Amanda Weinstein: Hi, everyone. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Amanda Weinstein.

Rachel Vindman: I am Rachel Vindman.

Jasmine Clark: And I am Jasmine Clark.

Amanda: And welcome back to the Suburban Women Problem. On November 2nd, millions of folks across the country will head to the polls. Most will be voting in local elections, while in some states, like Virginia, there are races all the way up to governor on the ballot in 2021.

Rachel: Which as a Virginian, this is why I’m not sleeping. Who's going to turn out for an election this year?

Amanda: That is the question— are folks tuned in to their local races? Are they actually going to turn out? Oh, but speaking of local races, Jasmine, you have some election news, right?

Jasmine: Yes, I am officially a launching my reelection campaign.

Rachel: Yay!

Amanda: Woo! Celebration emoji!

Jasmine: So that's been exciting. But to y'all's point, I have the same anxiety as you all have going on in Virginia. Although I have a whole year to be anxious about. But when it comes to like turnout and people being excited, I think my biggest anxiety is that historically midterm elections and like those off presidential year elections don't necessarily excite people.

And I know for here in Georgia, turn out is a big deciding factor. Because we are a real like 50/50 state right now. And so I can only imagine what you're going through, Rachel.

Rachel: Yeah, you know, yesterday I attended a, a Democrat –– I don't know what the right word is, rally maybe?— for my county. And I did not know this, but our county turned blue for the first time. And Virginia turned blue as well in both the…

Amanda: You stole our swing state status!

Rachel: Yeah! Well, I thought it was more set in stone than it is. And then I realized it's not, yesterday. But the thing that I attended was so inspiring and I tweeted about it. So full of hope. It wasn't anything like what I would imagine a Republican and what I've seen that you know, of Republican campaign events or just...

“We're not going to do this. We're not going to do that. So we're going to get rid of this blah, blah, blah,” and like negative. And this was very hopeful about the things we're going to do to help the people of my county, that people of Virginia. And I, I liked that, but you know, it does that translate to. I don't know, we have to get people excited.

Amanda: When you go to these events where there's a lot of Democrats, it is very hope and change and positive, and I do feel more energy at events like that. So we've had, you know, right-wingers with, you know, apparently a ton of money to burn who spent like $50,000 to try and not have my husband elected. Unsuccessfully. So ha you wasted $50,000, but now these same people are throwing $10,000 at each of our local BOE candidates. And we're a pretty small school district. And the same person is wearing $10,000 at each of them.

Like they apparently at least, you know, I don't know, maybe the money is what energizes them. I don't know. But these local elections, they really do matter. And they matter for the stuff that matters for our kids and for our everyday lives. Like we need to be talking about what's going on locally.

Rachel: I wish everyone could have been at that event with me yesterday, Amanda. I mean, it was because of, because of this very reason, like I was inspired. We had a guest, a special guest was Nikema Williams who took John Lewis's seat in Georgia. She said the best things about Jasmine. I was like, I know Jasmine's great. She just saw her last week. And it was awesome to meet her. And it was just, people were fired up to do this. And this was a really diverse group of Democrats.

Amanda: So you were talking about it was very energizing. What were they talking about that was so energizing?

Rachel: You know, what we're going to do for us, what we're going to do for people from our county, how we're going to make it better, what we're going to make sure everyone's included. We're going to make sure everyone's safe. We're going to make sure that women have access to reproductive rights as well as healthcare. These are things that we have now, and we're going to make sure they stay. We're going to, you know, make Virginia safer when it comes to gun laws and regulations. And that was inspiring. It wasn't just this, you know, this constant drum of what we're going to take away from people. 

Jasmine: We're finally starting to understand the value of building a bench. We’re finally starting to understand the value of running in local races and running and school board. I think that, I think for so long, we were just like in this little lull. And we didn't understand just how important it was to get people in place. Not only just getting people into politics that can then continue on into politics if that's what they want to do. But also just having people who have good ideas and who aren't narcissistic or sadistic running, or being in these positions and literally harming our children. And I don't know what woke us up.

