Weekly Round Up: From Precincts to Protests

This week’s roundup dives into what’s happening locally and nationally—from grassroots organizing in Northern Kentucky to key legislative updates, upcoming protests, and the growing housing affordability crisis.

We’re talking real community action: neighbors connecting, precinct training opportunities, and why staying involved matters more than ever. Plus, don’t miss our upcoming Candidate Coffee & Conversation on affordable housing this Saturday ☕🏘️

Change starts close to home. How are you getting involved?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Blue Dot, Northern Kentucky's Premier Political Podcast, brought to you by the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee. Oh, welcome back to the Blue Dot Podcast for our weekly roundup, where we deliver all the news you need to know in 10 minutes or less. Thanks for joining. I'm Natalie McDonald.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

And I'm Brian Cale. Hey, Natalie, remember when the big controversy of the week was something like, well, I don't know, sleepy Joe Biden tripping up the steps to Air Force One, or maybe mumbling a few sentences during a speech, the critics would pounce crying out that Biden was not fit for office. How I long for those Hausian days.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Oh, Brian, I know. Are you are you are you okay? Are you okay? Is it getting to you a little bit too much?

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I'm just getting anxious for a massive democratic turnout this November, so we can be talking about how we are fixing the damage caused by Trump and his MAGA morons and pulling our country out of the abyss. At this stage, I think that the vast majority of Americans agree that chaos as policy has not worked out well for the country or the world.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

It has not. But in all the mists of the chaos on the international and national level, I wanted to bring some levity to this week's Roundup by highlighting all of the very important hard work local Democrats have been planning and implementing right here in Northern Kentucky.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Yeah, that sounds good. Uh, you know, as we talk about a lot on the podcast, change starts locally right here in our own backyards.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yes, and it does not get much more grassroots than at the precinct level. And our precinct officers around Kenton have been making great progress. They're out there reaching out to their neighbors, they're getting an overwhelmingly positive response. People are happy to hear from them, and they want to know how to get more involved. But we need a few more precinct officers to fill openings across the county. And on Monday, April 13th, there will be a precinct officer training on hosting and organizing candidate meetings and fundraising. And that'll be from 7 to 8 PM at the Covington branch of the Kenton County Library. So that's going to be a really great way to get involved and learn a bit about being a precinct officer.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Yeah, that sounds great. And for those who caught this week's feature podcast on the housing crisis, you know housing is a growing concern across all of Kentucky and the nation. And the discussion continues tomorrow, Saturday, March 28th, with a candidate coffee and conversation on affordable housing. This event will be held at Second Sight Spirits at 301 Elm Street in Ludlow, KY, and starts at 11 AM. This is a great opportunity to hear from more from our guest from this week's podcast, Gil Guthrie, along with many local candidates who will be joining in. This will be a great event.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yes, it will. You can learn a little more about housing with the candidates, and we need to get those Democratic candidates elected for the next legislative session as the current one is winding down. It is scheduled to conclude on April 15th after over a thousand bills were submitted in the Kentucky legislature.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Yeah, and and many of those bills were submitted by Democrats fighting for all Kentuckians by attempting to clear the way for investments in affordable housing, improving Medicaid instead of gutting it, and funding pre-K for all. All of these initiatives work to build a better future for our Commonwealth.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Meanwhile, the GAP-led legislation that is advancing in the General Assembly signals major policy shifts across education, public safety, the courts, and government oversight. Recent votes include overriding the governor's veto to block federal funds from going to private schools, decreasing the age requirement to carry a concealed weapon to 18, permitting schools, districts to waive state education requirements, and legislation that allows the Department of Corrections to make their own rules regarding execution policy rather than following state regulations.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Yeah. 18-year-olds carrying concealed weapons, Kentucky prisons reducing oversight and regulations on executions so it's easier to implement the death penalty. Wow. The fake pro-life party strikes again.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Yeah. Being fake pro-life is one of their strong suits, like how they keep making it harder and harder for people to access affordable health care. Never fear though, RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz have plans to save the rural health care crisis. Can you take a guess at what it is?

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Well, let's see. RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz, I'll be really surprised if it does involve nootropics and raw milk.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Well, that's probably not in the docket, but right now they are proposing AI nurses. And even though AI nurses, yeah, they're not even a thing. They're not even a thing, but they're proposing spending$50 billion to develop this type of technology. However, they do admit that this won't make up for the estimated$137 billion and Medicaid dollars rural areas are expected to lose over the next decade due to cuts from the big betrayal bill. Medical professionals from every discipline and walk of life have warned the dangers of AI replacing real medical professionals.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Well, you know, actually repay replacing real people can sometimes be a good thing, like uh when that person is our old governor, Matt Bevan. Remember him?

