 being so obedient. We're so lucky to have three candidates who are giving up a perfectly wonderful Vermont summer to do this for us and we're privileged to have them in Stratford this afternoon to keep us from pickling our cucumbers or biking or all the other amazing things that we could be doing. Take a look, is it Tom? Your tips for using the microphone. It is necessary to use the mic. No need to shout. Have the thing about six to six inches away from your mug and we'll be broadcasting in Siberia and Ukraine. So anyway, Mara McDonald our good Orange County senator. Do we have any other candidates we should acknowledge here? It's not Jim Maslund, I know this. Who else? Bekaw White. Who else? Thank you, Bekaw. Dish. Alright. D, from what town? What town are you running in? Thank you. Now we'll get to Patricia. Yes, anybody else? Oh, Jim Maslund. Thank you. Jim, what towns? Same ones. Okay, good. Any other candidates? Anyway, we're so glad that you three congressional candidates are here to join us today. It's really amazing what you do. No other rational person stands in the grocery store line, check out to get abuse from the neighbors, so on. So we're gonna want to know why you're doing it and why don't we start with you, Lewis Myers. Oh, I should say, I got my wordle in three this morning. How many of you do wordle? Anyway, don't wreck my good mood by being long winded today. We've got a lot of questions to cover and I'm going to emphasize questions that have to do with judgment and character and values and not so many that have to do with wonkier issues. We've got a ton of them from health care to agriculture to foreign affairs and so on. So I'm hoping that some of you in the audience will provide those more specific wonkier questions if you've got one. I shouldn't say wonky. They're important questions, but they're ones that are more technical than the more general ones that I hope that you three candidates will give us a glimpse of who you are, what your character is, how you make decisions and don't be afraid to use humor. Color outside the lines if that's okay. I mean, if that's good and all right, let's get on with it. So brevity will be rewarded. And we're going to see if this experiment works here, because I'm going to agree with this. The question is who gets the prize or really tight enough that it wants to be seen for himself. I know exactly what you're saying. This will be the sap for this, it will be the night. Here we go. Use the night. The sap for this came off of Allison's in my land this year. And we're happy to be back children for the first time in 30 years. And it's the person who boiled it is a guy named Cody Armstrong in Randolph Center, Vermont. He calls himself CD a maple and it's wonderful stuff. And this is called robust, which means not fancy the great day. But so first question. Yes. Oh, yes, I'm sorry. And Billy is our relentless velvet bulldozer timekeeper. If you go through Billy's stop sign, you're in big trouble. So Billy gosh, are there any other people from the Orange County Dems organization we should acknowledge? We're sharing. We're sharing. Magnificent. David Kurt is Bill Hoff Award this year. Oh, yes. So we'll tell you before each question, whether it's 30 seconds or a minute, but they'll be mostly pretty short. And there'll be a few that are yes or no. So tell us why you're the candidate this year who has to get elected to Congress. What's the what's the reason you're running? And this year starting schools. I'm Dr. Lewis Meyers. I work at the Brooklyn Regional Medical Center. I'm sorry. One minute. I'm Dr. Lewis Meyers. I work at the Brooklyn Regional Medical Center. One of the physicians. We also want to say one of our colleagues, Shanae Chase Clifford is built today, but usually she's here with us and we hope to see her later this week at our next get together. I decided to run for several reasons. One is I just felt there would need to be a diversity of voices and a diversity of experience. We represent, including Ms. Chase Clifford, four different decades in which we were born. So each of us was born in different decades. Being older does not necessarily always mean better, but if you keep your heart and mind open, it brings a certain perspective. And I feel that I have done that over the years and would like to bring some of that perspective and understanding of human nature that I've gotten through many years as a physician to this campaign. Thanks. So the reason why I decided after eight years in the state Senate of serving the state to run for Congress is very personal. My great, my grandfather was killed in the Holocaust. He was killed in the last few weeks of the war on a forced march from concentration camp in Austria. And I was raised with the sense that democracies do not fail overnight. They fail little by little as rights are being stripped away, as people are scapegoated. That is the moment that we're in right now. Our democracy is in peril and the scourge of authoritarianism and the rise of the autocrats is not particular to our country, but this is where our fight is. And that is what drives me to run at this time. Thank you. Thanks, Molly. Good afternoon, Orange County Democrats. And attendees is wonderful to be home. And I do feel sitting here that we are the heart of democracy. I'm running for Congress because I know the challenges we face today will not be solved by Vermont alone. From a prolific workforce crisis to our deep housing needs to our childcare needs to pay family and medical leave and broadband access. We need strong federal leaders ready to deliver for Vermont. I spent nearly a half decade working in Congress. I know that the State House is in Congress and Montpelier is in Washington and I've worked in both. I'm also a lawyer. I've served as an assistant attorney general at a time when we desperately lead leaders ready to codify, grow and to protect fundamental rights. And I worked overseas, both with the International Committee of the Red Cross and working to promote human rights. And at this time, I know we leaders ready to step up to the plate and make strong forward policy decisions. And I've served statewide and continue to as your 82nd Lieutenant Governor and will show up in Washington every single day for every corner