Rachel: Your story. It's the same as you, it's the same as your story Jasmine. I heard your story so many times from women who are running, there were so many women and they have the same story as you and I could hear it a hundred times and it will never not be inspiring to me because these are busy people who are successful and they don't need this, but they are getting involved because if not me then who?

Amanda: And that's what they say. And I think they're continuing on this playbook of pushing more people like Jasmine and office with like the CRT messages where now I think Democrats are better at like calling the BS when they know it's BS and calling the CRT as BS, pushing back, but also seeing what their bigger plan is.

Right there, bigger plan is to take over school boards. Their bigger plan is to defund the schools like we've seen in Ohio with public choice bills, right. Or school choice bills. Right. This is their bigger plan. And we're calling it I feel like sooner and knowing what they're doing. And I think especially women and moms are saying, “no, I'm going to call this as BS. I liked my schools. I like my teachers. I want them to be the best they can. And you know what, when I have an issue with the teacher, I go talk to the teacher. I don't go to Fox news.”

Rachel: And, you know, I just think the connect is we have these people who are willing to run. Now we need to say vote, vote, and we will do the work, but you have to vote. And it has to, you have to join us here. I mean, we're willing to do the work in our case in Richmond or, you know, wherever, but we got to get that message out of what we are doing for you.

Amanda: But I think there is a lack of, I mean, we've heard it from Sarah Longwell with the Focus Groups. There is a lack of enthusiasm right now, and there's a lack of excitement and a lack of motivation. And this is a really big deal. And we do need Democrats to get more fired up. But I also think we need our democratic leaders to, to have a message that is more inspiring, more energetic, and to get a pulse on what we care about and what matters to our family. So I was talking about with my husband with this, and I think of it in HGTV terms, cause I always do right. So when I think about their messaging... so we have had to get a new HVAC system in our house. Right? Not super sexy and not something like when we have people over, like, do you want to see our new HVAC system? Because it's totally brand new, right? Why? Because this is a baseline. We expect to have an HVAC system in a house. And honestly, roads and bridges…

That's a baseline we expect. We don't go bragging about roads and bridges. Like we don't go bragging about our HVAC system. However, we also had to tear down a wall between our kitchen and living room. Now that is exciting. Right? So that we had people in and like, “ooh, tell me where the wall was. Like, where did you move stuff?”

And people like wanted to come see our house and see like how it looked and how it was different. And I think the political…

Rachel: “Did anyone start chanting, build a wall?”

Amanda: No, really like “tear down the wall.” But I think about the political equivalent, right. We need to tear down a wall between our kitchen and living room.

Right. What is that wall? And I think about things like childcare and paid leave, giving women better access to our economy and to jobs and all the things that they want to do. That's the wall we need to take down. And that's where the excitement comes from. Not from our HVAC system.

Jasmine: But I think what's even more important than bringing up exciting topics is making it exciting. The messaging has to be exciting. And I think what we have to reconcile with the fact that when Trump was in office, even though he got a lot of negative PR, it was PR all the same. And when he did horrible things and when he made fun of handicap people and when he did all these, these things, the media was on it…

Amanda: Like clickbait.

Jasmine: Yeah. I mean, you know, because that's what they need in order to sell ads and things like that. And so what I have found is that paid leave is awesome. Childcare is awesome. Saving our freaking planet is awesome. These are things that are important and they're awesome, but they're just not sexy to the media. And so they don't get covered the same way. So Rachel, to your point, if you're in that rally, you feel fired up that rally doesn't get covered the same way a Trump rally gets covered when he says something off color or off the wall. And then people are like, “oh my gosh, Trump said this thing.” Heck Trump’s not even in the office anymore.

He's not even on social media. And I still see all of the crap that he says on social media because news. Consistently post it and I understand their reasoning behind it. But my point is we don't see that same thing. So the energy that's in the room doesn't get translated to the energy outside of the room. It kind of just stays in there and science terms, it's like potential energy that's like right there in the room and it's not being converted to kinetic energy. That's exciting. Our base.

Rachel: Yeah. We also understand something you said, Jasmine, really reminded me of this during. The four or five years that we had Trump, we learned to receive media and information from a president in a totally different way.

Even if we didn't like it, it taught us all like a rethinking. So we can't just immediately go back to normal. That's not going to work. It has to slowly bring it down if that's what we want. I mean, we don't need to keep it like everything's at a 12 all day long every day. And then you know, on some days it's at an 18 that that's not going to be healthy.

But what we do need to do, you know, cause you have people like Jim Jordan and Devin Nunez, and I can't even think of their whole cast of characters, but they would go on Fox news. There would be someone on everyday, like “the president's done this, he's done this, he's done this.” And it was mostly not real, but, or “he's fighting for you on critical race theory.”

That's more likely, right. The things that he was fighting up at the. You say your children from CRD? Yes, exactly. This folk culture or that he was fighting and protecting them. It was constantly messaged. Granted, that's not healthy. We've got to find a way to talk about these things. “President Biden is fighting for you, fighting for, you know, leave for parents for the reconciliation bill” and you know, all these things.

We've got to find another way to tell people this is being done for you in Washington. I'm going well. What do you guys think about that? Do you want, does that make sense? What I'm saying or, but can you imagine how it could be?

Amanda: But it's also how our human brains work. Right. I think with politicians, our human brains are like, what's the problem and who can solve it.

Right. So every day we need to be like, here's the problem. And here is how Democrats are solving that problem. Right. So when, and that's what Republicans are doing, right? The problem is CRT and, oh, what do you know? Republicans are solving this issue for you, right? So Democrats need to be like, “CRT is not the issue. Let me tell you what the issue is.”

We don't have enough substitutes. We don't have enough teachers to teach our children. That is a problem. And for better, for worse, we need the click bait and we need the scandal sometimes. So, and there really is plenty to work with here in this country. Right. You know, forcing women to go back two weeks after giving birth.

Right. You know that that's a scandal. But we don't treat it that way. And I don't know if that's the media and how the media covers it if we need to work harder. But there's, I mean, there's so much more that I, you know, I appreciate the job that the media does and I know it's a hard job and I know it's a thankless job, but at the same time…

Some of the stories just kind of irritate me, even the stuff coming out of Virginia and Loudoun County. Right? So you have these stories that, you know, especially initially come off as very, one-sided like here's a bunch of concerned parents and they're concerned about a rogue school board, you know, teaching CRT to your children.

And that's kind of the narrative that gets started. When you know that that's not the true narrative, especially now we know that no, this isn't a majority of parents. This is the loudest parents. There's a difference between the loudest and the majority and the media stories just don't often represent what we know, especially when like it's your county in national news.

And when it was my city that made national news, right? You're like, this is not the full story. That these are right wing funded groups doing this, that their larger goal is to really chip away at public education so that they can eventually like defund public education. That's their larger group. But you don't see that in this story.

Jasmine: Right. I want to also point out because you brought this up and it makes this is my frustration as well. You will cover the 10% of people that are protesting, getting vaccinated instead of the 90% of people that have gone out and gotten their vaccination and they are vaccinated and random health care system here.

So we've got a hundred people who work here. 90 of them got vaccinated. These 10 have decided they're going to protest and they're not going to do it. And it's the 10 that get the attention. And so we have to figure out a way to make the 90 just as sexy as the 10 who were being rebels and who were going rogue, but that's not how things get covered.

