 Hello, everyone. I am here with a woman who doesn't even need an introduction anymore Everyone knows who she is now she ran against Joe Manchin in West Virginia in the 2018 congressional race And now she's back. She's running for the Senate again this time against Shelly more Capito Her name is Paula Jean Swaring and Paula. Thank you so much for coming back. Hey Mike And that's Shelly more Capito actually Capito. I've been pronouncing that wrong forever Well everybody mispronounces my name too, so it's okay same as well figurado is not the easiest thing to pronounce There's too many vowels So, you know, we just we band together these people who have their names mispronounced and we just we correct the record So thank you for coming here everyone at this point. We all know who you are We all love you and the minute you got back into the race Like you hinted at this when you were on my show when we talked about the knockdown the house documentary But now it's official now you've announced and this time I mean, I had a good feeling about you last time of course because you're so real you're genuine But this time it feels really different. I believe you're the only Democrat running in the primary currently, right? So you're kind of the front runner So what's different this time now that you're not running against Manchin you're running against Capito Well Capito and Jim Joe Manchin are kind of the same people except one's Democrat and one's Republican I just don't think Shelly more Capito's got enough scrutiny. She she votes straight Republican She votes against our health care. She's not a really good advocate for West Virginia and they're really good friends but I Really believe that if we're gonna elect somebody like Bernie Sanders, we need support in the Senate We have some good progressive candidates in the house We have good incumbents in the house And we have some candidates, you know good progressive candidates for the house, but we definitely need more support in the Senate That's why I made this decision But also when I came back home after the last campaign Coming back home and still seeing the poverty Still seeing the addiction epidemics still having to worry if my children are going to get cancer I think that You know, I already knew I was going to do it even though I knew it was so hard But I found out I'm expecting my first grandbaby Wow, congratulations You know, my fire was already there But that amplified my fire like 3 000 times because I I can't stand the thought of my Grandchild being born into West Virginia. We had to worry about my grandchild now getting cancer. So You know, it did just sealed the deal, you know, and we have Some wonderful progressive candidates running across the state. There's actually a wonderful progressive Candidate for governor. I want to give a shout out to him. His name is Steven Smith. He's doing Something that's Unconventional and what we've been doing with brand new congress It's not like he's running a slate of candidates anybody can sign on to the pledge democrat republican Independent libertarian, but what he's doing is with this pledge Candidates are swearing off corporate and corporate PAC dollars They have to face the debate no matter what because we had not only, you know, Joe mentioned not facing me last time For a debate Well, we had some other congressional candidates and their incumbents would not, you know They're the incumbents wouldn't face them for a debate And you have to meet with your constituents at least 25 times before the primary So people they have to pledge that they're going to get out for people to know them. So I think it's a beautiful thing So we're we've seen the movement grow with the teachers strike the movement grow after You know my run out, you know It's not me toot my horn because there's all the candidates with brand new congress and just as semocrats and people running across the country We actually had a couple great progressives get elected in the capital last year But it's amazing to see west virginian step up and we have so many running for office And most of them are signing that pledge. They're not taking corporate and corporate PAC dollars I hope other states start doing that It doesn't matter if you agree on politics But at least people can get to know you and if you are going to be a public servant At least you're taking that first step to not take that dark money. So that means a lot I totally agree with that. Yeah, and I'm glad you brought up the teacher strike because I feel like You know starting with you We really saw at least for me like I'm on the opposite side, you know of the country west virginia just rise You know and now this is really such a huge state there's so much progressive activism activism coming out and You all are incredibly effective and the interesting thing About this race is I have to think that capitol is horrified right now because in 2016 you've brought this up Bernie Sanders won all 55 counties in west virginia. So in the event he still got a lot of support He still has a ton of support on the ground. So in the event you go up against capitol We're looking at a really great shot. Like you can pull this off. So tell me about The response you've gotten on the ground. I know you just launched But there's got to be energy, you know, given the history of west virginia how fired up and mobilized everyone is currently Is there a lot more optimism now because it's it's difficult to be Optimistic when nationally speaking, you