of our state, particularly for Orange County. Wonderful. Stick into the time. That's great. Thank you. Becca, what's your proudest moment of being in America? What is your proudest moment for being an American? This is the same question for all three of you. Appreciate it. That's a tough one. I have a lot of proud moments. I love this country. I'm a child and immigrant. I was born on a U.S. Army base in Germany. And I often feel like immigrants and children of immigrants love this country in some ways, like no other people can, because they know what the alternative is. When I got married, when we passed the union, I was married at the Grange in Darmaston. It was an incredible highlight of my life. But then when we finally passed the marriage, and I got married on the town green in Norwich and was married by the Supreme Court justice that my wife had clerked for, and my son was in the car watching us, that was a proud, proud day for me as an American. Thanks, Tom. Wonderful. I've been in the world, people have said, where are you from? And I would say, I'm from Vermont. And they say, is that Canada? I say, no, that's in the United States. I think we're proud to be from Vermont. But I think it's pretty rare that you can grow up on a farm in Orange County. You grow up at Four Corners Farm on the other side of the county in Newbury to go through our school system right here in the state from Newbury Elementary School through Vermont Law School just over the mountain. And to be able to be here on the stage today, running for Congress in a state that is the only one that hasn't set a woman to Washington. So it makes me proud to be a citizen of this country, but deeply proud to be in Vermont. Great. Lois? Well, I was a college wrestler, and following this junior year in college, I was able to be a member of the United States wrestling team that went to Iran. Now the Shah was still in power for another year or two. That wrestling is Iran's culture, it is their national sport. And walking on to the map against their world champion, in front of about 15,000 screaming Iranian men, but wearing the United States uniform and carrying the United States flag. That was a moment. Beautiful. These questions coming from the audience are magnificent, by the way. Since the largest, thank you, Gene, the largest contributor to the climate disaster is the U.S. military. I don't know where that came from, but we'll assume for the moment that it's true. Would you have voted for 40 billion dollar weapons to Ukraine? Would you have voted yes on that? And will you vote for the next Pentagon budget? There is a similar question, maybe you can fold into that one minute answer. Would you support cutting the defense budget by at least 10 percent? Please a yes or no answer on that second one. Why don't we start with you, Dr. Myers? Yes, I would have supported. I do support the aid we're given to Ukraine. I think that is an immediate threat to not only their democracy, but democracies across Europe. In terms of the cost cutting, I'm leery of putting an actual number on the cost cutting. I would suggest or I would point out that some years ago there was a base closing commission that was established by the federal government so that an independent commission could make recommendations on which military bases were no longer really useful and could be reasonably closed. That took it out of the partisan bickering among individual Congress people. And it actually turned out to be quite successful. So I think we need to use more of that. Thank you. Becker? So I think like many volunteers are very wary about what's happening in Ukraine now and we don't want to be involved in an endless war again. I do support the support that we've given to Ukraine as I said earlier. This is part of a movement of authoritarianism across the globe and I think it's very important that we stand with Ukraine. I just want to bring up an issue here that I think is implied in the question Don, which is, you know, we've been dealing with the rise of the military industrial complex since Eisenhower first identified it. And one of the things he was most concerned about was the rise of the use of military contractors. And this, this I think is one of the most dangerous trends that we've seen in terms of the way that our money is spent in the military. So certainly would be open to cutting the military budget, but wanting to make sure that we're ready to meet this moment with Ukraine and other countries that may be suffering at this time. Okay, thanks. I think the first question was regarding climate change and the military. And we know that the Joint Chiefs for the last decade plus has been signaling to not only this country, but to the world that this is a national security, this is an international security issue. In fact, extremely quickly and listen to the military on that and just listening to all of us each day as we're experiencing climate change in our daily lives. As an international human rights lawyer or someone who worked for the International Committee of the Right Cross, both in Washington with the HASC and SACS, House of the Senate Armed Service committees in places of conflict around the around the globe. And I know the decisions that Congress has to make. I know how extremely important it is that we have a military budget that aligns with our greatest security challenges. And I believe that our budget doesn't meet those challenges now that it is too much. It's too big and it needs to be modernized. So, well, I won't answer the question of the number because I want to go through a process of reviewing it. My focus from my work is we have to invest in diplomacy. We have a State Department that's largely been stripped of support. We've tried to regain that through the Biden administration. But without investing in diplomacy, without investing in strong foreign policy, without investing in humanitarian aid, we're not going to prevent the next conflict. Another one from the floor. Given the recent stymie from Joe Manchin to move meaningful climate legislation in the U.S. Senate, how do you plan to move forward meaningful climate legislation in the House? How can we make the changes necessary to actually make progress on this? Molly, why don't we start with you? Sure. I