And I think that's my frustration sometimes, but I will say this: when it comes to paid leave and specifically parental leave, I do appreciate that Pete Buttigieg decided to take paternity leave because it actually started the conversation, but in a way that actually allowed us to like, talk about why this is so important, why it's kind of crazy that people literally… there are people out there that give birth and go back to work as soon as they get out of the hospital because they don't have a choice.

Amanda: I did not understand that there were a lot of men out there that had no clue, I should say no, no. There are a lot of fathers out there on Twitter that had no clue what it takes to take care of a newborn. And you're there like tweeting. I’m like, “what?” Do you think… Oh, like literally saying things like, well only mothers need maternity leave because all the baby needs is breastfeeding and I'm like, oh baby, more than breastfeeding. Right. I need more than that. But this father had no clue. Yeah.

Jasmine: It's a testament to, you know, how our society has done things for so long. And then all of a sudden, you know, fathers are like, “hey, guess what? I have a role in this as well. And I would actually like to bond with my kid as well.” Crazy idea. Let me bond with my kid, like, you know…

Rachel: Some willful ignorance.

Jasmine: I know maybe I just want to support my wife or the, the mother of my child, so she can get a nap. Like, you know, these are things, but, you know, and so that's why I felt like that was a scandal that actually was a good one because it actually allowed me to talk about the pros, the good side of paternity leave. And it also made the people who were against it sound absolutely ridiculous.

Amanda: And I love, yep. I do. I did love the people who shot down those dads. Like you're a dad, dude. You should know more about what newborns need, like come on, come on. Like Republican men. Sure. Okay. But that's why it's so important to talk to real people and also why we need real people working on doing the organizing and being politicians because real people know what a newborn takes and real people know what's going on in our schools and our school boards and what other parents are thinking. So let's talk to Deborah Morbeto. She is a Loudoun County mom who has become a Red Wine and Blue parent organizer. Deb, we are happy to have you as part of the Suburban Women Problem.

Deb Morbeto: Hi, I am so glad to be here. Thank you.

Amanda: So Deb explained to us what is going on in Loudoun County? How did all of this start?

Deb: I am at what I call ground zero in Loudoun County. For me, from my perspective, we look it's, it's embarrassing. Because what the media is getting is only a small portion of the whole story. The folks who are angry that you see at the school board meetings are extremists. They're very organized and their group is small compared to… we have an 81,000 student enrollment. So when you see 100 parents yelling in the school board about masks and critical race theory and transgender bathrooms. That's a tiny, tiny percentage of parents that have children in the school system. I live in Prince William county, which is near Loudoun county. And when we started to have this nonsense at our school board meetings, they locked it down.

So no signs, you can gather in groups, but it has to be, and like in the parking lot on the other side. So it really cuts down a lot of this chaos. I remember Alex and I were flying somewhere the day after your famous June meeting. And I was looking at the news, we were on the plane and he was like, “what is that?”

And he just saw the pictures and I was like, “it was the Loudon County school board.” He was like, “why is that guy's pants like, barely on?” And I was like, “I know.”

Jasmine: We've had something similar in Gwinnett County as well, where we basically had to call in the feds to investigate what's going on with our school board meetings because of the threats, because of just the way that things are going. Those are the things that we're dealing with all across the country. And those are the things that we're dealing with that is really upsetting because it's sucking the air out of the room about what's really important. They are getting so much of a platform and it's all theater, very, well-funded very well organized theater, 

Amanda: But these are their tactics that they've used for quite a while. These are not new tactics. Like they have historically used threats, you know, violence, to get what they want and that we're seeing it continue into today. So how do you push back against that? How do you move from this very negative politicizing, our children threats to moving to the positive? What have you, how do you push back? 

Deb: Kindness!

Amanda: I love it. So you have, you have a For The Love of School Supplies drive happening, right? So tell us about that.

Deb: Yes. I'm really excited about this tomorrow from four to six. The school board, this is the last school board meeting before the election. There's going to be press there. And I am so tired of the negative press that Loudon County has gotten.

