthcare system in the world.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: It isn't.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: You're a doctor.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: How do you break through a narrative that has been pounded into people for so long?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think that's a really good summary of where we are and why we are where we are.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And you're right, we don't have the best healthcare system in the world.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: We have a very expensive healthcare system that gets much worse outcomes than healthcare systems that cost a lot less money.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's got to stop.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be this way.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm a really pragmatic person.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I'm pragmatic because my job is to take care of sick and injured children, where you can't let perfect be the enemy of good.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: You've just got to roll up your sleeves and do the very best you can with every sick child in front of you.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think what we need to do next, Beth, is move forward with a public option, which, you know, was supposed to be a part of the initial ACA, but it didn't have enough support to be a part of the final bill.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the public option would allow anyone across the country the option to purchase an affordable public health plan if that's what they choose.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't force anyone off of their private insurance if they're happy with their private insurance.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: It wouldn't force people off their ACA private insurance plans or their employer-based plans.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: But what it would do is it would start to give more Americans sort of a taste of what it could feel like if you purchase a health insurance plan after removing the profit motivation from, you know, the health insurance market.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really the root cause of our problems in healthcare in America, is so much of the money that we put into the system doesn't go to the provision of healthcare.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: It goes to padding the profits of pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I think there'll be a domino effect after we have a public option as more Americans realize it's actually a better deal.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It'll force our private insurance companies to offer more comprehensive benefit plans at lower premium rates.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then over time, as more Americans understand what it really does look like, then we can have a real productive bipartisan conversation about how to really get that profit motivation out of our healthcare system and build a system that really meets the needs of everyone.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as the saying goes, follow the money.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Literally, that should be your answer to everything.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, follow the money.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: It explains everything Darlene is doing right now.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Follow the money.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And and everything in the Republican agenda.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of working people believe Democrats stopped fighting for them.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Where did your party lose them?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, someone just, I was just in my previous meeting and, you know, we were talking about my messaging and everything.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the points she said was nobody likes the smartest kid in the class.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought that was really good advice for me to hear.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Not that I was ever the smartest kid in my class, but I think, you know, it applies to kind of where the party went wrong and that we, you know, we became a party of like faculty lounge conversations, talking about esoteric topics from our ivory towers, missing that, you know, messaging to resonate needs to be really, really simple, not dumbed down, but just simple.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we can't over-explain things.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: We can't assume because, you know, the evidence is on our side that people are going to agree with us.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: You have to have clear, concise talking points, and you have to be able to persuade people.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be able to tap into people's sort of emotional level to get them to listen to you and to have an open mind.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the Democratic Party got too caught up in culture war issues, it got too caught up in being, you know, the party of the intellectuals, and then we just lost the working class.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then also when we do have successes, and there were a lot of legislative successes between 2020 and 2024 that really did help working class Americans, we have to be sure we have a closed loop communication that we go back and we say, hey, I just fought for this bill, and this is what that bill is going to do to make your life a little bit better.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we watch as Republicans put their name on infrastructure projects they voted against, and we don't even take credit for the things that we actually should take credit for.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think it's it's complex, but I believe what I'm watching across the country is that candidates are rising up, candidates like me with different backgrounds who see the political world very differently and who are well matched to the areas that they're running in, that they're going to be the new face of the Democratic Party, that they're going to help right this ship and get us on the right track because we're the ones out there hustling, doing the work and talking to voters everywhere.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you can't ignore what voter after voter tells you they want to hear from their elected officials and their candidates.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: The Democrats stopped listening.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: I have a tomorrow I have a piece coming out called Uh the Year, the Political Year of the Woman.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you're included in the piece, but you and other can Halle Schaffner in Arkansas and their other women out there who are doing what you guys are doing, and uh you're changing the face of the Democratic Party and what's happening in the world.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: So yesterday's Jack Smith hearing was a pretty extraordinary example of Republicans using a Senate hearing to make accusations and spread disinformation, and that's part of why they don't trust us too, is all the disinformation that the Republicans have spread for decades now.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um using a Senate hearing to make accusations and spread disinformation under the protection of congressional speech.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Jack Smith told Darlene that Lindsey Graham had investigated Trump's claim that the 2020 election was stolen and found it false.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Darlene cut him off and attacked Smith instead.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Lindsay had looked at the evidence and rejected Trump's lie.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Darlene's response was to defend Trump.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Where in any of this do you see Darlene exercising independent political judgment?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think you could take the word political out of that question.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Independent judgment, independent thought.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're not seeing any evidence of it.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think what the world saw yesterday, because gosh, that clip really went viral.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: She's gone viral so many times since she's been in the public eye, and I don't think it's ever been good for her.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, is exactly what it looks like when you're just being spoon-fed what to say.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because just like when she goes on stage and attacks me, she literally reads the attack lines off the pieces of paper in her hand.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you're running for office and you don't, you don't you don't know the things that you don't like about your opponent or the, you know, the things you oppose that your opponent supports, you have to read them off a piece of paper, then you're probably not ready to run for office, let alone U.S.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Senate seat.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: But she was, you know, reading this script.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: And because he did not give her the answer she was expecting, she didn't have the cognitive ability or the, you know, maybe she was scared to go off script because she's been told she better not.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she couldn't pivot.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: She couldn't pivot.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: So she just kept reading her script.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And by that point, it was so obvious that it wasn't in line with the answers that Jack was giving her.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think it just made her look unprepared, unserious.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I heard from a lot of people that it's just embarrassing.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's embarrassing for South Carolina to have this woman representing us right now.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not honestly, it is not personal, but she is not prepared.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And there is little evidence that she is doing the homework to become more prepared.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I really think the Republicans get a memo every morning of these are the talking points and stick with them.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Even when Schmidt also messed up yesterday, he's still saying that he didn't uh that he was right.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's r it's it's absurd.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um As a doctor, you learned very quickly that frightened people don't always hear facts.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now you're running against a campaign that is trying to frighten people about you.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: How do you fight a lie when the lie is designed to hit people emotionally before the truth ever gets out?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question, and I love that framing.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't thought about it and how it relates to um, you know, parents with sick children who are worried about their child and how that kind of becomes a barrier sometimes to effective communication, especially when maybe the treatment plan that I'm offering is not in line with what they thought they would be hearing.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think that is very similar to what's happening right now.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I think number one, it's important to recognize why Darlene and her campaign, if you can even call it that, are focusing on these, you know, these fear-mongering tactics, these culture war issues, misrepresenting my position on a lot of issues because they don't have a plan for gas prices or diesel prices or grocery prices or the healthcare system, and their position on data centers is way out of line with what the majority of South Carolinians want.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So there's that piece that she's doing this because she has nothing else to talk to, to talk about.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: But then I think it's important for folks who want me to be their next senator to recognize what a unique opportunity we have because Darlene does not have a lot of money in her campaign account, and there's not big super PACs coming in to save her yet.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: So as a result, for I think five weeks now, my ads have been on television.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: My ads that introduce me to voters across the state that define me on my own terms have been on television and Darlene's campaign ads have not.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's a little bit on streaming services and digital, but her TV ads are not on yet.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if there's ever been a time when the Democrat had such an advantage in paid communications in a campaign compared to the Republican.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that's even though we who are online, we see it all the time, these ridiculous things she and her supporters are saying about me.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: The average person who's watching Jeopardy at in their in their living room is not hearing that.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what they're hearing is what I want them to hear about me, which is the truth about me and my path into politics and what I'll fight for.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: So it is frustrating to watch as they just keep saying these lies and these culture war issues.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I think I'm I'm excited about the fact that that's not actually getting to the majority of voters' ears right now.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, your social media campaign is fantastic.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: I have the best team.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: The best team.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: So radical is one of those words Republicans use to scare and confuse people about who somebody actually is.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Are Democrats finally going to stop playing defense with these words?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: I hope so, and I believe that I am.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I went on Kristen Welker like months ago, and you know, she played back something.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was right after Darlene became the nominee, and she was saying that whole line about, you know, radical idea after radical idea.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Annie Andrews supports them all.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, my pushback, of course, is Darlene, what is so radical about thinking every county in South Carolina should have an OBGYN?
