Democrats Abroad: The Blue Vote Café

Ezra Levin, co-executive director and co-founder of Indivisible and Debbie Weiss, Indivisible's first-ever moderator, join David and Rachel to talk about building the coaltion to say no, and to reassert democratic control of the country. Ezra talks about how Indivisible launched from a Google doc that he and Leah Greenberg co-wrote, and the transformative potential of a nonviolent movement of local communities protesting peacefully and boisterously and demonstrating to each other that we are not alone in fighting authoritarianism. Debbie talks about the Mod Squad, coins the term "weathervaning," and offers practical tips for how everyone and anyone can contribute, and both underline the message that only the people can save democracy. Ezra also reminds us all that gathering in your community to protect each other is the most human thing you can do. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Former Canadian Member of Parliament Charlie Angus tells Rachel and David how he got into politics, and how he's working now to bring people together to fight the threats to democracy. Charlie talks about building the Resistance, the response he's getting from people in Canada and around the world, and how vital it is to build connection and community. He also touches on his past and present as a punk rocker, drops the answers to two trivia questions, and gives his recommendation for the best song for a resistance playlist. Charlie's recently released his book Dangerous Memory: Coming of Age in the Decade of Greed (Anansi Press), and with his band is at work on the Grevious Angels' tenth album .Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Democrats Abroad members share memories of the late Ken Sherman, a longtime member of Democrats Abroad (Canada), a former International Chair, and a transformational leader. With contributions from Julia Bryan, David Mivasair, Christina Skovsgaard, Denise Roig, Susan Alksnis, Julie Buchanan, Lissette Wright, Steve Nardi, Adrianne George, Marnie Delaney, Art Shankler, Martha McDevitt Pugh, and via email by Ken's son Pascal. You will be sorely missed, Ken. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

NEC 2025 Chair and Vice Chair

NEC 2025 Secretary

NEC 2025 Treasurer

Will Gordh and his mom Adrienne Larkin join Rachel and David to talk about their podcast, Talking Politics with Mom. Adrienne ("Mom") talks about her journey from being a self-described "little right-wing nutjob" to a liberal Democrat, from the quest she set out on to find welfare queens to her recent 180-degree change on the issue of trans atheletes. Will, the director of the YouTube show "Some More News," gives context as the son of someone he'd assumed had traversed a less dramatic political journey, and talks about disinformation, the right-wing media, and the money behind it. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Troy Matthews, senior writer at Meidas Touch News, joins David and Rachel in the cafe. After a brief foray into sports and wine, the discussion turns to grassroots progressive media in general, and Meidas Touch in particular, highlighting its success in pulling ahead of Joe Rogan on YouTube. Troy talks about how podcasting these days resembles 1990s radio, and about his primary beats: abortion and economics. Troy also talks about his own podcast, Just Buy Less Coffee, which he co-hosts with Cathy Cannon, and about helping spread the word that even those who decide to live outside the U.S. can still fight and vote from overseas.

Dr. Lauren Tucker of Do What Matters talks about her work in helping to found Indivisible Chicago, and about giving people the tools to (as Michelle Obama says), "do something."She offers the Reenergizing the American Dream (RAD) Act as a policy proposal to address the insecurity the average American feels due to income inequality. The plan addresses five areas that make life unaffordable for the 99%: food, transportation, healthcare, housing, and energy. And she advises us to focus and toughen up in order to claw back our taxes from the billionaires who are living off the people of the United States. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Inge Kjemtrup and Julia Bryan join David and Rachel to talk about the work they're doing to offer Democrats Abroad members way to resist. Even small actions add up when DA members around the world team up to take them. By simply making phone calls, reaching out to friends, holding resistance roundtables, posting short videos telling personal stories, following the progress of legislation, making resistance playlists (watch for David's!), Inge and Julia believe we can all have an impact, and that this work is already seeing results. A growing menu of ideas and options is posted at https://www.democratsabroad.org/take_action, and people are encouraged to reach out with new ideas via resistance@democratsabroad.org. And above all, stay positive! You're an influencer, and as a DA member probably more informed than you think. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