So I thought, “well, geez, let's do something for the teachers.” They've gotten lost in this and they're really struggling. So let's, let's do something with kindness. That's positive and let's do something for the teacher. Right. I love that. And you know what, that's a great story because you know what our teachers have put up with a lot over the last year and a half a lot.

Amanda: And I don't think we talk about that enough, but that is a scandal itself to know the kind of pressure that they're under and to have to deal with everything they typically deal with, but a pandemic on top of that and masks and everything else. Our teachers have done so much and they're humans. So there must be struggling, right?

They don't often like say it and they're not in the media saying, you know what, I'm struggling. It's been a year. I've been stressed for a year. You know, they don't do it. So we need to like have that voice out there that our teachers are struggling and there's so much we can do to support them and support our teachers so that our kids do get the best education they can get from people who are ready to be in that classroom and prepared with supplies or whatever it is, they need to be prepared.

Rachel: I'm going to speak my love language, and I'm going to give them multiple, like a multipack –– several –– I bought several multi-packs of different colored Sharpie. I love it because if I am ever having a bad day, that's what I want.

Jasmine: Note to self.

Rachel: Yeah, of different colors of pens or Sharpies. Yeah. That would really, that really makes any day better for me.

Deb: You know, there were a lot of things I was thinking I could do and kind of, you know, in terms of kindness, but I chose teachers specifically because nobody has said word one about appreciating teachers and Rachel is spot on. They've been through a really rough time. And so, you know, they deserve help, recognition, kudos, support. It's the, it's the idea, the idea that. We're thinking about you, teachers.

Rachel: Absolutely.

Amanda: I think our schools are really ground zero for giving people opportunity. Like that's where it all starts of giving everyone an equal opportunity to just be their best selves, you know, when they grow up.

So Deborah, I want to thank you for being on the show. We loved having you here.

Deb: Thank you so much.

Rachel: Thank you. And I'll see you tomorrow!

Deb: All right, I can’t wait.

Amanda: After the break, I'll sit down and talk with Hala Ayala about her run for Lieutenant governor, what is more political, the PTA or the Virginia House of delegates, how much caffeine it takes to run for office, and so much more. Hala is a national treasure.

BREAK

Amanda: Our guest today has had a meteoric rise since getting involved in politics. She was first elected as a member of the Virginia House of delegates in 2017, defeating a four term Republican incumbent in her suburban district. Now she is a democratic candidate for Lieutenant governor of Virginia in the hotly contested upcoming election on November 2nd. Hala Ayala, welcome to the Suburban Women Problem. We’re so glad to have you.

Hala Ayala: Thank you. Thank you so much, Amanda, for having me. Thank you suburban women. I love it. How are you all?

Amanda: Doing great. We're so excited to have you, so I know you're in the home stretch of the campaign and it's the hardest part of the campaign. So how are you holding up?

Hala: Lots and lots of coffee minus any other challenges we have, caffeine is the, always the go-to. This has definitely been a crazy ride. If you had told me two decades ago I was working at a gas station pregnant with my first child that I would even be a candidate for statewide office and sharing the stage with the president of the United States… Amanda, respectfully, I would have told you, you. But I'm having a blast traveling across the Commonwealth, getting to know Virginia voters and their communities.

Amanda: That's awesome. So let's talk more about this wild journey you've been on. So the Trump presidency spurred so many women into political action. You helped organize the Women's March and then became a candidate yourself. What made you decide to run for office in 2017 and what has your journey been like?

Hala: When you watched 2016 and the election of Trump, I don't know what you were doing the day after the election, but I was sort of in fetal position and I was mad as hell. I knew that his election was going to set women back decades. I knew the election for Virginia… we have elections every year. I was president of national organization for women. At that time, you wouldn't believe the outpouring to about 400 people showed up to a monthly meeting, right.

And this was the most… we were used to 12. So I ended up taking that energy and beat out a four term Republican that same year and became the first Afro-Latina and cybersecurity expert to ever be elected to the general assembly.

Amanda: That's so impressive. I remember driving to the Women's March from Ohio and we stopped at this rest stop in the mid, I think it was in the middle of Pennsylvania and we saw this sea of pink hats.

I love hearing about, you know, the 400 people now showing to these meetings. Were you also surprised by the turnout of the women's March? 

Hala: I remember standing by the, the subway entrance. We were handing out, you know, signs for people and we had 50,000 signs “support women,” “elect women,” you know, just what you would expect to see at this March. The sea of hats just kept coming. So many people came that day. It was just packed. It was a sea of people. I remember coming home that night exhausted. Right. But I felt renewed at the same time. Just so excited about the energy that we were seeing.

Amanda: I love that you talked about handing out these signs to support women. You know, electing women. And I've read that you cited the documentary Misrepresentation as an inspiration to become involved in politics. So I love that documentary. And when Trump won, it popped in my head. What about that documentary inspired you to become involved?

Hala: The film came out in 2011. I remember the start statistics about the representation of women and presidents that were women or leaders, prime ministers, and how 80% of the world had women or had had women, you know, elected to these highest offices of their country and the United States, the most supposedly advanced country. Had not, and by women still can't get a seat at the table.

We're on the menu every single time. But I will tell you, Amanda, I am not the appetizer. I am the whole dang meal.

Amanda: Absolutely. So let's talk about that. So you're running to be the Lieutenant governor, the second highest elected office in Virginia, and that comes with some unique powers and makes the stakes of your election all the higher. So can you explain to our listeners why that is? 

Hala: It is a high state selection and here in Virginia, we are going to elect the first woman of color to statewide office ever in 400 years, we are the oldest legislative body in this country. And we are the heart of the Confederacy here in Virginia.

So this is going to send sound waves to America. Virginias may not know this, but the Lieutenant governor's presides over the state Senate, which is now a 21-19 democratic majority, just to put this in context. And our current Lieutenant governor has casted 52 tie-breaking votes on issues like expanding reproductive healthcare, passing gun safety reforms, and they are tied on the issue of abortion. So the next Lieutenant governor will likely decide whether we're going to see legislation like the ones you've seen in Texas, or be a firewall for women. My opponent that I'm running against here in Virginia, when she was in the house, she championed a bill that would allow pharmacists to deny someone contraceptives just based on their personal beliefs.

And she thinks that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape or incest. When we look to this high stakes election, all of these very important advances and protections that we have in place are on the line on Nov 2.

Amanda: That's so important because when we think about freedoms, your freedom does not involve telling me what I have to do or can or cannot do or can or cannot buy that's where your freedoms ends. So we've interviewed Congresswoman Lauren Underwood on the pod whose momnabus bill contains critical, necessary measures to address our country's maternal mortality. So, can you tell us about your own experience with a difficult pregnancy and why healthcare has become a signature campaign issue for you?

Hala: Absolutely. I just want to say when we elect women, we get good governance. We get good policies. Just like the one you've just mentioned, you know, when I was pregnant with. I worked a minimum wage job without healthcare and Medicaid saved both of our lives, but this is why it meant so much for me to pass Medicaid because I remember how much I needed it in my life and what it did for me.

And I was hearing from Virginians how much they needed it. This is an issue that speaks to our communities, black and brown women who face challenges at childbirth. And even after I introduced a and passed a bill that established Virginia's first fetal and infant mortality review team, black women are nine times more likely than white women to lose their pregnancies in Virginia.

And I was almost one of them. So health care, which includes reproductive healthcare is so personal for me. And I'm just not going to stop fighting for it. I'm going to be a firewall for women here in the Commonwealth.

Hala: So many elected officials and people in Congress and people next to government don't have the personal experience with things like Medicaid, to know why it is so important for people. So you are parenting a child with autism. You have said that advocating for your son and special education services in your school was one of the things that prepared you to run for office. So that leads me to ask what is more political, the PTO or the Virginia House of delegates.

Hala: That is so funny. Oh, Amanda, I don't know what gets more heated, a floor debate over the budget or fighting over snacks at a PTO meeting. I'm making a joke, but obviously you did touch on something that was so really important. I was originally inspired because I wanted to advocate for my son and other children. I was so frustrated because I didn't know how to advocate for my son.

I couldn't get the answers. And then when he received his IEP, there's no roadmap to understand whether or not they're truly getting every service they so need. I never wanted a parent to go through the same thing, but the PTO was where I learned a lot more about these issues. I learned to work with people that didn't always see eye to eye with me.

So those heated debates, as you may infer… and do so successfully because we were able to, to come to the table and share and understand each other, but as well as we wanted the best for our kids. So we had something in common ground . We found common ground and we were very successful.

Amanda: I love that. I think so many PTO moms are more set up to be successful in political office than they know that they are.

Hala: I endorse that message. If you can navigate those waters successfully, you are a very resilient and individual.

Amanda: So speaking of the PTO. So we talk a lot about the suburbs on the pod. And one thing we've been spending a lot of time talking about is school board meetings. It seems like everywhere you turn the right wing has co-opted meetings after you know, speaking out against mask mandates, CRT, trans kids… Can you talk about what parents can do to change the narrative at their local school board?

Hala: You know, it's really unfortunate. Republicans have tried to weaponize just about every part of our society, our race, our bodies, our history. And they are pushing an anti-science extreme rhetoric that pits parents against teachers and kids against each other.

But the reality of the situation is that we want the best for our kids. We want them to receive the best education that they can. And know accurate history and to be safe when they go to school and not to be afraid, we want every one of our kids to thrive. We want them to grow up believing that they can be the next president of the United States, a lawyer, whatever they want to be.

And that should be our priority, not these outbursts and, and the ugliness coming out this again, speaks to what Trump has still, he's still around, you know, even if he's not in office.

Amanda: So Hala, now that you have had the easy questions are going to jump into our rapid fire question segment. Are you ready?

Hala: Yes.

Amanda: You talked about you needed this coffee for campaign. So what is your go-to coffee order?

Hala: Well, I will be plugging Starbucks today. It's pumpkin spice latte, extra hot with soy milk. 

Amanda: Oh, that was good. That was going to be my next question, if you were pro or anti pumpkin spice, I love the pumpkin spice.

Hala: Oh, I'm pro I'm also a pro. I also have the snapchat filter and I'm obsessed.

Amanda: All right. I know you helped plan the original Women's March on Washington. So what was your wildest memory from that experience?

Hala: Some people dress their birds up with pink hats. I've never seen anything like it, but I saw a bird with a… that was it for me. That was pinnacle. When you're bringing your birds out…

Amanda: Oh, I'm bummed I didn't see that. So, what is your favorite uniquely Virginia cuisine?

Hala: I do love Virginia peanuts. I like them candied. Regular, all ways! I, you know, it just depends on my mood, but during the fall, you know, when it comes to holiday time… ham, you have to have a Virginia ham. 

Amanda: Oh yes, I had no idea about the peanuts either. What is your favorite go-to kind of garbage television show?

Hala: Oh, it's not garbage, but I constantly watch west wing and I got a breaking news for you Bradley Whitford just followed me on Twitter last night.

Amanda: That's so exciting.

Hala: It was so exciting! Bradley Whitford, if you're listening to me. I love you!

Amanda: All right. So speaking of people we love, so going way back, who was on the first poster you ever put up in your room as a kid?

Hala: Okay. You remember Teen Beat?

Amanda: Yes.