know, we're all feeling more cynical But what is the sense that you get from people in west virginia with regard to your new? race here So many people are signing up my campaign managers I'm actually almost panicking because we've got thousands of volunteers already signed up It is a challenge right now with with money because you know grassroots campaigns, you know Shelly more capitol before even got started. She got over two million in her bank account in her campaign account And so, you know, we've done a soft launch with you know within less than 30 days You know, we're on average. We're hitting over 20,000 20 thousand dollars And you know, we've got a lot of progressive candidates Bernie's running now not taking corporate and corporate pack dollars But we do need support behind Bernie. We need support in congress and senate That's one of the determining factors. Like I said that I decided to do this because we need support in the senate You know, that's my hardest thing to do is to ask for money But in order to go against shelly more capitol There's going to be two things that we need one is money and one we need to get on shelly more capitol To sign that west virginia can't wait pledge and make sure she's So if she wants to go woman to woman, let's go and she needs to get rid of the dark money and face me You kind of were known before you started running for congress as that one activist who was yelling at Joe Manchin You know in these town halls. So that's why I say, you know Capitals got to be horrified right now because now you're not just you know, one of these Dozen or so candidates running for congress now you've ran before I believe Bernie Sanders endorsed you. Um, well, I've been I've endorsed Bernie You've endorsed Bernie. That's um, we're talking about me being a surrogate for the campaign me and Cory Bush named me vella You know, we're from knockdown the house. We is the three of us went ahead and endorsed Bernie But yeah, we're always going to be behind him. I will you know, my year's the activism You know, I just let me tell a story about Bernie for a minute Um, you know, I went through all the all these years fighting for my kids fighting for my state It felt like our incumbents wasn't listening When I first seen Bernie Sanders, he was coming up for a rally in Charleston And he stopped at a food bank in McDowell County. One of the poorest counties in the state Didn't photo op he just showed up. It amazed me that he cared that much and then he when he gave his speech He talked about our struggles. He talked about stuff our incumbents wasn't even talking about and I felt desperate as an activist and he was holding a town hall in McDowell County and um They were talking, you know, a long story short. I was supposed to maybe possibly speak on a panel Somebody had reached out to me and I didn't get to speak on a panel But I thought I'm not leaving here unless I talked to Bernie Sanders. So I walked up to him I introduced myself and I asked him for two minutes of his time I followed him all the way from the back of the room to the front of the room him talking to media signing autographs And little Bernie Sanders just threw his hands up and he said wait a minute. I told this woman I talked to her That I was sold. I sat down and talked to him cried all over Bernie Sanders felt like I was Talking to grandpa telling him what my grandpa my brothers did yesterday He didn't over promise his camp, you know, his camp his his team has reached out to West Virginia for years He keeps showing up. He keeps on showing up in food banks. He shows up in the front lines When he comes to West Virginia, he doesn't just come to photo op speak at a rally He gets right there in the nuts and bolts in West Virginia I will always stand behind Bernie Sanders and the biggest reason why is because I know he's genuine and I know he cares Never in my lifetime Out of all my years in activism was I treated with that much respect From incumbent and he's all the way in Vermont. He cared more than than our leaders here in West Virginia And if I'm thinking of the correct moment, this was on video as well There was no audio. It was just you and Bernie sharing that moment and this was I think my first Introduction to you where I just thought this is really touching like there's no audio. This is clearly not being done for a photo op There actually was audio, but him and I didn't even know we were being recorded Oh, I see where did it and they put it online and ended up going viral which he deserved that recognition but yeah, yeah Yeah, we we thought we were just sitting down with a private conversation Yeah, and you could tell that you guys weren't aware of that because this was just a really, you know A human moment where, you know, you were communicating the issues of West Virginia And he was listening which we don't see like we need we need people to listen You know, there's there's a lot of politicians that love to hear the sound of their own voice and love to talk but The point and I think what a lot of new politicians are doing is they're listening and that's so important because people need to be listened to Especially in a state like West Virginia that has had the same leadership for years and they have been largely forgotten And that's kind of one thing I wanted to talk to you about because Donald Trump he basically he came in in 2016 saying we're going to bring back coal and whatnot And so there's this idea and I know that you know, what's wrong and I know what's