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Yeah, you mean the the former governor who was drowning in corruption and who pardoned a convicted killer before he left office? That Matt Bevan?

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Yes. Earlier this week, uh that's the one. Earlier this week, a judge found former Kentucky governor Matt Bevan in contempt of court and sentenced him to 60 days in jail unless he posts a$500 bond and complies with a court order requiring him to disclose his financial information. The ruling stems from a year-long legal dispute with his estranged son. The case is particularly troubling as Bevan's son alleges that his father abandoned him at a notoriously abusive youth facility in Jamaica, which was later shut down by authorities in 2024. Pretty grim stuff.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yeah, that is that is sad. He also said that he felt that he used him for his political gain as well. So um, but thankfully our current governor is not mired in controversy. He was actually back in town here in northern Kentucky this week to talk about the regional economic growth that we've been seeing. Pre-K for All, healthcare, and the imminent groundbreaking of the Brent Spence Companion Bridge planned for this spring. So good to see that starting to get going.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah, well, you know, Governor Bashir is very good at building bridges, especially across the aisle. And he will do a great job of that at the national level, too, which is exactly what we need right now.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yeah, that is what real leaders do, unlike our current president, who is busy hoarding American workers like the TSA, the Coast Guard, and other DHS employees hostage in order to advance the Save America Act, otherwise known as the Rig American Elections Act.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Yeah, for weeks, Democrats have attempted to fund TSA, ten times, in fact, as well as fund all other Department of Homeland Security divisions other than ICE. And guess what they finally did overnight? We just found out the Senate advanced the exact bill the Democrats have been trying to do for weeks.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Yeah, for weeks, Republicans solved this, and instead of doing what was right for Americans, they bowed to Trump's pressure. So I'm not sure exactly what changed overnight, but I'm happy that there is movement because these people need to be paid. But again, I mean, you know, who knows what goes through Trump's brain from minute to minute? During a cabinet meeting yesterday, he spent nearly four minutes babbling incoherently about a pen. He proves daily that he is mentally impaired, his posts are becoming more incomprehensible, and he is extremely erratic on camera and continues to contradict himself by the minute.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

I know. And we've asked this question a thousand times, Natalie, but here it goes again. How much longer can Republicans stand by and watch this happen? I mean, thus far they remain in lockstep with Trump despite his now having the lowest performance approval ratings in history. Uh, it's like watching a death march.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Well, like you said a couple weeks ago, just keep it steady and let them destroy themselves from within. And that prediction continues to come to fruition. Democrats in Florida flipped two state Senate legislature seats this week.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah, uh one was in the district that represents Mar-a-Lago, with the Democrat running against a Republican opponent that had received Trump's full and complete endorsement. The other Florida district includes Tampa, and it is noticeable that Trump won both these districts in 2024 by eleven and nine points, respectively.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

That's amazing. Maybe they didn't get Trump's vote since he used the mail-in ballot, you know, that same mail-in ballot that he's trying to eliminate in his Save America Act.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, you know, he just really doesn't think things through. He calls mail-in ballots cheating ballots, but yet he and his family vote by mail almost exclusively. And speaking of poorly conceived policy ideas, how about his deploying ICE agents to airports to supposedly help the TSA?

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yes, that was funny. They released wait times before and after ICE deployments, and guess what? They aren't helping. Turns out deploying people to do a job they are not qualified or trained for does not work so well. The ICE agents are mostly standing around getting paid to hand out water to people who can't bring it through security, along with TS agents who are working their butts off with no paycheck. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Yeah, most of Trump's policies just don't work too well. But you know what does? Exercising the power of the people on the streets of America. And the perfect opportunity for that is No Kings 3.0, which is tomorrow, Saturday, March 28th. No Kings 2 had approximately 2,500 separate protests, and five to seven million people turned out. At the time, the largest single protest in American history. No Kings 3 tomorrow has over 3,300 scheduled protests, and No Kings Organizer Indivisible says it has partnered with over 330 other organizations and groups to put on No Kings 3. I think we could easily see 10 million or more fired up Americans hit the streets for a day of passionate protest, community outreach, and just plain fun and celebration. Hey, if you've never been to a protest, how about coming out and not only letting your voice be heard, but also be a part of history? There are ten separate events across the Greater Cincinnati Tri-State area alone. Check out no kings.org for a map and all the information you need to join in the fight and the fun.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And I cannot wait. And we're going to talk about it next week because our 10 minutes are up for this weekly roundup. Oh. The news is fast and the facts are free, Brian. Until next time, stay curious, keep the facts in focus. Never stop fighting for what matters. Peace out, everybody.