David and Rachel talk to "MJ," a trans woman, about why she began to feel so unsafe in the U.S. that she has exercised her right as a dual citizen to return to Canada. The conversation starts light, with Canadian cocktails and the need for everyone to have an "Emergency David." But MJ does not hold back from sharing personal details about her journey as a trans woman, some of the ways in which it is dangerous to be transgender in the U.S. under the second Trump administration, and how important it is in understanding people who are different from you to just listen, and ask questions. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Dr. Arlie Russell Hochschild, sociologist, author, and proferssor emerita at Berkeley, joined David and Rachel to talk about the four moments of the anti-shame ritual, what she learned in talking to people in Louisiana and Kentucky suffering a downward slide of loss and about Democrats Abroad members as bi-cultural ambassadors.She also talks about her books Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right and Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right (chosen by Barack Obama as one of his 10 favorite books of 2024). Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

One week after Donald Trump's second Inaugration, Jodi Szarko and Linda Weide joined David and Rachel talk about the book club they founded for Democrats Abroad in the lead-up to the 2025 election to study Project 2025. They share some of their discoveries, their reactions to some of the content, the contradictions they found within the document. The book club has morphed focus to become generally more anti-authoritarian, studying such things as the Executive Orders coming out of the White House. Those interested in participating in the reading group, visit https://www.democratsabroad.org/de_events

In the waning days of the 118th Congress, a bill was introduced that could relieve many citizens living around the world of the headaches associated with filing U.S. taxes every year. Rebecca Lammers, the chair of Democrats Abroad's Taxation Task Force joins David and Rachel in the cafe to talk about it. She explains why introducing this bill days before it would inevitably die was advantageous. And she talks about how people shouldn't have to choose between their citizenship and being able to maintain a normal financial life; about the tax webinars she's introduced to help educate people about their choices; and about how filing taxes and exercising your right to vote are not connected. To read more about the bill, and to offer your feedback, visit https://www.democratsabroad.org/new_residency_based_tax_bill_introduced https://www.democratsabroad.org/elective_rbt_explainer https://www.democratsabroad.org/rbt_bill_faq https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsyXA-KVQbMWs42DSsMGvSKGo8M2spLRJrsGSx7nUvjhsQAg/viewform Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Jason Sattler (LOLGOP on social media platforms) talks about the phishing attack that is being perptrated on America, about progressivism as the mainstream culture, and about the need to start thinking about and buildng progressive everything. Jason strongly recommends the two podcasts he's producing: Marcy Wheeler's Ball of Thread and Andrea Pitzer's Next Comes What. The conversation touches on Franca Rame as the kind of folk hero we should be valorizing, the role of humor as anesthetic or weapon, whether there should be billionaires, and whether he should start a new podcast with David called There's Too Many Podcasts.

Vivan Norris, a documentary filmmaker, joins David and Rachel in the cafe to talk about her experience as a single mom living outside the U.S. , and that drew her to the story of Obama's mother. The film Obama Mama about the life of Ann Dunham and her work with microcredit was the result. (Vivan can arrange for free screenings of the film for DA chapters and country committees.) Vivan has begun thinking about a project centred on Americans who are considering leaving the U.S., or who have already done so, and has begun collecting their stories. (If you have specific concerns and a story to share, you can email her at vnorris@tulane.edu). Vivian has also recently returned to an earlier project about Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and a microcredit pioneer.

Robert Gerrard, aka Bobby from the Bronx, joins David and Rachel to talk about the recent election, his journey from Republican to Democrat, and his intention to be the "Joe Rogan of the Left." Rob will be launching a podcast by Inauguration Day 2024, and hopes others on the left will help combat misinformation and disinformation with similar initiatives to present facts in a people-powered independent space. And it is agreed that The Big Tent vs. The Cult would be a great album title.

This week's guest in the cafe is Charles Belk, active citizen, entrepreneur, and a newly drafted DA spokesperson living in South Africa. Charles tells David and Rachel how his goal to visit 100 countries came about, and about his four for four for four scheme to engage voters, and about his past efforts to bring about criminal justice reform, focused specifically on Justified Auto-Erasure legislation. The conversation also touches on both older and younger Black men as voters, and how things are looking in his own voting state of North Carolina one week before the presidential election. Charles mentions his op-ed piece, which you can read at https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/opinion-if-biden-can-step-aside-then-americans-abroad-can-certainly-step-up-20241022

