 So, CNN's Alison Camarota had another one of her voter panels and I always find these incredibly fascinating and really insightful because even if the sample sizes of these are small, it's still important for us to look at these anecdotes and try to take away whatever information that could be helpful because we need to be talking to average people who aren't necessarily in our bubbles. We talked to a small group of six voters from the state of Pennsylvania and this really left me conflicted, I'll say that, because on one hand it gave me hope, but it also simultaneously crushed that hope. So we'll start out with the good and end on a negative note, which maybe won't be the best idea, but I think that it's better to talk about this first part. So one of my fears going into 2020 and why I thought that Donald Trump is probably stronger than he was back in 2016, even if we've seen that his presidency has been a disaster, is because incumbent presidents always benefit just because they have that incumbent advantage. And second of all, historically speaking, if you just look at presidential elections whenever the economy is performing well, the incumbent president always benefits from that. My theory was that Donald Trump wouldn't necessarily benefit from the good economy because this economy, it may be going really well for the stock markets and whatnot, but just because large multinational corporations are bringing in record profits, doesn't mean that ordinary Americans are doing great. And my initial thought was that this economy won't benefit him because normal people aren't feeling the benefits of what is supposed to be a thriving economy. And what this panel showed me was that they actually, they get it. They don't feel the benefits of the Trump economy and they vocalized that. And this gave me hope that Trump won't get that incumbent and good economy advantage. Take a look. How do you guys feel about how the economy is doing in Pennsylvania? I mean, the economy, by all metrics, is booming. Being in Pennsylvania, do you feel it? Why are you shaking your head? I'm shaking my head because we know the statistics show one thing, but everybody I talk to, okay, they're struggling to pay their mortgage, to put their kids through college. To me, the middle class is struggling. And that's a fact. It seems that the gap is widening. There are so many people in Pennsylvania that are doing better, but they were already doing marginally well. And then there are people who are falling off the ladder, who are losing hope every day. But again, there's the inequity, and to me, that's the problem. I guess the question is, will President Trump be able to win on that this time? Because the economy is doing so well, do voters feel it enough that he will have an easy path to a second? I don't think so. No. I don't feel like that he should win it at all because you're not voicing the voice of the people when you say that it's bullying, like it's, who are you speaking for? I work with kids. I talk to parents every day who cannot get by, live check to check and are working three different jobs, trying to support one child. That's not fair. And then you have me with my experience, I dropped out of college. I had to. I couldn't afford it. My mother couldn't afford it. So it's just like, you can't come to my face and tell me something is booming and I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I'm thankfully still in college and I'm very fortunate to be there. When I graduate, I cannot imagine that I will not be paying off my student loans until the day I die. What's your plan for that? Great question. I don't know. I literally, I don't know. I mean, we live in a society that tells kids to go to college and I think that is fine. And now there's a huge bubble of debt and none of us have any idea what we're going to do about it. People are not feeling this economic boom because they're struggling to get their kids through school to pay the mortgage, to pay the bills. We need a candidate that understands the struggle who's not somebody who's rich and had a silver spoon in their mouth, but understands what it means to raise a family to struggle in America. So that was really insightful. And it honestly made me feel a little bit relieved because Donald Trump should not be given credit for an economy that is working out fantastically for elites, but the poor are struggling. They're living paycheck to paycheck. And this is what these people said. One person said the statistics show one thing, but everybody I talk to, they're struggling to pay their mortgage to put their kids through college. Exactly. So people in the media, they can talk about how wonderful the economy is doing under Donald Trump and how low the unemployment rate is. But if people aren't feeling the benefits of a good economy, they're going to know it. You can't gaslight them here because they know firsthand whether or not this economy is working out well for them. And if their paychecks aren't any bigger, you can't ladder them and convince them that that isn't actually the case. Another person said you're not voicing the voice of the people when you