think we need to take stock of what we've been able to do right here in Vermont through weatherization programs, installing heat pumps across the state, getting more and more Vermonters into electric vehicles, and recognize that with strong federal support, we can supercharge, if you will, what we already have going. At the federal level, for me personally, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, where Congressman Welch has served, I worked for him when I worked in Washington, has served so well. I want to be on that committee because I want to make sure that we have the funding and the support that we need to do this. Right now, fossil fuel companies are making a racket. Thank you. And the situation hasn't changed for them. So doing everything we can to take that money, invest it in renewables, making sure that we reauthorize the tax credit for renewables here in the state, and certainly someone who's worked in the international state showing up regularly with the Paris Agreement, making sure that we're walking the walk and talking the talk here at home. Great. Becca? So certainly support a lot of the things that Lieutenant Governor just said. I know we're very much in alignment on issues around this issue from ending fossil fuel subsidies to putting a tax on windfall profits on fossil fuels. The other thing that is affecting all of us right now, certainly want to invest in a rural green new deal because it is an opportunity for us. It is a frightening moment for all of us. I have two kids. We talk about climate change a lot in my household. But one thing I want to say is a lot of our monitors are feeling stymied by how we talk about this issue and they're feeling paralyzed. And one of the things that I've been talking about a lot with my neighbors in rural areas in my district is what are the opportunities that we have when we actually transition off of fossil fuels? And so the way that liberals and conservatives talk about the environment and their place in it is very different. And we have to get much better at messaging not just within our caucus but with people outside. Thank you. Thanks. Well, first of all, let me just say, I don't think of Joe Manchin as the devil. He represents a coal state. And so it's understandable to some extent that he is representing people in his district and his state. Having said that, I think he's open. I think some of the other senators are open to alternatives. We have to make it work their states while we have to make it clear that we're going to replace many of those jobs that they have lost with other alternatives in the environmental sector. And I think we can do that. I have been a supporter of a full range of options, wind, solar, water, and nuclear power. And we get 30% of our energy in this country now from nuclear power. And I think that we're going to have to continue that. I think we could actually expand it. There are other things such as fusion power and hydrogen power, which scientists are making great progress on as well. So I am hopeful, but I think we have to be realistic and work with what we have in Congress right now. Thanks. This is a 15 second one. And then the only reason it needs to be 15 seconds is we may have to think hard. If you could solve any problem, what would you choose to solve? Pay family and medical aid. As an aging state, I think it's one of the most important ways to keep working folks in the workforce, but also able to have kids who care for loved ones. The unconscionable wealth gap that we have right now, so many of the issues that we're dealing with in the state go back to the fact that wages have been flat since 1970, and there is no middle class anymore. So that for me is an issue that must be tackled in order to tackle the other issues. I think campaign financing, it's a huge, huge problem, but it determines who gets elected and who gets elected determines what we do about all these other issues. This kind of turns on the point that Becker was making a moment ago. What do you think you can do personally to reduce the partisanship in the United States House 30 seconds? I'm sorry, Dr. Garkin. Well, I have from the start stated that I'm a moderate Democrat, and I know that in some places that's not popular, in other places it might be. There is a problem solvers caucus in Congress. I think it includes 38 Congress people now of moderate Democrats, moderate Republicans. They are working on some workable solutions, what we hope will be workable solutions for immigration, for climate, for energy, and a host of other things. I would certainly want to be part of them. I would also approach the other physicians. There are 13 physicians in the House now, both Republicans and Democrats, and I think I can work with them to make a significant change. So I've been a coalition builder here in the legislature, both as majority leader and as a president pro tem, and would certainly use those skills and the skills that I've developed as a middle school teacher. But I also want to say that I have been part of an interesting group by a writer named Amanda Ripley, who wrote a book called High Conflict, and a meet with her and other leaders from across the nation. Some of us are Democrats, some of us are Republicans, some of us are independents. We get in a Zoom every month for an hour and a half, and we talk about how we talk across difference and make meaningful change. I learned working for Congressman Welch and also Pat Leahy. If you show up in Washington and start name calling, you're going to lose penance pretty fast, and if you want a 435, you need to make friends as quickly as possible. As the tenant governor, I think it's no secret to anyone that I wasn't Phil Scott's chosen the tenant governor, but it took quite a bit of time to build a rapport with him, and each day as folks come into my office, I don't say, what party are you in? I say, what's your challenge? How can I help? And I think it begins in Congress, as I know, spending a lot of time there, showing up and focusing on the issues. Asking folks, do you have a role broadband in your most rural county? And starting from the issues, building the strongest coalitions, but putting them in calling and party politics aside. Great. Are people in the back able to hear? All