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Skye Perryman on the fight over the midterms · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Leading off our discussion tonight is Sky Perryman, president and
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  Speaker 1: CEO of Democracy Forward. Sky, before we talk more about that,
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  Speaker 1: I want to get your reaction to a federal judge
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  Speaker 1: extending a block on Trump's new mail-in voting rules with
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  Speaker 1: the midterms just 60 days away. What should voters understand
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  Speaker 1: about what's at stake this November?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Everything's at stake for ourselves, for our communities and
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  Speaker 2: for our democracy. To dismantle a democracy, a leader has
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  Speaker 2: to dismantle democratic institutions and they have to consolidate their power.
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  Speaker 2: And this midterm election is about making sure that this
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  Speaker 2: president does not consolidate his power and that the people
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  Speaker 2: check his power.
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  Speaker 3: And I think you're going to see.
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  Speaker 2: I'll also say that it's not surprising that this federal
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  Speaker 2: judge has issued an order against what the president is
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  Speaker 2: seeking to do with the Postal Service. He simply does
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  Speaker 2: not have the authority to regulate elections, to do what
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  Speaker 2: he wants to do through the Postal Service. And I
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  Speaker 2: think it's important for everyone paying attention because there's so
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  Speaker 2: much chaos everywhere to understand that every single federal court
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  Speaker 2: that has considered what this administration is seeking to do
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  Speaker 2: with the elections has said that it is unlawful.
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  Speaker 3: And we saw that again today.
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  Speaker 1: Sky, in your New York Times opinion piece, you write, quote,
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  Speaker 1: waiting for a savior has led many of us not
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  Speaker 1: to exercise the greatest power we have, our own. What
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  Speaker 1: do you want Americans who are watching everything this administration
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  Speaker 1: is doing and feel powerless about the power they actually have?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the first thing we want people to know is
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  Speaker 2: that they do have power. But if you're feeling powerless,
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  Speaker 2: there's no shame in that. There is a system at
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  Speaker 2: work in this country, the president and his allies with
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  Speaker 2: a lot of power that are trying to be isolated
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  Speaker 2: and alone and without power. And we have to reject
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  Speaker 2: that and shift our mindset away from being kind of
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  Speaker 2: spectators where you're just having to look at all this
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  Speaker 2: chaos every day and into how we can take action. Jonathan,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I just wrote a new book, Ordinary People,
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  Speaker 2: Extraordinary Times, a guide for all of us. And that
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  Speaker 2: book has resources about what people can do to take
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  Speaker 2: action in this time. And of course, so many organizations
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  Speaker 2: out there are putting resources out. But what we want
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  Speaker 2: every single American to do is to make up their
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  Speaker 2: mind that they matter, that their community matters and that
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  Speaker 2: our country matters.
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  Speaker 3: And to then to ask, what is one thing? What
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  Speaker 3: is two?
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  Speaker 2: What are two things? What is one thing or two things? Small,
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  Speaker 2: repeatable steps that you can do every day.
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  Speaker 1: And full disclosure, I've read your book. We did a
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  Speaker 1: book event on Martha's Vineyard. Gosh, was that just last
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  Speaker 1: week or two weeks ago?
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  Speaker 3: It was just last week.
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  Speaker 1: It was just last week. But it really is a
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  Speaker 1: how to guide for anybody who wants to just dip
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  Speaker 1: in or do bigger things. But Sky, what does meaningful
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  Speaker 1: action look like for the average American who is asking,
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  Speaker 1: what am I to do?
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  Speaker 2: Well, right now, we need you to, first of all,
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  Speaker 2: remember you're not alone, that a lot of people across
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  Speaker 2: the country are feeling this way. And even if you
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  Speaker 2: feel alone, you're not alone. Secondly, we do have these
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  Speaker 2: elections coming up. We need you to check and make
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  Speaker 2: sure you are registered to vote. You can do that
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  Speaker 2: at vote411. org, which is a great resource that the League
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  Speaker 2: of Women Voters has put together. And we need you
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  Speaker 2: to check because there's so much confusion going on about
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  Speaker 2: whether people are registered or not. So go check your
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  Speaker 2: voter registration. Keep checking it. Make sure you're registered to vote.
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  Speaker 2: And then do more than that. You know, encourage your
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  Speaker 2: friends to vote and make, you know, sit right by
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  Speaker 2: them and make them check their registration and to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that they're registered to vote. And then, of course,
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  Speaker 2: if you're able, you can get information about how to
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  Speaker 2: be a poll worker. The elections in this country, even
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  Speaker 2: though the president doesn't want them to be, they are
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  Speaker 2: run by the people. They are run by people in communities.
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  Speaker 2: And so we're encouraging everyone to get engaged if you can. But,
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  Speaker 2: of course, make sure that you're registered to vote and voting.
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  Speaker 2: At Democracy Forward, which is the organization, as you know,
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  Speaker 2: I lead, we have 100 days of Action Hub. People
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  Speaker 2: can go to democracyforward.org. You can see all the different
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  Speaker 2: actions that you can take to plug in. Not everybody
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  Speaker 2: has to do everything, but all of us have to
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  Speaker 2: do something, and there's something for each of us to do.
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  Speaker 1: The quote from your grandmother, basically, don't just stand there,
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  Speaker 1: pick up a shovel. Pick up a shovel. Sky, there
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  Speaker 1: was a major development today in the lawsuit, Democracy Forward
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  Speaker 1: filed against the administration over the Trump's $ 1. 8 billion anti-weaponization fund,
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  Speaker 1: a federal magistrate judge ordered the Trump administration to reveal
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  Speaker 1: the identities of the people who devised the plan. So
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  Speaker 1: what's your reaction to that order? And what do you want?
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  Speaker 1: What do you want to know about the people behind
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  Speaker 1: this proposal?
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  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, we want to make sure this
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  Speaker 3: proposal stays blocked. It is blocked. The slush fund is blocked.
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  Speaker 2: And that's because of brave clients and our lawyers that
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  Speaker 2: went to court to block it. We are also challenging
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  Speaker 2: the the president's attempt to be immune from IRS scrutiny
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  Speaker 2: in the same lawsuit. But it's really important that the
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  Speaker 2: American people understand what's going on and what their government
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  Speaker 2: is doing and who is behind these schemes. You talked
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  Speaker 2: in your opening about the importance of accountability. and accountability,
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  Speaker 2: not just right now, but accountability also.
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  Speaker 3: In the future.
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  Speaker 2: We want to send a message that if you are
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  Speaker 2: going to aid and abet a corrupt administration that is
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  Speaker 2: seeking to harm the American people, your name is going
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  Speaker 2: to be revealed.
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  Speaker 3: You can't hide in this time.
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  Speaker 2: We're all out there. And what we have to do
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  Speaker 2: is decide what we are going to do in this time.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that you see the courts continuing to
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  Speaker 2: help the American people shine a light on what is
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  Speaker 2: going on. We are going to help and continue to
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  Speaker 2: litigate this case to make sure that slush.
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  Speaker 3: Fund remains blocked.
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  Speaker 2: It is not only corrupt, but it is also very
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  Speaker 2: dangerous because these are people who, in many instances, have
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  Speaker 2: pled guilty to violent crimes that the president wants to
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  Speaker 2: line their pockets in order to go after his political
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  Speaker 2: enemies or people that he does not care for.
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  Speaker 3: That is un-American. It's undemocratic. The courts have blocked it,
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  Speaker 3: and we're going to continue fighting.
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  Speaker 1: Sky Perryman, thanks for joining us tonight.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.