wrong that oh well How can a liberal or a progressive or electus win back West Virginia when Trump is talking about, you know The coal miners and he's going to bring back coal But um, how do you respond to that because I know that that's probably going to come up in terms of like how you specifically address the concerns of coal miners Well, first of all, I think the biggest lie that a politician can tell is the market for coal for coal is going to rebound because it's not It's been declining way back since the 70s We have needed to look at a you know a broader economic structure for decades and our incomes have not been doing it because all They've thought about is coal coal coal and lining their pocketbooks Um gas is coming in but the thing about it is they're not they're not making them be responsible environmentally They're not giving back to our communities like the coal industry did and we don't have these visionaries for economic economic outlook And you know the possibilities here are endless if we would legalize cannabis create a model like colorado We would see economic growth within six to eight months Um, if we we could have hemp we could have renewables. I mean growing hemp on mountaintop removal sites I mean they're not fit for a rattlesnake, but that's one thing that's viable on mountaintop removal sites That's something we can do to you know to fix the damage Um, if we have good roads, we have good schools. We have expensive broadband You know, we're going to invite other business here We just need people that are visionaries for our future and growth instead of being visionaries in their demise Because we you know, let's face it. That's what we've been dealing with for a long time Everybody. Thanks. We're so divided in West Virginia. I think we've already showed we're not you know We're not going to forget our label struggles labor struggles and that carried forward with the teachers movements Um, but we're we're tired. We're tired of corrupt politicians. We've not had any choices That's why I stood up and you've seen so many people stand up across the country But especially in West Virginia because this is one of the poorest and sickest states in the nation You know Medicare for all people don't realize The majority that the healthcare provided in this state is Medicare and Medicaid And small businesses are struggling under the ACA Because they can't afford to pay their their workers a living wage because the economy's so bad and they can't afford High premiums for healthcare Medicare for all would be the best thing to ever happen to West Virginia Not only would we see, you know, people would be healthier Um, not only does it doesn't make moral sense, but it makes economic sense If you have happy healthy people, they're more productive parts of society and with the addiction epidemic um I learned a lot my last campaign actually about the addiction epidemic here. We lead in overdoses in America right now And what's happening is, you know drug replacement therapy, which is vital for some people But that's the only that's the only vision that our leaders have to solve the problem and it's not working We have a lot of people in the front lines of our communities working on peer Peer led long-term recovery systems We should have a long-term recovery center on every corner of this state Not only should we quit shipping the pills in here, you know the amounts that we have Go against big pharma, but we have to make sure that people have a path to recovery and we don't have that right now And the little that we we do have they don't they're not funded They're not supported by medical providers so social workers So, you know, it's you know, it's it's there, but it's not enough And what our leaders should be doing is what like I did the last campaign. I know what's going on in the cold fields I wanted to know what was going on in the central part of the state The northern panel had panhandle the eastern panhandle How can we be good leaders if we're not setting with setting down with people That are working in the front lines of our communities that are solving our problems because our leaders aren't And learning how to how to be voices for the people we don't learn and grow And that's what they're not doing that there's again And I say it over and over they're lining their pockets and they're not solving the problems And we're tired of being collateral damage. I mean, it's all these all these problems the poverty The environment the addiction epidemic They're all systemic issues and they all go back to the same thing and it's corruption And I love how when you talk about the issues in west virginia you address the issues But you also talk about the solutions as well And I just I don't see that and it's not just what's virginia, of course because corruption is a national problem But when you think about for example, joe mansion, he's career minded I mean, I I read the red at AMA that you did and this is now outdated news But joe mansion was considering a run for governor in west virginia after he just fought so hard to keep that seat And you know to kind of paraphrase your response was this is kind of like a slap in the face after he Had ran so difficult, you know against me and now he's thinking about being governor And he ended up not choosing to run But it's just a matter of like do you care about fixing these issues currently or do you care about your own career? And it's evident that people they make political calculations because of their career and overall They're not looking out for the issues like I don't believe Someone like shelly more capital or joe mansion would put their necks on the line for west virginia If that meant that they would lose their career over a particular vote And that's really what differentiates you and candidates like you from all of these other entrenched establishment politicians Like you're in this for the people and they are not and that's That's one reason why and I always talk about cynicism But there really is a need to feel optimistic because you know now 2020 is a different game like there was what 50 Well, maybe not 50, but there was a lot of candidates running in 2018 Which was quadruple the amount in 2016 now in 2020 There's it's impossible for me to keep track of all the candidates running So it's it's so nice that one all these new candidates are popping up But two the candidates who we've kind of grown to love and followed like you are back And I just I find it so inspiring. So I wanted to ask you about the The race and the dynamics of your race because we all saw like I think you and I we both know the story of Amy Valela in Nevada's fourth congressional district where she was essentially the de facto frontrunner After Ruben Kiwin announced that he wasn't going to be running. So she it looked like she was going to be the winner But what happened was the establishment had recruited someone to run against her Now I wanted to ask you about this because you're the de facto frontrunner You know, you are running in a wide open primary and you're the only one So do you foresee a situation where The establishment if they think this candidate maybe is a little bit too radical for us Maybe she is speaking out too much against our donors Do you foresee them recruiting someone to run against you or do you think that they Are just not even going to look at this because they think that capitol is going to win I'm surprised they haven't already and I've heard rumors that they would And if they do, you know, we'll just do like we always did we made history in my last campaign We got more votes against the sitting incumbent in 75 years And I got more votes than any republican on the ballot So we show how weak the establishment is with the teacher strike and everything that's going on here in west virginia Other candidates running and not taking corporate pack dollars and corporate dollars I think we're going to win or lose though. I have to be I have to be transparent. It's not only about winning Last time not only did we change the conversation nationally but internationally And we put shame on dark money all over the world and so Win or lose if we if if we keep on running candidates and we keep on using our voices and we keep on holding them accountable Then they're going to have to be accountable We've proven that they're not going to get by with what they've been doing anymore So, yeah, let them send somebody after me win or lose You know, apology ain't going to shut up and I haven't you know, even even after I lost and west virginia Is not going to shut up and people across the country is not going to shut up And even if bernie loses, he's not going to shut up They're good their accountability is here. It's now they either jump on board or we're taking over That's just the whole narrative and it's not going to change And that's such a great sentiment to have like we are constantly keeping the pressure on them because we all know like the minute we Relieve some of that pressure they're going to go back to their same old tricks because we have institutions that have been corrupted by money And that force like it's so corrosive that we can't afford to kind of look away Especially now when we all kind of feel as if you know, we have 10 years to act when it comes to climate change There's you know a health care crisis in this country where people are going bankrupt And they're dying because they don't have health insurance or maybe they do but they can't afford their deductible So we don't have a choice and I think that that's really the main thing that everyone who's running for congress is saying I stepped up because I have no choice We don't have a choice just like you said, you know, it's your children You don't want them to get cancer and now you have a grandchild on the way So it's a matter of We have to act because sitting by and remaining complicit as everything just goes down the hill It's it's not an option anymore simply, but it's not option It's like my slate mate said Alexandria Cortez She said it in order for one of us to win a hundred of us have to try And it's true. It's true. Uh, we you know, she's there We're coming behind her, you know 100 percent and you know one thing that really makes me happy because I think about the numbers and I think okay, you know, we made significant progress. There were, um, You know what six or seven justice democrats slash brand new congress members elected Um, and that's not a lot when you look at just it from a numbers perspective, although The impact that they're having, you know aoc ilhan omar is tremendous So I think if we simply added a few more members to the squad if we got another senator like you Who's progressive the difference that that would make is huge, you know, even if from a quantitative standpoint, it's not Ideal qualitatively It's going to be all the difference and what will be nice with you running for the senate is We need more people in the senate if Bernie becomes president That's