Welcome to the bullpen. All right. In the bullpen today, we have Mr. Parker Short, former president of the Georgia Young Democrats, a group I was a member of many years ago. [00:00:17] I'm a little too old for the Young Democrats today. I aged out, but, brother, good to have you on the program. You have an undergraduate degree in public policy from the University of Michigan. You're working on a masters of Public Policy at Duke. [00:00:33] You've also served as a DNC delegate, 2000, Georgia zero four, lifelong DeKalb resident, one of the most progressive counties, in the world. Really? Definitely in the state of Georgia, list goes on and on. So what in the hell are Young Dems and progressives going to do [00:00:50] under this Trump administration? That's why I have you on the show. So good day to you. Well, thank you for having me, Doctor Richie, it's really an honor to be here. And God, it really is startling. We lost. But, you know, we've been here before, and for me, it's the same as it was before. It starts locally, you know, young Democrats have so much power [00:01:08] in their own communities. And you talk about DeKalb County being so progressive. I am so proud of DeKalb County because just a month after we lost the election and Kamala Harris lost, we elected an extremely progressive, amazing candidate, doctor Ladina Bolton, to represent half the county in Super District seven. [00:01:24] She was Working Families Party endorsed. I worked with her in DeKalb County, Young Democrats years ago, and it's about building community power, investing in a bench, making sure that we have local candidates that are fighting for progressive issues in your county commission, in your city council, and in your state legislature. [00:01:40] One thing that Republicans have done well is after Obama got elected, they focused on flipping state legislative seats. Democrats have gotten wiped out in Georgia, were only ten seats away from flipping the state legislature. For us, that can mean restoring abortion rights, expanding Medicaid, giving 600,000 people health care, investing in Georgia schools. [00:01:58] So it starts locally. It starts in our own state. We're going to continue the battle against Trump. But it starts by talking to your own neighbors, electing local candidates. And if we all do that all over the country, we're going to build a movement that they can't fight back against. Let's talk about the importance of building a bench, [00:02:13] something that I've echoed on this show and in my political career. It seems as if we are so fixated on the presidential election or national politics that we forget the power of the local representative. And when it comes down to it, that local representative is going to [00:02:29] impact you faster and probably even more, in a more aggressive manner than, let's say, a presidential pick. But if we don't focus on electing folks locally, you don't have the bench. [00:02:44] You don't have the talent already in position to take some of these national elections, US Congress and presidential. What say you to that? Well, it is important that we build a bench and we've started to do that here in Georgia. You know, in my eyes, Georgia is a model for other states. [00:02:59] We've got two Democratic U.S. Senators and one of them, Jon Ossoff, is the youngest senator in the country. I'm very proud of the fact. Even though Kamala Harris lost an election day, we elected the youngest member of the Georgia state legislature. Bryce Barry is 23 years old. He's a morehouse graduate. He's one of my best friends, and he beat an incumbent Republican in Atlanta. [00:03:19] I think that's very, very noteworthy. And I'm very proud of my friend. And he's going to spend decades fighting for progressive values in Georgia. We've got a 23 year old who's going to go in there and fight for his students and his community. That can't be said for some of our 80 year old Democrats. [00:03:35] And it's definitely not said for most of our Republicans. If you look at a local level, you know, I'm a proud Georgian. Brian Kemp is the governor, took away reproductive freedom in our state, which has resulted in the death of Georgians. He's refused to expand Medicaid, which refuses to give 600,000 people health care [00:03:50] and has led to hospital closures from downtown Atlanta to rural Georgia. And he passed gun laws that made it so unsafe that a music festival had to cancel. A local government really does impact your life. From the city council to the state legislature, its governors and senators [00:04:07] who often end up running for president. And if we don't put the right people in these positions, we're backing ourselves into the corner. And I'll just say to your viewers, the most important part of this is a primary in many seats. Whoever wins is just determined in the Democratic or Republican primary. Because we're so gerrymandered and so polarized, [00:04:23] the turnout in primaries is so much lower. If we're not going and engaging and fighting in our primaries, we're going to get a general election candidate that we're not happy with. And when young Democrats mobilize and engage because less people are turning out in primary, we have more of an opportunity to make a difference, to win those seats. And that's how we get progressives elected. [00:04:38] You know, we mentioned Bryce, and I echo your sentiment. Bryce is a remarkable individual who is now a remarkable representative. Right. But, Bryce, I remember the first time I met Bryce, very intentional, very intentional. But there was this other dynamic where the gatekeepers and let me be frank. [00:04:57] The gatekeepers in the Democratic Party, many of them were not connecting to our brother as they should. And we have this as a program approach [00:05:13] where it's almost as if you got to wait your turn, wait your turn for what? There are individuals who have not been purchased, who will not be purchased, who believe in their ideals, who will not back down to corporate interests, etc. And it seems as if in the Democratic Party, especially among those who we call [00:05:30] gatekeepers or traditionalists, they want to hold those individuals at bay. So. So how do we now? There's one fight, obviously, with the conservative agenda, but how do we fight the agenda inside of left leaning politics that would try and silence a voice like Bryce and others? [00:05:45] Well, trust me, I run up against those gatekeepers all the time. It's very real. Those smoke filled rooms of politics. Unfortunately, the establishment and the status quo is still throwing around way too much weight. And they're losing. Bryce is a winner. [00:06:00] He's done amazing things, and he's going to prove why his voters elected him. But it's really oftentimes the party will say no, and they are really caught in the past and they trip up over themselves. In Georgia, we've tried to build youth power within the Democratic Party. [00:06:16] I'm a state committee member of the Georgia Democratic Party. I vote on bylaws, changes, our leadership. I go to those meetings and I try to hold folks accountable. But it really starts in your county parties. I'm really proud of another friend of mine, Doro Heinz, who's 25 years old, and