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: What is so radical about thinking children in South Carolina shouldn't go to bed hungry at night?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: What is so radical about thinking if you work hard, you should be able to afford to put food on the table or afford to see a doctor when you're sick?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's Darlene's policies, at least the ones she shared with us, which are very few and far between, that actually are quite radical and out of step with what the majority of South Carolinians believe.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so I do think we have to start throwing that back in their face and you know, pivoting away from that because, you know, they they they rely on these like very just you know dusty old national talking points.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's all Darlene has.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just, I just I have to believe that it is not resonating with the voters.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, of course it's riling up the far right voters who are never gonna turn out and vote for me.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I I will win them over with my effective governance, even if they don't vote for me.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um I believe you.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not, it's not, it's not speaking to the people in the middle.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the people in the middle are the ones who will determine the outcome of this election.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, they use those words as as slings, as arrows to, you know, and it's it's it's because it's all they have.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they they literally are trying to misinform and confuse people.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I really hope that what you're doing and will help make a difference that people will see through that.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what are you going to make Darlene defend?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I you know, I think, you know, she has said clearly she 100% supports the current administration.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we all saw her get handpicked by them.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so it makes sense that she's saying that.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I think it's really important for me to push back and say, okay, well, if this administration continues to engage in this war with Iran that's cost us$100 billion at a minimum, and, you know, 18 American service members and all of that, you know, at what point is it going to be too far for you?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And ask her to define that.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: What if if the president says let's put troops on the ground, is that is that too far for her?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how how can she, you know, after her career of helping blind South Carolinians find employment, how can she support an administration that's willing to gut the Medicaid program that provides health care for a large number of blind South Carolinians?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: How can she support that?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: How can she write those two things?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I think just, you know, point by point, issue by issue, asking her to defend what she has said she 100% supports.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, why did she just vote to continue this war?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because we know the war is the reason diesel is six dollars.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And we know that diesel being six dollars makes everything we buy cost more, but it also is crushing farmers and fishermen and trippers and small business owners.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, like she, but she's not being asked to defend these things because she's not allowing people to ask her questions.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: I've done so many local media interviews over the past, you know, whole summer.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: All of these reporters, unprompted, after we finish our interview, they say, Darlene won't talk to us.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for talking to us.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Darlene won't talk to us.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: We've tried to call her, she will not, her team will not respond.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was just on CNN and you know, at the end of the interview, she said, We've also invited Darlene here.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: We hope to hear from her, but she hasn't returned our call.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: So she's hiding because she has nothing to say.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: No, she's afraid.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, she's afraid.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: She can't do it.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: But and why are they so proud?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Why would she be proud that people aren't getting enough food to eat or and they're not getting health care?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: What, why, why would they anybody be proud of that?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, you tell Republicans who can't bring themselves to vote Democratic, then don't vote.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's a hell of a political move.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: How did you figure out that sometimes the way to win somebody over is not to ask them to vote for you?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I am building a campaign, I'm building um, you know, a movement that is for everyone, for everyone who's more concerned about prices than they are about.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Political party.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: For everyone who understands that the Senate seat belongs to the people of South Carolina, not a specific family or political party.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: For everyone who understands that the real art of governing happens from the center.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: No matter your own personal political ideology, if you're not willing to compromise, you're never going to get anything done because human nature demands that we're not all going to agree on everything.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to be able to compromise.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I recognize I'm not going to win everybody over over the next five weeks, but I know that I'm building a coalition that's big enough and strong enough to win.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I know I'll deliver results for everyone because every single vote I take will be on the side that benefits South Carolinians, not on the side that benefits, you know, special interest groups or, you know, the corrupt Washington machine or whatever the administration tells me.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not beholden to anyone other than the constituents I will be representing.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: High five.