say it's booming. Who are you speaking for? I work with kids. I talk to parents every day who can't get by. They live check to check. They're working three different jobs to support one child. So you can't come to my face and tell me it's booming when I'm not where I'm supposed to be. That was great insight there because this really is how normal people feel. And the people who I talk to who aren't necessarily politically savvy, they're saying the same thing. They're saying I'm struggling. I can't get by. I can't afford the prescription that I need. I'm struggling to pay rent. And the girl who made this point said that she dropped out of college. And then there was another person who said that he's still in college but doesn't really know if he's going to ever be able to pay off his student loan debt and thinks that he'll be burdened with it forever. And somebody said, look, people are not feeling the economic boom. So this gives me hope that if Donald Trump chooses to run on the Trump economy, and I'm assuming he will, it's not going to resonate with people because back in 2016, he had the credibility as an outsider to say, look, politicians haven't been looking out for you, which is why you're so desperate. They've been passing NAFTA and now they want to pass the TPP. But now if he's going to run on the Trump economy and say, look how great you're doing, they're going to be able to recognize, wait, I'm not doing so great, I'm not actually doing as well as you're telling me I'm doing because I see that the rich are getting richer. I see that large multinational corporations are making record profits, but my paychecks are still the same. So this gives me hope, but now it's time for us to completely destroy that hope because these people, they've adequately diagnosed the problem. But do they know what the solution would be? Take a look at who they're going to opt for. Are they going to choose a candidate who's actually going to fundamentally transform the system so we aren't desperate, so we aren't living paycheck to paycheck? Not so much. I know it's early days, but if the election were held today, who would you vote for? Elizabeth Warren, without question. She has policy plans. She knows what she's doing. She knows where she wants to go. She has a bold vision for the future and she wants to bring all of us with. I probably vote for Joe Biden. I love Kamala Harris. I like Bernie. I like Elizabeth Warren. I think Elizabeth Warren is probably the smartest, but I'm going with who I think in the long run is going to present a vision. Who's going to unify the country? Pat. Kamala Harris. I think she's provides a contrast to what to what Trump is. I think she provides a great opportunity to win. Definitely Kamala Harris. Not only is she a woman, but she's also a woman of color. I feel like that she has the energy, she has the plan, she has the mindset to go against somebody so disgusting. I will vote for her as well, although I love her Elizabeth Warren's ideas. And why do you like Kamala Harris more than Elizabeth Warren? Just the fact, I think she represents something else. She's not the typical white woman like Elizabeth. And I see her like she will bring people together and that's what we need. Jessica, if the election were today, I would I would vote for Joe Biden. I work for the Obama campaign. I have a lot of positive feelings towards the Obama Biden years. I feel like everybody says, oh, we need to go forward. We don't want to go back. I want to go back. I want to go back to those eight years. I think that those eight years were some of the best eight years that we've ever had as a country. And so I feel like when you're scared and I'm scared and when you're worried, you want to go home. And to me, Joe Biden is home. We're doomed. First guy said Elizabeth Warren, I can respect that just based on his position. That was the guy that said, look, I'm going to have this student loan debt until I die. Elizabeth Warren is proposing a student loan debt cancellation plan. It's not 100 percent cancellation like Jill Stein or Wayne Massam. But nonetheless, it's still a phenomenal plan. I have been practically begging Bernie to get on board with something like this. He didn't. So now Elizabeth Warren swooped in and she filled that space and it's benefiting her. So I can understand that one. Then the next lady, she talks about all these people she admires, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, but then ultimately she says she's opting for Joe Biden because he has a vision. Take a moment and ask yourself, what is that vision? Because I don't know what his vision is. Do the same policies as Trump for the most part, maybe nominally better, but for the most part, do what he's doing. Medal in Venezuela continued the drone war, but do it nicely while not doing mean tweets. What is that vision? Like Hillary Clinton, he doesn't have a vision. He's running because he's the vice president. He has the most name recognition and he has a pretty solid chance of winning. But what is his vision? How will he actually benefit you? What's his vision to make your paychecks bigger to make sure that people