Scott Dworkin of the Democratic Coalition and DworkinSubstack.com drops into the cafe to talk about where we are, two weeks before the 2024 election. The conversation touches on the contrast between the two campaigns and candidates, on trying to find arguments that persuade Republican voters, and on what's at stake in this election vs what is possible. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Tomika Vukovic and Bryan Sanders from Wisconsin Voices explain how they use their three pillars to reach out to the BIPOC community--protecting democracy, teaching advocacy, and building community. We explore the endless conversation on why race and gender matters in an election, and what it takes to ignite the spark that inspires a young person to register to vote. Tomika turns the tables on Rachel and David and asks how the U.S. is viewed from abroad. Learn more about Wisconsin Voices and donate at https://www.wisconsinvoices.org/. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin joins Rachel and David, to talk #ResistanceLive, the work she's done advising women to run for office, and her time as a Democrat abroad in France. Elizabeth also addresses all the things a Harris/Walz victory would make possible: codifying reproductive freedom,, effective climate change legislaion, reasonable gun control, and the closing of inexplicable loopholes (how is it that a convicted felon can run for the presidency?) She reminds us all to keep working to win the election, quoting the phrase she uses on her own podcast, "all gas, no brakes." You can see the appearance she made in the Americans Abroad for Harris/Walz at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cgIbShsWak Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Former Anchor/Correspondent at ABC News and former Co-Host and News Anchor at "Good Morning America" Kevin Newman joins David and Rachel to reflect on the 2024 presidential campaign, the changing media landscape, and the challenge of reaching independent voters. He talks about living and working in the U.S. as a Canadian journalist, and how complex the U.S. electoral system is compared to Canada's. The conversation also gets into how to vote one's home country from abroad, and about how important it is that we all exercise that right. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Yvette Lewis, former chair of the Maryland State Party and Chair Emerita of Voter Engagement and Education for the Association of State Democratic Chairs, was the keynote speaker for the Democrats Abroad annual global meeting in Costa Rica. After the meeting, Rachel sat down with her to talk about what drew her into her work, an expansive view of voter protection, Angela Alsobrooks's victory as the Democratic nominee to represent Maryland in the Senate. Chair Lewis shares a few personal reflections on Presidents Obama and Biden and Vice President Harris, and strongly urges listeners to PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE POLLS. Watch Chair Lewis talking about Rapid Response in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQt8dm5PNMs Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org . Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Founded on July 23 with a goal of raising $1000, #MastodonforHarris blew past a quarter of a million dollars within two days. Its founder--legal scholar, philosopher, and grassroots acitivist Heidi Li Feldman--shares her reasons for starting the campaign with Rachel and David. She talks about the small-d democratic nature of Mastodon, and makes an inside joke for Minnesotans. Heidi also discusses the importance of local politics, common attributes of lawyers and law students, and Leaders from Law, which she founded to empower progressive lawyers and law students interested in poltical careers. The conversation also turns to supreme court justices who substitute politics for legal reasoning, and an article she and Dahlia Lithwick wrote for Slate entitled "Let's Stop Pretending Clarence Thomas Can Read the Framers' Minds." Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Leaving David behind in Ottawa, Rachel travelled to Costa Rica for DA's annual global meeting. When Day Two wrapped early, she caught the voices of 10 different DA leaders enjoying themselves in and around the pool--with an audiobomb from Friend of the Pod Miguel Madrigal. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Angela Fobbs and Adrianne George, the co-hosts of Power to the People (the Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus podcast) join Rachel and David in the cafe. In this "podcast potluck," a special crossover episode, the four co-hosts each bring a question for everyone to answer. The conversation ventures into new and fascinating territory, as each participant brings reflection and personal history to their responses. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

In one of our most wonk-ish episodes ever (complete with a cat!), mathematician Max Dunitz of DA France explains an intriguing situation that arose for the four or five states that used ranked choice voting in their 2020 presidential primaries. Because the Democratic National Committee restricts the awarding of delegates to candidates that garner 15% of the votes, a hybrid version of ranked choice had to be devised, creating an interesting (and difficult) mathematical problem. You can hear Max explaining it to Rachel and David, and you can read his paper on the subject on the SSRN (Social Science Research Network): https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4839562 Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com

David and Rachel sit down with DA's International Chair and Vice Chair to talk about their first year on the job. Martha McDevitt-Pugh and Steve Nardi share some of the triumphs from the year, touch upon some of the challenges, and outline the work ahead of us in 2024. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com

Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels joins David and Rachel to talk about her research into what motivates American citizens living outside the country to become politically engaged. As the title of her most recent academic paper puts if, "Democrats abroad: What motivates core activists to engage in political transnationalism?" Amanda confirms some of the speculation that has been bruited about the cafe since its founding, including the primary reason people move to a different country. But you'll have to listen to learn what that is. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

David and Rachel are joined by leaders from Democrats Abroad's newest country committee, DA Kenya. Robyn T. Emerson (Chair) and Mohamed Ahmed (Treasurer) share the stories of how each connected with DA, and the founding of DA Kenya. The discussion turns to a population unique to the "A" of DA's Europe-Middle East-Africa region: Americans of African descent; and touches on Mohamed's first votes as a person who has not yet turned 20; the importance of youth activism, particularly in addressing gun violence; and what it feels like to volunteer to help hold up the Democratic tent. Mentioned in the episode: the Gun Violence Prevention Action Team Lauch with Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Pary, President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, and a Vice Chair of the Demcratic National Committee, joins David and Rachel in the café, substantiating his claim that he will accept any invitation to talk where there are at least two Democrats. Quoting LBJ, Ann Richards, Margaret Mead, Ayanna Pressley, and Confucius, Ken discusses the importance of the vote from abroad, and its majority Democratic comosition. Outlining the incredible story we have to tell about Biden and Harris's achievements to date, he urges Democrats to stop agonizing and start evangelizing. While acknowledging that you don't have to love someone to vote for them, Ken shares compelling personal reflections on both Biden and Harris, as well as on his home state of Minnesota.

Rachel and David's guest in the café is longtime Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg, who gained notoriety in 2022 for calling the election right when everyone else had it wrong. Simon talks about the weakness of the GOP's position, with a candidate diminished in multiple ways and a crazy, ideologically unhinged politic, the 6 factors that will impede Trump in 2024, and about the Hopium Chronicles community that he founded with the watch words, "Do more, worry less." With a reference to diapers and pictures you might not want to look up, and a resounding endorsement of FDR's four freedoms. For more information, visit https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org. Find the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes as bluevotecafe.com.

The Reverend Harcourt ("Harky") Klinefelter joins Rachel and David to share memories from the time he spent working with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Harky, a DA member, talks about serving as Dr. King's press officer, and the Selma and Montgomery marches. He brings the voices of long-ago freedom fighters to life, and about working on Dr. King's funeral. Clips that are mentioned in the interview and a transcription: The part of the speech that appeared during Dr. King's funeral was from “The Drum Major Instinct” King concluded the sermon by imagining his own funeral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mefbog-b4-4 The three hour documentary that only aired once is “King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis”. The documentary was recently restored and can once again be seen in its original form. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065944/ The first part of the interview with the 10 year old Selma marcher is a bit hard to hear because of the quality of the recording. Here is a transcription of the first half: `I didn't go prepared to march. I had planned to go all the way  but I wasn't sure they were going to be able to take me because they taken all the names and I didn't take anything but my coat. So I had to sleep (in the) cold, and the heaters (in the tent) went out and the wind and everything was real terrible, and so I stayed woke (awake) that night by the little gas burner they had outside. The next day-- the next day we marched and marched and it rained, and that's the day we really had to walk hard  all that rain.  I didn't get a cold, the next day it rained which was Tuesday, that was through Lownes country, Yeah, that's the day you had to `pick them up and put them (your feet) down'. Blisters and everything, oh boy I'm telling you, I said  I know they (the racists) they're going to try something even if they have to wait until we come back. I said `Lord,I say, I know these people, in Lownes country. All I want you to do is take care of me and give me the strength to walk faster through this stretch. I mean, I prayed that prayer all the way through there. I didn't have any water all day  because if we stopped we had to run to catch up, you know, and I wanted to be credited for walking all the way  So I just did without water, and my tongue was swole (swelled) up. The next day, ah, the nurses out there they waited on me and she came and she say (said) `Little girl are you going to march today?' I say (said) `Sure I am.? All those blisters?' I say (said) `There not hurting, only when I stop'. And you stayed out all the time?  `All the time, every camp we stayed in. I slept in it.' How did you feel when you marched up the street to the Capital? `My feet were so bad! and when I had the flag carrying, one of the biggest ones out there, I felt so happy, I didn't knew what to do  Dr King, I think he's the greatest that's happened. Really,  it's just like heaven. And I'll go anywhere he tells me to go, really, with blisters, sores, sore head, anything.  You know, I couldn't hardly breathe when I was out there, I fainted, I passed out, and everything, but I ended up going on ahead. What do you feel the march was accomplished? `We're 50 years ahead from where we started when this voter registration started. Really in Selma, 50 years, because people can walk around and not be afraid. If someone get killed that doesn't stop them, I didn't walk 50 miles in vain.'  You feel that people will be afraid to register vote? `Well, I don't think they should be afraid because after all they have been killing Negroes all the time and noting has be done about it. They do find out who killed'em (them) now. This has been a big improvement? `If you will excuse me for the slang, "It's just a nigger dead."'