right. Good. Thank you. Vermont is tiny, but we've had an outsized influence. Going back in my lifetime to think about Governor Akin, who was then in the U.S. Senate, and he said, why don't we just say we won in Vietnam and come home? Since then, we've had several presidential candidates who've done amazing nationally. Howard Dean and Bernie twice. Patrick Leahy is third in line for the presidency. So we've had, for a tiny state, immense influence. What do you hope will be your brand in Congress, Molly? I think that the beauty of our leaders in Washington has been that they've been able to operate the most local level. Senator Akin grew up in Putney on a farm. And then, as Don said, have been able to make very, very big foreign policy decisions. Senator Leahy on the forefront of protecting civil rights. Peter Welch on the forefront of energy efficiency nationally. And I think that we need leaders who are able to operate at the most local level. Here in Orange County, thinking about the needs of our communities, but also when those really tough foreign policy decisions or really tough decisions come up around, how are we going to codify all of the rights that are being stripped away by the Supreme Court right now are able to put all of those skills to use? Thanks. So I taught in four different rural public schools, and I certainly use my experience as a teacher in understanding the lives of my students and the families that came into the school. That really shaped the work that I did in the legislature. A lot of work around supporting families. And I think you asked what would be my brand? It's a hard thing because we don't want to think of ourselves as a brand as much as a person. But I will tell you, when Senator Romney Hensdale dropped out of the race and endorsed me for this seat, she said what I learned from Becca is she knows that sometimes you have to be a fighter, sometimes you have to be a defender, and sometimes you have to be a peacemaker. And I have all of those tools in my toolbox and I've used them all in the Senate. Thanks. Well, I want to make an announcement right now that I am not running for President of the United States. In fact, given where I am in my life right now, I would not be in this as a career politician. What I would be there to do is be a workhorse. You know, in Congress, in the Senate, there are show horses and there are work horses, as Al Franken notably described. And I would want to be there as a workhorse. Pick one or two topics and for me, obviously, healthcare would be one of them. Focus on it. Work with the other people that are willing to work with you and let's get some things done. That's why I'm here. Thanks. What do you think, 30 seconds, is the most important foreign policy issue that you'll face? What needs to be addressed first? I think the rise of authoritarianism. I think that is the biggest challenge. It is not something that is just happening, happening overseas. It's happening right here. Just looking at the paper this morning, seeing that Victor Orban in my family's home country, Hungary, is now going after the LGBTQ community. And you can bet that those same forces here at home are looking to see what is Bolsonaro doing? What is Victor Orban doing? What are they able to get away with? And that's the roadmap. And so I think that's going to be a huge challenge for us. Thanks. Go ahead. Well, I think there's two things. One is the rise of authoritarianism. But on the other hand, there's also a rise of tremendous social unrest, given the inflation and the fact that people are literally starving to death in a number of countries around the world now. There's climate change, which is affecting people. So these are cataclysmic developments in every region of the world. And the United States, they still look to the United States, the rest of the world to lead. And it's a heavy burden we've carried it for many years. We are not going to be able to put it down just yet. So leadership by the United States. Thanks. Most immediately it's the day-to-day concern of Ukraine and what that means for democracies around the globe. But we can't stop there. Obviously climate change is going to impact all of us. Global migration, national security, democracy. What does that look like moving forward? The preservation of human rights in the U.S. When we are stripping away fundamental rights here, it impacts our ability to fight for them all across the globe. I'll certainly say that my generation, I came of age after 9-11, and we have been at war under an AUMF that is outdated for the last more than two decades. So the foreign policy issues are myriad, and Congress is going to have to deal with them. Thanks. Here's a yes or no question, Molly. Do you support a constitutional amendment that gives the Earth rights? I would have to give that a question. Do you support a constitutional amendment that gives the Earth rivers, trees, and so on rights? I have to give that much more thought. I'm open to learning and understanding, but at this moment, not without more consideration. A similar answer. I mean that's a really interesting idea, and I can see why it would be really useful at this moment. So I'm open to the idea, but I need to really ponder what that means. Thank you. No, I think we have enough legal ramifications on this every decision is being made that we don't need lawyers representing the river. We don't need lawyers representing the river? Is that what you're saying? This sounds like a law professor question. Just come from somewhere in the back. Becca, how is lawmaking in Washington different from making sausage in Vermont? That's what I was going to say. How many seconds have I got? 30 seconds. So I think we probably all get asked this a lot. Another way of asking that is why would any of us in our right mind want to go to Congress right now when it's so dysfunctional, when it's so toxic, when we have insurrectionists literally serving in Congress, and so is the State House like Congress? Absolutely not. However, it's all made up of flawed people in the same way that the State House here in Vermont is made up of flawed people, and yet we still have to do the work. We can't say it's broken, it's toxic. We don't roll our sleeves up and try to do the work. Molly? That's