Hala: And remember all of the, you could do rip it out and put it on the wall. Well, I was a little winky because I like teen beat. I didn't always put those on my wall. But I loved Michael Jordan and I put him on my wall first, then New Kids on the Block. And I think Patrick Swayze ended up there. Eddie Murphy. I had a wide variety of likes.

Amanda: Oh, that's awesome. I love that. Great job Hala. You made it through our rapid-fire questions. Now, before we go, where can our listeners go to find out more about you and support your campaign?

Hala: They can go to halaforvirginia.com. We are in our last days before the election, November 2nd, so much is on the line. So if they're listening in Virginia, please go vote.

Amanda: Good luck. We are rooting for you here on the pod and at Red Wine and Blue. And thank you again for being with us on the Suburban Women Problem.

Hala: Thank you ladies! Do well be well, and thank you for everything.

BREAK

Rachel: Welcome back. That was such an inspiring interview with Hala. She's incredible. We are so proud to have her in Virginia. And I know this is just the first step and you know, what, what I, and many others hope is a long career for her in politics and public service.

Jasmine: I’m really excited when we get an opportunity to interview people like holla because again, kind of brings back that point of just how energized people are, but also how we still need caffeine to make this to keep this train rolling.

Rachel: Gotta keep it real!

Amanda: I was thinking the same thing, but like actually her story is so compelling. She herself is energizing. And I feel like when you make that personal connection about your personal story and where you come from and why you're motivated that that itself, like she just in and of herself is energizing.

All right. So let's energize ourselves for the week to come and end with our Toast to Joy. So, Rachel, what's your Toast to Joy this week? 

Rachel: My Toast to Joy this week is this week I am going to launch an opinion column in USA Today.

Amanda: I love it. Is it going to be a sassy as your Twitter feed?

Rachel: I hope so!

Amanda: Yes! I can't wait to read the first article.

Rachel: Jasmine, what is your Toast to Joy this week?

Jasmine: So I live in Atlanta and if you know anything about Atlanta, we have our share of letdowns when it comes to sports…We really do like, it's really disheartening at times to be a fan of Atlanta sport teams. So my Toast to Joy is honestly just finally, you know, winning something.

So the Braves won the National League Championship and they're going on to the world series. I'm just excited, like to be a fan of an Atlanta team. And that team actually like winning something significant. And I hope that. To the other Atlanta teams like the Falcons and the Atlanta Hawks. And yes, I am a sports fan outside of everything else that I love, I absolutely love sports. And so this is exciting for us.

Rachel: That’s very exciting. That's a good, good for community to come together about something that's not politics and everyone can be on the same side.

Jasmine: Exactly. Exactly. All right. Well, Amanda, what is your Toast to Joy this week?

Amanda: So mine is maybe a little silly, but I, my Toast to Joy is to sweater weather. I love sweater weather. It is officially sweater. Whether I'm wearing my sweater today, I have like my array of sweaters. I love sweater, weather. I love pumpkin pumpkin spice. I am pro pumpkin spice. I got talked about with Hala. She is too. I'm into sweater rather. I love the changing leaves, so I am happy in my fall.

Jasmine: I gave up coffee because of my… it's a whole like health thing and I had to give up coffee.

Amanda: But you still have tea, right?

Jasmine: Yeah, I have tea, but I don't really know that there's like pumpkin spice flavored tea, the same way there is coffee.

Amanda: Oh do you know what there is? Caramel apple tea. I just bought one from the store, the caramel apple tea. So good. It is my fall tea caramel apple. Oh, I love it.

Jasmine: Okay. Good to know, but this is, this is Toast to Joy time. So we won't talk about how I had to give up my… my pumpkin spice.

Rachel: Toast to your health!

Jasmine: Exactly. To my health, exactly.

Amanda: To taking care of ourselves, making time for ourselves. So that is super important.

Thanks so much to everyone for joining us. Next week. I get to talk with Alyssa Milano about her new book. So I am looking forward to that. We'll see you then on another episode of the Suburban Women Problem.