Carl Weinschenk joins David and Rachel to talk about his blogging and video efforts to communicate President Biden's substantial accomplishments to undecided voters in the swing states. With some discussion of the race to fill George Santos's vacant seat, a long-ago glimpse of the young Donald Trump in Jamaica Estates NY, a little of Carl's family history, and the Cafe's first mention of "double-haters." Also a shout-out to @DanPfeiffer and @PodSaveAmerica. Carl's site: https://bidenandtheswingstates.com/ and Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bidenandtheswingstates

Kathy Tullos (Chair, DA Spain) and Andrew Anderson (Vice Chair, Veterans and Military Families Global Caucus) join Rachel and David from DA Spain to talk about DA Spain's recent growth, and its new community-building initiatives. Kathy's leadership style evokes a quote frequently misattributed to Ghandi; Andrew gives an update on the progress with addressing complications with educational benefits for veterans and active servicepeople overseas, and both share observations of how how US politics are perceived in Spain. The conversation also touches on dating tips, the importance of wine, and the "unhelpful desk."

David and Rachel talk to Steve about the resolutions he posted on The Journal of the Plague Years on January 1, 2024. Click to read the post. The conversation touches on the dangers of confusing imperfect choices for clear ones; the shift from James Carville's "it's the economy, stupid" to what Steve sees as our current reality ("it's the culture, stupid"); and how his work American Stutter would appear to a novelist in a parallel universe where Hillary won the presidency in 2016. The talk also turns to living near the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, and plants seeds of optimism that Steve, Rachel, and David agree need urgent, active, and immediate tending. Bonus: an answer to the question David posed to Wayne Liebman of the Blue Voter Guide (Season 8, Ep8) about how many different ballots there are in a given US election. Register and request your ballot at Vote From Abroad!

Wayne Liebman joins David and Rachel to explain Blue Voter Guide, an organization founded to make voting easy. When you enter your voting address at https://bluevoterguide.org/, up pops your ballot, linked to endorsements from progressive organizations. With shoutouts to Her Bold Move, Vote Mama, and the Professional Fire Fighters of Nevada.

Dr. Dan Barkhuff joins David and Rachel to talk about the organization he founded, Veterans for Responsible Leadership (vfrl.org). The conversation delves into the concepts of duty and honor, the downstream effects of the shift 50 years ago to all-volunteer military, and Trump's inability to understand the military and unfitness to serve as the country's leader. We also touch on the political composition of the military, how many veterans live overseas, and the Lincoln ads featuring Barkhuff that went viral in 2020.

Jason Berlin joins Rachel and David to talk about Field Team 6, the partisan voter registration organization he founded to register Democrats. Jason talks about Field Team 6's focus on unregistered voters, about the gaps in the traditional approach to voter registration, and the cost per voter.

Annika Krovi and Henry Pahlow, National Chair and Vice Chair of High School Democrats of America, join David and Rachel to talk about engaging voters and potential voters when they are still enrolled in high school. Neither Annika nor Henry is eligible yet to cast their own votes, but they speak like veteran political operatives about canvassing, phone-banking, and participating on campaigns--and about their success in bringing a resolution to the Democratic National Committee meeting and have it approved. We talk about expanding the membership of USDA, about the opportunity Annika and her grandparents will have in 2024 to cast their votes for the first time, about Henry's research and initiatives to involve rural voters, and--it must be said--about dad jokes. For more information: https://hsdems.org/

Rachel and David make social media darling Brittlestar laugh at his own jokes, and discourse seriously (and at least semi-intelligently) with his alter ego Stewart Reynolds on his recent book (Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse: Survival Tips for the Dumbageddon); on the objective perspective on the U.S. afforded to Canadians and to American citizens living outside the country; and on the challenge of learning to interact maturely with the big dumb, nonstop, in-your-face electronic bulletin board that is social media.

