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CJP 87: Matt Gromlich (LA-4) · Coconut Justice

• Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, what's good? Matt Gromlich is an educator, a researcher, and is currently running for Congress for Louisiana's 4th District against Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Matt is coming back on the channel to catch up so we can compare notes from the last time we spoke. This is my conversation with Matt Gromlich. Before we get into it, remember to go to CoconutJustice.com to get you some clothes that I think would look good on you. Let's go. Hey everybody, Matt is back. Hey. Matt Gromlich: Hey. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Good to have you back. Matt Gromlich: Thanks for having me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. it's cool because we're talking on social media and when we first met, we were both somewhat new to this game, and so Matt Gromlich: Yes. We were. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): we wanted to catch up and like share notes to see like what's going on. So Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): real quick from the last time we spoke, tell everyone who you're running against, what area, and kinda you know, let's let's Get it going that way. Matt Gromlich: Okay, okay, great. Well, so yeah, you were the first interview that I did back in Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: J December or January. So it's been a while and I'm definitely ready and interested to catch up. So my name is Matt Gromlich. I am running in Louisiana District Four against Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. And district four has changed since we originally spoke. There was the Calais decision, they canceled a free and fair election while it was going on. Forty two thousand ballots had already been returned to the Secretary of State. They decided to cancel the election, change up everything, including our districts, our constituents, our date of election, the type of election. and here we are st still pushing through. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know what I'm starting to notice? it seems as if that well, we've we've always known that the rich people and the politicians basically all they go to the same dinners. and those of us that are normal folks don't get invited to those dinners because we're just not rich enough to hang out with them. And what kind of things happen at those dinners? decision making process, right? Yeah, they start Matt Gromlich: These these types of decisions that they do. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): making decisions and if there's no no poor people in that dinner, like you think poor people are being heard? Matt Gromlich: Right. Of course not. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): yeah. So it's weird how rich people and politicians can continue to manipulate the law to benefit themselves and then just look at us normal folks and just be like, pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Be okay with it. This this is how it works. This is fine. Crazy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How has the Democratic Party has the Democratic Party like shown any interest in you? Are you running as a Democrat? Matt Gromlich: I am running as a Democrat. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: Yes. and so if we back up, originally when we spoke, there was going to be a closed party primary on May 16th. And there was one other Democrat that was running in that race. The party endorsed him. I know we even talked about how before I decided to run, I was, you know, reaching out for some answers, expressing my interest in running. And the Democratic Party said, No, we already have somebody. Don't worry about it. So they have their person. they've had they've had their person, they endorsed him for the May 16th primary, then that was canceled. So we actually had to completely re-qualify. They opened it up again and other people jumped into the race. So not on our side, but on the Republican side. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sure. Matt Gromlich: yeah, so that was just finalized August seventh. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Was that the Republicans doing some some stuff? Or was that just like everyone was like, Let's just shake it up a little bit more? Matt Gromlich: Well, so the state legislature in Louisiana is a supermajority Republican. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. Matt Gromlich: And they decided that not only would they change the districts that we were running in, they would and and I get to some extent, like because they changed the districts, then some people had to switch what districts they were running in or or chose to. And through that they then opened up the entire playing field again. And anybody could jump in. on either side if they wanted to. Yes. So like in Louisiana, district five and six. so Cleo Fields was our Democratic incumbent in district six that was by Calais deemed unconstitutional. He's not running anymore. So that opened up an entire district that had a Democratic incumbent. And now we have, I think there are 10 people running in that race, when before it was just him. So There's been a lot of changes. I still have one Democratic opponent. I have three Republican opponents. I have Mike Johnson. I have this new person named Gordon who jumped into the race. And then Mike Nichols, who's been there the whole time as well. He calls himself the right Mike. And he's down south and getting getting a bit of traction. So it's a very, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: very interesting race to be in. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I've talked to a lot of people in Florida. I've talked to a lot of people in Tennessee and I've talked to a sprinkling all over and it seems like if if If you're grassroots or if you're just starting like It's against you. Matt Gromlich: of course, yes. Very much. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Everything is against you, replied. Matt Gromlich: Everything. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And it and it's like these incumbents, they I'm sure they understand how much they have going for them. how Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): much leverage they have within the Matt Gromlich: So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): party, blah blah blah. and it's and it's It's getting weird. It's getting weird because we have a lot of you guys that are coming in saying we want money out of politics, we wanna actually fix things, we wanna do all this stuff. And it seems like we're already gr we're already ready for the Republicans to go crazy and and take away money and do all the things. That's just how they operate. They operate by taking things away and they operate by putting up cameras and stuff. But now As a Democrat, do you feel like the Democrat at least a certain section of the Democrats are operating in that same way? Matt Gromlich: It's a a tough question to answer. I think we only know what we know. And so as a teacher, as a professor, I constantly say, like, we make the decisions that we can make when we make them with the information that we have, with the background that we have, the knowledge that we have, and and that's what you know we as humans do. And so I there is just as a system, every system is somewhat resistant to change. And whether that's a school system or the Democratic Party, they know what has worked in the past or think they do, and they're resistant to trying something new. It doesn't mean that they can't or they won't, but it takes more energy to change and adapt and try something different than it is to just stay the course. The problem for me is that Democrats in Louisiana have, other than the governor's races, like have not performed well in the last 30 years. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: And so if we continue to do the same thing that we're doing, well, we've seen the outcome of those results. Not great. So let's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Matt Gromlich: try something different. What do we have to lose? Because we've already lost every single race over and over again. you know, down ballot. We have a supermajority of Republicans in the state legislature when in reality the Louisiana Demographic Partisan breakdown is about a third Republican, a third Tem Democrat, and a third. No party. We're not seeing that reflected in who we're electing. So let's try something different. And that's where I get frustrated and like banging my head against the wall of, you know, all of these things that we were doing before, it's proven not to work. So it doesn't mean that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: this other thing will work, but at least we try something that might. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Instead of keep like you said, instead of constantly banging your head on the wall that we know we know that way doesn't work because we're here again. Again and Matt Gromlich: Mm yes. Again, yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): again. It just doesn't work. one of the things that I've this is this is for the constituents. This is for normal people, Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): right? This message right now. We cannot expect people like Matt to come in and make change unless we vote. In Tennessee. They said about twenty percent of the people voted. down in South Florida, Florida 21 with Bernard Taylor and those guys. you know, the guy who comes on the show with me from time to time, he was on Bernard's campaign and everything. So I got a little bit of inside baseball over there. Less than twenty-five percent of the people came out to vote. And we're at a place in this country where we need you guys to come out and vote. Matt Gromlich: We do, we do. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How what do you know the percentage of voters in your area? Matt Gromlich: Yeah, I mean it depends on the race, but about that twenty to twenty five percent level, I think the governor it he's elected in an in an off year, but the governor's race he won with like seventeen percent of the vote. Like it is Yeah. The population coming Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Seventeen percent of the population came out to vote. Matt Gromlich: out to vote, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then the other what is it, eighty seven percent are like, nothing ever changes. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it we this is it is absolutely, absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right now's the time to be a radical. Vote. Matt Gromlich: Your your vote matters so much because if only one in five people vote, right? You going out to vote, other four people staying home. I mean it is it's but the the politicians, the system has told people. over and over again then their vote doesn't matter and they see the same people getting elected and they're they don't know necessarily how powerful their vote is because the government or the the people in power want them to feel that their vote isn't powerful. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And they treat it as such too. They it like you have to you have to pay attention to how hard they're trying to dissuade you from voting. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They're breaking rules, they're changing rules, they're doing all kinds of stuff to keep you from and and voters, you have to understand your vote is is these people like Matt, this is a job interview. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They have to they have to tell you what they're doing and what and man is talking about getting money out of politics. Mine is talking about actually investing in schools because he's a teacher. And he understands the importance. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So it's for me it's it's unfortunate that folks have been convinced that their vote doesn't matter. But your vote is actually going towards people who are going to affect it who who are going to be affecting the rules that affect your life. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah? Like Matt Gromlich: Yeah, if if I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): go ahead. Matt Gromlich: was gonna say if your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't be trying so hard to take it away. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. What are some of the things since we last spoke that Mike Johnson, besides only letting folks work for a hundred and forty seven days out of the year, what are some of the other things that Mike Johnson has done that that makes you feel like maybe it's time for someone like you to take that seat? Matt Gromlich: It's it's been really inspiring actually going around the district and talking to constituents, not just Democratic voters, but Republican and no party voters as well. And I think since becoming Speaker, and then with Trump now, you know, getting re-elected in 24, people are seeing how not only does he not provide for Louisiana, he's actually like negatively impacting Louisiana. He's not standing up for anybody in the community, whether that's with healthcare. I mean, healthcare is the number one issue that people discuss as I go across this district. healthcare and social security are, you know, huge fears for people of what's to come. And people aren't stupid. They know that, you know, we've had some of the ACA rollbacks, but that there's a lot more that's coming down through the beautiful bill that. Is purposefully going to be enacted in 2027 and beyond. people know. People are aware of what the future could hold or will hold for them. And we have a lot of people in Louisiana who rely on Medicaid, Mer Medicare, Social Security, and SNAP. And, you know, those are already being removed for a lot of our population. So they've seen that Mike Johnson not only isn't helping, that he's actively pushing for policies that are hurting and harming our people. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hm. And it's registering. You're Matt Gromlich: It is, it is. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): seeing that that folks are seeing it. They're like, okay, there it is. Matt Gromlich: Yes. For the first time, I think, in a long time, people are finally willing to at least be open to voting for somebody other than Mike Johnson. We have an internal poll that we've run, and we have about like twenty-two to twenty-five percent of voters right now are undecided, meaning that they're they're not officially for Mike Johnson, they're waiting for somebody else. To provide what they need to be comfortable voting. I've had Republicans, I had this this woman outside of Walmart crying in my arms. She's voted Republican her entire life. She's in her 60s. And like it, I might vote for a Democrat for the first time. You might be the first Democrat that I vote for. Because Mike Johnson is not helping. And we're in the community proving every single day that we're open and able and willing and Wanting to help, fighting to help. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What do you see? Explain to explain to the voters what once you take this position, what does your job look like? Are you gonna go to Washington and phone bank or are you going to be still tapped into Louisiana for? Matt Gromlich: Yeah, I don't I'm not like phone banking for money right now. So to me, terrible waste of time and just like not what I want to be doing. I love working. I'm a hard worker my entire life. I've worked s extremely hard. and I see this as an extension of my classroom where I sorry, can you hear the train in the background? Yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, it's okay. We're grassroots too. Matt Gromlich: I have a I have an office now, a headquarters, but it's down to Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, that's cool. Matt Gromlich: yeah. So no, my my goal is to highlight the strength. So I compare it to a classroom. When students come into your classroom, yes, you you teach them things, of course, but you have to realize like where every student is, what strengths they have, what they can provide, and then how you connect students to learn from each other. So in District Four, in Louisiana, in this country, we have So many amazing people organizations that just need help and support and need to be connected to each other. It it's not all about me going to Washington passing laws, although that's a huge portion of it. It's how do we highlight what is here? How do we embrace that and provide the funds and the backing and the information that people need to be able to seek out these resources? How do we work with these grassroots organizations, these businesses, these companies, these nonprofits that are on the ground every single day and make that better. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You said something about going to Washington to create laws. One of the things that I've been noticing, not just from talking to you and anyone watching this video, if you haven't on this channel, I've been talking to grassroots candidates a lot like Matt, and helping trying to help support them. so I got to talk to I I get a I get a really good picture of what's happening kind of behind the scenes. and I know that when there are a lot of when there are some politicians that get the job and then they go to Washington, they have separate completely like Heritage Foundation and stuff like that, that they're writing those bills for the representatives. And the representatives, a lot of times the representatives don't even read the law. They Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): don't understand what's happening. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How do you feel about someone getting a job and then someone else doing their job for them? Matt Gromlich: Yeah, well, I think that it's very good to have other people organizations to provide, you know, context and information and just get a a holistic picture. That is not what's happening. What's happening is these outside organizations are completely writing the these bills and somebody slaps their name on the top, usually doesn't read them, doesn't know what's going on, and then p tries to push it through. I mean, that's not legislating. That's not what the Position is. That's not what you were hired to do. That's not what your people want or deserve. So, like for me, you need advisors. You have to understand everything that's happening. But I mean, I write all my own speeches. I'm an educational researcher. I read. I've written, you know, papers. I'm published. I I'm going to write my own bills. I'm going to do all of the necessary research that I need to do. That's what the job should be. And it's so frustrating that. the the skills required or the skills that are touted by the public to get elected are different than the skills that you actually need to legislate. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Matt Gromlich: So we're yeah, we're sending these like performers, people who can can rally and scream and present themselves in such a way that it it seems like they're they're this, you know, big powerhouse. But how how do you actually like do you actually know what it takes to legislate? Do you have those skills? Like yes, you can scream really loudly. Can you write these behind doors? Can you talk to people? Can you build a coalition? Can you work with people on this one issue to get it passed for the betterment of society and of your constituents. Like those are the questions we should be asking. Though that's how we should be thinking about our politicians that we're electing, not who screams the loudest. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Have you thought of Can I say this? have you thought of a comparison would be is a terrible word, but have you thought of a way, like once you take office for you to turn around and look at your constituents and say, Louisiana four, I told you this is how it's supposed to work. Like Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): have you thought of like or may you might even have just like a long laundry list of all the things that Matt Gromlich: yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mike Johnson was supposed to do but because he fell for it, you know, he's he's not doing those things. Do you have something like that planned that you feel comfortable sharing with us and with Louisiana Ford so they can see that you're the right guy for the job? Matt Gromlich: yeah, we have we have so many plans. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: And I think so I'll I will answer, but I also think that it's similar to teaching where you know you go into your class, you have a lesson plan, like you have you have to have a plan. And I go in and I have like five different plans because you never know like what the path where the path leads, what where that takes you. And so you also have to be adaptable and being be able to pivot and also You know, you're taking information from your students. How does that line up? So I see this in a similar way. Like we have plans. And absolutely like one, we have to hold the current administration accountable. Two, and we're like not too in in list order because we can do all of these at the same th time. But two, I mean healthcare. We have to, we have to work on healthcare. It is make or break at this this moment and in Louisiana especially but also all over the country. I mean, people people are dying because of lack of access to healthcare, lack of close access to healthcare, because of the system that we've put into place. And there are much better ways that other countries have figured out how to help these people. That is my top priority going in. We have to be able to provide for our people. Help being able to be like happy, healthy is paramount to living in a society. You know, also looking at education, well, we can provide universal pre-K is huge, a huge part of my platform. It not only helps our students, it helps our young families. And in Louisiana, especially, we have a lot of people who are moving out of state when they choose to start a family because they don't have the resources that other states provide. If we're going to continue to lose population, right, then every, you know, Louisiana is already at the bottom and a lot of metrics is going to continue to go down. We have to provide a a reason for these young families to stay. And then in general, so again, I've been all across the district. And what's been probably like, I mean, there have been a lot of amazing aspects of the campaign, but I think what's been the most fun for me is meeting with mayors, meeting with city. councilmen, meeting with like the local officials and hearing from them what they need. Because this position, it's not one person. This campaign is not one person. This is a team. This is a group effort and rising tides lift all boats. And so how do we work with the mayor? How do we work with all of these people, hear from them and then build together? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. 'Cause you're it's in the title. You're representing them. It's in the title. Matt Gromlich: Yes, yes, yes. Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And it's sad that that there are folks in in Louisiana Ford that just don't feel represented by Mike Johnson. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And even the ones who do feel like that that's how they feel, they feel like they're represented, they just don't know any different. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: Right. And so I think Mam Dani is a a fantastic example of very different being mayor versus being a representative. But when you don't know what s that position is capable of, if you don't know what all the options and opportunities are, then you're never gonna vote in somebody different. He's shown how like all the different avenues and aspects of the position, what you can do if you truly care and you're listening. We need more people like that in government who are able to to listen and then show like, did you know this is what your representative can do for you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. How much more work has running a campaign been than you first thought? Matt Gromlich: man, I don't know how to answer that. It's a lot of work. And also like a lot of the the people that you interview, I'm still working full-time. I'm I'm a professor and so I have some autonomy and flexibility that a lot of people don't in their jobs. I'm very you know privileged and grateful for that. And also I'm working full-time. I also applied for tenure this summer, so that's that's been something else on top of it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Nice. Matt Gromlich: it it is so much work. It just the the learning curve, I think, for anything that you do the first time, there's so many, you know, errors that we made in just systems and processes that now I know. And if I had the knowledge then that I know now, right, what kind of campaign would we be able to run? but that's that's part of the the process and learning and growing and it it really has been Tons of work and just so overwhelmingly positive. Like I knew the people of Louisiana were were amazing, fantastic, because I teach every day and I have these students and I talk to these families. The reception that I've received up to this point is just like beyond anything I could have imagined. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Good. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Good. We need to protect our good people, man. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Our well meaning people. And and I check in on you guys often, because I know what it's like to well, I don't know what it's like to run for any office. I I think you guys are are brave nuts brave slash nuts for doing Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And so I'd like to check in with you guys just to just to see how you're doing and and let you know that like there's other people out here and they're and they're talking about the same challenges. some of the ladies tell me stories about being treated certain ways and stuff like that. And so and so I love that you're you're still in it. And I love that I love that you're I've seen you kind of growing into the person that you are today. We've known each other for almost almost a year, you know? Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and just seeing you being feisty on on on Instagram and stuff like that. Like it's really cool to see you guys just like standing up and saying like, no more. We can't we can't keep doing this. Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Yeah, it it's been an adventure for sure. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Matt Gromlich: it's it's always difficult because you have to you have to introduce yourself to everyone. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Matt Gromlich: it's this constant balance of how much do I talk about, you know, myself and humanize myself to everybody who's going to be voting for me? How much do I talk about my background, my growing up or my educational background, how much do I talk about my plans for the future? How much do I, you know, take a get a few jabs in against Mike Johnson and all of those are have to be very, very calculated. And and I think that we've made pretty good calculations so far. And you know, we I'm a researcher, I take in data, I I hear the responses, you know, recalibrate. it it's a lot to to do when one, you're going up against someone who's so entrenched and then two, when you're kind of an unknown. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How do you feel about being an educator? How do you feel about places like a Florida when they ban books and they're and they continue to put up these roadblocks to the information that we need to to reach the next level? How do you feel about that? Matt Gromlich: I could say It it's very disappointing is one word I'll use, because the reason why these bans are being in play implemented, or we have the Ten Commandments being put up all over Louisiana classrooms, including higher ed classrooms, it's all about power and control and keeping the masses the least educated and culturally aware as possible. And that To me is the antithesis to what education should be. So as an educator, like we should want all of our people to have the best education as possible. We should want them to be reading, you know, at a very high level. We should want the people to be able to think critically. We should want all of these things for our our youth because they're the people who are gonna be coming up next. And to see people purposefully put these roadblocks in place to keep people un uneducated or uninformed, it's really upsetting. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How do you feel about a lot of these democratic socialists that have that have made up their minds that they want to change the Democratic Party? Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. So I'm not a democratic socialist, personally. I think that it's good to have a lot of different perspectives. If you look at how progress is made, progress is made when you have people that don't agree on everything and you're able to talk about your differences and and see how you can work together and push forward. That's why we have political parties in general. a lot of other countries have more political parties than we do. And if we had a system that was set up That allowed multiple parties to exist, then the Democratic Socialists could have their own party. They wouldn't have to force change within the Democratic Party itself. However, this is a system that we have, and that's the only way that you're going to make change. So I understand. I, you know, some things we can agree on for sure. And aga again, going back to whatever we've been doing hasn't worked. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: So We have to do something different. Is this the right avenue? Is this the right pathway? Are these the people? I don't know. But however, whatever we've been doing has not proven itself to be effective, let's try something different. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I get excited. This whole socialist thing that that Matt Gromlich: Right. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the the boogeyman that everyone call I'm not afraid of that. simply because It's just another boogie man that they continue to i if I have people that want to improve the roads so I can get to work faster, I say give the job. I don't care if it's man, woman, gay, straight, trans, traditional, whatever you want to call Whatever you want. I don't care. I need someone to fix the roads and the bridges and the lights and the things. We have there's a town in Indiana who hasn't had electricity for two weeks now, almost three weeks now. And no one is talking about it, no one is trying to it seems like no one is trying to fix it. I don't care. I we need people in here who are going to improve the country so we can get to work. And by get to work, I mean if you want to start your own company, if you if you don't want to start your own company, you just want to work that office job. That's cool too. But there's an infrastru infrastructure that's starting to fail. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And it seems like the administrate the current administration just doesn't care. They just want that arch built. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, we we haven't had a a massive infrastructure. Well, Biden had the infra infrastructure plan and to provide some support to the states, which was fantastic. But truly, we haven't had like a a national infrastructure remodel s since the highways in Eisenhower. You know, you have all these other countries, highly developed countries that now have all these like light speed rails and ways to to connect that are just way more advanced and developed than we are. We could if we wanted to, if we had the right people with the right vision, the right ways of getting things done, the right legislators. I mean, we we have everything that we need to do whatever we want. And yeah, I think whoever is able to do that, that's great. Also, it yet is a boogeyman and like Social Democrat, Democratic Socialist, like they're words have meaning, but also those terms have lost a lot of meaning and nuance. And and Republican of officials kind of take any word that could have any amount of good to it and then they make it terrible anyway. So I don't know. I just the idea of labels in general, it as I'm going through the campaign, I find more and more Gross. I can't think of a better word. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha ha ha. Matt Gromlich: because like who who cares how you labor label yourself? Like what are you actually going to do? What is your plan? Like let's stop talking about labels. And the one of the first Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. If you wanna label yourself a politician, then goddamn it, do be a politician. Matt Gromlich: Try do something. But the one of the frustrating things in this district is usually the first question people ask are Are you Democrat or Republican? And I'm a Democrat. Like I call myself a Democrat because the current Democratic Party aligns to the values that I have had my entire life and the ones that I, you know, will continue to have. if a different party has those values and the Democratic Party moves away from my values, like the label is just like what I'm using. But like, are you progressive Democrat? Are you moderate Democrat? Are you like liberal? Like all all of these words now have Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Are you a corporate? Matt Gromlich: Right. Like they they have no meaning anymore because they've been like the the nuances are lost and they've been so intertwined and they're using like in in pro like pro spaces and and con spaces and like everything has lost meaning, but people still identify with something that has lost meaning. And and so are you Democrat or Republican? Like, well, I'm running as a Democrat and I'm running for everybody. Can you like hear my policies? Here's what I'm hoping to do. Like I hope that you hear me out. And and then we should move forward. Like I wish that so in this election as well, anybody that was registered as an independent was switched to no party in Louisiana because independent is its own party and they wanted something to signify that you're not belonging to any party at all. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: no party. I wish everybody in Louisiana would be flipped to no party, even politicians. Everybody on the same thing. And then and then let's see, because I know that. Democrat, progressive, liberal, whatever, where do you want to use policies are popular if we strip away the label? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I just I just wanna see people that get things done. Imagine. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Mm-hmm. Crazy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Imagine if we didn't have rolling brownouts. Like this is so it's supposedly the greatest country in the world. Yeah. Matt Gromlich: Mhm. Mhm. Yeah, or if you could actually Right. Or if you could drink your water. Like That'd be cool. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Or go to national lands that that don't have hotels on them so we can actually participate in nature and reconnect with who we really are. It's crazy. And it's crazy how easy it is for neighbors to fight with neighbors because of what they see on T V. We're getting we're getting tricked into not liking each other and all the while there's a certain band of of bandits that are just getting paid. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's my I I I'm glad th this has been something that's been kicking around in my head. Do you think that the people that still support Trump, do you think that they're proud that he's getting away with all these crimes just because he's white? Matt Gromlich: I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Or what would be what would be the reason someone would look at someone like the current administration and be like, no, it's okay. It everything that they're doing is cool. Like, yeah, so so he's made two billion dollars in a year and a half. Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And it's okay. Like what's going on in that person's head? Matt Gromlich: I don't I don't know if I have an answer to that because I'm not in that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha ha ha. Matt Gromlich: person's head. and and most of those people, if if they're if that's their thought process, most of those people aren't talking to me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: but I I think here it's maybe some some theories. one is So in education, in educational psychology, if you look at somebody and they seem to be like you. So they look like you, they have the same background as you, they have you know, whatever. So like usually it's gender, race, you know, ethnicity, age, background, family structure. the more somebody's like you, the more likely you look at that person, you're like, well, if they s can succeed, then I can succeed because I identify with them. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. I see myself in them, yeah. Matt Gromlich: yes. And so like in education we call it like vicarious learning experiences and seeing yourself and and others. there's a whole like self-efficacy pathway that you can look into. So I I think that to some extent that is what's happening is even though he's from a a rich family in New York, like he's this kind of brash. person who says, you know, what they mean, like that's how they're interpreting it. and so Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I get that. Matt Gromlich: like if this is the kind of person, like if he can get to where he is, well then I could too. And so I think that's part of what's happening But I'm Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. No, that's a that's a cool that's a cool diagnosis. You know, 'cause I'd I remind people we got MAGA guys out here too. And yes, contrary to popular belief I talk to them too, they just don't wanna come on the channel. But Matt Gromlich: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Like the I was talking to one guy, I said, you know, he's asking me all kinds of progressive questions. You know, all the normal questions that we get. and I said, How are you on Trump? And he said, fifty-fifty. And I said like at fifty fifty after everything that's been done, I don't really have any more questions for you after that because You're not fifty fifty. You're more Matt Gromlich: Right, right. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you're all the way in. At this point, you're all the way in. and I just don't I don't understand how folks that don't have anything continue to and this is they continue to support a group, not just one person, but an entire group that has taken advantage of you. This group and I know I keep bashing Florida but but because it's a it Florida's full of crooks. One of the senators from Florida was busted for the biggest healthcare scam in American history and he's a senator. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And people continue to vote in that way. I just don't get it. And if it's just money going into attack ads that's convincing normal folks that getting ripped off is better than whatever boogeyman is fake, whatever that is happening. We have to break that spell. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Well I think that and we have we have to talk about the media and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: just how biased the media is. And you know, we're we're lucky, like we read a lot of news and we keep up with it. Even still there's so much that happens that like no no one person can keep up with everything. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. That's why I keep checking in with you guys. What'd you see? Matt Gromlich: Right. And and so, you know, if you are a a typical American worker, you you go to your well, you drive to work, you commute to work, you have work, you aren't paying attention, you come home, you have kids, you have dinner, you have the gym, you have hobbies, maybe if there's enough time, like you might have 20 minutes in your day to take in a news source. And the the Trump administration, and even when he was running, they learn. They capitalized on okay, if people are taking in 20 minutes, how can I create a 20-minute something that shows that I'm the person for you and that everybody else is against you? And playing on that fear, the the fear, the anger, the frustration, I mean, all of those emotions are way more powerful, unfortunately, than information and education. And so we're fighting against just like a basic human biology. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They tell you the story of the bugeyman in twenty minutes and then you you just you vote against your own interest. Isn't that crazy? Matt Gromlich: Yes. Yes, because to disassemble the twenty minutes of of lies and misinformation, disinformation would be like a three hour lecture. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sure. Yeah, this is why that's a lie. This is why that doesn't work. This is why and nobody has time for that. Matt Gromlich: And you don't have time for a three hour lecture. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And I keep saying this Matt Gromlich: So I don't know the answer. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I be I've been saying this more often too. They they continue to separate us. back when I was a kid to hang out you'd have to go to the mall. To play a video game, you had to go to the arcade. Now you can stay in your room. Matt Gromlich: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And you don't ever have to like you can play with bots and all kinds of stuff. You don't have to interact with anyone. So we're detached from each other. And we're not we're not looking at good ways to to provide might be the wrong word, but to provide a future for everyone else. And it's okay that like as long as I'm good, if Matt has a little bit more, I'd have okay, cool. I I'm good. And you know, if I have to work a little harder to get a little bit more, then that what it is. But We need to set we need to change the dynamics of My dog is going crazy right now. we need to change the dynamics or the understanding of what government is supposed to do for us. I read something the other day. It said The government has been paying for bombs for so long that it seems like socialism when the money goes to where it's supposed to be going to. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Yeah, we it Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): We need to hire folks that get that. Matt Gromlich: has to be a like a massive re education Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: campaign. Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, we have to change the culture. And when I say that, I know some folks on the right get nuts when I say that. But it's true. We have to change the culture. We have to get away from letting kids think that it's that you're gonna get famous for making dumb videos and and being dumb. We have to make smart people be famous again. We have to we have to make sure that we're holding government officials accountable for what they said that they were gonna do. How are you gonna have a job for fifteen years and you didn't do what you promised fifteen years ago? Matt Gromlich: I know, it's crazy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's bananas. Anyway, Matt Gromlich: Mm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I know you gotta get going in like ten under ten minutes. So Matt Gromlich: Yes, sir. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I wanted to thank you for taking time to catch up real quick. Go Matt Gromlich: Really? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ahead and take the last couple of minutes to talk about where people can find you and if they can help, all the things. Matt Gromlich: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Again, thank you for having me back on. It's been awesome. I know that we could talk forever. I'm unfortunately, you know, have a f a few different events to to go to now. Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Time constraints. Matt Gromlich: let less time than I did a a year ago. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Matt Gromlich: everybody watching, also thank you. Really appreciate it. If you can go to my website, Matt Gromlich for Congress dot com. On my website, you can find a bunch of things there, go through my content. but also we have donation link. Donations are helpful so that we can reach more people, you know, everywhere, but especially in Louisiana, we have a lot of rural voters. We have people who are elderly who don't use social media. So how do we access voters? We go door to door. We need TV ads. We need radio ads. there are a lot of people in rural Louisiana who only listen to the radio. So we have to have, you know, a wide variety of methods to access voters. And unfortunately, all of that costs money. So Even if you have three dollars, three dollars and fifty cents helps us contact about a hundred people via text. you know, and it can go up from there, but between you know three and ten dollars, we can do a lot with it in accessing voters and continue to to reach people across the district. We have about four hundred and eighty thousand registered active voters in our district that we're trying to reach. And we've contacted, you know, some of them, but any more can help. Also, if you are not able to donate completely understand it, it's rough out there. if you can donate your time, we'd really appreciate it. So we have a volunteer form as well. On the volunteer form, if you're local, then we have campaign headquarters. You can come into headquarters, help us stuff letters, write postcards, Canvas with us. If you're not local, then you can phone bank with us. So you can phone bank from anywhere. We have a whole system set up. my volunteer director and I actually created a Google Classroom. because teacher, to to walk you through walk you through how to access the the phone banking system, how to use it. And then on Tuesday nights, we also have just drop in if you have questions or concerns about you know phone banking and you need help, then we have that available for support. So we can use you, we can use you in in any way that you're able to and we we really appreciate it and we need all the help that we can get to go against the Mike Johnson twenty million dollar machine. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's crazy he has twenty million dollars to talk about how bad you are. Matt Gromlich: Yep. Yep. Sitting there. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Just sitting there. I said this in a earlier chat or conversation. I said, isn't it crazy that you could have someone who's just complete trash politician? And you have someone who's actually doing the work and willing to do the work at cost. They don't need any extra, you know, you need a million dollar bonus to do your job at. Yeah, right? No. Matt Gromlich: Right, right. No, not no. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But because this person has more money for lawn signs than the person that's actually gonna do the work. It blows my mind when I made that realization. It's crazy. Anyone, Matt Gromlich, everyone, thank you again. Matt Gromlich: Thank you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And with that everybody, we're out.