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you don't hold this Senate seat yet, but you've already acquired political power.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: People vote for you, give you money, volunteer for you, show up for you.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: A brilliant campaign, I have to say.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: How conscious are you of building that power?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um I like that question.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think I um it's starting to feel more and more real, and I'm starting to recognize as people, as the crowds get bigger and bigger, and people are so excited to shake my hand, to make eye contact with me, to just thank me.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um I recognize that what I'm doing is mattering to a lot of people across the state of South Carolina.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that my campaign is bringing people together and helping us remember there's way more that unites us than divides us, that so many of us share a belief that South Carolina can be better and can do better.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I I'm trying to stay like, you know, hour by hour, day by day, focused on the job that needs to be done to win this thing in November.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it'll be a while before I can step back, regardless of the outcome, and really like take in exactly this journey that I've been on and what it meant for the state of South Carolina.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: But it's gonna mean a whole lot more if we actually win on November 3rd and we can send someone to the Senate who will vote in the best interest of this state.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, my prediction is it's gonna be you.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you lost your congressional race in 2022.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: What did losing teach you that winning never could?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: So many things.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that, you know, you can get beat down and step, you know, and stand back up.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I ran against Nancy Mace.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was an ugly, ugly election, and I lived to tell another tale, and I'm much stronger on this side of that fight than I was on the other side of it.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: I learned um so much about the strength of my voice and how, you know, how you can build a movement that is inspiring people.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you care about what you're talking about, if you're authentic, if you're passionate.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: I learned that, you know, I was setting an example for my children because since I ran for Congress, my youngest child ran and won her student council race.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: My oldest daughter just this year ran for student council president.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: She didn't win, but I told her the night before I said, I ran and lost, and look at me now.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't, you know, that's not the most important thing about running.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just, you know, I'm grateful for this journey that I've been on.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm grateful for the South Carolinians who've been with me since, you know, the fall of 2021 when I got in that first race.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I just hope that it all comes to fruition on November 3rd and we win this seat.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: What are you building in South Carolina, in South Carolina that you want to outlast this election?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm in this for my kids and for all the kids in South Carolina.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I, you know, I want to build um a better future for the children.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I I know that, you know, running for, you know, in a high-profile campaign like this that it does have impact regardless of win or loss, I want to remind people that, you know, the policy choices that are harming our children are policy choices.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't have to continue working in the same direction.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: We can do things differently, we can reevaluate our priorities as a state, we can invest in future generations of South Carolinians.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think by people watching a mom, a public school mom, and a pediatrician run, I think they're getting that message that we're not doing quite right by our children yet, but we can we can do things differently.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: These are questions that I ask everyone in an interview.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: What gives you courage?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: My children.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: What makes you furious?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Watching our elected officials ignore what's in the best interest of America's children.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: What temptation do you almost never resist?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, an extra cup of coffee in the morning.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh what is something you've changed your mind about?
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Goodness.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean, the whole thing we were talking about about the governing from the center.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think that little baby me, when I was in my advocacy, I thought I could just convince people to think like me and see the world like I do, but that is not human nature.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that I understand that compromise is the only path forward.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Who taught you the most about how to live?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: My parents.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: When do you feel most like yourself?
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: When I get in the car after a big event where I'm shaking everybody's hand and I'm the center of attention, and then I get to go into the car where it's quiet and relaxed and have people I feel comfortable with around me.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, then and anytime a child comes to my event, I like I see the child and then then I don't see anything else.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all I want to do is talk to that child.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, that's great.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Annie, thank you so much for coming.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: I've so enjoyed our conversation and uh I wish you the best of luck.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I thank you so much.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I believe you're the winner.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: I believe you're gonna be the win.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do it.