Ashley Houghton, FairVote's Senior Director of Programs and Policy, sat down with David and Rachel to talk about election reform in general, and ranked choice voting in particular. FairVote is a nonpartisan organization that researches and advances voting reforms in the hope of making democracy more functional and representative.

A former chair of Ohio Democratic Party, David Pepper is the author of several books, including Laboratories of Autocracy and Saving Democracy. You may have caught him in a short segment with Rachel Maddow or Morning Joe. The day after Issue One was defeated in Ohio in August, 2023, he joined Rachel and David on the pod to talk about how the Democrats' strategy differs from the Republicans', how that must change, and how you can help. For more information: savedemocracy.us And don't forget to register and request your ballot EVERY YEAR at votefromabroad.org

Democrats Abroad member Amerika Garcia Grewal joins Rachel and David to talk about a return visit to her home town: Eagle Pass, Texas. She has now witnessed the horrible situations that migrants trying to get into the United States face as they try to cross the Rio Grande river. Amerika recently was a part of a group that went onto the river to see the newly installed barriers made out of floating buoys and razor wire. She also saw the people that are pushing through these barriers to find a better life in the United States. Amerika gives a first-hand account of the way that her home town has changed, and the need for border security without cruelty. View some of Amerika's photographs. https://www.votefromabroad.org/

Leedonal "Jazz" Moore and Martha McDevitt-Pugh, candidates for the office of Democrats Abroad's International Chair, answer questions compiled by the Nominations and Elections Committee. Presented by the Democrats Abroad Nominations and Elections Committee. Hosted by The Blue Vote Café, with Rachel Eugster and David Schellenberg, in one of the BVC's first video episodes. More information on Democrats Abroad's upcoming elections can be found at https://www.democratsabroad.org/dpca_elections_2023 DPCA voting reps: Be sure to vote on June 11, 2023.

Art Schankler, Jennifer von Estorff, and Steve Nardi, candidates for the office of Democrats Abroad's International Vice Chair, answer questions compiled by the Nominations and Elections Committee. Presented by the Democrats Abroad Nominations and Elections Committee. Hosted by The Blue Vote Café, with Rachel Eugster and David Schellenberg, in one of the BVC's first video episodes. More information on Democrats Abroad's upcoming elections can be found at ⁠https://www.democratsabroad.org/dpca_elections_2023⁠ DPCA voting reps: Be sure to vote on June 11, 2023.

Joshua Van der Ploeg, candidate for the office of Democrats Abroad's International Treasurer, answer questions compiled by the Nominations and Elections Committee. Presented by the Democrats Abroad Nominations and Elections Committee. Hosted by The Blue Vote Café, with Rachel Eugster and David Schellenberg. More information on Democrats Abroad's upcoming elections can be found at ⁠⁠https://www.democratsabroad.org/dpca_elections_2023⁠⁠ DPCA voting reps: Be sure to vote on June 11, 2023.

Anne Brady and Heather Stone, candidates for the office of Democrats Abroad's International Legal Counsel, answer questions compiled by the Nominations and Elections Committee. NOTE: this episode will be updated when answers have been received from Summer Tillman, who was given an extended deadline to respond due to circumstances beyond her control Presented by the Democrats Abroad Nominations and Elections Committee. Hosted by The Blue Vote Café, with Rachel Eugster and David Schellenberg. More information on Democrats Abroad's upcoming elections can be found at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.democratsabroad.org/dpca_elections_2023⁠⁠⁠ DPCA voting reps: Be sure to vote on June 11, 2023.

Karen Frankenstein, Renee Clarke, and Susan Mackenzie, candidates for the office of Democrats Abroad's International Secretary, answer questions compiled by the Nominations and Elections Committee. Presented by the Democrats Abroad Nominations and Elections Committee. Hosted by The Blue Vote Café, with Rachel Eugster and David Schellenberg. More information on Democrats Abroad's upcoming elections can be found at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.democratsabroad.org/dpca_elections_2023⁠⁠⁠ DPCA voting reps: Be sure to vote on June 11, 2023.

What you need to know when you find out that the President of the United States is coming to your town!

Wisconsin voters Liz Blackbourn and Annie Graul explain the importance of this current election. They outline why they are supporting liberal Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz.