Road To The Midterms (with Jess McIntosh and Julie Collins)

The midterm elections are only 14 weeks away and there has been a lot going on in election news - primaries all over the country, campaigning, organizing, media narratives that may or may not be true… it’s hard to keep track of it all.

So this week we’re doing a “road to the midterms” episode of the pod. Amanda Weinstein and Rachel Vindman are joined by guest hosts Jess McIntosh and Julie Collins. Jess is a political strategist and Julie is the National Organizer for Red Wine and Blue, so they are a wealth of knowledge to help us all understand what is going on with the midterms… and what is at stake.

And before our delightful guest hosts leave, everyone raises a glass to park rangers, family time, and incredible young activist Olivia Julianna in this episode’s “Toast to Joy.”

If you’re ready to join the Great Troublemaker Turnout, please sign up here. Suburban women are taking a stand - join us!

For a transcript of this episode, please email theswppod@redwine.blue.

For a transcript of this episode, please email theswppod@redwine.blue.

You can learn more about us at www.redwine.blue or follow us on social media!

Twitter: @TheSWPpod and @RedWineBlueUSA

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Transcript

The Suburban Women Problem - Season 2, Episode 31

Rachel Vindman: Hi, everyone. Thanks for listening. I'm Rachel Vindman.

Amanda Weinstein: I'm Amanda Weinstein. 

Rachel: And although Jasmine couldn't join us for this episode, we're very excited to have not one but two very talented co-hosts stepping in today: Jess McIntosh and Julie Collins. Welcome, thanks for joining us. 

Jess McIntosh: Thank you so much. 

Rachel: Jess has joined us on the pod before - she's a political strategist and a communications consultant. And this is the first time we've had Julie on the show, but she is the national organizer for red wine and blue, and she helps organize our Troublemaker Trainings. So she's been working beside us this whole time. We're thrilled to finally have you on the pod. 

Julie Collins: Thanks for having me!

Rachel: Well, you are both perfect for today, because we're gonna be talking about the midterms. We are just 14 weeks out from the midterms, and there's been a lot going on in election news: primaries all over the country, campaigning, organizing, media narratives that may or may not be true, as always. It's hard to keep track of it all. So this week we thought we would do a “road to the midterms” episode of the pod.

Jess, you're a political strategist and Julie, you're an organizing expert. So I'm curious to know what you think. 

Jess: We spend, in political strategy world, a lot of time saying “voters haven't even tuned in yet. No one's even paying attention yet. It's summer. It's so far away.” And then, and then all of a sudden it's here. We are now in the, “oh God, it's here” portion of the midterm elections. 

Most primaries have happened, but there are a ton of big ones happening this week. But very, very soon we will have our slate of candidates. We will know exactly what is on the ballot. Not that we don't already know, it's pretty much just a galley of extremism on the Republican side at this point. The last couple of primaries that we're waiting on this week, it's like, I mean, in, in Michigan, The governor of Michigan, let's take that one. There are like 14 Republicans running against Gretchen Whitmer and I couldn't, like, none of them have what you would think of as the kind of background one would want if one wanted to be in public service. So while we don't know exactly our cast of players, like we do know the issues, we do know how motivated people are. And we do know that these are the most important midterms that we have ever seen in history. 

Republican candidates… like they're not trying to win anybody new over to their side. You can tell by how extremist they're getting. Usually during an election, we hear sort of like, “oh, nobody wants to get rid of Roe. We're, you know, that's settled. That's just the left trying to scare you.” And of course that's not the case anymore. Their cards are on the table. We know what they want. They're not trying to get independent votes. They're not trying to get new voters. They're certainly not trying to peel off any Democratic voters. It feels like they've basically given up on those purple suburbs that we spend so much talking about. All they need to do is talk to their base voters and hope that those are enough to defeat whoever else shows up in November. 

And the only place that they go to talk to their base voters is Republican media, and that's getting smaller and smaller. Fox doesn't even have Donald Trump on anymore. He's gotta go to like News Nation and OAN and, and stations I hope that you've never heard of or come across cuz they're wild, wild places. But what that means is that the candidates aren't actually campaigning in the communities that they wanna represent because representing those communities isn't their ultimate goal. Their ultimate goal is just to achieve partisan power for whatever personal gains they need. 