one senator who's very progressive that's taken out So we're left with who elizabeth warren jeff murkley and then semi progressive people like charotte brown We need loud people to get in there and say we will be unapologetically progressive and look out for the people So let me ask you this hypothetically speaking Let's imagine the best case scenario where bernie's elected president because I want people to try to imagine, you know Some something that will make him happy because it's difficult Bernie's elected. You're elected. You're in the senate. He's president. What do you think in that first year? You'll be able to accomplish, you know, when working with bernie sanders in the white house and aoc in the house What could you imagine would be feasible within that first year? I hope our number one goal is to get as to pass medicare for all Um, I think that should be the first thing that we pass But also our goal is too is to like we said hold people accountable If i'm there in the senate with joe mention He's not going to get by with the stuff he did because i'm not going to let him by with it I'm going to be very vocal if he's going to represent my state He's going to represent my state if he's there with me. He needs to run We're going to stand shoulder to shoulder. He's not going to get by with voting for cavanaugh again He's not going to get by with avoiding medicare for all I'm going to be in his face and i'm going to be in everybody's face in the senate And i'm going to be an actual voice for west virginia And i'm just sitting here imagining how wonderful it would be To have you serve in the senate with joe mention Because that would be so uncomfortable for him and i know that you wouldn't care But for him he has someone who is holding him accountable Who's from west virginia because capitol's not going to hold him accountable You know they're they're one and the same as you said, you know the difference is their buddies Right they have dinner and get on ziplines together So they're just good old buddies the good old board, you know the dynasty needs to go West virginia is tired of it absolutely dynasty politics has not been good You know when you elect someone who got there because of nepotism Or money or privilege we see the way that that turns out it doesn't work well for Normal americans so to have normal people get in there that that would be a game changer and i'm really Like i try to be cautiously optimistic But really there is a reason to be positive when you see so many great candidates running So one thing that i wanted to ask you about and we talked a little bit about this when you Cory bush and amy valella came on to talk about the Documentary knockdown the house has that helped you at all like in terms of name recognition in terms of More people knowing who you are in west virginia I think so yeah, I think that I think the film helped but the biggest the biggest Win of that film is just like what I said we changed not only the national but the international narrative And not only that but it also Created more leaders in this movement and more people stepping up to run for office We showed it even without you know millions of dollars in your campaigns accounts or you know we I think in the past we kind of put Our representatives on a pedestal. Oh, well, you know, I'm not polished. I I don't come from a lot of money I don't have an extensive college degree Well, you know, I don't even think that should be the criteria to be a representative anyway You know who need what is the quote the people in front of the power You know front of the pain need to be in charge of the power. I don't think i'm quoting it right But you know what I mean I know what it is about what it's like to balance a checkbook I know what it's like to bury my family to coal mining. I know what it's like to go out every day and struggle I see the addiction epidemic every day. I see the poverty here every day. I see the water I see everything I see that you know our economic structure here is broken I you know, I've worked with you know and a lot of people have across the state Have been working in the front line and work front lines and working on our issues because their incumbents have not been serving us So why not should we be why should we be serving? You know serving um our states anyway and being representatives anyway Well, let's be honest our incumbents are corporate serving and lobbyists serving. They're never going to serve us And if we want a country that serves us, no, but who better to serve us than us You know, um I my campaign slogan and I come up with it investing in ourselves and that's what we do We're tired of a government that doesn't serve us. We know it doesn't work We keep they keep on promise and prosperity. We keep on waiting for it and people continue to die. And that's a realistic That's real for west virginians. People are dying here at alarming rate I was at a funeral with a friend yesterday during my campaign um, it was addiction cancer Suicide we have a high suicide rate in the state because you know, it's all systemic problems I buried 20 my family members and friends during my delay, you know during my campaign That you know, people shouldn't be dying at alarming rate And if our incumbents are going to turn a blind eye to that not only shame on them But it's going to bring more leaders out like me that's going to fight them even harder because it's not fair It's not fair that people should live An impoverished conditions