pretty clear. Congress has a completely different role than the Vermont Legislature. It has a significant oversight role with government spending, government action. There's authorization bills and appropriation bills that large attract each other, be it the National Defense Authorization Act or the State Department Authorization Bill. There's also the Rules Committee in the House, which we don't have in Montpelier to decide. It helps guide when bills come to the floor, how much time is the counter to the filibuster in the House, and so I think those are pretty significant distinctions. It's 24-7 as well, and you have to be ready to lead at any moment. Dr. Myers? Well, I think things have changed. I remember a time in an office when things were different. When I was much, much younger, I in turn volunteered in Washington for Senator Edward Kennedy. He had a tremendous staff. Of course, he was a brilliant senator and hardworking, but he had a tremendous staff who knew legislation and the legislative process inside and out, and I felt like I saw the legislative process at its very best, and perhaps someday we'll move back in that direction. That's great. We'll start with you, Dr. Myers. Give a genuine and sincere compliment to someone on the stage. I could say to both of them, and to Shanae, if she was here, and I've said this before in other debates, this is eight or nine at the time together, and I told them I was seeing more of them than my family, I think, but no, I've been so impressed by the intelligence and the passion of the people that are in this campaign. As I've said before, I don't think for Montville-Lews, if any of the four Democrats who were in this race, if you choose any of them. A similar compliment to the one I gave the Lieutenant Governor when we wrapped up our session. The two of us worked really well together, leaving politics outside the chamber in the Senate, and we did our work and it did not come into play on the floor, and I just have to slip one in for Dr. Myers. A few weeks ago I had a medical question and he was willing to look it up for me. Yeah, I know what was said and just say that we've been able to sit together and have civil discourse, and I've learned a lot from both Senator Ballant and Dr. Myers and Shanae, and I'm just deeply proud that this is having conduct democracy in Vermont. Great answers now. I'm going to really screw this up by asking you to present a serious and challenging question to someone on the stage. Molly? I do want to take a moment and bring this up with a lot of stability, but also a little bit of concern. Maybe I'll just start with a show of hands. How many folks here in this room have had access to paid family medical leave through the state of Vermont? So I'm running for Congress in part because it's deeply personal to me. Caring for a loved one without leaving the state is extremely hard. It's not theoretical. And on Friday, an ad went up on television from an outside group suggesting, quote, that Becca, quote, gave Vermont paid family medical leave. And I think it's important that we recognize that that is not accurate and that is misleading, and I guess I'd like Becca to acknowledge that publicly. Well, I haven't seen the ad, but if that is in fact true, then it is misleading. We passed it several times in the Senate. It never went into law. But I just want to be clear. The super PAC spending is not something that I control. It's not something I invite. It's not something that I have any control over. I can't communicate with anyone spending this money. And it is something that I have denounced repeatedly. I denounced it again. Vermont should get to decide how our officials are elected. But the ad is inaccurate and it isn't misleading if it suggests that. And again, I cannot communicate. It's illegal for me to communicate with a super PAC that is putting up the ad. I will continue to denounce it publicly. That's not who I am. That's not what I want. And I will say it over and over again. If it was misleading, would you ask it to be taken down? Again, of course I would ask to have it taken down. We are not allowed to communicate with super PACs. It's against the law. Both of you okay on that? Yeah. Well, Ms. Ballant brought up a few minutes ago, the role of military contractors. And I know Ms. Gray, Lieutenant Governor Gray, has worked overseas with overseeing or helping some of the military contractors in terms of their human rights. Following human rights. What do you see as the role going forward of military contractors overseas versus using our regular military? Yeah, I'm sure. In war zones. Yeah. So first, military contractors are illegal. I just want to be really clear about that. But there are private security contractors that work here in Vermont that work across the state or work internationally. When I was working for Congress in Welch, she let the first investigations of Blackwater into Miso Square. And 10 years later, I helped launch an international human rights organization to hold private security contractors accountable to human rights abuses, and accountable to some sort of international standard. And led the first mission into Iraq, and by missions into East Africa, into Nigeria, investigating companies, and trying to hold them accountable to some sort of standard. So, do they exist? Yes. Do I think they're right? No. Do they need to be highly regulated? Yes. Does Congress have a huge role to play? Absolutely. I'm a moderate Republican turned off by Democrats. I think Senator Mallin, that's like, I'm so busy trying to think of the next one. Of course. You're in the hot seat over there, Don. You got the lights on you. Pretty hot. I have a question for Dr. Myers. Sure. So I know that you have been a doctor for a long time, and we all can say that our health care system is not a system. It's broken. And I'm wondering, what are some decisions that you might have made along the way in your medical practice that you look back on now and thought I contributed to where we are now? That's a good question. Well, I had a private practice, my own practice for 14 or 15 years, and I was proud of it because I, in the sense that I took everyone from the community. This was actually down in Northern Virginia. Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, uninsured. I was chairman of the department of medicine for two years at my hospital. We worked to save the hospital. The big corporate entity tried to close it. That's a good question. I work as a hospitalist now, and I will tell you that it's a hospitalist, of course, only work in the hospital, and then you have primary care out in the community. I would like to see us get back to having the primary care people come back to the hospital, and I feel that as a hospitalist I'm contributing to that diversion, but right now at this point in my life it was a terrific opportunity. Thank you. Thanks. I'm a moderate Republican turned off by Democrats ardent wopfulness. How will you appeal to me? Yeah, I mean, I can say in this race I've been called a corporatist Democrat. I've been called eight because it has to be for the left, not for Vermont, but for the left. I think that it's coming upon us as Democrats to not fan the flames. It starts with not being calling, not trying to divide our own party, and really focusing on the issues. Let's bring it back to what it is that matters to our communities, matters to our state, matters to our country, and bring people back together to get tough things done. And I'll work with anyone to do what's right for Vermont. Thank you. So I have a strong track record of working with anyone who works with me in good faith. That's how you get work done in the legislature. The other thing I want to say is I feel like we are at this critical moment right now when, as I travel around the state, people say, I used to feel like I could talk to my neighbors about things. And now I'm, I'm scared because our signs are different or we used to be able to find a quiet space that was a part from politics. And I feel like politics has slipped into everything. And so what I want to, I'm out of time right now, okay, I will just say this is something I think about all the time and I work very hard in my own life to do that. Dr. Myers. I would try and stay out of the culture wars, as I've said before. I grew up in an era when they were modern Republicans, Jacob Javits, Chuck Percy, people like that. Even if they're not modern Republicans, I would want to work with Republicans in character. I have greatest respect, obviously, right now for Adam Kinzinger and his chain. And even though our other political views would differ probably 95% of the time, I would want to be their friend, possibly, and certainly their work on them on some of the issues that might be important to all of us. Here's an attitude question back up. What makes you deliriously happy? And alternatively, what makes you angry, disappointed, or upset? 30 seconds. Dogs generally make me deliriously happy. Pretty much any dog of any type who's given me some love and they love me right back. What makes me so angry is the wealth disparity in this nation and our inability to see that the structures themselves have led to that. And we just need to have the will to change the structure and specifically around the racial wealth gap and how the structures that were put in place hundreds of years ago have led us to where we are now. We have work to do to fix the foundation. Thanks, Molly. What makes me deliriously happy? A good swim. Hang out with my husband and our two-step kids. I went to the parade yesterday. I'm not sure I made them deliriously happy. They made me pretty happy. What drives me, what's the word, angry to a point of deep concern. It gets me out of bed in the morning. Injustice, absolutely. A lack of fairness. The ineffectiveness of Congress right now and the fact that members of Congress are supposed to represent us but can't seem to get anything done for us. And so trying to show up every day with integrity, with truth, with civility and trying to bring us forward to a new place where we can get out of where we are right now. Thanks. Well, I'm almost always happy at work because I enjoy the work I do. I enjoy helping the patients. I enjoy my colleagues and I really like Brooklyn Regional Medical Center. What makes me unhappy is wanton cruelty. I think that I can excuse stupidity and other such things, but just out of that cruelty. Thanks. Authenticity is on our minds 30 seconds before we start. Give us an example of your authenticity. I think it's pretty bold to run for Lieutenant Governor as a first-time candidate, but I felt pretty strongly about something to say. Now as a woman running for Congress in a state that hasn't elected a woman before showing up every day, I'm asking you to hire me. So I'm giving you every bit of myself, all of it. So I think that's pretty authentic. Who I am in the same house, who I am in the classroom, who I am in my family at home is the same person. And so there isn't candidate Becca, there isn't teacher Becca, it's just Becca. And it's really exciting for me to have my students come back to me years later and say, you're still the same person that you were in the classroom. I mean, I try and be authentic at work, particularly using some humor at times, empathizing with the sadness and difficult conditions that people might be facing. But humor goes a long way, that's part of the effect. These are wonderful questions coming in. Thank you. Assuming you're elected, what support would you like from us citizens once you're governing? Becca? What was it? Can I say governing? And that's what I mean. Governing, governing. Okay. I'm sorry, there's a lot going on. Can you just say it one more time, Don? Assuming you're elected, what support would you like from us citizens once you're governing? So we function best in any kind of governing, whether it's FLEC board, school board, in the legislature, when we have open communication with our constituents. And one of the things that we learned this year and through the pandemic is you have to have multiple ways of communication with your constituents. So yes, town halls like this, very important. But you also have to have opportunities for people to zoom in, to call in, to have smaller means of communication for people who don't feel comfortable being in a big group. And I'm out of time. Thanks. I'm going to try to get it right every single time, but there will be times when I won't get it right. And what's most important to me is