So you, you have the same campaigns running in Pennsylvania, like “where is Mehmet Oz?” that you see in Ohio with “where is JD Vance?” and it's cuz they're not actually talking to people. They're just sitting down with Tucker Carlson every now and then.

Amanda: I know. And they've used that they've, they're like “where's JD Vance?” and everyone's like, “I think he's back in San Francisco!” 

Rachel: So my husband asked me today, we were watching a video of Herschel Walker, and he said, “why, why is it even close? Why are people considering voting for him?” And, you know, I said, “I think it's because they're voting for not a person, but they're voting for a party.” It doesn't matter. It's an ideology, it doesn't matter the actual person. But it's so dangerous to me that they do not care who represents them in Washington. It's only the ideology of the party that seems to matter. 

It's a place that I think a lot of people just don't understand what's happening and what's going on. And the seriousness of it. So, you know, when, when you said Jess, this is the most important midterm election ever. It is. And we risk feeling and being received as if we're being hyperbolic when we say this, but it's, it's true. Every election we are fighting for democracy. Any more backsliding of democracy, it might not survive. 

Jess: Exactly. That's why I don't feel hyperbolic about saying that this is the most important and like, in a certain sense, we are all victims of our own messaging because we tell you every year that this is the most important election of your lifetime. We haven't been lying since 2016. 

Amanda: It's very like Chris Harrison and The Bachelor. Like every time he is like, “this is the most dramatic season ever.” And you're like, haha Chris Harrison. But, but like, this is true. 

Jess: Well, let me explain why, okay. If we lose the midterms, right? If Republicans regain control of the house in the Senate, they will rewrite the rules so that the 2024 election is not democratic. This is either an election, a democratic election that we will win, or it is the last “democratic election” that we will see in this country. They will make sure that there are election clerks who will certify whichever president they want to win. They will throw voters off the rolls at such a number that we can't out vote them. They will allow gerrymandering to disenfranchise Black and brown voters. They will make sure that everyone's access is curtailed to such an extent that their guy wins. That's it. That's what will happen in 2024 if they have those levers of powers for the next two years. That is what is at risk.

Amanda: But even more than that, it's not just what's at risk, which all of that is at risk. But here I think about, I am a little sick of hearing about Manchin and Sinema. But think about what we could do in this midterm, right? What if we get a Tim Ryan in there? What if we get, you know, a Fetterman in there? Like, I don't think people understand that it's not just, you know, what we could risk losing even more rights, but also what could we gain if we actually had a true majority, which we don't really have a true majority the way it gets talked about by a lot of the media.

Julie: Well, and this is why, you know, I love what we're doing here at red wine and blue with our great troublemaker turnout, you know, cause we're gathering up women in some key states in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, getting 20,000 women to contact their friends and get their friends out to vote and make sure that, you know, we are looking at getting Fetterman, getting Tim Ryan in, you know, doing the things that need to be done in order to make the midterms what we need them to be. Because we absolutely do not want to lose sight of, you know, November. We can't afford to just let this midterm go by. 

And then for the ladies who are in other states, you know, they're going to be working on getting their friends out as well. Because this is important all over the country, but we're concentrating on those four states here. Because we do know that that's critical. 

Jess: I also think the crisis gave us all an education. Like seeing how bad it could be when government was that dysfunctional. Because that was a big part of the Trump years that I think we all kind of forget because like the racism was so bad and the misogyny was so bad and there were babies in cages and the threat of, you know, nuclear war, cuz he thinks his button is bigger than Kim Jong-un.

Like it was so bad we sort of missed that he stopped government from working. Like he gutted all of those institutions. Our election infrastructure is crumbling. Like all of these pieces that make democracy work were really, really messed up under Donald Trump and Republican rule. And that goes all the way down the ballot.

So people are now starting to see things that used to function on a local level… not function. It's been like a truism for as long as I've worked in politics: people hate Congress, but they love their congressman. That's not necessarily the case anymore. People are understanding what their congressman does for their district, what their state representatives and senators mean for their right to be able to decide when to have children. What their school board officials mean for what is taught to their children.

Like these are some of the most important intimate things that government does. By breaking it all, we sort of all got educated on how it's supposed to work. And I think that we're gonna see these midterms… It's not about the rock stars of the Senate, like I'm so excited for a possible Senator Val Demings–

Amanda: Yessss.

Jess: Over the moon excited. I am so excited for a possible Mark Kelly. I said “over the moon” and that made me think of Mark Kelly cause he's an astronaut. He's great. Mandela Barnes. There are some great, great, great, great people running for Senate this year, but I don't think the midterms are about our Senate rock stars like they usually are. I think the midterms are going to be about people who are voting all the way down the ballot. We are talking about the Supreme Court, state Supreme Court. We're talking about school boards, we're talking about legislatures. Like these are all vitally important components that just never got our attention.

Julie: I call that kitchen table politics, because these are the folks who affect your kitchen table first. Your school board affects your kitchen table first, you know, your state Supreme court justice is going to affect if you have to go to court, you know, at a lower level and it has to go up the ladder.

So yes, it is critical that people vote down ballot. And that is one of the things that we are sharing with ladies. You know, don't just vote for the top of the ticket. You gotta go all the way down, because like you said, Jess, I do think that people see that, you know, this is broken at every level. 

Amanda: I mean more legislation is done at the state and local level than Congress and Senate. It just is. And it's always been that way. But now that we have Trump Supreme court, right, he's not in office, but we still have his Supreme court and we'll have it for a while. Unless we do something like get rid of the filibuster and expand the Supreme court, which I think we should do. But right now they are not protecting our rights.

We know this, we have seen it. We've seen the decisions. They are not protecting our rights, which means whether we like it or not, states are protecting our rights. Which means in Ohio, they're not protecting all of our rights, which means those state reps, state, senates, school boards, all of those things become that much more important that they protect our rights.

Jess: Look, if we can talk about abortion for just a second– 

Amanda: Yes! Every day. 

Jess: Haha. Like if we can just talk about abortion for the next 99 days–

Amanda: We do though. I find the ladies that I know, we do end up talking about this almost every day. 

Jess: True. Every time I hear, and it's always a guy, say, “I don't think abortion is gonna be forefront on voter's minds,” I'm like, “You don't talk to women. The women in your life don't talk to you. I know they don't have conversations in front of you.”

Amanda: “I’m sorry, is that what you and your golf buddies think? That's so cute.”

Jess: Cause every person I'm talking to is still talking about it. Yes. 

Rachel: So Alex and I were on a trip and he was on a call in the same hotel room and I was listening to this call with a strategist who will not be named, but I didn't know who it was at the time anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered, but I heard this person saying, “well, abortion isn't, we don't think it's going to affect the midterms that much at all.” And I'm just sitting there getting more and more mad, like, but he is on this call so I'm trying not to even move or breathe or anything, but I could feel the anger inside me. 

And then the call ended, and I was like, “Who was that? Who said that? That's so idiotic!” And then he told me, and I was like, “Wow. He could not be more wrong.” But it was a man. It was a white man. And that's all I have to say about that.

Amanda: They have no idea. But the other thing is, as this continues, we're seeing more and more how much abortion affects. Abortion affects 10-year-olds, abortion affects rape victims, abortion affects people whose children have really awful diagnoses that might die a terrible death, and we would otherwise have to watch them suffocate to death. Right? It affects so much of our lives and women know this and women are sharing their stories now. So this is why I hear about it every day. Cuz I hear someone else tell me a story I didn't know before. 

So actually one of our state senators that's running right now, Pat Goetz, is running against the person who sponsored our heartbeat bill. We have the abortion ban Ohio because of her and the person that's running against her, Pat Goetz said, “You know what? I was actually in medical school before Roe, I have treated women who were bleeding to death because of a self-induced abortion that they gave themselves. Like I have been there and I have seen it and we should not go back there.” And I think that's a really interesting story she's telling of, like, oh my gosh, we have someone running for office that has treated women before Roe and she's like, we should not go back there. 

Julie: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And you know, the thing that I think about all the time is how this is really healthcare for women. This is about saving a woman's life when something has gone wrong with a pregnancy. 

Amanda: When WE think it needs to be saved, not when some doctor death panel whatever thinks it needs to be saved. 

Julie: Absolutely. Absolutely. All of that. All of that. You know, I lost my mom a month and six days after my youngest sibling was born. So, I mean, it's just really, it is just really a very tough thing and it is very disheartening for me. I had rough and high risk pregnancies for my three kids and I just… you know, I just thank God that I actually, you know, had good healthcare available to me. 

I was traveling this past week, I was in Colorado where, you know, ladies have choices there and, and can make decisions about their own healthcare. And it was kind of sad, looking out the window, looking at the mountains and thinking about that and thinking about when I go home… not that I need this stuff anymore, but I have daughters, you know, grown women in their thirties... what if they had to make some choices? What if they were in dire straits? You know, what would I do? How would I get them the care they need in our state? And it's, it's very frightening to me. 

Jess: I think it's it. The number of terrible stories… we were expecting all of them. Like we were expecting that there was gonna be a 10 year old rape victim, somewhere along the line. We knew there were gonna be women who were dying from ectopic pregnancies. Like we knew what was gonna happen, but the fact that they all happened at once in that first week, like that's not a statistical anomaly. That just reminds you how often these things are happening.

There were 50 girls under 15 in Ohio who required abortion services just since May. That happens! It's not as rare as we think. And now I'm, I'm stuck here. I think because the conversation tends to go towards the worst case scenarios. We're, we're not even talking about what just the loss of this freedom means for women writ large, even those who aren't in, like absolutely dire situations with abusive partners and, you know, intimate violence.

You talk about being annoyed by the male pundits? The male reporters who keep writing this story with the headline: “The Midterms Will Tell Us, Is It Abortion or The Economy That Is The Issue”... and I'm like, these are the same goddamn issue! 

Amanda: They are! 

Jess: The decision of when and whether to have a family is the most important economic decision most Americans ever make. Childbirth is wildly expensive. Child care is even more expensive. We have to take time off of work. All of these are economic issues. It's 2022. Most households require women's income to function. Some of them are only women's income. And like, we still talk about this like… what the hell is a social issue anyway? What does that mean? 

Amanda: Oh, there's a reason two of my children were born right at the end of my teaching semester. Right? This was not by coincidence. Cause it was easier for my job and I could kind of luck out with scheduling these things. So there's a very clear reason. And there is a reason why women wait till like after college to have a child, if they can, right. This is what we are trying to do if given these choices. And when we look at the last century, when we see an increasing number of women, doctors, engineers, lawyers, all of the jobs that women are doing, and we've seen the success of the industries that women go into, all of that is intrinsically related to our ability to decide when we have a family.

Jess: In my profession, we have babies in off years.

Amanda: Oh yeah. 

Jess: Nobody has a baby in 2020, 2024, 2028. No! No, no, no, no. I mean, unless you, you know, you, you did. And then we all have to deal with that. But like, no, we, family planning is just a part of our lives. Like you try to have a baby when there's no election if you work in politics. Just like you try to have a baby after you finish your schooling if that's what you've been doing. It's just family planning and now we're not allowed to do it anymore. And I think that is, that's never not going to matter. It's so fundamental. 

Amanda: Absolutely. 

Julie: And here in Ohio, they're also trying to take the ability to have safe access to birth control away on top of everything else.

Amanda: I know! That was always the next step.

Julie: That's the entire next step. So yes, family planning will completely go out of the window because you know, how do you plan if you can't have access to safe birth control methods and you can't have safe healthcare? 

Amanda: I've heard from Republicans who say, “you know, I support birth control. I don't think that's gonna happen.” And I'm trying to tell 'em, like, no, you need to start paying attention. This is absolutely the next step. And you're not really listening to what your own party is saying. 

And they are so extreme and especially with women's, I mean, I'm a woman, but I think, especially with women's stuff, I mean, we hear JD Vance saying that women should remain in violent marriages?

Jess: And rape is “an inconvenience.”

Amanda: And “rape is just an inconvenience!” Like that is such a huge disconnect with more than half the population that… like words just can't even. Oh my God. 

Jess: No. So for 2022, it's different from state to state. And this is one of the reasons why I think going back to the local angle and how people are starting to understand exactly what branch of government does what to their lives… like in Pennsylvania, it's not about the federal Congress or the Senate at all. If Republicans keep the legislature in Pennsylvania, they will vote to make it a constitutional amendment that you can't have an abortion. So in Pennsylvania, what really matters is the legislature.

In Michigan, what really matters is the ballot initiative that Red Wine and Blue members fought really, really hard to get on the ballot. That is what's gonna keep our rights. And it was wildly successful, the most signatures counted or collected for any ballot initiative in the state. That's, what's gonna save abortion rights in Michigan. 

And of course, all of that doesn't matter if Mitch McConnell and Republicans retake the Senate because they will pass a nationwide ban. And at that point–every woman, every person in America needs to understand this– at that point, it will not matter where you live. You will not be able to access abortion for any reason. Like, I watch this play out from New York, knowing that I'm good, and everybody else in my state is good and they always will be because we elect those kinds of people. If we lose these midterms, it will not matter whether you're in California or New York or Illinois, you will not be able to access abortion for any reason. That's what's on the line this year and it never has been before. 

Julie: Well, and let's, let's make it clear too, it's access to safe care. Because we know that, you know, those who have a lot of money are going to get whatever it is they need. But those who don't have a lot of money, you know, and, you know, African-American women, you know, women of color have to have safe healthcare just like everyone else. Because already we're at a disadvantage when we're talking about the healthcare system, and now you're going to take this critical care away from us. And I just, you know, it just is mind boggling to me. 

Rachel: I think it emphasizes, you know, Julie, the criticality of the work that you do in terms of the relational organizing. Because twice in the past week, I've done MSNBC and to be honest with you, I hate it every time because it's just not my comfort zone. And, and my husband doesn't like it either. But both of us do it because we think it's important to do. 

And I would say to everyone, like I've also had random conversations with Americans while we've been away that I never would've done before. Political conversations. It is not my comfort zone to do this, but it is important that we're talking about it all the time. I've learned this skill. I mean, when I was a Republican, I was like a nominal Republican. I didn't even think about things and I'm embarrassed to say that. I will admit it as a confession. And I'm also embarrassed that I would avoid political conversations because I didn't have the chops to like, hang with a conversation. So I just avoided politics. And I see a lot of my friends doing the same thing by the way. But having a conversation that's, that's just a normal conversation like you would have with a friend, gives a safe space to say, “Hey, if you don't know what's going on, that's all right. I'm happy to talk to you about it or give you a couple resources and places where you can go.” 

And I am so much more politically active now than I ever was before. And maybe that's why I'm a Democrat now, because I was uninformed when I was a Republican. There's probably a really good argument to be made there. 

Amanda: Is it correlation or causation, right. 

Jess: There's a reason they don't like education! 

Amanda: True. 

Rachel: Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, right. But. I want people to know when I talk to people, like, it's okay if you're not politically active. And when I talk to random people, I say that I used to not be. And, I mean, unless they recognize my husband, I never bring up who we are, but I just say, “Hey, it's important now that we're all engaged and we're all involved. So you, you can do that too.” 

But right now we have to take a quick break. We're having a great conversation, I love it. Don't worry. When we come back, we'll have more from Jess McIntosh and Julie.

BREAK 

Amanda: Welcome back, everyone! So like Rachel mentioned, we are now 14 weeks out from the elections and it's going to take all of us if we wanna stand up for democracy. You can visit redwine.blue to learn more and to sign up for our Great Troublemaker Turnout. 

So let's get back into it and talk about suburban women. This is The Suburban Women Problem after all. So what issues do you see especially affecting women in the suburbs? Jess, what issues are going to be top of mind for suburban women in November? 

Jess: Well, since it hasn't come up yet, I'd like to bring up abortion.

Amanda: Hahaha.

Jess: Haha. But it's not, it's not just abortion. I can do other issues! I think the epidemic of gun violence has reached a fever pitch in this country in a way that I have not seen before. I do think that we are at the “enough is enough” stage. And I think that there is nobody more powerful to hold that message than moms. 

That is why people move to the suburbs - because they want a safe and healthy place for their kids to grow up. They wanna have good communities. They move there for the safety. They move there for the lawns. They move there for the community events. And now you're seeing community events being canceled all over the country because people are worried about gun violence. This isn't even about a known threat. It's just, we don't wanna have people gather cause something might go wrong. 

The 4th of July, we saw dozens of mass shootings, including a particularly horrific one at a parade in Illinois. I think we're at a moment now where everybody understands that we can do something. We are the only country where this happens. We are the only country that allows military grade weapons to be carried by civilians.

We let an 18-year-old walk in and purchase guns without background checks in many states. We don't care if you have been convicted of beating your wife, you still get to bring a firearm into that home with those children. Like there's a lot of common ground here that has nothing to do with banning guns or taking them away. We are talking about keeping kids safe and when parents bring that message, it really matters. 

And I, I do think we are at a point now where the Republicans again are just so extreme on this issue. Even like DeWine, right? He has this great moderate veneer, but if you talk to him about abortion, he thinks that it should be illegal in all cases, including victims of rape and incest and the life of the mother. I hate that phrase, “life of the mother,” too. It's like, this is a woman. Her status as a parent actually doesn't matter at all. And I'm trying to train that phrase out of my head. So I'm doing it out loud so that I am modeling what I want. The life of the woman, the life of the pregnant person. Mike DeWine is not a, is not a moderate on that. 

And he is not a moderate on guns. He won't accept any sort of restrictions, any common sense background checks, anything that keeps violent men from having guns and taking them into places where our kids are, whether that's a home or a school or a parade. And he flat lied to the people in Dayton. 

Amanda: He did. 

Jess: He said that he was going to do something and he did nothing. 

Amanda: He did nothing. He lied. And I think he knew it at the time. 

Julie: One of the other things that I wanted to just kind of say about what the suburban women are also thinking about and looking at is, you know, our school boards are already back in session. And in some cases they never went out of session. And so there are still crazy things that are happening at the school board meetings with extreme people who, most of them don't even have children in the district, let's be honest about this. They're coming in and they're wanting, you know, literature that we have been reading for years, or, you know, literature that is by quality literature that is by people of color. They want this stuff banned and they haven't even ever read it. 

We train women all over the country to, you know, gather up their friends and work on the issues in their communities. And we teach them how to talk to the school board and how to set up their speakers and what to do to be the most effective.

And it's working. We've had. several women from all areas of the country that have gotten these groups together, they have done the things that we have shown and shared with them, and not just in Troublemaker Training, but also in our Parent Playbook. So, you know, the women in the suburbs definitely have a tremendous amount of power in harnessing this power at the local level, like we have been doing. And, you know, then voting down the ticket when the time comes to vote, this is what's going to really make the difference come November. 

Rachel: I love it. I love it. I think understanding our power at the micro level and then being able to leverage that to really see results, and then leverage those results to move on to bigger and better things, is how we get people to engage and stay engaged. 

Amanda: I feel like women are very capable of having conversations with their neighbors, even uncomfortable conversations. Even hearing the stories of women who've actually, you know, had to deal with, you know, late term abortions and other things like that. When we hear these stories, in a topic that has traditionally been the most divisive, which… I think when I think of which topic is the most, you know, divisive one you can bring up at a party, I was like, “oh, abortion.” Right? But women have a way of talking about the most divisive topics in ways that affect them, their family, their friends, their mothers, their sisters, their daughters. And I think when we talk about anything politically divisive in any way, when we talk about our families and our kids, it chips away at that divisiveness.

Jess: I also think we've been sort of hoodwinked into what is and isn't controversial. Like the whole don't talk politics at the dinner table thing… like white people came up with that. Like white people decided that we shouldn't talk about politics at the dinner table. And we did that because you don't talk about politics in polite company because talking about politics means talking about what you are doing for people and what you aren't doing for people. And how the circumstances of somebody's life differ from the circumstances of your own life and how you can change that. Like that's what talking about politics is.

Julie: You know, as an African-American woman, we did talk about politics at the dinner table because how else were we as children going to learn what we needed to know? When, when was the appropriate time for that? You know, we were all there at the dinner table, gathered around and the older, you know, folks would tell us what was going on and share with us what we needed to do.

And so, you know, I grew up knowing that just going to work and coming home and going on vacation once a year was not how you're supposed to do things. That you needed to be involved in your communities and do things. And voting was always important because I knew that people had marched and they had been beaten and they had been killed for my right to vote. And there was absolutely no way I wasn't going to vote. 

Amanda: I mean, and now we're getting policies… so I think about policies and how they affect my family and the families that I know, and every family across America. When I think about how we got our universal school lunches taken away by Republicans because they didn't want trans kids to have it too. That's ridiculous. First of all, trans kids should get lunches. But every kid should get lunches! This program is great. When you look at the child tax credit, also taken away. This is a significant tax increase for middle class families with children. And I feel like we're just giving Republicans a pass for all of the stuff that they have done.

Jess: And, and we are supposed to live in this lie. That Republicans are good for the economy. Like when those terrible reporters put up the, “is it about abortion or is it about the economy” pieces, what they mean is “Democrats are good at abortion issues, but Republicans are good at the economy.” And that has never been true.

Amanda: No!

Jess: In my entire life! I'm 40, that has never been true. 

Amanda: Yes. Never.

Jess: Like when Republicans take control, GDP goes down, unemployment goes up, the stock market might have a few good moments, but we aren't the stock market. The stock market is not a reliable indicator of how American families are doing and feeling. Democrats are better at the economy. They always have been. 

Rachel: And with that, we have had an amazing conversation. It's been such a pleasure to have both of you with us. We do like to end every episode with our Toast to Joy, a little bit of an upbeat note to end on. So, Amanda, what is yours? 

Amanda: So my Toast to Joy today I think is similar to what I've done before. But so we live right next to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and they have all the same stuff, basically, any national park does with park rangers and programming. And so throughout the summer, they have these like Junior Ranger challenges and you just show up, a park ranger's there– which, I took actually I took one of my friend's kids with my kids and he was like, “I have never seen a park ranger. I don't think there's park rangers here.” And I was like, “well, let's find out.” And he was so excited. He's like, “oh my God, there's a ranger there!” 

So the kids love talking to the ranger and they learn about the history of the park. They learn about how the Cuyahoga River was cleaned from being on fire 50 years ago to now, like, a beautiful river with otters and bald eagles and blue herons. And it is really great. I love talking to the rangers. So the Junior Ranger challenge is my favorite and I love these events that our parks do for us. So my Toast to Joy is to the park rangers and I love all the work that they do.

So Jess. What is your Toast to Joy? 

Jess: My Toast to Joy is Olivia Julianna, who is a 19 year old activist who decided, well, Matt Gaetz, Congressman Matt Gaetz went ahead and body shamed her. He literally just, he just put a photo of this young woman, he just put a photo up and commented on how he thought she looked.

He chose SO the wrong person to do this to, I mean, It's like that thing in the cartoons where you see like the wolf is trying to like, get something that you think is a bunny and then it turns around and nope, actually it's a bear! Like that's what Olivia Julianna is. This woman– and like, you can't even, she's 19– this 19 year old pantsed him on every social media platform available to her. She made him look like an idiot.

Amanda: Which he is.

Jess: I was embarrassed for him. I wanted his mother to come pick him up. Somebody needed to let him out of his locker. And while she was doing this, she was raising funds for abortion funds. So, by the time I checked yesterday, she was at two freaking million dollars. This is a 19 year old who got made fun of by a Congressman. Like, let that sink in for a second. We talk about how bad norms have gotten lately, but try to imagine yourself at 19 and a Congressman tells you that you are fat and unattractive in front of a bunch of people. Like the insanity to even picture that. And yet now that's just what happens. And these kids are ready and Olivia Julianna is my hero. 

Amanda: She's amazing. Man, these young people. Show us the way. 

Jess: Just a normal activist. Just a normal 19 year old who cares about her rights. That's it. 

Amanda: All right, Julie, what's your Toast to Joy? You're up next.

Julie: So my Toast to Joy is I got to spend time with my daughters yesterday. So my kids used to live next door to us. But my husband and I, we bought our forever home and it's about 45 minutes away from them. And so they came out yesterday and had dinner and it was just a nice time to share, you know, what's going on in their lives, talk about politics, because they don't, the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, and you know, just really got to spend some quality time with them. I'm very appreciative of that.

Amanda: That sounds awesome. All right, Rachel, you're the last one. What is your Toast to Joy? 

Rachel: My Toast to Joy this week is just to, you know, having some really special family time. Being able to get away and unplug. We've been on kind of a working vacation for a couple of weeks, but we had a wonderful week of just vacation and lots of no internet connection, no cell phone connection, and time in beautiful Scotland. So just being together though, you know, embracing the 11 year old tweenness that I feel like I only… it's like a ghost. Like I would only see those glimpses when I was away from my husband. And he was like, “what are you talking about? She's totally fine. I don't know why you're doing this.” But it's like, he's seen a little bit of that and I feel a little bit less crazy. But overall it's been completely amazing. So with that, my Toast to Joy is to tween-ness and togetherness. 

But anyway, thank you so much, everyone for joining us today. Especially to Jess and Julie, thank you for being our guests. You are both a wealth of knowledge and an inspiration. And if you have enjoyed this show, listening to us, please share it with someone. You know, as the midterms approach, it’s more important than ever that we keep having these conversations. We will see you again next week on another episode of The Suburban Women Problem.