he's the chairman of the Henry County party. [00:06:32] Henry County had the largest shift in the entire country towards Democrats. Nine points towards Democrats. I want to give my my friend Doro his flowers on this one because it takes youth organizing. It takes folks that are kind of willing to shake up the status quo, [00:06:48] move the party forward, stop fighting for, you know, internal petty battles, and start fighting for the people you're supposed to represent. We've got young people leading our county parties across the state. We've got 20 year old as the vice chairman of the Gwinnett County party. And in North Carolina, where I'm getting my master's in public policy. [00:07:04] The chairwoman of our state party is 27. And Clayton Breeze. Anderson Breeze Clayton, she's an amazing person and she has done a great job with that state party. And the fact is, because she's willing to go in there. She ran against an incumbent, beat an incumbent, has gone in there, developed a Hunter County party strategy, and has made it so that they're [00:07:22] competing all across the state. We need young people to throw their weight around at these county party meetings, because it's usually a bunch of older folks that aren't really up with the times, and we can go in there and win some elections. In Georgia, you have 159 counties, and the majority of those counties, [00:07:38] you at least on paper, you have a functional county Democratic Party that becomes your conduit to the state Democratic Party, that becomes your proxy connection to the DNC. But if you don't have that local organization, it's [00:07:54] very difficult to penetrate beyond that. And that's what you bring to the awareness of viewers now is that there's an apparatus is locally for you to join, and if you don't have one in your particular state, make one, start one. [00:08:10] Figure out how to create the chapter. We'll say. Well then, if you start a there's 30 counties in the state of Georgia where we don't have a county party. And it frustrates the frustrates me deeply. But the truth is, if you go in there as a young progressive person and you say, I want to start a county party, [00:08:25] you're going to end up as the chair of that county party, and then you're able to encourage people to run for state legislature. You're able to say, no, we shouldn't take corporate PAC money. We're going to have these local community building events. We're going to give back to the county that we serve. And then you're in a leadership position. [00:08:42] I'll tell you, if you go to a county Democratic Party meeting, whether it's DeKalb or Fulton or Newnan, and you go there for a year, you'll end up in leadership because a lot of these folks are not dedicated. It's a volunteer role. And that's where these decisions are made. That's where this money is thrown around, and that's how these parties are operated. [00:08:58] So if you want to build power locally, there's already this party apparatus. And if you go in there and stir things up. The likelihood is you're going to be able to use that power toward a progressive direction that hopefully can actually win and deliver for the people of that county, because I think Georgians and people all over the country [00:09:13] are sick and tired of politicians that don't put their needs first. Yeah. And you will also find these very beautiful gems of individuals who we would call them gatekeepers, but they're very progressive in the belief of young people having an opportunity for leadership. [00:09:30] And I've seen that as well. And and I have misjudged some people at times given, assumptions, etc., in my past. So I know that those gems exist inside of those county party structures. And while we are natural disruptors, progressives are natural disruptors. [00:09:47] There are systems worthy of disruption. That's the reason why we are natural disruptors. Before you go, man, I want to say this, and I've said it on on indisputable plenty of times because we have to remind ourselves of something you all will not be denied. [00:10:05] And and this is what I share with my daughter. And I actually find peace in this no matter what happens. You all are our future leaders. Period. And when I think about it in that context, I know that the future is bright. [00:10:22] When I saw students on college campuses walking out in protest of humanitarian dynamics, the the inhumane treatment of Palestinians walking off of campus hand in hand, [00:10:40] Jewish student groups, Palestinian student groups. I said, this is the future who will lead us? So when we look at it in that context, it becomes a a a more, a more fulfilling, and, and bright future. [00:10:57] But in order to be that, leadership has to start now. So for the young person who's watching this right now and they feel as if they're not empowered to become that kind of leader. What would you say to them? You really are. I mean. [00:11:12] I've been involved in politics for seven years, and now I'm on your show. I started a high school Democrats club. I walked out of my high school against gun violence. We organized against DACA, the anti DACA restrictions from Donald Trump and held a protest at my school. And now I'm here because I kept fighting and I didn't give up. [00:11:29] You know, in 2016 nobody thought Georgia was a competitive state. And now we have two Democratic U.S. Senators, no matter what corner of the country you're in, no matter how red people care about working class values, people care about justice, and they see injustice in their own communities. [00:11:45] And when you go and you fight for what is right, people will support you. And you can't just let power do what it wants with you. The party system is frustrating, but you need to take hold of it. And if you want to change things up, you need to grapple with the systems [00:12:01] that unfortunately define our politics. So do these young folks out there. It's not as hard as you may think, I promise you. You go to a county party meeting, it's going to be 40 old people, and a couple of them are going to pinch you on the cheek because they're so happy to see you because they don't have any young folks there. We need to invest in this coalition, and y'all are the future. [00:12:19] I really believe every time I meet a young person involved in politics or not, the conversations we have are far less polarizing because I think we all want better for this country because we're going to have to live with this future. So get out there and fight for the future that you want to see. That's right. Become the change you want to see. [00:12:36] Dear brother, we thank you, man. I appreciate your friendship and your authentic leadership personally and professionally. For those who are watching, this is a great example to follow. I'm looking forward to continued great things from you. And man, you have an open opportunity anytime you want to come on the show, [00:12:53] just let me know. Alright, I appreciate it. It's really an honor to be here and I will definitely take you up on that. Thank you for your work. It's always a pleasure to watch. And, to your viewers, have a happy New Year. Thank you. - Happy New Year, dear brother. - Thank you for all you do.