showing up and asking you, how can you do this better? If you are an expert in something, can you help me understand that, be it solar or broadband or farming or social security system or you name it? And I think that's the role of good government, right? Let's understand the systems and how to reform them. So the worst feedback is no feedback. And I'll keep showing up, but I hope that I can count on you to help me get it right and to help me make things better along the way. Dr. Mark. Yeah, I mean, I think it's such a wonderful opportunity to be in a state like Vermont. I couldn't have run for Congress in larger states. I think this is a great opportunity. I would hope that Vermonters, if I'm elected, would not take it personally. Let's talk about the issues. One fellow chased me off his lawn with his gun. I thought he felt he was taking it a bit personally and I hadn't even said anything yet other than I was a Democrat. So, no, I think that, you know, I want to hear from everyone because everyone's views are important, but let's try and keep it on a certain level. What was your first ever job and what did you learn from it? Is that for me? My first ever job, I had a lawn mowing business with my brother when I was in junior high and he was in high school. And we took care of lawns all over our neighborhood and it was really a wonderful experience as a young person working with my hands in that way, but also having something that I did with my brother that brought us really close together. I grew up on a farm, so I'm not sure I can remember the first job. It's pretty much all hands on deck all the time, but my dad's here today in the back, which means a lot to me. I know it's a busy time at the farm, but I think my very first job when I was tall enough to reach the register, I started working in the farm stand and yeah, I learned how to make change back. Tomatoes, you know, put them on the bottom and put them on the top. And I think there's a lot of good life skills that come from the day to day on the farm. Great. My first real job, you know, was actually as probation officer in Washington D.C. during the mid-80s. And I think it was a terrific opportunity. I was working in a world that I had not necessarily lived in, but got to see how people were struggling to make reasonable in lives in very difficult situations. Will you put your assets in a blind trust and work to make that the case for all Congress people? Molly. I don't have any assets. Yes, I would certainly consider that. And I have been very vocal and feel very strongly that members of Congress and their spouses shouldn't be trading stocks. I don't have any to trade. My husband doesn't anymore either, and we feel really strongly about that, not only during the campaign, but also certainly in Congress. Absolutely. Yes, and the answer is yes. And actually, I think even the Republicans have been shamed in to say, yes, on this one. We'll see. Dr. Myers. Dr. Myers, what two endorsements, name two endorsements that you're particularly proud of? Well, I haven't sought out endorsements. I don't have any of the major endorsements. I think the people that I work with in the hospital, and Rufflin, I think the patients that you asked them, with a campaign among patients, obviously, and now we have masks. But I think people with looking at the work I've done and the way I've gone about my work, that they went to endorsement. So I was very proud to receive Bernie Sanders endorsement. I've been working on behalf of working people for my entire time in the Senate, and before that, working at the local level. I'm very proud of that. I'm also incredibly proud to have the endorsement of Representative Jamie Raskin, who is on the January 6th Commission, and I've gotten to know him over the last few months. And to have a hero like him endorse me, I did just know it. Thank you. Molly? I think the endorsements of hundreds of our monitors who are working in our communities, from all backgrounds, to me being the very most, but of course, Governor Cunin, Madeleine Cunin was a mentor of mine, helped me see beyond school and what was possible to see beyond farm, and I wouldn't be here today without her support. So that's a big one. Thanks. Bearing in mind that a lot of people in this audience have not seen this week's seven page cover story on this race, did you consider it fair, the coverage, and if not, or is there any change, are there any mistakes you'd like to correct, or any change of emphasis that you'd like to, because I'm sure that people will end up reading. One minute. Thank you. I haven't read it. I try not to read my press when I'm feeling agitated. I will read it at some point, but I have not read it yet. How interesting. I guess I should talk about this. Yes, I was pretty unhappy about seven days and it brings up a bigger issue. There were a number of errors in the commotion and omission. They neglected to mention that I had been working for ten years as a physician in Vermont and then at the end they said it wasn't actively campaigning, which was the furthest thing from the truth. We only have a couple of major, two or three major newspapers or news outlets in Vermont and they have a huge influence and I am concerned, whether it's BT diggers, seven days, that particularly when you're talking about a congressional race, which is hugely important, that they send out their most experienced reporters and most experienced editors and that they treat each of the candidates fairly. I could have understood if there were 15 candidates in the race named truly at the triage, but with only four in the race, I think seven days could have done a much better job and I shared that with their editor in no uncertain terms. Thank you. Molly? I'm so used to having stories not get it right all the time, so I think that the story was what it was, but if I may add a little color commentary to my work as an assistant attorney general, one of the first cases that I was assigned in the bulk of my work was helping to lead an investigation into the St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington, which was an orphanage here in Vermont that was open for 125 years, 6,000 Vermont children went through the orphanage and there were allegations of