comparable to a third world country people shouldn't be Falling like you know dropping like flies because of the addiction epidemic In nobody in america should have to beg for something so basic as a clean glass of water You know and people are begging for jobs here begging for jobs It's a shame, you know our our biggest employer in west virginia's walmart We can't even sustain walmart in boom county. What does that say about our state? And with the gas industry, you know, it They have to be responsible players if they're going to be here We're not going to let repeated patterns like the coal industry. They're not going to come in our communities Destroy our water destroy our land destroy our health and not give anything back You know, they need to be environmentally sound They need to take care of our communities give back to our communities and put the jobs in our communities If they're going to force themselves to be here Because most of the time they travel with mobile workers with the pipelines And we don't even see the jobs within our communities and our leaders let them buy with it And like I said that putting all their eggs back in one basket They're not visionaries for growth in their future and we're tired of it We're tired of them putting all their eggs in their pocket books and they're you know, They're big rich baskets and everybody here suffers You know, I come from generation after generation a generation after coal miners I live in a single wide trailer and I mean, I'm proud of it. I'm not ashamed But what do I do I have to show for it? Except for going to you know going to funerals It's a shame that people here go to more funerals and they do family reunions and that's a reality for west virginians Yeah, and that's so sad and one thing that you mentioned It was so poignant like I think that everyone is so sick of this elitist politics Like it's believed that in you know before you can run for the senate, you have to be a mayor You have to be educated at an ivy league school And we're to this point where people are realizing no We need normal working class people who are in the community like you are in your community So the fact that somebody or we previously thought you know That doesn't make you qualify because you didn't follow these rules. It's it's absolutely It's a new game now like it's funny how I see You know every once in a while republicans will dog on aoc because she was a bartender and that's supposed to be a bad thing No normal people like that that that is A normal thing because you know these policies they don't affect the ivy league people They're going to be fine. These rich elites will be fine. It's the normal people at the very bottom who are affected So it only makes sense that they get in and run and i'm just so glad that people are You know in general waking up and seeing that and we're kind of moving away from this elitist mentality in the country And I think it's because you know the number of elites is decreasing because the country is in such bad shape So I think that everyone who Uh is watching this they already know and love you but I just really want to make the pitch for you The website is polygene.com. It's currently under construction But there is a donation link and please Even if you can't spare much a dollar anything that you can help is absolutely crucial because Polygene is going up against a political machine and unfortunately it can't be done without money It doesn't need to be the same amount of money But certainly she's got to have money for staff to get the word out, you know to canvas to create campaign Um materials and whatnot. So please donate and paula before we go Do you want to just make one last pitch because you've already won over like basically a hundred percent of my audience? So anything that you can um add and want to say Well one thing I want to say if people are thinking about running for office And they're always worried about oh my gosh. What if this comes out? Oh, you know, if that comes out on me You know, everybody's worried. Oh, I have a past Everybody has a past Wear your scars like a badge think about your goals and think about being a true representatives All of our representatives have a past. They just have a lot of money to cover up their past You know, the media doesn't cover their past Don't worry about scrutiny keep your eyes on the prize and wear your scars like a badge And don't worry about all that stuff if you feel like you can represent your community or your state Step up and do it because there's a lot of people now We learned a lot of like, you know, we made a lot of mistakes last time But we learned a lot of lessons we gained a lot of education being grassroots candidates Anybody can reach out to brand new congress. They can reach out to myself There's there's leaders all over the country that's willing to help somebody that wants to step up and run for office And thank you for saying that and thank you for running that once but twice Because the amounts of like just personal sacrifice, you know and dedication that goes into you Doing this again It's tremendous and I I don't want to take that for granted and I don't want others to take that for granted So thank you so much because you're fighting for West Virginia. But this is something that Effects all of us. So thank you so much Paula Jean 2020 Uh, we're all rooting for you. And of course, you know, uh, we'll be glad to have you back anytime Thank you. Thank you. I love you guys Paula. We love you too