don't have to live paycheck to paycheck? So I would like to follow up because I genuinely like I'm not trying to be a condescending prick in asking these questions. I'm asking earnestly. I want to know like I want to pick their brains further and ask them because these are the people who we need to be reaching out to. But more on this, the next guy says that he is opting for Kamala because she is a good contrast with Donald Trump and can win. Again, pretty vague. If you said that Kamala has a really good policy when it comes to decriminalizing sex work and I'm on board with that, that would make sense to me. But I mean, what policy is making you want to support her? Because if you all acknowledge that the economy isn't working because there's been a lack of policy to tend to these issues that need to be addressed, then why would you not think that a policy solution would be the most appropriate? I just I genuinely am confused. The next girl said Kamala because not only is she a woman. She's a woman of color. She has the energy and a plan to go up against Donald Trump. OK, the next guy says Kamala is better than Warren because she represents something else. She's not a typical white woman. Kamala will bring people together, so largely based on identity. OK, now the last woman, I want to read the quote to you, what she said specifically, because even if you don't agree, what she's telling us is something that's important that we need to hear because this should be something that we address when making our pitch for Bernie. She says I have a lot of positive feelings towards the Obama Biden years. Everyone says we need to go forward, not back. I want to go back when you're worried you want to go home. And to me, Joe Biden is home. Now, I get that this is contradictory because if you acknowledge that people are struggling and, you know, maybe that's largely the reason why Trump was elected. Why would you want to go back to a time when nothing was getting accomplished? Now, I get that you can say, you know, maybe Obama could have done more, but he was working against obstructionist Republicans that didn't want any of his agenda to be implemented. But then I'd respond by saying, well, you had a supermajority for the first couple of years and maybe him not capitalizing on that opportunity to pass sweeping reforms. Maybe it may people will feel less inspired. So what she's saying here, it doesn't make sense to me. But what she's doing is she's rationalizing her support for Joe Biden. He's the safe bet to her. He makes her feel nostalgic about a better time. And this is really what I suspected voters who support Biden. Biden would say they would vocalize this. They'd say Biden is someone who. He brings back these feelings of American political stability and just decorum and people, you know, feeling safe and not having to worry about what the president tweets every single morning. So these are people who they're well intentioned, right? These are not bad people, even if what they said is seemingly contradictory and absurd in in in many ways. I don't want to call them absurd. But the reason why I think we need to not just laugh at them and try to tailor our message to them is because if we don't get these people on our side, we lose. We have to convince these people that if you're worried about the state of the economy for normal Americans, we've got to get in a candidate who wants social democracy, who will fundamentally change the system or at least put us on that trajectory of changing the system. We need to convince them that if we get another status quo neoliberal candidate, then this could lead to another Donald Trump. And that maybe the conditions that led to Donald Trump had something to do with Democrats not being bold enough, not inspiring the base to get out and vote for them. So this is what I hope will take away from this as progressives, as brothers of the Bernard that we don't shame these people. We don't laugh at them because this is the rationalizations that we should be hearing about, because we can't just assume that, oh, well, they support Joe Biden because they're vapid. This is their line of thinking, and we've got to find ways to respond. We've got to tailor our message to them so that way what we are saying resonates because they're not shutting the door to Bernie. A lot of them like that one lady who said she supports Joe Biden, she said, I like Bernie. So these are winnable people and it would behoove us to not just shrug and say these people are misinformed, because I think genuinely they are misinformed about the broader issues and the conditions that led to Donald Trump. But don't laugh at them, convince them, win them over. That's what we've got to do because if we lose, that's on us. It's incumbent on us to win these people over. And that's what I hope that people will realize, and that's what I hope people will try to do. They're winnable, they're gettable. They're not foolish people. They are rationalizing it in a way that doesn't make sense to me. But nonetheless, this is their rationalization, and we've got to listen and try to respond in a way that gets them to our side.