homicide, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and spent months and months working with the Burlington Police Department, Vermont State Police, the mayor's office, with victims advocates across the state combing through documents, trying to bring to light what occurred, doing everything we could to bring forward what happened and helping to lead a restorative justice process. And I feel deeply, deeply proud of that work. I think that we're leaving here in Vermont in restorative justice and that's something that in Congress, if I had the chance, would also like to help carry on for a state. Thanks. Beyond your concern of your personal result in this race, what frightens you most about the November election? Dr. Myers? Well, you know, obviously there's concern that the Republicans are going to take over the House again and possibly the Senate and that with the leadership that we see on the House side and Republicans, that's of concern. Obviously if it was someone more responsible than what we've seen it would be of less concern. So I'm concerned about that. And obviously as we go forward into 2024, there are concern deepens. Erica? I don't think you can watch the hearings, the January 6th hearings and not feel like we are in danger of having any election that the GOP doesn't agree with results, deciding that it was not a free and fair election. And, you know, when I see what has come out in the last few weeks, we're really just a handful of people that saved us from having a coup. And that is terrifying. And so I'm concerned that they have, with their incessant lies, they have colored our democracy as always being corrupt if their side doesn't win. Thank you. Molly? It's hard to put a finger on just one issue, but I think democracy, what is ahead for us and are Americans or even some of us here we're not going to get so disenchanted with the hope and possibility and reality of what good government should and is, can be, that we start walking away from it. And I think that's why, and I say this every person I talk to, you have to vote, you have to get involved. This is your democracy. This is our government. If we want change, we have to participate in trying to get as many people to vote right now in the primary and obviously the general, but I hope the same is true across this country and so that we can return to a place of government functioning again. Thanks. So we've got other questions on a whole bunch of things from wealth disparity to what in your personal experience is going to help you make decisions on important international affairs issues and a lot on climate. What are we going to do? Well, anyway, go to their websites. Now they're going to have one minute to clean up any messes or correct any mis-impressions or underscore any priorities and we really thank you for giving your all. This is really amazing. Your answers have been so candid and thoughtful. Thanks. So let's start. Yeah. Just to thank you all so very much for coming out tonight. It's good to see you. I feel hope in that we can come together here in the state and I think we need more of Vermont and Washington right now. I'm here because I do think I'm the right person at the right time with the right experience for Vermont. Not only tonight we talked about Ukraine and joint background and foreign policy. We talked about human rights. We've talked about the judiciary. I have a strong legal background. I'm ready to uphold to protect the Constitution. I serve right now as their lieutenant governor. I understand what it's like to work with a legislature with a governor across party lines, work for every corner of the state. And while I say this with so much humility, I am proud to be a daughter of Vermont. I'm deeply proud to be from Orange County. I'm not sure we sent anyone from Orange County to Congress before, but I will bring all of that experience to Congress right now. And I've spent a half decade working there, so we will get to work from day one doing all we can to deliver for the state but to get our democracy and our government back on track. Thank you again for having me. So thank you for coming out on this beautiful day where you could be absolutely anywhere. I really appreciate it. This is what, when Vermont is at its best, is happening in rooms like this. So I just want to say I come to you as a teacher, as a mom, as an experienced legislator. I have spent eight years in the legislature passing legislation that directly impacts for monitors in a positive way, from minimum wage increases to paid sickly to the strongest reproductive rights in the nation to housing investments and climate action. Anything that has passed the legislature in the last eight years has had my part in it along with the wonderful Senator McDonald's who's here today who is a champion for working people like no other in the state house. So I believe that I have the experience, I have the commitment, I have the focus to do right by all of you, and I appreciate you coming out today. Thank you. Dr. Myers. Yes, I come from, of course, the background of healthcare medicine over 25 years, and healthcare is 20% of our budget, it's going to continue to increase each year, 100% of us will at some point interface with the healthcare system. I do know the strengths and weaknesses of the healthcare system. I want to make it more fair, I want to make it more simple. In some ways I want to go back to the future because I think it actually used to be better than it is now. I've tried to maintain my compassion and care for my patients over the years, but over the time you also develop a certain inner toughness, which I think is important when you're in Washington. There are going to be some top votes. You cannot and should not make everybody happy. If you make everybody happy it's probably done something wrong. So I think I've developed that inner toughness and the one thing you learn beginning in medical school and right through residency in your practices and over and over and over, which means put the time and work in, help your colleagues when you need assistance and most of all, do the right thing for your patient every single time you can. Thank you. One more round of applause please. Who was the most ardent on time terseist? No pressure Billy. Come on. You have two more bottles?